never not ✧ mark lee

36

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

After the 10th floor 127 members had their fill of Dasom's cooking – which was actually quite delicious despite the scavenged ingredients – Mark was informed that he would have to drop her off back home.

"I don't have a car though," he told Dasom, who was already standing and waiting for him.

"You're saying that like you can drive in the first place," Dasom taunted him. "You're just coming along, Jaehyun's gonna drive."

"I am?" Jaehyun asked from the other end of the table where he was sipping a Coke.

"Didn't you say you wanted to be in my Dad's good books?" Dasom reminded him.

"Oh right," Jaehyun said, getting up. "Lemme go get my keys."

"Then why do I have to come?" Mark asked, confused, although he didn't mind since he didn't want more alone time for Jaehyun and Dasom. At this point, Jaehyun had spent more time with his friend than he had gotten to.

"Because you're my friend and you care about my well being," Dasom said matter-of-factly, but after Mark had put his bowl in the dishwasher and gone to Dasom, she leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"I didn't tell my Dad I'm spending the night elsewhere," she explained. "If you don't come too, he'll think that Jaehyun and I actually--"

"Don't!" Mark stopped her. "Don't finish that sentence."

"Cool, you get it," she smiled, before going to put on her shoes.

After saying goodbye to Yuta, Taeil, and Johnny, the three left to go down to Jaehyun's car, putting masks on as they walked.

The car ride started off sufficiently awkward, with Mark sitting shotgun and Dasom in the back while Jaehyun was driving, none of them saying a word to each other.

Getting uneasy, Dasom finally broke the silence. "Jaehyun, do you need me to tell you the way to my house?" she offered, leaning forward between the two front seats.

"Nah," Jaehyun replied as he took a left at an intersection. "I'm good with roads, I remember the way."

"Cool," she said, settling back into her seat. Then, although she didn't want to hear it, she turned her attention to Mark for the sake of keeping conversation going. "Marker, have you thought about what you're gonna say to Lily yet?"

Mark was caught off guard, not expecting to be asked about that just yet. But if anything, Jaehyun and Dasom would be able to give him advice on the right thing to do, so he figured he might as well talk to them.

"I guess I wanna ask her out officially," he admitted, staring out of the window. "But I'm not sure how."

"Easy, just text her," Jaehyun suggested, and Dasom frowned, wondering if he was serious.