love maze - nct, marknohyuck

➶ 9 ➶

jeno looked at the brunette sitting next to him, smiling when he saw the boy tracing the outline of animal-shaped cookie-cutters on their presentation sheet with coloured felt pens.

one week had passed since jeno came in donghyuck's house for the first time.

by now, their project was almost finished.

they would probably need to see each other one last time to make sure everything was perfect before they could actually present it to the class.

the deadline was sill five days later, anyway.

"here!" donghyuck exclaimed, looking at the cute blue whale he had drawn on one of the corners. "is it good?"

"very good." jeno replied with a smile, chuckling when he saw the boy clapping at himself before picking another cookie-cutter and drawing a new animal as jeno admired the boy's precise work.

there was something that troubled jeno.

why was donghyuck such a cutie and lovely boy?

jeno had this boy's name tattooed in the inside of his right wrist.

and on his left one was mark's name.

mark was his boyfriend, and he was for sure his soulmate.

and this meant that donghyuck should be his enemy.

but then, why would he be this sweet towards jeno?

jeno and him had met a few times during the past week.

and every single time, donghyuck had been a sweetheart.

he always made sure jeno was comfortable, he was very kind, he always offered him things to eat or to drink, and he wasn't even wired around jeno, or trying to push himself towards him.

how could this boy be jeno's enemy?

if jeno didn't have mark, he would have questioned if the boy wasn't his soulmate.

since their first eye-contact, jeno had the feeling he was getting drawn towards donghyuck.

everything was telling him to be with donghyuck and protect this small and cute human being.

"jeno?"

the blond-haired boy shook his head, looking into donghyuck's deep brown eyes and feeling himself falling into them.

his heart was beating fast at the sight of donghyuck looking at him this intensely.

it felt wrong.

jeno shouldn't think that way when he was mark's boyfriend.

but at the same time, it felt so right.

it was as if donghyuck was meant to be with him.

"your phone is ringing."

jeno looked down at his device. effectively, it was switched on, and a guitar-tune was signalling that mark was trying to reach him.

he quickly took the phone and answered the call, placing it on his ear right after.

"hello?"

jeno stood up, leaving the room not to bother donghyuck with the conversation he would have with his boyfriend.

donghyuck stayed in his bedroom, continuing his drawing session.

jeno came back in a few seconds after.

he sat back on the pink carpet.

"who was it?" donghyuck asked. he had seen the red heart that jeno had used for this person's contact name. it had hurt him a slight bit, knowing that this boy could have someone in his life.

"my boyfriend." jeno replied. "he wanted to know when i'd be back. i told him i'd stay here for a while. if this doesn't bother you, of course."

donghyuck swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat.

"o-of course, not..."

➶

"he has a boyfriend."

these were the first words donghyuck pronounced when he met his two best friends the next day in front of school.

"huh?"

"jeno has a boyfriend. he's not available." donghyuck repeated, a long sigh leaving his lips.

"but you said he was your soulmate." chenle raised a brow.

"i said he seemed to be my soulmate. but the fact he has a boyfriend shows that he isn't."

"maybe his boyfriend isn't his soulmate." renjun said.

"which i doubt." donghyuck told. "his contact's name was a red heart."

renjun cursed in chinese as chenle hugged donghyuck to comfort him.

"maybe he'll realise you're his soulmate." renjun told.

"and maybe not."

"come on, hyuck..." chenle patted his back. "you told us it seemed to be like in the books."

yeah.

donghyuck loved all this soulmate thing.

he had read so many books about them.

he knew all the 'symptoms' by heart.

heartbeat speeding. check.

blushing a lot. check.

being nervous. check.

loving being close to him. check.

wanting to get closer. check.

feeling butterflies. check.

going crazy when sliding your hand over his name. check.

jeno seemed to be his soulmate.

jeno had to be his soulmate.

but in fact, he wasn't.

he had a boyfriend.

and this boy wasn't donghyuck.