"Shhh..." Donghyuck placed his index finger on his lips, telling his son not to make a noise. "Don't wake him up."

The boy followed the same gesture despite not knowing why they had to keep quiet. "Why, Papa?"

🕙

"Donghyuck!" Jaemin barged inside the room looking upset. "Can you believe it?!"

Mark fluttered his eyes open when he heard a ruckus. Weekend came and despite his packed schedule with the council, he managed to excuse himself and put a halt in the activities he was part of. Fortunately, the student organization understood his situation and let him rest from his busy tasks.

Rather than actually resting at home, the first thing Mark did when he woke up was prepare to visit the hospital again. He made sure to stop by some stalls to buy fruits for his husband's parents, which he met this morning. They talked for a while before asking Mark a favor to watch over Donghyuck for the meantime as they would finish setting up the papers and documents for the hospital bills.

Without a second thought, Mark stayed, holding his lover's hand as he caught up with sleep.

Only for him to wake up an hour after because of Jaemin's loud voice.

"Jaemin, you're being too dramatic." Renjun said, walking beside him and mumbling an apology at the person who's sitting beside Donghyuck.

"Hey, Mark was sleeping." Jeno felt equally guilty when he saw his friend who's sleep-deprived.

Not wanting to ruin the mood, Mark forced his lips to curve up to a smile. "What happened?"

"Jeno said he likes me!" Jaemin exclaimed, looking at his friend on the bed for a reaction.

"Oh..." Mark forgot for a moment that this was a new occurrence to them. He cleared his throat and reacted the way he should have. "Ohh!"

Jeno clicked his tongue as he gave the loud male a look. "Why is it a big deal to you?"

"Why should it not be a big deal?" Jaemin argued back at him.

Renjun got comfortable next to Jeno as they sat down to talk, facing the other male with a puzzled expression. "Jaemin, shouldn't you be glad that Jeno has feelings for you? Don't you like him?"

"Yeah... But he likes you!" Jaemin gulped down the confession he was about to make impulsively towards the Chinese transfer student.

"I do like Renjun." Jeno admitted.

Pointing a finger at him, Jaemin gave his friend on the bed a look of disbelief. "Donghyuck, are you seeing this shit—"

"And you too." Jeno cuts him off.

As much as Mark wanted to get irritated that his nap was disturbed, he was also somehow intrigued at the three.

They may not show it a lot, but whenever both him and Donghyuck would find time, they'd often talk about their friends' relationship. These three are always what their curiosity is about. The couple's intention is not to backstab their friends. Mark would just be reading his daily newspaper in the living room on a Sunday morning and Donghyuck would sit next to him with a literal tea in hand. They'd just talk about it and wonder how their friends' relationship worked out in the end.

This situation was exactly what Mark wanted to see. "Congrats?"

But was Jeno the one who had to admit it first? Mark expected that Jaemin would be the one to initiate their relationship and let the two realize about it.

Nonetheless, this was one way to keep him distracted from stressing out with his own situation.

"I don't get it!" Jaemin uttered, having his hands on his head as this was making him go inside.

"Hey, I'm not pressuring you to understand it immediately." Jeno gently tapped the thigh of the person next to him, asking permission to stand up to compose the confused male.

Renjun gave the two a smile. "We can go through it together and see how it works."

Jeno held on to Jaemin's hand and brought him to sit in between him and Renjun. "Let's experience these confusing feelings together."

Mark didn't mean to ruin their sweet moment, but hearing his friend say something greasy made him give out a reaction. "Umm... Is Lee Jeno still here with us? Who are you?"

The said male pulled out a middle finger, being offended by what he said. "Fuck you, Mark."

Both Jaemin and Renjun giggled at their interaction. It's been a while since they had seen the two get into a friendly brawl. It somehow relieved them to know that the situation is getting better as days passed by.

Just when Mark thought of a rebuttal, he wasn't able to say a single word when the door was once more slammed open. Another person that's part of their circle had the same entrance as Jaemin did.

"Donghyuck, holy shit!" Chenle scoffed aggressively as he got inside, placing his hands on his hips. "Can you believe it?!"

Jisung rushed in a few seconds after, looking like he had been chasing this person. He panted as he placed his hands on his knees to balance himself up. "Le... Fuck. You didn't even... Wait for me!"

Chenle rolled his eyes at him, not feeling even a slight bit of remorse that he had to let him take the stairs in coming up to this floor. As petty as he is, Chenle took the elevator and made sure it would stay closed on every floor he would pass.

Donghyuck's friends are quite dramatic for some reason.

Mark can't help but smile. Even if he was tired, he couldn't seem to get bored whenever Donghyuck's friends would come to the picture. "Why? What happened to you two?"

Chenle immediately pointed an accusing finger at Jisung who's still catching his breath. "Donghyuck, are you seeing this?! He stole a kiss from me!"

🕙

"Mark?"

Piling up the papers that were their plans for other up-coming events, Mark organized it at one corner of the table before looking up to see who came to pay him a visit inside the council room.

He then greeted her with a small smile. "Oh! Hey, Ko Eun."

Mark didn't plan on stopping by at the campus, but since he felt bad that he wasn't able to contribute anything for today's meeting, he decided to visit even just for a while after Donghyuck's parents were able to settle the papers at the hospital. He only excused himself for a short time, reassuring them that he'd be back before the sun sets. He was able to let the council members know that he'll be stopping by to help finalize the plans before they'll have it checked to the boards of the school.

"I was about to run through the graphs and tables for the plans." Ko Eun told him, helping out in organizing the documents. "I just went out to buy some snacks."

Mark couldn't be more grateful for having her as a friend.

Ko Eun actually insisted on filling his spot in the council for the time being, being aware and understanding the situation he was in. That was also one of the reasons why Mark was excused in every activity and tasks lately, Ko Eun was the one catching all of the responsibilities.

"I won't stay too long." Mark told her, checking his watch before scanning through the papers. "I'll have dinner with Donghyuck's parents after this."

Hearing a certain name caught Ko Eun's attention. She didn't want to sound nosy, but she was also genuinely concerned. "Mark, how is he?"

Ko Eun immediately felt guilty for asking that when he noticed him stopping from reading the papers he had in hand.

"I'm... I'm sorry." She stuttered with her words. She didn't mean to make him remember the pain he wanted to forget, she just worried about Donnhyuck's state. "Well, uhh... We have this conflict with the schedule regarding—"

"He's still... Sleeping." It took him courage to say that.

She saw how hard he was trying to hold himself back from breaking down there and then. Ko Eun quickly changed the topic to ease the tension. "Mark, there's this guy who keeps on bothering me during class."

As if she knew it would get his attention, Mark raised a brow at her to show his curiosity. "A guy?"

She nodded her head. "Remember that transfer student who took my book from you at the library? The same guy who picked me up during that rainy day, and accompanied me throughout Sports Fest."

It put a smile on Mark's lips, seeing how comfortable it was for her to open up to him about it. "Tell me about it."

"Oh, I'll definitely tell you about it." Getting a handful of folders to scan through, Ko Eun took a seat as she began to share her story. "I'll start it off with him giving me his number."

The monitor for Donghyuck's cardiac pulse echoed inside the quiet and empty room. A nurse came inside for her round to check the patient's vital signs and the patient's current condition.

Mark waited outside after finishing his meal with his husband's parents. With them watching over Donghyuck the whole afternoon while Mark was away, they asked him to stay a bit longer at the hospital as they went back to the hotel that Chenle insisted to pay. They won't take long as they would only manage their personal hygiene routine. Mark didn't need to ask more from them because even if there would be no reasons left, he'd still stay here and wait for Donghyuck to wake up.

Watching him from the glass panel made Mark realize how numb he got from the pain he's going through right now.

There was nothing he could do but hope.

"Thank you. I'll report the assessment to his doctor." The nurse came out of the room, gesturing her hands for Mark to get inside.

He did so, taking heavy steps towards the seat next to the bed. Minutes of silence went by. Mark had his longing eyes glued to his lover's state.

"Love?" Mark held his hand, the only warmth he could feel from him.

The only response he got was the beeps from Donghyuck's heart monitor.

"Jaemin and Chenle sure are a handful, huh?" Not letting the situation get the best of him, Mark began to talk like he's just there listening to how his day went. "Jeno confessed to Jaemin today, and Jisung stole a kiss from Chenle."

Even if the chaos happened in this very room, Mark wanted to make Donghyuck feel included even if he is currently unconscious.

"If my friends break your friends' hearts, I'll take full responsibility for it." Mark told him, letting out a soft chuckle afterwards. "Sure, I'll also take responsibility if Renjun breaks Jaemin's heart too."

Mark rubbed circles onto his lover's hand, leaning forward to get a good look of his husband's lifeless beauty.

"So you should wake up, hmm?" He mumbled, slowly getting emotional in seeing Donghyuck's condition getting worse. "You still have to smack my head. You still have to scold me."

"Love! Why are the eggs burnt?!"

"What do you mean you made Chan cry by saying that Jiro doesn't want to see him?!"

"Mark Lee, wake up! You're late for work!"

"Take care of yourself, Love."

"Mark, I love you."

Donghyuck's voice echoed inside his head, their memories together being replayed over and over again.

"Wake up." Mark lowered his head, feeling empty in the situation he is in. "I still want to say I love you."

🕙

"Daddy, Daddy!" Chan let out his loudest scream. His sharp shriek bounced at every corner of their house.

— to be continued