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The entrancing butterfly flutters from Donghyuck’s little finger as he accidentally lets out a huff of a giggle, and immediately a gasp ripples through his throat when it leaves him, a pout marring his facial features. He turns around to look for his mother, the woman he loves and cares for so dearly even at his young age, and he sees her loitering about the park, speaking to Jeno’s mother. Jeno himself is with Donghyuck, but not beside him, as the boy has decided to spend his hours away at a bush to look for the delicate flowers he’s said he’s seen in the cartoon show he watched yesterday.
Donghyuck rushes over to his mother, the whine rising from his throat like a bile as tears start warming his eyes, pain flooding the little boy, yet he cares little to none for it as he dashes straight for his mother. He hugs her legs in an attempt to steer her away from the conversation with Jeno’s mother, and he succeeds when she yelps in surprise, a soft chuckle leaving her lips as she looks down to see her eldest son clinging on her, bawling.
“Hey there, Little Duckie. Why aren’t you with Jeno?” His mother questions as she leans down to place her hands under his armpits before carrying him in her arms carefully as if he were a treasure.
“Jeno is looking f-for flowers, a-and just now I was with a b-butterfly but it flew away from me!” Donghyuck whines to his mother, more tears bursting from his eyes as he speaks of the event, heart clenching in his chest.
“Awe, Donghyuckie. It’s okay! There are more butterflies here! I’m sure they’ll want to be your friend!” Jeno’s mother joins, running her long fingers through Donghyuck’s brown curls.
“B-But that butterfly was my first butterfly…” Donghyuck whimpers, shying away from Jeno’s mother’s touch as he nuzzles into his mother’s neck, hoping his head would be out of reach from the other woman.
Donghyuck’s mother’s chest vibrates as laughter flows through her, and in the next second, he feels a pair of lips pressing against his forehead, before his mother noses his hair and takes a short whiff of his scent that his mother personally adored so much. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s not the first butterfly to stay, right? You’ll find one that wants to stay with you. I’m sure of it.”
Donghyuck opens his mouth to whine more, as most children do to their parents especially those who are spoiled rotten like Donghyuck, but before he’s able to do so, Jeno comes tumbling and stumbling on his own two feet. He's yelling for his mother frantically, arms waving to garner her attention. He doesn’t have to do much, since his mother always had a very sharp sense to her son, yet he does so anyways, and Jeno’s mother squats down and opens her arms wide, catching Jeno as he collides with her body in a mess of limbs. Donghyuck’s mother squats down as well, still holding Donghyuck in her arms as she cradles his head, looking out at Jeno in worry.
“Mommy, I’m hearing two songs in my head! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!” Jeno cries to his mother, screams in high decibels as his fists ball up against his mother’s shirt’s collar, bunching it messily.
“Two songs?” Donghyuck’s mother says in shock, and Jeno’s mother turns to look at her with her eyebrows scrunched, confusion evident in her features.
“Are you sure you’re hearing two songs, baby? Y’know, it’s always only one song. Even if your soulmate is obsessed with two songs at the same time, only one song will be playing.” Jeno’s mother asks him in distress, palms spread on his back and another hand soothingly rubbing on the back of his neck to soothe his pain.
“I’m sure! There are two songs and it hurts to hear them at the same time! I want this to stop!” Jeno wails harder, hands now going to his own head, smacking it softly before curling around his own soft strands, the tears never ending as they flow down his cheeks.
“And maybe, if you were awake, you’d be passing my class instead of failing!” A crisp sound resonates through the classroom as Donghyuck’s teacher slaps her ruler against his table, jerking him awake from his slumber abruptly, causing his knees to make contact with his table in an awful event full of pain that shoots right through his spine, having him sit up straight on reflex.
A hiss leaves through him as his hands immediately go to his knees, soothingly rubbing them in hopes of the pain lessening as he looks up to see his strict Korean Literature teacher squinting her eyes, glaring at him in disapproval. Annoyance bubbles in his chest as he gives her a tight-lipped smile, looking up at her through his eyelashes, provoking her even more so. Beside him, he could hear Jeno stifle the beginnings of a laughter, or a snort, he couldn’t really tell at the exact moment. Swiftly and smoothly, he smacks Jeno’s thighs, always finding the time to give his best friend what he deserves even when he’s currently being most likely eaten alive by his teacher.
“I mean, I wouldn’t be sleeping in your class if you could make it less boring. Seeing you three times a week is already draining the life out of me, too.” Donghyuck says, fire in his voice and eyes, a certain bite to him that even Jeno fails to recognize.
Donghyuck sees the ruler being lifted again, and he’s familiar with the sight, of being given a good harsh slap on his head with the ruler by her, yet he sees a hand moving in front of him before the ruler is able to even be lifted high enough. It’s Jeno’s hand he sees, circling around the straight ruler. He turns his line of sight to the side, seeing Jeno having stood from his seat, knees bent as he reaches forward for the ruler, another hand supporting his body weight on his own table, palms open wide. He bows his head respectfully and politely to the teacher, gently steering the ruler away from Donghyuck’s head.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Park. There won’t be a repeat of this incident, I can assure you.” Jeno says in his calm and collected tone, smile bright on his face, the kind that makes people weak in their knees and bend to his every word.
“It better not be. Summer vacation is coming soon, and I don’t want this headache to cause me any more problems.” The teacher sneers in Donghyuck’s direction, who can only muster a bored glance in her direction, sincerely not caring at this point as his body slumps in exhaustion after the whole ordeal.
She huffs as she turns her body around, folding her arms over her chest, literature book hanging loosely between her fingers and her ruler in another. Donghyuck’s classmates are all a regular audience to the constant banter between Donghyuck and the teacher, ever since it began earlier in the school year due to the older woman’s stinging words of soulmates directed at no one in particular, yet had impacted Donghyuck to a degree of mass anger that they began holding hostility towards each other. Due to this, it’s not difficult for them to return to their usual routine of studying.
“You’re telling me what’s been going on with you for the past few weeks after school.” Jeno whispers in Donghyuck’s ears as he settles back down in his own seat, and Donghyuck can hear the determination in his voice that says Donghyuck won’t be able to escape from his questions anymore this time.
♡♡♡
“So?” Jeno questions, legs crossed on Donghyuck’s bed as he looks through the pile of candy they’ve collected from Donghyuck’s kitchen, looking for a mint chocolate bar that could satisfy his recent craving for the weird delicacy.
“So what?” Donghyuck returns back the question, toying with the remote as he flips through the movie options laid out in front of them on the television screen in his room, curiosity filling his words.
“What’s been going on with you - Ahah, found it! - these days?” Jeno asks again, now settling beside Donghyuck, shimmying himself inside of the blankets as he tears the packaging of the chocolate, delight shining on his features as he does so.
“Nothing much. Waking up, going to school, dealing with your bullshit like every other day.” Donghyuck sing-songs near the end, causing Jeno to hit him by his shoulders, eliciting a joy of laughter from both boys as Donghyuck finally finds a movie to watch, and it’s another movie from the Fast and Furious series, a series Donghyuck has loved continuously over the years.
Jeno allows a few moments of comfortable silence between them as the movie starts to play, a familiar routine of motion pictures, the same scenes he’s seen over and over again whenever he lets Donghyuck choose their movie for the week. He doesn’t want to allow it to linger for long, but it’s Donghyuck’s voice that cuts through the movie like a knife, words clear as he speaks with an unwavering stance, a stance Jeno has an inkling to be pretend.
“What was it like when you first started hearing songs in your head?” Donghyuck asks, and Jeno masks his confusion and surprise at the sudden question with a thoughtful hum.
“Well, at first, it was only one song. It came as a gentle hum in my head, and at some point, I even thought I was just subconsciously thinking about that song on repeat, y’know? Until I told my mother that one day and she sat us both down and started talking about this whole soulmate thing. It was a weird thing for me. I was just like, what, five years old? I didn’t want to bother thinking about who I’ll spend my whole life with.” Jeno shrugs his shoulders, speaking his thoughts of years before to Donghyuck.
“What did you feel when you had two songs in your head? That you had two soulmates?” Donghyuck enquired then, prodding slowly to a story that Jeno knows Donghyuck will tell on his own in just a few more minutes.
“Oh, I hated them at that time. The songs were so loud too, when both of them came at the same time. It caused me severe migraines for days on end, and it was worse because I don’t know who they are. I couldn’t have gone up to them and be like, ‘Can you please stop being so obsessed with those songs? You’re literally physically hurting me.’ now can I? But now it’s just… soft and soothing. It’s like because we’ve grown older, we aren’t really so involved into songs anymore and are just liking a song or two. It makes things easier because I think, not just me, once someone likes a really good song, the other two of us just likes that song too, so there’s not two songs playing in one go.” Jeno answers, rarely having talked with Donghyuck regarding his two soulmates.
Up until now, Jeno has never heard Donghyuck ever say he has songs in his head. Donghyuck’s mother has even consulted with Jeno’s mother, a conversation Jeno had accidentally walked in on when Donghyuck’s mother would have a face of worry and pain etched onto her, a sight that only comes when Donghyuck is involved with one of her current qualms. He’s overheard her saying that she personally thinks Donghyuck doesn’t have a soulmate, because Donghyuck tells her everything yet has never spoken of any song before. It comes to a point where Jeno simply doesn’t talk about his soulmates with Donghyuck either, out of respect and worry for his friend. Donghyuck doesn’t often say how he feels about certain things, especially to people closest to him, so Jeno decides to be safe than sorry. It had been fine with Jeno too, considering he isn’t actively searching for his soulmates, more than content to be surrounded with his friend, family and school activities.
“I’ve been having a lack of sleep lately. A lot of lack of sleep.” Donghyuck chirps in, and he lets it settle there, heavy in the air.
Donghyuck doesn’t continue whatever he was saying, simply leaning back into his pillows, blindly reaching for a Kinder Bueno on the bed, unwrapping it with his fingers. Jeno hums again in acknowledgement to his friend’s statement, not knowing what else there is to say. Donghyuck would continue the story himself once he wants to, Jeno knows, and Jeno knows he currently doesn’t want to. He doesn’t pry, instead, going to steal a part of Donghyuck’s Kinder Bueno in retaliation.
♡♡♡
For the past few weeks, Donghyuck had wondered whether somehow, he had ended up as an insomniac. It began on just another normal night, where Donghyuck had been on his phone, scrolling patiently through YouTube videos, indulging in a certain quota of criminal documentaries that intrigued him just by the title of the video. What hadn’t been normal was when he dragged down the right side of his iPhone XR to see the battery percentage of his phone, but he accidentally dragged the left side instead and he was presented with the time: 4:28 A.M..
To others, it might not seem like a big deal, to be awake at an ungodly hour, but to Donghyuck, it meant everything is going disarray. Donghyuck sleeps at a set time of latest being 1:30 A.M. to ensure his body regains enough energy to go through the next day without him being a grumbling hot mess, snapping at anyone who rubs him the wrong way even slightly. He knows he can be a major bitch if he’s drowsy and sleepy, so he works hard to avoid that from happening.
However, when he decides to lock his phone and plug it in its charger connected to a power bank, he finds that he still can’t close his eyes and shut down for the day. There’s a dull humming in the back of his head, and Donghyuck thinks he’s thinking of the criminal documentaries he watched. He squeezes his eyes shut tightly, tossing and turning in bed, wondering if it’s the too-cold temperature of his room. He increases the temperature of the air-conditioner until it became too hot for him to sleep in, too. The humming is still there, the routine repeats itself for the next few weeks, and Donghyuck feels both his body and sanity slowly fading.
Tonight, though, when the stars are heavy in the sky, Jeno has went back to his own home after dinner with Donghyuck’s family, his siblings and parents are all in their respective rooms, Donghyuck sits on his desk chair, laptop switched on and displaying a bright screen in front of him. He opens Google, and sits there, staring at the screen of a typical white background, Google display.
Donghyuck pays close attention to the humming he hears, trying to decipher what exactly is being hummed. Donghyuck doesn’t like playing with the idea of having a soulmate, because he’s lived through nineteen years of his life firmly believing in the idea that he doesn’t have one. He hates the sudden change, and he’s even more annoyed at the fact that the change comes at the cost of his time to sleep. He has also decided to live independently by himself, no soulmate, yet still happy and successful, building a career of his own without someone to tie himself down to, without someone he has to make happy too.
Regardless, Donghyuck knows he shouldn’t cancel out the option by a hundred percent. Just because he doesn’t like the idea of it, doesn’t mean the universe is planning to show him any mercy and tell him that he’s right, it isn’t a soulmate and he’s simply an aspiring insomniac, which could be an even more difficult problem to deal with, yet Donghyuck would rather that instead of running around in circles thinking and getting angry at whoever his soulmate is that dares to keep him awake every single night with an annoying hum in his mind.
One by one, words start to integrate in his mind, and somehow, he becomes sure of the sentences that form when he focuses on the hum. His heart tells him he’s right, and for once, his brain believes in his heart, too. He types in the lyrics in the Google search bar before clicking on search.
What he sees in the results make him want to cry and throw his laptop out of his window when he realizes that results are absolutely fucking right, he’s hearing Justin Bieber’s Baby playing on repeat in his head for the past few weeks. God damn it, he has a soulmate, and that soulmate just so happens to like a fucking annoying song that Donghyuck has vocally expressed distaste for due to his younger cousins blasting that song every family gathering. The universe hates Donghyuck, and Donghyuck hates it right back.
Donghyuck also figures he hates his soulmate, frustration filling his lungs, yet he simply lets out a pained whimper of defeat, thinking he’s going to somehow end up with this lost case of a music idiot and he can’t exactly hate him for the rest of his life. It doesn’t mean he can’t be annoyed at the person, though, so Donghyuck stays up that night being petty. He hasn’t found any songs to be obsessed with for a while now, so Donghyuck will look for the most annoying song ever to play in his soulmate’s mind.
♡♡♡
“Are you… humming to ‘Baby Shark’?” Donghyuck’s mother questions him, a puzzled expression placed onto her features as she places a hefty amount of kimchi into the lunch boxes for all of her four children to take to school.
“Hm, I guess so. Is it annoying?” Donghyuck asks her, tilting his head in question as he feeds himself another piece of her stir fry fishcake.
“Nothing you do can be annoying-”
“No, I mean, is the song itself annoying?” Donghyuck cuts her off, knowing anything he can do, even if it’s poking his mother’s cheeks for the next three hours would still garner him a kiss to his forehead before he leaves to school.
His mother frowns, lines creasing her forehead as she thinks about the question. “Well, it honestly is annoying, especially when you’ve heard it a billion times.”
“That’s the same thing going on with me and Justin Bieber’s Baby.” Donghyuck mumbles in a tone below a whisper, yet his mother catches onto his words, and eyes him curiously, questions flooding her in a violent stream at the sudden proclamation that doesn’t sound anything like Donghyuck would say on his own accord.
She opens her mouth, licks her lips, and Donghyuck looks at her with piercing eyes. No questions nor answers are needed then, as closes her mouth again, and gives him a gentle smile - a smile that contained all of the happiness in the world as her eyes lit up with the stars Donghyuck loved to gaze at every night whenever he goes out to Jeju alone to visit his grandmother annually, which causes a question to strike him.
“Oh, yeah. Am I going to Jeju by flight or by ferry this time?” Donghyuck asks her, turning his attention back to scooping up rice from his metal bowl, then proceeding to place a piece of kimchi, and some minced garlic.
“Well, which one do you want to go by this year? I was planning on just buying you the flight ticket, but you sound like you have different plans.” Donghyuck’s mother replies, eyebrows rising and he detects a knowing glint in her eyes that he’s unsure what it means.
Donghyuck gives her a shrug of his shoulders before he tells her, “I don’t know. Feel like going by the ferry this time.”
“If that’s what you want, Donghyuck, I’ll make sure to get it for you, okay?” She says sincerely and genuinely, the tone she always uses with him, never a tone higher or louder, gentle like the woman she has always lived to be and to present, and Donghyuck is absolutely grateful he has such a wonderful woman to call his mother and to idolize.
“Thank you, Mama.” He says, before he hears the doors upstairs screech open and he cringes at the shrilling sound, wincing at its volume. “God damn it, Sooyoung! Don’t open your door like that!”
“Hey! You always open the doors like this!” Sooyoung, his twin sister, replies stubbornly as she slams her bedroom door close and bounces on her feet down the stairs.
“I haven’t been doing that lately, now have I?” Donghyuck bites back, grumpily picking up a piece of dried seaweed and putting it in his mouth to chew.
“No, because you’ve changed that routine up in favor of not sleeping during the night. Your concealer looks extra shitty today, by the way. You need more of it to hide your under-eye bags.” Sooyoung snipes, going up to him, already with a concealer of her own that’s suitable for Donghyuck’s skin tone, and carefully helps him cover his awful dark circles a little bit better.
“Thanks, Sooyoungie.” He sighs gratefully, and she presses a soft kiss on his forehead.
“Anything for you, Hyuckie. Take better care of yourself, please.”
♡♡♡
Donghyuck finds himself alone in Busan’s ferry terminal, comfortably situating himself in one of those uncomfortable black seats for passengers of the ferry, his luggage in the shade of a warm nude standing tall in front of him with its handle pushed up high. He lets out a sigh as he sips on his metal straw for his caramel coffee, only for it to let out an embarrassingly loud noise that signals the cup is practically empty. He cringes at the sound, before nodding his head to the people beside him in embarrassment and apologizing quietly.
A whine leaves him as he shakes his cup side to side, seeing that there’s no water left. Subtly, he sits up straighter and cranes his neck around to look for a garbage can. The closest one he could find is still somewhere far from him, and he’s aware that if he leaves his seat unattended, someone else will take the opportunity to seat on it while he’s gone. Therefore, he turns to the person beside him, who has a pretty shade of blonde hair and is wearing a striking blue hoodie, mumbling to himself as he squints at what Donghyuck recognizes as the same exact ticket to the ferry he’s taking later on at 7:00 P.M.. He decides he’ll approach the boy about it later, as he taps onto his shoulder, causing him to jolt and gasp in surprise, hand reaching to clutch at his chest. Whether or not Donghyuck tries to keep the small laugh in his throat doesn’t matter, because it still leaves him nonetheless.
“I’m sorry for bothering, but can you please make sure no one takes my seat? I’m only leaving for a second to throw this away.” Donghyuck requests, making a show of shaking his empty cup of coffee to the stranger, who has heaved a long sigh of relief.
“Jesus Christ- I mean, yeah, sure- I- Wait-” The stranger’s cheeks are dusted with a light hue of a pretty pink, and Donghyuck finds it endearing as he stutters in English, voice cracking at a few spots. “I can make sure no one takes your seat for you.” The other says, finally in Korean, and Donghyuck shoots him a smile as well as another small laugh, only this time it’s breathy and airy.
“Thank you.” Donghyuck giggles, waving to the boy as he moves his luggage aside with his foot, standing up to throw his cup away.
The throngs of people in the terminal is practically headache inducing, especially the ones Donghyuck realizes are in a frantic rush, having came to the terminal late, heaving heavily and clothes in disarray as they request to cut the line to avoid being left behind by their ferry. He shakes his head at the scene, thinking about how tiring it must be to work in a terminal. He can imagine just how much more hectic it could be in an airport, yet he doesn’t really need to, since he’s been in airports more often than he has in ferry terminals due to flights usually being more comfortable than ferry rides. He’s still unsure why he had decided to take the ferry to Jeju this year, but he pushes it to the back of his head. Maybe he just misses taking the ferry to Jeju. It’s a different experience, maybe not the most comfortable, but definitely still enjoyable to experience once in a while.
His hip bumps into the side of the garbage can, and Donghyuck stumbles forward slightly, catching himself on the garbage can. He shakes his head to clear it of unnecessary thoughts, before he’s throwing the cup in the garbage can, and leaving the area, weaving through a different wave of people. Busan may not be as busy as Seoul on regular days, but in the Summer, it can rival Seoul’s busy traffic of people in any public transportations. It’s not necessary to apologize when bumping into people due to everyone living in a hurry in Summer, yet he does so anyways until he reaches his seat again. He sees that the boy has placed a watermelon plushie on his seat, and somehow, the sight causes his heart to clench with warmth.
“What’s this? I thought you’ll take care of my seat for me? Why is Mr. Watermelon here?” Donghyuck inquires teasingly, hands on his hips, an obvious pout adorning his features as he looks down at the stranger, who happens to be easy to fluster.
“No, I- He- Melly is just here to make sure no one takes your seat.” The stranger says shyly, voice going close to nothing as he retrieves his watermelon from Donghyuck’s seat, hugging it closely to his body.
“Ah, so his name is Melly?” Donghyuck asks him, settling back into his seat, now giving all of his attention to the stranger as he swings one of his legs across the other, leaning back comfortably.
“Yeah… His name is Melly. My mom gave me him when I was little, and I just take him everywhere. It’s my first time being in a different country alone, so he’s nice to have around- Ah, sorry, I just rambled on.” The stranger apologizes profusely, cheeks reddening as he hugs the plushie even closer to him if possible, and Donghyuck gives him an encouraging smile.
“Go on, though. Tell me about where you’re from.” Donghyuck says gently, in the tone he’s learned to use from his mother, a tone that can coax someone to tell him their most guarded secret if he were to say just enough and right things with it, and it seems like the stranger feels at ease with Donghyuck’s tone, shoulders visibly relaxing as he looks at Donghyuck in the eyes for the first time, a small smile on his features.
“Well, first, I’m Mark Lee and I’m twenty. I’m from Canada, born and raised there. Who’re you?” Mark, it seems, and Donghyuck realizes how the name somehow fits him so well, and notes to tell Mark to tell his parents that they’ve done a great job in naming him later, says to Donghyuck, voice more comfortable and easy now.
“Hello, Mark Hyung. Can I call you that? I’m Donghyuck and I’m nineteen. I was born and raised in Seoul. I moved to Jeju when I was 7 with my grandmother, then moved back to Seoul with my parents when I was 13. I visit her annually alone though, since everyone else puts priority to other things, which is completely alright. I’m just close to her and I like being there, so yeah.” Donghyuck tells Mark, and he hopes the way he talks about himself helps Mark feel okay to talk about his own life, too.
“Yeah, yeah, you can call me hyung. Oh, and does that mean you’re going to Jeju? The 7 P.M. ferry?” Mark asks, his face lighting up as if it were the Eiffel Tower at night, his voice going high again but instead of embarrassment, happiness is lacing his words.
“Yeah, I am. Are you?” Donghyuck questions, even though he already knows the answer as he raises an eyebrow towards the other, trying to seem more convincing with his little white lie.
“I am! Oh my Jesus, God bless. At least now I won’t be completely alone.” Mark says in relief, a bright smile plastering itself on his facial features. “I was really scared I’d have to spend the next twelve hours on a ferry alone while everyone else had family members or friends.”
“You’re not used to being alone?” Donghyuck is now leaning an arm on the armrests of both of their chairs, his chin tucked comfortably in his palm as he looks at the other’s features as it shifts to a multitude of emotions in various seconds.
“Not really…” Mark says lowly, fingers fiddling with each other in a nervous stupor, before he glances over at Donghyuck and graces him with a small smile. “I’m used to being with people. I mean like, I can probably be in charge or something, I’m not a total lost cause, but I don’t like being alone. I’d prefer to have someone to be with.”
“Even if it’s a stranger? What if I’m actually a serial killer that the government is currently hunting down? You’ll be put in jail, y’know, if you’re not good at telling your story and the police catches you off guard.” The tone Donghyuck uses, he knows, is a chilling one that makes Mark’s eyes widen for a fraction, and Donghyuck finds himself enjoying the company of the other boy.
“The way you say it would make me believe you in a second, but because you said you’re going to visit your grandmother and you spoke of her so fondly, I’m pretty sure you’re not a bad person.” Mark says then, and a laugh ripples through him in ocean waves, like those Donghyuck anticipates to see back in Jeju later.
“I think you trust too easily.” Donghyuck concludes then, leaning away from Mark and slumping back down to his seat, eyes darting to the massive screen in front of them that reads of the time, their ferry, and any other relevant information for passengers of the ferry.
“Nah, I think I just trust you.” The sentence is said in such an easy way, like it’s something Mark has been thinking of saying in truth for a while now, as if it filled him with a fresh new batch of air at being able to say it, that Donghyuck’s eyes immediately snap back to Mark’s, and he catches his gaze for a second, holding it, but not reading his eyes as Mark doesn’t bother reading his either, figuring they have nothing to hide with one another.
“Let’s go, our ferry should arrive soon-”
“Passengers to board the MS Ferry, ferry to Jeju from Busan, please make your way to the terminal. I repeat-”
♡♡♡
They find themselves a spot in the open hall of the ferry, a spot near the window and at the edge of the hall, providing them with the privacy Donghyuck more often than not adores more than anything during his ferry rides to Jeju. Mark follows him without question, only asking how to read a few words of Hangul that he fails to recognize at first glance, and questions regarding whether or not the food he brought was okay to be brought on board and the location of the toilets.
Donghyuck finds Mark to be a little bit of an airhead, yet he exudes a charm of his own that screams of being intelligent in a different department. He stumbles upon his words frequently and he uses the term ‘like’ a lot more than anyone else Donghyuck has encountered. Donghyuck doesn’t mind though, yet he points it out and teases Mark just a tiny bit more each time to see the olders face flush and to hear him whining in an adorable tone. It’s endearing, to say the least, and Donghyuck is completely enamored.
“I like being at the edge of the hall. It gives us more privacy compared to other places.” Donghyuck says simply, laying out a small pillow and blanket that he had brought in his luggage, and he allows his head to fall onto the pillow, letting out a relieved sigh once it hits. “My body hurts from constant traveling from Seoul.”
“My body hurts from the fourteen-hour flight from Canada to Busan.” Mark chuckles at the other, settling beside Donghyuck who lifts another pillow to him as an offering which he takes gratefully.
“Why did you take the flight to Busan instead of an immediate flight to Jeju, then?” Donghyuck asks Mark, and the other looks up at the ceiling of the ferry for a moment to ponder over his answer.
“I don’t know. Why did you decide to take the ferry from Busan instead of just taking the flight to Jeju from Seoul?” Mark questions him back, eyes going over to glance at Donghyuck’s reaction.
Donghyuck’s mind clicks then, and he realizes he doesn’t hear the song in his mind anymore while he’s been beside Mark, ever since the other boy settled down beside him at the seating area. He remembers his mother saying that the song playing between soulmates can vary drastically, and it really depends on the pairing themselves, how the songs end up playing. Donghyuck thinks he’s read before that some pairings don’t have the song playing for them when they’re within a certain vicinity of each other. Donghyuck decides to merely blink at Mark, smiling, because he realizes Mark isn’t going to touch the topic unless Donghyuck does, and Donghyuck doesn’t want to touch it until the latest time possible. For now, he’d like to enjoy Mark as he is, knowing him with being obliged to, learning him from his own free will.
“I don’t know.” Donghyuck answers him, and his eyes flutter close. “I’m going to sleep. I’m tired. Wake me up for breakfast tomorrow.”
He hears a laugh he’s grown familiar with over the past few hours, and he can sense a hand hovering over his cheek, yet it never makes contact with him. “Good night, Donghyuck.”
♡♡♡
The sand is a sticky film on the soles of his feet and in between the creases of his toes, causing them to feel awfully grainy as the rub against each other as he plays with his toes out of boredom. Donghyuck is awaiting for the arrival of someone as he sits down on the beach he has played at ever since he was a mere toddler being taken care of by his grandmother who always had a soft heart towards any of Donghyuck’s little pleas and requests.
The ocean waves that crash against the shore provides a tranquil feeling for himself, his shoulders and muscles proceeding to unwind, although he doesn’t remember when they had felt so tense before that. He shifts his neck from left to right, hearing it echoe that satisfying cracking sound, as his gaze rises to the stars that blanket the inky night sky. They fall upon one another in a stream, as if they rise together and all hold a purpose to shine in unison. Donghyuck thinks it’s breathtaking how even stars seem to live and survive together, just as most humans require their soulmates to be together, too. Sometimes, it’s not a necessity, just that they adore being together, and it’s difficult to imagine a future being apart from them.
“Pretty, isn’t it?” A whisper tickles his ears, as he feels arms wrap around his waist from the back, pulling him into a zone of comfort and safety as he’s pulled into the lap of someone he can sense is most like home to him, with thighs very nice to place himself on, he notes.
“It is.” He mumbles in reply, head moving to rest on the chest of the other behind him, eyes fluttering close as he listens to the heartbeat that fills him with a familiar warmth and joy.
Donghyuck’s eyes snap open abruptly, and he realizes his breathing is heavy and disturbed, a routine he recognizes himself to have whenever he has a particularly good dream that ends up disrupting the state of his well-being in reality. He doesn’t make a move to get up though, instead opting to give the person beside him a look, and he sees Mark, eyes closed and face calm, a serene expression he’s wearing that has Donghyuck closing his eyes too, breathing in and out in a routine to try and garner a regular heartbeat rate. He succeeds, as he feels his body relaxing in tune to his easing breathing. He opens his eyes again to look at Mark, who is now suddenly awake, gaze concerned and confused, erupting a small gasp from Donghyuck at the shock he feels with suddenly seeing the sleeping boy awake.
“Hey, hey, it’s just me. I’m sorry for surprising you.” Mark says, in a tone so low and gentle, it sends chills down Donghyuck’s spine. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It happens when I have a good dream.” Donghyuck replies to him, coughing when his throat hurts as his voice comes out scratchy and awful.
“I thought good dreams were suppose to be nice.” Mark states, and it doesn’t sound reprimanding nor does it sound teasing, because he sounds genuinely curious as his fingers move to brush Donghyuck’s hair that has matted on his forehead with sweat covering it away.
“It happens, because my reality isn’t as good as my dreams.” Donghyuck answers truthfully to Mark, and he tries to say it as it’s a simple fact, nothing to be pitied for and such, yet the previous dream had caused a lump to form in his throat and bile to threaten itself out of him.
“Hey, hey. It’s alright. I’m here. I’m the best thing you could ever have, not even your dream could conjure me.” Mark says, and his tone is light now, and it has Donghyuck in a daze before it has him in a fit of giggles, hands moving to slap at Mark’s chest at the other’s terrible notion of trying to comfort him.
“I’m glad my dreams don’t have you. It’d be a nightmare.” Donghyuck snorts, rolling his eyes as Mark juts his lower lip out in offense, eyes growing wide as his bottom lip trembles.
“D-Does Donghyuckie mwean it?” Mark says in a high-pitched, childlike voice that has Donghyuck gagging in response.
“Donghyuckie thinks Mwarkie needs to go back to sweep.” Donghyuck answers him in a voice just as childlike, and it’s a bit cringe worthy, yet it’s worth the billion dollar kilowatt smile that Mark decides to grace him with tonight.
“Markie does. Markie would like to sleep with Donghyuckie, and have Donghyuckie sleep well.” Mark says, and his eyes light up as though he’s found the solution to something very important, lifting up Melly from his spot scrunched between the two of them, yet huddled in Mark’s strong hold. “Here. I always sleep better with Melly. Maybe you’ll sleep better with him, too.”
“Are you sure?” Donghyuck asks Mark, not because he finds it childish of Mark to act like this, but because he’s aware of how important Melly is to Mark, and he finds himself unable to perceive why Mark would suddenly feel obliged to share his most important thing with Donghyuck just to hope he sleeps well.
“I’m sure. I trust you.” Mark says the latter bit of the sentence softly, as if it were a secret only between the two of them, and Donghyuck is grateful for the night inside the ferry, where Mark is surely unable to see the pink blossoming against his cheeks.
“Thank you, Mark. I’ll take care of Melly.” Donghyuck mumbles, and when he falls asleep, he finds himself in a slumber so deep, he barely remembers the hazy dream he had, and woke up with a body so refreshed and excited to take on the brand new day.
♡♡♡
“Don’t lose me.” Donghyuck says to Mark as if he were a younger child, as they both clutch onto their respective luggages in the waves of other passengers of the ferry, all ready to alight the ferry once they’re allowed the pleasure to.
“You don’t lose me, you’re the one who knows this place by heart.” Mark states out to Donghyuck, eyes fleeting about nervously as his hands hover around Donghyuck’s mid-back, teeth chewing on his bottom lip in a silent question.
“You can hold onto my shirt. I’ll purposely leave you if you don’t.” Donghyuck says, and he chuckles at the way Mark’s face immediately scrunches to one of annoyance, his hand gripping onto Donghyuck’s tightly, most likely bunching the material and causing it to crease an ungodly amount.
“Don’t you dare. I don’t wanna die in a foreign country all by myself.” Mark tries to say normally, yet it heightens to almost a whine near the end, and Donghyuck shrugs his shoulders in an easy manner.
“It’s your motherland, dummy.” Donghyuck shifts his body slightly to get a good look of Mark, before lifting a finger to press on Mark’s forehead like he usually does with Jeno’s cats when they start acting like little idiots out of nowhere and it’s too endearing to just sigh to.
“I still was born and raised in Canada! I’m not used to it here yet.” Mark’s signature pout appears again, his lip jutting out just right, and Donghyuck can’t help but allow his gaze to wander down for a millisecond, before he feels the ocean of people moving forward, and realizes everyone is about to alight.
“Hold onto me tightly, we’re going off.” Donghyuck says in a hurry, turning around again, but only moving once Mark squeezes his shirt until he pulls Donghyuck back slightly, and Donghyuck gets the signal to move.
The motion of bodies until they got down from the ferry has Donghyuck in a daze, and he blinks so many times that he feels his vision blurring around the corners. Donghyuck has never been one to handle the movement of the ferry on water, let alone when he’s moving down from it and there are so many others with him, squeezing, pushing and some even screaming to ensure all of their family members are together when they alight. Mark seems to catch Donghyuck’s stuttering breaths, as he smoothly maneuvers his hands from Donghyuck’s shirt to catch onto his elbow, and Donghyuck can feel his breath on his ear as he leans in from the back to Donghyuck.
“It’s okay. We’ll be down soon, Donghyuck. Deep breaths.” Mark says in an even tone, voice gentle and soft, yet shaky as Donghyuck can tell he doesn’t normally comfort people in such a way.
“Thanks.” Donghyuck mumbles to Mark, just for him to hear, and he thinks he can feel Mark’s smile even when he doesn’t see it.
Once they’re both down from the ferry safely, Mark immediately tugs Donghyuck inside the terminal, in a corner free from the hustle and bustle of Busan’s passengers of the ferry. He pushes down his handle, and nudges his luggage to hit the wall, before he’s helping Donghyuck to sit on his luggage for support in the meantime. They stay like that for a while, with Mark’s hand now on Donghyuck’s neck, giving it reassuring squeezes from time to time to help ease his heart rate, something Mark has seen many being given in Canada. His body is situated close enough to Donghyuck’s, finding his own place between Donghyuck’s open legs, and Donghyuck leans his head on Mark’s shoulder, finding his own home in them for a moment.
“I think I’m alright now.” Donghyuck says then, but he doesn’t make a move to lift himself up from Mark, and Mark doesn’t move himself from Donghyuck, either.
“Let’s get you some water first.” Mark says, then adds, “In a bit, maybe.”
“Mhm. Do you have a hotel you have to go and check in to?” Donghyuck asks him, comfortable in his hold now as he loops his arm around Mark’s waist, and he’s glad for the fact everyone is busy with their own shenanigans and Mark has found quite a secluded place that he can do this without being mildly scared of attention being given to them.
“I… don’t, actually. Me coming here was actually on a whim. I thought I’d just find a hotel somewhere to sleep in.” Mark says in an awkward tone, and Donghyuck’s head snaps up, bumping into Mark’s chin, both wincing in pain at the contact made.
“Damn it, Mark. It’s Summer. Hotels are all going to be full. Are you just going to be a homeless man for your stay in Jeju?” Donghyuck asks him incredulously, eyebrows knitted in worry.
“I mean, it’s only for like, five days.” Mark shrugs his shoulders, and Donghyuck lets out a heavy sigh at how the other seems too laidback at this fact he should be worrying more of.
“How about you stay with me and my grandmother for a while? We always have an extra room available. It’s a small apartment, and it’s not much, but it works, y’know?” Donghyuck offers to Mark, who tilts his head and purses his lips in thought, before he’s nodding his head to Donghyuck.
“As long as I won’t be a bother to your grandmother.” Mark says to Donghyuck, and he smiles as Donghyuck’s face lights up as if the Sun had just risen in the East.
“So you don’t care if you’re a bother to me?” Donghyuck questions, smile still evident and bright on his facial features.
“Not really, no, when you’re a bother to me.” Mark is replied with a slap to the arm, and he offers a laugh in return, squeezing Donghyuck’s nose gently.
Day One
“Grandmama, I’m home!” Donghyuck announces loudly, once he pushes the door of the apartment open, dragging both his luggage and Mark with him, who’s been forced to hold the door open for a moment while Donghyuck makes his grand entrance back home.
“Welcome home, Little Duckie!” Donghyuck’s grandmother says brightly, a tone so familiar and comfortable as she appears from where Donghyuck remembers to be the kitchen of her home, and he’s proven correct as he sees the gloves full of red pepper paste on her hands. “Oh, who’s this other boy? A new puppy you brought along?”
“Ah- No-” Mark stumbles on his words at the question that leaves Donghyuck’s grandmother, and Donghyuck lets out a bellowing laughter.
“No, Grandmama. He’s someone I met at the ferry terminal back in Busan. He doesn’t have a place to stay, so I offered our home for the next five days, if that’s okay with you.” Donghyuck says to his grandmother, yet he knows there isn’t any need to ask for permission as she’s more often than not willing to always agree with any of Donghyuck’s needs, though she squints at Mark for a second.
“As long as I don’t wake up to my grandson being murdered, that’s okay with me. If Donghyuck can trust you to bring you home, then I suppose I can take the leap of faith, too.” Donghyuck’s grandmother says, nodding to the two boys. “Anyways, go get him settled in. I’m making the kimchi paste right now, and I expect to see both of you in the kitchen to help me out.”
“Of course, Grandmama.” Donghyuck nods to her as she makes her way back into the kitchen, and Donghyuck then turns to Mark, who looks puzzled and worried.
“I have no damn idea how to make kimchi.” Is the thing that leaves his lips first, and Donghyuck couldn’t help the little snort that leaves through him.
“It’s fine. We’ll teach you. Come on, I gotta show you through the house unless you’d want to get lost. It’s not much, but I don’t want to be disturbed in the middle of my sleep in case you need to pee or something and don’t know where the toilet is.” Donghyuck says to Mark, and motions with his hands for Mark to follow him. “Well, as always in every Korean household, this is the shoe rack. You can just put your shoes in here, too.”
Donghyuck gestures with his head to present to Mark the large shoe rack that leans against the wall near the entrance way of the apartment as he lets out a grunt, lifting his luggage up from the entrance way beside him and into the apartment itself to allow for more space for the two of them to take off their shoes. Mark follows suit, placing his luggage beside Donghyuck’s, using his feet to take off his shoes while Donghyuck decides to sit down on the entrance way and takes off his shoes then. The two of them open the shoe rack once Donghyuck stands back up, and place their shoes in the shoe rack randomly since there was barely any amount of shoes to fill up the large storage space. It had been expected, though, seeing as Donghyuck’s grandmother is the only person residing in the apartment of three bedrooms.
Donghyuck breathes in the familiar whiff of home as he steps into the apartment, socked feet appreciating the coldness of the wooden floor as Donghyuck’s grandmother most likely has had the air conditioner on all day long since Summer has begun. The cool air provides relief to his sweat-stuck hair on the back of his neck and forehead, and when he turns around to see Mark, he already sees the older plastering his back onto the wall, a look of complete bliss enveloping his features. When his head lolls to the side and his eyes look at Donghyuck, Donghyuck can’t help but to feel like he’s seen the sight before, and it feels like a weird sense of dejavu, yet he simply pushes it to the back of his head.
“Come on, hyung.” Donghyuck encourages, and the older complies, pushing himself off of the wall and hand going to his own luggage.
Even though Donghyuck had said the apartment isn’t much, Mark would like to retaliate and say it’s more than most people’s apartments. It’s a large apartment, even for a three-bedroom one, that you can almost call it a suite if it had more extravagant furniture instead of simple things of color. The toilet near the entrance way is the only toilet, yet it’s big enough to have a bathtub that’s separated by a wooden sliding door from the shower, which is also separated from the rest of the toilet such as the sink and toilet bowl with a glass door.
“I usually like to take long soaks in the bathtub during the night, so this is good when anyone wants to shower while I’m in the bathtub, sleeping or just relaxing.” Donghyuck tells Mark, and suddenly Mark is struck with the scene of him showering in the showers while Donghyuck is beside him in the bathtub, closed off by a wooden sliding door only, and both of them in their most vulnerable state.
“I-I think I’ll wait for you to finish or shower before you decide to soak in.” Mark is flushing a dark amber, and Donghyuck pinches his cheek, another laugh elicited within him.
“You’re cute. It’s honestly alright if you need to shower. You’ll get used to it, but if you don’t want to, that’s fine too.”
They go through more of the apartment, the living room that holds an L-shaped couch, a bean bag, and a coffee table as well as a television placed on another table. There are blankets thrown about the couch, and Mark wonders if it’s Donghyuck’s grandmother’s blankets, but Donghyuck beats him to it. “Those are mine. Whenever she knows I’m coming, she’ll leave blankets for me. I’m not the best at dealing with heat, but I’m not exactly good with the cold either, so yeah.”
“Can I steal them whenever, then?” Mark asks, tilting his head in question as he eyes one of the blankets with little puppies strewn over them.
“Not that one. That one’s my favorite.” Donghyuck says to Mark, immediately going to grab onto the blanket that Mark had been eyeing.
“Damn it.” Mark says in mock sadness, and Donghyuck rolls his eyes at the other.
Mark is shown the door of Donghyuck’s grandmother’s room, which takes up the entirety of one wall, before he’s shown the opposite wall where two doors are located. The door with dried sunflowers hanging on them, Mark assumes to be Donghyuck’s, while the other door with nothing and is completely bare, Mark assumes to be the guest bedroom. He’s proven correct as Donghyuck states the same thing he had been thinking of.
“This one’s mine, and that one’s yours. You can settle your things in first, but we have to help Grandmama today to make kimchi. I suggest you shower after, because kimchi making can be pretty messy if you’re not used to it.” Donghyuck tells Mark, and Mark nods his head.
“I think I’m just putting my luggage in for now.” Mark informs Donghyuck, and Donghyuck beams at him.
“Same with me. Let’s go to the kitchen then. Just leave your luggage inside the room.” Mark does just as Donghyuck tells him to, opening the door of his room, not even looking inside as he pushes his luggage in, and he can tell Donghyuck does the same.
The kitchen is another large space, Mark can tell, yet it seems small as he takes in the amount of cabbage and radish there is in the area. The smell of the red pepper paste he’s familiar to back at home fills him suddenly, and he coughs at how spicy he reckons the kimchi to be. Donghyuck takes note and pats him on the back, a lazy smile on his face as he helps Mark through his mild coughing fit.
“Oh, are you not used to something that smells this spicy?” Donghyuck’s grandmother asks him, from her seat on the floor, hands already deep into the red pepper paste concoction as she slathers it onto the cabbage pieces.
“I am, but this is just overwhelming. Most likely because there’s a lot, though.” Mark answers her, but he takes a deep breath, glaring at Donghyuck who is looking at him with amusement glittering in his eyes.
“Take it easy, hyung. It’s fine. It’s your first time.” Donghyuck tells Mark, holding his hand, automatically interlacing their fingers together as he finds them some space to settle in near his grandmother, and reaches for the gloves on the kitchen island.
He hands a pair to Mark, who takes it, and he wears his own pair before he’s lifting up a cabbage piece and he starts to show Mark how to slather on the red pepper paste. If Donghyuck’s grandmother catches either of their glances towards one another lasting for a second too long, if she realizes how Mark’s gaze seems to soften as he listens to Donghyuck talk about the first time he made kimchi with her, if she sees the way Donghyuck gives little fleeting glances to Mark, she merely keeps quiet, only interrupting the two’s time to scold them on something they’re doing wrong with the kimchi. Her grandson finding his soulmate would be nice, but she doesn’t want her kimchi to come out inedible.
♡♡♡
It’s the afternoon, and Mark is taking a shower, while Donghyuck is soaking in the bathtub, vanilla scented candles being lit near him to provide him with a calming sensation. Though Mark had been adamant earlier on about not showering while Donghyuck is soaking, neither of them wanted to wait to get in water and wash off how sticky and disgusting they were feeling, especially after the whole kimchi making process. Though they were in a cool environment, the heat of the red pepper paste, along with all of the sneezing they did when they decided to fool around with the red pepper powder, had caused them to sweat so much more and they felt too icky to not shower after.
Donghyuck allows his eyes to close as his body settles itself nicely into the water, the coolness of it providing him with a good chill across his whole body, goosebumps having formed. He thinks about the day, how uncharacteristic it had been for him to invite Mark over to his grandmother’s house to stay at, just because he’s talked with Mark for a few hours and slept beside him. Yet, when he had spent more time with Mark, everything felt natural and in place, exactly how it’s suppose to be.
The sound of water falling and hitting the tiles in a steady stream from where Mark is showering had provided him with a good sound to relax to, yet then he hears the screech of the shower turning off, and he realizes Mark is about to leave. He shifts in the bathtub then, moving his body to rest his cheek on the bathtub.
“Can you stay for a little bit? Just stay there?” Donghyuck voices out his question to Mark, and at first Donghyuck thinks he had already left and Donghyuck just didn’t hear the sound of the door opening and closing, until he hears Mark reply.
“Sure.” The water is then turned back on, and Donghyuck shuts his eyes again, indulging in the calming atmosphere with Mark, and the wooden sliding door to keep them company.
♡♡♡
“Do you have any plans for when you’re here?” Donghyuck asks Mark, as he’s helping Mark to organize his things into the drawers of the room he’s staying in, while Mark takes care of his books and other personal things he deems too private for anyone but himself.
“Not really, to be quite honest. I just thought maybe you could show me around or invite me to do things.” Mark tells Donghyuck, and the other thinks about it for a while in the same moment he’s folding Mark’s clothes, trying to ignore just how domestic this situation feels like.
“Well, for today we could just relax at home. Our bodies are tired, after all. On the next few days, I wanted to visit the kindergarten I used to work at last Summer, and maybe help out for a day. They’re open because they help out with taking care of kids while their parents or older family go out for business trips and such. Other than that, we could visit the beach nearby, go to the summer festival, and we’ll see anything more that comes up.” Donghyuck suggests, joy evident in his voice the more he talks, and who is Mark to deny Donghyuck of all that he wants?
Day Two
“Mark hyung, wake up.” Donghyuck’s voice is gentle and warm as he shakes Mark awake from his slumber, the older groaning in reply. “Get ready to go to the kindergarten. It opens at 8:00 A.M., and I’d like to help out there for today, remember? It’s already 7:00 A.M.”
Mark then groans even more, before he’s stretching his limbs up, his bones cracking satisfyingly as he rubs his eyes, looking at Donghyuck. The sunlight is streaming through the windows, and it falls on Donghyuck, justifying how beautiful his tanned skin is, the honey color making Mark’s heart feel as if it were leaping out of his throat. Mark nods towards Donghyuck, holding his hand up to Donghyuck. At first, Donghyuck eyes it in question, before he understands and holds Mark’s hand, hands intertwining. They stay like that for a while as Mark’s brain slowly starts to wake up and process that they’re about to leave soon. One squeeze to Donghyuck’s hand and he understands, letting go of Mark’s hand as he leaves the room for Mark to get ready for the day.
♡♡♡
Donghyuck finds that the children of the kindergarten, even the new ones, are easily charmed by Mark. Not only the children though, even the other teachers that Donghyuck had worked with before, like Miss Taeyeon, Miss Tiffany, Miss Sunkyu and Miss Hyoyeon. Everyone completely adores the Canadian boy, quick to help him adjust and show him the ropes. Donghyuck feels proud as he sees Mark being whisked left and right, people demanding for him and wanting to spend time with him. It’s an odd feeling for Donghyuck to feel, yet he’s happy that Mark is being liked by everyone Donghyuck holds close to him.
They’re currently at the cafeteria now, with Donghyuck feeding Chenle beside him, and patting Jisung who is sitting on top of him. Chenle is talking with his mouth full, much to Donghyuck’s dismay because the little boy doesn’t seem to understand that the more Donghyuck feeds him, the more it means he should shut up and just chew his food. Jisung is sleeping snuggly on him, head resting on Donghyuck’s chest as Donghyuck’s free hand pats his bum to help him sleep better.
“Are you doing alright there?” Mark asks Donghyuck, and Donghyuck looks up from Chenle to see Mark standing up, holding Baekhyun in his arms while Chanyeol is latched onto his leg like a little baby koala.
“I think I’m doing better than you are.” Donghyuck tells Mark, and then Baekhyun is whining as he twists in Mark’s hold, forcing Mark to make him face Donghyuck.
“What does that mean!” Baekhyun huffs aloud, whining with his, unfortunately for the teachers, gifted vocal chords.
“It means a lot of things that you don’t get to know about.” Donghyuck sticks his tongue out at Baekhyun, who gasps in offense, before Chenle is whining beside him.
“Teacher Hyuckie! I was telling you a story about the cow! About the cow!” Chenle pats Donghyuck’s thighs painfully, and Donghyuck nods towards him, kissing his forehead.
“Yes, Chenle, tell me about the cow.” Donghyuck tells Chenle, and Chenle proceeds to tell Donghyuck about the new cow his grandfather had added to their family farm.
Mark thinks Donghyuck looks absolutely amazing with the kids, as if it were his own habitat and it’s second nature for him to pay attention to the younger generation, feeding them with love, attention and affection. His heart stutters at the way Donghyuck’s hand runs through Chenle’s hair, and the way it seems to all fit so perfectly well together, Mark wishes to see it in the future too, with Donghyuck in it as well. He shakes the thought away though, as he squats down to meet Chanyeol’s eyes, and Chanyeol moves to grab onto Baekhyun, hugging him tightly.
♡♡♡
It’s 5:00 P.M. now, and Mark and Donghyuck are putting the kids to sleep as the other teachers hold a meeting. There’s mattresses, pillows and blankets for the kids, but there’s also two extras for Mark and Donghyuck to sleep on in the middle of the kids, separating the left and right. Donghyuck stays on the left side, patting the legs and bum of the children, while Mark is on the right side, doing the same.
“What time do the parents come to fetch the kids?” Mark’s voice filters through the silence, and Donghyuck knows he isn’t looking at him, so he doesn’t make any effort to look at Mark, either.
“It depends. Some parents leave their kids until 8:00 P.M., while some leave them with the teachers to babysit while they go out for vacation.” Donghyuck answers him, thinking back to the days where he took Chanyeol back home because his parents had left him with Donghyuck to care for, for a week while they went on a vacation to Maldives, but didn’t want to bring Chanyeol along, which had caused Donghyuck’s heart to break slightly, so he ensured Chanyeol had the best Summer with him that time.
“Why don’t they take their kids with them?” Mark asks him, and Donghyuck gives him a shrug.
“Sometimes… people just- leave others, so they can live more comfortably, I guess. I mean, that’d be a nice way to put it, don’t you think?” Donghyuck tells him uncomfortably, voice straining, since Donghyuck still fails to comprehend how parents can leave their children alone, but maybe that’s because Donghyuck grew up in an environment where he had been taken care of with the utmost love and adoration.
“I… wouldn’t leave someone like that.” What Mark says has a heavy implication, and when Donghyuck diverts his attention from the children to Mark, he sees that when Mark had said ‘someone’, he meant Donghyuck.
If the others found Donghyuck and Mark in a tangle of limbs together, squeezing against one another on a single mattress instead of taking their respective mattresses, if they could hear Mark mumbling in his sleep Donghyuck’s name, they didn’t say anything, yet took pictures in their phones for future needs.
Day Three
“Donghyuck! Come out!” There’s boisterous laughter coming from outside of his room, and Donghyuck thinks he can hear Mark yelp somewhere outside, too. “Come out or we’ll throw Mark into your bathtub and fill it up with squid ink!”
“Donghyuck! They’re not kidding! Come out!” Mark’s voice sounds like he’s in a panic, and Donghyuck immediately throws his blankets off of his own body, unlocks the door of his room, and throws it open, only to be greeted with the sight of his older friends, Johnny and Jaehyun holding up Mark by his leg and armpits, while Taeyong and Ten are eating some peaches in the living room with Donghyuck’s grandmother, conversing with her about the news currently playing on the television.
“Oh, hey. There you are.” Johnny laughs out loud as he settles Mark down on the floor again, who intakes a breath of relief, eyeing the two older boys like they’re mad men, which Donghyuck would agree in a heartbeat that they are as he’s spent plenty of time with them to know that they’re not completely sane.
Donghyuck grumbles unintelligible words as reply to Johnny, body going slack and dropping to the floor as he rests his head on the wall. His head is spinning from the way his body had to function too fast as soon as he got up, and Jaehyun goes over to him to pat his head and card his fingers through his hair, lifting him up to carry him to the living room.
“Come on, Doyoung, Yuta and Jungwoo are already waiting downstairs in the car.” As if on cue, an obnoxious honking sound can be heard up until the apartment that’s on the thirteenth floor, and Donghyuck lets out a guttural wail.
“Who the hell thought letting Yuta drive was a good idea?”
♡♡♡
The beach is warm and humid, and the vast amount of people on it didn’t help with the Summer heat and the Sun beating down on them in a ridiculous momentum that had all nine boys dripping in sweat. Donghyuck had decided to stay in the shade for the early hours of them being at the beach after the long ride from Donghyuck’s grandmother’s apartment to the other side of Jeju, because that’s where the beach they’ve always spent their Summers making a variety of memories in was located at and everyone had vehemently refused to Donghyuck’s idea of simply idling about at the beach nearby Donghyuck’s home as Donghyuck had planned with Mark a few days prior to all of this fiasco.
Mark is playing in the waters with Johnny, Jaehyun, Doyoung and Jungwoo, the boy laughing so brightly, and Donghyuck can’t help but to see that there are diamonds reflected in him as the Sun causes the waters to twinkle on his features, providing a landscape of the sky on his features Donghyuck has learned that he very much likes for these past few days. It’s a nice scene for Donghyuck to watch, knees perched closely to his chest as he rests his chin in between of his knees at the small opening that fits his small chin just right.
“And why are you ogling at him like he’s the only other boy in the world?” Ten asks Donghyuck as he opens a can of beer, but it’s apple cider because they, minus Donghyuck because Donghyuck has promised Taeyong he’ll only drink when he’s twenty-four, have all collectively agreed that beer has a taste that they all hate, stale and like vomit.
“Shut up, Ten. I thought we agreed not to mention it.” Taeyong hisses at Ten, protectively wrapping an arm around Donghyuck’s waist, while Yuta rolls his eyes.
“Come on, Yong, we’re all curious here and only Donghyuck and Mark have the answers. Why not just prod a tiny bit?” Yuta inquires, before he’s nudging Donghyuck’s calf with his toe from his position now in front of Donghyuck, which also hides Mark from Donghyuck’s line of vision and he can’t say for sure that he isn’t bothered and annoyed with Yuta at this point.
“Can you at least move? I can’t see.” Donghyuck says to Yuta moving forward to shove the other aside, as Yuta only stays firm in his spot.
“What? Can’t see your lover boy?” Yuta asks teasingly, earning himself a glare from Donghyuck.
“I am curious though.” Ten pipes in, leaning his chin on his hand. “Is Mark your soulmate?”
“Is Johnny yours?” Donghyuck snipes back at Ten, who pouts his lips as he eyes his nails, that are just grainy with sand yet he looks at them as if they were a masterpiece.
“I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it. You and Mark seem to have talked about yourselves a lot though.” Ten prods on even more, and Donghyuck sighs, as Yuta finally moves his body just slightly for Donghyuck to gain the perfect view of Mark laughing with Johnny as he’s being carried high in the air, thighs exposed as his hands find purchase in Johnny’s shirt, and shrill screams fill the air and into Donghyuck’s ears, a sound so endearing to him that he can’t help but to smile.
“We don’t talk about it, but I think we know it.” Donghyuck says to them, but his eyes are focused on Mark, focused on the way he seems so beautiful and ecstatic to be surrounded by new people, yet he seems to have made it his own home, his own friends, a place to call his own, and Donghyuck finds himself wishing Mark could find home in him, too.
♡♡♡
They’re loading the items into the car that evening, ready to go back home after they’ve had dinner, when Taeyong pulls Donghyuck to the side, near to the beach again and away from the carpark. Donghyuck is confused and is about to voice his feelings as such, when Taeyong tells him, “Please talk to him about it. Soulmates is a confusing thing, especially when I know this is your first time even seeing him. It would be devastating if the songs in your heads doesn’t match the songs you’ve been obsessed with. I would like to see you two together, but I don’t want you to be miserable if things aren’t the way they should be.”
Donghyuck manages to force a laugh out of his lungs as he replies, “I’ll ask him, Yongie Hyung. Just- not today.”
If the others catch the two holding hands at the backseat, Donghyuck’s legs thrown over Mark’s as Mark’s head seems to find a comfortable place at Donghyuck’s neck, with Mark’s arm looped around Donghyuck’s waist in a securing grip, they don’t say anything, nor do their gazes linger for too long.
Day Four
The summer festival near Donghyuck’s apartment has always been a lively festival, with fireworks at night filling the star bright sky with even more colors and liveliness and an array of food and beverages, games and trinkets being sold by plenty of the island’s men and women alike. Donghyuck and Mark are both sporting thin t-shirts, since Summer nights can be worse than Summer afternoons when a majority of the island will be compacted into a small space for the festival.
The stalls run down a whole mile, and near the beaches is where people often wait to see the fireworks. For now, the timing is still early for the fireworks that Donghyuck has been excited to show Mark the whole day, therefore they take their time to linger around the food stalls, Donghyuck and Mark taking turns to pay for the food after a whole hour of bickering over who pays for what.
“I don’t get how people can all come here when it’s so hot.” Mark mumbles beside Donghyuck, keeping close to him as he flaps his shirt, trying to increase the coolness of at least on his tummy from the insufferable Summer heat.
“We’re here.” Donghyuck states, eyebrow raised to make a point at Mark, who grunts out in response.
“I’m really only here because of you.” Mark replies to Donghyuck, taking a bite of the hotteok that’s placed in his cup.
“How’s the hotteok?” Donghyuck asks instead, ignoring the way his tummy decides to feel certain things he’s incapable of putting into specific words of feelings.
“It’s fine. Could use a little bit more brown sugar, though.” Mark says, as he nudges the cup towards Donghyuck, who’s more than happy to take a bite out of the hotteok, only to scrunch his face at the sweetness that overwhelms him.
“That’s sweet- and real sticky.” Donghyuck says, clearing his throat to rid it of the honey’s sickly sticky texture.
“Let’s get you a drink.” Mark says to Donghyuck, as he cranes his head about the sea of people to look for a drink stall to aid Donghyuck’s throat.
“Mm, and it’s still early, but do you wanna go find a spot to watch the fireworks? Being early is better than being late.” Donghyuck suggests, and Mark nods his head at the other.
“Sure, why not? Oh- there’s a drink stall, and it sells watermelon juice!” Mark says ecstatically, fingers circling Donghyuck’s wrist as he tugs the other with him to the stall, and Donghyuck is only mildly surprised to see Taeil being the man behind the counter, selling seasonal fruit juices at the festival.
“Donghyuck! I knew somehow I’d see you at this festival again.” Taeil greets Donghyuck as he fills a cup full of grape juice for a customer, and Donghyuck notes how there are many customers at the stall tonight.
“Yeah, I came back a few days ago. I’ll be staying here for two months, so we’ll see each other again later.” Donghyuck tells Taeil, ushering with his hands for Taeil to focus on his other customers.
“Will do, and who’s this with you- One peace juice coming right up!” Taeil asks Donghyuck as he moves onto the next customer.
“I’m Mark.” Mark informs Taeil, beaming, and after the customer gets their order, he chimes in, “One watermelon juice for me, and one peach juice for Donghyuck.”
“Of course, Mark, and I’m Taeil.” Taeil says, hands moving quickly to prepare their order. “Anyways, if I’m not mistaken, your usual spot near the beach is still empty.”
“Oh, really? We gotta go quick, then.” Donghyuck says, as he pays for the drinks and thanks Taeil, Mark mimicking his actions.
♡♡♡
“You really know a lot of people here, huh?” Mark asks him with a chuckle, sipping on his watermelon juice as he looks up at the sky, legs dangling over the ledge near the beach, and Donghyuck nods.
“I’ve grown close to a lot of them, so that’s also why it’s fine for me to come back here alone annually. A lot of people know me and my family. It helps.” Donghyuck says, swirling his peach juice in its cup.
“Yeah, I feel like I’ve gotten to know a lot of you in those people, really.” Mark says somberly, and Donghyuck can’t help but to feel his throat close up slightly, as he decides to drink more of the juice.
“Oh, really? Is it nice to know me through them?” Donghyuck asks, teething at his straw nervously.
“It is. I like it. I like learning you. I like you, too.” Mark says, and Donghyuck feels his drink hitting the back of his throat, and the next second, he’s choking with Mark only laughing as he pats his back in comfort.
“Just wondering, but- have you been obsessed with Justin Bieber’s Baby recently?” Donghyuck asks Mark, and there’s relief and happiness swimming in his eyes that causes Donghyuck to feel dizzy again, only this time it’s a lightheaded feeling that has him pooling in emotions so bright like the flowers he sees his grandmother pouring water in every morning.
“Have you been obsessed with Baby Shark? Odd choice for a song, by the way.” Mark says, and Donghyuck feels like crying as he jumps onto Mark from the side, Mark catching him by his waist, pulling him to settle on Mark’s lap, yet Donghyuck simply straddles him as he cups Mark’s jaw, lifting his face up.
“Why the fuck have I only started listening to songs in my head recently? I’ve been waiting for so, so long to hear a song, any song, and then when it’s been years since I’ve given up hoping and I’ve grown accustomed to accepting that I had no soulmate, Justin Bieber’s God forsaken song Baby that’s super outdated started playing in my head. What the actual fuck, Mark Lee?” Donghyuck feels tears slowly forming in the corners of his eyes, but he already feels his fingers are wet, and he has an inkling that it’s Mark crying, too.
“I’m sorry, I was just never obsessed with any song. I tried to, when I kept getting your songs in my head, because I wanted you to know I exist, I’m here, awake in the middle of the night because your songs are playing in my head, but I couldn’t. I’m sorry.” Mark’s voice is full of emotion and apologies, and Donghyuck presses their foreheads together.
“Is that why you started liking Baby and I started getting less and less sleep everyday? Damn it. I never would’ve thought I’d meet you like this, though.” Donghyuck says, smiling now as tears finally start to fall like crystals down his cheeks.
The two of them laugh with each other, and somehow the sounds of fireworks in the background is drowned out when they press their lips against one another, slotting against each other perfectly, and both sighing a breath of relief at the contact their souls had wanted to make since the beginning.
If Doyoung, Yuta and Jungwoo were about to go over to them and invite them to sit together with the rest at the beach to watch the fireworks ever saw them in that position, they only turned their backs away from the scene. If Jaehyun and Taeyong ever saw them walking back home hand in hand, whispering to each other, giggling as if their whole life is set and they’re content with the whole world, they only smiled at each other and squeezed each other’s hands. If Johnny and Ten had gotten word from Taeil that he saw Mark and Donghyuck together and everything seemed to be going well for them, they only shut their mouths and nodded. If Donghyuck’s grandmother hears the giggles outside of her room, and Donghyuck asking Mark to stop moving so much as he presses kisses onto Mark’s lips again and again, she turns around to face the wall and lets them be. To them, Donghyuck deserves Mark, and Mark deserves Donghyuck.
Day Five
Donghyuck is awaken to Mark beside him, already awake and toying with his phone, appearing to be messaging someone. Donghyuck blinks up at him, and knocks on his chest lightly, until the other boy looks down, and the smile that graces him automatically has Donghyuck smiling, too.
“Good morning.” Donghyuck says, throat all scratchy as he leans up to kiss Mark’s forehead.
“G’morning.” Mark replies to him, and moves to kiss his nose next. “My mom texted me and said you should come to Canada sometime.”
Donghyuck laughs at the invite, before he’s holding Mark’s hand like it fits with his perfectly, and he’s nudging the phone towards himself. “Ah… and your flight back to Canada is at 12:00 P.M.” Donghyuck says sadly, as he reads through the conversation.
“Yeah… she booked the tickets yesterday. She said that if things went wrong, at least I’d be going back home early.” Mark breathes out in regret, arms hugging Donghyuck close to him, nosing at his chest to get a whiff of his comforting scent Mark is practically drunk on by now.
“Things went too good for you, you should’ve stayed here longer.” Donghyuck pouts, yet he knows he has to let Mark go for now.
Mark has a life and a family back in Canada, just as how Donghyuck has a family and life back in Seoul, but now they both have a common denominator being Jeju Island. Yet, for now, it’s not the time. Donghyuck thinks the world is already too kind to him for blessing him with Mark Lee as his soulmate, someone Donghyuck finds to be so completely endearing and lovely.
“I’ll come back home one day, I promise.” Mark says to Donghyuck as he searches the other’s eyes for an answer.
“I’ll be waiting for you, I promise.” They seal their vows with another kiss to the lips, one that lingers longer than the rest, and tastes bittersweet at the thought of leaving one another after finally finding each other.
♡♡♡
Donghyuck enters his room after having sent Mark to the airport and waited with the older for his flight. They didn’t do much today, merely staying with each other, holding hands and relishing in the small moments they have with one another until one of them had to leave. Donghyuck didn’t cry as Mark did, because he wanted to send Mark away with a smile, and a promise that they’ll be okay, always.
Once he’s inside his room, he sees Melly on his bed, and a letter addressed to him in scrawny Korean writing.
For my forever Donghyuck,
It’s sad that I have to leave too soon, isn’t it? I wanted to say a lot more to you today than I thought I’d ever be able to - yesterday, too, but then I thought… I’d get the chance to say all that I want to you in the future. I feel it, because I found you like this - somehow, I did, and I promise, I’ll find you again. I’ll find you somewhere in the world, and I’ll be able to hold you close, and one day, I’ll hold you close forever, and not just for the night. I promise. Until then, Donghyuck.
P/S: We forgot to share phone numbers, and though I know we’ll still be soulmates even without, I don’t think I can survive completely without you. Have Melly, who has my number, and keep Melly with you always, okay? He means a lot to me, and so do you.