Yola!

Since so many of you wanted the next chapter...

I have decided to publish it!

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AKD

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"Donghyuck?" Jisung said, watching the other man mindlessly blowing his already cool coffee while staring off in space. He snapped his fingers in front of Donghyuck's face and tried again, "Donghyuck!"

"Huh? What?" Donghyuck said, snapping out of his daze, blinking blankly.

"Were you even listening to me?" Jisung said more than asked, raising his eyebrow accusingly.

"Of course I was!"

"Oh yeah?" Jisung challenged, "What did I just say?"

"Uhh," Donghyuck struggled, " Jackson and BamBam went to the movies and bumped into whatshisface and his ex."

"That was like 5 minutes ago, Donghyuck!" Jisung rolled his eyes, "What's gotten into you? You've been acting weird since last night."

"What?" Donghyuck said, his eyes going wide.

"Is everything okay between you and Mark?" Jisung asked, concerned.

"What? Yeah. We're good! We're great! We're Gucci!" Donghyuck blurted out in word vomit

"You guys were acting weird when you came back from wherever it is you went," Jisung observed out loud. "What happened?"

---- ---- ---- ----

"I want to kiss you."

Mark stood in front of Donghyuck, each of his hand resting on the ledge of the bridge, trapping him in. His hazel brown eyes stared deep into Donghyuck's brown ones.

"Do it then."

Mark leaned in slowly, eyes flickering from Donghyuck's eyes that were slowly shutting to his plump lips that looked so soft. One hand leaving the ledge to cup his cheek, stroking it slowly with his thumb.

Mark's eyes fluttered shut, lips ghosting over Donghyuck's once, twice and just as he was about to close the gap and kiss him for real, Mark's phone blared. (Love you!)

They jumped apart.

Mark took out his phone from his pocket, pissed off.

As soon as he saw the name of the person who was calling him he froze.

If he was with any of the boys they would've thrown his phone in the river unapologetically and told him to change his number and his phone.

How she got his number was beyond him. He scoffed, thinking to himself that she ruined everything else, why did he think that she wouldn't have ruined this too.

Somehow, she just knows when everything is going great for him and she couldn't let him be happy. He ignored the call, silenced his phone and put it back in his pocket.

Donghyuck's hand was covering his mouth as soon as he jumped from the loud sound.

He was about to let Mark kiss him...

The same Mark that he saw plastered on every magazine and headline with a different girl or guy every single time. The same Asshole Mark that couldn't fix a sandwich to save his life and Donghyuck would have to live with in a couple of months.

Donghyuck couldn't get into this right now. He couldn't be with someone who checks every girl out and sleeps with them only minutes after knowing them and never calls them again.

This -whatever it was- wouldn't last between them for more than a week and it would be so uncomfortable after. Donghyuck had a contract with Mark and that was all this was - A contractual relationship.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

Mark walked back to Donghyuck who looked deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked softly, slowly walking towards him.

Donghyuck looked down at his watch and sighed in relief, "It's midnight."

"And?"

"The requests expire at midnight," Donghyuck told Mark, kicking himself off the ledge. "Let's go."

---- ---- ---- ----

"I can say in all honesty," Donghyuck said to Jisung, "Absolutely nothing happened last night."

"Then why are you-" Jisung started to say but Donghyuck's focus was elsewhere.

Donghyuck thought he heard the door upstairs open and shut.

"Hey , Sung, do you want to go out?" He quickly asked.

"What? Where?"

"Just..." Donghyuck said, quickly thinking, "Bonding day!"

"Yeah, sure," Jisung shrugged, "Let me go get my bag from upstairs and-"

"I'll pay!" Donghyuck said, grabbing his things from the counter and jumping off the breakfast bar stool.

"Uhh, alright?" Jisung said, "I'll grab my keys-"

"We'll walk!" Donghyuck said, slinging his bag over his shoulders.

"What about your coffee?" Jisung asked, now amused as he watched Donghyuck gulp the cold coffee and put the mug in the sink.

Donghyuck then took Jisung's hand and quickly walked him over to the door, opening it.

"Hey, guys!" Mark's dad said, walking from the living room.

"Hey, Mr. Lee! We're going out for the morning, but we'll be back in time to get ready! Bye!" Donghyuck quickly said and closed the door behind him, finally feeling like he could breathe.

"Oh.."Mr. Lee said, slightly overwhelmed, "What just happened?"

"Hey, dad!" Mark said as he came down the stairs, "What's going on?"

"I just had the weirdest conversation with Donghyuck before he left,"

"Oh.." Mark said, trying to look nonchalant and not at all relieved, "So he's not in the house?"

"No he just left," His dad said, leaning against the breakfast bar, looking at his son suspiciously. "Is everything okay between you two?"

"Yeah! We're great!" Mark said, taking the milk out of the fridge and pouring it into a glass.

"Where did you disappear to last night?" Mark's dad asked him.

"Just..." Mark said, trailing off, "I showed Donghyuck the town."

"At night? In the dark?"

"We have a well-lit town," Mark mumbled, looking down at the glass before gulping down the milk.

"You sure everything's alright?" Dave asked once more.

"We're fine, dad." Mark said and set his glass in the sink, "I'm going to go find Hendery."

"You dropped him off at YangYang's, remember?" His dad said.

"Uhh," Mark cleared his throat, "Of course I remember."

"What's going on, son?" His dad asked, concerned.

"Just album stress," Mark lied. "I'm going to go practice my best man speech for the reception."

---- ---- ---- ----

"Thanks for the new shirt and shoes, Donghyuck!" Jisung exclaimed gleefully as he opened the front door of the house.

"It was my pleasure, Sung," Donghyuck smiled, "How could I not buy it when you looked so good in them?!"

"I'm definitely wearing this to the reception!" Jisung said with a toothy grin, pointing to the new shirt he had got, and bounded up the stairs.

"You two look like you had a whale of a time!" Mark's dad said, walking to Donghyuck with a smile on his face.

"We did," Donghyuck replied, walking to the kitchen and setting his bag on the counter.

"I'm glad."

"I'm sorry about just rushing off this morning, Mr. Lee," Donghyuck apologized sincerely.

"Oh, son, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for." He reassured with a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"I'm going to go help Jisung get ready," Donghyuck said, walking towards the stairs.

"Donghyuck!" Dave called out from the kitchen.

"Yes, Mr. Lee?" Donghyuck replied, stopping mid-step.

"Can I ask you something?" The older man said more than asked.

"Anything."

"I may be overstepping here..." He said watching Donghyuck walk to the kitchen entrance.

"You could never," Donghyuck reassured with a smile.

"Is everything alright between you and Mark?"

Donghyuck's smile fell for a split second but he quickly composed himself and shot the older man a small but reassuring smile, "We're great!"

"I'm glad!" Mark's dad said, still unconvinced.

"Why do you ask?" Donghyuck asked out of curiosity.

"Mark just seemed a little...off today."

"It's probably just work," Donghyuck brushed off.

"That's what he said too..."

Donghyuck didn't know what to say or do. The whole day he's been feeling awkward and like he's treading on eggshells even though nothing happened yesterday.

A part of him felt relieved that he wasn't the only one who felt like that, but a bigger part of him knew that this whole act that they were putting on for Mark's family clearly wasn't working.

"I'm..." Donghyuck stuttered before clearing his throat and pointing absently to the stairs, "I promised Jisung I would get ready with him for the reception."

Mark's dad smiled and told him to go and have fun.

Donghyuck bounded up the stairs as fast as he could, not wanting to run into Mark on the way. He practically threw the door of Jisung's room opened and quickly closed it, panting slightly.

"What's wrong?" Jisung asked, looking at the older guy with worry in his eyes.

"Nothing," Donghyuck said quickly. "I'm going to get changed."

"Can you help me do my make up after?" Jisung asked with a grin.

"Of course I will," Donghyuck smiled warmly at the younger.

The two boys got ready together, blasting music and singing and dancing along. Once Donghyuck was finished with his hair and make-up he helped Jisung with his.

"I don't think these earrings will go," Jisung pouted.

"I think I have some that might," Donghyuck said, looking around the room.

"What are you looking for?" Jisung asked.

"My bag."

"You didn't bring it up with you," Jisung told him.

"I think it might be downstairs," Donghyuck said, "I'll be right back."

Donghyuck walked downstairs, looking in the living room first before moving to the kitchen. He found his Michael Jackson backpack lying on the kitchen counter and quickly picked it up.

Donghyuck had been doing a really good job all day of avoiding Mark and he wanted to keep the streak up. He was about to climb the stairs when he heard the front door open.

"Oh." Donghyuck heard behind him and knew that his streak had ended.

Donghyuck turned around and saw Mark.

"Hey." Donghyuck breathed out, feeling the awkwardness settle down in the air around them.

"Hi." Mark replied, clearing his throat, "You umm, you look good."

"Thanks," Donghyuck said, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.

He tucked some hair behind his ear and clutched this bag closer to his body.

"I haven't seen you all day," Mark said, putting his hands in his pockets, trying to make small talk to make this awkwardness between them fade away.

It wasn't working.

"Yeah, um, I was out with Jisung." Donghyuck said, "I haven't seen you either."

"I was just...out."

"Donghyuck! Did you find your-oh." Jisung said, walking out of his room and seeing them at the foot of the stairs.

"I'm coming, Jisung!" Donghyuck said.

"Is that new?" Mark said pointing at the dress shirt that Jisung was wearing.

"Yeah! Donghyuck bought it for me today!" Jisung said excitedly, "Isn't it nice?"

"It is," Mark said, smiling sincerely.

"Come on, Sung-ie," Donghyuck said, walking up the stairs, "I'll finish your make-up."

"No need," Jisung said, grabbing Donghyuck's bag out of his hand, "I can do it."

"Oh but-" Donghyuck started to say but got cut off.

"Oh good, you two are here," Mark's dad said, coming out of his room, "Donghyuck can you and Mark just pop down to the cake shop downtown and drop it off at the reception hall."

"Cake shop?" Mark asked, taken aback, "Aren't the caterers-"

"They're behind schedule so they couldn't," Dave explained, "I need it there in an hour tops."

"I can do it by myself, I don't think that Donghyuck wants to come," Mark said, wanting to avoid an awkward situation in the car.

"YangYang needs Donghyuck's help as well,"

"Fine." Mark said, "I'll take Jisung too."

"I'm not done getting ready," Jisung said from the top of the stairs.

"Mark! We're on a tight schedule here!" His dad said sternly, "Go. Now."

"See you in a bit, Mr. Lee," Donghyuck said politely and exited the house behind Mark.

They entered the car and immediately tension and awkwardness filled the space in between them. For about 5 minutes, the car was pin-drop silent, not even the sound of their breathing could be heard. The radio was off and they were sat in their seats, next to each other not looking or even talking to each other.

"Umm," Mark started softly, breaking the silence, "Jisung's shirt is really nice."

"Yeah he really liked it and he looks amazing in it," Donghyuck said, surprised at Mark's niceness.

"Thank you for that," Mark said, sincerely, "He looks really happy."

"I'm glad!" Donghyuck said, looking at Mark with a smile.

"I'll pay you back for the shirt."

"Why would you do that?" Donghyuck asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Because you bought it for him.." Mark said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I bought it because I wanted to, not because I was forced to," Donghyuck said, "It's my gift to him and I'm not taking money from you."

Mark smiled at Donghyuck and he decided that he was going to do it - He was going to ask Donghyuck about last night and why he ran off the way that he did but Mark was interrupted by the blare of Donghyuck's ringtone

"Hey!" Donghyuck greeted cheerily after looking at the name of the caller.

"Donghyuck!"

"Renjun!"

"I miss you!"

"I miss you too!" Donghyuck replied, oblivious to Mark's jaw clenching, annoyed.

"When are you coming back?" Renjun whined.

"I'll be back tomorrow night and back to work the day after."

Renjun groaned over the phone, "Can't you come back now?!"

"It's only been 3 days, Renjun!" Donghyuck giggled, "Do you miss me that much?"

"No one here cuddles like you! Even Kun can't get it right."

Donghyuck laughed, shaking his head while Mark gripped the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles turned white and he was almost certain he could rip it right off.

Something about Donghyuck and Renjun's relationship wasn't sitting well with him. He hated how Donghyuck was so open and like a different person when he was with Renjun versus when he was with Mark.

There was a connection between Renjun and Donghyuck that Mark knew he might never get to experience with Donghyuck and it was killing him for reasons that he didn't know himself.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon," Donghyuck laughed and hung the phone up.

Mark didn't get to catch the last couple of sentences and a part of him was glad that he didn't.

The awkwardness and tension returned, more suffocating than before.

"So that was Renjun, huh," Mark said, finally breaking the silence.

"Uhh yeah," Donghyuck replied, slightly caught off guard by the sudden conversation, "He just wanted to know when I was coming back to work."

"He sure sounds like he misses you," Mark said, voice full of venom.

"He's a really good friend," Donghyuck said, feeling like he had something to explain.

"Some people might think differently."

"What are you trying to say, Mark?!" Donghyuck snapped.

"Nothing."

"No you clearly have something to say, so say it!"

"Had that call come when you were in the house we would've been caught." Mark spat, "Keep the flirting with your boyfriend to a minimum until we're back."

Donghyuck scoffed, "Unlike you, Renjun is my friend."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Mark said, glancing at Donghyuck before looking back at the road.

"That he doesn't have ulterior motives with every girl or guy that he talks to!" Donghyuck spat, folding his hands over his chest and leaning back into the seat, wanting nothing more than to leave the car.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Donghyuck simply scoffed, "As if you don't know."

"No, I don't." Mark said, "But you obviously know everything."

"It means that you live up to your infamous reputation of being a womanizer and a playboy."

"I'm not a womanizer." Mark spat.

"The whole reason you were chosen as the other half of this fake couple shit is because of your reputation!" Donghyuck told Mark, his voice rising.

"You don't know anything!"

"If Jisung started dating a boy exactly like you, would you accept his boyfriend?" Donghyuck asked.

Mark kept quiet, not knowing what to say.

"I thought so," Donghyuck said, scoffing, and then added, "Womanizer."

"Is this about yesterday?" Mark asked.

"Yesterday was a mistake." Donghyuck spat, "And I should say thank you to whoever the hell called you."

Mark had to remind himself that Donghyuck didn't know the history behind why he is the way that he is. He had to remind himself that Donghyuck didn't know who called or why he didn't take it.

Donghyuck didn't know anything about him other than what he saw on the surface.

"Nothing happened yesterday," was all Mark said.

"Nothing is going to happen either." Donghyuck spat with venom coating his every syllable. "Ever!"

Mark scoffed, "As if I want something to happen."

"I wasn't the one begging for a kiss."

"Neither was I!" Mark spat.

"Your exact words were 'I want to kiss you.' How is that not begging, Mark?!" Donghyuck scoffed.

"You wanted it too!" Mark bit back, "You told me and I quote, 'Do it then.'"

"Whatever," Donghyuck said, rolling his eyes.

"We're not done with this conversation," Mark said, parking the car in front of the bakery.

"We're more than done with this conversation." Donghyuck spat.

Not Edited

Friday, September 20, 2019

Don't worry I'm publishing the next chapter today as well...

Song of the day:

"RPM" by SF9