donghyuck stretched his arms up in the air as soon as he transformed into his human form. being a doll wasn't always comfortable, and if he stayed too long in his doll form, he could get cramps.

the beautiful boy looked at the alarm clock sitting on maria's bedside table, reading 4:10pm.

maria had left with her mother and jaesun to go to the park and just spend some quality time together, so this meant mark was there alone with him. and mark and him being alone together meant some even more quality time.

"mark!" donghyuck exclaimed, closing maria's bedroom door behind him.

the doll boy heard some noise coming from the bathroom, making him smile at the simple thought he'll be able to see mark soon. he had recently been so eager to see the older boy.

"mark!" he spoke again, now leaning on the bathroom door.

the door unlocked in a click, and it was opened just when donghyuck backed away.

however, mark wasn't the one to come out, but instead, a younger brunet did, staring at donghyuck confusedly.

"h-huh..." donghyuck let out, frozen on his spot as he stared blankly at the unknown boy.

just when he was starting to think about running away, the door of mark's room opened, and mark got out, looking quite stressed.

"donghyuck!" he breathed out, his eyes looking at both males.

"m-mark..." donghyuck gave his friend a sheepish smile, waving his hand nervously.

"i-i told you i was in my room. not in the bathroom." mark told, lying with ease to cover donghyuck.

"yeah..." donghyuck answered while scratching the back of his head.

"well, at least you met sungchan." mark did a head motion towards the younger boy. "he's the son of my mother's new boyfriend. sungchan, this is donghyuck. he's my..." mark paused, his eyes searching for comfort in donghyuck's ones. "my friend..." he finally finished, hating how the word 'friends' sounded to describe both of them.

"hello..." donghyuck smiled shyly, now looking at sungchan.

"hi, nice to meet you." sungchan answered, his lips curving up at donghyuck's cuteness.

"sorry sungchan, hyuckie tends to forget what i tell him..." mark stared at donghyuck, making him understand that he should come to mark.

"it's okay, don't worry. things like those happen sometimes. and no one was hurt, so it's cool, really."sungchan explained, his eyes never leaving donghyuck to reassure him.

"well, we're off to my room." mark declared as donghyuck walked to his side. "if you need anything don't be afraid to knock, okay?" he continued, now looking at sungchan.

"sure." sungchan nodded. "have fun."

"you too."

with that being said, mark pulled donghyuck inside his bedroom and closed the door once both of them were inside.

mark's eyes wasted to time to find donghyuck's and to stare at them intensely. on his side, donghyuck wanted the ground to swallow him as he lowered his head in both shyness and awkwardness.

"donghyuck, you could have been busted there." mark told sternly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"i'm sorry..." donghyuck replied in a timid voice.

"you can't just barge in screaming my name like that." mark sighed annoyingly.

"yeah..."

"people might wonder why you're inside, and who you are." mark continued his scolding.

"y-yes..." donghyuck's answer came in a shakier tone than the previous one.

"what would you even have said to sungchan? huh? would you have been able to find an excuse to cover your actions?"

"n-n-no..." donghyuck sniffed.

"what if i hadn't gotten there in time? what if- "

mark was cut by another sniffle, followed soon after by a third one.

these sounds suddenly alarmed mark who realised he had been scolding the doll unsympathetically.

"donghyuck? are you crying?" he asked, carefully approaching the doll boy.

this sentence was the final trigger for donghyuck who suddenly started bawling his eyes out, his hands lifting up to hide his teary eyes.

"oh my god, donghyuck..." mark said quickly, pulling the boy against his chest. "hyuck, don't cry, i'm so sorry for scolding you like that..." he whispered in his ear while rubbing circles on the boy's back.

mark's heart started aching in his chest when he heard donghyuck sobbing, even if the noises were muffled by mark's chest, in which donghyuck's head was pressed. the doll boy was even gripping mark's shirt tightly with his shaking fists.

mark felt bad for having made cry such an angel. he was the worst being to ever exist... how would donghyuck ever accept his feelings if mark was a dick to him?

"donghyuck, please, forgive me..." mark continued whispering. "i was so scared something bad would happen... i was so scared sungchan would discover your secret... that's why i reacted like that..."

"so-sorry..." donghyuck told between sobs. "i-i... i r-really wanted to... to see you... i-i was too careless..."

mark tightened his embrace around the boy's body. "no, it's okay... i wanted to see you a lot too. i missed you, you know?"

"i-i missed you too..." donghyuck's sobs died down a bit.

"come on, look at me."

mark pulled away from the hug, using both hands to cup donghyuck's cheeks and bring their faces closer, almost making their noses touch.

"i am sorry for being an ass with you, donghyuck." mark articulated each of his words. "you're such a precious angel... i got scared something bad could happen and take you away from me... and i don't want that happening."

donghyuck sniffled again a few times, nodding slowly as he glanced from time to time at mark's eyes.

their faces were so close. donghyuck could feel mark's hot breath fanning over his lips, and he could clearly see the galaxies mark's eyes held while he was staring at him.

this made his heart beat faster in his chest.

he had never been taken care of like that. he had never felt so much love coming from another person. even as a doll, he had never been as pampered, loved and taken care of as when he was with mark.

this 18-year-old boy had flipped his world upside down, making him hate being a doll, and only being able to stay two hours in his human form.

mark had become his friend, someone who cared for him, and someone who would always be there for him. and he loved that. this made him feel so good, more than he had ever felt in both his human and doll lives.

"t-thank you, mark." he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "thank you for everything you do for me."

"it's normal, hyuck. i want to make you happy..." mark replied on the same tone, his eyes refusing to cope with him and look at donghyuck's. instead, they were focused on the two rosy pieces of flesh that donghyuck couldn't resist nibbling.

"you make me so happy..." donghyuck smiled sincerely, making mark's heart go completely crazy inside his chest.

"then i'm happy as well..."

the raven-haired leant forwards, using his hands to approach donghyuck's face closer.

their faces got slowly closer, their lips threatening to touch anytime now, but mark didn't allow them to finally meet. instead, he tilted his head up, dropping a chaste peck on the tip of donghyuck's nose. once that was done, he didn't pull away, but kept his face as close as possible to donghyuck's, in case a wave of bravery hit him.

donghyuck's eyes had fluttered close when mark had started leaning forwards.

he didn't know what to expect from this sudden move.

he had felt his heart missing a beat at the simple idea mark could have been leaning forwards to kiss him.

why would mark even do that? why would he kiss donghyuck when he had been telling sungchan about his crush on a boy the day before?

even if donghyuck's mind couldn't find a valid reason why mark would kiss him, he still waited for the pink plump lips to touch his own. he wasn't sure why, though.

needless to say, he was quite disappointed to feel mark's lips pressing against his nose sweetly – not that this didn't make his heart skip a beat, but he was wondering what mark's lips would have felt like on his.

donghyuck's eyes reopened after the peck on the nose, and his heart missed a beat at how beautiful mark looked from up-close.

his raven hair, falling over his deep eyes... his straight nose... his high cheekbones... and his tempting lips...

this time, donghyuck was the one to lean forward. he felt like he needed to know how mark's lips would feel against his.

he had no idea what that feeling might be. he had been stuck in the body of a lifeless doll for too long to recall about emotions and their meaning.

he just knew that being around mark made him happy and giggly, and that every time mark would say something nice, he would feel a pleasant fuzzy feeling inside his tummy.

just like donghyuck's, mark's eyes closed slowly as they leant forwards.

their lips were brushing against each other right now. a millimetre more and they would fully touch. finally...

but sadly, this never happened...

they were interrupted by a knock on the door, which had made both of them pull away with red cheeks as they realised what was about to happen.

"y-yeah?" mark answered with a cough.

the door of his room opened, revealing sungchan.

at that moment, mark truly hoped he hadn't told sungchan to knock whenever he wanted to.

"i'm sorry to disturb you guys... but, it's just that... huh... my dad offered me the last play station for christmas, and i was wondering if you wanted to play with me?" the youngest boy said nervously, looking between the two flushed boys.

mark and donghyuck glanced at each other, their cheeks becoming brighter as the both recalled what had almost happened a few seconds ago. they both brushed it away and silently agreed on what sungchan was suggesting.

and so, that's how the three of them ended up playing car race games on sungchan's bed.

🎀

"pause! i need to go to the toilets." sungchan declared as he paused the game, allowing mark to let out a sigh of relief and rub his eyes that were starting to itch.

the room was left in a comfortable silence that neither mark nor donghyuck wanted to break.

the events of mark's room were still fresh in their minds, and both of them were still shy about it.

however, when mark's eyes fell on sungchan's watch on his desk, he couldn't help but ask donghyuck a question.

"how long do you have left before transforming again?"

"relax mark... i keep track of the time." donghyuck answered shyly as images of mark's and him almost kissing flashed in his mind.

"how long have you been in your doll form?" mark asked again.

"it's only been..." donghyuck stood up to walk to sungchan's desk where his watch was sitting, and he was quick to calculate for how long he had been in his human form. "...two hours and a half." he finished with a smile.

the room became silent again.

until...

"wait, two hours and a half?!"