mark was walking back from ten's house with a mind full of thoughts.

him and his group of friends had been hanging out together, chilling at ten's house while watching tv, playing games and just talking to enjoy their holidays.

however, mark's mind seemed more clouded with troubles than all of his other friends reunited.

mark kept thinking about donghyuck.

it was as if the doll boy was haunting his days and nights, making it impossible for mark to do anything without the angelic face of his crush popping there, and obviously preventing him to concentrate properly.

mark couldn't remember how it all had started.

one day, he had discovered this boy, applying makeup in his mother's bathroom, and the next thing he knew, he had met the boy that would mess him life completely.

the second he had laid his eyes on him, mark was far from imagining that this curious being would become his main priority.

first of all, mark did not believe in magic, or supernatural being, or anything not normal.

so, at first, when he had met donghyuck, he had been wondering if he was really sane. maybe, the stress from school had made him go crazy, and he was hallucinating. maybe donghyuck wasn't even real, and he existed just inside mark's mind. maybe mark had made all of this up because he felt too lonely in his mind...

as stupid as all those theories sounded, mark was genuinely doubting at the beginning...

like, how would it be possible for him to find one day someone corresponding to him perfectly? how could he have found a beautiful boy, that made his heartbeat accelerate with every and any of his movements? this was impossible... perfection was impossible... so, this is what made mark think that donghyuck was just a character of his mind.

but then, donghyuck came to the club, and jaehyun saw him... and now, sungchan saw him too, and his mother, and his sister, and jaesun... this necessarily meant that donghyuck was real, and not only a perfect character created by mark's loneliness.

after assuring himself that donghyuck was indeed real, mark was partly reassured.

on the one hand, this meant he wasn't crazy, and that he really had found a perfect person that he had fallen for.

but on the other hand, mark still had problems understanding the doll part.

donghyuck was a human, but he was most of the time a doll, a simple piece of plastic representing the beauty ideals of a child.

how was that even possible?

mark had already read books or seen films... he had seen vampires there, he had seen werewolves too, and hybrids, mermaids, demigods, wizards... he had seen lots of weird supernatural things – that he didn't believe in obviously. but donghyuck? a doll, transforming into a human? he had no idea where this came from and what it could be. and it didn't seem like donghyuck knew way more about this, which was even more confusing.

anyway, what was confusing mark even more at that point were his feelings.

how had they appeared?

mark wasn't particularly attracted to makes in the first place. he had started realsing he could maybe find boys attractive after ten and johnny announced they got together. but he had never been attracted to a boy before meeting donghyuck.

that is why at first, mark thought he wasn't even attracted to donghyuck, because the feeling was completely foreign to him.

his heart had never beat that fast when a girl had asked for his number, or told him she was interested. heck, he had never felt halfway like donghyuck makes him feel when he simply looks at him with another person. not even when he had his first kiss with a girl he liked a few years ago.

everything donghyuck made him feel was new, and so powerful, but at the same time, very reviving.

make finally felt alive now that he had developed feelings for donghyuck, as if he had finally found a reason to fight for his life.

"i'm home!" mark declared, closing the door behind his back as he decided to go straight to his room to just lay down on his bed and think about donghyuck and how much he loved him.

he ignored his sister watching a cartoon in the living room and walked through the corridor towards his room.

however, he stopped in his tracks when he stepped in front of sungchan's room and that he heard soft giggles that he could recognise very well.

mark's jaw clenched as he knocked on the door, waiting for sungchan to respond 'enter'.

after the younger boy did so, mark pushed the door open, his grip tightening considerably on the handle when he saw donghyuck and sungchan sitting next to each other while giggling.

"oh, hi mark!" donghyuck exclaimed with a bright smile.

"what are you doing here?" he asked.

"sungchan said i could come anytime, so i did." donghyuck replied.

"want to join us?" sungchan looked at mark.

"no, thanks." mark spat before leaving the guest room and going back to his own – and slamming the door shut to relieve part of his rage.

jealousy.

that's what it was.

and he was perfectly aware of it.

how could donghyuck just transform when he wasn't here?

how could he go to sungchan like that?

and how could sungchan be this sweet with him?

did that mean that donghyuck preferred sungchan to him?

"fuck it!" mark yelled, kicking his bed angrily and hurting his ankle in the process. "ahh! fuck!"

mark laid down on his bed on his stomach, burying his face into the pillow to muffle the screams and hide the tears that were escaping his eyes.

yeah, tears of pain. physical pain, because his ankle was hurting like hell; and mental pain, because donghyuck would rather spend time with sungchan than spend time with him.

🎀

"mark...?"

donghyuck pushed open mark's bedroom door, passing his head through the opening to look if mark was there.

he smiled once he noticed the figure lying on their stomach on the bed.

"mark, don't you want to come and play with us?" donghyuck asked, entering the dark room.

"go play with sungchan. i'm meant to be alone anyways." mark replied with his head in his pillow. he had been in this position for more than half an hour, and he was still a mess. his foot hurt like hell, and his heart was broken.

"mark, don't say that..." donghyuck pouted. "i want to be with you..."

"that's not what it looks like."

donghyuck sighed, sitting on the bed by mark's side. "then what does it look like?"

"like you prefer spending time with sungchan rather than with me." mark dramatically said, his eyes watering once again and wetting the pillow.

"yeah, of couse... and this is totally why i'm currently here with you while sungchan is waiting for me." donghyuck rolled his eyes playfully.

"you're there just to be kind." mark mumbled.

"no, i'm here because i miss you. and this means i want you to stay with me, whether with sungchan, or alone. but i want you with me."

mark sniffled, turning around on the bed and sitting up next to donghyuck.

the doll boy scowled at the sight of mark's red puffy eyes.

"have you been crying?" he asked, lifting his hand delicately to place his fingers on mark's swollen eyelid.

"no." mark replied, making donghyuck sigh – he could see that mark was lying.

"i'm sorry for making you think i preferred sungchan, mark... you should know by now that you are the one i prefer... you are my saviour, my friend, my happiness... so, keep that in mind... you're my favourite."

mark nodded, a small smile decorating his face as the pieces of his shattered heart melted together again. it was as if none of this had ever happened. as if he had never been jealous. he couldn't be jealous of anyone... he was donghyuck's favourite!

"so, you're coming with us?" donghyuck asked, tilting his head to the side after standing up.

"okay." mark declared, standing up as well. "ouch!" he exclaimed, falling back on the bed because of the pain that shot through his ankle.

"what was that?" donghyuck asked worriedly as he glanced at mark's feet.

"i hurt my ankle a while ago, and the pain hasn't gone away..." mark explained, standing back up.

"no, no, no!" donghyuck shook his head. "you stay seated, and you let me see." he added, pushing mark back on the bed and kneeling in front of him.

donghyuck carefully took mark's socks off looking at both ankles for comparison.

"your ankle is swollen!" donghyuck told after examination. "where can i find an ice pack? and soothing cream? and also bandages?"

"it's nothing, don't worry..." mark pulled his feet from donghyuck's hold.

"it's not. i don't want this to get more severe. tell me where everything is so that i can heal you."

mark's heart missed a beat as he sighed before telling donghyuck the instructions.

soon after, donghyuck was back, and the doll skilfully applied soothing cream on the wound before wrapping it around mark's foot, making sure not to tighten it too much. he then told mark to keep the ice-pack on his ankle to help for everything to unswollen.

with that done, donghyuck helped mark to walk to sungchan's bedroom door.

mark didn't really need donghyuck's help, because his foot wasn't hurting that much, but he was happy to have the younger boy taking care of him.

"donghyuck?" he spoke before donghyuck could open the door.

"yes?" the doll responded.

"last time, when you transformed back into a doll...you... you were about to say something you would like me to do..." mark spoke hesitantly. "and... i wanted to know what it was..."

donghyuck blinked a few times, looking into mark's eyes. "i-i don't remember." he told with rosy cheeks.

🎀

"mark lee, there's something you're not telling us!!" yuta yelled as soon as the group of boys started their group phone call.

"yes, i think you have a little something to tell us!" taeyong added, obviously smirking.

"i have nothing to say, guys, i don't know what you're imagining." the canadian told with furrowed brows.

"you think we're blind, is that it?" taeil asked ironically.

"he definitely does." jungwoo chuckled.

"guys, i don't know what you're talking about." mark groaned, genuinely confused.

"sure, mark. try denying." ten laughed loudly.

"i'm not denying anything, it's just that i can't understand!" he replied annoyed.

"you sent us a snap video of you playing videogames with your soon-to-be brother while a pink-haired boy was lying with his head on your lap, and you don't expect us to ask you questions?!" johnny screamed through the phone, making mark pull it away from his ear.

that's when he acknowledged johnny's words.

was donghuck visible in the video he had sent them?

he hadn't thought about it... he was so comfortable there that he just took a video on the go, not even minding who appeared in the video...

and now his friends were going to assume things.

"mark's silent. this means he realised we knew everything!!" yuta exclaimed.

mark sighed. "guys..."

"so, who's that boy, mark?" doyung asked.

"he's just- "

"his soon-to-be boyfriend." jaehyun finished mark's sentence.

"jaehyun!"

"OH MY GOD!!" a few of the boys gasped.

"how did this happen? and why weren't we aware of it?"

"guys don't- "

"they met at the gay club, and they have been in contact since then. mark fell for him." jaehyun continued spilling mark's secret.

"no!"

"MAAAAARK!!"

"i'm disappointed we didn't know!"

"how long has this been going?"

"mark is finally getting some!"

"petition to meet mark's boyfriend!"

"i sign!!"

"i want to meet him!"

"me too!!"

mark sighed loudly once again as he listened to his friends being extra over absolutely nothing.

there was no use trying to deny anything, they would keep saying he was lying.

they weren't exactly right, but mark didn't have the courage to argue with them.

so, the boy waited for a few minutes for his friends to calm down.

"so...? mark...?"

"i'll introduce him to you when he'll be ready." he told with a sigh.

"YEAHHHHHH!!!"