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Donghyuck heaves a deep sigh, grieving for his whole class, having been assigned to the gym class of Mr. Jung. He is known to be the most serious and the number one most autocratic gym teacher who takes all the fun out of the only possibly fun class in school, which in Donghyuck's opinion is a catastrophic situation in the democratic nation of South Korea in the 21st century.
They are seated in neatly arranged lines, backs straight and chest out, not a single noise to be heard. He shudders at the sight of his class being so disciplined. He can almost feel that nothing will go right today.
And of course, his seventh sense is never wrong. In fact, he is very much willing to exchange his amazing seventh sense for another gym partner that isn't a devil's incarnate by the name of Mark Lee. Probably the only person ever he just cannot get along with, and Mr. Jung hammers in the nail by saying, "If you have any issues with your partner, let me know and I will call the principal to assess whether you really need a change of partner."
Fuck my life.
So the two of them glare at each other, in the midst of all the other pairs gleefully greeting their new partners. Mark is looking straight at him with those round eyes that people call innocent-looking, but Donghyuck is sure that everyone else is just blinded because all he sees in Mark's eyes is evil. Unable to stand the extensive silence, he huffs, "Look, I know we both hate this, but I really don't need a visit to the principal's office so let's just do this."
Mark just crosses his arms and shrugs, presumably agreeing. Donghyuck rolls his eyes. Fucking Mark Lee. Thinks he's got some hipster swag shit just because he grew up in Canada. How hard is it to just agree like a normal person?!
Their attention is grabbed by Mr. Jung's voice, "Okay, we will now do some stretching in your pairs. Feet to feet, opened as wide as possible, and you will tug on each other's arms. Carry on."
Donghyuck sits down and stretches out his legs first, while Mark follows. Mark raises an eyebrow, "What, you can't open your legs any further?"
Donghyuck seethes because it fucking hurts and Mark is clearly showing off how much more flexible he is, so he snides, "Sorry, not easy enough to open my legs for someone like you."
Mark apparently doesn't bother reacting to that at all, opting instead to just move on with the stretching. Donghyuck already has his arms held up, so Mark naturally grabs his arms from the top as he places his feet against Donghyuck's.
And Donghyuck has never been so shook.
His eyes widen to the size of a planet as he sees the mark, resembling a Cancer zodiac symbol, on the back of Mark's hand emit a dim silver light. It's not blinding, but definitely noticeable.
Not even a second later, Donghyuck scrunches his face and immediately lets go of Mark as he clutches the area under his right collarbone, a sharp burn having shot right through when they touched. A pain like he has never felt before, not even when he'd burnt himself with a candle.
He can't decide which was the shittier news of the day - having Mr. Jung as their gym teacher, or fucking Mark Lee as his soulmate. Life-long soulmate. Oh, fuck, definitely the latter.
When he slowly looks up at the cause of the pain, he's looking back at Donghyuck with the same wide eyes.
"What the actual fuck. Mark Lee?!" Donghyuck hisses, trying not to alarm Mr. Jung.
Mark retorts, in a low voice, "That's what I'm saying, Lee Donghyuck. How the fuck are you my soulm-"
"Shut the fuck up right now!" Donghyuck interrupts. He definitely does not need to hear the s-word coming from Mark. Definitely not now.
He marches right up to Mr. Jung, and complains, "Mr. Jung, I really cannot do with Mark Lee being my partner!"
Mr. Jung deadpans, "Haven't you heard me earlier? Need me to call the principal?"
Somehow Mark has made his way there too and pleads in the most pitiful voice, "Please, Mr. Jung. You see, I'm afraid we will disrupt your class if this goes on."
Unfortunately for Donghyuck (and also Mark but not that it matters), Mr. Jung wasn't having any of that and simply informed them that they will just be sent to the principal's office if they disrupt the class. Fucking Mr. Jung. He's abusing the principal's power without even being the principal! What the actual fuck!
Thankfully, though, they didn't need to make any skin contact after the stretching.
At the end of class, Donghyuck side-eyes Mark, "Don't even think about sealing the mark."
Mark simply looks ahead, replying with a slight smirk, "Don't even worry about that. Never crossed my mind."
-
It's one gym class later, and Donghyuck realises why Mark reacted so calmly to not sealing the mark.
His eyes instinctively try to find the mark on the back of Mark's hand, only to find that he's covered it up with a band-aid. And then it hit him. It is that easy for Mark to pretend nothing is happening. He merely needs to cover it up.
Unlike Donghyuck, who doesn't have a way to stop the burning sensation, which is pulsating through his soulmate mark again, as Mark is rubbing the back of his neck right now with an infuriating smirk, cooing, "Awh Donghyuck, what's the matter?"
Donghyuck shoves Mark away, grabbing his right collarbone, growling, "The fuck?! Mark Lee, how childish can you get? Weren't you supposed to be a year older?!"
Before Mark could even reply, Mr. Jung shouts across the sports hall, "Mark Lee and Lee Donghyuck! If I catch you two fighting one more time, straight to the principal's office!"
Mark exaggeratedly covers his mouth which formed an 'o', and Donghyuck swears he can hear the 'ohh dayummm' coming from Mark's mind. He opts for a middle finger instead, because fucking Mr. Jung and his principal threats AGAIN.
-
Donghyuck slams his cup down and curses, "Fuck my life!"
"I thought it was ridiculous enough that my stepbrother has a crescent moon because his soulmate's name is Moon Taeil. What the fuck does this 'x' have to do with a Mark Lee Minhyung?!"
Jeno clears his throat, "Um, I think... it's meant to be a mark. Like, when you mark a map or a graph or something."
"That's what I'm saying, friend. This is fucking ridiculous!" Donghyuck grabs a bunch of his own hair, exasperated.
Jeno offers Donghyuck a bittersweet smile. "At least you met him," he laments as he looks down at the mark on his forearm, just below the elbow. (He often thinks about it, wondering if it was a capital letter i or a roman numeral one, or just a really wide H written sideways. He wouldn't know, though, until he meets his soulmate - if he ever does.)
Donghyuck blinks at Jeno a few times. Half of him wants to scream at Jeno because he just doesn't understand, but the other half actually wishes for Jeno to meet an amazing soulmate. Though he can't actually help Jeno do that, so he just sighs, "If you want one so bad, you can have mine."
-
"Hyung, help me tell dad that I'm transferring out of this school."
Dongyoung rolls his eyes, "You know how hard mum and dad worked to get you in this school. There's no way they'll say yes."
Donghyuck whines, "Then beat me up and break my legs or something, please."
"What the fuck? What's up man?" Dongyoung finally turns his attention away from his laptop.
"My gym partner is Mark Lee, and the teacher won't allow us to change partners. If I break my legs I can at least sit out of class!"
Dongyoung blinks at Donghyuck, who looks back at him. "What? You say it like I know who Mark Lee is."
"Listen, hyung. He's like the most annoying person on Earth. I am literally going to die with him as my gym partner!"
Dongyoung gives him a judgmental look, "That's it? Just suck it up, then. It's just for a year at most."
Donghyuck feels so frustrated, because no one freaking understands! "YOU DON'T GET IT! A year is a year too long! The pain would've killed me by then."
"WHAT? IS HE BEATING YOU UP? IS HE A BULLY?!" Dongyoung hastily checks him for any scars or bruises, while still shouting, "I'M CALLING YOUR FORM TEACHER-"
Donghyuck groans at his overreacting stepbrother and pushes the fumbling hands away, "NO! Chill the fuck out, hyung. If anything, he's probably the one getting beaten up, all things considered."
His stepbrother sighs, both in relief and frustration, "Then? What is it? Can you just tell me already? I have better things to do, you know?"
He bites his lower lip, contemplating how to break the news without sounding too weird, and suddenly flashbacks of seeing Dongyoung with his soulmate play through his head and he grabs his head-
"I just- I just don't wanna suck faces with him!"
He watches as Dongyoung's eyes widen almost comically, and voice louder than ever, "SUCK FACES?! What the fuck are you kids doing at school?! Is he violating you?!!!"
Okay, so it is partially his fault for not giving the context but he slaps his forehead, annoyed, "OH MY GOD HYUNG!" He then pulls down his collar and points at the 'x' under his collarbone, "See this? This is a mark. A fucking mark that stands for Mark Lee!"
Dongyoung looks at the 'x', and at him, and back at the 'x'. "... Oh. So, this... Mark Lee gives you pain?"
He sighs, "Life is unfair. I have to be the one whose mark fucking burns when we touch."
Dongyoung slowly nods, "Okay... And you don't want to seal the mark."
He shakes his head with conviction, "Nope. No fucking way in hell. The feeling's mutual, by the way, just in case you think I'm being an asshole."
Dongyoung's eyes seem to lose focus for a moment, but he recovers before Donghyuck catches it. "Hey, little guy. You should at least give him a chance. The fact that you two are soulmates should say something, right?"
Donghyuck scoffs, "My ass. He fucking touched me just so he could stand there and watch me burn!"
Dongyoung lightly chuckles, "Then you should be grateful it's not triggered by eye contact like mine. I'm serious, though. How about you try being nice first for once, and see how it goes?"
"He wishes," Donghyuck rolls his eyes. And so he does, but he may kind of be slightly convinced by his stepbrother. There's just something about Dongyoung's tone that tells him it's actually worth a shot. It's just that he doesn't want to "submit" to Mark, so to speak.
"You'll never know if you don't try, Hyuck."
Donghyuck doesn't reply, deep in thought. Well, he's always been nice to everyone else, even with his sarcastic comments once in a while. But somehow, with Mark, he just feels like he has to treat him differently from the others. Maybe if he consciously makes an effort to be nicer, they could at least be civil.
"By the way, who told you that you need to 'suck faces' with your soulmate to seal the mark?"
"You don't? Then why were you making out with Taeil-hyung that time?"
Dongyoung gives him the most incredulous look ever, "For the sake of making out. What else?"
-
"I don't get it. Y'all are two of the most popular people in the school and yet y'all hate each other's guts."
"Yea? Well and he just has to be my soulmate, given that I maintain friendly relationships with almost everyone else in the school. Fuck my life," Mark rants as he stirs his lemonade.
"Honestly though, if my soulmate touched me just so I would be in pain, I'd fucking hate them too-"
Mark lightly pushes his friend in rebuttal, "Hey! It's justifiable if you consider all the times he pulled away my chair or just about any prank on me."
Renjun smiles sheepishly and pats Mark's shoulder, "Bro, I still maintain that you need to at least try to work things out with him. Like, it's not sustainable to go on like this forever."
Mark frowns at his friend, "Sustainable? Are we talking about global warming here? Look, it's not like I'm gonna have a forever with him or anything. We won't seal our marks, and we will go our separate ways after graduation. That's it."
"Do you really think that there isn't going to be more in store for you two after high school?" Renjun questions, shooting Mark right in the head, "And that's that, but what about right now? Are you really okay knowing that his mark hurts whenever you touch him?"
Mark presses his lips together. He hates to admit it but Renjun is most likely right. His fate with his soulmate probably isn't going to end just because they graduate high school, but he chooses to ignore that question at the moment.
"I mean... We can always find a way around that, right?"
-
So Mark wears a jacket to gym class so Donghyuck won't have to touch his skin when they stretch. He will just not hold on to Donghyuck's arm, and that'll hopefully make things easier.
Donghyuck's sparkly eyes light up and widen as he looks up from Mark's jacket, and then looks away, hesitantly mumbling a "thanks". Mark can't help the smile that graces his lips at the just very slightly adorable sight.
He would've told Renjun, see, we can survive just fine without sealing our marks. But something in him is stopping him.
-
"So? Do you still need me to break your leg or something?"
Donghyuck appears to shrug nonchalantly, "Think we can decide after another week of observation."
To be absolutely honest though, he never expected Mark to wear long sleeves just to accommodate him. But what he even less expected was to see Mark smile at him, and most definitely not for his heart to skip a beat (or two) because Mark Lee is Fucking Cute when he smiles.
Just maybe, taking his stepbrother's advice was a good move. And he thinks he may just continue doing so.
Dongyoung smirks knowingly as he closes the door on his way out.
-
Mark watches as Donghyuck takes baby steps on the balancing beam, legs wobbling like jelly. It is highly unsettling, if you ask Mark. He's sure Donghyuck is going to fall: it's merely a matter of when.
He focuses on spotting, and he reminds himself to catch Donghyuck's torso if anything. But when Donghyuck actually loses his balance and tilts towards Mark, he panics and instinctively grabs Donghyuck's arm instead. Donghyuck screams from the sudden pain, and Mark, in his panic, decides that the best thing to do is to let go, resulting in Donghyuck landing on the mat, butt-first with a loud thud.
He gasps, eyebrows knitted in concern, "Holy shit I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" He asks urgently, kneeling down beside Donghyuck.
Donghyuck groans, face still contorted from the impact. He waves dismissively, "I'm fine, just don't touch me."
Mark frowns as Donghyuck gets up, dusting his clothes without sparing Mark a single look.
And then he wonders. Why didn't he laugh at Donghyuck, when he would have if, say, Renjun fell from the beam? And when did he become so concerned about Donghyuck's well-being? Most importantly, is he upset because Donghyuck seemed pissed with him, when it used to be something to celebrate?!
-
Donghyuck's eyes seem to have developed a thing for Mark, because he literally can't not spot Mark wherever he goes, and right now is not an exception either. Mark is fumbling as he hurriedly grabs his materials from his locker for the next period, about to be late. Unlike himself, Mark is a "law-abiding student" who is never late for class.
Sadly for Mark, luck doesn't seem to be on his side as he rams straight into Geonwoo - a burly guy who especially loves to pick on weaklings like him.
"Oi, tiny thing! Do your eyes grow on your butt or what?" Geonwoo growls in his hoarse voice, pushing Mark harshly.
Donghyuck continues to watch from a distance, definitely not because he's worried for Mark. Nope. To his horror, though, Mark actually talks back to Geonwoo:
"My thoughts exactly, fat piece of thing."
"WHAT? I dare you to say that again!"
His common sense tells him that Mark is a hundred percent going to get beaten up if he says it again, and his seventh sense is sure that Mark will do exactly that. And of course, he is never wrong and he can see Geonwoo pulling his fist back, ready to swing as Mark opens his mouth to say, "fat piece-"
Without second thought, he zooms up to Geonwoo's right in supersonic speed, effectively blocking the punch as he hangs an arm around Geonwoo while kicking Mark in the shin, making him yelp.
"Look, Geonwoo. Some people are too stupid to even walk properly, like dearest Mark here. We shouldn't even waste our time with these people!" Donghyuck sneers, while furrowing his eyebrows and shaking his head disapprovingly at Mark, hoping he'd get the message.
Donghyuck sighs and leaves a gentle pat on Mark's back and ushers Geonwoo away, leaving a very confused Mark behind.
-
"Hello? Earth to Mark?"
Mark snaps out of his thoughts, now noticing Renjun waving a hand in his face. "Huh?"
"I said, what's got you in such a daze?"
After contemplating extensively, Mark pouts, "I... I just don't get it."
"What?"
"Lee Donghyuck just helped me."
Renjun doesn't know whether to laugh or to cry. "What, so you'd rather he left you there to die?"
"No but I just- I'm so confused..?"
Mark wants to say yes even though he's thankful, only because he wouldn't be so confused and troubled if Donghyuck didn't save him from Geonwoo. Like why was Donghyuck suddenly nice to him? Wasn't he angry at Mark for dropping him during gym class? Didn't he hate Mark all along, what with all those jokes and pranks?
"I can't decide if he was acting mean before or if he's acting nice now!" Mark blurts out, and he only gets even more confused when Renjun laughs at him like he just told the funniest joke of the century.
"Right, Mark. The most difficult question ever. Must I remind you that I am friends with Donghyuck too?" Renjun continues laughing.
It only gets more hysterical when Mark furrows his brows and solemnly tells him, "What? I'm serious! What's so funny about this?!"
-
So here Mark is, seated across Donghyuck in a small diner just two blocks down from their school. He would say that it is a nice tranquil afternoon if not for the blazing sun coming through the glass panes. Also, if the late afternoon sun rays aren't hitting Donghyuck's face at an angle, forming soft shadows and emphasizing his beautiful bronze skin. It's making his mind malfunction and his heart rate is nowhere near tranquil right now.
He still registers, though, Donghyuck tilting his head left, and then right, and opening his mouth to say something that vaguely sounds like his name.
Mark blinks twice, presumably with a blank expression. "Huh?"
Now that he's regained his senses, he sees Donghyuck staring back at him, looking unamused. "Mark. Did you really suggest that we meet just so you can stare at my face?"
He feels the blood rush right up to his face, being caught, although he hasn't really tried to be subtle. His ears were probably the colour of the bottle of ketchup on the table. He stutters a little, "N-no, I had something to ask you."
Donghyuck nods, signalling for Mark to go on.
He promised himself that he will sort things out with Donghyuck, partially so that Renjun can stop chortling at him. But more importantly because their relationship dynamics have definitely changed, and it's confusing and unsettling and everything unpleasant- it just drives him crazy. On one hand, they still go at each other all the time, like how Donghyuck just did. On the other hand, though, everything they do with each other just feels unnatural now. Maybe it's just him, maybe Donghyuck is not the least bit affected. But-
Mark catches his mind rambling. Again. He shakes his head, and meets the eyes of a waiting Donghyuck.
"What are we?"
Donghyuck takes a sharp breath, and exhales slowly as he leans back into his chair. Looking out of the window, he counts, "Schoolmates, classmates, gym partners, acquaintances, enemies, soulmates. Maybe friends, but that depends on how you see it."
Mark plays with his fingers. Definitely not how he expected this conversation to go. "Right?" He gives an airy laugh, "That's what we are."
They fall back into silence, making Mark feel increasingly uncomfortable as he spills out his next question.
"Do you hate me?"
Mark carefully observes even the tiniest movements of Donghyuck. He visibly swallows, showing that he isn't really as calm as he tries to appear. He leans back and crosses his arm as he turns back to face Mark, taking a defensive stance, matching his following question.
"What do you think?"
And that's when Mark knows that Donghyuck isn't ready to be honest and open up to him. So he decides to change his strategy. He shall be honest and put himself in a vulnerable state first. Donghyuck is easily influenced, and Mark doesn't have that much to lose, anyway. He'd rather lose a little pride in return for the mental torment over their relationship to end.
Mark presses his lips together. "I don't know, Hyuck. I was so sure you hated me from the first day we met, and it has always been that way. But now, I don't know anymore. You didn't curse at me when I dropped you in gym class, and you fucking saved me from a beating! It's like you're hot then you're cold. Hyuck, can't you just tell-"
-
Much to Donghyuck's relief, the waiter interrupted Mark's plea, serving their food right in good timing. Donghyuck thanks the waiter, and puts on a grin as he naturally changes the topic, "Let's eat! Mmm, looks good." He pretends to eagerly wrap his fork with the spaghetti that looks overcooked and cold and just not tasty, and he wonders why people even pay for this shitty food. But at the moment, he just wants Mark to drop the topic so he shoves the forkful of spaghetti into his mouth even as he feels Mark kicking him under the table, and exclaims, "Oh, wow! The spaghetti is amazing, you should try it too, hyung!"
Mark frowns at him. "Hyuck. Since when did you call me hyung?"
Donghyuck chooses to ignore that, continuing, "Really, try it!"
Mark is clearly unamused, and he sternly warns, "I'm going to grab your arm if you keep doing that."
Donghyuck freezes. He can't believe Mark still remembers not to touch him amidst all this. He forces out a laugh, "Ha ha, doing what?"
He doesn't even have time to regret that before he feels Mark's grip around his wrist, and the now-familiar burning pain through the 'x'. He screams and drops his fork with a clink, turning a few heads from the tables around them. Mark harshly releases his wrist, and he winces as he slowly lifts his head to meet Mark's eyes.
The look in Mark's eyes sends chills down Donghyuck's spine. Even with all the terrible things he's done to Mark in the five years of them annoying each other, he has never seen Mark looking so... Angry. Cold. Serious. Not a hint of joking, not even annoyance.
"I warned you," Mark chides, his tone as icy as ever.
Donghyuck internally whines. How was he supposed to answer Mark's question when he didn't fucking know the answer?! But he glances at Mark again, and he knows Mark isn't going to give up until he gets his answer. He guesses he could just honestly tell Mark, considering Mark took the initiative to open up first.
He can't bring himself to look at Mark, though, so he looks down at his plate and mumbles, "I don't know... I'm friendly to everyone, but from the first day I met you, you just felt different... So, naturally, I had to treat you differently from the rest... Now that we know why you feel special and different... What do you think? Do I hate you?"
He doesn't hear any reply for a long while, so he finally musters the strength to look up, only to find Mark with a face flushed pink, presumably because Donghyuck said he was "special". It brings a smile to Donghyuck's face, because the scary Mark from a moment ago has completely vanished and is replaced by an adorable, embarrassed one. The more Donghyuck thinks about how he was intimidated by Mark, while looking at this cute Mark in front of him, the funnier it gets- resulting in light chuckles escaping him.
Mark snaps his eyes towards Donghyuck, "W-what's so funny?!"
The chuckles turn into full-blown laughter as Donghyuck sees a clueless Mark trying to put on a strong front.
-
Donghyuck clutches his stomach as he wheezes, and Mark is annoyed. What did he even do to make Donghyuck so amused?! Donghyuck seems to be on the verge of tears, managing to squeeze in some words while laughing, "Nothing, nothing. You're just such an adorable pink teddy bear."
Okay. Mark is positive that even his neck is flushed right now because Donghyuck just called him an adorable pink (?!) teddy bear. Donghyuck seems equally flustered; he stops laughing obnoxiously and his eyes widen for a second before he stuffs his face with more spaghetti.
Mark finally eats a spoonful of his risotto, and he grimaces. It's cold, and it tastes like rice in concentrated plain water.
"Hey, Hyuck. Can I have some of your spaghetti? This shit is gross."
Donghyuck shakes his head, "So is the spaghetti. Cold and soggy."
"You said it was good and I should try it."
Donghyuck rolls his eyes, "I was just trying to change the topic! Seriously though, I'm definitely a better cook than whoever runs this place."
Mark raises an eyebrow, "Really? My mother told me not to believe anything without concrete evidence."
Donghyuck pats his chest with confidence, "Come over to my place one day and I'll make you something so amazing you'll never want to eat out again."
Mark seriously doubts that, chuckling in disbelief, but he is quite curious about Donghyuck's cooking skill. "You sure? Because I'm really gonna take that offer."
"Sure, it's a date then," Donghyuck gives Mark a cheesy wink, at which Mark grimaces hard.
So Donghyuck may not love him, but he can now be sure that Donghyuck doesn't hate him. Their relationship status is still ambiguous, but they have at least opened up to each other and grown more comfortable. Any progress is good progress in Mark's opinion.
-
Donghyuck makes his way to the table with his food, and he sees Mark approaching.
"Sup, man," he greets and Mark pats his back as they pass each other.
He sets his tray down, and Jeno is staring intently at him. He looks back at Jeno, sending him a questioning look, "What?"
"Did I just see Mark greet you with a pat on the back?"
"It's the safest body part. It's not like you don't know what will happen if we do as much as shake hands or a fist bump," Donghyuck simply explains, ready to tuck into his lunch.
Jeno sticks his chopsticks above Donghyuck's, effectively stopping him from eating. "No, but it's more of the fact you and Mark are greeting each other."
Donghyuck releases his chopsticks and sighs, "What, I can't greet my gym partner?"
Jeno narrows his eyes, wondering if Donghyuck lost his mind or memory or both, "Apparently not, for the past five years?"
Donghyuck can't help but roll his eyes as he crosses his arms, "Well, I apparently decided he's un-terrible enough to deserve my greetings, okay?"
Jeno slowly nods his head and claps, "Wow, that's precisely what I've been trying to tell you for the past five years!"
Donghyuck groans, "No shit, Jeno. Can I finally eat now?"
Just at that very moment, Donghyuck's notification sound rings and his phone screen lights up, drawing their attention.
Message from Mark Lee:
hey, slipped my mind just now. tonight?
Donghyuck can literally feel Jeno smirking at him already. He groans again. What a long day.
-
"You can put your stuff there or something, it's chill."
Mark looks around with curious eyes, as if everything is fascinating to him. "You live alone?"
"Used to live with the folks, but they moved back to our hometown to take care of my grandparents," Donghyuck explains, "I live with my stepbrother, but he doesn't come home until late usually."
Mark nods, as he sinks into the beanbag by the wall. Donghyuck chuckles at Mark, almost disappearing into the beanbag with his tiny frame.
Mark silently stares at the mark on the back of his hand for some time, then he asks, "Hey. So your zodiac is Cancer?"
"No, I'm a Gemini."
Then Mark furrows his eyebrows as he scrutinizes his soulmate mark. "Then what does this mean?"
Donghyuck scoots over to take a look as well. It could be a Cancer symbol, it could be 69 written sideways, or it could be- he lets out a chuckle, "Ahh, I see. I think it's two sixes. My birthday is on the sixth of June."
Mark's eyes widen impossibly at the revelation of the century, and Donghyuck can't help but think that Mark looks funny because of his nicely curved eyebrows. (But still cute.)
-
"Then what about your mark? I've never seen it, I just know it's somewhere there," Mark states as he points in the direction of Donghyuck's right shoulder.
"Ah, mine is really lame, like really. It's just an 'x' which I guess is a mark," Donghyuck casually says as he loosens his tie, and unbuttons the first two buttons of his uniform shirt. Mark can feel his heartbeat accelerating because fuck, why hadn't he realised this earlier? Donghyuck was not only beautiful, he was also pretty damn hot.
Donghyuck pulls his shirt to the side to expose the 'x' under his collarbone, but Mark can't tear his eyes away from his chiseled collarbone, protruding against his smooth skin.
Donghyuck must have caught him staring (again), because he awkwardly clears his throat and announces that he's going to get a change of clothes. Way to go, Mark! Way to go! He internally groans.
-
Mark did offer to help, but Donghyuck unceremoniously kicked him out of the kitchen after seeing how he was taking three eternities to just cut up some leek. So he isn't too guilty about getting a free meal, because hey, at least he tried.
He tries not to widen his eyes so much because he knows he looks funny, but he can't help it when he digs into the kimchi stew. It was beyond amazing. He holds up a thumbs up, "What the heck, it's really good!" Donghyuck smirks and shrugs with an unspoken 'I told you so'.
Clearing almost all the food, Mark commends him, "Hyuck, you're really quite amazing. I can't even fry an egg without burning it."
Donghyuck laughs heartily, "Whether I'm good or not is one thing, but what's for sure is that you really suck."
Mark whines, "Hey! Is that what I get for praising you?!"
Donghyuck gets up to clear the table as he imitates an old man, "Aigoo, aigoo, this hyung, seriously."
Mark doesn't hold back his laughter at Donghyuck's antics, and joins him in washing the dishes.
-
They sit in a beanbag each, since there is no couch in the house. Donghyuck kind of wants to sit nearer to Mark, but he also kind of doesn't need any accidental pain in the collarbone. His mind wanders to the thoughts of sealing their marks, but he catches himself- they've barely been friendly for a month, it doesn't make sense to want to settle down with Mark forever. At least not yet.
Mark breaks his train of thought by asking, "Don't you get lonely?"
Why is it that Mark always asks the questions that hit him right in the heart? That day in the diner, and now this. So he does what he does best: avoid.
"It's late, Mark. You should go home," he says.
Mark doesn't move an inch. "My curfew is at midnight. It's like eight fifteen now."
"Still, you should spend more time with your family."
Mark still remains there. "Hyuck. I see my family every night and the entire weekend."
Donghyuck sighs. Mark is as stubborn as ever. "Fine. I don't, to answer you. I see so many people at school every day. I don't even have enough time to socialise."
"Being lonely is not the same thing as being alone. You could have a thousand friends and still feel lonely. Like nobody truly understands you."
Donghyuck presses his lips into a thin line. Mark is right. People don't understand him. But that's because he doesn't want to show people this most vulnerable sides of himself. Is that a sin too?
"Mark. Are you not going to give up until I say yes?"
Mark continues with his own speech, ignoring Donghyuck, "I know, it's like your defense mechanism. But you don't even tell Jeno everything. Doesn't it get tiring? Suffocating, even? Don't you wish there was someone who just knows you? I mean, I do, even though I'm not as private as you are. Like, sometimes I just can't explain my feelings- Hyuck?"
Donghyuck doesn't know when the tears started falling, or when Mark stopped talking and started wiping his tears away with some tissues. All he knows is that every single thing Mark said were thoughts that he tried very hard to hide from himself. Again with him avoiding everything. And he's never felt so bare, so stripped down, right to the core of his heart.
"I'm so sorry, Hyuck, I didn't mean to make you- I'm-"
For the lack of anything better to say, Mark instead carefully pulls Donghyuck into a tight hug, avoiding any skin contact. It only makes Donghyuck cry harder, though, as Mark caresses his back gently. This is exactly what Donghyuck needed all along.
And they remain silently in that position until Donghyuck somewhat calms down.
"I was," Donghyuck finally says.
"What?"
"Lonely. But not anymore, I think."
Mark pulls back to examine Donghyuck's expression. He asks, puzzled, "Suddenly?"
Donghyuck inhales deeply, and exhales. He firmly looks into Mark's eyes, "It's you. You are the one who just knows me. Not surprising, I guess, since you're my schoolmate, classmate, gym partner, acquaintance, enemy, soulmate, friend, and stuff, you know?"
Mark fails to hide his smile as he replies, "Could say the same about you, you knew exactly what to do to piss me off ever since day one. The thing is, you've never really crossed the line with the pranks and all. I mean, that's quite a feat considering it's been like five years."
Donghyuck lets out a shaky laugh, "Wow, way to kill the mood, Mark."
"I'm serious!" Mark grins at him.
"You always say the most ridiculous things and then say you're serious," Donghyuck shakes his head fondly.
"But honestly though, you're comfortable to be around. I mean when there's only the two of us. Of course I've sort of known you for five years but we've never really interacted until recently, and yet it feels like we've known each other forever. And I can say all these weird things to you without feeling judged," Mark confesses.
Donghyuck is quite surprised, actually, because that accurately describes how he feels around Mark as well. Maybe that's just how soulmates work.
That aside, there is one thing that Donghyuck really wants to do at this moment, but he's not quite sure how it will work out.
"Hey. So, like, I kinda want to kiss you?" Donghyuck awkwardly starts.
Mark's ears look like they are catching fire, and he replies with a hesitant, "... okay?"
"But, like, do you think it will trigger a reaction?"
"Well..." Mark says as he secures his grip around Donghyuck's waist, "We'll never know unless we try."
And so Mark slowly closes the gap between them, and Donghyuck braces himself for the pain.
It doesn't come, when he feels Mark's lips touching his lightly. What he feels, though, is fireworks exploding in his heart like in those cliche romcoms, butterflies in his stomach and his heart running a marathon.
When they attempt to deepen the kiss, though, pain shoots right through his mark. He tries to ignore the pain, but it feels like it's burning a hole in his skin, so he reluctantly separates from Mark instead.
After a few more experiments, they figure it's because their noses touched in the process.
-
The sound of a passcode being entered breaks the silence, and a tall figure steps through the doorway.
"Oh, hyung, you're back," Donghyuck greets his stepbrother first.
Dongyoung hums, and his eyes land on the unfamiliar boy, now standing up.
"Hello, you must be Donghyuck's stepbrother," Mark politely greets him.
"Yes, and you are?"
"Oh, my name is Mark Lee, please take care of me," Mark bows.
Dongyoung nods slowly, and smirks at Donghyuck. "I see, so you are that Mark. Interesting."
Donghyuck clears his throat loudly, "Um, I think it's getting late. Mark, you should really get going now. I'll see you out?"
He picks up Mark's backpack and half pushes Mark out of the door, before Dongyoung can say anything else weird.
"What does your brother mean by that Mark huh? What have you been saying behind my back?!" Mark questions.
"Nothing good, obviously." Donghyuck groans. His brother wasn't going to let him off so easily after seeing Mark in their house. He was in for a long night.
"Of course," Mark offhandedly comments, and he comes to a stop ahead of the junction. "I can find my way from here, thanks for the food, Hyuck. Just to let you know, this won't be the last time, even if you don't welcome me, so."
Donghyuck sniggers, "Oh yeah, you are most definitely not welcome. Please see yourself out, thanks."
"Don't worry, I will," Mark jokes back.
The two stare at each other for a while, before Mark lightly places his lips against Donghyuck's in a soft kiss.
"Bye!" Mark shouts as soon as he pulls back, running to the bus stop before Donghyuck could say anything.
Donghyuck smiles to himself.
-
Dongyoung is standing right by the doorway with a smirk, just as he expected.
"So you sealed the mark, huh?"
Donghyuck grins brightly at Dongyoung, "Joke's on you, bro, I didn't."
"You didn't? I thought your mark hurt whenever you touch him. How are you two sucking face then?!"
"OH MY GOD HYUNG! We were NOT sucking face, okay. We just touched lips! And apparently lips don't count as skin-" Donghyuck tries to explain but Dongyoung is already guffawing uncontrollably, wheezing.
"What the fuck is 'touched lips'?! Oh my god, I need to tell Taeil-hyung. This is fucking hilarious! Taeil-hyung, would you like to touch lips with me? AHAHAHA-" Dongyoung laughs obnoxiously as he disappears into his room.
Donghyuck rolls his eyes, but he smiles as he remembers the feeling of Mark's lips against his own.
And so maybe, his seventh sense wasn't all that accurate after all.
He most definitely can't wait for the next gym class.