**originally written under the name mineyoonghi on wattpad.
ɢᴇɴʀᴇ: gang au! featuring nct ot18, eventual ot21; angst, fluff, adventure, action, found family trope, safe-for-work!!
ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: reader (fem) x mark lee, strangers to lovers
ᴏᴠᴇʀᴠɪᴇᴡ: “in the buzzing business town of pyongston, south korea, a dark secret dwells beneath the streets. a war wages below the surface; two gangs are going head-to-head to stake their claim on the once peaceful city. the catch? one team wants to control it, but the other wants only to save it. and your life becomes forever changed on one fateful tuesday morning, when you unknowingly get caught in the crossfire. the aftermath of your future still remains to be determined: what will you give up to spare the ones you love the most? how far will you go to protect a family you may never see again? and most importantly, will you have to give your life to keep this secret from the world you left behind?”
— navi below the cut. —
ɴᴀᴠɪɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ
๏ pre-read note (please read this before starting the fic!!!)
Johnny: the hot guy friend that you wish you had fallen for, you've been friends for absolute years, probably met you when you were still sporting middle school acne and braces, he knows exactly what you look like when you wake up with a hangover and last night’s makeup still on, you always have a shoulder to cry on and he’s always slinging an arm across your shoulders just cause youre the perfect height, likes driving you places, stressed if you drive
Taeil: the older brother friend that jokes around with you all the time out of love, your parents probably love him more than they love you, invites himself over for dinner a lot and pretends your parents invited him without you, gets really happy when they go along it, accompanies you on errands just to spend time with you, makes you buy things for him as a reward, ends up buying you more stuff
Taeyong: the how-are-you-even-friends-he’s-so-out-of-your-league friend that you’re genuinely still surprised he hasn’t abandoned you yet, he doesnt notice the stares from others when you hang out, holds your hand platonically, jokes about how if hes not married when hes 40 hes going to propose to you, gets flustered when you assure him hell be lucky to make it to 30 without being snatched up, wonders why you can't believe the same thing for yourself when you're the greatest person in the world to him
Yuta: the k-drama guy friend that used to make you question how you felt about him, treats you like a sister, invites you on family outings and trips with his fam, everyone thinks you’ve been harbouring secret feeling for each other, but youre honestly just very comfortable around each other, will 100% pick you up and carry you around like its nothing, doesn’t understand why other girls that he dates get jealous
Kun: the too-perfect friend that honestly just has everything under control, he’s excelling at everything it makes you feel like even more of a mess, but he’s always willing to help you out, laughs at you a lot but he really doesn’t mean to, wonders why he’s friends with you but spends 5 minutes in your company and realises how much he loves you, brings you souvenirs from countries he’s visited when he goes on holidays
Lucas: the boyfriend-but-we’re-not-dating friend that treats you like his girlfriend basically, looks at you like you’re his entire world, daydreams about moving in with you and travelling and exploring the world with you, brings you as his date to every fancy event, constantly says you deserve better than any guy you date, tries to set you up with "worthy guys" (his friends), gets offended when you ask if he means himself
Mark: the FaceTime friend that you don't always see because he's so busy, but he facetimes and calls and texts whenever he can, stays up late on FaceTime with you to keep you company while you study, always makes you laugh, invites you to do really fun and odd activities over the summer, texts you dumb memes during that day, asks to call you when it's late at night, likes to sit at a convenience store or cafe and just talking when you hang out, always gives you a really big hug before you leave
Jaehyun: the friend your parents wish you would date, sweet and charming and always brings something when he's invited over for dinner, laughs warmly when your parents ask for the millionth time why you're not together when you're both single, dedicates songs to you on the radio passive aggressively like "here's to the person who thinks Bohemian Rhapsody is by AC/DC", won't ever (intentionally) embarrass you, once said he wanted to spend every valentines with you and didn't realise the connotation until later
Jaemin: the friend that makes everyone else wish they had a friend like him, has his own shit but hides it so well everyone thinks he's perfect, brings a bag full of snacks whenever you hang out, texts you when he's away with sad faces saying he misses you, platonic PDA, says he wants to watch a movie but ends up talking through it, you end up sitting normally on opposite ends of the couches but suddenly one of you lying against the other and that's completely normal, you spend hours in each other's bedrooms alone and no one bats and eye
Doyoung: the friend you want to keep for the rest of your life, he somehow knew how to adult at like age fifteen, the one you call when your microwave breaks or you get a flat tire, you get called mom and dad by your other friends, except doyoung is mom and you're dad, you see him shirtless a lot, laughs when you throw clothes at him and yell at him to get dressed, probably has a box of his stuff at your place because he never leaves, likes going out at night with you
Renjun: probably the friend you had a crush on when you were a kid, grown up together but you weren’t particularly close back then, “weren’t you the one in fourth grade who-”, constantly steals your food but always offers you half of whatever he’s got, “it’s your turn to pay”, once accidentally stood up a date because you asked him to come over and he forgot he had somewhere else to be, falls asleep way later than you so when he stays over you always wake up to some new piece of art he did cause he was bored
Winwin: the savage friend who will not let you live, basically acts like he hates you, squirms away and looks disgusted when you cuddle him, rolls his eyes and hugs you back when you pout at him, buys you coffee a lot, likes it when you try and sneakily take pictures and videos of him because he looks good, complains that his parents like you more than they like him, actually doesn’t hate wearing matching clothes, happy to do whatever when you hang out
Jeno: basically Kun part two, he is just so good at everything you feel infinitely inferior, always trying to impress you by doing some cool new trick, likes going to the park or local playground with you, you act like children around each other, offers to buy you ice cream when youre sad, ends up eating half of it himself, tells you that youre pretty with only a little bit of blushing, regrets agreeing to go to the school dance as a group and wishes he’d just asked you to be his date
Donghyuck: the teasing friend, hes basically your annoying little brother, which you absolutely adore about your friendship, makes you feel like a queen because he wants your attention so much, asks you to come over to help him study so he can spend time with you, video game competitions are a must, lots of playful bets, he asks you to be his date to the school dance in a joking “ur alright I guess lol” way but hes also kinda shy about it
Chenle: the friend that used to have a crush on you, he got over it pretty quickly after you became friends, always doing dumb stuff so if youre not there to do it with him hes sending you photos and videos of him doing it by himself, tells you that you should come with him on family vacations and actually means it, sends you happy birthday texts at midnight so he can be the first one, interrupts FaceTime calls with “hold on I gotta take a shit”
Jisung: (you guessed it) the baby friend that you feel like you need to protect, he actually ends up protecting you most of the time, hes kind of a human shield, laughs when you hide behind him, frowns when you squish his cheeks, his favourite place to hang out is your house, likes walking to the convenience store for snacks but pretends he doesnt, lies on your bed dramatically and asks you to go without him, shocked when you pretend to leave without him
Hendery: your knight in shining armour, you first became friends as kids when a teacher was accusing you of something (you definitely did do) but he stuck up for you and got you out of trouble, has been doing it ever since, asks you why youre not in love with him yet, best moral support and study buddy, gets offended when you tell him hes not your first choice for a date to the dance, definitely is your first choice tho
Xiaojun: the platonic-or-romantic friend that you always wonder about, actually kind of romantic, plays songs for you, isn't afraid to sing for you, laughs when you mess up the lyrics of songs, lends you his jackets and hoodies, daydreams about what it would be like if you dated and wonders if it would be weird, neither of you are interested in that though, steals your coffee and screws his face up when its not what he normally gets, impromptu sleepovers
Yangyang: the childhood best friend, been your best friend for years and won't let you forget it, jokingly gets jealous when he feels like hes being ‘’’replaced’’’, likes going shopping with you, very blunt about what looks good and what doesn’t, gives you things to try on as a joke, probably has a good texting relationship with your mother, smiles with pride when his pets like you, has a list of places he wants to go with you saved on his phone
Ten: the friend that acts like a five year old, always makes you smile and laugh, tires you out sometimes because he just has so much energy, dances with you around your living room, smiles really wide when you tell him hes handsome, teases you that you should just confess that youre in love with him, makes fun of you a lot and its so funny that you laugh along too, your contact name in his phone switches between “love of my life <3″ and “bitch”
Jungwoo: the confident friend, hes not afraid to embarrass you in public, yells across stores and restaurants for you, shoves his camera in your face to get funny photos of you, likes spending time with you in parks and outdoors, complains about it though, laughs when you complain that he takes up too much room on your couch and slouches so that he takes up even more, uses you as a pillow
I think I've died, I'm not ready for this comeback. Hyuckie's really coming for my neck and heart, I don't know how I feel about it. Renjun, I'm sorry but my loyalty is shaking. 🥺
