chenle/jisung otp: quote ranking 2.0

[stoplight]

shakti@storyboxed

WHXKWWUZZ WHAT THE FHCKSKS JISUNG IS INSANE. honestly it would’ve been interesting if u just did chenle quotes and ranked his “”””haterism”””. JUST KIDDING

12:08AM · May 16, 2021 · Twitter Web App

crys@stoplight
Replying to @storyboxed

WHAT THE HELL I LITERALLY JUST MIGHT

12:09AM · May 16, 2021 · Twitter for iPhone

shakti@storyboxed
Replying to @stoplight

HELP ❤️❤️ i want to see it. chenji quote ranking the sequel⁉️⁉️⁉️

12:10AM · May 16, 2021 · Twitter Web App

a quick update roughly one year later because this: "the reason why there are literally no chenle quotes in this post is because all of HIS quotes about jisung sound like they're from a jisung-anti who's really bad at being a jisung-anti" maybe doesn't give chenle enough credit <3

sequel to this post

i should preface this by saying that not only is chenle incredibly bad at processing/understanding/expressing his emotions, but also he’s even worse when compared to jisung, who is the arguably the person in dream most in tune with their emotions (renjun is a close second). so—some of the quotes below are going to be fairly generic. but they still matter because it’s chenle saying them, and chenle usually never says anything ever.

no. 10
"since jisung chose sungchan, i won't talk to jisung anymore. who's jisung?"

who said it: chenle
context: 2020 chenle's bubble — he bubbled this after he, jisung, and hendery did a vlive as part of nct 2020 promos. there’s a comment that asks jisung to choose between chenle and sungchan, and jisung keeps trying to weasel his way out of it while chenle presses him for an answer. hendery tries to mediate, and in the end jisung chooses sungchan
commentary: this is so funny to me because chenle is so incredibly petty and he 100% held this over jisung for probably the next month. he wound up doing a solo live the next day or something and chose taeil, mark, and sungchan over jisung in revenge. which is simply like… i'm sure there are healthier ways to express jealousy! but okay.

no. 9
"you might think that jisung's pretending to be innocent and naive, but he's not. he's really dumb. no one can do that all the time. he's simply dumb"

who said it: chenle
context: 2020 chenji's this and that season 2 ep 2 (trying foods they can't eat) — jisung insists on doing something by himself but is clumsy and drops everything in the process. chenle takes over, does the thing properly, and then says this
commentary: this is why i said that all of chenle's quotes sound like they're from a jisung anti who's really bad at being a jisung anti. he's insulting him but he still ultimately always does whatever jisung failed to do for him and never complains about it. your actions don't match your words!

no. 8
"i hope you always stay happy"

who said it: chenle
context: 2020 nct dream the stage — when this video first got uploaded they actually edited out chenle's message to jisung and so many people rioted that they ended up reuploading the video with the message added back in. which is truly incredible because chenle never tenderhearts verbally! the full message goes:
chenle: "you know, you've always been very hardworking"
jisung: [laughs] "okay, thanks"
chenle: "for our success... and also you worry and care a lot. thank you for that and... [laughs] you think a lot too. i hope you can think more positively. don't worry, don't worry a lot, i hope you always stay happy"
jisung: "that was really sweet"
chenle: [sighs] "cheesy..."
jisung: "i just found a new side of chenle"
commentary: was this the most embarrassing and painful moment of chenle's life? it's definitely up there. was it so embarrassing and painful because he was actually sincere? absolutely.

no. 7
"no matter what i say, since we're close, jisung knows all that i want to say"

who said it: chenle
context: 2019 allure magazine interview — the interviewer says that after seeing their youtube content, it seems like chenle's korean improved and that that improvement couldn't have been easy. chenle responds with this
commentary: this is really touching to me because it still goes on to this day… chenle will say a phrase or two, make the most aborted movement i have ever seen, and jisung will know exactly what he's trying to say every time. here are just a few examples of it

no. 6
"my first korean i learned from the person next to me"

who said it: chenle
context: 2018 huya live — i'll be honest i was too lazy to trawl through this 2 hour live to figure out when he said this/what the context was. but the quote is pretty self-explanatory honestly
commentary: this is another callback to their origin story <3 or their "운명" (fate/destiny) as mark calls it (which kills me because the LAYERS of it all but that's for another time)

no. 5
"of course it's jisung"

who said it: chenle
context: 2021 chenra — the question is "who's chenle's best friend?" and he says "that's too obvious. of course it's jisung. jisung and i have completely opposite personalities but i think we're the closest"
commentary: he goes on to say that he didn't pick mark for this question because mark is his son, which is why i'm ranking this quote lower BUT he's still quite insistent about the fact that he will always consider js his best friend :') when push comes to shove etc etc

no. 4
"do you want to be friends?"

who said it: chenle
context: 2017 mbc show! music core monitoring — they're watching their mfal stage and chenle just turns to jisung out of nowhere and says that :') and they have never used honorifics for each other ever since.
commentary: okay sorry that's a lie because jisung (who notably cares more about hierarchy/authority/etc than chenle does) still continues to slip up a bunch and only really gets consistent during we young era. it happens in an instant and it's not obvious that chenle's serious about it but he is… when asked if he ever regretted it in 2018, he says "no… i never did because becoming friends feels more comfortable"

no. 3
"'chenji is ending' my ass"

who said it: chenle
context: 2022 chenle's bubble — jisung bubbles "is this the end [of chenji's this and that]ㅋㅋㅋ / if i said this to chenle he would sulk and say 'you don't want to do it?' ㅎㅎㅎ" and chenle, who is subscribed to jisung's bubble, sees it and goes on a rampage: "does jisung have no idea that i have his bubble subscription or is he doing it on purpose or is he picking a fight or is he saying 'let's fight' to me / chenji is not over do you think it would end / 'chenji is ending' my ass how is that possible"
commentary: i laughed SOOOOOO hard when this happened. and also kind of died inside a bit. mostly because his phrasing is hilarious (it's my twitter header for a reason) but also because i think this really gets at the major miscommunication that's going on between them right now: jisung is like, if you aren't consistently verbally telling him that you care about him and want to spend time with him he's going to come to conclusions on his own ("oh i guess chenle doesn't want to do this anymore") whereas chenle will never say anything ever (as usual) but expect no consequences/nothing to change

no. 2
"i took care of you a little too, but you also took care of me a lot"

who said it: chenle
context: 2021 hot sauce digital booklet messages — they've translated it as "i looked after you, but you also did for me, so thank you" but that loses the nuance of "a little" vs "a lot" (좀 vs 많이) which is so incredibly important here T___T
commentary: i mean yeah… this_kills_the_man.jpg him being aware of the difference (as can be kind of seen played out right now wrt jisung's nagging during chenle's injury & COVID situation because seriously what is this) is so touching to me because he never really acknowledges that care usually and jisung is always so quiet about it, so :')
bonus: jisung's message for chenle is also very this_kills_the_man.jpg but then again when is he not like that

no. 1
"don't give up on me, i'll end up getting hurt"

who said it: chenle
context: 2021 chenij's this and season 2 ep 8 (making rice paper tteokbokki) — the conversation goes
jisung: "i love cheese"
chenle: "no one asked" [peeking to see reaction]
jisung: "don't worry you're always like that"
chenle: "i guess you gave up"
jisung: "i gave up now"
chenle: "don't give up on me! have hope"
jisung: [laughs] "i haven't heard that in a while"
chenle: "don't give up on me i'll end up getting hurt" [laughs] "i do all the mean things, then i end up getting hurt"
jisung: "right"
chenle: "doesn't that mean i'm nice? "
jisung: "does it?"
chenle: "i do mean things but i get hurt by them"
jisung: …?
commentary: sorry to transcribe so much but i have no idea how to verbalize how crazy this conversation makes me feel except to write it out so that you too can hopefully feel as crazy as i do. and if that still hasn't worked then here's the video of it. BUT IT'S LIKE… chenle is always constantly trying to get a reaction out of jisung and that mostly manifests through insults because he's stupid (i say this with love). so for him to admit that he NEEDS the reaction because he WANTS jisung's attention is seriously soooooooo much to see. like wow you are such a loser <3 (again i say this with love!) AND THEN HE IMMEDIATELY FLIPS IT AROUND SO THAT JISUNG'S THE LOSER NOW? CHENLEEEEEE YOU ARE SO YOU THAT IT HURTS!!!!! and i don't even want to think about the implication that this isn't the first time... you're telling me chenle has already said this before???

closing thoughts: these were surprisingly easy to dig up and way more heartfelt than i was expecting them to be. in the process though i stumbled across like five more jisung quotes that i forgot to include the first time around and so in the end it is always going to be jisung more expressive through words chenle more expressive through actions… but that’s why i like them so much <3

since they are now in their estrangement era hopefully they can Stop Saying Things and i can be done with this series for good. it is time i move onto actual meta… OR GO BACK TO WRITING FIC ACTUALLY!