Friends With Benefits (Mark Tuan Fanfic)

19

You wash up and go to bed. The clocks says 12:30 but you still aren't sleepy. You get up again, take your laptop and head to the kitchen, get a bottle of beer and take a sip. 

Unconsciously, you type Mark's name on google and different articles about him and the group comes up. A picture grabs your attention. 

It's a picture taken by a paparazzi. Mark's in a cafe, his hood's hiding half of his face but you know it's him. Across the table from him is another girl, another idol, but from a different agency. She is holding up a spoon to Mark and smiling. Is he dating already? You already predicted this, didn't you? But why do you feel a pang of jealousy?

You down more of your beer and exit the page. You shouldn't have looked at it in the first place. 

You open the folder of pictures you have to edit and start working. After dozens of pictures and four bottles of beer, your eyes get droopy. 

The picture of Mark and that girl still lingers in your mind as you try to sleep. "Mark leave me alone," you tell yourself. 

"Bel," JB shouts at the door early in the morning, forcing you to drag yourself out of bed. 

"What the heck, JB," you yell back as you let him in. "I don't go to your apartment anymore. Why do you have to barge into mine?" You rub your eyes and try to focus on him....and the guys following him. "And you took your whole group with you, too. Perfect," you scoff as you sit at the couch beside JB. 

The boys crowd in your small living room, looking like they've just gone from a work out. They're all sweaty and wearing work out clothes. 

"Where the hell have you been?" 

"Jogging," Jackson says, still panting. "Need a drink." He goes to the kitchen, gets a bottle of water and downs it all at once. 

There are only six of them. Where's Mark? But of course you don't ask them. Just pretend you don't care if he's with his girlfriend doing who knows what. 

"What's for breakfast, Noona?" The cute Bambam says, leaning his head on your knees. You just can't help but smile at how adorable this young one is. 

"Let me cook you something," good thing you went grocery shopping yesterday and there's tons of food in the kitchen. 

You decide to make them salad, as you know they're all on a strict diet. Juice and some fruits at the side. 

"Why'd you decide to go jogging?" 

"Ugh...part of our reality show. We have to show the fans we're working hard for our comeback."

"You can just work out in the gym, you know."

"The gym's boring." Junior stands and starts fixing the plates. 

"Mark-hyung's lucky. He gets to relax and have fun." Bambam pouts. 

"Why is that?"

"He's in another show. Didn't you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"WGM?"

"What's that?"

"We Got Married. He's paired up with another female idol and pretend they're married."

"They're not airing it yet. I think there segment would come out next month."

Oh...is that the girl in the picture? She's really pretty. I bet Mark would fall for her in a heartbeat. 

"Mark-hyung was pretty much against it at first. He even threatened the company he'd be resigning if they insist on it." Yugyeom says. 

"I don't know what came into him," Youngjae adds, "last weekend, he called the CEO in the middle of the night and agreed to be in the show. Weird right?" 

JB looks at you and you eye him questioningly, "what?" you mouth. He just shakes his head and turns to the other members. 

"Hey, Maknae's. Clean up the dishes so we could go." He commands. 

They leave after cleaning up and you're left once again in peaceful silence. 

During weekdays, Reno is civil...professional. He only talks to you about work. But when weekends come, he would ask you to go out. At times, when you don't have any reasons, you would go with him. Not all the time, though. You spend some weekends just bar hopping, traveling to different places and taking pictures, or having a quiet night with your stepbrother. 

Slowly, your memories with Mark start to fade away. Except, of course, when you're watching TV and you suddenly happen upon their group's performance, then you immediately change the channel or turn off the TV.

Just like tonight. As you surf through the channels, Mark's face comes up. It's the show the boys were talking about. The one where he's pretending to be married to a female idol. You're eyes get glued to the screen as you see him smiling at the girl shyly. They're at Namsan Tower, putting a love-lock on the railings and writing their wishes for each other. 

Your heart suddenly sinks. He looks so happy. They look good together. After what you've done to him, he deserves a pretty decent girl who would like him back. 

For the first time in years, you tear up over a guy.