The train moved along on the tracks in the countryside at a steady pace. You had continued to stare out at the passing scenery while listening to music. You sort of kept to yourself after switching seats with the couple to end up sitting next to Chen. An awkwardness had crept up between you two and you didn’t like it. A part of you wanted it to stay this way. 

Yeah, I don’t have to make friends with this guy. We probably won’t even see each other anymore after we get off. I barely know him…

And the other part of you wanted his attention once again, for some reason you wanted to know him. You lowered the volume of your music and turned slowly to see if he was sleeping or not. He definitely wasn’t.

When you turned, your eyes met with his. He looked just as surprised as you were. You faced away from him quickly. You were lightly panicking for some reason. 

Ugh, why does he make me flustered, sheesh. Seriously, you usually weren’t like this. That instance replayed in your head. Why was he already facing you? You seemed to have caught him in the act of doing something.. while he was looking at you? 

Hmm, was he holding something? A notebook… was he writing something?

You settled your back into your seat, facing front to see the old couple leaning their heads against one another, sleeping their ride away. You tried to peek to your left to see what Chen was doing. But he wasn’t even there. 

What? Where did he go? …When did he even leave? He sure is good at being quiet. You sort of stretched your neck and sat up to see where he might’ve gone.

You saw the back of him, he was heading towards the bathroom. Somehow, you felt relieved that you found him. You sat back down and looked at his seat. You saw a notebook there with a pencil slipped into the spiral of it. He was writing something! The notebook was already opened but it was flipped on one side. Your curiosity was getting the better of you. You glanced at the bathroom to make sure he wasn’t coming. You carefully lifted the notebook and flipped it over. You were expecting a journal entry of some kind but, there was a picture of someone.. a girl.. it was you. It was a rough sketch but you could tell it was of you, looking out the window with your hand holding up your head by your chin. You were mesmerized by the drawing and found yourself lifting your own hand to your chin.

You heard someone clear his throat. “I’m not finished…” You felt yourself getting red and quickly put the notebook back.

“Sorry.” You dared to face him. This is what you wanted, the chance for you two to reconnect again. He picked up the notebook and sat back down, still not facing you, letting out a sigh.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. It was just there and I..” Look at me. “..I should have just left it alone.” You tried to explain yourself, thinking you sounded like an idiot. He still wouldn’t look at you.

You watched as he turned the notebook over, examining his own sketch. You were about to apologize again, seeing no reaction whatsoever from him, until he let out a light laugh.

“What.. did you just laugh? What’s so funny? Did you just laugh at the drawing? Is it because it’s me?” you exploded with all these questions. Chen, finally turning to face you, just held a finger to his lips. “Shh…” he said calmly. He pointed to the old couple, who were still sleeping.

“Oh…” you whispered and covered your own mouth in embarrassment.

You stayed quiet for a bit before asking him in a hushed tone, “So, what made you laugh?”

“You are a curious person, huh?” he whispered back, finally looking at you. You weren’t ready for that soft, yet intense-at-the-same-time look from his eyes, but you didn’t look away.

“I guess I am. You draw nice.”

He gave a slight grin. “I told you I wasn’t finished with it yet. Did you think it was weird that I was drawing you?”

“No, no. I found it… flattering? It’s not weird.”

“Oh that’s good.” he muttered under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing. I think I found the situation of it all quite comical. Maybe I wanted you to see this. And when you actually did, well… I guess it’s funny how things turned out.”

You nodded, understanding what he meant. “Are you some kind of artist then?”

“Not really. I just got bored and started doodling. And I saw you first, so.. yeah.”

You blushed and glanced at the old couple.

“I’m actually better at singing than anything.” Chen blurted out, trying to recapture your attention.

You were taken aback at his sudden words. “R-really? Are you a musical artist then?”

“Kind of, yeah, you could say that.”

He seemed so much more interesting now. “I noticed you’re pretty attached to your iPod. Can I ask what do you listen to?”

You turned to look out the window. The sun was still up but it would be only a couple of hours until sunset. “Recently I’ve had a few piano pieces appear as my most played. I think it’s the train ride and the scenery. Listening to the piano makes it even more peaceful and nice.”

“I see.”

You turned back to face Chen. “Can I.. hear you sing?”

He blinked a few times. “What? Right now?” He looked around. “A lot of people are resting.” He looked down and smiled shyly. “Maybe another time.”

“Okay, fine.” you said as you closed your eyes and leaned into the back of your seat.

“Eh? Are you tired?” Chen moved a little closer.

“I’m resting. We should be like them and rest.” You opened your eyes, nodded at the old couple’s direction, and closed your eyes again. Chen gave a light smirk and sat back into his seat also closing his eyes.

About half an hour passed, when you regained some consciousness… to the sound of, singing? Someone was singing.

You didn’t want to open your eyes. Someone’s voice, his voice? Whoever’s voice it was, it was lovely. The sound was right by your ears but it was tender. It sounded like a lullaby.

You slowly came to realization of where you were. On a train. You felt it the hum of it moving beneath your feet. On the seat. The cushion of the seat beneath your numb bum. Your head, not against the seat, but leaning on a… shoulder? You slightly opened your eyes. You could see your own legs in front of you, your right hand in your lap and your left near his thigh. Wait, what? When did he get so close to me? Or maybe, I got close to him..? I must be on his shoulder. Oh god, how did it end up like this? He might be thinking how rude it was of me to just sleep on his shoulder like that. I can’t move now, can I? That would make of an even more embarrassing situation. And.. he’ll stop singing. You decided to keep pretending to be asleep. Chen already knew you had woken up. But for him, as long as your eyes were closed and you weren’t stirring against him, he would’ve kept singing for you forever.

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a/n: this was my first (published) scenario i ever wrote for Chen (: jongdae is such a sweetheart.

i imagined this scenario while listening to "angel (into your world)" by EXO.

i get a lot of inspiration from music nowadays