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Here’s the thing: Mark pretty much notices everything about Donghyuck, and the members know this, too.
In fact, when something changes about Donghyuck, the members would always go to Mark first before confronting Donghyuck about it; because chances are, Mark just knows that something has changed and would probably talk about the said change without a snarky response.
Even WayV members know this—the older NCT members do their best to ensure that the five newer members were as comfortable as they could get, and Donghyuck, being the amazing social butterfly that he is, quickly got comfortable with the newer members. Mark’s fellow ‘99 liners, Hendery and Xiaojun, easily warmed up to Donghyuck and had taken a liking to the bubbly boy, made obvious by their responses in various NCT content with questions of their favorite member. Yangyang also easily made a space for himself in the ‘00 Line dynamics, thanks to Donghyuck and Renjun. Renjun would always talk about Yangyang in front of Jaemin, Jeno and Donghyuck, to the extent that the other three felt like they’ve known Yangyang for years even during the first time they’ve all hung out together. More than that, though, Donghyuck and Yangyang grew inexplicably close—it wasn’t just because the two held so much mischief in their eyes, but also because they both had a talent for reading the room well and both were equally as passionate and hardworking when it comes to practices and activities. Sungchan also got comfortable with Donghyuck easily, considering that Donghyuck was one to love and take on the role of being a hyung with no problem. Shotaro may have had a more difficult time putting himself into the ‘00 Liners’ dynamics, but Renjun, Jeno, Donghyuck, Jaemin and Yangyang all did their best to make him feel included despite the language barrier. Overall, the newer members adore Donghyuck, and Mark can’t even blame them.
But, the newer members were also quick to recognize that Mark and Donghyuck’s relationship was much different from the others.
Dejun and Hendery seem to smile widely and laugh unabashedly when they look at Mark and Donghyuck bickering and Mark whining at Donghyuck. Yangyang seems to have an eternally teasing smirk on his face whenever he notices Mark look over to Donghyuck clinging on to Jeno or Yangyang, while making sure to giggle and whisper to Mark in english, “dude I think you have to stop being so obvious,” to which Mark would just respond with a deep blush. (He can’t help getting a bit whiny and jealous whenever Donghyuck clings to another rapper he clearly takes interest in, because Donghyuck seems to be attracted to rappers and attracts rappers exclusively). Sungchan seems to seek help from Mark whenever Donghyuck teases him excessively, and Shotaro would always kindly smile at Mark whenever Mark would automatically look for Donghyuck in the practice room.
Basically, Mark knows everything about Donghyuck, and everyone knows that Mark knows everything about Donghyuck.
But the thing is, there’s something about Donghyuck that he’e never been able to explain—something that Mark was only able to notice after Donghyuck had reached adulthood.
Mark thinks Donghyuck is a magical being, and he has a list to prove it.
List of proof why I (Mark Lee) think that my best friend and soulmate (Lee Donghyuck) is a witch:
1. Donghyuck always looks magical (if I told anyone this they’d just tell me I’m whipped and very gay for Donghyuck)
It didn’t matter to Mark whether or not Donghyuck was wearing makeup or was fresh out of the shower or had just woken up from a nap—Mark thinks Donghyuck is always beautiful.
Donghyuck is just physically incapable of looking bad. Even when Donghyuck had cried at Dream’s first concert and Mark had only been able to witness such moment because of fancams, he looked absolutely breathtaking.
(No, Mark does not have a crying kink, either. He does, however, have a Donghyuck kink.)
For some odd reason, Mark’s eyes would just naturally gravitate to Donghyuck, no matter where they were.
When Donghyuck was practicing and dancing his heart out, Mark would always find himself staring at the younger boy and how the younger boy controls and moves his body. Out of everyone in NCT, Mark still thinks Donghyuck is the best performer, and that’s rich, knowing that they’re a group made up of performers like Taeyong and Ten, who can capture a crowd with just one look, or with rappers like Lucas and Yangyang, who could charm and flirt with an entire group of people with just a slight smirk and a destructive rap verse, or with singers like Taeil and Chenle who don’t even need to think twice before hitting a high note. Donghyuck shines differently—his moves are powerful yet subtle, giving him a gentle grace that has evolved to be something more seductive as Donghyuck grew older, and his voice had always been stable, able to hit high notes and sing live without an ounce of exhaustion from his dancing. Donghyuck’s face, though, Donhyuck’s face when performing is unreal. Mark has had to force himself to look away from Donghyuck every time they perform Baby Don’t Like It live, because there is just something so dangerous when Donghyuck dances seductively and looks at the camera with such an intense gaze.
Mark also finds Donghyuck exquisite, even as he watches Donghyuck focus intently on a computer game that he’s obsessing over.
Mark always finds himself in Donghyuck and Johnny’s shared room in an attempt to escape from the chaos that is the tenth floor dorms, and Donghyuck was never really one to refuse him. For the most part, Donghyuck just lets Mark do his own thing or nap at Donghyuck’s bed whenever he plays games with Jeno or Yangyang. Sometimes, Mark would bring his guitar and would start humming a familiar song, and Donghyuck would unconsciously sing with him, even as he shoots other players in whatever game he’d decided to play that day.
Donghyuck’s eyes are wide, focused entirely on the screen in front of him, his fingers press against the loud keyboard, his right hand rested on the mouse, his lips pursed and his eyebrows furrowed. Marks still thinks Donghyuck is beautiful like this.
It wasn’t unusual for Mark and his members to fall asleep while waiting for their turn to perform in a waiting room. In fact, it would be more unusual if two or members wouldn’t take advantage of the waiting time to nap. But, Mark thinks that no one looks half as good as Donghyuck after being woken up after a nap.
Donghyuck’s face may be puffy from sleep, lips chapped from the lack of hydration, and eyes droopy with tiredness, but Donghyuck still looks pretty to Mark. Even when his voice is groggy and rough from being woken up abruptly and his tone snarkier than usual, Mark still finds him utterly endearing.
Mark thinks it’s impossible for someone this unapologetically beautiful to be human, so Mark concludes that Donghyuck is a witch.
2. Donghyuck bought a deck of tarot cards (it’s witchy, but it doesn’t mean he’s an actual witch)
Mark remembers the time that Donghyuck bought a deck of tarot cards when they were out with members, strolling through the streets of America during a free day of their tour.
Mark remembers saying something along the lines of, “oh, I think this would be fun to learn, don’t you think so too, Taeyong-hyung?” and he vaguely remembers Taeyong agreeing excitedly.
It had been a full year since Donghyuck had bought the tarot cards, and Mark doesn’t think he’d ever seen the younger boy use it after he’d bought it. When Mark asked about the deck, though, Donghyuck was quick to answer, “I’m still trying to learn it completely, hyung, tarot reading is a spiritual thing that should not be rushed and taken lightly.”
A few days prior to an entire group gathering that included all twenty three members, Donghyuck had announced to everyone in the fifth floor dorms (including both Mark and Taeil who had snuck in to escape the chaos that is Jungwoo, Jaehyun and Yuta) that he was ready to read everyone’s tarot cards.
Doyoung had snorted and denied his request, of course, seeing as Doyoung was fairly sceptical of such things so Donghyuck moved on to his next targets: Johnny and Taeil. Unfortunately for Donghyuck, Johnny had been clinging on to Taeil the entire time and refusing to let go of the older man, cuddling into him on the living room couch as a netflix movie plays on their TV, and Donghyuck knew that it was impossible to read either of the two.
Before Mark could even volunteer to entertain their youngest’s antics, Taeyong had excitedly asked Donghyuck to read his, “Hyuckie, can you do a reading for me?”
It was almost comical how wide Donghyuck’s eyes had gone, a blinding smile plastering itself on Donghyuck’s face, and the excitement in Donghyuck’s body was akin to that of a puppy learning how to play fetch for the first time.
(Mark finds him cute, more than anything.)
Mark watched their leader and their youngest talk and converse and Mark found himself seeing how perfectly the tarot cards seem to be for Donghyuck.
By the fond expression on Taeyong’s face, Mark guessed that Taeyong was thinking the same thing.
There had always been something inherently magical behind the thousand-watt smile and expressive doe eyes that Donghyuck possesses.
“Hyung,” Donghyuck said as he looked at the cards laid out before him, “you’ll be presented with a life-changing decision, soon. It may seem positive and feasible at first, but know that your judgement will most likely be clouded. You’ll have to be careful with what you decide, because your decision will cause repercussions that may affect a certain portion of our group positively or negatively.”
Mark remembers the anxiety in Taeyong’s widened eyes, but Donghyuck was quick to appease their leader, “I know it’s pretty vague, but the cards tell me that it isn’t something that will threaten our careers or any of that matter—it will, however, affect your relationships with the people around you.”
Taeyong had visibly relaxed at the reassurance that it wasn’t regarding any of their careers, and Donghyuck smiled before ending the reading with a sweet, “just be careful, hyung.”
—
If Mark was being honest, he had thought that Taeyong was only playing along with Donghyuck’s antics and providing ingenuine reactions to his reading.
However, their leader had rushed into the practice room, with a sadness that Mark could not distinguish but Donghyuck was easily able to pick up on. Taeyong had rushed to hug Donghyuck as soon as he stepped foot into the practice room, shocking both Mark and Donghyuck who had gone to the practice rooms earlier than the others just so they could freestyle and dance to random songs. Donghyuck returned the hug and patted their leader on the back comfortingly, “so, I’m guessing whatever the cards told me about happened, hyung?”
Taeyong whined, ‘it did. You want to know what happened?” Taeyong asked them as he let go of the grip he has on Donghyuck while Donghyuck eagerly nodded.
“So I went to visit the WayV dorms just to spend some time with the newer members so they could get comfortable with me because they have to be, I’m the leader, after all. Hendery and Dejun had to go because of schedules, Lucas and Winwin were out with Kun, so that left me with Ten and Yangyang in the dorms. We were playing with Louis, Leon and Bella, and I was just conversing with Yangyang, getting to know their youngest better—Yangyang is adorable, by the way. He’s so cute and he genuinely just speaks with so much kindness and genuine happiness, it’s just so nice to talk to him—”
“Hyung, I know Yangyang is the best but you’re getting sidetracked.”
“—right! So anyways, seeing how they were able to have pets and them talking about how it was so nice to have a pet to return to after a hard day at work made me want to have a pet. And you know how Ten isn’t particularly the best at trying to help me control my impulses, right? Well, apparently, Yangyang was the same way and seemed to egg on whatever Ten was doing. Then they ended up accompanying me to the place where they adopted their pets and then I saw this really beautiful kitten, Hyuck! It was a black persian cat with green eyes and I swear you would’ve loved it, and the cat loved me too, Hyuck, I tried playing with it and it clung onto me and refused to let go,” Taeyong told them the story expressively, his eyes remained tinted with the sadness of having to let go of the cat, and Donghyuck moves to place his hand on their leader’s shoulders in an attempt to comfort him.
“but, thankfully Kun called me and knocked some sense into me. Yangyang was messaging their group chat about what he and Ten were doing when Kun panicked and called my phone just in time to snap me out of the trance the cat had me under. Kun reminded me of our upcoming schedules, how busy it would get and how it won’t be an ideal time to raise a kitten during those times.”
“I’m glad Kun-hyung was there to become your voice of reason, hyung,” Donghyuck said and Taeyong engulfed him in another hug.
“I really did want that cat, though…”
“Maybe not now, hyung.”
Mark took note of the fact that Donghyuck and his cards were in fact, right.
—
Mark had honestly thought that Donghyuck would give up trying to give Doyoung a reading, but Mark should have known that giving up was not part of Lee Donghyuck’s dictionary.
So, Doyoung finally got tired of being the one at the receiving end of incessant nagging, and decided to give in to Donghyuck’s reading.
The reading took place in Donghyuck’s room, all while Mark had been on Donghyuck’s bed, reading a book that his mom had recommended.
Mark remained unbothered by the bickering of his two members, even as Donghyuck pats Mark’s leg harshly to ask him to move.
They settled over the edge of Donghyuck’s bed, while Mark shifted from the laying down position he’d been holding for an hour into a sitting position with his back against the headrest, the book nestled in his lap.
“Okay, hyung—” Donghyuck started off, “the cards say that you’ll be given an opportunity to come back to something you’ve done before, and this something is something you’ve done well. It’s career-related, definitely. It’s something familiar to you so you don’t have any reason to be nervous, and there will be a familiar presence who will guide you through the entire thing to make the experience better. You’ll grow to miss it, but it’s a one-time thing so you shouldn’t be attached.”
“So, that’s all good, right?” Doyoung pointedly asked, eyes narrowed at the youngest.
Donghyuck mumbled something about being ‘a damn sceptic’ but proceeded anyway, “yes, hyung. It’s all good, you have nothing to worry about.”
Doyoung stood up and ruffled Donghyuck’s hair, “for the record, Hyuckie, I know I’m a bit of a sceptic but I do think your passion and interest for these things are very much real, I don’t mean to invalidate what you like to do.”
Donghyuck’s eyes softened up under his hyung’s heartfelt confession, “oh, I know, hyung—you’ve never invalidated me, ever; trust me, if you ever did, I would have let you known—and I appreciate you going along these things, even when you don’t believe in them as much as I do.”
“Okay then, I’ll cook dinner for tonight since Taeyong-hyung and Johnny-hyung are still out trying to figure out what they want for the aquarium. I’ll call you when it’s time for dinner, kids.”
Donghyuck nodded and Mark hummed noncommittally.
Donghyuck moved towards Mark and Mark tried to keep his focus on the book he’s reading, but Donghyuck’s head on his lap proved to be quite distracting.
“Don’t mind me, hyung, keep reading,” he mumbled softly, “jus’ wanna nap.”
Mark hummed and ran his fingers through Donghyuck’s soft hair—Donghyuck had been growing it out, and miraculously, even with the amount of dye and bleaching Donghyuck’s hair had been subject to, his hair is still fluffy and silky under Mark’s fingers.
“Sleep, Hyuck,” Mark mumbled, “I’ll wake you up when it’s time for dinner.”
—
Mark was seated on the fifth floor’s couch, side pressed against Donghyuck as Donghyuck sat beside him. Mark had his arm around the younger, while the younger’s head was comfortably laid on Mark’s shoulder.
On the other couch, Johnny engulfed Taeil in a massive bear hug while Taeil lets the much larger man tightly hold on to him, and on the other side of the same couch, Taeyong had his head on Doyoung’s lap while Doyoung played with Taeyong’s hair.
On the floor were a bunch of blankets and pillows that Yuta, Jaehyun and Jungwoo had claimed for themselves. The three were chattering away and munching on the snacks Jungwoo had brought from the tenth floor dorms.
Suddenly, a loud message alert tone was heard, and Mark recognized it to be from Doyoung’s phone.
Doyoung took a look at his phone and his face quickly contorted into one of confusion. Taeyong paused the movie and asked Doyoung if something had happened, “What’s that?”
Doyoung’s eyebrows were still furrowed and his forehead was scrunched, “Oh, nothing. Hyuck, looks like your cards are right. Again.”
“Oh, hyung? Really?” Donghyuck asked and sat up straighter.
“Yeah, manager-hyung just messaged me to tell me that I’m hosting Inkigayo with Jaehyunnie this week.”
Donghyuck laughed and leaned back into Mark’s body again (Mark tried not to cry at how natural it was for Donghyuck to gravitate towards him and lean against his touch) and waved him off.
The rest of the hyungs laughed lightly and Doyoung kept his phone again, reaching over to pat Jaehyun’s hair lightly, and Taeyong pressed the play button.
The fact that Doyoung had no problem in claiming that Donghyuck was right honestly ruffles Mark’s metaphorical feathers lightly—Doyoung rarely ever likes to admit that the younger could consistently win against him, but somehow, agreeing with what Donghyuck’s cards say was easy. The scepticism seemed to dissipate from Doyoung and Mark finds it suspicious—as if the hyungs know something about Donghyuck that he doesn’t.
3. Donghyuck has an obsession with crystals (no, not drugs)
Mark had been extremely busy lately and if he were being truthful, the tight schedules had caused him extreme stress, as well. Aside from the clear struggle to distinguish when NCT Mark starts and SuperM Mark stops, he had also been suffering from being unable to sleep peacefully.
Of course, Donghyuck is the first one to chide him for not getting enough rest and stressing himself over work.
Mark was shocked to see Donghyuck sprawled in his bed while playing Animal Crossing, to say the least. When Mark entered the room, Donghyuck mumbled a half-assed greeting and called him over to sit on the bed beside him.
Mark didn’t know what came over him, but he felt a sudden urge to hug Donghyuck tightly so he did. Donghyuck let out a huff in surprise, but quickly melted into Mark’s warm embrace.
“I have a gift for you,” Donghyuck mumbled against Mark’s shoulder.
“I heard from the hyungs you haven’t been sleeping properly, and it was so bad that Cas-hyung texted me just so I could scold you,” Donghyuck tutted.
Mark sighed tiredly, “am sorry. Don’t know what’s happening.”
Donghyuck softly laughed, “I have two crystals for you in this pouch—one is tiger’s eye,” Donghyuck explained as he took out an orange layered crystal from a black velvet pouch, “and it’s supposed to help you get rid of fear, anxiety and self-doubt. Fitting, huh? Since your single with SuperM is Tiger Inside, and all.”
Mark chuckled, hummed and nodded even as his face was buried in the dip between Donghyuck’s neck and shoulder.
Donghyuck took another crystal from the same pouch, but this one was white speckled with greyish spots, “the second one is a moonstone—it helps calm the mind and balances our emotions. It also helps you with sleeping more soundly because it frees you from emotional stress and negative emotions.”
Donghyuck put them back on their velvet pouch and took Mark’s hands into his own and opened Mark’s bawled fist to expose Mark’s palm to himself. Donghyuck put the pouch in the middle of Mark’s palm and Mark automatically grips tightly on Donghyuck’s gift.
“Thank you, Hyuckie,” Mark tiredly mumbled, and Donghyuck just laughed and moved him to a more comfortable position on his bed.
“Put the crystals in your bag and bring it around, okay? Hopefully it’ll help.”
Mark mumbled a small and sleepy ‘yes,’ before Donghyuck left him to rest.
—
“You’re looking a lot better, Mark,” Lucas had told him at one of the waiting rooms they were in as SuperM.
Mark laughed and thanked Lucas, and Mark can’t help but let his mind wander to what could have possibly changed for the past three days to have warranted such reaction from Lucas.
“I’m guessing telling Haechannie was good?” Lucas asked him and Mark smiled before he nodded.
“Yeah, he scolded me a lot but helped me, too,” Mark replied, as he thought back to Donghyuck and the pair of crystals tucked away in his precious Jansport bag.
“I knew telling Haechannie would make you take care of yourself,” Lucas snickered, a victorious smile painting his handsome face.
Honestly, Mark doesn’t know if he can attribute how he felt to the crystals Donghyuck gave him, or to Donghyuck himself—what he knew for sure, is the fact that ever since Donghyuck had visited him on that day, Mark had felt less stressed, more confident, less anxious, and more relaxed. He no longer felt as if his head would explode or his shoulders would give up from the burden of switching between two groups.
(Mark could even sleep soundly; but he doesn’t know if it's because of the moonstone, or if it was because of Donghyuck’s sweet daily good night texts.)
4. Donghyuck can predict (!?!?) things. (what the fuck?)
There were three recent instances that Mark could remember where Donghyuck may have predicted things.
Mark could have blamed coincidence, really, but three times that Donghyuck had said something and it coincidentally happened? Mark doesn’t think so.
First, it was when Mark had planned to go out with Lucas, Hendery and Xiaojun. The three ‘99 liners planned to go out for dinner, when they decided to invite Mark as Mark was the sole ‘99 Liner from a different unit. Ever since NCT 2020 had been announced, Mark had felt relieved that he would finally be able to meet more members that are the same age as he is—frankly, there were times he’d get jealous of Lucas for having two same-aged members when he had to settle for a member that’s a year older but acted like they’re the same age.
Mark obviously agreed when Lucas had texted him, and when he stood up from Donghyuck’s bed as he announced his plans, Donghyuck had reminded him to wear a jacket.
“It’s going to rain heavily tonight, wear a jacket and bring an umbrella. Tell Cas-hyung, Xiaojun-hyung and Hendery-hyung, too,” Donghyuck nonchalantly told him, not even batting an eye from the game he was playing.
“How’d you know? The news didn’t say anything about rain tonight,” Mark asked him. “Just trust me, hyung,” Donghyuck replied and shrugged at Mark’s question.
Mark was glad he listened (and told the others, too) because it did, in fact, rain quite hard that night.
The second time it happened, 127 was having dinner, and everyone had been drinking casually, even Donghyuck. Mark had gone through a bottle of beer, like most of the members, but both Jaehyun and Johnny were more enthusiastic in drinking alcohol.
The two had started drinking earlier than the others, each having a cold beer even before dinner. When dinner started, they moved to sharing an entire bottle of red wine between them, and they had progressively become tipsier as the night went on.
“You guys might want to slow down on the drinking, Jaehyun-hyung and Johnny-hyung,” Donghyuck offhandedly said as he grabbed another piece of chicken.
“There’s no schedules for tomorrow, though,” Johnny pouted, “right, Yongie?”
Taeyong had laughed at the giant’s pouty face, “there’s none that I know of, yes.”
Donghyuck shrugged, “might be an unannounced schedule, we never know.”
Donghyuck continued to munch on chicken as the rest of the table reverted back into their previous conversations. Mark had returned to his conversation with Yuta about the book they’d been reading when suddenly, Taeyong’s phone rang with one of their managers’ call.
Taeyong left the room and went to answer their manager’s call, and he sighs.
“So… Donghyuck is right. We have a schedule tomorrow.”
Johnny and Jaehyun groaned in chorus and Donghyuck just shrugged.
Mark stared at Donghyuck in disbelief.
The third time happened when they were with Dream. For the first time in forever, Mark had to practice with the Dream members for a new song.
Everyone had grown tired after an hour and a half of intense dancing, everyone was sweaty and groaning and heaving.
“I think it’s time for a break,” Donghyuck says as he nods to Jeno, the member who had taken the role of leader after Mark had left.
“Can’t have Mark-hyung feel too tired trying to catch up with us younger kids,” Jeno teased and all the members laughed.
“I have a feeling someone will come to visit us, anyways,” Donghyuck remarked, and the members went to pick up their own water bottles and drink.
Roughly two minutes after Donghyuck had claimed that there would be some visitors, Lucas, Kun and Yangyang peeked into the practice room to greet them.
Donghyuck immediately ran to Lucas to engulf the much taller man in a bear hug, and Lucas was quick to respond and wrap his arms around Donghyuck as well. Renjun was quick on his feet to hug Yangyang as well, Jeno and Jaemin tagged along to converse with their other same-aged friend.
The two maknaes, Jisung and Chenle, immediately gravitated to Kun as well, they nagged at the older boy to buy them food, as per Chenle’s request.
Donghyuck clung onto Lucas tightly as they moved towards Renjun, Yangyang, Jaemin and Jeno’s conversation as well. Mark joined in after a while and discovered that the group had launched into a discussion of a shooting game that Mark is far from interested in.
For the third time in a span of a month, Donghyuck had predicted something accurately. Mark really doesn’t think that it’s ever been coincidental, after all.
5. Donghyuck can heal things and people (again, what the fuck?)
Every time Mark visited the fifth floor dorms, Mark couldn’t help but notice the increasing amount of plants that started to inhabit the dorms. It was thanks to Doyoung and Taeyong’s ongoing obsession with wanting to care for living beings—when Kun had successfully convinced Taeyong that having a pet wouldn’t be that of a great idea considering their schedules, Taeyong had moved his focus to trying to care for living beings that may require the bare minimum, which included plants and aquariums.
Taeyong had coerced Johnny into building aquariums with him, convincing the slightly older man that it would be great content for JCC, and Johnny is nothing but a weak man for views and clicks, so he agreed.
On the other hand, Doyoung was the one to pique Taeyong’s interest when it came to plants—Doyoung had a small aloe vera growing in his room, and was the first one to have spammed naver search with tips on how to grow plants and plants that are easy to care for.
As Mark sat on the fifth floor’s couch, watching a shitty romcom play through Johnny’s netflix (that Donghyuck has an account for—actually, the entire fifth floor leech on Johnny’s netflix, simply because it was economical and because Johnny was generous like that) as Donghyuck intently watches it and munches on buttery popcorn, he’s reminded of the time he had caught Donghyuck whispering and tending to the plants early in the morning.
Due to their busy schedule, both Doyoung and Taeyong had started to neglect their little family of plants, and the plants had obviously started to dry, some leaves were wilted and brown, instead of the usual lush green it fashioned when it was healthy. It was early in the morning when Mark had gotten up from sleeping beside Donghyuck, a common event whenever the both of them fell asleep watching netflix on Donghyuck’s ipad, because Mark had found the bed devoid of the warmth that Donghyuck would radiate. Mark patted the space beside him and wasn’t able to find Donghyuck, so in his sleepy haze accompanied by clumsy and tired movements, he decided to walk out of Donghyuck’s shared room with Johnny to look for the youngest.
When Mark walked out of the room, it had still been dark but the light peeking through their windows had been enough for Mark to recognize the dark figure whispering and talking to the plants as he was hunched over them to be Donghyuck. The raspy yet airy and light voice was humming and whispering repeated reassurances to the plants, and it looked like Donghyuck was letting his feather-light touches graze each of the leaves. Mark rubbed his eyes then, unable to make sense of the situation, but he quietly decided to get back to bed instead, convinced that his tired mind dreamt up the situation in his sleep-induced state.
Mark woke up a few hours later, the smell of Donghyuck’s wonderful cooking tickling his senses. Mark finds the rest of their hyungs in the kitchen, eating what Donghyuck had prepared as they all rush to prepare for their schedules on that day. Mark checks the plants and sees that the plants were still the same way it had been before, and he concludes that what he did see earlier was simply a dream.
On that same day, however, as they returned from their schedules and everyone decided to order in and eat over at the fifth floor dorms, Mark saw the plants, healthy and lively, looking so green it seemed as if the plants were made of plastic.
Donghyuck throws Mark a piece of popcorn to wake him up from his trance, “what’s going on in that head of yours, hyung?”
Mark hums, “nothing. Sorry, I’ll pay more attention to the movie.”
Donghyuck shrugs and returns his focus on the movie while still munching on popcorn and Mark laughs softly at the sight in front of him—Donghyuck wearing a grey oversized hoodie, worn from repeated use and a pair of soft grey shorts to match, seated comfortably on the couch, eyes wide and expressive as he sympathizes with the characters of the movie. Donghyuck was soft like this, vulnerable, and reserved specially for Mark and the other members, but Mark finds him extremely cute and beautiful like this, still.
Mark watches a scene unfold before him on the screen. The lead male character nursing the lead female character to health as the lead female character had overworked herself to exhaustion, trying to provide for her family.
The scene reminds Mark of the time Johnny had been extremely sick before an important schedule.
It was a normal day in their dorms, really; Jaehyun, Yuta, Jungwoo, Taeil and Mark all decided to spend the day in the fifth floor dorms, awaiting dinner which Taeyong and Doyoung had cooked.
It was a day-off before the entire unit will tire themselves out the next day for an important filming that includes all NCT units—Taeyong was anxious about being a good leader that could lead all 23 members including the baby neos, and decided to cook to distract himself. Taeyong doesn’t have to worry much, though; all 23 members recognize him as the leader, and now he has Kun who would share the burden of leading the kids if needed, too.
The air was filled with excitement, all the 127 members chattered about the members from other units they had missed over the past few months. Taeil and Yuta chatter about missing Winwin, Doyoung talked about missing his same-aged friends, Kun and Ten, whilst Jungwoo blabbered on about Lucas, Xiaojun and Hendery, the people he had trained with prior to debuting in NCT 127. Donghyuck contributed to the lively discussion by talking about his excitement to meet Yangyang and spending time with the other maknae, Donghyuck had heard a lot about Yangyang through Renjun, and he knew he’d get along with his fellow ‘00 Liner. Johnny had been relatively silent all throughout, settling for little giggles and soft chuckles instead of actively joining the conversation.
Taeyong was the first to notice and the first to confront Johnny about his state, but Johnny had shrugged it off saying he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Donghyuck was less convinced, as usual, and had reached over to check Johnny’s forehead. Donghyuck eyes had widened then and the youngest immediately fussed over his favorite hyung, and the group was then alerted that Johnny had been harboring a relatively high fever. Doyoung and Taeyong encouraged Johnny to rest and retreat back to his room, and Doyoung asked Jaehyun to help him assist their tallest member back to his room.
When Johnny had settled down, Taeyong told Donghyuck that they’d have to switch rooms for the day, so that Taeyong could take care of Johnny without disturbing the youngest and as a precautionary measure, not wanting their youngest to risk being exposed to whatever Johnny had been sick with.
Donghyuck had been adamant on not wanting to switch rooms and told their leader that he’d probably take care of Johnny better, and Mark was surprised at how Donghyuck had been able to convince Taeyong easily. Donghyuck is a charming person, Mark knows this, but the way Taeyong had easily caved in to Donghyuck’s convincing statements was so surprising to Mark. Either Donghyuck was really good at taking care of people, or he was just straight-up magical.
After dinner and after Donghyuck had served Johnny food, the tenth floor residents left Doyoung, Taeyong and Donghyuck to their own devices, not wanting to disturb their sick member any further.
The next day, Johnny had joined their filming healthy as ever; lively and joyous as he bickered continuously with Doyoung and laughed with the younger members (Yangyang was climbing up Johnny’s favorite dongsaengs list) and Mark was left to wonder how in the hell Johnny was able to turn from a 40°C fever into a big ball of energy over night.
Johnny had clung onto Donghyuck more that day, though, which leads Mark to believe that Donghyuck had taken care of Johnny very well, as this was Johnny’s own way of thanking their youngest. When Mark had gotten enough courage to try his best to nonchalantly ask about how Johnny was cured of his sickness so quickly, Johnny had given him a mere shrug and low chuckle, “Hyuck is magical.”
Mark returns to the movie that plays before them and he unconsciously places his hand on Donghyuck’s left thigh, his thumb tracing light circles on the younger’s thigh comfortingly. Mark grumbles at the lead couple’s cheesiness and Donghyuck merely laughs at Mark’s demise, but the spark in the younger’s eyes tells Mark that Donghyuck wants cheesy shit like that in his life, too. Mark scans the younger’s face, and he sees the small grin gracing Donghyuck’s pretty face, the sparkly eyes that twinkle in delight, the rosy blush that tints his cheeks and the slight dimples that show itself when Donghyuck smiles—the dim light coming from the TV makes Mark look like a pale vampire, but it looks otherworldly on Donghyuck, enhancing the subtle grace and beauty that Donghyuck enchants everyone with.
Mark finds himself wanting to give Donghyuck cheesy shit and swoon-worthy moments like those, too.
And as the realization hits Mark, he ends his obsession of trying to find proof that proves Donghyuck’s relation to the occult.
—
“So, you think Donghyuck is a witch, hyung?” Jeno asks Mark, an eyebrow raised to show Mark just how genuinely absurd the thought is.
“Yes, and I’ve told you all five reasons why I think that way,” Mark tells him, voice exasperated after going through a plethora of stories that he’s collected over the months in one sitting.
Jeno chuckles, “I mean if there is anyone that can allure an entire group of grown men, it would be Hyuckie.”
“Wha—what do you mean an entire group of grown men? Do other members like Hyuckie? Or are they from other groups—”
“Chill, hyung. I meant allure and charm in a friendly way, not the way you’re attracted to Hyuckie.”
“Attracted to Hyuckie? Jen—Jeno, what?”
Jeno tuts and shakes his head disapprovingly, “Oh, hyung. Don’t you think that obsessing over this,” Jeno pauses to make sure Mark understands him, “that you keep thinking that Donghyuck is a witch is your brain’s way of explaining your crush on Donghyuck? You’re trying so hard to prove to yourself that Donghyuck is magical so you don’t feel like your attraction to him is unexplainable—that you like him because he’s magical and naturally you’d be attracted to that. But the thing is, hyung, you like Hyuck because it’s Hyuck—the person who’s stuck by your side as soon as you became an SM trainee. The person who debuted with you twice and reassured you whenever you feel like you’re not at your best.”
Mark’s eyes widen and his heart feels like it has fallen to his stomach, “Oh.”
—
Unlike what most people are led to believe, Mark isn’t that hopeless when it came to romance. Admitting to himself that he was attracted to Donghyuck was easy—confessing his feelings to Donghyuck is not.
Mark’s rationality knows that in the very worst case, Donghyuck would feel disgusted by his attraction and it would shift their entire dynamic, but Mark’s rationality also tells him that Donghyuck is unlikely to react that way—Donghyuck had always been supportive of the LGBT community albeit being neutral to it when the topic arises in vlives or other things that are made to be public. Donghyuck had been raised in a household that believes love is for everyone; he truly was raised in an environment filled with love and acceptance. When Johnny had told the group he was bisexual, Donghyuck had hugged him and thanked him for telling them, even encouraging the six-foot-one man to tell him stories of how he explored his sexuality (only the PG-13 ones, of course—Johnny wouldn’t want to scare his baby off with his escapades) so logically, if Mark were to tell Donghyuck that he likes men, Donghyuck would accept him either way.
The other worst case (but is a hundred times better than homophobic Donghyuck) is Mark’s feelings are unreturned, and Donghyuck would accept his sexuality, but not his feelings. This could harm their friendship and obviously affect their interactions within the NCT. This could obviously trickle down to the fans, but Mark also thinks that he and Donghyuck would be professional and mature enough to settle their private disputes and not involve the members or the fans (unlike what had happened during 2017, when the both of them were still young boys undergoing puberty, which was why management had deemed such behavior tolerable, to some extent).
The neutral case would be the situation wherein Donghyuck accepts Mark’s sexuality and his feelings, but does not feel the same way. This is neutral for Mark, because Mark knows he’ll be able to get over rejection if need be; Mark won’t lose his best friend, nor will he cause group dynamics to shift, but he’ll have a bitch of a heartache to get over. Overall, not too bad of a situation considering the previous two.
A better case but not the best case, would be if Donghyuck accepts Mark’s sexuality and feelings, and returns said feelings, but would not want to make Mark his boyfriend in fear of it getting in the way of their careers. Mark gets it, he really does; relationships can tear through the intricately woven careers they’ve made for themselves. The idol life was something they willingly chose and something they’ve dreamed of, but this life left no room for mistakes and relationships. Mark doesn’t know how the general public will receive the fact that two male idols of the same group are dating each other, too. Dating will be a mess and it poses many threats to their careers, so if Donghyuck were to say that he can’t risk it, Mark will respect that. It would be nice to know that Donghyuck likes him back, though.
The best possible outcome of Mark’s confession, however, is obviously Donghyuck accepting him, his feelings, returning said feelings, and dating him. If Donghyuck were to date Mark—Mark can’t even think of the idea without his heart beating wildly—he’d be the happiest man in the world. His best friend, soulmate, and possibly the love of his life, would date him (!!!) and Mark would get to give him kisses, cuddles and buy him plushies and watch sappy movies with him, too.
Mark snaps out of his reverie when he hears Donghyuck giggle softly and lean closer to Mark’s arms. They were watching Titanic after their busking vlive, and Donghyuck was so incredibly soft spoken and cuddly during the entire vlive that Mark wanted to risk everything and just kiss him then and there.
(Mark didn’t do that because obviously, consent is an important thing to ask for.)
Donghyuck leans into Mark’s body and Mark lets him; Mark even takes on the liberty of squeezing Donghyuck tightly and holding Donghyuck flush against his side. Mark’s right arm ends up tightly holding the younger’s waist and the younger places his hands on Mark’s side.
Mark looks down at the golden boy in his arms, taking in the warm brown eyes that’s focused on the movie, the tan skin that glows under the light of the flat-screen television, the soft, pouty lips that whisper humorous commentary about the movie and the moles that decorate Donghyuck’s face beautifully, similar to how stars decorate the galaxies that cover the universe.
Before Mark could even think about the consequences of his actions, his mouth moves independently and softly confesses, “I think I really like you, Hyuck—not just as a best friend, either.”
Donghyuck pauses the movie and looks up at him with so much emotion held in the warm brown eyes that Mark loves, “you—you mean that?”
Before Mark could even try to play it off as a noncommittal joke, his breath hitches in his throat as he sees the younger’s eyelashes flutter and his forehead creases in worry, Mark softly chuckles and chooses to be honest, instead, “of course I mean that, Hyuck. You make it way too easy to fall in love with you.”
Donghyuck smiles, and Mark feels so blessed to see such angel up close, feels like he’s discovered all the secrets of the universe, as the gentle, dimpled smile lights up Donghyuck’s face, “good, because I really, really like you, too, Mark.”
“Hyung,” Mark corrects Donghyuck automatically, and Donghyuck’s shoulders shake with laughter, but he buries his face into Mark’s chest and Mark couldn’t help the warm smile that takes over his face, his arms quick to engulf Donghyuck in a tight hug.
“Mark-hyung,” Donghyuck corrects himself, and Mark laughs as well.
“Can I kiss you, Hyuck?” Mark asks him, and Donghyuck looks up at him again, and kisses him firmly on the lips.
The kiss was gentle and soft, shy but filled with so much untold emotion—it was so undeniably Donghyuck, that Mark just melts into the kiss. Donghyuck was the first to pull away, but he was quick to rest his forehead against Mark’s staring deeply into Mark’s eyes, as if trying to uncover all of Mark’s secrets.
Mark laughs as he’s reminded of the list he had made to justify his own emotions, “Did you know,” Mark asks Donghyuck, lacing his hands with their youngest, “that I,” he pauses, pressing a kiss to each and every knuckle on Donghyuck’s hands, “convinced myself that you were a witch—a being of magic—just because I was so whipped for you and I couldn’t understand why?”
Mark feels silly for voicing such thoughts out loud, but Donghyuck doesn’t seem to be ridiculing him for the silly thoughts like he usually would, but his lips were pursed, eyebrows furrowed as he pouted, a look of (adorable!!!) confusion painting his face.
“Hyung, I am a witch.”