Weeks has past by, nothing new, nothing exciting for the both of them. Except for a fact that Donghyuck had been secretly going on multiple dates with multiple different guys from his university. None were eye candy to him, but he didn't want first impressions to be the final, so he kept in contact with one latter.

Mark on the other hand was adapting to the city rather quickly than expected. He enrolled in a top university, majoring in education. Early walks to classes were relaxing for him. No one to bother him, though he felt lonely. He made a couple of friends from his class, short conversation and a few cracks of jokes was just enough to keep him company. Though they aren't exact close friends, but he definitely felt that they would stick around long enough with him. And he was grateful for that.

---
Donghyuck hands were locked in with an older 24 years old colleague who was training to become a professional soccer player. Donghyuck felt warm under the embrace of the sunset lightly kissing his face as they walked home after a long day of studying.

"This is nice", Donghyuck said breaking their comfortable silence.

"Yeah, it surely is", the latter named Jaeno replied with a soft grin as he looked over his firm shoulder.

Donghyuck has a thing for men who plays sport, himself included. He played soccer with the team a couple of times in his breaks and that was how he met Jaeno. The two had been low key on this "relationship" because Donghyuck doesn't want his mother to find out about his affair with an older male as she is against his beliefs and gender identification crisis.

"Yeah...", he mumbled softly because he started to feel little butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

They stopped around the block which was located near the same convenient store where he met the foreigner, to avoid the consequences if his mother caught him doing the wrongs.

"Alright, it's time for me to go. See you tomorrow", he broke off their attachment but was only to be pulled back by the latter, placing a soft kiss on the back of his hand.

His face says that he is overwhelmed with happiness but his heart was somehow not responding the same way. Now here's the thing, Donghyuck's smile is so contagious that it can fool people into what he's thinking or what his true emotions are. His smile is almost manipulative, and he is aware of that. He didn't want to lead the latter on but he can't deny that it feels nice to be loved by another, romantically.

They both waved their goodbyes and shared little smiles to another, then parted in the opposite direction for home.

Donghyuck walked in silence with his hands in his pocket fiddling with his house keys. The sound of rattling keys clicking against each other was enough to attract a dog that was coming from behind. The white and brown corgi was dashing towards his feet which caused him to trip over his own foot. He crouched down and patted the corgi gently, ruffling its chin and squishing its face in awe.

A shadow was then being replaced by the evening sunset on his back. With that instinct, he turned around and found the owner of the dog panting lightly with his chest rising then falling repeatedly. The owner was indeed familiar, but instead of being dressed in his comfortable slouchy attire, he wore a white fitted t-shirt that showed his well built, lean body with basketball shorts.

"Sorry about that, he was just running arou-, oh hey...", the male sounded apologetic but was quickly surprised.

The younger looked up at him then slowly stood on his feet until they were eye levelled.

"Hey", he replied without blinking, staring at the older as if he was unreal.

"Haven't seen you around lately. No more late night snacks?"

"No", was the only thing that came out of his mouth. He was left speechless, not knowing how to lead this conversation as he was still stunned by the older's presence.

"Umm... are you also walking home? We could walk together", Mark said attempting to build a new friendship.

They started their walk slowly, following that same route that was very familiar for the both of them. In fact, Mark's dog was leading the way with his tail swaying from side to side and its paws are padding against the concrete, which created a smirk on Donghyuck's lips.

"Your dog is cute, what's its name?", Donghyuck asked swifting his gaze from the dog to Mark's eyes.

"Tofu"

"Tofu?", he giggled and Mark thought that was the most melodic sound ever. "Why did you name your dog after food?", he laughed but then realised his question came out unintentionally inappropriate.

"Because he's so cute and squishy!", Mark pouted but quickly turned into a small grin. Donghyuck was amazed at how this man managed to look so adorable despite his plain image.

"Wow", he whispered under his breath and turned his head towards the pathway to hide his flushed cheeks. He wasn't sure why he was feeling this way, nor was he aware of what was happening.

"What about you? What's your name?", Mark broke the awkward silence.

"Dong- Ah- Haechan. It's Haechan"

"Mark"

"Mark? Sounds so foreign"

Mark laughed at the younger boy's confused expression.

"Ah right, there's lots that you don't know about me"

Or does he?

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A/n: lmao idk why I decided to make the guy's name Jaeno 😂