Cooked // NCT Groupchat

-62-

It was a chaotic mess trying to get all 23 of them inside the private jet by the scheduled take off time, however, they managed it. Now, they were on their way to Chicago.

It was a lot later in the day, and almost everyone was asleep at this point. This included Rosa, who had an eventful adventure in the airport with a certain someone. Speaking of Mark, at the current moment he was playing with the girl's soft wavy hair as she slept on his right shoulder.

A soft smile played on his lips as he looked on at her peaceful state. She was such a peculiar person in his eyes. She would let the little things, the embarrassing moments, and mess ups all be read like an open book, however, the same book seemed to close, and lock at the thought of her past. She walked among us like an other, but it was like she was truly locked away in her own tower of solitude.

Mark knew this when he started realize his true feelings towards Rosa. He knew that she was the type to close everyone off and not look back, however, somehow, someway, he made it through. It was a truly odd thing to think about.

Yes, they would do the typical couple things like cuddling on the couch or cooking together (well, she would do most of the cooking) but nothing definite was ever said between them. It just sort of happened, and that fact left a nagging feeling in him.

He wondered if was actually on the outside of the wall looking in. Maybe she was just using him. The thought had crossed his mind before, however, when gazed into her eyes or listened to her laugh the thought quickly dissipated.

He wanted her to say it. He wanted to hear her say just exactly what she felt for him, but he knew that would be pushing it.

Unknown to him, there was someone else awake on the airplane and looking on to the interaction.

Lucas looked on at the interaction between the asleep Rosa and lost in thought Mark. Truth be told, he had pieces it together a long time ago. See, Lucas could be clueless, he can admit that, however, a good bit of the time, he was simply acting that way to lower people's guard around him. Lucas hadn't said anything to either of his friends because he didn't want to pressure them to "put a label on it" because knowing Rosa's track record, there was a good chance there was nothing definitive being said.

He tried to help them out by throwing the other members off their trail, however, in a way felt guilty for keeping this from them. Unlike what would mostly happened between the "male best friend" and the "love interest" in a drama on tv, Lucas wasn't jealous. In fact, he was really happy for the two of them. They seemed to be a match for one another, and he was happy that the both of them were too.

Lucas didn't really realize that he was walking towards the two of them until Mark had already taken notice. However, the nagging feeling of Mark being lost in his situation gave Lucas a good idea as to why he did. His friend moved gaze from the sleeping girl towards him. "Hey, Lucas what's up?" He asked in a soft whisper as not to wake anyone up.

"Can we talk?" He asked. Mark looked at him quizzically, however gently moved Rosa's so that she was leaning on the wall instead of him, and got up to follow his tall friend.

When the reached the far end of the jet, they took a seat. For a moment nothing was said, however, Lucas had decided to just come clean "Mark... I know... about you and Rosa I mean".

At that statement Mark's expression turned to one of instant shock "WaIt WhAt?" He raises his voice, however, Lucas quickly told him to quiet down.

"How?" Mark asked in a quieter tone.

"Dude, it's obvious."

"Does anyone else know?"

"I think Kun is close, but is still just speculating. He's not the type to confront someone about these sort of things without solid evidence."

"Yeah, I figured as much..."

"Look, I'm not going to say anything to anyone. Don't worry about that." Lucas said with a chuckle as Mark's panicked expression slowly started to subside. "I just wanted to let you know, that I'm here if you are ever lost. I'm not exactly an expert but you seemed to have landed yourself in a pretty odd situation."

"Yeah, you can say that again. I'm just... confused." Mark said trying to put his thoughts into words.

Lucas started to laugh once again. "So looks like nothing has changed." Mark lightly shoved him. "That is not funny."

"Whatever," Lucas said as a smile still lingered. "I just wanted to say that. Also, don't feel obligated to tell Rosa that I know. I don't plan on telling her just yet. I don't want to put pressure on you two."

Mark looked at Lucas in surprise. It was odd to see him this cool, calm, and collected. He honestly thought that they left the real Lucas at the airport for a look alike. Nevertheless, Mark was thankful. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

"No problem." He replied before the two heard a voice on the intercoms.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to report that we will be landing in Chicago in 20 minutes. Please put on your seatbelts and prepare for landing."

They returned to their seats and celebrated the end of their very long flight.