"—just saying!" Jaehyun exclaims with a dimpled grin. Taeyong and Mark roll their eyes at his expression, continuing to pretend as if he wasn't in the room.
"Jaehyun, babe, I love you. I really do, but sometimes you make me question that." Taeyong smiles sweetly, pressing a chaste kiss to Jaehyun's cheek.
Jaehyun blinks at him, slotting his gaze to Mark with his brows furrowed. "Did he just say he doesn't love me?"
Mark shakes his head at the couple, cracking another egg into what will eventually be a bowl of pancake mix. "Don't bring me into your lover's quarrel."
"Speaking of—"
"No, hyung, I still haven't heard from Donghyuck." Mark answers without looking up from his task. The unspoken question dies on Taeyong's tongue.
It's been three weeks since the incident at school. The day Lucas punched Mark and the last time Mark saw or heard from Donghyuck and Jaemin. At first he figured they were avoiding him after his outburst in the hall, but when they didn't show up for school the remainder of the week—or at all the following week—he realized it was something more than what he originally thought.
Jeno kept true to his word. He's been tailing Mark and Lucas since that day, butting even further into their duo dynamic but neither seemed to mind. Lucas' innate, bubbly hyperactivity counteracted Jeno's rambunctious sarcasm and Mark was their Switzerland. Lucas and Jeno never bumped heads though. Any jabs Jeno took at Lucas, the latter either ignored them entirely or gave Jeno a run for his money. Their conversations almost always ended in laughs. It put Mark at ease knowing that Jeno, surprisingly, wasn't as big of an asshole as he originally thought him to be.
He knew he was only around so Mark wouldn't worry those close to him to death about not seeing Donghyuck. The fact almost brought a smile to his face when he thought about it.
Almost.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to send Yuta hyung to the store by himself?" Mark attempts to lighten the dwindling mood. He sees the corners of Jaehyun's mouth twitch in the beginnings of a smile at the question.
"He's got Lucas and Jeno with him." Taeyong shrugs. "He should be fine."
"You've met Jeno and Lucas haven't you?" Mark barely manages to contain his laugh at the sudden rigidness of Taeyong's spine. "You know they can't control themselves."
"I gave him a list." Taeyong argues hopefully. He pauses from his task of making scrambled eggs, giving Mark a side-eye. "How could he screw that up?"
Jaehyun chooses that moment to drape himself across Taeyong's back, perching his head on his shoulder with a smug smile. "You have way too much faith in someone that doesn't look at the prices when shopping."
"Not to mention—" Mark clamps his mouth shut with a frown. "Did the door just close?"
Jaehyun removes himself from Taeyong and pokes his head around to see out of the entrance of the kitchen. "I didn't hear any—"
"Jaehyun!" A cheerful, feminine shout cuts through the suspended silence between the trio. Jaehyun jumps away from the doorway with his eyes widened, taking a retreating step backwards when two people step through the doorway of the kitchen and into the brothers' line of sight.
Taeyong drops the spatula in the pan of eggs, forgetting about the task at hand. "Mom and dad!" He stares at them in disbelief, his mother smiling at the three of them before opening her arms towards Jaehyun.
"Mrs. Lee," Jaehyun's shocked expression gives way to a smile. He opens his arms and embraces her in a loving hug. "I didn't you know you guys were coming back."
