Archive of Our Own

Four years later.

With a hand gripped low on the steering wheel, Donghyuck curls his fingers tight.

He can feel the way his knuckles are aching, and the way his veins are protruding from his skin, but he ignores it as he turns every corner, and as his wheels slip against the asphalt that he drives on. The feeling of his breath getting caught in his throat burns, and he grits his teeth like he tries to prevent it from even happening in the first place.

His hands are like those of an amateur, and his style is lazy, but he doesn't blame himself. He hasn't raced in almost two years, hasn't geared up his new car in the same ways he used to ride with his Aston Martin.

There's no way he feels as connected with this car, it drives differently, it races differently, but regardless, Donghyuck still chases the clawing desire of fun, the thrill he gets when he finishes these kinds of races.

He knows there are a few people around him, with cars built up to such perfect extent that it makes him look ridiculous.

But then again, they're young and exploring the world of additions to their car.

Donghyuck, with a lustful and aching heart, still misses his heart shaped tail lights that sat too beautifully on the back of his car. He misses the interior, and the scents he had inside, or the way he started to get the damn thing professionally cleaned ever since Mark had spilled soda in it.

He turns another corner and realizes that he has come across a perfectly straight road, his chest already dragging down with a need to absolutely floor it and fall back into his old days.

The scenery is beautiful too, but Donghyuck's head is a little busy and focused on the sound of the cars that pass him, or the smells that feed right through his windows and into his nose. It whips him into reality as he notices that Mark has pulled up right beside him, matching his speed in a sort of way to greet him.

Donghyuck is shot back into their old days, seeing Mark with his windows down, his hair pushed back to reveal his forehead. But this time, he wears a bright colored beanie, his lips in a tight smirk. All at once, Donghyuck is overwhelmed with a body full of nerves — butterfly like, coating over every inch of his skin as he looks at Mark.

His toes curl as his car jolts forward, and his mouth drops open when he realizes that his own body reactions of seeing Mark are literally driving the fucking car.

Mark still drives his same Supra, still looks sexy as fuck in it, Donghyuck would say as his lips part even more and as his mouth dries when he rolls down his window just to wink at him.

This gives Mark the validation he needs before he speeds back off.

"Fuck off," Donghyuck rolls his eyes before he sends his car forward.

A laugh runs off of his tongue before he even thinks about it, but of course it does. Mark is trying to show off, as usual, because his car still runs like a fucking god, and Donghyuck wants nothing more than to sit in the passenger seat and feel his heart pound in his chest as Mark takes him for a ride.

He loves that feeling.

Even after all this time, Mark has kept up more with racing than Donghyuck has, so the boy definitely has more skill, and Donghyuck admires the hell out of him when he takes him for rides in their free time.

Of course, Mark beats Donghyuck.

But, Mark doesn't win overall.

All the drivers pull around to park, getting out of their cars with wide smiles, crooked smiles, cocky smiles, and shy smiles. Donghyuck chooses a shy smile, his cheeks reddening as his chest rises and falls softly, his heart pounding against his ribcage.

He spots Mark easily from across the way, but he doesn't approach him quite yet. Instead, he stays a distance away and lets him catch up with a few of the drivers, pointing to their cars and laughing loudly with them.

"Didn't do so bad," he hears a voice calling in his direction.

Turning on his heels, Donghyuck uses the collar of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face.

“So tell me, when did Jisung Park become such a good racer?" Donghyuck reaches out to shake his hand, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Probably around the same time Donghyuck Lee stopped racing," he jokes as he pulls away to lean against the car. "And at the same time he decided to get a damn Ferrari."

Donghyuck chuckles at him, looking back at his car as he shrugs.

"It's been a long time, Jisung. How are you?"

Jisung breathes out and nods his head.

He looks different.

The boy has grown taller, he's built a lot more muscle, and dresses like everything Donghyuck has always wanted to dress like. He almost envies him, it's incredible. His hair is darker, he has highlights in all the right places, and it's styled in a way that suits him almost to perfection, even after it was probably just blown around from racing. He's sweating at his temples, but even so, he still looks beautiful.

"Damn you look good," Donghyuck forces out before Jisung even gets the chance to tell him how he has been doing. "Sorry, sorry, continue."

Jisung's cheeks have tinted light pink, like someone has dusted just a bit of blush there. He has a shimmer in his eyes, too, and it stands out more than anything Donghyuck has ever seen before.

"I'm good, I am good," Jisung smiles wide as he moves a few feet back to press his hips against his own car. "I kind of fell in love with racing. Jaemin and I started doing it more often to blow off steam with some of the things we were going through."

Donghyuck doesn't know whether or not he is referring to them as a pair, or separate in their lives, but he doesn't question it too much. He just pulls his lips into a straight line and licks them, tilting his head to the side. He doesn't know Jisung like he used to, so truly, he's not sure if it's even his place to ask him how they are. The two of them moved away when they transferred out to a university after completing their associates degrees, and since then, Jisung, Jaemin, and Donghyuck's communication just faded.

Sure, they'd catch up every once in a while, and like each other's posts on instagram when posted, or maybe message some things on twitter when seen, but most of the time, the conversations would fade out.

Never was it a problem though, because there was nothing standing between them. No tension, no feelings of hatred, just a few friends losing connection after a while, and Donghyuck taught himself over time that it was bound to happen. At first, he felt the bubbling worry of ruining his own friendships, and being responsible for the way a lot of the people he talked to seem to be fading from his life, but he started to realize that growing up, especially at the age he was at, was bound to come with accepting the fact that so many people were just going to be a part of his life for just, well... that part of his life.

If there were times where they would catch up in the future, then so be it.

Donghyuck decides to speak up to him.

"How are you two?" Donghyuck feels the nerves sweep over his body. "And what are you even doing back in Los Angeles right now?"

Jisung smiles as he fiddles with his neck, pulling out a tiny chain with a ring hooked around it. His blush is thicker now, painted down his cheekbones toward his jaw, to his neck, and all over his skin.

He looks nice this way, like Jaemin does things to him.

"No shit," Donghyuck pokes his tongue into his cheek and laughs as he walks forward.

Jisung pulls it over his neck before he hands it to Donghyuck.

"It's just a promise ring right now," he says softly. "But, I have to wear it around my neck because I'm doing all these medical rotations right now, and can't wear it on my hand. We're just back here for the break to see our families, and everything."

Donghyuck is still admiring the ring, thinking about Jaemin and the look on his face when he'd smirk at him. He places his hand on Jisung's shoulder and grins softly at him.

"It's beautiful. I'm happy for you."

Jisung thanks him and bites down on his lip.

"What about you," he hums. "You still with Mark?"

Donghyuck scoffs and rolls his eyes, cocking his head over to the boy who is still talking to everyone over by his car. He looks good of course, like he's enjoying himself, and Donghyuck likes to see him like this, as always, like he's just on the top of a mountain, getting the first breath of fresh air and taking in the view, laughing until his stomach hurts. Mark's happiness is purely Donghyuck's favorite thing to ever exist.

"Yeah, I sure am."

Jisung slips the necklace around his head before he winks at him.

"Good," he says. "Cause, don't think I didn't see it."

Donghyuck flushes red. Even redder than before.

Only a couple seconds later does Mark show up, his sweaty arms lapping around Donghyuck's waist from behind, chin fitting perfectly in the small crease of his neck. Donghyuck tightens his own hands around Mark's that are wrapped around him, just to feel closer to him as he leans back a little. Mark stares forward blindly, his eyes soon widening as his lips part and as a gasp soon airs out.

"Holy shit," he says. "Jisung?"

He untangles himself from Donghyuck and walks forward as he pulls the younger boy into a hug.

"I swear I just thought Donghyuck was talking to someone, and we both get a little bored sometimes, so I was coming to keep him company and I definitely spaced out until I realized that it was you," he laughs as he steps back to stand next to Donghyuck again.

Jisung chuckles at him.

Mark receives an elbow to his side.

"I don't get bored talking to people, you do, and then you pretend to like their cars," he chucks his eyebrow up while Mark glares at him.

"You race now? This was you?" Mark walks to his car and bends down to look at his rims. "These are sexy."

Donghyuck lets their conversation fade out in the back of his head, and just their interaction brings back memories of when they were younger, living with their parents and taking on the world and all of its adventures like they had no other problems, even though there were so many smaller ones.

Of course things are different now, they've grown up slightly, definitely matured, but still the youth inside of them is desperate to be freed and experienced every once in a while, and besides... it's still there. They're still young, just not as young as they used to be. Not as dauntless and curious.

A notification pulls up on Donghyuck's phone, reminding him that he and Mark still have a lot to get done.

So this time, Donghyuck wraps a single arm around Mark's abdomen and rubs his palm against his stomach, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck.

"We should probably head out soon," he hums. "We still have a lot to pack."

Jisung furrows his eyebrows.

"Pack? Where are you going?"

Donghyuck is comfortable against the warmth, so he pulls his body closer to Mark and rubs his cheek on his shoulder, breathing in the familiar smell of the detergent, of the scent inside of Mark's car that his clothes also smell like, and also just the smell of, well, Mark. He closes his eyes for just a solid second before he refocuses on the situation.

"We're going out to New York to spend Christmas with Donghyuck's family," Mark swings his arm over his boyfriend's shoulder and pulls him into his side.

"Oh that's right, they moved out there so long ago," he nods as his body stiffens up. "Are they liking it?"

Donghyuck nods.

"My sister loves New York," he shakes his head. "I think she was meant to live over there because she loves the weather, the city, the crowds, and everything."

Jisung stiffens up in excitement this time as his eyes light up, fingers delicately tracing the outline of his other hand. He looks happy, like he's thrilled to even be talking to Donghyuck in the first place. And Donghyuck feels the same, like a new found emotion has been brought to his surface, like he's remembering what it's like to feel something he hasn't in a while.

"Koi," Jisung whispers. "Holy shit, your sister..."

Donghyuck smiles wide until his teeth show.

"How old is she now?"

"She'll be eight in a month or so?" Donghyuck looks over at Mark like he has the answer, and Mark does, of course, because he's better at remembering dates.

They won't see her for her birthday, so they've already bought her a gift, and are bringing it for Christmas.

"You're fucking kidding," he shakes his head. "She was like almost four when I last saw her."

Donghyuck nods slow and presents another smile, his chest radiating warmth, but the open kind, like he's sad that they have lost communication for so long.

"I know, she's growing up so fast. She's so smart and stubborn, and acts like she knows everything," Donghyuck rolls his eyes.

"She does know everything," Mark corrects him.

Jisung's eyes are brighter this time.

"Will you be here for the summer?" Donghyuck asks all of a sudden.

There's a pause and then a frown, but then Jisung nods his head.

"Besides the vacation Jaemin and I have planned for the end of May, yeah... we'll be here, why?"

"My mother and father are going to be spending their summer in Asia, so we asked Koi to come spend the summer with us, since she'll be off from school. She likes to be with us, and we thought it would be fun for her. We should all meet up again, for the sake of old times," Donghyuck tells him.

Jisung pulls him into a hug, with Mark teasing on the edges of it.

"I think that would be perfect," he whispers. "Jaemin would be absolutely ecstatic to join."

With that, Donghyuck and Mark say their goodbyes to the boy and wish him luck on finishing up his year in school, sending him off and wishing him a good holiday season. It leaves them alone on the half of the parking lot they are on, with sweet and dark red cheeks, big smiles, and tired bodies.

Mark turns toward him and hooks his arms around the lowest part of Donghyuck's waist, pulling him close until their cores are touching.

"You raced well out there, by the way," Mark touches their noses together, making Donghyuck blink slow. "Cheeks are so red, cherry boy."

Donghyuck cracks a smile and pushes forward until he literally has to catch Mark's lips between his.

His hands nearly melt on his cheeks, because Mark's cheeks feel cold, and Donghyuck's hands are so warm, and the way they tend to each other is too good, like it's meant to be.

Donghyuck kisses him softly, only traces of need behind each lap of his tongue, as he licks up slowly into his mouth. He doesn't do it too hard, or too fast, because he likes slow, especially at this time of the night, in this weather, and when the stars are painted over their heads like this.

Mark pulls away first when he notices Donghyuck's hand has gone flat against his stomach and is slowly moving up to his chest. It only means Donghyuck wants more, because it always means he wants more — Donghyuck always touches Mark in this kind of way when he wants him to kiss him deeper, stronger, harder, until all he knows is Mark's name and his touch, until his lips are numb, until their bedroom is soaked with burning desire and the scent of clean linen is hitting every corner, because Donghyuck has a thing for burning candles when he's fucking Mark.

"You said it yourself," Mark tells him as he holds Donghyuck's wrist, guiding his arm down to intertwine their fingers. "We should pack."

Donghyuck pouts at him as he sighs, leaning up to kiss him once more.

"Meet me at home?" Mark asks.

Donghyuck gives Mark a good look.

He loves to do that.

Loves to look over every feature with his eyes, and his hands if he has time to do that, then his lips of course, but right now he does it just with his eyes. He'll sit there and get a good look at him, going over every piece of Mark to memorize him just a bit further than he's used to. He'll smile, and Donghyuck will mirror it, trying to let that smile sink even deeper into the farthest part of his memory.

It's incredible.

Donghyuck thinks being in love is incredible.

"I'll meet you at home, yeah," he hums. "I just needed to stop by the store and grab a couple things. I need toothpaste and my own shampoo, because I don't like the ones that they have in hotels. Do you need anything?"

Mark furrows his eyebrows and kisses over the bangs of Donghyuck's hair.

"I think I am okay," he nods. "If I need anything, I guess I'll just buy it there. Are you hungry? I think I'm going to make something when I get back."

Donghyuck shrugs and nods his head.

"That would be awesome," he unlocks his car before he walks around toward the drivers side. "Oh, get the clothes out of the dryer. It has the sweatshirts we like. We should bring them."

Mark is halfway back to his car when he throws the thumbs up.

"You got it, baby."

✰✰✰

Swirling his tongue harshly behind his teeth, Donghyuck checks the top of the stove for the fifth time, making sure that it is not left on. They just made a bunch of pancakes, and Donghyuck has a habit of forgetting how to turn off the electric stove, since he's used to the gas one that he used to have at home.

"Okay, I am going to sit you down for a moment," Mark mumbles to him as he touches at his shoulders, pushing him toward their living room to set Donghyuck on the edge of the couch.

"No, Mark!" Donghyuck whines as he nearly rips the edge of Mark's sweater. "We should have left for the airport ten minutes ago, we don't have time to sit down!"

Mark smirks at him as he manages to get him down on the edge of the couch, sitting right on his lap. Of course, Donghyuck can't resist it, so he takes a deep breath and connects his hands onto Mark's hips, pulling his lip into his mouth as he tries to hide his smile. He cools himself down immediately, trying not to heat up in a bunch of other ways.

"Alright," Donghyuck whispers, fingers sliding right underneath Mark's sweater to thumb over his hip bones. "You've got my attention. What is it?"

A thumb under Donghyuck's chin is all it takes for Donghyuck to go lax, for his shoulders to untense, for even his smile to spread out into something a lot smoother. Mark scrunches his nose up when Donghyuck closes his eyes, and he leans in to press the most languid kiss onto his mouth.

"You running around and going red in the face is only going to make things worse, my love. Everything is going to go perfect with your family, so you need to take a breath, and relax, because we're headed to New York, let's have fun," Mark pulls away, breath hot on Donghyuck's mouth.

Donghyuck doesn't waste time in leaning up to press another careful kiss to his mouth, just one more that'll bring a gentle breeze through his lungs, something that should hopefully calm him down. As usual, it's Mark's mouth — his kisses do the trick.

"Hop off baby," Donghyuck pouts. "We'll be late."

But, Mark doesn't move.

"The airplane can wait for us, can't it?" He cheekily winks.

Donghyuck shoves him onto the other side of the sofa.

"No it will not," he rolls his eyes. "Let's go."

Pulling up to the airport makes Donghyuck's hands sweat, but Mark holds onto him, and he holds tight.

The security line through first class isn't too long, but it still takes them a little bit of time to get past it all, but as soon as they're on the plane, Mark finds his time to relax.

Donghyuck on the other hand, is a teeth-chattering, pouting mess as he lets his fingers intertwine lazily with Mark's.

"What if we forgot to put one of the gifts in the suitcase?" He puts his elbow on the spot between their seats, blinking up at Mark with a hint of sadness..

Mark only takes his hand and pets over his face, over his hair, watching the way it all falls back down perfectly. Oh, Donghyuck and his perfect hair.

"Don't think like that, worry bug," he says in a soft tone as their bodies jolt forward, indicating that the plane has begun to move backward as they pull away its original parked spot.

Donghyuck just grips Mark's hand a bit harder, biting down on his lip as he takes a deep breath.

"Good, good," Mark tells him. "Take a nap?"

Donghyuck looks at him and rolls his eyes, because at this point, Mark should know that there is no way Donghyuck can take a nap, especially when he's feeling this nervous on their flight.

He just wants their vacation to be perfect.

He wants their Christmas to be perfect.

✰✰✰

Unlike the original thought in Donghyuck's head, he ends up falling asleep about four hours into the flight, after watching a few episodes of a show he and Mark had decided to start watching together at nights when they were both home.

He wakes up to Mark tapping on his shoulder about a hundred times a minute, his nose soon poking into his arm.

He blinks, fists soon scraping against his eyes as he yawns.

"What is it?" Donghyuck asks him as he sits up.

Mark's face is pulled into distress as he fiddles with his own fingers.

"Your family is picking us up from the airport, right?" He asks.

Donghyuck only nods.

"Well, we're like half an hour out and I am so fucking nervous, Donghyuck," he swallows.

This time, it's Donghyuck who raises an eyebrow, shifting his body so he can look at Mark properly, studying his face in a new kind of way. He sees the actual stress, but he still has to tease him. He just has to.

"Look who is worried now," he says as he crosses his arms.

Mark whines as he scoots down in his chair.

"Dude," he says seriously. "They don't know yet."

Donghyuck winks at him.

"I know."

Getting off the plane is easy, and Mark keeps himself busy by bouncing on his toes as they wait for the baggage claim to bring their suitcases around. Donghyuck keeps his hand on Mark's waist, giggling by his side as he tells Mark about how fun their break is going to be.

They're standing by the sliding doors that lead outside, and they get to feel the wind that comes in every single time people walk through.

Mark whips his head toward the doors every time they open, telling Donghyuck he's looking at the weather, in which the other chuckles more at him.

"Baby," Donghyuck tells him. "They are going to pull around in the car. No one is going to walk in."

Mark settles at that, nodding his head a bunch of times as he lets his body relax.

"All we've got tonight is a drive to Manhattan with them, a bit of a greeting, and then we can unpack and I'll run you a nice fucking bath, okay?" Donghyuck whispers at his ear, making Mark crane his neck back a little.

The words are careful, they're honest, and Mark always loves the way Donghyuck is caring toward him, especially when he's feeling nervous.

"Okay," he tells him. "Okay, I like the sound of that."

A little bit later, with all of their bags in their hands, and over their shoulders, they head right out of the double doors and into the car that is waiting for them outside.

Donghyuck's mother is in the front seat, while his father sits in the passenger seat, and in the back sits a little girl in a bright colored sweater, her hair in two buns on the top of her head. Donghyuck's father had jumped out of the car to greet them, and to help get the suitcases in the back of the car, soon opening the door for the two of them.

It's Donghyuck who jumps into the car first, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek before he tackles his sister in a hug, tickling her sides as he scoots in.

Mark follows second, kindly greeting Donghyuck's mother as he shuts the door behind him.

It's quiet for a moment as Mark hides behind Donghyuck, popping his head out from behind him to see the girl he has been waiting to see for quite some time.

"Koi Lee, look at you," he smiles at her.

It takes her about two seconds to warm up before she unbuckles and crawls across Donghyuck's lap, wrapping her arms around Mark's neck.

"Mark!" Her voice echoes through his ears, filling him to the brim with happiness, making him settle and making him feel as though he is safe, right in the car with people he is familiar with, but people he hasn't seen in a while.

"It's been some time, hasn't it? You grow up so much every time I see you."

She nods her head before Donghyuck urges her to buckle up as they begin to drive.

The feeling is sweet, and Donghyuck admires it, being able to sit next to his sister again, as the cool air from outside fades and as the heater makes him feel even warmer, along with the overwhelming sensation of being around his family again.

"So tell us how you've been!" Donghyuck's mother urges. "We are about to hit traffic, so let's catch up now so we can let the two of you settle once we drop you off."

Donghyuck links his hand with Mark's, and brings his hand to his mouth so he can kiss the bone of his wrist, making sure to just run his thumb along his skin. He wants Mark to be able to enjoy New York, since it'll be his first time in the city. He wants him to feel comfortable.

"Well," Donghyuck begins.

✰✰✰

By the time they get everything unpacked, both of them are exhausted down to the core, bodies aching and heads pounding.

Donghyuck tried to convince Mark that they should keep everything just shoved in their suitcases, but they had quite a few different outfits that they needed to hang up, along with different gifts that they probably needed to hide away in the closet so they wouldn't get ruined in any kind of way, especially since some of them were cologne bottles, like the set they bought for Johnny, and for Taeyong.

The room is much more organized too, but the bed has still yet to be touched.

It's a king sized bed with a lot of pillows, extra ordered by Donghyuck's request because he was extremely excited to be able to sleep in a swarm of them, since he had been in this exact same hotel years ago before his family had moved out.

Mark sits on the edge of the bed and spreads his knees apart, urging Donghyuck to walk toward him.

He does, no hesitation involved as he lets his hands roam over Mark's shoulders,

He takes a deep breath as he closes his own eyes and focuses on the way Mark touches him so gently, like it's all that he knows. And maybe it really is, because Mark has always touched him in a kind of way that meant well, that made Donghyuck feel like he had no other thoughts on his mind, just the idea of him, and him only.

Mark always made him feel so special.

Lifting up the corners of Donghyuck's shirt, he thumbs along his hips, making Donghyuck hum to prove he is enjoying it. Mark grins and pulls him closer, lifting his shirt up so he can press a solid kiss right in the center of his abdomen, the sweetest kiss to his stomach.

Donghyuck's stomach curls in as he giggles and fists his hands in Mark's hair.

At first it's a laugh out of Donghyuck's mouth, a chuckle from his tongue, but then it's a choked moan when Mark grips at his back and presses open mouthed kisses along his stomach while he stands right in front of him.

Heat radiates across his core, between his thighs, and blooms so vivaciously in his chest.

He grips harder at Mark's hair and lets his mouth fall open as he just stares, the shirt just falling over Mark's head, making the scene disappear quickly in front of him. It makes Donghyuck pout, but it isn't long before Mark pulls back anyway, looking up at Donghyuck with a lazy smile.

"Want to open a bottle of wine and take that bath you mentioned?" Mark asks him, lips still a bit wet.

Donghyuck blinks blissfully at him before he nods his head, bending down to lay a flat kiss on his mouth before he pulls him into the bathroom.

Soon, with two glasses of wine and a jetted tub, Mark and Donghyuck strip down from their robes and get into the water, letting their bodies soak.

At first, they just let soft music play from Donghyuck's phone, since it's really all that they have. At home, they have a few different speakers, but here, stories and stories high, they don't have anything but the tiny speakers on their phones to rely on. It's not really all that bad, because it's nice to just close their eyes and listen to the sound of the jets and focus on the way it hits against the muscles on their backs. After their long day of traveling and lifting, and sitting still, they unwind with each other.

They sit on opposite sides, their heads tilted toward the view, turning back to look at each other every few minutes.

"Is this what you saw when you came all those years back? Right before your family moved here?" Mark pokes his foot into Donghyuck's stomach, making him nearly cough up the wine he is sipping on.

Donghyuck cocks an eyebrow up at him.

"Yeah," he says. "When I decided I wanted to stay in Los Angeles. But, I was a little higher up, I think."

He traces his finger along the edge of his glass and swallows down the rest of his drink before he takes the bottle and pours a little more.

A laugh comes out of his mouth before he licks his lips.

"Do you remember that one thing I said to you, though?" Donghyuck peers at him over his glass.

Mark squints at him.

"Remind me?" He says. "It's been almost four years, baby."

Donghyuck sets his glass down before he leans down and kicks his feet up on the side of the bathtub, putting his fingers to his ear like he's pretending to be on the phone.

"Pretend to be in the room with your dad," Donghyuck smirks at him.

Mark gives him a look before his face pulls into something totally understanding, eyes fading as he starts to shake his head. He remembers. He must.

"Holy shit," he whispers.

"Do it," Donghyuck urges.

Mark holds his hand out in the same kind of phone that Donghyuck has made with his fingers. He blinks at him like he's completely in love, staring at Donghyuck like him in the bath in front of him is the best thing that he has ever seen, because it probably is. Donghyuck and his hair, Donghyuck and his soft heart, Donghyuck and his strength to change the world one day.

God, Mark is in love with him. So in love with him.

"I would love to fuck you in a New York high rise one day," Donghyuck says into his phone.

Mark shakes his head as he laughs shyly.

"My dad is in the room, Donghyuck," he says into his hand before he taps his hand against his chest, urging Donghyuck to come sit with him.

It only takes Donghyuck a second before he shifts his body and before he sits with his back to Mark's chest, the boy's arms coming around him in a gentle kind of way.

They sit like that, with Donghyuck grazing his fingers up and down Mark's thigh as they look out the window, watching the lights tell stories of their own.

Mark presses a light kiss to Donghyuck's neck, right under the spot by his ear, somewhere so familiar to him, a place that he has grown so weak for.

"I love you, Lee Donghyuck," he says to him, setting his glass down so he can trail his fingers up into the boy's hair to press even warmer kisses to his wet skin.

Donghyuck reaches his hand back and rolls his neck in a circle so he can get closer to Mark, so he can find more of his touch, so he can eventually get Mark to kiss every inch of his body. It's become so natural to be kissed by Mark, because Mark kisses him like he deserves to be. Donghyuck kisses him back with so much love, so much of it that sometimes it gets so caught up in his throat that he'll choke up and whimper out and nearly start crying because he thinks about how far he has come with Mark.

They've been together for nearly four years.

Four years of pure love, of adventures and memories that will stick by their sides until the end of time.

"I love you," Donghyuck says to him as he leans back, humming when Mark tightens his arms around his body, thumbs rubbing along his skin. "Now and forever, remember?"

Mark nods his head, keeping his lips pressed into his skin.

"Were you serious about fucking me in that high rise, because as far as I am concerned," he teases. "It kind of looks like we are in a New York high rise right now."

Donghyuck turns to look at him right in the eyes, reading something so warm. It builds up a kind of heat that he wants to hold onto.

Without hesitation, he leans in, ghosting his lips right over Mark's.

"It would be an honor, sweetheart."

✰✰✰

The hardcore knocking on their door in the morning is so loud for their pounding heads.

Mark shoves his knee into Donghyuck's back as he groans, mumbling into the back of his neck, trying to convince him to go see who is there. Donghyuck, with nothing but a hiss on his lips, sends an elbow in Mark's direction, and tells him to go to sleep or get it himself.

The knocking stops, so Donghyuck lifts the tension in his eyebrows and smiles as he curls into his pillow and tugs on Mark's arm, making himself a bit more comfortable in the room that only has a tiny amount of light coming through. They have the blinds shut by the window near their bed, which makes it perfectly dim, but the other side of the room is lit up, giving it the nicest kind of look.

The knocking returns only moments later, and Mark leans forward to bite at Donghyuck's neck playfully, telling him to get up already.

This time, Donghyuck shoves the boy off of him and heads to the door to look through the peephole.

"You're naked, by the way," Mark voices out from the sheets.

Donghyuck takes his hand off of the handle before he digs in the closet for a robe, pulling it around his body.

"It's Johnny," he says to Mark with an excited tone.

Mark jolts up, sitting up until he's upright, looking at the door with wide eyes.

"Don't open it!"

"I have to!"

"You can't! Wait until I-"

Of course, Donghyuck doesn't wait.

He just opens the door and practically jumps into Johnny's arms, dives into them as Johnny stumbles back and almost ends up against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway in the hotel. He's laughing as he holds Donghyuck by his back, patting him at his hair.

They end up back in the room a few moments later, Donghyuck's arm slung over Johnny's shoulders in a desperate attempt to bring his cousin closer to him as they look over at Mark. He still has the blankets up over his shoulders, like he's trying to hide the fact that he is completely bare.

"I see you two were busy last night," Johnny mumbles as he rubs at Donghyuck's head.

"Into the early morning as well. Mark was loud." Donghyuck teases back.

Mark only falls deep under the blankets.

"I was not! You were!"

Donghyuck sticks his tongue out at Mark.

"Johnny," Mark shouts as he shoves his hand out of the blankets so he can stick his middle finger up. "Fuck off so I can put some clothes on."

Donghyuck laughs before he tosses Mark a robe.

"He turned around, put that on, baby."

Mark peeks his head out before he slips into the robe, deciding to walk up to Johnny to wrap him in a hug.

It's really been so long since they have seen each other, because Johnny had only visited Los Angeles two years ago for a weekend, and even then, they hardly were able to spend time together, since he was busy with work related activities.

He never really came to visit when Donghyuck's parents came with Koi, so it was always hard to see him, especially since Mark and Donghyuck never really came out to New York.

"You two look so grown up, holy shit," he looks at them. "What have you been up to?"

Donghyuck sucks in a deep breath before he looks at Mark, who also sucks in a deep breath.

"Mark's in med school, I'm running the business, and have opened another aquarium. We're busy as fuck," he breathes as he leans into Mark's side, leaning over to kiss the side of Mark's head. "Good morning by the way."

Mark looks at him in awe, his eyes tracing over Donghyuck's features, over the way his neck has been kissed in so many places that it looks stained with Mark's mouth. Mark flushes red. No wonder Johnny knew they had been up to something.

Mark knows he looks the same, too.

"Taeyong is on his way, and he has Koi with him. We wanted to take you guys out for breakfast, so I'll hang here while you two dirty fools shower."

Donghyuck grasps onto Mark's hand before he drags him in the bathroom, shutting the door as quickly as possible. They brush their teeth first, glaring at each other in the mirrors as they shake their heads, laughing as the toothpaste drips down their chins. Of course it does, and of course they laugh over the sink, because Johnny just walked in on them naked in bed, and Donghyuck nearly opened the door like that because he was too excited to see him after all this time.

Mark turns the water on as he strips himself of his robe, hanging it up on the towel rack before he climbs in, telling Donghyuck to bring in the things he had packed, including the face wash that they both use from the same company.

Donghyuck is always a bit more responsible when it comes to packing things, even when they plan to go on little dates near the beach, it's always him who brings the knife that they'll need to spread the condiments onto their food.

Soon, Donghyuck stands in front of Mark with a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" Mark asks him, thumb touching underneath his cheek.

Donghyuck kisses the inside of his palm as he smiles at him.

"My head hurts."

"Well, we did drink a lot of wine and have a lot of sex last night, my love," Mark tells him. "Maybe you just need some medicine, and more sleep, because of the time change and everything."

Donghyuck blows air out of his mouth as he lets his eyebrows furrow even further.

Mark uses his fingers to massage it out for him, hoping to relieve the tension.

"Don't make that face, you're just going to make your headache worse," he tells him. "Did you bring anything to help headaches?"

Donghyuck sneaks his hand down to Mark's waist and just gives him a hug as they stand there underneath the water, underneath the warmth, because all he really wants to do is feel Mark's skin against his in the moment. Mark feels like home, and there's nothing that feels better than the feeling of home, especially when you're a few thousand miles away from it.

"No," Donghyuck realizes. "I must've forgotten."

"Hyuck," Mark frowns.

"I know," he whines.

"It's alright. Like I said... anything we forgot, we'll just get here. It's just over the counter, we can pick it up down the road, okay?" He kisses his head. "Plus, we'll get you some food, and hang out with Koi and Johnny and Taeyong, and then that's literally all we have planned today. So, we'll just come back and sleep, sound good?"

Donghyuck pulls back from the hug and pulls his lips into the smallest pout, eyes a little glossy, eyelashes wet from the water.

"But, I want to show you the city," he shrugs. "It's your first time."

"I know, but you're not feeling great right now, and I am exhausted too. We have a whole week and a half here. Plenty of time."

Donghyuck slaps his hand on Mark's stomach, making the boy huff out in annoyance.

"Okay, turn around, let me wash your hair. Then I need you to move, so I can finish up."

✰✰✰

When Donghyuck opens the bathroom door, he gets a head right in the center of his abdomen, and hears a high pitched squeal right in the process of it. He smiles and hugs the little girl who is latched onto his side... he's still in the process of remembering that she is actually here in front of him.

He bends down to pick her up and tosses her onto the bed, watching as she just tumbles over to wrap her arms around Mark's neck, proceeding to give him a hug.

Taeyong stands on the other end of the room, so Donghyuck takes the opportunity to greet him, smiling and shaking his hand as he already starts to mumble nonsense about Johnny. He gets a hand to his side as Johnny pinches him.

Everything is fine, everything is sweet, even, until Donghyuck hears the sound of his little sister from across the room.

"How come you have a ring on your finger?" She asks.

Donghyuck stiffens up as he whips his head toward Mark, who sits with his back so straight on the bed, staring over at Donghyuck with his eyes wider than anything they have ever seen before. He licks his lips and slowly pushes his hand behind his back, hiding it from the young girl who starts to giggle, and hiding it from the two other boys who are cocking their lips up into smiles.

"Yeah," Johnny says. "Yeah, Mark, why do you have a ring on your finger?"

Donghyuck slaps a hand over his face as he takes a few steps back toward the bed, all before he just falls onto it, groaning so loud into the pillows.

Mark rubs his back softly.

"Sorry?" He tries to say.

Donghyuck only tilts his head toward him and glares, almost like he's angry. Mark shrinks down.

"You are married?" Koi speaks up as she gets on her knees to crawl toward her brother, already pounding her little fists on his back.

He just groans lightly before he pokes his finger in her side.

"No, we are not!"

"You're engaged," Taeyong interjects as he sits down on the couch, pulling Johnny down with him.

Donghyuck turns around and sits against the headboard as he hugs the pillow against his body. He takes a moment to just look at Mark's hand, and then his own. Then the ceiling, where he just shakes his head and laughs.

"We were supposed to tell everyone at dinner in a few nights, so we could talk about the wedding plans, and about everything, but Mark literally can't leave without putting that damn ring on, I should've known."

Mark just frowns as he looks at him.

Mark turns to look at the little girl next to him, cupping her cheeks as he brings his face closer to hers.

"Koi bear, you can't tell your mom and dad, okay? It has to be a surprise. You like surprises, right?"

"I already know the surprise though."

"Oh, this is gonna go so bad," Donghyuck whines.

"Shut up," Mark rolls his eyes. "It's fine."

Donghyuck pulls Mark down before he just stares into his eyes. He strokes his finger underneath his eye before he kisses his forehead, his nose, and then his mouth.

"Fine, I forgive you."

"C'mon guys, kid in the room," Johnny says.

Mark pushes away from Donghyuck and sits back up on the bed, both of them ending up on the edge as Koi joins Johnny and Taeyong, sitting on their laps as she looks at her brother with a wide smile, proceeding to bounce up and down as she slaps her hand on Johnny's thigh.

"Do you both have rings?" She asks.

Mark nods his head.

"We do," he confirms. "Duckie said to keep them hidden until we tell everyone, but I am used to wearing mine... I must've just forgotten."

She seems ecstatic about the conversation as she sits in Johnny's lap, so she continues to ask questions that she needs answered. Even Johnny doesn't have as many questions as her curious mind does.

"Who asked who?" She rubs her hands together as her head cocks to the side.

Mark goes to open his mouth, but Donghyuck only lies his hand on his thigh.

"Who do you think asked who?"

Johnny makes a sound from his throat before he looks at them, like he already knows the answer, and maybe he does, because he has been there for Donghyuck through his process of falling in love, and before all of that, with everything of their accident, and the entire process of them being enemies, and having to struggle with denying their feelings for each other. He huffs before he looks at Donghyuck and his smirk.

"Donghyuck asked Mark, that's for sure," he says confidently.

Neither of them say anything.

Taeyong nods his head as he agrees with his boyfriend.

But, Koi stares at them. She really stares like she has nothing better to do.

She was young, when she was living in Los Angeles, when the two of them were first falling in love, learning about the smallest struggles in life and how to overcome them — and Donghyuck always thought she was too little and too immature to obtain any of the information that they would try to teach her, but as she got older, he started to realize that some of it actually stuck. He can see it right now in her eyes, too, because she looks at them like she knows, and he almost gets goosebumps when she smiles and shakes her head.

"No," she moves her arm back to hit Johnny. "No, you're wrong. Mark asked Duckie to marry him."

"Are you sure about that?" Mark asks her, their eye contact so solid, so pure and delicate.

Donghyuck feels shy almost as he watches the two of them connect.

They always have been able to. Even back home, even years ago.

"I am very sure."

Mark looks at Donghyuck before he smiles and lets his shoulders drop.

"She's right," he admits. "I proposed to him."

Johnny has to groan and tickle her side as he shoves her to the other side of the couch.

She doesn't seem to mind though, because she rushes over to give them a hug, congratulating them on their engagement, because they deserve it. It almost makes Donghyuck cry, too, because he feels his chest rising with warmth, and love, like he's coated in it.

He's in a room with his family, in a city with his family, and he doesn't think anything feels better than what he feels right in the moment.

"You better tell me everything about that proposal..." Johnny looks up at them as they both flush red, remembering the night.

✰✰✰

Christmas sneaks up on them so quickly.

They come before the holiday, because they want to be able to be home for New Years, so they plan the trip almost perfectly, all around the right dates.

New York City treats Mark with kindness, and he finds himself almost exhausted after every day, but he finds his heart fulfilled in the most ideal ways. It's nice, being able to walk along the streets, to see the things he's almost always wanted to see.

Mark enjoys the small sort of things, too, like spending times in the little restaurants, or going to shops, and coming back to the hotel to unwrap everything, and lying exhausted in the bed with Donghyuck as they talk about their future plans, or just shopping for more Christmas gifts because the closet full definitely wasn't enough.

The need to spoil Koi Lee was ... well, a need.

The night before Christmas is when Donghyuck decides to plan a night just for the two of them, which consists of a dinner at the top of a building, in one of the finest restaurants.

Mark stands in a very sharp outfit, his hair gelled to perfection, while Donghyuck stands right next to him, the both of them looking almost better than the sunset that melts around them as they rise up in the elevator.

Their fingers lazily hang together as they stand in the back, looking around to see the view.

"This is beautiful, you know?" Mark whispers in his ear as they wait for their table, leaning by the railing.

It's on a rooftop, and Mark's skin looks so soft and gentle underneath the glass like this. It's too cold to have the walls pulled back, but they can tell that it's easily removable for nice summer nights, or even fall evenings. Mark grips tighter as he pulls Donghyuck closer to the side, where he peers over and drops his mouth open.

"Babe, they're not going to be able to find us," Donghyuck tells him as he laughs.

But Mark doesn't care, he wants to look at the view with Donghyuck before they sit down.

"Who cares," he holds Donghyuck between his arms. "Check out the view, cherry boy."

"Why are you calling me that?" Donghyuck tilts to the side as he looks over at Mark, who just smirks at him.

They're both wearing their engagement rings tonight, for the sake of just being able to be alone, of being able to be them, in the city, in the big city. They feel happy, alone, swept away by the buildings, cozy and unbelievably calm. It feels good to have each other, and after all these years.

"Because I feel really reminded of old times tonight," he whispers against his ear.

Donghyuck touches at Mark's hands, feeling the way his skin is so cold against his own warm hands. It's usually like this, but the weather is making it even worse, because Mark's hands feel like ice since he's had them untucked, and not in gloves like Donghyuck had suggested.

Soon, they sit at the table, across from each other, where Mark's hands warm up underneath Donghyuck's.

"I love you," Mark speaks up.

"You are making me blush like crazy tonight," Donghyuck tells him.

Mark shrugs.

"We went through a hell of a lot to get to where we are, Donghyuck, you know that right? Do you think about that often?"

Donghyuck nods at him as he creases his eyebrows.

"Of course I do," he starts. "Sometimes I won't think hard about it, but it always sits in the back of my mind. Like I will be at work and look at one thing, like I'll do something and remember that I only do this because Mark taught me how important it is to do this. Or, I'll look at you while we're at home and realize that I fell in love with the right person, and I have never been happier about my life. I think it's the little things, and I would never be here with you if it weren't for all of the things about love, about life that you taught me. You teach me every day, Mark. It's an honor to be able to learn like this every day."

Mark just stares at him and shakes his head.

"You are incredible," he tells him. "So fucking incredible. Sometimes I'll just sit back and want to cry because I feel like I am going to wake up and see that you're not real. Like, I'll wake up and be 16 again, working in that burger place, hating you, and never get a chance to love you like I had always wanted to."

Donghyuck just frowns and grips onto his hand as he holds his glass of wine, holding it out toward Mark, like he wants him to do the same.

"I am completely yours, Mark," he tells him. "Not going anywhere."

They raise their glasses together.

Mark gets up from the table to walk around, bending down to cup Donghyuck's cheeks before he kisses him so softly.

"I love you."

Donghyuck grows shy.

✰✰✰

Holding hands, Donghyuck pulls Mark through the aquarium later that night.

"This one is absolutely huge," Mark's mouth drops open as he lets go of Donghyuck's hand, moving forward to look at the glass in front of him. "Holy shit, how cool."

Donghyuck watches the way he runs over like an excited child. Of course he does, Mark always shows his excitement in such delicate ways. It's one of the many things Donghyuck loves about him. The way he'll stand out and show his excitement for the way Donghyuck cooks him dinners, of things that Mark isn't really a fan of. Sometimes Donghyuck will find new recipes online, and then forget that Mark despises those kinds of foods, but still, Mark will put his heart out and show how excited he is. It makes Donghyuck fall even harder each and every time.

Or when Mark does things like clean the entire house when Donghyuck has long days at work.

Mark will practically be bouncing on the couch when Donghyuck pulls into the garage around 2 in the morning, totally exhausted, with a little smile crawling onto his face when he sees the tired eyes, but the excitement on Mark's face.

Oh, Donghyuck loves living with Mark.

Only recently had they started living together, but it was the best decision they had ever made.

"My father really wanted to make this one a lot bigger than the others, so it has a lot more space, too," he holds his hand for Mark to take as he leads him further through the closed aquarium. "It's really interactive. People love it."

Mark holds on as he lets himself be led through, but he focuses more on the touch, gripping onto Donghyuck's hips as he kisses the boy's shoulders, still covered by his button up. They're still dressed up, and the style all while in an aquarium just happens to fit their dynamic.

"This is where we started, you know?" Mark says to him. "Except like, in Los Angeles. Remember how I brought you apology gifts, and came to visit, and walked Koi around. I started to feel safe in your aquarium, and just being near you."

He turns Donghyuck around, tilting his chin up to ghost his lips over Donghyuck's, rubbing their noses together as the pit of their stomachs swirl with the waves of emotion that go up and down, like butterflies that don't even feel like butterflies, but something more along the lines of an aching pain that hurts too good, that radiates from their heads to the bottom of their cores. It goes back and forth, and both of them nearly lose their breath as they stare at each other, wanting to just melt right into the ground.

"We took things day by day, didn't we?" Donghyuck says to him.

"We sure did," Mark whispers before he catches Donghyuck's lips between his own, kissing him for a few seconds. "And we still are, aren't we?"

"Definitely," he says. "Also, the cameras."

Mark rubs his hand along Donghyuck's lower back, at all the angles he knows he likes to be touched, making the younger let out a hushed breath, one that makes Mark's body run heated.

"Let's go back to the room then?" Mark whispers.

"I still have to show you around," he teases.

Mark, with a low hum, bites at Donghyuck's neck, right by his ear, where he soon tugs on his earlobe.

"Fine. I'm patient. I can be patient."

✰✰✰

Donghyuck has most of Mark's buttons undone by the time they enter their room.

He had been kissing him in the elevator, and in the hallway, making sure that no one was in sight when he had him against the wall, his knee pressing between Mark's legs as he listened to the way the boy began to hitch a breath when he felt the tension.

Against the wall in their room was a different story though, because Donghyuck's hands were almost everywhere, roughly trying to unbutton the rest of Mark's shirt as he desperately tried to do anything he could to get the thing off of him.

He just wanted to feel Mark's skin, against his hands, against his own skin, just anything. Especially against his lips.

He fumbles with Mark's belt, because it's a lot more complicated, and Donghyuck is eager, and Mark is definitely shaking in anticipation. He wants Donghyuck under him, over him, just touching him in the kind of way that makes him feel like he's the only person in the entire building.

"Touch me," Mark whines low, the words so forceful off of his lips.

Donghyuck is on his knees already, trying to get a better look at the belt, its holes, and the entire processing of it, because it is all just too complicated.

His knuckles are rubbing against the fabric of Mark's pants, and it's too much for him, because Mark is slamming his head against the wall while he rocks his hips forward. Donghyuck only chuckles and pushes Mark's hips back to the surface behind him.

"Hold on, baby, I can't get this thing off."

Mark groans and looks down to raise an eyebrow at him. He puts his hand over Donghyuck's hair, pushing it back before he just starts to yank on his own belt. It only tightens, making him a lot more uncomfortable. He grunts as Donghyuck gasps and begins to giggle.

"That didn't help, did it?" He teases. "No patience."

He pouts and yanks on it again before it finally comes loose. He then pulls it off and tosses it across the room as Donghyuck goes to undo his pants. As soon as he strips him down, Mark cups his cheeks and brings their mouths back together, so he can kiss him deeply once more, backing him up until they're on the bed again.

It's soft, the bed is more than comfortable, and they've had such a good time sleeping on it, but it feels even better when they're heated like this, kissing and moving their bodies in the kind of ways that mean so many different things.

Mark slowly undoes the buttons of Donghyuck's shirt and presses his mouth right in the center of his chest, sucking a hickey right there, then over his heart, and in the center of his stomach, and all the places where he knows the boy is more than sensitive.

Donghyuck loves it too, because his legs start to shake with need.

It doesn't take long before Mark is kissing the insides of his thighs, teeth scraping with desire, and so much lust as he has Donghyuck's leg over his shoulder, pulling him closer. He's half clothed, but Mark thinks it makes him look hotter, needier, especially when he looks up at him, seeing the expression on his face as Mark smirks down at him, mumbling such low swear words as they both try to be quiet.

"Mine," Mark drops his leg and crawls up to kiss by his neck, rolling their hips down together, sparking up a heat where they both are desperate for it.

They had agreed on not going too far tonight, for the sake of having to meet up with family in the morning, and spending all day with them. But right now, with the kind of burning desire in their bodies, neither of them even want to stop.

"Don't stop," Donghyuck says to him. "Keep kissing me."

Mark giggles as he cups Donghyuck's cheek, lips finding his mouth as he switches their positioning for less of an intense kind of heat, an aching warmth soon taking over.

"Softly?"

"And deeply."

"Anything for you."

✰✰✰

Christmas has never felt so good.

Donghyuck feels like he's protected, like he's never felt safer as he sits in the living room of his parent's house, and as he shares a chair with Mark, watching everyone excitedly open their gifts.

Johnny secretly flips Mark and Donghyuck off for getting him the expensive kind of cologne that he has been wanting, also because he is accusing them of telling him that his current cologne smells bad. They shove him off.

Koi opens all of her gifts and thanks each person individually, and is sure to offer a hug to every single person.

Donghyuck shakes his head at her, knowing that she is growing up well, positive that she is being loved in all the right ways, and is being taught how to appreciate things.

"This one's for you, Mark," she hands it to him. "From Donghyuck, I think. Right?"

Donghyuck sets his mug of hot chocolate down and nods his head, rubbing Mark's back softly as he smiles.

"Yup, that's from me."

Mark's cheeks are warm and pink, and he sits back with the gift on his lap as he stares at it, smiling quietly as everyone kind of watches him. He's not used to this kind of tradition at Christmas time, really, but he likes the love spreading in the room, so he lets himself accept the feeling of being loved, and opens the gift slowly.

First he looks at the envelope, while Donghyuck presses his cheek to his shoulder as he watches him.

"What is this?" He says with a laugh.

Inside the envelope are two plane tickets, and it takes Mark a few moments before he finds the location, his mouth falling open as he turns his head to Donghyuck.

"No way," he says quietly.

Donghyuck just nods his head as he rubs his cheek a little more into the boy's shoulder.

"Where is it to?" Donghyuck's mother asks with a grin.

Mark holds it up.

"It's to this island I have been talking about for years now," he looks over at him with a glimmering look in his eyes. "You got us tickets?"

Donghyuck just nods.

"I thought it would be special, and nice to go before... you know," he sends Mark a wink. "I also got you this necklace that has my name on it, because I am obsessed with giving you jewelry that has meaning behind it."

Mark presses his lips to Donghyuck's forehead for a solid three seconds as he whispers a soft, I love you, against his skin. Donghyuck only replies with an, I know you do.

"He also got me some things I wanted for my car, and some studying material I have been dying for. School has been a pain. We just didn't bring it with us," Mark wraps his arms fully around Donghyuck before he hugs him tight.

"Thank you baby, for all of it."

Donghyuck just nods his head and kisses the underside of his chin.

"Okay, Koi Bear," Mark claps his hands together. "Find the gift for your brother, I want him to open it now."

Donghyuck feels a nervous sensation in his stomach. He always does when he gets a gift, or when he has to sit there and open them in front of his family.

He's more than happy to have Mark right here, in the living room, surrounded by the colorful lights while the cold weather blows right outside the window. But, there's something that makes him more eager inside, almost like he is ready to start his own life with Mark, like he wants to slip back home and raise a family, have their own Christmases and unwrap presents into the late evening, and make their own traditions as time go on — day by day.

"It's not really too much, but I hope you like it."

Donghyuck frowns as he shakes his head and rubs his fingertips along the edge of Mark's thigh.

"Of course I will love it."

And well, love, that's kind of an understatement.

The gift is a frame.

It's a bit heavy, because there's molded cement inside of it, or something that Donghyuck is trying to make out, something that at least looks like cement. Maybe clay?

And Donghyuck furrows his eyebrows as he stares at the piece in front of him. He flips it upside down to try to understand what he is looking at, and it really only takes a few seconds before he realizes that it looks to be like a steering wheel.

"I think it needs to be explained a little bit," Mark says shyly. "Okay, so I think a lot of our story stems off of cars, and I chose to sort of craft a steering wheel. I took like a few classes back home on how to work with clay, and it didn't teach me how to make this kind of shape, so it probably looks silly, but still..."

Donghyuck shakes his head as he smiles.

"I think it's pretty cool," his hand rests on the nape of Mark's neck as he grins, his heart already swelling, lip trying not to tremble. "The shape is nice, too."

Mark smiles and nods before he lets out a shaky breath, making Donghyuck realize that he is nervous. Like, actually nervous.

"Remember the first love bracelet you gave me? Before we got this one?" Mark points to his wrist, where his new Cartier love bracelet sits, perfectly gorgeous on his skin.

Donghyuck is thrown back years ago, the night at the water, when the damn bracelet was chucked into the ocean, when the love confession was given. His mind even sees the scene, right before his eyes, giving him chills as he nearly begins to cry. God, Donghyuck wants to wrap Mark up in the warmest hug, and protect him from the entire world right now.

He nods his head of course, but directs his eyes down to the framed gift, where he soon sees the traces of the gold, of the logo, all in between, scattered around the steering wheel in the middle.

"Did you—"

"—I turned it into art, since it was ruined anyway a long time ago."

Donghyuck stares at it, his eyes flickering so fast as his fingers touch over the glass. He wants, desperately, to get through the glass, to touch the thing Mark has spent time on, to hold the little steering wheel in his hand so he can feel it for himself, because he knows more than anything that it'll bring back so many memories of when they were younger.

He tilts his head toward the boy.

"You are unreal," he cups Mark's cheeks.

"Well, don't cry, Donghyuck," Mark frowns. "It's okay. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Mark."

For a few moments, everyone else gets carried away in their own conversations, and Mark and Donghyuck talk about their vacation, and the beauty of the gift that is still sitting on Donghyuck's lap. Mark has to wipe away some of the tears that drip down the boy's cheek every couple of minutes, but of course he doesn't mind.

"Should we do it now?" Donghyuck whispers, pushing on the zipped part of Mark's pocket.

Mark smirks, slyly unzipping his pocket so he can slide the rings onto their fingers.

He gives Donghyuck a nod.

"Let's do it."

Donghyuck stands up and draws the attention of everyone in the living room, feeling the nerves all of a sudden.

His knee is perched up on the chair, so Mark leans up a little and squeezes the back of his thigh.

"Mark and I would just like to thank you all for letting us come over to spend this Christmas in New York with you," he starts with a strong voice. "We feel honored to be able to be sitting here with such loving people, and you've made us feel so welcomed this entire trip. We're also extremely sad to have to leave tomorrow night."

Donghyuck's father holds up his glass, and Donghyuck matches him with a smile, the pounding in his heart suddenly getting louder, and stronger, and all of a sudden he feels as though he can't even talk.

So, Mark joins him.

"We'd also just like to tell everyone here that we are engaged," Mark says as he puts his arm around Donghyuck, feeling the breath of relief from the boy next to him.

Donghyuck's mother immediately yelps and cheers, her hand shaking over her mouth as she jumps up from her chair. She sets her drink down to clap her hands as Donghyuck’s father does the same.

"Why aren't you all excited?" She frowns at everyone.

"I already knew," Koi admits.

"You were supposed to act surprised!" Donghyuck whines at her.

"You didn't say that! You guys just said not to tell mommy!" She shrugs.

Donghyuck looks over at his father to see him walking over with a wide smile, pulling the both of them into a wide hug, making him want to cry all of a sudden.

He feels happy in his father’s arms, knowing that they’ve built up their relationship over the years.

Soon enough, he does cry. Because he finds out that since Johnny already knew, he had brought a bunch of celebratory things and hid them out in his car, just to bring them in at this moment. He even bought them a cake, some champagne, and some balloons that he dragged into the room, just making Donghyuck tear up as he fell into Johnny's arms with a gentle cry.

He held onto his parents for a while, especially because they would be taking a different car to the airport tomorrow evening, and wouldn't be seeing them again for a while. Not until they came back to drop Koi off for the summer.

Mark stands back as he watches every interaction, with soft Christmas music playing in the background, and happiness spinning like it has nothing else to do. Mark welcomes it, and he surely can't wipe the smile off of his face.

Taeyong joins them a little later in the night, just to see Johnny and to give his kind greetings, and he ends up sitting by Mark as he sips on his drink.

"You're in love with Donghyuck, huh?" Taeyong says like it's not obvious already — Mark has been staring at him and how he interacts and says his goodbyes to his family for the past twenty minutes or so.

"I sure am, I cannot wait to marry him."

Taeyong chuckles a little.

Mark turns his head to look at him, eyeing the look that Taeyong is giving him.

"And you? You're in love with Johnny, huh?" He asks with a smirk.

Taeyong looks like he's about to burst.

"Being in love with Johnny is like standing on the edge of one of those rocks you jump off into the water. You get those nervous butterflies in your stomach, and then you take the leap, and realize you wanna do all those things over and over again. It's just fun, exciting, and like..."

"...Never ending?" Mark finishes for him.

"Yeah," Taeyong looks at the way Johnny picks up Koi and swings her around. "It's never ending. We're thinking about kids, marriage, all of that. Love is so weird, but love is the best experience ever."

Mark knows exactly what he means.

"Coming home to find Donghyuck half asleep with a bowl of cereal next him, spilled on the couch, and just looking at him realizing that I am just utterly in love with him, it’s moments like that when I sit back like, ah, yeah, this is the one."

Taeyong laughs with him.

"Fuck," he whispers. "I guess people really do experience the same kind of love, just in all different kinds of ways."

Mark nods his head.

It's then when Donghyuck walks toward him, wrapping his arms around Mark as he gives him a tight hug. Like a reflex, Mark rests his hands on Donghyuck's waist, holding him, protecting him, his skin warm against his cold hands.

"Ready to head back, so we can pack and get home tomorrow?" Mark asks, brushing Donghyuck's hair out of his face.

The boy pouts as he closes his eyes sleepily.

Yeah, Donghyuck is tired.

He tries to nod, but he fails and just ends up rubbing his cheek into Mark's chest.

"Alright sleepyhead, let me say goodbye, and then we can head out."

✰✰✰

Summertime

When summer comes around, Mark starts to complain about how much he misses New York, and how needy he is for the cold weather, rather than the heat that they are starting to get. It's not too bad, but compared to what they're used to, especially with their house on the water, Mark is really craving the feeling of the crisp cold air in New York.

"Can't we just... what if we spent all summer over there instead?" Mark pouts at him as they finish making lunch together.

Chenle, who has been over since the previous night, furrows his eyebrows with a mouthful of cereal, since he had just woken up from their night of drinking.

"Isn't it like, extremely hot over there in the summer too?" He asks.

Donghyuck points his spoon at him as he shovels food into his mouth, making a sound out from the back of his throat as he points to the chair, trying to get Mark to sit down already.

Mark finally obeys and sighs.

"And you have the beach like right off your doorstep, Mark," Chenle swallows down his food as he shrugs. "You can go cool down whenever you please."

Mark takes a deep breath.

"When are Jaemin and Jisung going to be arriving?" He asks when Donghyuck hands him the bowl of his food, frowning when Donghyuck prompts him to eat something.

He’s still nauseated from drinking.

Mark begins to eat anyway, snagging his water bottle from across the room.

"In an hour, I think?" Donghyuck says. "I'm really nervous to see Jaemin."

"You are?" Chenle asks. "How come?"

Donghyuck only shrugs. He doesn't really know why he is, because Jaemin has always been a good friend to him, but the lack of communication makes him wonder if things will be awkward when they meet up again. Because, after all this time, he feels like maybe Jaemin has looked back to realize that they shouldn't have been friends, or maybe he regrets something. It's silly thoughts in his head, but he can't help but think about it that way.

"I've kept up with both of them while they were gone for school, and I can assure you that it's going to feel like old times," Chenle nods his head.

Donghyuck shakes his head as he leans back and walks to the refrigerator, getting himself a glass of water.

"It will not," he says with a bit of a laugh. "We are not getting high with my little sister in the house, we are not going to be drinking like crazy, or going out and racing, and," he pauses to look over at Mark. "Definitely not having sex, either."

Mark drops his mouth open.

"Did you just tell me that we can't have sex all summer?"

Donghyuck blinks.

"Yeah, you're right. We're going to have to figure that one out."

Chenle bursts into laughter as a lazy and tired Jeno walks out of one of the guest rooms, swinging his arms around the boy, just hanging over him.

"Are you okay?" Chenle leans forward from the weight of Jeno behind him.

Jeno whines.

"I am hungover," he says, opening his mouth as he asks for a bite of Chenle's food. "Give me some."

Chenle rubs his temples for him.

"There's like no more cereal in there, Jeno," he stands up. "Here, sit, I'll make you some. Then we have to get you in the shower, shit, look at you."

Mark looks at Donghyuck and chuckles, thinking about how much Jeno had to drink last night, his hands all over Chenle, lips pressed to the side of his face as he continued to whisper sweet things to him. Chenle drank too, but he knew his limit, especially since he wanted to be able to greet Jaemin and Jisung with a clear head in the early afternoon.

"Too many sugary drinks, Jen," Mark tells him, putting a hand over his tense one.

"Jeno can't survive on anything other than sugar in his alcoholic drinks," Chenle adds.

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, so let's give him more sugar in all this cereal."

Chenle purses his lips and laughs as he leans forward to look at his boyfriend.

"You're okay, right babe?"

Jeno keeps his eyes half shut.

"Mmm," he mutters. "M'fine."

"See, all good."

They chat for a bit, and catch up about how Chenle's finals were harder than anything he had expected, but how he aced them all. Mark was jealous, but it was kind of expected of Chenle and Jeno, since the two of them work so incredibly hard with their schoolwork.

"What about Renjun and Yukhei? Are they still together? Are they coming over?" Chenle asks Mark.

Mark opens and closes his mouth.

"They broke up for distance reasons like last year, I think? I invited them over for the two weeks that everyone is staying, which I was gonna mention..." Mark starts to say as he sits up.

For a second, he almost looks at Donghyuck to ask him if it's okay to say this, but in the end, they agreed that this is their house, and these are their friends, so Mark has just as much as a right to say what he wants as Donghyuck does.

"You guys don't have to stay if you don't want to," Mark swallows. "Donghyuck and I invited everyone for these two weeks just so we can all have fun together, and enjoy our time, you know? Catch up, feel young again. But, you two live here in the city still. I know Jisung and Jaemin have their families here as well, so I'll tell them too, and if anyone else comes, then I'll tell them as well, but feel free to go if you ever need to. We just wanted to offer the house, so you guys could stay, you know?"

Chenle just smiles, and Jeno smirks.

"You two are precious," Jeno pokes Mark in the stomach. "I wanted to stay. That's why I packed my bag. Feels like a little vacation to me, I don't know. Plus, I wanted to get away with him," he pulls Chenle half onto his lap and kisses the side of his neck. "Haven't been able to do that in a long time."

Mark nods his head.

"Awesome."

It's Donghyuck's mother and Koi who arrive next.

She's a little bit shy when she sees Chenle and Jeno, her mind trying to chase back to when she had seen them before, since it was quite some time ago. But, the young girl is quick to warm up, heart big like Donghyuck, mind curious like Donghyuck, and soon she's tapping on Chenle's arm and asking him to walk with her down to see the beach, asking him if he wants to see if her sand castle is still there from years ago.

"Just be careful, Donghyuck," his mother tells him. "Be mature."

He nods to his mother, pulling her in for a hug, and a kiss on her cheek.

"Of course, as always. We just intend to have a nice summer."

Not long after they leave, a loud pounding on the door is what scares Donghyuck.

He looks at Mark for an answer, because as usual, Mark has the answer. It comes in the form of a headnod, like he's encouraging Donghyuck to answer it. He smiles wide too as Donghyuck bites on his lip, nodding in response.

Opening the door slowly, Donghyuck comes face to face with Na Jaemin.

"Holy shit, it's Lee Donghyuck," he steps forward and picks him up off of his feet, spinning him around in circles until Donghyuck nearly becomes dizzy.

In a single moment, Donghyuck feels like he did years ago, when he would spend time with Jaemin, learn the routes of his heart, when he would go out to get coffee and listen to how in love Jaemin was with a boy he wanted to make things right with, and with a boy he wanted to spend his entire life with. He remembers the day Jaemin told him he was moving away, and how devastated he felt, and how his heart nearly ached for weeks at the thought of losing a friend.

Standing here in front of Jaemin almost feels like a dream.

"You're here," Donghyuck says.

"Even your voice sounds so cool."

"I've missed you," Donghyuck touches along his hair, guiding his hand up to touch his face, his features so grown up now.

He definitely looks taller too, just like Jisung.

"And Mark Lee, damn, wow," he shakes Mark's hand before he pulls him into a hug, giving Donghyuck the chance to hug Jisung once more. "I heard you two were getting married. Congratulations."

Donghyuck feels shy as he slips into Mark's embrace, like it's just something natural. He feels like it is, because it always has been.

This is home.

"Fuck, look at us," Jaemin mumbles.

"Hey, watch your mouth," Jeno stumbles in through the door. "Child incoming."

"Jeno," Jaemin lights up. "How are you, dude?"

He greets him, making Donghyuck flush red once more. Mark notices it, because he thumbs over the blush and kisses the side of his head.

"Happy?" He whispers.

He tilts his face and just looks up in Mark's eyes, letting it become the final thing that makes his body a little warmer.

"Very happy," he tangles their hands together.

"And did you say child?" Jaemin nearly starts to vibrate. "Where is she? I have not seen my fishy in years now, she probably has forgotten who I am."

Donghyuck chuckles.

"Oh no, she remembers you. I even showed her photos."

Only then do Chenle and Koi walk back up the balcony and through the back door, both of them stilling at the couple that has come in the room.

"Koi, come say hi to Jaemin and Jisung," Donghyuck says.

She does exactly that. With a lot of enthusiasm, and a big smile on her face. She wraps herself in Jaemin's arms as he drops onto the couch, tickling her sides and making her feel more than loved.

Later in the evening, they all sit around the fire, long after Koi has gone to sleep. With the time change and the long flight, she had knocked out quite early, and was ready to sleep, curling up on the couch and falling asleep in Jaemin's lap before anyone had even noticed.

Donghyuck and Mark share one of the large lawn chairs, and they all just catch up with each other about how their lives have been, and how things have been treating them. They learn new things about each other, things that are shocking, things that are expected, it's almost so silly to be hearing everything all at once.

Mark has his hand in Donghyuck's hair, just spinning on the curls at the ends, making him sleepier by the minute.

"Hey," he whispers. "I'm going to go grab a drink, can you move for me?"

Donghyuck hums as he shifts on the chair.

Mark stands in the kitchen soon, rummaging through the kitchen with a piece of candy in his mouth as he sees a notification pop up on his phone.

Renjun

door?

open?

please?

u up?

Mark furrows his eyebrows before he goes to open his front door, all before he sees Renjun and Yukhei standing there, their hands intertwined.

"Hey?" Mark asks with his lips pursed.

The sound of the door opening makes a light sound throughout the house, one that is familiar, so Donghyuck sits up and looks through the glass at the same time Mark looks back at him. He cocks his head at the door as he watches Donghyuck excuse himself.

Donghyuck shoves his hands into his sweatpants as he walks toward them and stands next to Mark.

"Hi guys?" He smiles widely, opening the door even wider so they could come in.

The two of them enter and Donghyuck shuts the door, grinning softly as the familiar warmth grows in his chest, like he is feeling more and more whole by the second.

"Are you — um..." Mark looks down at their hands, and Yukhei holds them up as he smiles.

"Yeah," he admits. "Distance is a pain in the ass, but we want to face it head first now. We wanna fight."

Renjun looks at him and moves closer, and Donghyuck thinks it reminds him of himself, when he snuggles up to Mark.

"I've always been good at fighting, so..." Renjun smirks.

"Oh, is that so?" Jaemin speaks up from behind him, like he's teasing Renjun.

“Na Jaemin,” Renjun chuckles. “How the fuck are you?”

Oh, god, Donghyuck really feels like he's at home.

Later that night, tucked into bed at 3 in the morning... Donghyuck can't sleep.

He's tossed and turned, and has even thrown all of the blankets off, but has still yet to sleep. He's even tried to play some game on his phone so his eyes can get tired, and so he can hopefully just get so exhausted that he ends up just passing out with his head diving into Mark's chest soon. But of course, he has no luck.

Mark stirs awake at these sorts of things. It's like he can feel the tension rising in Donghyuck's body. So gently, he lets his hand wander under the blanket as he pulls him closer, only to realize that Donghyuck is actually sitting up instead of lying down.

He sucks in a deep breath and huffs out a sigh, turning around to look at the clock, just to see that it's 3:48am. He licks his lips and rubs his eyes, before he looks up.

He kisses the side of Donghyuck's arm.

"What are you doing up?" He asks, his voice groggy, like it's dangling on the edge of exhaustion.

"Just can't sleep. Thinking too much."

This wakes Mark up even further.

"Bout what?"

"Life."

The house is quiet, with all their friends asleep in the guest rooms, or on the couches, and with Donghyuck's little sister in another bed. He knows tomorrow will come, and they'll make an insanely good breakfast, and head to the water, or spend the day out and catching up some more. They'll spend it laughing, and playing around, and it'll all make his stomach hurt with so much love, and adoration.

"What about life, baby? That's kind of vague," Mark tries to ease whatever he's feeling by rubbing his hand on Donghyuck's forearm.

He tilts his head to look at Mark, who is just talking with his eyes closed.

It makes Donghyuck grin.

"Just... my life. I'm so happy in my life right now, Mark. With you, with everyone in this house. I feel happy, and safe, and my heart feels warm, and you make me feel so incredible, like all the time. And I get to marry you. That's fucking awesome."

Donghyuck looks over at him to see Mark lazily blinking up at him.

"Nothing makes me happier than to know that you are happy, D. I love you." he pulls him down, urging him to lie down. "We deserve to be happy, so let's let it happen. You and I, cherry boy.”

Donghyuck nearly chokes up before he presses a kiss to Mark's forehead. His eyes were already beginning to close.

"You and I."