"are you even trying?" the dance instructor yelled, causing donghyuck to flinch. "i'm sorry, i'm not feeling that good today," he bowed his head as tears pricked at his eyes. "go back to your room and don't show up tomorrow if you're still going to be like this," she dismissed him. donghyuck picked up his bag and left the practice room, heading back to his dorm.

   when he entered, he saw mark sitting on his bed, playing the guitar. "why are you back so early? your practice shouldn't get out for another hour or so," he said pointedly. donghyuck shrugged, dropping his back to the floor and preparing to go shower.

   although no words confirmed it, mark knew something had happened. after practice, donghyuck was usually bubbly and talkative or tired, but still talkative. this time, he simply kept his lips sealed with a small frown on his face. he stood up from his bed and placed his instument down, walking over to donghyuck and pulling his wrist. "did something happen?" he asked.

   donghyuck shook his head and shrugged his arm off. "i'm going to shower," he said shortly. not sure what to do, mark let him go and continued worrying about what happened. 

   when donghyuck got out of the shower, mark hoped that he would be back to normal, but he wasn't. he was still gloomy and so obviously upset that it made mark even more frusterated that donghyuck kept denying it. donghyuck sat on his bed, drying his hair with a towel as he stared at the wall blankly. suddenly, a person was blocking his view. he glanced up and met mark's curious gaze. "what?" he asked ignorantly.

   he expected mark to look at him weird or scold him, maybe he would tell him that he was being rude. what he wasn't expecting, was for mark to pull him to a hug with donghyuck's chin resting on his shoulder. "you know you can tell me anything, right?"

   the words were said so delicately, but the impact on donghyuck was strong. "i- i know," his voice was shaky and  clearly unstable, but mark didn't say anything. for a moment, they let time pass while they stood still.

   as if nothing else mattered, donghyuck let himself forget about the dance teacher scolding him and his other worries of debuting. 

   somehow, donghyuck fell asleep in mark's hold and the older put him to bed, tucking him in and brushing the stray hairs out of his face. they never talking about the incident again as it felt rather embarrassing, but everytime donghyuck thought about it, a faint blush would color his cheeks and a shy smile would appear in his face.

---

"y-you what?"

"i like you too."

   mark's hand were balled up into fists at his side as he repeated himself. donghyuck on the other hand stood infront of him, mouth agape and eyes wide. "i don't understand," he said more to himself that the older who was present. mark took a deep breath, "when you told me you liked me, i couldn't say it back, but i like you too."

   donghyuck shook his head, taking a step back and having his spine collide with the wall behind him. "i should be happy, but i'm not," he laughed dryly. mark frowned and moved to get closer, but donghyuck held up a hand to stop him. "do you know how much pain you caused me?"

   there was a shift in the air between them as the icy tone bounced off the walls in mark's head. knowing that he unintentionally hurt the younger, it upset him and made his inside recoil at himself. right when mark opened his mouth to speak, donghyuck cut him off. "i've liked you for a while and called myself crazy, thinking that i was weird. if it hadn't been for jaehyun hyung who encouraged me not to be ashamed of myself, i don't know what mental state i'd be in right now," he fumed.

   mark thought he was done, but he wasn't. the match in his heart had just been lit, a burning flame powering his true thoughts and desires which he had been too scared to express before. "when you rejected me, once again, i fell into a dark pit. i started thinking that there really was something wrong with me. it felt as if i was an outcast to society. i'm a male idol and i like my band mate who thinks of me like a brother, i kept thinking like that. but it turns out, no, your the fucked up one," he suddenly walked forward, jabbing a finger into mark's chest.

      hearing how much the words he had said without thinking affected donghyuck only made mark feel guiltier. he knew he was in the wrong, but at the same time, he wasn't necessarily sure of his feelings yet and he was confused with his sexuality too. sure, it was no excuse to how he toyed with donghyuck emotions, but after a sudden confession and weeks of randomly getting attracted to someone who had grown up with him with no romantic relationship, everything was simply too much.

   "after you left, i kept repeating what you said in my head over and over again. that's when i realized that what you said didn't make sense," donghyuck paused to cause tension. "what didn't make sense?" mark asked, voice obviously dry and nervousness dripping from his tone.

   the brunette narrowed his eyes. "we've made out, i've sucked you off and given you a hand job, you've done the same for me... how could you still consider me a brother?" there it was— the loop hold in mark's lame excuse from when he panicked. "what are you trying to say?" mark asked. he had already confessed to liking donghyuck too. his curiosity was killing him as he waited for donghyuck to finish. 

   "i already knew that you liked me back," donghyuck finally said, crossing his arms over his chest. mark was surprised, he definitely wasn't expecting that. "then why did you act so shocked when i told you?" donghyuck shrugged, "i wasn't expecting a confession from you. i thought you were to cowardly for that. besides, no one's ever told me that they had feelings for me. i mean someone that i personally know that isn't just a fan or something. it feels different when someone you know, who also happens to be someone you like, confesses to you."

   the room fell silent as mark took a moment to soak in everything donghyuck said. when a good minute or so passed, mark looked up, meeting donghyuck's brown orbs. "are you not mad at me anymore?" he asked, fingers crossed behind his back.

   donghyuck scoffed, "as if. you've done me so much damage in the past twenty four hours." any hopes for donghyuck to fogive him quickly went out the window with that one statement. an idea popped in his mind and it took everything in him to say it. after closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, mark blurted out the words before he could regret it. 

   "stay mad at me for as long as you want, but let me take you on a date to try to make up for it." 

   the younger's eyes lit up as he attempted to hide the blush on his cheeks. "are you asking me out?" he avoided mark's gaze, averting his line of vision to the floor which had suddenly grown more interesting. "i am, so please," he took one of donghyuck's hands and squezed it, "let me make up for my mistakes."

   mark held his breath, waiting for a response that was hopefully a positive one. when donghyuck squeazed his hand back and said, "give me some time, i'll have to think about it," he already knew that he had donghyuck wrapped around his finger.

---

   "good luck," johnny patted mark's shoulder reassuringly, though mark was so nervous that he barely even noticed. he and donghyuck had been seperated for a week. donghyuck was staying with the dreamies, and mark was staying with the 127 members. 

   to keep from letting themselves get awkward around the other, mark and donghyuck had agreed on daily phone calls just so that they could check up on one another. with mark currently on his way to donghyuck so that they could go on the date that mark promised, both of them were anxiously waiting to see the other.

   when mark found himself standing infront of the dream dorms with one hand held up, ready to rape his knuckles against the door, he realized the reality to everything. out of the spur of the moment and the feeling of hiding and hlding a secret for too long, mark spontaneously confessed to donghyuck and asked him out. now that it was all happening in real time, he couldn't believe what was happening. 

   although it felt as if he went to the dorm just to hang out with the younger members, this was not the case. he was actually there for a date, and official date with his member and best friend; donghyuck.

   with nerves creeping up his spine, he lowered his arm and pulled his phone out of his back pocket, checking his reflection to make sure his appearance was alright. since their date wasn't supposed to be a fancy or super expensive one, mark dressed casually in denim pants and a matching denim jacket over a white sweatshirt. he told donghyuck to dress casually too, and hoped that the younger got the memo.

   while mark wanted to spoil donghyuck and spend every penny on him to not only apologize for his faults but to also show donghyuck how much he really cared for him, he couldn't. if any paparazzi or fans caught sight of donghyuck and mark alone at such costly places, surely an article would be written about them in the blink of an eye, and neither of them wanted that.

   after running his hand through his raven locks one last time, mark knocked on the door, holding his breath as he waited for it to open. in less than a minute, the door swung open, revealing donghyuck who dressed as mark instucted, but still managed to take his breath away.

   the ripped black jeans and loosely fitted pastel yellow sweater made his skin glow even more than usual. when the two of them shyly made eye contact, it was immediately broken, both tearing their eyes away and looking elsewhere, hoping that the blushes on their cheeks weren't that obvious.

   "you look really pretty," mark somehow found the guts to say without his voice cracking. donghyuck looked up and met mark's sincere gaze, "thanks."

   it was strange for them to be so awkward around eachother. despite having their fair share of tense moments over the past months, it wasn't like them to be so loving or caring toward eachother. mark rarely complimented donghyuck to his face, and donghyuck rarely blushed around him. to the outside eye, they looked like two lost and lovesick puppies, either one scared to make the first move. still, mark took it upon himself (as the one who asked donghyuck out in the first place) to get their date started. 

   "are you ready to go?" he asked, shoving a hand in his back pocket and leaning on his heels. it was an old habit that he never seemed to get rid of and donghyuck was well aware that he did it when he was nervous. but after noticing exactly how mark felt about their first date, donghyuck was relived that they were on the same page, experiencing the same feelings.

   donghyuck nodded his head, "i'm ready." the younger shyly looked down at his feet after leaving the dorms and closing the door behind him. it was only after he felt mark's fingers intertwining with his own did he see how much of a romantic person mark was. "come on," mark tugged gently, "i have a lot planned for us."

-----

word count: 2004

so it's been a while since i updated, but i can explain that i had probably the worst fever i've ever experienced, it literally sucked and i couldn't even listen to music because my head hurt so much and i wanted to throw up so badly. that was probably tmi so i'll stop now. i'm not fully recovered but i just wanted to let you know that i haven't abondoned you... (yet)

this story is seriously going downhill but idk what to do so i just write what comes to mind first. i'll try to make my future works better than this one

the first part of this chapter was meant to be markhyuck as trainees before they debuted. ig i just wanted to show that neither of them have changed much and mark still cares for donghyuck as much as he did back then, if not more now. it also shows kind of a hint of how the two had budding feelings for eachother without really realizing it.

also, ik this was a little bit ago but i love 'the rain day' and omg johnten content finally. 

i hope mark and renjun get a fast recovery from corona soon and i can't belive their gocheok sky dome concert got canceled. i can only imagine how disappointed they all are so i hope they can go on the world tour soon and hold their sky dome concert next year asap

that's all.. bye

oh one last thing! thank you so much for 1k reads. when i found out i wanted to say thanks but i had no chapter to post and by the time i finished writing this (aka now), it already reached 1.1k reads. i'm so grateful for the support <3

i'll actually go now, byee

✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾