Satisfaction [NCT]

10.

Jaehyun was sitting with Winwin at his lunch table. Everyone who sat with Winwin didn't speak English so Jaehyun was forced to be in Korean-only conversations. He didn't want to be annoying so anytime they said something he didn't understand he would write it down to look up later. He tried his hardest to follow the conversations and would occasionally contribute a sentence of his own, but since it took him so long to translate what he wanted to say in English to Korean, most of the time he stayed quiet.

He wishes Mark was in his grade, or even a freshman. That way he could have someone to talk to during lunch. Sure, it doesn't help him learn Korean if he only speaks English, but he also just wants to have a friend who can understand what he says.

Swimming became his favorite class overall. He had Mark and Winwin in that class, the two people who became his first friends at this school, and he didn't need to actually learn anything. All Jaehyun needed to do was swim. He doesn't need to learn many new words, all he needs is to know what swim, dive, stroke, and 3,2,1 mean in Korean.

At swim practice, Taeyong was watching Mark. As captain, he always felt this overwhelming responsibility for every team member. He doesn't want any of them to be sick, so seeing Mark not feeling well was signaling a loud siren in his head. After their practice race, Taeyong walked over to Mark, who was catching his breath. "Hey, how are you feeling?" He patted him on the back.

Mark looked at his friend and debated on answering truthfully or lying. Taeyong and Mark have a complicated relationship. They are not very close, but Taeyong is a very trustworthy person. Mark feels comfortable with him, even though he knows very little about him. "I could be better." Mark answered honestly. "I could be worse. I'll feel better later probably." He continued, trying to make Taeyong less worried for him. It didn't work as well as he hoped.

"If you need to go home, you can. I'll cover for you." Taeyong offered.

Mark shook his head, "I can't. I don't have a ride. Plus, I need to wait for Haechan to get out of class."

"Oh right, I forgot some people don't drive." Taeyong smiled at his forgetfulness. He realized the conversation was over but wanted to continue talking. "How is Haechannie these days?" Taeyong asked. As a young kid, Taeyong and Haechan were neighbors and used to play pretend together. Eventually they stopped talking very much, just because of their age difference and when Taeyong moved houses, they had no reason to see each other very often. Haechan would come to many of their swim meets and was in 50% of Marks sentences. One reason that Mark and Taeyong are even friends is because of their connections to Haechan.

"He's good, he's not sick like me." Mark slightly joked.

"He knows you're sick, right?" Taeyong asked.

"Yeah, he doesn't care if he gets sick." Mark told him. Taeyong made an uncomfortable face towards Marks comment.

"That doesn't sound good." He said, wondering if he should be worried for his past friend. "Is he doing alright?" He asked cautiously.

"Yeah, he's doing fine. I just meant he wanted to hang out with me even if that means he gets sick." Mark explained to Taeyong, making him less worried about Haechan and more worried about their relationship.

"Okay, as long as he's safe." Taeyong said to Mark, allowing him to move on from the conversation.

"That's the second time I've heard that in the past week." Mark commented, remembering the conversation he had on Wednesday.

"Who was the first?" Taeyong became very curious.

"My mom, we were talking about letting him come over when she's not home." Mark explained, not realizing what it sounded like in Taeyong's head.

Taeyong was going crazy, putting together all the hints Mark has told him, making it quite obvious, he thought, to what was happening behind the scenes. "Are you guys dating?" Taeyong asked.

"No." Mark said immediately. "No, of course not. We don't like each other like that. We're just best friends and close. But no, oh god, no I'm not gay." Mark explained, talking quicker than usual.

"Oh okay," Taeyong paused. "You just made it sound like there was something going on." Taeyong awkwardly explained. "If there is, you can tell me, I won't judge you."

"No, there's nothing going on." Mark adamantly said. "Neither of us are gay." Mark stated. Taeyong wasn't sure that was the truth, but he believed that Mark wasn't purposefully lying to him.

———

Jungwoo goes home to a wealthy family. He doesn't need to worry if he will have food, water, or shelter, he has access to all of it. That is all Yuta could wish for, a sense of security, but somehow Jungwoo still isn't happy with the life he has. He feels as though he can't complain about the things that bother him because someone always has it worse than him.  His satisfaction levels, like Winwin, might seem easier to control to outsiders, but that is not the case. Although one level, finance, is always at maximum value, that doesn't matter for his other levels. Just because you're rich, doesn't mean all your problems are solved.

For Jungwoo, his Relationship Level is always at a dangerous level. His friends are all on the soccer team, even then there aren't very many he is actually friends with. His relationship with his parents is his biggest struggle. His parents don't support him in what he believes, in what he likes, and in what he desires. As a child, Jungwoo was raised to be religious. He was raised to think that he wasn't allowed to like guys, he was only allowed to like girls. For a long time, he did agree with that belief, he agreed that men belonged with women. Everything changed when he got closer to Lucas.

Lucas was openly gay starting his freshman year of high school. Jungwoo was his best friend before he came out as gay, which made it a bit awkward for people to watch them walk around together. They all assumed they were dating, a shy sophomore with the energetic, gay freshman. Since they were both on the soccer team, they became a pretty popular couple, even though they were not together at the time.

Problems started to arise when Jungwoo's parents learned Lucas was gay. They forbid him from seeing Lucas, to the point that they almost moved schools so their son couldn't associate with Lucas. Luckily for Jungwoo, they calmed down enough to the point where they will allow him to stay in soccer with Lucas, but he is never allow to go over to Lucas's house.

Jungwoo keeps his visits a secret. Acting as if he is staying the night with some other friends from their soccer team, Yuta, Jaemin, or Jisung. He has also told them that he was going to Joy's house, convincing them that he was straight and dating her.

A lot of effort went into living this secret life from his parents. Jungwoo became very cautious of his texts, making sure there were no signs he was talking to Lucas or associating with anyone his parents don't approve of. He wishes he could tell his parents that he is in a relationship, he wishes he could bring Lucas to birthday dinners, on small road trips, or to any family gathering. Everyone else can bring their partner, because everyone else is straight.