SOLACE.
to seek comfort or consolation in times of distress

.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。

IT WAS SIX PM FLAT.

Donghyuck woke up from his small slumber with half-lidded eyes and messily ruffled hair. Tugging the bedsheets away from his body, he walks out of the bedroom, through the hallways and down the stairs, heading to the living room.

Surely Mark was already there, he thought.

Excited to see the brunette again, he runs down eagerly,

only to be met with four sulking boys huddled on the furry carpet. They turned to Donghyuck, lips curved into an upset frown, features looking dull and pale. Their eyes were lifeless; holding no emotion but those of fear and distraught. For all he knew, things didn't look quite good.

But Donghyuck thought positively, retaining his bright smile and cheerful demeanor, yet the glint of worry in his irises failed to keep its happy facade. Nonetheless he spoke, in a rather upbeat tone.

"Hyung!" the boy spoke in his—false—cheerful tone. He sported a toothy smile, one evidently forced as well. "Have you see Mark-hyung? They're at the kitchen right!"

Donghyuck ran up to the gloomy boys situated around the living room, his bright smile contrasting with their faces, the glint of worry evident in their orbs.

        He sat beside Jeno, who refused to meet Donghyuck's gaze, because he felt ineffably guilty to utter a word, knowing that whatever truth he had to disclose would cause his heart to clench.

        But Donghyuck's expression was pleading, and knowing that it would hurt more to lie, Jeno pursed his lips, and quietly whispered:

        "N-no, Hyuck. They're not here yet."

At that moment, Donghyuck felt his heart thudding in his chest rapidly. A mix of emotions hit him hard—pain, anguish, worry, fear, and just pure sadness.

"W-Why not?", he muttered, stammering. Jeno just shrugged, not knowing why they're taking so long either. The younger sat with the group, already sweating abnormally. His heart starts pulsating and his breathing becomes heavier and more shallow. The boys look at him, shocked and concerned.

"H-Hyuck?", Jeno muttered softly, facing the latter. Right after taking his hand in his—

Donghyuck collapses on the floor.

His body made a loud thud as it hit the wooden panels. His chest heaved up and down in a rapid pace, each breath loud and clear, showing difficulty in breathing.

His eyes close shut, sweat trickling down his face.

His limbs start trembling uncontrollably while his body lunges upwards. His lips turn dry and cheeks fade into paleness, his pinkish-blonde locks following the motion of the intense shaking of his body.

Everything was happening at once, too fast.

"Hyung!", Jisung screamed as they gather around him, eyes widened with fear, shock, worry, and concern.

"Call Mark hyung and Renjun!", Jeno shot up, signalling Jaemin to contact him. He quickly grabbed his phone and dials Mark, hoping that cell signal has returned. Jaemin sighed in relief as Mark's phone started ringing.

╚═ °• ♔ •° ═╗

        The two boys stared into the distance from the windows of the seven-eleven, hoping that the flood would reside, at least a little bit. They've been dying of boredom the last few hours. They fiddled with their fingers, talked about random thingd, and tried their best to get out of there—only if the stormed would've died down.

        While staring at the rain droplets running across the window pane, a sudden noise rang through their eardrums, taking the two by surprise.

Mark's phone was ringing, and instinctively, he pulls out his waterproof bag and digs into its contents, with eyes lit up once he was able to retrieve his phone.

Renjun looks at Mark in worry as the older furrows his brows at the caller's ID.

Jaemin?

Why would Jaemin call at this time?

Is there something wrong?

"Hello?"

Mark said through the phone and patiently waited for a reply.

        "Hyung! H-Hyung! C-Come right here! N-Now!"

Jaemin spat through the phone, in which Mark and Renjun was immediately alarmed at.

"O-Okay, okay, we'll be t-there!", Mark mustered up all his might and managed to squeak out a few words. He ended the call and stuffed it back in his pouch.

"Renjun, we have to go!", Mark said, in which Renjun responded by mouthing a "yes". His throat was too dry to even muster a whisper, due to all the fear bottled up inside him. Nevertheless, they ran through the door, pushed it quickly and rummaged into the water as fast as they could.

        The plastic bags of food and water hung tightly around their wrists, making faint red marks, but at that point nothing was more important than the matter happening at the house. They didn't care whether the dirty water splashed on their faces or if the disgusting stench of the flood stuffed their nostrils.

The boys counted on them, and they didn't want to disappoint.

Luckily, the water level went down a little bit, at around stomach level, so it wasn't as hard to scamper through the streets. However, that didn't mean that it was easy. It felt like walking in the pool—everything was in slow motion. Aside from their hearts, which were racing at an incredibly fast pace.

Needless to say, they were worried as fuck.

╚═ °• ♔ •° ═╗

"—Fuck," Jeno sucked in a breath, biting his lips at the horrifying scene. Tears streamed down Donghyuck's puffy eyes, running down his cheeks, and onto his neck, and onto Chenle, who was trying to calm him down. He hugged the older tightly, but he only got kicked everywhere with his shaking limbs.

"I-It's not working," Chenle whispered, caressing the boy's arm in hopes of calming him down. Unfortunately, that didn't work.

Donghyuck's sniffles grew louder and louder and more hiccups escaped his lips. More tears formed on his eyelids as they trickle down his skin. His breathing was growing shallower and shallower and the boys couldn't do anything more to help.

"Guys!"

Their eyes shot up to the front door as Mark and Renjun barged into the scene, dropping the plastic bags at once, stripping from their raincoats and stepping out of their rubber boots.

"Hyung!", Jaemin shouted with big eyes, filled with relief as Mark and Renjun were safe, but also overflowing with grief considering the dreadful situation.

"What happened?", Mark speaks assertively, approaching the group.

His heart stops beating as he sees Donghyuck—trembling, breathing heavily, tears streaming down his cheeks.

His mouth opens ajar, falling immediately on his knees and goes closer to Hyuck, removing his wet sweater and tossing it aside.

Mark feels a lump form in his throat as he takes Donghyuck in his arms, tracing slow circles on his back.

"Shh... It's okay, Hyuck. Everything's fine now. Calm down..."

He whispers softly in the latter's ear, humming soft tunes and wrapping his arms around his waist.

Mark scoots closer to the younger, sharing his warmth in an embrace.

He hugs the shaking boy tighter, rubbing his head and his back, the latter's nose grazing the crook of Mark's neck.

And at this point, the boys are overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed at the fact that Hyuck stops shaking violently, degrading to only small shivers.

"Woah," Jeno watched in awe as Mark calms Donghyuck.

"I'll take him to my room," the older announced quietly, carrying the latter bridal-like to their bedroom.

He walks up the stairs and into the room, gently placing the younger under the sheets as Mark gets inside as well.

He wraps one arm around Hyuck, as one hand caresses his tear-stained cheek. He presses his body against the boy, closing the gap between them.

Mark slowly leans in closely and places an innocent peck on Donghyuck's cheeks, his lips pressing against his soft skin and pulling away with a faint smile.

Immediately, Hyuck's eyes flutter open, pupils glistening in the dark room. His brown orbs sparkle at the older's as his heart races at the innocent sight.

He meticulously examines his features, from his glittery little eyes and his soft pink lips.

He was perfect, Mark thought over and over again.

        The younger's lips curve into a small smile as he gets lost in Mark's pupils, until he took a deep breath and whispered softly.

"Thank you."

Mark's heart aches at the pitiful boy, pressing his thumb on the latter's cheeks.

"No need to thank me," he said softly.

"By the way... what happened?".

Donghyuck took another deep breath, clearing his throat a bit.

        "Y-You guys weren't back yet, a-and I got a-a little scared, s-so, I guess I had an-nother seizure," he stuttered nervously, feeling his heart pounding.

"Y-You had s-seizures?" Mark asked innocently.

The boy simply nodded, a small frown on his lips.

"Why are you frowning at me like that?" Mark spoke teasingly, pinching his cheeks. "Shut the fuck up." Hyuck protested, pouting.

"Oi, you're so cute," Mark whispered softly with a toothy smile. Both their hearts beat fastly in-sync, Donghyuck's cheeks tinted with red.

"F-Fuck you, stop p-playing with m-my heart!" Hyuck said, tumbling in his words.

"Hm?", Mark teasingly said. "I am not!"

The older fires back with another smirk, wiggling his brows at him with strings of giggles escaping his lips.

And just as Hyuck was recovering from that heart-racing moment, the older inches closer to the younger, and in the close proximity, he presses his lips against his forehead, leaving the boy flustered as hell.

"Hyuckie, you better get some rest," Mark whispers softly and wraps his arms around Donghyuck, tightening his grip.

"Hyung...", the younger fumbled.

Mark raised a brow.

"Yeah?"

The younger's heart increases its speed as he musters up the every ounce of strength in him and his adrenaline racing. Finally, he takes a deep
breath—

"C-Can I, um, g-give you small p-pecks like w-what you do to m-me?",

He stammers nervously, biting his lip.

Mark grins at the boy's request, his heart beating ten times faster.

The feeling comes back again—

the tingly feeling he feels when he's around Donghyuck. A fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach. The way his cheeks turn a bright shade of red. The way his heart races with him. He wonders why Hyuck has such an effect in him.

With flushed cheeks, Mark gulps painfully, gathering up all his might.

"Sure," he whispers back with a soft smile.

The younger gave him an innocent grin, and with that, Donghyuck slowly leans in, placing his soft lips on the latter's cheek, giving him a hearty smile afterwards.

What is this feeling?, Mark thought to himself, feeling all giddy again, thinking about those pair of lips on his skin, and how much he enjoyed that split-second moment, and how he would constantly reminisce about it at random times.

       And how he'd love them on his lips.

.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。

🌸 | a/n !
— double update ! also markhyuck omagad
— HYUCKHAN !