hyung | markhyuck

3

— Chapter Three —

Donghyuck stayed true to his words. He rejected Mark's skinship despite often not even wanting to. Actually he liked it, liked Mark being so attentive with him but at the same time he was so scared of being hurt again. He didn't want to give into Mark's offer just for the older to reject him later.

It was rather obvious that something was going between the two of them, even from the outside. Donghyuck had to tell his members multiple times that everything was okay between him and Mark even though he wasn't even so sure if that was the truth.

Either way, it raised suspicions. He even saw a few fans on social media ask about it, the people being curious as to why Mark was initiating so much skinship with Donghyuck recently and why Donghyuck would not do the same anymore.

As their new comeback approached, they all grew tired. Donghyuck and Mark were both totally overworked due to the fact that they had their japanese comeback with Gimme Gimme before but the other Dream members were working just as hard as them.

Mark would be having headaches and Donghyuck felt worried about him. Yes, the atmosphere was still cold between them but Mark was his best friend after all and Donghyuck still felt very much emotional when he saw Mark heavily breathing and crouching down after each run through of their Hot Sauce choreography.

One time, it was only the two of them staying behind in the practice room as they were the ones struggling the most with the choreography. Renjun and Jeno had mastered it with ease, Chenle and Jaemin as well and Jisung was told to not strain his muscles so they would properly heal from his accident a few months ago.

The training coach left the two, bidding them goodbye and telling them to not overwork themselves. Donghyuck and Mark both smiled at the man who they had been knowing for years. He had watched them grow up and Donghyuck believed that was one of the reasons why he sounded as caring as he did when he spoke to the two.

The door closed behind their coach and a silence spread. Donghyuck looked into the mirror, seeing Mark lying on the floor, panting heavily.

"Are you alright?" Donghyuck asked him and Mark hummed. Obviously he wasn't though as he was not getting up, even when Donghyuck started playing the song once more.

Donghyuck immediately stopped once he saw that the older wasn't moving. He moved over to Mark and swatted the man's arm away to look at his face. It was flushed and Mark's eyes were glassy.

"Damn it, you did overwork yourself." Donghyuck cursed and Mark just shrugged. He clung onto the younger who for once let it slip due to Mark's condition right now.

"You idiot." Donghyuck said, running his fingers through Mark's freshly dyed hair. Despite the colour, Mark's hair still felt fluffy and the man also let out a sigh at the feeling of Donghyuck's fingers. It had been ages since they had been this close, Mark just resting his head on Donghyuck's shoulder.

"God, I'm so tired. Of everything." Mark mumbled. And Donghyuck understood, understood so well. He, too, was tired. Yes, he loved what he was doing, loved being an idol but it was so straining both on his mind and his body.

"See it like this, next week we will be going on the trip for the 7illin' in the dream series. Then we have some time to rest." he tried to comfort Mark.

"There will be cameras regardless." Mark noted. Donghyuck could hear the man's weariness in his voice and it broke his heart. Mark who had always been so strong and durable was now breaking.

"Forget about them." Donghyuck whispered and squeezed Mark's body tighter. Mark wrapped his arms around Donghyuck's waist, quietly saying "I missed this."