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Mark had graduated almost a year ago. He was in one less group, only to be put into another collaborative group. He never thought he’d miss Chenle’s screaming, Jisung’s teenage hormones, Renjun’s death threats, Jeno’s unfunny jokes, or Jaemin’s confident gay antics for the fans.
But he did.
He missed them every time Lucas messed around with him, as he was the other maknae. He missed them when Taeyong let Taemin take the lead and teach him a certain step in the choreography. He missed them when Ten practiced English with Baekhyun. He missed them when he taught Kai how to rap, a voice so similar to Jeno’s but butchering pronunciations.
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Renjun, Haechan, Jeno, and Jaemin were graduating in three months. It was obvious that Haechan was going to stay in NCT 127, maybe even be placed into NCT U. Renjun was going to be placed into WayV with the rest of the Chinese members, he was excited and nervous at the same time. But Jeno and Jaemin had no idea what was going to happen to them.
They could form a rap duo, performing songs like Baby Don’t Stop. Or they could do dance covers like Ten did when he wasn’t in a fixed unit.
It scared all four of them that they’d have to leave their bubble of comfort. They constantly missed Mark. The one older member they could go to for advice. He would always listen to them talk about their problems or concerns. Mark was their closest hyung, best ‘’leader’’ they could have asked for.
But now he was gone.
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Mark was sitting on the sole couch in the practice room. He was slowly sipping his water while watching the new members of the new group. Everything around him was new.
Of course he knew the people around us, Taemin, Baekhyun, and Jongin had all trained with Mark and even mentored him when he struggled with three groups at once. Baekhyun had even talked to him about being in more than one group and asked for advice. Mark had timidly given words of encouragement and support to all of them when he was told they’d been a group together.
Lucas was happy to still keep his Ten-ge, but ecstatic that he’d finally be in a group with-
“MORK!” He was shaken from his thoughts and looked up to see who had called him. Being the maknae was weird. He’d never been the youngest of the group, Donghyuck had stolen the spot from him in the official line-up. Not that he cared, but now he had no idea who was calling him.
It was Taeyong. He was looking at Mark, his head bent like a puppy begging for food. The former leader must have been calling him to get practice started again, Taemin still being too timid to direct multiple people’s attention to one thing.
Mark pushed himself off of the couch, only to sit right back down. His stumble made everyone turn towards him, Taemin and Baekhyun walking closer to Mark. “Hey, you alright?”
“Yea,” Mark sighed out, “Must have just lost my balance for a second. I’m fine, hyung.” Mark shook his head as he stood again, thankfully on two stable legs this time. Ten threw a look his way before heading to start the music.
They practiced for another two hours, all of the members stubborn and aged in idol perfectionism. Jongin and Taemin even more so than Taeyong and Ten. Mark was exhausted by the time they finished. But he regained a little bit of strength when he checked his phone.
Junnie: Hyung, are you still coming to Dreamies’ dorm after your practice????
Dolphin: yayayayyayayayyayayayay!!
SingSangSung: !!!!
JeNOjam: be careful! Practice hard!
Jaem: fighting, hyung!!
“Mork, what are you,” pause to think of the English word, “smiling at?” Baekhyun asked him, accent thick. The group had been required to start learning, or brushing up on their English skills. Baekhyun had made the most progress in Mark’s opinion, working closely and vehemently to always talk to the foreigners in English.
“Um, nothing, Baek. Just the members of Dream.” He always tried to use small sentences with the others. It made it easier for them to understand and respond.
He just let out a sigh as Ten came up behind Mark to steer him to the exit. All of NCT was going to gather in 127’s dorm. That was where WayV was staying anyway and Renjun and Chenle were begging to see Kun. Mark was excited to see Winwin and Kun again, and meet the three newer members. There hadn’t been time at the wedding to speak properly to them and he always went straight to bed after practice, he hoped they didn’t think they were avoiding him.
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Mark had decided a nap after his shower and before Taeyong finished dinner was a great idea. He was so warm when four voices woke him up, they were as soft and warm as his blankets. Along with the soft voices came a soft hand or two. One was caressing his face, they other lightly lingering on the small of his back.
Mark didn’t want to sleep on his stomach but the hand on his back began to apply more pressure and soon massaged all the tense spots perfectly. Mark let out a soft sigh, the hand kneaded with more enthusiasm. The voices had quieted to a dull hum, he still didn’t want to open his eyes to see who was in his bedroom.
“Markie, are you gonna get up soon, babe?” Donghyuck’s usually annoying voice spoke softly, practically putting Mark back to sleep. Mark burrowed further into his pillow, jostling the hand still caressing his cheek. It resumed its ministrations as soon as Mark settled back into the pillow. Mark let out a small, low moan.
“Mark-ah, Taeyong-hyung says you have to wake up.” That voice was Jaemin, quiet pleadings for him to get moving. He was probably afraid of what Taeyong would do to them if they weren’t out by a certain time.
“We really do have to get up, hyung.” Renjun was there too, the voice came from above him. Renjun must have been the perfectly temperatured hand petting through his hair and caressing his cheek. It was comforting but doing nothing in comparison to the hands on his back. He thought about who could be doing that.
Donghyuck was sometimes a little too rough when playing with Mark and had very delicate hands. It would be harder, in Mark’s opinion, for Hyuck to be the one massaging his back. And Jaemin never got the pressure correct. After so many years of training together, the younger still was too timid and careful to actually dig and break up the knots in Mark’s body. And it couldn’t be Renjun, unless the Chinese member had grown an extra hand during the time Mark hadn’t seen him.
“Jeno-yah, you’re putting him to sleep. Taeyong said he has to eat before sleeping again.”
Ah. Jeno.
That explained it. Jeno was always the one to work the kinks out of Jisung after his competition shows, so he probably knew where to work Mark’s back. He was really doing a great job but Renjun’s voice was urgent. Jeno’s hands reluctantly pulled out from underneath the blankets, causing Mark to let out a little whimper, and settled on Mark’s feet. He prepared for what came next.
Four pairs of hands were on him in a second. Renjun at his neck, Jeno at his feet, Hyuck and Jaemin at his sides. Mark flailed and screeched as he begged the boys to stop. He pleaded, shouting “I’m up! I’m awake!” in multiple languages until the 2000 liners finished their fun.
Donghyuck stretched his hand out to Mark to take and he lifted the older man off the bed. He encircled him in a hug before the other three protested.
“You get to see him all the time, Hyuck!” Jaemin whined while trying to pull the two apart. As soon as he did, Jeno latched on to the elder. “No fair! I was next.” Jaemin sat on the bed, pulled his feet up, and pouted.
Mark let go of Jeno and turned to Renjun. They hugged for the longest, Jaemin counted. But as soon as Mark was turning towards the youngest 2000 liner, Jaemin was up in a second and wrapping his long arms around the brunet. “I’ve missed you, hyung.”
Mark laughed quietly and told all of them that he missed them too, slightly jabbing at Donghyuck about not missing him as much. It was Donghyuck’s turn to pout.
“Hyung, can we go eat and then cuddle. Dongyoung said he’s sleep with Jaehyun-hyung so we could sleepover.” Jeno gave Mark the puppy eyes, as if the former leader could resist him at all. Mark nodded as he made his way through the door to the kitchen.
Taeyong was the first to greet him with a kiss to the forehead. Mark blushed and protested but soon was in a headlock. He tried to look at who it was but knew it was Johnny. Ten and Taeil came rushing towards him to hug him. Apparently Johnny was the distraction so his boyfriends could smother Mark in love.
Jaehyun and Dongyoung were more nonchalant about their affection, casually putting some of their food on Mark’s plate while they thought no one was looking. Jisung and Chenle were, they had caught Jaehyun do it twice and whined until Kun gave them meat of his plate.
Yuta and Winwin sat across from Mark, too busy giving each other heart eyes to notice the extra attention Mark was getting. Jungwoo and Lucas were practically on each others’ laps but that didn’t stop Lucas from talking to Mark about his nap and how he wished the Dreamies would wake him up all sweet.
Jungwoo rubbed it in his face when he said Donghyuck woke him up every morning with “dongsaeng cuddles”, prompting Lucas to ask who Donghyuck was. Everyone laughed so hard, Hendery and Jeno had tears in their eyes.
Dinner ended on a high note, the three youngest WayV members offering to do the dishes, Kun volunteering to make sure they didn’t break anything. The 2000 liners tried to drag Mark back to his bedroom before Chenle and Jisung snatched him.
“Mark-hyung, it’s been forever since we’ve seen you,” Chenle’s voice dripped in sweetness. Mark knew what they wanted, it never got old with the two maknaes.
“Go to the bathroom, I’ll be right behind you,” Mark sighed out. Chenle always loved to be spoiled, like he was the maknae because Jisung wasn’t doing his job properly. But Chenle would ask to be spoiled and demand attention, only for Jisung to tag along.
Like right now, Chenle was asking Mark to bathe them. Something Mark learned they both loved when they first debuted. Kun had taken over for them when he lived in the Dreamies’ dorm but Jisung attested that it was nothing like Mark’s care.
So Mark gathered bubble bath formula, shampoo, and two fluffy towels from the linen closet before heading to the bathroom. Chenle was sitting on the toilet with Jisung in his lap. They looked like they had been kissing but Jisung had moved to settle his long body over Chenle’s and nuzzled his face into the small Chinese’s body.
They were waiting for hyung to make the water perfect for a bath. Mark dropped to his knees to start the water, frequently testing the temperature until he was satisfied with the warmth. He pulled Jisung from Chenle, gently or the maknae would fuss, and began undressing him. Once he was down to his birthday suit, Mark tapped his bottom lightly to get him into the large tub. He did the same thing for Chenle.
The maknae was already tired, almost napping on Chenle when Mark had entered the bathroom. The warm water furthered his journey to sleep, the hands in his hair softly washing and massaging it was the nail in the coffin. Mark was lucky Chenle was awake and behind Jisung. “Can you hold him? He’s out like a light,” Mark softly asked.
Chenle nodded, “hyung, I can finish here. You should get back to the others, they miss you more than we do.” Chenle had taken the loofa out of Mark’s hand to clean the rest of Jisung’s body.
Mark stood up and dried his hands before going back to his room. There were candles lit, the lights were off to give the room a calming vibe. His mattress had been moved to the floor, along with another mattress next to it. Mark recognised the sheets as Donghyuck’s.
Jeno, Renjun, and Jaemin were cuddling close, they had changed into pajamas while they waited for Mark. Donghyuck was no where in the room. Mark sat on his bed, the trio were occupying Donghyuck’s. Jaemin pulled Mark towards them, “no! You’re gonna fourth wheel with us and cuddle until Hyuckie comes back.” Jaemin insisted, convincing Jeno to hold Mark down too.
Donghyuck took forever to get back, it had already been a half hour and Mark wanted to sleep. Renjun had his hands in Mark’s hair again and Jeno and Jaemin were really warm. All they did was sing to Mark.
They had gotten through most of the newest album without him. They sang quietly so he wasn’t jolted awake until Donghyuck came bursting through the door. “Happy birthday!”
Mark had thought they forgotten. After all, it was almost October, a month reserved for Winwin and Yuta. The Dreamies hadn’t been able to celebrate with him on his actual birthday. They of course sent him videos and text messages.
Donghyuck had been with him and given him the best birthday present, in Mark’s opinion.
Mark was so happy, even though he was celebrating it late, really late, his friends still took time to plan everything and execute it. He didn’t realise he was crying until Donghyuck was wiping his tears.
“You thought we were just gonna cuddle and not spoil you rotten?” He asked as another bite of cake was pushed past Mark’s lips. Jeno was eyeing him from behind at Jaemin rose from the mattresses. The t.v. was turned on and a few minutes the movie was playing.
Mark barely registered that the movie was Rocketman, upon Renjun’s request. Now that Hyuck had stuffed him with cake, he really was going to fall asleep. Mark settled against his boyfriend’s solid chest and fell asleep. Donghyuck made sure the blanket wrapped around the elder stayed on his shoulders even as he occasionally pressed soft kisses to Mark’s head.