When my doorbell rang, I had hoped it was Ten. But it was Mark, with a watermelon.
"Hey. Zhang Yi here?"
I stepped aside to let him through. "She went to the library." I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall after shutting the door.
He placed the watermelon on the kitchen counter. He shuffled his feet. We couldn't look each other in the eye. He said, "Um, so, how are you?"
Tears threatened to overflow. I blinked at the ceiling to banish them. "Fuck, Mark. I lost my best friend because I refused to tell him about us. I mean, who does that? How could I think keeping secrets would protect him? Protect us?"
"Hey, the situation's complicated."
"What a bullshit excuse, huh?"
"Well, you — you can still talk to him. You can explain everything. You haven't lost him yet."
I pulled in a deep breath. "I know. And Mark — god, Mark, I'm so sorry. But — I choose Ten. We've been friends forever. I can't — we can't be together. I — god, Mark, I have to put him first. I have to let him see that he comes first. And to do that, I can't — Mark, I want to break up."
His Adam's apple bobbed, and I almost succumbed to the sobs in my throat. He rubbed the back of his head and stared at his feet. "You — you know? I figured this was coming. I thought I was prepared for it. But I wasn't. I really —" he gave a sharp inhale — "I really wasn't."
"I'm so sorry."
He flashed me a weak smile. "Nah, don't be. Ten comes first. As he should. Yingyue, I l — I'm proud of you."
When he left, I cried for a long time.
;;
a/n: I'M SORRY BUT I'M ALSO NOT SORRY, Y'NO?
to spare us from the Angst™, have some cute gifs of Mark, Ten, and Cheng Xiao 😍😍😍
p.s. next chapter is the last one 👀
also, (and i hate doing this but 🤷♀️ ya know), follow me on social media! i'll be posting hints about future ffs and sneak peeks at the rest of this nctverse~
hugs and lovin's 🍎