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Mark was alone, more or less. He was sitting alone in the school cafeteria, that much was true. His lunch tray was overflowing with sliced fruits, a lunchtime delicacy that the lunch lady always gave him extra of, and the sticky juices dribbled off of his fork as he munched happily. Comfortably, he allowed himself to capitalize on the amount of space around him and propped his feet up on the seat to his front. He wasn’t alone involuntarily, rather all two of his friends had decided to skip school that day and Mark couldn’t miss his biology test. So, he was alone. The sounds of his fork scraping across his tray were drowned out by the music flowing from his earphones and he bopped his head slightly to the beat. Mark was alone, more or less, but he certainly wasn’t the only person in the school cafeteria.
”Hey, Mark!” Mark looked up from the lunch table at the sound of his name being loudly slung by a familiar nasally voice. To Mark, it sounded like melted butterscotch. Donghyuck plopped down into the seat besides Mark with no invitation, though, really, the only part of him that was objecting was his fight or flight response. Donghyuck’s lunch tray clacked against his and the plastic fork in Mark’s hand wavered in the air, just as startled as Mark at the unexpected guest at his usual lunch table. He knew Donghyuck, but they weren’t close. He knew that he was the student body president, that he had an infectious laugh, and that his poor heart went badump every time Donghyuck struck up conversation with him in class, though he would never admit to being affected by his butterscotch voice.
The two shared two classes together, statistics and government. Though, Mark spent more time memorizing the way Donghyuck would pull at his lip in concentration than the words on the board. Quite frankly, he was shocked that Donghyuck even wanted to sit next to him. Sure, they were friends, but they weren’t ever the type to talk to each other outside of class. Mark’s earphones were playing him something sugary, but it wasn’t as sweet as the way Donghyuck smiled at him. Sweet like butterscotch. Donghyuck took no notice of his earphones, though, and Mark couldn’t get himself to move to take them out. Despite the warmth radiating from the boy besides him, he was frozen in place by the way Donghyuck’s knee brushed against his.
Donghyuck continued talking, but Mark couldn’t hear him over his music. The light from the cafeteria windows made Donghyuck’s eyes shine and Mark was sure that they were shining from the inside out. They were highlighted with strings of butterscotch that reminded him of the candies his grandmother used to leave out on her coffee table, of the dusty browns in Renaissance paintings, and of the gold that wraps a chocolate coin. Mark’s eyes dropped down to Donghyuck’s lips, trying to make out the story he was writing for him. They were moving a mile a minute and leaving dust in their wake. Mark couldn’t keep up with them. A stray thought passed unwelcomed; did Donghyuck’s lips taste like butterscotch? His breath hitched and Donghyuck’s lips slowed down like Mark had put a break on them, halting their insistent movement. The music in his earphones quieted as the song faded to an end and Donghyuck reached out to touch his arm tentatively, breaking him out of his embarrassing stupor. “Mark?”
Mark practically levitated with how far he jumped into the air. “Butterscotch!” He yelped, his voice cracking slightly. The blood in his cheeks sizzled, but not as harshly as the breath that caught in his chest. It hurt to let it back out.
“Butterscotch?” Donghyuck repeated dumbly. He tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy and it made Mark’s stomach lurch. His plastic fork jumped down to the cafeteria floor and Mark watched it fall. “The statistics homework was...butterscotch?” There was a light laugh in Donghyuck’s butterscotch voice. Not judgemental, just amused (and probably confused). Mark ripped out his earphones like they burnt him as another song started to trickle through the speakers and they joined the hurt fork on the cafeteria floor.
“Y-yeah! Butterscotch,” Mark blabbered, trying to redeem himself. Donghyuck smiled encouragingly at him and nodded for him to continue. “The homework was a piece of butterscotch?” He tried, wincing at his words and the blush that he knew was still staining his cheeks like strawberry syrup on an icecream sundae.
“You mean, the homework was a piece of cake?” Donghyuck said, his smile brightening impossibly more.
“Yes! Yes, that’s what I meant!” Mark said a bit too loudly. The cold food on his plate looked at him in disappointment. “Here, let me just grab it for you.” He internally cursed at himself for being so awkward, it’s not like he’s never spoken to Donghyuck before! Mark reached underneath the table to rummage for the homework in his backpack, carefully avoiding letting any of his precious body parts touch the dried gum underneath the table, and when he looked back up he saw Donghyuck waving over the rest of the student body council. Mark looked from the group to Donghyuck in mild panic, feeling like a slightly suicidal mouse being circled by a hawk. He might not care enough to know anything about what the student council did, but he would have to be deaf and dead to not at least know who Donghyuck’s friends were. And, besides, they were completely interrupting his peaceful lunch break.
Mark awkwardly fiddled with the statistics homework as they dropped their trays onto the table. One guy -- Jeno, Mark believed -- clapped Donghyuck on the back before sitting down and nearly spit out his iced coffee at the way Donghyuck whined dramatically. Another boy pulled the chair out from under Mark’s feet and Mark scrunched his nose up as his sneakers hit the floor. He looked to Donghyuck but saw his attention had already been stolen by Jeno. Mark pouted childishly but he knew he was in no way entitled to Donghyuck’s time. He had just came over here for his homework, after all. The small table quickly became cramped as Donghyuck’s friends slipped into all of the empty seats and Mark quietly slipped the homework under Donghyuck’s tray, absolutely ready to make a run for it. He had just picked his headphones off the ground when he felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice startlingly close to his ear. “Hey, stay. They don’t bite unless provoked,” Donghyuck said softly before turning to his friends. Badump. Reluctantly, Mark settled back into his seat.
“Donghyuck, who’s the kid?” Squawked a boy to Mark’s right before leaning over him to steal one of Donghyuck’s tater tots. Mark shrunk back into his seat and pulled his sleeves over his fists, trying to avoid catching the attention of any of the other boys. He was comfortable around Donghyuck, but these boys were loud and unwelcomed. Donghyuck flicked the boy’s theiving hand.
“This is Mark. And he’s like, our age Jaemin. You’re dumb as shit.” Donghyuck laughed. Even when he cursed, his voice sounded like butterscotch.
“There is no scientific evidence to prove that I’m dumb as shit, so, therefore, you’re dumb as shit and owe me a tater tot for slander,” Jaemin said, reaching over Mark again to snatch a tater tot. Donghyuck smacked a protective hand over his tater tots and Mark jumped in his seat. He tried to think of some excuse to leave the table, but “my cat is having a stroke” didn’t quite seem like it was going to cut it.
“Keep your dirty hands away from my valuable tater tots. This stuff is like currency here, see?” Donghyuck picked up a tater tot and waved it in the air, “Hey Lucas!” He shouted down the table, catching the eyes of a kid in the year above them, “I’ll trade you this tater tot for one of those hard candies you’ve got!” Mark couldn’t help but smile at the transaction, taking a sip of his water to hide it. The way Donghyuck held the tater tot like it was seasoned with gold was precious and Mark felt his stupid heart go babump.
“Oh hell yeah!” Lucas yelled back. Donghyuck cheered triumphantly and leaped out of his seat to finish the transaction. Mark laughed into his cup. Jaemin groaned beside him and stabbed at his salad forlornly, completely missing the way Jeno reached over to steal some of Donghyuck’s abandoned tater tots.
“Doesn’t this school realize they’re indirectly running an entire black market!?” Yelped the boy, Chenle, in front of Mark, “If they would just sell more tater tots-” Mark tuned him out. Without Donghyuck next to him, his nerves from sitting in the middle of such a close knit group of friends started to nip at him, so he slipped his phone out of his pocket and opened a new text with no recipient, just to look busy. Jaemin knocked his shoulder against his lightly and Mark dropped his phone and had to scramble to catch it before it hit the ground.
“I’m Jaemin,” He said with a cheesy smile and an outstretched hand, though everyone already knew who Jaemin was. He was a fan favorite, both to the teachers and the students. Mark could see why Jaemin always had a dolled up girl on his arm whenever they crossed paths, but Jaemin wasn’t sweet like butterscotch. Jaemin was more like peach vodka and Mark has never been a much of a socialite. He shook Jaemin’s hand and returned the smile. “You know Hyuck?”
“Ah, no, not really” Mark said, his voice wavering a bit, “He just came over here to get my statistics homework.” He rubbed his palm on his jeans and looked over Jaemin’s shoulder to where Donghyuck was still talking to Lucas. His small frame bounced as he spoke enthusiastically and Mark blamed the way his heart went badump again on the way Jeno kept swiping Donghyuck’s tater tots. He must not fear anything.
Jaemin hummed. “Didn’t mean to crash your lunch table then, dude,” he said with a light laugh in his voice. It sounded kind of phony, but Jaemin had an air about him that made him someone you wanted to like, like high end brands that sell hats you wouldn’t dare wear in public for costs nastier than the way that Jeno is now speaking loudly with his mouth full of stolen tater tots. Mark shook his head quickly and opened his mouth to reassure him that it’s okay but Jaemin plucked the chance out of his hands. “Are you coming to Hyuck’s fire pit party tonight? You can’t miss his fire pit parties. It’s going to be crazy,” He said with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle and a barely contained grin. The question set off an alarm in Mark’s mind. Knowing Donghyuck’s friends, and the way Jaemin looked like a cat about to get the cream, this “fire pit party” was almost certainly not his scene. Mark didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, and he didn’t like playing the role of the innocent bystander when he’s being involuntarily sandwiched by drunk couples.
He was about to politely decline Jaemin’s offer when Donghyuck poked his head between them, causing Mark to flinch backwards. “You’re coming to my fire pit party?” He asked excitedly. The hard candy between his lips clicked against his teeth like his heart against his chest and the scent of butterscotch danced on his breath. Mark could of crumbled like a cookie into milk at the way Donghyuck’s plush lips pushed and pulled the butterscotch candy around his mouth. The same lips Mark would be devastated to see dipped in whiskey and mixing with the punch on someone else’s at his party.
“Sorry, I don’t think I can make it,” Mark turned his attention to his shoes. Only Jaemin saw the flash of disappointment in Donghyuck’s eyes, gone in a blink like a summer storm but quickly replaced by sunlight. Donghyuck playfully narrowed his eyes at Mark before spinning to the other side of him and grabbing a tater tot, only to freeze after realizing there was only one tater tot left. Chenle theatrically gestured towards Jeno behind his back and nearly fell out of his seat in the process.
“Jeno, you are a terrible friend. I hope those tater tots go straight to your thighs,” Donghyuck huffed, placing a hand over his heart in mock hurt. Jeno took this as his cue to begin seductively showing his legs off to the lunch table and was, to Mark’s misfortune, egged on by Jaemin’s wolf whistle. Donghyuck rolled his eyes and turned to Mark. Mark looked up at him with wide eyes and a hopeful heart, which gave another pitiful badump at Donghyuck’s poorly hidden giddy expression. “Mark, I have a proposition for you,” he began. Mark could feel the butterflies in his stomach waking up, but nodded at him for him to continue. This seemed to be what Donghyuck was hoping for because his hopeless attempt at a schooled expression broke into a million little pieces, letting his eyes turn up into half crescents and his cheeks show off their apples. The butterflies in Mark’s stomach died with the next badump of his heart.
“Now, this isn’t just any proposition. This is a super important proposition. Like, a really super-duper important one,” he continued, leaning in closer to Mark like he was telling him a secret. Mark found himself subconciously leaning forward too as a puppet to his own heart.
“Like...a...scheme?” Mark said quietly. The smell of butterscotch was intoxicating and he wanted to smack himself for noticing the way the candy had made Donghyuck’s lips shine under the light.
Donghyuck tapped his chin and hummed. “I was thinking more like a proposal,” he continued. A thousand miles away Chenle was acting out the way Jeno had choked on a tater tot when he saw Donghyuck coming back and Jeno was defending himself by bringing up the time Chenle was a strict vegetarian for a week and a half. “Yeah?”
Mark swallowed roughly. His mouth felt sticky. “Yeah, what is it?” He asked, searching Donghyuck’s bright eyes.
“Okay,” Donghyuck began, “If -- and i mean if -- I give you this tater tot, would you please come to my fire pit party?” He said softly, letting his face melt into a pout. Badump. “I think you would have fun, you know? You always seem so stressed in class. Let’s let loose.” he continued, nudging Mark’s knee with his own. Mark thought he might actually end up pinching Donghyuck’s cheeks if he kept being so cute and he allowed that to cloud his judgement.
Mark chewed on his cheek for a moment before relenting. “I mean, if you’re sure…” Donghyuck dropped the tater tot on his tray and began clapping excitedly.
“Of course I’m sure! You’re gonna love it, trust me. Jeno is going to pick up the goods after school. It’s not a fire pit party without the goods,” Donghyuck tittered. Mark winced. Right, the “goods”. Maybe it’s not too late to back out, he hoped. He cleared his throat awkwardly and took a second to muster up the courage to cancel.
“Um, Donghyuck?” He began, waiting for Donghyuck to shift his attention back to him and away from Jeno and Chenle’s bickering, “I don’t really like to-”
“Don’t be a buzzkill, Mark!” Jaemin snorted, waving his fork in the air accusingly, “Come on, one night of fun won’t kill you, will it?” Donghyuck turned towards Mark with expectant eyes and that’s when Mark realized there was no way out of this. Maybe he can just tell them he will be their designated driver and stick to the punch.
“You’re right, one night won’t hurt me,” Mark forced out. Donghyuck cheered and ruffled Mark’s hair, leaving him a light shade of pink. He should have just given Donghyuck the homework and left.
“That’s the spirit!” Donghyuck said but he was drowned out over the bell signaling the end of lunch. “Ah, shit. I’ll just text you the details, yeah?” He said, not waiting for a reply before pulling a pen out of his backpack and scribbling his number on the back of Mark’s statistics homework. He tucked it into Mark’s open bag, gave him a finger wave, and flounced out of the cafeteria with his friends. Mark stared dumbly at the statistics homework peeking out of his bag. Didn’t Donghyuck need that? Mark rubbed a hand down his face and weighed the pros and cons of skipping next period to take a well deserved nap.
---
Mark sat in his car and turned his phone around in his hands. The screen shined brightly in the dark and it lit up the way Mark’s eyebrows were furrowed worriedly. According to Donghyuck’s text, the party had started forty minutes ago. Mark had been sitting outside Donghyuck’s house for ten. The streets were eerily empty, something Mark wasn’t expecting to see at such a hyped up party, and there were only three other cars by him. Anxieties were being whispered in the back of his mind, making him grip his phone too tightly. What if Donghyuck was just messing with him? What if there really was no party at all? He wouldn’t be surprised. He hardly knew Donghyuck, so there was really no reason for him to have wanted him at his party in the first place. It’s not like he was as well loved as Donghyuck and his friends.
He rolled down his window to get a breath of fresh air. The brisk air washed over him and he tried to push his nerves away on its waves. Earlier that night, he had spent an hour just searching for the right outfit to wear before realizing he was treating this too much like a date and threw on an old hoodie. He was putting too much effort into a party he didn’t want to attend and it was the fault of the way Donghyuck’s delicate hands clapped excitedly at his confirmation. He had even briefly considered taking a shot of his mother’s whiskey as a pregame to the party before he realized he would rather take a bullet to his kneecap. After some thought, he folded up the statistics homework Donghyuck had asked for earlier that day and put it in his pocket. With a quick white lie about going to a friend’s, Mark was out his front door and away from any other impulsive ideas. And now, he sat under the quiet night sky with sweaty palms and a jittery leg.
After another minute had passed with no sign of a party, Mark moved to turn his car back on and tried to fight back shame. He was thankful he had earlier opted out of bringing a friend with him to this “party”, it’s less embarrassing this way. He bit his bottom lip and sighed. Someone like Donghyuck would never want to hang out with him and he felt pitiful just for hoping he would. His fingertips were just dancing across his keys when he heard a gleeful shout resonate from Donghyuck’s backyard, followed by a chorus of laughter. A butterscotch laugh that made Mark feel much too warm soared above the others. Badump. Mark swallowed down his anxieties and was out of his car and on the front porch before his nerves could try and convince him to drive back home.
Mark knocked on Donghyuck’s door and shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket. Bouncing up and down on his toes, he watched his breath materialize in front of him like smoke. He smiled to himself. If he kept breathing out smoke like that, he’ll fit right in at this party. Not that he thought Donghyuck was a stoner, of course. He’s just been to one too many parties in his life and, frankly, he was already sure of what was lying behind that door. Minutes passed of hearing nothing but voices dancing from the backyard and Mark was starting to feel a little dumb waiting outside. He reached down to let himself in but the door swung open before he could and he found himself face to face with a very excited Donghyuck. He looked like a little kid in a candy store, from the rosy cheeks down to the half eaten chocolate bar he held in his hands. “Mark! Oh my God, dude, I thought you weren’t coming,” He said around a bite of chocolate.
“Lost track of time, I guess,” Mark said through a nervous laugh. Donghyuck made a disbelieving face at him and, consequently, made himself laugh. Donghyuck must be a giggly drunk, he decided.
“You better not have been doing school work! I told you you need to come loosen up,” He teased. Mark rolled his eyes good naturedly and shook his head.
“Is the party outside?” Mark peeked over Donghyuck’s shoulder into his dark house. All of the lights were off and the only sign of life was Donghyuck himself. Mark shifted uncomfortably and ran a hand through his hair. “There is a party, right?” He joked, but both boys knew he was being serious.
“Duh, Mark. I wouldn’t invite you to my party if I wasn’t totally serious about it,” Donghyuck jabbed. He lightly grabbed Mark’s wrist and pulled him inside and Mark yelped as he tripped over the entryway. Donghyuck turned around quickly and placed his hands on his shoulders, steadying him. Badump. “You okay?” His wide eyes looked Mark up and down for any injuries. The warmth blossoming in Mark’s chest spread through his body like alcohol.
“Y-yeah. Just stumbled a little,” Mark replied. Donghyuck’s touch on his shoulders was burning him through his hoodie but Donghyuck didn’t seem to realize that his touch was hurting him more than his slight trip. “You should really put a warning sign on your doorway, y’know.” Donghyuck snorted.
“Maybe you just need smaller feet, bigfoot,” He replied with a pursed expression. Mark raised an eyebrow challengingly.
“Well, you know what they say about men with big feet,” Mark said smugly. Donghyuck gasped loudly and slapped a hand over Mark’s mouth, muffling his laughter. His hand didn’t smell like butterscotch. It smelt like chocolate and smoke.
“My mother is upstairs dumbass!” Donghyuck whispered, scandalized. Mark stopped laughing and Donghyuck moved his hand. His mother? Another wave of loud chatter broke through the backdoor.
“Your...mom is here?” Mark said slowly and looked around the room as if she would materialize out of thin air. “At your party?” His mother must be extremely relaxed if she was letting her son throw a party in her house. That, or she was vegetative, which Mark really doubts. The hand that held Donghyuck’s chocolate bar was still on his shoulder and Mark was close enough to see the confusion spark in his eyes.
“Yes?” Donghyuck said, “The Real Housewives is on tonight. She can’t miss an episode of The Real Housewives.” A smile cracked through Donghyuck’s panicked expression and he moved to grab Mark’s wrist again, but after a moment, he moved to grab his hand instead. Badump. He turned away rather than meet Mark’s eyes and began dragging him through the house again. Mark was sure his hand felt clammy but Donghyuck’s was so warm and soft that he found himself gripping it tighter.
“Your mom must be really chill to let you have a party here,” Mark noted. Donghyuck looked over his shoulder and shrugged, taking another bite of his chocolate bar. “She’s okay with you...drinking and stuff?” Donghyuck stopped again and turned to look at Mark, who almost bumped into him from the sudden movement. He tapped Mark’s nose with his pinky and Mark went cross eyed.
“You, Mark Lee, are a wildcard,” Donghyuck said vaguely and continued the short journey to his backyard. Mark blinked in confusion and let himself be tugged outside. The night air was crisp and made him shiver, but he was immediately met by the warm glow of a fire surrounded by Donghyuck’s friends. Donghyuck announced their arrival with a half hearted threat of pushing Jeno into the fire and Jeno brandished something long and pointy at him. Mark narrowed his eyes in a vain attempt to see better through the dark. When they reached the fire pit, Donghyuck let go of his hand and dropped down into the grass, patting the spot next to him expectantly. Mark looked around the fire and saw that everyone had those long, pointy sticks, and, on the tip of them...were marshmallows?
“You guys are...roasting marshmallows?” Mark said quietly. Wasn’t this supposed to be a party? Where was the alcohol? The music? The people?
“No, dumbass!” Jaemin yelled over the fire pit, “We’re making s’mores!” A flying marshmallow bounced off of Mark’s cheek and everybody burst into laughter. A smile curled onto Mark’s lips at the realization of what a fire pit party exactly was and he couldn’t help but laugh too. “Sit down, I’ll get you a skewer,” Jaemin offered, gesturing to the spot next to Donghyuck. Mark ran a hand down his face and smiled at his own foolishness before dropping down next to Donghyuck.
“What did you think a fire pit party was?” Donghyuck whispered with a teasing smile. Mark winced and picked up the marshmallow that was earlier used to ambush him. “Did you think we were going to play beer pong?” Donghyuck wiggled his eyebrows and Mark tossed the marshmallow at his nose. He ignored it. “Quarters? Strip poker?” Mark pushed him over and someone threw another marshmallow at Donghyuck’s crumpled form.
“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t,” Mark answered childishly. Jaemin handed him a skewer and Mark reached into a bag of marshmallows to get it ready to roast. Donghyuck sat up and wiped the dirt off his shirt, but didn’t offer a reply. Mark glanced over at him and he was chewing on his lip silently.
“I’m sorry to disappoint, I kind of assumed you knew what I meant when I said ‘fire pit party’. If you want you can-” Mark cut him off with rapid shake of his head.
“No! You didn’t disappoint at all!” Mark rambled, desperate to get the sad look off of Donghyuck’s face. “In fact, I’m glad it turned out like this. To tell you the truth,” Mark leaned in closer and whispered, “I hate those kinds of parties. This is so much better.” It might have been the heat of the fire or the warmth of his sweater, but Mark could have sworn Donghyuck’s rosy cheeks got just a little rosier. Donghyuck shuffled closer to him and took the marshmallow out of his hands to put on Mark’s skewer.
“Good. Because my mom only drinks red wine, and we are not getting wine drunk,” Donghyuck said pointedly, but the cheerful undertone in his voice shined through and Mark sighed contentedly. The crackling of the fire was a soft soundtrack to the easily flowing conversations and Mark found found himself getting closer to Donghyuck’s friends than he would’ve ever expected. He learned that Jeno worked at a toy store but he hated kids, that Chenle always dyed his hair blonde because he thought it brought out his eyes, and that Jaemin once had security called on him because a senile grocery store clerk thought he was stealing a bundle of asparagus. Mark was on his fourth smore and in a heated debate about whether Hershey’s chocolate was worth all the hype (it wasn’t) when Donghyuck rested his head on his shoulder, his eyelids heavy and his lips sticky with marshmallow. Badump. Donghyuck’s friends cooed at him and Donghyuck flipped them off while Mark tried to hide his face under his hand.
When it was nearing midnight, Mark figured he should be heading back home. By then, Donghyuck had shifted into curling into his side with an arm wrapped around him. Everyone was coming off of a sugar high and struggling to keep their eyes open. Even Chenle, the firecracker of the party, was tiredly throwing sticks into the dying fire. Jaemin had dozed off immediately after his third s’more and Jeno was cleaning graham cracker wrappers off the ground. The conversation had lulled off and the fire was sizzling into just a flame, signalling the end of the party. Even the stars were twinkling goodbye at them as if they knew it was time to leave. Mark remembered the paper tucked away into his pocket and lightly roused Donghyuck, who mumbled a drowsy question at him that he didn’t quite catch. “Donghyuck,” he whispered, not wanting to wake Jaemin.
“What?” Donghyuck lifted his head off of Mark’s shoulder and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Badump. Mark slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out the statistics homework.
“You kinda gave me back the homework you needed,” Mark said. The fire had died down to just embers and the sound of Chenle and Jeno talking lightly filled the silence of its missing crackles. Donghyuck stared at him for a moment before looking at the ground. “I figured you might want it.”
“Right, the statistics homework,” Donghyuck said slowly. His nimble fingers were pulling at a lose thread in his sweater and Mark looked at him curiously. “I kinda don’t really need it?” Donghyuck cringed at his own words and looked at Mark tentatively.
“You don’t?” Mark repeated, letting his arm holding the homework drop slightly. Donghyuck shook his head.
“Honestly? I just wanted an excuse to talk to you outside of class. I didn’t think it would go this well,” he said in a voice just a bit higher than his own. Badump. Badump. Mark laughed in disbelief and Donghyuck’s nervousness began to wither away. Mark tossed the homework atop the burning embers and watched as the corners began to be kissed away by the last of the flames.
“It didn’t go well. It went perfect. I really did have a great time,” Mark said sweetly to calm Donghyuck’s nerves.
“Even if there was no alcohol or music?” Donghyuck joked lightly. Mark wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer.
“Even if there was no alcohol or music,” Mark confirmed. Donghyuck hummed and placed his head back on Mark’s shoulder to watch the embers swallow the statistics homework.
“Mark?” Donghyuck muttered, not looking up from the paper. The serenity of the night wrapped around the two like a warm blanket and Donghyuck cuddled closer into Mark’s side. Mark looked down at Donghyuck, and Donghyuck’s eyes darted up to meet his. Even under the night sky, when they were so dark they looked more like the chocolate he had on the corner of his mouth than their natural hazey brown, Mark knew that his eyes were laced with butterscotch. Mark’s gaze drifted down to the chocolate staining his impossibly plump lips and Donghyuck’s tongue instinctively darted out. Badump. Badump. Badump.
“You’ve, uh, you’ve got some chocolate…” Mark trailed off. Badump. Badump. Badump. Donghyuck leaned in closer to him and Mark swallowed roughly, watching as his not-so-butterscotch eyes searched his.
“Right,” Donghyuck replied distractedly. Badump. Badump. Badump. Badump. “S’mores.” Mark could smell the marshmallow on his breath. Hours passed within seconds, and then Donghyuck pressed his lips to his. Badump. His lips didn’t taste like butterscotch, they tasted like the smoke in the air and the way Mark’s heart was beating out of his chest. But they felt like butterscotch. They felt like the way Mark had watched Donghyuck pull at them in their statistics class, like the way he spoke between bites of marshmallows, and like the way the chocolate on their corner made them look sweeter than the butterscotch candy Donghyuck had on his tongue when he invited him to his party. They pulled apart too soon, like they weren’t sure if they were allowed to continue, and Donghyuck rested his head back on Mark’s shoulder. They were silent for a moment, the sounds of their breaths and Chenle’s loud whispers floating around them. But then, Donghyuck placed his hand on Mark’s forearm, and almost too quietly asked, “Can I kiss you again?” And his voice sounded like butterscotch.