i know that this book is a flop ;-; i'm sorry
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"Aren't you gonna follow them?" Mark asked Renjun who was busy playing with his (Mark's) guitar.
Renjun looked at him and sighed, "What about you, hyung?" He asked. "You haven't eaten anything since this morning, and it's almost noon."
Mark sighed and stretched his arms, "Alright, fine. I'll go with you."
🍕
"Oh there they are." Jaehyun said once he saw the two going down the stairs. "Yah, Mark! Renjun! You two get in here and get some food!" He called.
The two rushed towards the dining area and sat with their friends.
"How is the winter fair closing song doing?" Taeyong asked while eating his slice of pizza.
Mark sighed, "I don't even know anymore..." He looked at Renjun and patted his shoulder. "I think you'll do fine performing alone."
Renjun's eyes widened. "M-Me?! What? What happened to Yuri then?"
Mark took a can of soda and opened it. He took a sip and faced Renjun once again. "I mean, she's really good at singing. You know it." He sighed. "But lately, her condition's a bit different than our first days of rehearsal."
Jeno patted Mark's shoulder. "Come on, Mark-hyung! Give the girl a chance, I mean, she isn't bad herself, right?"
Mark leaned his back on the chair and sighed. "I don't know... but I'd rather pick the other girl..." Mark leaned down, his elbows touching his knees, while snapping his fingers. He would lean his head on his hand every once in a while. "The other girl..." He said, smacking his own head.
"Which girl?" Jisung asked.
"The girl who came second. Your classmate, Jisung-ah, the one Chenle nominated." Mark said.
"Ningning?" Renjun said, causing the others to look at him. "What? Why are you looking at me?" He asked and took a bite from the pizza slice he was eating.
"How did you know her?" Irene raised a brow.
Renjun shrugged. "I just happen to know her."
Chenle scoffed, "Yeah right." He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you happened to know her... Mhm... try to be more convincing, gege..."
Renjun raised a brow, "What are you saying Chenle?"
"Why, is there something we need to know?" Jaehyun asked.
Renjun immediately shook his head, "No, hyung... wait, do I have to tell you guys something?" He looked up, thinking. "I'm sure you know about the duet..." He said.
Taeyong nodded, "Other than that. Do we need to know something?" He raised a brow.
"Huh? I've got nothing, hyung..."
💕
"Are you okay, hyung? Is there something bothering you?" Jisung asked as he watched his room mate toss and turn on his bed.
The older grunted, "I can't sleep." He said and hid his head under the pillow. "I feel like I'm nervous about something, I don't even know what it is."
"Maybe you're nervous about the duet, hyung." Jisung said.
Renjun shook his head and sat on his bed. "I'm not nervous about the duet, I swear." He sighed. "It's something else..."
"That is...?"
"That's exactly what I'm thinking of." He rolled his eyes.
"I wish you'd do the duet with Ningning, though..." Jisung sighed and leaned his back on the head rest.
Renjun thought the same thing.
He wished that it was Ningning.
And he'll always wish that it's her.
"Just give it time, Renjun-ah... and you'll realize it without even knowing it."
He heard his hyung's voice in his head. Maybe Mark was right... maybe he's already falling for someone without him knowing.
Maybe he likes Ningning.
Maybe he loves her already.
💓
It was Monday, and even if Ningning wanted to stay in bed, she couldn't, because first: Koeun would storm in her room and nag at her this early. Second, she has classes to attend to. Lastly, today is the last day of the winter fair. Also the last day before the winter break starts.
She mentally cursed the sun for coming up early, and blamed the birds for chirping continuously, making her wake up.
She groaned and mentally blamed everything around her. She was still too lazy to wake up.
"Ningning, you better wake up or Koeun will—"
"Whatever Jie! I'll be down before you know it!" She groaned, stopping Yiyang in what she was saying.
✨
School.
One of the places Ningning hates. But if it isn't because of it, she wouldn't meet the guy of her dreams.
She sighed and went to her seat when she noticed that Yuri wasn't around yet. She raised a brow, remembering that the duet will be in the afternoon.
She shrugged the thought off and continued reading the history book she was reading. They'll have a graded recitation later, and she'll be screwed if she won't be able to answer at least one question.
🍱
"Are all the wires connected properly?" Mark asked the technical director who was setting up the stage.
"Yep." The director replied and smiled at Mark.
Mark went towards his laptop and pressed the play button. He smiled when he heard the melody he created playing smoothly.
He looked around and saw the Christmas decorations that were everywhere. He sighed, remembering that it was supposed to be their first Christmas together.
He looked at his phone and checked if maybe, just maybe she finally had a time to reply.
"Mark!" The said male turned around and saw Baekhyun running towards him.
He was catching his breath, "Th-there's... a tiny problem...." He said, panting.
Mark raised a brow, "Huh? What could it be this time, Baekhyun-hyung—"
"It's about Yuri." Baekhyun said.
"What about Yuri?" The moment the older mentioned one of the singers' name, Mark immediately tensed up. Something wrong happened, and one of the singers is involved.
He doesn't even know why she's involved.
"Yuri is absent. I went to her classroom earlier to fetch her for practice... but one of her classmates told me she was absent because she was sick." Baekhyun said.
"Oh no no no...." Mark stood up and fished his phone out of his pocket.
"Mark-hyung, what is it? The professor is in the middle of discussion and I had to step out of the class just to talk to you." Mark could sense the irritation in Jisung's voice.
"Screw it, Ji." Mark scoffed. "Tell Ningning to get ready."
"Mwo? Ready for what?"
"She'll be singing with Renjun this afternoon." Mark answered with a sigh. "Since Yuri is absent, the person who came second will sing in replace of her."
"Okay, fine. I'll tell her. She's just my seat mate."
"Oh, and tell her to be prepared now. She'll only have a few hours to practice." Mark said.
"Ne, Mark-hyung~" Jisung chimed.
"I'll just have Renjun to pick her up later."
Mark hung the phone up and as if on cue, he saw Renjun entering the gymnasium, wearing earphones. He was probably memorizing the song for the closing.
"Oh? Why is Yuri not here yet?" Renjun asked upon seeing Mark and Baekhyun's panicked face.
"Injoon-ah..." Mark went down the stage and stood in front of Renjun. He patted the younger's shoulder and sighed. "Go to Jisung and Chenle's classroom. Pick Ningning up."
Renjun's eyes widened. "H-Huh?! Wh-What's with... N-Ningning?!" Why does it have to be the girl who's messing his mind? Why does it have to be the reason why he's having a hard time sleeping at night?
"She'll be singing with you at the duet."
—tbc