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Sweat trickles down Donghyuck’s forehead as he treks down the neighborhood streets in nothing but his now dirty white uniform sticking to his skin in icky humid air. The shirt underneath his collared uniform does nothing short of help for the burning situation he feels from the scorching heat. He does so much as raising his hands in an attempt to cover his face from the glaring sun, bright yellow and orange radiating white light that kisses his skin a golden tan and leaves a hissing burn. He regrets now how he refused to bring the umbrella Johnny told him he would need. The sun was high up in the morning, but it was bearable, hence, Donghyuck had not felt the need to bring the said umbrella. In all honesty though, he didn’t think of using the umbrella to shade him from the sun. The only thing that was on his mind this morning was how it didn’t look like it was about to rain so he does not in fact need one, but, hey! People can be stupid sometimes you know. It’s not like Donghyuck was always stupid. Not at all.
The sun was high up and the streets were illuminated by the light of the sun, catching hues of gold, yellow, and bright light. The run rays dripped through his fingertips and cascaded down the houses that stood next to each other in rows. Similarly, Mark walks beside him making their own row, hand gripping the backpack slung over his shoulder. He has his eyes straight ahead, comfortable silence surrounding them like a veil, Donghyuck likes it. Donghyuck likes comfortable.
“Let’s play a game,” Donghyuck beams out of nowhere. His grin spreads across his face, showing his small teeth. The crease of his smile evident on his cheeks makes him look like a little kitten. Mark thinks he shines.
“Under this heat?,” Mark asks with his eyebrows shooting up.
“It’s not a physical game, just… ” he trails off, “telepathy. Let’s test our telepathy.”
“I guess we can…” Mark imitates how the younger trailed off, eyes averted anywhere but him, sheepish and childish as much as he can, “Do I have any other choice now?”
“No, because you love me,” Donghyuck grins even wider.
Mark only stops in his tracks and squints at him.
“Say it, Markie, you love me,” he coos in a high pitched voice, pouty lips and fluffy cheeks as he tries to get Mark to react, “Markie loves Hyuckie now, doesn’t he?”
Sensing the lack of reaction, Donghyuck makes a high pitched deflating sound, shoulders slumping and lips transforming into a sad pout. Mark winces, fingers curling inward from how Donghyuck is trying so hard to be cute. Although, in his perspective, he wasn’t trying at all. It was natural for Donghyuck. He was naturally cute. His thoughts are startled out of his mind when the younger jumps and stomps his feet, arms coming to wrap around Mark’s neck, pulling him closer, “Mark” he whines.
“Stop that, Hyuck,” he says in faux annoyance, “Dude, stop it. You, ah- seriously, Donghyuck.”
It was unfair, he thinks, Donghyuck was too adorable. His pout still plastered on his face, golden skin kissed by the sun, as he jumps and whines at Mark for him to say he loves him. It was ridiculous in a way, but not at the same time in some sort.
“Fine, fine, just stop it, Okay, okay, okay I love you,” Mark tries to say, shoving the younger’s face away from trying to kiss him, “Donghyuck, I love you, okay, now stop.”
“Mean it,” he demands, kissy face still surging forward on Mark’s cheek.
“I mean it, okay, I love you,” Mark says in a calm voice, “Will you stop that now?”
Platonic, acceptable, and I love you too, Donghyuck’s mind provides. Mark stops wiggling away from his hold in honor of saying I love you in the calmest manner. Eyes straight at Donghyuck, yet wavering. He can’t do it , Donghyuck thinks, he can never look at me straight. It’s funny how they’re so close to each other and stuck at the hip, yet whenever Donghyuck does so much as to try and kiss him or do anything affectionate, Mark just swivels away. It’s funny and annoying most of the time. It’s very much rude too if you were to ask Donghyuck’s affectionate self.
He squints at Mark for a couple of seconds before nodding and calling it a day. Much to his own awareness, he has managed to stop his shenanigans for a while until Mark brings up the telepathy game again. They decide to play it throughout their little walk to whatever place they can stay to eat before walking to their dorm. The walk to their neighborhood was quite long and costs a handful of their time and energy, but it was tradition for them both to walk together every afternoon. No matter if Mark had basketball or Donghyuck had football, they always had to wait for each other after their classes were over.
Mark and Donghyuck got accepted to the private university they attended because of a scholarship by chance. Both of them entered the university with a sports scholarship, then not long after acing their courses, they were able to apply for the academic scholarship. With much convincing and pleading from both parties (read: their parents), they were able to share an apartment complex and move in with each other. It was a big adjustment, despite Donghyuck helping a lot at home, being the eldest, the apartment was something newer. Mark, on the other hand, completely felt the whiplash of adjusting because he was always taken care of as the youngest, hence, why his brother Johnny was always visiting their apartment. Like this morning, how he was just asking Donghyuck to bring an umbrella. Even then, back in high school, Mark and Donghyuck would be stuck at the hip. Their other friends would make fun of them and tease them about how they’ll probably just marry each other in the future in case their love lives went shit. It wasn’t such a bad idea, Donghyuck thinks now. He doesn’t mind waking up to Mark mumbling five minutes more despite it being Saturday, he doesn’t mind the disarray of shoes by the door because Mark is always in a rush, he doesn’t mind sleeping with the faded glow of a laptop seeping through his door at 3am because Mark is still up studying. He doesn’t mind Mark’s company at all. He doesn’t mind spending every firsts and lasts with Mark either. It’s a bothering thought to think about, one that would probably bug Mark a lot, but as long as it’s kept in the depths of Donghyuck’s mind, he doesn’t think there would be a problem.
They ended up stopping in front of a convenience store, heat replacing all forms of hyperness and energy surging through their body. It’s fine though, they can live with instant ramen for a day and maybe some convenience store chicken. The telepathy game had long ended by then but something inside Donghyuck just won’t stop bothering him and it was, should he say, convenient to ask at this moment.
“Mark,” he calls out, “Chicken or pizza?”
“I thought we were done?” the older one laughs, his shoulders shaking.
“Just tell me?” he glares in faux irritation, tsk-ing when Mark took too long to answer. He pinches the bridge of his nose, letting his inner actor take over. Ridiculous, really.
“Is that even a question, Hyuck, of course pizza,” Mark sighs, pushing the door to the store, disappearing into the rows and rows of packed and instant noodles. Donghyuck nods to himself, knowing the answer anyway, he just had to make sure Mark hasn’t changed his preferences. Donghyuck on the other hand just called over for Mark to make him his own ramen as well while he fetched himself the cheap convenience store fried chicken. Dare Mark disrespect the fried chicken, their friendship would end, so Mark obliges and prepares Donghyuck’s ramen.
Once they were seated across each other on one of the tables, comforted by the scent of their food and the cool air conditioning of the store, Donghyuck starts to slump in his seat. It was a lie if he said he wasn’t exhausted with the exams, performance tasks and football training piling up against each other. He guesses Mark himself is having a hard time as well despite not showing any signs of it. The bags under his eyes and the snores that just kept getting more and more audible each night were indication of how much he lacked any form of rest.
“What will happen to the apartment once we graduate?” he blurts out of nowhere. Mark seems to be shaken up as well seeing as how he’s now in a coughing fit and the soup he’s been slurping has burnt his tongue. He gives Donghyuck a quick glare before wiping his mouth with tissue.
“I don’t know, Hyuck, we still have one year. Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” Mark answers calmly, not seeing what brought out the topic in any way. Donghyuck doesn’t know either though, “I mean it, don’t think too much about it first.”
Donghyuck purses his lips and looks down at the sad fried chicken on his plate. He nods sadly, almost as if the other party he was talking to was the chicken itself and not Mark. He hears the other let out a chuckle under his breath, making him look up. He stops to stare at Mark whose uniform was still neat and orderly compared to his own. Mark’s skin was pale and somehow the light of the store made him look as though he was glowing and radiating light but there was something that Donghyuck couldn’t get his attention away from. Mark’s eyes. The eyes that either looked at him with endearment, with amusement, and if he were too self-centered, sometimes Mark would look at him like he hung the stars in the sky, but let’s not go there now.
“I’ll buy you chicken, stop sulking,” Mark insists, reaching out to throw a tissue at Donghyuck. Hopefully, not the one he just used to clean himself up. That would be gross.
Donghyuck’s face bursts out into a full grin the moment the words came out of Mark’s mouth. Eyes sparkling and cheeks squished with the intensity of his smile. Mark wants to reach out so bad and pinch them but he refrains from doing so. He watches as the younger does his happy little wiggle dance that makes him look so much like a child, “Thank you, Mark Lee, you’re the best!”
Mark quite literally so, has no fucking idea what he did in his last life that made him so lucky when it comes to Donghyuck. He has no idea what he has done to deserve someone as bright and cheerful as such. It’s like he and Donghyuck are from completely different dimensions but Donghyuck settles for him in the end. But that’s not the point, the point is, he’s a broke college student much similar to Donghyuck, yet, there he goes offering to treat him chicken because he can’t bear to see the younger sad over a sad and soggy fried chicken. Now, here they are, staring at a sign that says free bucket of fried chicken from the best chicken place around university. Mark exhales a breath he never knew he was holding when Donghyuck pointed it out and told him it was their lucky day.
“For couples only?” Donghyuck screeches, “What kind of rule is that? This isn’t fair. What sort of marketing strategy is this? Is this some sort of capitalist way of telling me I’ll always be alone in life that I don’t even deserve a bucket of chicken?”
Mark makes a double take, eyes going on tunnel vision because, indeed, Donghyuck was right. The sign did say FREE CHICKEN but it also said EXCLUSIVE FOR COUPLES ONLY at the bottom. He doesn’t get the point because it’s not even February and there’s no need to catch every couple in the streets’ attention. Other than that, Mark seems to have lost his luck. He guesses he still does need to pay for Donghyuck’s fried chicken. He isn’t complaining though, he offered it in the first place, didn’t he? He makes a move to reach for his wallet when Donghyuck reaches for his wrists first.
“All we have to do is answer some random set of questions about each other and answer the same, it’ll be easy as counting, Mark. We’ve known each other our entire lives and then viola! Free chicken for me,” Donghyuck explains excitedly, hand gestures thrown around everywhere as he gets it through Mark’s skull. Only, Mark’s skull refuses to comply.
“It says couples only. I don’t know if you’re aware, Donghyuck, but we’re not a couple,” Mark supplies dumbly.
“We live in the same apartment, we know everything about each other- No, Mark, don’t look at me that way, we do know everything about each other! It’ll be easy, everyone already thinks we’re a couple anyway,” Donghyuck teases, savouring the endearing blush that creeps up Mark’s cheeks.
“Please Mark, do it for the chicken?” he pleads, jutting out his lower lip as adorably as possible. And who was Mark to resist? Who was he to deny Donghyuck?
“Fine,” Mark groans, yet the smile that creeps up on his face can’t remain unnoticed, not when Donghyuck’s giggle of glee is too contagious. Fine, but i’m not doing it just for the chicken.
What Donghyuck and Mark thought would be an easy ride to free chicken turns into complete hell when they enter the fastfood and see the entire place filled with pairs, lining up towards the cashier. There has got to be no way all of those are real couples. Surely, there are people like Donghyuck and Mark who would think of pretending, right? They just had to find out.
“Do you think all of them are legit couples?” Mark mumbles, leaning closer to the younger.
Donghyuck only shrugs, mind and eyes occupied as he searches the crowd for the end of the line, “Gotcha!” he gasps in triumph once he’s found it. Mark feels another wave of heat creep on his face when the younger intertwines their fingers and pulls him through the dining tables and into the line. It’s starting, he thinks. He has to act like they’re a legit couple now.
The wait doesn’t last too long because then more staff were coming out of the kitchens taking one pair at a time doing whatever the Q and A game was. Finally, it was their turn. Donghyuck grins at the staff clad in his orange uniform greeting him a good afternoon. He does cheerfully do so too. Mark lets Donghyuck talk because they never actually talked about the do’s and don’ts of their relationship and so Mark only nods in agreement when the staff would look at him for confirmation.
“We’ve been together for years now, we met in middle school and now Mark and I live at some apartment complex just downtown near campus. I think that’s all there is to say?” Donghyuck nods to himself. His hands were getting clammy but Mark lets him hold his hand. He let’s Donghyuck play with his fingers because he needs it, he needed to know Mark was beside him because he sure as hell was nervous lying through his teeth. Mark would’ve laughed but he’s saving that for another time. The mechanics are then explained and the next thing they know they were blurting out similar answers to the sets of questions like magic.
“Puppies or Kittens?”
“Puppies.” They both answer.
“Movies or Dramas?”
“Movies!” They say at the same time again.
“Seems like someone’s getting free chicken now, huh?” the staff teased, “Finally, chicken or pizza?”
“Chicken,” Mark answers loudly with so much confidence at the same time as the other answers, “Pizza.”
It’s like all of a sudden, his world crumbles to his feet. He doesn’t even hear the crew laughing because they were so close to winning free chicken. All he can think of is how bad he messed up. He blinks once, twice, mouth gaping open and close then repeating all over again like a fish out of water. He was so sure Donghyuck was going to answer chicken because it’s Donghyuck. Donghyuck is a chicken enthusiast, and with common sense left in his body, they were lining up for free chicken for fuck’s sake.
“What was that?” Mark mumbles, he felt so defeated. At this point he doesn’t even care about the free 12 pieces of chicken anymore. All he cares about is how Donghyuck answered pizza when never in a million years would he actually choose pizza over chicken. Mark knows this well.
“Sorry you guys, that was so close! Although, I really enjoyed my time playing quick fire with you guys, let me ask my manager how we’d handle something so close as this one. You two deserve a piece at least.”
Donghyuck could only mumble a soft thank you before he looks back at Mark with an unreadable expression on his face. He has no idea how everything just escalated as quick as it just did, but he knows it was a mistake of both parties. It was no big deal really, but somehow, Donghyuck stomach was churning and flipping on its own like it has a mind of its own.
“Chicken?” he asks, an eyebrow raising. Although, he wasn’t looking at Mark, he was looking down at their intertwined hands. Soft and fitting like puzzle pieces.
“I mean,” Mark clears his throat, “You’re a chicken enthusiast so I guessed you would’ve answered chicken.”
“Hmm,” he hums, tracing patterns on the palm of Mark’s hand now.
“Pizza then?” Mark continues, “You hate pizza.”
“I just had a hunch you’d answer pizza because you love pizza so much,” he shrugs.
Mark’s eyes widen comically in realization, “Oh god?” he tries to suppress his laughter, “Oh, jesus, Donghyuck we’re so dumb.”
“What?”
“We’re so dumb,” he laughs, “You answered what I like and I answered what you liked because we thought we’d be saying what we like ourselves and I just think that’s funny. Dumb, stupid, funny but still…” he trails off, “endearing, don’t you think?”
Donghyuck furrows his eyebrows and Mark watches as his face contorts, a loud squeak echoing around the crowded place coming from Donghyuck himself. He raises both their hands to his face, covering it fully with both his and Mark’s hands. He peeks in a bit to look at Mark’s expression, catching the reserved smile Mark always had. That smile Mark only ever does for him. He calls it the Donghyuck smile. The one for him and him only.
“Come on, Hyuck, it’s really cute.”
“No. It’s dumb, we could’ve gotten free chicken if you just went with your guts and answered pizza like the tasteless man that you are.” He bites back, letting go of Mark’s hand and turning around to come face to face with the crew again but this time he was with the Manager.
“Are you Mark and Donghyuck?” the good looking manager asks, “I’m Taeil and this here is Jisung. He was quite entertained by the both of you so I guess you deserve a consolation prize of 5 pieces of chicken? Instead of the 12 pieces.”
“Really? You’d do that?” Donghyuck almost practically squeals and Mark can’t help the chuckle that escapes his lips, “Please, please, please, thank you!”
“On one condition,” they both halt, “I give you one more question and you have to answer the same on the piece of paper.”
“Sure!” Donghyuck cheers, clapping his hands in excitement.
Taeil hands them over two small pieces of paper and a pen for each and leads them over to a table. He sits in front of them comfortably and Jisung insists that he stands because the two were too exciting to watch to be able to just sit down. Mark thinks Jisung has found his personal circus, he feels like a clown being watched by a child now. He feels even more like a clown when Taeil’s question leaves his lips.
“When did you find out that you were in love?”
Mark feels the last source of breath in his system leave his body and never return. He blinks once, twice, thrice, eyes unmoving and staring at Taeil, who only smiles at them. Gentle and relaxed. Mark wishes he was gentle and relaxed too, but now his stomach feels weird and his chest is constricting, it feels like death. They weren’t even a couple. Maybe it was time he admits it in front of them and cut this act. They weren’t a couple, not anything close, but was Mark in love? What does he really feel about Donghyuck? Was he in love? Maybe? Maybe not. He knows Donghyuck like the back of his hand, spends every single day with him and caves in on him with the slightest of pushing. He thinks Donghyuck is the brightest, someone that can rival the sun. Mark thinks he’s the sun himself. Donghyuck was insufferable at times but it was an endearing type, annoying, funny and cute at the same time and it’s more than Mark can ever ask for so no, Donghyuck was too good for him. But is that love? Was he in love with Donghyuck? He secretly likes the affection, likes it when the younger brings him coffee when he’s studying, stays up with him until he falls asleep in front of his own review materials, cooks breakfast in the morning, sing obnoxiously loud in the shower, square up on anyone who does so much as to mess with Mark when he’s already stressed as fuck. He likes Donghyuck like that. He doesn’t know if he’s in love though, it seems t0o extravagant, too surreal. It’s a big word and Mark doesn’t know if he deserves to use it yet.
He looks to the side to glance at the younger. He has his lower lip caught between his teeth, his small teeth peeking out from where he’s biting the flesh. It’s getting painfully red from how forceful he’s biting but it’s not enough to bleed hopefully. Donghyuck’s brown hair looks golden at this angle, right by the window where the sun shines right at them, golden and sun kissed, cascading down his skin. His cheeks were rosy, flushed with pink and red from his nose. It made him look even prettier. Mark liked Donghyuck like this. The way he’s not trying at all, the way he doesn’t need to make an effort to look this pretty. Maybe Mark is in love.
So he follows his guts and writes the first time he felt all this all at once and thinks that that was the first time he realized he was in love with Donghyuck.
Donghyuck looks up at him the same time he does, a small pursed smile on his lips. His eyes were cast down and it made a pang reappear in Mark’s chest without even knowing why. Mark can’t point out what it was but he just smiles back before handing his own paper over to Taeil. He watches with his breath held as Taeil unfolds both papers eyes scanning the content until he breaks out into a smile, “Congrats boys! Just follow Jisung then and you’ll get your free chicken!”
Donghyuck smiles sheepishly, bag of chicken on his other hand as they walk outside the store, hand in hand. Mark gives him a quick glance before clearing his throat to catch the others’ attention.
“So,” Mark starts. His voice was shaky and he knows Donghyuck would never let it pass.
“So…” the younger trails off as well, “In love, huh?”
“Very much so,” Mark mumbles. Stopping in his tracks the same time as Donghyuck. He realizes the words have already left his mouth before he even processes it and readies himself for the major consequence.
“You- you mean it?” Donghyuck asks with uncertainty, turning to the side to face Mark. His eyes, if Mark were to be asked, were somewhat hopeful. It makes him hopeful as well. Both their hands were clammy now and it should be gross but Donghyuck holds him tighter, fingers slotting on every space they’re in perfectly.
“What? Which? I- uh, in love? With you? Well,” he sighs, “Yeah, maybe. Kind of, yeah actually, Donghyuck.”
“Right…” he answers, nodding to himself. He takes a deep breath and lets it out in one go, “I’m in love with you too, Mark.”
His eyes cast down to their intertwined fingers again, how he holds Mark’s hand tightly but with enough gentless and softness. It’s like Donghyuck’s affection is pouring out of himself and he’s making Mark feel everything all at once. Mark feels like everything is a fever dream because how is it possible that his 5 year crush on his best friend just ended up being confessed over chicken. That’s definitely not the plan.
“You know, confessing, uh- this isn’t really how I had it in mind but,” Donghyuck struggles with his words, which is literally unlike Donghyuck because he was always good with words, “We can redo it in another time, right now though, I just want you to know I’m in love with you. I really am.” he says with so much sincerity.
“I know, I’m in love with you too.” Mark answers with finality, “Very much.”
“Ok, good,” Donghyuck shifts all too quickly, the whiplash giving Mark a headache. The younger leans forward, placing a quick kiss on Mark’s lips before moving away again, all too cheerfully like a child just got his candy, “Now what did you write? Here’s mine.”
They unfold their papers and safe to say, they did fall in love at the same time, apparently.
The first morning since we moved into our apartment, I was fixing the window and he just told me I was pretty all of a sudden and that the sun suits me so much. I felt like I wanted to wake up to that every day.
-Donghyuck
The first morning we moved in together, Donghyuck just looked so pretty then and I wondered, how did I end up here with him? I want to spend more time with him if I could.
-Mark