“What’s your favorite childhood memory?” Nara turned her head to look at Chen, his sudden question surprised her.

That morning, he had interrupted her sleep, which she cursed him for it, and suggested going to the beach. Of course so early in the morning, the water was naturally icy cold, but that didn’t stop Chen from wanting to go there.

The two had visited the place at around five in the morning, and Nara had wrapped herself up in a sweater cardigan over her light blue dress. She wore flip flops that she didn’t mind getting dirty with the dress. Chen wore a sweatshirt and basketball shorts, carrying a picnic tablecloth and some food. The two had settled the tablecloth on the sand, sitting on it and starting to already eat breakfast.

“My childhood memory? Hmm, it was probably when my parents got us a dog.”

“Us?”

“Oh, I have an older brother, Hajoonie oppa.” Nara smiled slightly, rubbing her hands over her legs to warm them up.

“What is the dog’s name?” Chen laid his back on the cloth, his eyes never leaving Nara’s as they spoke.

“Kokoro,” she said with a small laugh. “Oppa came up with it, not me. Kokoro died a couple of years after I had debuted, probably around the same time oppa left.”

“Where did he go?”

“To the military.” Nara fell on her back, shifting to her side so that she was facing Chen. “Why are you asking all these questions?”

“Because it’s weird that I feel so close to you, yet I know nothing about your past. I don’t know your parents name; I don’t know what you were like in high school, so I really don’t know much about you. All I know is that I can trust you with my heart, and you will never betray me,” Chen pouted, pushing out his bottom lip.

“So what if you don’t know much? I barely know your history, and you don’t see me complaining,” she laughed, but deep down, she really did want to know more about him. She wanted to know if he had dating experience or if he was popular in high school. She wanted to know what his friends were like and where he went after classes. She wanted to know what he did at home before his debut and what he was planning to do had he not chosen singing. She was curious about so many things, but she was too much of a coward to ask them.

“So, you’re not curious about anything? Come on! Ask me something, and I promise I won’t lie to you.” Chen grinned, probably trying to encourage her to speak up.

Nara thought for a while, unsure what to ask. What did she want the most out of all her questions? His first love? His friends? His hobbies? She lifted her finger to her lip and nibbled on it, a nervous habit she recently formed. Then it came to her, “What were you like in high school?” She watched as he raised an eyebrow, taken back that out of all the questions, this is what she wanted.

“Me? Hmm.” He turned to his side as well, having the two of them now facing each other. “I’m pretty much the same.” From her facial expression, he knew that he should elaborate more. “I talked a lot, joked a lot, and I had quite a lot of friends. During Valentine’s Day, I got the most chocolates. During Christmas, I got the most presents. People knew my birthday without me having to tell them.”

Nara gaped at him. “You’re so arrogant, now…”

He threw his head back as he laughed, shaking his head. “Kidding. That was an exaggeration. I did have many friends, though, since it was easy for me to talk to strangers. Ah, there were also a couple of girls I was friends with. I was more comfortable around guys since I grew up with an older brother, but there were two girls who were my friends. I had a crush on one of them.”

Nara felt a tug at her heart, but she ignored it and grew curious. “What was she like? Your crush, I mean.”

“She was pretty honest and quiet. She had really pretty eyes, and she always spoke to me with a timid voice. She was nice to everyone, but she was different towards me. Sure she was nice, but she would joke with me and laugh more to me. It’s not like I liked her or anything. I simply admired her, like how I admired you before I debuted.”

Nara blushed, shoving his face away and laughing. “You’re gross. Don’t say those things. What did you think of me before you met me?”

“Well, my friends were the ones to introduce me to Kisses. You had that one debut song that was very, very provocative and sultry. Anyways, it was just really y. So, a couple of my friends showed it to me. And no, I’m not a ert so stop looking at me like that. It was your video that was seductive!” Nara didn’t realize that she had scrunched her face, wiping it off and smiling towards him.

“Anyways, you had a role where you bent over, touched your feet then slowly went up, your hands moving up your legs as you did so. At the time when I watched that, I thought that you had this strong, y personality. You seemed like you could beat someone up with a cold stare or have them tremble at how alluring you looked.”

Nara’s cheeks grew warm as the red hue darkened. She didn’t expect this kind of compliment towards him, and she touched both sides of her cheeks with her cool hands to bring the heat down. “Jeez, Chenah. You sound like a ert now,” she mumbled.

“Shut up!” He blushed, moving his body so his back was on the ground, that way he could avoid her stare. “So, I went home and looked up Kisses.” He stopped speaking as he realized that he made himself sound even more erted. “Not in a erted way,” he quickly added before Nara could . “And I found this interview with just you in it. I clicked it, not because I wanted to see your y dance again. Man, quit looking at me like that!” Now it was his turn to cover his face, and Nara let out a laugh with how cute he was acting. He looked like a five year old child now who was caught peeing in his pants, completely embarrassed and vulnerable.

“I clicked the video so I could see if I was right about you,” he mumbled, glancing over at her at the corner of his eye to find her still watching him with a smile. He continued speaking as the smile on her face motivated him. “I have never been so wrong in my life when I saw you during that interview. Maybe since it was still your first time, you had this awkward and shy vibe coming from when you spoke. Then after a few minutes into the video, you got comfortable. You were laughing a lot, joking a lot. You even screamed at unnecessary times. To be honest, you were completely opposite of what I thought, polar opposite. You were so nice and vibrant. You sparkled when you spoke, and you seemed so confident. Every video I’ve seen of you was just filled with happiness. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you frown at anything. Probably when I annoy you, but never when you’re upset.”

Well, this was ironic. The happy-go-lucky girl who always smiled was internally suffering. She didn’t want mix her personal affairs with her business one, so it was easy for her to adjust to the camera and be a happier person. But outside of her career, she was weak, and she always had this feeling of crying. Maybe because of her unrequited feelings for Jongdae, or maybe it was the stress of everything, but she was never one to express her dark feelings.

“Do you ever get upset?” Chen was now on his side, facing her as he studied her expression.

“Not really. There aren’t many things that upset me,” she lied, as usual. Oh if Chen knew how much she lied during their friendship, he probably would have dumped her there. “I was upset when Kokoro died, but I learned to move on.”

“I don’t ever want to see you upset,” Chen had said in a low tone, reaching over and brushing his fingertips across her cheek. “I always want to see that smile on your face, no matter what. You’ll always smile for me, right?”

I already do, Chenah. “Of course I will,” she said, matching his tone and blushing when his fingers met her cheek.

The song of EXO’s Wolf suddenly ruined the atmosphere the two, and Chen reached for his phone from his pocket, answering it quickly. “Hello?”

“Yah, Chenah. Where are you?” Of course, it was Baekhyun. He was too considerate for his friend, and he always had to check up on him. It’s not like Chen was going to be mauled or taken away, but Baekhyun had a thing for making sure his friend was safe.

“I’m at the beach,” he bluntly answered.

“By yourself?”

“No, who goes to the beach alone?”

“Tao…”

Chen laughed this time, making Nara raise an eyebrow. She couldn’t hear the conversation, but as long as neither of them was shouting, it was okay. “I’m with Narayah.”

“You’re always with her, Chenah. Why don’t you just date the girl already if you’re going to hang out with her so much?”

Chen frowned at his suggestion. “Baekhyunah, she’s my friend. My best friend. How could I possibly do that?”

A flash of pain was expressed on her face, not long enough for Chen to see, but it was there. She quickly looked away to conceal it, biting her bottom lip to suppress back those feelings. “Alright, if you say so,” Baekhyun mumbled. “Well, hurry back. Kisses and EXO have a radio show to attend to. Well, it’ll just be me, you, Narayah, and Mihyunie noona.”

“Hyerinah isn’t going?” Chen asked, and silence grew between the two.

“Of course not!!” Baekhyun yelled through the phone, which made Chen pull arms length away and wince at how loud he was. “Why would she go!? That crazy ! She is so rude, and she acts so high and mighty! ‘Go back to training.’ LIKE WHO IS SHE TO SAY THAT TO ME!?”

“Yah, Baekhyuhan! Shut up! You’re too loud!” Chen shouted as well, having his revenge and smirking as his friend whimpered.

“Anyways, hurry up. Have fun, Chenah~.” The call ended between the two, and Chen all of a sudden felt so drained of energy just from speaking to Baekhyun.

“He wears me out,” he mumbled as he crawled over, resting his head on Nara’s stomach. She jumped in surprise, not expecting him to do something so intimate.

“Chenah –“

“Just let me stay like this for a few minutes,” he whispered, his eyes closing as his hand rested on her lower stomach.

She grew self conscious as she knew her stomach must have been making noises as it digested the food she recently ate. Chen suppressed his chuckle but he couldn’t hold it in much longer as he lifted his head to look at Nara. “Your stomach is making the weirdest noise.”

“I didn’t tell you to lie on me!” She screeched before sitting up and hugging her stomach. The boy let out his signature heartfelt laugh as he leaned over and engulfed Nara in a hug. She rested her head at the crook of his neck, moving her arms around his waist. Chen kissed her temples before releasing her, standing up and holding his hand out.

“Come on, princess. We have a radio show to attend to.”

“Don’t call me that,” she mumbled as she hesitantly took a hold of his hand. He pulled her with ease, and she stumbled on her feet, leaning against him for support.

“Such a clumsy girl, you are,” he said, his voice low. Her eyes never left his as the two literally had no space between them. Chen cleared his throat as he lifted his hand to the back of his neck and awkwardly scratched it. “Narayah, you’ve been leaning on me for like five minutes now. We need to go.”

“Ah!” She quickly jumped from him; the red on her cheeks now flushed down to her neck in embarrassment. “Mianhae, Chenah…”

“It’s fine. It’s cute when you rely on me, anyways.” He said, flashing his signature grin before going ahead on folding the tablecloth. He carried the two items he had initially brought, holding his arm out for Nara to hold. “Hurry, princess. We don’t have much time to waste!”

She reached out and held on to his arm, smiling to herself and pretending that they were a couple. This was practically the only way she could manage her unrequited feelings toward her best friend.

 

 

 

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This one isn't as long as the previous chapters, but it's still 2000+ words!!

I just wanted to get this in because I had an idea for the radio show <33

Comment/subscribe if you want!! It's always good to get feedback, that way I know what you guys want!

Enjoy!!

LITERALLY CANNOT WAIT FOR TOMORROW. I NEED THAT MOONLIGHT SONG NOW.