long story short || Mark Lee x reader (nct)

Chapter 3

TUESDAY, MARCH 1 2016

-----------------------

Knock, knock, knock.

The door sounds at the strike of 7 in the morning. Mark had risen up early and started getting ready. He wouldn't wanna be late on his first day of college.

He holds his toothbrush by the handle and walks out of the bathroom to the door. The fresh air and wind condition the room as it opens.

"Package for... room 20?" A member of the hotel staff asks. A box that reached his waist lays on the ground next to him.

Mark gives him a nod, toothbrush still in his mouth.

"Great! Sign here, please," The staff said as holds out a piece of paper, passing him a pen and showing him where to write his signature.

Mark signs the paper neatly, thanking the man and wishing him a nice day before bringing the package inside. Before he could close the door shut, a surprising shoe holds it open.

"Woah, I thought all of your stuff already came last week." His friend and group member, Jaemin, observes before walking into the room.

Mark crouches to the ground, inspecting the paper attached to the box closely. "Room 20... Y/n Kim... Yeah, this isn't mine." He informs Jaemin. "They must've marked it my room by mistake. I'll return it later on." He walks away from the box and returns to the washroom, cleaning his recently used toothbrush.

Jaemin puts on a devious smile Mark catches a glimpse of from the bathroom mirror. "Or maybe... They marked the name wrong by mistake, and it is for you," he suggests, eager to see what's inside the box.

"Jaemin, whatever you're thinking of doing, stop it," Mark warns him as he re-enters his bedroom. He sits down on his bed and checks his phone. But when his gaze comes back to his friend, the box is already being cut open.

"Dude!" He exclaims. "This Y/n girl is gonna kill me, you know." Mark moves from his place to sit beside him on the ground, slapping his arm.

"Relax, man. This Y/n chick actually seems like a pretty cool girl," He considers, taking out an acoustic guitar from the box, accidentally spilling packing peanuts in the process. "Woah," He expresses.

Mark widens his eyes at the sight of it. "Well, it's still not ours to play with, Jae." He scolds him.

Jaemin rolls his eyes, "Come on, don't act like you don't wanna see what else is inside" He places the guitar on Mark's lap before digging into the box again.

Mark holds the guitar in his arms, feeling the purple butterfly stickers on the side in fascination. He sets it aside on the bed and takes the package away from Jaemin. "Alright, give me the box." He orders and takes out the first thing he can get his hands on.

A pencil case filled with all types of paints, he pulls out. Some CDs, he pulls out next. A box set of a popular book series, after that.

"Are you sure this package isn't for you, Mark? It seems like this mystery neighbor likes a lot of the same things you do." Jaemin questions him with suspicion, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Well, the guitar definitely isn't mine. The rest of this is just a mere coincidence." Mark ponders. "As for the paints, maybe she's an art major." He makes an assumption.

"Well, that's one more thing we can guess about her," Jaemin laughs out.

After half an hour or so of getting ready and playing with their neighbor's items, the two decided to pack it all up before leaving it by room 21's door.

"It's like we never even opened it," Mark assures himself. The box was now heavily taped in a very harsh manner. And the spot that was ripped was now not visible (To their minds, at least).

"We should go now. You know how strict the professors here are from Taeyong Hyungs stories." Jaemin reminds him, feeling a chill crawl up his spine as he recalls the stories.

The two left the building and made their way to campus ground.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Y/n, where are you? We're gonna be late," Taehyung yells from outside my room, knocking on the wooden door.

I un-lock the entryway to let him in and was met with wide eyes. "Gosh, you okay, Y/n? You look like you were dragged through the mud of a pigpen all night." He tells me worryingly, noticing my heavy eyebags and sleepy face.

"Because I was." I scoff at him in response. Last night had been more of a disaster than I thought it to be. Jetlagged and upset, I am. Every passing hour of the night came with more and more dreadful feelings.

Far from the sounds of the ocean, the sand. Far from the drastic breeze. I longed to feel it again. Until it all came back to me in my dreams. But instead of the peace I was looking for, it was just me and miles and miles of water.

3 AM, I saw the clock light up as I was woken up with a gasp. 3 AM, when I huddled under the desk, wrapped in my blanket until I convinced myself it was safe enough to sleep.

Taehyung holds my face in place, inspecting it. "Why didn't you just come by last night? We could've watched movies 'till morning." He sighed.

I pulled his hands away from my face, turning my head to the package by my door. "Pride," I half lied, earning a laugh from him.

"Was it worth it?" He snickers, folding his arms in the process.

I ignore him and drag the box, bringing it inside my room. It was definitely not worth it. He was only 4 steps and 3 knocks away from me. But for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to a better night with him.

"Oh my god!" I yell out, examining the cardboard box.

"What's wrong?" Taehyung asks, hovering over where I was now crouching.

"Some idiot's opened my package!" I turn my face to him, pointing my finger at where it is clearly ripped.

He bursts out a laugh, earning some angry words from me. But despite my new grudge to whoever was in room 20, Taehyung reminds me that we have to leave for campus soon.

I grab my dark coat from where I left it on the table, and we went to catch the next bus.

-end of chapter 3