𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞 | 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬

16: Not a Crybaby.

Mark watched as Nabi ran to Bona excitedly, jumping up and down while telling her the news about Mark Lee's record deal and face reveal scheduled to only days away. Johnny walked over to the boy and extended his hand out to help him get up - not that he didn't have the strength to, but because he was also overwhelmed with everything that was going to happen with his career and telling Nabi the whole truth. "You ok, bro?"

Mark only nodded.

"She's so excited and I can't even imagine what she'll do when you tell her it's you and it's been you the whole time."

"Dude, don't stress me, man. I'm nervous as it is."

Johnny patted his shoulder and scrunched. "Sorry, I know. But you got this. And honestly, I don't think it'll go bad at all. She really likes you - you as in you, and you as in the artist she loves so much."

Mark let out a deep breath and the two started walking over to the girls. "I hope you're right."

Jeno had finally came out of the changing room and Nabi immediately ran towards her brother, spreading the good news to yet another person.

The faded-blue haired boy was taken aback when he noticed a familiar face coming towards them - or more so to Nabi and Jeno. The dark haired boy tapped his sister and nudged his head towards the person coming their way. Her smile and excitement completely faded when she saw Xiaojun's handsome as always face. Her heart began to beat a little faster and she stood still next to Jeno, not knowing how to behave. She really hoped that if they'd cross paths again she'd be able to handle it well and behave decently since they didn't declare being enemies after their breakup, but that hope was washed off as soon as she saw him. The pain still lingered and the anger did too.

"Hey." Xiaojun smiled softly to the two. Jeno said hi back but Nabi stood silently, almost like she couldn't speak even if she wanted to say anything. "Good game."

The dark haired boy furrowed his brows. "You were here the whole time?"

"Of course, I never missed your games, did I?"

"Yeah, but," Jeno looked back and forth between the ex couple.

"Yeah, um, I know. If that makes either of you uncomfortable, I won't come from now on." he chuckled nervously.

"It's fine with me but I'm not the person that has a say in it to be honest. Maybe I'll let you two talk-" his words were cut off when Nabi squeezed his hand, asking him not to leave her side.

"It's fine with me too. Come or not come, it's your choice." she said as politely as she could even tho she felt like crying. Maybe she was lying to herself after all, making herself believe she was already completely fine after their breakup.

Xiaojun nodded and glanced at the remaining three of the group. He met eyes with Mark who watched them closely and even from this far away he could sense worry in his eyes.
He was at the field ever since the game had started. He stayed in the back to not bring any attention to himself and he obviously succeeded since all of them were surprised to see him once he came over. Before he did show himself, he saw the whole thing between his ex girlfriend and her new best friend Mark. Tears filled his eyes when he saw Nabi smiling and laughing loudly when she was in Mark's presence. His mind went back to how she used to be this happy with him back in the days and how if things stayed as they were at the beginning of their relationship, they'd be the best couple the world had ever seen. But things changed and they changed too. Even thought it all still hurt him, he tried to be happy for Nabi and hoped she'd find the one she was looking for. He thought she was naive thinking Mark was only her friend because he saw the way she looked at him as they laid down on the fake grass - he knew that look because he felt it once before too. The faded-blue haired boy was more than a friend to her, she just didn't realize that yet.

"So, um," Xiaojun shook his head, getting out of the rush of thoughts. "I'll get going. Good game again, Jeno." he patted the younger's shoulder to which he smiled. Nabi and her ex shared a glance before the boy turned on his heel and left.

Mark had his eyes glued to Nabi who stared into the distance, only nodding to whatever Jeno was telling her. When the dark haired boy met Mark's eyes, he wanted to ask him to come and maybe comfort the girl, but he didn't have to - Mark was already on his way.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked with a soft voice, snapping Nabi out of her thoughts. She smiled at him through tears forming in her eyes and just nodded. It was a cue for Jeno to leave the two alone, knowing he wasn't going to be much more of a help anyways. "Are you ready to-"

Tears started falling down the girl's cheeks and she started walking away. Mark walked right after her, matching his pace to her. As soon as the two hid behind the wall of one of the changing rooms, Nabi started crying a bit more. The boy wrapped his arms around her immediately, squeezing her tight since he learnt that's what she liked whenever she felt anxious. She hugged him back as well as her tears kept on falling, but the sobbing quickly stopped as she was in Mark's embrace. "I don't know why I burst out crying." she mumbled.

"It's ok."

"I'm fine, I swear, I don't know what happened."

Mark brushed her hair as they kept standing in each other's embrace. "It's ok to still feel hurt."

Nabi pulled away from the boy, wiping her nose and breathing deeply, trying to calm down. Mark smiled reassuringly as he wiped her tears and reached for a pack of tissues. "I hate making you comfort me all the time, I swear I'm not a crybaby." she sighed.

"Dude, what are you talking about. I'm your friend through good and through bad."

Nabi chuckled and shook her head. "You're too good to be true." Mark laughed and shrugged as she added a thank you to which he just waved his hand.

"You don't have to hide your emotions with me, alright?" the girl nodded as a response and he wrapped his arm around her. "Come on, let's get back to the others and go have something good to eat. I know you're also grumpy when you're hungry." Nabi pushed him playfully and the two teased each other until they joined the others.

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