𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘂 || 𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗸

vingt-sept.

after a long day of practice, lucas collapsed on his bed. he felt like his limbs were about to give out. kun followed behind and collapsed on the bed next to his as they were also roommates. despite being half-chinese, lucas had to take mandarin classes as well as he was only fluent in cantonese along with sicheng and ten. the others were quite fluent already and didn't have much of a problem speaking it including the german-born trainee yangyang.

"a little bit more and we'll finally get there, yukhei." kun, their temporary leader, reminded in a soft tone. lucas smiled despite how tired he was. everything he had done and sacrificed was for his dream and now he was going to debut in a permanent unit along with the others that became like brothers to him.

reaching inside his pocket, he grabbed his phone and noticed a few notifications from the other nct members back in korea as well as a few from his idol friends. lisa had once again sent him another photo but it wasn't of her cats like she routinely would from time to time but it was of her and her friends...which also are his friends. the male smiled as he zoomed in on the photo, focusing on blackpink's main dancer.

"you are so whipped." kun chuckled as he witnessed his fellow member lay on his bed, smiling dreamily at his phone. the younger didn't even try to protest as he continued to look at her picture.

‿︵‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - - - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵

after lisa's lunch with taeyong, the male dropped her off back to their dorm. he wanted to spend more time with her but he understood how busy she was now and so was he. he smiled at her as she removed her seatbelt.

"thanks for the lunch, oppa. next time, it's my treat. you know you didn't have to pay for my portion." the blackpink rapper and dancer pouted making taeyong chuckle. he remembered their small argument in the restaurant about the payment. it wasn't a serious one as the nct leader felt amused the entire time as he watched lisa pout like a child and her attempt at stealing the debit machine.

"i'm the one who invited you out and i'm also a gentleman, lisa. i would never let women pay in under any circumstances." he smirked at the female. lisa raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms as she turned to him.

"really? seulgie unnie complained to me the other day about how you forced her to buy you lunch because she owed you one time for a favour you did for her." lisa retorted, her brow still raised.

"she's more like an annoying older sister to me than anything so that's different." the male grumbled. while most wondered about kang seulgi and lee taeyong's relationship with each other, they were both nothing but colleagues and a family as they were from the same company. they would constantly have back and forths that most siblings have with each other, nothing more and nothing less.

"seulgi unnie is definitely not annoying. i would trade you for her any day." blackpink's maknae grinned in a mischievous way making taeyong glare at her for her statement, scoffing in an offended manner.

"the audacity for you to even say that. fine...i see how it is, lalisa." taeyong pouted, uncharacteristically. the sight almost made lisa cooe at how cute the nct leader actually was. it made him look younger than he actually is, not that the blackpink maknae thought he looked old but with the amount of members he had to take care of on a daily basis and more responsibilities on top of that, he gives off the mature fatherly type.

the female dancer chuckled before giving the male a genuine smile. "but seriously though oppa...i want to thank you. even taking me out for lunch truly does help me relax a bit from all the stress. don't get me wrong, I love what i do but sometimes, i wanted to...not be an idol even for a bit."

taeyong understood what she was going through. being an idol was a draining job. especially with a widely known artist like her, she was put under more pressure. that's why whenever he takes her out, he would take her to places where she could feel like a regular person...someplace no one would know them, someplace where they could spend time together without having to look left and right for cameras.

"i'm sorry if this is the most i can do for now, lisa." the redhead softly replied, his shoulders hunched.

lisa blinked as she noticed how helpless taeyong had looked. she reached for the male's hand, thinking nothing of her action but to reassure the older. "hey, don't apologize. you've done so much for me already. you've given me a lot of tips and advices and you've cheered me up a lot when i needed it. i can't thank you enough for what you have done for me, truly. i'm lucky to have a friend like you, oppa." the blonde smiled at taeyong, squeezing his hand gently before letting go and climbs out of the car.

"cheer up, okay? i don't want you crashing somewhere just because you felt bad for me. i don't want that on my guilty conscience. besides, you can't die yet. i still need an old man's knowledge." lisa poked her tongue out at him in a childish manner before giggling and shuts the door of the car and running to the entrance of the building, waving once more at the male before she disappeared through the doors.

taeyong chuckled as she didn't even bother to let him retort. he looked down at the hand she had touched, the feeling of her soft skin still lingered on his. he knew that there was no way lisa could possibly like him in that way. she was unreachable. she was a goddess he could only admire from afar, but that doesn't mean he wasn't willing to be the madman that tries to get to her anyway.

after all, she was worth it.

[A/N: Hi! I'm alive! Sorry It's been sooo long since I last updated. To be honest, I lost the inspiration to write. Every time i attempt to put words together, it wouldn't make any sense or it doesn't feel right. I also had a lot to do with uni. I just graduated and I'm at that point where I'm lost and I don't know what to do next or how to face real life. I'm still deciding on my path and I can't promise that I'm back for good. Please bare with me. I do want to finish this story because it holds a special place in my heart. This update probably isn't the best as I'm still getting back to writing again. Thank you for everyone who appreciates and loves this story! Hope you have a great day!]