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I’ve never met nobody like you
Had friends, and I’ve had buddies, it’s true
But they don’t turn my tummy the way you do
I’ve never met nobody like you
4*Town — Nobody Like U (from Disney Pixar’s Turning Red)
I
Mark is a lot of things.
Self-proclaimed fattest ass in the building — he's got proof. Jaemin complimented how his khakis hugged his hips once and it got to his already big head. Donghyuck agreed with him but Donghyuck would agree with anything Jaemin says so Mark isn't sure if he should trust his judgment.
Mark also happens to have the emotional stability of a stick bug. One would think, honor student, absolutely fully capable Mark Lee would be smarter than to fall for his college junior turned coworker but even the greatest men have got to make mistakes.
“Dear God, the men you put on this earth to boyboss, boylight, and boykeep are slacking off at work because they keep getting distracted by thinking of an overgrown puppy looking boy,” Donghyuck (the real, made out of flesh one) announces his arrival to his now empty classroom.
“You think you are so funny,” Mark retorts. He can't be bothered to entertain Donghyuck because as much as he is annoying, he is right, he's slacking off at work. Sadly, classes won’t plan themselves. The mortifying ordeal of being a teacher. “And you tried to insult Jeno’s appearance. Don’t do that. He's never done a bad thing ever in his life.”
“You said he looked like a samoyed last week,” Donghyuck deadpans.
“Okay, and? I said it out of love, a foreign concept to you.”
“I don't have time for this,” Donghyuck sounds exasperated and Mark has to hold himself back from smiling. An annoyed Donghyuck is a rare sight and Mark is soooo happy to be the reason behind his sour expression.
Despite the bruised ego, Donghyuck recovers fast. “What are you doing tonight?”
Mark’s thinly concealed smug grin falls. “I have to prepare some stuff for tomorrow’s class, the kids continue to suggest they want to do something different and I’m trying to come up with something that doesn’t involve me getting a headache at the end of the day.”
Mark loves his job. Kids are easily entertained most of the time and they are, objectively speaking, adorable and the apples of his eyes. He loves the school, his overdecorated classroom, and the tiny portions of food he’s served every day at the cafeteria despite being a grown adult and not a pea-sized human being. He thinks Renjun falls into that category too and Mark’s grateful he can’t read his mind. What Renjun lacks in size he makes up on rage and Mark is smart enough to not fall victim to it.
Objectively speaking, Mark is a great teacher. He high-fives all of his students hello and hugs them goodbye. He is an assertive listener and makes sure to not make any kid feel left out by letting them decide on a fun game to play each every friday. He even spoils them a little by having a secret stack of organic and sugar-free gummies he pulls out when they are particularly cute.
The silence beyond his absentmindedly scribbling weirds the shit out of Mark. He drops his pen on the table and turns to look at Donghyuck who is trying (and failing miserably) to fit into one of the desks he so carefully arranged less than an hour ago. He counts backward from ten until Donghyuck notices he is being watched.
“Hi,” is all Donghyuck says when he reaches five in his mind. His smile is sheepish but his voice is barely above a whisper which is a rarity for him which means he is about to say something deranged or be vulnerable and Mark is not prepared for either of those options.
“Go ahead buddy, I noticed you had something to say the moment you disturbed my peace and we don’t have much time,” Mark is not mean, but if he has the emotional stability of a stick bug then Donghyuck is allergic to being truly seen. Pot, kettle, if he were to be honest but that’s the whole point of their friendship: force the other to be better out of sheer annoyance.
Donghyuck makes himself impossibly smaller, which again, is uncharacteristic of him and if Mark’s heart shrinks a little that’s his business.
“Jaemin asked me to stop coming,” the pout is evident in his voice and Mark does feel a little sad on his behalf. “Said I was too distracting and I don’t get it! I just sit in a corner of the daycare area and make fun of him or Jeno whenever they have to change a diaper.”
“Aw man,” Mark gets up from his adult-sized chair and crouches down to face Donghyuck at eye level. “You don’t work here,” he ignores Donghyuck's huff, “and you certainly can be a whole lot distracting. I am surprised he let you get away with it for so long.”
Donghyuck gasps with a hand against his chest loud enough to be heard outside the classroom and Mark tries his best to ignore that even when he is sulking, Hyuck has to be the most dramatic person in the room.
“I’ll let you know I am a delight to be around and if you fail to notice it I will gladly kill myself in front of you to change the trajectory of your life forever, Mark Lee.”
“That’d make Jaem sad.”
Donghyuck’s pout gets somehow even more pronounced. “You wouldn’t get sad? I am your best friend forever.”
“I would be a little bit sad,” the words roll out of Mark’s tongue before he can stop them and fuck Donghyuck for bringing out the worst in him. “You won’t do it, right?”
“And deny me of watching you painfully pine after Jeno? Never,” Mark grimaces. He should stop hanging around traitors.
He won’t. But he will try nonetheless because damn Donghyuck and his stupid big mouth and his even bigger ability to make Mark’s life miserable.
“I thought we were going to have a moment, Hyuck. I was ready to have a heart to heart.”
“Gay,” Donghyuck sticks his tongue out like the mature adult he is. Mark rolls his eyes.
“Who’s gay?”
Mark will say he is normal about it. Chill. Suave. A smoother man has yet to be born.
Eyewitnesses (Donghyuck) would say Mark fell onto his ass and went beet red as soon as he realized who was leaning against the doorframe of the classroom.
“I think it’s time for me to leave,” Donghyuck mutters as he picks up his bag. “If you don’t come home early to comfort me from the heartbreak I am being subjected to I’ll be very sad.”
“We don’t live together, Hyuck,” Mark deadpans.
“Don’t be late!” he sounds so cheery Mark wants to strangle him. Donghyuck drops a kiss on a very amused Jeno who pretends to hate the display of affection. “Make sure he brings a bottle of wine and takeout with him.”
Jeno pats his shoulder in acknowledgment, Mark makes it clear he won’t be spending his money on that.
(He will.)
Mark attempts to get up from the floor but Jeno is faster and joins him on the floor. Mark has to look away from him to hide the blush adorning his face.
“Rough day?” Jeno asks. His voice is soft and he smells of baby powder and paint and Mark adores him.
“A little,” he admits. “I was trying to come up with some activities for the kids when Hyuck decided to make his boy problems my problems.”
Jeno hums. “I see.”
“How was your day?” Mark asks because he wasn’t raised in a barn, he’s got manners.
“It was okay,” Jeno shrugs but then his eyes light up with something akin to pride and Mark is so fucked. “Hana asked me if we could start potty training and I obviously agreed,” Mark can’t understand his excitement but he sympathizes. “Mark, she is a big girl now, I could seriously cry right now.”
Jeno Lee is a lot of things.
Self-proclaimed Na Jaemin's twin flame (“Maybe if you had friends you were passionate about…” He was insulting Mark’s lack of empathy, wasn't he? Mark wouldn't know, he was focused on how pretty Jeno looked wearing his new baby blue sweater). World's most patient and gentle daycare worker. An empath. Incredibly hard working. Simultaneously the cutest and hottest man alive. The list could go on and on and on and Mark, poor Mark, may have always been destined to be reduced to a thing that loves Jeno Lee.
The obvious would be for Mark to grow accustomed to Jeno’s presence since he was a fundamental part of it but that was exactly the problem — Jeno was everywhere — at the school slash daycare, in his friend group, in his head, in his dreams. Jeno is an extension — a representation even — of everything Mark loves condensed into 178 centimeters of sunshine, sugar, spice, and all things nice.
He wasn’t lying when he said Jeno has never done a bad thing in his life — Mark falling for Jeno was to be expected — the inevitable consequence of being around him for too long.
There was no use trying to conceal his feelings when he knew Jeno felt the same way as him. He might not say it but he showed it in some… interesting ways, and that’s what mattered to him.
Mark didn’t mind looking like a lovesick fool in front of the world if it meant Jeno would be by his side no matter what.
II
“You know,” Jeno’s voice breaks the reverie of thoughts swimming through Mark’s brain, “I didn’t give you access to my aux cord for you to blast Justin Bieber’s Justice for the nth time.”
Mark hums, not minding Jeno’s attempt at a jab. He knows Jeno doesn’t mean it — he can see right through his feigned annoyance because Mark knows him the best, because he is Mark Lee, the one who’s been in love with him for years now, his boy — they don’t talk about whatever this thing between them is — Jeno waiting for Mark for hours after work, Mark holding Jeno in his sleep, holding hands under the table where the rest of the world can’t see.
Despite Jeno’s initial reluctance, Mark can hear him humming along to Peaches in true Jeno fashion — softly, it would go unnoticed for anyone else but never for him. Jeno is the flame and Mark is the moth that will inevitably crash and burn against it.
“Left her baggage for Rimowa,” Jeno mutters, stopping in front of the red light. “What does that mean?”
“Huh?” Mark blinks at him, too focused on the way the night lights highlight the highest points of Jeno’s face. His hair has gotten longer, falling on top of his cheekbones. Mark prevents Jeno from having his sight blocked by brushing the stray strands of hair behind his ear.
“Rimowa is a bag brand. It can be about letting go of emotional baggage, I don’t know” Mark tries to remember the lyrics before that same part but he can’t bring himself to do so — a combination of sleepiness and being too drunk on Jeno’s presence can make him a little stupid.
“Well, I think you are silly, Markie,” Jeno giggles.
Mark doesn't care about anything else the moment Jeno rests his right hand on top of his thigh, palm facing up — hand in my hand, because I’m yours, GIVEON’s smooth voice is heard through the speakers, and Mark understands — it makes sense. He interlaces their fingers together as they continue to make their way home.
III
It’s a rare day off for them.
Jeno took it upon himself to make the most of it, dragging him out of the house to have breakfast at the coffee shop nearby, then dragged him back to the house so they could shower, and then unceremoniously shoved him into the car, letting Mark nap as he drove to the park at the other side of the city — the one they frequented when back in college.
He finds himself in a rather familiar position — his back against the tree, Lola, his guitar, perched on his lap as he strums the familiar chords of Off My Face.
Jeno lays on top of the blanket Mark was cuddling while they were on their way to the park. His head is on top of the backpack he seems to carry everywhere he goes, filled with sketchbooks that would put old books to shame by how battered they are and mountains of HB pencils he used until they were nothing but a reminder of the hours spent sketching things he might not be able to bring to life. Jeno used to call it his bag of broken dreams but Mark thinks Jeno is too hard on himself most of the time.
His Jeno who wasn’t technically speaking his but despite the labels and formalities was. Jeno who stripped him bare, down to his very own core, seeing past the bruises under his eyes, without the need to undress him — watching over him the way a guardian angel would, taking care of his every step, an ever-present presence looming around him wherever he went.
Mark wants to scream — he wants the world to know how much he adores the boy in front of him. He certainly won’t make a scene in a crowded park — Jeno isn’t the biggest fan of grand gestures, as the opposite of himself who is kind of like Tinkerbell, in need of constant attention — so he does what he knows best: he sings.
‘Cause I’m off my face, in love with you
I’m out of my head, so into you
And I don’t know how you do it
But I’m forever ruined by you
Jeno and his incredibly long eyelashes fanning on top of his cheeks, lips curved into a pleased smile. Fucker, Mark thinks with absolute no bite — his obsession with Jeno is an open secret, he is pretty sure even their neighbors with whom he barely interacts with it must be sick of it. His friends believe he is nothing but a fool, adoring someone who isn’t ready for a relationship just yet but he doesn’t mind — even if Jeno hasn’t said the words, he knows they are almost there — and Mark’s patient, he can wait a little bit more.
“Hey,” he doesn’t know when or how Jeno got where he is — prying Lola out of Mark’s lap with the utmost care, treating it as something precious — Jeno grabbed Mark’s things as if they were his to take and he always, always, has handled them with care — his hoodies, his beanies, his heart, held hostage in his pretty hands with no signs of returning them anytime soon.
Mark knows they are safe with him — it all comes back to trust, and Mark loves Jeno, and loving him means trusting him with his life if it ever came down to it.
The one thing that grounds him is the feeling of Jeno’s back hitting his chest, head resting on top of Mark’s shoulder. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“You know I’ll share them with you for free,” Mark replies, words rolling down his tongue with ease. “’m just happy to be here. Thank you for dragging me out of the house.”
Jeno’s hands fiddle with the ring on Mark’s index finger. He hums in acknowledgment, closing his eyes, making himself at home in between Mark’s arms. “Mark Lee.”
Mark bites back a smile — he will never get tired of the way Jeno says his name. “Yes?”
“You are all of the good things in the world combined,” Jeno’s lips brush against the base of his neck, sending shivers up Mark’s spine. “Thank you,” for loving me, for waiting even though you shouldn’t, goes by unsaid. Mark simply hugs him tighter, letting his lips brush against the crown of Jeno’s head.
“Anything for you,” and he means it. He always does.
IV
Something was off.
Mark couldn’t tell what it was or how he knew something was off, but he was sure of it.
He sneezed so hard he almost felt his brain leak out through his ears and then it clicked. He was sick. Mark should have known that staying out late at the park was a bad idea.
Damn Jeno and his pretty moon eyes and cute pout because Mark won’t ever deny him of anything if he says please Mark-hyung, I’ve always wanted to watch the stars with you, pretty please, yes?
He could hear voices out somewhere in the apartment but he couldn’t bring himself to even try getting out of bed. Melting onto the bed and cuddling the pillow is the most logical option here.
Drifting in and out of sleep is not the most pleasant experience of his life but that’s what Mark does for the rest of the day. Someone comes in to check his temperature at some point in what he assumes is the afternoon, coaxing him to lift his head enough for him to take a pill and not die when he does swallow it down but Mark can’t be bothered by the intrusion when their actions were laced with gentleness — hands carding through his hair, lulling him back to sleep.
Once his body decides everything is okay enough for Mark to be a big boy and get out of bed he finds not only Jeno but Jaemin and Donghyuck watching him with hawk eyes and on God, he can feel his headache coming back full force.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” is the first time that comes out of his mouth. His voice is rough and croaky — the air and saliva going down his throat feel like sandpaper and he wants to die. Just a little, not the full nine yards. Is that even possible?
Jeno looks like a wreck. His hair is a mess and he hasn’t even changed out of the clothes he wore to bed last night. The pout on his lips is prominent and Mark can’t help but feel bad.
You made the puppy sad, Mark.
“Can you guys stop acting like Mark is dying?” Donghyuck gets up to pat Mark on the forehead, cheek, and then neck. Weird. “His fever has gone down, quit sulking and give him a hug, Jeno.”
“I’m sorry hyung, I should have listened to you and driven back home earlier,” Jeno holds his hand with so much care — as if Mark was fragile and really, Mark could puke right now. He is not. “You are sick and it’s my fault, I’m sorry hyungie,” Jeno’s pout grows impossibly larger, and seriously, Mark is about to have a breakdown and he’s not lucid enough for that.
There are two options: he either gets up and acts like a functional 23-year-old man would for everyone’s sake or he lets himself be babied onto the next day by the object of his affection.
He falls back into the pillows — not before dragging Jeno with him.
“It’s okay, I needed to rest anyway,” he lays his head on top of Jeno’s chest. He thinks he’ll be met with a shove but Mark being sick must have turned Jeno softer because he holds him tighter and closer.
Mark likes it like this — when you can’t tell when one begins and where the other ends. He likes the sound of Jeno’s heart beating calmly against his ribcage and the smell of the hoodie he’s worn all day. He is a little stinky for running around worrying about him but Mark can tolerate it as long as he gets to be in his arms for a little longer.
“Gross,” Donghyuck is so subtle. Mark is going to pretend he didn’t hear him.
He feels more than sees Jaemin making his way to the bed, unceremoniously dropping his weight on Mark, joining their cuddle session. Mark would complain but Jaemin keeps rubbing circles on his back and Mark could fall back to sleep. He feels loved and warm.
“Hyuckie and I made soup for you, make sure to eat lots of it so you can get better soon, okay Markie?” Jaemin’s speaking in his kindergarten teacher's voice and Mark hates it. He lets himself be coddled because he is nice like that.
“Thank you Jaem,” he awkwardly squeezes the hand on his back and he can feel Jaemin’s grin on his neck where he blows a raspberry. Mark shudders, Jeno laughs, and Hyuck gets up from his seat towards the bedroom door.
“You go soft for your best friend once and he doesn’t even say thanks. I fucking hate you, Mark,” Donghyuck whines. Jaemin gets up with a snicker — not before kissing Jeno’s hair and Mark’s cheek.
“You are such a baby,” Mark mutters.
“Am not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Am not.”
“Hyuck, quit whining,” Jaemin pats him on the back, dropping his hand to grope his ass. Disgusting. “Mark, you have to rest. Take some days off.”
Mark has done a lot of bad things in his life and getting sick is one of them. The thought of leaving his kids, his babies alone for even a day makes his heart hurt. He misses them already and he’s not even gone yet.
His head spins a little when he sits up on the bed, frown so deep on his face he is afraid his eyebrows will reach his mouth but he can’t even bring himself to care. He’s going to let the kids down, he’s the worst kindy teacher in the world.
As if sensing his inner turmoil — not that it wasn’t obvious — Hyuck shows some empathy for the first time in his life.
“I’ll look after the kids for you, Markie. They’ll be in good hands,” Mark’s now worried his mouth will reach the bed.
“What?”
“Big boss gave me the clear,” he points at Jaemin and giggles. Now Mark is the one who feels like killing himself to forever change the trajectory of his life. “And puppy boy right there helped me come up with a schedule you would actually approve. We even made sure to add the 30 minutes long music space you give the kids every day. I’ll let them listen to something other than Pinkfong and Justin Bieber.”
Mark can’t even be mad about it because Hyuck is handing him a neatly organized stack of papers detailing step by step all of the activities the kids would be partaking in, the books they would read — he even sees there’s a little section called Letters for Mr. Lee in Donghyuck’s messy handwritten and maybe Mark loves him a little.
That’s a lie. He does love Donghyuck a lot. He hates the fact that Mark happens to be the punching back of all of his teasing and jokes but if Mark’s learned anything over the years is that Donghyuck’s love language is to be a little mean which in all honesty, is fucked up if you were to ask him but at the end of the day there’s not a more loyal and caring person in his life than Donghyuck and for that Mark’s grateful.
“You better take good care of my kids, Hyuck. I’m serious,” is what Mark says instead. He’ll let Donghyuck know what he truly thinks in a text.
“Got it! Now go take a warm bath, you look like shit,” Jeno, who’s been characteristically quiet, gets up to what Mark assumes is prepare said bath. He’s so good to him, Mark is going to have to make him his husband.
Not now though, he’s not even his boyfriend yet.
“Now go, I want to rest in peace,” Mark shooshes them with his hand. Jaemin laughs while Donghyuck flips him off. “Love you! Thank you for the soup, I’ll eat it well,” he says at last because well, he wasn’t raised in a barn. He would see them off at the front door but Mark’s sure he would fall on his face if he tried to stand up. He’s embarrassed himself enough for today.
“That almost sounds like you are dying, Mark,” Jeno says as soon as he enters the bedroom again. He’s rolled the sleeves of his hoodie and smells like his favorite bath bomb — grapefruit with a hint of something sweet.
“I might be,” he shrugs. Jeno is in front of him in an instant.
“Let’s go, you stink a little,” Mark pouts and Jeno laughs. “Want me to wash your hair?”
He is the man of his dreams.
“I always do.”
+1
“Mister Lee! Mister Lee!”
Mark doesn’t have time to prepare before a small boulder is crashing into his legs, almost making his legs buckle. His thighs bump against the doorframe of the classroom and he lets out a whoa with a chuckle sitting under his tongue. Glancing over his shoulder and down at a shaggy head of hair, Mark reaches down and plants a light hand atop the child’s head.
“What have I said about running, Minyoung?” he says, brushing the child’s bangs out of her eyes.
“I missed you!” Mark ignores the way Minyoung brushed up his question. He also pretends his lips don’t quiver at her sweet honesty.
These are his babies. He is never going to get sick ever again. He is going to get his flu shot and take his vitamins. He might even take up on Jeno’s offer and hit the gym a few times a week. Mark is going to be the healthiest kindy teacher in the building.
“I missed you too, Min-ah,” Mark’s voice is dripping with fondness. He chuckles as he watches the kids tripping over their own feet to crowd around his desk and Mark could seriously start crying right now. “I missed all of you a lot,” he confesses.
Mark expects a lot of things — except this.
By this, he means all of his kids trying their best to wrap their tiny arms around not only him but each other and Mark gives up fighting the urge to cry because how can he not when they are the cutest and perfect students of the world?
He crouches down and makes sure to hug each one of them — he might hug Minyoung for a little longer but sue him for being sentimental, girl ran down to the door to greet him and that made him soft.
Mark goes on about his day — he asks the kids how was Donghyuck as a teacher and most of them agree that it was fun but that he probably has more energy than all of them combined and Mark has to fight back the urge to laugh out loud. Beat that, Donghyuck.
Papers and lessons come and go. Mark tries his best to ignore it — his kids are usually chatty but they are incredibly quiet today. They hang to his every word whenever he speaks — they even hand all of his assignments extra early. The time for recess comes and by the time he dismisses them, Mark can’t help but grow weary of their attitude.
When he was in college, dreaming of entering childcare and stressing over exams and wondering if he actually suit the whole being a teacher thing, he thought disciplining children would be the hardest part, not wanting to be too strict but not wanting to be too soft and lose any sense of authority. And yeah, he is right about some things but nothing ever prepared him for the kids acting in a rather suspicious way — sure, they were under Donghyuck and Jeno’s joint care for a few days but it’s not like they were strangers for them. Jeno would have told him if something was wrong but he kept gushing about how well-behaved and cute they were so Mark was not able to understand what was happening.
But kids, well, were kids. Maybe they are a little awkward now that Mark is back. He’ll try not to dwell on it too much.
He goes back to organizing the assortment of colored papers in front of him. He counts nine neat squares before he is interrupted by the return of the kids to the classroom. He puts them aside before fixing his glasses who were on top of his head and heads to the door.
“You know the rules: when I call your name you say here and enter the classroom, got it?”
“Okay!” the kids agree in unison.
Mark had to read their names off a list the first two weeks he was here but now he’s learned all of the kids' names, so he starts reciting them by heart.
“Jinyoung… Jiyeon… Minyoung… What have I said about running?”
The list goes on and sooner than later all of the kids are settled on their respective chairs — all eyes are on him, the expectation shining evidently on them. They know what time is it.
“Do you have any requests or would you like me to play a song off our playlist?” Mark asks as he makes his way to his desk. Thankfully his phone is connected to the speakers already. If Mark has missed his kids, he’s missed Music Space more. He gets to dance — or chill, it all depends on the vibes of the day — with them, creating an environment in which they all can let loose before working on the rest of the lessons of the day. Each kid hand-picked a song of their preference in order to make a playlist and Mark usually rotates between the songs in it, some requests and some of his favorite songs too.
“Mr. Lee, we do have a request!” Jinyoung yells out excitedly and Mark looks at him, lifting his eyebrows up to encourage him. It’s rare for all of them to be on the same boat, so he is curious as to what finally made them reach an agreement.
“Have you watched Turning Red, Mr. Lee?”
Mark has to conceal the silly grin about to make a home on his face.
“Did you watch it while I was gone?” he pouts and the kids laugh. So much for being their favorites.
“Jeno-ssaem asked Donghyuck-ssaem if we could watch it with him and the babies from the daycare,” Minyoung helpfully supplies.
Well, Mark is a simple man. He is both fond of Jeno and fond of his students so he’ll let them get away with it.
“Did you like the movie?” the kids cheer so loud Mark has to shush them (lovingly). “Let me guess, you want to play Nobody Like U?”
The cheers get even louder and Mark has no option but to comply. He searches for the song on Spotify but before he has the chance to play it he’s interrupted by a knock on the door.
It’s not weird for his co-teachers to drop by when he is in class, however, he is not expecting anyone right now. Minyoung is at the door at the blink of an eye and Mark has to have a talk with her because she continues to run even though he’s told her not to do it while she’s in the classroom.
Jeno at the door of his classroom is not exactly what he is expecting. The daycare is usually busy so getting to meet him during work hours is rare for him. But there Jeno stands, in all of his daycare worker glory — messy hair, baby resting on his hip, a sweet smile adorning his eyes and lips, and God, Mark loves him like he’s never loved anyone else.
“I heard you were going to play Nobody Like U,” his smile turns sheepish, the baby in his arms blows bubbles with his own saliva and Mark has never been giddier.
“From the other side of the building, I guess?” Mark would never tease him — but it’s obvious now that he’s been scheming something and roped the kids into it. He won’t deny he is a little nervous but at the same time he can’t wait to finally understand what’s got his kids so excited.
“We have a surprise for you!” Minyoung yells from his desk and Mark can practically see her bouncing up and down. She is the definition of vibrating at a frequency that could shatter glass.
“Can you hold Jisungie for me?” that’s the only warning he gets before he’s got a handful of a baby.
Mark hears some shuffling from where Jeno’s standing by the side of his desk but he is too busy figuring out if the baby hates him or not. Mark makes faces at him and once Jisung laughs in all of his baby glory is when Mark leaves him alone.
Nothing could have ever prepared him for the sight in from of him.
Jeno is wearing a white t-shirt that’s been intervened by the kids and him. Mark can make out some hearts and splashes of paint, there’s a stick-man and a cheetah drawn with a black marker on it too. Mark is both parts amused and endeared.
Jeno grabs his phone to play the song and Mark?
Well, Mark was in it for a show.
I've never met nobody like you
Had friends, and I've had buddies, it's true
But they don't turn my tummy the way you do
I've never met nobody like you
The kids sing along to the lyrics in their perfect out-of-pitch and adorable way. Jeno is guiding them to sway their hands in the air.
You're never not on my mind, oh my, oh my
I'm never not by your side, your side, your side
I'm never gon' let you cry, oh, cry, don't cry
I'll never not be your ride or die, alright
Mark has to say he is impressed — he was gone for three days, he kept count. They have this silly and honestly easy-to-follow choreography going on and his heart fills with pride. Jeno must have thought this through and the fact that he took the time to teach the kids and involve them in whatever he planned made his heart soar.
The rest of the song is spent with each of the kids coming forward to show off their unique dance moves and Mark can’t help but join them, making baby Jisung dance with him in the middle of their half-circle-half-whatever shape they were making.
As the end of the song neared he noticed the kids standing in line, each holding a piece of paper on top of their heads.
N-O-B-O-D-Y-L-I-K-E-Y-O-U
Jaemin, who appeared out of thin air plucks Jisung out of his arms, muttering congrats! to him and what?
The final chorus is softer — but what surprises Mark is the fact that Jeno is singing out loud — the rest of the room acting as backup vocalists.
You're never not on my mind, oh my, oh my
I'm never not by your side, your side, your side
I'm never gon' let you cry, oh, cry, don't cry
I'll never not be your ride or die, alright
His Jeno, who is not a fan of grand gestures and loud displays of affection got him surrounded by all of the people he loves — his students, his friends, him, singing him a song from his favorite movie. A song about foreign yet familiar feelings — reminding him there’s no there person out there for him other than Mark and Mark well, he kind of wants to kiss him really bad.
The song is on loop but Mark can only focus on the breath every person in the room is holding — Jeno and he included.
“Mark Lee, I have never met a person as loving, caring and patient as you. You have taught that happiness is within reach as long as I’ve got you by my side. Thank you for waiting for me and loving me through it all — I don’t deserve it, but I’m happy to know that someone like you thinks little old me is worth fighting for,” Mark is trying so hard not to let the tears fall but Jeno makes it so hard for him.
Jeno is a dear and wipes his eyes clean before cupping his jaw. He rest his forehead on Jeno’s and wraps his arm around his waist.
“Can I be your boyfriend?”
Frame freeze, record scratch, world shifting off his axis — Jeno wants him to be his boyfriend?
Mark’s never been happier.
“No take backs?” Mark asks back. Jeno nods. “One hundred percent sure?” Jeno nods again.
“I would like that a lot then,” Jeno’s smile is so radiant Mark wants to kiss him silly. “Can I kiss you?”
Jeno’s eyes blow wide for a second but he nods anyways.
“Kids, cover your eyes!” Mark yells out before the chaos ensues.
He can hear Jaemin and Donghyuck urging the kids to turn around, the kids giggling, Jisung blabbering, but he can only focus on how soft and sweet Jeno’s lips are when they land on his.
Lee Jeno is a lot of things.
He is thoughtful. He is a little guarded when it comes to sharing his feelings but Mark’s an expert on getting him to share his burdens with him.
Jeno is caring and sweet. His love is quiet but steady — growing bigger and stronger every single day.
Now Mark can finally say Jeno is his boyfriend.
Oh, what a lucky man he is.