𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 22 | chensung

38

Love wasn't a walk in the park. Well, for Donghyuck it wasn't, at least. He was lost amidst wondering when it had all begun; definitely not the day they first met. The day they first officially met. He had heard Chenle mention the name Mark a few times before, but there were no sparks around it and he had to reach deep into his memory bank to put face to name.

Mark, Mark, Mark... Oh! The alpha who hangs out with different people everyday.

That was that. He heard through the grapevine, and that 'grapevine' being a black-haired troublemaker omega, that Mark was very well-liked. At that point, all 'Mark' was, was in Chenle's words, "a nice guy in my history class". He was in their P.E class too, but Donghyuck didn't notice until they properly started to hang out. And that happened one Friday afternoon when Chenle sidled on up with a guy to his right and an excited smile on his face. But there was no excited smile on Mark's face; he was really nervous.

"This is Mark," he had said, then whispered, "the guy I was talking about."

Mark really liked Donghyuck and had asked Chenle to introduce them, but of course, the tanned omega never knew this and probably never would. Their first meeting was a headache. Mark banged his knee off the table before he and Chenle sat down with him, then he ripped open a packet of raisins too fast and they took their first flight, some landing in Donghyuck's hair and the rest on Chenle's noodles. Mark's homemade lunch had been prepared with mouldy bread. A group of other friends he was chummy with wandered by and asked him to kick a ball around with them at the back of the school and he complied, then tripped over his untied lace as he walked away (head lowered in shame). At that time, Donghyuck had thought, He really isn't like other alphas. That being said, the meeting was a headache.

But Donghyuck watched him leave with an endeared smile. Mark was good at making him smile like that.

It wasn't then that the feelings began. In fact, Donghyuck supposed it was closer to the time that the vengeful goose at the Crazy Duck Pond went on a spree chasing Mark. That was a funny day. The animal had it in for him so ferociously that they had no other choice than to literally run away with the tormented alpha.

No, maybe it was when Mark did his impression of Tarzan at the bar. Donghyuck remembered thinking it was cute that he had a peaceful personality but an... active drunk side. He was so far from violent. He was fun, and the omega liked that Mark could be fun. He needed a bit of that in his life while Chenle was off galavanting with the local ruffians, but luckily Jisung was able to put a stop to that, and after putting up with that behaviour for three (long) years, Donghyuck believed Jisung to be a miracle worker.

Presently, Donghyuck was visiting the pond. He was crouched at the water's edge while many little kids looked at him, gobsmacked that his parents weren't getting cross for being too close to the pond. He touched the water, a distant memory of learning about surface tension playing in the back of his mind. He could see the pond skaters making use of it. Oh, that was it. It was when he offered to walk Chenle and I home after his Tarzan stunt at the bar. He smiled a small, vague gesture. Mark had been in an even worse state than them (Chenle had been on duty that night so he was as sober as on a normal day), and yet he insisted on taking both of them home because it was the middle of the night.