egoistic- lee haechan

0.8

not even ten minutes into the game, narae was a sweaty mess, hair stuck uncomfortably to her face as she dashed around trying to win for her team. the arrangements were the usual; renjun, jisung, and herself on one team vs. mark, chenle, and jaemin on the other. except now, haechan was there, and he was good. way to fucking good, to the point where she hated to admit that his cockiness wasn't purely him being a dick. that wasn't entirely true though- everytime she passed by, he'd make a comment that only the two of them could hear. 

"you fucking suck."

narae ignored him each and very time, only giving a clenched jaw and an eye roll in response. she was becoming increasingly annoyed, the lack of focus starting to come through. she wasn't even paying enough attention to see his foot stuck out at just the right angle as she attempted to dribble around him, tripping over and landing onto the pavement. rocks and other various forms of grime dug into her skin, the players instantly freezing when they heard her whimper in pain. 

she stood up just as quickly as she'd fallen down, hiding her now cut up and torn legs as she hunched over and tried to wipe the foreign matters off of her. "i think i need a water break.."

"you do that," haechan snickered, "come on, don't let her distract you. she's fine."

they all agreed on letting her off for now, continuing the game on their own. renjun and jaemin both exchanged looks as she limped away, she usually was never clumsy enough to get hurt on her own. the girl made it back to the bench with some trouble, examining her legs. they were bleeding, raw from falling so hard. there was nothing she could use to clean them off at the moment, so she'd either have to miss out on the rest of the games or deal with the pain. 

mark was also distracted, and now worried about her. there was clearly something going on between his best friend and narae, or else he wouldn't have so obviously hurt her. maybe he was the only one who caught it, but that wasn't the usual behavior of donghyuck. they fought yeah, but never once was violence induced. maybe he was being to dramatic, but he wanted to check on her, it felt wrong not to. "i think i'll take a break to."

the other four didn't have time to argue, he already passed haechan the ball and was on his way to the noirette. although she heard footsteps approaching, she didn't want to look up. it was almost embarrassing to be hurt in the first place, it was a moment of fragility and one thing she hated was to be seen struggling. 

"narae," he scanned her up and down, eyes lingering on the injuries. "you're bleeding."

"....i'm aware."

"look at me," he ordered, nodding in satisfaction when she complied. "do you need help walking?"

"maybe..."

the elder stood up and reached his hand out, pulling her up when she reluctantly took it. he placed her arm on his shoulder, allowing her weight to rest on him. she was quite light, unsurprisingly. "you ready?"

"to play?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"no." the boy simply said, beginning to gently walk. he took extra care to make sure she wouldn't get hurt, whispering "you're doing good" a few times on the way. the other boys were to distracted trying to win to notice them sneaking off to the parking lot, toward mark's car. 

"are you kidnapping me now that im hurt?" she joked, following his lead as he opened the door with his free hand, the other still supporting her waist. a smile formed on her face at the sound of his laughter. 

"i'm not, don't worry." he assured, setting her down on the edge of the backseat. her legs dangled outside of the door, a cold gust of wind causing them to burn a bit. mark went to open his trunk, rummaging for something while she zoned out and watched the boys still playing their game.

"oh shit, found it!" he called out after a minute or so, his trunk shutting with a slam as he made is his way back toward the girl. in his hands he held a first aid kit, not wasting a second to open it and look for what he needed. narae was to nervous to even watch him- every moment they were alone ended up in a bundle of nerves for her. "i'm sorry."

"for what?" she finally looked at him, watching as he worked his way around her and cleaned her wounds off. she could feel a light sting from the alcohol, but ignored it, there were more important things at hand. 

"for haechan... i saw him do it," he stayed quiet for a moment before speaking up again. "...im sorry he's so mean to you. i don't know why. i just know you don't deserve it."

"oh... thank you," she gave him a smile, feeling stupid for the light blush that was spreading over her face. of course someone should feel bad if they saw something going on... but from mark? that meant a lot more than it should've, in her opinion. 

the boy finished up by covering her legs up in bandages, shoving the empty wrapper in his pocket. he placed the first aid kit into the back of his car, brushing the side of her arm with his as he pulled back up. as they made eye contact again, he smiled, genuinely. "do you want to sit out until they're done? i wouldn't mind."

"but wouldn't you rather still play?"

"no, not when i'm worried about you."