it was lunch break when jisung headed to the theatre hall to meet his friends.

he just wanted to walk peacefully to the hall when he overheard a conversation between two students in the hallways.

the ash haired boy jolted at the mention of the name of his friends. he came to a halt, wanting to listen to their dialogue.

"you know, jaemin? that pink haired guy in drama club? i heard that he was suspended for selling drugs in school!", a male voice said in a pejorative tone.

"suspended? but he's back in school, man", another male voice wavered, "guess he could convince the headmaster with drugs."

the two boys laughed mocking and continued gossiping and making fun of jaemin.

"a pure and angelic looking guy like him turning out to be a tough drug seller? dang, that shit's messed up!", the first male noted.

"he's living a double life. no wonder why so many girls are interested in him, he's a real badass with good looks", the second guy mentioned.

"you think so? are they really into bad boys who do illegal stuff? i don't think they wanna be too close to a drug dealer... you know, can't risk being involved in such dirty business", the first dude stated, causing his friend to snort.

even though jisung was a reserved and quiet person and wanted to stay out of other people's businesses as good as possible, it made him utterly furious to hear that bad mouthing of those guys, particularly about his close friend.

anger built up in him and his blood was boiling while listening to their conversation.

"everyone's talking big about him but you know what? i think he's an attention-seeking loser, a jerk who might be actually two-faced."

those words crossed the line. jisung had enough of it. he was sick of this bullshit.

never had he expected to step out of his comfort zone to approach and confront those guys.

his social anxiety and awkwardness would've never let him do that. however, his fury was too enormous. he couldn't watch or listen to them talking shit about his friend without doing anything against it. it felt wrong if he did.

"hey, excuse me", jisung walked up to them, giving the kind and polite approach a shot even though they deserved the opposite.

he could tell that the two male strangers were older than him. their aura was dark and they seemed to be bad news.

jisung was lucky that his height made him appear older than his age. those guys wouldn't assume that he was a freshman.

"huh? what do you want?", the first guy asked arrogantly, pushing jisung to his limits and making his anger slowly grow stronger.

"sorry for overhearing your conversation but what you two have just said is really inappropriate and rude", the ash haired boy explained and saw how the second male scoffed.

"why do you care? it's none of your business what we've just said", he mocked with dull eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"well... neither is it your business to talk about jaemin", jisung retorted a bit harshly and formed his hands into fists to control himself.

"you don't even know him a bit and yet, you're pretending like you do and you talk big when you don't have the right to do so", the ash haired boy called them out, a hint of rage was heard in his voice.

"besides, rumors are not bound to the truth. don't believe everything people say, don't be so foolish and naive", the freshman highlighted, his jaw and his hands were clenched.

"woahhh, chill man", the second guy laughed while the first guy seemed to be pissed. "dang, don't be so sensitive", he added with a playful smile.

"sensitive?", jisung repeated offensively, taking in a deep breath to collect himself, "well, then don't be so insensitive about other people. how about you give it a try?"

"you fucking punk!", the first dude claimed in annoyance, digging glares into jisung's skin.

"do you want to mess with us?", the second guy asked him enraged, dropping his smile in a blink of second and stepping closer to him to intimidate him.

"well, i wouldn't risk to get into trouble for your school record. do you want to end up in a rumor too where random students talk bad about you without understanding the backgrounds but only seeing the surface?", jisung retorted and was surprised by himself that he was able to say such intense words to strangers.

guess his strong emotions took over him.

"hey ji! there you are! i've been searching for you this whole ti-", a familiar voice sounded nearby but stopped in the middle of the sentence.

the orange haired boy stopped in his tracks when he saw jisung talking to older strangers and noticed the rage written on all their faces.

chenle knew something was up. especially when his best friend was mad — which he rarely was. jisung had always been the calm and collected peacemaker — but seeing him discussing with unfamiliar students who are even older than him? it must be so messed up that it even made jisung upset.

"what's going on?", the chinese interrupted the conversation of the three boys, standing next to his best friend.

"that's none of your- oh shit, it's zhong chenle", the first guy responded and got quieter with each word, fear was displayed in his eyes.

"huh? who?", the second guy inquired in irritation and lifted his eyebrow before his eyes widened in realisation.

jisung furrowed his eyebrows and was confused about the changed reactions of the two guys. "what's happening?"

"ji, care to explain what happened?", chenle asked firmly, observing precisely the two dudes.

"we just had a little disagreement but that's all, zhong", the first guy made up an excuse and gave him a forced friendly smile, causing jisung to raise an eyebrow.

"i did not ask you", the orange haired responded harshly and turned to his best friend, "tell me what happened."

"they talked bad about jaemin. they gossiped and made fun of him. i confronted them with that and told them that it's not okay to do such thing, especially when they are not in the position to judge", jisung explained and exposed them, "oh and they threatened me and wanted to intimidate me. they also indirectly implicated to hurt me."

the first guy's jaw was clenched while the second boy gritted his teeth in anger, wanting to do not peaceful things.

chenle's eyes widened in shock before he turned to the two unknown boys. his gaze was darker than ever, filled with hatred and fury.

"heyyy, bro. that's not how it was", the second guy tried to save them but received judgemental looks from jisung.

"don't ever call me your bro. we don't even know each other and yes, it happened exactly like that."

the second male glared at him, wanting to shut him up with a punch but resisted to do that.

"listen carefully, i won't say it again", chenle began seriously, drawing everyone's attention.

"talking shit about someone you don't even know is making you a shit person yourself", he stated and was visibly pissed.

"and i don't know if you're aware of it but jaemin is a good friend of us. he's a kind and sweet person. rumors say nothing about a person as it's all made up by people who should get a fucking life. rumors stay rumors until they are proven", chenle commented calmly but you could hear that he was mad.

"so, i kindly ask you to stop spreading misinformation and not to believe any fabricated bullshit. imagine you're in the shoes of jaemin. do you think rumors and bad-mouthing of strangers are funny?"

silence engulfed the air for a moment, building up the tension in the hallways.

"and if i catch one of you threatening, hurting or talking bad about my friends — any kind of bad treatment towards my friends — , then i won't hesitate to take action", chenle retorted sternly, making the two guys nod briefly.

"let's go, ji. the others are waiting for us", the orange haired boy said and turned around, not wanting to waste any more time on these guys.

jisung exchanged hatred glares with the two boys before turning away, following his best friend.

as soon as they were out of their sights, chenle sighed tiredly and shook his head.

"it's insane that so many people are the embodiment of idiocy and asininity", the chinese mentioned in disappointment.

his best friend agreed humming. "unfortunately."

chenle stopped walking, making the ash haired boy come to a halt as well. confusion was written on the younger's boy.

"what's up, lele?", jisung asked softly, his anger had vanished by now.

chenle glanced at his best friend before giving him a warm smile. "you've surprised me in a good way."

"huh? what do you mean?", the freshman questioned in irritation and lifted an eyebrow.

"you stepped out of your comfort zone to confront people who are unfamiliar and older than you", chenle clarified and put an arm around his shoulders.

"i was surprised to see you approach them. especially when you're my little shy bestie", he added grinning, "i have also never seen you that mad before in all years of our friendship. i was shocked as duck!"

jisung laughed in embarrassment and looked away as he felt shy again. "i was surprised myself too... i didn't expect myself to be able to argue with unknown people without breaking down and having voice cracks...", he confessed sheepishly, "i guess my emotions took over control... i couldn't tolerate disrespect towards my friends."

the orange haired boy flashed him a bright smile as he ruffled playfully his hair. "yesss, that's my bestie!"

"stop it, you're making me feel embarrassed", jisung chuckled and hid his face behind his hands.

"we love the confidence you had, we need more of it!", chenle encouraged happily and glanced joyfully at his best friend.

oh, how proud he was of jisung.

the younger one removed his hands from his face and looked shyly at his best friend. seeing chenle's genuine smile infected him too and made him mirror his smile.

however, jisung couldn't help but wonder how the unknown boys knew chenle's name and why they were afraid of him.

was his best friend hiding something from him?

━━━ ☆★☆ ━━━

[ author's note ]
wowow jisung snapped and chenle is mysterious?! how are we feeling? 🎤

anyways doyoung's album is wonderful!! it suits him fr and i love the vibes of his songs <3

update to my spain trip: it was soooo cool and i enjoyed it a lot there 🤭 but yeah i'm not ready for the upcoming exams and tests ewww
but i'll manage it somehow and it will be okay

don't give up y'all! i know you all can do it! <3

sending you all lots of strength and power ♡