#AACCKCKCKKCKC

[2ugars]

ੈ♡˳ (bits of) high school senior!mark ft. college freshman!mark

ps - this was actually supposed to b a bonus to the dream as high school students series but i just graduated high school myself, so i thought posting this would b fitting!

congrats to all my fellow class of 2019 grads, we did it, u guys!!! :D

has already graduated and is now a college freshman in a uni in vancouver majoring in english (creative writing)

was last year’s senior class representative

but only because no one else wanted to be class rep and no one volunteered in the first place

not even mark himself volunteered but there he went,

bein class rep,

LMAO

it was a unanimous vote and the position was pretty much shoved into his hands

(ps this actually happened in my school a year ago in two grades!!!!! ninth + twelfth)

grew up in the school

like literally

his mom is a primary music teacher and Has Been a primary school teacher ever since mark was in primary himself

was That kid who had trouble with what to call his mom because she was a teacher but like???

she was still his mom?????

cue existential crisis at four years old

he got mixed up SO MUCJ

during class he’d accidentally call her eomma

and sometimes during dinner he’d call her mrs. lee

Please Help this poor KID

nyways

because mark has been in the school ever since he was a Child, everyone knows him

Like .  EVERYONE everyone

miss moreno from second grade? mark gave her flowers every teacher’s day

mr. pete from eighth? actual LEGEND, mark will never fail to respect that man

mrs. byun from fifth? mark tutored her kids when they were in middle school

has been with the school as it grew in population and in size

he was a student ambassador throughout his four years in high school

meaning when a family or visitors wanted 2 tour the school,

mark was the one to call

because he knows the school so well

“to the right you’ll see the elementary school playground! the flooring is non-slip so you don’t need to worry about your kids falling if they’re outside on wet days!”

[cut to: a bunch of high schoolers Including Mark during the last few minutes of lunch break on a rainy day, pretending to ice-skate and pulling each other on ‘non-slip’ flooring in the playground and very much.    slipping]

he knows teachers

also he’s a really good conversationalist and has mastered the art of small talk

especially with adults

adults love him lol

“MARK LEE TOOK HOW MANY APS?????”

“too many, brenda. too many .”

honestly didn’t have to, considering his major

but he was initially going into stem before switching halfway through sophomore year

a really hardworking boy

couldn’t feel the stress because he was already so stressed so it didn’t make much of a difference

renjun pinched him once while mark was spacing out during a study session and mark didn’t even flinch

it was worrying

mark lee?  

More like .       

mark.        Bee.

get it because the saying busy bee and mark lee and mark bee

i’ll stop

had a bunch of after school activities

so sometimes he would get home by six or seven pm

the latest was eight

always used the school guitar

there was a column on a guitar sign-out sheet where students had to write their name, grade, class, date, and time they took the guitar

and then!

there was a column titled Mark Lee

honestly everyone felt. Very empty when he left

like it was really weird for the younger grades to Not hear a random burst of laughter in the next room

and being like

“yup it’s mark again”

“how much do u wanna bet how lame the joke was?”

“bold of u to assume there was even a joke in the first place for mark lee to laugh like that”

the dreamies miss him and they stay in touch, obviously

they try facetiming him during school so that six of them can be together when they do, but it’s difficult when mark’s on the other side of the world and is also really busy

“are they nice to you there?” “are college students scary?” “i’m surprised they haven’t kicked you out yet, with how annoying you are”

mark ignores the latter statement (made by none other than hyuck) and smiles at the screen. or, at least, the dreamies think he smiles. the connection is pretty bad.

“they’re nice to me,” he responds. “do you guys remember jaehyun? he was there like. three years ago? basketball captain?”

the boys go silent.

“what grade were we in...” jaemin mumbles suddenly.

jeno’s eyes are wide. “were we even alive?”

“i don’t have enough fingers for this.” jisung chimes in.

“you’re all idiots.” renjun sighs.

hyuck quickly attempts to calculate everything in his head. “oh, we were like. sixteen. or fifteen? so just starting high school.”

chenle scrunches his nose. “the american system is super confusing.”

mark stares blankly at them.

“why do you ask, is he beating you up?” “without us!?” “how rude.”

mark doesn’t even remember what he was supposed to tell them, a smile growing on his face as he watches them collectively yell statements and battle cries they were never going to live up to. his heart stings with homesickness, but it’s soothed with endearment as the kids soon scramble to end the call when the school bell rings on the other end.

jaemin: “oh CRAP i have a test! i totally forgot to study!”

jeno: “i have to go, smith is going to kill me if i end up late for class”

renjun: “smith loves you, what are you talking about”

chenle: “hah, suckers, i have study hall~!”

jisung: “shut up, chenle, we all know you do nothing”

chenle: “says the one who watches asmr for an hour and thirty minutes straight!”

jeno: “okay bye, mark, we’ll talk to you soon!”

jaemin & hyuck: “love you!”

hyuck: “tell this jaehyun fella that he can’t beat you up!”

jisung: “not without us!”

renjun: “okay, bye!!!!!! we miss you!!!!!!”

“you’re all impossible,” mark says with a grin. “okay. don’t have too much fun without me!”

the kids all chorus their farewells, but it soon ends up being a competition on who can scream their love for him the loudest. the last thing mark sees before the call finally ends is jisung’s enlarged nostrils with chenle’s manic laughter in the background.

the screen goes black.

call has ended.

he looks at his reflection for a few moments, homesickness coming in full force. he turns his phone off, takes his earphones out, and leans his head back.

jaehyun, who’s across from him, smiles knowingly and sadly. 

“homesick?”

“dude,” mark breathes, throwing his hood over his head and pulling it over his eyes to keep everyone in the library from seeing his reddening, watery eyes, “dude, you don’t even know.”