“Are you going to the comeback stage of NCT127?” Xiumin asked MinYeong while they were eating breakfast.

“Hhhmm?” she glanced at him. “Oh, maybe not. I need to go home and do some work stuff” she stuffed her face with the French Toast that Kyungsoo made for everyone. “Mark’s parents are coming. Uncle and I arranged their hotel and transportation going to the building”

“Oh. Don’t you think Mark’s parents would want to meet you?” Baekhyun commented and Chen kicked his foot under the table, and he gave Chen a questioning look.

“I’m sure they’re more than happy to see Mark than to meet me. Also, they know Uncle is the one who bought their plane tickets” she smiled and continued eating. “Are you guys going?”

“I don’t think so. We have to practice and get ready for our MV shoot” Suho responded to her.

“Here. Eat more. I know you’ll be busy today” Kyungsoo placed another French toast on MinYeong’s plate and served her more orange juice. He was satisfied knowing she is beside her and he gets to feed her with his cooking.

Breakfast was done and everyone helped with cleaning the dishes and one by one got ready to go to the company’s building for their dance practice. They wanted to drop MinYeong at her house but instead she refused and insisted to stay in the office of her Uncle. EXO proceeded to their dance practice and as always, they worked hard. The MV shoot will be held the next day and instead of resting, they are still trying to perfect their dance.

 

*Office*

“Mark’s parents are here” MinYeong’s cellphone pinged and it was her Uncle. She was quite surprised that his parents came to the company first. “Where? I’m in your office”

“We’ll be right there” her uncle responded to her. It was not long until 3 figures entered the office and she put on her best smile.

“Annyeonghasaeyo” she bowed to the two elder figures in front of her.

“Omo. You’re so pretty” Mark’s mom commented and MinYeong just smiled. “Thank you so much for inviting us today. We have missed MinHyung so much” she said hugging MinYeong which quite surprised her.

“Kamsahmida” she shyly said. “They’re actually in the station now. I’m assuming they will be on air soon. You both should get going. It was nice meeting both of you” she bowed once again before Mark’s parents left and saying how thankful they are and how pretty she is.

MinYeong never had a motherly love or affection. Little interaction with someone else’s mother quite makes her heart flutter and sometimes wonder how her life will turn if her mother did not leave her. Her uncle tapped her shoulder to break her away from her thoughts and she smiled at him and mouthed an “I’m okay Samchon”to him. SooMan is widowed. His wife had passed due to an illness and they never had a child, so he treats MinYeong as his own ever since his brother passed away.

MinYeong stayed in the office and did some work stuff that she needed to do before her deadline comes. She stretched her arms and closed her eyes for awhile when she heard her phone pinged for another text. She had a smile on her face while reading the text.

From: Jaehyun

“I hope you are having a good day! It’s our comeback today and here’s a photo of how messy it is in the waiting room. Hehehe”

“Jaehyun is so sweet” she murmured and SooMan quite heard it.

“Isn’t he?” he asked and MinYeong nodded. “You should go and visit them. Surprise them”

“Hhmm?” she looked at him. “Oh no. EXO is practicing and I want to---”

“MinYeong, you should go. You are the sole ownership of NCT. You should at least support them in some way. You didn’t even know the members until you met them not too long ago and you are basically the sole ownership of their group. This was my dream before, to create a huge group, but if it wasn’t for your support, I would’ve given this up. That’s why I gave the ownership to you” SooMan sat next to her and explained it to her.

“Look…” he held her hand. “I’m pretty sure the boys are wondering about you too. Don’t you think it’s time for you to give them your time. EXO is settled now. Hhmm?” she took a deep breath with what she heard and nodded.

“Okay. I guess I’ll go” she stood up and gathered her things together and before she had left the room, she turned around and called out to SooMan. “Samchon… do you think if my Mom didn’t leave me, she would be as sweet as Mark’s mom?” she asked and the older guy was quite surprised that she had brought the subject up. Longing was clearly seen in her eyes but she tried to hide it.

“I’ll get going. I have to get them some sandwich” she turned around and left. SooMan sighed and felt quite bad for her. Maybe, just maybe, he should tell her the truth.

 

 

*Station*

NCT127 members were in the waiting room, getting their make up on and getting ready for their first stage of their comeback, Regular. Everyone was anxious for their first stage but Jungwoo gave them the energy and courage and told everyone that they will be okay. They were all busy getting dressed and everyone was on stand by when all their phones notified them for a text.

From: MinYeong Noona

Fighting everyone! I’m so excited for your comeback stage!

 

Everyone was excited that they got the text from MinYeong. They were anxious but they try to calm themselves so they can give their fans the best performance they could give. They went on the stage and performed their first Regular stage. The fans were quite excited about it and the fan chant was fantastic. After the performance, they went backstage and greeted all their sunbaes that they passed by. As soon as they got in the waiting room, they were greeted by Mark’s parents, holding some flowers for them.

“Surprise!!” his parents greeted them, and they all shouted in excitement. “Congratulations on your comeback!”

“Mom! Dad!” Mark couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Hhe ran to them and hugged them. “How? What?!” he laughed and giggled.

“Your boss’ niece arranged this for us” his Mom replied and he was confused.

“Noona did?”

“Noona!” Mark overheard Haechan and he turned around and there was MinYeong, surrounded by the other members and there was Doyoung and Taeyong helping her with whatever she was bringing while she was greeting the members and smiling widely at Jaehyun and somehow, Mark got a little jealous on how she looked so happy seeing Jaehyun.

“She’s nice isn’t she, Mark?” his Mom asked and he turned around and gave them a smile and nodded.

“I brought you guys some food. Go enjoy it. I know you must be tired from your first live performance” she told the boys and each one of them dived in the bag to get food and drinks. She walked towards Mark and his parents and bowed. “We met again”

“Again?” Mark was confused.

“We met your big boss earlier and that’s when I met her” Mark’s mom explained. His dad was looking at him while Mark was looking at MinYeong. His dad shook his head and smiled; his dad remembered how his face when he first saw Mark’s Mom. MinYeong gave them the biggest smiled and turned to Mark.

“Markeu, great job on your first performance. Don’t forget to grab some food, okay?” MinYeong smiled at him and patted his head. He blushed a little bit and nodded. MinYeong have bowed and excused herself and went to the rest of the members.

Mark looked down and puff a little bit and his parents noticed. They both looked at each other and smiled. His Mom tapped his shoulder and whispered to go to the members but Mark shook his head insisting they should catch up. Mark looked at the members and MinYeong happily chatting with each other and she caught him looking at her and she gave him a cheeky smile before she turned around and started chatting with Jaehyun and Doyoung again.

“Boys! Wrap it up! We have to go back to the dorm soon!” their managers came in getting their attention. “Oh. MinYeong-ssi, you’re here”

“Neh. I have just brought them food and also…” she looked at Mark’s direction. “…Mark’s parents are here. Can you make sure they make it to their hotel safely?” she asked and the managers nodded. “Tae.. I’ll head out first. I don’t want to get caught with your fans” she caught his attention.

“Arraseo Noona. I’ll text you when we get to the dorm. Thanks for the food” Taeyong bowed again and MinYeong chuckled with his politeness.

“Take care okay. Good job for today! I’m so proud of you and the members!” she tapped his cheek before she bid goodbye to everyone and to Mark’s parents once more. Mark looked back and she was already out of the room. There was a little sense of panic and he was unsure of how to thank her.

“Go” his Dad said. “We can manage here”

“Mark!” Yuta called him. “Noona left this sandwich for you. She said to make sure you eat”

“I have to go Hyung. I need to thank her and I cannot wait until later tonight” he excused himself and ran out the waiting room and straight to the garage parking. He was catching his breathe when he got to the garage and she was nowhere in sight.

“Mark?” he turned around and there she is. “What’re you doing down here? You guys are leaving soon”

“Noona!” he walked closer to her. “I… I.. uhm.. I just wan to say thank you for bringing my parents here and on our first day of comeback performance. I was really missing both of them and I felt really bad when I did not really spend enough time with them when they visited me and I know our business in Canada is not doing that good so the money has been tight lately and I just want to say thank you to you. I really appreciate it. Jinja! Jinja!!” Mark was bluffing and repeating himself and MinYeong find it funny and cute at the same time.

“Mark! Breath!” she interrupted him. “Relax. Slow down.”

“Mianhe Noona. I am just so excited, and I just want to really say thank you. I just want to hug you right now” he bluffed out again and even him was shocked with what he said. He gulped down and his palms were sweaty, and he rubbed it against his side. “Can… I?” he looked at her and she smiled. He hugged her tight and kept whispering Thank You. They heard some voices coming their way, so he let go of the hug and he flashed a shy smile. It was the members and they were suspicious of the two figure standing, facing each other.

“Oooohhh. Are we interrupting something?” Yuta and Jungwoo teased.

“We kept looking for you. Come on. We have to go back to the company and re-watch our comeback and practice the dance formation again” Taeyong grabbed Mark. MinYeong was left there and Mark looked back and she was standing there, talking with Jaehyun, who is smiling widely. “Jealous brat” Taeyong whispered and Mark looked at him. “What?” Taeyong chuckled and he shoved Mark inside the van.

Soon after, Jaehyun entered the van and sat beside Mark who is playing on his phone with his earbuds on. He can see the younger pouting and Jaehyun chuckled to himself. He finds it adorable how the younger really show how much he likes MinYeong. Jaehyun chuckled.

*Flashback*

“There’s Mark” Taeil pointed and they all saw how Mark hugged MinYeong. “Ssshhh” the older told the rest but of course, they can’t keep their mouth shut so they made noises that made Mark break the hug.

Jaehyun waited until Mark was dragged away by Taeyong and he stopped in front of MinYeong.

“Noona…” he smiled at her. “…thanks for coming to see our first stage”

“Of course Jae! You guys are amazing” she laughed a little bit. “Mark’s parents?”

“Oh. They were escorted to their hotel. Don’t worry”

“Thanks. Can’t do it without your help. Let’s keep this a secret, okay?” she winked and they both laughed. “I have to go. Work has been calling me”

“Hhmm. I’ll go too. Don’t want Mark to get jealous”

“Silly!” MinYeong said before hopping in her car. “He won’t be!”

 

*Currently in the car*

“It must be a really good conversation with Noona” Mark sarcastically said when he heard Jaehyun chuckled and they Jaehyun looked at him. “What? I’m just saying since you were smiling and giggling and---”

“You are jealous. She said you won’t be” Jaehyun cut him off. “Mark, relax bro. I’m not trying to take Noona from you. Gosh. So childish” Jaehyun said and everyone in the car laughed.

“Wha… I’m… Not.. Oh my Jesus. Jaehyun Hyung!” Mark slapped his arm and everyone laughed while teasing Mark.

 

Taeyong looked at Mark closely while he was trying to stop the members on teasing him and Taeyong remembered when Mark was so young. He smiled at the memories and thought to himself.

 

 

 

 

 

“He’s really growing up”