Chapter Text
"Doyoung! I'm home!" Donghyuck said, shutting the front door.
"Did you go see Yuta?" He asked, walking into the hallway, an apron tied around his waist. Donghyuck nodded, slipping his backpack off and leaving it on the floor.
"Yeah, he said something about being 'honest with my emotions'." Donghyuck said, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. "No clue what he meant. He also said I have to deal with Mark for at least a week." Donghyuck rubbed his face. "If I don't kill him first."
"Donghyuck! You are not allowed to murder Mark!"
"You know what he did today? He told all of my friends that I was the love of his life!" Donghyuck shouted.
"So?" Ten said, appearing in the doorway. "It could be worse."
"Donghyuck sat down. "How?"
"He could have told everyone you were a weirdo and lived with three witches."
"But isn't that true?" Donghyuck said. Ten shrugged before turning out of the kitchen.
"Listen, just deal with it."
"But he's so annoying! He keeps trying to hold my hand and hug me."
Doyoung pulled a pan out of the cabinet. "Is that really so bad? You know he's under the influence."
"You make it sound like he drank some alcohol or something. This is worse." Donghyuck put his head on the table. "Can't I just call in sick so I don't have to go to school? Then I don't have to see him."
Doyoung smacked him with a spoon. "Stop whining. Plus, that would make it worse. Maybe you should spend more time with him, so he can work it out of his system."
"I would honestly rather die."
"Doyoung's right." Ten said, sauntering into the kitchen with a bottle of red paint in his hand. "Let's invite him over." He gave Donghyuck a mischievous look. "He could stay the night."
Donghyuck leveled Ten with a look that would have killed a normal man. However, Ten being Ten, it only earned a slight nod of the head.
"Ten actually might be right." Doyoung said, pulling spices out of the pantry. "I think you should spend more time together."
"But we spend lots of time together. We live on the same street!"
"You know what I mean."
Just then Donghyuck's phone pinged. He pulled it out of his pocket and ran from the room before Doyoung and Ten could grill him any further.
It was a text from Mark.
marklee: hey wassup :)
iwanttohyuckingdie: what do u want
marklee: just wanted to say hi haha
iwanttohyuckingdie: okay? bye then
marklee: wait would you like to come over
iwanttohyuckingdie: now?
marklee: uh yeah
marklee: you can spend the night too haha
Donghyuck considered his options: invite Mark here and have Doyoung and Ten be weird, or go to Mark's house and have him be weird. He sighed. He walked past the living room, where Ten was painting sigils on the floor in red.
Yeah...
iwanttohyuckingdie: yeah ill be right over
marklee: g r e a t ill see ya ;)
Donghyuck considered just sneaking out of his house without telling Doyoung, but Taeil suddenly poked his head out of his room.
"Donghyuck? Are you planning on going somewhere?"
Busted. It really sucked living in the same house as a psychic. "Yeah. I was gonna go to Mark's."
"Okay. Be sure to tell Doyoung." He vanished back into his room.
"Doyoung! I'm going over to Mark's." Ten looked up from his floor painting and grinned.
"Have fun!" He winked. Donghyuck resisted the urge to gag.
Doyoung waved at him on the way out.
As Donghyuck headed across the street he suddenly felt very lightheaded. He paused for a second, regaining his balance.
Must be all those weird ass paint fumes, he reasoned, knocking on Mark's door.
Taeyong answered the door. "Hello! Mark is in his room."
"Donghyuck!" Mark came running through the hallway, tackling him in a hug. "You're here!"
"You act like I've never been to your house." Donghyuck said, walking into his room.
"Yeah, but I was just...really excited to see you."
Donghyuck looked at Mark, who was blushing furiously. He rolled his eyes.
"Umm, okay?"
There was a loud banging from the ceiling and a series of shouts.
"Don't mind that," Mark said. "It's just Johnny and Jaehyun being crackheads."
There was a loud "Bro! Watch the light!" and the sound of smashing glass.
"That was Lucas," Mark explained. Donghyuck grimaced.
"Are they okay?" He asked, concerned.
"Yeah. They do this like, every day."
"So what do you wanna do?" Donghyuck asked, scrolling through his phone.
"I don't know."
"We could look at memes." Donghyuck suggested.
Mark grinned.
...
Fifty vine compilations later and one massive headache later, Donghyuck checked his phone and gasped at the time.
"It's almost eleven o'clock!"
"So?" Mark asked, opening a bag of chips. Donghyuck held his phone to his ear.
"I've got to call Doyoung and let him know I'm not dead." The phone picked up on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Hey. It's me."
"Oh! How are things going?"
"I haven't killed anyone yet." Donghyuck said exasperatedly. "Just wanted to let you know."
"Mhm. Okay." Doyoung's voice became muffled. "Ten! Stop that! I said no summoning!"
Donghyuck sighed.
"Anyways, have fun!" He hung up.
"Man, Doyoung sure is weird." Mark said, eating his chips. "He's always making sure you call him and stuff. I mean, Taeyong does that to me too, but he's usually super busy trying to make sure Jaehyun doesn't break things."
Donghyuck laughed. For a second it felt normal-just the two of them chilling together, best friends and nothing more. But then Mark grabbed his hand, looking into his eyes.
"You have really pretty eyes." Mark said, smiling.
"How do you go from being completely normal to being a shameless flirt in exactly zero seconds?" Donghyuck complained. "You're giving me whiplash."
Mark shrugged. "It's a skill."
"Maybe we should go to sleep."
"Why? It's only 11 o' clock."
"Well, we have school." Donghyuck said. "Did you even do the math homework?"
"Nah," Mark said. "Whenever the teacher gives us homework I just do it before class. I don't understand half of it anyway."
"I'll help you with it now, if you want."
"Really?" Mark's face brightened. "Thanks."
They spent the next half hour doing homework, Mark listening intently as Donghyuck explained the concepts to him. At one point, he raised a hand to Donghyuck's face, brushing a strand of hair behind his ear. Donghyuck blushed furiously.
"Stop it, will you? I'm trying to help your grade." He tried to brush Mark's hand away, but instead Mark grabbed it, pulling him closer.
"Come on, man, I-" Donghyuck's breath hitched in his throat as he looked at Mark. He felt lightheaded, his skin burning where Mark touched him. He wanted to pull away, but couldn't.
Oh, hellll no! I am not catching feelings for Mark! No! Stop it!
But Donghyuck couldn't help but admire Mark's eyes, the way his smile spread across his face as he looked at him. There was a kind of glow to his face, one he couldn't quite explain. Mark leaned forward slowly, until Donghyuck could feel his breath ghosting on his cheek.
"I-" He stuttered, tongue clumsy. "What-what are you doing?" His voice was soft. Mark pressed a hand against his cheek.
"Recently it's been like I'm seeing you with brand new eyes," Mark started. "You're so beautiful."
"Good to know," Donghyuck murmured. Mark leaned closer.
And suddenly, the world turned black.