never not ✧ mark lee

39

To be completely honest, ever since Dasom had started to be around, aside from Mark beginning to relax more and think about things beside his work, she seemed to have an effect on Jaehyun as well.

Back when they were trainees to when they had just debuted, Jaehyun was treated more like one of the younger ones of the group. As they had all grown older over the years, Taeyong knew that Jaehyun had developed a sense of pressure to uphold an image of perfection that their company had placed on him, particularly from being one of the top visuals.

Jaehyun had stopped being completely himself on camera for a while now, and eventually, it started seeping into his personal life outside the spotlight.

"Maybe I'll leave you on the streets tonight for real," Taeyong heard Jaehyun say to Dasom, making him tune into the conversation too.

"What the fuck is up Jaehyun?" Dasom said, making her accent sound as American as she could as she replied. "No, what did you say?"

Taeyong was about to step in thinking they were about to argue over a joke Jaehyun made, but he stayed silent as Jaehyun began to laugh.

"What the fuck dude," he replied. "Step the fuck up Kyle-- I mean, Step the fuck up Desi."

Taeyong realized it must be an inside joke or something along those lines (it was yet another vine reference, Taeyong just had no idea) as the two laughed together and began talking about something else right after.

He had no idea when and where Jaehyun had even given Dasom the chance to get close to him, but a part of him was glad it happened. Even when she wasn't there, Jaehyun was being a lot more like the old him, goofy, playful, and caring. At the same time though, Taeyong had a sinking feeling that, possibly unconsciously, Dasom would end up creating some sort of rivalry between Jaehyun and Mark.

He had even spoken to Ten about these thoughts before, and despite hoping to be told he was wrong, his friend had reluctantly agreed with him. According to Ten, Mark had mentioned he doesn't necessarily like Dasom hanging out with Jaehyun alone and often puts himself between them when he can.

Taeyong was sure this was mainly due to Jaehyun's history with girls, but he couldn't help but wonder if there was also a bit of jealousy involved.

"Where's Mark by the way?" Dasom asked the group, on par with Taeyong's thoughts. "He didn't wanna come with you guys?"

"He wanted to pick his girl up so he's coming with her in an Uber," Doyoung told her with a chuckle. "Who knows, he might have an actual girlfriend by the end of this night."

"Oh, right!" Dasom said, but she seemed like she was trying to force excitement. "Good for him..."

Taeyong noticed Jaehyun tighten his grip around Dasom's hand at her words, and he noticed the grimness on the girl's face. Was it possible that Dasom had feelings for Mark this whole time? Was Jaehyun really just being a good friend to her was he trying for something else thinking that Mark was out of her reach? And was Mark really that far out of her reach?

He had so many questions but no answers, and that was frustrating to Taeyong. But, he also knew that right now there was nothing he could do about it, so he just decided to ignore everything for the moment and enjoy his night.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the city, Mark was waiting outside Lily's apartment in a taxi, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He knew that today would be the days he finally confessed to Lily, he just needed to wait for the right moment.

He caught his breath when he saw Lily running towards the cab. She looked incredible in her red dress and curled hair, and as Mark opened the door for her, all he could think about was whether he was actually good enough for someone as perfect as her. Maybe she would feel too pressured by his confession, maybe he shouldn't do it.