𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘂 || 𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗸

trente et un.

as soon as they arrived at the meet-up location, mark looked down at his phone to confirm before looking around the area for any signs of his friends. yukhei wasn't familiar with anyone mark talks to outside their group except a few handful people but even he wasn't that comfortable with them as mark was. when the shorter male had successfully found his friends, the taller followed him as he pranced towards the group. he almost laughed at the childish manner that the reputable rapper was showing comfortably in public.

yukhei was falling behind a bit with mark having to wave his arms to come faster. he took a deep breathe and offered the group a friendly smile as he caught up and stood next to mark. he bowed as he recognized a few of his seniors. they each introduced themselves and mark eagerly introduced yukhei as well. so far, he didn't feel out of place as the group would make sure to include him in everything.

a little later when the group arrived at a restaurant, mark decided to go initiate his plan. he looked at yukhei and one of his friends who was stealing glances at the clueless and oblivious male. the sight made him grin. despite not knowing if his plan was going to work, he decided to try it anyway and help his two friends out. yukhei would probably hate him for what he was planning on doing but if things worked out between them in the end, he would thank him someday.

the young rapper cleared his throat, replacing the mischievous grin he had plastered on his face with a nonchalant smile before approaching the group. they were now being led to a table and mark decided to take the spot across yukhei while eyeing his friend to take the spot next to the tall male. his friend seemed to get the hint from his look, a blush instantly appearing on her cheeks as she obliged. she hadn't uttered a word to the male next to her yet as she was a bit shy to. seeing him in person, up close and personal, was a bit overwhelming. she had really only admired him and his work from afar.

meanwhile, yukhei was a bit taken aback when mark didn't take the spot next to him but he shrugged it off and not thought anything of it as he assumed he probably wanted to catch up with his friends and sit closer to them to which he didn't mind at all but why did mark take him along?

as soon as everyone was seated, they all had engaged in conversations. yukhei would occasionally join in at times but for most of it, he would just sit back. he was itching for his phone as he felt a bit awkward not saying anything but he knew how rude it would come off if he reach for it. he heard a soft voice next to him and that's when he looked up at the source.

"i'm sorry if you feel out of place or if my friends are a little much. i promise, they're only like this cause they haven't seen each other in a while." the girl stated. the male shook his head and offered the girl a small smile.

"no, don't apologize. i totally get it. it's not that i feel out of place...i just want mark to catch up with his friends. i can tell he misses you all." he replied, which was partially true. he could tell from the look on mark's face that he had missed his friends. sure, nct was and would always be his close friends—family, even—but he knew how refreshing it was to be hanging out with different people outside their group. yukhei felt out of place cause he wasn't in the mood to socialize with people yet he had let mark drag him along. it wasn't them, it was him.

"mark is a great friend. he's really the life of the party." she uttered, softly. she didn't know what else to say as she suddenly felt shy around him. she couldn't bring herself to properly engage in a conversation with him as her nerves were making her tongue-tied. she glanced at mark, pleading for a silent help and the latter smirked before turning to yukhei.

"ahh yukhei, eunjung is actually trying to learn cantonese. you should teach her since it's your native language." mark stated with a soft grin. the girl blushed even more but stole a glance at the male sitting next to her.

"wouldn't a professional teacher be better? i'm not really good at teaching. in fact, i'm far from it." yukhei replied with a small shrug. the young rapper across from him almost facepalmed at his oblivious nature and almost itched to slap him to his senses. he couldn't outright tell him what he was trying to do, of course. mark sighed.

"she's only a trainee for now and teachers are expensive. besides, learning a new language is intimidating. your charm and soft personality might help alleviate that. don't knock it till you try it. who knows? you could actually be a great teacher." he wiggled his brows before turning back to his friends, letting yukhei and eunjung talk on their own now that his job was done.

eunjung was still flustered on her seat. she turned slightly towards the tall male form next to her. "y-you don't have to teach me. you're probably already busy as it is seeing as you're an idol." she stuttered. yukhei clasped his hands together on his lap as he looked at the girl again.

"it's fine. right now, i don't have much to do anyway so i can teach you for the time being. i'll even suggest you books to start with so you don't feel overwhelmed. i'll have mark send you the titles—"

"a-actually, i think it would be e-easier if you and i just exchange numbers. i don't really wanna keep bothering mark. i-if that's okay with you though..." the girl sputtered. she didn't mean to cut him off but she had to be brave and shoot her shot.

yukhei didn't seem to notice, however but nodded at her statement. "that's true. he does get quite busy too. do you have your phone on you? i'll just put my number in." he nonchalantly replied. the girl next to him seems to look like she was about to burst and explode right where she was sitting as she shakily handed him her phone but again, yukhei doesn't seem to notice.

it dawned on mark the extent of yukhei's feelings for the famous blackpink member. here was a very attractive and nice girl who was trying her best to talk to him yet the tall male didn't even bat an eye in her direction. he was just being friendly like he always was. normally, he would have been flirty and had probably given the girl hundreds of lame pick-up lines. but he wasn't. mark realized just how much lisa meant to yukhei as he watched the latter immediately set his eyes on the tv by the restaurant counter where a clip of lisa's magazine shoot was showing, the girl next to him forgotten. as well as everyone else around him.

yukhei felt his heart ache at the sight of the dancer on tv. she was beautiful—gorgeous. no one could truly hold a candle to her beauty. he clenched his fists as the temptations of reaching out to her again had resurfaced. he was tempted to leave the restaurant and storm over to her place and look upon her beautiful face up close again. he wanted to hear her cheerful voice again. he wanted to be around her again.

he wanted those times he had with her to last forever.