love maze - nct, marknohyuck

➶ 14 ➶

donghyuck was surprised to hear a knock on his door a few minutes after coming back home.

he was sure that it couldn't be renjun, because him and jaemin had to work on their project; and it couldn't be chenle either, because he finished classes an hour later.

the tanned male carefully walked to the front door, opening it slowly to see who was on the other side.

he was greeted by a smiling samoyed-look-alike.

"j-jeno?" donghyuck let out, quite surprised to see the older at his door.

"hey." jeno waved his hand.

"you weren't in class today..." donghyuck spoke without really thinking.

"huh... yeah..." jeno rubbed the back of his neck. "with the recent events, i didn't know if facing my boyfriend at school was the best idea..."

donghyuck nodded, stepping aside to invite jeno in.

the blonde-haired boy entered the house, taking his shoes off and following donghyuck in his pink paradise.

"your boyfriend came to see me today." donghyuck said, closing the door of his bedroom.

"he did?" jeno asked. "what did he want?"

"me to stop being around you." donghyuck explained.

he didn't really want to enter the details.

jeno didn't need to know about his tattoos right away.

not if it meant he would react the same as mark.

"oh... yeah..." jeno nodded. "i hope he wasn't too mean..."

"he was... okay... i guess?" donghyuck hesitated.

he was very confused by this complex situation.

donghyuck was a soulmate enthusiast.

he loved reading history books and novels about soulmates.

but at the moment, he couldn't connect his personal story with other books he had read.

"mark can be quite scary when he wants..." jeno commented, fidgeting with his fingers. "but he's very awkward the rest of time. and pretty weird. i swear he's someone good. it's just that... you've not met him at the best moment."

as jeno was nervously fidgeting with his fingers and looking at his lap, donghyuck took his time to stare at jeno's wrists where two tattoos were visible.

he had quite some difficulty to decipher mark's name on his left wrist.

and he managed to read his own name on the right one.

this complicated everything even more.

"hyuckie?"

donghyuck flushed, looking at jeno in the eye.

had he just called him by this cute nickname?

and was it what had sent him into a gay panic mode just now?

"y-yeah...?"

"you were spacing out." jeno told with a chuckle.

donghyuck coughed a few times, regainging his spirits.

"jeno, are you sure we should keep seeing each other?'

"why not?" the older boy asked with a pained expression.

"you're mark's boyfriend. he doesn't like me, and you're his soulmate." donghyuck explained.

"me being his boyfriend doesn't mean i can't be friends with you. plus, mark's an idiot if he doesn't realise how kind you are."

donghyuck sighed.

right.

friends.

nothing more.

it was not as if the three of them had their names tattooed on their wrists for ever...

"i don't know..." donghyuck passed a hand through his fluffy hair.

"trust me. mark's cold façade will eventually crumble, and you'll see how he really is. and it's the same for him. i hope he'll realise how precious you are."

➶

mark was walking back and forth in his room.

his mind was clouded with thoughts of donghyuck and jeno.

images of donghyuck's wrist flashed through his mind every now and then.

why did this boy have both mark's and jeno's names on his wrists?

something had to be wrong!

jeno and mark were soulamtes.

they were sure about it.

but then, this meant donghyuck was their mutual enemy.

and what if it wasn't this way?

what if jeno and donghyuck were soulmate instead?

and mark their enemy.

or maybe donghyuck and him?

everything was so confusing.

"fuck my life..."

mark sat at his desk, pulling out of his drawer a small copybook that he used to write song lyrics.

today had been a hard day, and those days were perfect for him to write.

his argument with jeno was hurting him a lot.

jeno and him had been together for long, even if they weren't a couple.

they were always glued by the hip.

and knowing that they weren't because of donghyuck hurt mark.

donghyuck.

mark couldn't help but think about him from time to time.

this boy was linked to them.

he had his name on his wrist.

and donghyuck had mark's and jeno's names on his.

so, yeah, they had a link.

but how powerful could it be?

mark remembered donghyuck's teary eyes when he gripped his wrist too hard.

he remembered his surprised face when he lerned that jeno and mark were boyfriends.

he remembered the puppy eyes he gave him for mark to allow him to talk.

and mark had to admit that jeno was right on one point; donghyuck was cute, and as far as mark knew, he seemed to be very kind.

he hadn't been aggressive towards mark.

sure, he had raised his voice, but he had been reasonable, and he hadn't tried to win over mark.

perhaps was it because he knew that mark and him had a link?

mark had no idea.

but now that he thought about it, he realised that he may have been a bit harsh on the boy. mostly if he didn't even know about their relationship.

"oh god..."