FOR THE FUTURE ⋮ nohyuck/markhyuck/markhyuckno

Chapter One

There was this lonely kid Donghyuck had noticed recently. That happened two days in a row when the young university student overslept and was late for his morning lectures. He ran past a convenience store where a little boy was sleeping on the ground. One day Donghyuck found that extremely unhygienic, another― he felt concerned.

But two days in a row, he didn't do anything. It looked like the owner of the convenience store didn't think about moving a finger either. Donghyuck never saw one getting worried.

That's when Donghyuck understood that he had to interfere on the third day's evening. There was something going on if the kid wasn't at home for three straight days.

The brunette walked towards the boy, who had his head on the table―the convenience store property. Donghyuck guessed that he was sleeping as it was late in the evening. He felt bad that he was about to wake up the kid, but he couldn't stand there and do nothing.

Donghyuck took a deep breath and kneeled in front of the boy. He tapped the young boy's shoulder and waited for his reaction. When that did nothing, he cleared his throat.

"Wake up," he said softly not to scare the kid.

From what Donghyuck saw, the little boy looked around seven or eight years old, which concerned him even more. What could this kid do outside the store for straight hours? Where were his parents?

"Worried about him too?"

Donghyuck whipped his head to the voice owner.

It was a woman in her mid-forties, not a very friendly one if you ask Donghyuck. Her face reminded him of a human version of a pug. But her face wasn't the thing that caught Donghyuck's attention. It was her uniform that had the convenience store logo.

Before Donghyuck could say something, the woman sighed.

"You're not the only one, young man. Many passengers come to him, but nothing changes. And I gave up, honestly. I can do whatever I want, but this kid doesn't want to leave my store."

As Donghyuck understood that the little boy had no family relations with the woman, he asked the question that was bothering him the most.

"Where are his parents?"

"I would love to know that," the woman just shrugged. "But if you want my opinion, I think he doesn't have them, or he's confusing this place with another one. You see, this kid claims that his papa is working here, at my convenience store, and says he's waiting for his parent to come out. But there's no male employee here, which is confusing..."

"Have you tried calling the police?"

"You're not saying something new. I did, and it changed nothing. The boy ran away from the police before anyone could even capture him and returned here again. From now on, whenever this kid hears the police car around the area, he runs away, then returns when there's no one around."

That was weird indeed, this whole story. However, Donghyuck didn't know how much it was worth believing it when he didn't hear it from the boy himself. Especially the escaping police part! He was a kid, how could he even get away from someone trained?

Donghyuck tried to wake the kid again by patting his back. This time he succeeded, and the boy lifted his head. Donghyuck frowned as he saw the boy's face from up close. He looked oddly familiar, but the brunette had a hard time realizing where he had seen someone with the same face. The boy had thin lips and a nose with a visible curve. His skin was tan, and he had cute moles here and there. Why cute? Donghyuck had such moles on his face too, and he adored them.

"Hello," Donghyuck smiled as softly as he could when he saw the boy flinch. "I'm here to help you."

"I'm leaving," the woman said, although no one listened to her.

She walked back into the store and Donghyuck couldn't be more thankful.

"I've been seeing you for a while now and I can help but get worried," Donghyuck said as he continued smiling, though he didn't hide his concern on purpose. "Where are your parents?"

"My papa works here," the boy pointed at the store. "I'm waiting for him."

"The woman you just saw said that your papa isn't working here. She never saw one."

"I know that she's lying. He does work here! At least he did before I got here."

Donghyuck was confused as heck but he knew what he had to do to fix this situation.

"Do you want to go with me to the police station? I heard that you have a bad relationship with them but they can help you, I'm pretty sure―"

"Wait!" the boy yelled and jumped off the chair he was sitting on. "You look like my papa!"

"M-m-me?" Donghyuck stuttered out, his face flushing. "I'm not! I'm―"

"Papa!"

The kid was so happy that he ran towards Donghyuck with widely spread arms. Before the student could move out of the way, the little boy flung his arms around Donghyuck's waist and rested his head on his stomach.

"Listen, kid!" Donghyuck laughed out of panic. "I'm not your papa. I don't have kids. I'm too young for that. I don't even have a boyfriend!"

"You will meet my daddy soon, don't worry, Papa!"

"W-what? I'm not adopting you!"

It was a late evening when Donghyuck was dealing with all of this. People rushed home at that time but didn't miss the chance to glance at the loud-mouthed kid who sounded like an alarm clock with his loud voice.

Because of that exact voice, Donghyuck felt embarrassed by all the people that stared at him. One woman even told him to shut up his kid. He frowned at that. What kid for fuck's sake? This child wasn't his!

"I have to go," Donghyuck forced a smile.

He grabbed the kid by his arms and pulled him back. Donghyuck tried to leave right after, but the boy clung to him again.

"Papa, don't leave me!" he almost cried.

"Let go of me," Donghyuck said through gritted teeth. "And stop calling me papa! You're embarrassing me," he added, hissing. "I don't even know you."

The boy was glued to him like a sticker. Donghyuck couldn't get him off even when he used a little of his strength.

"I'll call the police!" Donghyuck said in desperation. "Leave me alone, or I will really―"

"He will not know who you are, you don't exist here yet," the boy started mumbling, interrupting Donghyuck. He held the student's waist as tight as he could, his eyes were squeezed as he kept repeating the same sentences.

Donghyuck now was terrified. Not only did this kid call him his papa, but now he was talking to himself too!

"Hey, what are you talking about―"

"Your name is Lee Donghyuck," the little boy said all of sudden as he looked up at the brunette. "Right now, you're twenty-one and studying performing arts. You're living in a dorm on XX street."

"What the FUUUUUCK?" Donghyuck yelled. "How do you know all of this? Who are you?"

"I feel like I forgot something... I'm not good at memorizing things..." the boy mumbled, looking away. "Anyway, you're cursing way more than I remember!"

"Who are you?" Donghyuck repeated, frightened.

"I'm Noram, your son from the future!"