note: my memory is not perfect so this is mainly based off Vibes from each era. Written primarily for an audience of ppl who don’t know shit about kpop or nct dream but enough to understand the characters involved (aka my bffs).

2016. by this point, mark and donghyuck had known each other for years already (with triple j too i guess) . technically all of dream could be considered childhood friends given how young they all were when they first met but anyways the point is the five of them knew each other before renjun and chenle appeared. renjun joined sm a year before nct debuted and chenle joined sm a few months prior to debut. renjun’s circle of friends primarily consisted of the chinese trainees and jaemin.

2017. unfortunately jaemin had to take a break due to injury, leaving renjun to mingle with the other kids. he became closer to the rest of the group in this time period, esp jeno and jisung because mark and hyuck spent a considerable amount of time with their other unit as well (see: them not being in the dream nct life series). markhyuck are glued to the hip. they had a fight during dream (we young) promos (though they vehemently denied it). everybody moved on.

2018.  jaemin’s back. but it’s also mark’s final year in dream. nobody knows how to act. they had a grand ol’ time in LA (party boy era, typical american highschoolers). donghyuck finally integrates himself in the 00z friend group (again?). middle finger selfie. WE GO UP! everyone’s happy because they’re 7 again, but not for long. and then mark leaves. what the hell do we do now?

2019.  hyuck has to integrate himself in dream again cuz working a double job is not easy (he contributed to 1% of flight emissions this year). he wishes mark was there (they all do) but they don’t spend half of his life with him the same way that he did. He calls him during the boom mv shooting to do their little chant. he becomes attached to renjun because he likes how he always reacts to whatever he does. they form a cat and dog-esque dynamic. renjun is still closer with jaemin and jeno and chenle than with him though. dont need your love choreo …. they probably kissed once tbh. markkkkk plz come back 😭

2020.   hyuck definitely wanted renjun at this point cuz he kept metaphorically pulling on renjun’s pigtails. they got closer throughout the tour. mark visits the dreamies during ridin promos and even at the mv shooting so it felt like he was never absent like 🥹. renjun goes through a breakup? (see: troye sivan fools cover) mark was confirmed to be a dreamie again, but they barely released 7dream content. SM was so weird bye i legit thought they were pranking us.

2021.   Hot sauce gipi dip that ay Renjun is hot now and nobody knows how to act. especially mark because renjun looks girlish and he is kinda confused but thinks he wants him. HELLO FUTURE ERA IS INSANE but it makes sense because the aesthetic is gay as hell. hyuck aggressively flirts with renjun and mark gets all defensive they were seriously fighting over him. hyuck and renjun spotted going on dates (at restaurants eating together). but so were markhyuck (they were at a jewelry store). you guys can create your own narratives i’m just the messenger. Also i cant remember if it was this year or last year but hyuck had dating rumors with itzy ryujin but because she has the same initials as renjun people were like “Renjun? Yeah we know”. I’m including this here because it’s funny as hell (though people were being awful on twitter. Classic) + ryujin likes women btw

2022 and beyond.  renjun and haechan started dating and i don’t have to elaborate it btw because everything makes perfect sense. You either get it or you dont. Mark still has renjun cuteness aggression though get well soon