Choices

The hitch in the road

Donghyuck woke up to the rays of the sun falling on his face making him squint and bring a hand up to his eyes to shield them. He tried to shift in his position keeping his eyes shut not ready to wake up yet when he felt something weigh him down. He looked to his right to see Mark's head lying on his chest, one hand hugging his waist while the other was intertwined with Donghyuck's. He found himself not being able to tear his eyes away from Mark's face that was being illuminated by the morning sun. He truly looked ethereal in that very moment, peacefully cuddling into Donghyuck's side. Donghyuck picked up his other hand to brush away a strand of hair falling on his eyes, admiring the little grunts that escaped Mark's mouth when he felt his cold fingers on his face.

"Good morning" Donghyuck said seeing Mark's eyes crinkle because of the excess amount of light in the room.

"Good morning" Mark replied planting his face in the crook of Donghyuck's neck, his voice still hoarse from having just woken up.

They must have fallen asleep while Donghyuck was trying to comfort him last night. The rational side of him wanted to tell Mark to leave now that he wasn't a crying mess anymore. While the other side of him wanted to stay cuddled up with the older, who currently had his hand right on top of Donghyuck's heart feeling its steady rhythm under his fingers. Donghyuck looked down towards Mark to find him looking back at him. Donghyuck gently placed his hand on Mark's cheek pulling him closer to say something when the loud sound of his alarm intercepted the moment.

Donghyuck reached over to get his phone from the nightstand to stop the blaring of the annoying tune, finally coming to the realization that it was no longer a Sunday. Mark sat up on the bed rubbing his eyes with one hand, the other still holding Donghyuck's. Both their palms were sweaty now because of the sudden heat brought in by the morning, yet Mark didn't want to do away with his only source of comfort. He held on tighter to Donghyuck's hand, bringing it up to his face to leave a small kiss on it before looking up to see the red spreading over Donghyuck's face.

"We should probably start getting ready, for school." Donghyuck muttered softly, making circles on the back of Mark's hand with his index finger. He kept his eyes fixed on their hands suddenly feeling shy because of Mark's gaze on him.

"I should get going then" Mark finally said after a minute, letting go of his hand and standing up from the bed.

"Yeah, I guess you should." Donghyuck said following him suddenly missing the warmth of Mark's hand.

Mark knew that if he didn't leave right that moment he would never make it him in time to get dressed and ready for school yet he couldn't help but want to crawl back into bed and stay there all day. He gave a little wave before making his way towards the bedroom door.

"We're okay, right?" Mark asked his hand on the doorknob, turning his head to look back at him.

Donghyuck simply nodded afraid to say something that he may regret. Mark grinned his smile reaching all the way up to his eyes before opening the door and making a beeline for the front door not wanting to indulge in small talk with Donghyuck's parents, thankfully none of them had come downstairs yet.

-

Donghyuck was confused more than ever before yet a piece of him felt content. He hadn't expected Mark to be completely distraught because of a simple request that they remain just friends. He felt his ego bloom just by thinking of the events of last night and this morning. However, the grandeur turned into guilt the moment his eyes lay on the thin yet built figure of Jaemin who was coming towards him.

"Hey" Jaemin said in his usual cheery tone before bending slightly to peck Donghyuck's cheek.

Donghyuck looked away noticing how the people in the hallway were eyeing them. He never did like being the centre of attention. Jaemin frowned at the prying eyes and pulled Donghyuck closer with an arm over his shoulder before whispering

"They're just jealous"

"I wish that was it" Donghyuck said rolling his eyes, trying not to pay attention to the quiet whispers.

"Hey, do you want to do anything after school today?" Jaemin asked making their way towards their shared class.

"Sure, what do you want to do?" Donghyuck asked his full attention on the slightly taller boy.

"Anything. Maybe we could finally go on our first real date" Jaemin said his words sounding more like a question than a statement.

"We've gone on a date before." Donghyuck said looking at Jaemin's raised brow.

"Binging movies and TV shows isn't exactly considered a date." Jaemin said playing with Donghyuck's hair.

"It's not?" Donghyuck asked with his eyes wide.

"Not really" Jaemin said giving him a look that said 'you should know this'.

"Hey, I'm not perfect" Donghyuck said trying not to get defensive again.

"Maybe to you, you're not" Donghyuck stopped in his tracks to look back at the small smile on his face, shaking his head as he walked into the classroom. Compliments always made him flustered even if he pretended to be cocky about them most of the time.

The room was still fairly empty with only a few desks being occupied by students. Donghyuck's eyes landed on Mark the second he walked in with Jaemin's arms still around his shoulder. Mark looked at them for a moment before diverting his gaze to the pen he was holding with a hint sadness on his face. Jisung who was sitting right beside him filling his ears about something followed his line of gaze to see what had distracted him. The small smile on his face immediately grew once he saw the both of them standing near the doorway.

He waved his hand and beckoned them to sit in the two empty seats right in front of them. Jaemin returned Jisung's smile with equal enthusiasm as he took a seat in front of him while Donghyuck sat down in front of Mark. Donghyuck's heartbeat could probably be heard a mile away with how hard it was thumping in his chest.

"I don't think you guys have met before" Jisung said gesturing between Mark and Jaemin who were sitting diagonally to each other.

"I don't think we have. I'm Jaemin" he said extending a hand for Mark to shake which he hesitantly does before introducing himself as well.

"I'm Mark"

"And you guys know each other pretty well already. Right?" Jisung said now looking between Mark and Donghyuck who looked up to meet his eyes briefly before going back to playing with the pen that was in his hand.

"You guys are friends?" Jaemin asked turning his legs side ways to face Donghyuck.

"No" Donghyuck said at the exact moment that Mark said "Yes"

Jisung and Jaemin both eyed them precariously looking from one to the other.

"Our parents are close friends. So, we've met before. We're kind of like... like..."

"Acquaintances" Mark said finishing Donghyuck's sentence for him, for which he silently thanked him with his eyes.

"Okay, So long have you guys known each other?" Jaemin asked curious as to why he had never even heard of Mark before.

"About six years, I think." Mark answered rubbing the back of his head.

"Then how come I never knew about him?" Jaemin asked this time directing his question towards Donghyuck. Donghyuck was about to open his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by Jisung asking

"Did you guys know each other before?"

"Yeah, we used to be best friends back in like elementary-middle school. But then I left the country for a while and only came back this year." Jaemin said his attention shifting from Donghyuck to Jisung.

Mark eyed the both of them as he took in Jaemin's words. Mark was sure without an inch of a doubt that he knew Haechan better than anyone else did, even Jaemin. Mark was under no illusion that winning over Donghyuck was going to be easy but if they truly were childhood best friends then Jaemin definitely would be a tough competition to beat.

A/N:

I've been trying to write regularly so i might update soon. Happy Reading