Mark never considered himself being what most—Yuta—would call a 'simp.'
His crushes were exactly that. They were harmless, middle school type crushes that never got further than a confession or a rejection. He was never straightforward about his feelings, no matter how small they were because he knew he would never be able to give them a plausible reason to stay in a relationship with him.
And that was only if he could get a relationship out of it.
He was no romancer that could steal someone's breath at first glance, or sweep them off their feet and hurl them headfirst into a fairy-tale type romance. Not even close.
He often sought advice from Jaehyun and Yuta, finding that he paled in comparison to the two men and their confidence in themselves and their romantic endeavors. Jaehyun was the guy next door, the one you could take home to your parents after a cute date and sweet, innocent touches.
Yuta.. well, he was Yuta. He didn't have a brain to mouth filter, and if he did, Mark had never known him to use it. He was outright in everything he did and said, definitely someone the sweet love interest in a romance novel would fall for.
Yuta was more R-rated than Jaehyun, but they both pulled nonetheless.
Yuta's choice of words, not Mark's.
Whenever he went to them for advice he was always told something along the lines of 'stop being so wimpy' and 'just go for it' and neither of those were things Mark found himself being able to do.
Now, he knew he was attractive, decently enough, but he didn't know how to find the same confidence in his appearance that Jaehyun and Yuta did and use that to his advantage. And unlike Yuta, Mark's brain-to-mouth-filter was still intact. He thought about what he was going to say and then overthought it to the point of not being able to speak at all. Most wrote him off as socially anxious, but the reality of it was, Mark just wasn't sure how to interact with anyone without making a fool of himself.
With all of that in mind, Mark sat in his desk chair facing his bed while biting at his finger nails. It was six-thirty in the morning, long before he needed to be awake for his day of classes, but he couldn't force himself back to sleep. Not when Lee Donghyuck was sprawled across his bed looking like something out of his wildest dreams.
After he brought Donghyuck back to his house, he was hit with the sudden realization that he was bringing his crush.. home. Home to his overbearing brother and his two idiot friends that found a way to tease him for anything they could think of. He knew that Taeyong had probably gone to bed already, but there was no telling if Jaehyun and Yuta were still awake and he didn't want to run the risk of being teased in front of Donghyuck. Not only because it would embarrass him, but also because he was sure Donghyuck would join in.
So he had Donghyuck wait outside. He felt bad because he knew that was no way to treat a guest, and Taeyong would skin him alive if he found out he made him wait out in the cold. He gave Donghyuck his jacket and his hat to wear for the time being, apologizing nonstop before he disappeared inside the house and behind the door. His heart pumped wildly and he felt at any moment he'd get caught even though he wasn't doing anything wrong.
Much to his relief everyone appeared to have already gone to bed. The couch was vacant so he assumed Yuta was sleeping in Jaehyun and Taeyong's room again. He was never more thankful for their strange relationship than he was at that time, rejoicing quietly before he quickly opened the door and ushered Donghyuck into the house.
