donghyuck was walking next to jaemin, trying to ignore the other boys, as they were heading with the rest of the students towards the ice-skating rink.

donghyuck couldn't believe that what jaemin had told him was true, but at the same time, this explained everything.

anyway, after knowing the real reason of his and mark's awkwardness, donghyuck felt even more awkward, and he didn't want to approach the boy anymore.

and this didn't go unnoticed by mark.

"he's completely ignoring me..." he said, looking at donghyuck's back as the boy was walking a few steps before them next to jaemin.

"yeah... jaemin too..." jeno replied on the same tone.

"what did you do?" mark's brows furrowed.

"i may have been a bit too overconfident for him." jeno shrugged. "talked about him and donghyuck, and sex too."

"why the hell would you do that?!" mark whisper-shouted.

"i don't know... he's making my mind go crazy..." jeno sighed.

"do you remember that- "

"i have a boyfriend, yes." jeno cut him. "i do love renjun, and i'm sure of it."

"okay, okay." mark raised in hands in defeat.

"but, i don't know... jaemin is very likable too... what if i'm falling for him too?"

"fall all you want, he's out of reach if he's donghyuck's boyfriend." mark stated.

"they aren't together. i asked him." jeno corrected his best friend.

"for real?!" mark exclaimed.

"why? are you gay for donghyuck?" jeno raised a brow teasingly.

"is it considered gayness since he has the body of a sexy girl?" mark asked, making jeno choke on air.

"yeah, because he has the dick of a man." jeno answered. "but there's nothing wrong in being gay."

"i'm not." mark assured. "donghyuck is weird, i don't know..."

jeno and mark both looked at the subject of their conversation.

he was clinging onto jaemin's arm as the other boy laughed and ruffled his honey curls gracefully.

mark gulped as he caught himself looking down at his butt.

yeah, he was totally not gay for him.

or maybe a bit?

✯

"is it me or is the atmosphere very tense around those four?" chenle asked pointing at their four friends who weren't exchanging a word.

"yeah. they seemed to be pretty close before." jsiung shrugged. "i don't know what happened."

"maybe mark realised he was gay for donghyuck." chenle stated, making jisung gasp.

"he likes donghyuck?!" jisung whisper-shouted.

"this is a long story." chenle said. "but for short, mark claims that he isn't gay but keeps checking donghyuck out because apparently, 'he has the body of a sexy girl'."

"he doesn't have the body of a girl at all...?" jisung snorted, looking at his friend from afar.

"yeah, i know. he's just convinced he's not gay when he prefers boys' curves rather than girls'." chenle rolled his eyes. "but that's mark..."

jisung thought for a second.

"donghyuck also has some kind of attraction towards mark." he said.

"for real?" chenle raised a brow.

"yeah, i talked about it with jaemin. he said he wouldn't mind mark being with hyuck because he took good care of him." jisung nodded.

"that's amazing!" chenle clapped his hands happily.

"how so?"

"if donghyuck gets closer to mark and tried to break mark's façade, mark will eventually let him in. and poof, he's gay, and poof, him and donghyuck are a happy couple." chenle explained, not forgetting to pose at the end of the speech.

jisung nodded slowly, still having something bothering him in his mind.

donghyuck was a little.

and nobody knew about that except him, donghyuck and jaemin.

and jisung wasn't sure that donghyuck was ready to share this with anyone else for the moment.

"is something bothering you?" chenle asked, placing a hand over jisung's shoulder.

"what if mark doesn't like donghyuck?" jisung answered, his heart accelerating because of chenle's hand on his shoulder.

"how could he not. he's so cute and squishy, and just... adorable." chenle listed, making jisung smile.

"yeah, but he can be very... childish? and weird?" he explained, hinting the main problem without actually voicing it out.

"jisung." chenle placed both his hands on jisung's shoulders this time, and this made jisung blush a bit. "donghyuck is perfect for mark. and he's a very acceptant person, meaning that he won't care about any problems he could have. instead, he'll make sure to make donghyuck feel at his ease and loved."

jisung slowly nodded, knowing that by now, chenle had seen how red his cheeks were.

"y-yeah, okay..." jisung let out, making chenle giggle.

"you're cute with flushed cheeks." he stated, poking jisung's nose with his pointer finger. "and now, let's go on the rink!"

"s-sure..." jisung replied, trying to make his heartbeat regain a normal speed.

✯

once again, donghyuck felt very alone, seeing his friends ice-skating on the giant rink while he was clutching onto the barrier next to the entrance of this same rink.

donghyuck had never stepped on skis before coming to this trip, and neither had he tried ice-skating.

his legs were shaking as he barely managed to stand properly without sliding on the cold ice.

he could see chenle and jisung having fun on the rink, trying to skid or sake backwards.

jeno and jaemin were racing each other obviously, and mark was skating around, a smile plastered on his face as this activity surely reminded him of his childhood in canada.

and so, donghyuck was alone with his worries and his fears.

"hey! mark!" chenle's voice suddenly rang through the rink. "go help donghyuck!"

before donghyuck could protest, mark was standing in front of him with a small smile.

donghyuck would have preffered someone else to help him.

sure, he would love to get close to mark and learn more things about him, but at the moment, he was too embarrassed by what he had learnt to face the male and have a friendly talk with him.

"need help?" mark asked, holding his hand out.

"n-no, thanks." donghyuck replied, almost falling once again.

"is it your first time on skates?" mark continued.

"no." donghyuck replied, making mark raise a brow.

donghyuck tried standing up correctly without holding onto the barrier, but he failed miserably, sliding and falling forwards. he would surely have broken his nose if mark wasn't there to catch him and help him stand again.

"so, it's your first time." the canadian stated. "it's very easy. just like roller skates. have you ever tried roller skates?"

donghyuck nodded slowly, hiding his face in his hood for mark not to see his flushed cheeks.

"well, ice-skating is basically roller skates, but on ice." mark explained. "you just have to let your feet slide on the floor, one after the other."

donghyuck tried doing as mark told, but he failed miserably, making him lose his balance and fall on mark once again.

the canadian male lifted donghyuck up and helped him stand.

"take my hands." mark said, holding his hands out.

donghyuck stared at his hands, wondering if this was a god iead.

he didn't really want to die.

and he didn't really know how to act around mark anymore...

"come on." mark insited.

donghyuck eventually gave in, placing his gloved hands in mark's bare ones.

that's when mark stepped backwards, making both of them gain in speed, and making donghyuck gasp at the sudden feeling of his skates sliding on the ice.

"calm down... it's easy, look." mark said with a smile, never breaking his eye-contact with donghyuck.

"i-i'm going t-to f-fall..." the honey-haired answered panicked.

"no, you're not." mark assured. "i'm holding you."

donghyuck eventually calmed down and started to enjoy the ride while mark skated backwards, making sure that the younger was comfortable.

after a few rides around the rink, donghyuck was feeling better, and more confident – not to the point he could let mark's hands go, though.

"why are you ignoring me?" mark spoke, catching donghyuck's attention and making him flush again.

"i-i'm not." donghyuck replied.

"you are. i can see it." mark assured.

"i'm sorry." donghyuck said simply.

"what for?" mark raised a brow.

"for the things that happened the other night." donghyuck said, trying his best to hide his blushing cheeks. "asking for cuddles... and... huh... calling you 'daddy'..."

mark continued skating backwards, having his concentration all on donghyuck.

and this was a mistake, because he didn't see the end of the rink, causing him to hit the barrier full-speed, donghyuck then crashing into him, and both of them falling over the barrier, on the other side of it.

and all that, because of donghyuck's beautiful face that had mark mesmerized.

I AM SO SORRY, I WAS CONVINCED I HAD PUBLSIHED THE CHAPTER TODAY, BUT IT TURNED OUT I ONLY SAVED IT AND NOT UPDATED, I'M SO SORRY FOR THIS MISTAKE, I HOPE YOU'LL ENJOY IT ANYWAY<3
AND WHILE I'M AT IT, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THOSE READS, VOTES AND COMMENTS! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH GUYS, YOU CAN'T IMAGINE HOW THANKFUL I AM!! <3<3<3<3<3