stay.

i’ve been loving you for quite some time.

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taeyong’s eyes were glued to his phone’s screen.

nct not living up to predecessor exo?

“it’s been two years since nct debuted and yet they are nowhere near the success exo reached in their early years. what went wrong with this group, do you think?”

nct’s taeyong: his delinquent past!

“x x: i knew this punk. he used to bully the kids in school.

x y: … because of him, nct will never be successful.”

bts’ park jimin and red velvet’s seulgi — are they or aren’t they dating?

“z z: seriously, they should just admit it. the look they gave each other during the awards last year was too much…”

the articles about his group were tough, as expected. nct isn’t doing as well as his company had hoped for, even after the exorbitant amount of money they invested on the group.

he closed his eyes tightly. was it really his fault that korea won’t recognize nct? his past… no, he couldn’t even think about it now. his past was too shameful. if he knew he would be held responsible for the future the other 17 members… seriously, why did they choose him as the leader for the group? he definitely deserved less credit than was always given to him.

and, he thought frustratingly, why do all these articles about park jimin and his girlfriend dating keep on popping up? it didn’t make any sense to him—they have never interacted with each other, as far as he was concerned. of course, he wasn’t actually worried that his girlfriend would cheat on him—she would never, she was too kind to pull off something that crazy—but why him, out of all people? it drove him crazy to think that even the public wanted his own girlfriend to date a more popular celebrity. 

although, they have been fighting more frequently these days, barbing each other with painful words no one seemed to take back. rather than apologizing, they instead tuck their problems under their proverbial rug as if it never occurred in the first place.

“hyung?” a light tap on his shoulder shook him from his thoughts. 

taeyong’s eyes met with those of mark’s, who had a look of obvious concern in his face. “hyung, you okay?” mark’s big doe eyes were slightly downturned. he’s always looking out for me, this kid, he chuckled in his mind. mark was a good kid. no, he was one of the best kids he’s ever met. to think that someone as flawed as taeyong would be the kind of hyung mark would have to look up to never failed to shame him to his core.

taeyong ruffled his hair. “yah, what about you? are you finished working with your homework? jaehyun’s good at math, just ask him—“

“—i already asked for his help.” mark mumbled almost incoherently.

taeyong was about to tease his favourite dongsaeng a bit more when a sudden onslaught of greetings grabbed their attention. “oh, it’s jongin hyung! hurry, let’s greet him, hyung!” mark pulled taeyong from his seat towards their sunbaenim, who just entered their practice room.

he approached his senior carefully. truthfully, taeyong didn’t know how to act around jongin. they were awkward, at best—mostly because he was so sure jongin was unaware taeyong has been dating his girlfriend for around five years now. and, well, he didn’t really know his sunbae. taeyong entered sm at the exact moment exo just debuted, so he never had the chance to truly spend time with jongin. he wasn’t sure he would get along with him, anyway.

taeyong didn't really get along with many people. he was lucky enough that his group could tolerate his surliness, and there was always seulgi…

taeyong hated how close jongin was with seulgi, though. he thought it was unnecessary how clingy he used to be to his girlfriend—he knew this, of course, because seulgi herself told him of how frequent he messaged and met up with her whenever he and soojung fought. he was always more annoyed than usual these days, especially, ever since jongin broke up with her. seulgi was busy enough with her own schedule and her boyfriend. jongin should get a new girlfriend if he needed the company of a female so much.

“good afternoon, sunbaenim,” taeyong bowed respectfully.

when he stood straight, jongin was glaring at him, which took him aback. “sunbaenim? are you okay?”

jongin shook his head and instead gave him a rueful smile. yeah, i definitely hate this punk, jongin menacingly thought.

as taeyong waited for his senior to speak, jongin took this chance to observe him. he definitely had an air around him, didn’t he? the kind of air that’s exuding—don’t talk to me unless you have to. wow, he had no idea seulgi was into these types of men. poor park jimin.

his bangs were tied up in a messy ponytail and he was only wearing a sweaty tank top matched with ripped skinny jeans. he definitely looked good, jongin wasn’t blind, but to think this was the kind of man seulgi would fall in love with? she always seemed to like the quiet, hardworking ones—much like herself, if he thought about it.

“practice well, taeyong,” he gripped his junior’s shoulder tightly. “don’t waste this privilege that was given to you, alright?”

taeyong nodded his head humbly. “yes, sunbaenim.”

jongin abruptly turned around and left the room. everyone else went back to what they were doing before he came in, but taeyong remained where he stood. 

he knows.

that was his first thought. d