Work Text:
Donghyuck’s fingers splay out, reaching out, reaching for something not quite tangible anymore.
The wind pushes against his hand, whips the hair around his head, but it sounds like nothing against the headphones in his ears, blasting a song that makes him think of summer. Think of what was. What should have been his future, if fate were on their sides.
The music plays loud over Mark’s stereo, pounding out the words to “I’ll Call You Mine”, sinking into Donghyuck’s skin wherever the older brushes a kiss.
They’re in Mark’s car, parked along a stretch of road where you can pull off to look out at the ocean, or down to the rocky shore. California has never felt as big as it does right now, their time together dwindling down, becoming quick make-out sessions in the back of a car before they’re each expected to return home to their separately planned futures.
Donghyuck gasps when Mark bites down on the sensitive skin of his nipple, his cheeks flushing at the way it sends tingles down his spine.
Mark comes out from under his shirt, looking up at the other with hooded eyes. “You ‘kay?” he breathes, fingers digging even deeper into the hold they have on the younger’s waist.
He nods, unable to find the words right then. Not with the way Mark looks at him. With his eyes filled with lust, his mouth all red and spit slick. Donghyuck reaches out for him, tangles his fingers in Mark’s hair, and pulls. Pulls until Mark falls into him and their lips crash together.
The move pulls a groan from the older, a satisfying noise that makes the hair all over Donghyuck’s body stand at attention. Of course, he always feels like he’s at attention when Mark is involved. Since they were fighting as preteens and especially as they aged into young men.
Donghyuck sucks on Mark’s bottom lip, bites, and giggles when Mark moans out.
“You’re a devil,” he says with absolutely no malice, all endearment. His mouth moves down Donghyuck’s jaw again, nipping as he goes, at the already raw skin.
“Mark,” he sighs, calling for him, moaning his name, he doesn’t really know. All he knows is Mark, Mark, MARK.
“-hyuck!”
He groans, shifting in his seat, his hands coming up to rub at his eyes.
The car is stopped, pulled into a gas station. His dad is outside of the car, assumedly filling up the tank, mom nowhere in sight. His gaze shifts to the seat next to him.
Jeno looks at him, an almost pitying look on his face. Pitying because Donghyuck is being forced to move away from the love of his life, versus Jeno, whose parents decided they didn’t want to uproot him so far in his high school years.
Donghyuck turns away from his cousin, tugs his headphones out, and steps outside of the car.
The sun has started to set, splashes of red and pink and orange, smudges of purple making up the skyline toward the west. Back toward Mark.
“Hey, kiddo.”
Reluctantly, Donghyuck faces his dad. “What?”
He can’t help the attitude. It’s his fault the whole family had been relocated to another state.
“Mom went inside to use the bathroom and get snacks. Go find some stuff for you and Jen.”
Donghyuck doesn’t respond, just sets off toward the double doors of the small convenience store. As he walks, he checks the notifications on his phone, disappointed to find nothing at all from the one person he wanted to hear from.
“Hyuckie, over here!”
He follows the voice to his mom, a short woman, and finds her arms completely filled with snacks and drinks. “Eomma,” he whines, taking the load from her arms. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I didn’t wanna wake my sleepy bear,” she coos.
He rolls his eyes and turns for the cash register, his mom grabbing more as she follows behind.
When their feast is paid for, Mrs. Lee holds the door open for him. His eyes catch on the sunset again, the sun almost completely disappeared now. She sighs and steps toward him, reaching a hand out to smooth his hair behind his ears.
“I know it’s hard, honey. To leave your friends behind, your school, our family. Mark. But it’ll get better as time goes by.”
“How do you know?” Donghyuck looks at her, his eyes filled with tears.
She wipes a tear from his cheek. “Because I’ve done it before. When I came to this country, I was 16 years old. I left everything behind so my mother could make a better life for us.” She wraps an arm around his shoulder, making him bend at the knees to be at her level. “It takes time, but it will always get better.”
Donghyuck takes in a shuttering breath. “What if he moves on, eomma?”
Mrs. Lee smiles, a comforting look on his mother’s face. “Then you weren’t meant to be, Donghyuck.”
“Donghyuck,” Mark calls.
They’ve said goodbye. It took nearly all night, but they did it. Now they would go their separate ways, and whatever happened- happened.
He turns, wiping the tears off his cheeks.
Mark is at the end of the driveway, a pained look on his face as he stares up at Donghyuck. He holds his arms out and that’s all it takes for the younger to go running back into them.
He holds him tight, breathing Donghyuck in for one last moment. Donghyuck squeezes him tight around the waist. He tries to remember what it’s like to hold Mark, to mold the shape of him into his own being.
“I love you, Hyuckie. I will never forget you.”
The messages with Mark are still vacant of new messages.
Donghyuck sighs and throws his phone down between him and Jeno.
His cousin looks over at him, finally distracted from his own messages with his loving boyfriend. Donghyuck glowers at him.
“Why’d you even wanna come, Jeno? How can you and Jaemin stand to be apart for so long?”
“First of all,” Jeno says, glaring back at his cousin, “my parents made me come. Something about making the move easier for you.” Donghyuck rolled his eyes at that. “Secondly, Jaemin and I have a healthy relationship. We have no problem being away from each other for a couple of weeks.”
“A couple weeks,” Donghyuck murmurs.
Jeno’s expression softens. He reaches out a hand to grip Hyuck’s fingers. “It’ll be okay, Hyuck. I’m sure you two will make this all work. Mark always wanted to go to school on the east coast anyway, right?”
“Then why hasn’t he said anything to me? I’ve been gone for 9 hours and he’s already moved on.”
Jeno shakes his head. “No, I’m sure it’s nothing like that. Just give him time. He’s suffering too.”
Donghyuck just rests his head on Jeno’s shoulder, no strength left to say anything.
The sun is gone as they continue heading east, Mark and California far behind them. All the dreams, the future he’d built with Mark were gone now. They always said high school sweethearts never lasted anyway. Who was he kidding thinking they’d be the exception? It was only a matter of time for them to fall apart as well.
Hyuck’s phone buzzes between the boys, lighting up the back of the car with the white glow. Jeno picks up the phone, a smirk coming across his face before he passes it to Donghyuck.
Donghyuck can’t help the smile that comes across his face.
Maybe they’d be okay after all.
From
mark lee, aka loml💘
forever donghyuck lee. you’ll have me forever.