Work Text:
chenle knew something wasn't right the second he stepped in for a private dance class.
he asked his members if they were told to attend one and none of them knew what he was was even talking about. private dance classes weren't heard of in SM's entertainment industry.
he should've never attended it, or atleast should've brought a member with him.
what happened in the dance room was something chenle would never forget. it was so bad, so traumatizing, it made him scared to even go back to the dorms. what would the members say if they saw him like this?
chenle had a huge bruise forming on his cheek where he previously got slapped, and a cut that was bleeding continuously on his bottom lip from the trainers ring grazing on it. he had tear stained cheeks that made his eyes puffy.
his neck was covered in hickies that looked so ugly and were sure to be dark in a couple of days. chenle didn't want those, he tried and tried pushing the man away but he was weaker. he didn't have any strength in him because he was frozen in shock and his body was barely trying to react.
what was worse was that he was stripped and raped against his will. chenle wasnt experienced at this, this wasn't how things were supposed to go.
why him?
why did he have to be the one to have this happen to him? he didn't wish anything like this upon himself or the members, yet it still happened.
he was sobbing, shakily trying to put his clothes back on. hoping that the 'trainer' wouldn't come back in here. chenle needed to leave, he couldn't even bear accidentally looking at a mirror or the horrid stench in this room.
once he was fully dressed and clean as much as he possibly could've, he grabbed his phone and sprinted out of the room. going out of the building and running towards the dorm. all he could think about was being home, being with his members, and being safe.
but then the ugly memory of what just happened makes him stutter his steps and fall to the concrete ground. cutting his knee from the rocks and scratching up his hands that he stopped himself from face planting with. chenle once again got up and walked this time.
he was spent, all the energy he had left was used for his trip back to the dorm. and he eventually got there. the "private" was at 9pm so it wasn't a shock that he came back home at 12am. everyone was shockingly quiet and chenle guessed they might've went to sleep due to early schedule tomorrow.
then chenle thought and thought, how was he going to hide this mess on him. there was no way he could hide this, so what the hell was he going to say to his members. chenle couldn't do it, he wanted to quit, and just cry his heart out.
this was probably his fault anyways. chenle wore shorts that were pretty short and a tank top that was loose. he was practically 'asking for it' as the trainer told him. chenle sat on the couch on the living room and buried his face into his dirty hands. he wished tomorrow would never come.
it was about six in the morning and the members were all starting to wake up. jisung looked to the other side of the room and realized chenle wasn't there on his bed. his head immediately went to panic mode and he started to frantically search everywhere in the room and the upstairs.
because chenle wasn't an early riser, he would never be awake this early to do something.
he ran down the stairs almost falling as he was skipping the steps. he looked in the kitchen and there was nothing, then he went into the living room and he found chenle laying on the couch. his body was in fetal position and his arm was covering his face.
jisungs heart dropped and he automatically knew something was wrong. he looked at chenle a bit more and he spotted his knee that had a fairly huge gash on it and a bruise blooming around it. jisungs throat tightned and he softly moved chenles arm that was covering his face.
his hand was scratched up and his cheek had a painful looking bruise blooming. his lip was covered in dry blood and his neck was covered in red purple spots. jisung covered his mouth and he began to breathe shakily, to the point of hyperventilation.
he wobbly made himself go up the stairs and he staggered in the halls until he reached the first room, which was jaemins and jenos.
"help! chenle— chenle he's.." jisung tried to speak but his breathing was too quick to even let him speak properly.
jaemin quickly went beside jisung on instinct and tried to pull him to his bed to calm him down but the younger shoved him and cried.
"jisung what's wrong? what about chenle, i need you to speak up please," jeno pleaded.
"he's h-hurt hes all bloody and bruised," jisung finally let out.
jeno and jaemin both went towards jisungs and chenles room quickly, just to see chenle wasn't there. so they went downstairs and went to the couch, and there he was. and oh they didn't think it would be as bad as this.
they were expecting bruises on the legs or something but this was far from their imagination. jeno went on his knees beside chenle and checked his pulse first. he was breathing which was a good start, so then he decided to try waking up the younger boy.
so jeno began to shake him lightly. watching as chenle began to slowly stir awake. his eyes twitching and fluttering until they finally opened. chenle immediately moved away from jeno and brought his knees to his chest.
"don't hurt me! i didn't do anything wrong... i'll be good... i swear i'll be good!" chenle croaked as he covered his head with his arms to protect himself.
jaemin felt his heart shatter and he wanted to puke, who could've possibly made chenle this way. he felt his eyes begin to water and he just wished that he could heal chenles hurting instantly.
jeno on the other hand didn't know what to do. he's never dealt with something like this in his entire life. he wanted to embrace chenle but that would probably make it worse.
"i'm not going to hurt you chenle, i won't touch you if you don't want me to, i just need to know what happened," jeno tried to seem collected.
chenle shook his head and got off the couch trying to run away from the two older males. failing to do so when he collapsed in front of the door entrance. jaemin gasped and quickly went over to his side, and was about to help him up but didn't want to scare chenle.
instead he looked at the boy and noticed the gash on his knee reopened and spilling blood. jaemin went to the kitchen and got the first aid kit, brought it over, and sat down next to chenle.
"can i clean this up chenle, i need to do it so it won't get infected," jaemin shakily asked.
chenle nodded and focused his eyes on the way jaemins hands trembled terribly when he tried to clean his knee. the younger boy's eyes got cloudly and he began to quietly cry. he didn't want jaemin to worry, he didn't want to scare his members.
it wasn't their fault, it was his fault for believing such a suspicious invitation. it was his fault that he didn't put more of a fight up. it was his fault for not trusting his instincts to run away. so no, he didn't want his members to worry.
seeing jaemin so scared and nervous made chenle want to never forgive himself for making him that way. chenle had never seen jaemin this way in his entire life. and he had never seen jeno this way either.
the older practically pulling out his hair and pacing around the living room, mumbling something under his breath.
"hey, hey please don't cry," jaemin sniffled as he began crying himself, "does it hurt? am i hurting you?"
chenle looked at him and shook his head, rubbing his tears away as best as he can. wincing when he felt his tears seep into the tiny cuts in his hand. jaemin noticed that and once he finished bandaging chenles knee, he began cleaning up the tiny scratches,putting bandages on those as well.
jaemin furrowed his eyebrows deeply when he began fighting with himself. he wanted to clean up chenles bottom lip and putting healing cream on his cheek, but was scared that chenle didn't want him touching his face.
"can i... can i clean your lip and put cream on your cheek?" jaemin asked.
chenle hesitated and looked at the ground before looking back at jaemin. he nodded slowly and barely blinked as he watched jaemins hand come closer to him. when the boys hand was just inches away chenle flinched and almost put his arms up again from reflex.
this was the thing that finally broke jaemin. he dropped the materials and covered his face, trying to calm himself down. his tears were streaming way too much and he couldn't possibly watch chenle be afraid of him anymore.
jeno came over and tapped lightly on jaemins shoulder, silently messaging the boy to go and that he would take care of the rest. "go inform renjun, donghyuck, and mark about this. but don't let them come down here until they are calm... also please take care of jisung." jeno whispered to jaemin before the boy left.
"i'm gonna finish fixing up your lip and cheek okay?" jeno said carefully.
"okay..." chenle muttered, speaking for the first time in a bit.
the elder boy weakly smiled at that and grabbed the things he needed to disinfect chenles lip. when his hand went close, chenle flinched again, but jeno kept himself together. he cleaned it up carefully and then grabbed the cream for his cheek.
squeezing a generous amount onto his hand and smoothing it over chenles cheek, watching the boy squeeze his eyes shut and clench his fists. jeno thought that chenle was so strong to be letting him and jaemin take care of him.
he wasn't sure if he could've been so trusting after what happened. of course jeno didn't know exactly what happened but he knew that his hunch was probably right. and he swore that if he ever crossed paths with that trainer he would beat him to death.
"you are so strong chenle," jeno whispered.
"jeno " chenles voice crackled.
"what is it?" jeno asked sweetly.
"jeno will i be okay? will these marks go away? will you guys look at me the same way before this happened," chenle pointed at the ugly marks on his neck.
jeno had to take a deep breath for a second because looking at his neck made him want to sob. it was just so disturbing and disgusting that someone would be so evil as to mark someone up when they didn't want it.
those damned hickies will haunt chenle for months and jeno couldn't do anything about it, "you will be more than okay chenle, i swear me and the rest of the boys with protect you. those marks will go away and i will apply cream to them so they go away faster. we will always think of you the same chenle, we want you to feel comfortable and safe around us."
"and.... and when you are ready to share what happened, we will support you no matter what," jeno mumbled.
jaemin was standing in front of renjun, mark, and donghyucks closed door after talking to jisung about it. the youngest feeling a bit better knowing chenles all bandaged but still crying over the fact he couldn't stop it from happening. soon enough he went to sleep crying, jaemin tucking him into his bed.
but right now he was dreading to speak to the three. because he knew how overprotective, angry, and impulsive they could be. and he didn't need them going down to where chenle was because they would scare him and possibly worsen his trauma. the boy was delicate and their loud selves could break him.
he sighed and slowly opened the door to see the three of them getting ready for the practice they were supposed to be having today.
"you can stop changing, we aren't going to practice today," jaemin informed.
"what do you mean we dont have practice, manager didn't tell us it was cancelled," renjun asked.
jaemin breathed in and out and signaled the boys to sit down. they all did and jaemin felt his emotions rise again, but he pushed them back down because he couldn't make this situation worse.
"jaemin what's wrong, you're scaring me," mark piped.
"i'm going to tell you guys something, but you have to promise me you won't freak out and leave this room."
"yeah what is it," donghyuck yawned.
jaemin gritted his teeth, "i'm being serious donghyuck," he raised his voice, the boy looked at him and clamped his mouth shut.
"i'm so sorry, but if you guys leave the room you will possibly make it worse so just stay and listen to what i have to say," jaemin took a few seconds to calm himself then continued, "jisung woke up this morning and didn't find chenle in their room."
the color from renjun, mark, and haechans faces drained and they immediately sat up and focused all the attention on jaemin.
"he went downstairs and found him sleeping on the living room couch, and he went to jeno and my room to come get us to go downstairs. when me and jeno got there we saw chenle battered up." jaemin explained.
"he..." jaemin being to choke up a bit, "he had a huge bruise on his cheek and a busted bottom lip. his hands were all cut up. and his knee had a huge gash on it."
the three boys were awfully quiet and jaemin had no idea what was running through their minds, "lastly.... lastly chenles neck was covered in tiny bruises that im sure are hickies." jaemin shakily said.
"i cleaned and bandaged most of him up and jeno is finishing it up.. he looked so scared. he told jeno and i to "not hurt him" and that "he'll be good", i don't know what to do," jaemin finished.
"please tell me you're lying... please tell me this is a fucking sick joke," renjun mumbled.
"jaemin are you serious?" mark barely spoke.
"yes... i am serious, i don't know what to fucking do, i don't know how to help chenle! god knows where else he's hurt, im fucking scared," jaemin uttered.
donghyuck still kept quiet and he started to stare off into space. it's like his heart just stopped and all he hears is a ringing inside his head. thinking about what just happened to his younger member.
chenle who was obviously cute and adorable. the one who laughed so loud that it could be heard on the moon. the one who was always in a good mood and always cheering on his members. the one who cared deeply for each and every one of them.
he didn't deserve this. this absolute ball of sunshine didn't deserve any of this. the world was so twisted and fucked up in many ways. donghyuck wished that when he felt the slightest bit of unsure, when chenle asked about the private class, he'd act on it. but he didn't, causing his vulnerable member to go and get assaulted.
it hurt, it hurt really bad. because chenle was super naive and innocent. he would believe anything easily if you persuaded him enough, and he would do anything just to be praised. he was moldable and easy to take advantage of. chenle wouldn't hurt a soul even if they acted nasty to him.
he never used his strength against anyone or anything. gosh chenle was just an absolute angel. and of course he was the one to be attacked. it just didn't make sense to donghyuck. and donghyuck wished it were him. he'd rather go through it then his precious chenle.
but you can't change the past. what is done is done.
"he doesn't deserve this... chenle—," donghyuck began to stutter, "i wish we could've done something about it, i wish i would've went with him at least."
"i need to see him jaemin, let us see him, i swear we won't scare him," renjun said.
it was quiet and jaemin was thinking so hard. i mean it would be wrong to not let them see chenle, because chenle could possibly get the wrong idea that they don't like him anymore. but at the same time he didn't want the others to be as scared and in pain as he was from seeing the small boy.
"no! no please! get away from me!"
all four boys flinched as they heard screaming come from downstairs. it was as if it was impulse because they immediately got up and ran to the living room. jeno was sitting in front of chenle, not even touching him the slightest. he had his hands up in the air to show that he wasn't touching the boy and chenle was covering himself and shutting his eyes tightly.
"i'm sorry.... i'm sorry please," chenle begged.
renjun went up the two of them and crouched in front of chenle, "hey it's okay lele listen, no one is here to hurt you. you're safe."
chenle began sobbing and hiccuping as his arms lowered and wrapped around his stomach. contorting his eyebrows into a painful expression as his head connected to his knees in a way to attempt to hide.
"it h-hurts," chenle croaked.
"what hurts? your stomach?" renjun tried to speak to chenle but this time in chinese.
"r-ribs, my waist..... down there gege it hurts," chenle muttered, barely lifting up his head to look at renjun.
"what did he say?" mark asked from behind.
"his ribs and his waist hurt and something 'down there'" renjun seethed.
when watching and hearing everything jaemin swore he almost lost his mind. he needed to see chenle more, he wanted to make sure there was no serious injuries. jaemin made his way in front of chenle and grabbed the smaller boys hands holding them softly. the boys hands were trembling, but slowly held jaemins hands back.
"i— i need to check everywhere chenle, we need to make sure you are okay." jaemin slowly said so he didn't come off aggressive in any way.
chenle didn't look up at all but he nodded his head, "can everyone else leave please." he spoke through his croaky voice.
although they didn't want to leave, they reluctantly did so. hoping that chenle didn't have major injuries as they are assuming so.
when no one but jaemin was clear in sight chenle shakily began taking off his shirt. in the process of doing so his blurry vision caught the sight of the bruises plastered on his stomach, his breath hitched and he let out a loud whine.
chenle felt himself begin to hyperventilate and was on the verge of screaming until he felt jaemins hands on his cheeks, pulling his face up to look at him.
"hey it's okay lele. don't look anywhere else but me okay? just look at me." jaemin calmly repeated until he felt like chenle would follow his directions.
when he let go of the boys face chenle did as told and stared at jaemin. jaemin then looked at chenles stomach and held back the feeling of puking. the young boys ribs were plastered with red and purple markings as it even looked a bit deformed on the right side of chenles ribs.
when jaemin continued to investigate, he came across bruises that were formed almost as if it was a hand mark. jaemin bit his bottom lip harshly and begin to taste his own blood dropping on his tongue, his hands were enclosed into a fist and he let out staggered breaths to calm down.
when jaemin stopped looking he looked back at chenle who was still following his directions. the younger boys eyes were still on him and jaemin couldn't help but feel his heart grow because he was relieved chenle trusted him.
"i'm going to get you a sweater to wear chenle—."
"can i please wear your sweater... just knowing that it belongs to you makes me feels safe," chenle whispered.
"of course, i will get one of mine, do you want anything else?"
"are you going to check... check down there?" chenle breath seemingly quickened.
"only if you feel 100% comfortable with me doing so, i won't do anything you don't want chenle," jaemin smiled wryly.
"okay i think..." chenle collected his thoughts together, "i think i want to take a shower."
jaemin nodded his head, "yes let's get you cleaned up."
chenle was currently in front of the shower. he was taking off his pants along with his underwear and shut his eyes tightly. he could feel his whole body trembling, almost like he was disgusted to even be naked.
chenle was turning on the water making sure it was the right temperature and slowly guided himself under the shower head. chenle didn't move a single inch. he just let himself sit under the water. he was scared that if he were to start cleaning himself, he would find things he didn't want to find.
chenle made the decision to quickly wash everywhere. when chenle touched his bottom he couldn't help but wince in pain, his whole bottom was red with bruises blooming everywhere.
"omg.." chenle shakily spoke.
chenle lifted up his hand and saw blood on his hand. his heart dropped and he gulped dryly. so it wasn't only the bruises, it was also the fact he ripped down there. and even though it happened yesterday his cut reopened and he was still bleeding.
the boys breath quickened and he started to wash roughly down there, hoping that it would just go away. hoping everything would go away. but it wasn't that easy, and he knew that.
chenle screamed and sat himself down in the shower, bringing his knees up to his chest. rocking back and forth, whilst sobbing harder and harder. his voice cracking and his tears mixing with the water running down his face. dried blood coming off his body and showing the cuts that the blood was coming from.
jaemin was standing outside the bathroom when he heard chenle scream. he began panicking and wanted to go in there to make sure he was okay. but when he tried to open the door, it was locked. chenle locked himself inside of the bathroom. no one could get in.
"chenle!" jaemin yelled, panic evident in his voice, "chenle are you okay?!"
chenle heard the yelling and ignored it, he was so caught up on the fact that he's so badly destroyed. he didn't want to be alive at this point, what was the point of even trying. he couldn't simply believe the fact that things will be back to normal.
he hyperventilated and scratched his arms. his ugly bruised arms that he didn't want to see anymore.
"chenle!" jaemin barged in.
he had a key in his hands as he stumbled his way over to chenle, "oh god let's get you out of this shower."
he turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around chenle, closing his eyes so he doesn't make chenle feel uncomfortable.
chenle stood up and went out the bathroom with jaemin, his breath still uneven and his mind still wandering into a negative space.
jaemin lead chenle into chenles room where he set out a hoodie, sweatpants, underwear, and socks. chenle barely smiled at the nice gesture, but that didn't mean he wasn't grateful.
"thank you..." chenle whispered.
jaemin smiled, "i'll let you get changed... the rest of us will be downstairs if you want to join."
chenle simply nodded and jaemin left the room. apparently jaemin and the others didn't think about everything that would trigger him. chenle had a tall long mirror in his room, so the moment he dropped the towel his whole body was exposed.
and wow did he look terrible. not a single inch of his body was free from bruises.
chenle inhaled sharply and rushed himself with putting his clothes on. and once he did he went out of his room to avoid seeing himself in the mirror again. but he didn't exactly want to go downstairs either.
he wasn't sure he could face everyone ever again.
chenle was thinking that maybe he should just leave the company, never come back, and never show his face ever again. he knew he could live at home by himself, he had enough money to financially support himself.
but most importantly, he wouldn't have to fall in those stupid little traps such as private dance classes.
"chenle?"
chenle immediately looked up and saw jisung standing not to far away from him. the youngest hands were behind his back and his cheeks were stained with tears. normally, chenle would tease jisung for being a 'cry baby', but looking at him really just broke his heart.
"jisungie," chenle croaked and let his tears come streaming down his face once again.
but this time chenle didn't just stand there. neither did he crouch down and start panicking. he ran up to jisung and gave him a huge hug, burying his face into jisung's chest. clenching the younger's sweatshirts with his small hands.
jisung held him back with as much desperation chenle had. chenle was older than him, but he was still his baby. he would always look after chenle and would always baby him like he was his mother. so naturally, chenle would seek comfort and security in jisung.
"i missed you all night lele, i.. i'm so sorry that i wasn't there for you," jisung sobbed.
chenle couldn't even answer back. he felt sorry and he wanted to apologize to the younger over and over again for being so vulnerable after the millions of times jisung told him not to. and he wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault the slightest for not being there, but chenle was so drained that he couldn't even care for someone when he couldn't even care for himself.
"just know that no matter what i'll always be by your side, right?" jisung whispered, "chenji forever, jichen always."
chenle cried harder, he really couldn't leave this group. he loved everyone so much, and he couldn't betray their love and trust. he belongs here, he is a part of this family.
"lets go downstairs yeah?" chenle muttered, smiling fully for the first time today, even if it was forced it was something.
everything was well as it could've been. a couple of days went by since the tragedy chenle went through. the dreamies were put on 5 day break to allow healing physically and mentally. it wasn't enough time, but the company's schedule sadly always comes first.
during this break chenle was checked up, and was told that he was fine enough to practice. he had to sit out immediately if anything started hurting, but that was as far as the injuries went. so the deformation that jaemin swore he saw, was nothing but swollen skin.
still, the bruises on chenle's body were still so prominent, and according to the doctor, the bruises were so deep that they would stay there for at least a month. the rip chenle had down there had to be stitched up, and the cut on his face left a scar that was apparently going to stay on his face forever.
when chenle got the new about the scar he cried the whole night and even now still cries about it. the only thing he was grateful about through this whole thing was that this whole thing was kept secret. of course people were wondering why the dreamies havent been following schedule, but it was nothing too big.
chenle woke up by a blaring alarm and immediately sat up, heavy breathing with cold sweat. he had another nightmare of the private instructor. and he was never this happy to be woken up by an alarm. it cut his nightmare off before it got to the worst part.
today was the day he would start practicing once again. dancing. something he has grown to hate since the event. chenles body ached as he got off his bed, walking to the bathroon with a change of clothes.
he looked into the mirror and grimaced at his reflection. turning around so he wouldn't have to keep seeing himself. he undressed with his eyes shut and put his clothes on. he opened his eyes and left the bathroom with a heavy heart.
chenle doesn't think he could really do this today. he is filled with anxiety and he is afraid that he will see the man again. he is afraid that he won't dance as good as he was before. and he was scared that their choreographer will touch him.
he began to almost hyperventilate again until he felt someones hand grap his. he looked to the side and saw renjun smiling at him.
"you ready? the rest are waiting in the car." renjun spoke softly.
chenle hesitantly nodded and squeezed renjun's hand as they walked out of the dorm to attend practice.
once they got into the car chenle was sat between mark and donghyuck, the both of them acting like goofballs as they usually do. but this time with the intent to make chenle laugh, which always works. chenle can't help but laugh with those two, even if his laugh was quieter and weaker than usual.
everyone was finally situated in the dance room, stretching out and getting ready to learn new choreography for their upcoming mini album. except chenle who decided to stand in the corner of the room watching everyone else.
jaemin came walking up to him, "you alright lele, you gotta make sure you stretch so you don't hurt yourself."
"i know... just wanna stand here though, im not really ready to participate." chenle mumbled.
"no worries, you can just watch today! jeno, mark, or donghyuck can teach you the choreo later." jaemin smiled.
chenle nodded and almost smiled, but he immediately frowned when he heard the door open.
and his stomach turned 180 and his heart dropped when he saw the same nike sneakers he saw the day his world flipped upside down. the same grey sweatpants and the same bright yellow hoodie that made him want to puke.
"chenle i see you came to practice today, you really are a good boy hm?"
jaemin looked at chenle and saw the fear in his wide eyes and the way he stepped back. this was the man who insulted him that very night.
"get away..." chenle heavily breathed, "get away from me!" chenle screamed.