TIME ─ JAEYONG

041⸰

mark leaned into donghyuck, laughing brightly into his shoulder. "don't make me laugh anymore." he clutched his stomach as tears slipped from the corners of his eyes. "my stomach can't take it."

"it's not my fault i'm insanely hilarious." the two remained on the tree swing, letting the autumn leaves dance around them. minutes passed yet mark's laughter still hadn't ceased.

as much as donghyuck admired his laugh and how his eyes crinkled, it was getting bothersome. he wanted to talk but he couldn't because all mark seemed to be capable of was laughing. "mark! what's it going to take for you to stop laughing? i want to have a normal conversation now." mark shrugged. "fine. i'll kiss you then."

and all laughter died. mark gulped as he removed himself from donghyuck's side. "w—would you really?"

now donghyuck shrugged. "yeah. but you stopped laughing so i'm not going to."

"if i laughed again..." mark thought about his words carefully. "would you kiss me?" donghyuck nodded without thought. mark couldn't believe taeyong was right. he knew mark would end up falling for the younger kid, it was just a matter of when.

mark felt butterflies that he shouldn't feel. he felt happier and more relaxed when they were together. he found himself liking the way his head rested on donghyuck's shoulder. how attentive and sweet he was when he wasn't in a devious playful mood.

mark ended things with hyejeong when he started to notice his loss of interest. all the things that made their relationship spark faded and ignited again, but with donghyuck. he was head over heels in love with the same boy he told taeyong about that was just a friend.

in that moment, mark went to laugh again. his world spun slowly at the soft feel of donghyuck's lips on his own. the autumn breeze rustled against the trees. he felt fallen leaves land on top of his head but he didn't care. he was lost in donghyuck. the only place he ever wanted to be lost in.

"mark..." donghyuck whispered as he pulled away. "can we talk now? i want to tell you about the new puppy i adopted."

"yes." he smiled faintly, a newly found twinkle in his eyes. "tell me all about your puppy."

"bravo." the two craned their necks to find a man dressed in an expensive looking suit clapping just beyond the white picket fence. four men stood on either side of him, their hands resting lightly on top of their pocketed guns.

"who are you?" mark stood up, standing in front of donghyuck protectively. "what do you want?"

"you know lee taeyong, correct?"

"yeah. why does it matter?" the nicely dressed man tilted his head towards mark. two men entered the front yard, their handguns drawn. mark held his hands up in the air as his heart pounded in his ears.

"calm down kid. we aren't going to kill you." one spoke before roughly shoving donghyuck away from mark. the sun-kissed boy hissed as he scraped his knee against the ground.

"hyuck!" mark cried out, struggling to move closer to him.

"you'll see your lover again, if taeyong complies." with unnecessary force they yanked mark's hands down, bending them behind his back painfully. he winced and let them shove him out the front yard.

"mark!" donghyuck called out as he watched them toss him into the back of the gleaming black limo. the man who was in charged waved to donghyuck.

"nice doing business with you." he went to step inside but stopped as he remembered something. "if you tell anyone what you saw, that gun will be pointed at you next. so run along."

with that, he entered the limo and slammed the door shut after him. donghyuck watched as the limo rolled off down the road.

✿

don't worry about the time skip! it's all going to be connected later on. what do you think jaehyun's father will do to mark? tysm for supporting!