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mark saw recognition on the barista's face when he came up to the counter.
"welcome, may i take your order?" his smile still reminds mark of sunshine. it's what he wore before as well.
"hi. one iced americano and one slice of that mango cheesecake please."
"right, one iced americano and one slice of mango cheesecake. that'll be 10$ please. " and the sunshine then fetch a cup and marker beside him. "your name please." he was still smiling.
it was only his second time there, so the boy couldn't possibly remember his name.
"it's mark"
"right," and he swiftly scribbled on the cup.
mark then handed his card to the boy.
"thank you, please have a seat. i'll call you when they're done." still with his sunshine smile.
mark simply nodded and went to a single table. (and he purposely took a seat where he can have a clear view of the sun boy.) "sun, huh. how fitting"
"IT’S MARK!" someone called and that got mark out of his reverie.
'it's mark'? mark was dumbfounded but still got up and went to the counter.
coming up there, he could see a slight cheekiness in the boy's smile. and then he saw it on his cup. not just 'mark' but 'it's mark'. mark was confused if the boy purposely wrote it wrong or what. thus, he just coolly (and confusedly) took his drink and mango cheesecake.
"thanks".
he didn't see the pout on the boy's face when he turned around.
the third time mark went there, the sun boy was not there, but was instead served by a lanky, tall guy with a straight face. needless to say, he name was written normally that day.
the fourth time he came, he saw the sun boy walked (almost running) fast across the room, leaving his broom stranded on the floor, and quickly went over the counter when he saw mark came in.
said boy took a deep breath and huffed before smiling his usual sunshine smile. "hi!" the boy himself was surprised by his higher-than-usual pitch. slowly clearing his throat, the boy apologized, with a slight blush tinting his cheek.
"hi, welcome. may i take your order please?"
mark cant help but smile. "one iced americano and one slice of mango cheesecake please."
"oh right, the usual."
mark snapped his glance at the boy and saw him grinning. surprised, mark could only nodded. so the boy did notice him.
"as usual, that'll be 10$. your name is?" and he was already holding a cup and a marker in his hands. the boy clearly wanted to continue his teasing.
"mark," mark had said curtly.
"right," scribble scribble, "mark"
his name rolled out of the boy's tongue had sounded so pretty than anybody had ever called him.
trying to act unfazed, mark paid and went to his usual seat. mindlessly, he eyed the stray broom on the floor.
"MAX."
it was not his name, but he glanced and saw the boy grinning at him. this time, mark was sure he didn't come up the counter with a dumb look on his face.
"you're funny" mark had said over a grin.
"no, i'm not funny, i'm donghyuck," he giggled.
donghyuck. sun boy's name is donghyuck.
"right, donghyuck. should i expect some more variations of my name in the future?"
donghyuck hummed. "maybe, if i don't run out of ideas, that is."
mark shook his head and shrugged. "oh i'm sure you still have a lot."
needless to say mark already had quite a list of butchered name from everytime he came to the cafe. (or everytime sun boy donghyuck served him). mocha, mork, mike, or even random ass names like matthew or martin. or some of the day, donghyuck would write his name according to what he was wearing that day (like that cutie who's wearing tacky green t-shirt with cute nerdy glasses) or even anything that he felt like (like the one who's cute as usual or you know who you are). every single time, mark would come up there shyly with others looking at him incredulously.
what mark didn't expect was to see (his) sun boy at their university end year festival audition.
they have this few limited slots for students to perform during the festival, and they need to audition to get the spot. mark was one of the committee who is in charge for this year's festival, so naturally he went to see the audition. he himself had the chance to perform last year, so this time he wanted to take part in it directly too.
donghyuck was filling in the forms when he yelped as he saw mark who was staring (squinting) at him, clearly still unsure of what he was seeing. he had to walk a few steps closer to be certain that it was really his sun boy.
"sun- i mean, donghyuck. what are you- do you go to this uni? but how come i never really see you around? are you going to audition? "
"hi, makgeolli. i, uhh. yeah, i am. uhh, i need to practice a bit, see ya!" and with that, said sun boy dashed away, leaving a still confused mark.
needless to say that mark quickly fished out his phone to text taeyong, the head committee of the festival and also in charge for the selection, to inform mark whenever it was a guy name donghyuck's turn for audition.
'don't ask why just yet. i'll tell you all about it later. don't forget.' and he clicked send.
so when taeyong had texted, 'yo its some guy name donghyuck turn next', mark had to keep himself composed while running to the audition hall. and mark didn't know what to expect about donghyuck performing. was he going to dance? or sing? or rap? mark realised that he knew nothing about donghyuck even if he had been stealing glances (oggling) while donghyuck was working on those coffee or cleaning the tables.
he just knew him as the sun boy who always teases him by misspelling his name.
mark decided that he would just watch donghyuck's audition from afar, not wanting the boy to know his presence there. and he arrived just as donghyuck was introducing himself.
"name, lee donghyuck. first year student of music composition and performance of the music department." donghyuck took a deep breath. "i will be singing day6's letting go for today's audition. please look after me." mark could see how sun boy was fidgeting, his fingers on his guitar and his feet tapping the floor. donghyuck was clearly nervous, with beads of sweat on his neck, glistening to mark's vision. and for a moment mark had thought that time had stopped. he himself was holding back a breath as he stared at donghyuck's standing figure in the middle of the stage.
when donghyuck opened his mouth and strummed his guitar, mark had felt as if he was being tugged by the gravity even more. and it was only the first few seconds of the song.
mark couldn't expect anything of donghyuck when he knows nothing of him, but he felt rather proud that (his) sun boy was indeed made of sunshine and gold, and his voice is the proof of it.
god, mark trailed, he's amazing. mark couldn't stop staring and listening at lee donghyuck who was in his very own element that moment. thus, he savoured every second of it, wanting to carve it to his mind.
and when it ended, mark knew he had fell a bit deeper than before, the wants to have donghyuck's warm voice to engulf him once again.
to have donghyuck's actual warmth would be even better, he thought.
"so, donghyuck," taeyong started, "what made you want to try out for the audition?"
mark saw him paused for moment before answering.
"never have i thought of performing before a large audience. i thought that singing by myself would be enough, and i always get so nervous in front of other people. but, i saw this one performance from last year's festival, and.. i got inspired by it. to be able to enjoy performing on the stage and touching people's heart like that. it made me want to do so. so, yeah. just trying out my luck."
oh. so sun boy had always been here, and he went to audition because he was inspired by someone's performance last year? mark thought that it was incredible. the music that he love inspiring others. and donghyuck at that moment, inspired mark as well.
mark cursed himself for not knowing sun boy’s existence since long ago.
that evening, mark tried his luck to find sun boy at the café, and indeed he was lucky, as donghyuck had just finished his shift and was coming out of the café. donghyuck himself was surprised to see mark there, feet pinned to the ground.
"welcome. you should go in, dear customer," donghyuck smiled nervously, gesturing towards the entrance.
mark instead took a step closer to him. "lee donghyuck," he muttered nonchalantly and saw the boy in front of him pursed his (pretty) lips. mark took note of the beauty marks across his face and neck.
pretty. the sun has constellation on him.
"mark lee."
that had mark to snap his eyes to meet donghyuck's.
"so you do know me?" mark asked, grinning. mark realised that he never say his full name to donghyuck whenever he asked for it. so donghyuck indeed know him and that they were going to the same uni.
donghyuck let out a nervous chuckle. "well, yeah, of course i know you. mark lee. you're famous, aren't you? everybody knows the talented mark lee."
mark snorted despite his blush. "then everybody should know the talented lee donghyuck as well. sorry that i kinda acted like a stalker, but you were amazing. your voice is so beautiful. i would kill taeyong if he doesn't pick you."
mark noted the tint of blush on donghyuck's cheeks, and maybe the said boy was feeling embarrassed being stared at that he looked down to his feet, finding a small splosh of coffee on his sneaker.
"thank you," sun boy muttered under his breath. he took a deep breath before looking back up at mark. "it was all thanks to you, though. so thank you, for inspiring and giving me sparks."
"huh?" mark was rather feeling clueless. "how did i even do that? i have only been telling you my name everytime i came here."
mark couldn't place the face that donghyuck was making.
"are you for real? you are mark lee, right? the one who performed talk about on last year's festival? or are you his hidden twin or something?"
"huh? well, yeah, i guess i did. but why does that has anything to do with this? i- " mark then suddenly grabbed donghyuck's arm. "wait. does that mean..."
donghyuck glanced at their connected skin, trying to look calm, despite the fire he felt from mark's touch.
"yeah," donghyuck breathed. "it's exactly what you think it is."
mark had wanted to assume that donghyuck was having a crush on him, as he did for the boy, but he didn't want to get ahead of himself. donghyuck could probably only look up to him as a performer, and nothing else. but he did felt a bit disappointed in that point.
there was a sudden knock and both mark and donghyuck turned to see johnny who was clearly unamused as usual, head peeking out from the entrance. "you both had been there for 10 hours now, it'd be great if you take whatever moment that you are having somewhere else. some people are single, bros." he then went back in.
the two of them then looked at each other, then shyly looked away, mark's hand that was on donghyuck's was now in his back pocket.
"so, uhh," mark started, "are you busy? i feel like we still have lots to talk about."
donghyuck then smiled his sunshine smile that mark had turn to love so much. "i promised to go to the arcade with my friends, but ehhh. i think they'll understand if i skip this one."
"really?," mark was full on smiling as he offered his hand to donghyuck, who without any hesitation took it, "let's go then".
one month later, it was mark's turn to be sparked and be in awe of donghyuck as he was performing and singing his heart out on stage, the stage lights bouncing and reflecting on him, and mark found him to be surreal one more time.
thus, after donghyuck ended his performance, mark ran as fast as he could to the back of the stage, wanting to see donghyuck. he was breathing so hard, but every steps he took screamed donghyuck, donghyuck, donghyuck.
when he saw the boy, he was metres away from him and had his hand on his chest, as if trying to calm himself.
"donghyuck!!"
donghyuck snapped his head to find mark, a huge smile was quick to grow on his face, and he mirrored mark that was running towards him.
donghyuck practically threw himself towards mark when they were already within each others' reach. thankfully, mark managed to steady himself and avoided falling on his back.
but god, donghyuck was in his arms. mark was holding his sun in his embrace, after months of fidgeting around each other.
donghyuck was letting out a content laugh and intended to say 'mark i did it!' but mark beat him to it as he planted a kiss on donghyuck's lips. the boy was caught by surprise but didn't take long to kiss mark back, looping his arms around mark's neck.
they both couldn't care less that they were in the middle of people who were busy running here and there, trying to keep the festival going without a hitch. so mark and donghyuck only stood there, kissing for a while, only to have taeyong yelling at them.
"you guys are so gross! go make out somewhere else, kids! you are making people uncomfortable! ughh!"
so they both let go, laughs evident on their faces. mark then took donghyuck's hand and kissed his fingers.
"should we go then?"