Mark Lee was not gay.
Mark wasn’t against the idea of liking boys either. Ever since he was a kid, Mark never really looked at someone with the intention of liking them or dating them. Whilst he was in Canada, everyone was friends with everyone and as a kid, he never thought about liking another person. Then when he came to Korea, the restrictions upon him caused him to keep a fair distance from girls, just so that he wouldn’t end up getting caged into a fake scandal in the future. In the time that Mark spent with his friends, he only ever thought of them as his brothers, and that was the same with the other members. He didn’t view them any differently as his older brother.
That was until the incident that took place last night. To say that Mark wasn’t freaking out would be a lie; he was terrified. He wasn’t sure what was going through his head when he initiated something he hadn’t done before, but now it was messing with his head. Was he attracted to his best friend, the person he had considered a brother for so long? Just thinking about it like that made Mark shudder. He didn’t support incest, just to be clear.
“Mark,” Doyoung’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “Wake up, we’re having breakfast.”
Wake up? Mark hadn’t even slept the entire night. He had tried his best, but with the constant possibilities filling his head, he found it difficult to get some shut-eye.
“I’m up,” Mark muttered as he sat upon his bed. He rubbed his tired eyes and tried to get rid of the sleep that had finally come to him when he realised he had stayed awake the whole night. Mark got up with a grunt and ignored Doyoung’s worried look before making his way to the bathroom. Staring at his reflection, Mark groaned because everyone would know something was up with his red eyes and flushed cheeks.
Mark slowly made his way through the hallway, leaning against the wall to make sure he didn’t fall. He poked his head through the kitchen door to find Donghyuck hugging Taeyong from behind. He caught the way Taeyong was laughing to himself as Donghyuck said some things with a pout on his face. They looked cute. Mark blushed at the sight.
“Morning,” Mark said as he entered the kitchen. Donghyuck and Taeyong returned his greeting, and he could feel their lingering eyes, but continued his journey to the fridge.
“But Hyung,” Donghyuck whined, his voice becoming squeaky and Taeyong sighed with fake annoyance. “Tropical juice is superior.”
Mark raised his eyebrow at the topic of the conversation but rushed out of the room when he locked eyes with Donghyuck. He wasn’t avoiding the younger, he was just delaying confrontation. He was sure that Donghyuck would come to him at any moment of the day to talk about last night - Mark cursed to himself for being so supportive of communication - so he knew they were going to solve the issue soon,
Shaking his head, Mark pushed the door of the living room open and stumbled in. He saw Jungwoo sitting on the sofa and slumped down beside him, the older turned to him with a confused look.
“Jungwoo hyung,” Mark said, leaning against Jungwoo as he pinched his cheek. “I need help with something.”
Jungwoo eyed him for a moment before letting out a chuckle. “Is this something Mark?”
Mark looked down at his lap in embarrassment for being so easy to read, but then the hand on his shoulder calmed him down. He sighed slowly and then cleared his throat. “I nearly kissed him last night,” Mark said and immediately covered his face and he remembered how awkward it had been when he pulled away. Jungwoo’s eyes widened and he froze for a moment before bursting into laughter, clutching his stomach as he imagined the scenario. “It’s not funny!”
“Okay, okay,” Jungwoo took a deep breath and then continued. “You almost kissed him?” Mark nodded, trying his best to ignore the smug look on Jungwoo’s face. “But he pushed you away?” Mark shook his head. “Then what happened.”
“We almost kissed until,” Mark covered his face once again, eliciting a giggle from Jungwoo. “Jaehyun hyung walked in on us.”
“Oh God, Jaehyun hyung was in the way of your first kiss,” Jungwoo let out another laugh. “But I have to say, don’t you think it’s a bit too fast?”
“What is?” Mark blinked in confusion.
“I mean, I understand that you like Donghyuck, and you might’ve for a long time, but isn’t it a bit quick? You guys just got onto speaking terms once again.” Jungwoo finished and waited for a response, but Mark continued staring at him. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t,” Mark paused and frowned. “I don’t like Donghyuck in that way. All I did was try to kiss him, that doesn’t necessarily mean I like him in that way.”
Jungwoo exhaled noisily and then placed a hand on Mark’s shoulder, a tight smile on his face. “Good luck,” was all he said before standing up and rushed out of the door. Mark stared at the closed door with his jaw dropped. He whined childishly and sunk further into the sofa, grabbing the TV remote with annoyance and skipped through the channels. The sound of the door opening echoed but Mark paid no attention, too busy sulking on his own.
“Hyung,” Mark snapped his head up to look at Donghyuck, who only smiled at him. “Taeyong hyung’s nearly done with breakfast,” Donghyuck said, walking over to the side of the sofa to lean against it. “You look sick, did you not sleep well?”
Donghyuck leaned even closer as he spoke and Mark was forced to tear his eyes away. Mark brought a cautious hand to his face, awkwardly chuckling to himself. “Yeah, I couldn’t get much sleep,” Mark glanced over at Donghyuck's face, and regretted it the second he saw the look of concern on the younger's face. "I look terrible, isn't it?"
Donghyuck examined Mark's face for a while before his face shifted to a small smile, more like a smirk. He scoffed and then said, "I don't know, Hyung. You still look cute to me."
Mark's ears burst into a shade of red and his eyes widened comically, causing Donghyuck to stifle a laugh and send a wink his way. Before Mark could say anything, Donghyuck pushed himself away from Mark and made his way to the door.
"I should go help Taeyong hyung out," Donghyuck said as he opened the shoulder, looking over his shoulder to smile at Mark. "To help make the food."
As soon as the door closed Mark jumped back by the sofa, and let out a groan. He placed a hand on his chest and frowned. "He says I'm cute all the time," Mark shook his head at his unstable heartbeat. "Calm down."
Mark collapsed against the sofa and let out a lot whine into the cushion beside his head. When he shut his eyes, a picture of Donghyuck appeared in his head and he snapped his eyes open. "Oh my god," Mark sighed to himself, hugging the cushion to his chest. "Donghyuck doesn't even seem bothered by it all!"
-
Donghyuck was freaking out when he woke up in the morning, his mind thinking back to his close Mark was with him last night. It wasn't anything new, them laying in bed together, but their proximity was something that hadn't happened before.
Mark had never tried kissing him before.
When the older had left his room, Donghyuck had been unable to keep his cool. Whenever he closed his eyes to get some sleep, the image of Mark laying beside him, his eyes darting down to Donghyuck's lips and the flush of his cheeks. It was safe to say that Donghyuck had only gotten about 2 hours worth of sleep that night.
"Jaehyun hyung just had to enter," Donghyuck rolled his eyes, sitting up in his bed and glared at the boy standing by the mirror casually applying lotion on his face. "Wait," Donghyuck muttered, shaking his head. "What're you saying?"
"Indeed," Jaehyun said, his voice loud and a little too much for an exhausting morning. "What are you saying?"
Donghyuck opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it a while after. He did this a few times before Jaehyun began to feel concerned, inching towards the bed in a way that it seemed as though he was nearing a distraught animal.
"What's up, Hyuck?" He asked, taking a cautious seat beside Donghyuck, who had buried his head in his hands. "Why do you look so worried?"
Donghyuck took a deep breath and grabbed Jaehyun's hand, gently squeezing it. He glanced up before sighing loudly. "Mark hyung," Donghyuck said, slowly taking a moment to process his thoughts. "Last night, he did something."
"By something, do you mean he stayed up waiting for you?" Jaehyun asked and Donghyuck was quick to deny it. "Then what did he do?"
"Last night," Donghyuck realised that he was dragging the situation out when he saw Jaehyun impatiently tap his foot against the floor. "Mark hyung tried to kiss me."
Jaehyun seemed calm for a moment, until his eyes widened and he slipped off the bed when he jumped up. "Huh?" He climbed back up and Donghyuck watched as his face lightened up. "What? Why?"
"I'm not sure," Donghyuck answered, because he truly wasn't. Then again, it wasn't as if Mark was the only one going for the kiss. Donghyuck was about to continue and narrate the entire scenario, but then the door burst open and Johnny entered, a confused look on his face.
"What was that sound?" Johnny asked, slowly making his way into the room. He caught sight of Jaehyun's red face and the embarrassed look on Donghyuck's face and tried to put one and two together. He gasped for dramatic effect. "Is this what I think this is?"
"No," Donghyuck replied bluntly. "The sound you heard was of Jaehyun hyung falling off the bed."
"Why did he fall off the bed?" Johnny raised his eyebrow in a challenging manner.
"Because I told him about how," Donghyuck paused and watched as Johnny leaned closer, clearly interested. "Mark hyung tried to kiss me."
Johnny froze for a moment before collapsing on the ground out of laughter. Then, to try and make the situation even more dramatic, Johnny held his hand to his face and asked seriously. "When did this happen?"
"Last night—" the sound of a knock on the door resonated in the room and Donghyuck wondered how many more people he could tell in the next few minutes. "Who is it, now?"
Taeyong popped his head through the door with a pout. "I was just calling you guys for breakfast." He then paused as he realised Johnny was also in the room. His expression brightened up and Taeyong tiptoed into the room. "What's going on here? Are we having a family meeting?"
"Mark tried to kiss Donghyuck," Jaehyun explained the situation before anyone else could. Tayeong nodded and then turned to Donghyuck, who was surprised by the lack of reaction.
"Why was it a 'tried to'? Did you push him away?" Taeyong questioned.
Donghyuck shook his head before pointing an accusatory finger at Jaehyun. "He entered the room."
Jaehyun cowered away from the glared Taeyong and Johnny sent his way and scoffed. "How is it my fault? I was only coming into my room to sleep."
"Anyways," Taeyong brought the attention back and smiled at Donghyuck. "So who confessed first? I always had my bets on you, but Mark always does surprise me sometimes.
Donghyuck blinked in confusion. "Confessed? We didn't confess anything, we just went for a kiss."
Johnny let out a deep sigh and shook his head. "I don't know why I had higher expectations for the two of you. But it makes sense, I guess. You two just reconciled, give it some time before confessing to him."
"Confessing what?" Donghyuck knew what they were talking about, as shown by how his cheeks burned and the corners of his lips curled up, but he felt embarrassed by the thought. Someone who he considered to be his brother/best friend for almost all their time spent together, how could he see them romantically?
"Don't pretend," Jaehyun chuckled and flicked Donghyuck's forehead, causing the younger to wince and pull away from him. "There can only be one idiot in the relationship, it's best if you aren't the one."
-
Donghyuck took a deep breath as he left the kitchen and made his way down the corridor. He could hear Taeyong and Johnny (who had eventually emerged from his bedroom) shouting out cheers for him, and tried his best to ignore their attempt to be embarrassing parents.
The look on Jungwoo's face when he saw Donghyuck heading towards the door he had just left made him suspect that he knew something. And the way Mark was huffing to himself whilst going through the channels was enough to confirm his suspicions.
Seeing that Mark wasn't going to pay attention to him unless he spoke, Donghyuck plastered a smile over his face and called out to Mark. "Hyung," he said. "Taeyong hyung's nearly done with breakfast." Donghyuck leaned against the sofa side and examined Mark's face. He looked a little dull. "You look sick, did you not sleep well?"
The question he wanted to ask was what Mark was thinking when he tried to kiss him, but that seemed too straightforward. Mark answered and tried to play it off with a joke, but Donghyuck had something else in mind.
"I don't know, Hyung," Donghyuck smiled gently. "You still look cute to me."
The reaction was splendid and Donghyuck did his best to hide his laugh. He rushed over to the door and said his goodbye.
The second the door closed, Donghyuck sighed and leaned against the doorframe, giggling at the way Mark muttered to himself.
"This was alright, right?" He turned to Jungwoo who was still by the door. The older nodded with a giddy look on his face.