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See, the thing is, Hyuck had always found Mark cute. Hot, even, especially when he played guitar with his hair wet, fresh out of the shower. Or when he wore that really tight shirt Hyuck gave him for his birthday 3 years ago. Or when he joined the basketball team in freshman year in high school and started getting more toned. Or when—well, you get it, Hyuck liked Mark, like, a lot. A lot a lot. But he’d never acted upon it, not really. Mark had always been a consistent part of his life since he had memory, and he’d rather lose an arm than lose Mark—don’t tell Mark that.
Now here’s where Hyuck was wrong—or at least, so he hoped. Mark had thrown a surprise birthday party for Hyuck that year, and after everyone had gone home, the two of them decided that the best way to sober up a bit before bed was to start cleaning right at that moment. Long story short, at some point, they started slow dancing and making out until they fell asleep. Next day neither of them acknowledged what’d happened and everything had come back to normal.
Well, sort of. Now, when Hyuck looked at Mark, he found him looking back every single time—and sure, that had happened before, but not that often. When Hyuck got out of work late at night, Mark was there, waiting for him—again, that’s nothing new, they’ve been doing that since freshman year, but there was just something in the way he stood outside, like a puppy waiting for his owner to come home, a soft smile on his face as his eyes shining at the sight of Hyuck. It was too intimate, even for them. It made Hyuck look away, eyes too bright and too beautiful, too painfully close, but not his to look at.
This very subtle, almost-not-there difference was present even in the most mundane things: Mark letting him choose the movie they’d watch even when it was his turn, spending a little bit more time cuddling together when it was raining, even when Mark had basketball practice. Mark joined—or at least tried—Hyuck in the kitchen, even when all he could do was stir the soup and watch the water boil. And Donghyuck’s favorite: Mark didn’t say “no” when he tried to borrow some of his clothes anymore—even better, Hyuck found some of the things he often used already folded in his closet, right after it was Mark’s turn to do the laundry.
So yeah, call him crazy, but maybe there was a chance for them to be something more than friends. And, worst-case scenario, if Mark didn’t like him like that, at least Donghyuck knew they could pretend that nothing had happened, just like last time.
But now it was too late to bring up the kiss, it had been months and they’d never talked about it. If he mentioned it now, it would mean he’d been thinking about it all this time—which he did, but admitting it would make him seem desperate.
He needed an excuse, an opener to start the conversation, and what better than to use the holidays as a pretext to hang mistletoe all over their apartment?
After a quick run to the mall together, and with bags full of decorations, Mark helped him put the tree, and they divided the rooms to get the job done faster. When they were finished, Donghyuck started hanging mistletoe in every corner he found: their bedrooms, the living room, the hallway, the kitchen, and even in the bathroom.
When he was done, he found Mark standing outside his room, looking at the little piece of plant attached at the threshold.
“I don’t get it, why do we need so much mistletoe? We’re not even throwing a party or anything.”
“Who says we aren’t? Maybe we can celebrate New Years here instead.”
“Do you want to celebrate New Years here?”
“God, no, leave that mess to Johnny. Plus, his apartment is way bigger than ours.”
“Then why so many mistletoe?”
“Because I want to. And because it’s christmas and this is a typical christmas ornament.”
“But—”
“No ‘buts’, Mark. I let you put that baby yoda with a Santa’s hat at the top of our tree, so you better let me put as much mistletoe as I want.”
Mark didn’t say anything, and when Donghyuck tried to use that opportunity to catch him by surprise, Mark took a step back the moment he saw him getting closer.
“Uh, I still have to study for my final so, if we’re done with the decorations, then I’m gonna be in my room for the rest of the day.”
Donghyuck just nodded, disappointed.
It’s fine, maybe next time. There’s a whole month to keep trying.
Except that, for the next two weeks, Mark spent most of his time in his room, even after his exams had passed, and everytime Hyuck went to the bathroom, most of the mistletoe was gone.
Hyuck decided to wait inside the bathroom for 30 second and, when he got out, he found Mark using a ladder to take down the mistletoe he’d put over the couch, right before their movie night started.
“What are you doing?”
“I-I just…I was trying to…”
“What? Is the idea of kissing me that terrible, Mark?”
“What? No, of course not. I just didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“Making me uncomfortable? Mark, I’m the one trying to trap you under one of these green things to have an excuse to kiss you. Why would I be the one who’s uncomfortable here?”
“Because the last time we kissed, you didn’t say anything. So I just assumed you didn’t want anything with me.”
“Well, you didn’t say anything either.”
“I was the one that kissed you, Hyuck, I think the message was clear enough.”
Oh.
Hyuck smirked. “Then, let me make it up for the lack of response.”