𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 .. nct （✓）

t.en

she thought it would be easy to see him again. she thought she was over it... at least enough to take the job seriously. she wanted it. she wanted the job more than anything. but at the expense of seeing mark lee every day...

niko groaned and let her head fall back against the wall behind her as she replayed the events from earlier over and over again in her mind. "stupid, stupid!" she cursed under her breath. she knew better.

no one had followed her out, thankfully, but niko just let her legs carry her away from people before finding an empty hallway and kicking her heels off. when she calmed down, she told herself to go back and find the elevators.

it seemed rational enough. there was no point in going back into the meeting room, not that she remembered where it was, and taeyong hadn't tried texting her to return.

"want my shoes?"

niko's head whipped to the side, started to find a man standing there with his hands in his pockets and a small grin on his lips.

"i... what?" she asked. this wasn't just any man; this was the man from gaeul's wall. the one from the concert pictures. the one who missed her meeting.

she was blatantly staring, and yuta wasn't afraid to call her out on it. he scoffed and his grin widened into a rather friendly smile. "i have that effect on people. you're new here, aren't you?"

niko wanted to crawl into a hole and die. instead, she kept her voice steady and pushed off of the wall to fully turn and face him. "i was here for an interview." she exhaled. "it ended. looking for the elevators, now."

"ended?" yuta asked as he checked the time. "shit, i was supposed to be there." he paused for a moment as if trying to recall something from memory. when he caught her eyes a second time, there was a flicker of something mischievous behind them. "niko, was it?"

then, with that sickly beautiful grin, yuta spoke four words that made niko feel sick to her stomach. "you're mark's girl, right?"

the world tilted and niko had to press her hand against the wall for stability. he knows, he has to know. there's no way mark would out himself as a thief, right? he can't know... she couldn't hide the bite in her voice as she spat, "i'm not his anything."

her words seemed to amuse the older, and niko was just now realizing that he'd placed his hand on the wall beside her, caging her between himself and the exit. whether he was aware of how close he was getting to niko seemed to be none of his concern. "shouldn't you be going the other way? the elevators are behind you." he spoke so smoothly, it was no wonder he had so many fans willing to bend at his expense.

"yeah," the girl sighed, clutching her heels in her hand as she dropped her gaze. this was really happening. she really did blow her interview.

yuta must have noticed the shift in her expression because he looked around them before reaching for her elbow, stopping himself before his fingers came in contact with her sleeve. "come on, i know everything about this building. if you want to get away, this isn't the place to do it."