Work Text:
It’s no secret that the middle of preparations for a comeback is the most tiring and annoying time for all of them.
There’s no more adrenaline running through their veins because of the new choreography or time they spent in the recording booth. It’s also not quite the time when they get to feel that familiar kind of exhilaration that can be only experienced by standing on the stage.
It’s just practice after practice, hours spent in the stuffy room, trying to perfect the choreography, to make sure that the body remembers it more than the mind. It’s exhausting and a vulnerable time for a lot of them - they tend to get annoyed and snap at each other easier, and the only relief is that the camera doesn’t follow them around in those times.
This time their managers hand them the phones and ask to film something themselves. It’s nothing unusual, they do it a lot actually, with one of them interviewing the rest or telling some of the stories that occurred earlier. Taeyong took a glance at Donghyuck, who at the moment was cuddling up to Johnny with both of his eyes closed, and wordlessly handed the camera to Jungwoo.
All of them are worried for both Mark and Donghyuck. Their managers assured them that they monitor their health as closely as possible and they react quickly whenever one of them feels worse. Mark seems to go through slumps, when he loses all of his energy and the only thing that keeps him going through the gruelling schedules is his sheer determination. He usually recovers after a few days and returns to his hard-working self.
Donghyuck, though. Donghyuck seems to never slow down, always giving his best, not caring if it’s a practice for their new choreography or some silly video for YouTube content. Sometimes it looks like Donghyuck doesn’t even know how to stop and rest. From what Jungwoo heard from the others, Taeyong and Doyoung sometimes force him to sleep earlier, worried that when Donghyuck’s body finally catches up with all the exhaustion, he will crash, and crash hard. Their youngest waves off all of their worries, making fun of being tired and stretched too thin.
But somewhere along the way Donghyuck stops dramatically falling on the floor and resting there, eventually to be joined by one of the older members. Instead he retreats silently to whatever corner is the closest and sits there in silence. It’s frustrating to watch whenever it happens, especially to someone who usually vibrates with so much energy.
It slowly starts affecting the whole group, too. Their practices become quieter, void of usual bickering or random singing. Johnny takes it upon himself to cheer up the atmosphere, but it’s obvious that he’s worried too. Jaehyun is always near Donghyuck these days, offering a hug or a hand to hold (or a lap to sit on).
So it doesn’t come as a surprise that Taeyong doesn’t want to burden Donghyuck with little things like behind the scenes video. Jungwoo decides that with their main entertainer out of the equation, he has to hunt for someone as adorable to make up for it. He turns and instinctively finds Mark, who’s standing only a few steps away, wiping sweat from his face.
“Hi, Markie, interview time?” he asks, gesturing to the phone in his hand, and Mark visibly hesitates, glancing around but he relents nonetheless. Jungwoo fumbles a little with a selfie stick and promises that they won’t take long, but Mark dismisses him easily, putting on a smile on his face.
He dutifully answers all of the questions, but it’s obvious that his attention isn’t on the interview or Jungwoo. He keeps glancing somewhere else, something- someone hidden from the camera view. When Jungwoo looks in the same direction, he notices Donghyuck’s reflection in the mirror. The younger boy is curled up against the wall with knees pulled up to his chest, observing tiredly the rest of the members. Mark rubs his neck and stumbles over the words he’s saying when Donghyuck hides his face in between his knees, as if he’s aware that there’s someone watching him.
Jungwoo doesn’t even try to fight the surge of fondness welling up in his chest at the sight.
There’s this something between the two of them, something that can be only built on moments of equal amount of trust and reliance. Only when you think you’re alone with your struggles, but find that there’s someone who cares, and they’re close, so close you can’t believe you didn’t see them all this time. Only when you think you’re not worthy of anything good, but there’s someone who shows you that you’re loved, that they’ll love you for both of you.
And it makes Jungwoo wonder sometimes. Because they’re so young, but it’s obvious they’ve been through so much together. It’s in Mark’s gaze, obviously, but also in the way he looks for Donghyuck in the crowd, in the way he speaks about him when their youngest isn’t in the room. It’s in the way Donghyuck always ends up next to Mark like he’s cold and the other boy is the only source of warmth. In his voice, when Mark asks him to sing, the words leaving his throat sounding sweeter and even more lovely than usual.
So he makes a little, teasing tsk sound and reaches out to stop the recording, even if Mark protests half-heartedly.
“Go on,” he encourages softly. “Check up on him before we have to start again.”
Mark looks at him, face coloured both in apology and gratefulness. Jungwoo turns off the camera in the phone, while Mark quickly makes his way to the younger boy.
He’s trying to be discreet about it, pretending to fumble with a phone in his hands, but decides to check up on their youngest members. Donghyuck groans when he sees Mark approaching him, but Mark ignores the displeased noises and kneels in front of him, placing his hands on Donghyuck’s knees. He leans in, face close to Donghyuck’s, and murmurs something.
They whisper between themselves for a little while, before Mark leans away, but only to brush some hair off the other’s forehead. And Jungwoo can’t see his face, but he's sure there’s this expression that’s only reserved for Donghyuck, utmost care and fondness that Mark has been nurturing in his heart for a while now. The younger boy catches his hand between his swiftly and kisses the knuckles with his usual, mischievous smile.
But Mark doesn’t pull away and doesn’t shove him away like he usually does. Instead he lets out this little, squeaky laugh that Jungwoo likes so much.
“What are you smiling about?” Yuta asks suddenly, startling him a little.
“Nothing,” he shrugs, before slinging his arm around Yuta’s neck. “Now, c’mon, time for an interview!”
He looks back one more time, only to see that Mark has already pulled away, but Donghyuck looks at him with a tiny, grateful smile.
Jungwoo thinks they’ll be okay, as long as they’re together.
Shotaro has a new hobby these days - enveloping Haechan in the hug and seeing how long it’ll last before the other boy squirms away from his hold with a delighted laugh.
Haechan is definitely one of his favorites in the group. He wasn’t aware a person could be this warm, not before meeting him in person. Haechan, who along with Mark was the busiest member in the whole group, but still made sure to encourage everyone else, who kept an eye for those who seemed more tired, who smiled and laughed, and was the center of attention whenever he went, adored both by his friends and staff they were working with. He doesn’t remember a day in the practice room or on the filming site when he didn’t laugh because of Haechan’s antics.
Another good thing is that Haechan seems to like physical touch as much as Shotaro. When he reached to hold his hands for the first time, he did so with a little bit of hesitation, but Haechan gripped his fingers without batting an eye. And so it started - back hugs, nuzzling Shotaro's neck, Haechan holding his arm out for Shotaro to link them together. And Shotaro enjoys that - a lot - but he quickly discovers that Haechan prefers giving affection instead of receiving it, and so he gets adorably flustered if someone touches him too long. He swats Doyoung’s hands away, if the older boy holds him for a longer moment. He squirms and giggles and runs away whenever Taeyong and Jaehyun reach out their arms for him. He smiles like a contented cat when Jeno traps him against his chest, but tries to escape after some time, screaming directly into his ear. It’s endearing and makes him like Donghyuck even more.
He teases Haechan a little more while they’re shooting the music video for their comeback with NCT 2021, but eventually the other boy manages to escape when their staff call him to shoot scenes with other members. Shotaro wanders off after that, already done with his own filming, so he’s content to hang around others until they’re finished for the day.
He walks over to a few plastic chairs which were prepared for the members who wanted to rest between the scenes. Now they’re mostly covered by their jackets and bags, but there’s one person sitting there, busy with scrolling on their phone. It’s Mark, and so Shotaro goes to him with a smile on his face.
“Hey, Mark-hyung,” he greets, the word still tasting weird on his tongue. The older boy looks up and greets him with a smile. They’re not exactly close, but Shotaro doesn’t think they’re terrible. He just seems so busy, and while Haechan seems to be everywhere, Mark tends to retreat and hang in the back if he’s not needed at the moment. “Are you done with the filming?”
“Yeah,” the older confirms, locking his phone and focusing his attention on Shotaro. “Waiting for Haechannie.”
Shotaro smiles, and takes a seat on a plastic chair beside him. Mark fidgets a little and looks conflicted for a moment, but stays silent.
“How are preparations for your concert? Haechan told me about it, he was super excited,” he says, hoping that bringing Haechan into their conversation might help a little. Mark smiles, his eyes filled with little stars, fondness and something that Shotaro isn’t sure he’s allowed to see.
“Yeah, he couldn’t fully participate in our first tour, so he’s double excited. Gonna talk your ear off if you let him.”
They fall into easy conservation after that. Mark is nice and caring, asking questions about Shotaro, worrying that he misses his home and family. They share some stories from behind the scenes of projects they were working on, and even though Mark has them a lot more, he’s still genuinely interested in whatever he’s being told.
They’re in the middle of discussing their favorite dancing styles, when Mark suddenly looks away from him. Shotaro follows his gaze and sees Haechan already walking in their direction.
“This is what we call a betrayal in this family,” the other boy says dramatically. “Mark promised to save me a seat. Where is my seat, Mark Lee? It better be a throne!”
Ah, this explains the fidgeting when Shotaro sat next to Mark. The older boy was probably too nice to shoo him away.
“Sorry, I didn’t know it was taken,” he apologizes, and makes it to stand up, but Haechan just smiles, tilting his head to look at Shotaro with a fond expression.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” he waves him off, before proceeding to sit on Mark’s lap.
Mark lets out a strangled noise, as if the air was punched out of his lungs. But he lets the other boy settle on his lap to his liking, and Haechan sits sideways on his thighs, so that he can face Shotaro comfortably. He also wraps his arm around Mark’s neck and rests his cheek on the top of his head, before Mark mutters something about not being able to breathe properly and leans away a little.
“Shotaro! Are you excited for the award shows?”
He willingly gets swiped by the tornado that is Lee Haechan, and eagerly answers all the questions. When Haechan gets too excited he gestures wildly, so Shotaro chances a glance, and yes, Mark is indeed gripping his waist tightly to prevent him from falling off. It’s endearing, especially when Haechan unwraps his arm from Mark’s neck, but the older boy still holds onto him. Shotaro’s not sure if he even listens to them talk, he seems deep in thought as he drums his fingers on Haechan’s hip. The other boy doesn’t look too bothered, but he does squirm a couple of times when the fingers dig too deeply into his skin and explains to Shotaro that he’s a little ticklish.
Haechan doesn’t manage to talk his ear off, although he tries to do so when Shotaro asks him about the concert too. They get called by their managers, and so Mark nudges Haechan, who hops off his lap and stretches a little, before bidding him goodbye. Mark mumbles something about hurting thighs, but there’s a pleased smile playing on his lips, so Shotaro doesn’t think that he’s seriously complaining.
It’s not until much later that Shotaro realizes that Mark held Haechan for this whole time, but the other boy never attempted to leave his embrace.
“Ah, here we go. Mark’s starting again.”
“Do you think he’ll start drooling when he sees Haechannie in the concert outfit?”
“Chances are very high, my friend.”
“Staring and drooling as a way of flirting. This is not how we raised him.”
“Can you guys please stop? I’m literally right here!”
Johnny cackles loudly, while Jaehyun hides an amused grin behind his hand. Mark isn’t one to blush easily, but he looks at them with a betrayed expression that only makes Johnny want to ruffle his hair.
“Sorry,” he says, not feeling sorry at all. “I think we’ll stop making fun of you when you finally make a move. How about that?”
“It’s not... It’s not about that,” Mark mumbles, looking in the direction where Donghyuck is talking with the staff. Despite the long hours spent on the concert rehearsal, he still looks like he’s full of enthusiasm. At this point Johnny is half-convinced that Donghyuck has a separate amount of energy stored only for the moments he’s on the stage. “I’m just really proud of him.”
Well, Johnny can relate to that.
In his mind, Donghyuck’s a stage animal. Very cute and rather a small one, but still a stage animal. Because he always wants more, always says he’ll do better next time. One of their choreographers once said that Donghyuck lets music speak through his body, but Johnny sometimes believes that Donghyuck just has music thrumming through his veins.
There is a reason why he’s a favourite in the recording booth - he doesn’t relent until he’s satisfied with the results, and the most ridiculous thing is, he’s still the one to finish his recording the fastest. It almost doesn’t fit the image that their youngest is building in front of cameras - someone careless, who’s never too serious, who only knows how to have fun. Probably no one besides Johnny really knows just how much time Donghyuck spends on practicing before recording, trying out different styles, sitting quietly in their room and interpreting the lyrics. Passion burns in his eyes whenever he talks about music, especially his own.
It’s no secret that he writes his own stuff in his free time (even if Johnny doesn’t really know when exactly it is), but he rarely speaks about it. Johnny isn’t sure if it’s the shyness that sometimes appears in Donghyuck or him being a perfectionist, but the moments when he explains something about his songs or asks for the opinion, become precious.
“Mark!”
Mark turns instantly, forgetting about his conservation with them. Johnny catches Jaehyun’s amused gaze and smiles teasingly.
“And? What do you think?” Donghyuck asks, approaching them. There’s an eager expression on his face, but his hands betray his nervousness when he reaches them to tug at his loose t-shirt.
“You were great,” Mark says quickly, as if he couldn’t wait to get the words out. “But are you sure you’re comfortable with doing that second spin? It’s not too hard for your leg?”
“No, it’s fine,” the younger boy dismisses quickly, and Mark frowns a little, but Donghyuck’s attention is already on Jaehyun and Johnny. “Hyungs! How did you like the song?”
“It’s very good,” Jaehyun says fondly. “You’ve done a good job.”
“You know I’m your number one fan,” Johnny says under Donghyuck’s expectant stare. The younger boy beams at him, missing the way Mark throws Johnny a warning glance, as if he already knows what words are burning on the tip of his tongue. He relents, only because it would be no fun if Mark is prepared for the teasing.
“C’mon, you should eat something,” Mark says, slinging an arm around Donghyuck, who snuggles up to him a little, and it’s enough to lift a corner of his mouth in a small, satisfied smile. “Do you want to watch the others or your practice? I think the manager recorded it.”
Leave it to Mark to be an enabler to Donghyuck’s workaholic tendencies.
Donghyuck hums, clearly torn between wanting to see what others prepared - it’s Taeyong’s turn to rehearse his solo stage now - and check by himself if there’s anything he has to fix in his performance. Mark starts steering him away, not even bothering to say goodbye to them. Johnny sighs, because they’re starting to do this thing again, when they ignore others, because they’re too focused on one another.
“They’re work nerds,” he complains to Jaehyun. “Truly a match made in heaven.”
Jaehyun looks at him knowingly, patting him on the back.
“Not only because of that.”
“You’re now a licensed Mark thief. Please teach me your ways.”
To Donghyuck’s credit, he doesn’t look that bothered by Chenle’s words. He merely looks up from where he’s sprawled on the floor in their practice room. He fell there as soon as their choreographer announced the end of practice and moved only to retrieve his phone, grunting a barely-audible goodbye to members who were going back to the dorm.
“I’m a what now?”
“A Mark thief,” Chenle explains patiently. “You know, that thing when we’re trying to talk to him and his attention is suddenly stolen away? By you? Even when you’re doing absolutely nothing? I want that too.”
“Maybe you should talk with Mark about this,” Donghyuck advises, obviously losing interest in their conversation, focusing his attention on his phone again. “And don’t you have that daddy thing going on with him?”
Chenle used to wonder if Donghyuck was jealous. Maybe not about the whole daddy thing - he knows for a fact that he prefers being called a baby out of all things - but about the way Mark easily shows affection, but still seems to hesitate when it comes to the person who’s undoubtedly the closest to him.
But then Chenle realized that no one holds Mark’s attention the way Donghyuck does.
Mark’s caring and considerate - one of the many reasons why people like him - but all it takes is the sound of Donghyuck’s voice or a glimpse of his silhouette in the mirror to look away in search of him. The other day Renjun complained that when he finally got Mark to play guitar for him, all it took was Donghyuck trying to do a silly tango dance with Jisung to draw Mark’s attention away. Shotaro admitted that Mark is a great person, kind and so talented, but during practice his aura changes. He becomes so focused that he looks distant and cold, almost unapproachable - at least until he sees Haechan doing something silly and it’s then that his face breaks into a grin, fond gaze following the other boy. Jaehyun likes to tell about that one time when Donghyuck went out with the rest of Dream and Mark would sit stubbornly awake, refusing to fall asleep until Doyoung texted him that their youngest came back home safe and sound.
Donghyuck doesn’t have to repeat himself if he wants something from Mark, because the older boy is always weirdly attuned to him, even if he’s talking with somebody else. Chenle thinks it’s Mark’s own fault that he’s called Milk these days, because he always reacts to each weird nickname the other boy has come up with.
It’s like Donghyuck really is the sun and Mark gravitates towards him without even knowing. Honestly, Chenle doesn’t think Mark would even mind even if he did know. Sometimes Chenle jokes to Jisung - what do you think, does Mark breathe in the exact same time that Haechan breathes out?
Chenle thinks it’s very amusing that Donghyuck can make a competition out of everything, but he hasn’t come up with the idea to check who will win Mark’s attention first. Or maybe he knows and thinks that would be boring. Which makes Chenle so frustrated, because he knows that there’s no way Donghyuck isn’t aware of the way Mark always falls into his space, like he can’t help himself.
“I don’t get it. I know you’re not being oblivious, you’re too smart for this,” he mutters, for once ignoring the way Donghyuck preens at the off-handed compliment. “Then it means you choose to be oblivious. But why?”
He expects Donghyuck to say something cheeky, like “because it’s fun!” or lie his way out of the conversation, but he chooses to not say anything at all. When Chenle looks at him closely, he notices that the tips of his ears are slowly turning red.
“Oh, don’t tell me that you don’t know what to do with all that attention now that you’ve got it?” he asks, disbelief clear in his voice.
Just when Donghyuck opens his mouth to reply, Mark comes into the practice room, already dressed up and carrying Donghyuck’s jacket and bag in his arms. Chenle sighs, because of course they both already have other schedules for the day. Maybe he shouldn’t fight with Donghyuck for Mark’s attention, when it’s clearly obvious that their agency is the real enemy here.
“Hey,” Mark greets both of them, before handing Donghyuck his jacket. “I brought your stuff. If we go now, we'll be able to squeeze in some time for a proper meal.”
Since there’s nothing that can motivate Donghyuck more than the thought of delicious food, he groans and gets up, sluggishly putting the jacket on. Mark wordlessly passes him the bag and Donghyuck uses the moment to grab his hand. The older boy raises an eyebrow, but allows him to intertwine their fingers.
“Bye, my son,” Chenle says in fake despair, while Donghyuck busies himself zipping up his bag. Mark sends him a crooked smile, reaching down to ruffle Chenle’s hair before proceeding to pull Donghyuck towards the doors. Donghyuck stops and turns back to Chenle, as if he’s been reminded about something.
“Chenle,” he calls out, sending him a small smile that usually means he’s winning whatever game they’re currently playing. “You can’t steal something that’s already yours.”
You see, for many years Mark was always ahead of Donghyuck.
He arrived at their company earlier, for one. In their trainee days, he was the first one to receive a compliment from their instructor that was considered the strictest one. He always climbed the stairs in their building the fastest, even if Donghyuck broke into the run. He was also the one to debut faster, even if he insisted that their debut with NCT127 and then with Dream meant more for him.
It used to unnerve young Donghyuck - the way he worked so hard, but Mark always seemed a step ahead. With time, he got accustomed to the sight of Mark's back, and even if it wasn’t so broad and comfortable like now, he learned to rely on it and wait, because the older boy always made sure to turn around and look for him.
To be honest, Donghyuck doesn’t even pay attention to the whole competition now - not when the most important things they’ve done together. First full album, first stage with their hyungs, and then with Dream members, first win at the music show, first concert. Whatever Donghyuck - or Haechan - is doing, Mark is always right by his side.
But the thing is - this whole love game? Donghyuck has been ahead of Mark for years now.
When asked, he wouldn’t be able to say when exactly he fell in love with Mark. Mark’s always been someone important. His hand on Donghyuck’s thigh has always felt a little heavier, making him feel flustered. Donghyuck likes to make people around him happy, but whenever Mark laughs because of him - he wonders if someone’s high-pitched, ugly-sounding laughter can really make you feel so much lighter. Mark says at the end of each year: we’re going to work even harder, Haechan-ah, and his mind focuses on the word we and how good it sounds, how it steals a little more breath from his lungs each time.
So Donghyuck doesn’t know when, he just knows that this time Mark has lost to him.
Because he had all these years to grow into loving someone. He had time to learn about all the ways to make Mark feel loved and important, to understand that sometimes you can say I love you in the quietest ways, and they still could mean much more than any other words. He got to know where exactly Mark’s limits lay, when to push and be resilient, and when to be smart and let go. He knows now how to make Mark smile and how to be a shoulder he can lean onto. He had time to fall in love with the not-perfect Mark, the angry Mark, the impatient Mark. He knows what makes him feel vulnerable and what keeps him motivated.
But Mark seems to experience all of these things in one moment, all while being miserably transparent. He grows protective, which means he nags more than Donghyuck would have wanted, but also watches him and there’s almost always an arm that reaches towards him whenever he stumbles. And he gets jealous sometimes - something that Donghyuck thinks he should be at least slightly angry about, if only Mark didn’t look as confused as he does whenever he catches himself that he’s not happy about Donghyuck paying attention to someone else. He stares, and when Donghyuck finally turns around to glance at him too, he looks away quickly.
It makes him feel giddy. When Mark looks away, Donghyuck smiles slightly, mostly to himself, and his fingers tingle a little. There’s so much want in him, that sometimes he thinks his chest will burst from it, like the balloons his younger brothers kept in their shared bedroom because they liked it when they’d touch the ceiling and they’d ask Donghyuck to reach for them every time. Usually, he manages to contain himself, but the affection still slips out of him with each brush of Mark’s hand, tentative hug and another stupid present that Mark likes to buy him.
On some days, just to be playful, Donghyuck whines at him - please pay attention to me! - and watches how Mark bites his lips, looking away, as if to say: when do I not pay attention to you?
Donghyuck doesn’t know. Mark’s always had a way to make him feel important, but this time it’s more. He feels safe. Secure. Happy.
So it’s probably no surprise that he ends up standing before the door to Mark’s room, even if he did swear to Doyoung that he’s tired of seeing Mark’s face almost every day. In all fairness, he did help out Taeyong with his aquarium and ate together with Johnny before deciding that he wanted to nap a little - and it’s no secret that he sleeps the best if there are Mark’s arms around him.
He opens the door quietly without knocking, because he honestly can’t tell when was the last time he actually bothered to do that (might be around the same time Mark stopped bothering to scold him). He peers in, and smiles at the sight greeting him.
Mark’s sitting on his bed with guitar on his lap, strumming on it mindlessly. There are some papers laying around him, so Donghyuck concludes he’s been writing - he came back to composing after some time and it’s been consuming most of his free time. Donghyuck’s usually right beside him whenever he writes, sharing his opinion from time to time, but otherwise occupied with his own things. He just likes being close to Mark, and judging the way the older boy always makes space on his bed for him even before he can ask, Mark’s okay with it.
“Hi,” he greets, and Mark looks up startled. He stares at Donghyuck as if he hasn’t seen him for months, which unnerves him a little. “Busy? I can come back later.”
Mark shakes his head quickly, putting away the guitar and gathering the papers. He gestures for Donghyuck to come inside, so he does, quirking an eyebrow when Mark continues to look at him.
“You’re wearing the hoodie again,” Mark mumbles finally, looking away.
The hoodie is the one Donghyuck got from Jaehyun as a joke - it was one of SuperM merch. Donghyuck doesn’t wear it too much and uses it only when he knows he won’t have to go outside - which, with his schedule, isn’t a lot of days. Mark always gets a little stupid whenever Donghyuck wears it, to the point that he feel obligated to remind Mark that if he were to create a list of his favourites in SuperM, he wouldn’t make it to the top three.
(“I get that I lose to Taemin and Baekhyun, but Taeyong? He’s in our group too!”
“Markie, please, it’s not about which group you belong to, but how cool you are.”)
“I am,” he beams, before falling next to Mark, moving quickly to lay his head in his lap.
You didn’t hear that from Donghyuck, but Mark has nice thighs. Very comfortable too, even if over the years they became all hard muscles.
“Did you see our schedule for the next month?” he asks, nosing slightly at Mark’s thigh, until the older boy laughs and threatens to shove him off if he keeps it up.
“Yeah,” Mark says, and some of the exhaustion actually sneaks in and shows on his features, so Donghyuck raises his hand and smooths out the wrinkle between his eyebrows. Mark blinks down at him and smiles that one smile that Donghyuck hasn't had time to figure out yet.
“I think Taeyong and Doyoung stole the schedule from managers, so we can expect some nagging in the near future,” he says, yawning slightly. Mark’s always been warm, for some reason his temperature is running hotter than average, so whenever Donghyuck cuddles with him, it makes him sleepy very fast.
“I think some nagging would be actually good for you,” Mark snipes quietly, but there’s no real bite to his words. Instead he reaches out hesitantly and waves his fingers through Donghyuck’s unruly locks. “Your hair’s getting long again.”
He hums, not bothering to reply. Mark’s watching him silently, but he doesn’t feel nervous. It just makes him wonder when Mark will do something more than looking.
“We’ll be fine, right?” he mumbles softly, feeling safe enough to let some of his worries slip out.
Mark stops his hand and then suddenly grips Donghyuck’s hair harder. It doesn’t hurt, not really, but it’s enough to feel his strength, as if he wants to say silently: I’m here.
“Yeah,” Mark answers finally, loosening his grip. Donghyuck exhales. Waits for Mark to hold his heart and never let go of it again. “We’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it, Donghyuckie.”
He has half of mind to tease him for being cheesy, but decides not to, when Mark’s fingers travel lower, to the back of his neck and stay there, radiating reassurance. Donghyuck moves to him closer (he’s never close enough) and wonders - if he presses hard enough, will he be able to feel Mark’s warmth long after they separate?
Mark once said to him that whenever he looks at Donghyuck, he thinks about time.
And it’s okay.
Because contrary to people’s belief, Donghyuck has always been patient. And if it’s time that Mark needs, Donghyuck will give him as much time as he wants.