Summary: Gambling and more gambling, that’s all that mattered to Chenle. The probability of him winning was always high until one day you showed up and decided to change that and his life, too.
genre: gambler! chenle x gambler! reader
word count: 2.8k
warnings: illegal gambling & swearing probably not proof read enough
a/n: originally was supposed to be a bulleted scenario but honestly,, think this came out better idk anything about gambling dont do it kids- also it’s been in my draft since 2020 omg..4 years yeah last fic ever probably i’ve retired from my good old days. idk if anyone will read this but i’m proud :3 also my longest fic of my entire career who else cheered!
masterlist。
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Dies being rolled, cards being shuffled, chips being placed, and bets being made. The casino was always full of gamblers- especially on a Saturday night. The casino was like a second home for Chenle. Every Saturday he would be there- gambling. Chenle, only being an eighteen year old, wasn’t allowed to enter a casino. Reason: age. Of course, it was no secret that gambling at that age was illegal. But Chenle was an exception. He knows how to gamble. In fact, he’s very good at it. The only reason he was allowed in the first place was because he’s rich. Being rich was an advantage to him. He put down exactly $10 million on the line- to which of course, anyone would accept if it was that amount of money. To make things worse, he was going to gamble against one of the best known gamblers. “If I win, I’ll be allowed to gamble and get twice the amount I’m betting. Alright?” Chenle said, with no tone in his voice.
Chenle’s opponent chuckled and smirked at him, “Alright kid, it’s a bet.”
Not long after, the best gambler out there was not only dethroned by an eighteen year old, but exactly 20 million in debt. Chenle chuckled slightly, “You were really that confident, huh?” His opponent gulped, he knew this was something so embarrassing that it would even haunt him in his dreams, “You cheated, didn’t you? Let’s go again, I’ll prove you wrong.” Chenle pretended to think about it, then nodded, betting down $30 million this time.
“Watch me close if you really think I’m cheating.” Everyone watching the game taking place was already sweating. Not long after, they were neck to neck- this made Chenle’s opponent laugh, relieved about the fact that he had a higher chance of winning, but since misfortune was on his side, Chenle won.
50 million in debt.
Suddenly his opponent stood up to say something, but immediately fell to his feet. Shaking at the realization. Chenle leaned towards him- towering him, “Wanna go again? Want to try proving me wrong again?” He said as his eyes darkened.
Everyone was shocked. How could someone so young be so deadly?
From that day on, Chenle became the youngest gambler. No one really opposed the idea of him becoming a gambler- especially at the gambling den and if they did, Chenle would ask them to play a few games.
Chenle did gambling as a hobby. For fun. No one really knew how he was so good at gambling. “He’s rich so he was probably taught in order to bring money to the house” or “What do you expect? It probably runs in the fucking family.”
The truth is, the first time Chenle gambled, he was at stake of losing everything. He wasn’t driven by money. He only gambled because he wanted to see how easy it was to see someone else defeated. He didn’t use his emotions- he used logic. After that, surprisingly- he didn’t get addicted to gambling like many do. Luckily, his parents weren’t aware of what he did in his spare time and they didn’t really care, either.
His parents only cared that when he finally turned 21, he would take over the company- or when his dad retired and handed him the company. Chenle was completely fine with that but wanted to have a hobby that was amusing to the eye.
Once he got home back from gambling at an ungodly hour, he headed to his room. There was a golden envelope with his name written in calligraphy. He turned his head slightly, murmuring a slight “huh?” and opened the envelope. His eyes turned wide at the contents of the letter. He was invited to go to the most important event of the year, held once a year, the talk of the year- NCT, something anyone would die to attend. The only thing that went through his head was how much money he would make if he would gamble with the rich people attending the event.
-
“You’re gonna have to attend, alright?” His mother said, taking another sip from her coffee.
“I know. It’s next week, right?”
“Yes, so after your meetings and lunch go and get your suit tailored.” She smiled, and grabbed her bag heading out the door.
Chenle sighed, at the sight of the empty house and how alone he was in the morning. Once he finished his breakfast he headed out to his meetings.
-
The day finally arrived and his mood was going downhill. ‘It had to be on a saturday, didn’t it?’ Chenle rolled his eyes, knowing he won’t be able to go to the casino. He silently sat in the dining room waiting for his father to finish going through documents inside his office. “Your father is ready to see you.” His mother said, opening the door to the office, making Chenle stand up and head inside.
His father glanced at him and then back at his computer and continued typing. Chenle walked over to his father’s desk, causing him to stop typing and clasped his hands, “I heard your friends are also going to the event.” Chenle noded, a barely audible ‘yes’ coming out of his mouth.
“Well, besides that, put out some good words for the company and try to get us as many new customers you can.”
“Yes, father.”
Chenle’s head swayed back and forth, making his eyes flutter shut at the soft jazz music playing in the background while people talked amongst themselves. As his head was about to fall to the table, Jisung smacks the back of his head, causing him to jolt awake. Jisung laughs and says, “At this rate, you might as well go home.”
Chenle looks at his watch and sighs, “It hasn’t even been an hour.”
Jeno sits next to him and says, “Did your father tell you to promote his company?”
“Yeah- like always.”
Suddenly, two plates of food were placed in front of him, “While you’re at it, you should eat lots of food!” Jaemin grabbed one plate and started digging in.
“He’s not wrong. We’re all probably gonna be stuck here for the rest of the night.” Renjun said, trying to grab food out of Jaemin’s plate.
Chenle checks his watch again, realizing only two minutes have passed, sighing. He looked around trying to come up with a plan on how to leave without anyone noticing in order to go to the casino. He stands up waving slightly, “Anyways, I’ll catch you guys later.”
“Where are you going?” Donghyuck says, his mouth stuffed with food.
“It’s a saturday.”
All of them collectively sigh at Chenle- knowing he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to do, but allowed him to do it anyways since they were all friends.
Chenle wandered around aimlessly around the building. Trying to find an exit that was not the front door seemed harder than he thought. At times he got distracted at how many people he had to greet or how the lights oozed an unexplainable aura. He goes up the flight of stairs trying to see if there was a way out. As he looks around, he stops and gazes at you- because of how dark it is, he doesn’t recognize who you are. But all he knows is, he has never seen you before at these past parties. Even though a lot of people attend, he knows everyone by memory. He continues going up the stairs trying to get a closer look at you, trying not to lose sight of you either. He shakes his head, thinking about how he should find an exit instead.
About two hours later, he enters the gambling den and a familiar smell lingers around causing him to smile. It has only been a week but he already missed the sounds of the slots and the ambient music playing in the background. As he was walking to the furthest part of the den, he noticed how many people were causing a commotion around a table of blackjack. There you were. Betting with some random old rich man. Chenle shook his head lightly, sighing at the fact that you most likely have lost- if not thousands by now. He signals towards a dealer near your table and shifts his eyes towards you, asking what you were doing here.
“They’ve been here for an hour. And they’ve won all their games already.”
His ears perked up to that new piece of information. All games won? Chenle loves a challenge. As he walks towards your table, watching you win. He reaches his hand out, “Let’s play a simple game of poker, shall we? I heard you’re pretty good for the hour you’ve already been here.”
“You’re not afraid to lose?” You say scanning Chenle’s face.
“Absolutely not, I have faith in myself.”
You were in his territory after all, why would he be afraid? Especially if he’s never seen you around. So he put all his chips to bet.
“Already? But it’s just the first game” You furrowed your eyebrows debating whether to believe if he was really good at this game.
“One game is all I need.” Chenle said, as he sat down.
You smirked, realizing how confident he sounded, you placed all your chips down, too.
And so, the game began with the dealer handing both of you 7 cards. People were already gathering around the both of you. Watching and waiting for this weird tension to be cut. With your poker faces on, the game began, rotating from one another.
“Raise” You said, causing Chenle to look up from his cards again. Although Chenle looked unaffected from the outside, he was confused, why would you raise again? Was your hand actually that much better than his? Or were you just bluffing? His hand wasn’t all that good, but he needed to win. He always wins. But this game seemed to feel like it was taking too long.
“Raise, too” Not wanting to back down, Chenle was determined to win. He never felt like he was going to lose against you. Maybe you had a one hour win streak, but he was about to break it.
Full house. A tie. Everyone started murmuring around the table. A tie? Against the infamous Chenle? Even Chenle looked slightly upset at this. But even this had a solution, he had the highest kind of a full house, automatically winning.
“Congrats, I’m Y/n by the way. New to the area, heard the rumors, and I guess they were true! Let’s do this again next time, shall we?” Before Chenle could speak, you were heading out, and he was too stunned at the fact that he almost lost a game to some newbie.
“The Zhong Chenle.. almost lost?” Haechan said, bursting out in laughter. Jisung and Jaemin seemed to hold in their laughter in order to not hurt his ego, but hearing Heachans contagious laugh, they couldn’t hold it in.
“Guys stop laughing, this should come off as surprising instead. I mean, a newbie? And a tie at that?” Mark said, while also trying not to laugh. Jeno shook his head, looking at the ground, not wanting to add fuel to the fire.
“I lost my mind that night. I don’t know what to feel.” Chenle sighed, still astonished by what happened almost a week ago.
“Are you gonna go tonight?” Jeno asked, out of curiosity.
“Take us with you this time! I wanna see you get your ass kicked!” Renjun hit Chenle’s shoulder playfully.
He sighed and nodded, “Fine, just don’t say anything stupid.”
Night fall came, which meant gambling night! Chenle brought the boys and was looking around to see if you would show up again. And so, you did.
You walked up to Chenle, tapping him on his soldier, innocently smiling, “Hi! I sure hope you weren’t too hung up on last week’s match” To that remark, Chenle felt his neck burn up, out of embarrassment. The boys looked at him, their jaws almost dropping. They didn’t expect that to be the way the night was starting, but it was probably going to go downhill from that.
-
After a few games, that Chenle obviously won. Your interest in him peaked, you were the same age as him after all, and wanted to know what made him more special than the rest. But your ultimate goal was to win a game against him in less than 5 months. This caused you to show up to the den even on the days Chenle never showed up for. But of course, he found out a week after, so he started showing up more, just to see what you were up to. It was strange, really. Both of you were gamblers, but the fact that he felt a connection with you since he tied a game with you was what kept him wondering. The fact that you kept coming and blowing up thousands of dollars just to play with him was also strange. You were a good gambler, keeping Chenle invested in your games. And so, you would meet outside of the gambling den, during the daytime to eat lunch or even dinner. He learned your hobbies, besides gambling all your money away and learned you were an exchange student with rich parents in the other side of the earth that would send you pocket money every weekend to treat yourself. Of course, they didn’t know you were blowing it off to some games every weekend, as long as you kept it hidden and kept a low profile, everything would be fine.
Chenle felt like the closest person you’ve met in your life. You cherished your friendship with him, but after realizing it’s been 4 months since you’ve known him, you felt a strange sensation of wanting to be even closer to him. And you didn’t know if he felt the same. You didn’t want to risk it anyways. The fact that you managed to figure out how to beat him after 8 weeks of gambling with him and keeping up an act to let him win was something you didn’t wanna tell him. But you were going home for the summer soon and wanted to know if you were even coming back. So you decided to wait 2 more weeks and win against him officially.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving soon.” Chenle said, sitting down at your usual table.
“And I’m spending my last days at the casino, how funny is it?” You smiled feeling a sense of competitiveness rush up. “By the way, can I pick the game?”
Chenle nodded realizing they haven’t played a few certain games in a while. And one of them was poker. “Poker it is.”
As always, people were dying to see Chenle play against anyone, knowing he would win. But this time you weren’t gonna hesitate. As the dealer handed you cards, you realized you had to win no matter what.
A straight flush. Everyone cheered around you. Chenle seemed to have gotten the second highest hand out of the deck, and there was no way your bluff was going to work against him. So, you showed your cards. A royal flush. The highest hand. Everyone stood quiet. Even Chenle couldn’t believe his eyes. He clapped, slowly causing everyone around you to cheer, “I knew you could do it, I always believed you.”
As if it was the adrenaline or the amount of people around you, you suddenly spoke and said “Chenle, I like you”
People took this as a cue and fled to different directions, not wanting to know what was going to happen next. Chenle’s eyes widened slightly and chuckled lightly, “I like you too, so come back as soon as you can”
-
That summer, Chenle would finally take over the company, which meant he would stop gambling if he didn’t wanna risk the future of the company. And you were working under your parent’s company but managed to land a sweet deal with Chenle’s company while his father still ran it and was allowed to work back with Chenle.
Taking trips to Sin City was something you adored with Chenle. The faces of other gamblers were priceless when you or him managed to win flawlessly, and with no “record” of ever gambling before. You hardly ever lost any money, so it was only ever done for fun.
“Chenle, I want to tell you something..”
“Go on”
“I figured out how to beat you and let you win multiple times afterwards.”
“Oh, it clicked to me the first time we met, I think I got lucky the first time we met.”
“Wait- really?”
“Yeah, but I was also really lucky that we met that night, I mean what were the odds?” Chenle says, planting a kiss on your lips gently, causing both of you to reminisce about the first time you met.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was slowly and mercilessly killed by 4 Minneapolis police officers while being videotaped by concerned citizens begging them to stop. Floyd was surrounded and brutally dealt with by the police as Derek Chauvin’s knee pinned down his throat. Floyd kept screaming “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” but they didn’t listen. He then became unresponsive but was continually choked until his nose began to bleed, and his lifeless body was shoved into a stretcher and into the back of an ambulance.
The officers involved have been fired and the FBI has been called to investigate. But we must do our part to ensure that George Floyd receives the justice he deserves. Please sign these petitions addressed to the FBI, The President, The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, The Minneapolis Police Department, & DA Mike Freeman. An email on your behalf will be sent to all of the above. The lawyer representing Floyd’s family, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, urges us to call DA Mike Freeman (612-348-5550) and tell him to arrest and charge these officers for the Murder of George Floyd, I encourage you to do so.
summary: you’re still trying to get the hang of your new internship while following around the best detective in town- lee jeno. who also figured out he stole your heart
genre: FLUFF & slight angst?? + sum comedy too
a/n: back on the grind. kinda. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEE JENO!!
masterlist
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Lee Jeno. everyone in the police department KNOWS who he is and it’s like a big ass department??? like damn mr. popular
BESIDES him being known for being able to solve cases in like a heartbeat exaggeration
he’s also known for looking stone cold yet his handsome face like omg wHO WOULDNT FALL FOR HIM
at first he looks VVV intimidating because especially during the job?? he hardly smiles??? he’s so strict AND SCARY then again uh not the type of job you’d smile in
but once he smiles EVEYONE MELTS FOR HIM global warming who???
like sometimes a few coworkers would go to work early in order to talk to him at his station since he’s like always the first one there
it’s honestly like a bunch of highschoolers going to school early in order to talk to the cutest guy before class starts and he doesn’t really mind it but jaemin and renjun tease him about it the most
“JENO STOP GIVING THEM THAT SMILE THEYRE GONNA THINK YOURE IN LOVE WITH THEM TOO” -renjun
“JENO MAKE THOSE MOVES” -jaemin
like once he’s in his office he starts to get so serious and very concentrated but everyone gets heart eyes by just looking at him i’m looking at u secretary
but no matter how many people are straightforward about liking him or asking him to out he’s like sorry can’t,, gotta solve some investigations but he’s just trying to reject them nicely
ANYWAYS so his police department was looking for interns and you and some friends decide to apply because that’s the best place you could ever apply to
and you’re like pls accept me pls accept me pls accept me
and YOU AND ONE OTHER FRIEND GET IN AND ITS LIKE YAY!!!
but then your friend lee donghyuck who knows eVERYHTING is like ouu you guys should try staying away from lee jeno. he’s scary when it comes to the investigations. and both of you KNOW who he is and like gulp please don’t make him my supervisor
anyways it’s your first day and you and your friend are nervous because yikes this workforce lowkey kinda dangerous but :DD WORTH IT
then you get all your docs from the secretary and you’re like so who’s my supervisor¿?
“lee jeno“ hahahhaha :,( pls say sike
so then you and your friend part ways and you knock on jenos office, very scared
“come in” phew so far so good
and the hand you’re holding your documents is shaking and you grip it harder to stop the shaking but it makes it worse
and you get closer to him, “hi um,,, my name is y/n and uhhh you’re my supervisor for the time being haha”
and his face lights up and he smiles at you and you’re like damn an angel but then you’re like snap outta it
“oh nice to meet you! i’m lee jeno i hope we can get along well” and internally you’re like damn haechan was wrong huh he’s an angel
so a few days into your internship it’s not that bad?? just some paperwork so you’re like oh this isn’t that bad
plus since you’re stuck in jenos office it’s pretty good since you glance at him every 10 seconds and you’re like damn he was sculpted by gods huh
and you find it cute when he doesn’t understand some documents he has a little pout and you’re like AHHHHHHH SO !! CUTE !! and when he figures it out he HAS THAT ICONIC EYE SMILE AND HIS EYES ARE SPARKLY
and you try not to stare at him when that happens but you can’t you really can’t he’s so wow your heart skips a beat when he smiles ?? and you’re like ?? haha what’s going on with me
and you and jeno are usually the ones who also have to stay late to finish all the paperwork and he’s like “sorry for having you to stay really late ://“
and you’re like “no! no! no! it’s fine!!! i’m used to it anyways” and it’s already the end of week 1 and you don’t think it can get worse than this
n e ways work seems simpler and like that’s not how detectives are sO jeno now takes you to crime scenes since he has another helping hand and this week jeno is so serious?? and cold?? like um where did his smile go
but you help him with a lot of stuff and the crime scene honestly is a bit scary since the murderer is still out there buut it’s ok you’re ok
and you help jeno around the crime scene trying to gather more evidence and you’re like jesus the atmosphere is really dark you can’t breathe like it’s kinda scaring u a lil so you crack a slight joke to lighten the mood up
and jeno just glares at you and you go !!! big mistake and he’s scolding u “please take this seriously there’s no time to joke around” and his voice is a slightly deeper than usual like harsh and now the atmosphere feels darker and you’re like welp great
but besides that you feel your kinda shatter like oh :((( that was a bad idea why’d i do that omg am I DUMB or am I DUMB HE PROBABLY HATES ME NOW
anyways you’re like “sorry” with a sad tone almost to the point your voice cracks but you gulp and go back to trying to find evidence and writing stuff down
and not long after you’re like ?? hm think i found something and you call jeno over and you’re about to touch the evidence and he quickly grabs your hand and is like “don’t touch it !!” and your eyes widen because YOU DIDNT EXPECT THAT??
but thank god the lights were slightly dim because his hand was warm and soft and you feel butterflies in your stomachs LIKE AHHH?!!!! and your face heating up and you look back at him
and jeno looks back at your hand and quickly pulls away and is like oops sorry
and you’re like i-it’s fine obviously trying not o stutter but failing miserably
but jeno is blushing too like omg what did i do
but then you guys gather the piece of evidence + scan the whole scene again one more time
and then you guys head back to jenos office to try and pull things together
but as you’re walking you recall how warm his hand felt and you shake the feeling off and grab both your hands to keep them warm since it’s still early spring and you’re slightly shivering
and jeno notices and is like “oh um are you cold ??” and you nod and he clears his throat and grabs one of your hands and puts them on his jackets pocket and saying “i hope this kinda helps you” and you feel your blush coming back again because!!!!! THIS IS WHAT COUPLES SHOULD DO EXCUSE ME
and you’re dYING but luckily it’s kinda dark out so he can’t see your face turning into a tomato and you just give him a smile
and then once you guys are inside the building he lets go and you’re like :(( my hand feels lonely again pls hold it
but then you’re like WHAT AM I THINKING I DONT EVEN LIKE HIM you do
and like you guys finish early and head home and you can’t sleep because you remember the FEELING OF JENOS HAND ON YOURS and it makes your heart burst
on the other hand you’d think for a detective jeno would KNOW IF HE LIKES YOU OR NOT but he’s also overly confused cue jaemin and renjun face palming
anywaYs a few weeks pass and you guys are assigned a new place to investigate so you get over there early in the morning and then you stop right in front of jenos office because you hear someone else
and then that voice is like “i like you jeno for a really long time and i hope you’re able to give me a chance” and your heart drops and you’re like oh because the rumors about the secretary planning on confessing to jeno were true and you couldn’t deny they had good chemistry and they’d make a really good looking couple
so then you like wait outside the building sighing not knowing why and wondering if jeno accepted her confession or not and you shake it off and wait for jeno so you guys can leave
inside the crime scene you’re just quiet and trying to focus on looking for evidence and the atmosphere feels so off but jeno doesn’t even notice it
and afterwards you guys go back to his office you’re also silent and he’s kinda like ??? but maybe because you had to wake up early
and then you decide to leave early and jenos like oh okay and you’re moping as you leave and you call donghyuck to hang out and he’s like damn who broke your heart
and you’re like NO ONE it’s just,,, idk why i’m sad it was after i accidentally heard the secretary confess to jeno
and it clicks to haechan and he’s smirking and you’re like what spill it
“so you fell for detective jeno huh”
and you’re like no !!! and start blushing
and he’s like omg are you dense you’re an intern for a DETECTIVE COME ON
and you’re like you’re right,, but it’s too late since he’s probably with her now :(((
on the other hand detective! jaemin and renjun keep eyeing eachother because jeno keeps talking about you and how you looked sad today
but at the same time they’re like wait . lee jeno?? falling for someone???
and then renjun is like “you’d think for a detective you’d know if you’re into someone or not”
“does she like you back though??” jaemin curiositly asks
“i,,,, i don’t know?!?!??” AND THEY BOTH GASP BECAUSE?? HELLO THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF CLUES AND HES A DETECTIVE
and now it’s jenos goal to figure out if you like him or not with the help of detective! renjun and jaemin
step 1: try to see if they avoid you or making eye contact
so he sees you next to the printer resting on the wall and walks over and places his arm against the wall and basically pinning you there and your eyes widen and you look anywhere but at jeno aND YOURE LIKE UM UHH GOTTA GO
step 2: try to see if they blush if you make a sudden move
and during one of the investigations he hears you calling him over and he pokes your elbow causing you to turn around and your faces are inches away and suddenly you’re a tomato again and jeno teases and is like omg are you gonna have a fever?? and he touches your forehead and you’re so warm he tries not to giggle at how cute you look
and during all of this donghyuck is sipping his tea while you freak out about all the things jeno has done to you and you’re like jeno is gonna give me a stroke and he’s gonna be the one trying to SOLVE WHO CAUSED IT EVEN THO IT WAS HIM
but this plan ultimately helped jeno figure it out and now he’s gonna ask you out because wow his detective skills really helped him out
so one cold late day after going to another crime scene he thinks it’s the perfect timing since the sun is about to set too and you’re shivering but looking at the sky and jeno gives you his coat
and you pause and you’re like “aren’t you gonna be cold??” and he’s like “my hands are kinda cold” and you’re like damn kinda wanna hold your hands but that will lead me to cardiac arrest but your hands brush against eachother and you’re like goddamnit and you wrap his hand against yours and you’re like blushing madly and he smiles at you
and you’re like “better??” and he shakes his head and both of you stop walking and says “now my lips feel cold” and like you guys are really close anywhos so you gotta close the gap
and you’re like hsjdjsiis i’m not that bold bUT STILL and he’s giving that cute small pout and you’re fighting the urge so you bite your lips slightly
but then jeno just pecks your lips
and your heart?? goes 127mph
and he’s like i know it’s sudden but i like you
and you’re speechless?? because lee jeno??? liking someone??? actually?? and your mind is in chaos but you go ahead and peck his lips for 5 seconds and then you’re like “i- i- i like you too” and he pulls you into a hug and says “thank god because i really put my detective skills to work on this case”
