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Donghyuck and Mark.
Mark and Donghyuck.
It was as if the universe decided a long, long time ago that these boys were it. That they were destiny.
Or maybe that was just Donghyuck singing that overused k-drama ost in Mark's ear at three o-clock in the morning, when they both knew that they had a schedule the next day and should have been sleeping.
But either way, it was an indisputable fact that wherever one boy was, you could almost count that the other would be there too. Or, at the very least, one boy knew exactly where to find the other. That's how it always was back in the days, when SM entertainment had shoved Mark and Donghyuck together, back when Mark couldn't stand the sight of Donghyuck down the hallway in the SM training building yet Donghyuck always hovered around the (not that much) older boy, finding some great treasure in him that Mark couldn't see for himself. But maybe, just maybe, Donghyuck's constant presence around Mark softened him, eventually letting Mark see the younger boy for more than just the mischievous look in his eyes and the borderline rude way Donghyuck would talk to Mark at times.
It wasn't like Mark and Donghyuck rubbed their relationship in other member's faces. In fact, they weren't very affectionate at all around the other members. Recently, the two boys had been so coolly indifferent to each other in public and around cameras that the older members ought to be worried about their lack of interaction. Yet, the members, who had each been worried at one point, had been eased and realized their worry was unjustified.
Their worry was unnecessary, when Taeyong would come home after a recording session and find Mark in the fifth floor dorms, when he should have been sleeping in his room on the tenth floor, eyes watching Donghyuck fondly as the younger boy endlessly bragged about his cooking skills while cooking Mark the simplest ramen ever.
Their worry was stupid, when Johnny would ask Donghyuck if he was up for another all-nighter with the boys (the boys being Taeyong, Jaehyun and Johnny) to play endless rounds of Overwatch into the morning, Donghyuck declining and slipping out of the dorm, only for Johnny to hear Mark's voice outside of their shared room.
And once again, their worry was definitely nonsensical when Mark and Donghyuck seemed to unconsciously orbit around each other like the solar system. They were planets in their own universe, rotating and making revolutions at different times, yet their paths were always fixed around each other.
They worked so seamlessly with each other, their communication transcending words, subtle yet ever-present, and one look at either of the boys' eyes when they were in the same room told the same story, again and again and again and again.
As the leader of this huge assortment of boys, Taeyong couldn't help but feel proud in the way Donghyuck and Mark, among the other members, had grown up so wonderfully.
The infamous Summer Fight of 2017 could have left a scar on the group. Mark, who had never felt true anger before meeting Donghyuck, was constantly brimming with a deadly anger in those sizzlingly hot days, while the bold, insistent Donghyuck, had been ignoring Mark, not even bothering to at least acknowledge the older boy's existence with a choreographed hand on his shoulder. To this day, none of the other members had any clue what could have caused such a calamity. And yet, it had ended as suddenly as it had started. Almost abruptly, Mark and Donghyuck had made up, and somehow, in Taeyong and the rest of the member's eyes, they had become even closer than before. Now, there seemed to be a secure blanket surrounding the two boys, keeping them together even when they could be miles apart at a time.
It wasn't until Jaehyun had caught Donghyuck and Mark in a particularly steamy make out session that anyone had realized that they were definitely much closer than everyone else had originally thought. Surprisingly, though, Jaehyun hadn't freaked out all that much, in hilarious contrast to Mark's red, red face and Donghyuck's barely concealed smirk, the younger boy licking his lips clean, the action causing Mark to turn even redder.
"It was only a matter of time," Jaehyun shrugged, before shooting the pair a knowing and amused glance of his own before stalking out of the room.
Jaehyun was no snitch, though.
And that's why, when all of the other members came to finally know the truth (which, the second time, came from Doyoung shrieking as Donghyuck and Mark were discovered again, but in an even more compromising situation), Jaehyun only sat back in his chair and snorted.
Other than the early beginnings of their relationship, Donghyuck and Mark never became as physically intimate anymore, being respectful and cautious of other members. Of course, their bedroom was a whole different story, if their red faces and secretive glances were anything to go by when Johnny knocked on the door of his and Donghyuck's shared room from time to time.
Anyway, in front of the cameras, they were good actors. Donghyuck clung to Taeil, and sometimes Johnny, or bickered his time away with Doyoung. Mark spent his time with Jungwoo and Yuta, seemingly bound by the hips. Camera dynamics shifted, and Mark and Donghyuck together were no longer the main focus. Not that the two boys minded. There was definitely a thrill in keeping a secret, yet they could become a bit too obvious at times.
Like how Mark still hadn't shaken the habit of seamlessly inserting Donghyuck into any imaginable topic possible. Or Donghyuck verbally clowning Mark at times when the older boy wasn't even around. There was no denying, however, that true love existed when Mark held that look in his eyes as Donghyuck sang to him at the end of a particularly draining day. There was also no denying that their attraction to each other was there, what with Mark staring at Donghyuck in that one v-live where Donghyuck had accidentally-on-purpose worn those shorter shorts, showing off his tanned legs to their viewers (and to Mark's shaking eyes).
Renjun couldn't help but roll his eyes whenever Donghyuck would sometimes go on rants about Mark, mocking Mark for every single habit the older boy had, when Renjun knew Donghyuck did it to try to (unsuccessfully) will away his fondness for his boyfriend. And Jungwoo couldn't help laughing in Mark's dazed face when Mark first saw Donghyuck's most recent purple hairstyle, nor did Jungwoo's laughter stop as he watched Mark stutter for seconds as Donghyuck simply raised a bedazzled eyebrow, simply amused.
So maybe they weren't exactly as lowkey as they thought they were. But behind all of the unspoken words, looks which held unspeakable feelings, and the rare yet overwhelming hugs, Mark and Donghyuck loved each other beautifully.