all the stars | nct dream

e i g h t e e n

You have 5 missed calls from Donghyuck.

Missed calls? Since when did Donghyuck even call him? And five missed calls? That's when Mark knew something was definitely wrong.

"What's wrong?" Chenle asked, glancing over Mark's shoulder to see his phone screen.

"Donghyuck called me," Mark mumbled, slightly shocked.

"Okay, and..." Chenle prompted, not really understanding why Mark was just standing there, staring at his phone.

"He never calls me."

Chenle scoffed. "Okay..." he looked at Mark who was still staring at his phone. "Well maybe you should actually try calling him back instead of just standing there," Chenle suggested.

Mark nodded his head, bringing himself back to reality. "Right."

Chenle smiled and ran off towards where Jisung was standing by the cafe door.

Mark took a deep breath and pressed on Hyuck's contact. The phone rang for a few seconds before the latter picked up.

"Hyuck?"

It was silent for a few seconds before the other spoke up.

"Yeah,"

His voice was shaky, and Mark could make out the sound of sniffling from the other end.

Mark's voice immediately turned to worry. "Hyuck, are you okay?" he asked.

"Can you... come over?"

Donghyuck was crying. Lee Donghyuck– the one who Mark was scared of angering– was crying. The only other time Mark had seen the other so vulnerable was after the fire, but that seemed like forever ago.

"Yes, yes of course, I'll be right there," Mark said.

Donghyuck seemed to mumble something incoherent before hanging up the call.

"Shit."

"Did something happen?" Jisung asked, running towards him with Chenle not far behind.

"Yeah, I'm not sure what, but I'm gonna go find Donghyuck," Mark paused, "the camping trip was really nice, so thank you guys for that," Mark added genuinely.

"No problem. We're always fun," Chenle said, "now go! Before he gives up on you!"

Mark laughed. "Thanks guys."

Jisung just rolled his eyes and pushed Mark in the direction of the bus stop. Mark shot them both one last smile before boarding, giving them a final wave before the bus sped off.

Throughout the whole ride, the only thing Mark could think of was Donghyuck and how slow the bus seemed to be moving. Everything seemed slower than usual and Mark could only will it to go faster. Of course, none of that actually worked.

When the bus finally reached his stop, Mark practically sprinted out the door. Not forgetting to thank the driver quickly before running off in the direction of Donghyuck's house.

Unlike normal, Mark didn't hesitate to ring the doorbell and he anxiously waited a few minutes before the door finally opened.

"Donghyuck! What's wrong?" He blurted out before the door was even fully open.

Donghyuck's eyes were red and puffy and his cheeks were still streaked with tears. Mark didn't have the chance to say anything before Donghyuck's legs seemed to give out and he collapsed right into Mark's arms.

And Mark just held him, not exactly sure what else to do.

Minutes went by, and Mark was fully aware that the door was still open and Hyuck was still in his arms. He wasn't sure if Hyuck was though.

"Do you maybe want to go inside?" Mark asked hesitantly.

Donghyuck didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed Mark's wrist and dragged him to the living room.

Mark sat down and Donghyuck followed. It was obvious that the latter was trying to hide the tears that threatened to fall down. Mark wanted desperately to tell him that he was here and that everything would be okay.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Mark asked, breaking the silence.

Donghyuck was hesitant, looking nowhere but at the ground. When he finally spoke, his voice came out shaky as barely a whisper. "She passed away. My mom," he said, voice threatening to break.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mark said.

Donghyuck didn't answer, but the tears that finally started to fall said enough for Mark to understand. Mark wrapped an arm around the other's shoulder to pull him in, and this time, Donghyuck didn't shy away.

Minutes go by, both of them just existing in each other's presences. Donghyuck was the one to break the silence.

His voice was still shaky, but the tears had slowed down. "I don't ask other people for help because I don't want to seem weak," he said, sitting up from Mark's hold.

Mark listened as Donghyuck spoke. The latter was looking at his hands the whole time, refusing to look directly into Mark's eyes.

"I was diagnosed with an illness a few months after I was adopted. The doctors weren't even sure if I was going to make it. It was... pretty bad, but I ended up recovering from it."

Mark nodded, urging the other to continue.

"After I recovered, it felt like everyone around me saw me differently. My classmates, my friends, my family, they all seemed to feel the need to protect me, I guess? So I sort cut myself off from them and always refused help from other people even if it was for the tiniest things."

There's another pause, and Mark waits patiently for the other to speak again.

"Even if she was my foster mother, she was still there for me while I was recovering, and then I isolated myself from her, and now she's gone."

Donghyuck finally glanced up at Mark. "That day you came over, my parents were both in the hospital, that's why they weren't home. I refused to go because I didn't want to face the truth."

Mark was speechless, but he took Donghyuck's hand in his own. "Hyuck, you are so strong. No matter what people make you think. Just recovering from that illness is enough to show how strong you are. You don't need to isolate yourself in order to prove that," he said, tying to meet the other's eyes.

Donghyuck nodded. "I know now." he answered, "thank you for coming today, Mark, you didn't have to."

"I wanted to," Mark replied, "thank you for opening up to me."

Donghyuck nodded and smiled.

For the first time in years the smile seemed genuine and Mark couldn't help but smile back.

---

markhyuck are finally getting somewhere uwu

ik the last few chapters have mostly been markhyuck but the story will sort of start focusing more on norenmin and chensung now, although markhyuck plot still isn't over yet ;)