Neo Nursery (NCT littles shots)

Mark

little :

༊Mark༊

(Requested by:  chlorophylliaa)

"Mark, right hand." The choreographer's strict voice echoed again, making the mentioned person flinch. "R- Right. Sorry." Mark looked down and took a deep breath before focusing back on his reflection to monitor his own movements. 

They were practising for their upcoming comeback in a few months. At the moment, the choreographer suggested them to learn the key points of the choreography first before going into details and all.

However, Mark seems to be very out of focus today. He keeps spacing out and making mistakes. Having a nonstop schedule was slowly taking a toll on him. His dizziness continues to consume him alive but Mark Lee being Mark Lee. He will always say that he's fine. But today, he was completely out of it. 

"Mark!" The oldest groans as he once again makes the wrong move, having the choreographer staring straight at him. "What's wrong, huh? Are you not taking this seriously?" The man scoffed, looking down at Mark who was panting, holding onto his knees for support.

"No, sir." The choreographer sighs. "Take five. If you're here to play, you better go home. What a waste of time." He walks away, leaving Mark impacted hard by his words. "Old men, you're tired already?" Jaemin chuckled, patting his back. 

"Bro, that move was not that hard, are you even a leader?" Chenle came and poked his side, followed by the members' little insults. 

Yeah, the Dreamies are tough. If you didn't know them well enough, you might think that they hated and mocked each other but seriously, they never meant whatever they said. It was just a harsh joke, and the whole team was well aware of it. If anyone feels like they have gone too far, they always open up and apologize.

However, with the whole thing that's going on in his mind, Mark can't seem to take the joke. He was hurt and he was so ready to open up about it but for some reason, his little self was preventing him from doing so.

 So instead of stopping the youngers, and telling them that they've crossed the line, Mark just stays silent, letting the words haunt him

🍼

He needs to be the best. He is the leader and he needs to guide them. That's what he told himself ever since that day as he practised for days, skipping a few meals along the way and simply living in the practice room. 

Even in their break time in between the practice, he chooses to sit at the other far end of the room, monitoring his dance and continuing practising by himself. The Dreamies realizes this, watching as the oldest practice while they take their time to breathe and drink some water. They were worried. Mark hasn't talked to them for a while now. Even in the group chat, he just answered with a short message.

So Renjun decided to stand up and approach him. "Hyung? You good?" 

"Uh-huh." The older simply replied while practising his hand movement so that it would look sharper. "You haven't talked to us in a while, are you sure you're okay?" Mark clicked his tongue and suddenly turned to the younger, catching him by surprise. 

"Renjun, I said I'm fine! Which part of 'I'm-fine' did you not get?" Renjun gulped as the older's voice boomed inside the practice room. "Whoa, whoa, hyung? What's wrong with you? Renjun was only checking on you." Haechan pulled Renjun's hand softly to hide behind him, protecting him from the fuming older in front of them. 

"I don't know, why don't you tell me? When I say I'm fine, I'm fine." Jeno finally had to step up and separate the two before a real fight occurred. "Okay, fine! We get it, okay?" Jeno gives the leader a sharp glare. "But it's just a small matter, you don't have to be a complete jerk because of it."

And that was like a slap to reality for him. Guilt started to fill his chest as he saw the scared Renjun behind Haechan. Once again, his mind was all over the place and the last resolution that he took was to leave the room.

🍼

The day has come for them to shoot their performance video. Ever since that incident, Mark grew more and more distant from the team. The Dreamies were hurt. But they are also worried about what's actually happening to their sweet hyung. What makes him change so much? 

"Okay, let's get in position!" After a while, the shooting finally started. The whole squad are giving their best, executing the dance moves until one part where Mark has to jump to the front, he lands on the wrong foot which results in him falling. 

The whole set turned to chaos as the members approached the groaning and shaking older. Mark was sent to the hospital, the team wanted to come along but the manager prevented them, assuring them that the older would be fine and he would update them later. 

"He sprained his ankle but other than that, nothing serious." The doctor calmly explained, making the manager let out a sigh of relief. "Let him rest for a month or so then he'll be good as new." After thanking the doctor, the manager tells the news to the team, calming all of them down from their worries.

🍼

"I'm sorry.." The team's attention was shifted to their leader as he looked down with shame, staring at his bandaged feet. "We were so close to our comeback and I was being so careless. I'm sorry, this is all my fault." Tears started to fall from Mark's eyes as he finally let all his emotions loose. 

Knowing the older well, they just hugged him silently, knowing how hard it was for him to open up. Unless, "Mark, if you feel uncomfortable opening up, you know that you can always talk through Minhyung, right?" Jisung's soft voice and the warmth makes him felt so comfortable that he didn't even realized that he had slipped.

"Me huwt.." A smile grew on each of their faces, finally hearing the little voice after Mark had restrained him from going out for a while now. "Me thought me no good leader. Minhyungie syed.. Minhyung also sowwy that Minhyungie scolded Baba. Me didn't mean to, Me sowwy.." 

So that was why? All the Dreamies started to regret and reflect on their action. Yes, they have gone too far this time. "No, baby. Minhyungie is the best leader we could ever ask for." Jisung smiles softly, wiping the tears from the older's face. 

"We're sorry, baby. Our joke went too far. It's not your fault, okay?" Chenle said, feeling guilty at his joke that affected the leader so badly. "Next time, don't be afraid to tell us that you were hurt. Don't keep it to yourself, just let it out. We promise we won't be mad and again, we are very sorry, sweetheart."

They once again enveloped the little with a big hug, making the little forget about all the troubles in his mind and finally smile. "Me lob dreamies.. Shooo much."

(A/N: THREE CHAPTERSS WOHOOOO! Hey guys! Sorry for not showing up for a while, I need to sort out some 'things' in my life.

Anyways, I MADE IT hehe

Also, WE ARE ON OUR JOURNEY TO REACH 10K FOLKS, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT????? Thank you so much for spending your time to read my works. It was such and honour! 

Anyways, have a blasting day, Plushies! Happy New Year!

XOXO,
fluffy :3 )