( ⭐️ )

❛ wait... you look
kind of familiar. ❜

—

the gentle february night wind blew into jeno's room from his window which was slightly ajar.

he sat on his bed, flipping through an old comic book of his as he really had nothing else he was allowed to do.

a few weeks had past since he had been put under practical 'house arrest' by his strict and apathetic management.

those very few weeks, jeno had spent living in fear of what might happen if he broke the rules that had been set in place.

so, he had helplessly obeyed the guidelines, as much as they were unreasonable and borderline inhumain.

yet tonight, jeno had other plans in mind.

he was tired of listening to them.

he was tired of being controlled.

he was tired of being belittled.

he was tired of it all.

he was ready to be reckless.

because for once in his life, jeno felt the need to be himself again. he was done with living for others.

he was ready to live for himself again.

and that meant breaking the rules.

sneaking out of the dorm after midnight?

sounded like a picture perfect plan.

( ⭐️ )

chaeyeon couldn't take it anymore.

she needed a break.

grabbing the keys to her dorm, she pulled a light brown sweater over her plain black tee, slipped on a pair of her basic white converse shoes along with a beige baseball cap and mask, and quickly left door.

her own apartment felt like it was a prison. she just couldn't stay cooped up in the same place which bore so many terrible memories anymore.

the yelling. the screaming. the overall abuse. it would always take place in her very own living room.

there she felt trapped.

desperately wanting someone to talk to, chaeyeon had no contact with anyone, as her phone had been indefinitely confiscated.

she would have loved to have just called somi. having someone to talk it out with — that would have made everything better.

but of course, that was currently not an option.

having no other ideas, chaeyeon decided a night venture would be the best way to ease the trouble she felt inside.

though her company never banned her from leaving the dorm at anytime, it was already past midnight, which meant if someone spotted her leaving, that would cause some definite issues with her manager. especially if it was a news outlet or sasaeng.

passing through the silver arch at the front entrance of the building, chaeyeon began to run towards her favorite spot in the city — the han river bridge.

it was quite a far destination, but chaeyeon knew that it was the only place that would bring her comfort during this time.

the grand street lamps lit up the bridge highway as only a few cars drove to and from each side of the overpass.

her thumping footsteps fell to a stop as her gazed up into the sky at the glistening crescent moon.

tears began pouring out of her eyes, slowly dripping down her cheeks, soaking up her sleeves.

she looked back up at the moon, and closed her eyes. she wished she had someone she could talk to. someone who would understand.

the light sound footfall behind her caused chaeyeon to quickly try and wipe her tears away. she didn't expect anyone to be at this place during this hour. her heart began pounding as she was terrified of being caught in this state, especially as an idol.

"hey," a gentle voice whispered behind her, an worrisome tone evident in his voice.

not wanting to be rude, chaeyeon took a deep breath and timidly turned around, praying that whoever it was wouldn't recognize her.

"oh... hello there." she responded looking up at the owner of the compassionate voice.

the male wore black from head to toe. like chaeyeon, he too, wore a mask that covered his features. his eyes however were visible, and looked quite familiar to chaeyeon at first glance.

the boy with the families eyes subtly looked the frantic girl up and down. "i... i heard you crying are you alright?" he kindly asked.

chaeyeon let out a sigh, relived that he didn't recognize her, meaning that he most likely wasn't a fan of hers.

"i'm okay." she replied with hesitation in her voice, still trying to figure out if the boy in front of her really was someone she had seen before or if she was just too sleep deprived to think straight.

the boy raised his eyebrow slowly, "wait... you look kind of familiar," he began, "have we met before?"

chaeyeon swallowed harshly, giving in to the fact that she had possibly been caught. she slowly took off her mask, and weakly smiled at him. "i'm an idol," she replied, "i go by aria."

the boy's eyes widened, slowly reaching up to take off his own face covering.

"nice to meet you aria, i'm jeno." he smiled, his eyes smiling along with his lips.

it was chaeyeon's turn to be surprised. "jeno... as in jeno from nct dream?"

"that's me." he nodded.

chaeyeon turned a gave the boy a quick bow, as he was her sunbaenim, having debuted a year before her. she then turned to look up into the sky, letting out a small laugh, "funny what a small world this is."

"yeah... we've never met before, have we, aria? i've heard of you though... you're that soloist with yg right? the one who's friends with mark?" jeno asked curiously.

"yeah we're canadian friends." chaeyeon grinned, the tear stains on her face showing, "you can call me chaeyeon, by the way. aria is just my stage name."

"sounds good chaeyeon," he inhaled as the cool breeze blew by once more, "now tell me, why are you out so late at night by yourself?"

chaeyeon lowered her head in shame, afraid to look jeno in the eyes. should she tell the truth to a stranger she just met? he seemed so friendly.

taking a deep breath in, tears began forming in the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "i can't take my management anymore." she admitted, staring down at her beat-up shoes.

a moment of silence passed, and to chaeyeon's surprise, jeno began to laugh.

a pang of irritation flooded her veins, annoyed as to why he would laugh at such a serious issue.

"sorry," jeno smiled, his laughter slowing down, "i just find it funny, because that's the exact same reason i'm out here at this time of day for."

"wait really?" chaeyeon titled her head to the side, her annoyance turning into curiousity, "so... i'm just gonna say it whatever — i'm guessing your management sucks ass too?"

jeno nodded and chuckled, the smile on his face never fading. the first time he had smiled this much in weeks.

"it's like us idols never get to do anything normal anymore," the two shook their heads in agreement.

"hey..." jeno began, an idea suddenly appearing in his head, "why don't we... go somewhere and have some fun tonight? do all the regular things that our managements always stop up from?"

chaeyeon's eyes lit up at the idea.

"risky," she said tapping her finger on her chin, "my manager won't like that," strapping her mask back on her face, she reached out her hand towards jeno's to shake it.

"but who cares? i'm in."

( ⭐️ )

a/n !

you know when i said this

i did not expect so many people to reply
i am sorry i will never be bold ever again