Chenle's POV

I've grown up in a family that is pretty well off in the money department, but having money isn't everything. As a child, there were many things that I saw or went through that have stuck with me throughout my whole entire life. One of those things was when i got bad grades in school and my parents decided that the best way to discipline me was to force me to eat raw chicken as punishment. I ended up being in hospital for weeks and actually could've died. That memory has stuck with me and since that day, I developed something called Cibophobia. Cibophobia is basically a fear of food, or one type of food, like chicken for me. My parents never cared though, they just moved on like nothing happened and they even had the audacity to say that they hoped I learnt my lesson. I never told anyone in NCT about my fear except for Lucas and Taeyong. I had to tell Taeyong as he's the leader and he needs to know stuff like that so he keep an eye out. I told Lucas about my fear once when I found out about his fear of the dark. He was crying and embarrassed and I didn't want him to feel bad so I told him about my fear. We both promised each other not to tell anyone and that's as far as my sharing has gone. Unfortunately, no one in Dream ever got the memo and that would've been fine, until we had to eat it...

"Did we pass," Renjun asked as we all waited for our staff to tally our points to see if we won the food prize at the end. We've spent the past two hours completing missions as a group and receiving points to see. If we get to a certain amount of points, we win and we get some sort of prize from our staff, probably some sort of food.

"You guys got a combined score of 287 points," our manager said. We all immediately started jumping up and down and cheering when we heard our score. We needed to get over 250 points to win the prize which means we got more than enough points.

"Lele, we get a prize," Jisung said as he bounded over and wrapped his arms around my neck from behind, placing his chin on my shoulder. I smiled at him fondly and gently ruffled his hair, making him give me a soft smile back. Everyone already knows I dote on Jisung and favour him a lot but what can I say, he's my only dongsaeng and he's adorable.

"Yes we did Sung, I hope it's something good," I replied to him.

"What's our surprise for today," Mark asked our staff.

"Your prize for today is... Chicken themed. So basically anything chicken, we're got about 6 different dishes," our manager replied. The minute manager-nim mentioned chicken, I tensed and stepped back closer to Jisung. Even hearing the word chicken had my breath catching in my throat and memories flashed through my mind. I quickly grabbed Jisung's hand and squeezed it tightly, needing something to quickly pull my mind from the thoughts that they were heading to.

"Chenle," Jisung said softly as he moved to stand in front of me, a concerned look on his face.

"Y-Yeah," I said shakily.

"You alright," he asked softly as he lifted his hand up and gently cupped my cheek. I looked into his eyes and took a deep breath before smiling slightly. That's all I needed to calm back down and get the memories away.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why," I asked.

"You seemed really nervous for a second, I was just checking," he said, giving me a small smile.

"Thanks Sung, but I'm ok," I said with a nod.

"That's good, let's go eat," he said excitedly.

"Uh, yeah sure. Let's go eat," I nodded, trying to seem enthusiastic so his mood wouldn't die down. The staff brought out a table that were filled with different dishes and the sickening smell of the chicken immediately met my nose. I held back a gag and took a deep breath, staying back away from the table.

"Ya, Chenle-ah come here so we can get a photo," Mark said as they were all standing in front of the table. I sighed but walked over, holding my breath so I wouldn't have to smell the chicken. Thankfully it didn't take long to take the photo and I was able to move away pretty quickly. Everyone started to dig into the food as soon as the staff said and they were all smiling and laughing but I stood up the back so I couldn't smell or really see it.

"Lele what're you doing." I looked over to see Jaemin and the other's all looking at me in confusion.

"I'm standing here and chilling," I said slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"Come here and eat you doofus," Haechan said with a chuckle.

"I'm good," I said shaking my head.

"Why don't you want to eat," Mark asked me with furrowed eyebrows.

"I don't like chicken," I said with a shrug.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. Plus there's a lot of variety in terms of how they're cooked so I'm sure you'll find one that you like," Jeno said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the table.

"Nah I'm good. I haven't had the best experience with chicken," I said vaguely.

"Come on Chenle, why don't you at least try something. One thing at least, for our NCTzens," Haechan said, holding out a piece of fried chicken to me.

"I said no Haechan Hyung," I said shoving his hand away from my face and making the other's gasp slightly.

"What the hell Chenle, he's just trying to be nice. That was uncalled for," Mark said with a frown. I went to reply but I was cut off before I could.

"He did say no Hyung, you guys just kept pushing. He wouldn't have done that otherwise," Jisung said as he moved closer to me. Everyone went silent before Mark cleared his throat awkwardly and everyone went back to eating and chatting.

"What was that about," Jisung asked me quickly as he stepped a little closer.

"Nothing, I just don't like chicken," I said shaking my head. He seemed unconvinced but he nodded and let it go, going back to eating. I kind of zoned out after that, just watching everyone eat. That's why I didn't realise when Jaemin and Jeno slowly snuck up behind me, not until the jumped forwards and grabbed my arms, pinning them to my sides. I jumped with surprise but rolled my eyes at their childishness.

"What're you guys doing," I asked with a sigh.

"Having some fun and proving to you that you'll like at least one of these dishes," Haechan said with a chuckle.

"What do you mean," I asked as I froze.

"Come on, eat up," Haechan giggled as he held up a piece of fried chicken on his chopsticks. My eyes went wide and my heart started to race.

"C-Channie Hyung, what're you doing," I asked fearfully.

"Hyung stop, he doesn't want to eat it," Jisung said with a sigh.

"Come on Lele, open wide for Hyungie," Haechan said as he started to bring it closer to my face. I started trying to get out of Nomin's grip as I got flashbacks of what happened years ago, it was pretty much exactly like what my parents had done. The minute the chicken touched my lips, I screamed and kicked Haechan back, thrashing in Jeno and Jaemin's grip until they let me go. I dropped to the floor and shuffled back quickly until my back made contact with a wall. Someone touched my shoulder and I screamed at them to get away before I started sobbing and I squeezed my eyes shut shaking my head and whimpering. Flashbacks started going through my mind and I couldn't stop them. Everything was becoming too much and I couldn't handle it, so I screamed.

Renjun's POV

I rolled my eyes as I watched Jaemin and Jeno sneak up behind Chenle. The two of them and Haechan had been coming up with a plan to muck around and prank him by getting him to eat some of the chicken. It's be funny to watch his face scrunch up at the taste if he really doesn't like the taste.

"What're you guys doing," Chenle asked sighing as Jeno and Jaemin pinned his arms with a giggle. I chuckled at Chenle's face as he just looked so done with the boys and their antics.

"Having some fun and proving to you that you'll like at least one of these dishes," Haechan chuckled.

"What do you mean," Chenle asked.

"Come on, eat up," Haechan said as he held up some chicken.

"C-Channie Hyung, what're you doing." I paused as it sounded almost like Chenle was, scared of the chicken. I thought about telling them to stop but I thought I must have just been going crazy.

"Hyung stop, he doesn't want to eat it," Jisung said sighing.

"Come on Lele, open wide for Hyungie," Haechan said with a grin. I didn't expect what came next, no one could, otherwise they wouldn't have done it. The minute Haechan lifted the chicken up to Chenle's lips, it's like he snapped. He screamed kicked out quickly, catching Haechan in the stomach and make him fall to the ground with a gasp of pain as his back collided with the floor.

"Chenle, what the hell," Mark exclaimed as he ran to Haechan's side. My eyes went wide as Chenle thrashed around in Jeno and Jaemin's grip until they let him go quickly and stepped back in shock. Chenle dropped to the floor and rushed back until he made contact with the wall. Jisung rushed to him and grabbed his shoulder, obviously wanting to calm him down but Chenle screamed and yelled at him to get away. I ran to Jisung and grabbed his waist, tugging him away quickly as I knew he couldn't understand what Chenle just said as he had switched to Chinese in his panicked state.

"Don't touch him," I said quickly, making everyone else back away as Chenle whimpered through his sobs and closed his eyes, placing his hands over his ears.

"Chenle, Chenle what's wrong," Mark spoke quickly. That didn't seem to be a good idea as Chenle screamed. I quickly wrapped my arms around Jisung and held him back as he started sobbing and trying to get to Chenle.

"No, no, no, please don't. Please, I'm sorry," Chenle sobbed and I frowned at his words. That's when it clicked, he doesn't just not like chicken because he doesn't like the taste, it's obviously linked to something traumatic and we just triggered it.

"Renjun, what's he saying," Mark asked quickly.

"He just saying no and sorry," I said shaking his head.

"We need to calm him down or he could get hurt," Jeno said shakily. I could tell that he was beating himself up but right now I need to focus on Chenle.

"Chenle, Chenle it's Renjun. Can you hear me," I asked gently, switching to Chinese as that seems to be what he's defaulted to. He was still whimpering and his whole body was trembling but his eyes opened at my words.

"What do you need? I need you to tell me what you need baby," I said quickly. I went to take a step closer to him but he started crying harder so I quickly stepped back.

"Yukhei, Yukhei," he sobbed shaking his head.

"I w-want. I want Gege," he cried.

"Lucas, someone call Lucas," I said quickly.

"What? Why Lucas," Jaemin asked.

"Because Chenle wants him, just call him," I yelled. Mark quickly pulled out his phone and stepped back to call Lucas I hoped.

"Chenle, you need to try and calm down ok. Just try and breathe," I said gently.

"Stop, stop. Please just stop," he sobbed, going back to squeezing his eyes shut. This is not good.

Lucas's POV

It's WayV's day off so we're all currently sitting in the loungeroom and watching movies lazily. I was laying on the couch with Sicheng lying across from me and eating popcorn when my phone started ringing.

"Can you answer that for me," I asked Kun. He nodded and answered it, pulling it up to his ear.

"Hey Mark, it's Kun," he said before pausing. His eyes went wide and he nodded quickly.

"Yeah ok, Lucas he needs to talk to you. It sounds urgent," Kun said as he handed me the phone. I furrowed my eyebrows but grabbed it quickly.

"Hey Mark, what's up," I asked.

"Hyung you need to come to the company," he said quickly.

"What, why," I asked. I seriously don't want to get up right now. It's our first day off in a while and I really want to keep relaxing comfortably like this. I tensed slightly as I heard what sounded like a scream in the background.

"W-We were filming a video and we got a prize because we won. I-It was chicken and now-."

"I'm on my way, be there in five," I said quickly before hanging up. The minute I heard him mention chicken, I knew something had happened with Chenle. Chenle told me that I was one of the only people that he told about his fear and I was the only person he's ever told about the backstory. That's mean I'm the only one that can really help him right now.

"Get off Sicheng," I said quickly. He was confused but got up so I could stand up.

"I need to go to the company but I'll be back later," I told them.

"What, why? It's our day off," Hendery said.

"Something's happened with the Dreamie's and I need to help them," I said quickly as I put on my shoes.

"Are they ok? Should we come," Kun asked worriedly.

"No, it'll be fine. I'll be back later and let you know if anything happens," I replied before leaving quickly.

~~~~~

It didn't take me long to get to the company and I ran up to the front desk.

"NCT Dream, they're doing a video today. Can you tell me which room they were using," I asked quickly.

"They're in the 3rd filming room but we've been told not to let anyone in because something's happene-."

"I know what's happened and thank you," I said before running off in the direction of the room. When I finally got to the room, I swung the door open quickly. My heart dropped at the sight I was met with. Renjun was holding onto a frantic and crying Jisung, Jaemin and Jeno were crying into each other's embrace and Mark was cradling Haechan in his lap. Chenle was huddled up against the wall as he sobbed and his whole but was shaking. I quickly ran and knelt down about 3 meters from Chenle.

"Lele. Lele listen to me ok, can you hear me," I said softly.

"Gege," he whispered as his eyes ran over me.

"Gege," he sobbed as he lurched forwards and flung himself at me. I quickly wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close to me.

"Shh Lele, shh. You're ok, you're fine," I said rocking him gently as he sobbed into my shoulder.

"I can taste it Gege, I can taste it," he sobbed he body trembling.

"Jesus Chenle, why would you eat it," I said shaking my head sympathetically as I ran my fingers through his hair softly.

"I d-didn't," he sobbed. Huh?

"He didn't eat it Xuxi, Haechan almost forced him to," Renjun said.

"What. Why the hell would he do that," I asked making Chenle whimpered so I quickly continued to rock him gently.

"It was an accident, we didn't know he would react like this," Renjun said.

"Did he say no," I asked with a frown. That shut Renjun up straight away and he went back to consoling Jisung gently.

"How bad is it," I asked Chenle gently.

"9," he whimpered. Oh, so really bad.

"Ok, that's ok. We'll get through it alright, I promise," I said gently.

"Gege I can taste it," he cried. I quickly reached into my pocket and fiddled around before I pulled out a piece of gum. I unwrapped it quickly.

"Here Lele," I said, giving it to him to eat. He quickly grabbed it and put it in his mouth quickly, chewing frantically. The gum seemed to calm him down considerably but he was still crying and shaking slightly.

"Lele look at me for a second please," I asked gently. He sniffled and looked up at me.

"Your parents aren't here alright Chenle, and the boys aren't them. I know they shouldn't have forced you and I know that reminded you of that night but you're ok. The chicken here is cooked which means they had no intentions of hurting you. Your parents used the raw chicken as a punishment, they were using this as a reward because you did well," I told him. I heard a few gasps but I ignored them.

"You understand that right? The Dreamies love you ok, they'd never try to hurt you," I said softly. His shaking slowly died down but he started crying harder. These cries were different though, they weren't cries of fear, they were sad cries.

Chenle's POV

"Lele. Lele listen to me ok, can you hear me." I opened my eyes quickly at the familiar and comforting voice.

"Gege," I asked uncertainly as I looked up through my tears. When I saw the familiar face of Yukhei, I let out a cry of relief.

"Gege," I gasped as I launched myself into his arms. He was prepared and caught me before pulling me into a tight embrace.

"Shh Lele, shh. You're ok, you're fine," he said, rocking me back and forth gently. It was comforting but not enough to calm me down completely. The memories were still there and I could taste the raw chicken in my mouth. It wasn't going away.

"I can taste it Gege, I can taste it," I sobbed.

"Jesus Chenle, why would you eat it," he asked me as he shook his head. Why would I eat it if I knew how I would react?

"I d-didn't," I sobbed.

"He didn't eat it Xuxi, Haechan almost forced him to," Renjun spoke up.

"What. Why the hell would he do that," Yukhei said angrily, making me whimper. He reacted quickly by rocking me side to side again.

"It was an accident, we didn't know he would react like this," Renjun said.

"Did he say no," Yukhei asked.

"How bad is it," he asked me quietly.

"9," I whimpered out as I could still taste it. It wouldn't go away and it wasn't making me feel sick to my stomach.

"Ok, that's ok. We'll get through it alright, I promise," he said gently. I believed his words, Yukhei always keeps his promises but it was still there.

"Gege I can taste it," I cried. He shuffled around a bit before pulling out a piece of gum and unwrapping it.

"Here Lele," he said, holding it out for me. I grabbed it and put it into my mouth, chewing quickly and feeling the peppermint flavour flow through my mouth. It helped, it helped a lot. I no longer had the putrid taste in my mouth and that helped to block out a lot of the memories.

"Lele look at me for a second please." I sniffed and looked up at Yukhei slowly.

"Your parents aren't here alright Chenle, and the boys aren't them. I know they shouldn't have forced you and I know that reminded you of that night but you're ok. The chicken here is cooked which means they had no intentions of hurting you. Your parents used the raw chicken as a punishment, they were using this as a reward because you did well," he told me. I listened closely to his words and felt myself calming down quite quickly as he was right. My parents aren't here, they aren't even in Korea right now. And he's right, the boys and staff were never trying to hurt me like my parents were, the chicken wasn't raw and it wasn't a punishment.

"You understand that right? The Dreamies love you ok, they'd never try to hurt you," he said softly. They do love me, they always look after me and make sure I'm ok. They never knew about how bad my fear was, they didn't even know I had a fear. Haechan was just smiling and having fun, probably thinking I just didn't like the taste like many people don't like the taste of stuff. Oh my god, Haechan. He was just smiling and mucking around and I, I kicked him in the stomach. I hurt him. I had stopped shaking but I began to cry harder. I can't believe I actually hurt my Hyung!

"Lele breathe, what's wrong. You're safe," Yukhei said quickly.

"I-I kicked Haechannie Hyung. Gege, I hurt Channie Hyung," I gasped, looking around frantically to try and find him but Yukhei held me closer and kept me from moving too much.

"He's fine Chenle, he's with Mark," he told me.

"Gege I want to see him," I whispered, my eyes filled with tears. Yukhei looked up and said something in Korean which took me a little to register but I realised he had called Haechan over. I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and I turned around to see Haechan kneeled down next to me.

"Hey Chenle, can you understand me," he asked gently. It took me a second to be able to understand it but I nodded and quickly ran my eyes over him to see any signs of discomfort.

"I'm sorry Hyung, I'm s-so so-."

"Don't stress Chenle, it's not your fault ok. I was the one that was going to force you to eat something you clearly didn't want to and I'm so sorry for that. I didn't realise that it was an actually fear, I just thought it was a food you don't like. I'm so sorry for making you go through whatever trauma is associated with it," he said sadly. I quickly moved from Lucas's lap and over to Haechan, hugging him gently. He hugged me back tightly and rubbed my back quickly.

"How're you feeling," he asked me gently.

"I'm fine, a lot better," I nodded.

"Can Jisung come here, he's really worried about you," Haechan said as we pulled apart. I looked around and found Jisung in Renjun's arms, hugging him tightly.

"Sungie," I called out. Renjun moved his arms and Jisung immediately ran to me with tears streaming down his face. He went to drop in front of me but I moved forwards and caught him, pulling him onto my lap before he could. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and I wrapped mine his waist. We both held each other tightly as if we were going to disappear if either of us let go. Jisung is my only dongsaeng, my best friend, my rock and I hate seeing him cry. I hate it even more when I'm the reason he's so upset.

"Shh, I'm alright Jisung, I'm ok. I promise," I whispered.

"Hyungie you were screaming. I was so scared, y-you just dropped and looked petrified," he cried. My heart clenched at his cries and the sadness in his voice.

"I'm sorry for scaring you Sung but I'm ok," I promised him.

"You don't need to be sorry Gege, it wasn't your fault," he said cuddling closer to me. I was shocked at his use of Gege and not Hyung because it's not something he ever says but I realised he was trying to make me feel safer and more comfortable.

"I love you Sungie," I whispered. He sniffled slightly before pulling back and looking at me.

"I love you too," he whispered back before he moved away and I looked up to see Jeno and Jaemin standing with guilty looks on their faces.

"I'm not fragile Hyungs," I said, giving them a small smile. They quickly rushed forwards and sat down on either side of me, wrapping their arms around me.

"We're so sorry," Jeno said quietly.

"It's ok guys," I said gently, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Can I ask you something Lele? You don't have to answer," Jaemin said nervously. I immediately knew what he was going to ask and I think it's about time I tell the other's. If there's one thing I've just learnt, it's that keeping secrets is just going to end up hurting someone. I never want to feel like how I just did again.

"My parents are very well respected people and they pride themselves on their reputation, always have. They liked to discipline me in pretty extreme ways sometimes. When I was in year 8, I didn't get a single A on my report card, only B's and even a couple of C's so they thought I would benefit for some good old correction. They made me eat raw chicken and despite me begging them to stop because it tasted horrible, they wouldn't. Long story short, I ended up in hospital sick for weeks and if they had of taken me there any later, I could've possibly died," I said, shuddering at the memory and huddling closer to Jaemin Hyung.

"Oh my god Lele, that's horrible, we had no idea," Mark said, horror written all over his face.

"It's fine, I don't really talk about it with anyone. Lucas was the only one I ever told about it," I said with a small shrug.

"And by the way, I don't blame any of you for making me panic like that. Sure you're all idiots and annoying for trying to force me to eat it, but you were expecting my to just try and spit it out, not completely freak out. I never told you so you couldn't know," I said with a sigh.

"That doesn't make a difference Chenle, we shouldn't have tried to force you," Jeno said shaking his head.

"We promise we won't do it again," Jaemin added. I gave them a small smile and nodded.

"Group hug," Haechan suggested. We all immediately grinned and started piling on top of each other and giggling, even Lucas joined in. It was good to have everyone smiling and happy again rather than crying and upset. Let's just hope nothing like that ever happens again because that was borderline terrifying.

A/N

This was requested by @Hudable and I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you for reading and I hope you're all doing well!