#chenchenchen

Brain: New thing.

Me: ............what.

Pairing: Kim Jongdae x Reader

Genre: Fluff and Angst

Word Count: 3k

Summary: Despite suspicions with coming home later than usual, even without knowing where you stood. Everything will be okay, right?

A/N: Based on a true story

Where

Jongdae and you never forgot how you met even when the memory was thought to be forgotten. He worked for inside this pizza parlor as the delivery driver and you were coming for an order ten minutes before the parlor would close. His assistant worker has insisted keeping the doors locked, that maybe you and your companion would leave, but Jongdae walked over and turned the locks. He welcomed you inside and offered to take the last minute order where he smiled the most brightest you had seen and you did an automatic smile back. Jongdae treated you with the friendliest customer service for someone working the night shift.

While your friend ordered, pay, and double checked the pizza order with the other associate, Jongdae had clocked out and pulled his phone blackberry phone out pressing the buttons.

“That phone’s not shit.” Jongdae whipped his head towards you. His expression was amused rather than struck.   

“Sorry?” He asked smiling and then that was the beginning of Kim Jongdae and you. He had broken up with his previous girlfriend when he realized that you were the one catching his eye. Both practically teenagers then and still barely considered adults, and freshly in love. The time took ten years with seven handmade birthday cakes and finding yourselves living under the same roof together. Almost three thousand days with countless dates from fancy restaurants to fast food inside the car. Sixty-five thousand, seven hundred hours with celebrating holidays together and several boxes and furniture moved into one house after the next.

Ninety months together and during a snowy traffic session inside the heated vehicle, Jongdae finally proposed. Other than the toasted temperature blasting through the vents that made your cheeks red you whispered yes. You nodded and said yes ten times and romantic feelings until the vehicle from behind honked their horn.

An entire decade together and six months engaged became the wedding day that took place inside your aunt’s house. You weren’t the perfect couple, but were both families best example of genuine love. The best example of friendship and strength and a team. Jongdae kissed your knuckles looking down, giving you eyes from pure passion while you did the same.

The same silent giggles and passionate gazes one year later inside the brand new home. Those giggles faltered within the darkness of the new master bedroom-eventually becoming gentle quick kisses and then becoming deeper.

“Fuck I love you so much.” Under eight hours having intimate action and  thankful if you could add for the uninterrupted night together. Only half an hour, thirty minutes later until dawn broke through the newly draped windows, sunlight peeping into the room and ten minutes worth waking up to a droopy eyed Jongdae holding your leg over his thigh, tugging a smile.

“I love you.” Whispered from both.

Two bars over one pregnancy test one morning signifying that in as little as nine months, you and Jongdae would become parents. Jongdae was speechless when he had found the baby shower card over the table saying ‘What’s up Pop?‘ Jongdae broke out in excitement and began calling every family member from both sides just to reveal the good news while you hide behind your hands feeling flustered and took the phone away when you heard him describe the magical evening. Since then Jongdae insisted that he would work extra hours for you to relax and spend the weekends with you more often. You went onto maternity leave and within nine months, three days and what felt like eternity until little Naomi was finally bathed, wrapped into a blanket cocoon and ready to meet you two.

Three years passed since you became parents and one thousand ninety-five days worth being a family. Eight dozen more holiday photos now with three people including the mother’s and father’s day photos. One of your favorite framed photos was one where you wore a simple knee length red dress with Jongdae wearing blue suit pants and a sweater sitting over a bench holding a then one year old Naomi above your knees. Both of you smiling as wide as you could. Another favorite was before Jongdae proposed when you were living together and the two of you went to a friend’s house party where your heads were connected together, sitting close knee to knee and your smiles made slits into your faces. That photo had been taken with your camera so long ago. Much too long ago to even remember the date or year that photo had been taken. Long before real life came running into your life as a family like a bullet train.

Now that you and Jongdae have been working non-stop and rarely ever saw each other except the morning and evening. You have rarely saw each other around Naomi and Jongdae began working late. More than you would work late night. From the baby steps when Jongdae saw you sleeping he refused kissing you goodbye before leaving so he sent photos of himself blowing kisses toward the camera that you enjoyed receiving. Not very common behavior for a married couple especially one who have been together most of their lives.

You love Jongdae with your entire heart that the thought of him having an affair would cause an emotional riot within you. Filled with anger and resentment and sobbing along with Naomi walking out the door holding your hand. That was what you intended hiding from your mother-in-law watching Naomi that night when you wanted to surprise Jongdae with dinner at his office. She was wrapped with a cloak over her shoulders while reading a novel in the living room. Out of all people your mother-in-law was the last person you wanted her to see you the way you are. You felt anxious walking into the house that you both called yours. There your mother-in-law looked up from the novel and rose onto her feet with an expression of shock.

“Y/N, what’s the matter?” She walked over you. She rushed over and held onto both your shoulders with much concern shown over her face. “What happened between you and--”

“Please pretend you never saw me.” You hissed with tears coming down. “I don’t want to see Jongdae.”

You held onto her forearms, trying to speak lowly without waking Naomi. “Y/N talk to me, please what happened between you two?”

“Please let me go,” you whispered. Your mother-in-law was growing desperate to know why you came back in such distraught. Why you didn’t want to see Jongdae, your husband and her son. But with your pleads weaving stitches through her heart she kisses your cheek and hugs you and asks you to take deep breaths before letting you go. You wiped the waters from your eyes and forced the whimpers down your throat and quietly closed the bedroom door.

“There it is.” You pulled a purple suitcase out underneath the bed.

You grabbed whatever from the shared closet and threw them inside the suitcase, looking like tongues sticking out the mouth. The last place you expected to see Jongdae walk out from an apartment building across the street from his office at four in the morning. You think about where you and Naomi would spend the rest of the night and how quickly you have to leave before Jongdae could arrive. You thought about where would be a suitable place for mothers and children and would be close enough to the school, but then you’d have to face Jongdae outside in front of other parents.

From the living room you hear your mother-in-law speaking along a male voice.

“Have you eaten?”

Jongdae arrived home before you could attempt the plan to leave. You heard his feet coming closer and you panicked going into the closet when you hear the door open. While grabbing whatever was in front of you, you didn’t want to face Jongdae but he would find you eventually. Silently inhaling through your nose and chomping your lip, you marched out the closet through the bathroom and threw the clothes into the suitcase. You avoided looking at Jongdae but you still see him from the corner of your eye.

Now here is how you found yourselves in the room with Jongdae staring at you with bloodshot eyes. They were moist with tears while he pressed his lips together. Your mouth opened and closed before gulping the choking pain down with anxiety washing over you. You moved away for the doorknob but stopped when Jongdae pulled your wrists, eyes pleading you to stay. You don’t snatch him away as you try fixing your gaze upon him.

“I didn’t sleep with anyone Y/N. You have to believe me.” He says.

You look away as you release the doorknob.

"I know you didn’t,” you whispered, “I believe you.”

He exhales with relief hitting him like a tsunami. He was petrified that you would leave him for committing something that he'd never do and how troubled you'd become. From the corner of your eye, he turns his head over the luggage over the unmade bed. The case barely closed with the fabrics poking out.

“Why did you want to leave then?” He asked.

You secretly placed one of your favorite photos on the bottom under the clothes with Naomi and Jongdae on his first Fathers Day. In the photo she is pulling his hair and he’s forcing a smile through the pain.

“At first I thought it’s because you might’ve cheated,” you say, “But it was the stress and anxiety from work I wanted to get away from.”

Jongdae knew exactly where your thoughts are coming from. He was also stressed about constantly thinking and calculating everything the two of you spent money on in order to be comfortable and for Naomi to have what she needs for a child.

“No more working overtime. From now on we’ll stay as the family we planned being.” He says.

Over ten years together, a connection can’t easily become broken especially when Jongdae hurried the way over in time. The problem overall was the reality that awaited you two once you had gotten married and became parents. You already carry stress with keeping a roof over your heads and bread on the table. That was the agreement for baring that stress when you began living together and moving from one place to another.

You also made an agreement upon a wholehearted note for the stress and major escalated responsibility when you found out that you were pregnant. And just as you hoped, Jongdae promised to go above the atmosphere and take as much hills and valleys being a father would be. Between those two things however, for a moment you forgot about affection and support you had vowed upon the wedding night. Jongdae’s mother insisted that she could spend the night inside Naomi’s room still solemnly worried about her son and daughter-in-law after the way you both ran into the house. Worried about your temper, now seizing a chance to calm you and exceeding toward the kitchen to make tea. She also scolded Jongdae a little for sleeping on the job and working late instead of being with his family while unwrapping her ricerolls for him.

“Your anniversary will be here soon, have you got any plans yet?” She asks.

You clutched the blanket she removed from herself to wrap it around you. From when you first encountered your mother-in-law, she had a bitter taste over her tongue. When Jongdae broke news about the engagement saying the marriage would be for tax purposes, she was against that. She believed that marriage should keep away from business and have attempted to put your relationship on trial.

Of course her views changed when she noticed the way you and Jongdae locked hands together, the exchanged loving gazes, the hug squeezes, the playful fighting, and how you stayed beside him tipsily snoozing into your neck, she also realized that you were the one.

You looked at Jongdae holding the white mug. “We haven’t thought about that yet Mother.”“Work has your ankles by the chains.” She says, “Don’t you still love each other?”

“Of course we do Mother!” Jongdae lowers his voice-noticing Naomi’s cracked open door-“With all my heart. We’re just trying to make things work now.”

You took small sips, “We might have raised enough for that trip we’ve been planning.”

Jongdae enlightened remembering the consideration of traveling to the Caribbean someday. You’ve always dreamed about visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and Jongdae dreamed about visiting the Caribbean Islands. There would be documentary audios playing in the background about Marine Life whenever Jongdae was home alone. Soon as Netflix released the movie Moana, the neighborhood children were tormenting their parents with “How Far I’ll Go” while Naomi’s preference was We Know The Way. She was also carried a Stitch plushie with her around the house and wore Lilo pajamas. Both were based off Hawaiana roots and culture rather than Caribbean, but she’ll know the difference soon. It had also been too long since you had a vacation since the honeymoon.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Your mother-in-law asks.

Jongdae nods. “We’ll be fine.”

After two kisses on the cheeks, and a wish to arrive home safely, she was gone. The two of you stand alone outside in silence crossing your arms and the both of you glance at each other. Eight months after, how many weeks total, and handfuls of days from working late, barely being home and fear that you would leave Jongdae alone that night for something he would never. The breeze blow through the knitted quilt and still made your skin shiver, and Jongdae pulls your elbow, making you face him. The time was probably five in the morning growing close to dawn.

The emotions from earlier stimulated your nerves now that you were calming down, your yawns were approaching after Jongdae yawning. “Can we start relaxing with slumber?”

He chuckles. “Good idea.”

You also remembered Naomi was still inside the house, and not to mention by herself. Several hours before the evening was still Saturday night meaning that right now was Sunday morning and Naomi doesn’t have preschool and you can both use mass session for an excuse if you overslept. Rather than proceeding toward the bedroom, you both slumped over the leather couch and Jongdae plants a kiss over your forehead as you closed your eyes.

For the moment, your worries about Jongdae disappearing wouldn’t be forgotten but for the moment everything would be okay. Surely everything would be alright, everything would be just fine.

When you married Jongdae, he claimed that what was his was now yours and the greatest thing he had given was his heart. He was the only person ever you had shared everything with from the mobile numbers all the way to the bodies and an offspring. Before announcing two syllables that would mean the promise of spending the rest of your life toward yourself and your husband, there was the promise to always stick together hip connected to hip.

Four months passed and you were stuck working another nine hour shift while Naomi stayed with her cousins until you arrive home. She was sleeping in your arms and the last thing you remember was tucking her into bed before seeing black.Then out of nowhere your phone starts ringing, making your eyes roll before digging through your bag and answered. “Hello?”

You were hardly paying attention when Jongdae’s voice flowed through the speaker.

“Babe where are you at?”

You wiped your mouth. “I’m at the house. Why?”

“Do you need something?”

Jongdae’s mouth gaped at your words.

“Y/N, I’ve been waiting for you at the new Wok restaurant.”

What was Jongdae doing there? He was supposed to be off work and home, unless he had sent you a text that he was there with his coworkers.You shot up from the spot with widened eyes. Your anniversary. You completely forgot your anniversary! That’s why Jongdae was there!   The front door closing stopped your increasing closet rampage when your husband walks through the living room, looking like he was trying to attack your heart with the way his shirt hugged his upper body and styled back hair. Instead of standing on the spot with awe, you apologized for missing out the date.

“Don’t worry hun, you were busy. We’ll try again soon.” Jongdae says through a smirk.

You sighed. For a moment you were afraid Jongdae would react annoyed and scowl through the phone, thankfully he reacted calmly. You changed into your sleepwear and brushed your teeth before flossing when the front door became unlocked and scared you for a split second. Jongdae hadn’t told you how close he was arriving home.

The anxiety disintegrated when Jongdae walked into the room. He was dressed in black dress pants and dark blue with some unbuttoned buttons. You opened your eyes slightly and you realize you’re standing inches away from your husband. “Dae, I’m so sorry I forgot baby.” He rested his hands over your lower back while you tugged his collar. “Everything will be fine.”

Jongdae said his words with assurance while looking into your eyes hoping you would notice the disappointment laced around them. He took you into the bedroom and changed into his pajamas. Tonight you held each other close, one leg over his, and noses barely touching. He flicked the ends of your hair with his fingers, admiring you to ignore the negative thoughts whirling above his brain. He left the bed and walked as quietly as possible into his daughter’s room, where he crouches down beside her sleeping and pushed back strands of hair and held her petite fluffy hand.

Honestly, I was so blind to notice CHEN just this Ko Ko Bop Era. xx

But, I want to say that he’s my bias too next to Yixing ;)