#due to prev post I went to find my earlier work this year

[tragicsiblings]

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[jaehyun-eclipsed]

Before I Met You | Eight

Updates: Sundays, ~8 PM EST

Pairing: NCT (Jaehyun, Lucas, Mark…) X Reader/OC

Genre: Romance, Angst, Coming of Age

Summary: Four. There were four people before I fell in love with you… Here are their stories.

Author’s Note: I’m sorry for the delay! I got distracted watching videos of Lucas 🙈 That man is disrespectful to my feelings.  

Before I Met You Masterlist

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The furious scritch-scratching of a pencil can be heard even amongst all of the chatter in the dorm’s fifth floor study room. I glance over at Mark as he scribbles down incomprehensible equations in his lab notebook, furrowing his brow in frustration as he struggles to make sense of whatever solution he has just derived.

“You doing okay there?” I ask.

He huffs and pushes his notebook over to me. “Does this look right?”

I squint my eyes in confusion. “What did you do?”

Mark throws his hands up in defeat. “I don’t know! I was just trying to find the density.”

I scan the semblance of chemistry equations, acknowledging the attempt at the proper steps that ultimately fall short. “Well, first you need to find the number of molecules…”

He nods, slowly understanding the task at hand. “Ah, okay, okay! And then you divide that by the Avocado number to get the number of moles, right?”

The corner of my mouth raises to form a half-smile, amused at his use of the term he uses to memorize the name of Avogadro’s number. Mark was quirky like that. “Yes, then multiply that by the molecular weight to convert it to grams.”

“YO! Then I can plug that into the density equation!”

He pulls back his notebook and starts crossing out his previous work before quickly writing in the correct equations.

Mark and I met in our intro chemistry class. He was one of the five boys in our class and one of the only two cute ones. But what really sold it was that he was much nicer than the other guy; more open, less reserved, and he had an infectious smile. He was the definition of sincere happiness.

As is with every class, we started out by introducing ourselves:

“Hi, I’m Y/N and I’m a freshman. Um, I’m a biology major.”

“Hi, my name’s Mark. I’m a freshman and I’m an English major and I’m taking chemistry because I’m also sorta interested in biology.”

He was the only person in the class that I was moderately interested in speaking to; he seemed to get along with everyone. Admittedly, part of my motivation was because I thought he was cute. 

I had only decided to speak to him after I caught him staring at me at the beginning of class once. We were listening to our TA give instructions for the day. Mark was standing next to her and I happened to glance at him, realizing that he was already looking at me – and that’s when he smiled that captivating smile of his. Later that day, I went up to him to confirm the melting temperature of the final product (even though I had already confirmed with several groups around me).

A few weeks later, we both happened to be at the fume hood, evaporating our solvents out of a flask in order to derive our final precipitate. As we were the only two in that part of room, an awkward silence happened to pass between us – one of ‘I know you, but have absolutely no idea what to say.’ Luckily for me, he was the first one to speak this time.

“How was your spring break?” he asked, keeping his focus on his flask.

“It was fine. I went home and studied for most of it since we have that midterm coming up in a week.”

“And where’s home for you?”

“Medford,” I said. “Oregon. It’s a small town, really pretty. How about you?”

“I’m from Vancouver.” He turned to smile at me. “Canada.”

Another pause passes between us.

“Hey, have you looked over the post-lab questions for this experiment?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Do you know how to do them?”

“Yeah, I think so. The equations we need are in the lecture notes.”

He hummed in response before turning to look at me. “Do you think I could get your number in case I need help? I get really confused in lecture sometimes.”

The excitement on my face was clearly evident as I said, “Sure!”

And that is how this all started. Every week since then, Mark and I would meet up to do the post-lab questions together.

That first homework session Mark and I had together was a turning point for me. Transitioning to college had been a challenge. Leaving home, living on my own, and adjusting to the rigor of the classes left me feeling defeated a lot of the time. Back in high school, I had to put in a lot of homework hours, but none of the material was necessarily difficult. It was just time consuming because we were given so much. But the content in college was tough. I had gotten a C on my first midterm and due to being a 4.0 student in high school, a C was unfathomable. It didn’t lend me anymore comfort knowing that more than fifty percent of my grade was based on exam performance and yet, I could spend hours and hours studying without a guarantee of a positive return. It was discouraging.

If I wasn’t in class, I was spending my time by myself in my dorm. I had two roommates, but I didn’t particularly care for either of them. One would wake up early to go to the gym and come back in the morning and slam everything she possibly could on her desk as if nobody else lived there. The other girl – well, her laptop’s wallpaper was a selfie… I think that tells you plenty.

Overall though, it was lonely. I didn’t care for the people I had befriended at the beginning of the year for various reasons so I called my dad every day and counted the days until I could go home.

I’ll never forget the way I felt when I returned home for winter break. Doyoung, Hana, and I had gone over to Taeyeon’s house one night after having dinner and milkshakes. We were there until three in the morning doing acroyoga and dancing in her living room. We were just being kids – carefree and happy. The overwhelming joy I felt that night was something I hadn’t felt in months and I remember having a moment of self-awareness as I watched Doyoung balance Hana on his knees.

I’m not happy.

Starting college in a different state was supposed to be a new beginning. One that’s supposed to be “the best four years of my life.” One where I’d meet a diverse group of people from all over the world. One where I’d get to experience my first college party, fall in love, discover my passion, learn new things... And while I was learning a lot in class, met many people, and did go to my first college party, I was slowly hoping that it would all end soon even though everything had just begun. I was alone and didn’t feel like I had anyone to talk to. That made me realize something else: Being alone never bothered me until it was no longer a choice.

Shortly after those moments of realization, the nightmares started. I had trouble sleeping and when I did finally manage to fall asleep, I’d abruptly wake up hours later, hyperventilating in a cold sweat.

What am I doing? How am I going to get through this?

Who was that confident person I was back in high school?

Where did she go?

Maybe she was just... acting.

Great, I’ve been acting my whole life.

“Y/N.” He sighs loudly and turns to look at me, pulling me from my reverie. “Why are you so amazing?”

I smile back at him. It’s comments like these that make my heart stall and my chest feel warm. Though, I wish I believed him. I know he’s just talking about me helping him with chemistry, but sometimes I hope that it’s a little more than that. We’re in the same year and we get along really well. Plus, he’s really cute. Perhaps we could start dating.

Mark has made me feel comfortable here. I look forward to seeing him every week. His carefree and go with the flow nature is addicting. If he’s ever stressed, he’s very good at hiding it. It’s the complete opposite of my personality. Mark is someone I want to be around all the time.

I love his little quirks. Like when he gets frustrated and furrows his brow. He shakes his head in frustration and clicks his tongue. Or when he laughs – it’s a loud, boisterous laugh followed by a punch in the shoulder to whoever is closest to him. He has this youthfulness to him that will never die. He searches for the happiness in everything and encourages everyone around him. He’s the friend everyone wishes they had.

“You know,” he begins, “I can’t believe that we lived in the same unit this whole time.”

Mark lived in the neighboring dorm building, leaving little opportunity to meet unless we happened to dine near each other in the cafeteria or attended the dorm-wide events in the multi-purpose room.

It would’ve been nice to have a friend earlier on.

“Oh, I saw you a few weeks into the semester,” I say.

He looks at me, clearly surprised. “Yo, what? You did?!” he exclaims. “Why didn’t you say ‘hi’?!”

Mark is in disbelief when I shrug. We hadn’t spoken yet when I saw him that time. I was surprised and quite excited that the cute guy from chem class lived in the same unit as I did. But I was way too shy to say anything. I didn’t want him knowing that I remembered his name and had been paying attention to him ever since the first day of class. He probably didn’t remember my name anyway. But knowing we did live near each other did give me some encouragement to make an attempt to talk to him.

“I – I don’t know. I didn’t really know who you were,” I say. “I mean, I knew you were in my chem class, but –”

“Where did you see me?”

“You were getting the mail.”

“You should’ve said ‘hi’! I would’ve recognized you!”

I open my mouth to say something, but end up making weird gestures with my hands as I don’t know how to respond honestly to Mark’s comment.

He sighs and looks at me with a playfully stern expression. “Well next time, you gotta say ‘hi’! I like saying ‘hi’ to my friends!”

I nod. “Okay, yes, sir,” I quip. “I’ll remember that next time.”

He grins widely and puts his pencil down. “Hey, are you busy tomorrow?”

“I have class at eleven, but that’s it,” I say. “Why?”

“Do you wanna go play badminton with me?!”

I squint my eyes in confusion. This is not the request I was expecting. “Uh…”

“The weather’s supposed to be really nice and I just got the new net I ordered online! I wanna try it out!”  

“Uh, okay,” I say slowly. “Sure. I didn’t realize you liked to play badminton.”

“Oh yeah! It’s my favorite! I used to play with my brother all the time back in Vancouver. Have you played?”

“I used to play in high school. Actually, my team in P.E. won our badminton tournament!”

“Oh! You must be pretty good then!”

“Probably not. It’s been a while.”

“Well, it’s gonna be fun! I’ll meet you on the lawn in front of the library? Like, three?”

“Sure!”

The next day is bright and sunny and after attending psychology discussion, I returned home for a quick sandwich followed by an hour of reading before changing clothes. I opted for a coral cold-shoulder top, blue denim shorts, knock-off boat shoes, and pulled my wavy, brown locks into a ponytail. At two-thirty, I set out for campus.

When I arrive on the lawn, Mark has already set up the net. He picks up a racket, spins it around in his hand, and then tosses a birdie with his free hand up into the air. A loud whack is heard moments before the projectile lands right in front of my feet. I look up and am met with Mark’s bright smile and an excited wave.

“Hey!” Mark runs over to me, enveloping me in a hug. “Isn’t it beautiful today?!” He pulls back to look at me. “You look very summery today!”

“Oh, yeah, I figured since it’s nice out today and there’s no wind…” I shrug.

“Yeah! It’s perfect for us to play!” He picks up the birdie from the ground. “Come on!”

I follow him over to where he had set up the net, picking up the other racket near one of the poles. He’s smiling at me when I look at him again. “Don’t make fun of me if I lose!”

He laughs. “Don’t worry! I won’t! You’ll just have to help me out with chemistry.”

“I already do that!”

It’s momentary and I nearly miss it, but there’s a very brief hesitation before his lips curve up into a bashful smile. His eyes are soft and I detect the slightest bit of admiration in them. There’s a crooked smile on my face when I narrow my eyes at him in curiosity. He remains silent.

After a few moments, I turn my gaze away from him, trying to bite back an embarrassed smile as I superficially glance over at some students playing ultimate Frisbee.

“Are you ready to play?!” Mark asks suddenly.

“Yeah!”

I walk to the opposing side of the net and ready myself for Mark’s serve.

“Zero, zero!”

Swiftly, I swing the racket with a bit of force, easily returning Mark’s serve. He misses.

“Lucky shot,” he remarks, shaking his head.

I pick up another one of the birdies. “One, zero!”

We’re able to rally for a bit when I decide to carry out my signature move from high school. I barely tap the birdie, giving it just enough force to barely make it over the net.

“Oh – what the?!” Mark shouts as he attempts to dive just as the birdie hits the ground.

“Two, zero,” I say with a wide grin.

I’m looking at him as he’s sitting on the ground on my side of the net, one arm propped up on his knee. He chuckles and looks up at me, squinting into the sunlight.

“And you thought you were going to be bad at this!”

I shrug innocently. “I don’t know… or are you just letting me win? Hm?”

“No! Of course not!”

“Oh, so you’re just not very good at this,” I tease. “That’s okay. I understand.” I break out into laughter when he looks at me with a playful frown. 

“Hey!” He’s laughing now. “You know that I’m facing the sun, right?! I’m at a disadvantage.”

I wave my hand in dismissal. “Excuses.”

I extend my hand out to help him stand up. Unfortunately, the weight distribution between us is very imbalanced and results in Mark pulling me down; I fall on top of him with a loud squeal.

“I’m so sorry!” I say in between laughs, trying push myself up off of him with my hands on either side of his body.

He places a hand on the small of my back. “Are you okay?”

I lift my head to look at him, feeling my heart jump briefly as I realize how close we are together. My laughter ceases.

“Uh, yeah,” I say, quickly pushing myself off of him and standing up on my own, brushing myself off.

I watch him as he ducks under the net and repositions himself, smiling widely at me again.

There’s a warmth and giddiness that fills my chest and I recognize it immediately. It’s the same happiness I felt with Doyoung, Hana, and Taeyeon. I smile to myself.

I think things are going to be okay.

I’m suddenly caught off guard when I hear Mark’s racket strike the birdie. My eyes widen as it flies over to my right.

“Oh!” I yelp as I lunge to the side a moment too late.

“Sorry, I was thinking about something,” I say as I turn around to pick up the birdie.

“Oh… about what?”

I smile back at him. “Nothing really. Just that I’m having a lot of fun.”

He cracks a grin as I’m about to serve. “One, two,” he quips.

I frown. “Does that even count?”

“One, two,” he says again with a mischievous smile.

That night, while catching up on some psychology reading, my phone vibrates, Mark’s name flashing on the message notification.

Mark [8:07 PM] Yo! Hey! Today was really fun! Thanks for coming!

Me [8:10 PM] Thank you for inviting me! I haven’t had that much fun in a while

Mark [8:15] Oh and thanks so much for helping me out all the time in chem! You’re a life saver! 😊

Mark [8:17 PM] If you’re up to it, I’d love to take you out for lunch as a thank you! 😊

Mark has been responsible for many of my smiles over the past few weeks. And here he is, doing it again. I chuckle to myself as I feel the giddiness of having a crush return.

Me [8:20 PM] Yeah! That would be great! Thank you!

I don’t think this is a date, but at the very least, I know that Mark likes spending time with me. He’s also definitely a lot nicer than Lucas. So who knows? We have the next three years to find out.

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