" it’s not really your fault that mark lee will never fall for you, he can’t catch feelings for anyone. but is the boy cursed and will forever be unable to fall in love ? or is it just because he didn’t meet the right person yet ? ”
pairing: bad boy!mark x fem reader
genre: angst/comedy(?) - high school au.
warnings: mild swearing
words: +3k
main author: bleulaine
gif credit : https://marklee.tk/
Mark, the mysterious. Mark, the impetuous.
There goes your heart, picking up speed as soon as his gaze met yours. « ‘Morning,Y/n. » He greets you with his deep and smooth voice before sitting next to you and within three seconds, something already felt different.
Since the beginning of the year, he was your assigned lab partner in chemistry class but never before has he ever bothered laying his eyes on you. You were treated the way he treated everyone else, actually. No one could ask anything from Mark Lee. He only obeyed his own laws and wasn’t the type to care about what people thought of him. Cold expression, harsh manners. You doubted anyone in this school, aside from his group of friends, ever saw him genuinely smile.
It feels like you two communicated more during this eye contact than during the past months working together. Indeed, Mark and you strictly exchanged words when it was necessary, it was a silent rule. It suited you, even though it has been imposed upon you, remembering well the death glare you received from him after introducing yourself for the first time. Boy set the tone this day.
Despite that, your dynamic worked well. You were quite surprised that without speaking you found ways to understand each other and at this point, both of you were familiar with the way the other functioned.
looking at his profile, you didn’t notice the slightest change from the other days. Maybe there wasn’t any reason behind this behaviour of his, maybe he woke up in a good mood once a year, maybe someone taught him politeness overnight… who knows.
He was intriguing, you had to admit. But you weren’t curious about him. You didn’t fantasize about what Mark liked, did or said like the others. He was your partner, period. One of the best one you ever had to this day, to be honest. Chemistry was your favourite subject and he didn’t ruin the thing by being too clumsy or too clueless, like you already experienced it before. Sadly, you couldn’t say the same for your professor. This year, chemistry class became so boring, you were tired of always repeating the same experiments and protocols. As a result, it became the perfect time to schedule your daily nap.
« Y/n. » Something nudged your ribs lightly. Your vision adjusted slowly to the light as you opened your eyes. Did you fall asleep already? Mark is staring at you, an indescribable expression on his face. Concerned? Disgusted? Done with you? All of that maybe, but certainly not amused. « Teacher. » he grumbles.
You lift your head and turn it, noticing that Mr. Jung was coming across every duo. As if nothing had happened you straighten your back and lean closer to Mark, pretending to concentrate on whatever he was doing. A small whisper escapes your mouth, a little ‘thank you’ only he could hear.
Since that day, the way he acted with you became confusing. More than once, you surprised yourself thinking about how nice he was, compared to before. After a first look at the work you had to do, he stated what he was planning to do to answer this or that question, then told you he could handle it and that you could sleep.
He also stared at you, a lot. When you first noticed his strange behaviour, you wondered if something was wrong about your face or your clothes but never said anything, you just smiled at him and he would also smile back at you.
Other days, he tried to grab your attention to help you not fall asleep, resulting in you, giggling at his funny faces. You couldn’t help but feel warmer about him. You felt special seeing a more charming side of Mark Lee. It wasn’t a big change but it was odd to the point where rumours started about you two.
Things escalated quickly. From being a discreet typical student, you now witnessed people whispering things about you when you walked out the corridor. A long silence always followed your apparition in class, in the morning. People were looking at you with a little bit of respect mixed up with fear in their eyes, as if Mark’s reputation spilled over you. This situation was made a big thing only because it was Mark Lee. No one would have ever paid attention to you for being friendly with some random other guy. But unfortunately, he wasn’t some random other guy and you ought to deal with the resident notorious bad boy.
You decided to handle the situation by talking directly with the other subject of the rumors. You didn’t want to risk other people seeing you together outside class – since he never talked to anyone else beside to his friends — so the best option was to meet him after school, in a private place. The plan was simple, you handed him a little folded note with the place and time of the meeting and felt relieved when he nodded without asking any further information. After your last class, you headed straight there and waited for him.
What parallel universe did you fall in, first, for people to believe that you could be in some relationship with Mark, and second, for you to wait for him in some kind of secret meeting ? Life really was full of surprises. You saw him arrive from a distance and took a moment to appreciate the sight. Even in the simplest outfit, black from head to toe, he seemed to come out from a fragrance ad. Off-duty model style, he was effortlessly elegant and held his head high when he walked, not paying attention to his surroundings, only focused on his destination — which was you. His gaze was fixed on you and unconsciously, you began to hold your breath as he was approaching and air deserted your lungs.
He waited for you to talk first.
There was a heavy silence before you realized you were suffocating and you had to force yourself to reconnect with reality. You reminded yourself of the reason why you asked him to meet you. « Ok, can you make it stop ? I’m sorry but it’s getting on my nerves. » The first words which came in your mind didn’t really make sense but they were coming from your heart. You were tired of all of this agitation and you were not the kind of girl who endured without striking back. He smiled at your straightforwardness. « What ? »
You frowned and realeased a deep sigh. As if he didn’t have any idea what you were talking about. « People thinking we’re… a couple. »
Mark’s smile widened. « Are they ? I didn’t notice anything. » Now, you knew he was definitely playing with you. « I’m not amused. I don’t know how you can deal with that all the time, all of this unwanted attention but I can’t. And I’m sure you can do something about this… The others, they’ll listen to you. » At this point, you could handle anything : acting out a huge and dramatic break-up scene, make a public announcement saying that you hated each other or ask some girl to be his girlfriend (it would have been easy finding volunteers). But, one thing really bugged you — why did he start behaving differently with you? You hoped to find enough courage to ask him this simple question, believing it was the last time you would be able to talk to him one-on-one.
The boy kept his playful smile on his face and walked a few steps around you, like a predator inspecting its prey.
You tried to keep your eyes on him, feeling at this right moment some sense of danger. You could even feel yourself shiver in every specific place his eyes fell on you. « I don’t care about what other people think. And… I would never fall for you. » He smirked, only making his words press more painfully your heart. Somehow, it hurt hearing that, you weren’t prepared. « Thank you. » Sarcasm was your best defense. « But it’s not only about you. I wish I could start a fight with everyone talking behind my back because of that but I can’t fight the whole school. I’m just tired of getting harassed, I don’t want to have anything to do with you. »
« What’s wrong with me? » Would it have been a bad thing to punch his pretty face, you thought, because he was being plain annoying right now?
« Stop playing dumb. Some people are crazy about you. I found some girls hiding in front of my house because they hoped to see you coming to my place. » He seemed amused, while processing the information, so you added. « I know you care very little about what people think of you… But you said it yourself, you wouldn’t fall for a girl like me. Isn’t it kind of… degrading for your reputation to be rumoured dating me? » This one was your last argument and looking at his expression, you could see you struck somewhere sensitive.
Surprisingly, he shook his head from right to left and searched what to say. « Y/N, it’s not about you. I would never fall for you because I can’t fall for anyone. I’m unable to… how people say that… catch feelings. » You looked at him, very unsure about his confession. « You’re telling me you’re unable to fall in love? »
He nodded, a serious expression on his face.
In your head, you played on repeat what if just told you while staring at him.
« Y/n, you’re looking at me like I’m an alien.»
« Well, aren’t you? What kind of person takes pride in not feeling anything? » You weren’t sure why you felt the need to attack him like this. Maybe you couldn’t stand being in front of the perfect antithesis to your hopeless romantic self. You grew up reading books about great and romantic stories, enjoyed watching romcoms and a lot of tunes you liked were related to love — you’ve always believed love was a real thing and that every one ought to experience it. Why would Mark Lee be any different? « Actually— »
You didn’t hesitate to interrupt him, talking without even thinking much. Everything came from your heart. « Actually, we’re still young. There’s still plenty of time for you to experience love. You know, feelings, they’re just chemical reactions in your body. » A glint of curiosity sparked in his eyes.
« Chemistry, huh? You’re good at it — all you do in class is sleep but you always get the best grades. And I guess I should thank you for letting me copy your answers during tests. » You felt the blood rushing to your cheeks and lowered your gaze, quite embarrassed that he exposed out loud your behaviour. You brushed it away quickly, saying you were just trying to help and it was the truth, but you couldn’t help but tease him a bit. « Is this why you were so nice to me these past weeks? » « Maybe. »
A little smile arose on your face. Now, you wanted to go back to your main conversation topic: Mark and his lack of feelings. That was a mystery you were intrigued by. « Romantic feelings aside, did you ever feel emotional about something? By the sunrise, by a music piece, by a beautiful scenery? »
Now it was his turn to look at you as if you were coming from a different planet. « You sound funny. » Just three words but they made you flustered. « There’s nothing funny about that. It’s just being human! »
« So what? I don’t care. »
« Feeling emotions won’t make you especially more vulnerable, if it’s what matter to you. I’m pretty sure I can prove you that you can feel things. »
« When did you get so confident, darling? » Now the two of you were facing each other and a stranger would believe you were on the verge of a fist fight. « Don’t call me darling. »
« Whatever. That’s my problem, not yours. I don’t think you can do anything about this. »
« It became my problem since your lack of empathy won’t make you understand the situation you put me through, with all these on-going rumors. » At this point, you tried to remain calm. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. If the dude couldn’t feel anything, it wasn’t worth any ounce of energy to get angry at him. « Give me three weeks. Three weeks and I’ll prove you that you’re not as apathic as a stone. »
It took him a long time, looking at you intensely eye to eye without even blinking, before dropping a dry ‘No’. You didn’t want to argue any longer with Mark. He wasn’t going to help you so you decided to make him taste his own medicine. « Well, I’ll ask Mr. Jung to switch groups. If it’s still not enough, be sure I’ll do whatever I can to make our so-called relationship an unforgettable memory. » You turned around, ready to leave but he caught your elbow and forced you to stay in place. « There’s no point in threatening me. » You frowned as you buzzed off his grip. « There’s nothing holding me back. »
Mark Lee’s character could be summed up as an arrogant asshole, hiding his lack of personality behind black clothes and a resting bitch face. Soon you wouldn’t have to be around him anymore and now, you didn’t get how you could have seen him as nice at one point.
Sitting beside him the next morning, you ignored him for the first half of the class, in a subtle way of course. Your plan was not to feed more high school gossip. You just wanted to be left alone and get some peace, but unfortunately, it was too much to ask from Mark Lee.
Looking out of the corner of your eyes, you didn’t miss any detail of the mess he made.
Handing him the beaker, you notice that his hand started to shake in a weird way and made the recipient flip from his hold. The incident could have been minor but he decided to play it cooly and as he tried catching it again, the liquid in the beaker was tossed into the air and fell over Mark’s skin. Only one millisecond after, you could hear the sound of shattering glass and a long groan of pain.
You jumped off your chair and caught your table companion’s wrist, then you turned the tap with your other hand and put his hand under the stream of water. Everyone was looking at you two, astounded, even your professor looked like a broken machine. A good thing you’ve been quick-minded to handle this situation. So far, Mark didn’t say anything yet and only when you realized you were holding his hand for a couple of minutes already, you were thankful he stayed quiet.
Mr. Jung told everyone in the class to get back to work then approached your table. Your professor asked Mark if his hand was okay. « Yes, sir. Thank you for asking. But, I’m a little bit worried about my skin condition. Can we go to the nurse to have this checked out? » The man looked at you both although you didn’t ask for anything. Who knew what Mark Lee had in mind? He finally accepted and you could hear a whispering hubbub coming from behind you as you left the classroom together. Nothing went as planned and now, you were pretty sure Mark did this on purpose. Once you were in the corridor, your refused to follow him any further. « Your hand is fine. You only had to rinse it and we did. »
He stopped too and looked at you. « But miss, it’s your duty to help a poor student who just underwent a little accident. » Oh, and he pouted on top of that. That was too much for you.
« What are you trying to do?! » He ignored your question and started to walk again, you followed him only because you needed answers. You walked the long hallway leading to the exit and you wondered if he planned to go outside. If someone saw you outside the building, you would surely get into some trouble.
« Does your proposition still hold? » You slowed down your steps and ended up standing still. You glanced at him when he turned around to look at you.
« I can’t believe you spilled chlorydric acid on you just to ask me that. » You scanned his expression. « Too bad for you, it doesn’t. »
As you remembered, the solution you used contained a small concentration of acid, but still. He was completely unconscious, and it was proved by the little malicious smile on his face. « Come on… you will be able to tell your grandchildren a handsome body risked his life for you. »
You were quick to reply. « It would be more accurate if I introduced you as the dumbest person I’ve ever met. »
He laughed lightly before reducing the distance between the both of you. He approached you so suddenly that your first instinct was to step back, but as it turns out you were blocked between a wall and Mark’s body. He leaned over you and put a hand just beside your head. From where you were, you could appreciate the fine details of his face. From the soft curves of his lips to the depth of his eyes, gracefully framed by long eyelashes. His skin seemed so smooth to the touch. To the touch? Would you really want to touch such a guy? Ew, never, you thought.
He was close, too close. Refusing to be at his mercy, you put two hands on his chest and pushed as hard as you can, only for him… to keep still. You would have sold your soul to brush off the sardonic smile on his face in this moment. « Move or I’m screaming. » You look at him, defying him but he doesn’t seem intimidated at all.
Worse still, you know that whatever battle you were fighting against him, you lost it the moment he found a way to lean even closer without touching you and felt an intense shiver down your spine, spreading through your whole body.
Unable to hold his gaze, you lowered your eyes. Mark used his index to gently lift your chin and you couldn’t escape his magnetic look.
« Help me Y/n. I beg you. Help me feel something. »
a/n: this is a (late) gift for our lemon anon’s birthday ☼ this was meant to be a simple request, i wanted to write a drabble but now i’m pretty sure i just started a small serie so there will be other parts to come. i can’t plan any update date but you can follow @softchenlele to be sure not to miss the next parts (incoming) ! i’ll see where it leads me but for now, i hope you’ll like it xx
swimmer!mark & pool staff!fem reader for anon!! we hope you like it!!
style: bulletpoint
genre: fluff
warnings: mild swearing
words: 3k to open the festivities
a/n: first time writing such a thing but we really enjoyed it! hope you will like it ~
gif credit: @/neotechs
as a part-time job, you worked early in the morning or at the end of the afternoon at the swimming pool near your campus
it’s not very difficult – and most of the time, you’re just busy cleaning the floor
from time to time you take a look at the devices tracking the quality of the water or make sure that people don’t walk in with their shoes on
hygiene reasons yknow
it’s a relatively calm activity, or rather it would be if your shifts didn’t coincide with the university swim team trainings
they’re a group of 20-25 boys and girls, all with a perfect athletic body (no, you’re not jealous)
you end up being familiar with them especially a group of tall (AND LOUD) lads : yukhei, jaemin, doyoung, johnny and donghyuck.
they’re the highlights of your day, these guys never seem to run off energy even after a workout session and two hours endurance training in the water
they’re always goofing around, teasing each other and pranking each other. they’re crazy
but they’re too funny
and they like to mess with you, especially when you’re walking through the men’s changing rooms
« yn, we’re all nAKED!!! » someone screams, whenever they hear some footsteps, they always assume it’s you
already at the end of your first month of school, you’re a part of their group of friends in the campus and hang around together
just one month already… and you developed the same sense of humor as them… their idiocy feeling like some kind of strange and contagious disease
congratulations, you’re one of these crackheads
maybe you’ve always been goofy but you were probably shy and being around them unleashed the beast
and you thought you would be the confident and reckless yn forever, now… until the day you meet those beautiful doe eyes
« s-sorry » you hear before meeting them for the first time
you didn’t even frown, the dude looked so shy
« i’m a little bit lost even with this map of the campus, could you please show me where i should head to if i want to go to the nautical center? »
« the pool? you’re going to the evaluation? »
« yes, i want to be a part of the swimming team » he looks at you now with a determined flame in his eyes. wow.
only now you hear the slight accent when he speaks
cuuuUte
you find yourself all shy and awkward
«uh so… do you know where it is? »
« ah, yeah, sorry, i was… thinking about something. i’m also going to the pool, i can walk you there. »
you explained to him how you couldn’t swim for the life of you and how you were just working there until his phone rang, and he spent the rest the way talking to his mom
anyway
« here you are, good luck »
« thank you! »
an awkward silence follows before both of you decide to enter
but well… the door’s can’t handle both of you and there you go, awkward situation
« you first »
« no, you, go »
« oh, no you… »
daMN it
what are you so stupid for ?
you end up going first eventually and without looking behind you, you go to your changing room
after that, you focus on your tasks but your curiosity speaks and you can’t help but go see how the evaluations are going
your boys are here too, watching the pool and commenting each contestant’s technique
« ah, we came to see the rookies. wanna join?? »
you sat beside them. for you, everyone’s good but you know that being a high-level swimmer and doing competitions requires commitment, discipline and enough motivation to train day after day, week after week, month after month, sometimes just to win some milliseconds
yeah, you really admire these boys and girls
« nana, seems like you’ll have a rival on the 200m butterfly style, look at him. »
you all hear the coach screaming his chrono and you don’t really get it but all the boys made a surprised face
2’08’’48 seems to get respect from the boys
when he goes out from the water, you recognize momma’s boy
you find yourself proud for him, somehow?? enough for a little smile to creep on your face
« omg, yn’s crushing on 2’08’’48!!! look at her!!! »
why. are. your. friends. like. that.
exposed™
« shUT UP yukhei, i’m just looking at something i’m not used too. »
« what? »
« a six-pack. »
« OOOF SICK BURN!!! » you hear hyuck screaming through everyone’s laughter « XUXI YOU BETTER JUMP INTO THAT POOL!!!!»
rip wong yukhei
now he’s dramatically putting a hand on his chest as he let himself fall and rest his head on doyoung’s shoulder
« yn’s breathing too much chlorine, she can’t even see our greek gods-like bodies, what a pity »
« did 2’08’’48 just smile at us? »
« was he smiling at yn?? »
« what, no? he was smiling at the coach »
now the boys are arguing and you can’t help but wonder… was he smiling at me???
without any surprise, 2’08’’48 has been accepted into the team
you see him everyday but you didn’t talk to each other yet even though you would have wanted to congratulate him
you hear he’s from canada and he’s a transfer student with roots in korea, which explains why he’s fluent in korean but now you know where this cute accent is from
he seems to get along with jaemin and donghyuck but as you can see, they don’t talk to each other that much, just casual things
sometimes, they laugh together and there’s this wide smile who lights up his whole face, the whole pool, the whole world
maybe you’re a bit more distracted than you were… a swimming practice isn’t the most exciting thing to watch but it’s okay when you focus on this little moving form that is him in the water
sometimes, you spend one hour mopping the same damn spot where you have the best view of the pool
you don’t even know his name and everyone took the habit to call him 2’08’’48
until one day…
« omg mORK!!! don’t walk here, yn just swept the floor, you’re gonna… »
yeah, you’ve scolded them enough and they got the memo at some point
you turn your head and see « mork »
poor boy looks terrified
« yeah, i’m going to spank you if you don’t dry yourself when you enter this area »
« sp-spank me ? »
oh gosh, there you were talking to him the way you would talk with the boys
« that wasn’t the only part you were supposed to catch, mOrk »
you smirk as you walk away, laughing to yourself
mork, lmao, what kind of name was that? but since lucas was the one calling him that you were p sure there was some kind of joke behind it
meme name for a meme boy
you begin to know him better, just by observing him
not only was he bad at orientation but he was the most airheaded guy ever. you often saw him returning beside the pool after he changed himself because he forgot his bottle of water or his flip-flops. one day, he managed somehow to go to the training and ask everyone if they could lend him swimming goggles and a swimsuit because he forgot his swim bag at home, if there was something left in the lockers, it was often his… wow
one day, you also see his clumsy side
you hear someone call out your name from the men’s changing room and you go there, only to find mr. mork with a bloody forearm
« what happened? »
« oh, it’s nothing, i just scratched my skin against the liner or the swimming pool » he giggles
maybe it was superficial but you were quite impressed by the long lines of blood staining his skin
« the coach said you had the key of the infirmary? »
« yes, yes, come with me »
he follows you to the lifeguard’s room and instinctively, you take the lead
« where is the first-aid kit? oh, here »
« you know.. »
« cotton… »
« i can… »
« scissors! »
« yn? »
you stop yourself and glare at him
« i can handle this »
« mork »
he winces
« tell me again who did this to you »
he blushes, not finding anything to reply
softly, you wipe the blood off this skin with alcohol
you see him bite his bottom lip when you touch the wounds but he doesn’t make any sound
« you’ve done well, mork »
you smile at him while freeing his arm
« it’s unecessary to put any bandaids or anything, it’s very superficial but it, i will tingle a bit when you’ll return in the water »
« thank you, yn. i… can i ask you a favor? »
« yeah sure? »
« a big championship is approaching and i need to train harder. are you willing to stay for one hour more after the night training? until the competition? »
those eyes
it’s like he was talking to you from soul to soul
if you weren’t on a chair, your knees wouldn’t have supported this intense gaze
« i don’t really know if i can and… you know, i’m pretty busy… »
« i know i’m asking you a lot but if for my part, i could do anything to help you in return, i’m willing to do it »
you can tell how passionate he is
that’s a bit scary… and very attractive at the same time
« please… you don’t have to tell me what do you want now, but just know i owe you one if you accept »
« when is this big competition? »
« the inter-regional championship? uh… in like, two weeks? »
« two weeks… »
« please yn, please, please, please… and i could treat you to dinner!! there’s that nice jjajangmyeon place down the street, i don’t know if you’ve been there, and-- »
« shh… » you pinch his lips between your fingers, effectively shutting him up. « you had me at jjajangmyeon. »
and that’s how you sold your soul to the devil (for jjajangmyeon)
believing you just entered the gates of heaven with the beautiful smile he served you
girl what wouldn’t you do for these noodles
mork and you find your own routine
you go to work like usual then you stay later only to see him push himself during his training
the coaches don’t really approve but nothing can go in between this boy and his goals
you begin to notice the radical difference betwen mark lee, the champion and mOrKie, this one dork who treats you dinner every night
he tells you more about him, about his life in canada
about the friends he had there and how leaving his swimming team felt like leaving his brothers and sisters behind
about the amount of snow who never stopped them from going to school, things like that
as a girl who’s never been abroad, you drink up his stories and still can’t get enough
« we can go together one day, during summer, so you won’t die frozen »
so thoughtful, wow :’)
you lost track of the days, it could have been one week, two weeks, three months since you were staying with him, who knows (not you)
you were just enjoying these moments… you were comfortable being with mark
you don’t really know what the two of you are
is he just honouring his word and being nice to you?
is he considering you a friend? a good friend? or… more?
girl, let me tell you one thing: the boy might be lowkey
but you’re also pretty blind
because there’s obvious proof that mr. mark lee caught feelings for you
but don’t worry,, (actually, do worry) your boys have your back !
« i can’t believe you made yn your personnal manager, mark »
« wtf, i’m not »
« so… yn, are you okay if we stay too? »
those guys.
« oh, and we’ll also stay for dinner » adds hyuck.
those guys
they knew.
« only until the inter-regional championship, guys, ok? »
every pair of eyes focus on you each one with a different expression from the others
jaemin giggles « what do you mean yn? it was one week ago!! »
mark can’t find nowhere to hide
that little bastard
and the boys seem find the scene really entertaining
« —actually,… » mark begins
« the championship was one week ago??? and you didn’t tell me??? you made me stay for another one week??? care to share why??? »
some would say the answer is pretty obvious but again, you’re notoriously blind as a bat
and mark is praying to anyone out there to just. let him disappear then and there
you’re still looking at him with that questioning look and the guys are about to get some popcorn because it’s just too fun
at some point markie is red as a tomato and you’re wondering if he’s okay
until
“becauseilikeyouthatswhy”
sorry what was that
you just stood there wondering what just happened while the guys were cackling like maniacs
“ i uh. i like you. and i didn’t know how to say it, and it was so nice spending time together every night and and-- ”
“ ok stop. stop rambling. you know what? i like you too. “
cue lucas and co cheering loudly and haechan going finally, it’s been 84 years, i thought my ears would fall off if i heard him whining about you one more time
way to be dramatic
and that’s how you and the cute transfer student got together with a lil push from your loud ass friends over a plate of (delicious) noodles
