due to everyone being busy aside from the waiting time, the first day of shooting went by quickly and successfully. everyone hoped that most of their scenes would be used and not many of them would be wasted. by the end of the day, donghyuck was mentally and physically exhausted.

   to him, the shoot felt long and weary. everytime he glanced in mark's direction, the older seemed to either be with renjun or jeno. whoever it was, mark seemed to be really touchy with them, exchanging plenty of skinship.

was donghyuck jealous? possibly. was he hurt? definitely.

   despite having known mark longer than anyone else, mark never treated him the same. it was something he had always felt, but until he had confessed to himself his feelings towards the canadian-korean, he didn't really think about it much.

   "donghyuck-ah," mark's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "are you feeling okay? don't lie to me now, we're past this," mark warned when he reached the younger. "i don't feel like talking about it," donghyuck got deja vu.

   recently it had constantly been the same conversation between the two of them. one person would be having troubles and the other would try to help. thanks to both of them being stubborn and prideful, their conversations weren't making it very far. "don't make the same mistake i did," mark referred to the night after their dance practice.

   "fine, but can we be in private?" donghyuck didn't miss the way jeno was staring at them from afar or how renjun was shooting concerned looks at him. mark nodded and pulled donghyuck by the wrist into his dressing room. it looked pretty identical to the younger's aside from a few minor details.

   mark closed the door behind them as the room seemingly grew smaller. the feeling of mark's finger wrapped around donghyuck's wrist sent electric jolts up his spine. 

   "what's wrong? and i don't mean entirely, i mean just today. you seemed fine when we were in the car," mark initiated the start of their long needed conversation. "i...," donghyuck's voice trailed off as he couldn't quite say what he was feeling. "did someone say something to you? did you see a sasaeng? are you not feeling well?" mark tried to make it easier by giving out options.

   "it's not someone, hyung, it's you," guilt swallowed him up as the words left his mouth. mark's face dropped and donghyuck could already imagined all the things that mark started thinking about.

   "wait! let me rephrase it... it's me actually, it's me.  i've been thinking something about you and i guess it's ruining my mood," he admitted. mark furrowed his eye brows, "i'm sorry hyuck i didn't know. if you'd told me sooner i could've stopped whatever i was doing."

   donghyuck shook his head, "i'm just being petty anyway, i'll get over it." "no," mark argued, "if it managed to keep you upset all day, who knows how long this could last?" donghyuck gave out a dry laugh though it was mostly due to exhaustion.

   "like i said, it's really petty," donghyuck began. mark nodded, wanting to know what the problem was so that he could prevent it from happening again. "i'm jealous...," donghyuck looked down, embarrassed.

   mark's mouth opened slightly in surprise. out of all the things he thought might be the cause of the problem, that definitely wasn't one of them. "jealous? of what?" mark questioned. "i'm jealous of the skinship or affection that you share with the other members. i've known you the longest mark, how come you don't treat me like it?" donghyuck didn't mean to let it all slip out but when it started, he didn't know how to stop.

   "what do you want me to do hyuck? stop being affectionate towards the other members?" mark's voice raised on accident. it wasn't that he was upset with donghyuck, he was just surprised by everything and his emotions were a mess. "no, i just-," donghyuck's words faltered. "you just what?"

   "i just want you to sit next to me, to play with my hair, to hug me. i want to be able to snuggle my nose in your neck without you pulling away, i want to be able to show you how much i care about you, ...to kiss you," donghyuck carried on further than he had planned. the words sat in the heavy air between them as donghyuck bit his lip, it was too late to take his words back now.

   mark ran his hands through his hair, ruffling it. luckily, mark had finished all his shots for the day and was free to go home if he wanted to. "i can't do those things with you," he sighed. donghyuck felt tears prick at his eyes. 

that was it? mark was just going say that he couldn't do it with him?

   "why?" donghyuck's voice broke. "because," mark looked down before a mischievous smile formed on his face, "i wouldn't be able to handle it and you... wouldn't be able to handle it." anger boiled inside of him as he grew defensive, "of course i could handle it."

   a yelp escaped donghyuck's lips as his back was pushed against the wall, "really hyuck?" the younger grew warm as mark pressed himself against the brunette, "you want to be next to me, to play with my hair, to hug me." mark snaked an arm around donghyuck's waist, pulling them even closer than before.

   he grabbed donghyuck's hand and made him hold onto the back of his neck. even though the height difference wasn't that large, mark's demeanor seemed to tower over him. "you want to snuggle your nose into my neck, to show how much you care about me," mark placed a leg inbetween donghyuck's thighs. his hot breath fanned against donghyuck's neck.

   mark dragged a finger across his sharp and exposed collar bone, skin tingling where mark's touch lingered. the younger's heart pounded in his chest when mark's lips grazed his ear. his voice dropped to a low whisper as he spoke, "to kiss me.

   a chill crawled up the back of donghyuck's neck as he almost let out a sound at his voice. mark pulled away and smirked at the blushing tan skinned male infront of him. "yeah, i'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to handle it."

   donghyuck felt embarrassed but felt lke mark only came up with an excuse for it. "when i said i wanted to kiss you, i didn't mean on the lips, you dummy!" he flushed. mark laughed and pulled him out of the room, "c'mon. it's time to go to the hotel."

---

   donghyuck laid in his bed, jisung on the one next to him already fast asleep. they had arrived at the hotel about an hour ago and considering it already being two in the morning, jisung passed out quickly after his shower. donghyuck was left alone in the dark with nothing but his thoughts to confide in.

   there was a knock at the door and donghyuck was tempted to call his manager. who would knock on his door aside from a sasaeng or just some other creepy person. he crept over to the door, looking through the peephole, opening the door immediately after. 

"mark?" 

   "c'mon, hurry!" mark rushed. "wait, let me put on some shoes," donghyuck was only wearing pajamas but seeing the older in the same state, he figured it was okay. when he was ready, mark dragged him out of the room and into the empty hallway. "what're you doing? it's really late and it's not safe right now," donghyuck reminded mark.

   mark scratched the back of his head, "i know but, i was worried about you." the brunette wore a puzzled expression, "worried, about what?" "i know you didn't eat lunch today and none of us even had a chance to eat dinner. we didn't eat breakfast either, it's unhealthy hyuck," mark led the younger to a table outside of the hotel's eating area.

   the table only had two chairs and a small plastic bag with things inside on top. "what's this?" donghyuck questioned, poiting towards the bag. "i bought you food from a store nearby," mark admitted, receiving a slap on the shoulder. "are you crazy! do you know how dangerous that is?' donghyuck started to think that the older had recently lost braincells.

   "i had to make sure that you properly ate something today," mark defended himself. donghyuck smiled at the thoughtfulness, "fine. but we have to go back quickly," he pulled his phone out, "it's already three thirty. that means  if we finish quickly, we'll get two hours of sleep." donghyuck groaned, secretly loving the thought of discreetly eating with mark at three in the morning.

   "you can sleep in the car," mark rolled his eyes. "still," donghyuck complained. "i swear to god, sometimes you're the most dramatic person ever," mark sighed.

   the ravenette opened the bag and pulled out fried chicken, kimchi, and instant noodles. he then pulled out a thermos with hot water for the noodles. "you really thought this through, huh?" donghyuck teased. 

   "shut up," mark shoved a peice of fried chicken into his mouth. the younger resisted the urge to laugh while mark got their noodles ready. when it was okay to eat, mark handed it to donghyuck and they ate while bickering and laughing over stupid things. it was nice, it almost felt like their trainee days.

   "hey, hyuck?" mark called after they had finished eating and were just enjoying the silence along with eachother's company. "hmm," donghyuck replied, sleepily, eyes closing. "i'm sorry for earlier," mark said. "i got ahead of myself and i'm sorry if i made you uncomfortable," the guilt had been eating at him ever since he played the stunt in the dressing room.

   "it's okay... thanks for the food hyung," donghyuck answered quietly, clearly on the brink of sleep. it didn't take much longer for the brunette to fall asleep. mark smiles as he cleaned up quickly and picked donghyuck up 'bridal-style'. 

   realizing that he didn't have the key to donghyuck's room, he brought him into his own room which he shared with chenle. slowly, he took off donghyuck's shoes and laid him in his own bed. he found it funny how neither donghyuck nor chenle stirred despite how much he was moving. 

   when donghyuck was tucked in, he too slipped into the bed, turning his body to face donghyuck's. donghyuck was always cute to mark but he noticed how pretty donghyuck looked as he slept. his features rested naturally and mark couldn't spot a single flaw on his face.

   he found his lips hovering over donghyuck's before he realized that that would be taking advantage of him in his sleep. instead, he pecked his nose and went to sleep, knowing that his teddy bear was with him.

-----

word count: 1812

thanks for reading and happy birthday to haechan!!! i love him so much i can't believe he's 23 now. here are some haechan pics to brighten ur day <3

(deleted the pics bc of the bad quality ffhjjjhggfds)

✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾