love maze - nct, marknohyuck

➶ 10 ➶

donghyuck was seated in class, waiting for their teacher and the rest of the students to come in.

he was in a deep thinking.

his mind was filled with thoughts of jeno, and his heart was hurting because of the thought of jeno having a boyfriend.

this was something he didn't expect.

sure, jeno didn't make his and donghyuck's relationship ambiguous.

he never tried to hold his hand or kiss him.

but there were occasional touches.

when donghyuck would hand a felt pen to jeno.

when they would read the presentation side by side.

and that time donghyuck had fallen asleep on jeno's shoulder.

but these touches weren't so special.

sure, they made butterflies erupt in his stomach – and jeno's as well, but he didn't know that – but they weren't too intimate.

those were normal.

but some part of him hoped that jeno wouldn't already have someone.

but who was he kidding?

how could someone as perfect as jeno not have a boyfriend?

right, it was impossible.

"hey, hyuckie."

donghyuck lifted his head, his cheeks colouring when jeno sat next to him and ruffled his hair.

"h-hello..." he replied, making jeno chuckle.

"after all this time, you're still stuttering around me?" he asked.

"s-sorry..." donghyuck apologized.

"don't be." jeno smiled. "it's cute. and it fits your persona."

donghyuck flushed red, trying his best to hide his cheeks.

he didn't want jeno to make a remark about this as well.

"are we meeting tonight?" jeno asked after a while.

"well..." donghyuck took a deep breath. "don't you think your boyfriend will be angry at you for staying with me?"

jeno shrugged. "he doesn't know."

"what?"

"he doesn't know i'm hanging out with you." jeno repeated.

donghyuck gasped.

"why are you hiding this?!" he asked.

"i'm not sure he'll be enchanted to know." jeno told.

"jeno! you need to tell him! he'll be even madder if he discovers you're lying to him!" the brunette explained.

"yeah but- "

"you need to tell him!" donghyuck declared. "tonight!"

"tonight?!" jeno asked.

"yeah. and we won't meet out of class as long as he doesn't know." donghyuck told.

he couldn't believe what jeno was doing.

no one should shamelessly lie to their boyfriend.

if they truly loved each other, they would understand that their boyfriend hangs out with other friends.

but lying wasn't a solution.

jeno finally nodded after a while. "okay, i'll tell him tonight."

➶

mark and jeno were both lying on jeno's bed, watching a movie on jeno's laptop.

the device was placed on mark's lap, and jeno was clutching on his boyfriend's side, inhaling his manly scent.

"the lead actress is cute." mark declared after seeing her pouting because the lead actor didn't want her to follow him around.

jeno's eyes widened at the words mark had pronounced.

to be completely honest, he would have told it out loud before, but he didn't dare to do so.

since the second the actress had appeared on screen, she had reminded jeno of donghyuck.

they had the same chubby cheeks, the same button-nose, and their eyes looked alike.

the only thing that truly differed were their skin tone. she had a pale skin while donghyuck was glowing like honey with his tanned skin.

so, yeah, jeno found the actress cute.

and each time he saw her, images of donghyuck flashed in his mind.

this wasn't healthy.

not when he had a boyfriend whom he loved.

he wasn't supposed to feel his heart beating for another boy.

this was bothering him.

and the fact he had to keep this to himself even more.

and now, he was also bothered by the fact he wouldn't be able to see donghyuck anymore since the brunette had refused to as long as jeno wasn't honest with mark.

so, guess he had to...

jeno stretched his arm and closed the laptop in one-go, cutting the movie.

"hey, why did you do that?" mark asked, trying to reach for the device, but jeno had already put it away.

"i need to tell you something." jeno said.

"and it couldn't wait for the movie to end?"

"no." jeno answered firmly.

mark sighed, sitting crossed legs on the bed as jeno did the same as him.

"why are you this nervous, babe?" mark asked, reaching for jeno's hand.

"i'll tell you, but promise me you won't interrupt me." jeno told.

mark nodded. "okay. tell me."

jeno gulped, his eyes staring at his right wrist where donghyuck's name was tattooed on his skin. he glanced from time to time at mark's left wrist where the exact same name was.

"the day after i had an eye-contact with donghyuck for the first time, the teacher made him move seats and made him sit next to me. she also paired us for a project. and so, i've been going to his house often since that day to work on this project. at first i was nervous because i thought he would be an asshole since he was supposed to be our enemy, but in fact, i discovered he was the softest and cutest boy to exist. he's so precious, and i feel so bad because i should hate him, and it's as if i felt myself being drawn towards him." jeno said in one go, never looking up at mark. he only glanced up after a few seconds, meeting eyes with mark who had his jaw clenched.

"you've been seeing donghyuck..."