Airport Match - Mark Lee

Eric

          You get in the room and the 3 boys are already there. They look at you and smile widely.
-Y/n! – Gabriel says.
-Hi, guys! – You say sitting down.
-Hey, Y/n. How are you? – Young-Chul and Si-Woo ask. You talk a little and the manager starts the main subject.
-So, let's start. – The manager turns to look at you. – Before we introduce you the new member, I would like to let the boys talk about him a little with you. He got in the dorm a week ago. He has been a rookie for 2 years. He has not so much experience, but he has proved to be talented. His vocals are very good. His dancing is amazing too. – He pauses and sighs. – Well, now you talk, boys. – You understand and nod to everything.
-He arrived at the dorm a week ago. He seems to be polite and has respected us a lot. I think we will work well with him. – Young-Chul, the leader, says. – He is a little older than us. I think he is the same age as you, Y/n. His name is Eric. – You nod.
-Let's call him then. – The manager tells the secretary to call him. He gets in. He seems somehow... familiar. He goes to the front and bows.
-Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Eric, the new 4Get member. – He bows again and looks at you. – Wait... – He looks at you surprised. – Y/n? – He says.
-Yes, that's me. – You say. The members are kind of confused. – Uhm... Your name is Eric, right? – He nods smiling. – Did you live in California? – You ask him.
-Yeah! Omg. It's really you! – He says.
-Oh, so you two know each other? – The manager asks.
-Uhm... Yeah. You can say that we are kind of... childhood friends. – You say laughing.
-I see. – The manager says. – Well, I will not take much of your time. Let's just discuss what will happen from now on.
            The manager says what you are going to do. The first album of 4Get will be released with Saehyon there, but the group will already start to work on a new single and Eric will participate. He is training hard to follow the 3 boys' rhythm and the records will start next month. The new song will be release on May. You all nod.
-Okay. Now we are finished. – The manager turns to Eric. – Eric, I hope you can be a great add to this group. As you know, the last member gave us some trouble, so I hope you can work well with the boys and with Y/n.
-Yes, sir! I will. – He says and bows. You say goodbye to the manager and everybody leave the room.-So, do you want to eat something at the cafeteria? – You ask the boys.
-Yes! Of course. – They answer you and you all go to there. You go with the boys to the restaurant and you take a hamburger. You have a good conversation and laugh together. You feel really comfortable with them.
-Well, Y/n, I think we're gonna call it a day now. We practiced all day long. It was good to eat together. – Young-Chul says.
-Okay, sure. You must be tired. It was good to see you and finally chill a bit. – You say.
-Uhm... Are you already going home, Y/n? – Eric asks.
-Uhm... Yes, I guess. Why? – You ask.
-I would like to stay here a little more with you. We didn't get to see each other for a long time. – He says and you think.
-Okay. I can stay a little longer. – You smile to him and he smiles back.
-Okay, then. We are at the dorm if you need something, Eric. – Young-Chul says.
-Okay. Thank you, guys. – Eric says and the boys say goodbye to you.
            You and Eric talk about many things, mostly about your childhood and how you are nowadays. After an hour you decide to go home. On your way home, you send another message to Mark. "Hey. I think you must be busy. I know your first show is tomorrow, so, good luck!" You send. He has not seen your previous messages yet. You miss him, but there is nothing you can do about it. You sigh. "Only 3 weeks and you can see him." You think.
            The time passes. Just like Mark, Haechan doesn't respond Chin-Sun's messages too, so you deduce they are busy. You go to your job and start to work with 4Get on their new song. As everybody is excited to work and having success, the song improves a lot and you like to work together. You and Eric are growing closer as the days go by and now you two are as you were before when you were kids.
            Today is the day Mark comes back. You are really happy to see him again. You don't know exactly when he's going to arrive so, you go to SM and just wait to see if he's gonna show up there.
            You had a work presentation on your class today, so you run to SM to not get late. Getting there, you meet the manager.
-Hi, Y/n. – He looks at you. – Are you in a hurry?
-Hi, sir. Yes. I had a presentation today and had to run to not get late. – You say taking a breath.
-Oh. Did you have lunch? – He asks.
-Actually, not yet, sir.-So, you can relax. Go have lunch at the restaurant. We can wait 30 minutes. Eric is there too. – He says.
-Thank you, sir! So, excuse me. – You say and go to the restaurant. You say hi to Eric and go to sit with him. You two eat and take the opportunity to rest a bit. When you were there talking with Eric, you see that NCT has just got there. "They arrived!" You think smiling. They are all together with their manager and pass in the restaurant. You see him and smile wide. He is with a new hair color. A brown one. Eric is just looking at you not understand a thing. Mark looks around and sees you leaving a table that you were with a boy. He doesn't recognize him, obviously, as Eric was just a rookie before he got there. You go on his direction.
-Mark! Hi! – You smile. You miss him so much.
-Y/n, hey. – He opens a smile too. You hold his hand wanting a hug, but steps back. You think it's weird. You feel like he doesn't want to hug you. He looks around. – Sorry. Ehrm... I can't talk with you right now.
-Mark! Let's go! – The manager says.
-After the work we can talk, okay? – He says and leaves.
            You don't understand. You were so happy to see him. Your smile fades away. Maybe it was only you? Your heart aches a bit. That image you had in your mind, the kiss, now looks like a dream. You two were so close and now it looks like you came back to the fan spot. "It was only a month. Did he already forget about me?" You think. You feel like an idiot. Maybe it was really just the chemistry of the moment. You wake up from your thoughts with Eric touching your shoulder.
-Are you okay? – He asks.
-Uhm... Yeah! – You smile. – Let's go.
-Do you know NCT? – He asks. – You went to talk to Mark right away.
-Yes. I know them for a time now. – You say.
-Oh. Cool! – He says smiling. You smile too.
            The day looks like an eternity. You are not that focused. You are thinking about how Mark reacted today. Thinking the reason behind that. You sigh.
-Are you okay? – The manager asks you while looking at the monitor.
-Yes. Just feeling a bit tired. – You answer.
-Okay. We are almost finished. Hang just a little bit more. – He says and you smile. He is really caring.
            The work finally ends. Mark has asked you to talk to him after work, but you don't know if you want to. You are afraid. What if he wants to distance himself from you and break up? Actually, he can't break up with you because you aren't even dating. You and 4Get leave the production room. It looks like NCT is still practicing. You say goodbye to everyone.
-Bye, Y/n. See you tomorrow. – Eric says.
-Okay. Bye! – You say. He was leaving, but then he turns back.
-Before I leave, Ehrm... Do you remember our hand touch we used to do when we were kids? – He asks you. You laugh.
-I don't know. Let's see. – You start with a low hand touch and you jump for a high five.
-Oooh! I forgot about the high five. Okay. Again! – He says and you do it again. – Yeaah! It was cool. – You two start to laugh together. Then Mark opens the door. You and Eric look at him.
-Oh. Hey. – You say looking at him.
-Hi. – He says smiling. – We are finished. Come here. – He calls you to enter the room.
-Okay. Bye, Eric! – You say and Eric waves at you. You get in the room and before closing the door, Mark glances at Eric scanning him. Eric nods a little to greet him and Mark does the same and closes the door. "Who is he? He and Y/n looks close. I never saw him before." Mark thinks it is a little weird.
            Meanwhile, you are saying hi to NCT.
-Y/nnnn! – Jungwoo runs towards you, giving you a tight hug.
-Omg. – You cough dramatically. – Jungwoo, don't kill me! – He lets go of you and you laugh. – I missed you so much, guys! – You say and hug everyone, but Mark. He is kind of confused. Why did you not hug him? Actually, you want to hug him a lot, but as he hesitated at the cafeteria, you are afraid he doesn't want to hug you.
-Well, I'm so hungry. I'm gonna go to the cafeteria to grab something. – Taeyong says and the members agree. The members start to leave the room and you are following them behind, but suddenly you feel someone pulling your arm. It was Mark. The members leave the room without looking back. Mark pulls you back to the room and closes the door.
-Hey... – He hugs you, slowly putting his head on the crock of you neck. You are a little confused. You thought he didn't want to hug you. You freeze for a moment and then you hug him back. – Why did you not hug me too? I missed you so much. – He says pulling away. You feel like you are about to cry, but you hold it.
-I... I thought you didn't want to hug me. – You say looking down. Mark looks at you with a confused expression.
-I what? Why would I not want to hug you? – He asks.
-I don't know. Uhm... You didn't hug me at the cafeteria. I thought you didn't want to do it anymore... – You say still not facing him. "Omg, I'm so dumb." Mark thinks.
-Ooh, noo. Dude, I- I'm sorry. It's because the manager was there and I still didn't say anything about... Like, about... us. – He says and you look up. – I missed you. Everyday.
-Really? – You smile and your eyes get a little watery. Mark notices and gives you a kiss on the cheek.-Of course. – He says and you giggle. – Did you miss me too?
-Yeah... – You blush. – A lot. – He chuckles. He looks at your eyes and gets his face closer. You close your eyes and he kisses you. You can see now that it was not a dream. Your heart is not aching anymore. You are so happy. You stay like that for some seconds. You missed his touch and he misses it too.
            As it's still early, Mark sends a message to Taeyong saying he wants to stay with you a little more. The members come back to the dorm to rest. You two grab some food at the restaurant and bring it to the practice room. You decide to eat there so you two can stay together alone talking. You two sit on the floor and eat the food while talking about everything. You tell him about Eric and Mark is happy that he is a cool guy who will not cause problems. You two finish your food and stay there resting on the floor. Mark gets closer and lies down on your lap.
-Can I lay here for a moment, ma'am? – He asks grinning.
-Of course, sir. – You chuckle. He closes his eyes to rest a bit. You look at him. "He is so handsome." You think. You look at his hair and feel like touching it. You pass your hand through his hair. He sighs looking like he is liking it. His hair is soft and beautiful and you always wanted to touch it. You two stay like this for some minutes. – I like your hair. It's so pretty. – You say while caressing it. Mark smiles and opens his eyes to look at you.
-And I like you. – He says. You stop and look at his eyes. Your heart starts to race. He really said that.