Mark was slamming the doors in the apartment a lot more frequently. E’dawn never paid any real attention to his roommate. He was only into him when he brought food home. However it was getting hard to ignore Mark’s constant temper tantrums. It was time to corner him. E’dawn waited outside Mark’s room with a pillow case. His only plan was to wrestle the boy to the ground sit on him until he cried ‘uncle’ and then talk about what Mark’s deal was. It was a pretty simple straight forward idea. E’dawn hadn’t expected Mark to fight back. Mark swung his left fist at his attackers face. E’dawn struggled to bring him down, he could feel the pulsating pain surrounding his left eye. Mark had knocked him good, E’dawn would definitely have a bruise thats for sure. Mark was finally subdued with E’dawn sitting on his chest. E’dawn slowly took the pillowcase off Mark’s head with his left hand, using his right to shield his face incase Mark threw another haymaker.  

“Dude what the hell,” Mark squinted up at E’dawn visibly more angry upon seeing his roommate's face and not some murderer.

He wasn’t in the mood for E’dawn’s games, he wasn’t in the mood for anyone’s games lately. E’dawn stood up cautiously, his eyes never leaving Mark’s.

    “So uh,” E’dawn backed off a bit.

    “What’s going on with you man, why are you so angry all the time?”

Pain flashed through Mark’s eyes, E’dawn barely picked up on it before Mark was on his feet.

    “None of your business,” Mark spit.

E’dawn was tired, tired of Mark being an lately. He wasn’t a violent person, he much rather preferred to stab someone in the back than the front. E’dawn thought briefly before deciding to swing with all his might. He clipped Marks eye. In a second Mark crumpled to the floor holding his right eye. E’dawn stood there towering over the him, feeling the pain pulsate from his face to his knuckles. Punching someone really hurt, 0/10.

    “You don’t have to tell me then. I understand wanting to keep your personal life private. But when it starts affecting people around you," E'dawn breathed trying to lower the anger in his voice.

"Maybe you should clue them in on what’s wrong don’t be an .”

Mark rose shakily. Opting to lay on the couch, he didn’t remove the hand from his eye until E’dawn himself sat. The two rested in silence for a few minutes, E’dawn went over a script in his head for how to explain to Luda.

    “The girl I used to bring over a lot, Cheng Xiao--”

    “Oh yeah the ditzy girl who thought our ice maker made icecream?”

    “Yeah her.”

    “What about her,” E’dawn had already put the pieces together in his head, but Mark had started this conversation and the guy was opening up he wouldn’t dare ruin the moment.

    “She broke up with me last night,” Mark’s voice cracked.

E’dawn moved away from him like he carried plague. Sadness was a disease, he wanted no part of it. He couldn’t let it get to him. He stood facing the boy leaning his back against Mark’s door waiting for him to continue. Mark raised his head from his palms. It was evident the girl meant enough to him to shake him up. E’dawn felt his heart squeeze, images of Luda’s eyes shining brighter and Eunseo imprinted in his mind.

    “What’s funny is that for awhile I thought she was seeing someone else. She told me so many times that I was the only guy in her life I started to believe her. A few days ago I got home from work late and saw her with someone else. They were holding hands but I trusted her ya know? I went over to her house after work yesterday to confront her and she broke up with me on her front porch before I could even ask who she was with.”

    “Dude.. I'm really sorry.”

E’dawn had no idea how to comfort Mark, he could see how broken the guy was crying into his hands on their living room couch. He’d always been able to comfort girls well, so he figured it might work out the same with Mark.  

    “Mark I was gonna go visit Luda but since this is a bromergency I think I’d rather take you out to find another girl. A smart girl this time, maybe a history major.”

Mark wiped his eyes before looking up to E’dawn, they’d never been close but E’dawn’s yellow eye made him feel like they were.

    “Who sacked you bro?” Mark laughed.

E’dawn laughed with him, the atmosphere changed if only by a bit.

    “I should ask you the same thing.”

Xuanyi woke up around noon. She was a bit surprised to have slept in so much, but mostly upset with herself. She hated losing daylight to sleep. She stretched her arms before jumping out of bed. The hardwood was warm underneath her feet, she rubbed her stomach remembering she needed to eat. She was halfway into the hall when her phone rang. Bona hardly ever called. She mostly just showed up, even when it was inconvenient.

    X: Hi

    B: God you slept forever

    X: PLEASE i’m already upset

    B: I’m waiting outside hurry up

Bona hung up leaving Xuanyi to pout by herself. She hadn’t planned on going out today, she wanted to hang around with Luda and Eunseo. Last night was only the beginning she really needed the semester to go well. Surrounding herself with bright energy was the first part. She pulled on a black sweater and olive colored pants. Her lazy clothes were usually all rompers and pants paired with a random shirt she didn’t have anyone to impress anyway. Bona was impressed by Xuanyi wearing anything. The house was quiet. Xuanyi breezed through the hallway, not a single peep from her other roommates. She saw two coffee mugs on the countertop her only indication that her roommates were alive. Xuanyi clicked the front door shut right when Eunseo creaked her door open.

    Cheng Xiao left after her first cup of coffee. Lately her girlfriend had been distant, but Eunseo didn’t want to think much about it. She remembered a few months ago seeing Cheng Xiao with a guy while she was out delivering her latest commissioned piece. She wouldn’t deny it made her upset, she walked all the way home without even delivering the art. Cheng Xiao came over that night and tried cuddling up to her only to be met by a cold wall. Eunseo didn’t know how to express her hurt other than putting herself in space, the farthest place away from the pain. She built her walls high. Cheng Xiao was able to break Eunseo down only because Eunseo let her. It was all a misunderstanding, the guy was just an “old friend”. Eunseo felt stupid for hating her girlfriend over something she had only assumed. So she stopped assuming, and gave her full trust to Cheng Xiao.

Eunseo blew at a few stray pieces of hair. One more day till school started. With Xuanyi gone she practically had the whole house to herself. She could ignore Luda for the entire day if she wanted. She felt a little bad scaring the girl earlier though. Eunseo knocked as softly as she could on Luda’s door. Softly out of courtesy but more because she was hoping Luda wouldn’t answer. Unfortunately she did. Luda opened the door slowly, surprise evident on her face. Eunseo didn't seem the type to approach first. They stood there, Eunseo looking down on Luda waiting for the girl to shut the door or let her in. Luda stared at the ground, she was afraid of the tingling in her stomach and if she looked up Eunseo might start another staring match. So she waved the white flag first. Tension was evident, both felt it. Eunseo cocked her head curious as to why Luda stepped back.

Was the shorter girl inviting her in? Eunseo stepped forward. Luda held the door knob tighter. Luda exhaled, in tense situations she tended to hold her breath. Eunseo scanned the dozens of posters on the walls. Luda liked some very “unique” taste bands. She’d never heard of half the groups. Luda walked past Eunseo and sat on the edge of her bed. She still couldn’t look Eunseo in the eyes. Hands clasped in her lap, she just waited for the air to feel less heavy.

Eunseo really was an . She could tell how uncomfortable Luda was. So being her, she sat right next to the timid girl. Their legs were touching, Luda shifted a bit away which only made Eunseo laugh.

“Are you scared of me?”

Eunseo waited for an answer amused at the whole idea of it. Luda lifted her head, she was a tad offended that the Eunseo thought she had any kind of power over her in the slightest.

“No, I just don’t know you,” Luda spoke bluntly turning to face Eunseo.

Eunseo's expression of amusement disappeared. Luda smirked, that's all she wanted. She recognized Eunseo’s style. The cocky tortured artist who acted like a badass but was secretly a softie. Luda only knew because she was similar. A tortured artist, but secretly a badass, kinda sorta.  

Eunseo bit her lip, she hadn’t expected the sudden atmosphere shift. Luda was dangerous. She'd read once before a quote that said "watch out for the small ones." She felt drawn to Luda, making Luda even more annoying to her. God. First the girl brought her boyfriend over E’dawn who was her ex boyfriend, making her revisit a past she’d long forgotten. Then the girl refused to back down from their staring contest forcing Eunseo to retreat for the first time. Now this. Luda unconsciously shifted back toward her. Eunseo lay back on the bed kicking her feet out. Luda had even decorated the ceiling in posters.

    “Interesting way to decorate,” Eunseo’s voice filled the still room.

Luda lay down too, she felt relaxed. There was no heaviness in the air.

    “I like art,” Luda replied turning her head toward the girl.

    “Our definitions of art are way different.”

Eunseo reached for Luda’s hand ignoring the race of her own heartbeat at such a bold act. She pulled the girl up with her till they were both standing.

    “I’ll show you art.”

Luda was drug out of her room, down the hall and into Eunseo’s. They were still holding hands, but that was pushed to the back of Luda’s mind when she saw what Eunseo had created. Luda was again reminded that her room was lackluster in comparison to her other Babe Cave housemates. Eunseo’s room was one big mural of space. Luda thought she had stepped into and observatory. She saw every constellation.

    “This is art.” Eunseo said proudly letting their hands drop.

    “What do you think?”

What did she think? What could she possibly think? This was art, Eunseo was right 100%. Luda leaned forward onto her tiptoes. She often did when thinking hard. Eunseo just waited, she took in every detail of the shorter girl. How she her lips when she wanted to say something, and bit her bottom lip in concentration. Luda’s blonde pinkish hair hadn’t been combed giving the girl a ‘I just woke up’ vibe.

    “You’re very talented,” Luda paused searching for the constellation Orion.

    “I could write about you.”

    Eunseo stared unabashedly. As annoying as Luda was, there was something so pure about her. She radiated an energy that made the whole room bright. Brighter than Xuanyi’s smile. Luda’s phone rang breaking the taller girl out of her trance.

    “That’s probably E’dawn,” Luda looked away from Eunseo’s art and down at their intertwined pinkies.

She forgot when they had reached out toward each other.  Eunseo couldn’t hide her slight discontent. E’dawn. Everything led back to him. Two years and 6 months ago E’dawn had approached her at a party. She was watching over her friends, but ended up speaking to him all night. They exchanged numbers and began seeing each other regularly. He had a huge influence on what she painted. She was getting commissioned left and right. He joked about being her muse, but he wasn’t that far off. She often painted conflicting abstractions. Things that got people thinking, while she herself was conflicted. E’dawn was comfort personified. She had a slight crush on her best friend Dayoung at the time which killed her. Dayoung was incredibly straight edge. Infact she’d tested the waters with the girl and discovered how disgusted Dayoung was to learn that same couples existed. It was like she really did live in space, was she an extraterrestrial?

    Eunseo remembered getting wasted at a party to numb out the ache of her heart. She remembered E’dawn’s hand on her waist, strong, guiding her to her home while she dipped and tripped trying to walk straight. She remembered how he held her hair while she threw up and how he made sure she didn’t text anyone. The next morning she remembered how cute he was sprawled on the floor with a towel over him. He said he refused to leave her alone incase she got really sad and needed someone’s warmth. She liked how much he seemed to care.

    Luda wasn’t surprised when E’dawn cancelled on meeting up. He said hours ago he’d be over in a bit. It was night time now. She was well aware his apartment was only a 10 minute walk, five if you drove. E’dawn had apologized profusely claiming he was dealing with a friend. Luda had craved his company earlier but after speaking with Eunseo she forgot.  Her mind was racing with lines of poetry.

I want you to knock me around,

I need a little sense.

There are poems on my lips,

kiss me you’ll feel them

You will.

    L.L.

Luda didn’t know what to make of the snippet. She wasn’t exactly sure who it was for but she liked it. Maybe she’d work off of it later. She shoved the scrap of notebook paper in her journal.

Exhausted, Luda lay her head down on her desk. She still had a poem to write due in a day. Unlike Eunseo who was an art machine, poetry took time, she couldn’t write into an abyss and hope for the best. But she sure as hell would try.

I Fear the moment our eyes meet.

I’m unsure whether to say

There’s something, a feeling or not.

It’s familiar but repressed and I long

For a touch, your lips on my neck.

              L.L.

Xuanyi never brought Bona inside while her roommates were home. She’d made the mistake before while Exy was staying with them. Exy scoffed at Bona’s appearance. Bona didn’t mind, being used to it but Xuanyi remembered tensing up, squeezing Bona’s hand and practically dragging the girl to her bedroom. When Xuanyi was finding herself, experimenting and conquering she’d made the mistake of involving her ex housemate. The two briefly had ‘something.’ But Exy was just a notch, she’d never let her be anything more because she knew how the girl operated. Xuanyi knew Exy didn’t care for anyone she played with. She was dating three guys at once and picking up girls on the side. The day Exy defaulted on paying rent was like Christmas to Xuanyi. Luda became her replacement and she enjoyed the lighter atmosphere. Tonight she could break some rules. Bona was in shock, to be dragged yet again through the Babe Cave.

Luda’s door had been open and she glanced up briefly to see Xyuani fly past with a blonde haired girl in tow. Luda pushed herself away from her desk and stretched. Poetry took everything out of her she needed some inspiration. Hopefully Xuanyi had poetry in her personal library because Luda so desperately needed it. Without knocking Luda pushed open Xuanyi’s door.

“Hey Xuanyi do you have any books of poetr--” she froze.

Bona smirked toward Luda, if her hand wasn’t currently down Xuanyi’s pants she would’ve waved in her normal goofy way. Xuanyi looked up lazily. Luda was still frozen looking anywhere but at the two girls. Her cheeks were aflame and she couldn’t help but stutter.

    “N-nevermind, I- didn’t know you were b-busy.”

From her spot on the bed Bona could see the innocence glowing on the girl. She remembered Xuanyi the same way when she kissed her for the first time. Luda hadn’t left yet, she seemed curious.

    “You could join us,” Bona offered retracting her hand from Xuanyi's waistband.

Xuanyi sat up silently. She took in Luda’s features, the mixture of curiosity and embarrassment. She noticed the shiny glint in the girl’s eyes, for only a moment. What was she hiding? Xuanyi yawned, looking at the shelves in her room for anything poetry related to help the poor girl.

Luda stared at the floor. She felt uneasy, but only because she was mildly by the feel Bona gave off. The girl was seriously so straightforward. She noticed a book half peeking out under Xuanyi’s bed. Luda not wanting to make the situation any more awkward grabbed it and prayed it was in at least in some way poetic. Xuanyi never took her eyes off of Luda. The girl was interesting. She caught her staring at Bona her eyes in a haze. She had a feeling that Luda might swing part time for her team, but she didn’t know that Luda herself had no idea.

    If you asked her, Luda would say she calmly removed herself from the situation. If you asked Xuanyi, she’d tell the truth and say Luda booked it. Luda grabbed the book so fast she almost tripped on her way out. It all went by in slow mo, which Bona found hilarious. Xuanyi however took everything in, she saw a reflection of herself in Luda. She saw uncertainty and fear. She understood Luda’s the crave for comfort.

    “I’m sad she didn’t join us,” Bona pouted.

Xuanyi pushed the girl's shoulder and laughed.

    “I never knew you were into straight girls,” she replied before kissing Bona’s cheek.

E’dawn hated having to bail on his plans with Luda, but a chance to get closer to his roommate meant, more free food and a connection. The plan for the night was to see what was up with Cheng Xiao. Origninally it was to get Mark a new girl, but the guy was deadset on getting an answer even if it hurt. According to Mark, Cheng Xiao often frequented club Jeju. E’dawn would be the distraction while Mark got ahold of his now ex girlfriend, Cheng Xiao’s, phone. E’dawn thought it was ridiculous and that Mark was possibly a bit psycho. However he wanted to help the guy move on and if this would set his mind at ease then he’d do it.

Club Jeju was nothing E’dawn had ever experienced. Girls danced up on girls, guys on guys, girls and guys. He couldn’t comprehend most of it. The whole club made his head spin, Mark led him to the bar for a few drinks before plan ‘expose the cheater’ was a go. Mark thought of the plan name, E’dawn would’ve thought of something better if he had enough time. Fortunately the two didn’t have to go too far from the bar to look for Cheng Xiao. She was cozied up with a guy already. Mark seethed, E’dawn recognized the hostility that permeated from his roommate's body.

E’dawn decided to make his move then, sliding his arm around Cheng Xiao’s waist and leading her away. She didn’t even fight him, in fact she melted into his body. E’dawn felt a bit sleazy pushing the girl up against the wall a few feet away from the bar. He rocked himself toward her and she enjoyed it. Thankfully he was able to get the phone from the front pocket of her jeans by teasing her without going too far, he wasn’t cheating.

Mark walked past his face twisted trying to appear pleasant at his roommate seducing the girl he still very much liked. E’dawn felt dirty, guilt washed over him in waves. His mind focused on Luda, was this considered cheating? Mark practically threw the phone back to E’dawn after he found what he needed. He left Cheng Xiao hoping to never run into her again.

The two left the club, E’dawn with his hands shoved into his pockets and Mark with his hands in fists, his knuckles bone white.  E’dawn hated how intense Mark was. Mark reminded him of his brother.

“Find anything interesting? Who do we gotta mess up,” E’dawn tried masking how nervous he felt.

“I bet his name is something stupid.”

“Not a him, a her.”

E’dawn could see Mark coming undone, he was less angry which was good but more fragile, unpredictable.

    “Idk man, I just saw a ton of texts to some girl named Eunseo.”

E’dawn stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. Mark kept going oblivious to anything but his sadness. E’dawn felt as if he won the lottery. He no longer cared about comforting his friend but about how he could ruin Eunseo. He’d help break Eunseo’s heart, and he knew when a heart was broken by someone it loved the person was prone to lash out. Mark was a prime example. All he had to do was advise Luda to stay away from the trainwreck.

a/n sorry about the formatting of my chapters. Im trying to see what works well also like I said before these are all unedited so if theres any grammar mistakes I apologize. 

p.s the Mark in this story is Mark from Got7 sorry if ur an nct mark fan lol