love maze - nct, marknohyuck

➶ 19 ➶

"hyuckie, i'm back!" jeno exclaimed, surprising the younger boy with a back hug.

donghyuck tensed for a second, but his body relaxed immediately when jeno's calming scent reached his nostrils.

he even turned around, wrapping his arms around jeno's neck as he got on his tippy-toes to have a better access.

jeno chuckled, his hands finding their place in the crook of donghyuck's back, and he dropped a light kiss on the boy's visible tanned neck.

"i hope i wasn't too long." jeno said, pulling away from the hug.

"it's okay." donghyuck told.

jeno ruffled his curly hair, making donghyuck whine slightly.

this made jeno chuckle.

"let's go?" jeno asked.

"where?"

"my house?"

donghyuck nodded, sliding his hand into jeno's open palm.

he tried not to concentrate on the whole zoo that erupted in his stomach at this simple contact.

he realised one thing; jeno was getting clingier.

he didn't use to back hug him, or to hold his hand.

they used to stay together as friends, laughing at silly jokes or enjoying their time together.

but now, they were getting closer.

they didn't look like friends anymore.

they looked like boyfriends.

"j-jeno?" donghyuck called for the boy as jeno was guiding them towards his house.

"yes, hyuckie?"

"why are you holding my hand?" donghyuck asked, like an innocent child would ask what sex was.

jeno chucked at the boy's adorableness. "why wouldn't i?"

"because i'm not your boyfriend. mark is." donghyuck explained.

"well, at the moment, you feel more like my boyfriend than mark."

"t-this is wrong..." donghyuck tried pulling his hand away, but jeno tightened his grip.

jeno turned around in the middle of the road, using his hands to cup donghyuck's cheeks.

he saw tears forming in the younger's chocolate orbs, and this made his heart break.

"hey, hyuckie baby..." jeno whispered. "mark is my boyfriend. but this doesn't mean i don't want you to be as well."

"it's not as it's supposed to go..." donghyuck told, a stray tear escaping his eye.

"trust me when i say this, donghyuck... i fell for you." jeno admitted. "i did, without falling out of love for mark. it may be selfish, but i want both of you. you make me happy donghyuck. mark makes me happy as well. you two make me feel all sorts of things that i can't explain. it all happened so suddenly, but i know it... i know that i want the two of you. even if it's against the laws of soulmates."

the tears in donghyuck's eyes multiplied, and it was a matter of seconds before the brunette was crying in the middle of the road, his cheeks still held firmly by jeno's large hands.

"stop crying, baby hyuckie..." jeno whispered, kissing the boy's tears away. "let's go to my house and have a chill afternoon."

donghyuck nodded his head, sniffling as jeno bent down to grab the back of his thighs and lift him up, carrying towards his house as donghyuck's tears tickled the bare skin of his neck.

➶

"mark..."

"i was scared you wouldn't come..." mark replied, looking up to meet donghyuck's eyes.

donghyuck sat down on the bench next to mark, sighing.

he had just walked out of jeno's house, after a long afternoon of cuddling in front of the tv.

his heart felt so light.

but it started feeling gulty now that he remembered the amazing afternoon they had spent while being in front of mark.

"why did you want me to come...?" donghyuck asked, his eyes fixed on a flower a few meters away. the wind was making it swing left and right.

just like donghyuck's heart.

he didn't know who to go to.

jeno? or mark?

"i needed to tell you about my feelings."

donghyuck's eyes widened and he looked at mark quite desperately.

"don't break up with him." he told. "y-you can't do that to jeno. he loves you so much. you were right, he started developing feelings for me, but he also assured me that he still loved you dearly. you can't break up. this will destroy him. i swear i can disappear from your lives. it's the best solution. i know that- "

donghyuck's panicked monologue was cut when mark placed his index finger onto his pink plump lips.

"you talk too much, you know that?" he smirked as donghyuck squinted to look at mark's finger that was still on his lips. "i meant talk about my feelings for you."

donghyuck flushed red, looking away.

"donghyuck, as much as i hated you for taking jeno from me at first, i couldn't help but falling for you in the end. i don't know how it happened since we never got close, but i know that my heart has fallen for you." mark explained. "i didn't trust jeno when he told me he was being drawn to you without wanting to, but now that i'm living the same thing, i understand what he means, and i feel bad for being mad at him when he was right since the beginning."

donghyuck blinked a few times, new tears dwelling in his eyes as if he hadn't cried enough for today.

salty pearls started running down his cheeks.

"i wanted to apologise to jeno tonight." mark said. "but i wanted to make sure you knew that i had fallen for you too before. everything seems to be so rushed and so... so not natural... but neither of us could do anything about it. it's as if we were all destined to be together."

donghyuck sniffed, standing up from the bench.

he looked at mark with his glossy eyes.

"thank you for telling me this, mark." donghyuck let out. "i need to... go back home, and think."

"take all the time you want, love."

mark reached for donghyuck's hands, turning them around and dropping a kiss on each wrist, right on top of his tattoos.

this was the last straw for donghyuck who ran away in the dark right after with a racing heart.

and so, mark stood up as well, walking towards his boyfriend's house.

he didn't hesitate to knock on the door, which opened a few seconds after.

"m-m-mark...?!"