𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘂 || 𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗸

vingt-huit.

a few years later (2021)...

it's been a few months since the members of wayv flew to south korea. kun, ten, sicheng and yukhei were finally reunited again with nct while yangyang, xiaojun and hendery became closer with all of them. a lot had happened since the group's debut, as well as nct 127's successful debut in the west. now the group, as a whole, had been given a small break. some of the members went to see their families while the foreign members stayed behind in the dorms, relaxing.

yukhei was up in the rooftop of the dorm building, smoking. it was a habit, albeit a bad one, that he had picked up after their debut. it was a way for him to cope with the stress. he wasn't a chain smoker by any means nor was he addicted but it was a reason for him to excuse himself from the dorm without having to look pathetic in front of the members, especially to him.

‿︵‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - - - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵

flashback

yukhei was scrolling through his weibo when he came across an article with a picture of lisa and taeyong on it, front and center. he sat up straight from where he was lounging on the couch as he pressed on the link to the full article. he didn't wanna believe it as sometimes, people would make stuff up to garner attention. he had experienced it first hand from when he started to collaborate with female celebrities.

as he read and scrolled through the article, he saw a blurred zoomed in picture of a male walking out of an apartment building that seemed to be where lisa is currently residing. it wasn't just any male, it was unmistakably the nct leader, lee taeyong. despite the poor quality and almost pixelated shot, yukhei knew his hyung's natural posture very well. he was aware that both lisa and taeyong were close friends. he didn't want to jump into conclusions and assume the rumour to be true unless both parties confirm it as such. he wanted to message lisa and ask but he knew how stressed and busy she was with her current schedule. he didn't want to bother her with such trivial matters. even if she was dating his hyung, it wasn't his business yet that doesn't stop his feelings from being hurt if that was the case.

he exited out of the website and locked his phone, tossing it to the space next to him as he stared up at the ceiling. it had been awhile since they messaged each other. he understood as she was busy with her schedule and he was also busy with his. she was a returning mentor for a chinese idol show that he may or may not have been tuning in every week just for her.

ever since he had gotten her number, they had been talking nonstop to the point where they considered each other the best of friends (ten wouldn't agree of course as he was always the number one bestie of lisa manoban). he had gotten to know almost everything about her and she with him. the only thing he hadn't told her was of his deep feelings for her. he was afraid it would drive her away. he would rather be her friend than nothing at all. besides, he was still in china. he didn't know when he would be back.

yukhei sighed and got up from the couch. he grabbed his phone and headed to his room, putting it down on his desk and decided to get a shower. the article had been put in the back of his mind and forgotten for the night.

a few weeks later, yukhei and his fellow wayv members were practicing for their next performance. after a few hours had passed, they were finally done. some of the members had decided to head out early while yukhei, kun and ten stayed for a bit as they were too exhausted to move for the meantime. the three continuously chatted about random things. a chime echoed through the room. it was ten's phone. the male decided to check it later but multiple chimes had began to come in indicating new messages. both yukhei and kun raised their brow in amusement towards the thai dancer.

"i wonder who in their right mind would want your attention so bad they spam you." kun grinned at ten, the latter smirked and grabbed his phone. the two watched the male's smirk disappear from his face replaced by bewilderment.

"taeyong, you little shit." ten uttered with a grin on his face.

kun and yukhei exchanged confused looks at ten's remark. "taeyong? what happened? is he okay?" kun asked, getting up from his position on the floor and to the shorter male across the room. yukhei followed and stood behind the two, towering over them as he looked through their shoulders and at ten's phone. it was messages on the thai group chat from the other thai idols tagging lisa and congratulating her.

reading the rest of the messages, kun stole a small glance at the tall male behind him instantly seeing the broken look on his face. yukhei turned away, clearing his throat and walked towards where his stuff is. before kun could even utter a word, yukhei grabbed his things and reached for the door. "i forgot i had something i need to do." he tried in his most convincing tone, avoiding kun's eyes.

"tell taeyong hyung and lisa-ssi congrats on their relationship."

...and he was out the door just like that.

end of flashback

‿︵‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - - - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵

yukhei rested his arms on the railing as he twirled the unlit cigarette in his fingers, he was too focused on his thoughts that he didn't realize a small patter of footsteps behind him.

"you can't keep hiding here, yukhei. everyone's starting to notice something's off." a firm voice blended in with the wind as it picked up. the male who had spoken stood next to him and rested his arms against the railing as well, looking up at the city lights of seoul. yukhei sighed and continued to twirl the unlit cigarette but glanced up at the male next to him. it was mark.

"i don't know what you're talking about, mark. i'm here to smoke. you shouldn't be here. secondhand smoking is bad." the male replied before looking away. despite his statement, the cigarette stayed unlit. mark scoffed.

"firsthand smoking is even worse, yukhei. not only are you a bad liar but you're also dumb." the nct rapper nudged the tall male. he had gotten to know about yukhei's secret after accidentally eavesdropping on his conversation with kun about lisa. after that whole incident, mark found out that he was the second person to know about it with kun being the first. he wasn't sure on how to feel about it at first as when he found out, taeyong and lisa had already gone public. mark, like the rest of nct, was aware of the friendship between their leader and the blackpink member but it had come as a shock for everyone when they had started dating. he knew that taeyong harboured feelings for the dancer but mark wasn't so sure if she felt the same way towards him. up until now, he didn't know how to help both taeyong and yukhei. like kun, he was stuck in between. he wanted nothing but happiness for both members.

both kun and mark knew what they had to do to help their brother.

yukhei needed to move on from lisa and to do that, mark would have to help him look for someone else that could make him happy.

"yukhei, come with me tomorrow. i want you to meet someone."