then again, ends mean new beginnings ; nct markhyuck

10/10

"Your voice is still as good as before. Better, in fact."

"I'm not called Beyoncé's son for nothing, Hyung."

Mark laughed out loud at Donghyuck's comment, earning Donghyuck a triumphant smirk.

"You're still cocky as ever," Mark pointed out.

"I prefer confident," Donghyuck hummed, grinning. "Your rapping is as good as it was, too. It's like you never stopped."

"Well, I didn't," Mark answered. "I still wrote and rapped while studying. It was my way of venting, after all."

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that so? Will I be able to hear your new songs, lyric genius Mark Lee?"

Mark laughed. "I don't know. Maybe someday, when I'm confident enough to show you them."

"What makes you not so confident about them? Your songs are amazing."

"Maybe confident isn't the right term. Rather...when I'm ready enough to show you them, because as I have said," Mark said, mumbling and looking away as if he was humiliated. "It was my way of venting."

Donghyuck hummed, looking at Mark with utter curiosity, but then let the subject slide.

He was about to take another step forward when a sign caught his eye. He stopped and looked up to see that they had finally reached their destination—Donghyuck's apartment building.

Donghyuck felt fatigue shake his body and seep into his bones. He smiled to himself, then turned to Mark, who looked at him with a silent yet sad expression.

For a moment, he wanted to ask what was up, but he finally caught his drift.

They were about to be separated again.

Truthfully, it wouldn't be as bad as before.

Mark said he was staying in Korea for good.

But where in Korea will he stay?

They could share numbers and text or call.

But that's not the same as talking to him face to face.

They could meet up from time to time.

But would I have time for that in the first place?

"It's getting late," Mark said, breaking Donghyuck out of his train of thought. He walked nearer to him until they were only half a step apart. "You should go and get some rest."

"Do I really have to leave?"

An arrow of pain shot through both boys' hearts.

Donghyuck didn't mean to ask it so recklessly, especially when he asked Mark a similar question before they were separated.

Mark merely smiled a little, not answering. Donghyuck, in contrast, frowned.

"Will I see you again?" Donghyuck asked, wanting an answer. Mark stayed silent, which was hurting Donghyuck more.

Instead of answering, Mark...leaned in.

Donghyuck noticed it late. He didn't get to react. He froze in place, eyes wide, but involuntarily closed when he felt the older's hand on his chin, his lips on his own.

At that moment, it felt like time froze.

No, it felt like time rewinded itself.

They felt like it was 5 years ago again, where they desperately wanted to stop time to stay there for eternity. They may not be moving, but they were with each other, and that was the only thing that mattered.

When Donghyuck pulled away, he looked down on their feet. He wasn't sure what to do. All he could think about is how loud his heart was beating. Plus, he wasn't used to looking up at Mark. He was taught to look away and forget about him, after all.

"Go," Mark whispered to him as he let his hand fall from his chin.

Donghyuck, being the fool he is, obeyed.

He turned around and forced his foot forward, walking towards the door of the apartment building. Every step felt heavier than the last, because his broken heart was weighing him down, one kilogram after another.

As he walked, he felt as if something was burning through his back. It was tolerable at first, but it started to bug him the farther he walked.

What would Donghyuck from five years ago say about this?

Stop walking. Turn around. Go back to him. Don't let him get away ever again.

That's exactly what he did.

He stopped walking.

He turned around and looked at Mark, who was looking back at him with a wistful expression. (His heart wrenched at the sight. Was that how he looked at him when he ran away?)

He pushed his feet forward, picking up his pace.

At that moment in time, Mark was watching him with utter surprise, as if what he was witnessing was not part of some script that was written for the movie they call life.

Donghyuck ran towards Mark and engulfed him in a hug, immediately connecting his lips with the other's and kissing him with as much passion as he wanted to give Mark.

He let him go and lost him for five years.

He's not letting him go again.

Donghyuck pulled away, laying his forehead against Mark's. He mustered up all of his courage and looked at him in his eyes—the eyes he always had dreams and nightmares about.

"Stay," Donghyuck whispered to him, trying not to sound as if he was pleading (even when he was willing to plead). "Stay with me, even just for the night."

Unspoken words slipped out of him through his eyes.

Stay for tonight, and the next night, and the next nights after that, until the last night there will ever be.

What he expected was to be turned down.

What he got was a smile and a non-hesitant "Okay."

For the first time in so long, the sun shone at its brightest, even when it was setting.