mark blinked once. twice. thrice.

"what?" taeyong asked his younger brother, laying back against his chair.

mark rubbed the back of his neck, "i don't know how to answer."

"i just asked how the mission was going," taeyong mumbled, confused at mark's behavior.

"it's going well but also not?" mark sat down in a chair in front of taeyong's desk, "they're starting to trust me and we spend all day at school together, but they refuse to let me near them outside of school. they don't seem like more than troublemakers, but that was before i saw jisung's smile after beating some kid up. dude, even i was a little scared."

taeyong hummed, tapping his fingers on his armrest and giving his full attention to mark's story.

"he held no remorse and accepted the punishment without so much as a word," mark continued his story.

"there's this other kid too- lee donghyuck," mark handed taeyong the file in his hand, "this is him according to doyoung's investigation. he has some sort of connection to dream. they said jeno just wanted to befriend donghyuck because he's 'nice,' but i'm not buying it."

taeyong flipped through the file, "lee donghyuck, huh?"

mark nodded, a hum leaving his lips.

"well," taeyong's lips pulled up into a chilling smile, "befriend him too. a friend of dream's is an enemy of ours."

"but taeyong, he seems to hate them, like- a lot," mark argued.

"i don't care. i said whatever it takes, right? are you disobeying me?"

mark shook his head, shrinking back into his chair, "never."

"good, now leave and do your homework or something i don't know."

mark left with a small goodbye, quietly walking through the nice hallways.

he felt suffocated from the photos that proudly showed generations of his family.

so much was expected out of him and he was worried he couldn't do any of it.

mark left the house, pulling on a hoodie and a random pair of sneakers, telling johnny that he was merely going "out."

"don't forget this," johnny called, handing mark a gun.

mark felt that suffocation come back and worse as he snatched the gun out of johnny's hand and hid it in his hoodie.

it was late afternoon and the sun was starting to set, so mark decided to walk the extra block to go to the convenience store.

he would be lying if he said he was shocked to see dream all standing in front of the store, bikes leaning against their sides.

mark wasn't in the mood though, so he lowered his head and walked by them into the store.

grabbing a bottle of beer and some random bag of chips, he paid and sat at a random table.

he had forgotten how old he actually was from being in high school and surrounded by high schoolers the past two weeks, so it was nice to feel the burn of the beer as it ran down his throat.

"mark?"

a string of curses left mark's lips as he jumped up, looking at the direction of the voice.

jeno was standing there, holding an energy drink and two bags of chips. his black hair fell in his eyes and he wasn't in his uniform anymore, instead clad in a pair of dark washed jeans and a dark grey hoodie.

"jeno... hey," mark sent him a sheepish smile, "what up?"

jeno glanced at the beer bottle in mark's hand and then at mark, "you have a fake id?"

mark almost laughed- of course that's what jeno thought.

"yeah," mark whispered, "don't tell anyone."

jeno shook his head, "your secret is safe with me. what are you doing here?"

"bored," the older shrugged, "you?"

"the guys and i were just chilling," jeno nodded his head to the window where the others were still talking.

mark hummed, tired. he really just wanted to be left alone.

"you wanna join us?"

mark choked on his beer, glancing at the male who's eyes were wide with shock.

"are you okay?" jeno asked.

mark nodded, "yeah sorry. you sure it's okay?"

jeno shrugged, a smile playing at his lips, "why not?"

mark sent the male a smile back, standing up.

"one condition though," jeno's smile turned mischievous, "buy us some beer too."

"sure," mark shrugged, "anything specific?"

jeno wasn't expecting mark to agree and mark could tell.

"no," the younger shook his head, "i'll wait outside."

mark nodded, a yawn leaving his lips.

i can't believe i'm getting minors beer, mark mentally scoffed, you've gone soft mark lee.

the rest of dream seemed happy to see mark, all excitedly dabbing him up.

"let's not stay here," jeno said, glancing at the doors to the convenience store, "i know a place."

"hop on," jaemin grinned at mark, motioning to the back of his bicycle.

mark let out a laugh, "you make us fall and i kill you."

"i'd like to see you try," jaemin snickered, "now come on."

mark stood on the back pegs and placed one hand on jaemin's shoulder to steady himself.

without warning, jaemin started to pedal away, "fuck" leaving mark's lips in shock.

jaemin let out loud laughs, quickly pedaling and trailing behind jeno.

the group of boys all stayed close together, jisung and chenle yelling at each other and trying to hit the other off his bike.

jeno turned down a familiar alleyway and mark knew where they were. down the block was where a lot of nct's meetings took place.

the group all stopped and mark jumped off jaemin's bicycle.

jeno grabbed the bag out of mark's hands and looked inside, grinning at the beer bottles.

"you act like you've never drank before," mark snickered, seeing him hand them out to everyone.

"we don't often," renjun answered, "ya know- minors."

mark nodded, leaning against the wall of a building and holding the bottle of beer jeno handed him.

mark stared at it. taeyong would be pissed if he found out mark was drinking with these kids, but mark didn't care and opened the bottle, taking a swig.

"hey i learned a new trick!" jaemin caught everyone's attention, handing renjun his beer bottle, "watch!"

jaemin got on his bike and started to do random tricks mark had never seen before. his friends were all hyping him up and once he finished, they all went up telling him how awesome he was.

mark joined them in praising jaemin, in awe of his talent.

"teach me! teach me!" chenle begged, hanging off of jaemin who was laughing and trying to push the younger away.

"ew why would you want to even try that?" jisung cringed, "i think i'm good watching."

"you're also a wuss," chenle bit back.

"if you two start fighting again i'm going to break this beer bottle over your heads," renjun threatened, holding the half-full bottle up.

the two youngest got quiet which made everyone laugh.

"mark do you ride?" jeno asked the oldest.

mark blinked in shock at being mentioned, "me? yeah, kind of. i haven't in a long time."

"you should come with us next time- we'll teach you!" jaemin chirped, walking over to mark and throwing an arm around the older. "rather jeno will because i'm lazy, renjun is hotheaded, and these two idiots don't know left from right."

mark laughed, shaking his head, "sure, i'll come."

"sweet!" chenle cheered. "mark is my favorite out of all you clowns."

"clowns? rich coming from you," renjun retorted, "you're the king of the clowns."

jisung snorted, "king of the clowns."

mark yawned, pushing out their fighting. all he could think about was how they seemed to be normal kids- how they were normal kids. could he really go through with this morally?

"mark?" jaemin called softly, seeing the male lost in thought, "what up?"

mark shrugged, "trying to ignore them fighting again."

jaemin rolled his eyes, but a smile played at his lips, "yeah, it's annoying isn't it?"

"yeah," mark nodded, a smile making its way on his own face. "but i like it. there is a never a dull moment with you guys."

"that's gross," jaemin wrinkled his nose, his smile widening and showcasing his top teeth.

mark playfully shoved jaemin who laughed and wrapped his arms around the older tighter.

"man it's already past curfew?" jisung mumbled, seeing his phone light up with texts from his mother, "i don't want to go home."

chenle patted jisung's back, "if it wasn't a tuesday i'd offer for you to stay with me."

"it's okay," jisung sighed, pocketing his phone, "i'm used to it."

"let's all go then," renjun suggested, stretching his arms over his head, "no point in staying here."

"where do you live?" jeno asked mark, "someone can give you a ride."

mark's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. he didn't want them to see his extravagant house. nor did he think it was a good idea for the gang to know where he lived.

"don't worry about me," mark waved off, "i don't live far so i'll just walk."

"if you say so," jeno shrugged in response, "see you tomorrow then!"

the boys all chorused goodbyes to mark, the latter waving as they all got on their bikes and left.

his hand fell to his side limply and his smile instantly dropped. guilt had started to eat at him. they were such good friends, he couldn't separate them- no way. mark was too soft.

the walk home was long- or at least it felt that way to mark. he felt sick, but he pushed it down because he deserved it. he was the one who said he would take them down, so he has to do it.

"where were you?" johnny questioned as soon as mark opened the door, standing at the entrance with his arms crossed over his chest.

"what are you my dad?" mark teased, slipping his shoes off, "i was with dream."

"you smell like beer," the older commented, "better go shower before anyone else smells you."

the younger nodded, sighing, "i'll do that now."

"what's wrong?" johnny pried, "you seem depressed."

"'cause i kind of am," mark answered honestly, "just feeling the normal guilt, but it will go away. i'm fine."

johnny didn't say anything, so mark lightly pushed past him and went straight to his own room, laying on his bed with a sigh.

before he went to bed, he felt excited for the next day- very excited. it was a feeling slightly foreign to him and he felt himself anticipating spending time with the boys. mark never had any interest in riding a bicycle, but now he did. he was so happy to have friends his age and be able to act like a normal teenager.

that night, mark fell asleep with a smile on his face, excited for the next day.