It's on a Tuesday when Chanyeol asks Jongin to hang out for the first time. Now that he thinks about it, it was a lot easier than he thought it would be.

Three school days after Jongin ate with Chanyeol (because the day after, Jongin was no where to be found, then it was the weekend, then Chanyeol chickened out, and there he is three days later on a Tuesday), Chanyeol’s sitting in his literature class when his teacher announces for the class to gather into pairs, for what Chanyeol’s not entirely sure.

This is especially the time when it to be in a group of three friends; one is always left out. And sure enough, it’s always him as Baek and Jongdae share eye contact and push their desks together.

They both look apologetically in Chanyeol’s direction, but he is paying them no mind as Jongin just looked his way and smiled, and well, at least he can work on whatever literature topic with someone who’s genuinely interested in the book.

Chanyeol moves a desk right beside Jongin’s and sits down. “Hey man, what are we doing? I wasn’t exactly listening.”

Jongin laughs and shakes his head. “I’d reprimand you, but I was going to ask the same thing. Oh well, I’m pretty sure this is an excuse for our teacher to not do anything today, so it probably doesn’t matter.”

And whereas before, when Baekhyun didn’t care about the assignment, Chanyeol was perturbed, but now when Jongin says it, he actually finds that he agrees. There’s a difference between legitimate literature commentary and putrid busy work.

They fill their absence of school work with basic discussion about what they did last week, how was dance practice yesterday, how was band rehearsal, etc. Until, out of the blue, Chanyeol casually asks, “Hey, you wanna hang out this afternoon?” Immediately afterwards, Chanyeol is mentally screaming at himself for being so stupid, because how the hell could you casually invite someone out who you’re barely friends with?

However, in the midst of Chanyeol’s inner screaming match, Jongin looks up from his binder on his desk and rewards him with one of his special reserved smiles Chanyeol swears are only for him. “Sure, that’s cool. … Eh, are the other two going to be there?” Jongin discreetly points at Baekhyun and Jongdae, who are already arguing and they’ve only been paired up for less than fifteen minutes.

“Who, Baek and Dae? Nah, they’ll probably be doing something particularly stupid with just the two of them; when they work in pairs they usually plan things and forget to invite me. Whoops.” Chanyeol gives a self-deprecating laugh.

“Well, I think it’ll be cool with just the two of us. They may leave you out, but hey, you got me right?” Jongin smiles, then bursts out laughing like what he said was a joke, but the amount of sincerity is still there.

And ironically enough, Chanyeol is starting to believe that Jongin’s words are right.

-

The final bell of the school day rings, and Chanyeol realizes he has no idea where to meet Jongin, or even where his last class is, as he completely forgot to ask him either of those rather important details during class. Chanyeol decides to wait for him outside the literature classroom, hoping Jongin would think to check there.

Five minutes later, Chanyeol's still waiting when a tall, youthful looking blond beside an equally tall guy with feline eyes and darker skin approach him. "Are you Jongin's friend?" The blond asks.

"Ya, I guess that’s me? I'm Chanyeol."

"Right. Well, Jongin is waiting for you at the front gate and you better hurry before he thinks you called whatever you're doing off."

Chanyeol pushes off the wall he was resting on. "Ya, okay, I'll go now."

Chanyeol nearly sprints towards the front of the school. When he gets there, he's breathing hard and panting. Jongin laughs at him. "Did you race just to see me? I'm almost flattered."

Chanyeol grins and starts walking away from the school, and Jongin follows. "Ya, ya, ya whatever."

"Where are we going? To your house?"

"What?" Chanyeol bursts out in laughter. "Are we moving that quickly?"

"What are you- oh my god Park Chanyeol! Way to turn a completely innocent question into something bad!" Jongin blushes, and Chanyeol, in the back of his mind, finds it endearing.

Chanyeol hasn’t answered his question yet, so Jongin asks again. “So, if we’re not going to your house, where are we going?”

Chanyeol looks over at Jongin and just smiles. He remains quiet throughout their walk, and Jongin grunts at the lack of an answer, but allows the silence to continue.

However, Jongin breaks the silence when they arrive at what Jongin assumes is Chanyeol’s ideal place to hang out. “We’re at park? A park?”

Chanyeol laughs and races towards the swings. “Yeah! I love the park! I come here way too often for a normal seventeen year old!”

Jongin chuckles, but grabs a swing beside the other boy. “Oh is that so?”

Chanyeol pushes off the ground forcefully, and his swing rises high in the air as he belts out, “Oh, oh, I love her so! Oh, oh, I love her so! Oh, oh, I love her so-o-o!”

Jongin starts kicking at the ground to gain height and laughs loudly at Chanyeol’s antics. “And why all of a sudden are you singing the Ramones at the top of your lungs?”

Chanyeol looks over at the other boy with a sweet, puppy dog expression, but Jongin could hardly notice as their swings were moving in opposite directions. “You know the Ramones? Really? Why haven’t we met before?”

“You know,” Jongin has to scream to make sure Chanyeol can hear him, “I have another friend who’s really into old punk music and other bands like the Ramones. I’m sure you guys would be good friends?”

Chanyeol slows down his swing completely so that he’s only moving by pushing his feet on the ground softly. Jongin does the same. “I had never seen any of your friends before today. Who’s the tall, blond guy? And his friend, same height, feline eyes? Know who I’m talking about?”

“Ah, yes. They’re members of the dance troupe, which I guess are my only friends other than you.” Jongin gives him a sweet smile. “The tall, blond guy with a neutral face is Sehun. The other guy, who follows Sehun around like a lost puppy dog, is Zitao. I say that because I’m pretty sure Zitao is only in our dance troupe because of Sehun, but hey, we needed five people so I can’t complain.”

Chanyeol laughs, again, and he feels like that’s all he’s been doing for the entire time he’s been with Jongin. “Ah, I see. That’s endearing, in a way I guess.”

“What about your friends? I’ve met Baekhyun and Jongdae, obviously. But, there were other people at your lunch table when I sat there. Who are they?”

“Oh, you’re probably thinking of Joonmyun, Minseok, and Luhan. All a grade ahead of us. They will be graduating this year, so the lunch table will be eerily empty without them next year, especially Luhan, goodness.”

Jongin looks away from Chanyeol when he asks, “Are you close with any of them? Your friends, all of them. Baekhyun, Luhan, anyone.”

Chanyeol looks over at him to find he’s still not looking at him. “What do you mean?”

Jongin finally turns towards him and Chanyeol sees his serious features. “Do you tell them anything worthwhile, you know, like ‘best friends’ do? Do they know when you’re sad, or upset? Do they know how to make you feel better? Can they describe you, better than anyone in the world, to someone who doesn’t know you?”

“I-I, you’re asking a lot of questions, Jongin.”

Jongin chuckles, and the tense air that had formed around them slowly starts to fade away. “I’m not trying to be a detective here. Just food for thought, Chanyeollie.”

Chanyeol pauses, sticks his tongue out in a goofy way so as to show that he’s thinking, then exclaims, “Jongin you want to play tag?”

“Why would I-”

Chanyeol lightly punches Jongin on the arm and starts running. “Tag, you’re it!”

“Whatever Chanyeol! I’ll have you know my dancer body will be able to outrun you, band nerd!”

Chanyeol actually has a considerable amount distance between him and Jongin, so while running, he turns around and sticks his tongue out, mocking Jongin. “Whatever makes you feel better, Jonginne. Just know that you’ll lose to this ‘band nerd’!”

The two continue to run throughout the park for five minutes, Chanyeol dodging Jongin’s, “You’re it!” by running through the playground, across the bridge on the lake, and around the water fountain.

Finally, Chanyeol stops running in favor of catching his breath and sitting on the fountain, and Jongin catches up with him and flicks him on the head, huffing, “You’re it.”

Chanyeol hums in response, and Jongin joins him on the water fountain. “Aren’t we going to get wet like this?”

“Hmm, maybe it’ll cool us off.”

Chanyeol looks around the surrounding area and sees a couple having a picnic, a few people walking their dogs, and many parents allowing their children to run around and play. Chanyeol lets out a wistful sigh, but he’s cut off from his melancholy thoughts when Jongin asks, “Hey, Chanyeol, do you want to make a wish, or something? You know, like in all those cheesy rom com movies where people throw pennies in a fountain?”

Chanyeol snorts, but agrees, if only to take his mind away from disheartening brooding. “Sure, whatever. You go first.”

Jongin takes out his wallet and grabs two pennies; he closes his eyes chunks the first one into the fountain, seemingly making a wish. He grins and hands Chanyeol the other penny.

“What did you wish for?”

Jongin pretends to be affronted, until his laughter breaks his pretense. “Isn’t it supposed to remain a secret? Will it still come true if I tell you?”

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t.” Chanyeol grins.

“Fine,” Jongin huffs, “I wished for my dance troupe friends to do well in things outside of dance, you know, like school and all. Yixing-hyung will be graduating soon, and I want him to be accepted to a good college. And, if Taemin puts in the effort, he could graduate early and move on with his life. And, Sehun and Zitao have a lot of potential for great things, they just need to see that they have that potential, you know?”

Chanyeol looks at him pensively. “Where does that leave you? You want your friends to do well, but what about you?”

Jongin has the same bemused expression he always has when he’ll never fully answer a question, but he also gives the same reserved smile afterwards, the one that Chanyeol finds endearing. “I’ll be alright; they’re the ones to worry about. And, shouldn’t you be wishing right now?”

Chanyeol puffs at Jongin’s lack of a deep answer, but he throws his (really Jongin’s) penny into the fountain while closing his eyes (under Jongin’s orders). When he opens them, Jongin is looking at him expectantly.

“Well?”

Chanyeol smirks. “Well, what?”

“Are you going to tell me what your wish was?”

“Hmm…. Maybe it’s that a certain boy should think more about himself than everyone else, so maybe he’ll stop asking me what my wish is.”

Jongin groans out a laugh. “Are you serious? That’s not it.”

“No, but it should have been.” Chanyeol sticks his tongue out in thought. “I don’t know, this probably sounds really stupid, but I wished that I’d never grow up, like never have to face more responsibility and like that.”

Jongin, who was looking at the fountain while Chanyeol confessed his wish, turns to look directly at Chanyeol, making eye contact. “Fine, I won’t let you, grow up that is.”

“And how do you suppose you can do that?” Chanyeol laughs.

“Hmm,” Jongin rubs his chin, “I’ll have a full drawn out plan for you by the end of this week, I promise.”

“Is that so? God, now you’re sounding like Holden, being the catcher in the rye and all. First you catch me in a game of tag; now you’re trying to prevent me from growing up and entering the corrupt, adult world. Amazing.”

Jongin guffaws. “You analyze literature way too much, my friend. You make me sound like a sav-”

Jongin’s cut off by the ring of Chanyeol’s phone. He sees Chanyeol look at the screen, sigh, then say that he has to take the call. Jongin nods understandingly, and Chanyeol smiles at him, though it looks more like a grimace than a genuine smile to Jongin.

Chanyeol begins the phone conversation with, “Yes? Is everything alright?” before he walks away from Jongin so that he can no longer hear what he’s saying. Chanyeol returns abruptly, and he looks rather panicky and worried. “I’m sorry Jongin; I’ve got to leave. My little sister called, and I’ve got to make sure she’s alright.”

Jongin has a thousand questions running through his head, like You have a sister? Is she alright? What’s wrong with her? Is there anything I can do to help? But instead of voicing any of those, Jongin stands and says, “It’s fine, go help your sister. I hope everything is alright. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Thanks Jongin. And, yeah, tomorrow.” Chanyeol has that grimace/smile when he starts walking away.

Once Chanyeol is out of sight, Jongin walks to the park exit, when he recollects all the details Chanyeol has ever told him. Apparently, he has a sister. He wants to avoid responsibility…. Particularly more responsibility….

Jongin sighs, and realizes that with a person like Chanyeol, the words he is not saying are the words that actually matter. There’s something a lot bigger than him having a sister and some amount of already-present responsibility. And, Jongin needs more time than a few minutes together in a literature class, a twenty minute lunch period, and about an hour hanging out in a park to figure out what exactly all the words mean that Chanyeol isn’t saying.

-

a/n: if you haven't read the book, you may not understand what Chanyeol means by "you’re sounding like Holden, being the catcher in the rye and all."

Here's a link to the meaning of the title "Catcher in the Rye", but I'll paraphrase what they said for those who don't want to click lolol

Basically, the main character, Holden, interprets a poem (explained in the link) as having to do with the loss of innocence (adults/society/more responsibility [in Chanyeol's case] corrupt and ruin kids), and he wants to protect kids from this loss.

If there's anything you think I didn't explain properly, feel free to let me know!!

Thanks so much for subbing/reading/commenting/upvoting!

I've written about half of the next chapter (and it happens to be pretty long in comparison to the usual chapter length!!), so I plan to have it up by hopefully the weekend!