never not | markhyuck

two ♣

   "what do you think?" jaemin asked, raising up a poster of the popular boy group, nct. "not bad," donghyuck complimented as he added his own touch of 'home' to his part of the room. most of their other dorm mates had already come in, but they hadn't really greeted each other yet aside from exchanging a short hello. 

   donghyuck learned that the other three boys in their room were named, siwoo, yangyang, and yejun. based off of the name, he quickly realized that yangyang wasn't korean and somehow that felt exciting to him. there was already mark, but now there was yangyang too. donghyuck had always wanted to travel the world and make new friends but never got the opportunity to. while having foreign friends in korea was nothing compared to going to other countries and meeting new people in their respective countries, he felt content with the situation and decided to treasure it.

   jaemin already knew everyone in their room, but they weren't exactly friends. while everyone unpacked, mark laid on his bed with his eyes closed. he had put his guitar away when more and more people came in so that he wouldn't disturb their peace. donghyuck had many questions about why he looked so down or why he had gotten there so early, but he decided to wait for the right time to ask them.

   "students, please go to the cafeteria for dinner," the announcement sounded throughout their room. donghyuck heaved a sigh of relief. he was starving, and he couldn't wait to taste what the food was like. before applying for the school, he heard a great deal about the homey foods, so he had been looking forward to it. 

   he and jaemin met up with jeno in the hall and the trio walked to the cafeteria together. they lined up with a tray in hand and discussed where they wanted to sit. the line moved fairly quickly and before he knew it, donghyuck was being served cream soup and a warm roll with butter. he received a glass cup from the staff and poured himself a generous amount of orange juice. the food smelled good and almost like a home cooked meal. i guess people weren't exaggerating when they talked about the meals here, he thought to himself. he wondered what it must've been like to have a family member cook him a warm meal. every decent meal that he had eaten when he lived with his family had been cooked by himself. not once did they cook him a proper meal. 

   "let's sit over there," jaemin pointed towards a more secluded area. together, they walked to the vacant table and set their trays down. donghyuck sat across from jeno and jaemin with an empty seat next to him. "mark!" jeno called suddenly. the cafeteria was noisy and pretty stuffed so only a few people heard, but donghyuck watched as the blonde turned around and stared at jeno expectantly. 

   "come sit with us," jaemin offered. mark seemed like he was weighing his options before he started walking over and slid into the seat next to donghyuck. "hey guys," he greeted, eyes meeting donghyuck's for a brief second. "did you stay here over break again?" jeno asked. donghyuck noticed that the way jeno spoke to mark made him look really comfortable with him. "yup," mark sighed, "i'll let you know if that ever changes."

   donghyuck was surprised to hear that mark had spent a little over two months alone in the junior's floor. "didn't you get lonely?" donghyuck heard himself asking before he could stop himself. he knew that he and mark weren't anything more than acquaintances, so he felt like he was digging in someone else's business where he didn't belong.

   mark didn't seem to mind as he didn't even bat an eyelash at the question. "yeah, but i'm used to it," he explained. he dipped his spoon into his cream soup before bringing it up to his lips and drinking it. donghyuck then noticed that everyone was already eating, and he had yet to touch his food. he tore off a piece of his bread and dipped it in the soup before putting it in his mouth and chewing slowly. it was without a doubt delicious.