coffee // markhyuck

8

“That happened. They happened.”

Mark glanced at the fresh couple, as their eyes widened in horror. Jeno stuttered, letting go of Jaemin quickly as he saw Haechan’s glare.

“Haechan- I thought you didn’t work this shift-”

“I usually don’t, but seeing as there was nobody to be with, I figured I might as well come to work.”

Jeno flinched harshly at his crude remark, and he and Jaemin nearly tripped over each other on their way out the door.

Mark, who had been confusedly looking back and forth between the two forces, hesitantly asked,

“What was that about?”

He glanced up at Haechan, and was shocked to see him in tears. He rushed to the backroom, shoving out a very annoyed Yuta and a blushing Sicheng.

Mark slowly made his way to where the distressed boy had disappeared, and opened the door to see him sitting on the floor with his head on his hands. He quickly closed the door and sat down next to the crying male.

He put his arms around him awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do. He began to whisper quietly to him, reassuring that things would be okay.

To his surprise, Haechan nestled into his arms and rested his head on Mark’s chest. His arms instinctively curled around the boy, and he stroked Haechan’s hair, the smell of coffee beans surprisingly comforting to them both.

Haechan sniffled, and opened his eyes. Mark’s arms were wrapped around him in a way that reminded him of having a boyfriend. This only made him cry more, though, because previously that morning he actually had a boyfriend. This brought forth a question Haechan had been meaning to ask:

“Mark?”

“Mhmm? Are you okay?”

“I’m… better now. You know Jaehyun, right?”

“Yeah, he’s in my dance class. Why?”

“I need a place to stay untiI I find one of my own, and he said maybe you were an option?”

Mark couldn’t deny that he was a bit taken aback by this request; but he already found he was strangely attached to the boy.

“I am most definitely an option.”

Haechan smiled for a split second, and Mark never wanted the second to end.

“What’s your real name?”

Haechan’s smile disappeared.

“Do you not like it? If you’re going to be living in my house, I want to know your real name.”

“Stuart.”

“Nooo. Come onnn.”

“Okay, okay. It’s Mark.”

“HAECHANNNN.”

He sighed for a moment before mumbling something.

“What was that, Stuart?”

Haechan laughed.

“Dongh…”

“Come on, Hae.”

The nickname made Haechan’s brain swirl, full of Jeno and Jaemin and coffee and Mark… Mark.

“Donghyuck. My name is Donghyuck.”

“It’s nice. It suits you. Donghyuck.”

He tried out the name, and Donghyuck couldn’t help but smile. He liked the way Mark said it, pronouncing every syllable like it was special.

“Why don’t you like it?”

“I don’t know, I just liked Haechan more.”

“Can I keep calling you Donghyuck?”

He thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly. Jeno had never bothered calling him by his real name, much less ask him about it.

Mark smiled at the thought of being able to call the boy by a private name, and he looked forward to seeing his bedhead in the mornings.

Donghyuck stood up, brushing off Mark’s lingering arms. Mark frowned slightly at the loss of contact and got up, brushing dust off of his jeans. He followed him into the coffee shop again, only to laugh at him forcefully pulling Yuta and Sicheng apart.

With Yuta glaring, Donghyuck helped a new customer with his order. When the customer got a bit flirty, Mark could see Donghyuck forcing a smile, and he immediately wanted to help.
He stopped himself after realizing that he probably dealt with this stuff all the time.

“Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great day!”

Donghyuck said overenthusiastically, cursing under his breath. Sicheng laughed, and Yuta turned his gaze to him.

“Sicheng, can you take over my shift for me? And I don’t just mean have sex with Yuta in the storage room. Really work. Please?”

Sicheng’s ears turned bright pink, and his boyfriend cooed as he nodded so quickly his whole face turned red.

Donghyuck hastily untied his apron and hung it on the wall hooks next to him, dusting coffee grinds off of his long sleeves, and turned to Mark.

“I’ll take Jaehyun’s car back to him, and you’ll follow me to his house? My stuff is all in the trunk.”

Mark nodded, and followed him outside.