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It had been a long day for Mark since NCT Dream had just dropped their comeback with their first full length album. They'd done a live showcase and performed a few of their songs as well, before going back to their company and practicing Dive Into You, Diggity, and Hot Sauce again for their upcoming music show performances.
The song was charting a lot better than any of them had expected it to. It seemed like a lot people were anticipating their first comeback as seven as much as they had been themselves.
The comeback was doing well so far, with them recording over one million preorders. Mark felt like he could relax a little, things were going fine.
"Mark!" Donghyuck shouted, bursting into his room. "Can we go have pizza for dinner?"
"Can't we just order in?" Mark asked him as Donghyuck sat on the foot of his bed.
"Nah, I wanna go out," Donghyuck said. "It's pretty nice out right now too."
"Okay fine," Mark said, getting out of bed. "Lemme change out of these shorts."
Donghyuck didn't bother moving, so Mark just sighed and changed in front of him.
"Let's invite Dasom too," Donghyuck suggested, and Mark frowned.
"What? Why?"
"Dude, you're not gonna get to see her much for the next month or so," Donghyuck reminded him. "Our schedule is fucking PACKED."
"Hmm," Mark considered that. "Okay, you're right. I'll call her."
"Cool, let's go."
"If that's the case though, you should call Haru too."
"Okay yeah, good idea."
Mark and Donghyuck were joined by Dasom and Haru a while later at a pizza place that they knew usually didn't get too many customers. They ordered two pizzas to share and paired them with a beer each.
The two guys explained to the girls that they invited her since they'd be really busy soon and wouldn't be able to hang out much or even talk online.
They spent their time just talking, and it was also a good chance for Dasom and Haru to get to know each other better. The night was turning out to be fun, so they agreed to hang out as a group more often once the boys were free again.
"Hey, I have a question," Dasom said. "You all were talking about The Dream Show like it was traumatic or something. What's up with that?"
Mark and Donghyuck looked at each other with sad smiles.
"Haru can probably explain," Mark said.
"NCT Dream started off as being the NCT unit that would only have their youngest members," Haru obliged. "The original plan was that every time a member turned 20, they would graduate from the group."
"That seems kinda cruel, didn't you debut when you were 16?" Dasom said to Mark. "Four years and they wanted you to quit?"
"It was cruel," Haru nodded. "The fans also hated the idea of Mark leaving. When he had their last show with them, all the members were understandably upset, considering they all literally grew up together. Then 2019 happened, and the remaining six had their concerts. But the last day was awful, because by then Renjun, Jeno, Hyuck, and Jaemin were all 20, so they all thought that would be the end for them."
"They were all a mess including Jisung and Chenle, unsure about their futures in NCT since Hyuck was the only one part of a fixed unit," Mark continued. "But I guess our company saw how much nobody wanted NCT Dream to split up, so they decided to get rid of the graduation concept, and they decided to revamp the group, giving them one more comeback last year before bringing me back to Dream for our 2020 brand album."
"Wow, from what I can tell, you guys are the overall most loved unit," Dasom commented. "It would've been sucky as hell if they just completely changed the Dream lineup. I'm glad they didn't."
"So are we," Donghyuck agreed. "At least Mark and I have each other in 127, but the rest had no idea what their futures would be like."
"Must've been really hard emotionally," Dasom smiled comfortingly. "But it all worked out in the end. You guys are so young too so you even have a lot of time before you have to enlist. Your future is looking real bright."
"But it's a little fucked that they gave up their childhoods to train at SM, right?" Haru asked her.
"Well, yeah I guess," Dasom considered, looking across her at the two boys. "But I feel like none of you regret it."
"Absolutely not," Donghyuck declared with no hesitation.
"I would do if all over again," Mark agreed. "Wouldn't trade these kids for the world, they're my family."
It was heartwarming to hear the way Mark and Donghyuck talked about their colleagues. You wouldn't see that kind of bond in another profession.
"If Chenle was here he would say otherwise," Haru laughed.
"It's all an act," Donghyuck chuckled. "He loves us."
"How long have you known them?" Dasom asked Haru.
"Oh, I've known Hyuck since we were in elementary school," she replied. "Of course, I saw less and less of him once he became a trainee, but over time he introduced me to the rest of the guys. I think I've known Mark and the rest for about five years now?"
Dasom bit her lip. It was great that Haru had become such good friends with Mark and the others, but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy, wishing she'd known Mark for that long. She'd only known him for less than a year now.
"It kinda feels like we've known each other for as long as that too, right Des?" Mark said to her, smiling as if he was reading her mind.
"Yeah, it kinda does," Dasom smiled back at him.
When they were done paying the bill for the food and drinks, they left the pizzeria in pairs, since Donghyuck and Haru were arguing over god knows what. Mark and Dasom walked with a little distance between themselves and the other two.
"She totally likes him," Dasom observed, thinking about Haru's body language and behaviour towards Donghyuck that she'd witnessed every time she'd seen them interact.
"Yep, definitely," Mark instantly agreed. "But Donghyuck is completely oblivious. He just laughs in our faces every time one of us tries to tell him."
"Let me guess," Dasom said. "It's one of those 'ew she's like my sister' things with him?"
"Precisely," Mark sighed. "He's an idiot."
"Didn't you say Donghyuck pulls the most among you guys?" Dasom asked Mark. "How does Haru feel about that?"
"Surprisingly, she doesn't care much from what I can tell," Mark shrugged. "She's dated a few people over the past couple years, it seems like she just always comes back to Hyuck when she's not seeing anyone."
"They'd be cute together, I'm sure they'll figure it out sometime," Dasom said hopefully. "Speaking of, are you getting over Lily? Or are y'all gonna pull a star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet type of thing?"
"What? No," Mark said, giving her a strange look. "I'm pretty much over her. We weren't together that long anyway, and it's better that she tried to protect her image and career over a new relationship."
"Still seems a little sad for both of you," Dasom replied.
"Uhh, yeah sure I guess," Mark said, sounding like he wanted to move on from the topic. "Hey, do you wanna come by the dorm? You haven't come in a long time but you used to show up at least once every one or two weeks."
Mark saw Dasom bite her lip like she usually did when she was feeling awkward.
"Nobody cares about the photo leaks," Mark said, guessing that's what was holding her back. "I'm the main one who should care but I clearly don't."
"No, it's not about—" Dasom cut herself off, realizing she was about to say something about Jaehyun. "Okay fine, is everyone else there too?"
"I have no clue," Mark shrugged. "127 doesn't have much to do right now so they'll could be chilling at home or they could be out."
"Fun," she muttered. "Fine, let's go."
They began walking in the direction of the dorm, Haru also coming along with them. But she'd be going to the fifth floor dorm to game with Donghyuck, so they split off from the elevator.
Mark didn't know if, but the only thing running in Dasom's mind was one thing.
Please don't let Jaehyun be home, PLEASE don't let Jaehyun be there.
As he unlocked the door, Mark had no idea why Dasom was being so awkward, but he thought he might just be reading too much into it.
Nobody was in the living room, and only Taeil came outside at one point saying he was going to go down to have dinner with the fifth floor guys.
"Where's Yuta, Johnny, and Jaehyun?" Mark asked him.
"Yuta and Johnny went out somewhere with Taeyong," Taeil explained before he left. "And can't you hear Jaehyun?"
When Taeil closed the door behind him, Mark and Dasom both noticed faint sounds of a piano playing from Jaehyun's room. Seconds later, they could also make out his voice humming along with the notes.
"Man, he's only been playing that one song for the last few days," Mark said, leading Dasom to the living room and collapsing on the larger couch while Dasom sat in an armchair. "It's cool that he's making his own song though."
"That's his own song?" Dasom repeated, listening again. "It actually sounds really nice so far. What is it for?"
"No idea," Mark shrugged. "Spoiler, but for our next 127 concerts, we're planning to have solo performances, but it seems like he started preparing even though it's not confirmed."
"Concerts when?!" Dasom asked excitedly. "I'm definitely going."
"Of course you are, but calm down," Mark answered. "It's gonna be at the end of this year."
"But that's so far away," Dasom frowned.
"127 needs to have a comeback first," Mark explained. "Otherwise we'd be promoting an album that's almost a year old."
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense," Dasom nodded. "Don't tell me they already have you working on that one?"
"No, of course not," Mark said. "But we're working on the repackage for Hot Sauce already. There's gonna be three new songs."
"Goddamn, you guys work too hard," Dasom shook her head in wonder, unable to understand how Mark wasn't always buckling under the pressure.
"Yeah, can we talk about something else please?" Mark laughed. "No more work talk for me."
"Okay, um..." Dasom said, trying to come up with a new topic. "Would you rather stub both your pinky toes at the same time or get clonked in the balls by a—"
Mark was already laughing at Dasom's question when the door to Jaehyun's room opened. He saw Jaehyun step outside in his usual black t-shirt and sweatpants, like he was checking who was sitting in the living room.
"What's up man?" Mark said, but he watched Jaehyun and Dasom made eye contact with each other.
"Hey Jaehyun," Dasom greeted him, but it almost came out like a whisper.
"Oh, hey," Jaehyun said, not bothering to stop and talk, instead heading for the front door. That was new to Mark, usually Jaehyun was always talking to Dasom when she was around.
"Where are you going?" Mark asked him.
"Out," Jaehyun replied gruffly, grabbing a jacket off of the coat rack and leaving the apartment, almost slamming the door behind him.
"Dang, he's been in a weird mood," Mark commented.
"Oh, I see," Dasom said, sounding awkward and biting her lip.
Mark frowned at her reaction.
Did I miss something?
As Dasom watched Jaehyun leave after barely saying two words, her shoulders slumped. With a sigh, she wondered how long it would take for them to go back to normal.
Typically, she talked to Jaehyun nearly every single day, but it had now been almost three weeks since they'd last spoke to each other.
Of course, nearly everything was her own fault, so Dasom had no right to be complaining, even if she did so silently.
She noticed Mark giving her a confused look, so she straightened up and forced a smile, despite feeling guilty that she couldn't tell him what had happened with Jaehyun, at least not until she got the latter's permission first.
"That was odd," she said, lying through her teeth.
"Yeah, odd," Mark replied. "I've been meaning to ask you actually, how did you and Jaehyun even get so close? You always crash in his room when you stay over."
Dasom wasn't sure what the best way to answer that question was, but she knew she had to say something.
"Oh, I guess I just ended up getting along with him pretty well at those first two parties you guys invited me to," Dasom explained. "Whenever you were with Lily I just kinda stuck with Jaehyun and we kinda grew closer from there."
"You could've still crashed in my room instead you know," Mark told her.
"I don't think Lily would have been a big fan of that," Dasom laughed nervously. "I know I wouldn't have been if I was her."
"Hmm, yeah, that makes sense too," Mark conceded. "Yo, by the way, there's something I wanted to show you in my room, come with me."
Curious, Dasom followed Mark to his room. As she walked, she also wondered if Mark had taken down the photo of him and Lily, and replaced it with the original one of the two of them again.
Inside, the first thing she did was look at the board above his desk. There was no photo of them, but at least the photo of him and Lily was gone.
"What did you wanna show me?" she asked Mark.
"This," he said, digging through his backpack and pulling out a plain white envelope. He handed it to her and urged her to open it. "It's for you."
Dasom opened up the envelope and removed a cheque from it, eyes widening as she read what was on it.
"You're joking," she said, looking up at Mark. "This can't be legit."
"It's totally legit," Mark smiled. "That's your paycheck for your work on Talk About. It's honestly long overdue."
"1.5 million won for a few bars of music?" she asked, still unable to believe it. "Mark, I told you it was a gift."
"Des, even if you don't express it out loud often, I know how much you want to make music a career," Mark responded. "Knowing that, what kind of friend would I be if I just freeloaded off of your work?"
"But this is from SM Entertainment," she said, reading the name on the cheque. "Not from you."
"Yup, I told my manager it was your beat to begin with, and he agreed that you need compensation for it," he explained. "He took it up with the company for me and got this done."
"You're insane," Dasom breathed, tackling the boy in front of her in a hug.
Her force knocked Mark off balance and he fell backwards onto his bed, dragging her with him.
Dasom pushed herself up, hands on either side of Mark's head, raising herself to be looking directly at him. Under her, he smiled instead of getting awkward like she'd expected him to.
"You're welcome," Mark said, starting to sit up, forcing Dasom to move back and off the bed as their faces got a little too close for a split second.
She really hoped he couldn't hear how wildly he'd just sent her heart racing.
"You really didn't have to," Dasom said, taking a seat next to him. "But since you did, yeah. Thank you so much."
"No biggie," Mark shrugged. "Where does this get you in terms of getting your own apartment now?"
"Yo, I can totally get a decent one or two bedroom with the first couple of months and a deposit covered now," Dasom realized, thinking about the money in her bank account, which was close to four million at the moment.
"Oh wow, you should do it soon then," Mark suggested. "I'm sure apartment hunting is a pain."
"I love looking at apartments for fun anyway," she asked him. "Wanna help me?"
"Let's do it!" Mark agreed.
Mark brought in another chair to his room from their dining table and placed it next to the one at his desk. He let Dasom take the seat in front of his monitor, and they began browsing through different rental sites, trying to find nice one and two bedroom apartments. Every time they saw one that looked good, Dasom would save the link to it on a sticky note, but in true fashion of their friendship, they ended up spending a lot more time laughing at crappy, poorly-designed apartments.
"Why the fuck is the bathroom just out in the open?" Mark chuckled at one of the listings.
"And it's right next to the kitchen," Dasom laughed. "This interior designer needs to be fired."
"Hey, why do you even need a two-bedroom in the first place?" Mark inquired. "It's just you, right?"
"Yeah, it is," Dasom nodded. "But I was thinking about my step-brother. He randomly stays over with me when he gets sick of being at home, but he's understandably awkward around my father. If I have my own place I'm sure he'll show up even more."
"So you'd get a more expensive place just to have a guest room he can use?" Mark said. "You're probably one of the most caring people I've ever met D."
There it was again, that feeling of guilt. If Dasom really was as caring in Mark's eyes as he claimed, she was truthfully afraid to think about how he would react to finding out about her and Jaehyun. He'd probably feel betrayed more than anything, and she thought he might even feel like she didn't trust him.
I have to tell him soon.
About half an hour later, Dasom headed home since Mark had a busy schedule the next day. She also had classes, so she couldn't afford to stay out too late.
* * *
The next afternoon was a pleasant one, being the first time in a long time her entire friend group was reunited. She knew everyone was on campus that day, so she told Kou, Juhee, Hyunsik, Shiyun, and Xukun to meet at a cafe near their campus.
Just as she thought, everyone was surprised when Taeri joined them a few minutes after Shiyun and Juhee arrived.
"Are you guys cool with each other now?" Hyunsik asked.
"Yeah, we sorted shit out," Dasom said. It had actually been Mark's idea for her to do this, since she'd told him all about her making up with both Hyemi and Taeri.
Now if only she could make up with Jaehyun too.
But for now, she pushed that thought aside and just enjoyed her lunch with her old friends.
"Can you believe this is almost our last semester of uni?" Juhee brought up randomly. It was already May, which meant there was only one month left of their first semester of their final year of college.
"Man, we're gonna have to start providing for ourselves in like half a year," Hyunsik mentioned, sending all seven of them into an existential crisis.
They began talking about all of their future plans, and to Dasom most of them seemed like they had their stuff together. Her on the other hand, not so much.
She had absolutely no desire in pursuing a career that related to her business degree. After all, she was only doing this because that's what her father wanted for her, not what she wanted.
She wasn't even sure what she wanted for herself.
"What about you Soms?" Kou asked her.
"Let's not talk about my far future," Dasom shook her head. "My near future though, I finally have enough money to get my own place. I'll probably be moving next month!"
"Bestie that's amazing!" Juhee said, smiling. "You're gonna be all independent, finally."
"Bartending gave you that much money?" Taeri asked, and Dasom wondered how she even knew about that. She figured one of the others must have told her about it.
"I guess I just saved as well as I could," she shrugged, knowing she couldn't tell them about getting paid for her work on Mark's song.
Luckily, they moved past the topic soon enough, seeing nothing odd about Dasom's reasoning. Still, once they left the cafe, since she and Kou were going to the same building for their next classes, Dasom told him the full truth.
"Bitch, that's so COOL," he said, ruffling her hair. "This plus the new DJ shift? Fuck business admin, you should just try going into music production, you clearly have an interest in it."
"My dad would not love that," Dasom sighed. "But yeah, it would be really cool."
"You should talk to him about it after you've moved out," Kou suggested. "That way if things go south you don't have to be in the same house anyway."
"Smart, maybe I will do that," Dasom considered. "Will you come with me to visit apartments this weekend?"
"Sounds like a drag," Kou joked. "But sure, whatever, I can make time for that."
"Very funny."
By the time the following Saturday rolled around a few days later, Dasom had shortlisted five apartments to check out, including a couple from the ones she and Mark had found together. She met Kou outside the first one, and they checked out all five, talking about the pros and cons of each one.
Four hours later, Dasom was sure she'd figured out which apartment had the least cons and the most pros with Kou's help, and decided to contact the owner as soon as she was back home.
Before she did, she found her father in his office space in their apartment to tell him the news.
"Hey Dad?" she said, knocking before she entered the room.
"What's up honey?" he asked, turning around from working on his computer.
"I found a good apartment that I can afford to move into," she informed him. "I'm probably going to put down a deposit for it tomorrow."
"Wow, that's great," her dad said, standing up and giving her a hug. "My baby's all grown up."
"I'm twenty-three Dad," Dasom laughed. "I've probably overstayed my welcome at this point."
"Don't say that," he said to her. "You're always welcome to stay with me for a long, long time, but I know you're ready for this."
"I am," Dasom smiled. "It's exciting, the idea of being independent."
"I'm still going to send you money every so often," he replied. "You're the only one I have to provide for, who else is going to use my salary?"
"Thanks Dad," she said gratefully. "I think I got this though. Just help me out with tuition for my last semester and utilities until I get myself a full-time job. Then you can retire in peace."
"Who said you can plan out my life for me?" her father laughed. "I'll retire on my own time."
"Of course you will."
"You also still have to learn the ropes to take over my business anyway," her father said, and Dasom's smile faded. "Your future is secure, don't worry."
As much as she wanted to, Dasom couldn't bring herself to counter him on the spot.
"Right," she said, turning to leave without meeting her father's eyes. "I'm gonna go call the owner now."
"Sure, let me know if you need any help."
* * *
subakluvrr
dasom
marker you there ?
dasom
okay whatever I'm gonna talk anyway you can just read this whenever you're free
dasom
i found an apartment !!
dasom
I'm paying the security deposit tomorrow
dasom
it's not too far from my uni and it's actually kinda close to your dorm too
dasom
well no not really, but it's just a twenty minute walk i think
dasom
anywayz, i told my dad about it
dasom
and he was really supportive but then he brough up my future
dasom
and how he wants me to take over his business after i graduate
dasom
i didn't have the heart to tell him i don't give two fucks about being a business owner
dasom
even if i did, I'd wanna have my own, not ride off of whatever my dad built
dasom
but i didn't have the heart to tell him that
dasom
at least not yet
marky l
whoa my phone has never vibrated itself off a table before
dasom
ah shit I'm sorry 💀
marky l
no worrieesss
marky l
but YES which apartment was it send pics
dasom
*link*
marky l
hey that's one of the listings we found together
dasom
so you approve ?
marky l
yes ofc
marky l
but
marky l
did you purposely pick the place near our dorm you sasaeng
dasom
yeah of course
dasom
i must know everything going on with you 😈😈😈 i must not let you out of my sight 😈😈😈
marky l
you know
marky l
if we ignore the creepy stalkerish undertones and the emojis
marky l
i wouldn't complain if you did all that
dasom
EXCUSE ME??? WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?|
dasom
dasom
are you saying you want me to stalk you marker ??
marky l
guess i like you enough that i wouldn't mind if it was you
dasom
you what now
marky l
yoooo you know what i mean like i trust you and stuff not like as in like like you, you get me?
marky l
wow that barely made sense but ygm i think you do
dasom
LMAOO ofc i did my guy
dasom
i was just messing with you haha
marky l
what would you have said if i actually meant it though?
marky l
like romantic styles
dasom
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY NOW???????|
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lowkey i feel bad for mark because he's the only foreign swagger whose been completely left in the dark about things
alsooo i need opinions about what fic to work on next because i'm torn oof
i've already figured out the plots for both stories so if you guys can comment on the one which interests you more i would appreciate it <3
1. haechan college au (includes nct dream, battle of the bands plot, enemies to lovers, slow burn, fun but slightly angsty)
2. haechan secret agent/spy au (includes nct dream & 127, spy x family inspired, dark themes, angsty but also wholesome)
im super excited about both of these and have written like ten chapters of each, but i will wait and give the people what they want!
i know many of you want a jaehyun story next, and i definitely do have an idea for that so don't worry, i shall give you guys justice for jaehyun someday <3
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