FRIENDS! - nct

episode three

— THE ONE WHERE MARK HAS A DAUGHTER

Hwa Young's motherly instincts kicked in as she ran to the door, pushing Jaemin with both her hands, shoving the boy to the ground. A pained groan rumbled through his throat, yet the woman didn't care as she unbuckled the baby from the carrier, bringing the child to her chest. She cradled the infant in her arms gently, humming a lullaby as she swayed in the hallway.

The rest of the men hurried over to the scene, finding Jaemin on the ground and Hwa Young with a child.

"Uh what the fuck is happening?" Donghyuck squinted his eyes in confusion, glancing between the two adults.

"Wait there's a note." Renjun reached down into the carrier, his fingers grasping a folded piece of paper. He raised his hand and began to open the letter. His eyes frantically scanned the paper, reading the words that were written neatly in red ink. Donghyuck peered over the boy's shoulder reading it as well.

"Mark.." The chinese lifted his head, meeting the curious gaze of his friend. "This is your daughter."

"Who the fuck cares about him having a child. This woman wrote in red ink, red ink. No one writes in red ink!" Donghyuck exclaimed, snatching the piece of paper out of Renjun's hands. He waved it around, exaggerating his statement.

Mark quickly tore the paper from the boy's grasps and raised it to his face to read. As he took in each word, his eyes widened continuously.

"No no no no—"

"Wow pull out game weak." Jaemin grumbled, pushing himself off of the hallway's ground.

Hwa Young laughed whilst still swaying the child. She watched as Mark's expression morphed into multiple, going on a rollercoaster of emotions. The girl froze momentarily, feeling a grip on her chest. She looked down at the baby who stared up at her with gleaming eyes, whilst a hand was on her left breast.

"Mark take your damn child. I am not breast feeding her." She rushed out in a single breath, passing the child to her father. A panicked expression blanketed his features as he awkwardly held the baby, arms length from his chest.

The one year old had a bit of hair piled on it's small head, differing from her fathers, yet they shared the same eyes. She cutely blew bubbles at her lips as Mark gazed at her, terrified to death.

"Let's bring her inside."

. . .

Hwa Young, Jaemin and Mark  sat around the kitchen table as Donghyuck and Renjun kept the child occupied. The three adults argued back and forth on what to do, all inexperienced and clearly not ready for such a responsibility.

"Mark, it's your child, your little sperm that swam a marathon to the egg, so you have to take care of her!" Jaemin exclaimed angrily, crossing his arms firmly over his chest.

"Na makes a good fucking point. This is your responsibility. She's the aftermath of a weak pull out game. Everyone remind me to not sleep with Mark, cause I don't want a baby anytime soon." The girl rolled her eyes in annoyance, crossing her leg over her knee as she leaned back onto the wooden chair lazily.

Mark groaned aloud hearing his friends go after him. "Don't you know who I am! I'm Mark Lee! Yes I take care of children, but that's because they're not my own and they're all six year olds! I barely could help a kid with finger painting the other day, what makes you think I can bottle feed and change diapers!"

"Start searching up wiki how's, bud." Jaemin patted the older's back lightly.

As the three continued to bicker about who'd help Mark with his situation, the baby sat between Renjun and Donghyuck on the couch, eyes glued to the television. Baby Shark played for the tenth time in a row, as she clapped along happily, the boys beside her, not so much.

"I can't believe, I'm watching this again."

"Can't we just change the channel?"

"You know, she'll cry and we don't need that."

Keys jingled at the door, causing the adults to glance at the wooden frame. It slowly opened, revealing a tired Jeno, who silently kicked off his shoes and hung his coat on the rack. As his head lifted, his eyes instantly met the smaller ones of the child.

"Don't tell me one of y'all didn't pull out."

"You should ask Mark."