please stay for just a little while longer

when mark gets up to make himself breakfast, the boy is still there on his couch. maple is still curled up on his chest. 

"they haven't moved at all," mark mumbles to himself, furrowing his eyebrows as he grabs some cereal from the cupboard. he pauses for a moment, surveying the scene before him. the boy, whose name he still hasn't learned, is peacefully sleeping. mark thinks he kind of looks angelic like this, especially since the makeup he was apparently wearing has disappeared.

mark looks away from the boy's face, furrowing his eyebrows and pouring his cereal into the bowl. the bag crackles, and suddenly, the boy shoots up with a strangled yelp, causing maple to bark and jump off of his chest. mark stares at him.

"where am i?!" the boy asks frantically, eyes snapping from mark to the door in a panic. "who are you? what time is it?! oh, god, jaemin's so gonna kill me."

"calm down," mark says, laughing at the boy's overreaction. it must be warranted, though. "you're in my house. i'm mark lee, and it's, like, ten in the morning. you passed out on the sidewalk, and i didn't want to leave you out in the cold, so i brought you inside."

the boy sighs in relief. "you didn't, like... do anything to me, did you?"

"no!" mark shakes his head quickly, dismissing even the thought of taking advantage of the boy. "i would never."

"you never know. there are too many creeps in this town. anyways, i should probably, uh, thank you for taking me in last night. i'm lee donghyuck. i've never heard a name like yours here before... are you foreign?"

"you asked me that last night," mark grins. "yeah, i'm from canada. my korean name is minhyung."

"how old are you, mark? do you go to school or anything?" donghyuck asks.

"i'm twenty-two. i go to the local college, and i'm studying to become a producer. what about you?"

"twenty-one. same university as you. i'm a dancer, but i work at the library for the time being." donghyuck pauses and looks around. "erm, i should probably, uh, go. thank you for everything, though!"

he stands and walks towards the door, combing his hands through his hair haphazardly. 

"wait!" 

donghyuck freezes and turns to look at mark curiously. 

blanking, mark rubs the back of his neck. "uh, i forgot what i was gonna say. sorry."

donghyuck laughs. it's soft and melodic, and when it ends and the corners of his mouth turn up, mark nearly melts. he's has only known donghyuck for a few minutes, but he really, really wants to kiss him right now.

"you're really cute, mark. can i get your number?"

mark's eyes go wide.

"or do you even swing that way?" donghyuck adds in, hesitating. he shakes his head. "never mind. sorry."

"no, no, wait, i totally swing that way! here, give me your phone. i'll put in my number."

donghyuck raises an eyebrow and crosses the room, handing his phone to mark. as mark busies himself with creating his contact in donghyuck's phone, the boy kneels down onto the ground so that he's eye level with maple, who greets him happily. her tail wags, and he coos.

"what's her name?" donghyuck asks. mark finishes typing in his name and goes to type in his number, pausing to look up at donghyuck.

"maple. she's the world's biggest baby," mark replies, handing donghyuck's phone back to him.

"thanks," donghyuck grins. he stands, scratching maple's ears before turning to leave. he opens the door. "see you, mark lee. i'll text you soon."

the door closes loudly, and mark is left standing in his kitchen, dumbfounded. he pulls out his phone and calls yukhei. the boy picks up on the third ring.

"mark? it's too early for this," yukhei whines. his voice is hoarse and gravelly. clearly, mark has just woken him up.

"hey, xuxi?" mark says, letting out a small, breathy chuckle. "you're gonna kill me."

"what did you do this time?" yukhei groans. mark can almost see him rolling his eyes.  

biting his lip, mark sighs into the phone, "i think i'm ready for a rebound."

  ― 

xodaniel