start somewhere; markhyuck ✓

two

tuesday, may 28th, 5:01 pm. parking lot of the corner store.

the two boys are playing patty cake but donghyuck keeps messing up. the other boy getting irritated. donghyuck's doing it on purpose at this point, playfully hitting the boy's hands.

"no, hyuck it's like," he demonstrates the movements.

"stop it you're stressing me out too much," donghyuck takes a sip of the red bull he had bought twenty minutes earlier.

they continue to play patty cake but donghyuck is just trying to hold the boy's hand. donghyuck just ends the game by hitting the other's cheeks.

"mark, i'm never gonna understand patty cake. can you please hand me a piece of licorice." donghyuck sighs already holding his hand out for it.

even after patty cake was long over mark kept on hitting donghyuck's hand, aimlessly hitting it to the tune of patty cake. they're sitting on a bench outside of the convenience store, it's private. especially at this hour. all the students are eating dinner or parents are still at work.

it's the life of living in a simple town of all nuclear families. so perfect yet so superficial.

the boys hold hands but it's hidden under the jacket between them. it's safer this way. mark skipped his dinner for this, lied to his family to run off and hang out with donghyuck.

mark was the definition of perfect living to donghyuck. mark had a nice family that was well off and well mannered. he had a younger sister and two parents. the older boy was top of his class, good at sports, and was universally liked. donghyuck wonders how they're holding hands right now.

"thank you for coming," donghyuck squeezes the older's hand, "you know you never have to."

"you're my friend, donghyuck. i'll always be there for you."

mark and donghyuck had recently become friends. it was so weird to donghyuck. the two had the same science class and mark was too sweet for donghyuck to deny.

their friendship was secret though. conflicting friend groups and bad timing will cause that. despite all this, here they sit, hold each other's hand. one day donghyuck hopes that they won't need a jacket to cover it up.

they aren't dating. nowhere close actually. mark's just affectionate and donghyuck's hands are always cold.

as it gets darker they bike around town. eventually they end up at donghyuck's house. as mark says goodbye he leans and gives donghyuck a small kiss on the forehead.

"what was that for?" donghyuck asks.

"i want you to know we're close. i think of you as a best friend. even if we can't tell everyone about our friendship. i still love you." mark explains.

"yeah, best friends."

"best friends!"

and donghyuck almost breaks down crying right there. mark is too sweet for himself. he's too kind, donghyuck thinks mark has about 4000 admirers.

"goodnight."

"night night hyuck!" mark has already turned towards his bike. before donghyuck opens the door he sees mark stumble a bit before riding his bike down the hill.

the door creaks open and his mom looks delighted to see him.

"ah hyuckie! i was getting worried when you didn't call me," she explains, "dinner is in the fridge we saved some for you this time."

"sorry, i was studying with jisung and i lost track of time," it's safer this way, "thank you for saving leftovers."

donghyuck presses a kiss to his mother's cheek and runs upstairs to his room. he flops on his bed and starts his music. he lets it drown out his racing mind. he opens his phone and checks his messages. donghyuck still doesn't have mark's phone number. he doesn't plan on asking for it any time soon.

life is painfully boring when you're a teenager. freedom, but not enough freedom to feel free. donghyuck just resorts to doing his homework and going to sleep.

wednesday rolls around like every day does. same routine, it's so repetitive. every day donghyuck feels like he's one step closer from losing his mind. everything is a blur. his friends are the only ones keeping him grounded.

"...math teacher's a bitch though," jisung finishes as donghyuck tunes back into the conversation.

"language," renjun scolds.

"tomorrow's the day," jeno sighs as she walks in the room.