So, This is Love💫 (Chenji AU)

🐴8🐴

Over the next few days, Chenle would feel sick. He would clean and the smell of all the supplies made him feel queasy and not the good kind, from feeling excited. He only felt better at night when his step-siblings would leave him some food by his door, but even then, his stomach could barely handle the food and he would sometimes throw up.

His hands were shaky everyday. His step-mother had only said it would be a week, but it had now been a week and a half and she didn't allow Chenle to eat. Donghyuk would sometimes sneak him some fruit, but his mother was always around, making it almost impossible. Chenle had even considered eating from the food of the pigs. He felt dizzy every morning and pretty soon, he was convinced he might faint or even worse, die.

He laid in his bed one night, wishing he could die. It seemed like the next best thing by now. If he died, he wouldn't have to feel hunger or the pain of when his step-mother would hit him for doing something "wrong." Jaemin had once stepped in front of Chenle and got hit by her cane, trying to protect him. His step-mother wasn't happy and ended up hitting Chenle twice as hard. He told his step-siblings that night to stop stepping in for both their sake.

The only time he wouldn't feel sad was while staring at his journal, where he wrote the night painted in gold he had spent at the palace, which by now felt like a distant memory, he was almost convinced it was a dream, so unreal. Although he should feel sad that he probably would never see Jisung again, he was just greatful he got to experience more than he was even hoping for. He was forced to get rid of his clothes by his step-mother. Chenle doesn't even know what she did to them. He's glad Jisung had his ring, the woman might have sold it. He just hoped someone would cherish it like he did. The little pin Jaemin gifted him was all he had left. It was nice to at least have that as a memory.

Chenle couldn't help it, but he stopped eating all of the food his step-siblings brought him because it just hurt his stomach. He fed it to the mice. Chenle knew he was going to pass out soon, there were no doubts. His usual pale skin was sickly pale. He had lost so much weight and he was already thin to begin with.

Chenle was now hunched over the toilet. He flushed it after expelling his contents into it. He got up and regretted how quickly he had done so. The room spun and he stumbled his way to the sink. He gripped onto the sink for dear life. The sink was wet, causing his hand to slip and it made Chenle stumble back into the ground. Before he even reached the floor, he saw black dots intrude his vision before all he saw was darkness. Chenle had fainted. It was long overdue.

Chenle's cold body was later found by Donghyuk who screamed for his brother. He didn't know what to do. Jaemin ran into the bathroom to see Donghyuk's terrified face.

"Jaemin, he needs to go to the hospital!" Donghyuk said, worriedly.

"No, just take the pitiful thing by the fire to warm up and he should wake up soon." Both boys turned to the doorway to see their mother's face. Pure hatred was embedded into her wrinkled face. "Why do you look at me like that? He's not actually your brother."

"He's not, but he's a human being and the decent human being thing to do is to take him to the hospital." Jaemin said.

"Oh, you're one to talk, you hypocrite. Who's the one who bullied him for years? What great human decency you have. I don't understand why you two are defending him now. He's not my son. I was just forced to babysit him since his rich father went and died. Was it human decency too, for his father to put his dear Chenle up on a pedestal, above his new family?" She spoke, rolling her eyes.

"Don't you put us above him? You're doing the same thing his father did. He's his blood son, I hold no grudge against his father for having a special care for Chenle. Chenle deserves a loving father anyway. He treated us decently and spoiled us more than we deserved, it was Chenle who was humble and never asked for anything but his love. Chenle doesn't deserve to be treated this way. This is his home and we're the intruders." Donghyuk said, pulling Chenle's limp body closer to him.

Jaemin stared at Donghyuk with a look of wonder and emotion. Donghyuk rarely took things seriously, and here he was, speaking from his heart how he felt. He hadn't seen Donghyuk be so vulnerable until as of lately, when he started actually caring for Chenle. Chenle created harmony between them. Before, Donghyuk and Jaemin would bump heads and had some trouble getting along, even though they did love each other as brothers. This was one of the only times they started working together, because deep in their hearts they knew, this made them happier than hurting Chenle.

"We're taking him to the hospital." Jaemin said. Their mother gave them a look, she looked frightened. They had never gone against her word. She had manipulated them enough to be obedient to her every word. Deep down, both boys wanted affection from their mother, so they always listened, but they didn't care anymore, there was no use.

Donghyuk stood up, holding Chenle in his arms. Donghyuk wasn't the strongest, but he held out. Chenle was pretty light anyway, especially now. He walked out of the bathroom and kept walking, Jaemin quickly followed, leaving their mother to stare in shock. She didn't know what to do to stop them.

"Come back! If you leave now, you can't come back! I could kick you out, you know, by law, you're both old enough to live on your own." She desperately tried to sound convincing. She hated this, sounding weak. She was usually the one making others weak. She knew she wasn't strong enough to make them stay anyway, so her words were her only weapon.

"We're kicking ourselves out." Donghyuk muttered under his breath.

"I raised you two! You're my sons. You can't leave me here. I'm old and fragile." She continued, her voice breaking.

Both boys paused. "You were never a mother, not to Chenle and not even to us." Jaemin turned to say, taking Chenle from Donghyuk's arms. Donghyuk opened the door and they were gone. They got on their horses and rode into the kingdom. Chenle's cold body was wrapped in whatever cloth they could cover him in.

It took a while to get there, and Chenle was still out cold, but his pulse was still there, slowly beating. They got there as quickly as they could and rushed him into the hospital.

"What's the patient's name?" Doctor Kim asked after Chenle had been taken away to a room for a while.

"It's Zhong Chenle. Will he be alright?" Jaemin asked, being calmer than Donghyuk.

"Oh yes, he's fine. We just need him to stay here for a bit and make sure he's going to eat what he needs. It seems he's suffering from lack of nutrients. His heartbeat is a bit slow, but he should be fine if he follows a meal plan." Doctor Kim spoke.

"Thank goodness." Jaemin sighed.

"But you said his name was Zhong Chenle? He's Chinese?" The doctor asked.

"Yes, that's right."

"I feel like I've heard that before." The man hummed. Jaemin looked to Donghyuk who just shrugged. Chenle was rarely out of the house. It was odd that someone had heard of him.

"Hey, nurse Joy, does the name Chenle sound familiar to you. Zhong Chenle." The doctor asked. The nurse thought for a second.

"Oh, is he the guy Lee Jeno was looking all over for? I don't remember what the name was, but I remember it was foreign. Man, Jeno was stressing way out."

"Yes! That's right. Jeno, one of the Prince's knights, was looking for a boy named Chenle."

Jaemin's face contorted in confusion. He hadn't seen Jeno in a while now that he thought of it. He was looking for Chenle? For what reason?