NCT Oneshots {ot23} | open

Believe Me {Part 2}

Here is the requested part 2! ♥

ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹❀◃ ۪۪۫۫ ༄ؘ ˑ

Taeyong finds himself slumped in a chair, eyes staring at a scratch on the wooden table and his nose hardly registering the aroma of food filling the room. His hands are trembling but they don't feel like his own when he glances at his fingers of ice. His friendship ring from Doyoung catches the light, then the shimmer blinds him and distorts when his eyes fill with tears all over again.

"Have something to eat." Mark softly prompts the leader, but Taeyong's movements are uncoordinated. His stubborn pout warns the younger that he's still perfectly capable of feeding himself, so Mark taps his fingers on the table and watches as Jaehyun slopes past the doorway, Yuta in tow and both of them drenched by a thick haze of disapproval.

Taeyong chews slowly. He takes the silence in the apartment as an opportunity to plough through his thoughts and to make sense of the ammunition being thrown his way. He never went to that nightclub. The most he's ever done with a fan is a sweet hug in the streets of America, and even that was nearly six months ago. And yet the internet is lapping the scandal up, stabbing him with every insult and tormenting him by dragging his name through the dirt. All because some hater likely had a bad day and now wants to channel their frustrations out on someone else.

"Do you think... never mind." Taeyong cuts himself off. At the sound of the elder's voice, Mark looks up and widens his eyes in expectation, urging him to continue. Taeyong simply stares at his empty bowl and wraps the blanket around his shoulders again.

"Go on."

"Do you think the company would help me? If I spoke to a manager? The members are all out of the question now." Taeyong's eyebrows tilt up with concern and the genuine desire for a solution to this mess. Mark's quick to respond.

"They would. Surely." The leader looks at him with curiosity. "This is going to negatively affect their image, too. They could lose some sales over it. You know they only care about the money half the time. It'd be better for everyone if it gets cleared up as quickly as possible, right?" Taeyong nods, only seeming partly-convinced, but Mark considers that as a success for now and leans over to clear away the dirty bowl and cutlery.

"Do you think the dreamies all hate me, too?" Taeyong starts thinking out loud. In a way, Mark's glad he's voicing his concerns. "They're like my babies. I couldn't stand to set them a bad example. What about Shotaro and Sungchan? Goodness, they've just debuted and-"

"Taeyong, you're not setting them a bad example!" Mark plunges the bowl into the water with more aggression than planned, then scrubs hard at it to get his point across to the leader who's blankly staring at the wall. Although the lack of focus in his expression makes it seem more like through the wall. "Trust me. They look up to you, especially Shotaro and Sungchan. They all adore you."

"Maybe they won't any more if they find out about this rumour and-"

"Taeyong." Mark spins around, knife in his left hand and his right curled into a fist. His eyes spark with an anger the leader has never seen in the younger male before, so Taeyong seals his mouth and picks at his fingernails. He'd ask Yuta to paint them for him if the other wasn't ignoring him.

Mark can't help but soften at the sight of the elder member so distraught, and he hurries to finish the dishes and guide Taeyong back into his bedroom. Haechan steers a clear distance from them when they awkwardly exchange eye contact in the living room. No one says anything. The tension is close to suffocating the entire group. Johnny still hasn't returned.

Taeyong's phone is jammed with too many notifications. Missed calls from Dream, from WayV, and from a manager.

"Do I phone him back?" Taeyong mumbles the question. Mark nods.