ᴀғғᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ-ʟᴇss | ᴍᴀʀᴋʜʏᴜᴄᴋ [ᴇᴅɪᴛɪɴɢ]

15

It's six in the morning when Mark woke up. He cracked open his eyes and blinked up at the ceiling in confusion. His chest felt heavy and his right arm ached. Raising his left arm, Mark placed it over his chest, coming in contact with a jungle of hair. A chuckle left his mouth as he remembered who it could've been and dug his fingers into the hair, softly brushing it out. 

Mark shifted a little, managing to take Donghyuck's weight off of himself and replaced it with a pillow. As he peeled the blanket off himself, the cold air hit him and he hissed, slowly retreating back towards Donghyuck.

"Ah...I need water," Mark groaned quietly, scrunching his eyes at the feeling of his throat running dry. He held a hand to his neck before pushing himself up once again, scrunching his nose at the cold, but fought against it. 

Mark's eyes wandered to Donghyuck as he got up from the bed. Last night, Donghyuck had fallen asleep the second his head hit the pillow, his exhaustion leaving no space for bonding time and Mark was left to stare at his sleeping face (not in a creepy way). Mark had slept a few hours after Donghyuck, his mind going off on tangents just before he fell asleep ("what if Donghyuck wakes up to find us in bed like this, what would he think?"). 

His heart swelled at the sight of Donghyuck, looking comfortable with his face tucked into Mark's hand and his arms spread over the bed. He looked cute. Mark smiled at him. 

The feeling he experienced when he looked at Donghyuck was strange, but he didn't want to think about it too much. Yesterday had been enough thinking and emotion revealing that Mark was tired by speaking his feelings out. It felt good, of course, it did, but he was tired and thirsty and in need of water. 

(Maybe I'm allergic to Donghyuck, Mark thought as he poked the blanket under Donghyuck's arms. His face reddened as he slipped and barely managed to balance himself over the younger. Maybe I am.)

The door to the room opened and Jaehyun poked his head through, his eyes widening comically as he caught Mark brushing Donghyuck's hair out of his face. He didn't expect Mark to be the first to mend things with Donghyuck. Everyone always jokes around about Mark being unable to express emotions well, but he proved them wrong. 

Just as Jaehyun was about to ask Mark about Donghyuck, the younger held a finger to his lips, telling him to be quiet.

"Is he asleep?" Jaehyun whispered, taking small steps towards the two. He kneeled down and brought a hand to Donghyuck's cheek, caressing it softly.

"When are you going to apologise properly?" Mark asked, sitting up on the bed, causing Donghyuck's face to slip from his hand. 

"What do you mean apologise properly?" Jaehyun questioned as Mark got up from the bed. They trailed out of the room, Mark leading the way to the rest of the members. "We already said sorry and asked him what was wrong, but he still didn't believe us. We don't know what else we have to do to get him to forgive us."

Mark groaned quietly when he saw that everyone had gathered up in the living room. Ignoring the looks they all gave him, Mark hurried over to the kitchen, pouring a glass of water for himself and chugged it down. His initial plan was to get water and rush back into Donghyuck's room, because it was 4am and Mark was tired. But then the pleading looks of Taeyong and the others forced Mark to take a seat by the door.

"I know you guys have said sorry and tried your best, but it's like—" Mark moved his hands around, making weird expressions and hoped they would understand. The problem that he had with Donghyuck was one that only he could understand well, and only they would get it. But the other members, they would have no idea what was going on. And the same went for Mark, he wouldn't understand the issue between the members and Donghyuck.

"What do we do?" Johnny followed up with a question, still not getting what Mark was trying to suggest. The others nodded in agreement and Mark was left to sighing out of disbelief. He couldn't believe that he was at the same point as they were just a few hours ago. 

"How can you be so clueless?" Mark held his head in his hands and took a deep breath. 

When Mark spoke to Donghyuck, his intention was clear. He was willing to talk about everything that had happened. And as he should've, Mark reminded Donghyuck that he had to tell them what was wrong. They weren't mind readers. He told Donghyuck to communicate his feelings more clearly, not hide them away in his pocket and use a difficult and more confusing method in an attempt to get them across. Donghyuck looked hesitant at first, but Mark saw the acceptance appear on his face. He knew he wasn't right to have ignored them all and Mark made sure to reassure him that he wasn't the only one at fault either. 

"You need to talk to him," Mark said after a few minutes of silence. They all exchanged looks of confusion and worry as Mark continued. "You need to speak to him, talk to him and let him tell you about all the things he's upset about and what he wants to change."

"But we already did that," Doyoung said, leaning on the armrest of the sofa. He looked up at Mark and frowned. "We spoke to him, let him speak about his feelings, but we still ended up falling back to square one 

"Exactly," Mark nodded and then glanced around the room. "You all spoke to him about it and as soon as he started returning to his old self around you, everyone took it for granted a second time. And imagine the guilt he must've felt when he realised some of you were just forcing yourself to hug him or accept his affection."

The groups all fell into silence again. It stretched over the course of a few moments before Mark continued. 

"Were you not listening when Donghyuck mentioned the dream members?" Mark grimaced at the memory of Donghyuck yelling at him. He wanted to forget it happened, then again it did help Mark's situation with Donghyuck. "Just because he debuted with us and has a lot of responsibility, it doesn't mean he isn't the same as the others. We all know that you guys give more hugs to the kids than Hyuck."

"But that's because they don't do it all the time," Yuta said, scratching his neck awkwardly. "Sure, I love Donghyuck, but sometimes his hugs can get annoying. That's why I push him away."

"He only does it because you push him away." Mark leaned back on the sofa and crossed his leg. "If you accept it, then he wouldn't be so forceful.

"If we accept it," Taeil interfered, sitting up in his seat and turned to Mark. "Then he would think it's alright to hug us all the time. We wouldn't be able to get him off us— it's just. Sometimes it's too much."

"Listen," Mark sighed, standing up from the sofa and walked over to the door. "You need to speak to Donghyuck about this. Telling me that you don't like his hugs, or that you do like him the same way as the other dreamies won't change his mind. You need to speak to him."

Mark turned around, feeling his shoulder slump as he quietly hurried back to Donghyuck's room. Without wasting any time as he stepped into the room, Mark climbed over Donghyuck and slipped into the blankets. Donghyuck's hand somehow ended up thrown over him and Mark couldn't help but smile. He still found it a little weird, how comfortable Donghyuck was with skinship, but he was willing to get used to it. As long as Donghyuck was happy, Mark was happy. 

Donghyuck smiled in his sleep and Mark chuckled at his face, crushed against the pillow and his own hand. Mark raised his hand and pat Donghyuck's cheek lightly before snuggling into his side and closed his eyes. 

Mark really needed his sleep.