Mark Me

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Jaemin wraps up his finger with medical tape carefully. He was in the nurse's office at school, taking careful care of his now bruised finger. He finishes wrapping it up and takes his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. With a final goodbye to the school nurse, Jaemin heads down to lunch; it was tacos today (AKA international food day) and Jaemin's school made bomb tacos.

He sits down next to Jisung and Chenle, both of which were in a very heated conversation on how to properly set up the perfect taco. "Guys, stop bickering, clearly it goes meat, salad, guac, cheese, sour cream, then salsa." Jaemin says, putting in his idea.

Chenle gasps and Jisung claps his hands together, saying a loud "I *clap* told *calp* you! *clap*."

Chenle lightly smacks Jaemin, who was laughing. "Take that back! Hyung! Take it back!"

"Admit it Chenle, you make tacos incorrectly." Renjun says sitting down across from Jaemin.

"What are they fighting about this time?" Jeno sighs, and slides in next to Jaemin. "Hey angel." Jaemin merely turns and smiles at the boy before going back to his discussion with Chenle and Jisung.

Renjun breaks the very heated argument after a few minutes of a screeching Chenle. "My brother is moving here, coming in for work." He says, stuffing his face with a taco shell.

"Oh? I thought he was stuck in China for a few more years." Jaemin states, clearly remembering the conversation he and Renjun had a few months ago.

"Nah, they moved him to their korean branch." Renjun shrugs.

"You have a brother?" Donghyuk asks in surprise, him and Mark finally joining the table.

"Yeah, well, technically he's my step-brother. His name is Qian Kun, 25, and pretty chill. It'll be good to see him again."

"When's he come in?" Jaemin asks, finishing up his plate. He places his napkin down on the table and leans his chin on his palm, being careful of his finger.

"Next week. He'll be moving in with me before his job gives him an apartment to settle into."

Chenle and Jisung make an "oooo" sound at the thought of a job giving you a living space.

"Well I hope he settles in- Jaemin..." Donghyuk pauses in his thought when he sees the bandages on his friend's fingers.

"What?" Jaemin raises an eyebrow at Donghyuk's concerned face.

"What's on your hand?" The older boy slowly stands and Jaemin's eyes widen.

"Hyuk, Hyuk it's nothing. Seriously it's nothing!" Jaemin stands as well, clearly on the defense.

Donghyuk sighs and takes Jaemin's wrist harshly in his hands. "I told you it would be dangerous. You're too fragile for this-"

"No I'm not!" Jaemin bursts, his eyes stung with tears. He was so tired of being called fragile or weak. So tired of being sick. "Don't say I'm fragile. I'm strong, I can do it Hyuk. This-" He gestures to his finger. "-This is nothing serious. Please, for once, just trust me. Believe in me!" He begins to shake. Donghyuk is left speechless, along with the rest of the cafeteria. "I know how dangerous this is, but please, at least let me pretend to be normal. At least let me act like I'll be safe...please..." Jaemin's cheeks were streaked with tears now, his chest heaving up and down. He finally cracked; all the doctor's visits, all the nights spent at the hospital, it finally caught up to him. He was so tired of being the weak, sickly boy. So sick of being known as the injury kid. The one who always got hurt. The one who couldn't play sports. The weakling.

Donghyuk sighs and drags Jaemin out of the cafeteria silently.

"Hyuk please. It really is nothing..Hyuk!"

"No Jaemin, it isn't 'nothing'! I'm just trying to look out for you! Can't you see that? This- this job clearly isn't doing you any good. I don't want you getting hurt! I don't want to lose you!" He says loudly, free to speak now that they were in the hall. "I can't lose my best friend. I can't go through sophomore year again. I can't do this again Jaemin! Can't you see that we're all scared for you?"

"You think you're scared? I'm the one at risk here! I'm the one who could die! Not you. I'm the one who's scared. I know how hard sophomore year was, oh trust me I know. You think I liked being stuck in a hospital for weeks on end? Huh? You think I liked being bed ridden for 2 months? You think I wanted that? News flash Hyuk, I didn't. I didn't like any of that one bit. Do you even know how painful it is, not being able to move? To have a back brace on 24/7 for almost 3 months? I know how bad that was. But all I want now is to be treated normally, like I'm not weak, like I won't break at any second. For once in my fucking life, I just want to be normal..."

"Minnie..."

"But that isn't possible, is it? No, it's not. I can't be normal. Why? Because I'm at the doctor's every month. Because any fall to the ground could be my last. Because joining a sports team could end me. I can't ever be normal...but can't I pretend? Can't I at least imagine what it would be like to not be scared for my life in any slightly risky situation?" Jaemin stops talking, taking a deep breath with hiccups in between.

"I'm sorry..." Donghyuk starts.

Jaemin scoffs. "For what? Looking out for me? Being a good friend? Don't be sorry Hyuk...You're right anyways. This is all so dangerous, but I can't just quit. I actually like working at the library, and for once in my life, my sickness isn't taking a toll in my daily routine right now." Jaemin sighs and wipes his tears. "I'm heading to class now, tell the others that I'm fine. I'll see you later." He smiles at his friend sadly and walks off down the hall. Donghyuk stands there, watching Jaemin's defeated figure walk away. He sighs and shakes his head, turning back to the cafeteria. He stops, and turns to his left seeing Jeno.

"Oh...I had a feeling you'd follow us..."

Jeno steps out from his place around the corner. "Donghyuk..."

"Ask Jaemin yourself, this isn't something I should just say. You should get to class Jeno. See you around." And with that, Donghyuk walks back to the table and sits next to Mark.

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<Aight here's another chapter :) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 9K READS IM SCREAMING I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH WDFHWORUGWR lolol anyways, this story is getting juicy lmaooo I'm glad you all are still reading this, it means a lot. I never expected my story to go on this long yet here we are and I'm so happy that you have stuck with me through it :) I'm slowly wrapping it up but there are plenty chapters left, don't worry. Alright, I'll see you soon my Lovelies>