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Jeno is sure that some people are lucky enough to have calm, intelligent and cautious boyfriends, but the story turns out to be quite different for him.
When Donghyuck calls him, sobbing through the phone, Jeno almost has a heart attack – and it's not the first time Donghyuck scares him like this, but this time he must have a good reason. It's not even midday, and Jeno knows that Donghyuck had a soccer match this morning, so he expects the worst news.
Through his tears, Donghyuck doesn't manage to explain what happened, but Jeno makes out the name of the closest hospital and, like the good boyfriend he is, runs out of the dorm without caring about anything else, anyone else, and forgetting his only pair of keys inside. As he sits in the waiting room with two of Donghyuck’s teammates, and recalls Donghyuck's voice through the phone, he realizes that he should have known that Donghyuck was just exaggerating. After all, Donghyuck always exaggerates.
His ability to induce heart attacks isn’t voluntary: Donghyuck would never intend to scare him, to make Jeno believe that he’s at the hospital because of a serious reason. He doesn’t intend either to let Jeno embarrass himself in front of the receptionist, who looks at him like he’s crazy for being so worried over a simple ankle injury.
But this is a Donghyuck thing: crying because of the bad experience rather than because of the pain. And once Donghyuck starts to cry, it’s nearly impossible to stop him. One must wait for the storm to pass, perhaps to offer a hug until Donghyuck stops sobbing, but Jeno knows that Donghyuck just moves at his own pace regardless.
To Jeno's luck, Donghyuck has stopped crying by the time Jeno is allowed to grant him some company. He's sitting on the pallet, eyes red and face swollen from crying, and the doctor is already prescribing him a couple of meds and giving him a thousand advices that Donghyuck isn't going to remember tomorrow. The doctor, Jeno notices, is pretty amused at the situation, since she smiles every time Donghyuck sniffs. Jeno supposes that Donghyuck might look cute in comparison to other patients, but there’s nothing cute about giving Jeno the scare of his life.
Jeno can't help but be embarrassed when Donghyuck holds his hand with an agonizing whine, but at least Donghyuck acts mature enough to let the doctor finish her speech. It's a relief that she decides to give them a couple of minutes until Donghyuck calms down, though Jeno is sure that he needs longer than that.
As soon as they're alone, Jeno turns to Donghyuck with a glare and grunts, “I'm going to kill you.”
Donghyuck doesn't need any explanations. He made Jeno panic, and he's aware of it; all just for an ankle sprain – a serious one, but that’s not enough of an excuse. Donghyuck is still in his soccer uniform, white pants and a red t-shirt, and he looks too pitiful for Jeno not to soften.
“Don't be mean,” Donghyuck moans. But he looks much happier since Jeno entered the room, and Jeno isn't immune at how Donghyuck's eyes lit in his presence. “It wasn't my fault! Renjun hit me so hard with his boot studs that he could have broken my ankle.”
Jeno doesn't doubt so. That's probably why Donghyuck was crying: the idea of being injured for so long that he would miss the whole soccer season is terrifying to him.
Jeno sighs, well aware that Renjun would never hurt Donghyuck on purpose, “Ah, Renjun?”
“Yes,” Donghyuck confirms, nodding. He plays with Jeno's fingers, as to lure him into a carefully prepared trap, and then muses, “Tell Mark to stop hanging out with people that bully me.”
That has been one of Donghyuck’s obsessions for the last couple of months, but rather than bothering Mark, it amuses him endlessly. Renjun is part of one of the two soccer teams from their university, and much to Donghyuck's disgrace, he belongs to the rival team. Their teams’ rivalry is almost a tradition on campus and even in the city, and though Donghyuck doesn't truly consider making Mark break a friendship because of sports, Renjun knows how to get on his nerves. Not that it's very complicated, Jeno admits that.
“Not even if you pay me,” Jeno retorts, laughing.
Donghyuck's face falls a bit, but for an entirely different reason. “Where are they?” he asks, sitting up to glance behind Jeno, as though his boyfriends are going to pop out of nowhere. With a small frown, he notices, “Did you come alone?”
Jeno pets Donghyuck's hair as a consolation, because he indeed came alone. “Jaemin is on his way,” he explains anyhow. “I took the bus so he'll drive us back, yeah?”
It's not the complete truth, because Jeno omits that he didn't message Jaemin until the receptionist told him about the injury. Looking at it from Donghyuck's perspective, it might give the impression that his boyfriends don't care about him, but it's the opposite. They're not here because Jeno knew that they would care too much, and Jeno thought it was better for him to handle the problem by himself.
Equally suspicious and disappointed, Donghyuck insists, “And Mark?”
There are many tricks that Jeno can resist, but not the pleading look that Donghyuck sends him. It makes Jeno feel like a horrible person, because maybe it would do Donghyuck some good to be surrounded by his boyfriends right now, but Jeno hasn’t been thinking only about Donghyuck.
“Donghyuck, he has an exam in one hour,” he confesses, voice soaked with guilt. Donghyuck opens his mouth in shock, immediately catching on what Jeno is insinuating. “I didn't want him to freak out and ditch the exam.”
Jeno watches Donghyuck press his lips into a line, as though he's repressing all the sudden, harsh words that he needs to blurt out right now. It's odd for Donghyuck to hold back, but a hospital isn't the ideal place to argue with Jeno. And anyway, Donghyuck is terrible at arguing, just good at complaining. Jeno is conscious that even Mark is going to get mad at him when he discovers that they hid it from him, but not all heroes wear capes, and Jeno surely doesn't.
“You seriously didn't tell him,” Donghyuck points out. But his frustration is drowned by the way he leans into Jeno, clinging onto his jacket for support as he moves over the pallet. Before Donghyuck can smile at him, Jeno is already trying not to laugh; Donghyuck's intentions are so obvious that it's painful to witness it. Still, Donghyuck shamelessly hugs him, looks up at him, his legs dangling off the pallet, and sing-songs, “How are you going to compensate me?”
There's enough compensation, but not for long enough.
Even though Donghyuck makes an effort not to point it out, it's funny to see Jaemin fuss over his ankle while he drives them back to Donghyuck’s dorm. Unlike Jaemin, Jeno is much calmer, just tensing up when Donghyuck gives any sign of pain. His ankle hurts more than Donghyuck lets on, but there's a fine line between worrying his boyfriends and making them suffer too.
Donghyuck revels in making them worry, however, at least a little bit, because it feels like it’s his birthday all over again. Once Jaemin drives them to his dorm, both Jeno and Jaemin stay over for lunch instead of going back to their responsibilities. Regardless of the amount of kisses that Jeno steals from him, the whole situation isn't worth the pain, and he knows that in a couple of hours, when the meds aren’t working in full force, only frustration will remain. Besides, it's Saturday, and Jeno has a basketball match later in the afternoon, while Jaemin has his skating practice. Usually Donghyuck would attend Jeno and Mark's match, but the doctor told him to stay in bed at least for a day, and Jeno refuses to accept his idea.
There's no way Donghyuck won't be alone today.
“I'm going to beat Renjun up,” Jaemin happily announces as he helps Donghyuck to sit around the table.
Jeno, who is opening the delivered food boxes, rolls his eyes at him, “You could never beat Renjun up. He might be smaller than you but he knows how to street fight.”
“Not all of us are cowards, babe,” Jaemin replies, a falsely nice grin on his lips.
Donghyuck doesn't miss out on the exchange, but even under the pain of his ankle, he can't ignore Jeno's choice of words so easily.
With his gaze fixed on Jeno, Donghyuck narrows his eyes at him and accuses him, “How do you know Renjun can fight?”
It doesn't make sense that Jeno could have such information. Renjun is Mark's friend, not Jeno or Jaemin's, and certainly not Donghyuck's. Over my dead body, Donghyuck told Mark when he proposed that he should give Renjun a chance, and Donghyuck stuck to his original statement.
Anyone could call him paranoid, but first of all, he doesn't really mind that Renjun has befriended one – or more – of his boyfriends. But it's entertaining to see the blush on Jeno's face, his incompetence to pretend and, in contrast, how easily he betrays himself even when there's no pressure. Jeno is too innocent for his own good, and Donghyuck can never let the chance pass.
Jeno shoots Jaemin a frightened look and mutters, “I take it back.”
That's strange. Donghyuck has been dating Jeno for one year – just like Jaemin – and Mark for one year and a half, and he can read every sign of danger, and overall, every secret that they try to hide. And there, in front of Donghyuck, there's an obvious secret to unwrap and pulverize between his fingers.
“Oh, no.” Donghyuck puts down his fork, pulling his most serious face. Jeno makes a weak noise at last, because he knows there's no escape from this. Jaemin, on the contrary, just sighs in resignation. “No. What's going on?”
“Shit, Jeno,” Jaemin protests. “Your big mouth.”
Jeno doesn't seem to like that Jaemin isn't backing him up, since he just fights back with a, “You just like my big mouth when it's in your favor.”
Donghyuck isn't an idiot. If he lets Jaemin and Jeno start an argument, they won't ever stop bickering, and it will be the perfect excuse to ignore Donghyuck's questions. That's the reason he grabs Jaemin's waist, pulling hard so that his attention returns to him and draws far away from Jeno's dirty accusations.
“I'll kick you two out right now,” Donghyuck assures them, though the last of his intentions is depriving himself of having a nice lunch with his boyfriends. Yet Jeno and Jaemin are too agitated to doubt him, and Donghyuck pressures them. “So?”
“Fine,” Jaemin says, biting his bottom lip. He makes sure to glare at Jeno one last time before giving Donghyuck puppy eyes. “I'm sorry we didn't tell you, but there's a reason you didn't see Mark this week.”
Donghyuck lifts his eyebrow, wary. Mark is in the middle of his half-year physics exams, and until this moment, that had been the official reason he couldn't meet up with any of them. Judging Jaemin's words, however, Donghyuck is the only one who has been left out.
“You're scaring me,” Donghyuck admits, fidgeting on his chair.
Jeno waves his hands, frowning at Jaemin. “Don't act so mysteriously, it's not that serious!” he scolds Jaemin, as if to prevent him from alarming Donghyuck. It's a bit late for that, Donghyuck reckons, but Jeno turns to him and says, “Last weekend he went out with Renjun and his friends, yeah? They went to a club, they were drunk, and you know that drunk dudes are stupid, so he ended up in a fight.”
Once the truth is out, Donghyuck has a hard time understanding it.
He glances between Jaemin and Jeno, expecting them to drop the act and confess that they're joking. Mark never gets into fights; he's the friendliest, nicest guy he has ever met. People usually assume that it's Jaemin, but Donghyuck has learned that Jaemin's kindness towards strangers is just a consequence of his polite façade. Behind doors, Jaemin can be as mean as Donghyuck. Jeno never has a bad word for anyone either, but he laughs if Jaemin or Donghyuck do. Mark doesn’t. He's wholeheartedly nice, and that's why Donghyuck loves him among other reasons: boys like him don’t exist anymore, and Donghyuck has a hunch that they never existed to begin with. Mark is special on his own.
“I'm sorry,” Donghyuck starts, a knot growing in his throat. “What?”
“He's fine!” Jeno exclaims. It's evident that he wanted his explanation to comfort Donghyuck, and the more nervous Donghyuck gets, the faster Jeno spirals into his own panic and guilt. “He's going to play this afternoon and all. He just has a few bruises.”
That explains Mark’s behavior to the last detail. Studying had occupied most of his time, but Donghyuck had offered to have dinner with him almost every night – to bring him food and eat in around ten minutes, because ten minutes with his boyfriend was better than nothing. Donghyuck should have suspected: Mark was turning down free food and free, effortless Donghyuck time. It was a red flag.
Seizing Jeno up with a challenging look, Donghyuck says, “I think getting a few bruises to the point of having to avoid me is serious.” Then he glares at Jaemin and adds, “Besides, why am I the only one who didn’t know? I don’t overworry.”
“That’s not a word,” Jaemin remarks.
“It is now.”
“Mark made us promise,” Jeno interrupts them, too smart to not catch on Donghyuck's annoyance. The last thing Donghyuck needs is Jaemin making fun of him for the way he speaks, and Jeno knows that; but once Jeno has redirected Donghyuck's attention to himself, he draws a playful smile. “And you know that he kisses better than you, I wasn’t going to give that up.”
To Donghyuck's disgrace, Jeno's teasing works like a charm, and he can't help but fight back. “Oh, do you know what you just gave up?”
Jeno merely laughs harder at his threat, dismissing him, because he knows that Donghyuck won't pull through with the punishment. Jeno is the first person who Donghyuck resorts to when he's in trouble, when he needs to talk about his problems, and in this case, the first person he called for moral support – and kisses.
And it's Jeno who also volunteers to wash the dishes while Jaemin helps Donghyuck to walk to the couch. Donghyuck petulantly refuses to use his clutches, so Jaemin has to give him a piggyback ride, and he nearly falls on Donghyuck after dropping him on the couch. It doesn't matter much beyond Donghyuck whining that he's in pain, because soon they find the perfect position to cuddle and Donghyuck drapes himself over Jaemin, trapping him with his injured leg on purpose so that he doesn't move. Jaemin plays a TV series that they've been watching together, if they can call watching to making out most of the time with canned laughter ringing in the background.
That's what happens today too, because as soon as Donghyuck adjusts over him, Jaemin brings a hand to Donghyuck's nape. Donghyuck resists for a few seconds, raises his eyebrows at Jaemin to stop him, but it's impossible to fight against Jaemin's will. Either that, or Donghyuck is just too weak.
There are many things Donghyuck has gotten used to while dating three boys. He has gotten used to the noise, to the lack of free time and, overall, alone time; to people's shocked faces when he mentions that he doesn't have just one boyfriend; to spending a lot of money in food and little gifts that he can't help but buy – because dating three people raises the possibilities of walking into a store and find something that will remind Donghyuck of them.
However, he can't get used to kissing them.
When Donghyuck molds against Jaemin's mouth, it feels like the first time all over again. The same goosebumps growing on his back, the baby hairs of his neck standing on end, and that strange explosion of hope in his chest, as if Jaemin wasn't already his, as if Donghyuck still had to ask him out after the kiss. But Jaemin's lips are familiar, soft, and Jaemin pushes past Donghyuck's lips before he can savor the innocence of the moment.
Donghyuck can't protest, because it feels like it has been an eternity since he last touched Jaemin. Jaemin must agree with that, because he slips a hand under Donghyuck's uniform, palm open as he caresses up Donghyuck's back. Donghyuck can't help but sigh into Jaemin's mouth; his touch warms him up in a matter of seconds, a wave of heat tingling from the tip of his little toe to the rest of his body. Donghyuck strokes Jaemin's hair, moves to his neck, and then to his chest, reveling in the way Jaemin's lips turn upwards to form a smile.
Donghyuck is sure that, by the time they let each other breath, the episode they were supposed to watch is already over. Donghyuck frowns at the television for a second, and Jaemin shamelessly laughs at him, playing with Donghyuck's bangs and pushing his hair out of his face. Donghyuck feels a blush creep on his face, aware of why Jaemin is doing that; according to Jaemin himself, he likes seeing how happy Donghyuck looks after a few kisses.
“Just surrender,” Jaemin tells him, an enchanting spark in his eyes as he observes Donghyuck's expression. “We're never going to know what this show is about.”
Donghyuck spits, “I'll never surrender.”
As if to appease him, Jaemin hums in agreement. Donghyuck doesn't insist, since it's evident that Jaemin is too distracted, just soaking in Donghyuck's little expressions, and Donghyuck decides to fish for another kiss. Jaemin gladly welcomes him, but Donghyuck somehow ends up peppering kisses all over his jaw, Jaemin's hand playing with his hair as his breathing speeds up with every kiss.
“God, I don't want to leave,” Jaemin whines, deflating under him.
Donghyuck doesn't want him to leave either, but Jaemin isn't allowed to skip his practice under any circumstance. He received a scholarship for being the best ice skater in the country, a teen prodigy, and staying with his injured boyfriend won't be enough of an excuse for his coaches.
“You're a fool,” Donghyuck mutters.
“I am.” Jaemin shifts, grabbing Donghyuck's waist not to hurt him as he rolls on his side. Donghyuck groans, uncomfortable, but Jaemin is quick to quiet him with a peck. “I wish I could stay and we would figure out how we're going to have fun with that cast in the way.”
For the first time today, Donghyuck bursts into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.
Unlike Jaemin, he hadn't thought about that, because his mind isn't constantly in the gutter. Jaemin’s head is though, and Donghyuck should have suspected that he would bring up this small problem sooner or later. It's already hard enough to take turns in bed among four boyfriends, but Donghyuck will probably have to be handled with care for the next weeks. And his boyfriends, when all of them are together, are anything but careful.
Amused, Jaemin watches him laugh, and right when Donghyuck has recovered his breath, he hears Jeno make a noise of indignation. Both Jaemin and Donghyuck turn their heads to the living room’s door, where Jeno is leaning against the door frame with a rag still between his hands.
“This is so unfair,” he complains, pleading eyes and a slight pout on his lips. “I'm washing your dishes and you're here sucking face without me.”
Even though Donghyuck is ready to invite Jeno to join them, dirty rag included, Jaemin pinches his side to prevent him from indulging Jeno. Jeno's eyes widen when his boyfriends just stare at him like he's an outsider, and Donghyuck has to repress a smirk. It's payback for saying that Mark kissed better than him – even if he does, because Mark kisses better than all of them – so he's glad that Jaemin remembered in time.
“Fine,” Jeno decides, his shoulders slumping. “I'll just go back to my misery.”
Jeno doesn't wait for them to answer, and instead he walks out of the living room without a single word. Donghyuck thinks he looks very, very cute, but Jaemin has to cover his own mouth not to cackle out loud.
“Babe!” Donghyuck calls Jeno, unable to contain his laughter anymore. Jaemin slaps his arm, his face scrunched in happiness, because he doesn't want Donghyuck to console Jeno so quickly. Donghyuck fidgets with Jaemin for a few seconds until he manages to shout, “Come back here.”
“No!” Jeno childishly retorts, making Jaemin snicker harder. It's a surprise for Donghyuck that Jeno has walked all the way back to the kitchen, since he expected him to stay hidden behind the door until they stopped joking around and called him. “You come here if you can.”
If Jeno thinks an injured ankle is going to stop Donghyuck, he's wrong.
Contrary to popular belief, Mark isn't afraid of Donghyuck.
He’s a bit afraid of worrying him, however, and that’s the main reason he decided to hide the fight from him. Donghyuck is dramatic even when he doesn’t have to be, and Mark was sure that Donghyuck would have cried at his early bruises. Mark should have known that sooner or later Donghyuck would find out the truth, because no one can keep a secret from him, and that Donghyuck would lash out at him. Mark understands the outburst; he would be angry too if one of his boyfriends hid for a whole week that they got into a fight – but to be fair, Donghyuck is the most dramatic among them, and Mark considered that excuse was enough.
Somehow, it's karma that Donghyuck got injured – because there isn't anything that can hurt Mark more than Donghyuck being in pain – that Jeno had a tongue slip because of it, and that his façade was destroyed just like that. Mark deserves it.
He also deserves that when he texts Donghyuck to ask how he’s feeling, Donghyuck replies with a dry fuck you. And even if with an ankle injury, when Donghyuck should be the softest, he's still in the mood to insult Mark and direct his rancor towards him, then Mark is in real trouble.
“I’m doomed,” Mark says, his complaint directed more at himself rather than at Jeno.
They're on bed, Mark resting against the headboard and Jeno on his lap. Mark doesn't remember how they ended up like this. He's still trying to study, his notes between Jeno and him, but it’s proving to be difficult. Jeno insisted to go to his dorm after the basketball match, and he had been kind enough to make dinner for him while Mark took a shower, but annoying enough to claim that his wounds needed some healing. And so he climbed on his lap after dinner, disinfectant in hand, to splash Mark's face for the better.
“You're doomed,” Jeno confirms with a smile, though his little frown of concentration doesn't disappear as he cleans Mark's jaw. “You underestimate how much Donghyuck loves you and that’s a dangerous game.”
Mark hates when his boyfriends don't take him seriously. He rarely protests, so when he does they assume that he's joking, that his concerns will fade away soon anyhow. It's not the case this time: he's buried in exams, still playing and managing a whole basketball team, and his face hurts like a bitch. And on top of that, Donghyuck is hurt in all possible senses and mad at him. It's a horrible week.
“I’m going to quit,” Mark muses, waving his notes in front of Jeno, because really, he has considered it before. It's not an insane, sudden thought. Three years in this major while juggling basketball and now three boyfriends – even if for one year and a half it was only one, only Jeno – is killing him.
Jeno freezes at his statement, squinting at him as if to decide if he's pulling a prank on him or not. Mark knows, as a matter of fact, that he must look sad, because damn, he is sad, and Jeno is too empathetic to not connect with his feelings. It helps that they've been dating for almost three years, and that in the beginning it was just the two of them.
“You can’t quit,” Jeno retorts with a pout. He brushes against Mark's bigger bruise over his cheekbone, and Mark startles, hissing. It's his little punishment for saying such ugly things, like Jeno would call them, and Jeno doesn't look even a little bit regretful. “I’ve been going around claiming that my boyfriend, besides being the basketball captain, is a physics major. If you quit, imagine how embarrassing it would be for me.”
Mark can't help the grin that expands on his face. Not only because Jeno is silly in a cute way, but because Jeno showing him off is the cutest thing he has ever heard in his whole life. He wonders if, when Jeno talks about him, he gets that enamored glint in his eyes that he has when he talks about Donghyuck or Jaemin.
“Jeno,” Mark begins, momentarily forgetting about his stress and his problems and about everything but Jeno. It's hard to be upset for long if Jeno is by his side, though Jeno seems to ignore that source of power. “Did you know that when you speak no one pays attention?”
It's amazing to see how Jeno suffers through different phases of confusion just to end up exclaiming an indignant, “Hey!”
Before Jeno can jerk away because of Mark's veiled insult, Mark cups his face with one hand. It appeases Jeno, but he scowls at Mark regardless, because he doesn't like when Mark teases him without filter, and because right now he doesn't have anything to tease him back with.
“They ogle at you,” Mark whispers, leaning into Jeno's personal space. Jeno blows at him, as if Mark was a dog that would run away just like that, and giggles when Mark comes so close that they can brush their noses together. “They just pretend to listen, so I'm sure most people don't even know you have a boyfriend, even less three.”
That explanation seems to relax Jeno, and though he doesn’t hunt for more compliments, Mark knows that Jeno’s ego secretly loves attention – the idea of people ogling at him is enough to feed him.
Shifting on his lap, Jeno chirps, “Well, I'm sure we have made out at so many parties that even Yangyang's grandmother must know about us at this point.”
To Mark’s shame, that is very close to the truth. They never had to announce that they were dating, even if it would have helped their friends to understand that they weren’t simply hooking up. The basketball team, on the contrary, had assumed that they were dating since the beginning. Perhaps it was because on the first year, when Jeno joined the team, Mark was whipped since the moment he stepped into the field for the tryouts.
It’s still pretty funny, because Mark isn’t romantic, and back then it didn’t make any sense to fall head over heels with a boy that he had just met. It started making sense as weeks passed and Mark couldn’t stop thinking about Jeno, and it made even more sense when Jeno slept over for the first time and in the morning Mark realized that this was it. Jeno, with his pretty eyes and his pretty laugh, always in a good mood, always making everyone around him happy, was who Mark was meant to be with. There were other reasons Mark was so hooked on Jeno, and though they weren’t so pure, Jeno loved hearing about them.
And if Mark favored him in the basketball team for a whole year until Jeno accepted to date him, that was no one’s business.
When Jaemin yanks the door of his flat open, the last person he expects to see is Jeno.
First of all, because Jeno knows that Jaemin is busy on Friday evenings, since he helps Chenle to revise his material – not for free, of course, because Jaemin is an ace medicine student and Chenle refused to accept classes for free even though they were friends. Chenle hasn't arrived yet, but he must be about to, and as much as Jaemin loves Jeno, he can't be such a bad friend and tell Chenle to leave so that he can melt against his boyfriend.
However, it takes Jaemin a quick glance to understand that Jeno is here because he doesn't have any other remedy. He looks resigned, almost, a very strange emotion to see plastered on his face.
“What are you doing here?” Jaemin asks him, an involuntary frown blooming between his eyebrows. “Weren’t you going to spend the night with Donghyuck?”
The mere question makes Jeno slump his shoulders, and it's then when Jaemin is able to detect all the other signs. The slight pout of his lips, his messy hair, the bag on his back – probably with his pajamas and all the stuff he needs to spend the night at Donghyuck's place – and the general air of disappointment around him.
“He ditched me,” Jeno confesses. With a sigh, Jaemin grabs him by the hand and softly leads him inside, closing the door with so much caution that one would think Jaemin is trying not to scare Jeno. He is. “Apparently Jungwoo and Yuta called him to have dinner together and he just told me that he has the right to spend time with his friends too.”
That's uncharacteristically harsh of Donghyuck, and Jaemin stares at Jeno in shock, hardly wrapping his mind around Donghyuck's manners. But Jaemin glances at Jeno and realizes that he can't just stay quiet, that Jeno came all the way here, aware that he'd be busy, just because he urgently needed a hug.
Jaemin carefully pulls Jeno into his embrace, slinging his arms around his lower back and letting Jeno rest his head in the crook of his neck. Jeno releases a weak, pitiful noise, and responds to the hug with so much strength that Jaemin can't breathe for a second.
“It's not your fault,” Jaemin whispers, patting his butt. Jeno nods into his neck, because of course he's aware that he did nothing wrong for Donghyuck to hurt his feelings, but that doesn't mean it will affect him any less. Besides, among them, Jeno is the one who can't handle fights, or tension, or just the mere thought of his boyfriends not being happy. “You know he gets into a bad mood when he can't play soccer.”
And when he can't meet Mark.
Jaemin doesn't even have to make an effort to imagine a frustrated Donghyuck, because he has seen him with his two own eyes. A grumpy Donghyuck is cute until his indignation fuses with real, intense sadness, and that's when everything goes wrong. It worries Jaemin that Jeno had to deal with it all alone, but at the same time he feels overprotective of Donghyuck. Mark has been absent for almost two whole weeks, but Jeno and Jaemin haven't had time for him either since the day he got injured. Jeno usually spends Friday nights with Donghyuck, and that was the first time they were going to meet again. It's weird and rude that Donghyuck cancelled the plans, but it's also very revealing, a sign that he's not feeling well.
After a few minutes and a dozen kisses planted on the top of his head, Jeno manages to draw away from the hug. To Jaemin's relief, Jeno isn't crying, and he looks a lot calmer now that he can rely on Jaemin. Jaemin hates to think that Jeno could have assumed, for a single second, that it was indeed his fault.
“He’s upset because Mark hasn’t gone to see him yet,” Jeno confirms, his gaze roaming around the living room as if he has suddenly remembered that Jaemin isn't supposed to be alone today. Jaemin ignores his confusion, pulls at the stripes of his bag so that Jeno takes it off and doesn't carry weight for longer. It's a way to tell him that it's fine to stay with him, too. “And in consequence he’s upset at us because we didn’t force Mark to go see him yet.”
Jaemin leaves Jeno's bag by the door, and then tugs Jeno to the couch with him. All his notes for the class are scattered over the cushions and on the table, but Jaemin just takes a bunch of them and puts them away to make space for Jeno. Jeno is a bit amused when Jaemin points at the couch and, instead of making space for himself too, Jaemin sits on him, straddling him.
“I tried to convince Mark,” Jaemin assures Jeno, petting his hair, tracing the angle of his cheekbones with his thumb, watching, to his delight, how Jeno's mood lightens up with every touch. “But he thinks that Donghyuck and he are going to fight if they see each other right now and he can’t spend the whole day crying when he should be studying.”
“Well, it’s been two weeks.” Jeno bites his bottom lip, seemingly torn between speaking or just being careful and opting for silence. “And Donghyuck got injured. I would argue with Mark too in this situation.”
It's kind of shitty, Jaemin agrees, but Mark makes mistakes like every one of them. He understands that he's terrified of letting Donghyuck see his bruises, because even after two weeks, Donghyuck will be able to see the gravity of the original bruises just by the remainders. But there's no point in hiding it anymore, since Donghyuck already knows what happened. If anything, it's preventing Donghyuck from claiming that Renjun is his sworn enemy, but Jaemin doesn't care about that. At least not right now. He will fix that mess later, once all his boyfriends are in good terms with each other.
“What if I told you I have an idea?” Jaemin hums, resting against Jeno's chest. He draws so close that Jeno takes advantage of the moment to leave a peck on his mouth, and instead of ignoring him, Jaemin responds with another peck. It eases the difficulty of adding, “And that you're probably not going to like it.”
Jeno blinks at him, his eyes acquiring a new shade of suspicion. “Jaemin,” he breathes out, wary, but Jaemin just grins. His grin alone destroys Jeno’s self-control, because his curiosity is stronger than reason, and especially when it comes to Jaemin’s antics. “Tell me.”
It’s not a strange request, because Jaemin is used to act on his own, and he could stay quiet and not tell Jeno. He doesn’t need anyone’s approval to carry out a completely indecent plan, but it’s nice to have company sometimes; Donghyuck is usually the one who doesn’t hesitate to join him, and for that same reason, he’s the one that protests if Jaemin doesn’t count on him. In this case, Jaemin needs to convince Jeno, because neither Mark nor Donghyuck should know about this.
“I'm free on Monday, remember?” Jaemin tilts his head, enjoys Jeno’s lost expression. That’s the only day of the week Jaemin doesn’t have practice, and all of them know each other’s schedules to the last detail. That’s the reason Jeno frowns as Jaemin adds, “So what if we give Donghyuck a surprise and spend the day together, all of us?”
It’s almost a reflex for Jeno to retort, “We have basketball practice on Monday, you know that.”
Both Mark and Jeno, in fact, which means that when one of them is missing, the other is too. Mark is busier than Jeno, for he has to arrive earlier for matches and practices, but Jeno tags along most of the time so it makes no difference.
“That's the part you're not going to like,” Jaemin says. He slides his hands over Jeno’s shoulders, plays with the hair that caresses his nape, as though Jeno could be convinced with a bit of affection. “We're making Mark cancel practice.”
“A captain won't-”
Jaemin lifts his index finger, silencing Jeno. “He won't have any option.”
The truth is that, the moment Jaemin stepped into their lives by entangling Jeno into his arms, his mouth and his bed, the word choice was erased from Mark’s dictionary.
Donghyuck’s aim wasn’t to get a reprimand.
“You’re still a baby,” Yuta says, accuses Donghyuck. “Communication is important, okay? I mean, it’s important when it’s only two people in the relationship, so I can’t imagine how important it must be with four boys.”
Looking across the table, Donghyuck dedicates Jungwoo and Yuta his best crafted glare. His friends agreed to listen to his sad love life rant, and Donghyuck expected support; instead he gets Yuta shamelessly directing the blame to him while Jungwoo eats the hamburger that Donghyuck ordered. He still doesn’t have the heart to reclaim his hamburger back – because Jungwoo looks beyond hungry – or to make Yuta believe that his boyfriends are the villains of this movie.
“I’ve tried to communicate,” Donghyuck protests. Yuta raises his eyebrows at him, skeptic, to show that he doesn’t believe Donghyuck. “Don’t point fingers at me. It was Mark who refused to see me.”
There’s no way to deny that. Mark came up with excuses and lies not to meet up with him, and yes, perhaps Donghyuck closed all his options by not responding to his messages, but Mark should have had the decency to apologize in person.
“That might be true.” Jungwoo swallows the last bite of the hamburger, wiping his fingers on a napkin, and points out, “But you’re here tonight, even though you should be with Jeno.”
“And we know you, dude,” Yuta continues before Donghyuck can defend himself. “What stopped you from pestering Mark?”
“Clearly not your leg,” Jungwoo supplies.
Donghyuck groans out loud, leaning back on his chair, frustrated. Other than his pride, he's not sure what stopped him from attaching himself to Mark and demanding to see his bruises and then lecture him. He just knows that, as days passed, he became more irascible. Maybe it was because he couldn't let off some steam in his soccer practices, because he had difficulties doing even the simplest daily things – like showering – and because he was pretty much alone. It was ironical that he had kicked Jeno out, since he was the first one who had dedicated him some of his time, and Donghyuck felt awful for that.
Donghyuck guesses that he simply feels quite lonely, and considering he's used to dealing with three boys at the same time, the contrast is unbearable.
“It's always different with Mark,” Donghyuck muses. “I don't know why I need more of him to be satisfied.”
But it has always been different with Mark, for better and for worse. Jeno and Mark had been dating for more than a year when Jaemin and Donghyuck met them. While Jaemin's door to this mess was Jeno, Donghyuck's door was Mark.
For the both of them it was quite terrifying. Donghyuck doesn't like telling the story because it sounds ridiculous, even, compared to how Jeno, Jaemin and Mark started seeing each other. Jaemin hooked up with Jeno at a party, and it could have ended there, but Jeno had a special light that made Jaemin come back for more. It had been easy, because Jaemin was chill, already understood the concept of dating several people at the same time, and did his best to ease the process for Jeno and Mark. Somehow, they could say Jaemin was who created this wonderful mess.
For Donghyuck, who arrived at their lives later, the whole situation was very unfamiliar. He bumped into Mark on a normal day, as he ran late to his International Trade class. Donghyuck was used to sprinting through the halls of his faculty, for they were always empty at that time of the morning, and thus he hadn't seen Mark standing in the middle of the hall.
The crash was spectacular.
Mark's broken glasses weren't, and Donghyuck's notes scattered all over the place hadn't been either. But even though it was Donghyuck's fault, the boy in the cap didn't stop apologizing, to the point Donghyuck felt so bad that he had the strange need to compensate him. It would have been weird, however, and Mark helped him to collect everything with a splendid, sincerely kind smile.
Only when all of Donghyuck's notes had been carefully tucked into his backpack, the boy looked at him and said, “Oh, you look familiar.”
And Donghyuck was mistrustful at first, because he couldn't remember how many times boys had tried to hit on him with that same excuse. Still, the boy was excessively nice, and Donghyuck couldn't just be the most horrible person in the world by running into him and then being rude.
“You don't,” he said, softer than usual, to conceal that he didn't appreciate the comment. He pointed at his own bag and added, “Thank you.”
That should have been all. Donghyuck crossed paths with hundreds of students on campus on a daily basis, and with thousands during weekends thanks to his matches and the parties, and none of those people stayed in his life.
Mark shouldn't have been different, but the moment Donghyuck spun on his heels to leave, Mark pronounced the magical words, “Wait, are you friends with Renjun?”
At the peak of his rivalry with Renjun, there wasn't any option for Donghyuck to ignore a stranger asking such question. A million possibilities ran through his mind, because maybe this was a trap set by Renjun and his friends, or maybe it was still a strategy to get into Donghyuck's pants. The fact that Renjun hated him didn't imply that he wouldn't let his friends sleep with him, that much Donghyuck knew.
Repressing a laugh, Donghyuck turned around and eyed Mark with interest. “Not exactly,” he answered, not disposed to reveal more information. If this cute boy ignored that Renjun and he weren't on good terms, Donghyuck preferred to keep it a secret. “What's your name?”
His display of curiosity pleased the boy, his eyes squinting in happiness. “Mark,” he said, extending a hand for him. He had to pull away in embarrassment when Donghyuck didn't accept it, thinking that it was weird for two young boys to shake hands like this. “Oh, I know now! Aren't you Lee Donghyuck? From the soccer team?”
Donghyuck pretended to be shy, something that, Mark would later find out, was completely deceiving. But it had always been one of Donghyuck's weapons: being shy gave the other person a bit of power, and he needed Mark to trust him. It was pretty dramatic to calculate his decisions to this extent, but Donghyuck blamed Renjun for transforming him into this competitive monster.
“How do you know that?”
Like a fool, Mark bit on the bait right away, “Renjun checks on you a lot.” With a little frown, he observed, “Too much, I would say. But don't tell him I told you, oh my god.”
That was the first step towards disaster. Donghyuck never thought that boys were cute. He was into the opposite type; big, arrogant guys that cared more about his looks than about his partners. At first glance, Mark was far from that, besides the evident point of him not being big and strong. He was wearing a casual hoodie, sneakers, and a cap inside the faculty. And he wasn't hitting on Donghyuck yet, which was weird, because Donghyuck was sure that all of Renjun's friends were gay to some degree.
Donghyuck didn't believe in charming princes, but a hunch told him that he had found his charming prince right then.
“Why wouldn't I?” Donghyuck challenged him, a playful grin starting to grow on his face. “You're cute, Mark.”
That compliment was like a slap to his face, or so it seemed. Mark visibly staggered, surprised, and stared at Donghyuck as if he was sure that he had gone deaf for a moment.
“Cute?” Mark repeated after him, eyes wide. Donghyuck nodded without shame, serious, and Mark opened and closed his mouth several times before saying, “Thank you.”
Donghyuck licked his lips, considering how dangerous this could be. Renjun might get mad if Donghyuck got into a part of his life so suddenly, or maybe he wouldn't give a fuck. Donghyuck couldn't tell for sure, but what he could tell was that if he didn't have the chance to see Mark again, he was going to regret it.
“Can I give you my number?” Donghyuck shot, balancing his weight back on his heels. And to his surprise, Mark didn't look thankful or flustered; that air of friendliness was gone in a split second, and Donghyuck could just think that it was a good revenge of the universe on him for assuming, in the first place, that Mark was just trying to hit on him. “What is it? Do you have a boyfriend?”
Mark sighed. Donghyuck had never had a boy sigh at an offer like this one. God, even in the case of Mark lamenting his lost chances because he was already taken, this was new for Donghyuck.
“Actually,” Mark began, resigned. “Two.”
For once, it was Donghyuck’s turn to be speechless. Judging someone at first sight wasn't proper of him, but he couldn't help studying Mark from head to toe and think that perhaps this was the smartest way someone would ever reject him. But something about Mark's demeanor showed that this wasn't a lie, that he had explained this so many times that he was sick of it.
Donghyuck gave him a moment to decently reject him, but Mark didn't say anything, and so Donghyuck moved onto his next plan. Making Mark type his number felt a bit coercing, so he opted for slipping a hand into his bag, pulling one of his pens, and taking Mark's hand in his.
Mark observed him, a shocked spark in his eyes, as Donghyuck scribbled his number on the back of his hand.
Donghyuck lifted his gaze, finishing the last letter of his name, and enjoyed the blush on Mark's face when he claimed, “I love having competition.”
And Mark might have been his prince charming, but Donghyuck had no idea that there were other two waiting for him.
Incredulity is stronger than hope, so when Jeno sends him the picture of the basketball's locker room, Donghyuck thinks he's not serious.
He kicks his blankets down, pretending that it’s not midday and he didn’t skip classes just to stay at home and weep. His heart embarrassingly speeds up at the messages, but Donghyuck doesn’t quite believe the implications of Jeno’s messages yet. The next thing Jeno sends leaves no doubts about what has happened: it’s a screenshot of the basketball team’s group chat, where Mark has sent a whole rant about cancelling practice today because someone vandalized all the doors by putting permanent glue in the locks.
It’s hard for Donghyuck to even suspect that one of his boyfriends could have done this, but when he looks at the amount of smiling emojis that Jaemin has sent him, combined with the little hints from Jeno, Donghyuck almost has a heart attack.
He gets out of the bed, takes a quick shower while notifications keep popping up on his phone, and makes sure that he doesn’t look like he’s been crying half of the night – which he has, but no one needs to know that. Once he checks his phone again, he can’t help but smile like a fool. Jaemin’s messages go from a range of asking if they can spend the day together to inviting himself without Donghyuck’s permission, pure indignation at the silence on Donghyuck’s part.
And Donghyuck could be stubborn, and just like he did to Jeno, lie and refuse to be with them, but he doesn’t have any more willpower to avoid his boyfriend. If either Jeno or Jaemin have had the guts to destroy the basketball’s facilities just so that Donghyuck can have them for a few days, then Donghyuck is no one to be prideful.
The bell of his dorm rings a few minutes later, and Donghyuck runs like a madman, only stops when he’s right by the door. He can hear Jaemin and Jeno laugh and chatter on the other side, and though his body tingles with the need to see them at last, Donghyuck takes a moment to breathe deeply.
Nothing can prepare him to face Jaemin and Jeno, and less to face the boy that trails behind them with his gaze on the floor. Unlike Mark, Jeno and Jaemin grin at him, the first sweetly and the latter mischievously, and Jeno stumbles forward for a kiss.
Donghyuck gladly accepts the small kiss, but it’s hard not to be distracted as Jaemin passes by them and slaps his butt.
“Hi, baby,” Jaemin merrily greets him. “Have you heard about the awful things that happened in the basketball’s locker room?”
Jeno laughs at the evident joke, and Donghyuck is about to open his mouth, to ask if they have lost their minds – because they’re too old to go around acting like teenagers, doing things that could get them a fine or, in Jeno’s case, even an expulsion from the team – but he falls silent when Mark steps forward.
Donghyuck’s attention shifts to Mark, and he can’t think about anything else anymore. His first unconscious reflex is to study his bruises without shame, because to Donghyuck’s horror, they’re still there. He can tell that they were quite bigger before, because Mark has some yellow spots around the blue bruises, and the little make up he has used in an attempt to cover them up isn’t working. After an extensive inspection, he meets eyes with Mark, with his regret and his insecurities, and Donghyuck knows that he won’t be able to argue with him.
“Donghyuck,” Mark says, vacillating, biting his lower lip. “Can I come in?”
It’s painful that Mark thinks he has to ask for permission first. He keeps the distance, pulling a face at whatever Jeno and Jaemin are doing behind Donghyuck’s back, his feet together and his most apologetic expression on.
His prince charming, Donghyuck has learned over this year, is just a simple boy that can’t manage people’s feelings well. And even though they tend to ignore the peculiar problems of being four boys in a relationship, it’s not easy to be in tune with everyone’s feelings all the time.
Donghyuck rests his hand on the door frame, shaking his head, and asks, “Do you think I’ll just close the door in your face otherwise?”
For a second, Mark eyes his hands, as though it’s very plausible Donghyuck will shut the door close and abandon him outside.
Swallowing, Mark mutters, “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
This is the perfect example that Mark is overreacting. He overreacted by hiding the fight from Donghyuck, to begin with, just to avoid a five minute long scolding and save Renjun from a cascade of threatening messages for not taking care of his boyfriend. That would have been the whole ruckus. Now that Donghyuck is mad at Mark for many reasons, it should be worse, but it isn’t. The poor boy had his precious basketball facilities spoiled – a crime perpetrated by two of his boyfriends – just so that he would stop chickening out, and Donghyuck can’t make it harder for him.
Donghyuck thrums his fingers on the wooden and teases him, “Do you think you would deserve it?”
“I’m not sure,” Mark sincerely replies, blinking down at the floor. Then he observes Donghyuck, his eyes irremediably falling on his lips before moving up to his eyes, and he croaks out. “But I’m sure I don’t deserve you anyway.”
Donghyuck isn’t expecting that, and his reaction isn’t calculated. Mark makes a dying noise when Donghyuck grabs the front of his t-shirt, but he holds Donghyuck’s waist without wasting a second, too used to molding against Donghyuck’s body to miss the hints. And it’s stupid, really, that the moment Donghyuck presses their mouths together, his tiny, silent fights look like a grain of salt in an endless universe. So insignificant, so childish, such a waste of time.
Feeling Mark’s arms around him, his tongue into his mouth, that slight bit of desperation in the kiss, as though Mark can’t believe that Donghyuck is kissing him instead of chastising him, is enough for Donghyuck. He remembers why he gave Mark a chance even though he already had two boyfriends, or why he went on a dozen unnecessary dates with him before admitting to himself that yes, maybe he was disposed to share just to keep Mark by his side. He remembers why he still thinks that Mark is the central piece of his life; not only because a mere touch of his can skewer through his heart, but because Mark brought all the happiness possible to his life. He brought himself, Jeno and Jaemin, and never let Donghyuck doubt that they loved him just as much despite being the last one to arrive.
Time isn’t that important. It didn’t matter to Jaemin when he stepped into Mark and Jeno’s relationship, because as Jeno always tells Donghyuck, he didn’t even bat his eyelashes at the fact that they had been dating for more than a year. And Donghyuck tried to imitate Jaemin, tried to convince himself that if they had welcomed him, it was because they loved him too. It was easier said than done, however, and Donghyuck had needed constant reassurance during the first months, and he needs it now from time to time, too.
Perhaps that’s the reason it bothered him so much that his prince charming, the one that gave him so much, lied to him. Donghyuck is his boyfriend for the good and the bad, and it isn’t fair that Mark tried to protect him from the bad.
“Can you make out inside?” Jaemin’s voice perks up from behind Donghyuck. He feels Jaemin tug at the back of his shirt, momentarily fumbling with Mark’s hands instead. It amuses Donghyuck that Mark is trying to swat Jaemin off, but then Jaemin whines, “We’re going to get dorm complaints.”
Donghyuck has enough with the complaints every time Jeno sleeps over, so he softly breaks away from the kiss, his palm tracing the path of Mark’s jaw. Mark keeps his eyes closed for an embarrassing amount of time, and Donghyuck has to pull him inside with a laugh.
It’s impossible not to roll his eyes at Jaemin, who is already taking the couch cushions and carrying them to Donghyuck’s room. He waves at Jeno so that he stops moving around Donghyuck and Mark like a dog, and Jeno skids to the kitchen to steal food, understanding that Jaemin wants him to rummage through Donghyuck’s drawers. Donghyuck can’t tell if they’re planning to watch a movie, to simply have lunch at his expense, or to do something entirely different that will put Donghyuck’s ankle in danger.
Before Donghyuck can question them, Mark hugs him from behind, planting a sonorous kiss on his cheek. “I missed you,” he muses into his ear, like it’s a secret. Donghyuck caresses over Mark’s hands on his abdomen, humming at the touch. “I failed one of my exams because I kept thinking about you. When I got to the third question, specifically.”
Donghyuck lets out a chuckle, imagining how dumb Mark must have looked in the middle of the exam. He’s sure that Mark thought about him both in negative and positive ways, because even though they were going through a bump, the lack of physical contact and affection inevitably left a print. Donghyuck can vouch for that.
“Serves you right,” Donghyuck teases him, but he turns his head enough for Mark to press a sweet kiss on his lips, and both of them smile afterwards.
“Mean.” Mark nuzzles into his neck, his hair tickling Donghyuck, and tightens his arms around him. “Say you missed me too.”
It sounds childish; even more coming from Mark, who rarely asks for attention. The request sends a bundle of warmth to the pit of Donghyuck’s stomach, killing his will to tease him further. He spins around in Mark’s arms to face him, right in time to find the last trace of hope and surprise in Mark’s expression, but his boyfriend smiles at him when he realizes what Donghyuck is trying to do. Donghyuck isn’t shy, and he hooks one hand behind Mark’s head, the other calmly stroking over his face.
“I missed you so much,” Donghyuck confesses, completely serious. It’s hard to keep the composure as Mark’s eyes glint in excitement at the revelation, as though Donghyuck has never told him anything so sweet. It’s kind of endearing, but Donghyuck is starting to feel like Mark is so cute that he will destroy Donghyuck with just one look, so he protects himself. He brushes over Mark’s lower lip, leaning forward until their noses touch, and says, “Rumor has it that you’re the best kisser here.”
“Really?” Mark whispers, delighted. Donghyuck nods, licking his lips, and Mark nearly laughs at his impatience. “I had a lot of practice.”
“Since you’re so good at it,” Donghyuck retorts. He curls his index finger in the collar of Mark’s t-shirt, purposely ridding the piece up. With his best pleading eyes, he asks, “Could you teach me?”
Mark has never turned down an offer to make out, and he isn’t going to start now. If Jaemin and Jeno laugh when Mark pushes Donghyuck down on the bed and climbs over him, it’s no one’s business. And if Donghyuck feels at home, with Jaemin and Jeno cuddling and casually commenting on the movie while he recovers all their lost kisses with Mark, then there’s no reason to worry.
“I think you guys went too far,” Donghyuck whines, his gaze roaming around the half-empty place. There are just a few waiters and waitresses, cleaning the restaurant for the next shift, and Donghyuck feels like an intruder. “I’m tired.”
It’s probably because he hasn’t had any activity in two weeks, but going to an amusement park was a big shift from his bed. Donghyuck was very happy to spend the first free day at home with his boyfriends, though they had ended up going out to have dinner in the evening. He didn’t imagine that Jaemin would come up with the bright idea of ditching their classes next morning, as soon as Mark got informed that they wouldn’t be able to access the basketball court for a few days.
Donghyuck barely had any say in it, but it was worth it just to see Mark, Jeno and Jaemin ridiculously excited about riding one rollercoaster after another. It took Donghyuck two hours to convince them to rest, and there they are now, in an empty restaurant outside lunch hours, Jaemin resting his legs on Mark’s lap without shame, and Jeno forcing Donghyuck to sit on him instead of a chair like a normal person. Donghyuck supposes that he deserves this, and to his luck the only ones who can judge them right now are the staff of the restaurant. That doesn’t make it less embarrassing.
“We have to make use of this free time, you know?” Jeno tells him when Donghyuck gets ignored by everyone. It’s not a matter of pity, but the fact that Donghyuck huffs out loud, shifting in his embrace. “Mark is going to make us train like bitches once we get our court back.”
Mark nods, serious, the hint of a glare directed towards Jeno. He can’t affirm that he would prefer to be training, but he can’t approve of what Jaemin and Jeno did; they’re lucky Mark is especially whipped for Jeno, otherwise Jeno would receive the whole punishment in the form of laps around the court.
However, Jaemin wiggles his eyebrows at Mark and sing-songs, “If you’re so worried, so tense, I can help you to relax.”
Mark scrunches his nose at him, trying to hide his amusement. “No, thanks, I have better options.”
“Mark,” Jaemin immediately whines, half shocked half indignant at the veiled insult.
Donghyuck isn’t surprised that Mark hauls Jaemin’s chair and brings him close for a kiss, but he’s surprised that there isn’t a single trace of coyness on Mark’s face. He’s the shyest one in public, and it’s a delight to see him kiss Jaemin with a smile, too endeared to ignore Jaemin’s whining.
“Hey, you two, behave,” Jeno grunts at them, jealous rather than annoyed.
Donghyuck turns his head to look at him, cradling Jeno’s face with his arm. “It can’t always be you who gets all the kisses, okay?”
Jeno shakes his head in denial, stubborn, but Donghyuck knows that Jeno is just this sort of playful. He always demands attention when his other boyfriends put their hands on each other, but if Donghyuck has learned something in their intimacy, is that Jeno actually loves watching them kiss. Donghyuck does, too, even more than kissing them himself.
“You just like making me suffer,” Jeno answers, brushing his head against Donghyuck’s arm. He smiles, plants a comically loud kiss on Donghyuck’s forearm, and claims, “But it’s all worth it.”
Even though it’s quite shameful, Donghyuck ignores the panicked look one of the waitress throws at them. It must not be very relaxing to know that your only customers are four boys that are more interested in kissing each other than in eating, and Donghyuck decides to do her a favor.
Humming, Donghyuck taps Jeno’s cheek with his fingertips. “I’m doing my best to convince you that following Jaemin’s awful idea was worth it.”
That vandalizing the basketball facilities isn’t that big of a deal as long as he gets to spend quality time with Donghyuck, Jaemin and Mark. All in all, Jeno meets up with Mark pretty often thanks to their training, but it’s evident that he needs the same amount of time with Donghyuck and Jaemin. And god, Donghyuck agrees. He wishes he had a bigger bed so that their boyfriends could sleep over without getting back cramps next morning, or that they would live together, or that they weren’t sport freaks on top of studying at an exigent university.
Despite Donghyuck’s consolation, Jeno kicks Mark under the table so that he detaches from Jaemin, and Donghyuck laughs into the crook of his neck. It’s a rarity to witness Jeno being mean, and Donghyuck is going to enjoy every bit of it.
That’s the reason he adjusts on his lap, shifting to whisper into his ear, “Do you think we can make out in the haunted house?”
Even though Donghyuck lowered his voice on purpose, Jaemin quickly removes his legs from Mark’s lap and stands up, like Donghyuck is offering that to him instead. Donghyuck raises his eyebrows at him, torn between being amused or just embarrassed, but Jaemin himself isn’t embarrassed at all, so it’s quite the trick to convince Donghyuck.
Donghyuck is incredulous as Mark follows suit, and when he glances at Jeno, his boyfriend shrugs at him. It’s pretty cute that they’re so eager, and Donghyuck understands at last why Jeno feels like some kisses are being stolen from him. It shouldn’t be a problem, however, because today it’s Donghyuck who is going to steal all of them.
They owe him two weeks in the form of kisses.