A problematic groan escaped from Mark's lips the moment he rounded the back of the university.
It's only 5 AM; the streets are still quiet, yet the loud roaring laughs of the boys he has grown familiar with already echo from the starting day.
It's like this every school day. The group of seven will meet up at the same place, messing with everyone and everything, their annoying selves preyed on.
Mark breathed out a laugh when he saw the two Chinese roll on the ground. A dolphin laugh resonated from one of them while he was held in a chokehold.
"MARRKKIIEEEEE" a fluffy black-haired boy shrieked, and the blonde guy beside him flinched from the defeaning sound.
"OH MY GOSH, YOU RESURRECTED!" The annoying pitched voice from the tanned male overlapped with the still ongoing bickering of the Chinese people.
Mark can only shake his head; a smile never left his face as he neared the wild, lovely group.
"Mark hyung! You never knew how Chenle slapped me!" the youngest and tallest, Jisung, cried.
"Oh, shut up, Pwark, you're a baby!" Chenle retorted after successfully releasing himself from the chokehold.
The one who's responsible for choking just clicked his tongue and pried the red spray paint from the younger Chinese (his victim), then jogged to the almost full painted wall.
"You're early" Mark yawned as he approached the tanned male, reaching out for their unique handshake.
"You're late," Donghyuck snickered and hollered when their handshake successfully ended. "Yeoreum and I talked about the girls' mission last night. It happened on your street, Mark. Are you good?"
Mark snapped, "The apartment?" his brows knit, "Is that what it was?"
"Why, have you seen them?" Donghyuck scoffed. "That man's got no jams. Lost with girls?"
"Wait, Hyuck, you said it's on my street, right? The apartment? What time?"
"Uh, almost 9, I guess?"
"Dude, I just heard a scream, and I almost lost control!"
Donghyuck panicked. "You didn't do anything stupid, right?"
"Tch, no, I ran to the building." Mark groaned, his anger bubbling up the moment he remembered what else happened last night, "My fucking tattoo just burned red! Like the fuck would my fucking soulmate do!?"
"Wait," the tanned man held his hand up. "You heard a scream, and your tattoo reacted in the same time span?"
Mark immediately nodded.
"Yeoreum said Hana was slashed too." He then pointed at the older man and asked, "What's your tattoo again?"
"Rose"
"Oh" Donghyuck cleared his throat and bit his lower lip to stifle his smile, rubbing a hand to his chin.
Mark's brows knitted as he watched the younger's strange reactions, but he chose to keep silent. Then a certain name rang in his head.
"Hana? Is she one of the girls?"
Renjun was the first to look over to him, dropping the now empty spray paint while smiling proudly at his new graffiti: "She's the leader of Zen. NCT's girl unit?"
Jeno frowned as he tore his gaze off his phone. "Wait, you didn't know?"
"How would I know?" Mark huffed. "I only knew Naih, Aeri, and Yeoreum, which are your girlfriends slash soulmates."
"Hana is the last girl to join. But Taeyong hyung appointed her to lead because she's qualified." Jaemin explained. "We haven't mentioned her."
"No, as far as I know."
Donghyuck only smirked and tapped his shoulder. "You'll meet her soon" he winked.
Now the whole group immediately rounded the tanned male, urging for the tea to spill.
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"Off" Hana lowly said in a warning tone as she saw a male student leaning on her locker.
The laughter immediately died down as the group's eyes darted to her, scanning from head to toe.
She clicked her tongue and stared boredly at the smirking male. "That's my locker."
"You look new." he said, biting his lower lip. "I'm Lee Juyeon from the Accounting Department."
His clique cheered at his attempt to flirt, sending the girl into grave patience as she rolled her shoulders out to calm her nerves.
She flashed a tight smile and inched closer at him. "You're blocking my locker."
"You can use mine. All of my things are now yours."
The cheers only got louder, and the other students also took a moment to watch the early scene.
Hana let out an exasperated sigh and tugged on Juyeon's collar, receiving two reactions: the students around her gasped in surprise, while the group of boys snickered at how feisty she was.
It made her blood boil hotter than ever as her clutch tightened, the material sending the male into a chokehold.
"I'm Jo Hana, a new student from the IT Department. Now fuck off." she said, speaking through gritted teeth and yanking the male away from her locker.
A series of ooohh's and wow's spread on the hallway, blocking Hana's ears as she continued to shove unnecessary things inside the metal space.
Suddenly she was turned around with a firm grip on her wrist, wincing at its nails dug into her skin. The thing is, the fingers rounded on her soulmate tattoo and the knife wound from last night made it more painful.
"Fucking bitch, who the fuck do you think you fucking are!" Juyeon growled and gripped her neck, pushing her to the lockers, which made a loud thud.
Two of his friends panicked and tried to pull him away from the girl, while the students screamed in terror, shouting for him to stop.
Yet Juyeon kept his grip tight, Hana choking air out, but she knew better what to do in this type of situation.
She's the top fighter for a reason.
And no, she won't kick balls. It will just end up being easy.
Juyeon's brow raised when she flashed a grin, and then his arm was gripped with hers as she hardly twisted it. A flicking pain immediately soared through his muscles, making his grip loosen. Hana took the opportunity to yank it away from her neck and punched his jaw, his balance leaving him, causing him to lean his weight on one of his friends.
Hana took the moment to catch her breath, softly rubbing her throat in an attempt to ease the pain. While Juyeon wondered how a gentle-looking girl like her got that much strength, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice.
"OKAY! THE SHOW'S OVER!" Donghyuck's curly red hair peeked through the crowd, and Yeoreum slipped out immediately to run in the hotheaded girl's direction.
"Hana, oh my gosh" she shrieked, frantically checking her out.
"Reum, I'm ok."
"You are not okay." Aeri joined in while her eyes narrowed at Juyeon and his gang. "Who do you fucking think to fucking lay your fucking hands on my girl?"
"She started it!"
Hana scoffed and was about to pounce on him when a firm grip stopped her. She snapped at the culprit and saw an unfamiliar face; beside him is Jaemin, who's worriedly looking at her.
"Who the fuck?"
"Not here. You girls are just new, and you will surely receive a penalty."
Hana huffed and shook his hand off her, flashing a glare as she angrily left.
Away from the human's eye is the glowing light from both wrists; the once burning hue of red has turned clear white, serving as a sign of a new bond.
They just unknowingly completed the soulmate bond.