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‘baby don’t cry tonight’
normally mark would be pissed about someone climbing into his bed at ass o’clock in the morning but he can never find an inkling of anger inside himself whenever donghyuck presses up against his side. he’s shaking slightly, sniffling as he gets under the covers, clearly trying to stop himself from crying and mark’s heart breaks.
as soon as donghyuck’s fully under the covers, mark doesn’t hesitate to pull the younger boy against his chest, running one hand down his back whilst the other tangles in his hair and donghyuck chokes out a sob at the contact.
this is normal for the two of them at this point. donghyuck gets low at night when he’s left to his own devices, when the voices in his head swirl out of control and mark is always there to ground him. to bring him back to himself.
he strokes donghyuck’s back as he slowly calms down, his broken sobs fading away until he’s got nothing left to give. mark doesn’t still his hand until donghyuck starts fidgeting underneath him, carefully pushing himself up so that they’re face to face.
there are tear tracks staining his cheeks, his eyes are still wet and he looks so so tired but he’s still the most beautiful person mark lee has ever had the pleasure of knowing. he tells donghyuck just as much and a bashful look spreads across his face, as does a faint blush.
“you’re too nice to me hyung,” donghyuck says, his face mere inches from marks and they’re some of the dumbest words mark has ever heard.
“i’m not hyuck, you deserve it all,” he replies and he truly means it. “i want to give you everything i have and more. i want you to have my all.”
it’s the closest to a confession they’ve ever gotten and donghyuck finds that he doesn’t mind when they slowly drift closer until lips are hitting lips. the kiss is chaste, it doesn’t last more than a couple of seconds but it’s perfect in every kind of way and donghyuck finds himself desperate for more.
he dives in, kissing mark with a newfound fervour that the older boy responds to eagerly. it’s clear that neither of them have kissed anyone else before but that just makes this moment even more special and donghyuck moans into the kiss when mark’s tongue swipes against his lower lip, his way of asking for more.
they finally break apart about ten minutes later, both trying desperately to catch their breath as they fall back against the mattress. just like he’d done before, donghyuck curls up against mark, throwing a leg over his hip and an arm round his waist.
his socks tickle the sensitive skin of mark’s knees and his chin is digging into marks collarbone but he doesn’t want to be anywhere else right now. he threads his fingers through donghyuck’s hair, carefully stroking at his scalp and the younger boy almost purrs, melting under his hands.
“i love you.”
“yeah, i guess i love you too.”
‘when you smile, sun shines’
donghyuck, he’s got this glow about it him. mark noticed it when they first met and over the years it hasn’t faded even a little. with his tan skin and his unearthly sweet smile he is the sun in mark’s solar system and mark honestly doesn’t know what he’d do without the younger boy.
even when they were both new to the company it was almost a given that they came as a duo, a package deal and everyone just accepted it. they’re practically inseperable, texting each other constantly when they are forced apart and that’s what’s happening right now.
for the past few days mark and the rest of nct u have been promoting over in thailand and it’s been fun yeah, but god he’s missed donghyuck. even the three hour skype session they had yesterday didn’t do anything to quench his desire to see the boy.
they text each other tirelessly when mark’s on his way back (he even bought the overpriced plane wifi so their conversation wouldn’t be halted) and it’s nice but nothing can beat the feeling of calm that spreads through his body when he pushes open the door to their dorm and he finds donghyuck waiting on the sofa for him.
he practically falls into the younger boys lap, wrapping himself around donghyuck much like an octopus and it feels so good to be back home. donghyuck laughs at his clingy behaviour, ruffling marks hair with the hand that isn’t currently trapped between his and mark’s chests and mark can’t help but close his eyes and just take it all in.
when he finally pulls away donghyuck is staring at him, smiling the smile that only mark gets to see and he can’t resist leaning in to press a soft kiss to the corner of donghyuck’s mouth. this just makes his smile even brighter and yeah, the shine from the sun really doesn’t compare to the shine that donghyuck gives off whenever he smiles like this.
‘my love will protect you’
one of donghyuck’s favourite past-times is reading hate comments that netizens leave for them to see and mark hates it. he hates the people write them. he hates that donghyuck believes what they say.
they’re sat in the waiting room at mcountdown when mark catches him doing it again and his heart tugs when donghyuck shoots him a sad look.
“they’re spreading rumours about me again, apparently i’m dating not one, not two, but three sasaeng fans,” he says, his voice quiet as he looks back down at his phone screen and mark seriously has to resist the urge to knock it out of his hand.
instead mark plops down next to donghyuck on the small sofa and presses himself right up against his side, resting his head on donghyuck’s shoulder. from this vantage point he can read some of the comments and anger bubbles up inside of him at some of the worse ones.
[+147, -42] haechan ah is so chubby, why would any sasaengs want to date him ㅋㅋㅋ
[+111, -14] both twinkle d nim and d-light nim closed down so the rumours must be true~~ our haechanie really has betrayed the fans
[+105, -28] ah the voice on the recording really does sound like him, i guess haechan really doesn’t care about his fans
as he scrolls further down the page, donghyuck curls in on himself more, almost as if he tries hard enough he’ll actually disappear and mark refuses to let that happen. he takes donghyucks phone right from his hand, easily sliding it into his pocket before the younger even has time to protest and donghyuck just sags back against the sofa when he realises he isn’t getting it back any time soon.
“none of it’s true, you know?” mark asks, though he already knows donghyuck’s answer. “the people that say that stuff, they aren’t real fans. people love you hyuckie. i love you.”
neither of them have had their makeup done yet so mark takes the opportunity to lean up and press a trail of kisses from donghyuck’s forehead, down to his jaw. nobody in the room pays them any attention, already used to their sappy behaviour, though mark is sure he hears one of the coordi noonas coo when he gives donghyuck an eskimo kiss.
he doesn’t stop smothering donghyuck with affection until he’s flushed bright red, looking almost fit to burst with embarrassment. only then does he stop, pressing a firm kiss to donghyucks lips before moving back to his earlier position against his boyfriend’s side.
mark knows that he can’t stop the mean comments from coming and he knows that he can’t stop donghyuck from reading them but if he can make him smile, make him laugh, then that’s all that matters in the long run. this scandal, if it can even be called that, will blow over soon. until then, mark will do everything in his power to protect donghyuck.