"so?" jeno asked before taking a sip of his hot chocolate. "how was your night with your boy."

mark rolled his eyes in annoyance. "he's not my boy."

"yeah whatever..."

the two boys were having breakfast together, in the dining room of the hotel that had been arranged for breakfast.

both mark and jeno had woken up early, and they had decided to have breakfast together before the others.

their morning schedule didn't start before an hour and a half.

"seriously, how was your sleep?" jeno asked again.

"good, i guess." mark shrugged.

"and your roommate? donghyuck?"

mark sighed. "i don't know, there's something strange with him."

"why?"

"yesterday, mrs kim wanted to have a talk with me before i got into the room with him. she gave a whole speech about how he was delicate, and fragile, and that i had to be careful with my words and my actions, and that i had to act caring." mark explained.

"yeah?" jeno raised a brow. he had seen that donghyuck was always pampered by jisung and jaemin, but he had never really put more thoughts to it.

"and yesterday night, jisung brought him to our bedroom, and i expected him to put him into bed and just leave." mark continued. "but he didn't. the boy seriously carried donghyuck all the way to the bathroom where he changed him and brushed his teeth. and only then he put him in the bed."

"weird." jeno nodded.

"and you don't know the weirdest part." mark said, lifting one of his fingers. "he asked for his plushie. and he slept hugging it all night long!"

"he sleeps with a teddy bear?" jeno asked, rather surprised to know that.

"yeah!" mark approved quickly. "he's 19 for fuck's sake! but i feel like he's acting like a kid."

jeno's eyes widened for a second before he nodded. "that's surely why mrs kim told you this."

"i don't know. but it's weird as fuck."

✯

mark pushed open the bedroom's door once he had finished taking his breakfast with jeno.

he was expecting to see the younger boy awake and getting ready for their day, but instead, he found out that the room was plunged into darkness and that the brunette was still sleeping soundly on the bed.

one thing had changed since mark left the room though: the dolphin plushie was long forgotten on the bed, and instead, donghyuck had both of his arms and legs wrapped around mark's pillow.

mark walked to the window, opening the blinds to illuminate the room, and wake up his roommate.

the boy groaned loudly, pushing the covers away and turning around in the bed, making his shorts lift up and giving mark a full view of his tanned butt.

"oh, fuck..." mark gasped, unable to take his eyes off donghyuck's gorgeous body.

it was crazy how much donghyuck's curves looked like a girl's.

mark was even sure that his curves were better than some girls'.

and more than his curves, donghyuck's flawless tanned skin made him glow in the daylight and highlighted even better his beautiful body.

too bad he was a boy, because he was mark's ideal type.

mark shook his head quickly, trying to push away these thoughts, before walking towards the bed.

he held his hand out, placing it on donghyuck's shoulder and shaking it lightly to wake him up.

they would need to leave in half an hour, and the boy wasn't even up.

"donghyuck..." mark said, shaking the boy. "donghyuck..."

"mmh...?" the brunette answered, his eyes still closed.

"you need to wake up." mark spoke clearly.

"mmh... kay..." he mumbled before letting go mark's pillow and stretching his body, making his shirt lift up and reveal a bit of his flat stomach and thin waist – which had mark gulping once again.

donghyuck opened his eyes for good, his tired orbs meeting mark's ones first thing in the morning.

"h-hello..." donghyuck stuttered, surprised to see mark looking at him.

"hey." mark replied. "you should dress quickly; we're leaving in half an hour."

"okay." donghyuck nodded before sitting on the edge of the bed.

donghyuck stretched his limbs once again and looked at his surroundings, seeing mark searching for something in his suitcase.

the tanned male then stood up and saw his reflexion in the full-length mirror that was behind the berdoom's door. he noticed he was wearing his pyjamas.

"i-i'm wearing m-my p-pyjamas...?" he let out confusedly. he was sure he fell asleep with his clothes the day before.

he couldn't help but flush bright red at the idea of mark changing him.

he didn't know if he was happy or sad about it. but it obviously made something to his heart.

"yeah, jisung changed you yesterday night." mark explained.

"o-oh, okay..." donghyuck replied, both being reassured and sad that it wasn't mark at the same time.

donghyuck forgot about these events and headed to the bathroom to get ready.

he brushed his teeth, took a quick shower because he hadn't taken one the night before, and then got dressed in warm clothes.

when he exited the bathroom, he found mark and jeno sitting on the bed, chatting, and jaemin waiting for him next to the door.

"hello hyuck!" jaemin exclaimed. "how was your beauty sleep?"

"revitalizing." donghyuck replied.

"that's good! you'll need a lot of energy for today's activities!"

✯

donghyuck stood on his skis between jisung and jaemin, his knees trembling in fear and apprehension.

today's activity was skiing, and he had never worn a pair of skis before today.

the poor boy didn't even know how to use them, and he had already fallen a high number of times, even though they hadn't even started.

"so, you'll be skiing by pairs. you can then make little groups, but i want the pairs to stay together."one of the teachers declared. "and for the pairings, we'll use the same one as the rooming arrangements. if you're two people who never skied together, please come and tell me so that we can find a solution."

donghyuck whined loudly, slipping backwards and falling down for the nth time.

"hyuck, come on..." jisung said, helping the boy up.

"sorry... i don't know how to do..." the boy pouted.

"you don't have to worry, you're paired with mark, and he's a skiing ace. he told us he loved skiing in canada." chenle exclaimed.

donghyuck rolled his eyes.

it seemed like he was the only one of their group of friends not to know how to ski.

mark was apparently an ace.

jeno was already telling them his techniques to jump while skiing.

chenle was at his ease, it was visible.

jaemin had gone skiing a few times already.

and jisung claimed that he loved skiing too.

so... yeah, he was the only one internally panicking.

"jaemin, you're coming? i need to show you how to ski like a pro!" jeno exclaimed, calling for his new friend.

"of course! come too guys." jaemin replied excitedly.

"we're following you!" chenle giggled, pulling jisung by the hand and skiing away with him.

"wait for me!" donghyuck whined.

however, none of the boys had waited for him.

they were all too excited to ski to understand that donghyuck was still a novice and that he didn't know how to ski.

"i'm left alone like a- aghh!" the boy exclaimed as he tried stepping forwards but slid and fell once again.

however, this time, he didn't faceplant on the snow.

someone was there to catch him and help him standing again.

"t-thank you..." donghyuck mumbled shyly, turning his head to look at mark.

"no problem." mark smiled. "are your skis not the right size for you? it seems like you're having some difficulty."

"i-i... i d-don't know how to ski..." donghyuck mumbled with his head hanging low. "it's m-my first t-time..."

"oh..." mark let out, understanding that he wouldn't be able to ski around for fun like he wanted to do. he was supposed to stay with the younger, and he didn't even know how to stand on skis... great. "and they left without waiting for you?"

"yeah..." donghyuck nodded.

mark let out a long sigh.

how much he wanted to leave him there and ski for hours.

he had waited so long to go skiing again.

this was his chance to recall his childhood in canada.

he just needed to tell the teacher about donghyuck having a problem and just leave him.

but seeing the pouty lips of the younger as well as his puppy eyes made something to his heart.

he couldn't leave him alone.

"come with me, then." he said, holding his hand out. "i'll teach you."