best friend ꒱ markhyuck

five

It wasn't until one day at school when eighteen year old Donghyuck finally had his realization, his epiphany of what had been going on with him all these years. Why he had hated all of Mark's past girlfriends with a burning passion despite most of them being sweet girls, and why he himself had never once had a girlfriend before. Why he got defensive over Mark when he said something dorky and everyone laughed at him, or why it felt like a betrayal when Mark would give physical affection to anyone that was not him.

He was sitting next to nineteen year old Mark at the lunch table as usual, chatting away about something random and stupid, and Donghyuck just so happened to notice Mark's tongue dart out to wet his lips.

It was a habit, and Donghyuck had seen him do it a million times before, but for some reason this time was different. This time, seeing him lick his lips was enough to trigger an impulsive thought where Donghyuck vividly imagined Mark's lips against his own, making out against one of the walls in the hallways at school. In his head, he saw a make out scene just like the one he had seen in the BL he was currently watching, one that had made his skin burn hot and had him flustered for hours afterwards because of the intensity of the kiss and the sounds they had made.

Donghyuck froze, blushing bright red as the daydream slowly faded from his mind. Thankfully Mark hadn't noticed anything, he was now engaged in a conversation with one of their other friends, but the younger couldn't help but stare at his best friend in complete shock as he processed his own feelings. Suddenly it clicked; why he had been so upset that day at eighth grade graduation, why he cried himself to sleep every time Mark got a new girlfriend, why he felt so happy whenever his friend was single again. Why he felt weird sleeping in the same bed as him, why he would sometimes space out just staring at Mark's face, why he wanted Mark all to himself and got jealous over his other friends so easily.

He was attracted to Mark Lee.

No, he was in love with Mark Lee, and had been for practically all of his life.

The complete, earth shattering, life altering realization that he was in love with his best friend was not very easy to cope with, as Donghyuck discovered. It felt like the world had been thrown off of its axis, and he felt dizzy and breathless as he stared at the older boy beside him. Mark, with his cute seagull eyebrows that were hiding under his black hair, his sharp cheekbones and his brown eyes that crinkled and disappeared whenever he laughed. Mark and his soft pink lips, the very lips that Donghyuck found himself staring at now, that he wanted to suck and bite at until they turned a nice glossy red—

He stood up abruptly, causing the entire table to turn and look at him curiously, while Mark himself was staring up at him in concern. His knuckles were white as he gripped the edge of the lunch table, taking a deep steadying breath to try and calm himself before he looked up at his friends.

"I... uh..." he choked out, clearing his throat and trying to hide his trembling hands in the sleeves of his jacket, "I need to go to the bathroom."

"Oh... kay...?" Jaemin had snorted, tilting his head to the side, "you don't need our permission to piss, Hyuck. Just go."

The table snickered, and Donghyuck laughed along awkwardly before scurrying out of the lunchroom and down the hallway. Behind his back, Mark eyed him worriedly, but he wanted to be able to give the younger the space he needed. He would be there for Donghyuck, whenever he decided to open up to him on his own.

What he didn't know was that opening up to Mark was the last thing Donghyuck wanted to do.

┈ ୨ 🧸 ୧ ┈

Donghyuck had to tell someone.

There was no way he could keep this realization all to himself, not when it felt like everything he thought he knew about himself and his feelings for Mark had just crumbled right before his very eyes. He needed to get it off his chest, he needed someone who could grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he snapped out of it, until everything went back to 'normal' again.