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Mark remembers the day of Johnny’s graduation as vividly as he remembers his. The white snow fell from the sky, hitting the ground graciously without fail. He remembers rushing over to Johnny when the ceremony ended, a small box hidden behind his back, between his palms.
“Johnny hyungie!” he calls out, watching as the ( much ) taller male turns around, smiling at Mark.
“Markie!” he greets back, almost dropping his half-finished bucket of flour. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanna give you a graduation gift!” he practically shines before taking in full account of John Suh’s situation at the current moment. “Hyungie, you’re all covered in flour…” his sentence drew out, almost as if he’s concerned.
“It’s tradition, Markie. Do you want me to pour flour on you as well?” Johnny jokes. Mark’s eyes widen, shaking his head from side to side almost immediately ; even if they both knew Johnny would never do such thing because he claims to be so nice. Johnny laughs and ruffles his hair.
Mark’s ears turn red as he realises that Johnny’s waiting for the present, shifting his eyes to anywhere but his “beloved” hyung ( that’s what Chenle calls it anyway ). When Johnny finally removes his flour-covered hand from Mark’s now-also-flour-covered hair, Mark reveals a small velvet box from behind him. Opening it, there’s a matching necklace placed perfectly inside. He speaks up again.
“I wanted to give you a graduation gift so you won’t forget about me when you move on to college or something. It’s a Lego heart necklace!” he flashed a smile before hitting realisation not even 3 seconds later, cringing at the thought. “.. but now thinking about it, that might be a bit selfish—“
“No, no, it’s cute!” Johnny begins before Mark gets to finish his sentence, taking the velvet box out of Mark’s hands to inspect it himself. “Is this why you asked between tan and white a few weeks ago?”
Mark laughs nervously, “haha, yeah… you said you were fine with anything though so I just chose tan because it, like, blended in with your skin tone or something. Since, you know, you got scouted for modelling.. and stuff” Mark explains a bit fast for the average person’s liking, but Johnny’s quite used to it.
“You’re so sweet” Johnny smiled at Mark softly, fondly. “I love it, Markie” Mark’s face lit up as stars filled his eyes, vibrating with happiness as a smile made it’s way onto his face, glad that his hyung did like his present. Maybe Chenle was right when he almost had a breakdown last night over it after all — but that’s a conversation for another day.
Johnny took the necklace out of the box and disconnected the heart, making it 2 separate necklaces. He wore his and helped Mark put his on.
“Hyungie” Mark calls out. Johnny hums to show acknowledgement. “I don’t wanna leave you just yet…” his voice low, almost a whisper.
It wasn’t like they weren’t just a year apart, but still. They both knew Johnny would go off to one of the colleges he applied to ( the results weren’t given yet ) and if that didn’t work out, he had modelling there for him.
Mark on the other hand, only knew about college. He only had college in it for him. He was gonna go to NCIT, one of the top colleges in the country. His dream college — or was it his parents? He doesn’t remember. Even then, there’s a high possibility of not being able to meet each other again.
“I know, I don’t wanna leave you here yet either” Johnny pauses for a second to look at the separated heart necklaces before continuing. “But I promise we’ll see each other again in the future, okay?”
“M’kay…” it was hard to believe him, but what other option was available to them?
Johnny sighs at Mark looking ever-so-depressed. “C’mere” he pulls Mark into a hug by the neck. Mark accepts almost immediately, stuffing his face into Johnny’s neck as Johnny placed his chin on Mark’s head.
He remembers the first time he met Johnny, he introduced himself as Canadian, saying that he moved back to Korea in middle school because of some family business. And as soon as Donghyuck heard that, he rushes to introduce him to Johnny. An American Donghyuck used to go to middle school with, another foreigner ; as if Chenle and Renjun weren’t right there, but Donghyuck says it’s because they’re Chinese, not North Americans.
And ever since then, they’ve been joint together by the hip. Mark and Johnny. Johnny and Mark.
Johnny pulls away from the hug, bringing Mark back to reality. “Don’t be too sad, okay Markie?”
Mark knows he can’t promise that. Instead, he just nods and says a small “I’ll miss you”
“I’ll miss you too. It’ll be fine, you’ll be fine” Johnny grabs the bucket he abandoned on the ground and planted a small peck on Mark’s head, immediately making the other red and heat up even within the winter February air.
“That’s my gift for you. Take care of it” he jokes, waving to Mark who simply nods shyly and walks away after both exchanging a “see you later” ( they promised not to say goodbye, or else they’d bawl their eyes out ). Freshmen and juniors weren’t allowed to stay for so long, and even if they were, Mark had a curfew.
Mark looked behind him as he jogged over to Dream ( or as they like to call themselves ), watching Johnny wave to him. Mark grimaces when he saw Yunooh pour his whole bucket of flour over Johnny. You could hear screaming in the distance from Johnny chasing Yunooh away. The bucket was full, must’ve saved it all for Johnny. Deserved.
————————————
In all honesty, his plans today were to wake up, go to the company for… whatever that needed to be done ( his manager wanted to see him, he guesses ), go back and sleep the day off. Nowhere in his schedule that was prepped in his mind did it say he was gonna meet someone he disappeared from 4+ years ago. That person being Lee Minhyung, better known as Mark Lee — he likes ( or.. liked ) to call him Markie or Markie baby instead.
“This is Mark, he’ll be playing the role Jung Hyunwoo along with you” Johnny’s manager, Shotaro, introduced him over to Mark. His eyes shift, staring directly at Mark who looks at him with wide eyes, as if he found someone who was assumed to be dead.
Johnny doesn’t blame him for looking at him the way he does. He couldn’t.
“Johnny hyungie…” Mark’s whisper sounds loud within the silent room, instinctively inching closer to the older who was sitting on a chair. He was the first one to come in after all, Mark has only arrived now. Johnny stays silent.
“Oh, do you guys know each other?” Mark’s manager, Sungchan if he recalls correctly, says this time. “That’ll make it easier for all of us then” Johnny could see Sungchan smile proudly to Shotaro from the corner of his eye, but he chooses to ignore it. Not his problem.
“Yeah, we do. We were close to each other in high school” Mark replies to Sungchan’s question from earlier, breaking eye contact with Johnny to look at their managers when Johnny doesn’t say anything.
“That’s good! Then you guys are comfortable with each other, yes?” Shotaro asks, they both nod. “Then we should wait for the director”
The director comes in a few minutes later, Sungchan and Shotaro started chatting as if they’ve been friends since childhood. Mark and Johnny on the other hand has only asked questions and got each other’s new numbers to catch up some more. It’s little, but it’s progress.
The director does give them both a contract to sign, the contract stating obvious things such as to stay with them until they end of filming, etc etc. It was normal things for a drama contract, though Mark looked as confused as he was when Johnny took him for a tour around their high school. Johnny decides to be nice, explaining what the “big words” meant, even though he’s almost sure Mark would be able to understand them through context, and well, Google.
They were both given scripts after that, Johnny flipped through them, grasping the general direction of where the drama was going. Mark kept it secured between his hands just as he did with the velvet box that held their matching necklace all those years ago.
Talking about their matching necklace, Johnny peeked to see Mark’s neck, any sign of the necklace still being there — or if he’s lost it. Johnny wears his part of the necklace proudly on his chest, always pulling it out from under his shirts, never taking it off ; including when he needed to do shirtless photoshoots. It was what Mark intended anyway.
Johnny sees a small chain sticking to Mark’s neck, the same chain he has on his neck. Though, the main necklace attraction was hidden under his shirt. Johnny thinks if he looks hard enough, he’ll see the outline of the necklace, but it never happened. If it did, it was probably his own delusion.
They walk out of the meeting room after saying their goodbyes to the director, Mark being pulled away by Sungchan almost instantly because of other schedules.
Shotaro sighs. “That Mark kid only debuted like 6 months ago and he already has so many things to do, what a pro. Seriously” Johnny didn’t even know Mark debuted. He tries to keep that knowledge hidden though, Shotaro will tease the life out of him for not knowing what happens on the internet if he ever finds out.
————————————
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> HYUCK
> DONGHYUCK
> LEE DONGHYUCK
> LEE FUCKING DONGHYUCK
haechan ☀️
> WHAT BITCH
> WHAT IS IT THAT U WANT SO BADLY
> can’t even enjoy a meal in peace 😒
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> Damn sorry bro
> But uh
> I met johnny hyungie
haechan ☀️
> .
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> …
haechan ☀️
> BRO???
> START W THAT???
> OMG
> SRSLY
> HOW
> WHEN
> WHERE
> Y
> omg did he talk to u
> i need to know
> ANSWER ME MINHYUNG
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> CHILL OUT
> I’m the one who met him NOT U
> But uh i was going to a meeting that i cannot tell u or else u will spoil it to the world
> But i saw him there
> And i’m gonna be working with him!!!!
haechan ☀️
> oh my god
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> He still has the lego heart necklace i gave him
> Hyuck
> He still has the necklace
> He wears it like on top of his shirt n everything for the WHOLE WORLD TO SEE
> It doesn’t even match with his outfit
> I think i’m gonna die
haechan ☀️
> Oh My God
> n i thought u said u alread moved on???
> all men do is lie
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> NO BUT LIKE
> I
> I THINK HE’S HOTTER NOW???
haechan ☀️
> no he’s not ur js whipped
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> How would you know you weren’t the one who saw him
haechan ☀️
> i’m actually the chairs u guys sat on
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> …
> I will pretend i never read that message
> BUT ISTG SRSLY
> I’M SERIOUS
> HE’S LIKE. SO MUCH MORE HOTTER NOW
> Not saying he wasn’t before it’s js that now it’s like
> Too Much To Handle ykwim??
> I thought i was about to drop dead right there and then
haechan ☀️
> welcome guys to another episode of All Men Do Is Lie. our contestant today is lee minhyung!
> he lies abt moving on from a high school crush. he met said crush for the first time in forever today and has started to malfunction
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> God not this again
haechan ☀️
> he also lies abt knowing the correct answers to our science pop-quiz. he did not. we got an e.
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> BRO THAT WAS LIKE 8 YEARS AGO????
————————————
“Hey I’m Johnny, I play Minseong,”
“And I’m Mark, I play Hyunwoo” Mark smiles to the camera, then to the staff behind the camera, then to Johnny.
“We’re from the show ‘Rhythm Heart’, and we’re here at BuzzFeed to take a compatibility quiz!”
They each sat on a white bar chair, hidden by a white table that had the laptop the staff gave to them earlier. The background was also white, making them and the laptop appear to be the main attraction, the only thing you should focus on — Mark thinks that they could be floating to some viewers, but that should be normal.
The laptop had an already-opened quiz for them to answer, it read ‘What Percent Compatible Are You With Your Significant Other?’.
It was feeding onto the small recurring crush he so desperately tried to push back down ever since he met his hyung again, but it definitely made sense with their characters from the show — Jeno would agree. They were given the signal to start.
Mark reads the first question, tone swirling around playfully to give the room more life. “It’s your last day of vacation, and you have different priorities. What do you do?”
“ “It won’t happen. We planned and budgeted so we can both be happy!”, “They had their way yesterday ; today is your day”, “Compromise and cut a little time out of both activities to make them work”, “Eh, it’s not the end of the world if you miss your thing” or “Not possible — we love doing the same things!” “ Johnny reads the answers, which were a handful if he does say so himself. “I mean, it depends on the vacation spot, right?” Mark gives a wave of ‘yeah’, agreeing with him.
“Like, what will I do? I don’t know, where am I?!” Mark jokes, Johnny laughs.
They discuss about their answer, what they usually do on vacations. He’s sure that the editors will cut 3/4’s of this out of the video. They chose the last answer, though : “Not possible — we love doing the same things!”
A few weeks after the video with BuzzFeed, Mark sees a video including him and Johnny pop up in his YouTube recommendations. It’s their video with Buzzfeed, the title being Mark Lee ( Hyunwoo ) & Johnny Suh ( Minseong ) Takes A Buzzfeed Compatability Test To See If They’d Be Romantically Compatible In Real Life As Well. Quite the exaggeration, he thinks.
Mark clicks on the video, reliving his memories of the time there through what the public is allowed to see. Some parts were cut off, either too long or too affectionate. The end result is still the same though. 100% compatible, it says. Soulmates, the description says. he smiles a bit, it’s nice.
Right after the video ends, ping!, comes from his phone, sitting nicely on his bedside table. He checks it.
haechan ☀️
> MINHYUNG U N YUNGHO HYUNG R COMPATIBLE?????
> U GUYS R SOULMATES???????
Donghyuck must’ve already watched the video.
————————————
The place smells like alcohol and… people.
Mark’s right behind Johnny, keeping a close eye on the already-drunk and clinging onto him. He watches as his hyung converses with the staff, laughing as loudly as they can — he doesn’t understand what’s funny, but maybe it’s because he’s not drunk enough ; he’s only had a few shots after all, probably only a cup and a half.
Mark’s eyes wander around the place, taking in everyone and everything into his memory. He sees Shotaro and Sungchan near the opened sliding door that leads into the backyard, though they’re way too close for it to be casual.
The party was for the drama they were filming : ‘Rhythm Heart’. It skyrocketed when first released, gaining traction and views all around the world. The first season wrapped up and was released last week, still having the same — if not, more — viewers waiting for the last episode.
The director held a speech when everyone finally arrived and started talking, giving a thanks to everyone involved. The writers and editors, the cameramen and light specialists, stylists, makeup artists, and of course, Johnny and Mark for being — what he calls — the “perfect couple” for the show. They bowed to the people around them and smiled. Mark rethinks what the he meant by “perfect couple”, but he guesses he has watched the BuzzFeed video as well, hasn’t he?
More and more red cups fall into Johnny’s hand, more and more drinks passing through Johnny’s lips and burning through his throat, into his stomach. And Mark just watches. Johnny insisted on Mark to drink just a little more, but he declines. If anyone’s gonna get them home, it’ll be Mark — since Johnny’s definitely already wasted.
As they pass through people, Johnny’s already telling Mark something incoherent. He should probably take him back home before anything worse happens. He decides to leave Johnny on the couch for a few minutes, going to the director and saying that he has to leave, then going to their managers and saying the exact same thing. Shotaro says he’ll take Johnny back home, but Mark declines again. Either way, it seems like Shotaro and Sungchan have a way more important pursuit to do together — whether that be manager-shit ( as Sungchan calls it ), or, well, you get me.
He comes back to Johnny and sighs in relief to see that he’s still there, just this time pondering into the distance. He picks him up by the shoulder, not too sure if he can really stand straight after all of the drinking.
But when they gets out of the house, Mark remembers :
He can’t fucking drive.
He pulls out his phone from his pocket all while holding onto and listening to Johnny’s mumbling. He clicks on a contact and presses call.
It rings 3 times before he hears a “hello?” from the other line.
“Yunooh hyung, can you come pick me and Johnny hyungie up? he’s too drunk and I, you know”
“Can’t drive — I’m aware” Mark grimaces as if Jaehyun can see him through the phone. “I’ll be there, send me the location” Jaehyun says before hanging up after Mark says thank you. He goes over to their chats ( which weren’t a lot ) and sends over their location. A pretty nice house in a pretty wealthy neighbourhood.
Jaehyun arrives after a bit more than a few minutes, and Johnny vomits ( fortunately outside ) before going in the car. Jaehyun starts the engine.
“Let’s hope he doesn’t puke all over us”
“Don’t jinx it, hyung” Mark replies. And according to Jaehyun’s wishes, Johnny doesn’t puke at all throughout the entire ride, only babbling here and there about things they don’t understand, or things they just try to ignore.
Finally, Jaehyun drops them off at his, Johnny and Ten’s apartment ; they’re housemates. Jaehyun also told to pass a message to Ten, “I’m going to a friend’s house, I’ll probably be back tomorrow”. Mark gives him the okay and basically drags Johnny up to the 8th floor.
Knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell a few times, Mark seriously considers to just call Ten and scream into the phone. Luckily for both Mark’s voice and Ten’s ears, Ten opens the door, looking as half-awake as ever before seeing Mark and a limping Johnny.
“Oh hey Mark” his eyes shift over to Johnny who was playing with his feet. “… and John. I didn’t know you guys were coming back so early?”
“Yeah… I expected us to last a few more hours but apparently Johnny hyungie got too impatient and too drunk way too fast” Mark smiles, though it seems more like a cry for help. Ten laughs softly.
“Wow, John really does need someone like you in his life. Do you need some help?”
“Yes please, Ten hyung”
Ten ushes them inside and locks the door, then grabbing Johnny’s other side, walking over to Johnny’s room and ( gently ) throws him on the bed. Mark stands beside the bedside table while Ten sits next to where his housemate is still babbling.
“Maark” Johnny whines, catching them both off guard since his eyes were closed for some reason. Mark replies with a “yes, hyungie?”
“Markie baby… I love you so so so so much” he continues babbling, “I wanna kiss you so bad” Mark sighs.
“Bro.. do you even hear what he’s saying right now?” Ten asks over Johnny’s whines and rambles.
“Yeah he keeps saying that since he was like, officially drunk” Mark replies, his eyes don’t leave Johnny’s face.
“You do know what he means, right..?”
“Of course I do. But he’s drunk, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about” he’ll be honest, it does hurt. but isn’t it best to just ignore it?
“Mark.” Ten says firmly, forcing the younger to finally look at him in his eyes. He feels his surroundings start to deteriorate from his vision, only focusing on Ten only. His breath quickens — he never liked this feeling. He replies with a simple hum.
“Drunk words are sober thoughts.” Ten says, as firmly as he did when he called his name, if not, more. It’s probably a quote he found on Pinterest or something, but it sure as hell does the trick here. The room would go silent if it wasn’t for Johnny’s sudden snoring. He says nothing, feeling Ten’s stare pierce through his skin, as if trying to get the message through his thick brain. Mark starts to bite the inside of his mouth.
Ten sighs when he sees the kid not having any interest in saying anything. He speaks up again. “I’ll let you figure that out by yourself then, but if you ever need help, I’m here. I’m gonna go back to sleep. It’s already midnight, it’s dangerous out ; I think it’s better if you stay the night here, alright?”
“Okay”
“Goodnight Mark”
“Night hyung”
Ten leaves the room, never forgetting to close the door behind him. It gives Mark some privacy to sort out his thoughts, even with him trying to clean Johnny up as best he can.
And just as Ten suggests, Mark does stay over for the night, shoving Johnny over to the other side of the bed and slipping into the soft, warm blankets. It’s not like this would be any different. He feels an arm wrap around his body and lets it stay there. There would be no point in moving it, he’s too tired and Johnny’s probably dead asleep right now. Plus, this feels comfortable.
————————————
Johnny wakes up the next morning, wincing from the headache, proof and consequence of the night before.
He checks his phone almost immediately, reading 4.40pm and notifications of people mentioning him on their Instagram story. He’ll check that later when he’s recovered from the hangover, and if he’s done something embarrassing, he doesn’t wanna remember now.
He stands and walks over to the shared bathroom, splashing water on his face and brushing his teeth before walking out towards the hallway and into the conjoined living room/kitchen.
“Oh, Markie. I didn’t know you stayed over” he says when he sees Mark in the kitchen. “Where are the others?”
“Ten hyung’s out with his friends, he said he’ll be back at around 8 or 9? Yunooh hyung’s in his room” Mark smiles. “Johnny hyungie, you’re awake!” he rushes to give johnny a glass of water, which he accepts gladly.
Johnny follows to sit on one of the bar stools as Mark goes behind the island, leaning against the tabletop and cupping his face in his hands.
“How are you feeling, hyungie?”
“Not the best. Kinda dizzy, and I feel like I’m about to throw up”
“Gosh. If you wanna throw up, go to the bathroom. I don’t think Ten hyung and Yunooh hyung wants to see that in their apartment”
“Then you clean it up, Markie”
“I’d rather not clean up vomit, hyungie”
They talk a bit as Mark gives Johnny some hangover food he bought and made while waiting for Johnny to get up. They were only a few as Mark said there’d only be one drunk person in the house. Johnny takes offense to that.
“Oh, by the way, Markie, did I do anything stupid last night?” Johnny asks. He’d rather know from Mark than some Instagram story that fully displays it right in front of his eyes.
“Well, I mean, you threw up on the side of the road when we were going into Yunooh hyung’s car..? He said it was better you did that than go inside the car and vomit in there.” Mark recalls his memory. It was mostly Johnny speaking than doing anything, really.
“Ah. That’s normal.”
It grows quieter as Johnny slurps his soup. Mark’s brain itches to tell ask Johnny about last night, to tell him everything. Instead, it comes out as :
“Hyungie, do you remember what you said last night?”
“Last night? When? What?”
“When we got back to the apartment”
“Nope, don’t recall. Why? What did I say? Was it something dumb?”
He stays silent for a few seconds, coming up with an answer. “Yeah- yeah, it was something dumb. God, I don’t think I even wanna say it” he says. He wants to tell, but what if he was right? What if Johnny really didn’t know what he was talking about?
“If it’s that bad, I hope you forget whatever I said” Johnny goes back to his soup.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll try my best, hyungie”
He says that, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t forget. He keeps thinking about what Ten said even weeks later : drunk words are sober thoughts, he keeps thinking about what Johnny said about him loving Mark, him wanting to hug and kiss and date Mark, that he wants to live his whole life with the younger. He wants to forget, but he can’t. For now, he’ll just watch Johnny finish his soup and leave all of it for another day.
————————————
It’s been a few weeks — months — after the ending of the drama. It opened up new opportunities to both Johnny and Mark, having had a few duo photoshoots for it or regarding it together. It was fun, Mark would give it a 10000/10 — but maybe it’s because Dream finally convinced him that he still has feelings for Johnny, and that was okay. The only thing embarrassing about it now is how long it took him to accept that.
Sungchan told Mark about his schedule as he drives past the shops on the side of the road, speeding through the lane. He had an interview with WIRED, then the CEO wants to meet him to arrange a few things. It was more relaxed than a usual day of rushing everywhere. Mark nods through everything Sungchan says, taking mental note of it.
Upon arriving there, they almost instantly got Mark ready, dragging him away from Sungchan’s hold. The stylists already had an outfit planned for him, basically shoving him inside the fitting room to wear it. His hair got styled next, and at the same time, his makeup.
A break was given while the crew sets everything up. He replied to Donghyuck’s messages, most pointless. After a few minutes, he heard his name called over and sat on a stool in front of a white background — it reminds him of his video with Johnny for BuzzFeed. But he’s pretty sure it’s all the same for the same purpose.
He was already given a script beforehand for the intro. The cameras roll, and he’s given the signal to go.
“Hi I am Mark Lee, and this is the WIRED autocomplete interview” he smiles at the camera.
The interview goes well, him ripping the stickers off the board they gave him, answering and sometimes telling stories pertained to that question.
“Mark Lee…” he rips the sticker off. You could see his face turning red if it wasn’t for the makeup blocking it as he reads the question, “… ideal type!”
Mark laughs nervously and looks for the reactions of the crew, and most especially : his manager. Sungchan stared down at him, but gives a signal to continue. “Ah well… I like someone with.. medium long hair? but any hair is fine, really. Also, tall, strong, I think tattoos are really cool! Someone funny, kind, caring, sweet, soft, you know the drill. I also like, like, serious-kinda people? Loyal — yeah, of course — thoughtful, helpful. All that good stuff. I like someone like that” he rambles and smiles shyly. He said quite a few things, and it may be specific, but many people have those attributes! Right?
“Let’s move on” Mark laughs nervously again. People were definitely gonna run and go crazy with that information.
————————————
He was right. He was right that people were gonna go crazy with the information of his ideal type — backed up by the tweet Donghyuck just sent to him on Twitter, along with the message ‘BRO LOOK AT THIS’.
The tweet was attached with a video cut from his interview with WIRED, more specifically : the part where he talked about his ideal type. He clicks on the video, reliving the moment again, just in a different perspective. You could see the blush creeping onto his face. It was still only slight because of the makeup, but he has found out rather quickly into his career that fans are the best type of people for noticing that kind of stuff. The tweet read : guys mark’s ideal type is a little too specific… it reminds me of someone…, the reply underneath had a single picture of Johnny and a meme of a cat with a lifted eyebrow. God.
His face heated u, turning red, heart beating faster than he has ever ran, and he sets his phone down, not bothering to reply to Donghyuck. The tweet already got thousands of likes and retweets, it was already viral. Koreaboo was gonna write an article about it, he knows. And if that happens, he’ll get a call from Sungchan, then a call from the company. This isn’t real. This is not real.
————————————
Nothing happened to him. He feels a bit stupid thinking that his career will come crashing down because of a theory a fan made once.
That is, until more and more things pile up. He’s scared — once again — but guesses if Sungchan hasn’t said anything about it, he’s all good.
Johnny knows about the article, admitting to have read it on an interview once. His reply to the article was that he thought it was cute — he thought Mark was cute — and left it at that.
The fans also noticed their matching Lego heart necklaces and took it upon themselves to use it to their absolute advantage, bombarding them with questions about it and inserting it as “proof” of their relationship. Mark blushes at the thought of people thinking they’re something.
Both of them went on live together and explained the necklace, recalling as much of the memory as they can.
Much to Mark’s surprise, Johnny fully remembers it ; from the day and date, to their surroundings, to the point of the necklace, to almost every single thing mark said and even the exact time. Mark stares at his screen, dumbfounded, Johnny laughs, and thousands of people go crazy.
Mark sighs as he types out the reply to another one of Donghyuck’s texts.
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> Okay then
> If it’s so obvious that johnny hyungie likes me back to u, give me ur “proof”
> Or wtv the ppl on twitter call it
haechan ☀️
> OH I HAVE A WHOLE LIST
> 1. matching lego heart necklace. hot topic between johnmarkists rn
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> Johnmarkists???
haechan ☀️
> don’t interrupt me
> yungho hyung remembers everything u said??? remembers that u gave it in tan so that he could use it even when he’s shirtless ( which he DOES do hello?? ), remembers the TIME IT HAPPENED??? EXCUSE ME???
> he’s js, if not, more in love
> 2. after the wired interview/koreaboo article that blew up, he got on national tv and said he thinks u r CUTE
> CUTE, MINHYUNG, CUTE
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> He thinks everyone is cute!!!
> He also really loves cute things
haechan ☀️
> EXACTLY
> 3. he told u he wanted to kiss u and spend every waking moment w u when he was drunk???
> have u srsly not thought abt ANYTHING ten hyung said
> that ‘drunk words r sober thoughts’ shit???
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> Well i mean
> Idk…
> It’s so unbelievable???
haechan ☀️
> well u better fucking believe it
> 4. he said in a fucking instagram live once that u r his type
> like a fan asked him who his type was and he said “mark lee, yeah”
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> He did?
haechan ☀️
> u were asleep dw abt it
> js search up “johnny type mark” or smth like that on twitter
> it will come up 100%
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> Oh okay
> But then he could’ve meant someone LIKE me
haechan ☀️
> CAN U STOP TRYING TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT HERE
> HE’S DIRECT. HE’S OBVIOUS.
> WHY WON’T U JUST ACCEPT THE FACT THAT HEY, UR CRUSH LIKES U BACK
> WHY.
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> IT’S UNBELIEVABLE
> HE’S SO HIM & I’M SO ME
haechan ☀️
> positive + positive = positive
> SHUT UP MINHYUNG
> UR NOT MAKING ANY SENSE
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> /UR/ NOT MAKING ANY SENSE
haechan ☀️
> Oh My God
> ur driving me crazy minhyung
> this isn’t enough i have to punch u
yungho hyung’s boyf ( in denial )
> RUDE???
————————————
‘Model Johnny Suh Rumoured To Be Dating Rapper Lee Taeyong’. Mark reads the headline of an article Jaemin shared in their groupchat. He flops down on his bed and sighs.
It hurts a bit, he admits that much. He’s not supposed to be hurt by this — not exactly allowed to be hurt like this. They’re nothing compared to whatever Johnny and Taeyong have currently, but he still feels hurt. As if his feelings got played. He felt Donghyuck really had a point when he told Mark ( or well, punched the thought into him ) that Johnny liked him back.
His phone buzzes, a notification. He lifts his phone up to his face to see Jisung replying Jaemin’s text with ‘😬😬😬’. He feels like he wants to cry.
He does cry.
————————————
Mark dreads meeting up with Johnny in every shuffle he takes because the older thinks they haven’t hung out much lately — Mark figures it’s because he cried days and nights for that same man. Renjun did eventually convince him to go though, even though it took him 4 hours, Renjun thinks it’s worth it.
They meet up at a near-by café, only 15 minutes walking distance from Mark’s apartment, but Mark walks extremely slowly so it takes around 20 for him. Even while walking slowly, Mark still arrives just on time, spotting Johnny waving at him from the back corner.
He slaps away the small smile that creeps up to his face and doesn’t admit to it.
He’s over johnny now, for real.
( He knows he can never get over Johnny. No matter how many years it takes, he’ll forever love Johnny from the tip of his toenails to roots of his hair. )
“Hey” Johnny says through his contagious smile as Mark pulls and sits on the chair across from him. Johnny shuffles into his seat and tucks his phone away, attention fully on Mark.
“Hi” Mark smiles back. “It was freezing cold out there, bro”
“Really?” Johnny lifts an eyebrow and leans closer to the table — closer to Mark — and feels Mark’s thin jacket with his index finger and thumb. “Why didn’t you wear something warmer?”
“I didn’t know it was gonna be that cold at first, but then when I went outside I was too lazy to go back in and put on another jacket” his pout is faint but Johnny notices it clearly. Johnny only shakes his head and leans back on his chair. Mark chuckles a little bit.
“Anyway,” Mark starts off again, “should we order something now?” he asks Johnny, already grabbing one of the menus set on the table by the employees.
“Oh yeah, of course” Johnny grabs the other menu and scans through the items.
They order a few minutes later, Johnny getting an americano and Mark getting a slice of cake and a caramel Frappuccino. They chat a little bit before the order arrives to their table. They both thank the waitress as she walks away.
Mark scoops the cake with his fork and takes a bite before speaking up again, “so” he takes another bite of the cake, johnny waits for him to continue. “How’s your new boyfriend?”
Johnny stares at him, confusion written all over his face. “What?”
“You know, Taeyong, your boyfriend? How is he?” Mark doesn’t look up from his plate and keeps taking the smallest bites. “It seemed kinda mean though after you basically said you liked me on national TV. But what would I know, right? I don’t know a thing” he goes to take a sip from his Frappuccino.
“What are you talking about?”
“The article, Yungho”
“You seriously believe in that shit?”
“You said I was cute, said you wanted to kiss me, said I was exactly your type, said that you wanted to spend your whole life with me, and then pull off that shit? Are you serious?”
“Holy fuck, Markie. When have I ever showed any feelings towards Taeyong? We worked together once for a commercial”
“You guys looked pretty convincing. You also didn’t deny that you were dating”
“Oh my God”
“Honestly, if you liked Taeyong instead, maybe you should’ve never said all those things about me in the first place—”
“I said all those things about you because I fucking love you, okay?!” Johnny half yells, irreversibly, permanently. “Ever since we first met which was like, what, 8, maybe 9 years ago? Even after I disappeared for like 4 years I still kept on loving you”
“… What?” Mark breathes out, barely a whisper.
“Never a second in my life have I ever stopped loving you, Mark. So don’t you dare come to me and say that I don’t mean everything I say about you, because everyone knows I do” he stuffs his hands in his hair, still looking at Mark’s face. “And I seriously do”
Mark’s heart skips a beat. He stares as Johnny looks down to their feet. They stay in silence a minute, two. Random people walk by, the café door opening and closing as more people get in and out, yet they still stay in silence across from each other.
Mark’s the first one to speak up. “Wait,” he says. Johnny immediately looks up at the sound of his voice. “You’ve always… felt that about me?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”
“It’s just, woah,” Mark laughs nervously. “I never thought my childhood crush would like me back, you know?” he chuckles.
“Well I do, and you’ve always been kind of obvious, Markie” Johnny reaches over the table and tucks the a stray hair behind his ear. Mark’s heart skips another beat.
“Haha, this is crazy, dude”
“Please don’t call me dude when we’re about to con—”
“Bro?” Mark jokes.
“Shut up” Johnny says, smiling still. Fondly. Lovingly.
————————————
“Hi I am Mark Lee,”
“And I am Johnny Suh,”
“And we’re here to do the WIRED autocomplete interview!” they say together, smiling and pointing at the camera in sync.
“Dude, that took so many tries to get right” Mark states, giggling a little bit and making everyone laugh along as Johnny pets his nape lovingly, smiling along.
The setting is almost the exact same as the very first time Mark did an interview here, the only difference being there is someone else beside him, telling stories and laughing along with him. Someone who he loves, and apparently, someone who loves him back just as much.
They take turns ripping off the sticker on the board that hides the questions and take turns answering the questions as well.
“Are Johnny and Mark…” Johnny says as he slowly rips a sticker off. “… dating!”
Even through the makeup, you could see the blush rising to Mark’s face. He looks over to Johnny who’s already staring at him, smiling softly. Mark laughs nevously before looking back towards the camera, then their two managers who ushes him to tell more and acting as if they don’t know a single thing, then down to their feet.
“I- I mean, we-we haven’t really.. told, you know, the public about this.. but, uhm…” he stutters through his sentence. After a few seconds of silence, he ( lightly ) pushes Johnny away, half-yelling to the other “Dude, you tell! I don’t wanna say it!” as Johnny laughs facing towards the camera.
“Haha, okay, okay” the older says between laughs as Mark whines at him. “We’re official, yeah. Mark and Johnny are dating” he smiles proudly as Mark side hugs him and shakes both of them, hiding his face behind Johnny in embarrassment as he screams into the white void behind them.
“Don’t be shy, Markie!” Johnny cranks his neck to look at mark who has his eyes closed though still smiling.
It takes a minute or two for both of them ( mostly Mark ) to calm down. But when they do, Johnny looks directly into Mark’s eyes.
“I love you” Johnny whispers over to him but the mic still catches on. Mark blushes again.
“I love you too, hyungie” he replies back, smiling widely. He’s sure he looks like an absolute dork right now, but that’s literally the least of his worries.
Finally, years later, they are joint together by the hip once again. Mark and Johnny. Johnny and Mark. Except this time, they’re in love.
And it’s mutual.