teddy bear | markhyuck

⤷twenty nine

5 months later...

"i love you."

"i love you too."

   mark hung up the phone, hanging his head low. a tired sigh escpaed him but he tried to hold it back. "mark," doyoung stepped in the dressing room, adjusting his ear piece as he put it in, "we're out in three." "got it, hyung," mark nodded, standing up and heading out the room and lining up behind some of the other members to go on stage.

   staff hurried for last second make up touches or just a little bit more hair spray. mark cleared his throat and warmed it up, spinning the mic in his hands while he waited. loud clapping came from the audience outside and mark knew that it was time to go.

   johnny, ten, doyoung, yanyang, chenle, xiaojun, and taeyong exchanged encouraging words and pats before walking onto the stage. the second mark walked past the curtain, he held back his tired expression. his shoulders and back hurt but he ignored it and walked on stage, standing in position. he smiled and waved at the crowd, adjusting his mic before the lights dimmed and he crouched down where he would begin performing as soon as the song started playing.

   music flowed into his ear piece and he began dancing the choreography that he had spent countless hours perfecting. taeyong's opening rap passed, leading to mark's own rap verse. the song continued quickly yet slowly at the same time. mark loved performing but he needed a rest. the song felt like it was being dragged out but on the other hand, he enjoyed it. 

   by the time the bridge, hook, dance break, and ending had passed, mark felt faint. having been in the industry for six years already, he didn't let it show. instead, the performance ended and he plastered a smile on his face while waving to the fans. his mic was turned off but he mouthed thank you's until it was time to follow the other member's off stage. as soon as mark was out of sight from the viewers, he placed a hand on the wall and leaned against it, groaning in pain.

   "mark?" ten asked, noticing the canadian immediately. "i'm fine, just give me a second," he squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath before standing up. "you need a break, mark," ten said, watching the sad scene unfold before him. mark was looking at the day's schedule on his phone and ten could already see how much he itched to practice more.

   a sad an unhealthy habit had grown ever since the nonstop comeback promotions and other idol duties. mark was constantly praticing and perfecting everything he did. whether it was the dance, his rap, or his vocal lines, mark practiced to no end. he was always stressing over expressions or keeping the audience entertained. the other members noticed it and even began to worry about him.

   what no one knew was that that was the only way for mark to cope with being away from his boyfriend; donghyuck.

   after both nct 127 and nct dream had successful comebacks, nct 2022 would release another full length album. this time was different though. this time the album would have three title tracks and each title track unit would promote at different parts of the world.

   first came the unit announcments. then came the rehearsals and recordings. next was the photo shoots and music video shootings. when the songs and album b-sides were completed, one by one, the songs were released. once all the title tracks had come out, the full album was released. promotion lives, radio interviews, magazine shots, commercials and advertisements. suddenly all the members had packed schedules and everyone lacked sleep.

   the comeback was successful. in fact, it was so successful that you couldn't go a day in seoul without hearing the songs. everyone grew sick of their own music and wanted a break. but that's when the tour dates were let out. as stadiums and arenas were busy getting sold out, nct was filming not only promotional content, but regular content for their fans.