Mark takes his big brother roll a little too far
"I'm going to stay for just a little longer. I can call a cab home." Byeol said as the rest of the boys gathered their things. It was well past midnight and they had been practicing since dawn the day before, but Byeol wanted a little more practice. She was good at producing and putting songs together, but when it came to dancing and singing, it took her a bit to pick up on everything.
"Moon, it's late, you're tired, we're tired, just come home. I promise I'll come in with you early tomorrow." Yugyeom said and he meant it. They were all exhausted and coated in hours' worth of sweat. She shook her head, "really, I'll be fine. I won't stay too much longer and I'll call when I'm leaving." Mark sighed; he knew there was no convincing her.
"Fine, but if I don't hear from you in an hour me and JB are coming to get you." Jinyoung said and Byeol nodded happily. "Scouts honor!" They all piled out of the room, none of them particularly thrilled to leave her behind. But they knew Byeol and they knew she wasn't leaving until she was at least halfway satisfied or literally falling over. They'd hope it would be the first option.
Byeol played the music, dancing her heart out. She recorded it to watch back and see her mistakes. She frowned at the first video. She really had a lot to work on. She sighed in frustration, tightening her pigtails and standing back up. She lost track of time, constantly watching the video and starting again.
She felt the exhaustion, her limbs and bones ached for her to stop but she continued on. She couldn't let them down or fall behind. There was a jump and a twist and Byeol yelped in pain as she landed. It was her ankle and she knew it wasn't broken, but most likely a minor sprain. She stood up, deciding that maybe she was a little too tired.
The shrill ringtone of her phone sounded and she limped her way over, answering it. "Hello?"
"It's been over an hour. We're outside. Let's go." Jinyoung hung up before she could say anything. She sighed, grabbing her things and wondering how she was going to hide this from them. She did her best to hide the pain, but Byeol had always been easy to read and Jaebeom immediately knew something was wrong.
"What ankle?" He said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders as Jinyoung tsk-ed at her and grabbed her bag. "Left. It's just a sprain, I'll be fine by tomorrow. I just want to sleep. I'm tired." Jinyoung sighed, helping her into the car while JB got in and started the engine. "You need to be more careful, Byeol-ssi." Jinyoung said and she hummed.
"Can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm too tired to be scolded by mom." JB let out a snort and quickly covered it with a cough when Jinyoung glared at him. When they arrived, Byeol was happy everyone else was asleep and JB helped her limp to the couch. "Don't you want me to pull it out?" He said and she shook her head, already half asleep. "I'll be fine. Wake me up when it's time to go."
He hummed, Jinyoung placing an ice pack on her ankle. The next thing she knew, BamBam was rolling on top of her, screaming in her ear. "WE HAVE TO GO MOON-AH! APOCOLYPSE!" She jumped up in a panic, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. BamBam and Yugyeom laughed. "So gulliable." She rolled her eyes and stood up, feeling a twinge in her ankle that almost made her fall.
"You alright?" Yugyeom asked, immediately at her side. She nodded. How in the world could she feel more exhausted than yesterday? "I'm fine. C-can you just grab me some clean clothes?" BamBam was already in front of her with leggings and one of his rare sweatshirts that was saved only for 'staying-at-the-dorm' activities. "Thank you," she murmured.
Back at the practice room, Byeol chugged her coffee in a desperate attempt to wake herself up. "C'mon, sleepy." Mark teased and she stood up, hissing at the pain in her ankle. Mark's smile quickly disappeared and he narrowed his eyes. "Did you get hurt?" She shook her head, smiling and walking as normal as possible to her spot. "No, oppa. Just clumsy."
However, as practice dragged on, Byeol felt her ankle start to throb more and more. Until she couldn't take it; exhaustion taking over mixed with the pain she was feeling, she collapsed on the ground in the middle of the song, knocking over Jackson in the process. "Yah! Moon! At least roll into Jinyoung." Jackson teased until he saw her face contorted in pain.
"Woah, woah. Are you okay?" JB kneeled next to her, worry in his eyes. "Take a break, Moon. Yugyeom-ah and I can get you caught up." She didn't have the energy to argue, standing up before falling back down and whimpering at the pain. Mark was there, glaring at her. "You are hurt." She shrugged. "I just tweaked my ankle a little. It'll be fine."
He ripped her shoe off, causing her to yelp in pain. "It's the size of a fucking watermelon." He didn't yell, but his voice was cold. "I just need ice." Mark shook his head, standing up. "And a brain." That hurt a little. "Yah, Mark-hyung." JB said, warning in his tone but Mark ignored it.
"If she knew she was hurt, she should've said something and sat out! She's probably made it worse." He ran his hand through his sweaty hair. "You're so damn naïve sometimes I don't get it! Can someone really be that stupid?!" Byeol felt the tears in her eyes and she stood up, sniffling and bowing. "I'm sorry. I'll go see manager."
She went to limp out of the room, tears silently falling down her cheeks. When she got to the door, she felt some wrap their arm around her waist, supporting almost all her weight. "You can't go alone. You can barely stand on it." She looked up at Mark. "Okay." Was all she said.
Thankfully, it was just a sprain and all she needed to do was keep it wrapped and ice it the next few days and she should be okay. Mark hadn't said a word the whole time she was being looked at, clenching his jaw and staring hard at the ground. Once it was just them two, Byeol sighed, twirling her thumbs. "I'm sorry I'm a burden." She said quietly.
Mark's head snapped up, mouth opening to say something but he snapped it shut, looking away. She felt the tears coming again and she couldn't make them stop. "I'm sorry that I don't really think sometimes. And that I push myself too much." She sniffled, wiping her face but not daring to look at Mark. "I'm sorry I keep falling behind and that I do stuff like this," she kicked her injured ankle up, "and it just makes me fall behind more."
Mark still didn't say anything, but he wasn't angry anymore. He was feeling guilty. "I'll do my best to work harder and be a better member." She sniffed again and Mark stood up, wrapping her in a hug and pulling her into his chest. "You're not a burden, Byeol." She coughed, "promise?" He chuckled a little, kissing the top of her head.
"We all push ourselves past our limits. And sure, you may not be the best dancer, but you're still good, Moon. That's why JYP chose you to debut with us. It takes me a few days to get choreography down. Even Yugyeom and he's the best dancer in all of Korea." She chuckled a little. "And you're not stupid. Have you listened to half the songs you've made? You've won awards for some of them, Moon. You may not be book smart, but you are music smart. And I think that's the best smart there is."
She laughed, pushing away from him and wiping her face. "The best smart?" He nodded, a smile on his face. "The best smart. You're not a burden, Byeol. I promise. I'm sorry I yelled at you. And said mean things. I was just angry. And worried." She nodded, folding her hands in her lap. "It's alright."
It was times like this when Mark was grateful that she could be so forgiving. But he also needed her to know that he meant it. He knew that she did, but guilt was eating at him. "Oppa?" She said quietly, looking at him with her round eyes. He hummed, looking at her. "Do—do you think—we can—maybe—take another hour and go get ice cream?" Mark let out a laugh, leaning down and gesturing for her to hop on his back.
"If it's ice cream my gluttonous little sister wants, it's ice cream she gets."
