"it was so cool!" donghyuck exclaimed, clapping his hands loudly. "one of the best days of my life!"
the six boys were having dinner together, around the same big table.
this skiing day had made them all incredibly closer – well, jisung, chenle, jaemin and jeno. mark and donghyuck had gotten to know each other a little bit more too.
"for real?" jaemin asked with a bright smile. "what did you do?"
"mark taught me." donghyuck said proudly. "he showed me the snowplough and also how to make sure i don't fall in the ski lifts."
mark nodded, recalling their day.
in fact, staying with donghyuck instead of going to ski on his own hadn't been so bad.
he had helped the younger a lot, trying to make sure the boy wouldn't fall with every step he took.
it was funny how donghyuck was so unfamiliar with this universe.
the boy kept falling at the beginning when they had to take ski lifts, and mark swears he almost saw the younger cry.
donghyuck was very shy at first, and it was obvious that he felt bad for mark.
he could see that mark knew how to ski very well, but that he was stuck with him who didn't even know how to stand on skis because they had been paired together.
eventually, donghyuck forgot about his uneasiness, and thanks to mark's help, he managed to enjoy the day.
"you guys left us behind." mark stated, speaking for him and donghyuck.
"we thought you were following!" chenle replied to which mark crossed his arms over his chest.
"it was donghyuck's first time on skis." mark told.
this sentence left place to a long silence during which the boys all shared eye-contacts, not really knowing what to answer.
thankfully, donghyuck was there to break this awkward moment.
"it's okay, i enjoyed it nevertheless." he said.
"that's the most important, i guess." jisung gave his friend a pat on the head making him nod energetically.
"i'm not sure mark enjoyed as much as me, though." donghyuck added, glancing at the handsome boy that had taken care of him all day long.
mark's eyes fell into donghyuck's chocolate orbs, getting mesmerized by them for a long second before he looked back at his plate of food.
"no, no!" he told. "it was fine." he added with a smile, making donghyuck smile back immediately.
the six boys continued their dinner peacefully, chatting about random things, and slowly getting to know each other more, and obviously, getting closer.
✯
"thanks." donghyuck declared before entering mark and his shared bedroom while mark held the door open for him.
"you're welcome." the older boy said, closing the door behind his back.
"can i use the bathroom first?" donghyuck asked as soon as he has peeled his coat off his body and taken off his white moonboots.
"of course." mark nodded.
donghyuck picked his pyjamas from under his pillow and headed to the bathroom.
he locked the door and leaned against it, sliding down until he was sat on the floor.
he was so lucky to be paired with mark.
not only, the boy was very handsome, but he was also super kind.
donghyuck felt so bad that he had had to help him ski during the day.
mark was too kind to decline and just tell a teacher that he couldn't stay with donghyuck.
donghyuck could recall every single time mark had given him some help that day.
and every single time, it had made his heart flutter.
when mark stayed behind him and caught him before his head hit the ground...
when mark pulled him by the hand to help him slide on the snow...
when mark made sure he was securely placed inside the ski lifts...
when mark decided to carry donghyuck's bag because the boy was having some difficulty...
when mark helped donghyuck unfasten the strap holding his helmet because donghyuck had gloves and couldn't do it on his own...
when mark held him by the waist to help him not to fall whenever he put his skis on or off...
mark was pure boyfriend material, and donghyuck didn't need to have experienced a loving relationship to understand that.
it was obvious.
donghyuck could already imagine how comfortable he would be in mark's embrace.
but too bad, there were two things preventing him to get to this point.
first of all, mark wasn't gay like he was.
and second of all, donghyuck had a secret, and if mark came to know about it, he wasn't sure he would be as acceptant as he seems to be...
✯
donghyuck walked out of the bathroom wearing his pyjamas and carrying all his clothes of the day.
he found mark lying on the bed, an arm folded behind his head as he watched tv.
"i'm done." he declared. "you can use the bathroom."
"okay, thanks." mark nodded, glancing at donghyuck for a second.
as if it was inevitable, mark's eyes drifted to the boy's bottoms, that were barely covered by the pair of tiny shorts he wore. the fact his white long-sleeved shirt was transparent didn't help much either.
mark's eyes were always drawn to him, and his curves. he was beautiful, that's for sure.
but once again, mark would have preferred this body to be a girl's one.
but it seemed like no girl had such gorgeous bodies...
"mark?"
the canadian was snapped of his thoughts by donghyuck calling his name.
"y-yeah?" he replied.
"is everything okay? you're red." donghyuck titled his head to the side.
"yeah, don't worry. i was just- huh... i think i ate a bit too much." mark declared, scolding himself for sounding so stupid and blushing. "i'll head to the bathroom."
"mkay." donghyuck smiled, looking at mark picking something up in his suitcase before dashing to the bathroom.
donghyuck didn't pay too much attention to mark's odd behaviour as he prepared his clothes for the next day, and made sure he was ready to go to bed.
donghyuck had never been someone you stayed up late. he tended to sleep a lot.
so, after 10 minutes of preparing his stuff, donghyuck slid under the covers of his and mark's shared bed.
he left the light and the tv on, thinking that mark probably still had things to do.
donghyuck picked his phone on the bed side table and opened it to read and answer to the 'goodnight' messages from jisung and jaemin on their groupchat.
after that, he put his phone to charge and turned around to get ready to sleep.
however, his eyes fell onto the dolphin plushie that was on top of his bag.
how bad he wanted to take it and hug it to sleep.
donghyuck knew that he had trouble sleeping if he wasn't hugging his plushies.
but he couldn't do that with mark next to him.
the boy will take him for a kid.
donghyuck sighed loudly, giving his dolphin plushie a last look before placing his head on his pillow and closing his eyes.
"you're not sleeping with your dolphin tonight?"
donghyuck's eyes opened immediately and he lifted his head to look at mark, his mind going blank for a quick second.
he was too busy staring at his plushie that he hadn't seen mark exiting the bathroom shirtless, wearing only a pair of sweatpants that hung low on his hips, and with dripping hair.
"h-h-huh..." donghyuck let out, his eyes having a hard time looking away from the handsome boy's toned chest. "t-toningt?"
"yeah. you slept with it yesterday." mark declared.
"i did?!" donghyuck asked surprised.
mark sighed, walking to donghyuck's bag and picking the plushie before walking to donghyuck's side of the bed.
"you don't have to feel ashamed of needing a plushie to sleep." he said. "i don't mind. it's cute." he added, immediately asking himself why he had said that out loud.
donghyuck's eyes flickered between mark's eyes and his hand that was handing him the plushie.
"t-thank you..." he mumbled, grabbing the plushie and holding it tight against his chest.
"no problem." mark smiled. "you can sleep now. goodnight."
"good night." donghyuck replied as his eyes closed.
and as if the plushie had magical virtues, donghyuck fell asleep immediately.
✯
donghyuck screamed as he found himself sitting inside a bus next to a few people.
it didn't seem like anyone could hear him though.
donghyuck stared at all the happy families chatting inside the bus, some of them holding big buoys, obviously heading to the beach.
one of the families caught donghyuck's eye.
they were three, a father, a mother, and a son.
they seemed so familiar. as if he knew them.
but he couldn't understand how or why.
the only thing on donghyuck's mind was panic.
he hated being in a bus, and he had a feeling that something would go wrong.
he screamed loudly, trying to tell the families to go out of the dangerous vehicle, but nobody heard him.
he also tried to go and shake them, but he was glued on his spot, unable to move.
and after long, vain efforts, the inevitable happened.
donghyuck heard a loud crash, followed by screams.
the landscape started turning over, as if the bus they were in was doing barrels.
donghyuck didn't need long to understand what was happening.
he was the little boy that was pampered by both of his parents while going to the beach.
he was living their accident again.
he was watching them die.
and he couldn't do anything.
donghyuck woke up in a cold sweat, tears immediately falling from his eyes as his heart beat madly inside his chest.
he was completely lost, and the horrible images of his traumatic childhood refused to leave his mind.
the boy cried loudly, his cries slowly becoming those of a scared baby.
but he couldn't do anything.
he had no strength to fight.
"donghyuck?" a voice spoke next to him, catching his attention.
that's how his eyes fell on a male. a handsome black-haired male.
one that he had been dying to see for a few days...
"d-daddy..."