Thousands of Miles Apart | MARK

Chapter 23

Sarah fixed her coat as she stepped through the doors, looking for a sign with her name on it. She had arrived at Incheon International Airport late in the afternoon, and the jet lag was absolutely terrible. She soon found a familiar face behind a sign, smiling as she made her way towards him.

"Hello." Sarah said in Korean before bowing. She mentally thanked her parents for making her speak Korean with them back home so that she knew the language when she went overseas. Mark's manager smiled as he saw her.

"We prepared a van for you. Let's chat more inside." Mark's manager said. Sarah nodded, quickly following him to a black van parked outside. Sarah greeted the other manager sitting in the driver's seat as the other manager helped her with her luggage. They were soon seated inside their van, making their way to Seoul. Mark's manager turned around, handing her a name tag.

"I hope you don't mind but for the most part, we'll be following NCT and their schedules so you can spend as much time with Mark as possible. This name tag gives you access to SM's buildings and from now on, you'll be considered one of NCT's staff members." The manager explained. Sarah nodded taking in his words.

"You probably already know this but here in Korea, the press is wild. The staff members are all very relaxed and we all know that you're a close friend of Mark's but in front of cameras and in public, you two will probably have to stay a fair distance away from each other." The manager said. Sarah gave him a small smile.

"Don't worry, I already expected that." Sarah told him. He smiled back at her before turning back to face the front.

"Well then, I hope you're not too tired because we're heading straight to SM Entertainment."

...

Sarah tried hard not to let her jaw drop in awe as she saw the large building in front of her. She eyed the numerous fans surrounding the building, holding up signs and cameras. Mark's manager sure wasn't kidding when he said the Korean press was wild. The van was parked and the three of them quickly made their way inside, trying to avoid the fans.

"Geez they're so annoying sometimes." The manager mumbled as they entered the elevator. They guided Sarah to one of the practice rooms, where NCT was rehearsing.

Inside, NCT was taking a small break between running their routine for the year-end shows. Their eyes widened as they saw Sarah stepping in along with their managers.

"Noona!" The Dream members yelled as they quickly surrounded her, jumping up and down. Sarah giggled as she introduced herself to them.

"Hello, I'm Sarah." Sarah said, smiling as she waved. The Dream members were full of energy.

"I'm Donghyuck? Do you remember me?" Haechan said. Sarah nodded but before she could say anything, Chenle cut her off.

"Hyung, her Korean's pretty good. I don't know what you were saying." Chenle said, turning to face Mark. Chenle earned a smack from Renjun, who quickly scolded him in Chinese before introducing himself.

"I'm Jeno." Jeno said before pointing to Jaemin and Jisung. "This is Jaemin and Jisung, they're quiet but get weird after a while." Jeno explained, making her giggle.

"Mark, go talk to her." Johnny said in English, shoving Mark towards her. His hood was on, covering his face with his hands as he was shoved in front of her face. Sarah couldn't help but giggle at how uncomfortable he was in front of her.

"Uh... hi?" Mark finally said as sounds of laughter erupted from the other members.

"JUST HUG ALREADY!" Haechan yelled, making them laugh even harder.