hina looked at donghyuck with widened eyes, her beautifully painted nails dug in her purse to the point they could break.

"what did you say?" she asked, fuming red.

"mark. is. my. boyfriend." donghyuck repeated each word clearely.

it was a lie; they had never talked about such things. but donghyuck just wanted hina to leave before mark came back.

"you're lying." she spat.

"i'm not." donghyuck replied.

"mark likes me!"

"he doesn't. he likes me!" donghyuck raised his voice, his hairs bristling.

"kitten, i bought you ice- hina?" mark furrowed his brows when he noticed the girl at his hybrid's table when he arrived.

"hello mark." she waved at him, her voice changing completely to become sweet and calm, total opposite of the one she had used to threaten donghyuck a second ago.

"hello."

"is this boy bothering you?" hina asked, pointing at an angered donghyuck. "i saw him following you everywhere around. maybe we should call the security or something?"

"huh..." mark looked at donghyuck who just scoffed at what hina said.

"plus, he pretended to be your boyfriend when we all know that you like me." hina said as if it was logical.

donghyuck and mark exchanged a look.

donghyuck flushed red. he wasn't expecting for hina to tell mark about him pretending to be his boyfriend. now it was going to be awkward. mostly if mark confirmed it was a lie...

on his side, mark was shocked of what donghyuck had said to get out of this shitty situation, but it could have worked if hina wasn't a bitch... and the other thing that hit him was the last part of hina's sentence. 'we all know that you like me'.

first, who the hell is 'we'? second, how? thrid, how can this girl have such confidence? and fourth, how could mark like her at a period of his life?

"hina..." mark rubbed his temples. "i'm sorry to break it to you, but i don't like you. i don't know who told you that i did, but i don't."

"come on. it's obvious." hina smiled. "you're just shy." she put her hand on his forearm.

mark took her hand off gently. "i'm sorry hina, i can't reciprocate your feelings."

hina looked at him with a pained look.

"and, yeah, donghyuck is actually my boyfriend." mark said, approaching his hybrid and passing his arm around his shoulders, making the creature raise his head in surprise. was mark playing along?

"y-you're lying as well." hina said.

mark sighed. "why would i lie?"

"to reject me..." hina said sadly.

"exactly hina. but i already did reject you." mark told. "so, there's no use in lying. now that i told you that i couldn't reciprocate your feelings because i didn't have them anymore, i don't need to fake a relationship. this would be useless."

hina looked at him and then at donghyuck, her eyes, stopping on mark's arm tht was still around donghyuck's shoulders.

"you're right." she said, wiping the tear that had escaped of her eye.

mark looked behind the girl for a second, in the crowd of people that passed inside the mall, only to find a familiar silhouette.

"hina?" mark grabbed the girl's attention once again. "i'm very sorry for not reciprocating your feelings again. i hope you'll find someone more appropriate for you in the future."

"yeah..." hina nodded. "and i hope you'll have a happy future together." she smiled weakly.

"there's minsun just there." mark told the girl, pointing at a shop behind her. "he's alone if you want to join him..." mark smirked.

"thank you." hina bowed before leaving mark and donghyuck.

"our ice creams melted..." mark pointed out looking at the two cups of melted ice cream.

donghyuck shrugged. "i bet it's good." he said before drinking it in one gulp.

mark furrowed his brows, looking at the hybrid disgusted.

"it is!" donghyuck exclaimed. "do you want yours?"

"no. you can have it."

and so, donghyuck dank entirely mark's ice cream as well.

the two boys rose to their feet and continued their shopping day.

at some point, they weren't entering the shops anymore. just walking in front of them, gawking at the expensive clothing and walking in front of some other shop.

"were you really thinking what you said to hina?" donghyuck asked after a long silence.

"about what?"

"us being boyfriends."

mark didn't answer right away. he waited for a bit, leaving the atmosphere tense, almost suffocating.

"i had to do something to catch your lie." mark told.

"oh."

donghyuck was a bit disappointed by the answer.

honestly, he wanted to be mark's boyfriend. and hearing mark say it minutes ago had made his heart beat incredibly fast in his rib cage. but now, his heart was just crumbling into small pieces at mark's words.

"would you have preferred me to let you do it another way?" mark stopped walking when he saw donghyuck sulking.

"no." donghyuck replied without emotion.

"what's wrong?" mark asked a bit harshly.

"nothing."

"donghyuck. i see there is something wrong." mark said more gently. "tell me, please."

thankfully, the place there was in wasn't too crowded. they were close to the parking door as they were about to go to the car to go back home.

donghyuck stayed with his back facing mark. "i love you mark. that's what's wrong. i love you and i want to be your boyfriend. but it seems like you don't want to. so i'm hurt." donghyuck abruptly turned around, facing mark. "that's what's wrong." he spat.

mark suddenly pulled him in a hug, wrapping all the shopping bags around his small frame, startling donghyuck.

"you can't know how happy i am to hear that donghyuck." mark said, practically sobbing in donghyuck's neck. "i didn't know if you wanted to be my boyfriend considering our difference, so i didn't want to ask you... i was so scared that you would reject me. i've been wanting to kiss you and just make you mine since so long... but i was just so scared..." mark whispered next to donghyuck's ear.

mark pulled away from the hug, to lay a sweet kiss on donghyuck's lips.

"will you be my boyfriend? i won't accept no as an answer." mark smiled.

donghyuck chuckled. "of course, i will!" he said, hugging mark again, happier than ever.

the two boyfriends headed towards the car, putting all the shopping bags in the boot before heading to their seats. donghyuck sat markie on his lap for the ride.

they arrived at their house quickly and took out the shopping bags from the boot before opening the door, ready for a chill night cuddled on the couch together.

however, as soon as mark pushed his key inside the lock, the door opened on its own, revealing a very angry renjun which pulled mark inside.

"MARK!! WHERE THE HELL IS MY CA- oh! you brought a boy with you?"