mark watched in shock as his capo and yangyang actually helped each other while they cleaned, talking amongst themselves.

it had been two weeks of pure hell for mark. it was fight after fight, lecture after lecture, talk after talk. at some point in the past week, mark gave up and decided it was their turn to make things right.

"man it's so nice not having to clean," ten sighed next to mark, leaning against the banister from the landing of the stairs.

mark nodded quietly, arms crossed over his chest as he focused on the boys, trying to see if it was an act.

of course it was to an extent. there was still a divide in the group. there was also obvious confusion between chenle and jisung who really didn't have a place in the fights nor either side. jeno would always be the first one to shut everyone up, even if he was in the fight himself.

however, today it was calm. donghyuck surprisingly did the dishes with jeno without a word of disapproval, renjun and jaemin were sweeping quietly, chenle and jisung were dusting and polishing, and yangyang was vacuuming. chenle and jisung were playfully bickering as per usual, but the rest were fairly quiet.

"how many fights today?" ten asked in an attempt to talk to mark.

"none so far," the younger male answered bluntly, very focused on his capo and yangyang.

ten's eyebrows raised in shock, "interesting."

"yo yo yo!" the rest of wayv entered noisily, johnny with them.

the males messed with those cleaning and very obviously pissed them off, but nothing happened. no arguing, no yelling, not even playful fighting.

"the fuck is going on," mark muttered in pure shock, unable to believe what was going on.

"don't think too much about it," ten patted mark's shoulder. "just be happy they're getting along."

with that, ten walked over to johnny, starting a conversation.

mark pursed his lips. ten was right, but something made mark hesitant to believe they were really getting along.

"how's it going?"

mark jumped in shock, turning to look behind him to see jaehyun walking down the stairs, dressed in casual clothes.

"surprisingly well," mark mumbled.

"taeyong and i talked to them," jaehyun put his hands in his pockets and stood next to mark, looking at the group cleaning. "i guess they actually listened."

"you talked to them?" mark was slightly angry. he was angry that they went behind his back and tried to take care of his problem, angry that the boys were listening to jaehyun and taeyong but not him, angry at himself because he felt incompetent.

jaehyun simply nodded.

"can you guys really not let me take care of my own shit-"

"it's been two weeks mark," jaehyun cut the younger off, sending him a sharp glare. "nothing you have done has helped, now has it?"

mark clenched his fists, his arms still crossed over his chest.

"quit treating me like a child. shit like this doesn't happen overnight- it takes a long time. also, you don't know them like i do. they're so obviously acting because you probably threatened them, didn't you? do you know how to do anything other than scare people? i'm trying to get them to like each other, not tolerate each other. this is my capo, my problem, so can you please fuck off and let me do what i think is right for once? i'm a lot smarter than you think," mark spat, the noise making the males on the first floor stop what they were doing and watch.

"i'm going to treat you how you act," jaehyun sneered. "tell me to fuck off again, let's see what happens. why can't you just swallow your pride for once?"

mark got into jaehyun's face and emphasized each word. "fuck off."

jaehyun gritted his teeth and grabbed mark's arm tightly, his other hand going to punch the younger.

mark ducked down, digging his nails into jaehyun's arm and pulling it off.

mark took two steps back, making sure he wasn't close enough to fall down the stairs.

jaehyun was fast and went to send another punch towards mark, but mark gracefully dodged again, this time turning around behind jaehyun and kicking the male in between his shoulder blades.

jaehyun stumbled and mark took jaehyun's temporary distraction as a chance to jump over the banister, landing on the balls of his feet on the first floor.

"let's not fight," mark smugly said, smirking at jaehyun who was glaring down at the younger. "we all know i'll win, so why don't you stop while you're ahead to keep your pride?"

"you're lying because you're a pussy who doesn't want to lose and admit you're just an egotistical child who doesn't know anything," jaehyun replied.

a laugh of disbelief left mark's lips and he took a few steps back. "fine then, come fight."

when jaehyun jumped over the banister and landed in front of mark, the younger immediately twisted and sent a kick to the older's chest, swiftly taking the pocket knife out of his pocket and flicking it open. without a delay or hesitation, mark threw the knife when his foot was back on the ground, jaehyun moving so it just barely grazed the side of his shoulder.

"guys, stop please," johnny pleaded, seeing jaehyun advance towards mark and send another punch.

yet again, mark dodged, putting his hands on the back of the couch and flipping over it, keeping his eyes on jaehyun.

mark smirked and sent a punch at jaehyun's face when the older male was in front of him, hitting him straight in the nose.

the crack that came from it made everyone flinch as they moved out of the way, not wanting to end up in the middle.

mark sent another to the side of jaehyun's face and then kicked his knees, forcing him on the ground.

mark clicked his tongue and put his foot on top of jaehyun's chest, leaning down and staring at the male.

"you're rusty," the younger sung. "i told you, you can't win against me."

mark put more pressure on his foot, jaehyun angrily grabbing the younger's leg.

before jaehyun could pull mark down as well, the rest of the boys went to breaking them up, half pulling mark away and the other half pulling jaehyun away.

mark didn't struggle or fight against it like jaehyun did, only standing there calmly with a victorious smirk on his lips.

"hey kun," mark called to the male who was following those dragging jaehyun towards the elevator to bring him downstairs. "jaehyun's sick- has a fever and is sluggish."

kun nodded before turning back around again.

mark's capo and yangyang stood behind the oldest, quietly watching him as he watched everyone else get in the elevator and go down.

once the elevator doors closed, mark's smirk dropped and his face was filled with anger again, jaehyun's words coming back.

"hey, uh, are you okay?" jeno asked mark, hesitantly stepping closer to the oldest.

mark let out a harsh sigh, one hand raking through his hair. "yeah, i'm alright."

"that was so fucking cool," jisung mumbled under his breath in shock. "you took him down so fast."

"well first of all he's sick," mark explained, looking at jisung. "secondly jaehyun is strong, but that doesn't mean he's good at fighting. he isn't agile enough and when he gets angry he gets sloppy."

"you're also just a beast when it comes to combat," yangyang praised.

"that's because i had nothing else to do other than schoolwork for the past what? nineteen years?" mark scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "all i've done is fight and shoot guns and learn how to throw knifes. i didn't have anyone my age to hang out with nor did anyone want to hang out with me because 'i was the boss.' you guys are lucky you have each other, so can you suck up your stupid petty fighting and understand? i'm not going to threaten you nor am i going to yell, just... think about it. you can leave."

mark turned on his heel into the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water and sitting on the counter, staring out the window above the sink that showed the backyard where yuta and a few other capos were hanging out and talking.

a sigh left his lips and he adverted his eyes to the two males who had came into the kitchen to finish the dishes, quietly talking to each other.

mark raised an eyebrow, shocked and slightly weirded out at seeing donghyuck and jeno get along.

mark didn't know if the two were oblivious to him sitting there or were pretending like they were, but he just sat there and watched.

"god jaehyun's kind of a dick," jeno huffed, turning the hot water back on.

"not kind of- is," donghyuck corrected, picking up the towel he had thrown onto the counter earlier. "mark opens his mouth and jaehyun is pissed. since he doesn't like mark, he doesn't like us either."

"yeah," jeno mumbled, a little shocked that donghyuck had answered him. "everyone else is pretty nice but him."

"apparently he has some sort of soft side," donghyuck gossiped, taking the plate out of jeno's hands and drying it. "when i was introduced to them, johnny said jaehyun was a resident dad and had a soft side. i've only ever seen him nice to taeyong and johnny, everyone else he like tolerates. oh- and winwin, but everyone loves winwin."

"do you know why?" jeno questioned.

donghyuck shook his head. "no idea. i think something happened when they were younger when taeyong and mark's dad died."

mark was slightly impressed, donghyuck was right. they had given him no information on this and he figured it out.

"oh because mark is going to be the underboss and jaehyun is going to be stripped of his job?" jeno stopped to look at donghyuck for a second.

the latter looked up from the bowl he was drying for a second before looking back down and nodding. "i'd assume so. i'd be pissed off too if i knew my job was going to be taken away."

jeno hummed. "speaking of..."

jeno turned the sink off, done cleaning the dishes and turning to donghyuck who was drying the last of the silverware, all the clean stuff in piles next to him.

donghyuck hesitantly put the silverware down, looking at jeno, "yeah?"

"i'm sorry," jeno blurted, visibly nervous. "for everything i said in the past. i was upset and really didn't mean any of it. i'm sorry i made you do that job and i'm sorry i didn't pay you like promised."

donghyuck put down the towel he was using to dry the dishes and crossed his arms over his chest. "it's whatever. i don't think i'll ever fully forgive you, but we're working together again."

"why uh... why did you stop being our friend and helping us?" jeno hesitantly asked.

donghyuck's lips turned down into a frown. "i was going through some stuff, okay? my first instinct was to deal with it alone. my friend committed suicide and i remembered why i hated doing stuff like this."

"then why are you here?" jeno asked quietly.

"why?" donghyuck repeated. "because it's my escape. why else? why are you here? yeah taeyong practically forced you, but you were trying to keep dream together. why?"

"family first, everything else second," jeno replied simply.

"glad you still have that mentality, you'll need it around here," donghyuck leaned against the counter. "look, i don't really want to be your friend right now. we can be acquaintances and talk but... i'm not ready to completely let go of what happened. that shit hurt and i'm still scarred. for the sake of mark, let's get along, okay?"

a small smile made its way on jeno's lips and he nodded. "deal."

"what are you going to do with renjun?" jeno asked donghyuck, helping the male put away the dishes.

"i don't know," donghyuck sighed. "he hates me. i'm not too fond of him either right now, but i'm really trying. he gets under my skin."

jeno hummed. "he feels betrayed."

"well then fuck him," donghyuck mumbled under his breath. "he's the one who misunderstood and wouldn't listen."

"holy shit," jeno yelled in shock, turning around and seeing mark sitting there, quietly watching with a small smile on his face.

the bowls in jeno's hands fell onto the floor, thankfully not breaking because they were plastic and not glass.

mark let out a light giggle, "sup. surprised it took you this long."

"i already knew," donghyuck said, not fazed by what had happened. "you walked in here and never left and i saw you move out of the corner of my eye."

"what's wrong? what's going on?" jaemin entered the room, holding his boom up like a weapon.

"mark scared the shit out of me," jeno replied, bending down and picking up the dishes he dropped.

"you're just not observant," donghyuck teased. "like the bug that's on your shoulder. it's been there for like five minutes."

jeno gasped, moving around trying to get the "bug" off of him.

the three other boys snickered, all knowing there was no big.

"jen, there is no bug," jaemin forced out in between laughs.

jeno's eyes went dark and he went over to donghyuck, taking the towel off the counter and spinning it.

"no! don't hurt me!" donghyuck cried, running around the room trying to avoid jeno.

"they're friends?" jaemin asked mark as he walked over, careful to avoid the two playing cat and mouse.

"yeah, well, kind of," mark replied, shrugging.

jaemin and mark watched as jeno eventually caught donghyuck, the latter squirming and yelling for mercy while jeno kept hitting him.

"what's going on," chenle and jisung poked their heads in the doorway. "it's really loud- oh."

"help!" donghyuck cried.

the two youngest looked at each other and grinned before going over, teaming up against donghyuck with jeno.

"why me," donghyuck dramatically yelled.

yangyang eventually came in as well, joining donghyuck's side as they held an official fight, taking shelter behind the counter and throwing things at each other.

jaemin glanced at mark and saw the smile on his face, making a smile appear on the younger's as well.

"you don't want to join?" mark asked jaemin.

jaemin shook his head. "i'm tired."

mark laughed, shaking his head.

everyone stopped for a minute when renjun walked in, asking everyone to quiet down.

chenle and jisung looked at each other, grinned, and started throwing stuff at renjun, forcing him to join the fight.

"come on jaem, let's have some fun," mark grinned at him, pulling him out of his chair and pushing him towards jeno's team.

mark joined renjun, donghyuck, and yangyang, both groups laughing and leaving the kitchen to go into the living room for more room and ammo.

mark was smiling the whole time, laughing happily.

finally, they were making progress. all it needed was a little patience.