he took the water in hand, and quickly walked back to his bedroom. he set the water on his nightstand and sat in the bed, pulling the comforter over his legs, and picking up the teddy bear. "i have a confession to make...," he began nervously. it was something he had yet to confess to himself as well, and by saying it, he would be confirming the thought which had been swarming in his head for the past few days.

"i think i like mark— no, i know i like mark... more than a friend."

   the bathroom door which had already been opened a crack opened wider, revealing a shirtless jaehyun with wide eyes. "haechan what the fuck?"

   donghyuck's blood ran cold as the older stood in the bathroom doorway with the most confused expression ever. "i-, you didn't he-, it's not true!" donghyuck stuttered while trying to cover it up. jaehyun ran his fingers through his dark hair in a stressed manner, "there's no covering it up, haechan. you-," he paused, recollecting himself. 

   "you like mark?" he asked for confirmation. the younger couldn't veen look the older in the eyes. instead, he hung his head low in shame and nodded. donghyuck heard jaehyun's footsteps coming towards him and he flinched when he felt the matress dip under him.

   he felt the stare of jaehyun's eyes on him even without looking. he couldn't help it when hot tears spilled out and he began to cry. "i'm sorry, hyung," his voice came out as a whisper. "look, haechan. i'm not mad," jaehyun patted the younger's back gently. 

   "i just don't really know what to do with this imformation right now. i'm sure you're confused about your feelings towards mark and i'm guessing it's been bothering you for a while now, but i want you to know that you should never apologize for your feelings," he showed a dimpled smile.

   hearing jaehyun accept him, the tears subsided and donghyuck already felt loads better. "i don't know what to do hyung. i can't have feelings for mark. we're idols, and we're both males. he probably doesn't even like me, this would never work out," he started to vent some of things that he had been worrying about.

   jaehyun listened with an open mind and thought it over. "you never know," he answered after thinking for a minute. "what do you mean?" donghyuck looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"how do you know that mark doesn't like you back?"

   the younger's heart clenched as a frown appeared on his face. "don't give me false hope, hyung. ...it hurts," his voice grew more and more quiet as he spoke. "haechan-ah, i'm not kidding. it's always a possibility," he ruffled the tan skinned male's hair.

   donghyuck didn't beliebe him so he decided to change the topic instead. "even if mark did like me, it doesn't change the fact that we're both male idols," he sighed.

   "if you two do get together, i'm sure everyone will accept and support you guys. you can keep your relationship a secret from the public eye and no one should be able to tell," jaehyun reassured him. "i guess you're right," donghyuck cheered up before falling back in his state of sadness.

   "none of that matters now, mark doesn't even like me." he muttered. jaehyun frowned and patted the younger's head. "why don't you get some rest, it's been a long day," he ruffled his hair and got in his own bed.

   donghyuck, being too tired to resist, climbed under the covers and closed his eyes. "jaehyun hyung," he called into the darkness, half expecting the older to not respond. "can you promise not to tell anyone that i-, you know, that i like mark?" he asked.

   "of course," jaehyun responded. somehow, the depth of his voice was reassuring and calming, allowing donghyuck to fall asleep and dreaming about a certain ravenette who he officially had feelings for.

---

   donghyuck's alarm woke him, early in the morning. he groggily got up and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. the cold water woke him as he grew more and more alert. after finishing his shower, and getting ready, he sat on the couch in the lounge, waiting for the canadian-american.

   "moring, hyuck," mark smiled, rasing his hand to greet. "morning," donghyuck looked down feeling slightly uncomfortable. "donghyuck-ah," mark called softly.

   mark was standing infront of the younger, towering over him as the latter was still seated. donghyuck looked up and gulped, "yeah?" "i hope you aren't still upset about yesterday. i was just tired and started acting irrationally," he explained.

   donghyuck nodded without a word. "just so you know, i really didn't mean a word i said and i'm sorry for my actions. since we have a long day ahead of us, even if you're still upset with me, i hope we can call it a truce for now," he stuck his hand out.

   for the first time since dance practice, a small smile appeared on donghyuck's face. "okay," he agreed, shaking mark's hand. the feeling of their hands locked together sent electricity through donghyuck and a chill up his spine. his cheeks tinted pink when mark's touch lingered for a while before he pulled away.

   the two walked to the elevator, noting that it was still dark outside. "dang, the sun hasn't even risen yet," mark muttered in english though donghyuck fully understood what he said. they rode the elevator down to the main lobby and met their managers dressed from head to toe in black. 

   "let's go, the other's are in the car already," donghyuck's personally manager nudged for them to hurry. mark and donghyuck nodded, quickly walking behind their guids to the car. donghyuck and mark were led to the same car and entered, noting that chenle and renjun were already in it.

   chenle was wearing a black bucket hat that covered most of his face with one of his many airpods in his ear. renjun wore a beige baseball cap backwards and was reading something from his phone.

   "hey guys," renjun whispered. "chenle's sleeping, sit over there," renjun pointed. mark and donghyuck nodded and sat side by side in the row behind chenle and renjun. donghyuck settled in his seat, noticing as mark did the same. 

   he also noticed how the leather of the car seats were darker in shade than usual. this must be a new car, he thought to himself while searching for the seatbelt.

   the car started moving and he had just found his seatbelt but it wasn't locking right. "mark," he called quietly, to the male next to him. mark raised an eyebrow as to say, "what is it?" donghyuck gestured towards his seatbelt buckle, "it's not going in," he pouted.

   mark nodded and undid his own seatbelt before taking hold of the one in donghyuck's hand. using his left hand to keep steady, on donghyuck's thigh, he leaned over the younger, their faces being mere centimeters apart. the brunette blushed while mark remained focused and hovered over donghyuck for a few more seconds. a small frown was on his face as he couldn't put the seatbelt in. 

click

   the buckle finally slid into place. donghyuck expected mark to move right away afterwards, but was surprised whe he didn't. instead, mark remained over donghyuck as his gaze lingered on his eyes, dropping to his lips before going back up to his eyes again. donghyuck was burning up as mark stared at him. he couldn't ignore the feeling of mark's hand on his thigh while his other hand settled next to donghyuck, capturing him under the older.

   slowly, mark started leaning in. donghyuck panicked, heart rate increasing as mark got loser and closer. was mark about to kiss him? all his thought were cleared when mark's lips went past donghyuck's mouth and the ravenette blew air into his ear.

   "hey!" donghyuck slapped his shoulder while mark laughed, settling back into his seat. "you should've seen your face! you were so red!" he laughed, clapping his hands together.

   renjun turned from his seat in the front to glare at them. "shush! chenle will wake up," he pointed at chenle who was moving in he seat. "sorry," donghyuck whispered, trying to calm his warm cheeks.

   donghyuck turned his head, looking out the window as the sun was slowly rising. mark eventually stopped laughing and began humming quietly to the music playing through his earbuds. having nothing better to do, donghyuck decided to sleep. he closed his eyes, and with the moving of the car and mark's gentle humming, he fell asleep in no time.

---

   mark smiled when he looked at the resting male next to him. his face when he was sleeping was so different compared to when he was loud and rowdy with the other members. he frowned when he saw how donghyuck's head was resting against the window.

   knowing how uncomfortable it was, he pulled donghyuck's head onto his shoulder. naturally, though asleep, the younger wrapped his arms around mark's torso. mark's cheeks tinted a light shade of pink as he watched donghyuck sleep.

   he thought back on when he was putting in donghyuck's seatbelt. he had felt the younger stiffen under him so he decided to play with him a bit. when he looked at the male, he noticed how pretty he was. he saw how his skin seemed to glow in the moonlight as his innocent eyes looked up at him shyly.

   to say it turned him on would be an understatement. while staring at donghyuck's lips, he had a strong urge to kiss him. in fact, he almost did before realizing how much it could've affected their friendship. he didn't want all their years of knowing eachother and being bestfriends to go to waste.

   on top of that, he had already upset the younger the day before and who knew how donghyuck would've reacted if he had actually kissed him. 

   he sighed and carressed donghyuck's hair, leaing his own head on top of the shorter's. like that, he fell asleep, completely unaware of renjun who was taking pictures from the from the front seat with a mischievous smile.

-----

word count: 1696

don't forget to stream beatbox!! also, thanks for sticking through this story and my typos <3

✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾