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<3
"dude. these stairs are so stupid," mark said loudly.
donghyuck grunted with the effort of shouldering mark's weight, half dragging him up the stairs. "how so?"
"they're going sideways," mark said, "and also, like, forwards."
"right," donghyuck said.
mark was drunk.
this fact was remarkable for a number of reasons. the most notable was that mark didn't, in fact, possess the ability to get drunk. his metabolism was inhumanly fast; broken bones healed in days, bruises healed in minutes, and it usually took a truly supreme amount of alcohol for mark to get even a little bit tipsy. even then, his body burned through it in record time. he'd never experienced a hangover, nor had he experienced the all-consuming humiliation of recalling in hazy flashes the things you'd said when you were 5 tequila slammers in.
before donghyuck knew about the whole spider-man thing, he'd thought mark wasn't really a drinker. he didn't drink coffee, either, and he wasn't crazy about smoking. donghyuck figured he was just pretty straight-edge. it wasn't until one particular house party when donghyuck actually witnessed mark drink half a bottle of something menacing that jaemin called 'fanta surprise' and experience absolutely zero side effects that he thought to ask.
"oh," mark had said, "yeah, i, uh, don't really get drunk? i think my body just absorbs it really fast or something."
"'sit a spider thing?" donghyuck had asked sleepily, poking mark in the cheek. for him, the fanta surprise had led to slightly more serious consequences.
mark had smiled at him, fond and soft and 2 inches away through stale and hazy air. "i think so."
donghyuck, being the sort of person who had a lot of embarrassing tequila-related memories in his brain, wasn't sure if he was envious or sympathetic. it would be nice, he supposed, to be able to drink renjun under the table, but he also thought it might be a little sad. it would be sad, he thought, to never experience that total lack of inhibition, equal parts embarrassing and liberating.
he'd presumed it would be something mark would always miss out on. until half an hour ago, when dr suh had phoned him, sounding a lot like he was highly concerned but making an effort not to show it.
"yeah, he's fine," johnny shouted over the rowdy hum of a bar on friday night, "it's just, uh, well." there was a loud clatter, followed by some yelling, and then a burst of song. "mark's a bit..."
"TURRRNN ARROUUNNDD BRIIIGHHTT EEYEESS," came a voice. it unmistakably belonged to mark.
"oh, jesus christ," donghyuck said.
"my thoughts exactly," johnny said.
"EVERY NOW AND THEN I FALL APART. AND I NEED YOU NOW TONI–"
"mark, get down, we're gonna get– okay." an ominous silence. "can you come and pick him up? i don't want to put him in a cab– mark, okay. right–"
donghyuck had already half-pulled his jacket on.
and so here they were, making their way slowly and unsteadily up the stairs to mark's fifth floor apartment. mark was clinging to donghyuck heavily, swaying more than a little, focusing very hard on lifting his feet one after the other.
"why don't we take the elevel–?" mark said, "elevala– evela. evalate. ele... that."
"because it's been broken for about a year."
mark frowned. "that's stupid. they should, like, fix it."
"can you at least try to move your legs?"
"i am trying."
"can you try harder?"
"i'm trying my hardest, hyuck."
"okay." donghyuck halted, leaning against the wall of the stairway to catch his breath. mark swayed into him, shoved his face into donghyuck's neck. sniffed him, apparently. "okay. fine. you're fucking heavy, you know that?"
"mmm. it's all my muscles," mark said in a muffled voice, "i have, like, a whole lot."
"good for you."
"do you wanna see?"
donghyuck snorted. he felt mark's answering giggle against him more than he saw it, pressed as he was against the entirety of mark's body, supporting half of his weight. "no, i'm okay, thanks."
"i totally have abs and stuff," mark said plaintively into donghyuck's neck, "you smell nice."
"thanks. i work very hard at it." donghyuck glanced down at him. mark was, apparently, the clingy kind of drunk. clingy, deeply embarrassing, more than a little flirtatious. donghyuck pushed aside his concern for a moment to revel in it – mark. clingy. embarrassing. sniffing donghyuck's neck in a hallway. it was rare to be presented with such a wealth of new material for merciless teasing.
"you smell sleepy. like pyjamas," mark said.
"not sure if that's a compliment, babe."
"is."
"okay." donghyuck straightened up, adjusted mark's arm round his shoulder. "c'mon, spider-man."
the last flight of stairs was a battle, but by some sort of miracle, they made it into mark's apartment without anyone falling over. donghyuck deposited mark unceremoniously on the sofa and switched the lights on. the apartment looked like it always did – suggestive of a small explosion having occurred at some point, with a baffling variety of clutter strewn across the floor. jeno's tennis racket, mark's skateboard, miscellaneous textbooks with names like decoherence and the appearance of a classical world in quantum theory, a single abandoned slipper. jaemin presumably wasn't in, or was sleeping incredibly deeply. donghyuck was pretty sure they'd woken up half the building with all the clattering, and donghyuck's complaining, and mark's dangerously loud drunken giggles.
"i'm gonna get you some water," donghyuck said. he watched mark close his eyes and run his hands over his chest dreamily. "and maybe some toast."
"okay," mark said, "you're so nice."
"i know."
donghyuck headed for the kitchen and sliced bread rapidly, fearing the consequences of leaving mark alone for too long. as it turned out his concern was not unreasonable, and he was forced to come to a halt when he heard an ominously loud clatter.
"what–?" donghyuck started, abandoning the toast. he emerged into the hallway to see mark standing at the other end, holding what was apparently his bedroom door, detached from its hinges. "what?" donghyuck repeated.
mark looked at him beseechingly, swaying on the spot. "it came off." his mouth twisted into the saddest, most pathetic little pout donghyuck had ever seen.
"the door came off?"
mark nodded. donghyuck stared at him. apparently, in the same way normal people lost control of their fine motor skills when they were drunk, mark lost control of his powers.
it struck donghyuck, then, how strong mark really was. well, it wasn't like he didn't know – he'd watched mark throw trucks and stop trains, and he occasionally carried donghyuck around like he weighed less than his backpack full of textbooks. but it struck donghyuck, then, how much he must hold back.
in the still, quiet air of his apartment, and on wintry mornings spent sharing coat pockets, he was unfailingly gentle, always. every brush of a thumb, every soft hand tugging through sleep-messy hair – it suddenly felt three times as tender when donghyuck thought about all that impossible power thrumming behind it.
the second thought that struck donghyuck was that mark and jaemin were most likely not getting their deposit back if the apartment was missing a door.
mark was still holding the door aloft, apparently unsure about what to do with it.
"right, well, put it down and we'll worry about it in the morning," donghyuck said.
mark placed it slowly on the floor, leant against the wall. he stepped back rapidly, distancing himself before he could do something worse, like accidentally snap it in half.
"great," donghyuck said, "now come and have some water. and maybe a lot of toast."
mark smiled at him sleepily and took his hand, let himself be led into the kitchen. "no one's ever made toast for me before."
"that's definitely not true."
"it is. you're so nice."
"i've made you toast before."
"have you?"
"i would hope so, considering we've known each other for, like, years. i feel like toast has probably occurred at some point."
"mmm."
donghyuck attempted to continue his toast making, but was somewhat hindered by the presence of mark, resuming his invasive sniffing and feeling donghyuck up enthusiastically.
"you're so cold," mark said, pressing his hot cheek to the back of donghyuck's neck, "feels nice."
"nope," donghyuck says, "you're just unnaturally warm."
"so you think i'm hot?"
donghyuck laughed. "you wish."
"i'm super hot, dude. i'm spider-man."
"hmm."
"watch this." he flung his wrist out and shot a web at a cupboard. it clattered open, and donghyuck watched helplessly as a frying pan tumbled out.
"no!" donghyuck yelled dramatically, powerless to stop the pan as it hit the tiled floor with an almighty bang. a shocked silence fell over them.
"whoops," mark said blankly.
"oh my fucking god, mark," donghyuck said, "why the hell are you wearing your web sh–? take them off–"
"just in case," mark said. he swayed dangerously as donghyuck wrestled the webshooters off his wrists. "dude, be careful, those were, like, super hard to make–"
"you're annoying me, now."
"sorry."
donghyuck looked at mark's sad little face, watched him blink that particular slow and deliberate blink of a drunk person, as if closing his eyes required a lot more thought than it usually did.
"ugh," donghyuck said. he popped the toast out of the toaster, irritated by his own fondness. mark liked it a little darker, which donghyuck knew because he had definitely made him toast before, but this would just have to do.
he sat mark down at the cramped kitchen table, placed a plate of toast with butter and a large glass of water in front of him.
"eat," donghyuck said, scowling.
"yes, chef," mark said, then giggled at his own joke.
when donghyuck deemed that mark had eaten enough toast, based on a number of complex and very scientific calculations, he watched him drink two pints of water and then guided him past the broken door to his bedroom. he decided not to confront any tooth brushing scenarios. waking up hungover and feeling like something had died in your mouth was an integral part of the human experience, donghyuck felt, and he also thought that the bathroom was probably a danger zone in terms of breaking things.
"thank you for the toast," mark said sweetly as donghyuck sat him down on his bed. he looked up at donghyuck with a smile, eyes warm and cheeks pink.
"mmm. it's okay. you owe me one, though."
mark's hair was getting long. it was a bit of a mess – falling in his eyes, sticking up behind his left ear. donghyuck pushed it back, smoothed it down, just because he couldn't help himself.
"come on, then," donghyuck said, "bed. jeans off."
"i don't know... if i can," mark said, "my hands are, like, super heavy."
donghyuck rolled his eyes. "fine."
he knelt down, unbuttoned mark's jeans and shoved him backwards so he could tug them off easily. he folded them neatly, placed them atop the pile of scrunched up t shirts on mark's desk chair. "now are you gonna get into bed?"
"only if you cuddle me," mark said petulantly.
"jesus christ," donghyuck said, grinning, "cuddle you? you know i'm never gonna let you forget this, right?"
"please," mark said.
"you're an embarrassment, bug boy."
"don't care."
"fine, but you're still gonna have to get into bed."
donghyuck stepped out of his own jeans, turned to put them with mark's, and was immediately attacked from behind. mark dragged him onto the bed, using what donghyuck felt was an unfair advantage in terms of strength.
"mark," donghyuck said into mark's chest, unimpressed. mark was still on his back – he'd pulled donghyuck on top, and then proceeded to wrap all his limbs tightly around him, creating an inescapable superpowered hug prison.
"i was lying about my hands," mark said, "just like it when you take my clothes off."
"you're crushing me."
he relinquished his hold just enough for donghyuck to pull back and scowl at him. mark looked dreadfully pretty like this, donghyuck thought. he always did, even when he didn't, but like this – flushed, hair a mess, smelling like whatever lurid bar johnny had selected. it was distracting.
"can i tell you a secret?" mark said.
"no."
"promise you won't tell anyone."
"no."
"okay... here goes..."
mark looked at him seriously. from this angle, he had a double chin. "i think... i like you. like, a lot."
donghyuck tried very hard to keep scowling, but it was challenging when mark was being so endearingly idiotic. "no way?"
"yeah," mark said heavily, "it's just you have this face, and you're so nice, and you... do stuff... and sometimes it makes my heart... hurt."
"stuff like make you toast?"
"yeah."
"aw," donghyuck said, "can you say that again so i can get it on video?"
mark frowned. "you're making fun of me."
"a little bit."
"what, so, you... don't like me back?"
"i didn't say that," donghyuck said, "although i'd like you more if you let go of me."
"sorry," mark said, and immediately released donghyuck. or he would have, had his hands not become stuck to donghyuck's shirt.
"not this again," donghyuck said. it had happened on a number of occasions in a number of compromising locations. the subway had been an excellent one – they'd ended up staying on for eleven extra stops while mark attempted to unstick his hands from a pole without ripping it out of the train.
"oh no," mark said helplessly.
"remind me to never let you drink again," donghyuck said. he manoeuvred them so he was sitting in mark's lap. "i thought you said you were, like, immune to alcohol."
"i am, i think."
"i would suggest you're not, considering some... new evidence that's come to light."
"i thought i– i dunno."
"just take it off."
"what?"
"just pull the shirt off."
donghyuck held his arms dutifully above his head, and mark pulled upwards. a loud ripping noise cut through the dim silence.
donghyuck sat there, shirtless, and observed the remains of his t shirt, still stuck to mark's palms. "wow."
"oh no," mark said in a small voice.
"i really liked that shirt."
"i'm– i'm so sorry, hyuck."
donghyuck was beginning to feel somewhat hysterical, and lost the battle he'd been fighting with the desire to laugh. in any other situation, donghyuck supposed it might've been kind of hot. but under the current circumstances – mark, drunk, pulling doors off of hinges and telling donghyuck he smelled like pyjamas and throwing frying pans around. it was decidedly hilarious.
"it's okay," he said through a wheeze. "god. look at your stupid face."
mark watched him laugh, nonplussed, hands full of grey cotton rags.
"god," donghyuck repeated, still giggling, "you're so dumb. i really love you."
mark's ears turned a frightening shade of pink very quickly. "you do?"
"mm. sometimes."
"oh."
"now, please, just get into bed before you destroy anything else."
"okay," mark said softly, and donghyuck could see the ghost of his own words in mark's pleased little smile, in the pink tips of his ears and the warmth pooling in the corners of his eyes.
he tucked himself in dutifully while donghyuck rummaged around for a spare shirt, eventually pulling out a ratty old pixies tour shirt that mark had worn to death. it wasn't freshly washed, and donghyuck didn't care enough to pretend he didn't enjoy the undiluted mark-smell.
donghyuck squeezed into mark's single bed, smiled at mark across their shared pillow. mark only had one pillow, because he was awful.
"you're not gonna be sick or anything, are you?" donghyuck said.
mark considered this question for a moment. "i don't think so."
"hmm. imagine what the daily bugle would say," donghyuck said, "spider-man, a drunk."
"i'm not drunk."
"you're only disputing that now?"
"no. well, okay," mark started. he pulled his arm out from under the covers to shove his hair out of his face. the remains of donghyuck's t shirt were still stuck to his hands. donghyuck burst into laughter again. "stop laughing, dude. s'not funny."
"it's literally the funniest thing i've ever seen in my life," donghyuck said. mark stared at him. "you're like a cheap edward scissorhands. edward... t-shirt hands."
mark looked down at his hands, tried and failed to remove the rags. "mark t-shirt hands."
a tear of laughter slid down donghyuck's cheek, pooling in a neat little circle on the blue of mark's pillowcase. "that's so stupid," he wheezed.
mark watched donghyuck laugh for a moment. "i love you too," he said suddenly, "what you said before – i really love you too."
donghyuck hummed and shuffled closer. "turn over." mark obeyed, and donghyuck pulled him close, flung a leg over mark's hip and shoved his face into his neck. pressed a kiss to the spot just behind his ear. "i know," he said.
donghyuck knew it with the same certainty that he knew the earth was round, that the sun was hot, and that spider-man was not immune to alcohol.
it was a sweet and beautiful thing, donghyuck thought, to know and accept that someone loved you enough to tell you, to hold you, to smash their way through a triple glazed window and rescue you from a supervillain. there was loving, and there was being loved, and donghyuck thought that the latter was sometimes the more difficult.
(but mark made it easy. mark made it all easy. he always had.)
(even when he didn't. even when he was ripping all the doors in the world off their hinges.)
<3
donghyuck awoke the next morning, feeling decidedly not well-rested, to a strangled scream from the hallway.
"THE DOOR?" jaemin shouted, stricken. there was a pause, and then his voice came again from slightly further away. "MY FRYING PAN? MY BEAUTIFUL FRYING PAN?"
"oh fuck," donghyuck said blearily. he pushed himself up, rubbed his eyes. mark was splayed out next to him, radiating unnatural warmth like always. his face was buried in the pillow. "mark," donghyuck croaked.
"hmphuhwhuh," mark said into the pillow. donghyuck poked him in the back of the head. he shuffled himself onto his back, manoeuvring awkwardly in the limited space of his single bed. "wazzit?"
"the door?" jaemin repeated, appearing in the open doorway of mark's room.
"there was a–" donghyuck started. stopped. "it fell off."
"it fell off?" jaemin repeated flatly and somewhat disbelievingly.
"yes," donghyuck said. he maintained what he hoped was an expression of pure and cherubic innocence.
"mark? what about you? do you have anything to say for yourself?"
mark pulled himself up, leaned past donghyuck to squint at jaemin. "felloff," he said intelligently.
"right," jaemin said, "okay. it fell off. sure." he looked at them suspiciously. "you weren't having sex against it or something, were you?"
"ew," donghyuck said, "sex? with mark? gross." mark hit him on the arm. "i doubt he possesses the raw sexual power to break a door, anyways." mark shoved him so hard he nearly tipped out of the bed.
jaemin squinted at them suspiciously for a moment longer, and then a smile spread across his face. "yeah. i think the door itself probably possesses more raw sexual power than mark does."
mark threw his single, sad pillow at jaemin, who dodged it. he stuck his middle finger up and walked off, presumably to go and google how to fix a door.
"god, shut the door behind you at least," donghyuck called after him. jaemin cackled from the living room.
donghyuck flung himself back down on mark's now pillow-less bed. "great. now we don't even have a pillow." he glanced at mark, who was looking slightly puffy and confused, staring blankly into the middle distance. his hair was sticking up in a truly impressive number of directions. "how are you feeling today?"
"weird," mark answered, "i don't know."
"like something died in your mouth?"
"not really."
"so, no hangover. amazing. you're so annoying."
"no i–" mark said, but was interrupted by a massive yawn. "i wasn't drunk."
"um. i had to drag you up a million stairs. yes, you fucking were."
mark laughed. he lay back down, leaned across to press a kiss to donghyuck's cheek. "thank you for looking after me."
"you're fucking welcome."
"but i wasn't drunk. it was — okay, so you now how i don't drink coffee and stuff?"
"yeah."
"when i was a teenager i used to drink, like, an unhealthy amount of energy drinks. but after i, y'know, changed, i couldn't anymore. they made me feel fucking weird, dude."
"like, drunk?"
"sort of. i dunno."
"weird."
"yeah. but i figured out through, like, a lot of mistakes, that it's the caffeine. you know they did this experiment with spiders, to see the effects of different drugs on their webs? and when they gave them caffeine the webs were, like, insanely fucked up."
"so," donghyuck said, "you got the stickiness, the super-strength, and also the crazy caffeine intolerance."
"dude. i think so," mark said. donghyuck laughed at him. "no, but seriously. i drank a bunch of fucking jägerbombs last night."
"why the hell did you order jägerbombs if you know you can't have caffeine?"
"i didn't order them, dude," mark protested, "they were just, like, there. i dunno. i didn't realise what they were til it was too late."
"you're so stupid."
"i know."
donghyuck smiled at him indulgently, feeling sticky and silly and far too warm. "you were so cute, though."
mark flung his hand over his face and groaned. the remains of donghyuck's t-shirt had thankfully detached themselves in the night.
"what did i do?"
"where do i start?" donghyuck said. mark groaned again. "there was the door, obviously."
"god. i'm gonna have to pay for that."
"mmm." donghyuck pressed himself closer, which was an achievement in the limited space of mark's bed. "you tore my shirt off."
"the shirt," mark said, like it was all coming back to him, "aw, man. i'm sorry. you liked that shirt."
"you sniffed me quite a lot."
"not my fault you smell good. i'll admit that sober, dude."
"and you finally confessed you have a crush on me. very embarrassing."
"oh no," mark said, feigning horror, "you found out about my huge embarrassing crush on you."
"i can't believe it… after all this time..." donghyuck said, voice heavy with theatrical sarcasm, "you like me?"
mark rolled onto his side, smiled his sweetest, scrunchiest smile. the smile that made his cheeks bunch up and his eyebrows tilt, the smile that always got caught like a sharp breath in donghyuck's throat. "i guess i do," he said.
"cringe," donghyuck said, grinning back. he kissed mark hard, despite the morning breath. despite the distinct lack of a door.
(there was loving, and there was being loved. both felt simple here in the bright morning, when the sun was painting yellow stripes across the sheets and mark's hair was a mess.)
<3