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Sunshine gleams through the small gaps in the foliage.
It hits Mark and Donghyuck’s hair and skin in narrow rays, warming the boys even under the shadow of the tree above them. The leaves are shaking in the slightest summer breeze, causing an almost unnoticeable rustle to vibrate in the air.
It’s Sunday.
Donghyuck loves Sundays, especially summer Sundays. It’s warm and it’s peaceful. He and Mark are sitting on the branch of the old tree, just like they’ve been doing ever since they were little kids.
The tree grows on the river bank, right next to the waterfront. Its thick branches reach far above the water. The tree is old and huge, its strong branches still being able to support the two boys, even when they’ve already grown up to young adults.
The bark feels rough under Donghyuck’s palms when he’s holding himself in balance while sitting on the tree branch. His legs are dangling over the water surface, not quite reaching it since they’re high enough.
Mark is sitting next to him. He’s balancing himself by leaning his back against the branch where it curves upright. He’s turned to Donghyuck, while Donghyuck is sitting sideways.
The river flows slowly and steadily under them. It’s a very narrow river; if Donghyuck were to decide, he’d probably rather declare it as a stream instead of a river. But officially, it’s a river. It’s deep enough to swim in, though. It’s where Mark and Donghyuck originally learned how to swim.
Donghyuck’s house is built next to the river, just up on the hill. The terrain slopes down where the river is, but it’s still pretty much on their backyard.
Mark and Donghyuck have been chilling on the tree branch for a while now, just enjoying the slow summer day and talking about anything that comes to mind. Mark had told how his summer job at the convenience store attached to the gas station had started. Then Donghyuck told about a news article he had read, and pretty soon after that they were already discussing about the possibility for something like The Maze Runner or The Hunger Games happening in real life.
But now it’s been quiet for a moment. Mark has his eyes closed and Donghyuck is growing bored.
“Hey Mark?”
The older opens his eyes after a second, fixing his gaze on Donghyuck, “Yeah?”
“Do you have your phone with you?”
The older pats through the pockets of his shorts, “No. I think I left it on your desk”, he then says.
Donghyuck grins, “Excellent”
He leans towards Mark, reaching his hand closer and closer to the older’s shoulder. Mark doesn’t first realize what Donghyuck is up to, and when he does, it’s already too late.
Donghyuck pushes him off the branch.
Mark lets out a frustrated noise just before he hits the water. It causes a great splash when he does hit the water. He sinks under water for a second or two, before automatically swimming to the surface.
It isn’t the first time Donghyuck has done this.
When Mark pops to the surface, the younger drops himself off the branch as well. He falls to the water, next to Mark. He, too, sinks under water for a moment, before popping back to the surface.
Donghyuck’s t-shirt and shorts cling uncomfortably to his skin, but at this point in his life, he has already grown accustomed to swimming like this. And he knows Mark has too.
“Again?” Mark asks, rolling his eyes a bit. His hair is now completely wet, sticking against his scalp and forehead.
“Yup”, Donghyuck grins and starts swimming around a bit.
Mark takes a deep breath and then lets out a small laugh.
“Fine”, he says, amusement and hidden joy sparkling in his eyes. He moves to float on his back, casting his gaze on the sky.
Donghyuck swims around for a moment, before joining Mark to just float on his back, letting the river slowly carry them ahead.
The sky is bright blue and there’s not a single cloud in sight.
It’s a summer Sunday sky.
~ ♡ ~
Donghyuck hops over the fence.
It’s a low wooden fence that separates the yards of his house and Mark’s house. Or well, Mark’s mom’s house. Mark doesn’t live there anymore. He now lives in his own in a rental apartment a few kilometers away.
Donghyuck walks up to the back door, knocks a couple of times and then opens the door. He knows he can go in whenever the door is unlocked. He steps into the house.
“Hello! Ms. Lee?” Donghyuck calls out.
It takes a few seconds and then Donghyuck hears some shuffling coming from the general direction of Ms. Lee’s bedroom. Soon, the petite woman walks into the living room where Donghyuck is.
She’s wearing some loose t-shirt and baggy sweatpants. Her long black hair is tied to a messy bun over her head, and she’s wearing no makeup. There are dark circles under her eyes. Donghyuck is already used to seeing her like this, and Ms. Lee is finally comfortable enough to not feel embarrassed about it anymore.
“Hey, Donghyuck”, she smiles and glances at the clock on the wall, “Oh, it’s already that late”, she then notes, her voice getting a slightly distressed undertone, “I didn’t even realize”
Donghyuck offers her a small, compassionate smile.
“Mark must be coming soon. I should start making dinner”, Ms. Lee then says and starts walking towards the kitchen.
They both know she honestly has very little energy or interest to be making dinner, but she does it anyway. She needs to eat, she wants to feed her son and his son’s best friend and she seriously needs to start living again.
Mark lives on his own nowadays, but he still visits his mom as often as he can. He wants to be support to his mother who’s just gone through a very difficult divorce and is now battling with depression.
Donghyuck gets it. He’d do the same thing for his mother. But still he hopes that Mark wouldn’t forget his own well-being in order to keep helping his mother.
Donghyuck loves Ms. Lee. Almost as much as he loves his own mother. And he thinks that that closeness also gives him the permission to detest her when there’s a reason. Sometimes he detests her for being so wrapped up in her own hurt that she can’t see how her son is having problems and how she’s adding to them by dumping all of her pain and worries onto his son.
Mark shouldn’t have to be so busy trying to fix his mother when he can’t even fix himself.
But that’s of course only Donghyuck’s opinion. Someone else might beg to differ. Mark would beg to differ.
Donghyuck follows Ms. Lee to the kitchen and sits down on one of the chairs around the oval shaped table.
“Do you want help?” he then asks after a second.
Ms. Lee smiles a little and shakes her head, “No thanks, I think I got this”
She starts with taking a pan out of the cabinet.
“How’s your mom?” she then asks, “I haven’t seen her in a while”, even though they live right next to each other.
“Oh, she’s good. Busy with the hair salon, she stays there a lot. That’s why you don’t see her in our yard so much anymore”, Donghyuck tells.
“Are you working there a lot now during the summer?”
“Nah, I’m having a summer vacation”, Donghyuck grins, “I only work there maybe once a week”
“Well, that’s good. You’re still young, you should have some fun, and have a vacation when it’s possible”, Ms. Lee smiles.
“Yep. I’ll have the rest of my life time to be working”, Donghyuck grins.
They continue talking, shifting from topic to topic. Slowly, the kitchen is getting filled with the aromas of food cooking. And in no time, Donghyuck and Ms. Lee hear the front door opening. Mark steps in.
They hear him taking his shoes off and dumping his backpack on the floor of the hall. Then he walks to the kitchen. Mark first notices his mother and then Donghyuck. His expression brightens.
“Hey, mom”, he says first, “Hey, Hyuck. I didn’t know you were coming today”, he then says.
“Surprise”, Donghyuck says and does jazz hands.
The older lets out a bright laugh.
“Okay, I’ll just go wash my hands and then join you two”, Mark then says and turns to walk to the bathroom.
Donghyuck lets his eyes linger on Mark, his gaze following the older all the way until he turns the corner to the bathroom. Then, slowly, he turns his eyes back on the kitchen table in front of him.
“When are you going to tell him that you’re in love with him?” Ms. Lee asks suddenly, yet softly, giving Donghyuck a gentle smile before turning her eyes back on the stove.
Donghyuck is quiet for a moment, “I think he knows already”
“I think so too. But we both know he’s not going to be the one making the first move”
Donghyuck knows that too. But he still doesn’t want to be the one to bring the subject up. Not because he’s scared, he’s not, but because right now he doesn’t want to put any pressure on Mark. Not when the older already has a lot of things on his mind. Donghyuck wants him to be comfortable enough to approach the subject by himself first.
Donghyuck just gives Ms. Lee a thoughtful smile, the kind that tells he doesn’t really want continue on the subject.
Ms. Lee raises his hands a little, like surrendering. They share a quick laugh. Mark walks back into the kitchen,
“What’s for dinner?”
~ ♡ ~
The sun is starting to set, slowly painting the blue sky with orange and red. The streets are relatively quiet when Donghyuck skips his way towards the gas station. He’s going to go walk Mark home from work, the older having been in an early evening shift.
When he’s almost there, Donghyuck spots Mark already walking towards him on the street. The older is still far away, but Donghyuck has no doubt that it is Mark. He would probably recognize Mark from hundreds of meters away even in a thick crowd.
A bright smile involuntarily raises to Donghyuck’s lips, the closer he gets to the older. But when he finally reaches Mark, his smile drops.
Mark’s eyes are wet, swollen and red, like he had been crying.
“Hey, Hyuck”, the older greets Donghyuck, smiling slightly.
“Hey, Mark. What’s wrong?” the younger immediately asks, worried.
Mark automatically quickly wipes his eyes to his sleeve,
“Nothing. I’m fine”
Donghyuck gives him a stern look,
“Don’t lie to me, Lee. We’ve talked about this”
Mark lets out a sad, frustrated sigh. Then he says,
“It’s so embarrassing”, there are tears welling up in the older’s eyes again.
“You think I care?”
“No, but it is seriously so stupid...”, Mark says with a weak voice, “It’s just... I made a mistake at work. I accidentally put a wrong prize on the cash register, charging the customer a little too much. She left and then came back a moment later, raging about how I had charged her a wrong amount of money”
“I know I shouldn’t get so worked up about it, but the scene just keeps going over and over again in my head. If I had just been more careful... I wonder what that lady thinks of me now. I feel so ashamed”
For a split-second, Donghyuck’s first instinct is to laugh. Who cries over some humane mistake that could happen and do happen to people all the time?
But, luckily, after that split-second, the reality kicks in and Donghyuck takes the situation seriously.
Mark doesn’t feel and act this way out of stupidity. He feels and acts this way because his anxiety makes him dwell on and worry an excess amount about pointless things. Some thing that Donghyuck wouldn’t even think twice, Mark thinks through about fourteen times.
“Hey, baby”, Donghyuck says softly and wipes the tear from Mark’s cheek with his thumb. The pet name just slips from his lips, luckily Mark doesn’t even seem to notice, “Something like this happens to people all the time. I can promise you with a hundred percent certainty that that lady has already moved on with her life and forgotten about the whole thing. You don’t need to beat yourself up over this”
“I know, I know...”, Mark whispers, “It’s just... Well, you know”, he takes another deep breath, “Even the thought of having to go back to work tomorrow makes me feel sick”, he says it so quietly that Donghyuck can barely hear it.
Donghyuck smiles slightly, a little encouragingly, a little worriedly, “I know. But it’ll go great, you will see you have nothing to be scared about”, he wishes he had some more helpful advice to give than these words he knows will sound just verbiage in Mark’s ears, but right now he doesn’t. He does mean every word, though, “I can come and walk to work with you tomorrow morning”
“No, you don’t have to”, Mark says immediately, his voice giving it away that he doesn’t want to bother Donghyuck with something like that.
“Oh, but I want to”, Donghyuck announces with finality.
Mark sighs again, but a genuine smile raises to his lips,
“Thanks, Hyuck”
“Don’t mention it. Now, let’s go to your place and watch some funny movie. You’ll get your mind elsewhere from those annoying thoughts”
“Yeah, okay”
~ ♡ ~
Donghyuck wakes up to the sound of light knocking on his window.
Someone else might be startled to death, but for Donghyuck, this is a pretty normal occurrence.
Donghyuck groans. He’s pretty sure it’s ass o’clock in the morning and he has only slept for a few hours, having gone to bed way too late. Just because you don’t sleep Mark, doesn’t mean that other people don’t, he thinks while rolling out of bed.
Donghyuck knows Mark is having trouble sleeping due to the anxiety. He can’t fall asleep, the anxiety often hitting worst during evenings, and he also often wakes up during the night or very early in the morning, his body constantly being in an overdrive.
Donghyuck walks up to the window and draws the curtain open. His met with a sight of sheepishly smiling Mark with a cute bed head. Donghyuck might have felt slightly irritated a moment ago, but he definitely doesn’t feel that way anymore. His grins at the older and opens the window.
“Morning, Hyuck. Did I wake you up?” Mark asks.
“What do you think?” Donghyuck asks teasingly.
“Sorry”, Mark grimaces.
“That’s fine. What do you wanna do?”
“Um, I was thinking about just walking around and stuff. The sun is about to rise”
“Okay, just give me a second” Donghyuck says. Mark nods. The younger draws the curtain closed again and then changes his pajamas to denim shorts and an oversized printed t-shirt. He takes his phone and checks the time. 5:09 am. Ass o’clock in the morning.
Quietly, Donghyuck exits his room and goes to the hall. His father is still at work, being in a night shift, but he doesn’t want to wake his mom up. She can sleep until 7 am today.
Donghyuck puts on his sneakers and then opens the front door. Mark is waiting outside, now having moved from Donghyuck’s window to the gate where one would enter Donghyuck’s family’s property. Mark smiles at the younger.
They take off walking along the deserted streets. The whole town is still pretty much asleep. It’s the break of dawn, the first sunrays are starting to shine from the horizon. It makes the morning dew, that's still on the ground, to shimmer.
Donghyuck glances at Mark who’s eyes are tracing the quiet town around them. The younger knows Mark is staying here mainly because of his mother and Donghyuck himself. He would have wanted to apply to a polytechnic somewhere in a bigger city, but felt like he couldn’t just leave. So now he’s studying in the small polytechnic that’s located in the next town, just a bus ride away.
Mark isn’t in love with this town the way Donghyuck is. But Donghyuck really hopes that he could one day be.
“Let’s go to the park”, Mark suddenly breaks Donghyuck out of his reverie. The older crosses the street heading to the park on the other side of it. It’s a park with the town’s best playground.
“It’s still a few hours before the first kids come here”, Mark continues as Donghyuck jogs to catch up with him.
“Yeah, we can go swinging”, Donghyuck smiles excitedly. You’re never too old to swing. They walk up to the swing set.
“Come on”, Mark smiles and motions towards one of the swings, “I can push you”
It’s not like Donghyuck’s going to say no.
~ ♡ ~
Donghyuck watches as the first stars start appearing on the black sky.
He’s lying on his back on the floor of the old treehouse. It’s built on the big tree on his backyard. Donghyuck’s father had built it way back when Donghyuck was still the size of a fire extinguisher and could hardly climb up there by himself. The treehouse used to have walls and even a roof, but now there’s only the floor left. Which, Donghyuck is actually quite happy about. Now he can look at the stars through the infrequent foliage.
It’s nice and quiet. The only sounds to be heard are the occasional car driving by the road on the other side of the house, and the rustle of the light wind that’s blowing around.
Donghyuck feels pretty content at this moment. He’s in no hurry to be anywhere else and he has nothing he needs to get done right now. For once, life exist right here, right now.
The only thing he would ask for to feel completely content, would be the warm body of a certain someone to be lying next to him.
And maybe the universe does listen sometimes.
Because in a short moment, Donghyuck suddenly hears someone climbing up the stairs to the treehouse. He turns his head to look at Mark who appears behind where the floor ends.
“Hey, Hyuck”, the older greets with a hushed voice.
“Hey, Mark. Do you read my mind?”
“No, why?” Mark asks when he sets himself to lay next to the younger.
“No reason”, Donghyuck whispers and smiles, scooting even closer to Mark, so that their sides are brushing against each other.
“I brought you something”, Mark then says, digging something from his pocket.
He hands Donghyuck a lollipop. It’s one of those fancier and bigger, a bit more expensive ones. Donghyuck’s favorite. Mark has one for himself too.
“Thank you”, Donghyuck says, delighted. He takes the lollipop from the older and unwraps it, “Did you steal it from work?”
“Obviously. You know me, always stealing stuff”, Mark says, feigning nonchalance, the sarcasm dripping behind the words.
Donghyuck laughs, “Yeah. You’re probably the last person who would ever steal something”, he keeps a short pause, swirling the cotton candy flavored lollipop in his mouth, “But even if you did, I'd still like you”, he then adds as a side-thought.
Mark lets out a delighted, amused laugh, “Right back at you”
Donghyuck looks at Mark’s raised hand that he’s holding his watermelon flavored lollipop with. There’s a bracelet dangling on his wrist.
It’s an old bracelet. It has a sunflower pendant stretched between some black, leathery strings. Donghyuck gave it to Mark back when they were in elementary school. The younger used to have the exact same bracelet for himself too, before he lost it some years ago.
Donghyuck got them the bracelets for them to be the best-friends-forever-bracelets.
And even after all these years, even if Donghyuck has already lost his own, Mark still wears it.
Donghyuck likes to think, that somewhere along the way, the bracelet has changed its meaning to a promise.
~ ♡ ~
Donghyuck is comfortably lying on his bed, when his phone suddenly rings.
It’s late in the evening, his parents are also in their room already and it’s quiet. So, when the phone starts ringing, Donghyuck startles. He grabs it from the mattress next to him and takes the call.
“Hello?” he answers. He didn’t even stop to look who the caller was.
“Hey, Hyuck”, Mark sounds distressed, panicky even, “I just... I’m not... I mean, could you come over?”
Donghyuck’s stomach drops and he jumps out of bed. They’ve been in this situation before, “I’ll be there in twelve. Do you wanna stay on the line?”
“No, it’s okay. I can wait here”
“Ok. Just don’t do anything stupid”, Donghyuck says sternly.
“Yeah, yeah. See you soon”
“I’m on my way”, Donghyuck says and then the line shuts. He throws on the closest clothes and then makes a beeline to the hall. He puts on his shoes and takes the keys to his bike. Then he’s out of the door.
The evening air is surprisingly chilly today, as Donghyuck pedals his way towards the rowhouse where Mark’s apartment is. He leaves his bike next to the front door and knocks on it.
Mark opens the door and then immediately disappears back inside the apartment. Donghyuck takes his shoes off and follows the older to the living room.
He notes how cold the apartment is. Mark has all the windows open and the wind is blowing inside. And yet Mark is all red from his face and clearly sweating.
The older looks miserable. He’s restless, pacing around like he didn’t know how to stop. He’s sweating and it looks like he’s having a slightly hard time breathing. He’s clearly having one of his worse anxiety attacks.
Donghyuck notices how Mark is clenching something in his fist. Before he has the time to ask about it, Mark suddenly walks up to him and hands whatever it is, to Donghyuck.
Donghyuck receives a ball of scrunched toilet paper. He’s confused for half a second, before he realizes to open the paper. His heart stops. There’s a single razor blade inside the scrunched toilet paper.
Donghyuck tosses the paper and the razor blade on the floor and aggressively grabs a hold of Mark’s wrists to see if the older has cut himself. Luckily, he doesn’t see any fresh cuts.
They’ve been in a similar situation few months ago. It was then, when Donghyuck first found out that Mark had been hurting himself. Apparently, he does it when the anxiety gets overbearing and he comes up with no other ways to cope with it.
Donghyuck had been enraged. How could Mark do that to himself? Even now, Donghyuck can’t help it when the anger starts bubbling inside of him.
But he knows that getting angry at Mark is the last thing the older needs. He doesn’t need anyone to start quilt-tripping and shaming him when he’s already vulnerable and in a bad place. He doesn’t hurt himself for attention or to make other people worry about him, he does it because he feels like there’s no other ways to cope with the all-consuming anxiety.
Donghyuck had made it clear for Mark, that he was always going to be there for the older. That when Mark didn’t know how to cope with his feelings, Donghyuck would show up anywhere, anytime to help him. The younger had made Mark promise to call him whenever he felt bad and especially whenever he felt like hurting himself.
“I didn’t cut”, Mark says and yanks his arms from Donghyuck, “I broke a razor and contemplated on it, but then I called you”
Donghyuck lets out a breath he was holding. Then he pulls Mark to a tight hug. They stay like that for a moment. The older is trembling in Donghyuck’s hold.
When they break apart, Donghyuck says, “Okay, go put your wrists under cold water, it’ll cool down your body. I’ll close the windows”
Mark nods and walks to the bathroom. Donghyuck hears the tab being turned on. He moves to close all the windows of the apartment. Then he takes the counterpane off from Mark’s bed.
Donghyuck sits down on Mark’s bed and scoots backwards until he can lean his back against the wall. Mark walks into the bedroom and Donghyuck pats the spot next to him. The older complies and moves to sit right next to Donghyuck.
Donghyuck drapes his arm around Mark’s waist and the older rests his head on Donghyuck’s shoulder. They’re quiet for a while. The younger hopes that Mark would talk to him about this but it rarely goes like that.
Donghyuck hates how difficult it is for Mark to talk about his feelings, especially the negative ones. He always feels embarrassed talking about his anxiety and how it makes him feel, even if he has no reasons to feel that way. Donghyuck has begged for him to go see a professional and maybe get medication, but Mark always refuses.
It breaks Donghyuck’s heart to see the one he loves hurting. But in all reality, Mark is his own person and as long as he refuses to get help, Donghyuck can’t force him to. He can only help the older the best he can.
“Mark”, Donghyuck whispers, “Talk to me. How do you feel?”
“Like screaming”, Mark answers curtly, with a quiet voice. Then he says nothing more.
Donghyuck waits for a while, but when he realizes Mark’s not going to say anything more, he takes his phone from his pocket. He goes to Spotify and searches a song.
Donghyuck knows listening to music often helps Mark to calm down.
He presses the song on and puts the phone on the mattress in front of them. His song of choice is What Could’ve Been by Gone West. Soon the soft tunes of the country pop ballad and the beautiful voice of Colbie Caillat fill the quiet room, accompanying the sounds of Mark’s irregular breathing and Donghyuck’s almost unnoticeable one.
There’s something about sad songs. They give you comfort when you’re feeling low.
They sit like that for a long time. The songs change and the night goes by. Mark relaxes slowly.
And when the Moon finally falls asleep, so does Mark. The world around them welcomes the morning, but the two boys finally fall asleep.
~ ♡ ~
“Would you finally tell me what it is that we are actually doing here?” Mark asks.
The forest is calm and quiet around them. Mark and Donghyuck have been walking for hours, tracing the narrow pathways that have formed to the ground with time. The huge spruces and pines are blocking the sunshine from reaching the lowest layers of the forest.
Donghyuck had asked Mark to come and do a small hike with him, promising that it would be worth it. Donghyuck has a surprise of sorts for him, Mark will soon find out what it is.
“Don’t worry, we are almost there”, Donghyuck says.
“Almost where? In the middle of this forest?”
“Pretty much”, Donghyuck grins.
They walk for a little while longer, and then they finally see the mass of trees becoming less dense. The forest opens a clearing where there’s a small hill in the middle of it. The top of the hill is where Donghyuck is leading Mark.
The boys climb on top of the hill. Like Donghyuck had referred earlier, the hill is pretty much in the middle of this big forest. The forest surrounds the hill in every direction, continuing far to the horizon. The boys can see the top of the foliage from where they’re standing.
Donghyuck and Mark can be completely sure, that there are no other people anywhere near around.
They had started walking around midday, now it is far to the afternoon. The sun is shining noticeably lower already, but it’s not actively setting yet.
“Remember the other day, when I asked you how you felt like?”, Donghyuck asks Mark who’s looking at the view that’s opening before their eyes.
“You said you felt like screaming”, the younger continues. Now Mark turns his gaze on Donghyuck. He looks a little confused.
“So that’s what we're doing here today”, Donghyuck smiles, “Screaming”
“Screaming?” Mark repeats.
“Yes. I brought you here, because there is no way anyone would be anywhere near here. So, we won’t be heard. You can scream from the top of your lungs and finally let off some steam”
Mark looks at Donghyuck. Slowly, his confused expression changes to a touched one, “You really went your way to find me place where I can scream my lungs out”, he marvels quietly, “You really did this for me”, it’s not so much a question, as it is a surprised statement.
Donghyuck smiles softly and whispers, “You know I’d do anything for you”
Mark looks at him for a long time, until he turns his gaze back to the dark green foliage in front of them. He looks like he wants to say nothing and everything at the same time. He needs a moment and Donghyuck doesn’t mind that.
The younger, too, turns his gaze to the roof of the forest in front of them. He takes a deep breath.
And then he screams.
He screams from the bottom of his lungs, as loud as he can. Mark, who’s standing couple meters from him, startles, and so do the bunches of birds that fly off from the trees near the hill.
When Donghyuck quiets down, Mark lets out a surprised, bright laugh.
“Come on, you too”, Donghyuck grins and urges Mark to do the same.
So, the older does.
He screams. And then he screams again. And again. The ear-piercing noise echoes through the hectares of nothingness in front of them. Mark screams until his lungs and throat burn and he’s panting for air.
Knowing what kind person Mark is, Donghyuck thinks that this probably was much better way than talking to deal with some things.
The older plops down to sit on the ground, trying to even his breath. Donghyuck walks closer and sits down next to him. They look at each other and burst out laughing.
“Any better?” Donghyuck then asks.
“Yeah. I feel a lot lighter”, Mark smiles. He turns his eyes away again, but after a second, he reaches his hand and takes Donghyuck’s hand in his. He intertwines their fingers.
Donghyuck looks at their intertwined hands and smiles to himself. Mark’s hand is warm against his and it just feels like it fits.
When Donghyuck lifts his gaze, Mark has turned to look at him again. There’s a small, nervous smile decorating the older’s lips,
“I love you, Hyuck”
Those are the words Donghyuck has hoped to hear for a long time now.
His heart could burst with happiness.
“I love you too”, the younger whispers.
His heart could burst with happiness and Mark’s smile could rival the brightness of the Sun.
“I think I've been in love with you for forever”, Mark then muses, almost more to himself.
Donghyuck lets out a laugh and casts his gaze on the sky,
“Yeah, I know the feeling”
~ ♡ ~
Life gets better.
It’s not like Mark suddenly gets cured from his anxiety disorder, it doesn’t work like that. But with Donghyuck’s constant pestering, he starts slowly opening up, and eventually agrees to go see a professional and get medication.
Maybe Donghyuck has more influence on him now that they’re officially in a relationship.
Nothing makes Donghyuck happier, than witnessing Mark slowly getting happier and not feeling so anxious about everything. Witnessing his boyfriend blossoming back to the person who isn’t afraid of new situations and new people, and who doesn’t think that a simple mistake is the end of the world.
If Donghyuck wasn’t already spending a lot of time at Mark’s before, he sure is now. His parents are gradually seeing less and less of him, as he’s slowly moving into Mark’s apartment without even really realizing it.
There are Donghyuck’s clothes in Mark’s closet, his toothbrush stands in the cup next to Mark’s one on the side of the bathroom sink, his laptop, favorite books and phone charger are on Mark’s desk and most of the foods in the fridge and in the cabinets are the brands that Donghyuck prefers.
“Donghyuck”, Mark says when he walks into the bedroom, where the younger is lying on Mark’s bed. Mark had just been doing the laundry, half of it having been Donghyuck’s dirty clothes.
“Hm?” Donghyuck answers absentmindedly as he’s scrolling through his phone.
“Would you just move in already?” Mark starts. Donghyuck drops his phone on his face, “You’re already practically living in here. I just did laundry and half of it was yours. So, you know, you could just officially move in”
Donghyuck hops off the bed, “Are you serious?”
“Yes”, Mark says. His expression melts to a soft, shy smile, “I’d love it if you lived here”
Donghyuck walks up to Mark and snakes his hands around the older’s waist. He leans to press a soft kiss on Mark’s lips,
“I’d love to live here”