Chapter Text
It wasn’t until a week later that Mark actually realized what had happened. Things went back to as they were before and Donghyuck has resumed his quest of wanting to introduce Mark to romance. At this point Mark was sure that Donghyuck just wanted to hang out and watch movies. Mark didn’t mind at all. Maybe Donghyuck was weirder than him for just accepting that a lot of the people he knew were actually Mosquito-people.
There was a student council meeting and Mark had almost forgotten that he revealed everyone’s secret to Donghyuck that easily. Mark followed Donghyuck into the room, looking up sharply when he heard him approach Jaehyun.
“How did you become a mosquito,” Donghyuck said with so much confidence that everyone just stared at him in shock. Nobody moved or talked until the door opened and Sicheng walked in.
“What are you doing? Why is everyone so silent?” He asked confused as to why all the attention was on him.
“How do you know?” Doyoung finally spoke up, voicing what everyone was wondering.
“Mark told me because he met my sister, who happened to be the one to bite him.” Because he was looking away due to his flushed cheeks, Mark missed the pitying gazes the student council members send Donghyuck. He wished he didn’t wait for Donghyuck that day. He heard everyone sign at Donghyuck’s words, however. No one seemed disappointed. It almost sounded like they were expecting Donghyuck to find out sooner or later. Mark couldn’t blame them. He was surprised Donghyuck didn’t know up until then.
“It’s no big deal” Johnny spoke up. “I got turned by my girlfriend of seven years. I’m not different just because of it.”
“Thank you, Johnny, finally someone who talks. This is incredibly exciting for me, you know?”
Finally, Doyoung sighed.
“I guess it doesn’t matter, since you already know. Wanna see me winning arm wrestling against Johnny?”
“What the hell Doyoung, are you trying to distract me from yours and Jaehyun’s tragic backstory? By trying to be funny?”
“Just shut up for once and let me show you. You were curious about us like 5 seconds ago, weren’t you? So just sit back and watch.”
“As if you could beat Johnny. Even Mark would win against you.”
Doyoung and Mark both let out offended noises at that. Mark’s was closer to a laugh though.
“You know, one day I will defeat you Kim Doyoung. I am going to become so strong to go against your dirty tricks.” With that, Johnny got Donghyuck to go quiet and to tensely watch the situation in front of him. Normally he wouldn’t take any of that serious, but Johnny sounded sincere. Donghyuck wanted to see what was going on and Mark watched in wonder how Donghyuck’s eyes sparkled in excitement. Mark was also curious and sat down at the empty chair next to Donghyuck. Without turning his head, Donghyuck found Mark’s hand and held it tightly, slightly leaning forward to get a better view in Doyoung’s and Johnny’s arms. Jaehyun naturally took the position of the referee and Mark wondered how many times they did that before.
With Jaehyun’s signal, both boys began to push against the other. Their muscles began to tremble. At first it looked like Doyoung would win, but then Mark realized. It wasn’t just that their muscles were trembling. Doyoung was using his ability to vibrate to try to relax Johnny to the point where he would lose. Mark’s mouth fell open in awe. And after what can’t have been more than a few seconds, Doyoung won. Only when Donghyuck removed his hand from Mark’s, Mark noticed how tight he was holding on.
“What? What just happened? Did you loose on purpose Johnny?” Donghyuck seemed even more shocked than Mark.
“He didn’t I just one, like I always do.” Doyoung replied, a happy smile on his face.
“I can’t believe this. This is weirder than the mosquito thing. How did you do it?”
“To be fair, Doyoung has an advantage.”
“It’s all about the vibes.” Jaehyun added, finally speaking up. Everyone ignored him except for Sicheng who quietly giggled.
Mark watched silently when the student council members explained more about themselves and felt reminded of when he first came to the school. In contrast to Mark, Donghyuck was eager to learn more, there was no fear or confusion in him. Mark smiled softly at the memory.
He snapped back out of his thoughts when he heard his name being called.
“What can Mark do?” Immediately Mark knew that Donghyuck wouldn’t let go of this easily.
“We don’t know yet. We haven’t figured anything out yet.” When Donghyuck turned around, Mark knew that he had a new mission. He just hoped Donghyuck would drop his romance one now that he found something else.
Of course Donghyuck didn’t drop the romance thing. Not even a week after Johnny’s and Doyoung’s arm wrestle match, Donghyuck stood in front of Marks door again.
“Let’s go to the swamp.”
With that they wandered down the now familiar tracks to reach the point where they took a break last time again. The weather was much better than last time and the air was fresh, but not too cold. This time the birds were singing loudly, and the comforting hum was in the air again. Mark hasn’t felt that relaxed since the last time Doyoung decided he needed some soothing (Mark suspected that Doyoung needed the hug more than he did). They chose another spot right under one of the trees close to the water to settle down. They were more prepared than last time and had a whole picknick with them. Since none of them had any plans for the day, they got comfortable to stay for a long while. They have not spoken much on the way. There was a silent understanding between them, no word needed. When Mark was ready to let himself be lulled to sleep by the constant buzzing, Donghyuck started to sing softly. Mark has heard Donghyuck sing before, but only briefly. Never before has it held so much sincerity and softness. Slowly, Mark sat up. He opened his eyes fully to get to look at Donghyuck’s face. It didn’t take long for Mark to recognize the song. Without noticing, Mark joined Donghyuck in his song. With a slight shock, Mark had to find out, that their voices matched perfectly. It was even stronger than the resonance he felt when he sang together with Sumi. It felt right. The song ended and none of them dared to move. Unconsciously, they have gotten much closer to each other, their faces almost touching. The birds around them haven’t stopped their concert, but for Mark it still felt like time has stopped. And then both of them moved. There was a subtle but noticeable buzz between them when their lips finally touched. Their kiss didn’t last long, but it didn’t need to. Both of them felt like they had all the time in the world. There were still no words needed. Mark didn’t know how long they just sat there and looked at each other with a content smile on their faces, but when they finally moved, nothing has changed much.
“I never got what the movies were on about with the first kiss, but they were right about that spark thing.” Mark finally broke the silence.
“Nah, I thing that’s just your mosquito thing. I haven’t felt a thing. The first kiss doesn’t seem to be that great after all.” Donghyuck said, giving Mark a meaningful look. Before
Mark could decipher what Donghyuck could mean, they were kissing again.
“Maybe a third one will do.” Donghyuck said after they took a short break to catch their breath.
“That is the cheesiest thing you have said and you say a lot of cheesy things.”
“Only when you are around.”
“I don’t think it is exclusive to me.”
“You might be right, but I have heard some sappy stuff from you as well.”
“Shut up.”
“Gladly.” And they were kissing again.
“You know what is missing now?” Mark asked after a while has passed in which they just enjoyed each other’s presence.
“Rain.” They said at the same time.
“I actually thing we had enough of that last time.”
“Oh, you actually admit it?” Mark acted surprised.
“Yeah, this is much better.” Eventually they left the swamp in silence again. This time more sure of themselves and with the guidance of the soft hum of thousand of mosquitoes.