Donghyuck was awakened by the sound of multiple footsteps dashing back and forth outside of his room—and the noise, oh god, the noise. Voices rose over each other, making no sense for Hyuck’s muddled early morning brain. His mother’s voice rose above it all, plus several male voices which he thinks he should recognize but he can’t right now. “Should we wake him up?” a voice rose through the commotion—a voice Hyuck would recognize anytime and anywhere. Mark. His senses are suddenly awake and he jolts upward just as the door opened and a wild, blond mop of hair comes dashing across his room and plopping right on top of him.
“Chenle!” he groans, as the over-excited boy laughs hysterically. 
“Come on, hyung! Get up!” he continues through his laughter as Jisung follows him in, laughing at the absurdity of what he’s seeing at the moment. 
“How am I supposed to, if you're on top of me?” he grits, trying to shove him away playfully.
“Okay, okay.” the younger concedes, rolling off him and onto the floor, landing with a tiny thud. 
Hyuck rises, looking at the mess around him; Jisung was helping Chenle up and continuously failing to do so as he struggles through his giggles, some of his pillows and his blanket were strewn on the floor, the commotion outside was getting noisier while his mother and father ran around, and Mark stood by the door, sheepishly, hiding half of his body and peeking in curiously. 
Donghyuck thought he looked cute like that—but he didn’t want to show it. “Happy birthday,” he mumbles quietly, just enough for Hyuck to hear him over Chenle and Jisung’s uncontrollable laughing fits. Oh, right, that. It was his birthday. “Get up now.” Mark approaches him quietly, making Chenle and Jisung move to the side while they made faces at Hyuck. “We’re going to the beach.”
“What?”
“It’s a birthday weekend, I thought I told you. The rest of the boys have cleared out the entire weekend for this.”
He looks over to Chenle and Jisung, who were separated from them as they were both still in high school and didn’t see them quite that often as soon as they got into college—it wasn’t easy for them to be complete nowadays, and Hyuck smiles at the thought that they all went into the trouble of freeing an entire weekend for his birthday.
“I’ve packed your clothes for you.” Mark points to the small luggage by the door.
“Even the underwear.” Chenle mumbles.
“Shut up.” Mark reaches out to hit him but Chenle manages to dodge. 
Hyuck slowly gets up to stand with the help of Mark as he held both of his hands to pull him up. “Are my parents coming?”
“No,” Mark says in a tone which obviously meant that he was trying to make it seem like he’s disappointed but he actually is thrilled about it. “It’s just going to be the seven of us.”
“Renjun’s here?” he perks up. If he didn’t see the high schoolers that much, it was harder to see Renjun as he was separated from them when he was accepted into an art university. Mark nods and smiles at him, showing his gums. “I’ve been planning this for months, I had to make sure they could skip these two days.” On his peripheral view, he can see Chenle and Jisung slowly backing out onto the hallway.
“Oh my God,” even though he just skipped around town dandily and pretended like he doesn’t really care about not seeing his friends as much, Hyuck knows deep inside that he really misses all seven of them together. “You’re the best.” he turns to Mark, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug. “I know,” Mark mumbles against his shoulder. “Nothing but the best for the best,” he adds, making Hyuck glad Mark can’t see him right now because he’s sure he’s blushing right now.
“Wait,” Hyuck let’s go of him abruptly, and he could swear he saw Mark’s smile drop but he didn’t want to think about it. “The whole weekend? Where are we supposed to stay?”
He hesitates before speaking. “I rntnj cabn for trwo dys.” he mumbles.
“What? You’re not making sense.” Hyuck chuckles, enjoying tormenting Mark.
“I rented out a small cabin for two days.” Hyuck’s face must have transformed weirdly as Mark suddenly started to panic. “Don’t worry! I didn’t spend that much, I promise!” he reaches for Hyuck and pulls him into another hug, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist, burying his face in his neck and the other couldn’t help but return the hug albeit tentatively. He knows Mark isn’t very expressive and he usually pushes Donghyuck’s advances towards him but he’s been extra clingy these past few days and he can’t help but think that he knows. What if he does, and he’s just forcing himself to feel something for Hyuck just to fix him? Mark absolutely is the type to do that.
“How small is this cabin exactly?” he asks, arms slowly wrapping more determinedly around Mark’s neck.
“Three rooms,” he mumbles. “One room for Chenle, Jisung, and Renjun. The other room would be for Jeno and Jaemin because no one can stand them anyway,” Hyuck chuckles, that is true, the two were so clingy that they were almost always kicked out onto another room or the living room couch because the others couldn’t stand them. “And the last room will be for you and me, I hope you don’t mind.”
Hyuck’s heart skipped a bit, which is weird. He is used to sharing beds with his friends, they do almost all the time during sleepovers, pushed against each other in one mattress. Maybe it had a lot to do with the fact that Mark initiated this himself, instead of his usual aloofness when it comes to him.
“I’m tired of your face.” he jokes. “Can’t I just have Renjun instead?”
Mark pulls his face back to look at him and the pouts. “Should I just change the arrangements?”
“I’m kidding!” he hits him playfully, making Mark smile again and settle back into the hug.
“But seriously... how much did you spend?”
“Around... $500... I think?”
“According to this receipt,” Chenle suddenly appears by the doorway, making the two jump apart. Lee Minhyung paid for $350 just for the villa alone. He’s also spending on all our travel fees and food, so I think 500 might be an underestimation.”
“Chenle!” the blond boy jumps in surprise as Mark runs after him, making Hyuck laugh as he hears Chenle shout, “I’m just trying to be thorough!”

“.” Donghyuck suddenly sits up, making everybody else look at him while they all gathered around his bed, waiting for his parents’ go signal before they can leave.
“What?” Renjun asked. “I have a doctor’s appointment,” he answered.
Jeno “ahh’d” beside him. “, sorry, Mark I forgot.”
“But it’s just an ultrasound, it doesn’t last long. My appointment is just for 30 minutes, I’m kind of late but I think I can just call the doctor.”
He walks over to his hamburger shaped telephone which he hasn’t gotten rid of since he got it as a gift when he was 9—from Mark, no less. The receptionist answered right away, relieved when she realized it was Hyuck.
“I totally forgot, I’m sorry. But I can still come, right?”
“Yeah, sure. He’s still free until 10. And Mr. Lee?” she adds, “I was also about to call you. Dr. Jung wanted me to tell you to bring the… umm…”friend” of yours.”
“For what? He isn’t going to tell, right?” he lowers his voice, looking over at the others who didn’t seem to be eavesdropping as they all stared intently at each other, playing mafia. “Of course, not, he’s legally liable to any of your private information.” She assures. “I don’t know what it’s for, but I’m sure it’s just for your health.”
He reluctantly agrees before hanging up. “Mark, come with me.” He demands, and Mark follows him without even asking. “Do you know the bus schedule? Or will the train be faster?” he inquires him, trusting that he knows them because of his frequent commutes. “No need. My brother bought the car here today.”
“Why?”
“Did you think we were going to the beach riding the train?” Mark laughs, unlocking the car door for him.
“I’m driving.”
“Ew, they trusted you with that?”
“They trust me with everything.” He winked before the closing the door on him.
He doesn’t know if the receptionist has been hanging out inside the doctor’s office and staring intently at Mark because she wanted to look at the cause of his Hanahaki, or if she’s just blatantly ogling him.
“Mr. Lee,” the doctor announced, surprising all of them through breaking the silence. “Come inside with me.” He motions Mark to sit outside. Donghyuck honestly wasn’t very sure about leaving him there with the overenthusiastic woman.
As soon as he was inside, he noticed that there was a sleeping mask. “Are you putting me to sleep?”
“No.” he answers. “I’m trying something out… an experiment of some sort to test my hypothesis, and it means that you can’t see your ultrasound right away.” He explains. “You don’t have to worry, though, I will set a date of when you can see them, I won’t hide them from you.” Knowing that the doctor is just doing his best to help him, he agrees.
After the doctor observes his chest for quite a while, he sends him away and asks Mark to come in to talk to him. He grows wary, but he does whisper ‘don’t worry’ before closing the door behind him. He does worry, however, the whole time Mark was inside, and he can’t seem to stay still.
“What’s his name? Your friend?” the receptionist asked.
“Mark.” He answers quietly.
“Is he single?”
“He’s nineteen.” He answers, not without malice. He was about to call her out about it when the door opens. “Think about it.” The doctor tells Mark who still seemed dazed and lost.
The car ride back was silent, apart from the faint sound of music from the speakers. “What did you talk about?” he asks.
“He just advised me to take care of you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He nods, convincing him. “Did you, or Jeno tell him that we’re always together? He might have overheard and thought it would be beneficial if I kept track of your flowers.”
Donghyuck nods, understanding. “Now, call them so can just leave once we get there.” Donghyuck smiles, dialing Jaemin’s number.
Everyone was standing outside of the house when they got there, sporting their floral shirts and sunglasses and weird poses. “Why are they like this?” he chuckles as Mark pulls up. As soon as he stops and opens up the trunk, they all scatter and rush to set their things in place by the back of the car. He alights as his mom motions for him to come forward.
“Happy birthday, baby.” She coos, hugging him tightly. “You enjoy your birthday, okay? And I packed a small bottle of milk for you, so you can sleep quickly tonight.”
“What do you mean, tonight?”
“Did I tell you it was an overnight thing? No?” Mark interjects. “It’s an overnight trip!” he announces cutely, taking Donghyuck’s bags. “Mark, drive safely okay?”
“No problem, auntie.” He smiles that smile made Donghyuck’s entire family entrust him with an overnight trip where he drives.
“I will check up on you every hour.” Donghyuck’s father reminded.
“I will answer you every single time.” He nods. His parents sent him away with another ‘happy birthday’ before waving them goodbye.
The entire car ride was fun, they were all singing at the top of their lungs, playing random car games. Mark says it wasn’t very far away, just an hour away from Seoul because his parents didn’t want them to go too far away in case anything happens. But since it was an overnight celebration, he thinks Mark has prepared a lot of things. Donghyuck wasn’t able to prepare himself for the beauty of the beach when he arrived, the wind blowing strongly in his face, as the others got all the bags and other food from the back of the car, carrying them all to a small villa by the beach. 

Hyuck was caught in between all the rushing boys, arranging everything without speaking a word. Jeno busied himself with laptops, projectors, speakers and all kinds of wires, and set them up on one of the open spaces which he thinks is meant to be a living room, with all the bean bags and cushions strewn all over the floor. Jaemin and Renjun rushed over to the small kitchen and took all their groceries and put them in the refrigerator, while Chenle and Jisung started blowing up balloons. Hyuck just stood there, watching everything go down in mere seconds, amused by how serious his friends were. Mark came out from one of the rooms are stared at him for a while.
"Do you wanna lie down while we prepare? You could be tired from travel." he offers.
"It was literally just an hour, Mark." he grins. "I'd rather help out."
"Are you sure?"
Jaemin suddenly clears his throat, getting their attention. "Actually," he hesitates. "I need Hyuck's help with the abalones."
"Sure." Hyuck rushes off before Mark can even complain.

It wasn't long before Hyuck was finally standing in front of a cake, surrounded by his friends, complete after months, and with Mark standing in front of him, trying his best to light the spark candles while everybody waits. "Jeno, can you do this?" he chuckles apologetically.
Jeno does come forward, taking the matches from Mark's hand. Mark, instead, picks up a party hat and approaches Hyuck. "Isn't that too childish?" he smiles.
"No, it isn't, it's cute." Mark smiles, convincing him to put on the silly birthday hat. The other reaches over to fix his messy hair and tucks them to the side, wiping Hyuck's forehead sweat in the process. He then stretches the elastic on the hat and puts it around the others' face. "There." he studies his handiwork, staring at Hyuck. 
Hyuck doesn't know if this is his weird way of checking his work because he's been staring at him for longer than he'd expected. After a while, he snaps out of it and whispers, "perfect".  He then starts singing the happy birthday song, while everyone followed. When the song finishes, Hyuck leans into the successfully lit candles, closes his eyes, and prays for the impossible.

-

I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long! I've been caught up in all my work and I haven't had the inspiration to do any writing for quite a while I'm back on track, though, and I'm pretty sure the next chapter will follow shortly. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! You can leave comments, or you can dm me on twitter @choisoftcheol.