NCT Imagines (Requests closed)

Beautiful (Mark)

Mark saw her from afar. Y/N was exiting the convenience store near her house, a plastic bag in her hand. She wore blue jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and sneakers with her dark hair tied in a bun. Even in something so simple she looked beautiful. He wondered why some people thought otherwise.

"Y/N!" He called out. Her face lit up as her eyes found him and she waved. Mark jogged up to her and immediately pulled her in a hug. "Did you miss me?" He asked when he released her.

"Not really," she smiled teasingly at him. But her smile seemed tired and her eyes a bit swollen. Mark believed he knew the reason behind it but he did not want to bring it up just yet.

"I'm starving," he said, changing the topic. "Let's go eat dinner." They walked the short distance to her house. Y/N seemed almost cheerful while eating and talking to him but he would catch her forlorn expression from time to time.

After dinner, Y/N curled up on the couch next to him and he rubbed his hand up and down her arm. He gathered his courage to speak. "Y/N?" He said softly and the girl hummed in response. "You've read the articles, haven't you?" He felt her tense against him.

Then she leaned away, looking at him in the eyes. "I did. And I'm fine, honestly." The fake smile again.

He cupped her cheek with one hand and kissed her forehead. "I'm so sorry. It must be hard for you because of me." The articles had been published yesterday. Everyone that cared about the situation knew that Mark of NCT was found to be dating a non-celebrity. For his fans, it seemed, it wasn't important whether or not he was dating but who he was dating. And it bothered them too much that he was dating a black girl.

"It's not your fault, Mark," she said firmly. The thought of the articles made him angry. How could they not see how beautiful she is? How could they hate someone based on the colour of their skin?

"It may not be my fault but I'll make this right," promised.

Y/N grew concerned, "what are you gonna do?"

"I'll think of something."

The next morning, Mark sat at his desk and turned his phone on. He had already decided what to do. "Let's do this," he mumbled to himself and opened the Vlive app.

Y/N received the notification while she was having breakfast. She opened it and saw Mark on her phone's screen. For a while, he kept making small talk, waiting for the number of viewers to increase. Y/N made the mistake of reading the comments and saw that most of them were about her. She turned the comments off but it was too late, her breakfast had already become unappetizing.

"So, I'm sure most of you know already," Mark said, his tone all serious. "That I have a girlfriend. And for some reason, some of you are under the impression that you have a say in who I date. So, let me make this very clear, you don't." That caught Y/N off guard, she had never seen him so angry.

"You don't have the right to decide who I should and shouldn't date," he continued. "And you don't have the right to criticize someone's looks or their skin colour. It's disgusting if you do. Know that everyone is beautiful as long as they're beautiful from the inside."

It had been too much. Bullied since she was little and then the articles were too much. Hearing Mark say those words was like a dam behind her eyes had broken and the tears came flowing out. "But of course there were some people who supported me," Mark said. "Thank you for that. This is all I had to say for this Vlive, goodbye." And it ended just like that.

Y/N was gathering her thoughts and trying to stop her tears when her phone started ringing. She knew it was Mark before even checking. "You alright?" His soft voice came out of the speaker. Y/N could only cry on the phone. "Hey, babe? Do you want me to come over?"

"I'm fine," she managed to say. "Thank you."

"I love you, you know that, right?" That made her smile. Mark usually didn't put out his emotions on display like that so the fact that he was making the effort for her gave her all the strength that she needed.

"I love you too," she said into the phone.

xxx

You all are beautiful. Even if I can't see you guys, I know that you are.

This chapter was really a challenge for me since i understand that it is a very sensitive topic for some people. And I hope you all could enjoy it.

This one was requested by @Marvelstan0905. Thank you!