all the stars | nct dream

o n e

—ten years ago.

Jisung closed his eyes, counting from one to thirty in his head before turning around.

"I'm coming!" He exclaimed before running off into the quiet halls of the orphanage.

By this time his hyungs were already well hidden throughout the building. Their orphanage was pretty small. Maybe the size of a regular two-story house. Other than the seven of them, there were only a few other children, but they were all pretty young, mostly babies or toddlers.

Jisung spent most of his time playing with his hyungs, running around whilst screaming and laughing. 

Jisung didn't know a lot about his family. He had lost his parents when he was barely a year old. He grew up with the other dreamies as his family, and as hard as it was growing up without parents, he didn't mind, as long as his friends were with him.

Jisung ran through the halls and opened the door to the study room. Immediately hearing a quiet giggle from under the table.

"Come out Chenle, I know you're there," Jisung said, not even bothering to look under the table.

Chenle sheepishly peeked out from under the table. "can you just pretend you didn't see me?" he asked, looking up at Jisung with puppy eyes.

Jisung had to do everything in his will to resist. "I can't, that would be cheating," Jisung replied.

Chenle just laughed while Jisung stretched out a hand to help the Chinese boy up. Chenle took it and they walked out of the room together.

"Am I the first one to be found again?" Chenle asked.

Jisung nodded. "Maybe if you could control your laughter, it would be harder to find you," suggested the boy, chuckling.

"I can't help it," Chenle whined, making both of them laugh.

Jeno was found hiding under a bed, Jaemin was found hiding behind a curtain, and Mark was hiding in his own closet, covered in a pile of colourful clothing. The only two left were Renjun and Donghyuck.

The five boys ran around the whole orphanage doing their best to look as thoroughly as they could. They had spread out in groups to 'cover more land' as Mark put it.

Mark was searching in his room when he saw the door move. Slowly, he crept up to it and peaked behind, spotting Donghyuck who immediately burst out into a fit of giggles. 

"I can't believe it took you guys this long to find me! You ran past me so many times!" said the tanned boy who looked like he was about to collapse from laughing so hard.

Mark could only force a weak laugh. "come on," he grabbed Hyuck by the hand and pulled the giggling boy back to the others.

"Did you guys find Renjun?" Mark asked.

The others all shook their heads and it was at that moment that Renjun jumped onto Jeno's back.

"I'm here," Renjun said, smiling.

"Renjun! Where were you? you scared me!" Jeno exclaimed as Renjun hung onto his back.

"I was hiding in my secret spot," Renjun answered, shrugging.

"And where might that be?" Jaemin asked from beside him, pulling Renjun into a tight hug.

"I can't tell you! That's why its a secret," Renjun said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The rest of his friends laughed. Renjun was the second oldest of the group, yet he was tiny. He could literally fit anywhere. Every time the seven of them played hide and seek, he would always win. The rest of the dreamies had gotten used to it by now.

"Boys! Dinner's ready!" Taeyong called from the kitchen.

Taeyong was the one who took care of them the most. There were other staff at the orphanage, but Taeyong was the one who the dreamies were the closest to.

The seven boys ran to the dining hall, each sitting down at their regular spots as Taeyong came around with the food. The boys made sure to thank Taeyong as he came around, which the older boy couldn't help but smile at.

This was their routine. And none of them wanted it to change.

—☆—

It was late on a Sunday night when they heard the news of Mark's adoption. And although the seven of them were all devastated, they knew there was nothing that could be done.

They all felt like crying. Even Mark had to do everything to stop the tears running down his face. Mark was their leader, and as much as they didn't want to admit it, without him they would feel lost.

"It's okay, don't be sad," Mark said, trying to comfort them. "I can still come to visit!" 

The others did their best to try and smile. They should be happy after all, but Mark was like a piece of them. Without him, they would feel incomplete.

Seeing as the others weren't going to cheer up any time soon, Mark decided to take matters into his own hands. "Come on, the stars are out tonight! We can't spend our last few hours together crying!" Mark said excitedly, trying to cheer them up.

One by one, the rest of them agreed, running after Mark who was already outside.

They made their way to the hill behind their orphanage, running past the backyard gate and a large open field. 

The hill was special to them. They went there to play, relax, or just talk. It was where they went to calm down, or spill all their secrets and emotions. 

As soon as the others had caught up to him, Mark immediately turned to Jeno and tapped him on the shoulder saying, "Tag, you're it!" before running off.

Jeno looked confused, but reacted quickly, running off behind everyone else.

This went on for hours. The seven boys, running around underneath the beautiful night sky. For a few moments, it felt as if nothing was wrong. 

Once they were all worn out, they collapsed onto the ground next to each other. Laying down and looking at the stars above them.

Their hands were all linked together. No one said anything, but the silence was a comfortable silence and none of them minded it.

No matter what happened, Mark would never forget them. After all, they were the dreamies. 

They could get through anything.

---

hello everyone!

so that was the first chapter of 'all the stars' i hope it was okay

I got this idea at 3 am lmao and I haven't planned a lot of it out yet so i apologize in advance if anything is confusing

anyways, hope you enjoy! ily all :)