donghyuck groaned as a ray of sunshine hit him directly in the face, waking him from his slumber. 

   his schedules for the day didn't start until late in the afternoon but he knew that he would no longer be able to sleep. "i should've listened johnny hyung and bought curtains," he scolded himself.

   the nct 127 members had recently changed dorm rooms and gotten new roomates. donghyuck's room was the only one without curtains and johnny kept reminding the younger to get new ones. 

   he looked to his side and noticed that his roomate was already up and out. with a sigh, he pulled the comforters off and stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom.

   lazily flipping on the light switch, he stripped of his clothes and stepped into the shower. the cold water made contact with his tan skin while a small smile made it's way onto his face. showers never failed to relax him.

   quickily finishing up what he needed to do, he wrapped a soft towel around his waist and stepped infront of the foggy mirror. with one hand, he wiped the mirror and peered at his curious doe eyes in the mirror.

   light stuble covered his chin and upper lip so he grabbed his razor to get rid of it. when he was done, he brushed his teeth and put on a lazy day outfit. it was a simple, white t-shirt and a pair of black sweatpants.

   having just taken a shower, his hair was still wet. he raked a few fingers through his light brown hair before deciding that he was done getting ready. 

   dinghyuck picked up his phone from on top of his pillow and exited the bedroom. he went to the dorm lounge and saw mark and jungwoo chilling on the couch.

   he was relieved that the two males had yet to see him as he felt heat rush to his cheeks and his mouth go dry.

   mark sat on the couch humming as his fingers strummed the stringed instrument in his hand. his messy and black bed hair looked so soft and fluffly despite being dyed multiple times. the stuble on his face showed that he hadn't shaved for about two days.

   donghyuck's eyes fell to his showing collar bone as the black t-shirt he wore hung loosely on his left shoulder. his black shorts revealed his lean calfs and hugged his thighs nicely. 

   "haechan?" jungwoo called, causing the younger to realize that he was still staring. the brunette cleared his throat, "oh hey." his face turned red as he realized how dry his voice sounded.

   mark raised an eyebrow. "do you need some water, hyuck? your voice sounds kind of dry," his morning voice was like music to the younger's ears. "i-uh, i think i need some air." he dashed out to the balcony leaving the other two in a worried state.

   donghyuck closed the balcony door behind him and rested his arms on the metal bars infront of him.

   he put one hand on his beating heart.

why was it going so fast?

   he shook his head as the possibilty that it was because of mark came to mind. there was no way, right?

   his legs felt like jelly as he thought about the past few days. it was true that he saw mark more attractive than before and that his heart rate increased when they had any kind of skinship but it didn't mean anything outside of being friends. or so donghyuck continued to tell himself.

   just then, the balcony door slid open, "hey, you good?" it was mark. donghyuck nodded silently staring at the ground.

   "i know you're probably stressed and tired with the promotions going on right now," mark started, not exactly sure what he wanted to say or how to say it, "...i guess i just want you to remember that you can call me if you need someone to talk to."

   the older brushed his hair back with one hand before speaking again. "you know i'm not that good with words and i feel... awkward but you mean a lot to me and...," mark visibly cringed which the younger found cute. "it's okay, i get it," donghyuck smiled at the other's efforts.

   "just don't work yourself too hard and make sure to get proper rest when you can," he patted the shorter on the back with an awkward smile. "thanks hyung," donghyuck chuckled. 

   donghyuck felt slightly guilty that the others might be worried because of his strange bheavior over the past days. he was relieved to hear that they all thought that he was tired but he couldn't  help but feel like he was lying to them by not telling the truth.

   a silence fell over them as neither of them spoke nor moved. donghyuck's heart was beating so loudly in his chest due to their close proximity that he was sure the other could hear it too. "have you eaten yet?" mark asked, breaking the silence.

   donghyuck shook his head. "c'mon i'll eat with you," mark pulled the other by the arm softly and led him to the lounge.

   jungwoo was now sitting on the couch with taeil and doyoung. "good morning," johnny walked in the room with a cup of coffee in hand. "hyung, having you eaten yet?" mark asked in english. "not yet," johnny replied.

   "why don't you come and eat with hyuck and i?" he offered. donghyuck felt slight disappointment when johnny agreed but realized that it was extremely selfish and ridiculous to want mark to himself.

   the three walked together to where their noona was already cooking food for them. donghyuck didn't feel much like talking as he already had so much to think about. luckily, johnny held a steady and easy going conversation with mark so the walk there wasn't awkward at all. the three took a seat while their food was served.

   "what're your schedules for today?" johnny asked. mark looked to the younger signalling for him to speak first. 

   "i have vocal lessons later on and dance practice with the dreamies after that. today's pretty laid back," he tried to sound more lively than he actually was. the two seemed to fall for it as they didn't ask anything else.

   when they finished eating haechan headed back to his room and laid down. recently just being around mark was somewhat draining. he reminded himself to act like himself before any of the members got any more worried than they already were.

   the bedroom door opened, pulling donghyuck out from his thoughts and back into reality. "you seem really tired these days," taeyong stepped in sitting himself on the edge of the younger's bed. 

   "are you okay? mark told me about what happened earlier and although it may not seem like a big deal to you, we're all pretty worried about you," taeyong ran his fingers through donghyuck's brunette locks.

   a lump formed in the back of donghyuck's throat. "i'm fine, really. i guess i've just been out of it due to lack of sleep," he fibbed. taeyong nodded in underdstanding. "our maknaes are working really hard," he spoke softly.

   "i checked your schedule for the day and rescheduled your vocal lesson. get some rest and be ready for dance practice later," taeyong pulled his hand back and set it in his lap. donghyuck hummed in response, allowing his eyelids to close and his body to relax.

   taeyong sat until the younger fell asleep before leaving the room and closing the door quietly behind him.

---

   "mark hyung, there's a couple of hours before dance practice. wanna go to the mall?" jeno asked in the doorway to mark's room.

   the older raised his guitar, "i'm practicing guitar right now. maybe another time." jeno frowned, "our schedules are pretty hectic and we haven't hung out in a while. i even came all the way down to 127's dorms to ask if you were free. are you really not going to come?"

   mark sighed, seeing that the younger really wanted to spend some time with him he decided to give in. "okay then, i'll go with you," he smiled and put his guitar back in it's case. "anyone else coming?" mark asked as he grabbed a white mask and a black cap. 

   "jaemin and renjun said that they wanted to come too. they're waiting in the car downstairs actually," jeno glanced at the time on his phone. hearing that, mark hurried a bit before slipping on some shoes and leaving the dorms with jeno.

   he met the other two boys in the car with their manager behind the wheel already. once jeno and mark got settled in their seats, the car pulled out of the lot and they headed towards the mall.

   the car trip was filled with laughter and plenty of jokes. mark realized how much he missed hanging out with the dreamies outside of schedules. luckily, their repackage album was coming out soon so he would be able to move into the dream dorm for a while. 

   "we're here," their manager said, parking the car. the four boys piled out with their managers tracing behind with a little distance to give them a bit of privacy. "anything you want to get?" jaemin asked.

   "not really... let's just walk around for a while," jeno suggested. everyone decided that it was a pretty good idea and they began to walk around.

   it had already been an hour and they got drinks along the way before mark saw something that piped his intrests.

   "let's go in the arcade," he offered.

   renjun argued for a while but eventually agreed seeing they didn't have much of anything else to do anyway. they played games for a while before mark saw a corner of claw machines. "i kind of want one," he admitted, eyeing a certain one specifically.

   "i didn't know mark hyung liked these kind of things," renjun didn't even bother to hide his smirk. "neither did i," jeno joined in on the teasing. "i want to get one for someone," mark sighed.

   he didn't know why he was being secretive about it but in a way, it felt kind of personal.

   "you don't have a girlfriend, do you?" jaemin asked. the three of them looked at mark skeptically. "no," mark shook his head, "it's for a really special friend." "hmmm," jaemin raised an eyebrow. mark could tell that the others didn't quite believe him but he wasn't going to fully explain himself to them right then so he went up to a claw machine and ignored their stares instead.

   he inserted a coin in and took hold of the level. he pushed the level gently before moving it forward and finally allowing it to drop.

   "one shot, one kill," jeno suddenly said behind him as the machine picked up a soft brown teddy bear. mark smiled proudly picking it up from the slot. "fun fact; i'm really good at these," he allowed himself to brag.

   "respect," jeno said back showing his signature eye smile. mark smiled back before calling him cute. "c'mon birthday boy, dance practice starts soon." 

   carrying the slightly large teddy bear in one arm mark walked with the guys back to the car with a permanent smile on his face. 

he couldn't wait to give it to the person he was thinking of.

-----

word count: 1939

that was the first chapter! i hope you enjoyed and sorry if it was a bit dry. this is my first nct fanfic and markhyuck fanfiction. the plot isn't 100% clear yet either as i'm still figuring it out. thanks for reading :)

✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾