"I looked it up," Renjun announced after week three of Mark's continued missing eyebrows, "and it's apparently some sort of mental disorder that makes you have this irresistible urge to pull out your own hair."
"That sounds like the fakest shit," Jeno commented, lazily pushing a pretzel stick between his puckered lips.
He paused upon the sharp glare and startled gaze sent his way by Renjun and Mark, respectively.
"...Is what I would say if I hadn't witnessed Mark-hyung pull out not only both of his eyebrows on separate occasions, but also his fucking eyelashes."
"Glad you're taking this seriously, Jeno," Renjun replied with a flat, disapproving look before looking back down at his phone's screen and scrolling through whatever text was providing him information. "Causes for this can be from family genetics—"
He broke off, staring up at Mark with raised eyebrows.
"Do your parents have missing eyebrows?"
Mark smiled wryly at the out of place question, just barely keeping his laughter from escaping by biting his lip.
"I didn't notice anything amiss the last time I checked their foreheads."
Renjun nodded approvingly and went back to his phone, scrolling some more.
"Another cause can be age—and that checks out because you're neither a preteen nor an infant."
Some more scrolling, accompanied by Mark's bright, near-maniacal laughter.
"Alright, cause number three can be from other disorders like OCD, anxiety, or...depression."
The sudden halt in conversation was stifling and suffocating.
Mark's mouth went dry at the implications, his brain stalling and rebooting as he attempted to deny the facts that stared him dead in the eye—as Renjun stared him dead in the eye, equal parts astonished and concerned.
"Hyung."
And the syllable felt heavy and ladened with apprehension, and Mark wanted out of this situation.
"Do you... I mean... You haven't known us for very long, but you would...you would tell us if something was up, right?"
And Mark just kinda—stopped; a slight falter in the crossing time streams of his and Renjun's lives.
The memories of the weeks before were blurred and delirious due to the utter exhaustion that racked Mark's mind, body, and soul. But the incidents that stood out often featured this little convenience store on the corner of the block; with these little, insignificant moments that highlighted a certain bright-eyed, equally exhausted duo who just so happened to hold the key to Mark's craving.
So, really, if anyone should know if he was just a touch more mentally unstable than the average high school student, it should probably be these two utter strangers.
"Yeah."
Mark's answer was punctuated with an extremely audible crack in his voice and just the tiniest hint of a warbled note, but the store's two other occupants allowed it a pass—only that once—because a situation as delicate as this shouldn't be shattered by a simple tease.
"Alright."
Renjun looked back down at his phone and scrolled some more.
"The fourth cause can be from a severely stressful situation."
Another, much more timid glance in Mark's direction.
"Been recently chased down an abandoned street by someone carrying a chainsaw?"
"Not that I can remember, no."
And they left the night on that note, a half-gallon of Blue Bell's Butter Crunch placed delicately into Mark's awaiting hands—on the house.
A/N - self-diagnosis is dangerous, kids.
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Ice Cream on Lips (Anxieties Blissed) | RenMark/MarkRen
Fanfic"Before I give you the price on this thing, I think I should give you fair warning that you shouldn't eat this all in one sitting." Mark gaped and sputtered for a few seconds before gathering about all the wits he was going to use on the remainder o...
