[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

Because They Can

Mark and Lucas somehow ended up being the only kids in the basement, the two of them doing their homework because both Doyoung and Kun had come down to nag them about it when they weren't. But now the two of them were in the upstairs kitchen making pancakes because Jungwoo had wanted them and no one was going to turn him down.

"You know what?" Mark started, very done with the science question he was stuck on.

"Nani's the best big sister ever?"

"Who?"

"Lilo and Stitch, man! Nani's the best!"

"Oh yeah, you right." Mark paused, forgetting what he was originally going to say. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"If Doyoung can take Jeno out and Kun can take Chenle places-"

"They live together."

"That doesn't matter. If they can play favorites, so can we!"

Lucas slammed his pencil against the paper he was working on. "Yeah!" Then his brain tried to understand what that meant. "So we're taking Jeno and Chenle out?"

Mark physically deflated a bit. "No dude, I was going to take you out."

"No homo, man."

"It's fine, we have socks on. So...?"

"Let's go!"

Lucas and Mark jumped up from the beds they were sitting on, ditching their homework and escaping the basement. Not without asking Mrs. Suh for permission, though, but she let them go while patting Mark's head.

"Are you sure Mrs. Suh didn't ask for you to come to Korea instead of your Mom making you?"

"I didn't even know her before now. I bet she did, though." At least Mark didn't think he knew her prior to coming. He had no idea.

"What are we doing? Are you just taking me out with no plan?" Lucas sighed when Mark shrugged.

"I wanted to play favorites, so we're playing favorites."

"Aw, I'm your favorite?" Lucas pinched Mark's cheek, the latter slapping his hand away.

"Playground?" Mark was dragged off before Lucas could figure out it was a distraction from answering his question.

"Floor is lava!" Lucas called out, both of them throwing themselves onto the nearest piece of playground equipment.

"Last one to the top of the castle without touching the ground has to refuse pancakes!"

Mark exclaimed that before he properly looked at where he was. He had thrown himself onto the wooden firetruck that was completely separate from any other part of the playground, while Lucas was clinging to the rock wall. Neither of them had it easy.

"Hey!" Mark whisper shouted to the kid closest to him. "Can you move that block over here?" Luckily, the kid complied, giving Mark an escape off the firetruck.

Lucas was scaling the rock wall as fast as he could, reaching the top with ease. From there he called upon the power of the vitamin gummy he was forced to eat that morning, and jumped from the top of the rock wall to the side of the castle.

When Mark ran up the steps shaped like leaves to the top of the castle, ready to celebrate over the fact that he won, he looked up to see Lucas standing above him, leaning against the flag pole.

"I said avoid the lava, not become Spider Man." Mark crossed his arms, frowning as Lucas jumped down to where he was.

"It's the vitamin gummies, man."

"Do I really have to refuse pancakes?"

Lucas put his arm around the shorter's shoulders, starting to walk in the direction of the double slide. "I don't know, man. Am I your favorite?"

"Of course!"

"You're lying. No pancakes for you." Lucas shook his head in disappointment, swinging on the hand bar above the slide before going down.

Mark just sighed. Refusing those pancakes would be torture.

"Would I have got them if I didn't lie?" 

Lucas turned around so he was walking backwards, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Nope!"