5 months later...
"i love you."
"i love you too."
mark hung up the phone, hanging his head low. a tired sigh escpaed him but he tried to hold it back. "mark," doyoung stepped in the dressing room, adjusting his ear piece as he put it in, "we're out in three." "got it, hyung," mark nodded, standing up and heading out the room and lining up behind some of the other members to go on stage.
staff hurried for last second make up touches or just a little bit more hair spray. mark cleared his throat and warmed it up, spinning the mic in his hands while he waited. loud clapping came from the audience outside and mark knew that it was time to go.
johnny, ten, doyoung, yanyang, chenle, xiaojun, and taeyong exchanged encouraging words and pats before walking onto the stage. the second mark walked past the curtain, he held back his tired expression. his shoulders and back hurt but he ignored it and walked on stage, standing in position. he smiled and waved at the crowd, adjusting his mic before the lights dimmed and he crouched down where he would begin performing as soon as the song started playing.
music flowed into his ear piece and he began dancing the choreography that he had spent countless hours perfecting. taeyong's opening rap passed, leading to mark's own rap verse. the song continued quickly yet slowly at the same time. mark loved performing but he needed a rest. the song felt like it was being dragged out but on the other hand, he enjoyed it.
by the time the bridge, hook, dance break, and ending had passed, mark felt faint. having been in the industry for six years already, he didn't let it show. instead, the performance ended and he plastered a smile on his face while waving to the fans. his mic was turned off but he mouthed thank you's until it was time to follow the other member's off stage. as soon as mark was out of sight from the viewers, he placed a hand on the wall and leaned against it, groaning in pain.
"mark?" ten asked, noticing the canadian immediately. "i'm fine, just give me a second," he squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath before standing up. "you need a break, mark," ten said, watching the sad scene unfold before him. mark was looking at the day's schedule on his phone and ten could already see how much he itched to practice more.
a sad an unhealthy habit had grown ever since the nonstop comeback promotions and other idol duties. mark was constantly praticing and perfecting everything he did. whether it was the dance, his rap, or his vocal lines, mark practiced to no end. he was always stressing over expressions or keeping the audience entertained. the other members noticed it and even began to worry about him.
what no one knew was that that was the only way for mark to cope with being away from his boyfriend; donghyuck.
after both nct 127 and nct dream had successful comebacks, nct 2022 would release another full length album. this time was different though. this time the album would have three title tracks and each title track unit would promote at different parts of the world.
first came the unit announcments. then came the rehearsals and recordings. next was the photo shoots and music video shootings. when the songs and album b-sides were completed, one by one, the songs were released. once all the title tracks had come out, the full album was released. promotion lives, radio interviews, magazine shots, commercials and advertisements. suddenly all the members had packed schedules and everyone lacked sleep.
the comeback was successful. in fact, it was so successful that you couldn't go a day in seoul without hearing the songs. everyone grew sick of their own music and wanted a break. but that's when the tour dates were let out. as stadiums and arenas were busy getting sold out, nct was filming not only promotional content, but regular content for their fans.
naturally, like this, mark and donghyuck had less and less time to see eachother and be together. at first it was bearable. neither of them liked it, but they sucked it up and spent and much time with eachother as possible. seeing that they weren't in the same unit, they knew things were going to be tough for their relationship. but they were the strongest duo in nct —as the fans liked to say anyway— and they weren't going to let something so minor tear them apart.
rushed phone calls. text messages. sticky notes.
for a couple of months, that was the only way mark and donghyuck communicated. yes, it sucked. it sucked a whole fucking lot. still, there was no other solution. mark still remembers the phone call he got from an emotional and overworked donghyuck one night.
"hyung... it hurts. i don't know if i can do this..."
mark had spoken to him softly and carefully, heart breaking at the sound of donghyuck being broken on the other line. "we can get through this. we've always made it together, hmm?" he had said while he too wanted nothing more than to scream off his lungs until his voice was sore and he couldn't perform the next day.
"mark! can you come record the adlibs now?" mark had cursed under his breath when he knew donghyuck could hear the voice too. the sound of his cries growing hurt worse than any kind of pain that mark had ever felt. "shhh, baby it'll be okay, i promise," mark had said pointing at his phone to the staff who had come to check on him. "i'll be quick," he mouthed.
meanwhile, donghyuck only cried more. "i miss you," he sounded so incredibly tired. "i miss you too, sunshine."
for a moment they both sat there in silence. miles apart with things to do. but they put everything on hold for eachother. heaven knows that if mark could, he would've put the world on pause if it meant that he could physically be with donghyuck again.
"babe," mark called softly after a moment, knowing that he couldn't keep the call on for much longer, "i swear the second i'm with you again, i'll kiss and love you so much that you'll forget all of this." "okay," donghyuck agreed but he sounded dejected. it was almost as if he didn't even believe mark but was telling himself 'okay' in hopes of reassurance.
mark's manager stepped into the hallway, glaring at mark and pointing towards his watch. the rapper ran a hand through his now blue hair and sighed. "i'll text you soon, hyuck," he said, not wanting to say goodbye. he almost wished that donghyuck would tell him not to, but both of them knew better than that. "haechan, it's your turn for costume fitting," a voice called from donghyuck's end. "i'll be there soon!" mark heard him answer back. the steadiness and hidden sadness in his voice was so well covered that mark's heart hurt.
once again, their call fell silent. no one wanted to leave but both of them knew that they had to.
"i love you, mark."
"i love you, donghyuck."
---
the members surrounding him errupted in laughter and donghyuck forced himself to fake a laugh. he pretended to find his own joke funny and made his signature smirk appear on his lips. no one could see the sadness in his eye but he knew if mark had been there, he would've noticed it a long time ago.
speaking of mark, he missed him. before the instagram live that he was currently doing with the other members, he and mark had a short phone call. mark told that he would be performing soon, and donghyuck promised to watch the video of it as soon as it came out. staying true to his word, donghyuck did just that. but it only made him miss his boyfriend more.
he wanted mark to come and see his freshly dyed purple hair for himself, not through a fancam video on youtube. donghyuck wanted to hug mark and burry his face in mark's neck. he wanted to kiss away mark's worries and massage his tired back.
everything he wanted was unrealistic as he sat on a couch in between yuta and hendery, a sm staff's phone recording them through instagram live.
jeno's manager who had been monitoring the live the entire time tapped his wrist, signalling that it was time they end the stream. jisung broke the news to their fans and everyone began waving and saying their 'goodbyes'.
as soon as the camera was off, the members all stood up and stretched. "don't forget to pack your bags. we have a flight to france tomorrow," kun reminded everyone. they had been in germany for two days but it was time to leave already. although france was nice, there was nothing that donghyuck wanted more than a plane ticket to indonesia where mark was.
"c'mon haechan hyung, we're going to eat now," sungchan said. "you go first. i'll be there soon," donghyuck smiled. he waited until sungchan's retreating figure was out of sight before he oushed open the bathroom door and allowed himself to lean against the sink. a lump filled in his throat and the all too familiar feeling of tears washed ober him. surely enough, in seconds tears were spilling out and hiccups followed shortly after.
get a grip, he told himself, but it was useless. he was too far gone in misery to mind it anymore. his knuckles turned white at how hard he was clenching the phone in one hand. he wanted to text mark but was worried about coming off as clingier than he originally was. at the same time, if they couldn't even physically be together, did it still count as donghyuck being clingy?
the math wasn't mathing, but luckily, he didn't have to think about it anymore because he received a text message. with wet cheeks, donghyuck opened up his messages app and felt his heart squeeze in his chest when it was a new message from mark.
'i figured you forgot it so i directly shipped it to you. don't miss me too much. i hope the package at your hotel door makes this time a little less hard for you.'
donghyuck read the message again and again before deciding that he would skip dinner and head straight to the hotel. he quickly let the others know before requesting a ride from his manager.
on the way to the hotel, donghyuck couldn't sit still. the curiosity of what mark could've sent him was killing him. when the now familiar sign that showed the hotel that the nct members had been staying at appeared, donghyuck couldn't fight the genuine smile that spread across his face. without waiting for his manger, the car was park and he entered, going up the elevator and walking down the velvet carpet hallway to his room door.
sure enough, a mediumsized brown box layed on the floor infront of the door. donghyuck wasted no time opening the door and going inside with the box in his hands. it wasn't heavy nor extremely light. that made guessing what it was relatively harder.
pulling a pair of scissors out of a drawer, donghyuck got to work, cutting the tape and opening the box. pastel yellow foam puffs flooded the box and spilled on the floor. donghyuck didn't care though. his mind was somewhere else as he dug his hands into the box and felt the first item.
his heart warmed when he saw the bear he made with mark on their first date. a small note was taped to the white ribbon around it's neck which hadn't been there before. press the button
"i want you and i love you donghyuck."
the voice audio that donghyuck had listened to so many time filled the quiet room. donghyuck cracked another smile. something about the familiarity of the voice and the teddy bear made him feel comforted.
he put the teddy bear aside and dug his hands in the box once more. a smaller box touched his finger tips and he oulled it out. another card was taped to it. for you whenever we're far away; i made one for me too, we match because i know you like things like this haha
donghyuck opened the smaller box and pulled out an even smaller teddy bear. this one was attached to a key chain. the bear was holding a bouquet of sunflowers. donghyuck pressed the bear's stomach, and once again mark's voice filled the room.
"we'll see eachother soon so eat and rest well for me. i miss you, i need you, and i love you, hyuck. never forget it."
at that moment donghyuck cried tears of joy, because how could he have asked for a more perfect boyfriend?
-----
word count: 2155
...so yeah... i'm still alive
it's been two and a half weeks. my apologies. thank u for so many reads and votes. ily all <3
this book has 1 or 2 more chapters left + maybe an epilogue/bonus chapter
✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾