tough.

that's how the past days had been for donghyuck.

staying locked up in his room all day wasn't what he thought he would be doing during those holidays.

yet, that's exactly what he was doing.

he had no phone to contact mark.

his friends were angered by what they had learned.

his parents refused to let him go out.

he felt like being in jail.

the only good part of his day was when mark would knock on his bay window at night and stay with him until he fell asleep. other than that, his days were just shitty.

but what could he do?

he didn't want to break up with mark. he would never.

ϟ

"what's with the long face, mark?" doyoung asked seeing mark was sulking in his seat while all their friends were enjoying the dinner.

"nothing." mark replied.

he felt a hand being placed on his thigh in a comforting manner.

mark raised his head to meet eyes with taeil.

he had told him everything that had happened the past week. from donghyuck's friend misunderstanding them at the park, to the way donghyuk's parents kept him locked inside his house.

taeil was the only one that could understand him at the moment.

"mark..." jaehyun spoke. "we're your friends. you can trust us."

"yeah, i know."

mark internally scoffed.

sure. jaehyun would totally understand if mark explained he had a boyfriend and that that boy was the nerd from the library.

seeing the lack of motivation written all over mark's face, his friends were getting more and more worried.

"come on, mark." yuta spoke.

"cheer up a bit." sicheng added.

"yeah... i'm trying." mark replied nonchalantly.

"i know what we should do to make you forget about your worries!" taeyong told enthusiastically. "we should go and visit all the clubs of the city. that way we could have fun and you could even find someone to spend the night with."

mark felt uneasy thinking about the night he would have if he did what taeyong had said.

he couldn't do that to donghyuck. he loved him too much.

"i don't want to."

"mark?! that was one of your favourite things to do before!" johnny said surprised. "you would never say no to that!"

"i changed."

"drinking, partying... mark! these are cool things to do to forget about- "

"why don't you leave him be?" taeil cut yuta harshly.

mark thanked him silently.

"what's going on...?" doyoung asked. "do you happen to know what has gotten mark in such a state?"

"no- "

"i do." taeil shut mark.

all the eyes got on mark.

"how come he already knows?!" jaehyun spoke.

"that's not fair." winwin added.

"aren't we your friends mark?" taeyong raised a brow.

mark's head started hurting with all the questions from his friends.

and he somehow cracked.

"i'm having relationship problems!" he exclaimed, shutting the whole table up.

"r-relationship?" doyoung asked. "are you in a relationship?"

"i am. and it's not working well at the moment. that's why i'm like this."

the boys nodded slowly.

"that's why you didn't want to go clubbing?" johnny asked.

"i love him. i'd never want him to think something bad of me if he knows i go to clubs." mark told.

"w-who is him?" taeyong asked carefully.

"donghyuck."

the boys furrowed their brows, not knowing any donghyuck.

"the unknown number that sent mark a message a couple weeks ago." taeil clarified.

all heads turn to him.

"you knew about their relationship?" sicheng questioned.

"i saw them together when they came here."

"they came here?!" jaehyun exclaimed.

"that's not the problem right now..." taeyong hushed his boyfriend by patting his thigh. "what's the matter in your relationship?"

mark took a deep breath.

they knew about the relationship. he could spill a bit.

"his parents are against us being together. he's been locked in his house for a week, without a phone to tell me if he's okay."

taeyong and some of the boys widened their eyes.

"woah... that's hard." doyoung commented.

"yeah..." johnny added.

mark coughed to get rid of the awkward silence.

"now, excuse me, but i'll go to his house to see if i can catch a glimpse of him." he said, rising to his feet.

"do you need someone to accompany you?" taeyong asked.

"no. i'll go alone." mark replied, picking his jacket and his helmet before leaving the house.

once mark had left, all the eyes turned to taeil.

"speak up. how is the boy?" taeyong questioned.

taeil chuckled. "relax. the boy is perfect for mark."

"who the hell is him?" yuta spoke.

"it's not my duty to introduce him to you, guys. that's mark's job."

the boys rolled their eyes.

"all you have to know is that mark will never find better. they are so in love with each other..."