"Ah-choo!"

"Why did you even have to stay under the rain?" Mark nagged as he fixed the jacket that he let the younger borrow.

Donghyuck gave him a sheepish smile, "I had to do it for the plot."

Mark was genuinely worried for him but he can't help but chuckle at his humor. "But seriously, don't do it again, Sunshine. You'll catch a cold."

"You were also drenched under the rain with me!" Donghyuck stated, sulking and puffing his cheeks. "I'm the one wearing your jacket, so, you're more likely to get a fever."

He had a point. Mark only had one jacket that he stored inside his locker and he decided to let Donghyuck use it and keep him warm. In all honesty, the cold weather was freezing Mark to death, but somehow his insides were warm at the fact that he and Donghyuck were holding hands while strolling down the sidewalk.

After the moment they had under the rain, the both of them went back inside their building and waited for almost an hour for the downpour to stop. They barged to one of the vacant rooms and dried themselves up while waiting. The two were too tired to talk much. They just sat next to each other and watched the rain outside to pass by time. The room was quiet, but comfortable for them. It was till then, when Donghyuck dozed off to sleep, that the rain had stopped. Mark purposely didn't wake him up and patiently sat there until the two of them were ready to go home.

"Plus, I had no idea it was going to rain." Donghyuck told him. "I remember it was around after lunch when I broke up with Lucas. We were at the field, on a sunny day, Mark Lee."

Mark raised a brow, taken aback by how the younger emphasized the weather that day. "And what does that have to do with me?"

"You came running towards me at the field bringing an umbrella on a sunny day!"

Oh, he was just pointing out how ironic it is that he didn't have one right now when it's raining. Mark shrugged his shoulders, looking for an alibi. "Got to prevent skin cancer."

"You're unbelievable." Donghyuck laughed, nudging him playfully.

Mark also let out a chuckle. The two were once again walking in silence before Mark had to break it not moments after, "When were you supposed to break up with him?"

"Today, lunch break." Donghyuck quickly answered. However, he hesitated to explain.

It took Mark a few seconds to have it processed inside his head. "So, you delayed it?"

"I told you, I did think about it." Stopping his tracks, Donghyuck lets go of the male's hand. "I wanted to know what it'll be like to have a future without you."

Those words felt like nothing before. Mark could easily say that without feeling any remorse or guilt. Those were the kind of phrases that the two of them would often exchange whenever they get into an argument or fight over something (big or small). That statement was once just mere words to him.

But now, it affected him in ways that Mark can't imagine. For a moment, he felt his world fall apart. "What... What changed your mind?"

It's a simple answer, but it was Donghyuck's reason for everything. "Our son."

Somehow, that made Mark get lost in his thoughts.

"I said to myself, at that moment, it didn't matter to me if we're going to spend our future together again and we're going back to our usual routine of quarreling and arguing." Desperation was visible in his tone while his voice cracked. Donghyuck couldn't help but sob. "I just want to see our son again, I want to be with Chan."

That meant equally for Mark. He's also guilty for his thoughts earlier upon appearing in this imeline. He was so consumed being on bad terms with his husband that deep inside he also wanted to change something.

"We can file for divorce." That was supposed to be just wit, but Donghyuck had a pinch of bitterness in his voice.

"Donghyuck."

"And we can just talk about our schedules for seeing him. I can opt for Monday to Thursday since I have time to bring him to school, and you can go for Friday to Sunday." Donghyuck continued.

"Love," Mark raised authority in order to stop him from speaking. "We are not getting a divorce."

Seeing that he had tears flowing down from his eyes, Mark quickly grabbed him and pulled him to a tight embrace. He caressed the male's back and patted his head softly to calm him down from crying. He let Donghyuck sob on his shoulder, continuing to comfort him in silence.

"Mark, I'm sorry." Donghyuck felt like he never did change. He still had the trait to detach himself from everyone if he finds himself a burden.

"Hush, now. I know and I understand." Mark told him. "But you didn't have to take the blame in separating yourself from Lucas."

This was what Donghyuck hesitated to talk about. However, being in his lover's arms made him want to let everything out. "I had to. I didn't want to hurt him like I badly did before."

Mark was pushed away gently by the latter. He lifted his hand up and wiped the tears that trickled down the male's eyes. His silence gave Donghyuck a chance to talk and explain.

"Mark, you have no idea what went on inside my head back then." The younger one said, "I want him to get mad at me for that, I want him to be the one who wants to end things for us. Lucas deserved better than to tolerate me."

It melted Mark's heart to see him lean to his hand for comfort, getting this chance to caress his plum cheeks.

"Funny, because you had no idea," Donghyuck gave him a smile of adoration. "But you treated me perfectly well. You're the only one who knows how to handle me."

That didn't mean Mark deserved less for being in that situation. Well, at least that's what Mark thought. It didn't cross his mind that he deserved less just because he's the one who tolerated him. Mark genuinely wanted to take care of him, he wanted to be with him, and he loved Donghyuck, that's why he stayed with him. He felt like he deserves Donghyuck just as much as the latter did.

They were each other's missing puzzle piece, that's how Mark saw it.

"Thank you, Mark." It was only this time that Donghyuck got to reflect. "For loving me."

"And I'll do it all over again even if the world is against us." Mark told him.

Him being cheesy is going to be Donghyuck's death. His insides were going crazy, it's like the whole zoo is inside there. He had to cover it up with his humor, "Love, the only ones that are against us is ourselves. We're the ones who always had disagreements."

Snapping back to his senses, Mark stuttered to find a clapback to that, "Well... That's because you mixed sugar and salt that one time I decided to make breakfast for us!"

That earned a gasp coming from Donghyuck. "That was just an honest mistake! The eggs aren't even edible since you burned them! You could have called me for help, damn."

"I wanted to be romantic for once." Pouting his lips, Mark looked away in embarrassment. "You always wake up early for us, I wanted to do the same."

"Hey, you're the one working between us." Donghyuck took a step near to fix the older's collar and drenched uniform. "It's fair and equal if I'm the one worrying about taking care of you and Chan."

The two of them stared at each other with a longing smile, reminiscing the memories they had. Thinking about it, even when there were bad times, there were also good memories of them. Maybe it was really just a stage or a phase in marriage that the both of them got tired and were at their peak.

"Donghyuck? Lee Donghyuck!"

Their moment was ruined by a male who got out of the house that they coincidentally stopped for a talk. Without a thought being processed, Donghyuck was pulled apart from Mark and he had his face cupped aggressively by this guy's hands.

"Jae... Jaemin, calm down." That was all he could muster to say.

"Calm down?! It's nine, you got home late, and you're telling me to calm down?!" Jaemin's eyes frantically scanned his friend's face only to get more worried. "Why are your eyes red?"

"Ah... I was just..." Donghyuck whined as he couldn't think of a way out.

"You!" Jaemin removed a slipper that he's wearing and had it pointed to the guy that his friend came home with.

With Mark raising his arms up as if he was caught in act, Donghyuck rushed to his aggressive friend to stop him. "Jaemin, No!"

"You made Donghyuck cry!" Jaemin was too stubborn to hear an explanation first. "Why did you hurt him, huh?!"

To make matters worse, another person came running out of the house with his dolphin printed pajama and a fork in his mouth, indicating that he had just eaten. Donghyuck's other housemate took heavy steps towards them and used the fork as his threat.

"I don't care if you're Jisung's best buddy." The Chinese said, putting his serious expression on. He just joined in the mess without even knowing the context. "I know fencing."

"Jaemin, Chenle!" Donghyuck wouldn't be surprised if neighbors are going to come out of their houses and see this shit unfold. They were being loud.

"Why are you defending him? He made you cry!" Jaemin jumped to conclusions.

Meanwhile, Chenle had no idea what was going on. "Donghyuck cried? Oh, it's on!"

Donghyuck snatched his friend's fork before he accidentally hurt someone with it. "Go back inside, I'll explain everything to you."

"Are you sure you don't want us here in case..." Chenle trailed off from his sentence when he saw the latter giving him a glare.

"Inside." Donghyuck repeated. "Jaemin, wear your slipper."

As if a parent had scolded them, the two friends obliged and were forced to take small steps back inside the house. Well, not failing to give Mark threatening looks and gestures. The guest just stared at them with an awkward smile and was hesitant, but did so nonetheless, to wave his hand at the two to at least greet them for the night.

As soon as they were out of sight, but Donghyuck knew they were peeking behind those curtains, he let out a stressful sigh upon seeing the fork he held in his hand.

A laugh came out of Mark's mouth, easing the tension between them. "Still protective as ever."

"I hope you believe me now when I say they're the ones who decorated the house with a 'Welcome home, Cheater' banner that one time you had a one-week business trip." As absurd as it sounds, it really did happen even when he explained to his friends that no such scandal had happened.

Mark remembered it all too well, and it was all because of Jeno who faked a female's voice behind the camera while having a video call with Donghyuck and his friends.

"I guess... I'll get going now?" Donghyuck gave him a smile while awkwardly waving the fork he was holding. "Take care, Mark."

Nodding his head, Mark gestured that he would wait for him to get inside the house before he would leave. With Donghyuck taking small steps away, they had time to steal glances towards each other. It made Mark laugh at how cute he could be.

"Sunshine," Mark called out, making the person stop by the door. "Good night."

Donghyuck had this warm feeling inside that he couldn't explain. "Get home safely, Love."
Nonetheless, he loved the feeling.

However, as soon as Mark was about to walk away the moment he saw the younger one get inside the house, guilt immediately slapped him in the face upon remembering someone he gave a promise to.

Ko Eun.

— to be continued