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[mrkerina]

Photobooth ; mark lee

— (idol au) in which you are his source of comfort.

Pairing — Mark lee (nct) x fem!reader

Word count — 2095

Content — You comforting him after an incident during a concert and it became a date.

Author’s note — This is my first post, i’m just testing tumblr out to see if i want to use it or not. Hope you enjoy!

The music blasted through the speakers, resonating throughout the whole stadium. Mark felt the music in his veins, his heart thumping to the beat of the song. He danced tirelessly although it may seem effortless from the fan’s perspective.

It was in his blood, dancing to one song after another. It was his job description after all. Just that he did not realize how much he had to sacrifice before it was too late to back out.

The NCT 2023 concert in which millions of fans had anticipated, the crowd a sea of green like a huge patch of grass. The lights shone glaringly at his eyes, he had to squint to look around. Out of all the members he had the most to do, being the ace and everything. He probably had to come out to perform for the most number of songs.

It was overwhelming, really.

The stress was all piling up onto him, a migraine catching up to make his head feel fuzzy. And yet, he continued to go through the motions of the choreography, for whatever song it was.

Even when learning the choreography of their new song, the dance practices were a mess. He was the only one who wasn’t able to catch up, his mind full of other things that he needed to do and learn.

He was afraid to mess up, afraid to disappoint everyone. Not just his fans, but also his members.

Mark’s ears rang piercingly, his eyes blurred. He tried to blink it away and continue to dance but he couldn’t. Before he knew it, everything went black and he fell to the ground with the music still blasting through the speakers of the stadium.

Breaking news: Mark Lee from NCT faints in the middle of their concert. The concert had to continue without him.

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To say that you were worried was an understatement when you saw the news. Panicking, you immediately left your workplace hurriedly while calling Mark’s manager.

You wasted no time when he picked up. “Where is Mark?” The words came out all at once, barely enunciated but it was clear what you were calling for. So he told you the address to the hospital and you immediately grabbed a cab and headed there.

The moment the car stopped, you ran out. Paparazzi were already standing outside the hospital, which made you pause. Security guards were pushing them out of the way, refusing to let them enter the hospital to reach the boy.

Your relationship with Mark wasn’t known to the public, you could not risk getting caught with him. That was why you turned the corner, going near the back where you saw an opened window at the ground floor which you used to enter.

It was slightly more difficult with the skirt you were wearing but you made it in. You immediately opened the door to exit into the hallways of the hospital.

You pressed for the eighth floor where his manager said his room was at. Inwardly urging for the elevator to move quicker as you paced around.

You quickened your pace when you saw his manager standing by the hallways, fingers gripping his hair as his face contorted into an expression of distress with his phone to his ear. “I don���t know where he went! If I knew I wouldn’t be calling you to check if he was with you right now…nevermind I’ll find him…bye.” His conversation ended.

Your eyes widened. “What? What do you mean? Who were you talking about, it’s not about Mark right?” You questioned as your head spun.

He turned towards you and sighed. “Mark’s gone, I have no idea where he went. Maybe you can reach him, his phone is switched off though.” He explained.

You didn’t have time to think, you turned on your feet and left. Leaving the hospital through the back doors, snatching your phone out of your bag to call the missing idol.

Of course, the call did not get through for you either.

He was making you go crazy. Not knowing whether he was safe or not made you start to overthink everything.

“Come on, think y/n where would he go.” You muttered to yourself as you looked around the area. Your eyes caught sight of the karaoke place opposite the hospital.

You immediately ran for it.

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Mark felt disappointed in himself. Why couldn’t he just handle the pain a little bit more, push through until the end of the show. It wasn’t that hard, he had done it numerous times before after all.

There he sat in the dark karaoke room, the only source of light emitting from the television screen. There was no music playing, it was just him isolating himself in the dark corner of the room with his eyes closed.

For some reason, this place gave him a sense of comfort, not specifically this place itself but any karaoke place in general. It was probably because it was where the two of you had met for the first time. It was when he was in the same state he’s in right now, and somehow you came in like an angel reaching out for him.

That first meeting made him feel like everything was okay, like he could be someone with a normal life without needing to face all the struggles his life as an idol gave him.

Then you were gone but came back again a few months later, enrolled in his school. It was like fate was binding the two of you together. And slowly everything had developed from there.

For now, he was lonely. His eyes watery but yet he refused to let himself cry. He read the articles, he saw the comments saying how the concert wasn’t worth the money if he wasn’t there or how he was too weak and he didn’t deserve to be this successful.

Just when he was falling deeper into the dark abyss of his mind, the door slammed open violently. Making him jump in fright, thinking that it might have been his manager or the paparazzi but who he didn’t think it would be was his girlfriend.

You sighed in relief when you saw the black haired boy sitting at the corner of the room looking at you in shock. You entered before closing the door behind you, the light from the hallways exiting from the room.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you have work?” Mark asked, confused but glad at the same time.

You glared at him. “How dare you! You make me worried sick, I saw the article and I immediately left work and went to the hospital only for you to be gone and then your phone is turned off!” You ranted, he opened his mouth to speak but you beat him to it. “And don’t you think you can just say sorry and let everything off because no! You tell me what’s wrong here and now because obviously you are in a karaoke place so you are obviously feeling overwhelmed so spill.”

You stood directly in front of him with your arms crossed over your chest, staring down at the boy who could only look up at you like a lost puppy being reprimanded. “I’m sorry it’s just I messed up by letting my body give out. Actually, I've been messing up every dance practice we’ve had for the concert and it's just hard to keep up. I feel like I’m just being a huge disappointment to everyone and I just can’t handle the pressure.” A tear had slipped from his eye by the end of his speech.

You brought a thumb to his cheek and wiped the tear away, heart aching for him. “You’re not a disappointment. You’re doing so well, so incredibly well. I admire you for being so hard working even though your ridiculous ass of a company doesn’t even appreciate it. You’ve always been strong, just because you fainted once doesn’t mean you’re anything less than that.” You said softly. Mark held on to your every word, loving the way your voice flowed so smoothly.

You sat down beside him, spreading your arms widely to urge him to come for a hug, which he did. Your arms wrapped around his neck as his head was buried in your neck. You stroked his hair gently, soothing him.

Your warmth was something he loved, and also your straightforwardness. He felt himself relax and forget about everything else, just him being in your arms was all it took. He basked in your warmth, feeling significantly calmer and better.

The two of you sat there in silence for a while, Mark in your arms with you playing with his hair.

Soon after he got up. “We should probably go out, I think the time for this room is almost up.” He said. You glanced at the time left shown on the screen, showing that there was only 5 minutes left, enough for one song.

“Wait, let me show you this rap I've been practicing.” You grinned cheekily before going to the machine and inputting that one superm song with your boyfriend’s infamous rap. “Oi you better watch out Mark Lee I’m coming for your spot.” You spoke into the microphone, making him laugh.

“Uh, you think ya big boi, throwing three stacks. Uh something yea yea…mismatch.” You tried his part but failing miserably, it was way too fast. Mark could only laugh at you, his hand slapping his knee with his head thrown back at how ridiculous you were being.

You stared at him in disbelief as the song ended and the television went back to the home screen signalling that the time was up. “Hey! Stop laughing, I swear I’m just lacking practice. You better watch your back. Obviously I’m going to be the one to replace you when you’re gone.” You huffed.

“Okay sure. Whatever you say, my princess.”

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Thankfully, this was a very small and secluded mall which had barely anyone around.

The two of you walked out of the karaoke place, and were about to leave when you saw a self service photo booth store.

Your eyes immediately lit up, you quickly grabbed Mark’s arm and dragged him in that direction. “What-?” He let out confused at the sudden change of course but followed you compellingly.

“Let’s take cute pictures! We’ve never done one together before.” You replied looking around at all the accessories that they have in amazement. You ended up settling for a duck head band while Mark settled for a pair of those thug life meme glasses.

You both entered one of the booths, which was surprisingly small. Making you two squeeze in the tiny space with your shoulders touching each other. “Okay you ready?” You pressed start on the screen once Mark nodded in response.

The timer went faster than the two of you anticipated. For the first picture you both weren’t ready at all but the two of you composed yourself enough to smile on the second before taking off the accessories and having a plain photo with just the two of you on the next.

You both laughed at how ridiculous the photos ended up being. The two of you chose four out of the six and printed them. They gave two copies so you kept one while Mark kept the other.

“Wait, let me head to the washroom quickly then I swear we can leave.” You rushed before running off leaving the boy standing there outside the store waiting for you.

He stood there with the photo grasped tightly in his hand as he stared at it. The last picture you both took was one where you were smiling to the camera while Mark had an expression that was between a laugh and a smile with his eyes trained on you rather than the camera.

It was a mystery to him how you were able to just easily make him feel like a normal teenager rather than a well-known idol. The way you make him feel love sick for you was something foreign for him. Honestly, it was everything about you that made him feel different.

When you got out from the washroom, you went back to Mark, noticing that he was staring at the photos the two of you took with a soft smile on his face. It made your heart warm. “What’s up? Are you laughing at me in the picture? You better not be.”

“No, not at all. You look beautiful, as always.”