NEVERLAND. nct dream

prologue

"hurry, hurry!" chenle happily exclaimed as him and jisung run down the staircase to join the crowd at the living room. both of them were giggling as they take a glimpse of the newbie who's about to join them. they wanted a new member to their squad since they're getting tired of jaemin and renjun's daily arguments over the littlest of things.

standing beside the center table of the living room was a boy with black hair, it's all messy but he still managed to look good. he looked like he's someone who'd smile handsomely because of his beautiful cheekbones but instead, he stood there as if he was a statue with a blank look on his face. the nuns were busy unloading the bags with one of the staffs named doyoung so the boy just stood there, he didn't looked awkward at all, just annoyed.

chenle tugged on jisung's sleeve, "uh, should we just go back upstairs?" he asked jisung, clearly chenle didn't like the vibes the new boy was giving him.

"nonsense, anyone can be like that here, right? didn't you told me i was such a grumpy kid back then?" jisung asked chenle, chuckling at the memory.

chenle rolled his eyes, "yes, duh! but you were a kid and he's-he's... i don't know, he looks like a bad kid." chenle said hesitantly, afraid that the new boy might hear it.

finally one of the nuns, sister dessa, finally came to the living room with a huge smile on her face. "okay everyone, he will be joining us starting today." sister dessa said and everybody clapped. "go on, introduce yourself." sister dessa said, encouraging the boy.

"i'm mark lee." he said blankly. the others seemed to feel down at the way he talked but sister dessa again with her cheerful talk, told the kids to go to the dining area because lunch is about to start.

"so mark, follow me. i'll show you to your room." sister dessa told mark and he followed her upstairs to a big room with about seven beds. four beds were lined on the left and three on the right, the closets were in front of the last bed on the left— a big, spacious closet, by the looks of it. sister dessa led mark to the beds on the right side, the last one in front of the closets. a boy was sleeping on the second bed, snoring lightly and not bothered with sister dessa's cheerful noise.

mark didn't noticed that he was looking so when sister dessa looked at where he was staring, she gasped and hit the boy lightly on the arm. "donghyuck! donghyuck boy, wake up!" sister dessa said, shaking him up a little, donghyuck only shifted a little and muttered something mark didn't heard. "it's already noon, lunch is about to be served. wake up already!" sister dessa said, she removed donghyuck's blanket and tickled his feet, making this donghyuck guy sit straight up.

donghyuck yawned, eyes landing on mark. mark was going to look away—  he was going to look away but he didn't and he wondered why. maybe it's because of the dishevelled hair that somehow still looked good on him? his droopy eyes that looked quite adorable? his skin that complimented the sunlight seeping through the curtains in their room? or was it the yawn? mark didn't know but he was caught off guard when donghyuck smiled at him and waved. "welcome!"

mark didn't even responded, he tore his gaze away from him and started fixing his things. donghyuck on the other hand, was still smiling— a little disappointed but still smiling. "i'll clean myself first then go down after, sister." donghyuck said and cheerfully walked away.

"well then darling, you can fix your stuff later but we should go down now for lunch." sister dessa said.

"i'll go down in a few." mark muttered which sister dessa agreed to. before going down, sister dessa told him to hurry but mark didn't even cared, he isn't even hungry.

mark's sheets were neatly tucked in. he sighs as he plopped down on the bed with a listless face. he ruffled his hair with an annoyed expression, thinking that he's stuck in a room with people like donghyuck— people who he dislikes the most. he seemed like the upbeat kind of guy who'd try to make friends with him even if he says 'no' many times. he's clearly not mark's cup of tea and god knows what kind of other roommates he'll have.