all the stars | nct dream

n i n e

"need help?"

Mark whipped his head up to see Renjun standing there with a small smile.

"Renjun!" Mark paused, not sure what to say, but finally decided to give in, "yeah, I don't know what I'm doing," he admitted.

Renjun gave a light-hearted laugh and walked over to where Mark was standing by the stove.

"woah," renjun looked down at what was supposed to be a fried egg. "That looks..."

"terrible, I know," mark said with a sigh.

Renjun chuckled. "Uh, I can try to help you," he suggested which Mark quickly agreed to. He didn't know if he could stand looking at that egg for another moment.

Renjun studied the egg again. It looked extremely deformed. He had even failed to comprehend that it was an egg at first.

"You know, maybe we should just turn this into scrambled eggs instead," he suggested after a while.

Mark nodded and Renjun took some more eggs out of the fridge, cracking them into a bowl with ease.

Mark watched as Renjun quickly mixed the eggs and poured them into the pan.

"How did you know I needed help?" Mark asked.

Renjun laughed a little. "You've never been very good at cooking, mark."

"Oh," he answered, but couldn't help but smile. "Thanks for helping me then."

"No problem," Renjun lifted the pan off the stove and quickly poured the eggs onto sperate plates once they were finished. "I wouldn't want us to get poisoned anyway."

Mark's mouth dropped open in surprise at Renjun's comment.

"w-what?" Mark stuttered.

Renjun had the slightest smirk playing at his lips. Mark was stunned. Renjun had barely said a word to any of them over the past few days and now he's already roasting him? He couldn't believe it.

But nonetheless, Mark was forever grateful to Renjun for coming to save him from a potential cooking disaster.

Renjun quickly finished up the meal. It consisted of eggs, sausages, and a piece of toast for each of them. He quickly split it onto seven plates, giving two to Mark and carrying three in his own slender arms. He would come back to get Mark's and his own later. 

Mark was proud, even though he himself didn't do much of the work, the breakfast still looked pretty professional.

As they walked back, Mark made sure to mouth another 'thanks' to Renjun, which the other responded to with a quick nod.

"Wow, that actually looks good," Donghyuck observed, looking at the plates. "There's no way Mark made this."

"I didn't," he admitted. "Renjun did most of it."

Renjun handed a plate to Donghyuck and then to Jaemin and Jeno, who were currently sitting on opposite ends of a couch, not bothering to look at each other.

They quickly accepted and Renjun smiled in return to the quiet 'thanks' that he received. He quickly ran back to the kitchen, grabbing his own plate and nodding as Jeno patted the spot next to him. 

The seven boys ate in a comfortable silence. Mark didn't even mind it, he was just glad that things seemed to be looking up for them already.

That was when Chenle felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He quickly accepted the call and answered.

The others watched him curiously.

"mhm, yeah, I'll be home soon," he said into the phone. After ending the call, he looked up at the others, dropping his smile.

"I have to go, my parents are wondering where I am," he said quickly, hoping that the others wouldn't mind.

Mark nodded. "Yeah, you all probably have lives to get back to." He said, but he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"I should probably get going too." Donghyuck said.

Mark nodded again and the seven boys all got up, walking towards the door.

"We'll make sure to hang out soon," Mark said cheerfully as the others all nodded.

"Are you sure you don't need any help cleaning up?" Renjun asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry, I've got it," Mark assured. "I'll see you guys soon?"

"Of course," Renjun replied.

Mark made sure to give them all a wave before closing the door and smiling to himself.

—☆—

Renjun was just about to start walking home when he heard Jaemin call his name from behind him. He whipped his head around to see Jaemin smiling brightly at him, definitely a contrast to his black hoodie and ripped black jeans. Not too far from him stood Jeno, who also looked up at them questioningly from his phone.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out soon? Just the two of us?" Jaemin asked nervously.

Renjun smiled. "sure!" he answered quietly. After all, it was just a hang out between friends, right?

Renjun knew that it had always been hard for him to open up to other people. He didn't know why but Jaemin and Jeno were two people who he felt comfortable around. It had been like that ever since they were young and you would think that it would be different years later. especially considering Jaemin and Jeno now had the most intimidating appearances out of the seven of them, but Renjun felt comfortable with them, even he didn't know why.

"Great! I can text you the details," Jaemin said, a bright smile spreading across his face.

Renjun nodded and turned around. 

From behind him, Jeno shot Jaemin a glare, which Jaemin only responded to with an innocent smile. Without another word, Jaemin turned around and left Jeno to his own thoughts under the shade of the large tree.

He didn't know what Jaemin was up to, but he knew that if he didn't make a move fast, Renjun would be taken into Jaemin's grasp and he would never have another chance to get him back.

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I'm a little late but nct dream's online concert was so good! I stayed up until 2 am to watch it but it was worth it :)