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“Okay but how come we run out of eggs and milk again!?”
“Not just eggs and milk! Our sweets! All of them… There’s not even candies, chocolates, ice cream…”
“You ate them all Jisung-ah! And those are mine!???”
“What kind of dorm without instant noodles!? With. Out. My. Instant. Noodle!”
“Hello?? Ramen is second, we don’t have rice !”
“We’re gonna starve today!!!”
Renjun sighed. Mark scratched his not-itchy-at-all head.
“What’s wrong?” The oldest of the team asked.
It was a week after all Dream members moved into a new dorm, with 7 of them in it. Before, Mark and Haechan lived with 127 members because they had more schedules with them, Chenle was living with his parents, and the rest four were living in their own dorm. To grow their relationship, the agency allowed Mark and Haechan to live with Dream members for several months until NCT 127 became active again, and hearing this news, Chenle crashed their dorm as well and slept for a few days.
Well, 127’s dorm isn't that far. They were separated by several buildings, making it easier for their managers to fetch them. Of course, the Dream members were not happy with this move because that means they will live closer with that nagging mom (read: Doyoung), which means bad news. Just when they moved in, Doyoung and Taeyong already came to nag them, even promised to make time and come every once a week. Good thing that Doyoung always brought food whenever he did.
That day wasn’t Doyoung Visit Day. He had a schedule and lasted until midnight. Taeyong was busy as well and their dormitory aunt took a holiday.
Of course, food delivery existed, but it was a national holiday AND all of those listed restaurants were closed after 9 PM. Only convenience store that was left open. What a day.
On the brighter side, that “relationship” purpose thingy did work. Jisung, Jeno, Chenle and Haechan played games together all day so they often stayed in the living room. Jaemin didn’t really spend time in his room like a hikikomori anymore, and often cooks with Haechan and Chenle. Jisung always bothers Renjun and Mark whenever they come out from their room, so does Haechan (he is the troublemaker for a reason), but this is the problem.
Mark was attached to Renjun. Except to take a bath or toilet, they were always together.
Together, to the point they always stayed inside their shared room after finishing their schedule. Jisung could swear this is their first time seeing them come out from their room for something else other than eating and using the bathroom.
“I’m surprised you two are quite interested in this matter,” Jeno sneered, receiving a glare from Mark.
“You all are too noisy. What’s wrong?” Mark replied, looking at Jisung.
Both Jisung and Chenle pointed at the empty pantry and refrigerator. Renjun investigated every rack in the kitchen, then turned to Mark and nodded. Confirming that these noisy children weren’t just bluffing to bring them out from their room. Haechan and Chenle smiled at each other and began to fake crying again.
“I don’t understand one thing. Who took my instant noodle!? How come it depleted this fast—I just ordered them last week!” Jeno asked, annoyed.
“The one kept in the pantry? Ah… That’s me, sorry,” Renjun clapped his hands together as an apology.
“You ate them all alone!? 10 packages!?” Everyone raised their eyebrows, surprised with this fact. They knew Renjun is a big eater, but Jeno couldn’t believe he finished all 10 packages alone in less than 3 days.
“I’m hungry… Sorry, Jeno!!!!”
“We—well, if it’s Renjun…” Jeno scratched his head and looked at Jaemin. Jaemin who has been quiet since the whole convo started took the cue and spoke.
“So, all of us haven’t had our dinner, which to most people is called a late-night snack, but since we’ve run out of everything in the house and somehow all restaurants that open until midnight are closed down, we have no choice but to go to the convenience store,” Jaemin explained.
“But weren’t we just eating 1 hour ago?” Mark replied again.
“Mark-hyung, how about not replying and just doing it??” Haechan said, pushed Mark to the entrance while Chenle gave Mark’s coat and mask.
“Wait, what!?”
“We decided that you are the one who will go to the convenience store. We discussed it already so just accept it!”
“Hey!”
“Wait,”
Renjun followed the boys to the entrance with his coat and mask as well, also a wallet. He hurriedly put on his coat and shoes, ready to leave as well. Jeno sighed, Jaemin put his head on the table, Jisung was shocked, Haechan and Chenle were confused. What?
“What?” the March-born boy asked.
“What are you doing, Sir?” Chenle asked back.
“Going to convenience stores too. Did you think how he,” Renjun pointed at Mark who was dumbfounded as well, “could be trusted when it comes to buying something? We’re going to be bankrupt. I’m going with him,” he finished, grabbing Mark’s hand and opened the door. He winked at Mark before closing the door, left Haechan screamed and Chenle punched a nearby shoe rack.
“IT’S 2 DEGREES AND THAT BOY INITIATED TO GO WITH MARK-HYUNG!” Haechan screeched.
“Just when I thought finally they will be separated even for a while!!!” Chenle said, frustrated.
Jeno, Jaemin and Jisung joined the two and looked at the entrance. All of them sighed.
“This suddenly becomes mission impossible,” Jisung commented.
“Those two, I wonder if they hide something from us,” Jeno replied, receiving a nod.
“Not just hiding, they are that something! If they have a secret, why not just tell us or something—I thought we won’t hide anything from each other,” Haechan pouted.
“They are, they are! They are so suspicious! Maybe we should search their room, who knows maybe they hide ‘those items’ too,” Chenle said.
Jaemin rolled his eyes and returned to the living room, taking a seat on the sofa. Jeno followed, and everyone did as well. They stayed quiet, probably thinking.
…
“I think we will go over the line if we go to their room,”
“Renjun-hyung gonna kill us,”
Haechan stood. “Believe me, I’m gonna find out what they hide from us! Trust me!” the June-born boy said, flames could be seen behind him.
“Don’t you think they were planning something? I swear I heard Haechan’s screech,”
Renjun shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t know why their brothers wanted them—or to be precise, Mark—to buy groceries at midnight. It was 11 PM. While the convenience store was just around their new apartment and open for 24 hours, they needed to go from the back door, take a detour and go to another convenience store close to nearby park because, you know, sasaengs .
They went out in an ungodly hour by themselves. Why not ask them (or Mark) to go earlier? And also, why let him go alone?
The younger of the two knew their friends were trying to do something, but he didn’t know what it was. He just knew their actions were fishy.
“Right! We didn’t ask them what we should buy!” The older said, panicked.
“There’s nothing in the kitchen, Hyung. Just buying anything will do. We should buy Jeno his instant noodles back tho, we literally ate his food,”
“Oh, that’s good, too…”
Just when Mark was about to pull out his phone (yeah, he’s going to ask even though Renjun said there’s no need to do that), a message came into their chat group. It was from Chenle, requesting what they should buy with some notes. They asked them to buy instant noodles (priority), snacks, eggs, seaweed, kimchi, ice cream, whatever ingredients they wanted to buy and something else. Haechan added that they should not buy anything they don’t like.
“Of course, we are going to buy things you don’t like, Haechan-ah,” Renjun said and Mark laughed.
The two looked at each other and grinned.
“Should we just buy salad?”
“Fruits too. Let’s buy anything healthy we can find there,”
“What a surprise, Dreamies are going to be healthy. We must record a video of them eating vegetables and share it. I believe our fans think we always eat meats,”
They walked and arrived at the convenience store. This convenience store was quite famous because of its location, but because it was midnight, there were barely any people there. Only two workers, both of them were at the counter. They greeted them lazily, and didn't care about what other people did. They were probably tired as well, who wouldn’t?
Renjun went to the vegetable and side dishes section directly and picked any vegetables he could find on the shelf. He also took some side dishes Mark and Jeno liked. He was in charge of drinks as well so after finishing the vegetable section, he moved to the drink section.
Mark went to the instant noodles section. He took one for almost every brand, both spicy and mild ones. Then, he began to think which brand Renjun liked and took more of that. Renjun came after he picked watermelon juice for them.
“Hyung, buy more noodles for Jeno,”
“Oh yeah, you’re right,”
Mark took more noodles of the brand Jeno bought before, exactly 10 packages. They went to the snacks corner and took every plain taste snack possible. They didn’t forget to put flavored chips for themselves. They also bought some chips with strange tastes—maybe some of them actually tasted good.
“I think we spend almost 50,000 won on snacks,” Renjun commented.
“We have 7 people, that number is small though,” Mark replied.
But before they went to the counter, Mark heard a sound from Renjun’s stomach.
“Renjun-ah, you haven’t eaten dinner, right?”
“I ate, I ate! I ate a piece of choco pie! I’m thinking of eating more snacks at night so,”
“Okay, okay, but you should stop that. Eat a proper meal at a proper time!”
“We literally woke up at 3 PM???? What proper meal???”
Mark pouted and Renjun gave up.
“Fine! I gave up,” Renjun pouted while Mark smiled.
“You shouldn’t do diets, you aren’t me~ You need to eat so you can gain more weight,” the older said while taking two more instant noodle packages.
“I just don’t want to eat when you aren’t. It feels rude,”
“But we ended up eating more noodles than we should. I will feel better if you eat, dear,”
The two brought their groceries to the counter and got their things checked out. They paid attention to the prices, sometimes giggling because the price was more expensive than their expectation, sometimes laughing because Mark kept showing reaction to everything. When they saw the total, they clapped.
“It’s under 100,000 won,” Renjun said.
“We didn’t buy meals, only the ingredients, so it can’t be that expensive,” Mark replied, giving Renjun an eco bag so he can put their groceries inside it.
Then, Mark pulled out a card and Renjun stopped him.
“What is this? Your card? You’re not going to pay this alone,”
The younger of the two immediately pulled the card away and proceeded to pay with his phone until Mark stopped him and shook his head, smiling. He wondered if Renjun never went grocery shopping or what.
“Jun-ah, you don’t have to use your own money for what we all share. This is not my card, anyway,” he explained, giving the card to the cashier.
“Then, whose card is it?”
“Of course, a card that all of us can use for these kind of situation,”
He got it. It was their company's card.
“What if someone asks?”
“Well, we don’t have to think about it. For now, let’s enjoy our ramyun~” Mark said, receiving his card and receipt then pointing to an empty table in the corner.
The two walked there and put down their groceries. Mark told Renjun to sit and let him prepare their meals, asking him to look at their groceries while he was away. Ramyun station wasn’t that far, and from Renjun’s place, he could see Mark’s back.
Being able to enjoy a leisure time like this with someone he loves is all he could ask. A time where there are just two of them.
Thinking to make the night better, Renjun went back to the drink section and bought two cans of beer. He immediately prepared his payment application on his phone and scanned the bar. Before saying thanks though, the cashier asked him something.
“You are cute, hehe,” she said. She is an old lady around her 50s, which is common to find in this hour.
“Tha—thank you?” Renjun replied.
“My second daughter is your fan, while my first daughter is that boy’s fan. They always talk about your group almost every day. They always fought with each other before but after being your group’s fan, they get along really well”
Renjun smiled. It always warmed his heart to hear praises like this. He was glad that his group could bring positive vibes to someone else. He loved it when he could hear such compliments directly. Ah, when will this pandemic be over?
He misses his fans. He wants to listen to their voices directly. All of them, like during a concert.
“I hope this pandemic will be over soon,” she said, giving Renjun his receipt.
“Yeah, I hope the day where we can do concerts will come soon. I miss fan chants, haha,” Renjun replied, giggling.
When he returned, Mark wasn’t over with his noodle fight. Renjun sat down and put the beers above the table. He knew Mark’s tolerance is high, so even though he was drunk, Mark could bring him home.
After a while, Mark returned with their noodles. He brought Renjun’s first before his own. Once he sat down, he immediately took his chopsticks, opened them and prayed, before slurped his food. He seemed to be happy with his noodles, maybe because it was cooked perfectly. Renjun only watched him eating.
Mark noticed that Renjun hadn't eaten yet and blushed, embarrassed that he ate first.
“Sorry, I ate first. I’m so hungry…”
“I should be the one who told you to eat more. You already lost so much weight because of your schedule, why must you suffer yourself,” Renjun commented, opening his beer can.
“When did you buy these beers?” Mark, who just noticed the cans, asked while opening the other can.
“Just now? Ah, that cashier's aunt's daughters are our fans. Literally, Renjun’s and Mark’s fans,”
“Really!? Oh wow,”
“I’m surprised too!”
Renjun began slurping his noodles too. It tasted delicious, he always loved this brand. Should they plan a date to a hotpot restaurant? Mark saw Renjun’s face and smiled. He pulled out a handkerchief.
“Okay? You are thinking about hotpot, right?” the older asked while wiping Renjun’s face softly.
“How do you know?”
“I know everything about you!”
Renjun put down his chopsticks and took Mark’s handkerchief to clean his face. After that, he put the handkerchief to his jacket and sipped his beer, until something crossed his mind.
“Hyung,”
“Hm?”
“I think the boys were suspicious about us. I think that’s why they tried to separate us just now,”
“Why would they be suspicious about us?”
“I mean, they probably think we are dating or something. Well, we do but since all we did are spending our times inside our room, they probably get suspicious and think that we don’t care about them at all, even though most of times we talked about them,”
“Hmm, well, they could think anything about us. If they want to think we are dating, then we will tell them the truth,”
Renjun was confused. Is this really Mark-hyung he knows? But Mark seemed to understand Renjun’s confusion and took down his chopsticks.
“You know, Jun, we’ve been dating for almost five years dating and at first, I was nervous as hell. What if someone else finds out? But now, I don’t care anymore. It’s our own members. They will understand. We just need to behave in public, well, I don’t want to hide you from my life anymore. They can expose us to the public and—”
The younger of the two was even more confused than before.
“Okay? Maybe you are drunk,” Renjun commented.
“Nooo, I mean, seriously, we’ve been together for almost five years but I can’t call you ‘honey’ even in our chats,” Mark pouted.
“That’s because we need to take caution! So stop exaggerating and talk nonsense. Even if they try to expose us, I won’t sacrifice our rising careers just for our relationship, especially yours,”
The August-born sipped his beer again and groaned. Stressed. Renjun caressed his hand.
“Hey, don’t be so frustrated. I believe a day when we can publicly announce our relationship will come. You don’t have to worry. Even though it takes years, I won’t leave you,” the March-born boy assured.
Mark smiled again and they continued their meals quietly, until Mark spoke again.
“We should plan a date. You want to go to Jeju, right? Let’s go together,”
Renjun blinked. “I want to go there but the documents needed are too much. Let’s just go somewhere nearby. How about Namsan Tower?”
Mark laughed. “Suddenly? Should we hang a love lock? That’s what you want?” he joked.
Renjun pouted, but he knew Mark understood. He wanted to take pretty photos and have a healing time close to nature, but Jeju is too far. Namsan wasn’t that bad. And after going there, they could eat in a nearby restaurant or go to Korean Folk Village. It’s a good plan.
“Well, I just love to spend time with you so you can plan it!” Mark said.
“Better plan your schedule well so we won’t cancel it in the last minute, like our last date, Mr. Popular,”
“I won’t!! Trust me!”
“I will if you give me your schedule ASAP,”
“You are so cute when you’re mad, Jun,”
“I’m not cute!! >:((((”
Mark laughed. “Ahahahahaha!! This is why I love you so much,”
They looked at each other, no longer laughing. They were serious. Time passed, but nothing changed between them. They probably matured a lot. They were adults now. But in front of each other, Mark is still that clumsy hard worker boy who was praised by everyone in the company and Renjun is still that new trainee who was mistaken for being older than Mark but owned a honey-filled sweet deep voice.
Mark pushed his head closer to the younger, made the two look at each other’s faces better. To Mark, Renjun is pure and innocent. And to Renjun, Mark is as innocent and humble as well. They are a perfect match to each other.
Even if the world is against them, they won’t leave each other. That’s what they vowed when they started this relationship.
Renjun returned to his meal and finished it. Mark just watched him eating, so Renjun showed his lockscreen, pointing at the time.
“Hyung, stop staring at me and finish your food. Look at the time,” he said.
Almost 12 AM. And he could read some missed calls from the other members.
Renjun finished his food and waited for Mark to finish his food. When he scrolled over Dream’s chat room, everyone was complaining that they were taking too long and wanted to go to sleep. They wouldn’t go to sleep. Why would they sleep this early? Then, a call from someone he couldn’t reject came.
“Oh, he’s calling me,” Renjun said.
“Who?” Mark slurped his soup.
“Manager-hyung,”
The older coughed immediately while the younger picked up.
“Hello?”
“Okay, you two brats. Aren’t you going to go home or—”
“We will! Give us 5 minutes more and we will go home!” Renjun said then immediately hung up.
Mark drank his beer and his meal finished. He laughed at Renjun’s reply and gave him a thumb, then Renjun replied with a wink. They cleaned up, greeted the cashier aunt earlier and walked home.
There was no one in the park, so they took their time walking. It got chillier than when they came to the convenience store. It will probably get chillier in the morning. Both of them were holding their groceries. It would be warmer if they could hold hands, but they shopped too many items.
“Hey, do you remember when we were trainees?” Mark started.
Renjun nodded. They walked a bit faster.
“It was around this hour, I think. I already debuted and you were preparing for Dream’s debut. I think it was around a company party that year? Anyway, I saw you at that party and we both just ran away, went to Han River and ate ice cream. It was too cold so we ended up cuddling inside my jacket,”
“Ah, that. Isn’t that when we actually start to date?”
“Yes! I remembered my ice cream was all melted. It’s still chilly but why did our ice cream melt so fast?”
The March-born boy seemed to think about something.
“I don’t remember when your ice cream melted. Also, I don’t remember how I got home,”
Mark laughed. “You fell asleep when we were watching the river,” he replied.
Renjun yawned. “Now you said it, hoammhh, I’m getting sleepy,” he said while rubbing his eyes.
Mark saw Renjun walking towards a nearby bench and sat there. He put his groceries next to him and closed his eyes. Mark followed him and sat by his side, putting his groceries under him. Renjun closed his eyes, maybe, the beer hit him and he got sleepy. Mark put Renjun’s head on his shoulder, patting his palms to warm him up and let him sleep. Soon, he could hear Renjun’s soft breath.
Actually, these past days, Renjun couldn’t sleep well. He woke up 1 hour after he slept, went to the toilet, then he stayed in the living room. Sometimes, Mark would accompany him, but at times when he was tired, he left him alone. He believed Renjun needed some me time, so sometimes he didn’t disturb him.
He knew Renjun was happy that they could live together. But he knew despite his words before, Renjun is a kind-hearted boy who hates lies. He doesn’t want to lie, especially to people he trusts. But, he was afraid that their relationship could backfire if they let someone else know. Especially, there are people who can’t keep secrets well in their circles…
Maybe, because there was no one here, Renjun could sleep peacefully.
Mark sighed. He is tired, but like Renjun said, it’s for their career’s sake. They agreed that NCT is their top priority above their relationship.
“…”
Okay, he couldn’t go home now.
“…I think I need some help,” he said, looking at how empty the park was in front of him while taking out phone.
When Mark arrived home, the other members were already in their room. Even though he was sure they hadn't slept yet, they didn’t come out, despite whining about being hungry just hours ago. So Mark went to his room at ease, put Renjun in his bed, took off his jacket and shoes, and warped him with his warm blanket. Renjun was in deep sleep, he probably won’t notice he already slept in his own bed.
After took off his own jacket and washed his hands (also cleaned Renjun’s hands with wet wipes), he went to the kitchen to unpack his groceries.
“I never knew you kids can buy such healthy foods,” Mark’s SOS person, their Manager-hyung, looked through his groceries and put the vegetables inside the refrigerator.
“That’s what they got for suddenly pushing me for grocery shopping,”
“You will go through hell tomorrow, Mark. They won’t let you go,”
Mark laughed. “I’m not afraid, I have Renjun,”
The two laughed together and continued their task. Mark put the snacks in their hidden snack stash and instant noodles on the shelf. Manager-hyung then put watermelon juice in the refrigerator and he was done.
“I’m glad he eats. He ate well in front of us, but I know he threw up one or two hour later. He didn’t sleep well either,” Manager-hyung said.
“Yeah, we talked a bit. That’s why we were so late,” Mark replied.
Mark finished his task and closed the shelves. Then, Manager-hyung took a seat at the dinner table and gestured to Mark to do so as well. Mark took a glass of water and sat down.
“I want to ask something,”
“What is it, Hyung?”
“When I came home, those children were talking about you two, something about spending too much time in your room or blah. Did you two hide something?”
Mark drank his water and shook his head.
“No, I mean, yes, but I can’t say it to anyone. Not even to Hyung. Because I need Renjun’s permission if I want to do so,” he replied.
“That’s your privacy, but I hope it’s not the reason why Renjun doesn’t want to eat,”
“He is just nervous. It’s almost our comeback, okay?”
Manager-hyung patted Mark’s head and he heard someone open their door. It was from Mark’s room, with Renjun revealing himself, rubbing his sleepy eyes. Mark knew he was confused how he arrived home when he had just fallen asleep on the bench. So Mark whispered good night to his Manager and went to Renjun, getting him inside their shared bedroom once again and closed the door.
The oldest in the house sighed, then he smiled.
“Okay, you two are keeping secrets from me. You two are adults,”
He switched off the light, went to his room, and prepared for a probably-noisy-morning that will come anytime soon.
And yes, the very next afternoon, he could hear how irritated Haechan and Chenle because the two bought something they all don’t like and ready to burst into their room when they found out the room was locked from the inside and they couldn’t do anything except to accept the fact that they gained nothing from their plan at all, not even delicious snacks.
While the oldest ones still slept soundly in Mark’s bed, holding hands, smiling ear-to-ear from their little night date.