ᴀғғᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ-ʟᴇss | ᴍᴀʀᴋʜʏᴜᴄᴋ [ᴇᴅɪᴛɪɴɢ]

4

"What's wrong?" Jungwoo asked Mark, slumping down in the seat and turning his head to the younger. "You seem upset, is something up?"

Mark wasn't exactly upset. He was close to the annoyed side of the spectrum rather than the sad since his best friend was acting up, by ignoring him and not even sparing a glance at him. He had a right to know, being his best friend and all, yet Donghyuck was holding up a barrier, making sure Mark couldn't just jump over it. It wasn't right.

"Nothing," Mark answered, choosing not to tell Jungwoo about his inner conflict (and the immense amount of anger he felt) and smile instead. He raised his hands and pinched Jungwoo's cheeks, a strange habit he picked up after babying Sicheng for so long. "I'm fine, cutie."

"You sure?" Jungwoo tilted his head, a pout crept up his face and Mark couldn't help but smile even wider. He brought his other hand to Jungwoo's cheeks and pushed them together.

"Yeah," Mark chuckled, and continued to play around with Jungwoo's cheeks, a fond smile over his face and his mood getting better by the second. He pulled away a few moments later, only to catch a glimpse of the silver-haired male sitting opposite him duck his head low. Mark narrowed his eyes once again, chewing into his cheek before shrugging his shoulders. 

If Donghyuck wasn't going to tell him what was wrong, then Mark wouldn't push it, even if he did want to know why the younger was staring, or why he looked so sad nowadays. If Donghyuck didn't think Mark was good enough to tell him what's wrong, then Mark didn't care either.

The bus came to a stop and the members rushed out, their nerves getting worse as they took large steps towards the venue. Fans were crowded by the barriers and the group tried to smile as much as they could, although their hearts had dropped at the sight of so many people and the large cameras that were pointed towards them. They weren't being ungrateful, of course not, but the attention and pressure was rising. More fans were holding boards with unspeakable nonsense, and Donghyuck was sure he had seen a fan take a picture of him as he walked through the halls of the building. 

They all rushed into the dressing room and a bunch of people lead them to their seats. Donghyuck fell down into his chair, letting out a loud sigh as he let his body relax. He was tired. Tired of all the work he had done and the fact that no one else had noticed his unusual behaviour. Was he really that invisible that no one (other than Taeil, Doyoung, Johnny and Taeyong - maybe) had realised he was hurt? Donghyuck had seen Mark cling onto Jungwoo when they were on the bus. The feeling of his heart getting crushed was still present and he tried his best to just brush it off. He shouldn't be so affected by Mark's actions, yet he was.

"Donghyuck," Mark called his name out from across the dressing room. He forced himself to turn his head towards Mark and came to face a slightly annoyed expression. "Are you okay?"

Mark didn't want to force answers out of  Donghyuck since he wanted the younger to willingly come to him for help. But Donghyuck was making it too difficult. Mark had already asked him what was wrong and he just shut him down without a second of hesitation. Although he knew it probably gave Donghyuck a sense of satisfaction - being able to make the entire group worry about him just by ignoring them and get them to ask him questions - Mark needed to make sure Donghyuck was alright. His stupid best friend instincts kicked in.

"I'm fine," Donghyuck replied, and Mark could feel his blood boil at the answer. Why couldn't Donghyuck just tell him what was wrong? It would make things so much easier. They could discuss the issue at hand (whatever it was) and then find a solution together as a group. Donghyuck just had to dramatise everything, didn't he?

"Cool," Mark muttered, and he looked back into his reflection, taking in his appearance. A stylist suddenly popped up beside him before taking out a brush. She told him to close his eyes and he did it with a deep breath. His mind was on Donghyuck as the brush rubbed against the back of his eyelids. To be honest, his mind was in Donghyuck the whole time.

"Come on," Yuta said, patting everyone's back as they exited the dressing room. "We're going onto the stage now."

The members lined up behind the massive screen by the stage and all took deep breaths, working on ways to control their breathing. The intro began to play and the group straightened up, fixing his shirts and making sure their makeup was alright. The song started and one by one everyone walked out from the screen, singing along to their lines. Mark frowned as he realised the others didn't have much to sing and tried his best to ignore the twist in his stomach as he watched Sicheng push his mic away from his mouth before dancing along to the choreography more effortfully.  

The song came to an end rather quickly, as it was only as an intro to their concert, and Mark placed his hands in his hips, holding himself up and looked around in the crowd. A soft smile on his face as he read the cute messages people had written on some boards (and ignored the weird ones).

"What's up New Jersey!" Mark heard Johnny yell, and he turned his head to see him, but as he did, he got distracted by Donghyuck. The younger kept bouncing his head to whatever Johnny was saying as if his words meant something amazing before hitting the taller for a lame joke he managed to understand. Although Donghyuck had a big smile on his face and a burst of sweet laughter escaping his mouth, Mark knew it was fake.

Time flew quicker than Mark had expected it to, and that was probably since he was having fun. Every member slowly said their goodbyes and Mark extended his thanking everyone that came and then the fans that helped them be able to do a concert. Once Mark was finished, he turned to his right and watched as Donghyuck hastily grabbed his mic. The younger breathed into it and a loud sound echoed in the nearly quiet hall. He turned red with embarrassment, but kept a large smile over his face, somehow managing to conceal it.

As Donghyuck spoke, opening his mouth wide and carefully pronouncing the words, Mark zoned out. He stared at Donghyuck's face, a content grin on his face as he heard him speak in a language he once struggled greatly in. A few moments later he saw a hand reached over for Donghyuck's head, giving it a little pat, only to get pulled down by the younger. It only took him a few more moments to realise that it was, in fact, his hand and that Donghyuck had rejected his touch for the first time. 

The anger he felt a few hours ago resurfaced and Mark almost felt like telling at himself for doing such a thing. Donghyuck had rejected him on camera, and nothing could be more embarrassing than that. You're own best friend, shying away from affection and pushing you away without any solid (or probably valid) reason. 

Yet, when Donghyuck smiled at Mark, flashing his front teeth before waving at the fans, Mark couldn't help but smile back. He should be feeling anger and confusion at that moment, but he felt his heart warm up at the sight of Donghyuck enthusiastically waving at the fans. 

"Bye-bye!" The members yelled together, bowing down and then making their way to the dressing room. Mark felt all his emotions wash away as a flood of fatigue fill him up. He rubbed his hands against his eyes, not caring about the eye makeup he had since he was already going to clean up, before looking back at Donghyuck.

Donghyuck took off his clothes and hurriedly stuffed himself into more casual clothing, and then stumbled over to Taeil. He grabbed his arm and pulled the shorter down by his weight. Mark eyed the two, a weird tug on his heart made him scrunch up his nose, and he turned his attention back to his bag, struggling to close it because of the number of things he had put in it.

Taeil brought a hand up to Donghyuck's cheek, gently caressing it before tilting his head down further to reach his eye level.

"You okay?" Taeil asked, sensing the sadness in the younger boys behaviour. 

"Yeah," Donghyuck replied, snuggling his face into Taeil neck. "I'm okay."

-
also yes,, for the tour I included Sicheng because why not :)))?