taeyong, jaehyun, and johnny stared at donghyuck and mark seriously. "of course this is your relationship and we can't decide anything for you, but are you really sure this is a good idea?" taeyong asked. his eyes showed nothing but sincerity while his voice was tha same tone as the one he used when he was acting more like a leader.

   "we don't want to have to hide our relationship anymore," mark spoke for both him and donghyuck. the three older guys exchanged glances before all seeming to come to a conslusion. "alright," johnny took a step back with a smile. "you guys do whatever you want. we'll just support you if things go wrong." jaehyun nodded to that and sent an encouraging look to donghyuck who was getting more and more nervous by the second.

   mark and donghyuck had called all of the nct members togather in a practice room but now donghyuck was getting worried that it was just a spur of the moment type of thing. taeyong had of course asked what was going on for all the members to be gathered so randomly, but when he heard their reasoning, he called johnny and jaehyun over too. after talking about the pros and cons of coming out to their members, they had finally settled their conversation which just happened.

   recieving confirmation from the three hyungs had been somewhat reassuring, but at the same time, now that it was actually happening, donghyuck's heart was beating in his chest like crazy. "are you okay?" mark asked, eyebrows furrowed in concern. donghyuck nodded his head weakly, "we should hurry up and tell them before i back out."

   "if you don't want to tell them anymore, i won't force you. we don't have to tell them now," mark said, caressing the shorter male's cheek. donghyuck let out a breath, "no. i want to do this."

   mark interlocked his fingers with the youngers and squeazed his hand briefly. "we'll go ahead and go inside and help you out if things go wrong," jaehyun said, entering the practice room first with the other two hyungs following close behind. now that donghyuck and mark were the only people left in the hallway, they could be with eachother a little more freely. 

   without warning, mark leaned down and captured donghyuck's lips into a sweet kiss. "what are you doing?" donghyuck blushed, covering his cheeks with his hand once they seperated. "hmm," mark hummed, kissing his boyfriend again. "i'm enjoying our last few moments of privacy." like that, he slowly backed donghyuck against the wall until he bumped into it. mark stepped between his legs as his hands made their way under donghyuck's shirt and on his small waist.

   within moments, they were lip locked, completely infused with the other's taste and scent. it was too adicting to stop. "mark," donghyuck breathed between kisses, "they're probably waiting." the older kissed him harder to keep him from talking and pointing out the reality that he wanted to forget. "let them wait."

   when mark finally pulled away, both of them were breathless with slightly swollen lips. "now everyone's going to know what we were just doing," donghyuck groaned when he saw his face in the reflection of a glass pane. "so?" mark shrugged, "you look hot." mark smirked as he watched donghyuck's cheeks turn red and notice how he chose to ignore the comment.

   meanwhile, donghyuck was admiring mark's appearance through the same glass pane that he used to look at himself. mark's raven hair was slightly disheveled (thanks to donghyuck pulling it during their short make out session). his naturally pink lips were darker in shade and his eyes were half lidded. if donghyuck was being honest, mark looked hot too.

   "done checking me out?" mark asked once their eyes met in the reflection. donghyuck hit him on the shoulder and turned around to start walking, "shut up." the taller quickly caught up and slipped his hand in donghyuck's as they approached the practice room's door.

"ready?"

"ready."

   mark wrapped his vacant hand around the door handle and placed a gentle kiss on donghyuck's forhead before slowly pushing the door open.

   as they enetered, the once lively room quieted down and everyone stared questioningly at their intertwined fingers. mark wasn't one to show donghyuck affection, and hand holding definitely counted as affection. anxiety built up when donghyuck realized that everyone was staring at their hands. though when he tried to remove his hand, mark held onto it tighter and looked at him reassuringly. 

   "what's going on?" xiaojun asked the question that was on the tip of everyone's tongue. noticing how both mark and donghyuck looked pretty nervous, taeyong decided to step up and help them out a bit. "ahem," he cleared his throat, recieving the other members' attention. "mark and haechan have something important that they'd like to share, so i hope all of you can be understanding and supportive while you adapt to the situation."

   jisung raised his hand and taeyong immediately nodded towards him. "do you know what it is, hyung?" the leader glanced at donghyuck and mark before nodding, "johnny, jaehyunnie, and i know already."

   quiet mumurs spread across the practice room but it didn't take long until everyone became silent once again. donghyuck kpt his eyes glued to the floor while mark looked at johnny for support. the older member shot his a thumbs up and friendly smile, mouthing the words, "you got this," in english. 

   "okay...," mark said awkwardly in english as well. he switched back to korean before speaking again. "we have something to tell you and i don't know how else to say this aside from being straightforward with you guys," his voice bounced against the walls of the room, making him feel awkward. but he needed to do this for donghyuck. he needed to do this for them.

   after his first statement, many of the others nodded their heads and waited for what was to come next. "umm... so like...," mark stumbled with his words before taking a deep breath. it was now or never.

"hyuck and i are dating. we're boyfriends."

   the next few seconds seemed to pass in slow motion. some screamed, some laughed, some cried, some fell over, and some didn't even flinch. it was chaos.

   it took exactly two minutes and fifty-six seconds for the room to calm down. "listen guys!" taeyong shouted for the nth time, succesfully catching everyone's attention. "i'm sure you're confused and have questions, but please calm down first and let them explain."

   hearing those words from the leader worked as everyone got a grip and turned to the couple who were still holding hands. then the flood of questions began.

"are you serious?"

"...yeah?"

"how long have you been together?"

"about a month."

"i thought you hated haechan."

"i don't hate him," mark laughed at that one.

   "how did taeyong hyung, johnny hyung, and jaehyun hyung know?" that question came from jeno. "well...," donghyuck mumbled, reminiscing the embarrassing moment from before. "i don't remember," he lied. "i remember," johnny stepped up with an innocent smile. "the three of us were at the dorm and we heard them," he said vaguely. "heard them doing what?" ten raised a brow, not satisfied with such an answer.

"we heard them fuc-"

   "alright! i think that's enough," doyoung placed his hands over johnny's mouth, having caught on from the first sentence. a few of the members like chenle and jisung looked confused, while other's like yuta and ten smirked knowingly.

   donghyuck and mark on the other hand were red in the face and attempting to avoid eye contact from everyone else. "i'm sure you all have more questions, but let's save them for some other time," taeyong made it sound like a suggestion when it was more of an order. luckily, no more had to be said or done, because jaehyun and johnny steered the two lovers out of the room and back into the open hallway.

   mark and donghyuck stared at eachother blankly once jaehyun and johnny let go of them. "that went pretty well i guess," mark broke the silence and cleared his throat. "yeah... none of them seem to be against it so you should be fine," jaehyun nodded, patting donghyuck's shoulder and recieving an overprotective glare from mark. "i'm heading back to the dorm. jae, you coming?" johnny asked.

   the younger agreed and that's how mark and donghyuck were left alone again. "are you okay?" mark asked when he noticed how quiet the brunette was being. "i don't know," donghyuck breathed, "i feel better now that we don't have to hide our relationship anymore. but at the same time more people know and the secret's easier to get out."

   "it'll be okay," mark assured him while wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "should we go back to the dorms too?" he offered, seeing that donghyuck might find it more comfortable there. "sure," donghyuck smiled and began walking with the other. they didn't get that far as the dance room's door opened with taeyong coming out. 

   "haechan-ah, mark," he called. the two stopped and turned around as taeyong walked towards them. "first, congrats on coming out to everyone," he clapped with a proud look on his face. "secondly, of course you already know this, but i really hope you guys are careful about everything and don't forget to be professional, especially infront of cameras." "okay hyung," mark said certainly though taeyong didn't look so convinced. taeyong grabbed mark's arm when he began walking with donghyuck at his side again. "just don't do anything stupid okay?"

   mark and donghyuck exchanged glances before nodding their heads. "we'll be careful," mark promised. after that, taeyong allowed them to leave and told them to catch up on rest if they needed any.

   once taeyong had waved them off and entered the dance practice room again, (most likely to answer a few more questions and calm some of the members down,) mark placed his lips onto donghyuck's shortly and intertwined their fingers. he was happy, genuinely happy. the smile on donghyuck's face gave away that he felt very similar emotions.

   "i'm proud of us today," donghyuck finally spoke. mark couldn't hide the grin on his face and as he stared at donghyuck, he swore that there was nothing that he wouldn't do for him. "as long as you're satisfied, i am too," and he meant it.

-----

word count: 1730

sorry for this trash chapter and over two weeks with no update

i officially have insomnia and it's really ruining my life rn

anyways, the story will end soon as i don't know how much more to add to the plot

thanks for reading!

also stream 2 baddies (my fav b-sides are designer, gold dust, black clouds, and lol)

✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾