"mark where the hell were you?!" first, it was the manager that shouted at mark. then, everyone else did.
everyone but renjun.
he knew where mark had gone because he wasn't dumb. even though mark did deserve to get scolded for leaving so carelessly, he couldn't help but feel bad for him.
the chinese understood what mark did what he did. he even admired it. mark didn't give up and continued going after donghyuck. totally aplausable.
too bad the rest didn't get this.
"what is wrong with you? you know how crazy your fans are! one wrong move and you'd be gone!" the manager continued shouting.
since they were in the van, he freely yelled at mark.
he had only stopped when he noticed mark started sobbing. "leave him alone." the second oldest spoke up and patted mark's back.
"look mark, i don't know what you were doing but all i'm telling you is to be more careful." the manager sighed and drove off, to the hotel.
not having any idea why mark was crying-since he usually wouldn't cry from the manager's scoldings-his members just stayed quiet.
like that, they drove back to the hotel. mark sobbing into renjun's shoulder as the other held him close and continued caressing his back.
"donghyuck, are you okay?" it had been a few hours since mark had left and donghyuck was still crying but this time on his bed.
jennie and beomgyu had both walked in and noticed the state the boy was in. minhyuck, somehow, was still asleep and managed to sleep through donghyuck's cries. but to be fair, he was muffling them for the baby not to wake up.
beomgyu agreed to take him to his room while jennie helped donghyuck since she had more experience with the crying male.
with that, jennie guided donghyuck up to his bed and let him rest his head on her shoulder as she kept him close and rocked him side to side.
"mind telling me what happened? does it have something to do with mark?" jennie hummed and looked down the male, looking for some kind of reaction. noticing a small nod, jennie tried her best to control herself.
i knew it was a bad idea to leave them alone.
"what did that bastard say?" she carefully asked. donghyuck lifted himself up, his tears never stopping. "h-he knows." in a quiet voice, donghyuck announced.
"about minhyuck?"
a small "yes" confirmed her question.
she didn't know how to tell him. he's been knowing. she told mark the day donghyuck took the test.
"how did he take it? do i need to kill him?" she teasingly asked, trying to bring the mood up. the older female calmed down a bit when she saw him smile a bit.
he wiped his face and took a deep breath.
with a shaky breath, he started, "he asked if he was his and i-i i said yes. there's no denying it. then he asked if-if he could be apart of his life but i said no." donghyuck explained.
"and you feel bad about saying no?"
as much as donghyuck wanted to deny that, he couldn't. he slowly nodded.
"donghyuck, listen. minhyuck is yours. mark may have helped create him but you gave birth to him. you're more connected to him than anyone else." donghyuck nodded, agreeing with her point of view.
"that's what i told him." he sighed. jennie took his hand into hers and held it. "he didn't take it well did he?" shaking his head, donghyuck pouted. "he started begging but i still said no."
"donghyuck, it's your choice. until he's 18, you make the decisions. if you don't want minhyuck near mark, it's up to you." jennie adviced.
they stayed quiet for a while. both in their own thoughts.
"we kissed." he confessed and stared at the girl for her reaction. "you what?" jennie's eyes widened. "we kissed." donghyuck repeated, a little blush on his cheeks.
jennie noticed this.
"you still love him don't you?" it only took a small nod for her to understand. donghyuck though, couldn't.
how could he still love him?
after what he did.
his heart was thumping when he opened the door and noticed him there. sure, his facial expressions might have said otherwise but the heart couldn't accept it.
both his mind and heart had different opinions on mark.
for years, donghyuck has been siding with his head. it didn't approve of mark.
but now, that he had kissed mark, his heart beating so much had started making sense to him.
even after everything, he still loved mark.
the kissed proved it.
donghyuck realized this mid kiss. he didn't want to pull away at all but had no choice. he didn't want to lead on mark so he kicked him out but that was the wrong choice.
"don't overthink it, hyuck. i'm not stupid, i know how much you love him. i tried to help you move on but maybe you two are meant for each other. he wouldn't have continued kissing you if he didn't love you."
jennie's right.
if mark didn't feel the same way, he wouldn't have cried, begged or even kissed donghyuck.
"he still loves me." he whispered to himself. it was more of a statement than a question. "he does." jennie established.
"i let him go. i had the chance to make everything right but i let him go again!" donghyuck cried again.
"donghyuck." she called out. "even if he left right now, i'm sure he'll be back. he loves you too, remember that. plus, if you guys are really meant for each other, you'll meet again." the brunette threw himself at jennie and gave her a tight hug.
"t-thank you." he whispered. she patted his back before pulling away. "now, come on. wipe your tears and let's go get minhyuckie."
nodding, donghyuck did as told.
standing up, jennie waited for him at the door.
donghyuck stood up and walked over to her after a couple moments.
"lets go."
with that, she opened the door and they both walked over to beomgyu's dorm. when they had made it, they freely walked in, seeing the door was opened.
donghyuck smiled when he saw his baby playing a plushie that beomgyu was an nct member.
beomgyu poked his side, "look minhyuck." he pointed over at the door and the baby smiled when he saw his dad.
"papa!" he crawled quickly over to him. when he had reached his shoes, donghyuck bent over and picked him up.
"did you miss me, baby?" he hummed and kissed all over his face. minhyuck nodded and hugged him, his small arms trying their best to wrap around his neck.
"before you guys leave.. can we please go to a beach tomorrow?" beomgyu asked, a mischievous grin on his face.
both jennie and donghyuck knew something was up but nonetheless, agreed.
"also.. donghyuck, how come you didn't tell me you knew mark?" he nonchalantly asked as he chewed on a chip.
"beomgyu, we have to go." jennie dismissed the question and pulled the male who had the baby in his arms.
"bye!" she said and closed the door, leaving a confused beomgyu in there.
"ignore him. just go to sleep okay?" donghyuck nodded and made his way to his dorm after waving to jennie.
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beach???
