7llin' in the Dream

Episode Four:  Time Flies, We Fly [P1/2]

Chapter Seven

-

  "Oh, how does he do that," Jisung said.  Jeno hit the ping-pong ball even when it went off the table.  Mark kept laughing.
  Chenle coughed and said, "No, Jeno's bad at this game."
  Jeno sent the ball back and Jisung missed it.
  "That doesn't mean anything."  He coughed again.
  "Are you ok," Mark asked.  "Is that why you're wearing a mask?  Are you getting sick?"
  "Aish, I'm bad at this game," Jisung said.  He gave the paddle to him.
  Chenle said, "No, I'm not getting sick.  I think it's all this fresh air.  I'm allergic."
  Mark cracked up.  He and Jeno hit the ball back and forth a few times.  Then he spiked it and it flew over Jeno's shoulder.  He laughed some more.
  "Oh, that was so cool," Jisung said, bouncing in place.
  "I told you he was bad at this game," Chenle said.
  Jeno sighed and said, "I don't see you playing."
  Mark had made a quick call to Jaemin and he hung up.  "They're here," he said.

-

  "Hey, boring dude" Haechan yelled to Jeno.  He had two boxes of groceries stacked up in his arms  "I need your help."
  Jeno took one of the boxes and gave him a look that meant, "You're a vampire.  You could carry more."  Haechan offered him the second box and he turned his back to him. 
  In the kitchen, they all went through everything and started putting it in the refrigerator.
  "I also bought ice cream," Haechan said.  He reached into the box and said, "Who got boneless chicken feet?"
  "Renjun," Jaemin said.
  Mark laughed and said, "Obviously, it's Renjun."
  "He even got cold noodles and tteokbokki," Haechan said in disbelief.
  Jisung opened an ice cream bar and Haechan screeched, "Ah, that's mine."
  "There's more there," Jaemin said, pointing to the box.  "And there."  He pointed to the refrigerator.
  Like nothing had happened, Haechan said, "Ok.  That's fine then."

-

  While Jeno and Mark were cooking, the others were outside.
  "I'll be resting well behind you," Chenle said and laid in the hammock.
  Haechan had sat on the stairs in front of the hammock.  He music and Renjun started dancing and singing.  He raised his arms and swayed his hips, lost in the moment.  Haechan joined in and they pretended to sing long high vocals.
  "I love the mood right now," Renjun said.  Their song 'Boom' came on.  "Ok, let's do this."  He took Chenle's sunglasses off his face and put them on.  He and Haechan did the beginning of the choreography.
  They danced to Baekhyun's song 'Candy'.  "Pop rock, strawberry, bubblegum," Haechan sang.  "I can't wait until six o'clock."
  "Why," Renjun asked.
  "Because Baekhyun's new song will be out."
  "Oh," Jisung said, excited.

-

  "Jaemin," Jisung said when another song game on.
  Jaemin had been grilling the meat.  He raised an arm and moved to the beat.
  Haechan used the scissors to move a piece of meat and jerked his arm back.  "Agh, I think I'm getting cooked," he said.
  During a song with a tempting horn base, Haechan leaned backward on Jaemin's back and moved sensually.  He laughed when he yelled at him.
  "What, are you filming a music video," Jisung asked as they skipped opposite ways around the grill, reaching out like they'd do for a camera.
  "Does anyone have anything like a fan," Jaemin asked.  Haechan continued bouncing around and waving his arms just to annoy him.  "Jeno, do you have a fan?"  Silence.  "Yah, why isn't anyone listening to me," he yelled.

-

  Jeno sat on the edge of the Hammock and started rocking it.  "Are you having fun," he asked.
  Chenle squinted.  His transition had made his eyes extra sensitive to the sun.  His words were muffled through his mask.  "Yeah, just relaxing."
  Jeno stopped rocking and his eyes were wide.
  The hair on the back of Chenle's neck tingled.  "What is it," he asked.
  He leaned over and whispered, "Your eyes are red."
  "What?"  He whispered back.
  "Not like... bright red, but I can see the red in the brown color."
  "My sunglasses.  Renjun."  He turned his head just in case the cameras zoomed in their way.
  Jeno called Renjun over and explained.
  "Let me see," Renjun said, taking the sunglasses off.  He got close to block the cameras.
  Chenle looked at him and inhaled.
  "It's barely noticeable," he said.  "But keep these on just in case."
  He exhaled and put them on.  He ran fingers through his hair and said, "This is so stressful.  I don't want to be a donor.  Is it always like this?  Like... random stuff like this happening?"
  Renjun shook his head and said, "I've never been around someone who's in transition.  I've met other donors, but they were already like that.  It should stop happening once the transition finishes.  Plus, that never happens to me."
  "Ugh, and when's that going to be?"
  He smiled.  "I couldn't tell you.  It gets better though."
  "Yeah," he said.  "Next comes the biting."  He groaned.  "How do you stand it?  All the time."
  "I-"  He blushed.  "You get used to it...?"
  "You...  What?"  Chen leaned closer.  "You just hesitated."
  "N-Nothing.  I just...  It doesn't bother me.  I've been a donor since I was a kid, remember?"
  Chenle leaned towards him and lowered his glasses a bit, displaying his red eyes.  "You're hiding something."
  Renjun stiffened.
  He moved his glasses back up.  "And I'm going to figure out what it is."  He lay back and gestured to Jeno.  "Rock me."
  He snorted and obeyed.

-

  "Haechan-ah," Mark called.
  Haechan, lost in the music kept moving to the beat.
  "Haechan," Jeno called.
  Still lost in the music.
  Jisung tapped him on the shoulder.
  He looked at him.
  "Mark Hyung is calling you," he said.
  He sighed and stood up.  "What is it?"
  "Mark Hyung needs help."
  "Aish.  Again?"  He scuffed his shoes as he went.
  Mark stood by the stove.  Steam wafted from a pot of boiling water.  "I just have to add the cheese and ramyeon, but I'm afraid it'll get soggy.  The meat isn't cooked yet either."
  "Oh, just leave it," Haechan said.
  "Should I put it to 5 or finish it?
  "Just leave it at 3 or 4 and boil it down.  Boil it a little."  He walked away.  "So hopeless," he mumbled and smiled.  His phone vibrated.  "Six o'clock, everyone," he announced.
  "Is it out," Jisung asked, excited.
  "Is what out," Jeno asked.
  "Baekhyun-nuh's new song."
  Jaemin and Chenle remained in their respective spots - grilling and the hammock.  Everyone else sat on the stairs in front of the hammock.
  Haechan played the song and the seductive beat of 'Bambi Bambi' began to play.  The high notes that Baekhyun had become famous for belted out.  He felt it in his bones.  "Wow," he said, closing his eyes.  He and Renjun sang along.

-

  "Since we're going to eat out here, shall we move the chairs," Mark asked.
  Haechan came toward him and said, "Baekhyun's song is really shocking.  Wow."
  Jeno, Renjun, Haechan, and Mark moved the chairs, then the table off the deck and a distance from the grill.
  "This is ridiculous," Mark said.  He meant, "You guys are super strong and have to play at needing teamwork to move the table."
  "You're not even lifting," Renjun said to him, acting like the fake slack had made him strain.
  He shook his head in awe at his acting skills.
  Renjun gave a pained little smile, still acting, and it may have meant, "I know I'm good.  I'll be here all week."
  Mark snorted and pretended to help set the table down.

-

  "Jaemin-ah, what are you doing," Jeno asked, coming into the kitchen.
  "This is asparagus," Jaemin said to Mark.
  "You can cook it uncut," Mark asked.
  "That's right, don't cut it."  Jaemin looked around.  "Where is the whole garlic I bought," he asked, curling his fingers like they'd be if he were holding it.
  Jeno got it for him from the refrigerator.
  As Mark gathered more ingredients, Jaemin laid out the meats.
  Jeno pointed to one and asked, "Tenderloin?"
  "Right," Jaemin said, cutely.
  "Sirloin."
  "Right."
  "Short Loin, short loin?"
  "Right.  Short loin is the most expensive."

-

  "Supermarket Team.  Supermarket Team.  The team that went to the supermarket," Jeno said, coming down the stairs with a bowl for the meat to be added to.
  Haechan made a sound in acknowledgment.
  "You made a big mistake."
  "What lettuce?"
  "No.  Did you forget to buy mushrooms?  You should've gotten king oyster mushrooms and button mushrooms."
  Haechan said, "Renjunnie said he didn't want it."
  Renjun who had been chilling at the table huffed in amusement.  "What are you talking about," he asked.
  Smoke rose from the cooking meat as Haechan said, "Jaemin, do you remember that?"
  Focused on the meat, Jaemin said, "Did he say that?"
  "Yes."

-

  "Ah, should I put the army stew on now," Mark asked.
  "Yeah," Haechan said.
  As he headed for the kitchen, Haechan followed.
  Mark huffed in amusement.  "Hey, why are you following me," he asked.
  Haechan smiled.  "Because you're hopeless in the kitchen and you're going to call me sooner or later anyway."
  He pushed him and he appreciated how Haechan pretended to be moved by it.  They'd talked about how their vampire strength made him feel less than sometimes.
  They worked together to put the ingredients together and get the pot on the stove.
  Haechan adjusted the temperature and then noticed Mark studying him.  He made a questioning noise.
  The cameras had been moved outside to film the grill and table.  It could see them, but couldn't hear them.
  "Your lips are looking pale," Mark said.
  "Are they," he asked, stirring the stew.
  "Haechan," Mark hissed.
  He made the questioning noise again.
  Mark made that noise where he'd been trying to be serious but had been too amused to hold it back.  He swallowed and looked at the stew.  "When's the last time you fed," he asked.
  "Renjunnie will feed me soon," he said.
  "How long?"
  "I'm fine, Mark," he said in English and smiled when he smacked him.  He cleared his throat and said, "It's not bad.  I'm just a little hungry.  I'm not Jaemin.  I don't know how he stood two weeks without feeding."
  Mark sighed and took the spatula he'd been stirring the stew with.  "What are you two going to do?  Sneak into the bathroom again," he asked.
  Haechan snorted and said, "I guess?  Although, I don't know how Jaemin would feel about that.  He gets all territorial about places he's recently fed from Renjun in."
  "Really?"  Mark stopped stirring.  He snorted.  "So, he's protective of the bathroom?"  His giggle box kicked in and he smacked him with each laugh.
  Haechan took the spatula so he wouldn't fling hot soup on them.  He shook his head at him.  "Cute," he said, which only made him laugh harder.

>>>Read Chapter 8:  Time Flies, We Fly [P2/2]

They eat a great meal, enjoy the weather, and are still their Dreamy-centric selves.

Chenle is keeping a secret about his transition, which could be dangerous. [CH8]

Don't forget to UPVOTE if you enjoyed it :)