Rainbow | Markhyuck

seventeen

Donghyuck burst past a couple of students, glancing behind him as he darted past the corner. He could hear his name echoing down the hall, causing him to laugh as he quickly pushed open the doors of the building to the outside.

Now...now where to go?

Donghyuck looked around, deciding to run to the music building for security. A dumb idea if he took his time to think about it because the staff there knew Mark just as well as Donghyuck, but in a haste it's where he decided should be his safe haven.

Granted, it was most definitely his fault, and Mark should've honestly reached his limit years ago. But with Jaemin's quick advice of just "run" he just had to take his chances and bolt away. Now Mark was out of sight, but it felt more like when a spider in a room disappears. He wasn't quite sure if he should be relieved now that he couldn't see him anymore, or if he should raise the alarms and evacuate the entire school.

He sprinted toward the building, taking a quick peek behind himself just in case. He took a sweet sigh of relief before looking back forward, only to collide head first into the person he was running away from.
"No!" He squeaked as he was caught by strong arms.
"Gotcha, you twerp," Mark cackled, squeezing the life out of Donghyuck, raising him in the air a little. Donghyuck screamed slightly, kicking a little to be let go. Mark shook his head as he brought him back down, "your fault, dipshit."
Donghyuck pouted, resting his chin on Mark's shoulder and wrapping his trapped arms around Mark's waist.

Mark chuckled, moving his arms more comfortably around Donghyuck, sighing a little. "Dumbass."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Donghyuck grumbled as he panted, hoping that Mark would hold him just a little longer. He didn't like when he broke away from, though he could never point out why. But he'd have to be let go eventually. Until then though, he'd happily drown himself in Mark's presence until he was inevitably pushed away.

Luckily, or maybe more accurately for Mark, concerningly for Donghyuck, Mark didn't release as quickly as normal. He simply let Donghyuck bury his face in the crook of his neck.
"You're not gonna push me away?" he asked.
Mark shook his head, nuzzling a little Donghyuck's hair, "Mm, sure. I'll move now."

"I-" Donghyuck blinked as Mark moved away a little, now just holding his waist. He looked at him with a deadpan expression. "That's not what I asked."
"I know," Mark stuck his tongue out at him before breaking into a laugh.
Donghyuck furrowed his brows as his chest squeezed slightly, his breathing just that little bit uneven. He had noticed it happening more often now, but he couldn't quite figure out just why.

Mark noticed the change in his demeanour, looking back at him in concern. "Hyuck, you okay?"
Donghyuck nodded mindlessly as he tried to evaluate his symptoms as best he could. "I think I'm still out of breath, not gonna lie."
Mark snorted, bringing Donghyuck back into his arms. "You need to go outside more often."
The younger boy laughed, shaking his head a little. Mark tightened his grip around him, pressing a kiss on the side of Donghyuck's head. This made Donghyuck's head spiral even more as he felt yet another weird sensation in his chest. Had Mark ever kissed his head before? Why didn't this happen when Jaemin or Renjun did it?

He pulled away a little from Mark again, staring at him as everything slowly untangled before him. Mark's warm dark eyes seemed to help carry him home. He felt safer in Mark's arms than anywhere else really. Maybe he did know what was happening.

"What's wrong, baby bear?"

Donghyuck's head clicked, his eyes suddenly widening as it set into a new setting.

"Oh."

He wished he could remember when everything did start, but he could remember the day he realised his feelings for Mark had changed as clear as a polished crystal.

He looked over the apparition beside him on his bed, Mark staring down at the plushie in his hands. He watched his image flicker, as if he needed another indicator that Mark was thinking about something that bothered him.

He sometimes hated the fact that he did fall for Mark.

Not that Mark was a bad person. He just wished he didn't have to hurt him. He cared about Mark, even if he didn't always show it to him when he was alive, he really did. And for him to fall for him seemed selfish, especially with what was destined for his future.

They once agreed to run away. Together. Beat the stupid systems they were trapped in. Unfortunately they couldn't do it in time. And to think they only had to wait until the end of the year. Everything would've been fine by the end of the year.

Time was just purely cruel. There wasn't some lesson to learn like people said. That life worked in mysterious ways and that it was only a matter of time before we saw. Life worked against everything. It sure as hell worked against Donghyuck.

Donghyuck took a deep breath, "Hyung, are you okay?"
Mark glanced up to the table, humming in response. "I'm fine, Hyuckie."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." Mark glanced back down dejectedly at the plush in his arms. "I'm just trying to come to terms with something."
"Like?" Donghyuck pressed.
Mark sighed deeply, shaking his head as his image flickered even worse than before. "Don't...don't worry about it."

Donghyuck just huffed miserably. As if telling him not to worry was going to stop him from worrying. The young spirit had lost all signs of life at the cafeteria. Well, he lost all signs of life a while ago, but he wouldn't stop staring off into the distance like some secondary Kdrama character.

He turned his head the other way, making a grab for his phone. Turning it on, he scrolled mindlessly, ignoring the chat with all seven of them in desperate hopes to not find out who Jaemin might end next. He browsed through tiktoks and messaged Renjun every now and then about shit he was complaining about. Apparently Jeno had gotten stuck in a supermarket ride and he and Jaemin were trying to pull him out. Can break into highly secured labs but can't break out of a kid ride.

As Donghyuck chuckled upon receiving images, Mark peered over his shoulder. Donghyuck casually turned the phone toward him, letting him see the kind of disaster their friend was. Mark broke into a small smile, laughing a little and asking Donghyuck to call Jeno an idiot, which he happily did.

As Donghyuck replied to Renjun once again, Mark broke the silence.
"You like Renjun?"
"Hm?" Donghyuck glanced at him for a moment before looking back at his phone. "Oh yeah, head over heels for him."
He heard Mark scoff beside him, making him break into a smile. At least Mark was laughing a little more now.

He finished the last of his conversation as Renjun had told him that staff had come to help Jeno get out, putting his phone down. With a sigh, he looked toward the ghost beside him.
He furrowed his brows as he watched Mark's jaw had tightened, the boy glaring down at the bed now.

Donghyuck pursed his lips, casually reaching up and poking his finger into the joint of Mark's jaw, chuckling as the elder's eyes grew wide. He blinked for a moment as Donghyuck kept his hand where it was before Mark snapped his head toward him trying to bite his finger, Donghyuck flinching and pulling his hand away, giggling a little.

Mark broke into laughter himself, both quietly laughing in Donghyuck's room, breathing much more easily than they had a few moments ago.