"donghyuck."
the lump under mark's blanket gave a grunt, his peachy hair poking out on the pillow.
"donghyuck," mark repeated, crawling closer to his boyfriend and resting his face in his hands. "hyuck?"
"what?" donghyuck mumbled, turning over and looking at him with a pout.
"are you going to tell me what's on your mind?"
donghyuck sighed, sitting up, his fluffy hair a mess from lying down. he had arrived at mark's house about half an hour ago that morning, and had been hiding under a blanket on mark's bed for over twenty minutes.
"how are you so smart?" the peachy-haired boy grumbled.
mark grinned. "so something is wrong?" he asked teasingly, taking donghyuck's hand.
donghyuck rolled his eyes, playing with mark's fingers.
"am i that obvious?"
"about as obvious as yuta-hyung is to sicheng-hyung," mark chuckled. he reached up to brush donghyuck's fringe out of his eyes. "what's wrong?"
the peachy-haired boy snorted. "yuta-hyung's got it bad." he met mark's eyes and sighed. "okay. i feel bad that i haven't tried to fix things with renjun yet."
"and jeno?" mark added.
"jeno follows after renjun," he replied, "and jeno will understand once i talk to him."
"what about renjun?"
"he's like me, and can hold a grudge and be a bitch about it," donghyuck said with a dry laugh. "so it has to be renjun first."
mark nodded, looking down. he frowned.
"what is it?" donghyuck asked.
the older boy looked back and him, making am awkward face.
"jaemin," mark said eventually. "i just-"
"i know," donghyuck said heavily. he shook his head. "i want to, but i can't right now."
"i understand," he said gently, taking donghyuck's other hand and holding them both tightly in his own. "tackle one at a time."
the peachy-haired boy scoffed. "soccer joke? please stop."
they shared a grin, and then donghyuck wrapped his arms around mark. holding ontohim tightly.
"thank you, mark-hyung," he mumbled into mark's neck. he pulled back, still looking a bit troubled.
"hey," mark said softly, rubbing his shoulder.
"i think jaemin is a bit of a mess," the peachy-haired boy said. "and i feel bad because i'm not there to... well, anything. we were really close before, and he used to ask me opinion on everything."
"don't get too worried," mark said, "you'll be thinking about it too much. but you'll all make up eventually, and you and jaemin will be friends again."
"really?" donghyuck asked in a small voice.
"really," mark repeated. "it'll be okay."
donghyuck sighed. "okay, mark."
mark smiled, leaning in to kiss him softly.
"let's do something to cheer you up today," he suggested. "we could... get milkshakes?"
the peachy-haired boy wrinkled his nose. "not special enough."
"what then? you can decide," he said. mark stroked donghyuck's hair.
"okay, i know," the younger said suddenly, placing a hand on top of mark's, on his peachy hair. "i can get my hair dyed."
marks eyes widened. "what color?"
donghyuck gave a mischievous grin. "i'll probably make an impulsive decision on the way there."
he sprung up and grabbed mark's hand.
"let's go! you can drive."
"okay, hyuck."
the two were in mark's car and of course donghyuck made his boyfriend stop for milkshakes on the way.
"we have to," he said with a pout, having grabbed mark's hand.
"okay, hyuck," he chuckled, "anything you want."
"anything?" donghyuck repeated, quirking an eyebrow.
"shut up and get milkshakes," mark grumbled, shooing him out of the car.
the peachy-haired boy giggled and ran across the road between the oncoming cars.
"don't fucking die, hyuck!" mark yelled after him, but donghyuck had already disappeared inside the milkshake shop, quite safe.
"here's your favourite," donghyuck said, climbing back into the car and handing mark his usual chocolate milkshake.
"thanks," mark said, sharing a grin with him before the two started drinking their milkshakes. "okay," he said, "let's go get your hair dyed, hyuck."
"okay, hyung," donghyuck replied, and mark pulled away from the sidewalk and started driving to the address of the hair salon donghyuck had given him.
"did you decide what colour yet?" mark asked, a few minutes later, as they listened to the universe soundtrack over the speakers.
donghyuck was holding his strawberry by the stalk and staring intensely at the vibrant red colour. he chewed on his lip thoughtfully.
"i have a few ideas," he said. he looked at mark when he slowed the car to a stop at a red light. "hyung, want my strawberry?"
mark's cheeks turned pink. "hyuck..."
"what?" he asked innocently.
the older rolled his eyes and started driving again. but when he felt the strawberry against his lips he did take a bite. donghyuck finished it with a smug look.
"what are you thinking?" he asked in a sing-song tone of voice.
"shut up, hyuck," mark grumbled, "i know you're trying to make something more of the strawberry."
"hyung, don't tell me your mind went to the gutter," he said teasingly. "what do you take me for?"
"just shut up already, hyuck."
donghyuck just laughed and they soon reached the hair salon.
"i'm sorry for teasing you, hyung," he said, pouting.
mark smiled. "it's okay," he replied, leaning in to kiss him.
he pulled back but donghyuck leaned forward, saying, "one more," before pressing a kiss to mark's lips. "okay, let's go now."
"lee donghyuck!" said the stylist when the two went inside the shop. "it's been too long, why have you let your hair get like this, huh?"
donghyuck gave a lazy grin. "sorry, minseok-hyung. i was a bit too busy to drop by."
"this must be your boyfriend," the older guy said with a grin, moving his blond hair out of his eyes and shaking mark's hand.
"nice to meet you," mark said.
"donghyuck wouldn't stop rambling about you last time he was here," minseok said, rolling his eyes, "i assumed you'd be together by now."
"oh, he did?" mark said, raising an eyebrow at donghyuck, who blushed.
"that was like six weeks ago," donghyuck grumbled.
"anyway, i need to fix this mess," minseok said, placing his hands on his hips. he shook his head, stepping closer and examining donghyuck's hair. "are these split ends?"
"hyung," he whined.
"okay, sit," the small man told him, pointing to a chair and grabbing a black cloth to wrap around donghyuck. "we desperately need to revive this colour. want to go blond?"
"i want to go red," donghyuck said decidedly.
"here, mark," said minseok, pulling an extra chair over and gesturing for him to sit.
donghyuck grinned at his boyfriend before minseok brought over colour swatches for him to choose. by the time the stylist had mixed the dye and was applying it, donghyuck was starting to fall asleep. mark had become absorbed in a game on his phone, and it wasn't until minseok spoke again that either of them looked up.
"hyungwon-ah, the toner is in the back where is usually is," said minseok, tutting as his tall colleague sheepishly returned to the storeroom to look for the toner again. "okay, we're done. just need to leave this for thirty five minutes or so, then we can wash it out."
"okay, hyung," said donghyuck, opening his eyes. he was sitting in front of the mirror with his head wrapped in plastic, and glanced to his right.
and renjun was sitting there with his hair covered in bleach and a plastic covering, and a look of surprise on his face.
"renjun?" he uttered. he leaned back to see jeno sitting beside renjun and his eyes widened even more. "jeno?"
"hi, donghyuck," jeno said, grinning when he saw him.
donghyuck exhaled, smiling at the two of them. "hey, guys," he said.
_________________________
finally found time to update :')
hopefully i can get another chapter up in a couple of days, since i'm still on holiday i'm so busy, i'll try to update my other books too
thanks guys ily 💚
taellipses out x