mark held his hand out for his little sister to take while they walked back home.

"mark, i had a A in maths today!" maria happily exclaimed as she bounded on her feet while holding her brother's hand.

"that's good." mark replied simply, checking both sides of the street before crossing the road.

"and the teacher said i had done a very good art project in class too. we had to draw the things we would love to have." maria continued. "i drew mom, you and i along with sungchan and jaesun, because i want sungchan to be my brother."

mark hummed. maria had been raised without a father, and mark knew that he could have been a better brother to her, but sadly, the past was the past, and you couldn't change it anymore. perhaps, if sungchan came to become their new sibling, he would take better care of maria, and him and jaesun would give her the opportunity to have a real family.

"mark?"

"yeah?" the teenager looked at his sister immediately.

"what about you? how was your day?"

"huh..."

mark didn't need too much time to recall what had happened that day.

all of his friends bombarding him with questions on his crush – because jaehyun had obviously told one of them since he couldn't keep secrets for more than two days.

the literature test that he had completely failed because he couldn't bring himself to think about 'something that has recently been inspiring to you' other than donghyuck.

and the way he missed the bus which caused him to get to maria's school by foot.

all in all, a long day.

"it was busy." mark told simply.

"oh, okay." maria nodded. "well, i had the best mark in maths. i'm so happy!"

🎀

mark was peacefully revising when his little sister barged inside his room with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"maria? why are you crying?" he asked, immediately standing up and walking to her.

"i-i... i-i f-forgot h-haechan..." she sobbed, sniffling a few times.

"you forgot haechan?" mark asked, trying not to sound too panicked. what did that even mean? what had happened to his poor little donghyuck? his newfound crush?

"y-yes... a-at... a-at school..." maria nodded.

mark let out a sigh of relief.

it was nothing too bad, donghyuck was just at school.

"it's okay, stop crying." mark hugged his little sister, comforting her.

"b-but... i-i... i w-want him b-back!" she continued crying loudly.

"i know, i know." mark caressed her head. "i'll go and take him at your school, okay? it should be still open. i'll go and ask for haechan, and i'll bring it back to you."

maria sniffled, nodding energetically as her loud sobs ceased.

"you stay home, okay? i'll be quick, don't worry. and if you ever have a problem, don't hesitate to call me using the house phone, okay? my number is on the fridge." mark explained, making his sister nod.

mark brought her to the living room where he played a disney movie before wearing his jacket and heading out.

the teenager ran back to maria's school the quickest he could.

even though he didn't seem like it, he was actually worried for the doll boy he had developed a liking for.

what if something had happened to him? what if someone had stolen the doll? what if someone had thrown it away?

mark would be devastated if his donghyuck had disappeared.

"excuse me!" mark exclaimed before catching his breath.

"hello, how can i help you?" a girl in her late twenties approached him.

"i'm... maria lee's brother..." mark told between pants. "she's in class... 3a." he continued.

"yes, maria!" the girl gave mark a smile.

"she... she forgot her doll at school..." mark explained. "and i was wondering... if i could get it for her..."

"of course, wait a second."

mark did as he was told, using this time to recover fully and stop panting.

the lady was back after less than a minute with a familiar doll in her hand.

"here, i found it in the playground. i knew that this was maria's doll, she introduced it to me the other day." she explained.

"thank you so much miss." mark gladly took the doll that she was handing out.

"no problem." she smiled back. "goodbye."

"goodbye."

mark carefully held the doll while he walked towards a less crowdy place.

"donghyuck?" he whispered when he found a spot behind school where he was alone.

in a snap of fingers, the doll he was holding grew bigger, and mark was soon standing in front of donghyuck.

"hi mark." the doll boy smiled brightly, making mark's heart miss a beat.

"h-hi." mark nervously stuttered.

"you came for me." donghyuck told, tilting his head to the side.

"maria was so sad that she had forgotten you..." mark explained. "and i got worried about you too. i thought maybe someone could have stolen you."

donghyuck chuckled, making a smile appear on mark's face.

"let's go back home?" mark asked. "i told maria that i would be quick."

"sure." donghyuck nodded, wrapping his hands around mark's arm, clinging onto him.

mark's cheeks flushed red at the action.

he wasn't very used to skin ship, and donghyuck seemed to be very touchy.

mark was always a bit surprised whenever donghyuck would cling onto him. not that he didn't like it, but he was just not used to receiving this much affection. that is surely one of the things that made him develop feeling for donghyuck.

mark started walking, stealing glances towards the beautiful male that was holding onto his arm.

"it has been long since we were together." donghyuck declared.

"yeah. we couldn't see each other since the day we talked inside my room." mark nodded.

"when was that?"

"almost a week ago." mark answered.

"woah... that long... i missed you so much..." donghyuck said, now burying his face into mark's shoulder, making butterflies erupt into mark's stomach.

"i-i did too..." mark admitted with burning cheeks. "but sadly, we can't see each other because maria plays too much with you. she always carries you around."

"yeah..."

a comfortable silence took place while the two boys walked towards mark's house.

donghyuck let himself being guided by mark's steps, simply leaning onto him.

while walking, mark tried calming his erratic heart by thinking about other things that would distract him, and make him forget about the beautiful boy that he had a crush on and that was currently clinging onto his whole arm.

but this was rather difficult, because donghyuck seemed to have invaded his mind completely. whatever mark thought of, donghyuck would just pop there and-

"mark!"

being pulled out of his thoughts, mark felt his body being jerked backwards and falling as he heard the loud noise of a car zooming past him.

in his fall, mark dragged donghyuck down too, making the doll boy fall on the concrete as mark landed on top of him, their foreheads bumping in the process.

"ouch!" donghyuck let out at the shock.

"oh my god, donghyuck, i'm sorry!" mark said quickly. "are you okay?"

mark mentally scolded himself for being stupid and too caught-up with his thoughts to look around and see that a car was coming their way and that they wouldn't be able to cross the road.

if donghyuck hadn't been there, he would have been dead by now. donghyuck had basically saved his life.

"it's okay, i'm..."

donghyuck's eyes opened, and that's when both of them acknowledged the position they were in.

donghyuck lying on his back on the pavement, with mark lying on top of him, and with their heads centimetres apart, looking awfully like a cliché love story.

"...okay." donghyuck finished his sentence in a whisper, taking some time to stare at mark's face.

mark did the same, taking in every detail of the doll's beautiful face. was it even possible to be this beautiful? he could feel his heart pumping so hard in his chest... donghyuck was surely able to hear it by now.

a loud ringing interrupted their moment, making both of them jump slightly.

when mark recognized his phone ringtone, the boy jumped on his feet, helping donghyuck up immediately too. after that, he pulled his phone out and answered it.

"yes?" he spoke.

"did you find haechan, mark?" his sister's voice asked through the phone.

"yes, yes, he's with me. i'm almost there." mark said, using his free hand to grab donghyuck's hand before pulling him towards his house. he was too concentrated on the phone call that he missed the way donghyuck's cheeks became beet red at the sudden sweet gesture.

"good, come home quick!" maria continued. "oh, and do you want good news?"

mark made sure to look at both sides of the road this time before crossing it. "sure, tell me."

"mom invited sungchan and jaesun tomorrow for dinner!"