Archive of Our Own

Mark stared blankly at the big shopfront window that looked out onto the busy high street outside. The name of the shop, ‘May Summer’s Ice Cream Parlour’ was proudly splattered across the shimmering pane. Mark had taught himself how to write it in mirrored writing since that was how he saw it most of the time. He could also write several other things in mirrored writing, his name, the name of the neighbour’s cat (Freddie) and the first line of his favourite song.

The summer heat flickered in the air, distorting the bright, colourful bustling scene outside. Cars and trucks, their windows rolled all the way down, drove past in a slow but steady stream, those were the people who were escaping the stifling heat of the city for the slightly cooler countryside.

Families, young and old couples, groups of teenagers and young adults brought gusts of hot, sticky air into the thankfully air-conditioned parlour.

Mark had been stuck behind the counter for a couple of hours, the never-ending stream of nagging parents and screeching children keeping him on his toes. Now and then his manager, a kind but a little-scattered lady, would appear at his shoulder to ask how he was holding up and he would say that he was doing just fine. Which would be a lie, his feet were killing him and if he had to make one more Watermelon-Chocolate-Smarty-Surprise he was going to run into oncoming traffic.

His co-worker Jaemin was in charge of the drinks, a.k.a coffee and weird organic smoothies from a machine that hated Mark with a burning passion. That machine was one of the reasons why Mark wasn’t in charge of that part of the shop. Jaemin was radiant, blinding even, and he glided around his area like he was wearing heavenly rollerskates.

The devilish smoothie machine practically purred under his touch and his iced americanos were the best under the sun. Mark could confirm this, they were the only thing that kept him sane in this godforsaken hell-hole of an ice cream shop.

Also, he was fun, a chatterbox with a blinding smile that could charm even the most ill-tempered mother into a slightly more amiable human.

Mark had a similar ability but with kids.

He wasn’t going to brag but he made the best and prettiest looking ice cream combinations in this city, Jaemin would confirm this, but he was lactose intolerant.

The day was slowly coming to an end, the crowds of people outside were thinning into a comfortable trickle and the sun was sinking behind the towering apartment and office buildings. The sky cast a rosy, golden glow over the busily moving streets and flashing neon signs, the twinkling lights from the office buildings and the headlights of cars added their bright colours to the mix. The steady humming of the traffic was like an odd, off-kilter lullaby only kids who had grown up in a city could fall asleep to.

Mark would have appreciated this movie-like scene a lot more if it weren’t for the fact that he was practically dead on his feet. Jaemin had abandoned his post and was now slumped on a barstool by the counter, listlessly scrolling through some social media app on his phone.

They had 45 minutes to go before the next two workers would come to take up the night shift, because in summer this hell-hole was open till 2 o’clock in the morning. It was quite clever actually because most of the nightclubs close around that time and tons of party-goers would be stumbling around the streets looking for a quick late night pick-me-up. And what better way of making a profit than to prey on drunk and broke college students.

Mark and Jaemin weren’t allowed to work that shift even if they wanted to because they were underage. So they were stuck in the hell that was the 3 pm ‘till 8 pm shift. The pay was good though and it was an easy way to pass the long, hot summer days.

It was half-past seven. Jaemin was still glued to his phone and Mark had wiped every surface in the shop at least three times.

A car alarm went off somewhere down the street and Jaemin jerked upright with a tired groan.

Mark eyed the digital clock that hung above the door, “Only 30 minutes left.”

Jaemin yawned and stretched, the joints in his back cracking loudly and Mark glared at him.

“I’m gonna get my stuff,” he said, hopping off the barstool and gliding around the counter to the narrow little hallway that led to the back of the shop.

“Get some semi-skimmed milk, too!” Mark called after him and he heard Jaemin groan dramatically.

Suddenly the bell above the door tinkled loudly and Mark’s head snapped up.

A boy, around Mark’s age, stumbled through the door.

The boy was a little shorter than Mark, his distressed white T-shirt hanging loosely off his slight shoulders, the frayed collar revealing some of the sun-kissed skin underneath. His legs awkwardly stuck out of a pair of tastefully frayed denim shorts and Mark had to bite down a smile at the bandaids that were carefully stuck to his right knee.

But what really caught Mark’s attention was the boy’s face. His wide chocolate brown eyes, the sun-induced blush that rested high on his cheekbones and his hair that was the colour of hot chocolate and curled gently onto his forehead. The boy stepped closer and Mark watched his rosebud mouth move, speaking words that Mark couldn't process at the moment.

The boy stared at him and then waved a hand in front of Mark's face and Mark started out of his trance, a fierce blush creeping up the back of his neck.

"S-sorry?" Mark choked out and the boy let his hand drop back to his side with an annoyed huff.

"Are you still open?" He repeated. Mark's heart did a triple flip and he managed a stiff nod. The boy's voice matched the summery glow that hung about him, high and oddly melodic and Mark was pretty sure he could write symphonies to match the boy's voice. Symphonies that were just as feather-light and golden as his voice.

"Do you always space out this much?"

Mark snapped back to reality. The boy was staring at him, an annoyed, borderline curious gaze flickering in his eyes.

"Yes- no, I'm- I'm sorry, uh-" he paused to take a breath and started over, keeping his gaze somewhere next to the head of the distracting boy, "How may I help you?"  

Marks ears, cheeks and insides were burning up with embarrassment and if Jaemin showed up right now to save him from his fate he would be eternally grateful. But of course, fate would not be so kind to Mark so he was stuck.

"You sell ice cream, right?"

Under any other circumstances, Mark would have muttered something bitingly sarcastic, but all the normal conversational areas of his brain had short-circuited and he was running on minimal battery power, leaving him a blushing, stuttering mess.

"Uh- yes, we do. We also sell drinks and-" Mark gestured vaguely at Jaemin's abandoned smoothie machine, "-stuff," he finished lamely.

The boy was watching him curiously, his chocolatey eyes sparkling prettily and an even prettier smile tugging at his lips.

"What can you make the best?" He asked, his smile shining through in his voice.

With not a moment's hesitation, Mark answered, "S'mores."

"Excuse me?"

"You like marshmallows, right?" Mark asked, hands already darting around his little space, setting up the equipment and ingredients he needed.

"I- yes, yes I do."

Mark allowed himself a quick glance at the boy, who was watching his hands with interest as they danced around behind the counter in quick practised moves. Three scoops of vanilla ice cream, a splash of milk, a handful of marshmallows and another handful of crumbled graham crackers. All of this was carefully arranged in a 'retro' milkshake glass with a stainless steel straw.

Mark carefully pushed the glass across the counter, "Here you go."

The boy started to dig around in his pockets for money, but Mark stopped him, "Try it first. Please."

"But-"

"It's fine, please, just try it."

Hesitantly the boy clasped the glass in his hands. The cool, bluish glass contrasted prettily with the bronzed skin of his hands and a yellow lion themed bandaid was wrapped around his thumb. To avoid being creepy, Mark busied himself with clearing up his things and staring into the fridge for way longer than was necessary.

"Uhm-"

Mark whirled around, slamming the fridge door shut with unnecessary force, "Yes?"

The boy stared at him, and slowly pushed the now empty glass across the counter, "It was really good, like, really, really good."

A bright, warm bubble of joy rose up in Mark's chest and he grinned, sheepishly running a hand through his hair, "I- wow. Okay uh- I'm glad you liked it."

"Yeah no, it was really good." The blush that already shone on his skin intensified to glowing ruby red and his gaze shyly dropped to the floor. It caught Mark off guard and he swallowed thickly, quickly whisking the empty glass into the sink.

"How much is it?"

He started and turned around again. The boy was digging around in his pockets again, a concentrated frown creasing his brow.

"It's fine! It's fine, please. You don't have to."

The boy stared at him. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright. Uhm- thanks?" He smiled and Mark decided that he'd willingly sell his soul to see that smile every day.

"No problem. I'm allowed to make a few exemptions."

The boy's smile widened, his features morphing from something sweet into something more mischievous, "Am I an exemption?" he asked sweetly.

"Something like that," Mark answered, his heart beating in his throat.

Days past by, hot, sweltering air laying itself over the city like a suffocating blanket. The sun rose at around half past 5 in the morning and didn't set until half past 9 in the evening, leaving them stuck in a 16-hour long hell of burning hot asphalt, broken air conditioning and overcrowded public spaces.

These unbearable days were made slightly more bearable for Mark by the continued appearances of the pretty boy with the sparkling chocolate eyes, mischievous smile and animal themed band-aids. His visits were sporadic in their timing, but he would turn up every day without fail.

Sometimes his hair would be dark and damp with stray curls sticking out left and right. On days like this, his shirt would cling to the lines of his body and the little droplets of water that were dripping from his hair would fall and disappear in the already damp material. His tastefully yellow flip-flops would slap against the tiled floor of the parlour, loudly announcing his arrival and making Mark's heart do a triple flip. On days like that the smell of chlorine, freshly mowed grass and suntan-lotion would hang about him like a hazy, shimmering cloud.

On other days his scuffed white sneakers and knees would be smudged with dirt and little bits of grass and smaller leaves were almost artfully arranged in his hair. On days like that he'd carry the scent of damp earth and honeysuckle with him.

One time there was a bandage wrapped around his right hand, he could still move it without any problems but seemed to shy away from holding anything with it. Mark's curiosity ended up getting the better of him and he asked, "What happened to your hand?"

The boy's smile looked a little bashful as he answered, "I tried to save a bee from drowning in my coke and it stung me."

There were so many different days and ways the boy would show up and Mark cherished each and every one of them with all his heart.

But the days he liked the most were when the boy showed between 4 and 5 o'clock, that was the time of the post-3-o'clock rush where things calmed down enough for Mark to hang around whichever table the boy sat at without any problems.

He'd come in, all glowing and bright like the summer sun itself, shoot Mark a quick grin and sit down at a table by the shopfront window. Every time this happened Jaemin's grin would take on Cheshire cat touch and Mark would pointedly ignore him as he sidled out from behind the counter to take the boy's order.

"Good afternoon, may I take your order?"

The boy peered up at him, "Sure, but may I take your number first?" he asked, mischief dripping off every syllable.

Mark blinked at him, a little dumbfounded. "What?"

"Your number," The boy repeated, "Can I have it?"

"I- uh, I don't- I don't know it off-by-heart," he managed to stutter and the boy pouted. Mark turned quickly to glance at the counter where Jaemin was hovering, elbows propped up and face resting on his hands, his grin more evil than ever. Mark shot him a glare before resigning himself to his fate and looking back at the boy.

"What about a name then?"

"A name?"

"Yes, preferably yours." The boy beamed.

"Mark." Mark mentally congratulated himself for not fucking up his own name and managed a smile to match the one of the boy.

"Mark," he echoed thoughtfully and then added, "I'm Donghyuck."

"Right." Mark's grip on his little notebook and pen tightened as the boy- Donghyuck, laughed. "You can take my order now."

"I- right, yeah, of course."

"Are there any specials?"

Mark turned to glance at the board above the counter, "Some organic smoothies are reduced?" he offered.

"Oh, hell no," Donghyuck squinted up at the board, "-who the fuck drinks carrot juice smoothies?"

Mark shrugged, "Health-orientated moms?"

"Do I look like a health-orientated mom to you?"

"Most definitely not."

Donghyuck blinked up at him, his lashes fluttering distractingly and Mark managed to keep his blushing to a minimum.

"I think I'll have a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Milkshake."

"Coming right up."

“Give me something with strawberries in it.”

“Good afternoon to you too, Donghyuck.”

“Strawberries. Now.”

“Fine, pick something.”

Donghyuck pointed at the board, there was a new band-aid, on his forefinger this time. It had little fishes and whales on it and it was ridiculously cute.

“I want that.”

Mark craned his neck to look where Donghyuck was pointing.

Strawberry Fever.

“Okay.”

Donghyuck grinned and hopped up on a barstool. He had little bits of dried grass in his hair and his fingers kept on drumming a quick beat against the linoleum top of the counter. A soft tune slipped from his lips, floated around Mark's head and then faded away into silence.

"What was that?"

Donghyuck blinked up at him, his chin resting on his hands, "Huh?"

"What were you humming?" Mark's hands stilled, his fingertips were tinted red from the strawberries.

"Oh, Got To Get You Into My Life by the Beatles." A slightly embarrassed, but bright smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, his eyes crinkling at the corners and his shoulders hunching up slightly in an effort to suppress the giggle that came bursting out of his mouth.

"I love that song," Mark said, focusing his gaze back on his strawberries whilst his cheeks took on the colour of one.

"Liar. You're just saying that to impress me."

Mark was actually offended. "Hey, I listen to the Beatles!"

Donghyuck looked suitably unimpressed. "Really? Name five songs."

"Come Together, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Hey Jude, Yesterday and Strawberry Fields Forever," Mark retorted and the unimpressed look on Donghyuck's face melted away like ice cream on a hot summers day.

"Shit okay, didn't actually think you could answer that."

Mark cracked a grin and poured his strawberry cubes into a glass, "Fuckin' music snob."

Donghyuck immediately went on the defensive, "First of all; I am not- I repeat, I am not a music snob! You just don't look like the kinda guy who listens to the Beatles and secondly I was just making sure you weren't a fake fan."

"Right, okay, so you're only a real fan if you were born in 1963?"

"That's not what I said."

"Kinda though."

"No, no, I just wanted to know if you knew at least some of their discography."

"And do I?"

"Yeah, I mean, it kinda sounds like you memorised their top ten songs from Spotify, but I'm not judging you."

Mark snorted and Donghyuck looked a little distraught, "I'm not! You just don't look like you'd like the Beatles."

"Who do you think I like to listen to?" Mark dumped two scoops of strawberry ice cream into the glass and swirled it around a bit so that the strawberries could mix.

"Soundcloud rappers?" Donghyuck offered, sounding a little unsure.

"Name one song." Mark grinned. This was odd, normally Donghyuck had the upper hand in their conversations, but he seemed a little off his game today.

"That Caroline song," Donghyuck said triumphantly and slammed a fist down on the counter, "I know that one."

"Not bad," Mark marvelled and dumped a cup of milk and some vanilla extract into the glass and stirred it. "Do you like it?"

"I mean I prefer Michael Jackson, but yeah, I guess it's a pretty good song."  

"I'll take that." Mark shrugged.

"You should, it's all you're gonna get."

Some of the bashfulness crawled back up Mark's spine and he blushed.

They were silent for a while, Mark concentrating on his milkshake and purposefully ignoring the heavy feeling of Donghyuck's gaze on him.

At some point Donghyuck spoke up again, "Is that thing ever going to be finished?"

Mark paused what he was doing and glanced at him, Donghyuck was standing up on the footrest of the barstool, torso stretched over the counter so he could see what Mark was doing. Mark blushed and tried to shoo him away. "Art takes time. Sit back down, you're making me nervous."

Pouting, Donghyuck plopped back down on his stool and propped his elbows up on the counter. "Since when have milkshakes been art?"

"Since I started working here," Mark muttered and sprayed some whipped cream on top of the strawberry/vanilla ice mixture.

"And when was that?"

"Beginning of summer, just before school broke up."

"Summer job huh?"

Mark nodded and plopped one decorative strawberry on top of the whipped cream. "Yup, do you have one?" He pushed the glass towards Donghyuck, whose eyes lit up.

"You know the inner city gardens right?" Donghyuck asked after he'd taken a long sip of his milkshake.

"Yeah?"

Donghyuck watched him as he dumped the chopping board and knife into the sink, "Yeah well, I help a couple of people around their gardens. Y'know, like, weeding, mowing the lawn, planting stuff, the works."

"That's really cool!"

"It's really not, but thanks."

"Do you get paid?"

Donghyuck rolled his eyes and took a loud slurp, "Of course I get paid, it's only rich old people in the inner city, anyway I'd be mad to do something like that for free. You have no idea how tiring it can get."

"Try standing behind a counter for 5 hours straight," Mark muttered and popped a stray strawberry in his mouth.

"You try digging up a mouldy tree root," Donghyuck countered. "I've been trying for a whole week and it still won't fucking budge."

"Okay, but have you ever stood behind a counter for 5 hours whilst a stressed mom yells at you because their kid dropped their fuckin' ice cream and for some reason, it's your fault?"

"That happens?" Donghyuck asked, looking surprised, the decorative strawberry halfway to his mouth.

"All the time, you kinda learn to tune it out after a while."

"Wow, moms are mean sometimes."

"Nah, I wouldn't say that. It's the kids that stress them out, at least here they get a chance to yell at someone who won't immediately burst into tears."

"Well, that's only vaguely fucked up."

Mark shrugged, "It's bearable. At least we have air conditioning."

Donghyuck snorted, "Oh yeah! Don't take that for granted, I swear the fact that it's cool in here is half the reason why I come here."

"What's the other half?"

Donghyuck glanced up at him, a blush, the colour of the strawberry ice cream he was drinking, rising up in his cheeks. Mark tried for an easy-breezy-cool-guy grin but ended up with a nervous, I'm-hopelessly-in-love-with-you smile.

"The milkshakes," Donghyuck muttered to his milkshake, stabbing his straw rather aggressively through an offensive strawberry.

"The milkshakes," Mark repeated, as his mind screamed louder than any grumpy toddler he'd ever had the pleasure of meeting.

"Yeah," Donghyuck stabbed another strawberry, still pointedly not looking up at Mark, "they're really good."

Mark was about to say something but then thought better of it and busied himself with the washing up.

By the time he'd finished there was only an empty milkshake glass on the counter and the residual glow of a boy who could probably outshine the sun. Mark glanced over at Jaemin who was handing an old lady her cappuccino, Jaemin caught his eye and made a brilliant disappointed-mom face.

"I'm not saying that you should offer to help him with that tree root, but that's exactly what I'm saying."

Jaemin was leaning against the counter, phone in one hand, a raspberry and mango smoothie in the other if he had a pearl necklace, a sunhat and a pair of Dior sunglasses he would've made the perfect rich, suburban mom.

Mark, on the other hand, was repeatedly knocking his head against the fridge, the cool white metal doing wonders for his crush induced headache. "He hasn't been here for two days." Mark lamented and Jaemin let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Well, maybe he'll show up today."

"Probably not."

"Oh my God, one more pessimistic remark and I'll empty this smoothie down the back of your shirt."

Mark gasped, "You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't I?" Jaemin waved the cup threateningly and Mark edged away from him.

The shop was semi-crowded, a group of girls was huddled in one of the booths that ran along the left wall and two elderly couples were happily sitting at their respective tables.

"Okay but for real." Mark started again after he'd put a safe distance between himself and Jaemin's smoothie, "What if he doesn't show up?"

"Jesus Christ- you know where he works! Just go and look around the gardens and you'll probably find him."

"Wouldn't that be kinda weird?"

"He might find it cute."

"But what if he doesn't?"

"I am this close to throwing something at you." Jaemin hissed and took an angry slurp of the smoothie. Mark withered slightly.

"I'm sorry- I just really want to see him again."

"Yeah I know and it's cute, but also kinda annoying so if you could just try and keep him out of your brain for the rest of our shift that would be fucking wonderful."

"You're rude," Mark muttered, jabbing a finger at Jaemin who didn't seem particularly offended.

"Maybe, but you're a lovesick idiot which is, like, twice as annoying."

"Fuck off. I remember in middle school where you had this massive crush on our English teacher and you did the most emba-" Mark got cut off when Jaemin flicked a glob of his smoothie at Mark's face and it got stuck in his hair. "That was unnecessary."

"We're not talking about that." Jaemin snapped and took one last loud slurp before turning and greeting the young woman who had just come jogging into the shop like a walking ad for Nike.

Mark sighed and leaned against the sink, his gaze focused unwaveringly on the street outside. Just in case.

It would be a lie if I said Mark didn't physically jump when a certain someone came wandering into the shop.

He was wearing distressed blue jeans and an oversized yellow T-shirt. His dirty white tennis shoes dragged against the spotless floor in teenage petulance. Mark watched him like one would watch the sunrise. But then his gaze fell down to Donghyuck's right knee, a white bandage was visible through the purposeful tear there and Mark noticed the limp.

His brain tottered somewhere between 'I missed you!' and 'What happened to your leg?' and he ended up stuttering his way through the last sentence.

Donghyuck awkwardly clambered up on a barstool, and sighed, "I knelt on a shard of glass."

Mark gaped at him, "You did what?"

"Not on purpose obviously! I was trying to get that fucking tree root out of the ground and I knelt down. Turns out that someone dropped a bottle of beer there the night before and there were some shards still lying around."

Mark grimaced sympathetically, "Was it very bad?"

"Well, I had to go to the hospital and I got 4 stitches so yeah, it definitely wasn't the best experience I've ever had."

"Wow fuck, I'm sorry."

Donghyuck waved him off, "It's cool, the couple who owns the garden paid for my hospital visit and my mom bought me a cake afterwards."

"So all I have to do is kneel on a piece of glass and I'll get everything for free?"

"Don't do it, man. It's not fun, it fucking hurts and bleeds like hell. Seriously no cake in the world could make me forget the pain."

"I always thought getting stitches was worse."

"Not when you compare it to getting a shard of glass rammed past your kneecap."

Jaemin who was getting a bottle of orange juice out of the fridge made a disgusted noise, "What the hell are you two talkin' about?"

"Donghyuck knelt on a shard of glass," Mark answered and gestured at Donghyuck who grinned.

"Oh! You're the one with the tree root," Jaemin exclaimed and Mark shot him a look, which he skillfully ignored.

Donghyuck looked a little surprised but nodded. "Yeah- yeah, that's me."

"Mark never shuts up about you," was the last thing Jaemin said before gliding off to his corner, shooting Mark one last Cheshire cat grin.

There was a pause and Mark forcefully managed to keep his cool even though every emergency siren in his brain was going off and the beginnings of a headache were starting to throb behind his eyes.

"I'll have a Mint Chocolate Milkshake, please."

Mark froze and looked at him. Donghyuck was smiling, the usual mischief underlined with something else, something warmer and softer. A rosy hint of a blush rested on his cheeks and a blush to mimic his raced up into Mark's cheeks.

"Right- yes, coming right up."

The warmth in Donghyuck's smile never left and Mark could feel it like one could feel the rays of the sun on a hot day. Warmth tingling in his fingers even though the air conditioning was on full blast.

It's not every day you run into someone whose smile could outshine the sun.

By the time Donghyuck had gotten his milkshake two other people were waiting to be served so Mark had no time to talk to him.

When that was done Donghyuck was still sitting there, his glass half empty and warmth emanating from him in waves.

It was around this time Mark picked up the courage to ask, "I'm guessing with your knee like that you can't kneel very easily, right?"

Donghyuck blinked, "It does kinda hurt, yes."

Mark looked down at the dishcloth he was holding, two dripping chopping boards were waiting to be dried, but they could wait.

"Do you need help with that tree root?"

When he allowed himself a glance at the boy he was almost blinded. Donghyuck was beaming at him, his eyes dancing with undiluted delight. The light of every comfortable hot summer afternoon shining through his skin, making him glow even brighter than he usually did.

"That would be great."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The sun rose in Mark's heart and he grinned down at the dishcloth that was still clasped tightly in his hands, "Okay...uh- I can take a day off if you want. Tomorrow, maybe?"

Donghyuck twirled the straw around in his glass, "Tomorrow would be great."

"Great." Mark echoed, still a little dumbfounded.

"We'll meet here at 10-ish, alright?"

"Okay, should I bring anything?"

"They have water and food in their garden so I guess not."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Donghyuck finished the last gulp of his milkshake and hopped off his barstool, wincing slightly when he remembered his knee. "Yeah, see you!" He laughed, then turned and limped out of the shop. Mark watched him go, looking like an infatuated love-sick puppy and Jaemin gagged loudly just to make his point on the matter clear.

Mark pouted, "You're rude."

Jaemin only snorted and yanked the dishcloth out of his hands, "It's thanks to me you got your little date."

"I was getting there by myself! I didn't need you to embarrass me."

"Someone's gotta."

"No one has to do anything," Mark grumbled and put Donghyuck's empty glass in the dishwasher.

"It's what keeps me going in this hell-hole, don't take that away from me."

"I would've gotten there by myself!" Mark said again and slammed the dishwasher door closed.

"In what alternative universe?" Jaemin sniggered.

"Fuck you."

"Whatever, because of your stupid date I'm gonna have to suffer through a 5-hour shift with Jeno, which actually means Jeno and Renjun because apparently, they're a package deal now. That's what I do for you and all I get is a 'fuck you'."

"C'mon, they're fun."

"But also hopelessly in love! And I've already got you and Mr Summer-sunshine being disgustingly cute, so do you really think I need another afternoon of suffering?"

"You're overreacting. They're not that bad."

"That's because you're the same! It physically pains me seeing two people so completely in love with each other."

"You're weird, Jaemin."

"Yeah well, better than grossly in love."

They met up in front of the shop at quarter past 10 and Mark ended up buying Donghyuck a raspberry muffin and a hot chocolate, he got himself a brownie and a caffe mocha. Also, Mark had almost fainted when he saw Donghyuck, who was dressed in denim overalls, a graphic T-shirt and a backwards snapback all of which was unnecessarily rude. Mark had made half an effort in dressing himself, which actually meant he freaked out until Jaemin got bored of being spammed with panicked messages and picked an outfit for him. Denim shorts, a yellow T-shirt and a pair of white converse. The converse were new and Jaemin had pointed out that this was the perfect opportunity to make them look old as shit.

Digging out a tree root presented itself as a lot more difficult than Mark had anticipated, sure Donghyuck had said it was hard but still...

But the inner city gardens sure were pretty. Small and big plots of land squished together that all together were about as big as a small park. The gardens were surrounded by small gravel paths and rickety old fences. Flowers, shrubs, bushes and small orange and cherry trees were present in almost every garden, along with a wooden shed, garden furniture and a parasol or two.

The garden Mark and Donghyuck worked at was relatively big, with a pond and an old crabapple tree. There was also a huge bush of honeysuckle next to the gate which partly explained why Donghyuck often smelled like he'd jumped into it.

But Mark was a true city kid and he'd never actually been inside the inner city gardens before so he spent the first 15 minutes of their visit asking for the name of every plant he could see and Donghyuck answered his every question with the exasperated tone of someone who was completely and utterly in love.

For the tree root mission, they had a whole box of tools, mostly shovels in various sizes and a few other things Mark didn't know the name of.

And boy was that tree root stubborn.

The hole Mark dug around the blasted thing felt like a grave and he probably would've just collapsed in it, if it weren't for Donghyuck and his helpful advice that he spewed from the comfort of his garden chair.

Some of the helpful advice included gems like: "Use a bigger shovel, moron." and "Are you sure you're right-handed, try digging with your left." and "Yell if you're starting to see black, okay?"

Mark ended up just digging underneath the root and that only took him about 4 hours.

Afterwards, he lay in the shade of the crabapple tree whilst Donghyuck brought him a coke and a damp towel. At some point, he laid down next to him and so they ended up spending the majority of their afternoon in the shade of the crabapple tree. The city, the ice cream parlour, all of it fell away leaving only the idyllic, quiet paradise that was the inner city gardens. Their conversation jumped from school to friends, to memes and finally faded into a comfortable silence, where they both basked in each other's warmth and company. Mark dozed off at some point and woke to find a peacefully snoozing Donghyuck curled up in a patch of sunlight, his arm comfortably draped over Mark's stomach. Not even the sun could match the bubble of warmth that expanded in Mark's chest and spread all the way to the tips of his toes, leaving him grinning up at the swaying branches of the tree. 

"Are Fridays your days off?"

Mark turned from the sink to glance at Donghyuck, who staring sadly at his failed attempt at origami with the white paper napkins.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Well, I come here a lot and you're never here on Fridays so I just sorta figured."

"Right- yeah, makes sense."

"Just a little bit."

"Why do you care?"

Donghyuck shrugged, "What do you normally do on your days off?"

"I don't know, I just kinda hang out, go to the pool, stay in, play video games, stuff like that."

"Wow, exciting."

"What? Did you think I go hiking on my days off or something?"

"No! And thank God you don't, man, fuck hiking I'd rather play Mario Kart than hike up a hill."

"Well, what then?"

Donghyuck huffed, but no sigh of exasperation could hide the warm, fond smile that was tugging at his lips, "Don't you see the point I'm trying to get at?"

Mark looked genuinely confused, "N-no? Wait, what am I missing?"

"Jesus Christ- I'm- okay," Donghyuck took a deep, calming breath and Mark looked even more lost, "Mark?"

"Yes?"

"Do you want to go to the gardens tomorrow? With me obviously."

Mark was frozen for a solid minute until he was able to form semi-coherent sentences again.

"Sorry- what?"

Donghyuck laughed, all tinkling bells and unwritten symphonies and Mark's brain short-circuited. "Do you want to go to the gardens tomorrow?" He repeated, slower this time, eyes flickering all over Mark's face, drinking up every reaction he got.

"I- yes?"

"Yes?" Donghyuck beamed and Mark nodded.

Donghyuck sat back slightly, a satisfied smile playing on his lips, "You're a fucking idiot, do you know that?"

Mark pouted, the tips of his ears heating up, "Listen, this doesn't happen very often, I'm allowed to be a little shocked."

"What, people asking you out?" Donghyuck asked, eyes sparkling and colour rising to his cheeks.

"Jaemin scares them off." Mark murmured to his shoes, a lovestruck smile firmly fixed on his face.

There was an offended 'hey!' from Jaemin's corner and Mark skillfully side-stepped a dishcloth that was hurled in his direction.

Donghyuck clambered off the barstool, "Tomorrow, 11 o'clock, here. If you're not there I'm gonna assume Jaemin put you in his smoothie machine."

"Good assumption." Jaemin sniggered as he walked past Mark on his way to the fridge and whacked him on the back of the head.

"Should I bring anything?" Mark asked, rubbing the place where Jaemin had hit him.

"Just your charming self and we should be fine." Donghyuck laughed and winked, practically bouncing out of the shop when Mark turned the colour of an overripe strawberry.

A few customers later Jaemin turned to Mark, who still hadn't recovered, with the look a parent wore when they were about to have the birds-and-the-bees talk with their kid. Grim but resolute.

"Listen, if you don't kiss the fuck out of him tomorrow I'm going to personally throw you into the actual sun."

Mark started to open his mouth but Jaemin beat him to it, "I am not kidding, if I don't get over excited, way too detailed, all caps texts about how his fucking lips felt, I'm going to be very disappointed."

Mark didn't say anything so Jaemin continued, "If you don't kiss him I'm going to throttle you with a fucking dishcloth."

"Anything else?" Mark asked tentatively and Jaemin pretended to think long and hard about the next thing he was going to say, "Yeah actually, don't do to much cutesy shit in here or the smoothie machine will throw up."

"You mean you will throw up." Mark corrected.

"No, no, if she throws up I throw up, we're connected."

"You're fucking weird that's what you are, also she? It's a smoothie machine."

"She's a she if she fuckin' says so Mark, don't be a dick.

"You freak me out sometimes, did you know that?"

"It's half of the reason why I do it."

"What's the other reason?" Mark asked automatically and realised halfway through that sentence that he didn't want to know the answer.

Jaemin waggled his eyebrows, "That's a secret between me and Samantha."

"Who the fuck is Sa- it's the fucking smoothie machine isn't it."

Jaemin winked and Mark seriously questioned their friendship.

"You're early." Donghyuck panted as he jogged up to Mark who was leaning against the wall next to the ice cream parlour, all cool and relaxed until he fully realised how pretty Donghyuck looked. Denim jackets, black shorts and striped black and white shirts should be illegal, especially when they were all being worn by Donghyuck.

"It's ten to 11 that's not early," Mark said and started walking, catching Donghyuck's wrist so that he'd fall into step with him.

"What the hell is your definition of early?" Donghyuck muttered, glancing down at where Mark's fingers were still wrapped around his wrist.

Mark coloured and yanked his hand away, "Earlier than 10 to?"

"That doesn't make any sense."

"You don't make any sense." Mark retorted childishly and Donghyuck snorted, "Great fucking comeback there, it's gonna go down in the history books."

Mark shoved him slightly and Donghyuck dramatically stumbled into the road, successfully making Mark panic and yank him back.

"Why don't we just hold hands full stop?" Donghyuck sighed, eyes twinkling playfully as Mark stared down at their intertwined fingers, a look of panic, awe and adoration flickering across his face.

"My palms are sweaty," he mumbled and the twinkle in Donghyuck's gaze turned soft.

"So are mine, it's summer, everyone's sweating."

"Okay," Mark said, his grip on Donghyuck's hand tightening a little, some of the confidence seeping back into his limbs.

Donghyuck grinned up at him. "Okay," he echoed and they continued their walk to the gardens.

At the gardens, they got a sugar high off one too many packets of sweets and Donghyuck almost fell into the pond. At some point around 1-ish, the couple that owned the garden came round with food and proceeded to pamper the two boys, who happily scoffed up all the free food they could manage.

After they'd gone they both laid under the crabapple tree in a lazy food-induced stupor, the distant sounds of splashing water, shrieking children, traffic and the lazy hush of the branches above, lulling them into a comfortable snooze.

Mark was rudely awakened by a bucket of water in the face, which then escalated into a full-on water fight which neither party won. Mark almost slipped and fell into the tree root hole three times and his white converse looked anything but new now. Also Donghyuck fell into the honeysuckle bush exactly four and a half times. Four and a half because the last time Mark managed to pull him out before he made a full-on badly planned landing.

It was all generally pretty chaotic and they ended up looking like two drowned rats, who had just successfully escaped the sewers. It all called for another well-deserved nap in the sun. Mark woke up with Donghyuck curled up to his side, one arm wrapped around his torso.

Now it was getting on for 5 o'clock and both boys were sprawled out, shoulder to shoulder, under the crabapple tree, too tired to move but also most definitely hungry.  

"The ice cream place is a 15-minute walk from here." Mark murmured and nudged Donghyuck with his elbow.

"That's too far, I won't make it."

Mark cracked open one eye, "You're not gonna die, don't be dramatic."

"That's like telling a bird not to fly." Donghyuck muttered and opened his eyes to glare at Mark, "Anyway we won't find out about the dying thing until it's too late and I'd rather not risk it."  

"Dramatic." Mark drawled and closed his eye again.

"Fight me."

A couple of minutes passed. The silence only being broken by the distant buzzing of the traffic and the gentle rustling of the leaves of the crabapple tree.

"I'm still really hungry though." Mark groaned and sat up, stretching his arms above his head and flinching when his joints cracked.

Donghyuck whined something about wanting to become a tree and sat up as well, brushing some grass and leaves out of his hair. "There's an ice cream place not too far from here." He gestured vaguely in the opposite direction to the one they had come in.

Mark squinted at him, "Can't support the competition, dude. I'll get fired."

They stared at each other, the lazy afternoon heat shimmering between them and Mark distantly wondered if this was a good time to kiss him, but his stomach growled a decided 'fuck no, food first' so that matter was settled.

"There's a McDonald's literally right outside the gardens," Donghyuck said and Mark refocused on the issues at hand. Mainly the ones of food and where to get it. Also the issues concerning the blush on Donghyuck's cheeks and the bashful way his gaze fluttered away every time they made eye contact.

"McDonald's it is then," Mark confirmed and started getting to his feet.

Donghyuck, however, stayed on the ground. "Can you get something for me?" He pleaded sweetly, the bashfulness still definitely present but covered up with other stuff.

Mark wasn't so easily swayed when hungry so he shook his head.

"Please?" Donghyuck whined, his best puppy dog eyes in full effect. "I have a fucked up knee and my old bones might not survive the walk."

Mark sighed and crouched down, grabbing Donghyuck's hands and pulling him into a proper sitting position, "First of all I'm older than you, second of all you're stitches came out 67 years ago so stop whining and get up."

"You're mean." Donghyuck pouted after Mark had managed to pull him up completely.

"Nah, just hungry."

Donghyuck's sulk lasted up until they were standing in the queue and Mark caved under the silent treatment and offered to pay for all the food. He was rewarded with a blinding smile and Donghyuck's hand sneaking its way into his.

They ended up buying all the food. Actually just four double cheeseburgers and two big packets of World Famous Fries, but whatever.

Back at the garden, they ate too quickly and Donghyuck had to lay down for half an hour because he felt sick and Mark ended up laying down next to him out of solidarity.

After their bout of sickness, they got incredibly bored and decided to shuffle off to the ice cream parlour to bug Jaemin.

But the two teenage boys too caught up with each other and their fries didn't notice the dark, menacing clouds that were forming on the horizon.

Jaemin was naturally thrillled to see them and Donghyuck was introduced to Jeno and Renjun. Jeno actually worked in the shop, Renjun didn't, but he was good at pretending like he did.

Samantha the Smoothie Machine didn't throw up even though Mark and Donghyuck held hands for their entire stay there. Donghyuck had a strawberry-cherry-orange smoothie and Mark had a bowl of raspberry ice cream.

By the time they left again, the clouds were well and truly on top of the city. Their dark, seething mass cutting out most of the sunlight. A quick, surprisingly cold wind whipped through the streets and both boys instinctively drew closer together, Mark's arm wrapped itself around Donghyuck's waist and the latter stuck close to him.

"If we get caught in the rain I might actually die," Donghyuck predicted dramatically and Mark rolled his eyes.

"That's not gonna happen."

Just as those words left his lips the first few fat, heavy raindrops started to fall. They both stopped walking, turning their faces up to the churning sky and blinking rapidly as the rain started coming down hard and fast. At some point Mark looked away from the sky to look at something way more interesting. Donghyuck was smiling up at the sky, raindrops running down his cheeks, dripping down the length of his throat and getting caught in his eyelashes. His denim jacket was still in the garden and his T-shirt clung to the slight line of his shoulders like a second skin.

Mark had always connected Donghyuck to the hot, humid summer days. The days where the heat would flicker visibly in the streets, the days when the sun made the earth sing and the clear, cloudless sky looked more like a bottomless swimming pool than anything else. He'd always reminded Mark of honeysuckle and the feeling of the cold side of a pillow. His tanned skin was a hymn, that sang of all the joyful days spent out in a garden surrounded by all things that lived and breathed. His chestnut eyes held more life within them than any ancient tree ever could.

Mark had never thought that Donghyuck was anything else but those kinds of days. Yet here they stood, in the middle of the street whilst people in summery dresses and shorts rushed past them, desperately looking for shelter from a storm that meant no harm. Donghyuck knew it meant no harm.

Now Mark knew Donghyuck was more than just the hot, dry days. He was every violently beautiful summer storm, he was every silver lining that shone after the storm had passed. He was the rain thundering against window panes and asphalt, he was the earth breathing a sigh of relief and every wilting flower that suddenly bloomed bright as ever.

He was every flash of lightning and every clap of thunder, just as he was every sunburned blue sky and every scolding, hot ray of sunlight in the morning.

"My place isn't far from here!" Donghyuck shouted over the thunder and Mark blinked back to reality.

Donghyuck's hair was plastered to his head and there was a noticeable tremble to his lips. Mark probably didn't look any better.

"Alright!" Mark shouted back and Donghyuck grabbed his hand and started running, the quickly forming puddles on the pavement splashing around their ankles.

It was only when they were standing, panting and laughing in the empty, hallowing lobby of the apartment block Donghyuck lived in when Mark gathered up all his courage and took a step towards him. The laughter died in Donghyuck's throat as he looked up at Mark through his damp eyelashes, his lips parted in a silent question that Mark answered with a swift duck of his head and the gentle, trembling touch of his fingertips as he cupped Donghyuck's face in his hands. Donghyuck's hands flew up to grip the soaking material of Mark's shirt and his eyelids fluttered shut.

Mark knew exactly what he was going to text Jaemin later that day. His lips felt like every single summer day Mark had spent with Donghyuck in his life, he tasted like every milkshake Mark had ever made him for free and like that last smoothie before the rain had started to fall. He was everything and more, he was every summer day yet to come and all the other days beyond that.

Mark had just kissed the boy who lived and breathed like the summer air and rain.