Gyuri stood in the elevator, patiently waiting for it to reach the 5th floor. This wasn't the floor where Mark's dorm was, but he had told Gyuri to come to the other dorm where he was hanging out with Taeyong. He had told her the right apartment number so when Gyuri reached apartment 57, she rang the bell and waited for the door to open.
She had no idea what to expect, she only knew Taeyong was there but surely he wasn't living there on his own. Gyuri had the suspicion that Johnny also lived in this dorm but her train of thought was interrupted when the front door opened with a comfortably dressed Mark behind it. He smiled at the sight of his friend and stepped to the side so she could enter before he quickly closed and locked the door.
"Yo dude," he said. He was dressed in black joggers and a white shirt that hugged his frame slightly. His hair was not styled and instead laid on his head without much volume to it.
"Yo," she replied, taking off her coat. It was a bit more chilly today due to a slight breeze and so Gyuri had decided against going out without a jacket since she didn't know when she would go home.
Gyuri followed him into the apartment and her eyes fell on a figure sitting at the dinner table. His sharp features contrasted his warm smile when he saw her. He stood up and walked over to meet the girl.
"Hi, you must be Mark's friend. I'm Taeyong," he said, bowing.
Gyuri bowed and smiled at him. "Yes, I'm Gyuri. Nice to meet you, Taeyong."
She felt at ease under the leader's kind demeanor. Mark walked over to the fridge and looked over at Gyuri.
"You want something to drink?"
"Sure, what do you have?" She said, walking over to inspect the fridge's contents. She noticed a carton of juice and took it out. Mark placed two glasses on the counter and let her pour the juice into them. Gyuri's eyes found Taeyong, who was immersed in his phone at the table.
"Do you want a glass, Taeyong?"
He looked up and noticed the carton in her hand before nodding. "Yeah, thanks."
Gyuri took another glass from the cabinet and poured a final glass before putting the juice back and taking the drinks to the table, where she and Mark sat down opposite Taeyong. While they enjoyed their refreshments, Gyuri and Taeyong engaged in casual conversation as did Mark. Taeyong asked about their friendship and the two laughingly told him some stories from when they were younger. Taeyong listened with a faint smile as the two Canadians recollected memories from their childhood.
Taeyong had recently heard Mark talk about this girl a lot, and he wasn't sure what to expect but now that he had met her, he could understand why she was so important to him. They had spent a big part of their lives together and knew each other very well, so it came as no surprise that they were both eager to continue their friendship now that they were older.
When Gyuri told Taeyong about her studies, his ears perked up.
"You're a vet?"
"Well... I'm going to be," Gyuri chuckled. Before she could process it, Taeyong stood up and grabbed her hand to pull her into his room. She looked at him with a confused gaze and he stepped aside, revealing a big aquarium.
"Oh, woah," Gyuri gasped, moving closer to inspect the creatures living in the big glass box. She traced a fish with her finger, smiling softly as it followed her around.
"This is really cool, Taeyong," she said as she tore her gaze away from the animals and looked at the white-haired guy, who smiled at the compliment.
"Thank you. I really like fish," he grinned. "But I recently noticed something strange, and since you're a vet..." he trailed off, staring into the aquarium to find what he was looking for. Gyuri softly chuckled at the insinuating tone of his sentence, saying she would have to be able to tell him what was wrong with his fish.
Mark stepped into Taeyong's room, curious to see why his leader took Gyuri with him so suddenly. He joined the pair at the aquarium and observed the different fishes swimming around in the green habitat.
"Look!" Taeyong said, pointing to one of the guppies swimming near the surface. Gyuri instantly noticed the red gills of the animal and nodded with a hum. She looked at the bottom of the tank and noticed the number of uneaten flakes.
"Are they going to die?" Taeyeong asked, concern clear in his voice as well as his eyes, which were begging Gyuri for an explanation. She chuckled at his worry, finding it wholesome, and shook her head.
"Don't worry, Taeyong. It seems like a case of ammonia poisoning to me. It causes the red gills, lack of appetite, and... that," she said, nodding to one of the fishes that came up to the surface to gasp for air.
Taeyong watched intently, eyes flickering from fish to fish to inspect them. He then looked back to Gyuri. "What do I do?"
"I'd advise getting a neutralizer and changing your water regularly. Also, you should make sure to remove any uneaten food. You can also look it up, I'm pretty sure there are many small things you can do to prevent it from happening," she told him and he nodded slowly, making a mental note to look it up later.
"Okay," he said and looked at Gyuri with a grateful smile. "Thank you so much. I'm sorry if this was sudden, but I was really worried and I guessed you had some knowledge on the topic."
"No worries," Gyuri told him. "Glad I could put my knowledge to use," she smiled and he thanked her again before she and Mark exited his room to leave him alone so he could educate himself on ammonia poisoning.
"Wow. Vet Kenzie in action," Mark chuckled as they reached the living room. She smirked confidently and nodded.
"Hell yeah."
He laughed and put on his shoes to go up to his own dorm but before Gyuri could do the same, a voice called from the living room.
"Oh my god!"
Gyuri looked over in surprise at the female voice and she noticed a black-haired girl coming out of one of the rooms. She recognized her as Johnny's girlfriend and her eyes lit up.
"You're Mackenzie, right?"
"I am," Gyuri smiled and the girl clapped her hands excitedly. "Thank god, another girl is joining the gang. I'm Ruby, Johnny's girlfriend."
The girl had jet-black hair and plump lips with eyebrows that were almost too good to be true. She hurried over and hugged Gyuri tightly. When she pulled back, she looked at Mark over Gyuri's shoulder and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, Mark, but I'm gonna have to steal her from you for a bit."
Mark dropped his arms to his side. "Wait- dude, what?"
Before he could say more, Ruby had taken a hold of Gyuri's arm and took her with her to the room that Gyuri assumed was Johnny's. Her assumption was correct, as she was met with the sight of the tall guy laying on the bed. He looked up and smiled.
"Hey, Mackenzie. Didn't know you were coming over today."
"Hey Johnny," she nodded. "It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, so I didn't know either."
Ruby stood next to the bed, staring at Johnny who simply looked at her with confusion.
"Babe?" Johnny asked, wondering why she looked at him like that.
"Get out. I need to get to know Mackenzie."
"This is literally my room."
"Okay, and?"
Johnny shook his head with a chuckle before giving in and getting up to leave the two girls alone. He went into the living room, where he laughed at Mark's confused face.
Ruby closed the door behind them and sat Gyuri down on the bed before sitting down herself. She hugged her knees to her chest, getting comfortable.
"I gotta say, it was strange to hear Mark talk about a girl," Ruby chuckled and Gyuri snorted.
"Understandable. The guy has no clue how to act around women, it seems."
"But you're his childhood friend, right?"
"Yeah," Gyuri nodded and Ruby cooed.
"God, that's so wholesome. But how come he hasn't snatched you up yet? You're hot as fuck, girl."
"Says you! Jesus, when Johnny showed me a picture of you I contemplated buying a wedding ring right away."
Ruby smirked at her. "Fuck the guys, let's get together instead."
"Deal," Gyuri said and the girls chuckled.
"No but seriously, there has to be something going on between you and Mark, right?" Ruby asked and Gyuri chuckled at the question she knew all too well.
"Nah, dude. Believe it or not, we really are just friends." When Ruby opened her mouth to speak, Gyuri cut her to it. "I know how that sounds, but it's true," she chuckled.
Ruby sighed and shook her head, leaning back to lie down. "Damn. Well, if you say so. Maybe it's just weird to see Mark so comfortable around a girl."
Gyuri laughed and nodded. Their situation was so unique and their reunion came so unexpectedly that all the chaos surrounding it probably gave some people the wrong idea, but that was understandable. It seems Mark had never gotten that close to a girl, so for his friends to suddenly see him so comfortable around Gyuri must've been very suspicious.
In the following minutes, Ruby asked all about Mark and Gyuri's friendship and their history while Gyuri asked her about Johnny. Ruby explained that she'd been dating him for almost two years, which made Gyuri smile. While Ruby spoke about him, it was clear that she loved Johnny a lot and was very happy in their relationship, even though it had its struggles with Johnny being an idol and all.
The door to the room suddenly opened and the girls looked over. Mark stood in the opening, holding the door.
"Hey, Ruby. Can I perhaps take Kenzie from you? It seems everyone's stealing her from me today," he chuckled. Ruby looked at Gyuri with a smirk and stood up, nodding to Mark.
"Of course, you can."
Gyuri slowly pushed herself off the bed and made her way over to Mark, but was stopped by Ruby.
"Wait, give me your number. We should meet up again sometime."
"For sure!" Gyuri nodded and took out her phone to exchange numbers with Ruby before following Mark out. Johnny took their exit as his cue to re-enter his room and smiled at the two before closing his door and locking it, making Gyuri chuckle.
"We should definitely get out of here if they're locking their door."
Mark laughed and nodded before both put on their shoes and hurried out of the apartment to go up to Mark's dorm instead.
Plssss Taeyong and his fish are so cute I had to write about it ahhahahaa
What do we think of Ruby 😩
Also what are some things you'd like Mark and Kenzie to do / talk abouttt like random stuff (or deep stuff 🫣)