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Mark is twenty three when he finds out where Renjun works. What seems like such a simple thing to know about his friend’s life was actually quite a catastrophic revelation. Over the years Mark had had the pleasure of befriending and getting to know Renjun, he had come to say with confidence that they were close. Like best friend close. Like I would quite literally stop anything I’m doing if you asked for me even if it was to my own detriment close. (Of course Mark wouldn’t want Renjun to sacrifice such things for him but that was different. Honestly, Mark didn’t want Renjun to do much of anything. If it were up to him he’d keep him safely secured under three layers of bubble wrap with a fourth protective layer being his own arms. That was the really insane part of his brain though. He’s actually been trying to squash that down—why is his brain even—). Yet despite their closeness, there is one thing Renjun has been keeping hidden from all his friends: his secretive part time job.
Mark gets it. When he was 19, one year into college with no prospects, no money, no goals, no love life, (you get it) and he got his first job at some dingy fast food chain getting yelled at by 16 year old managers, he was a little ashamed. Renjun, however, had been adamant that the job was yes, legit, no, not an only fans (everyone looked a little too disappointed at that), and no, it really didn’t suck that bad, it was actually quite fun and the pay was great. Despite this, everyone was still curious as to what Renjun’s job was to harbour so much secrecy.
As with his friend group, there's an ongoing bet on what exactly Renjun’s job is. While some are still dead set on an only fans or anything within the sex industry (Mark thinks Jeno and Jaemin’s insistence on hitting is fascinating), Jisung thinks he’s working as some magician because “the only explanation for Renjun Hyung’s existence is magic itself” (Hyuck only supports Jisung because he thinks Renjun’s ass is—). Chenle thinks he’s working some average high end fashion retail job because “women just love to feast on him”, and Mark agrees because the other options make him feel a bit dizzy when he thinks about them too deeply. (He is a man and he’s ashamedly taken a look. It does look magical.)
Renjun had set a few rules before they were able to come. Only Mark was sent the address, and Renjun insisted that he wasn’t to share it or search it up. “You know your way around Hongdae well enough” he had said, making sure to probe at Mark’s conscience.
The eight minute walk from the train station was hell, only because of the company. Mark’s friend group is typically loud and obnoxious and gets those irritated scorns from old ladies that plague his nightmares.
The warning signs start the closer they get to the building. They’re on the right street and it’s only a matter of time until they reach the destination. The surrounding shops are as expected–cute themed cafes, trendy food shops and stalls. The problem is that Mark thinks he is nearing the building at a rapid pace, and he thinks he can see the distinctive outline of Renjun’s face–just not in any way he would ever dream of expecting.
He can’t take his eyes off it. He seriously can’t take his eyes off it. His friends are too consumed with conversation to notice, all too comfortable with blindly following Mark’s lead and–oh gosh Mark can’t take his eyes off it.
“Guys…” Mark starts as he slows to a stop. His eyes are still glued to it and the sheer shock of his voice has his friends reeling back to attention. “I think we might be at the wrong place…”
There’s a small sound of ruckus as they each readjust themselves to their surroundings and oh.
“No, no, no I definitely think this is the right place,” Hyuck says, eyes wide at the banner in front of them.
“Holy shit is that–”
“Oh my god it is definitely–”
“Renjun…” Mark whispers. They stand in front of a cute banner, the image of attractive faces in maid outfits collaged across a pink background. To the right of the centre is Renjun wearing a yellow maid outfit with pink and white ribbon details. His eyes look big and adorable and the smile on his face is welcoming as ever. His hands are doing a heart sign, the type Mark sees when he catches Jeno watching a music show of a popular girl group on his phone. Mark catches a glance and thinks he can actually see Jeno’s pupils turning into hearts. Oh god are his pupils turning into hearts?!
This cannot be real. This seriously cannot be real.
“So cute!” Mark thinks Jaemins squeals out but his mind is foggy and he can hear his blood in his ears. Suddenly they’re making their way through the doors, down the stairs and in front of the proper entrance.
🎀
Despite how on brand it might seem for his friend group to visit these types of things, it seems all of them are new to maid cafes. They can’t help but look out of place and a lot like losers; six college boys absentmindedly huddled into a circle, arms and bodies leaning against each other for the comfort of physical touch because that’s just what happens when they’re exposed to new things. Mark, the unfortunate eldest, and the unfortunately unanimously labeled “leader” is at the front of the circle. He’s trying to talk to the fairy (the workers that aren’t the maids) with his brain still printing images of Renjun’s smiling, maid outfit clad form.
Mark’s eyes wander to the entrance of the cafe in his daze and oh goodness, oh jeez, oh man that’s Renjun, that’s Renjun walking down the aisle smiling prettily at them, no, at him. That’s his Renjun—Renjun in a yellow maid outfit, lithe body adorned in frills and glitter eyeshadow just catching the light. Mark can feel his jaw embarrassingly locked wide open and his palms are sweating—oh stop that—and his heart is racing and oh, his face is definitely, definitely red.
Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t say it, oh, you idiot—
“I do!” Mark stammers out and receives justified looks of confusion because he’s pretty sure what the fairy was saying was not a question and that is not a rational response. But, well, Mark was thinking of aisles and—oh, pull it together man!
“Welcome home masters!” Renjun says when he reaches where they’re waiting outside the door. Mark can feel his heart beating faster the longer he looks at Renjun’s face and wow. Mark isn’t stupid; he’s always known Renjun is pretty just like all his friends are. And he isn’t one to obsess over looks and wearing a maid outfit isn’t going to change that. It’s just that the light of the store is highlighting the stars dancing within his eyes, and the frills on his cuffs just brush against his birthmark drawing his hands to touch. Mark recalls every time Renjun had brushed his job aside, and is overwhelmed by the feeling of being let into another side of Renjun he didn’t know.
Renjun locks eyes with Mark and he swears his ears start matching the pink shade of the walls. Mark needs to squish him terribly. Just grab him and hold him within his palms and fold him eight times and squish until Renjun becomes so small he becomes a black hole that Mark freely gets sucked into. His brain is admittedly going haywire.
“I’ve been waiting so long for all of you to come home! Please allow me to guide you back inside.” Renjun walks them further into the cafe and stops at the small platform that leads to the tables. “There is a trap for clumsy people here please be careful masters,” Renjun giggles and even knocks his hand against his head in a silly gesture. Mark turns to the side and is a little concerned by how Jaemin is shaking so viscerally. Of course, as it turns out all of his friends are completely weak for anything cute and pretty. Especially Renjun.
The six of them manage to fit around the largest table the cafe has which is actually three tables shoved together. He supposes maid cafes aren’t usually a spot for large groups such as theirs to hang out in. When they all shuffle into their seats they look back at Renjun and oh, even sitting down Renjun is crouching and looking up at them.
“I flew in on a butterfly from the tulip fields, I am Injun, a super premium maid! Please feel free to call me Junnie! I, Injun, am known for my cheerfulness, so I recommend making mixed juice together energetically! Today I'll be serving you some special moe moe so I hope you’ll get your moe charge for the day!”
Hyuck, with his phone really unsubtly recording the whole thing lets out an “ahhh Renjunnie cute!”
Renjun, for what is probably the first time in his life doesn’t show a hint of distaste at Hyuck’s antics and actually smiles wider in response. “Here is the menu! I’ll give you all some time to decide on what to order. Just ring this bell when you’re ready.”
Renjun struts away and Mark is definitely, definitely not looking at his magical—
“Mark, what do you want?” Chenle asks, nudging him with his elbow and breaking the spell Mark had been in.
“He’s stupefied,” Hyuck says, laughing as if anything about this experience has been funny for Mark.
“I’m not stupified.”
Jaemin looks unconvinced, “do you think it’s weird?”
“What?! Of course I don’t I just—”
Renjun notices that they all ended up looking at him from where he’s waiting behind the counter and he poses, hand going to his face in a peace sign and winking with a smile. Mark turns away immediately.
“Fuck,” Mark groans, hiding himself in his hands.
“Well I’m stupified. I would do anything for him,” Jeno says and of course he says that so proudly the girl group enthusiast.
“Injunnie is so cute like this. And Injun. I think I might be the person that calls him that the most do you think he did it for me—”
“Can we just order our food,” Mark says, exasperated.
His friends severely side-eye him but Mark tries to ignore it. This is perfectly fine, he thinks even though his brain is on fire. Let’s just focus on eating first.
🎀
Renjun comes back with what looks like their drinks and food and another maid comes to help him. She is sporting a different style to Renjun, purple being the accent colour of her dress and a set of black cat ears that match her hair. Her name tag reads “Karina, head maid”, differing from Renjun's “premium maid”, and Mark recognises her as the maid in the centre of the banner beside Renjun. Mark looks between the cat ears on her head and back at Renjun. She seems to connect the dots quickly.
“It’s not really a part of his image but I can get cat ears if you want them for your little friend.”
The only indication of Renjun breaking character is the twitch in his eyebrow and the strain in his voice, “I’m taller than you.”
“No. You’re not.”
Even with the heels Karina still does not quite reach Renjun’s stature. Physically that is. Mentally, Mark sees Renjun as a teeny tiny garden fairy spreading fairy dust most of the time.
“Please. Please, give him the cat ears,” Hyuck practically begs and Chenle is furiously nodding in agreement. Karina only laughs as she walks away to presumably find a set of ears for Renjun. Jaemin and Jeno are holding onto each other like they’re going through something particularly difficult, and Jisung hasn’t said a word since they saw the banner.
“How long have you been working here?” Jisung manages to ask amongst the squeals of his friends, and when Renjun responds he’s suddenly bright red.
“About two years…”
Chenle’s hands slam on the table. “Wait wait wait, so while you and Jisung were—you wore—”
“So the drinks?” Mark decides to interrupt. He’d like to say he’s saving Renjun from the embarrassment, seeming as he doesn’t think he’s seen his face this red before, but really, if Mark goes to think about what happened while Renjun and Jisung shared a dorm he thinks he’ll explode.
Renjun smiles softly at Mark as if he’s grateful and okay now he's feeling a little bad for only helping for selfish reasons. Regardless, Renjun gets his pep back and is smiling again.
“For those that ordered our furi furi shaka shaka mixed joosh—” Mark is going to die. “—I will need some help adding extra moe! Just repeat the words after me and we can make a delicious joosh together!”
What proceeds is a criminally embarrassing chant that Hyuck is quite literally taking video evidence of. Renjun has the drinks in a cocktail shaker and does a cute shake after each chant. Mark struggles to get out the required “pyon pyon” and “doki doki”, and it seems as though only Hyuck, Jaemin and Chenle are able to repeat it with Renjun’s enthusiasm.
Renjun cheers when the drink is done and even goes as far as to stomp his feet hurriedly in place, and somewhere in between the mortification and embarrassment, Mark is smiling widely at his drink. Mark sneaks a glance at Renjun when he takes a sip and it’s sweet.
Eventually, Karina comes back with white cat ears and places them on Renjun’s head. Apparently he’s more of the innocent, fairy type than he is Karina’s mature, cat type maid, but the lot of them really couldn’t care less about maid types when Renjun is wearing cat ears. Mark thinks this is feeding a little too much into Jeno and Jaemin’s fantasies when Karina gets Renjun to “nya” with her; hands in the gesture of kitty paws.
“I’m so happy I have hearts in my eyes! Please take your time and enjoy your meals masters~” Renjun says before he leaves them.
“So we all lost the bet, huh.”
“Well personally, I think I was right. Renjun Hyung is a fairy maid and he’s pretty magical,” Jisung says confidently as he sips on his drink.
“You must admit those idiots were a tiny bit right if we consider Jisung’s rendezvouses—”
“Ugh, don’t be gross.”
Mark channels them out and fiddles around with his omu-rice. Renjun had drawn a cute chibi version of himself onto the egg as well as a moe moe on the nuggets. It’s so endearing Mark thinks his heart is experiencing real pain.
Suddenly the lights in the cafe dim and a spotlight is directed at the stage. Mark didn’t realise that the maids actually sing and dance, but well, there’s Renjun going up and…
Renjun sparkles under the spotlight. There is no other way to describe the way Renjun shines on stage. Mark can’t help but think this is how it was always meant to be; Renjun under the adoring eyes of others.
Mark knows he’s staring, his friends know he’s staring, heck Karina sees him staring from across the room where she serves a pair of high school girls fumbling over her looks.
“Milk, maybe you should think about why you’re staring so hard.”
When Mark goes home it’s with a polaroid photo of them with Renjun in his wallet, and Renjun laced into all of his thoughts.
🎀
“Mark, what are you looking at?”
Mark physically recoils, the pencil in his hand dropping pathetically atop the table and chair making an obnoxious screech from the movement. It’s been about eight days since they had visited Renjun at the cafe and everything seems to have gone back to normal. Except Mark that is.
Mark can’t help but be surprised that his friends aren’t making a bigger deal about it. Apart from the longing looks from pretty much all of them (though the longing looks were there before they saw Renjun in a dress), everyone is acting the same. Even Jaemin seems to be keeping it together better than him. Jaemin!
Mark is the only one that struggles to look Renjun in the eyes, or cannot think about Renjun without blushing, or cannot hear Renjun’s name without whipping his head in the direction of the voice, mind locking in as if anything regarding Renjun is vital information. Flashes of pink and yellow and cat ears plague Mark’s mind and ugh.
“Mark?” Renjun tries again when Mark pointedly does not look at him. Mark counts to five in his head, trying his best to keep it together, man.
“Uhh… Nothing,” is his eloquent response. He’s managed to look at Renjun’s ear as a start and wow, even his ears are cute. They look so soft, if I could just push his hair behind his–Damn, will I ever shut up?
Renjun sighs, and closes his laptop shut. He brings his hands to the table, linking them and playing with his thumbs. “Is this because of my job?” He says softly.
Yes, job. Mark needs to remember that it’s Renjun’s place of work and rid himself of his fantasies where Renjun is saying “welcome home” and “I’ve been waiting for you”.
“No,” Mark replies and even to himself it sounds unconvincing.
It’s silent for long enough that Mark has to move his eyesight to Renjun’s nose, and just below he can see his lips jutted out slightly in a pout. “You think my job is stupid don’t you.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa wait! That’s not it at all!” Mark was expecting a lot of reactions: “why can’t you look me in the eyes Mark?” or “why are you acting so strange?”, or “are you thinking of me in that dress?” oh goodness this is not the time.
“Isn’t that why you’re acting weird? You think my job is stupid? Dehumanising?”
“No! No, I would never–” Mark collects himself, suddenly aware of the few college kids sitting around them and getting self conscious. He pulls his seat in closer, hands resting on the table and takes a breath, his gaze finally reaching Renjun’s eyes.
“I don’t think your job is weird at all. It’s cool! Really! Like working at a haunted house or a theme park! I think it’s cool Jun, seriously!”
Mark’s exasperated tone seems to convince Renjun because his lips curve up. “Okay… That’s nice to know. I was afraid you guys would think differently of me.”
Mark feels a lump in his throat. “I didn’t know you were afraid of anything.”
Mark thinks of Renjun, his best friend Renjun, beautiful Renjun adorned in sweet fabrics and a brightness that follows him everywhere he goes. He remembers being eighteen, confused and scared and staring into Renjun’s clear eyes.
“You need to let go of your inhibitions, Hyung,” is what Renjun had said, knee deep in the Han river, showing none of the struggle a person should have for going in the water at this time of night.
“You don’t have to call me that,” Mark replied, voice whistling in the wind; fragile.
“Huh?”
“I mean, you don’t need to call me Hyung.”
Renjun let out a puff of air, and rolled his eyes. His lips curled into a cute little smirk and the cold wind carded through his soft hair, tossing it every which way and making him look youthful. At least Mark thought it would be soft if he were to touch it. “Are we close now?”
I really hope we are.
“Haven’t we always been?” Mark said instead. The longer he looked at Renjun the more difficult it was to maintain it. For some odd reason he felt an overwhelming feeling in his gut, a pressure like hands holding onto his heart and squeezing gently. It was hard to breathe but also felt nice, like a warm, cradled embrace.
“Ha. Okay,” Renjun hummed. “Mark,” he emphasised, “you need to let go of your inhibitions.”
Despite the short time Mark had known Renjun, he had always felt drawn to him. Everything about the way he held himself, the way he interacted with others and the way—especially now—that he was when he was with him. Gentle. Light.
Mark watched the moonlight dance atop the river. All his stress and anxiety dissipated the longer he remained in Renjun’s bubble. Mark wonders, now as he did back then, if he’ll ever get the chance to know Renjun in his entirety.
Renjun laughs and the movement of his body makes their hands touch jolting Mark straight back to reality. “I’m afraid of a lot of things.”
“Is that why you didn’t tell us? You thought we’d judge you?” Mark asks.
“It’s embarrassing you know… I love my job. It’s like I can put on this persona and be someone that can spread joy. And yes of course we get the occasional asshole perverts who think this is all some weird fetish, and I know dressing up as a maid is not the most reputable job to some. I didn’t want you all to think that of me.”
Renjun laughs but Mark can see the conflict in his face, and the harsher grip he has on his hands. “It’s hard work to smile all the time you know! And doing all those silly interactions can be mortifying sometimes! But I think it’s worth it when I know I've made someone’s day brighter. That's all I've really wanted to do.”
Mark thinks of his friends, the way they feel held together because of Renjun, the way they would never feel the same—feel right without him there. Mark thinks of himself, uncertain for most of his life. He thinks of the family he made with six boys, he thinks of Renjun and the light he shone down on him.
Mark thinks it’s insane that Renjun could ever think they would think badly of him–that he would think badly of him. Mark has to clamp his fingers into his hands, to hold himself and weigh his thoughts down lest he explode. He doesn’t understand how to express in words just how much Renjun has done for him. How do you tell someone their existence in your life means everything? How do you tell someone they make you a better person?
“You are my voice.”
Renjun, expectedly, laughs and Mark doesn’t even feel embarrassed by his display of words. He thinks, watching the mirth in Renjun’s face that he wouldn’t mind embarrassing himself to show Renjun just how much he mattered to him. And though Renjun clearly took his words as a joke, he was determined to show him that what he said was real.
🎀
Mark is twenty three when he orders a maid dress and gets caught inspecting it by Donghyuck.
“What the fuck are you doing?” He sounds tired as he says it, as if Mark’s presence alone is enough to exhaust him. Mark’s cheeks flare but he will not admit to being embarrassed because ugh, can’t a man just inspect a maid dress and pick apart his feelings without being judged?
“Looking at a maid dress. Obviously.” Mark hopes it sounded nonchalant but knows his traitor of a body made his voice squeak.
“Okay,” Hyuck draws out, speaking slowly like a kindergarten teacher would to their kids like the condescending asshole he is. “Why are you doing that?”
Mark huffs, “You told me to think about it! I’ve been thinking!”
It takes a total of three seconds from Hyuck to go from straight-faced, to shocked, to shit-eating-grin. “Oh, Mark. You’re an idiot!”
Mark is not an idiot. Probably. Ugh. Mark let’s Hyuck waltz into his room with all his smugness, choosing defeat as his hands go to hide his face.
“And what has all that thinking led you to Hyung.”
“I think I like Renjun,” Mark says, muffled and pathetic.
Hyuck scoffs, “you think?”
“Oh, shut up man,” Mark groans. “I like Renjun, okay? He makes me feel like I’m going to explode. I look at him and it’s like I can feel every atom of my body vibrating. I want to tell him, I want him to know how much he means to me… I just don’t know how.”
The thing about Mark is he’s always been a bit of a coward. When Renjun got into his first relationship Mark had front row seats to watch it unfold. Renjun joked that he couldn’t wait to do the same for him when he found someone. Mark’s at twenty three and Renjun’s still waiting.
Mark watched Renjun fall in and out of love two more times until he got tired of being the one to heal back Renjun’s diminished heart. He didn’t understand how anyone could ever let Renjun slip from their grasp when they were blessed enough to experience his warmth. Mark would never let him go.
But I guess Mark never got that close.
It’s a cycle, Mark realises. Mark watches Renjun fall in love time and time again and each time Mark thinks I could treat you so much better than them. Mark used to label it as fierce protectiveness for his friend because if it wasn’t and Mark hasn’t made a move…
“I can help you find out,” Hyuck says, drawing Mark out of his daze. He has that same confident look on his face that he gets when he decides he has a plan. And whenever Hyuck has a plan it always ends with Mark feeling some kind of guilt, embarrassment or regret.
“You got that maid dress for a reason right? Let’s put it to good use.”
🎀
They now have a bunch of Injun maid merch in their dorm. Hyuck said he wanted to “redecorate” and Mark made sure to inform Renjun to try and get him to stop. Renjun was unexpectedly unbothered about the whole thing. “I’ve been doing this long enough to know my face is in many different people’s homes,” is what he’d said exactly. Mark doesn’t know if he should feel proud or concerned.
He has to admit that he likes having small pieces of Renjun around his home. It lets the more insane part of his brain wallow in delusion. What he didn’t expect was to be using the facial expressions and poses for reference in front of his friends.
“No!” Jaemin bellows, jutting his hands and moving his body in erratic motions, “Injun is posing like this! Like this!”
To put it curtly, Mark has never felt more humiliated in his life. He never expected that his life would come to a point where he’d be wearing a blue and frilly maid outfit. It’s puffy and short, with blue ribbon accents across the white apron. The skirt ends in the middle of Mark’s thighs and is admittedly cute, though Mark does find it jarring. He does not have the sweet features Renjun has to pull this off and his muscles are bulging and threatening the integrity of the seams. Hyuck jokes that he was only hitting the gym to impress Renjun and this is a great way to show it off. And, well, it’s true but he doesn’t have to act like Hyuck is right.
If not for his plan he doesn’t think he’d wear this again, that is unless Renjun would want him to. And actually, now that he thinks about it, if he imagines himself beside Renjun in his maid outfit he thinks that they would look cute. And if he imagines himself in the maid outfit on top of Renjun, then that would be–
“Look at my face!” Jaemin near shouts, eyes wide like he is on something and honestly, he might be. Cuteness, most likely. It’s a far more effective drug to Jaemin than anything real.
“See!” He expresses, eyes forming pools and his mouth doing some kissy thing, “it should look cute, Hyung. Cute!”
His friends had set up all their Injun merch on their coffee table like some shrine. Jaemin has been going over how Renjun poses in his maid outfit and teaching it to Mark for the better part of the hour. Hyuck and Chenle were helping, but got distracted after finding Renjun starring in one of those ‘I went to a maid cafe in Korea!’ videos.
“Renjun is like a professional,” Chenle gawks after they’ve moved onto the second video. “Don’t they usually get the most experienced maids to deal with the influencers? I can’t believe Renjun is wracking up 500k views on a tourism channel.”
Hyuck let’s out the fifth dreamy sigh in the past twenty minutes, completely distracted by the close up shots. I can help you my ass.
“You know, I’m surprised you guys are helping me,” Mark says because he is. He’s grateful, obviously, but he knows himself and he knows his friends. “I appreciate it.”
Jeno smiles from where he’s lounging on the couch, going through the Injun photobook he bought. “It’s okay Mark hyung, we can wait our turn,” Jeno says with all the ominosity of a cartoon villain. It does not at all match Jeno’s sweet, unassuming expression, but does kind of match the energy of someone that would wear a hentai or die hoodie.
Suddenly, Jeno’s words catch up to Mark, “wait what?”
“Hyung!” Jaemin actually shouts this time. “Go like this!” And now Jaemin is doing rapid fire aegyo in Mark’s direction. Mark feels something inside him crumble and it worsens when Jeno speaks up. “Imagine how cute it would be if Renjun did that,” and Mark thinks Jeno is actually photoshopping Renjun’s face onto Jaemin’s body in his mind. Or maybe he’s putting Renjun beside him, he kinda has a weird thing going on with Jaemin too–
“Oh, he has,” Jisung says, cheeks pink. “It was cute.”
The five of them start up immediately.
“No one asked–”
“Are you serious Jisung–”
“Jisung, shut the fuck up–”
“I’m trying to enjoy myself right now Jisung why would you even–”
“Jisung, could you please describe in detail–”
🎀
Mark thinks he might throw up.
Inhibitions. The Renjun in Mark’s brain supplies. You need to let go of your inhibitions.
Mark still thinks he’s gonna throw up, but at least he knows it’s for a just cause. He’s standing outside of the maid cafe, full blue maid outfit on with the same glittery makeup and ribbon accessories in his hair that Renjun wears. There are a few people looking at him, probably wondering why the maid isn’t entering the maid cafe, but Mark tries to focus on the script in his head instead.
He had gotten Renjun’s shift schedule from Karina who sent him the most intense I know what you are look Mark has experienced in his life. Which is how he knows that Renjun should be exiting the cafe right about…
“Welcome home princess!”
It doesn’t make sense. The street of Hongdae is not Renjun’s home. And he was meant to say ‘master’ but well, Renjun… Princess… It slipped out.
It takes a few seconds for Renjun to fully process what he is witnessing. Mark in a frilly blue maid outfit. Mark reciting maid cafe lines. Mark calling him princess. Mark in a frilly blue maid outfit. Mark’s biceps struggling to fit in a frilly blue maid outfit. Mark calling him princess–
Mark looks as Renjun’s whole body goes red like it does in the anime Jeno watches. His face looks like it is going to erupt and it is so, so, soooooo insanely cute!!!! that Mark feels any and all embarrassment he was feeling completely nullify.
Renjun coughs, and then he splutters, and then he’s laughing, and oh sweet heaven Renjun’s laugh??? In Mark’s ears???? Because of Mark?????
“I’ve been waiting so long for you to come home! Please follow me inside,” Mark says, trying to contort his face in the same way Jaemin instructed him. He doesn’t know if it’s working, but Renjun’s smile means it’s good enough.
“Follow you inside..?” Renjun questions teasingly, his words tilted upwards. Mark thinks he is going to shoot off like a rocket and into the stars.
“I wanted to stay truthful to the script,” Mark admits.
“Okay then, sure.” Mark hopes Renjun never stops smiling. “I’ll follow you home.”
🎀
“Home” happens to be a Haidilao a ten minute walk from the cafe. All things considered, it is a bit of a home for Renjun.
“So, Mark. Wanna tell me what this is all about?”
They’re sitting across from each other in the booth. Mark stands out with his pastel blue maid dress, in comparison to Renjun’s large T-shirt and sweats. The shirt is one that Mark had bought him, and that’s all Mark really notices. That and it (purposely) swallows him and makes him look smaller. Is it bad to be jealous of a shirt?
Mark clears his throat before shooting Renjun a Jaemin-approved smile. “I am Minhyung, a maid in training! I’ll be serving you today, so I hope you are able to have a nice time princess.”
“So you’re a maid in training now?”
“Yes! And I am gonna make your stay the best you’ve ever had!”
Mark attempts to act the part as much as he can sitting in the booth of a Haidilao. He gets his orange soda and Renjun’s lemonade and pours them together in a cup. He tries the furi furi, shaka shaka, moe moe, chant but stumbles over his words and spills some of the liquid on the table. He tries to make the sauce like Renjun would make the food in the cafe but Renjun immediately disagrees and gets up to make both of their sauces. Mark knows better than to mess with Renjun regarding hot pot. As Mark continues to act as the cute maid in training, Renjun laughs along and helps Mark where he sees fit.
“Hmm,” Renjun hums, amused. “The script is lacking but your energy is good. You are really cute Minhyung.”
“I am still a maid in training. I watched your videos a lot to try and replicate your energy though.”
“You watched my videos?” Renjun looks embarrassed again.
“I had to learn from the best of course! I watched it with the guys, we were all really impressed. You’re amazing at your job.” Mark hopes that Renjun can feel his sincerity. “We all think it suits you so well. You’ve always brought happiness into our lives, it only makes sense you have a job where you can spread your light to others.”
Mark looks Renjun straight in the eyes, a smile naturally forming on his lips. He has long since realised that whenever Renjun is around, he has nothing to be afraid of. His love for Renjun, no matter how complex and explosive it makes him feel, came down to this—even in the barest and simplest of times, Renjun still managed to fill Mark with love. “So I hope you know we will always stand beside you. I will always be here for you. Because I love you. I’ve loved you for so long, and that will never change.”
Mark contemplated for a long time over how he should confess. He considered giving Renjun a gift or making a grand gesture with all his friends, but in the end decided that just being honest–being brave after years of being silent, was what he deserved. What felt like embarrassment now felt like armour, the frilly dress and glittery makeup. Because he knows that this was something Renjun loved and shared with him.
“Hyung,” Renjun says and oh, it’s been so long since he’s called him that.
“I thought we were close, Renjun-ssi?” Mark decides to tease, even though his heart is pumping erratically in his chest.
“Hyung,” Renjun says again, more like a warning this time, before he draws himself back, soft. “You like me?”
“I love you. You make me brave enough to speak, and brave enough to love.”
Renjun’s shock is palpable. His eyes widen and his teeth catch his bottom lip. And Mark finds that he can perfectly capture the emotion that Renjun is feeling, as he had seen it and felt it in his own heart so many times before. “It’s okay if you’re afraid. I want to be your voice too.”
It’s a cycle. Renjun falls in love time and time again, and Mark picks up the pieces. Renjun used to label it as fierce protectiveness for his friend because if it wasn’t and Mark hadn’t made a move…
“Mark,” Renjun says and there’s tears in his eyes. Mark has never seen him cry. “I love you.”
“I’m glad princess feels that way.”
🎀
So, a couple of things stick. One, the nickname.
“Fuck, Mark.”
“You’re doing so good for me, princess.”
Two, the maid dress(es).
“Mark, I’m close,” Renjun wails as Mark keeps rutting into him. There’s so many layers and ribbons that it’s difficult to see where Renjun starts and Mark ends, but honestly, they both like it a lot better this way. They’re both fully clothed apart from their underwear that’s been pushed aside. They’re on their second round and there’s cum on their dresses and it’s gonna be a bitch to clean but Mark knows it is so, so worth it–
“Holy fucking shit,” a voice interrupts.
And three–
“Jisung?! What the fuck is Jisung fucking Park–”
Oh. Mark forgot that everyone was coming today.
“Are you guys insane? On the fucking couch? In the fucking dresses? With Jisung fucking Park watching?”
Mark blatantly ignores Hyuck for the time being, choosing to unashamedly kiss Renjun on the lips. Mark smiles through it as he feels Renjun’s cheeks warm, and the shy movement of his lips and tongue. Mark has been so used to Renjun being the more confident one out of the two of them, it’s nice to change things up.
“Hello?” Hyuck says, “Earth to you horny pieces of shit can you listen.”
Mark and Renjun release with an obnoxious smack. He… removes himself from Renjun and helps Renjun look a bit more decent in front of their friends. Renjun still has that pretty shade of red. Mark wants to eat him.
“Oh, hi Hyuck,” Mark says dismissively after he deems him and Renjun are decent. At least the layered skirts are working well to cover everything.
“Oh my god, getting in a relationship has turned you into an asshole. A horny, confident asshole!”
Hyuck sounds mad but Mark knows he’s more upset that Jisung was watching instead of him. They all kinda look upset about that to be honest.
Chenle, Jeno and Jaemin look like they think this is a canon event. “Why Jisung?” Jeno mangages to let out unstably, like it's taking all his strength to speak. “You two decided to do this and you invited Jisung.”
Jisung looks entirely smug as he gets up from the chair he was sitting at, with a perfect view of the couch. He was also fully clothed, so at least there was no scarring happening. “No need to stress Hyung, you can wait your turn I guess.”
Mark thinks Jeno and Jaemin are gonna throttle him.
The verbal attacks then get aimed at Jisung, and Mark can’t help the fond smile on his face. His friends are idiots. He does love them though.
Mark feels the touch of Renjun’s fingers finding his, and they naturally link themselves together. Mark squeezes because he can, and feels his heart flutter at getting to hold Renjun’s soft skin.
“Do you really think everything will be okay?” Renjun murmurs, looking softly up at him.
Mark isn’t sure if Renjun’s referring to them as a couple, Jisung getting shouted at, his friends walking in on them or the very obvious fact that they all want to hit. Regardless, Mark has the same answer for all of them.
“Yes,” Mark says before he kisses Renjun on the nose because he can. “Everything is gonna work out just fine.”