ᴀғғᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ-ʟᴇss | ᴍᴀʀᴋʜʏᴜᴄᴋ [ᴇᴅɪᴛɪɴɢ]

7

"To the beach," Was the first thing Jungwoo had said as he marched into the room, a hand up in the air as he declared the fact that the entire group was going to have to follow him there for a vlog, and honestly, they weren't complaining. It was going to be nice to just take a day off and simply relax by the water, absorbing the heat from the sun and gaining more energy for their upcoming concerts — it was going to take a lot and they had to be prepared.

But there was one thing that was very difficult for Donghyuck. He had to keep his hands off Mark, as weird as it sounds. He was clearly failing to do so as he watched Mark skip down the path, his blonde hair bouncing with every jump and his eyes were squinted — he blames it on the sun but they all know it was because he stayed awake all night. Mark would occasionally turn around to look at Donghyuck and flash a smile at him as if they weren't avoiding each other — yes, Mark began to avoid him — for the past few days.

Normally, this wouldn't have affected Donghyuck as much as it did now. However, the reason it was making him so giddy (aside from the strange twist in his stomach every time he saw Mark smile) was because Mark was being affectionate with him. Shocking. He was picking Donghyuck up with his arms, spinning him around as their laughter echoed and they seemed surprised at how loud the younger two were. 

Donghyuck thought back to the live they had done before coming to the beach. It wasn't anything unusual, for the others at least, but when Mark placed his hands on Donghyuck's shoulder, hooked his chin over them, whispered jokes into the younger's ear as he read off the comments on the phone, Donghyuck couldn't help but feel his cheeks heat up.

The contrast between how Mark was acting with him before they came here — the cold shoulder and annoyed glares to wide smiles and giggly glances — was big. Donghyuck didn't know what made Mark do this, or just in general why he was doing this. Had someone told him about how he was upset with their behaviour? They wouldn't have, right? Donghyuck had made it very clear that he wanted them all to figure it out themselves so that they would be able to understand it more clearly — it didn't make much sense to Donghyuck let alone the other members, but they agreed to not tell the rest what was going on. 

As the live came to an end, Mark jumped up from his position by the bed and threw a hand over Donghyuck's, tugging him up onto his feet and continued to bounce up and down — he really was acting like a baby. Mark opened his mouth, and Donghyuck was honestly expecting another 'are you okay' but instead got a 'let’s go Fullsun!'

The simple nickname managed to lighten up Donghyuck's mood. Mark was known as one of the members that didn't like using nicknames (and it definitely wasn't because the other members could never think of a nickname which would suit him) so when 'fullsun' escaped Mark's tongue, Donghyuck felt as if all his problems disappeared.

The rest of the members had watched in shock as Donghyuck stuck by Mark's side when they walked to the beach. The younger had clung onto Mark and spoke to him as if they hadn't met in ages — which in some way was correct since when they ignored each other it meant they didn't talk about the exciting things that would happen to them.

On the beach, the older members eyed the two younger members as they ran around the beach, sand flying up and into eyes as they kicked their feet against it. They should've felt joy when they watched they play around like little kids, but the underlying annoyance that Mark was still oblivious to what was going on had overcome it all. It didn't take a genius to notice Donghyuck's problem, and the solution was so clear.

"I had to ask," Jaehyun said, peeling his eyes away from the duo as Donghyuck pushed Mark into the water despite his constant whining. "Why was Haechan avoiding us?"

The members who knew why, which was everyone else, glanced over at Jaehyun and shrugged, acting as if they didn't know anything as they promised. Jaehyun looked at them suspiciously, his eyes narrowed as he watched Sicheng cower behind Doyoung before he turned his attention back to Donghyuck and Mark — the duo had somehow managed to get into a more deeper side and looked like dots to Jaehyun.