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♫☯ --- UNTIL THAT DAY, WE MEET AGAIN!
It’s something that the fans have wanted for the last two years. Yuta knows this. He also knows that for the longest time, it seemed impossible. He didn’t mind supporting Taeil, but when Taeil first approached Yuta about getting the band back together - Yuta’s first reaction was to laugh. But Taeil had been very serious.
“You and Mark need to stop being selfish, at least for one day.”
Yuta claimed to be the bigger person. He even agreed that if Taeil could somehow convince the others, of course he would have to join in. But, no way. No way Taeil could convince the others. He might convince Jaehyun, because he’s a sap. Or Jaemin, because as the youngest of the group, he had taken the breakup super hard. But Mark? No way he’d convince Mark.
And yet, Taeil somehow did just that.
✉ illie
Mark’s in! Get your guitar picks ready, boysss! Neozone’s back!!
♫☯ --- I WANT IT THAT WAY!
Yuta and Mark didn’t always hate each other. If hate was the right word. But that had been so long ago, Yuta’s not even sure if he remembers a time where he didn’t feel sick just at the mention of Mark’s name. If sick was the right word, too.
He’d met Mark at a gig. Jaehyun, Taeil, and Yuta were finally getting phone calls back from #127 ever since they did backup for one of their main acts. Jaehyun had scored them back up positions, but Yuta doesn’t remember if he had gotten it from his college friend or from his bar buddy. Whatever it was, their skills got them on #127’s radar. #127 had been Seoul’s main attraction for music lovers everywhere. A club with live music, each day a different genre. Thursdays were rock nights. You couldn’t make it into a big entertainment company? Well, then, get guitar lessons and spruce up your vocals because your last bet was to get a stage at #127. Not that it was any easier.
Yuta, Taeil, and Jaehyun had always been independent. Nothin’ like the freedom to write your own lyrics and give the three loyal fans from Insta absolutely 0 expectations. But they did run into a lot of ex trainees there. Jaehyun, ever the social butterfly, had made friends with one or two. Yuta, on the other hand, had no interest in small talk. Nor did he expect people to spark up a conversation, given that his friends always said he had the don’t talk to me, i’ll kill you look.
But Mark had always been different.
“Dude, your guitar is so sick!” Mark had said, without any real understanding of social cues. He had walked up to Yuta all big-eyed and curious and genuine astonishment on his face. And, of course, Yuta had found him oddly endearing - given that Mark had gone out of his way to get real close and personal with the guitar hanging from Yuta’s shoulders. “How long have you had this?”
“Three years?”
Mark whistled and quietly asked if he could touch her. Yuta rose a brow, but nodded. And maybe it was the way Mark delicately ran his fingers across the neck of his guitar, or the way he was too afraid to strum the strings - or maybe it was the way Yuta could tell Mark’s fingers were rough from his own guitar playing. It could have been any of those things, but Yuta knew from that first encounter that Mark had been different. That there was something about Mark that Yuta liked a little too much.
And he was right. Mark had been different. There was something charming about the way Mark decided, after exchanging a few words, that he was a fan - of Yuta’s. Without even hearing Yuta’s set, he decided that it would be good. And maybe there was something nerve wracking about playing a Queen cover after hearing that, but nothing beat the huge smile on Mark’s face as he watched and listened carefully. And Mark had been good. He was an ex trainee from some company Yuta had never heard of, so obviously he had to be at least modestly good - but Mark Lee was really fucking good. He had walked up there with little confidence, and an awkward good evening, everyone along with Jaemin behind the drums and still managed to steal everyone’s hearts by the end of their stage.
Yuta had thought it was a silly attraction thing. A spur of the moment thing to make out with Mark in one of the bathroom stalls of the club. He just had to get it out of his system and so did Mark, apparently. All they needed to do was kiss ‘till they had numb lips and Mark’s old Pink Floyd shirt was off his back.
But that’s not where things ended. Fortunately for Yuta. ‘Cause every Thursday, they’d always find each other backstage and laugh together about their week. Talk about their childhoods in far off countries, or write song recommendations on sticky notes for each other. And eventually, Mark had wiggled himself into Yuta’s three-person band and made it five.
♫☯ --- YOU’RE BREAKIN’ UP THE BAND, JACKIE!
Once Mark and Jaemin had joined, they had enough members to form an official band. No more back-up vocals for #127’s headliners or replacement guitarists for last-minute sign ups. No more searching for a drummer, because they had Jaemin. It was official. All their dreams about having a real band were now coming true. But none of those aspirations meant they thought they would make it big. No, all five of them had thought it’d be a neat little thing to do on Thursdays and Saturday mornings for band practice. Sometimes Sundays if they were feeling really inspired.
They only named their band when they had to add it to #127’s list. Mark had jotted it down really quickly, said something about it meaning new and they were something new, weren’t they?
Eventually, though, more and more people became interested. On one of those nights, some girls had stopped them before they ran out for some burgers and they asked if they had social media. They also asked if they had originals. And asked if they played every night. It was the only reason they ended up posting their music and schedules online. Jaemin and Jaehyun were in charge of social media stuff after that. Never did they think they’d get called from other clubs to play, for a pretty big sum at the time.
As their popularity grew, though, it meant they needed to write more songs to play. If only for their small fan base. Taeil, Jaemin, and Mark were still going to college but managed to make it to all their rehearsals. And while Yuta and Jaehyun worked extra shifts to pay off Jaemin’s new drum set, they were still happy to do it. They were still excited to show up every week to write songs and sing into cheap mics to record their songs.
Mark and Yuta always stayed late writing, something they genuinely enjoyed to do when it was just the two of them. The others never commented about how a lot of the outcomes from those late-night writing sessions were all love songs - but they knew. It was hard not to catch on. In fact, a lot of their new fans enjoyed the dynamic between Mark and Yuta on stage. The totally fake longing stares from across the stage when they had to sing lyrics, or the stolen glances that usually erupted into laughter behind their mics. Or the way Mark sat on Yuta’s lap lazily scrolling through his phone while they waited to be called backstage.
A real band, you could say.
It was only a tad bit sad that no one knew Mark and Yuta were actually dating. But for the betterment of the band, they had decided early on they wouldn’t reveal that to their fans. Who knows? They might break up and then what would happen to Neozone? And there’s always something attractive about band members who are single - no? Wasn’t that the reason more and more fans came down to their gigs? Or the reason why they’d get gifts backstage left behind by fans?
At first it wasn’t hard to keep it a secret. They weren’t exactly having PDA-fests off-stage, but sometimes it was difficult to see someone walk up to Mark backstage to ask for his phone number. Or sometimes it was just difficult to accidentally reach out to hold Mark’s hand, and then remember to shove his hand back into his pocket. Yuta wasn’t exactly suffering, but somewhere along the way he wondered whether or not it would have been better to tell people instead of biting back words.
Regardless, it was nice to be recognized for their talents and their looks.
Apparently big companies thought the same. After a year of going from work to rehearsal to work to gigs and back to work, a talent scout approaches them at #127, where all their popularity had begun. She actually approaches Jaehyun, who she called the eye candy of the group, which should have been a red flag. It wasn’t though.
She gets to meet them after some convincing and she paints them all the riches of working with a big company. She promises a lot. She promises to make them bigger than what they are, which by default means fatter paychecks than the weekly gigs they were still doing. She promises record deals, recording booths, better instruments. And most of all, she promises they get to continue writing their own music.
After getting all of that on paper, they sign.
♫☯ --- SEEMS SO LONG AGO YOU WALKED AWAY
Now, this isn’t necessarily about Jackie, the manager. She wasn’t some big evil woman with a hidden agenda. Although some would say otherwise. She genuinely tried her best during the years they worked together and kept true to her words. However, it was meeting her that changed them. It was meeting her that brought them fame, but with fame came the general public. They weren’t just singing for Seoul’s niche rock fans anymore, they were going global.
It’s then that Yuta and Mark’s secret gets more and more difficult to keep under wraps. Yuta hadn’t seen it unfold, but Mark’s anxiety had been shooting up with every interview and every concert they did. After one of those concerts, a photo is snapped of Yuta and Mark backstage heading towards their cars. Nothing incriminating at all, but that’s where the rumors start. All they catch is Yuta holding Mark’s face between his fingers and smiling brightly, but that’s all that was needed for tabloids.
It’s Mark that starts putting all the distance in the world between them. He avoids talking about it because he’s good at pretending that everything’s great! Fine! Nothing wrong here! But Yuta’s known Mark for years now. He knows when Mark’s twitchiness is more than just Mark Lee’s normal awkward antics.
Before one of their concerts, Yuta kisses the corner of Mark’s lips and Mark reacts by shoving Yuta off and hissing, “Dude, someone’s going to see.”
“Dude,” Yuta repeats, mockingly, “I’m your boyfriend, does it look like I care?”
“Yuta, seriously, man. Stop,” Mark says, taking steps back and having his arms crossed tightly against his chest.
“Mark, since when are you--”
“Yuta, Mark, positions!! Your instruments are hooked in and ready to go!”
And that was the end of that conversation. No follow-ups or proper confrontations, because Mark and Yuta had a job to do. And singing for 2 to 3 hours beats you up more than you would think.
The next time they do talk, though, it’s after one of their recordings. As the lead guitarist, Mark spends a little more time in the recording booth going over the melodies that Taeil has recorded and as the rhythm guitarist, Yuta also stays behind. They never realized how much time they needed to spend for these recordings until it grew to be impossible to be in the same room as each other. They’d been fighting lately, but needed to suck it up for band stuff. Taeil had already warned them they were making them look bad with producers. And Taeil had never complained or scolded them like that before.
They spend a few hours writing, and when they’re done they sit in silence for a while.
If someone would have warned Yuta that playing professionally would jeopardize his relationship with Mark, he might not have signed that stupid contract. He couldn’t imagine how much they had changed over the course of a few years.
Before their contracts, Mark had been Yuta’s whole world. They had spent so many late nights in Yuta’s apartment writing possible lyrics onto each other’s hands, arms, legs, stomachs. Yuta had notebooks filled with scribbled lyrics about Mark’s laugh and the moles on his neck. He knew Mark like the back of his hand. He knew what made him laugh, he knew what made Mark cry. They spent sunsets together playing guitar and making up melodies after smiling so hard their cheeks were hurting. He remembered picking up Mark from class and holding hands at night, underneath bed sheets and promising to make more time for each other. He remembered having hundreds of sticky notes saved of all of Mark’s song recommendations and hundreds of pictures saved of Mark smiling in front of parks, beaches, clubs, streets - anywhere they were allowed to go unnoticed.
But now, all those places have been reduced to four walls.
“Yuta…”
Before Mark could say anything else, though, a small soft melody begins to play. Yuta squints and by the way Mark’s brows furrow together, he knows he’s not the only one who hears it. It had been in passing that he heard this was possible. But he never found himself a believer. He thought it was a coincidence, one that so many people ran into. He thought it was an inside joke, one that he never understood. And he knows Mark thought the same.
Keep trying to forget how you were,
Beautiful,
Just the way that you were calling my name,
But without you it won’t be the same.
“Markie? Do you hear that?”
♫☯ --- DUDE, WE’RE GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER!
“Oh, man, this is so exciting,” Jaehyun says, and he’s the most pumped out of the three of them. Taeil’s still setting up his keyboard, not giving Jaehyun a second’s worth of attention but Jaehyun doesn’t seem to notice. “I can’t believe the boys are back! Get excited!”
The last part is said for Yuta, because he hasn’t moved an inch in the last thirty minutes. His fingers ghost over his guitar strings and all he can do is stare at a corner while Taeil brings out sheet music and tries to find their songs on his phone. He hasn’t registered a single thing that Jaehyun has said since he showed up with five coffee orders in hand. Yuta still finds it incredible that Mark agreed to come down.
“It is exciting,” Taeil says belatedly, still trying to find their setlist playlist, “I haven’t seen them in like two years.”
Taeil was wrong, however. It had been two years and seven months since they last saw Jaemin and Mark. Yuta hadn’t meant to count, but he couldn’t help it. It’d been a rough breakup.
A little after the song played in Yuta and Mark’s heads, they broke up. Mark had decided that soulmate or not, he couldn’t be in their relationship anymore. It was a tough decision, but Yuta wasn’t much for begging someone to stay. Of course, Yuta couldn’t help but wonder. He often wondered if they would have stayed together if it weren’t for this band thing, but he also wonders if Yuta and Mark would have ever met if not at #127 all those years ago. Jaehyun called him lucky once, after some shots of vodka. He said Yuta was lucky he had found his soulmate, when other people would never find theirs.
He was partially right. Soulmates were rare. It was rare for them to find each other. There were people who found each other at a grocery store, or people who were already in relationships with someone else. A couple of their fans would joke that they showed up to concerts to see if they were the members’ soulmates. But jokes like that always set Yuta off. Yes, Yuta and Mark had been lucky. They found each other. One in a million chance. But Jaehyun was also partially wrong, because while it was luck that made them find each other, it was also bad luck that the song played just as they were at their lowest.
It doesn’t matter that Yuta was Mark’s person. Or vice versa. They were tired of each other, and the small amount of time they tried to make it work - they kept asking if maybe, maybe, the universe had it all wrong. How could Yuta’s soulmate be embarrassed of being seen together? Or how could Mark’s soulmate not understand his worries?
It wasn’t long after that when Mark and Jaemin were offered a subunit. They were the youngest of the group and therefore appealed to their younger audience. Mark took it as an opportunity to get away from Yuta and Jaemin had worriedly accepted it as well. It was Jaemin who promised it would be temporary, and then their month-long project took longer than originally planned.
Jaehyun took a solo deal and so did Taeil. Eventually, Yuta wrote a few songs for himself and just like that - without a real announcement or warning, the band was on an indefinite hiatus.
It became harder to lie to the fans. Many of them continued to ask in their comment sections, or at fan meetings - when was neozone coming back? In the beginning, they answered with, “Right now, we’re trying to experiment musically so we’re doing our own thing!” But as time passed, that excuse couldn’t be used. Yuta doesn’t remember who said so first, but the new answer became, “Haha, well, sometimes it’s hard to work together when you each want different things. In our music, I mean.”
Needless to say the fans hadn’t taken that easily.
Now, however, they had to worry that maybe their fans wouldn’t want a reunion. Maybe they had built their individual careers so much that they wouldn’t even like the bands’ old songs. Mark had even done some solo songs without Jaemin during their time away. But Taeil had been invited to perform at a summer music festival in France and it had been a huge opportunity. As soon as he got it, he called Yuta and asked - no, begged - for him to join him. Taeil, even when he was doing great on his own, refused to let go of the band.
The sentiment must have convinced all of them to come back together, even if just once more. None of them spoke about it, but they all in some way expected this to be their last stage together.
So, suck it up, Yuta Nakamoto.
“Actually, I saw Jaemin at a festival,” Jaehyun says, rubbing his hands together, “He’s so grown now! He’s still the same though, cute as ever.”
“Cute?” Jaemin yells excitedly from the entrance door. As soon as Yuta looks up, he knows Jaemin hasn’t changed at all. He’s still as loud as ever and incredibly receptive to all compliments. His blue hair dye is fading, but he definitely looks taller than Yuta last saw. He drops his bag at the front, out of habit because they used to leave their stuff at the door - no distractions. Next thing they know, he’s running up to Jaehyun and squeezing hard, “Cute!? Come on, hyung, didn’t you miss me? Hug me!!”
They’re laughing as they watch Jaehyun struggle with Jaemin’s attack. Jaehyun groans, but just as if time hadn’t passed at all - Jaemin continues to make kissy faces at Jaehyun. Yuta finds it endearing. To see that not everything has changed.
Jaemin’s switching from Jaehyun to Taeil when they hear the door fumble open again.
Mark slips in quietly, but not quiet enough to go unnoticed. They all lift their heads to see and much like Jaemin, Mark hasn’t changed too much. His hair is dyed jet black, and Yuta knows it’s recently dyed because he just had it bright blue to match Jaemin for one of their mini albums. It looks nice, though, and just like his natural hair. He looks a bit taller too now, but perhaps he looks that way because they’ve only seen him through photos and videos.
“Ahh, our superstar Mark Lee’s back!” Jaehyun shouts from where he’s sitting and it makes Mark look bashful. His cheeks color only slightly, but his laughter gives him away. He doesn’t look nervous to see them, however, and that feels nice.
Jaemin jumps over to Yuta from Taeil and gives Yuta one of the tightest hugs. He mumbles an I missed you, hyung into Yuta’s shoulder and Mark looks over. They make eye contact by accident, and the song hasn’t gone away.
The memories of you,
Got me thinking,
Without missing a day,
You told me you loved me.
“It’s good to have you back, Mark,” Taeil says, clapping Mark’s shoulder.
Now for you too,
The memories of us,
Must be things of the past.
“It’s good to be back.”
♫☯ --- I WONDER IF WE WOULD’VE BEEN HAPPIER!
Rehearsals are rough, but only because they haven’t practiced together in so long. Yuta forgets how to work with Mark musically, so their guitar playing is a couple beats off. As a result, Jaehyun has trouble following on his bass. Taeil’s singing has also changed in the last few years, so it clashes with the original melody of their song but they’re minor fixes. They just have to adjust.
It also doesn’t help that their setlist is filled with their “greatest hits” and the majority of the love songs, Yuta and Mark wrote for each other. They can’t sing candidly like they used to, so Yuta starts closing his eyes so he forgets that Mark is there singing backup with him. He pretends that all their songs about kissing and staying up ‘till 8 in the morning are about someone else. And he pretends that he can’t feel the string of fate that’s tightly wrapped around Mark and himself.
Three more rehearsals of that and Jaehyun tells them they need a break - they need some band bonding. Whatever that means, apparently it includes going to a restaurant to talk about their touring stories.
They find that they have a lot to catch up on. Taeil jokes about how even though they’re all still signed to the same company, he hardly gets to see any of them. No one has the heart to tell him it was probably intentional. It’s definitely intentional that Mark and Yuta haven’t coincidentally ran into each other. Yuta has made sure for the past two years that they don’t get scheduled into rooms on the same day and he wonders if Mark ever did that too.
Think I’ve cried more than I had imagined,
If this is real take me back to the start then,
What I want but I know it can’t happen,
Baby I know it’s already over.
When they get to Jaemin, they talk about his recent relationship - the one that has been all over the news. Jaemin’s been dating a guy named Jeno for a while. They were recently photographed together and Jaemin reveals to them that they’re actually soulmates. They heard their song when they first met at a festival, the very one where he ran into Jaehyun. It had been startling, but the song was pretty and they both knew. Jeno plays bass for a different band and Jaemin was glad his soulmate hadn’t been a random fan.
When Yuta asks if he’s worried that people will find out about them for real, Jaemin shrugs a shoulder, “To be honest with you, hyung, I don’t really mind. Jeno’s really great. I guess since he’s my person, I wouldn’t really mind having to tell the world.”
Mark looks up at Yuta from across the dinner table. He looks only momentarily before looking back down at his empty plate of food. How. Simple.
“But if he didn’t want to tell anyone, I think I’d understand too. For him? Anything.”
And Yuta has to sit with that answer for the rest of their meal. Neither Mark nor Yuta look at each other again, but Yuta knows - perhaps, if they had worked harder, they wouldn’t still be here. Across the table from each other, feeling miles away. Nothing resolved.
♫☯ ---MONEY CAN’T BUY ME LOVE!
As artists, they’re all used to tabloids running stories on them. Yuta’s definitely used to being watched and stalked. However, it still surprises them that a small band dinner is enough to make headlines and have people make assumptions about the band’s reunion. Some say the band needs money, so they’re being forced to come back. Others say two members hate each other and refuse to make a new album.
The group agrees not to post anything together until after the concert, to keep things secretive.
With time, their synergy returns and they prepare with more enthusiasm for the festival. There’s a lot of planning that goes into making it a surprise. They can’t take the same flight to their destination because people will assume, so they all take different flights at different times and days. Mark goes unnoticed as does Jaehyun, but people snap photos of Yuta and ask him where he’s headed. Yuta makes something up about meeting a friend, but doesn’t know how believable it was.
It’s a struggle to get in to the festival without anyone noticing, but when the time comes - a majority of their fans are surprised to see the band back together. It’s thrilling to see that so many of Taeil’s fans are excited to see all of them on stage. They perform a few of their originals and jump and run around on stage as if it was their first stage ever. It’s exciting and tiring all the same. By the very end of their set, they’re drenched in sweat from the summer heat and some of Yuta’s bright red hair dye is dripping onto his neck. But it’s fun and exciting, and Mark has his arm around Yuta’s neck when he yells, “Neozone, let’s get iiiittt!” And the crowd screams louder than they have all day, so they sing one more song and end with a thank you to the fans who have supported them individually.
Needless to say, the group interviews that follow are filled with questions about a possible comeback. They have a couple cameras from the festival follow them backstage after the show and someone interviews them as they settle their breathing and other bands run behind them to get to their positions.
“Do you guys have any plans of making new music together?” The interviewer asks, overexcited for the cameras.
They’re still panting so they try to back away from the mic before they answer, because they don’t actually have any plans after this stage if they were being honest. But for fear of hurting the fans’ feelings, they have to have a better answer than we have no idea.
“Well,” Mark laughs next to Yuta, while the rest of them catch their breath, “We don’t have exact plans, but we obviously still vibe together. I might have to get back in the studio with Yuta and write us a few more songs!”
“Yes, Yuta! You and Mark write the majority of the band’s lyrics, do you have any ideas for a future album?” The interviewer moves the mic in front of Yuta.
Before Yuta answers, Mark’s arm lands over Yuta’s shoulder, hanging on just slightly from his exhaustion. Mark grins over at Yuta for what seems like the first time since the band has gotten back together.
I don’t want you to hurt but can’t help it,
Every moment is thoughts of you back when
I saw you throw me a smile and that had me,
Cause the last time that you looked at me,
I did all I could, I watched you leave.
“You know, we’re all so different now. Our musical styles have evolved, but it’d be an honor to write these guys new lyrics,” Yuta says into the mic, smiling at Mark just as he says so. Mark chuckles and hard nods, agreeing.
“And Taeil, how does it feel to have your band mates come out to support you?” The interviewer asks at last, holding out the mic for Taeil, who stands proud in the center of the band.
“It means the world!”
♫☯ --- IT WILL NEVER CHANGE ME AND YOU!
After all their concert highs, the guys all head straight to their respective hotel rooms and turn in for the night. They’re definitely going to feel all the jumping and screaming during the morning flight the next day, but it will have been worth it. Yuta doesn’t sleep, however, because the adrenaline is still running through him and he decides that it’s not every day he’s in France.
He grabs his hotel room key, his wallet, and all his remaining energy as he heads out into the streets of France. His red hair might give him away, but Yuta finds that even if it’s just for tonight - he’s not going to care. It doesn’t take him long to reach his destination, River Seine.
Yuta isn’t necessarily a believer of fate, despite how the universe has already presented him with real life proof that soul mates exist. Yet, he knows it’s impossible that when he walks up to the river he sees Mark’s already there, watching the view before him.
“I knew you’d be here,” Mark says loud enough for Yuta to hear, so Yuta approaches. Mark turns and laughs as he combs the back of Yuta’s hair gently, making sure all of Yuta’s stray hairs were perfectly in place, “Someone’s definitely going to recognize you.”
“Why did you know I’d be here?” Yuta asks, lifting his feet up on the railing just like Mark. He folds his arms over the metal just like Mark’s hanging.
“You’re a sucker for these kinds of things,” Mark says, lifting his chin up at the night view of Paris right before them. Yuta’s only been to France once before. He had a concert here for a solo show, it was at a smaller venue than today’s festival but very intimate. He remembers when someone asked him from the crowd if he had been heartbroken, because all his songs were so sad. He didn’t leave his hotel room that night.
“So, you came out here to find me?” Yuta asks, reaching out to push Mark’s bangs out of the way.
“Is that weird?”
“Yeah,” Yuta laughs breathlessly.
The things I'm about to tell you aren’t so you change what’s already on your mind.
It’s just that I keep thinkin’ about all the melodies you made asleep at night.
“Our song is so sad,” Mark whispers, reaching to throw the hood from his hoodie over his head. Yuta notices it’s an old hoodie that used to belong to Yuta. He doesn’t comment on it though. Yuta’s wearing one of the free festival hoodies they were gifted and he does the same with his hood, just in case someone does notice his bright red hair. “It’s not even, like, fair.”
“I mean,” Yuta smiles gently, “Isn’t it better than that shark song Jaemin’s always humming?”
Mark tuts, wiping at his nose from the cold air, “I’d rather have that.”
“Oh, Markie, don’t ask for what you can’t handle,” Yuta says quietly.
“Do you hate me?” Mark asks into the darkness, and Yuta frowns. He watches as Mark tries to avoid Yuta’s stare, asking the night more than he is asking Yuta. Yuta looks down at the river below them, then at the city lights above them.
Things will just stay the way they are,
Just that I keep,
Thinking about how we used to be,
God, I just hate this part.
Yuta lied to the other members. He had seen Mark since the band’s breakup. It was an accident. He had been doing his best to avoid Mark, even managed to go a year without seeing him. He had his manager schedule all his album releases in different months for fear that they would end up at some festival together by accident. Or an award show. But by chance, he had run into Mark. He had run into him at the studio. Mark had been leaving, and Yuta had just come in to record a song. When they saw each other and the song still played, Yuta pretended he didn’t see Mark and Mark had stopped him. Mark had asked the same thing then, except then - Yuta had pulled his hand free from Mark’s hold and walked away.
He couldn’t do that to him again.
“No, Mark,” Yuta says honestly, “I don’t think I’d ever hate you.”
“Why?” Mark furrows his brows, “I didn’t give us a chance-- I gave up on us and was too scared of what other people thought.”
Every time I would get upset you’d (oh no),
You'd hold me tight and wouldn’t let go (ohh),
And with your head on mine,
You’d make me realise I would be just fine,
That you’d stay here until it was alright.
“You’re my person, Markie,” Yuta says, gently running his thumb over Mark’s cheeks, “I’m sorry for not understanding why you were afraid. I know now.”
Mark frowns, “I’m so sorry, Yuta.”
“It’s okay,” Yuta whispers and Mark breaks first, leaning forward to kiss Yuta. Mark’s hand pulls Yuta by the neck, so they both lose balance and land their feet back on the ground, snickering into their kiss. It’s been years since he’s seen Mark, but everything about this moment is familiar - it’s safe. Mark kisses the same, still curious and eager and loving as he had been before. Yuta hopes that he hasn’t changed that much either, hopes that Mark still understands with each kiss that Mark means so much more to Yuta than he can say.
“I missed you,” Mark mumbles into their kiss, “So much.”
Yuta smiles, holding Mark’s face still between his fingers so Yuta can kiss everywhere - his cheeks and his forehead, “I wrote so many songs about you.”
“I heard,” Mark smiles into Yuta’s neck, “You’re such a simp.”
“Shut up,” Yuta laughs, stepping back to shove gently at Mark’s shoulder, “You’re literally my soulmate.”
“Soulmate, Schoulmate,” Mark grins, grabbing Yuta’s hands to intertwine their fingers together, “You’re still incredibly sappy.”
“Mark, you wrote songs about me too!” Yuta says, squeezing their fingers together, “Mister, When my moon rises. Your sun rises as well under the same sky. In this different time, Our hearts are connected under the same sky. Ring a bell?”
“Wait!” Mark stares at Yuta and raises a brow, “Did you listen to my album?”
“Ew,” A voice from behind them says. When they turn, they find Taeil, Jaehyun, and Jaemin smiling back at them, “When I said get the band back together, I didn’t mean you two!”
“Yeah, what is this?” Jaemin yells, “We were looking for you two so we would go to a late dinner like good ole’ times and we run into a smooch fest.”
“How long have you been standing there?” Mark yells back, horrified.
♫☯ --- I WANT NOBODY, NOBODY BUT YOU!
Interviewer: It’s been a while since the band got back together! What do you think about a possible comeback?
Mark: You know, at first, I was a little worried! We haven’t seen each other in a while, so naturally we’d be awkward but it wasn’t. Not really. It felt like we never took a break. So, now, I’m totally down for a comeback if they are. We just have to plan it out.
Interviewer: There wasn’t any animosity between the members at all?
Mark: No way! We’re like family. I felt like I went back home.
Interviewer: Who were you the most excited to see again?
Mark: Honestly? Yuta. Haha, I missed him a lot. I think he missed me too.
Interviewer: We definitely saw that at the festival! Will you two write more songs together soon?
Mark: Oh, definitely. Whether it’s for the group or for ourselves, I’d love to get back in the studio with Yuta. I actually wrote him a song. I think his voice would fit it perfectly.
Interviewer: Really? What kind of song is it?
Mark: Ha, a love song.
♫☯ --- I WANT TO BREAK FREE!
“You’re ridiculous,” Mark says into the mic, pressing his headphones into his ears so he could hear Yuta more clearly inside the booth.
They had been working on the same melody for about an hour because Mark was too much of a perfectionist. He kept saying he hated the way it sounded, and Yuta kept telling him it was fine - let’s just get home and cuddle, fuck. They were alone for once, just writing lyrics for their upcoming project. Neozone’s new album did amazing and left the fans wanting more, so here they were, back again. Mark hums the song again, and smacks his lips.
“I’m telling you, just say it like you mean it,” Yuta says into the mic from where he’s monitoring the recording.
“I am,” Mark groans, “Run it back.”
“Baby, forget it, I don’t want to be in a subunit with you anymore,” Yuta sighs, slumping down on the chair. Working with Mark had honestly been more work than play. Definitely not what Yuta had signed up for.
“Yuta, just run it back!”
“Then, say it like you mean it!”
“I love you.”
The way you looked at me.
The way you called me.
Everything, everything.
All that, to me: you were beautiful.
I want more
.
♫☯ --- FIN