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The ring was not supposed to be so similar to an engagement one. It was supposed to be a simple promise ring, one that they thought it was cute and decided to buy. It was cheap and pretty, well made. Just something teenagers in love would do, right?
At first, Donghyuck thought so. Then, after pondering for a while and thinking about how their parents are, he started to panic a little. Not that drama again, no, no, he wasn’t ready at all to deal with that another time.
The ring was too classy, looked too chic and definitely too close to an engagement ring. Even the velvet box was of nice quality. Which would be amazing if his and Mark's parents weren't freaking out since the last incident they had...They did not get over the whole "virginity loss" thing and expected them to show up at any time with 7 kids and already eloped.
Which wasn't going to happen because they had their lives planned and only wanted, at most, 2 kids and in at least 10 years. Children were too much of a hard work and they already had Mimi, Yong and Lucca to babysit. Oh, and the next parasite too!
All of that would be ignored as soon as both of them were seen with identical rings on their fingers.
And that's why they only use it outside and when they aren't in any danger of meeting their parents or uncles and aunts. Their friends were cool with it, even if most of them liked to joke about them being married, which was fine for Donghyuck specially when Mark blushed and shook his head shyly. That whole marriage thing, however, wasn't happening soon unless they were out of their minds.
It was Mark's idea to buy the rings, much to his surprise. He had only said "Hey, aren't they pretty? Aw, now I wanna be cheesy too," teasingly.
At that, the boy was adamant on buying them, dragging him inside the store even after he explained that it was (mostly) joke. Well, the joke looks pretty cute on their fingers and it was a nice touch. The fact that Minhyung was even more excited about it than him said a lot about how he was more honest with his feelings, which brought a special warmth to his heart and cheeks every time he looked at the ring.
Now, they had the job of hiding the little, shiny, round things well, not wanting their families to assume anything and start a spectacle. Again.
"Mark," Donghyuck hissed, feeding Lucca while his boyfriend distracted Miyoung and Yong with skittles. Jaehyun and Taeyong would definitely disapprove that, but the children (as in Mimi influencing Yong to do what she wanted) were too mischievous today. Little Lucca was staring at him with a frown but still drinking his milk, certainly not pleased about the fact that it wasn't Ten or Johnny feeding him.
Both couples decided to use the 'Mark-Hyuck daycare service' again, leaving both of them with 3 children.
It was the first time Johnny and Ten were going out without Lucca too, so they decided to help them again, even if it was their first time dealing with 3 children at the same time.
Donghyuck wondered if they really thought of them as nannies. Maybe he could try to get some payment! His album collection has been looking quite sad ever since he and Mark started going to the arcade weekly.
Rolling his eyes and sighing, Mark looked at him. "What now?" The boy was probably trying to get them into trouble since Donghyuck had been the only one to try to hide the goddamned rings, while Mark walked around with it, counting on Johnny's lack of free time to notice it.
"Yesterday, uncle was staring at your ring and he looked like he was itching to know where it came from!" Donghyuck said, trying to hold his laughter when Mimi hurried over to his direction and pinched Lucca's cheeks, cooing as if she was much bigger than him.
Not pleased, the baby let go from the bottle, face scrunching up in displeasure. Sensing the scolding she was about to get, she said 'oopsie!', not looking sorry at all, before throwing herself on top of Mark's legs.
"Miyoung!" Minhyung chastised, pulling her up to sit comfortably on his lap, trying to eat his candy at the same time.
Incredulously, Donghyuck watched as Yonghwa stole the skittle and whined an apology at his older brother. He knew the boy couldn't get mad at him.
And Mark had completely ignored him!
Getting up from the chair, Donghyuck bounced Lucca softy, changing the baby's position so he could burp before taking his afternoon nap. "Mark!" he yelled, waiting for the boy to finally stop bickering with Yong because of the candy and to pay attention at him.
"Look," he started, putting his sister on the couch properly before stretching his arms so Hyuck would pass him Lucca. "I think you are making too much of a fuss just because of a ring, ok?" Cooing, Mark smiled at his little brother, sighing when he saw Donghyuck's annoyed face.
"We are both of age and we have been dating for quite some time, why can't we have rings? This makes no sense! Not only that, but they are pretty cute too. I'm not going to hide them forever."
He knew Mark was right. But he didn't like the idea of being lectured by their parents again, the last time had been quite embarrassing for him and not a very pleasant experience. He wasn't used to not being seen as his parents' cute baby, wasn't comfortable with them hearing about every step of his relationship and its 'next levels'.
It was just weird.
And the possibility of them thinking that they were getting engaged (or even the possibility of this ring being a hint of a 'shotgun' wedding) was...extremely awkward to him.
Specially after he promised that their relationship was going to progress as slowly as the other teenagers'. An engagement ring wasn't slow at all.
But...he really liked it too...the ring was indeed beautiful...and the thought that Mark wanted it and would wear it around was making him feel giddy too.
In his defense, he had been in love with that boy since he was 13.
God. Being a teenager was so damn hard.
"You don't want the ring. Is that it?" Mark asked, not looking at him. "Just give it to me and I'll throw it away." Shrugging as if he didn't care, Minhyung said, voice tinged with rejection.
Now he had an upset boyfriend to deal with. Maybe he should have stayed quiet, maybe letting his parents think he got knocked up at 18 wasn't that terrible.
"It's not that! I bought it with you remember?" he sat down next to the boy, quickly apologizing to Mimi, who almost got squished between him and the couch.
"Hyuck! Heavy! I'm not couch!" she complained, huffing before sitting on the floor. As always, her hair was a beautiful mess, only the bangs still in place.
Too busy to apologize again, Donghyuck passed her a little bottle of banana milk, thanking god when she grabbed it and started focusing on Pocoyo again. Perhaps he would only upset one of uncle Taeyong's kids today.
"I just don't want them to think this is...you know..." he started, fiddling with his fingers nervously.
"An engagement ring. Yeah. I'm aware of that. I already heard it a thousand times." Mark said, annoyance all over his voice.
He was starting to think that his boyfriend wanted to propose or something. Oh, that would make things so much more complicated. He could already imagine the vein on Johnny's forehead twitching.
"Do you really want me to stop using it?" Mark asked, now staring at him with a blank look on his face.
"No, no, I just want you to, maybe, be more careful?" Sheepishly, Donghyuck smiled at the boy, hoping it would be enough to melt him all over just like the usual.
"Okay, then. I can do careful."
It wasn't. Mark was definitely going to make him beg for him to use that goddamned ring again, just watch.
"Are you upset with me?" he pouted, working hard on the puppy eyes. He earned back a raised eyebrow and a brief stare at his lips. A half win, then.
Getting up, Mark denied, quickly diverting his eyes from Donghyuck's mouth.
"I'm going to put the 3 of them inside Lucca's room so they can nap together."
Nodding in defeat, Hyuck watched as Minhyung carried a sleepy Lucca in his arms and led Mimi and Yong to the same place, ignoring the twins' protests. It was the cutest view ever, especially when the older babies were trying to cling onto the boy's legs, similar pouts on their faces.
"You two are still babies and no, you can't stay awake all year long, Yong."
"Hyung!" Yong whined, clinging harder onto Mark's leg, letting himself be dragged into the room.
Silence quickly spread through the apartment.
Throwing himself onto the comfortable couch, Donghyuck sighed.
"I am going to regret it, aren't I?"
■■■■■■
Mark was so damn stubborn.
He said "careful", not to completely forget about the ring. Donghyuck used it when they were with his friends and not-family people, but Mark? Mark hasn't used it in the last 2 weeks, the day when they talked about it.
Everywhere he looked, he saw couples wearing matching rings. He saw two dogs with matching collars and almost cried in frustration, not noticing Mark's smug look at his distress.
The thing that did it was Jeno and Jaemin showing up with two huge golden bands, flaunting it all over his face, talking about how their parents thought it was cute. It was a monstrosity! He thought, bitter.
Maybe Donghyuck was being a little too much and overthinking a whole lot. He missed the ring on Mark's finger and missed the way people's face dropped once they noticed the boy had one matching ring with him.
(Uncle Johnny's twitter account was giving Mark too many admirers, that was something he could understand because hell yeah? But they had to stay in their lanes, like, fuck off?)
Now, he had to glare and hiss like a feral beast. Maybe not to that extent but everyone can get the point.
Sat on Mark's bed, he browsed the TV channels, trying to find something nice to distract him from his possessive thoughts of marking his boyfriend with a ring amongst many other ways.
Possessive didn't look cute on him.
Coming inside the room, Mark dried his wet hair with a towel, raising an eyebrow at how angrily Donghyuck was trying to change channels. "Hey, are you ok?" he asked, throwing the towel on top of the bed before retrieving it, afraid of Donghyuck's glare at him.
He hated when Mark threw the wet fabric on top of the bed. Donghyuck himself could be pretty messy but that was too much for him.
"I am, I am so fine!" Donghyuck laughed, pleased at how his boyfriend decided to put the towel away properly, like a grown man.
Jumping on top of the mattress, Minhyung sighed, tired after spending the whole day at university, brain already fried.
It was nice, though, and he did have a private tutor that could work 24/7.
Jaehyun was still very much excited with his choice, which was great because that meant nice snacks while he studied and better grades at the expense of a chemistry teacher at home.
"Tired, mmh?" Donghyuck said, tried to start a conversation that would distract him from any 'ring' thoughts. He missed the little things. Hiding it under his shirt wasn't enough anymore.
"Yeah," Mark sighed again before wiggling his eyebrows mischievously at him. "I still have energy for some stuff, though..." he proposed, trying to reach something behind Donghyuck. Sucking in a deep breath, Donghyuck bit his lower lip, frowning a little bit.
Preparing himself, Hyuck scowled when the boy grabbed his chips, putting a handful of it inside his mouth at once with no manners.
He'd do the same but that wasn't the point.
Uncle Taeyong had given them two packages and Mark already ate his!
While they fought over the junk food, Jaehyun kindly told them to 'calm down and stop fighting like children, he already had about 5 of those!' over the wall.
Injustice! Hyuck was fighting for something that was rightfully his!
They couldn't help but snicker quietly, however, when Taeyong reminded Jaehyun that he only had two kids and the man retorted saying that Taeyong was his third one and maybe they were having another pair of parasites. Oooooooh.
Uncle wasn't happy about being counted as a loud child and expressed it by locking himself inside his and Jaehyun's room for a few minutes, childishly making fun of the man locked outside.
Shaking his head, trying to hide a grin, Mark laid down on the bed, snuggling into the crook of Donghyuck's neck.
That still made him melt. He had always been someone who liked human touch, liked cuddling and snuggles, but Mark wasn't very into that, apparently. He found out later, though, that the boy was into that, actually. Mark was just too... stubborn and liked to pretend he was tough. As if tough people didn't like snuggling!
"Where is your ring?" Donghyuck questioned, trying to sound absentminded. Playing with the dark strands of hair, he squinted his eyes as Mark hummed teasingly. The dude was definitely trying to make him go back on his decision.
"Hidden, just like you ordered!"
Biting his lip, Donghyuck sighed shakily, closing his eyes when the nuzzling turned into light kisses, a trace of tongue tasting the skin of his neck. The little shit was up to something.
"All week? I- Watch it!" he threatened, yelping in surprise, shivering when a hand sneaked under his shirt, fingers playing with the soft skin of his navel.
"You didn't want me to flaunt it around, right?" Mark asked innocently, biting right under his jaw.
"Are you a dog, Minhyung?!" Donghyuck exclaimed, feeling the abused place sting.
"You marked me right where anyone can see, great." Taking a shuddering breath, he gasped when a hand stopped right on his thigh, slowly sliding to the inner part of it.
Hyuck hated the gasp he let out when the boy squeezed the flesh roughly, suggestively stroking it.
"Oh, right, sorry. You don't like any marks right? Rings or hickeys, they are very bad to your great son status," Mark drawled out, caressing the skin one last time before completely distancing himself from Donghyuck.
Stupefied, he scoffed loudly, slapping Mark's arm before sitting up, incredulously staring at him.
"I am a great son, okay? And I'm not the one who pretended to have not even kissed me properly when we clearly had done quite a bit more than that! I didn't lie to my parents about it either!"
Unimpressed, Minhyung stared back at him. "You just hid it in front of them while told everything to my dad. Just to make me suffer on his hands!" He couldn't believe Mark was still whining about that! It was a playful prank!
Worrying his bottom lip, Donghyuck defended himself. "It was not to make you suffer... he asked me about us and I wanted to make him suffer a little bit."
Voice turning smaller at the end of the sentence, he watched in disbelief as Mark had no reaction, only staring petulantly at his own nails.
"And it happened when I was 16, Hyuck. You are 18 now, almost 19, and afraid of your parents acknowledging you have grown up."
"I am more afraid of them finally hearing about the things you do to their son..." Donghyuck mumbled, yelping when Mark pinched his thigh.
Defeated, Donghyuck threw himself over the boy, ignoring his protests while making sure he'd rest his head on a comfortable place. "Am I overreacting?"
Sighing deeply, Mark pulled softly on Donghyuck's soft strands, snorting when the other whined.
"Yes, you are. Your parents and my dad too. It's just a promise ring, Hyuck. Isn't it good that we promised to stay together for a long time? It does not equate to trouble. Or marriage. Or kids. Or kinky sex."
He had to snicker at that one, Mark saying 'kinky sex' was hilarious.
"Kids are trouble," Donghyuck grumbled into the other's chest, remembering pretty quickly how Lucca had peed all over his shirt a few days ago just because he was hungry.
"We are not having them until we graduate and have nice jobs, believe me. And we aren't having them ever either if you don’t want to. " Mark promised, poking Hyuck's cheek.
"When did you turn into such a decent boyfriend, hm?" Donghyuck asked teasingly, swinging a leg over Mark's own ones, trapping the boy under him. Ah, to cuddle on a friday night. Just what he deserved.
Offended, Mark squirmed, trying to escape his clutches. "I have always been decent! Okay, maybe not always but I have improved a lot! You are the one messing up my romantic plans, dude!"
"Don't call me that ever again!" he threatened, poking the boy's cheek.
"You call me that!" Mark protested, whiny all over his voice. Yes, he was the 'grown up, wasn't he?
"Shh, let me charge my battery. No one hugged me today."
"Maybe if you weren't such a b-" Minhyung started, screaming in pain when Donghyuck threw him out of the bed.
"Such a what?!" he yelled, ready to smother his boyfriend with his own pillow.
"A baby! I was going to say a baby!"
■■■■■■■
The next day, both of them were seen with shiny, thin bands around their fingers. Mark could feel his breakfast rise to his throat just at the thought that today was his papa's birthday. And everyone was here, including his dad and his hawk eyes.
Not only that but his dramatic aunt and uncle, best known as Donghyuck's parents, were also at the place, already coddling the boy despite him being a grown man and having twins to do so. Jesus, that would be hard.
His papa was with Jaehyun and the twins, trying to feed them the lunch without creating a mess all over their faces and bodies. Yong looked unpleased at the thought that he wasn't having his milk.
A few months ago, papa had said he was already big and had to each other things too, but the boy didn't like that and still tried to convince them he had to drink only milk in order to live.
That did not work, Jaehyun and Taeyong were pretty much unimpressed. Jaehyun did the airplane move and he was unable to escape the rice gently shoved inside his mouth.
Miyoung was the opposite. Eating every single thing she could see and making sure it would be all over her and her parents. Mark was glad he didn't have to feed them today.
"Hey, champion!" Johnny yelled, excited and holding a sleepy Lucca in his arms. The boy wasn't waking up any sooner by his calculations and experience.
Smiling nervously, Mark greeted back. "Hi, dad! How is my little bro, mmh?" he asked curiously, wincing when Johnny changed the boy's position so he could see the baby's pretty face. He was so rough sometimes that Mark doesn't know how he ended up with all his limbs in place.
Lucca was still snoring softly, though, so he definitely knew what he was doing.
"Here he is! Just ate at the car and then passed out. Last night was rough on him, had pretty strong cramps, poor thing." He explained sadly, kissing the boy's chubby cheek before ruffling his older son's hair.
"Where is your papa? Gotta wish him a happy birthday."
Whispering, he leaned closer to Mark. "I bought him some fancy stretchable pants since his belly seems to grow in an incredible speed. Ten might say he chose them but I am the fashionable one, believe me."
That was true, the mini mochi was now almost hitting the 5 months mark and Taeyong was already using Jaehyun's pants. No, there aren't twins inside the belly. They checked a lot of times and it really is only one baby mochi.
(Much to Mr. Onigiri's disappointment. Mark wondered if he is trying to make a soccer team, or something.)
In the future, Yong and Mimi will ask why they were called parasites while their younger sibling gets to be called 'mini mochi' but Mark surely won't be the one responsible to explain that. Perhaps Kumi could help, seeing as she is still called 'leech' sometimes. Or maybe 'caterpillar' Lucca?
"Papa is with Mochi...and teacher Ten, apparently?"
Upset, Johnny frowned. "How did he find them that quickly? He was by my side just now!"
"Uh. He wasn't, dad."
Shrugging, Johnny pinched Mark's cheek, ignoring the annoyed groan. "He is just too fast, I'm not as young as him, you know?"
Wiggling his eyebrows, he grinned. "Can't keep up with him sometimes..."
Making a face, Mark groaned, rubbing his face. "Dad, please no, just- no."
With a wondering look, Johnny squinted his eyes at him. Opening his mouth to say something, he was stopped by the baby in his arms, who got startled awake by the sound of Mimi and Kumi running, giggling while chasing a terrified Yong.
Kumi had a frog in her hands and Miyoung seemed to enjoy the 'chasing game'.
Coming to a stop, Yong grabbed Johnny's legs and screeched, stretching his arms up. "Uncle, uncle, help!" he whimpered, burying his face into the man's neck once Johnny made space to carry both of the kids.
"Oh, Yong. Are they picking on you? With that ugly frog?" Johnny pitied, throwing a chastising look at the girls once they protested. "Your papa was just the same as them, bullying me with those slimy things... Don't worry, uncle will talk to your daddy, he seems reasonable."
Nodding, Yong sniffled, frowning a little bit at the 'reasonable' word he didn't understand, but appreciating the fact that he was out of the girls' reach.
Lucca on the other hand was confused, not comprehending why his nap had been curt shortly like that. He did not cry, however, only looking around before resting on his dad's arms again, promptly falling asleep.
Hiding a laugh under his hand, Mark rubbed Yong's back comfortingly, remembering when his papa thought that he would like to have a pet frog. He did not and made sure to let every single person in the neighborhood know that.
Letting his dad deal with the mischievous girls and the almost-traumatized Yonghwa, he explored the place, sitting on the table where his uncles were. All of them were eating, seemingly uncaring at the fact that his dad was dealing with a troop of children at the moment. He didn't mind that at all, Johnny did need a distraction from babying and embarrassing him.
"Little Mark, my love!" Yuta exclaimed, ruffling his hair. Was that a thing old people liked doing?
"Why aren't you eating? And where is the gremlin you call a boyfriend? I saw him a few moments ago but now he is gone, not even sparing us a glance," he pouted fakely and Mark knew he had done something to pester the boy.
"Uncle, what did you do to him now?" he sighed, preparing himself not to laugh even though he kind of thought their bickering was funny.
Looking around, Yuta shrugged, throwing an arm around Sicheng, who almost choked on the meat because of the action. "Just the usual, asked if he's doing fine at university, if he needs anything... if he still pees in his bed like he did in my house when he was little..."
At the long list of embarrassing things Hyuck had done before as a child went on, Mark and Yuta snickered, fist bumping. Taeil stared at them with a look of wonder and pity altogether.
Why did they look like they had the same age, he wondered.
Out of a sudden, a plate full of food showed up in front of him.
"Move, loser. You are in my spot."
Clicking his tongue, Mark retorted childishly. "You lost the right over the chair when you left, annoying thing."
"Are you two really dating." Kun deadpanned, the question not even sounding like one anymore. At his side, Doyoung used the opportunity to steal one particularly big shrimp on the man's plate. Once done with his task, he went back to his conversation on the phone.
With a pout, Donghyuck threw himself on Mark's lap, trying to kiss the boy's cheek. "Of course we are! Can't you feel the love?" he asked, glaring at Mark when he tried to escape the kiss.
"Oh my, my! How improper! Sitting on a boy's lap like that, little man?" Yuta teased, sounding affronted. Donghyuck's parents, seeing the scene from the buffet table with sad eyes, definitely agreed with that.
"What if I sat on your lap in front of my overprotective parents and we were both boys?" Sicheng asked, fanning his not-flushed-at-all face. Yuta swooned at that, batting his eyelashes dramatically.
Ignoring the antics, Donghyuck promptly started eating his food, paying no attention to(even if with difficulty) his parents' looks at them.
The table was big enough to accommodate everyone invited, which wasn't a big number of people. Mark's parents and stepfathers were already sat, chatting excitedly with their friends while watching closely the three children playing tag around them. Hyuck refused to find himself a chair to sit, wiggling around and probably trying to make Mark regret being more assertive about the usage of their promise rings.
He wouldn’t though!
Finishing his beer, Mark stretched, glad that the party had been going well, without family drama and drunk uncles dancing around without their shirts or pants. The food was good, too, especially the fried chicken Taeyong had prepared for his older son. Focus on the older son part, he did not appreciate when people tried to steal his children’s food and he thought Mimi and Yong were too young to eat that type of fried food.
Donghyuck was the only other person to eat it, since he treated him like one of his own too, just like the other friends of Mark that he watched grow up.
Carrying babies made people act weirdly sometimes, but Mark definitely appreciated it, especially when it meant delicious food only for him.
“Mark,” Johnny called, waving a hand in dismissal when he made the move to stand up. Donghyuck was grateful for that, deep inside he was. Probably. Right now he was focusing on pestering Yuta as much as he had been teased earlier.
With a smile, his dad’s left eye twitched. Oh no.
“What is that ring on both of you? Looks…particularly expensive…Did you buy it…or…” he asked calmly, glaring at a sniggering Doyoung and Sicheng. Taking a deep breath, he reformulated his question.
“Why are you two wearing engagement rings?”
Taeyong could be heard choking on his macaron, turning to Jaehyun in desperation to help him. Without panicking, Jaehyun patted the man’s back, already expecting a reaction like that from him. Giving him a glass of water, he observed closely as his husband’s face got even more red after he stopped choking on the sweet. Bringing the can of beer to his lips, he downed a good amount of it, head already hurting at how Donghyuck’s parents dropped their forks in surprise and shock.
“Mom, dad,” Donghyuck laughed nervously, “calm down, we are not getting married right now.”
“Right now?! Then you are planning on it already?” his dad asked, sounding like he was about to have a stroke. He couldn’t believe his first baby was trying to get married, would he leave the house too? Was he the one who proposed? Mark wanted to marry him too? Not that he was difficult to deal with, but man…he knew his son very well.
“Great move, babe,” Mark whispered, watching as the table turned into a mess of celebration and despair at the same time.
Glaring, Donghyuck elbowed the other, worrying his bottom lip at the commotion. What he feared the most had turned true. Another parental meeting, is that it? Now with all the uncles? The lectures had already started again and he wasn’t excited at all to listen to it
“Not this again!” Ten yelled, slamming a hand down at the wooden table. Suddenly silence permeated the room, the only noise being Lucca’s soft cries. “When I come back I swear to god you better be finished with harassing these poor boys!” he stomped off, pushing Johnny’s hand away before groaning tiredly, dark circles all over his face from trying to appease the small boy at night. Right after him, Johnny got up, sounding like a kicked puppy, apologizing for starting it while passing Ten the pacifier for their baby.
Mark knew very well that Lucca liked sleeping when the sun was up, but as soon as the night came, he was adamant on playing, eating and being entertained, uncaring if it was already time for him to rest again.
“I guess it’s time to listen to us, mmh?” Mark deadpanned, pleased with how they all seemed calmer after the outburst.
“Go ahead, baby. I’m sorry.” Taeyong pouted slightly and Mark decided to ignore Jaehyun’s sound of despair, looking as if he got punched by cupid instead of being shot by. He knew his papa looked cute, no need to be disgusting in public!
“This is not an engagement ring and we aren’t getting married until we graduate and have our houses, okay?” he explained, snorting at the relieved breaths he heard. “It’s just a promise ring, a pretty one and I know it looks expensive but it is not an engagement ring at all.” With finality, Mark looked around, trying to see their reactions.
“That was hot,” Donghyuck blurted out, earning pained groans from his parents.
“Ayy, stop with that. We all know they do adult things; you know it too!” Yuta waved his hand, drinking his shot of soju, not a bit intimidated by the protests of his nephew and his boyfriend. “Shut up, boy, I know what it’s like to be young and in love, that happens sometimes, ya know?” he drawled, clinking his cup with an inebriated Kun and Taeil, who agreed with him.
“You are a hag, what do you know about being young!” Donghyuck showed his tongue, yelling when Yuta tried to reach for him. Mark turned into a shield, apparently, begging for help when his uncle tried to reach over him to pull on Hyuck’s ears.
“So!” Taeyong raised his voice, trying to help his kid escape from his uncle’s clutches. “It’s just a promise ring!” he repeated, looking straight into Donghyuck’s parents’ eyes, smiling, trying to make his friends a little calmer. Thank god it worked, they were back to eating their snacks and laughing again, shaking their heads at how they all thought the boys were getting married.
“Great! Johnny you heard that?” he asked, yelling. All he got back was a thumbs up and the shrill sound of baby’s cries. Making a face, Taeyong opened his mouth to say something, jumping in his seat, eyes wide.
“What’s wrong, love?” Jaehyun asked, worry written all over his face, hands already cradling the little bump. Donghyuck cooed, Mark tried to not make obvious that he thought the action was cute too. He couldn’t spoil Dad Mochi like that.
“Oh, baby mochi is wiggling!” Taeyong replied, eyes all shiny and excited, planting a kiss on the man’s lips despite his son’s disgusted noises and his friends’ hollering. The baby really had moved right after the chaos, he thought, pitying the poor thing that was annoyed to the point of making themselves heard in a way.
Commemorating the great news, all of them cheered again, now each one of them with a cup on their hands, even Ten and Johnny after they were able of calming down an upset Lucca. Relieved, Mark sprawled himself on his chair, coughing in pain when Hyuck did the same. But on top of him.
“Maybe you were right and we should have done this before…” Donghyuck mumbled, complaining when his boyfriend moved, disturbing his comfortable state.
“It’s the first time I hear you say something like that to me. I know this isn’t like you… I’m so moved, sweetheart.” Mark faked crying, laughing heartily at the expression on Hyuck’s face.
Making a move to get up, Donghyuck fell right back onto the same spot when Minhyung pulled him down again. Trying to pretend he was offended, he scoffed. “Now you want me here? After saying horrible things about my character!”
Puckering his lips mirthfully, Mark cupped Hyuck’s cheeks, pressing two lighthearted pecks on the soft lips, whispering an apology. Humming, Donghyuck accepted it, deepening the chaste kiss, fingers playing with a strand of Mark’s hair.
“Okay, that is enough!”
Doyoung clapped his hands with finality. “It’s still weird to see the kids we watched growing up while bickering kissing each other like that. Move! Go find an empty room like we did in our time.”