mark didn't realized that sneaking out at night was going to be a piece of cake but it definitely got riskier when he saw lee donghyuck walking around downstairs on the lounge, eating an actual piece of cake which mark guessed was from the event earlier that day.
mark was starting to curse when donghyuck stopped him from doing so by saying a slightly loud, "mark!"
"tone it down, donghyuck!" mark scolded him in a hushed tone. he was starting to get really cautious because he doesn't want to get caught, not like he cares but he still doesn't want to give himself any more trouble.
"where are you going? why are you still up? did you forgot where the bathroom is at again?" donghyuck asked and insanely close to mark's face that he felt so uncomfortable, he had to push him away. "hey, you'll ruin the cake!" he even whined and loudly which is starting annoy mark.
"donghyuck can you please," mark said, huffing in an annoyed tone, "shut up?" he said harshly and was surprised to see donghyuck still looking at him and eating his cake. he sighed in defeat, "whatever," he said then went looking for the orphanage's small clinic where they tend to kids who have minor sickness like cold, headaches, stomachaches and etc.
donghyuck was still following mark despite mark's consistent "stop following me!", "can you go somewhere else?" or "stop bothering me!" it had been donghyuck's habit to sneak out at night to binge eat and the nuns are aware of that because donghyuck purposely misses dinner so he can have his small late-night rendezvous'. the nuns were worried for some time but when they realized donghyuck isn't really doing anything wrong and really just eating, they let him be.
donghyuck was surprised to see mark downstairs and he haven't had actual fun these days so he decided to tag along, it's not like he's loud but he purposely does anything he's doing just so he could get a reaction from mark. mark's a simple slightly-rebellious kid in donghyuck's eyes and it amazes him how mark belittles this orphanage so much when he doesn't even know half of the story all these kids went through in their lives.
donghyuck was very curious with what mark is up to.
donghyuck clapped when mark was able to pick the locks with a few of his small tinkering tools. he opened the medicine cabinet and hesitated before opening a bottle of pills and taking a handful of them.
"are you sick?" donghyuck asked, quietly this time and was genuinely concerned because he only thought of one thing when he saw the handful of pills on mark's hand, and thank god it wasn't what he thought.
"no." mark answered plainly before putting all the pills he took on a separate bottle which was on his pocket.
"but those are the same medicines i take when i get allergy and start sneezing." donghyuck said, looking at mark silently and one by one putting the medicine tablets on the bottle.
"look," mark said, turning to donghyuck as he continues what he's doing. "i don't care and you were the one who followed me here, it's not like i asked you, i even tried pushing you away but you were the one who kept tagging along so i am not obligated to share anything to you." mark said sternly and sighing right after which donghyuck understood so he nodded and mumbled an 'okay'.
donghyuck followed mark again as he was about to leave but then mark turned around to face him with a seemingly threatening face, "you will tell no one about this." mark said sternly before walking away and leaving donghyuck in confusion.
when donghyuck finally snapped back into his senses and realized he completely finished the cake he was eating, he made sure to throw it into the nearest trash can first before going out of the clinic and finding mark hiding under the stairs. as soon as mark saw donghyuck come out of the clinic, he quietly pulled him by his side in a rush. donghyuck was about to talk when mark put a finger in front of his lips to shush him and mouthed, there's someone coming.
a tall, slender shadow loomed over the two as the person walks down the stairs quietly. for some reason, the night was all new to donghyuck. first, he saw mark sneaking out to steal some medicine and now there's another person with an unknown motive. donghyuck have seen the younger orphans sneaking around in small groups to cause troubles and prank each other but never has he seen people his age sneak around because they were constantly tired with school and doing most of the orphanage's chores.
mark was relieved to find out it was only jisung who went down. donghyuck on the other hand, was still contemplating on whether to come out from his hiding spot to ask him where he's going or just staying there and maybe follow him. donghyuck decided to follow the younger in secret and mark who also became curious, unconsciously tagged a long.
both mark and donghyuck became more curious when they realized it was jisung who started picking the lock of the main office's door.
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the next day was a breeze.
mark, donghyuck and jisung acted like nothing happened. mark was curious if jisung ever noticed that him and donghyuck were out of their beds that night though but he didn't bothered asking as jisung seemed out of it the entire day. sure he was playing with the kids and acted normal at school, but he didn't talked or rambled much like the usual. mark was starting to think whatever jisung did the last night was something serious but for some reason, he was just hoping it wasn't.
donghyuck on the other hand, he wanted to ask. he wanted to ask jisung what was it he was doing there but he can't seem to find the right time to bring it up. he tried asking the younger if there was something wrong during lunch earlier that day but jisung acted all goofy and stuff that donghyuck had to drop the topic.
for some reason, the entire group seemed to be down the entire day. maybe it's because they got tired of all the festivities that happened yesterday but maybe it's also because one of their best friend is getting adopted which means he's leaving the orphanage for good. because of the atmosphere, chenle felt somewhat responsible so he skipped a few steps forward and stopped the group with both of his hands stretched wide open with a huge smile.
"i'm hungry, let's get some bingsu!" he said all energetically.
"yah," renjun suddenly called with distaste on his face. "do we look like we poop money to you?" he said, a little annoyed.
jeno hummed, agreeing with renjun. "you know we're saving up for a lot of things." he added, which was completely true because they are only given allowances per month and it's up to them how to use it. knowing that they have limited amount of money, the orphans naturally and have always been avoiding additional expenses especially if it's for something that they don't necessarily need.
"don't worry, it's my treat." chenle said proudly, with a huge smile that made jaemin laugh.
"ooh, you're doing that now, huh?" jaemin said, patting chenle's head as the younger made faces that made the others laugh.
"do you want it or not?" chenle asked sternly after the others kept teasing him for his offer.
"of course we do, let's go!" renjun said all cheerfully, putting an arm around chenle while the rest of them tagged along towards a cheap bingsu place that they only go to whenever there are special occasions.
