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NCT 127 were at the tail end of a week of American promotions, and aside from words spoken behind forced smiles during interviews and whilst on stage, Mark and Donghyuck haven't spoken, properly, in a week. So, of fucking course, instead of spending the last night in New York, warm in bed watching One Piece with Yuta and Winwin, Donghyuck has been persuaded to come out on a night on the town with some of the Hyungs. The promise of a fake ID and a couple free drinks had been too good of an opportunity to pass by, but right now, Donghyuck is regretting agreeing to the plans at all.
Originally, Donghyuck had been excited to explore the American club scene, albeit in a foreign country where he doesn't speak the language - but nonetheless he was simply aiming to get drunk enough to enjoy dancing with the heat of the crowd and to hopefully be able to ignore the edge of anxiety he typically felt in unfamiliar and strange environments.
-
A little less than an hour after arriving at the club and a little less than 45 minutes after he had wandered off from his Hyungs, Donghyuck is a couple drinks down, trying (and failing) to put a little more space between himself and the obnoxious Alpha who’s been persistently getting closer all night – he’d already turned down his offer of a drink twice, in addition to numerous attempts of losing the stranger amongst the crowd – but, at this point, as packed they are on the dance floor, there’s not really anywhere else to go. He scans the area nearby, but doesn’t see any of his friends. Fuck, Donghyuck thinks, and fruitlessly tries, again, to put some of the definitely-not-sober dancers between himself and the obsessively persistent and oblivious unwelcome Alpha.
“Hey,” the Alpha says, half a second later, finally closing in. “What’s an Omega like you doing here all alone?”
Donghyuck pulls away from the hand the Alpha rests on his hip. “I- didn’t come here alone, and I’m honestly really not interested, sorry,” Donghyuck bites out in broken English, probably a little too sassily for how uncertain the foreign words felt coming off his tongue.
The Alpha grins, and ever so persistently says, “Come on, baby,” and catches at Donghyuck again, fingers sliding up under the hem of Donghyuck’s sheer shirt.
(The shirt of which he was only brave enough to actually wear out of the hotel after an hour of insistence from Ten via a Skype call initiated after hearing that the 127 Hyungs were, committing an act of treason by “daring to take Hyuck out on a night on the town for the first time without the only person who knows how to actually have fun in this god for saken group”.)
Donghyuck jerks back at the unfamiliar touch, knocking into the person dancing behind him. “Sorry, sorry,” he mutters, glancing around a little frantically, and finally he spots Johnny and Mark over by the bar. “I have a boyfriend,” the Omega says a little desperately, waves his hand in their direction, and starts to push through the press of people.
(Donghyuck isn't even lying. So what if he and Mark had not exactly spoken in a month and were definitely not on great terms. The pair were soulmates and while they had never officially spoken about it, or put a label to what their relationship was, they had also never denied it when others called them ‘boyfriends’. And they had also never officially ‘broken up’. So for all intents and purposes, Mark was Donghyucks boyfriend.)
The guy gives him a look like he doesn’t quite believe him, but Donghyuck’s already gotten several feet away. He follows, and Hyuck swears under his breath, and then again when Donghyuck realises Johnny has vanished into the crowd, probably in search of Taeyong or Jaehyun. Mark is going to kill him.
Donghyuck makes it to the bar only a couple seconds ahead of the guy. He grabs Mark by the wrist, wrapping his arm around his own waist. “Play along,” the younger hisses when he tries to pull away.
“What the hell, Hyuckie?” Donghyuck suppresses a smiles at the pet name.
Donghyuck can smell beer heavy on his breath, and swears. This would have been so much easier with Johnny.
“This Alpha won’t fuck off,” Donghyuck tells him in Korean. “So smile, grab my arse, and pretend you can’t wait to get me home to fuck me.”
Mark stares at him like he’s crazy, but then Donghyuck’s creepy stalker guy sidles up on his other side.
“Hey,” he says, “You two friends?” and his hand lands on the Omegas bare shoulder, fingers curling against the youngers skin.
Mark’s eyes narrow instantly and Donghyuck can smell the immediate shift in his scent as he tugs Donghyuck closer, pulling him away from the other guy’s hand. “Don’t touch him,” he snaps, and his hand’s not on Donghyuck’s ass like the younger had instructed, but it’s pressing possessively against the small of his back, which is such a Mark thing to do that Donghyuck can’t help but relax a little into the touch. Something Donghyuck hadn't allowed himself to do since last month, before the Great Fight of Summer 2017 (Renjuns words) had begun.
“Didn’t see you together earlier,” the guy remarks in English, and from what Hyuck understands, he must be the dumbest, most persistent fuck in the world. Donghyuck has never dealt with anyone like this before, hopes to god he never has to again.
“We came together,” Mark bites out, (he isn’t even lying), “and we’re leaving together. You are not a part of the equation.” Mark’s still got his arm around the Omega, but he’s manoeuvred them so that he’s half blocking the younger with his body. Donghyuck can feel how tense he is against him, and soon realises that he’s already got his free hand clenched into a fist.
The guy glares at Mark for a long minute, and right as Donghyuck’s bracing himself for Mark to push him away and haul back to smash the guy in the face, he looks away. “Yeah, all right,” the stranger says, and melts back into the crowd.
Donghyuck stares after him for several seconds, because, seriously what the hell?
Mark turns to the Omega, and he’s frowning. “Don’t you know to stay away from Alphas like that?” he asks, an edge to his voice that sounds like it’s either anger or worry, maybe both. Donghyuck realises that Mark is still yet to remove his hand from the small of his back, but not that he minds.
(Donghyuck doesn’t mind at all, actually, in all honestly, Donghyuck never wants Mark to let him go)
“I was trying,” Donghyuck says, feeling suddenly defensive, because it’s not like he was asking for the guy to follow him. “It’s not like I sent him an invitation, or knew how to actually tell him to piss off.”
“Right.” Mark’s not as tense as he was, but he still hasn’t relaxed completely, and he still hasn’t let Donghyuck go. He fumbles in his pocket with his free hand, pulls out his phone, and taps one-handed into the 127 group chat. “I’m taking you home,” he says. “I’m telling the hyungs, if they are ready to come home, too. Otherwise, they can make their own way.”
“Excuse me?” Donghyuck tries to push him away, but the Alphas stronger than he is.
“I’m taking you home,” he says again, without even looking up from his phone.
“What if I’m not ready to go?” the Omega demands, and he kind of does want to go, isn’t really in the mood to stay anymore, really just wants to get ready for bed and curl up somewhere with his Hyungs, (and, maybe, possibly, specifically, Mark, the last month of silence and avoidant looks be damned.)
Mark looks up, then, and Donghyuck can tell he’s biting the inside of his cheek. “I can’t make you,” he says finally, and his arm loosens a little bit around Donghyuck’s waist. It’s not exactly true – he really is stronger than the younger is, and Donghyuck knows the others will back Mark on this – but he’s glad he said it anyway.
“All right,” Donghyuck says, leans into him a bit, tugging his arm closer around his waist again. He rests his forehead against Marks shoulder. “Take me home.”
-
That night Mark asks Doyoung to finally switch back the roommate arrangements. (Doyoung replies; “Thank Fucking God”, smiles, takes his bag and leaves almost immediately). And crowded in one bed, the other twin size forgotten, under the hotel sheets with tangled legs, Mark teaches Donghyuck an array of his favourite English curse words and phrases, most notably, “leave me the fuck alone you Fuckhead”. Mark giggles when Donghyuck repeats the foreign words back to him.
and Donghyuck doesn’t even remember what they were ever fighting about.