"you guys better clean your dishes." mark said, his eyes not averting away from his phone.
yangyang released a small chuckle before nodding his head, "oh don't worry, we will." he replied before going back to what jeno and hendery are doing.
it's a weekend and mark was even planning on sleeping in, not until he heard someone banging on his door really loud. yeah, it is almost the afternoon and he should probably get his day going, but he slept late last night, and after all, he has nothing to do today anyway.
he is aware that jeno sometimes visits his place, from time to time, but he wasn't expecting him to bring two other people.
now here they are, jeno, hendery and yangyang in his kitchen, while the owner of the house, mark, lays across his couch, just waiting until the three leaves his place. they did offer the older to eat with them, but mark quickly refused, for some reason.
"how do you know all of his socials?" hendery curiously asks taking another bite of his rice as he looks over jeno's phone.
"most likely because of jaemin." yangyang told, making eye contact with jeno to see if he got that right, and almost immediately he received a nod from him, "and well, jaemin is friends with donghyuck so that's why."
hendery slowly nods, "so... this is not creepy at all?" he continues to ask. both jeno and yangyang halt after hearing his question. "why are we going all of his social again? i just said i want his number so i can ask him out."
they both made eye contact, feeling like hendery had made a point there. "this was yangyang's idea." jeno was quick to defend himself before pointing at the male beside him.
"and you agreed to it without questions asked!" yangyang argued back.
at this point, mark had already felt hungry. as he made his way towards his kitchen, he suddenly heard someone screaming.
"if you guys are gonna start a fight, please don't do it here." mark scratched his ear and yawned, "what were you guys doing anyway."
"they're looking at donghyuck's socials." hendery replied, pointing down at jeno's phone.
mark's sleepy eyes immediately shot open after hearing the name. he averted his gaze back with a frown, "donghyuck?"
"yeah, him. the one we were talking about a few days ago." hendery said, "i was just asking jeno about his number, but now here they are looking at—"
"hold up... what time is it?" mark cuts the younger off as he panics.
"three in the afternoon, why?" jeno then replied after he checked his phone.
the older mumbled a curse word under his breath before he sprinted off the kitchen and to his room, leaving the three confused.
he had completely forgotten that he had to meet Donghyuck this weekend for their project. to make things worse, he was the one who initiated this meet-up. gosh, donghyuck probably thinks i stood him up, he thought to himself as he quickly search for clothes in his closet.
———
looking down at his watch, donghyuck clicked his tongue as he looked around.
it's been almost two hours since the younger has been waiting for his project partner. he can't believe it, mark was the one who initiated this meet-up, he was even the one who told him which place they should meet.
now here he is sitting in the cafe with two empty cups of coffee and an open laptop, that is probably going to die now, as he waits for the older for hours.
it's such a pity since mark picked a very suitable place for their project. he found out it's a cafe library, meaning they can take inspiration from the books here, but the older is not showing up.
he lets out a heavy sigh after seeing his undread messages to the older.
just as he was about to close his laptop, he felt a hand on his shoulder that made him flinch. he instantly turned around and there was the person he was just waiting for.
"hi..." mark started as he rubbed his nape, awkwardly.
donghyuck frowned before standing up from his seat, "hi?!" he exclaims, not really liking the older's tone, "you made me wait for almost two hours and the only thing you're going to say to say is hi?!"
mark pressed his lips into a thin line, feeling like donghyuck's voice is starting to catch other people's attention, "i'm sorry! please let me explain—"
the older's words got cut off when donghyuck's phone started ringing. mark can thank whoever called donghyuck for saving his ass, but not until he heard a familiar voice from the other line.
"hello?"
donghyuck looked down at his phone, confused, having no clue who was the person behind this unknown number. meanwhile, mark is trying to find ways on how he can make donghyuck end the call.
"is this donghyuck?"
the younger clicked his tongue, catching the older's attention. his fingers hovered over the red button before quickly ending the call.
mark doesn't know why, but that was way scarier than donghyuck screaming at him a few seconds ago.
he already knows it was hendery, just from the voice, and he knows that the only reason why he called donghyuck is that he's going to ask him out this weekend. hendery can have donghyuck all to him later, but for now, he wants to know if donghyuck actually knows that he was the one who kissed him at the party.
"should we get started?" mark broke the silence between them as he looked at the younger with an awkward smile.
donghyuck was about to argue back when suddenly mark held him by his shoulders before forcefully making him sit. "what are you doing?"
"just sit here," he placed his bag on the seat beside the younger, "i'll grab some books for the project."
the younger only looked at the latter with disbelief. is he really acting like he didn't just make him wait? donghyuck thought to himself. but for some reason, he can't find any more reason to be mad at him.
this gave donghyuck a chance to look at the older from afar. he knows that he already gave up on searching for that stranger he kissed at the party but he just can't help but notice his height difference with mark, not only that, but he has an undercut—that suits him almost too perfectly.
donghyuck rolls his eyes as he brushes those thoughts away then, after a few moments, mark finally got back with his arms filled with books. donghyuck saw this and was about to walk for help but the older quickly stopped him, "oh no, it's okay!" he reassures before dropping the books down the table, "do you want something to drink? my treat."
donghyuck shook his head before he goes through the books that the older brought, "i just had two while waiting for you." he told, not looking up.
"right..." mark awkwardly chuckled, "want another one then? i can also buy cakes!"
"suit yourself, honestly." donghyuck replied. the books had already taken his interest and just wanted to start this project.
after mark just disappeared, leaving the younger on the table.
as donghyuck tries to focus on the description of these books, his mind seemed to be shifting to something else. he knows it was just for a brief moment, but when mark touched his shoulders earlier, it felt oddly familiar to him.
is he just reading too much on this?
mark finally went back and noticed that the younger seemed to be dozing off the window. did he keep him waiting for too long again? he thought to himself before quickly making his way back to the chair beside him.
"uh..." he made a sound, causing the younger to flinch. "we should get started right?"
"sure, sure..." donghyuck just brushed those thoughts away as he finally got back to focusing on his laptop.
"by the way, i picked a lot of romance books on the shelf, this should help us get inspiration." mark started, feeling like he had to lighten up the mood around them, after all he did make donghyuck lose his temper earlier—this is just the least he could do. "like this one," he picked up a book on the top of the pile before looking at the back of it, "it says here two people fall in love and someone died—"
donghyuck quickly shook his head, not even waiting for the older to finish, "too angsty." he commented.
"i see, how about this one..." mark trails off as he grabs another book, "two people are incredibly in love towards each other but one of them didn't want anyone to know their relationship."
"are we really going towards this direction?" donghyuck asks. it's clearly a hard no for him.
the older pursed his lips. he thought this would be easy, but they can't even think of a plot because his partner it too picky. "enemies to lovers?"
donghyuck hums, "good, but too cliché."
"high school romance?"
yet, once again, the younger shook his head.
at this point, mark had already picked through the books he brought and it is currently on the last. seems like he has to go back if the younger still didn't like this.
"alright, last one," he said as he flipped the book to read the description, "two strangers falling in love with each other and one of them seemed to be so desperate to know the other—what even is this?" the older scoffs. he already knows donghyuck is going to say no to that so he just sprung himself up from his seat with the intention of finding new books for them when he suddenly heard his name being called.
turns out, their orders are ready. he turned his heel around and hurriedly get their drinks as well as the cake he ordered just for the younger.
"our orders are here." mark went back to their table, quickly serving the drinks and the cake to donghyuck, "anyway should i grab more books or—" he halts, seeing that donghyuck had finally grabbed a book.
the younger seemed to be interested in this as he didn't even notice the older leaving him to get their orders. he tried to peek at what book donghyuck was holding and immediately saw that it was the one he picked.
strangers falling in love with each other? his brows drew together.
"oh, should we go with something like that?" mark slowly asks, silently hoping that he'll say yes since he knows he's going to have a hard time getting donghyuck's interest. "why? can you relate to it or something?" he jokes.
donghyuck didn't say anything for a brief second before he drops the book and lets out a sigh. "probably, probably not." he shrugs his shoulders, "is falling in love with a stranger weird, though?" the younger looked at the older with anticipation.
mark's eyes wander around, thinking of the best way to answer the question, "i mean, some lovers starts off as strangers," he started, "feelings are hard to control anyway so anything's possible."
donghyuck hates how mark made a point there. maybe looking for mr. sweet kisser is still worth it. "you know, i kissed someone at this party..." he trails off, hesitating if he should tell him this story while the older just looked at him curiously, "but i didn't even see his face because for some reason, the power went out—which is so odd."
the older froze, feeling like that story is too familiar for him. is he talking about him? does he have no idea that it was him all along? he pressed his lips into a thin line before he looked away awkwardly, "d-did you liked it, at least?" oh god, why did i have to ask him that?
the younger breathes out a scoff as he shakes his head in disbelief after hearing the question mark made. this made the older look back, and for some reason, he finds himself anticipating for his answer.
"is it weird if i say yes?" donghyuck replied, eyes now darting back on his laptop.