alters » nct dream

48

the needle of the clock reached the final quarter of the hour, indicating there were only a short time left before the judges start judging each project in the hall.

"the competition is about to start soon. how's everyone feeling?" asked jeno as he walks into his team's booth.

all of the team members were nervously waiting in their seats, sweats wetting the palms of their hands and their feet shaking intensely.

"not good. i think i need some coffee before it starts." said renjun, head hung low with his hand restlessly fidgeting with his fingers.

"who drinks coffee before a nerve-racking competition?" interrupted a voice of the person who often brings comfort to the dreamies.

"hyung! you're here." cheered renjun as he walked over to mark who were standing before the rest of the dreamies.

"of course, we're here to cheer on our talented friends, like how everyone were there on our basketball tournament." said mark, receiving the hug from renjun.

"and no coffee for you. we got some iced tea for everyone instead." said jaemin from behind mark. "here, each of you should take one. we bought different flavors for all of you."

"jaemin got strawberry, peach and lemon flavored teas." explained weiyun as she put down the remaining drinks on the empty table in their booth.

"here's an iced strawberry tea for you," said jaemin, handing a cup of the drink to eunha who were silently sitting inside.

"thank you," muttered eunha. it was evident from her voice and actions that she was beyond nervous for the competition. jaemin noticed it almost instantly and kneeled himself before her as there were no empty seats next to her. "are you nervous? don't worry, everything will be okay."

"jaemin kept insisting one of the strawberry teas belongs to you. he repeated it throughout the ride. very rare of him to mention even the word strawberry that much." said donghyuck as he joined eunha and jaemin.

eunha smiled, "i didn't know you know i like strawberry. thank you,"

"you drank the strawberry yoghurt the other day. i found out from then." said jaemin.

"jeno, how many minutes until the competition starts?" asked jaemin, standing up as he eyed his wristwatch.

"about 10 minutes, i think?" replied jeno, then returning his attention back to the dreamies who were asking him about their project.

"we have enough time." jaemin said, taking the cup in eunha's hands and then proceeding to take her hands tightly in his, "let's go. let's go for a short walk."

"no, we don't have enough ti-"

"don't worry, we will be back before it starts," said jaemin, taking her out of the booth.

"jeno, i'm taking her out on a walk. i promise to bring her back before the competition starts." said jaemin, quickly leaving the booth with eunha's hands in his.

donghyuck who were once sitting with seolhyun walked up to jeno and mark, taking his chance to tease him, "seems like someone ended their distancing phase. not feeling pain anymore seeing them together?"

jeno slapped donghyuck's arm lightly before replying, "yah don't say it like that. i've always shipped the two of them."

"he's teasing you as if he himself isn't awkward around his best friend," teased mark - with emphasis on the best friend.

"bye," said donghyuck in response, pretending to be sulking as he walk back towards seolhyun.

on the other hand, jaemin was walking hand in hands with eunha. his grip around hers was tight with his thumb constantly rubbing her hands.

"i believe you'll do okay." said jaemin, as the two of them continues to take small steps around the hall.

"i'm nervous for the interview. since jeno chose me to do the interview, it feels as though the team's luck is in my hands. it feels heavy,"

"jeno chose you for a reason. as the leader i'm sure he thought long about it. he knows you deserve it and he knows you're capable of doing it." reassured jaemin, his hands then reaching over to her shoulders, as though he was side hugging her.

"just know that you're not going through it alone. your team members are there together with you and i will be here for you as well." said jaemin, "we should head back inside now."

the pair walked back inside the hall and returned to their booth where the rest of them were waiting.

"alright then. all the best for the competition. we'll be giving you space now. all the best nct!" said mark, side hugging jeno.

"all the best, everyone. we'll be back soon." said jaemin, raising his fist with a small "goodluck" directed towards eunha.

as the dreamies walked away from their booth, the host of the competition officially announced the start of the competition, garnering the attention of each individual in the hall.

jeno's team members instantly gathered around the team leader as he then shared, "it'll probably be awhile until it's our turn. but don't get distracted and let's be together until then. it's a pity that sungjae isn't here with us after all the hardwork he contributed-"

"he didn't contribute shit-"

"hyun-" renjun said, cutting off seolhyun who were upset with sungjae, "okay sorry but he really didn't contrib-"

"he was still a part of the team even though he deserves to be where he is at the moment. so let's not waste all the hardwork and give it our all today." said jeno, putting his hand out in the center for a team cheer.

one by one, his team members stacked their hands on top of his, forming a smile on the team leader's face.

"nct, let's do this!"

as advised by their team leader, the members stayed in their booth from the start of the competition up until it was finally their turn to be judged.

"don't be too nervous about the interview, just do it like how we practiced. i'll be right behind you during the interview. fighting!" whispered jeno to eunha before quickly joining the team's representatives in presenting their project.

meters away from their booth, a pair of eyes were focused on eyeing the team leader. she had a bouquet of flower in her hands, with a little note written on it, "you've done well, eunha!". she was none other than eunha's best friend, yunhee. she's not apart of the architecture team representing ivy high school but she came to support her school as the vice president of student council.

as her eyes were locked on jeno, a male figure greeted her and broke her stance.

"ah we meet again." he said, bowing to her as a sign of respect.

"oh hello. what are you doing here?" she asked.

"ah i came here to find seo eunha. i was just trying my luck to see if she's into architecture. do you know if she's around, by any chance?" he asked.

yunhee nodded, "yes she is here today. that's her, actually!" yunhee said, pointing her index to eunha who were in the middle of the interview with jeno standing by her side.

a smile curled on his face as his stare landed on the person he's been longing to meet for a long time. "i finally found you," he muttered.

"but, who are you actually? why are you looking for her?"

"i'm her brother."

• • •

the book ends at chapter 50 but i will also publish 5 special chapters afterwards.

oh and don't worry, i'm done hurting the characters 😂

- ayraa