ENDING: Puzzle Piece

3RD PERSONS VIEW。

"has anyone seen injae?" mark questioned as he walked into the lounge area where some of his brothers were staying at. youngho hummed and peered up from his puzzle, "wasn't she with you?"

mark flashed him a sheepish smile, rubbing his neck awkwardly, "yeah... i think i lost her."

"you what!?" they reacted fast, shouting out in unison.

a whine escaped mark's lips, "come on! you guys don't need to rub it in!"

"how the fuck did you lose her?" renjun gaped at the older, mouth hanging open in shock.

"okay- so we were like walking in the garden and like i lost track... yeah... i was calling out for her but she's no where!"

youngho sighed deeply and stood up, "where were you heading and what were you even doing to lose track?"

"uhh... i spotted a squirrel- but we were heading to—" mark cuts himself off with a loud gasp of realization, his eyes lit up immediately. "never mind! i know where she is!"

youngho shook his head, a soft chuckle escaping his lips as they watched the prince speed off.

"i can't believe he lost track of his own girlfriend." donghyuck scrunched his nose, eyes squinted a bit.

"that's mark lee for you." youngho snickered.

the second eldest found jaeyoung and mark's relationship quite cute. despite acting confident sometimes, mark still had his awkward moments that were often questionable. especially when jaeyoung confessed to him? mark went all red as taeil's hair. his heart was beating faster than ever – beating uncontrollably for the girl he loves.

mark took a deep breath, a hand on top of his chest as he panted. "stop disappearing like that!" he let out a whine, a pout forming on his pinkish lips.

the girl flinched, looking up to see mark staring down at her all pouty. he crouched down beside her, eyes landing on the sleeping tiger.

"prince... should've known." he shook his head before glancing up at his girlfriend, "injae- you left me for prince!?"

a giggle escapes her lips, hand stroking prince's fur delicately. "oops, did i? you seemed too distracted with the squirrel."

a pink hue spread across his cheeks, quickly avoiding her teasing gaze. "i- i... i can explain."

"the squirrel honestly looked so terrified when you suddenly asked if it would dance with you."

mark huffed, "i'm offended. the squirrel ran away when i asked!" he watched closely with loving eyes as jaeyoung patted the top of prince's head. prince responded by rubbing his head closer to jaeyoung's palm, liking the affection.

mark was happy that prince and jaeyoung got along, but what bothered him was whenever prince happened to steal jaeyoung's attention all the time. the smile he had washed away quickly, a frown now curving down.

"hey~ pet me too..." mark mumbled, poking the girl's arm, but she was too occupied with the tiger.

shoulders slumped forward, he had his eyebrows knitted together in slight annoyance. "injae... i want some love too..."

"yah... jaeyoung?" he blinked repeatedly, mouth slightly agape as he couldn't believe the girl was this occupied with prince.

"my pretty princess?" he tilts his head, using all of the nicknames he could ever think about. "argh, injae! i want attention too!" he pouted, not being able to take it anymore.

subconsciously, he had reached out to grab her arm that was petting the tiger, tugging on it as she fell into his embrace. mark locked her in, resting her head on his chest with his own hand.

"love this prince too, injae!" he murmured softly, brushing her hair with his fingers.

shocked, jaeyoung froze in her spot and as she did, with her ear pressed against mark's chest, she could definitely hear the faint beating of his heart.

"i'm sorry, i got too distracted." she said softly, breaking away from his hold but still had his arm wrapped around her.

"hmph, do you love prince more than you love me?"

"are you seriously jealous of your own pet tiger?" she raised a brow curiously followed by a chuckle. mark looked away in an instant, "n-no... just- just... pay attention to me too!"

jaeyoung smiled and reached up to pinch mark's cheeks making him whine. "i will, i'm sorry, minhyung."

mark felt his heart flutter as she called him by his rarely used name. lips pressed into a thin line, he leaned in and snuggled on the crook of her neck.

"maybe i need to start hiding prince..." he whispered making jaeyoung laugh out loud. her hand ruffled his hair, playing with it for a while before looking down at him, not realizing that he had been looking at her as she did.

mark grabbed her hand, placing it on top of his left chest where his heart was. "do you feel that?"

she nods, "your heart—"

"it's beating for you." he cuts her off, staring deeply into her eyes, that's when he felt embarrassed all the sudden.

heat rushing up his face, eyes widening he looked down, "i- i...oh my gosh that was so cringe- i'm- jaeyoung." he stood up and touched his face, the sound of faint giggling heard from behind.

he whined, "don't laugh at me- i'm... gosh, mark lee why did you just say such thing!"

jaeyoung scrunched her nose, shaking her head, "you're so cute, mark." she commented, "don't you think so, prince?"

"no i'm not. i'm not cute—"

prince sat up straight, purring softly before laying back down, watching the scene unfold in front of him.
"see? even prince agrees."

mark huffed, taking a seat back down beside jaeyoung. resting his head on her shoulder, sulking silently as she played with his hair. "hmm... injae?"

"what?"

"you never answered my question..."

"what question?"

"do you love prince more than you love me?" he repeated sternly.

jaeyoung chuckled, her hand leaving his hair making him frown a bit. "why'd you stop..." he mumbled.

"you dork, stop comparing yourself to your own pet. mark, i love you so much, okay?"

mark hummed in response, "i know...but prince should seriously stop stealing your attention from me."

"should i say the same to the squirrels?"

mark froze, "i- okay, fair enough."

"and besides, i've already marked you in my heart—"

"ahhh don't remind me of that!" he exclaimed, hugging her tight. "i love you, and yes i'm glad you marked me in your heart but let us not remember that okay?"

her laugh sent his heart fluttering as he couldn't refrain himself from not smiling. it was like he had found the perfect piece to finish his puzzle. meeting her was one of the best things that happened in his life.

he knew that if he wasn't able to meet her, he'd still be locked up and confused. always stuck in the middle during arguments, not being able to listen and open up his heart anymore. his whole life had crashed right in front of him and he couldn't do anything as memories haunted him nonstop.

but now, everything felt so perfect. his shattered heart was mended back together, his life was no longer in dark corners of his room. new memories were made and he genuinely felt happy.

"jaeyoung, you're my missing puzzle piece." he whisper, connecting their foreheads as they stared at each other. jaeyoung was fascinated, awed by how mark literally held galaxies in his eyes.

the way it twinkled a thousands stars as he stared at her. it was heartwarming.

"and you're my one and only prince." with that, mark pressed his lips against hers, drastic emotions exploding as their hearts touched.

the puzzle was now complete.

—
prince is heraphany's official 3rd wheeler

this is a little something cuz
honestly idk anymore

ps. i love mark lee 😌