MY BROTHER (NCT)
MARK'S FAKE SMILE

Renjun kept his promise to his new friends. He actually bought the four, for lunch with the cafe in the city center, while doing group work.

Feeling everything was going smoothly, he himself did not suspect that the four of them could be quite familiar when only today he was hanging out with Jeno and Heechan and others.

In addition, Renjun is very grateful to be able to be a group with a smart and diligent Jeno, Heechan who managed to become an axis of awkwardness between the small group and Mark who is very friendly, very friendly, and Chenle who is quite fun to talk to.

Everything felt perfect in a glance, even Heechan's hatred for Renjun slightly disappeared as if the person who yesterday hated Renjun was not him.

"Is Heechan really not understanding the material this time or is he basically always a burden on the group?" jeno asked blatantly, like showering a pile of bullets into a circle that had begun to form each other, Meksipun, the bond was still too thin and easily broken.

"Jeno, you don't want to talk like that. Heechan is good and quite diligent usually, complained Chenle who tried to advise Jeno.

Fortunately, it seemed that Heechan was not playing the flames of his anger this time around. But the funny thing was that he looked at Renjun, as if he was waiting for the defense and compassion of his new friend.

Mark who noticed Heechan's pleading gaze, hurriedly nudged the Runjun next to him. Currently, Renjun is focusing on drawing mind map on the Cardboard paper they bought before here.

"Look at Heechan's face, '" told Jeno, who couldn't help but laugh, when she saw Heechan's face as childish.

For a moment, he was embarrassed to see his friend. However, in hindsight that adorable behavior that is able to become opium to overcome the boredom of Mark's life.

"Renjun, what do you think about Jeno saying I'm a burden?" heechan asked, his voice deliberately made adorable. Runjun who was in front of him was silent for a moment, he did not want a rough sentence to come out of his lips and even damage the atmosphere that was previously cracked by Jeno.

He glanced at Jeno. Unfortunately, Jeno was instead indifferent and busy typing their tasks in the laptop after throwing problems at him. No, it looks like Jeno herself doesn't know that this problem will befall her. But still, he hopes that next time Jeno can filter his words first before being thrown to others.

"Where, Run?" ask Heechan again. Mark who is next to Renjun even laughs indistinctly, he is indeed a figure who is easy to laugh when there is nothing funny at this time.

Unlike Chenle who even put on a cautious face, she is indeed someone who cares more among us now than Mark.

"I don't think it's a problem for anyone to be a burden on the group as long as he stays calm and doesn't interfere with the work of his other friends" Renjun said, but he couldn't hide his depressed expression.

"What the hell do you mean, Renjun? So I'm a burden or not?" asked Heechan who was still putting on a hopeful face, Renjun sighed for a moment without intending to answer that stupid question blatantly.

"I refused to answer that stupid question, "he said with a calm face, but in an instant his words just now made Mark and Jeno laugh amusedly.

They can listen, how Renjun looks depressed to have to refuse to answer Heechan's question.

"You see? Even the new boy just refused to answer because he agreed with me," ledek Jeno, he began to see his sarcastic remarks Renjun could already be as frequency with him.

Heechan who felt ridiculed, could only grumble and immediately take a pencil originally from the table.

"Well, what can I do for you?" her tanya pouted, but fortunately her sour face was not a form of expression of her anger and was not a worrisome thing for Chenle and Mark .

Heechan himself has also begun to try to refract himself with the harsh words of Renjun, for him Renjun is not too terrible like Jeno and does not also look sarcastic more than Jeno.

"Do I need to help you, Renjun?"

"May," replied Renjun, who was even more guilty to Heechan for his answer just now. Renjun opened the set of colored pencils they had just bought and handed them to Heechan.

"You can color the mind map, while Mark and I are making this part here!" Renjun explained to Heechan for his part.

Heechan just nodded, he could not lie if diem was happy there was someone who said thanks to him when he had not done anything. For him, this was the first time he had listened to such a sentence aside from Mark and Chenle.

And undeniably, Heechan's mood changed drastically to become more excited. Somehow the past experienced by Heechan to thirst for attention like that, even the glint of his eyes are still sparkling clearly in the eyes of Mark who is very familiar about Heechan's personality and pain.

"Do you think the colonialism could be further shortened, Mark?" asked Renjun who immediately disperse Mark's attention in his daydream and nodded in agreement.

"Come, maybe we can" suddenly his phone rang, he was forced to stop his words and his eyes were wide at that moment.

Quickly, he went away from there to pick up the call. But, Renjun could see there was a tension between the calls.

Mark's normally friendly face, began to turn hostile and several times he clenched his hands to hold back emotions.

As for Mark's point of view, he felt the phone call was a curse to him.

However, if he does not raise the call that there will actually make things worse . Therefore, he immediately raised the call even though he understood very well that his mentality would fall frequently when he received a call from that person.

"What's up, Pa?" mark asked, it seems like it was a call from the father.

However, instead of looking happy even Mark felt depressed and fed up at this time.

"Go home now! Your mother started acting up again, she's totally wasting my time!" I complained about Mark from across the phone.

Mark was worried, "How's Mama doing now?"

"He fainted, so you go home now and take care of him. You see, I'm going back to the hospital to work" complained Mark.

"Do you really want to go back to work, or even go back to the woman's house?" Mark began not to bear the attitude of his father, if only he did not think about his mother must be lekaki who he considered the father had been finished long ago.

"Basic son of a bitch! How dare you be so disrespectful to me, is this the result of your mother's upbringing?" snapped his papa from across the phone, Mark could only be fixated on listening to the nagging.

For him, the scolding had become a daily food that mentally pierced him. Mark himself could not help but live a miserable life, and he understood very well that there was no way he could escape this terrible fate.

The only way Mark could take was to stay hidden behind the fake smiles and hospitality he had always shown . A smile that can sometimes forget all the problems that occur in that terrible house, once he cried for his birth in this world that is very regretful , but since getting to know Heechan then he can compare that life is much better every time he began to feel heartbroken to his parents and experience a mental condition that is very bad

So even so, until this moment he was always friends with Heechan who he thought was not just a good friend. However, without realizing that he was living Heechan's life as a comparison tool and reference to bad luck, so that Mark can continue to live life as usual.

"I'll take care of Mama, you can go now and please stop nagging!" said Mark who was no longer able to listen to the babbling of his father, then before long the sound of the call was cut off from the father a little relieved Mark's heart.

In a hurry, he ran into his group again and carried his backpack while saying goodbye with a fine look.

Mark is indeed an expert at hiding his feelings, or rather embarrassed to be frank about how hurt Mark is right now. If only he could dare to cry this very second, then he would cry as hard as he could without the need to bear the emotions that had been inflicted by him since childhood .

"I'll excuse you first. You see, my dad called to tell me to go home quickly today" Mark said, smiling.

A fake smile that was never forgotten by him at all, maybe if counted the smile had existed since the 1st grade Junior High .

"Sorry to trouble you all, good day!" said Mark who immediately left at that moment, without waiting for any words from his four friends.