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Mark was not the classic model of the popular kid. He was attractive, he was good in his classes, he was captain of the field hockey team. You know, the usual, but he didn't think of himself as empty and shallow. He liked to help his classmates in classes they found difficult, he liked to listen to romantic music, he liked to read comics and manga, superhero movies too. He didn't really think of him as someone unattainable.
That's why it felt weird to think that no one dared to ask him to go to the spring dance with him. Maybe he was supposed to take the first step but even though he was "popular" he wasn't too skilled at socializing, he was shy and didn't talk too much. His status as captain and how good he was at sports had made him renowned at school.
"Jaemin?" They were on their way to hockey practice when he stopped and caught the eye of his friend and teammate.
"Mark?" he replied absently.
"Do you have a date for the spring dance yet?" He asked him.
"Uh, yeah." He blushed shockingly. "Jeno asked me to go with him."
"Jeno? Really?"
Jaemin nodded weakly. "Mark, I really like him a lot. When he invited me I almost fainted from happiness. "
The older boy laughed softly at his friend's excited face.
"I think he's coming to see me at practice today, so I should show off."
"You'll do fine." He smiled at his friend.
He was putting on his skates when he heard a little excited shout from his friend, Jaemin. When he looked up he found two boys, one of them Jeno (his friend's crush) and the other, well, he guessed he was a friend of Jeno's.
He had huge black framed glasses and a pastel button down shirt. It was like looking at a nerdy 90's kid. But Mark could see through those thick glasses that the boy had very nice dark eyes.
Jeno hugged Jaemin shyly while the other boy smiled broadly.
Mark couldn't help but lay his gaze on the bespectacled boy. He was really cute.
When Jeno and Jaemin finally parted, the pale boy grabbed his friend's forearm to pull him closer to them.
"This is my friend, Donghyuck. He was transferred a little while ago. Hyuck, this is Jaemin and this is Mark." Jeno pointed at them both.
The boy, Donghyuck, smiled.
"It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you guys."
Mark felt a chill go down his spine at the sweetness in his voice. Was there anything not cute about the boy?
The older man couldn't help but blush.
"Well, we'd better go now. Coach will kill us if we don't get out at once." Jaemin said.
Mark nodded and followed him to the ice. He couldn't help but give Donghyuck another glance on his way to the huge door. He smiled faintly at him and Mark reciprocated.
"Do you think that friend of Jeno's has a date for the spring dance?" Mark looked curiously at Jaemin.
They had finished their practice a few hours ago and were in the library finishing up some research for their history class.
Jaemin lifted his gaze from the book to smile complicitly at his friend.
"Don't tell me you liked Donghyuck." He said teasingly.
"Uh, well, I kind of did."
"You're so sweet, Mark Hyung." He laughed.
Mark struggled with the terrible blush that had settled on his cheeks.
"Stop it, you're such a tease."
"Ah, don't be a baby. I don't think Donghyuck has a partner for the dance, he's technically new to the school. He probably only knows Jeno."
Mark nodded.
"You're probably right. Maybe I'll ask him, then."
"Good luck with that."
You could tell Mark was nervous more than he'd care to say, especially when he had the bespectacled boy in front of him seeming oblivious to everything that was going on inside Mark just by his mere presence.
They were in the change room and his teammates were distracted enough to notice the terrible blush on Mark's cheeks. He should dare to ask him out on a date and on the date he would do his best to ask him to accompany him to the dance.
Mark took a deep breath before approaching the tanned boy.
"Hello, Donghyuck."
"Mark, hi." He smiled weakly.
"Hey, are you staying for the game?"
"Well, Jeno convinced me to stay." He leaned a little closer to him to whisper, "He really likes Jaemin."
Mark laughed softly. "I can tell."
The boy nodded and adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Hey, Donghyuck I wanted to-"
"My science notes?"
"What?" Mark looked at him in confusion.
"Yeah, everyone lately seems to be approaching me just for that." He smiled somewhat sadly.
"No, I-"
"Donghyuck!" He hears Jeno's voice calling the boy's name and he cursed under his breath.
"Sorry, Mark. See you later?" he said goodbye before leaving to find his friend.
"Can you tell me again what you like about Donghyuck?" Jaemin looked at him curiously before taking a huge bite of his ham and tomato sandwich.
"He's cute and very sweet."
"Your tastes are somewhat questionable, Mark." His friend shook his head.
"I could say the same thing." Mark chuckled softly.
"Ha ha. Funny. Did you succeed in inviting him?"
"Not yet."
"Well, I think you're in luck because I can get us to go on one of those 4-person dates. You know, I'd go with Jeno and you'd go with the nerd."
"Jaemin..." he said in a warning tone.
"Well, with Donghyuck."
"Can you make that happen?" he asked before taking a sip of his iced tea.
"Leave it all to me."
Yes, he really wanted to trust Jaemin. After all he was the closest person to him in the entire field hockey team so when Jaemin sent him a message telling him to get ready for their date, his faith in his friend only grew.
He had told him they would meet at the ice cream shop in town.
Mark was nervous but excited to see Donghyuck again and didn't expect not to be moved by the sight of the boy in a cute peach sweater and his classic black-framed glasses.
He looked shy and uncomfortable having to share with Jaemin and Jeno who practically couldn't tear themselves away from each other. Donghyuck almost sighed in relief as he saw Mark approaching them.
"Hyuck." He smiled sweetly at him. "Boys." he said diverting his attention to the pair of lovebirds.
"Mark." they replied in unison.
"It's good to see you." Donghyuck smiled. "Sorry I couldn't lend you my notes, do you still need them?"
"No, I really don't-"
"Guys!" He heard Jaemin shout from inside the ice cream shop.
He had been so focused on Donghyuck that he hadn't noticed his friends had gone ahead of them.
"We'd better go inside." Donghyuck pointed to the ice cream shop before heading for the entrance and Mark could do nothing but follow him.
"Were you guys planning on staying there or what?" Jaemin asked mockingly. "Order your flavor of ice cream."
He wasn't really listening to the conversation his friends were having, he was thinking about how to just get Donghyuck out of here and they could share a moment just the two of them because at the rate they were going it seemed like he would never get to be alone with him.
"Mark" He heard Donghyuck's voice call out to him.
He looked at the boy and Donghyuck smiled at him.
"Want to walk?"
Mark gave a quick glance at his friends, the lovebirds, who were too focused on a chat about pets and travel to notice they were leaving.
The older boy nodded and followed Donghyuck out of the ice cream shop.
They walked through the wide streets of downtown in silence. Mark actually felt nervous in the presence of the bespectacled boy.
He had his hands inside his sweater and his gaze fixed on the road.
"Are you always this quiet?" Donghyuck asked him.
"Not always. You make me kind of nervous."
"I make you nervous? Shouldn't it be the other way around?" The boy asked him as he adjusted his glasses.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're the popular guy. Captain of the field hockey team and all that."
"I'm not your typical field hockey captain." Mark smiled weakly.
"Is that a good thing?"
"I guess so."
Donghyuck smiled and his eyes sparkled even behind the thick lenses of his glasses.
"I actually wanted to ask you if-"
The loud ringing of Donghyuck's cell phone interrupted him.
Great.
"I'm sorry." The younger boy whispered before pulling the device out of his pocket to answer. "Hey, Jeno. Sure, we'll be right there."
Mark really couldn't believe his luck. He hadn't been able to get the boy alone for more than 10 minutes. It was unbelievable.
"You know what I think?" Jaemin asked as he put on his helmet for practice. "That fate doesn't want you to ask Donghyuck to the dance or on a date."
Mark snorted in annoyance.
"Could fate tell you why it doesn't want me to be happy?"
Jaemin shook his head softly.
"I already told you I'm sorry. Jeno had no idea you were about to ask the boy out. Don't be so rude."
"I'm sorry, Jae. I'm just a little frustrated."
"The time will come. Stop being sad, Captain, we have to give it our all in practice."
Mark nodded before following Jaemin to the rink.
Whether it was practice or championship, being on the ice was always like a sedative for Mark. It helped him drain frustrations, relax and forget about his problems for a while. As he glided across the ice he felt invincible and that may be why he had earned his position as captain. He really enjoyed everything about the sport and what it represented, and that had made him a talented player.
Mark put his all into playing field hockey. He put all his concentration and heart into supporting his team to emerge victorious. That was why he was loved among his teammates, he didn't boast about his position as captain but used it to inspire others to give their all. Maybe that was why he was somehow popular at school.
At the end of practice Mark looked up at the bleachers and could see that Jeno and Donghyuck were there. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the handsome face of the tanned-skinned boy, his glasses on the tip of his nose, his hair neatly combed. He was wearing a T-shirt with the Spiderman logo on it and Mark smiled faintly because it was his favorite superhero.
Maybe fate was giving him a sign now and he couldn't ignore it.
Mark slid across the ice until he reached right up to where Donghyuck was standing, concentrating on a book in his lap. He could see Jeno dig his elbow into his friend's rib catching his attention.
"Hey, Mark." The pale boy smiled at him. "I'll go find Jaemin. See ya."
He didn't wait for a response before getting up to go in search of Jaemin. Leaving just the two of them.
Donghyuck looked like a surprised little puppy as he watched Mark through his huge glasses.
"Don't tell me, you came to accompany Jeno." He said with a half smile.
"Something like that."
"Something like that?"
"There may be more than one reason to come to field hockey practice. "
Mark could have sworn he saw a small blush on the boy's cheeks and it made his heart beat faster.
"That's- I mean, I'm glad there's another reason." The older boy grinned. "I didn't know Spiderman was your favorite superhero." He gestured toward the boy's T-shirt.
"Yeah, that's right, I have all the comics and a collection of items related to him."
"That's great. I also have all the comics."
"Really? A lot of people think it's childish but I must beg to differ." Donghyuck smiled sweetly.
"It's not childish, it's great." The older boy smiled too.
They stood for a long second just looking at each other, time seemed to have stopped around them and Mark couldn't help but feel an immense chemistry between them. He always knew it existed but somehow today it was very evident.
Donghyuck stirred in his seat and cleared his throat before speaking.
"Mark, uh, you- Would you like to go to the comic-con with me?"
Well, it seemed Donghyuck had beaten him to it.
"I'd love to."
What better place for two Marvel comics fans than a comic-con?
Mark felt like a little kid as they strolled through the huge aisles of the convention. It was packed with people, most of them cosplaying different characters. Mark had only managed to bring his Spiderman logo t-shirt, much like the one Donghyuck had worn. While the youngest had brought another Spiderman t-shirt but with a different design.
Donghyuck kept telling him fun facts about some characters or funny or strange events that happened during the filming of the MCU movies. He was really excited to be there, after all it was his and Mark's first time going to a comic-con so they were both equally excited.
A huge amount of pictures were taken next to people in costumes or next to replicas of the Hulk, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Loki and of course Spidey, among many others.
"I'm glad we came." Donghyuck was smiling broadly.
It was like watching a little kid at a carnival. So happy that he could hardly contain himself and let out genuine smiles brimming with happiness.
Mark smiled back.
"Me too."
It seemed that Donghyuck was a fan of ice cream as well as he was, so after they had explored the entire convention and bought a few issues of Marvel comics, they went to the nearest ice cream shop.
The youngest ordered a berry ice cream, which Mark assumed was his favorite since he had also ordered it the first time they had gone for ice cream, while he ordered a brownie ice cream.
Mark couldn't help but be touched by the younger boy. Donghyuck was really cute, even with those huge glasses on his nose. Mark couldn't help but be attracted to him and want to hug him tightly.
"Donghyuck?" He called out to him.
"Yes?" the boy turned his attention away from his ice cream cone to direct his eyes up to Mark's.
"Well, uh, the spring dance is coming up and I wanted to know if you wanted to go with me?"
He had finally been able to ask him without being interrupted. This really felt like a little victory.
In your face, fate.
Donghyuck was looking at him with his huge dark eyes that expressed only surprise. He had caught him off guard.
"Are you sure?" the younger one asked.
Mark didn't understand his question. Of course he was sure. How could he not be sure about inviting someone as special as Donghyuck?
"What do you mean?"
"I thought you were just trying to be nice to me and that's why you agreed to come to the comic-con. You know because I'm the new guy and I only know Jeno."
"What? No. Donghyuck, I think you're wonderful and I really want you to come with me to the dance."
"Aren't you afraid of what people might think? I mean, you're the captain and maybe if they see you with me they-"
"I don't really care much about their opinions. I want to go with you, will you accept me?"
Mark looked at him with so much hope in his eyes, so much sincerity that he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed and moved so he only nodded, restraining himself from smiling too much.
The older one pounced on him, wrapping him with his arms. Donghyuck almost dropped his ice cream cone from the shock and force of Mark's embrace. As best he could, he reciprocated the gesture. He felt really comfortable in Mark's arms, he was so warm and smelled so good. Donghyuck couldn't help but sigh in pleasure.
Mark pulled away from him a little to look into his eyes. Donghyuck swore he had never seen prettier eyes than the captain's.
Mark was smiling softly, he looked happy.
Donghyuck felt his blood heat up when Mark put both hands on his face and moved dangerously close to him. He was holding his breath.
"You're really cute." Mark whispered.
The space between them lessened and the next thing he knew he had Mark's lips on his in a chaste, soft kiss. Sweet as the ice cream they had eaten.
Donghyuck felt his heart about to burst. He had never been kissed before but he had a different concept of it now that he had felt Mark's lips on his. He thought it was wonderful and he wouldn't mind doing it a thousand more times.
He felt his face warm and when Mark pulled away from him he could see that the boy was very flushed and his eyes were shining brightly. He had something in his gaze that made Donghyuck shiver a little.
Donghyuck closed his eyes and put his face into Mark's chest, wanting to hide from that look the older boy was giving him. He could feel Mark's fingers caress the back of his neck, he got a little shiver. This boy was driving him crazy.
He lifted his gaze to see him again and this time he moved to Mark's lips, stealing a slightly deeper kiss.
The older boy let out a small gasp of surprise but quickly reciprocated and Donghyuck was pleased to feel the older boy's sweetness in his mouth again.
Mark had become his favorite taste.
For Donghyuck, it was curious that someone like Mark would show interest in him.
Mark may have been right in saying that he wasn't the typical captain and popular boy at his school, but that still caused him some concern because he knew that the boy had too many friends and people who might judge his decision to take Donghyuck with him to the dance.
To say that he was nervous about the said dance was obvious. He was practically shaking, not knowing what to expect.
He did his best to look presentable and not like a nerdy Marvel fan. He combed his honey-colored hair, cleaned his glasses well, carefully picked out a button-down shirt and smart pants for the occasion.
He hoped to meet Mark's expectations and make him feel excited to be with him at the dance.
The doorbell at his house brought him out of his thoughts. It had to be Mark.
He grabbed his jacket and hurried down the stairs to open the door to find the figure of Mark Lee, wearing a nice suit. He didn't look like he was attending a wedding, he was casual but at the same time elegant and Donghyuck didn't think he would think the boy could look any more handsome but he did. Mark looked like a dream, his pretty eyes were sparkling and his shy smile made him feel butterflies in his stomach.
Mark was silently watching him and Donghyuck felt worried. Maybe it hadn't been enough what he had done to look good. Maybe he needed to change his clothes.
The older boy reached over and took his hand.
"You look very cute, as always." He said and gave Donghyuck a short kiss on the cheek.
The boy was sure his blush went from his cheeks to his neck. He adjusted his glasses on his nose and smiled softly.
"Thanks, you too."
"Ready to go?"
Donghyuck nodded.
The decoration of the dance was very pretty, with colorful flowers everywhere.
There was a mural made of paper flowers for the students to take pictures. There were also huge golden balloons scattered around the room.
Mark had held his hand since they had set foot in the school and somehow it felt like he was trying to convey reassurance with that gesture. Donghyuck was grateful that the boy was so attentive.
Donghycuk smiled at Jeno when he finally spotted him among all those people. His friend was very happy as he held Jaemin very close to him, they seemed to be inside a bubble unable to burst. Immersed in each other's presence.
Jeno smiled at him as well and got up from his seat bringing Jaemin with him to finally approach to greet properly.
"Mark, Donghyuck. I'm glad you two came together." Said his friend with a small complicit smile.
Jaemin was doing his best not to burst out laughing.
"Well, I couldn't let fate forbid me to ask the cutest guy to the dance." Mark said with a smile.
"I'm proud of you." Jaemin smiled broadly after he had calmed down his huge urge to laugh a bit.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take Donghyuck to the dance floor for a little dance."
"What?" the younger man looked at Mark in surprise. "But, Mark, I don't know how to dance."
The elder leaned over to whisper in his ear "I can teach you."
Donghyuck shivered a little but still let Mark tighten his grip on his hand and he followed him to the dance floor. He couldn't help but notice the curious looks they were getting from everyone. Some of them, he could tell, were Mark's teammates.
"Just focus on me. Only the two of us matter." Mark said, as he put his hands on his waist.
Donghyuck looked into Mark's eyes. The boy looked so determined to have his dance with him, he looked pleased just to have him around and he also wanted to have this moment for them. And to remember it always.
The younger boy nodded and let himself be guided by Mark on the dance floor. He didn't want to take his eyes off Mark's eyes. They were giving him some reassurance.
"You're doing well." Whispered the older one.
The lights in the entire room were off and could only be distinguished thanks to some small colored spotlights that were strategically placed on the ceiling. The music was slow, a ballad. Everything was perfect, like the setting of a romantic movie.
Mark was nervous but tried to act calm, his heart was beating frantically in his chest. Maybe if Donghyuck came a little closer he could hear it and feel it.
It was so much the effect the younger one had on him that Mark couldn't tell his heart to calm down. He wanted to wrap his arms around Donghyuck and steal a long kiss, regardless of everyone's stares. It was as he had said, only the two of them mattered.
And with that thought Mark brought his hands to Donghyuck's face before moving in close and joining their lips in a slow kiss full of affection and fondness. It was like everything he felt thanks to Donghyuck's presence. That kiss compared to everything he wanted to experience with the younger one. Something pure, sweet, full of love.
It didn't matter if maybe people didn't understand what they both felt. They had each other and this was the beginning of what fate would prepare for them both.
Mark was thankful he hadn't given up on wanting to ask Donghyuck to the dance because seeing him like this, bathed in the dim light, flushed and nervous was priceless.
He felt Donghyuck's hands pull him closer to him. It was magical, everything he felt at that moment and how wonderful it was to be so close.
Finally - against his will - he pulled away from Donghyuck and pressed their foreheads together. He felt the younger man's warm breath caressing his cheek. Donghyuck's eyes glittered behind his glasses.
"I like you, Mark." He said after a second.
"And I like you, Hyuck."