Mark Lee: I'm waiting for you in the student center. 

Mark Lee: I'm super hungry. Hurry up.

Mark Lee: Please.

 

Mark secured his small black wireless buds in his ears and played his music as he waited for his boyfriend to respond. They were meeting up in the center because Mark parked his pickup there and they were going out for dinner tonight. It was Taco Tuesday at Chips and Salsa, their favorite restaurant. The student center was bustling with students; loud ones. He sighed and turned the volume up higher on his phone and then impatiently drummed his fingers on the tabletop.

 

Mark was thankful he was able to find the small table in a corner a little ways away from the noise at least. It would be his little temporary island of peace.

 

His phone dinged over his music, startling him a bit. He tapped on the notification as it flashed across his screen. He grinned as a cute selfie of his boyfriend popped up with the message. Donghyuck was wearing a black bucket hat, his overgrown fading silvery hair framed his adorably round face, he was giving a half smile, and a peace sign. Mark saved the photo before reading the text.

 

Sunflower: K! I'm leaving class now!

Sunflower: See U in 10...maybe sooner.

Sunflower: 😘😍💕💖

 

Mark was just going to ignore all the obnoxious emojis, Hyuck only sent them because he knew they made Mark gag. He accessed his Instagram app and busied himself with posting the picture Hyuck had just sent him. 'He's cute right?' was the simple caption. He only looked up when he felt a presence in front of him. There was his classmate Kay standing before him holding a reflective green cylindrical tin that was topped with a white ribbon.

 

"Oh hi, Kay," he greeted through a welcoming smile. He pulled his earbuds from his ears and put them back into their charging pod to give her his full attention. She didn't verbally greet him back, but she did wave at him. She seemed nervous, her brows were furrowed as she chewed on her pink bottom lip, practically the pink gloss off. She whipped her long lavender-dyed hair out of her face and shakily asked, "Do you mind if I sit here with you?" Mark nodded, "Yea go right ahead," he said gesturing to the only other chair at the table.

 

She thanked him as she quickly pulled her bright pink messenger bag off her shoulder before tucking her pleated skirt under and sitting down, her movements almost panicked. She set her bag on the table and gently set the tin down beisde it. "So what's up Kay? You seem nervous, is everything alright?" a concerned Mark asked her with raised brows . She blushed a little, dropped his gaze, and nodded. "I'm fine," she squeaked out, before clearing and repeating, "I'm fine." "Good," he said back to her, worry cut short as his stomach growled. He wished Donghyuck would hurry.

 

"Ummm Mark, I have something for you," Kay told him as she bashfully twisted her hair around her finger

 

He was taken aback, "For me? Really?" he queried. She looked away again and nodded, giggling a little bit. She shoved the tin across the table in Mark's direction, "Here." She pulled the flap of her school bag open and retrieved a white sticker-decorated envelope with his name written across it in pretty cursive handwriting. She also passed that to him. Mark grabbed the tin in one hand and the card in the other, looking between them curiously. He asked, "What is it?" as he carefully popped the top off the tin. He placed the cap on the table, making sure the ribbon didn't fall off. It was such cute packaging and he wanted to preserve it. He peered into the can curiously, "Cookies?" he asked looking at her again.

 

She nodded again, her face was BRIGHT red. Mark figured she was just nervous because she wanted him to like the gift. "They're chocolate cookies with white chips and macadamia nuts," she explained to him, "I made them from scratch." Mark felt flattered, but confused. "That's very sweet Kay," he said as he put the lid back on the can, snapping it shut. "And a card too?" he said as he picked up the envelope. Kay's hand shot across the table and covered his, "No! Don't open the card until you get home," she frantically ordered.

 

Mark's eyebrows shot up as he looked at her strangely. "OK, I'll wait," he promised as he moved his hand from under hers. Moving the conversation forward, Mark asked, "Why'd you bake me cookies?" 

 

She shyly giggled and explained, "Well...I just wanted to thank you for giving me that pencil on test day last week." "You made me cookies for giving you a pencil?" Mark asked her incredulously, "That's a bit much." He really didn't understand. She seemed disappointed and added, "I mean you're also really nice and you always let me copy your notes when I miss something on the powerpoints."

 

Mark chuckled and shook, "Thanks, but I do that for all my friends. It's really not a huge deal. You didn't need to go through the trouble," he admitted. "Oh..." she said dropping his gaze again, dejected. He felt bad for hurting her feelings so he quickly told her, "But I really do appreciate the gesture. Thanks for the cookies. You're so sweet Kay." Mark didn't really like cookies, or sweets in general, but she was a nice girl. He'd just give the cookies to Donghyuck. His vacuum cleaner of a boyfriend would eat anything.

 

Before Kay had a chance to reply, Donghyuck came jogging up to the table with a wide smile on his face.

 

"I'm here Canada!" he bubbily announced as he stood at his boyfriend's side. Mark beamed up at the younger, "And you made it in less than 10 minutes," he easily praised with a glance at his smart watch. He stared back up at his boyfriend noticing he was sweating a little, "Did you run here?" he asked. Donghyuck nodded and fanned his flushed face with his hands, "I jogged here for you, you dummy. You said you were hungry right?" Donghyuck smiled wider at his boyfriend and gently smoothed Mark's hair down at his nape.

 

Mark nodded, "I really am. So, so hungry. Thanks." 

 

Kay stood up from the table, "I'd better go so your friend can sit down," she said as she snatched her bag up. Mark held out a hand to stop her, "No need. We're actually gonna leave soon so you can have this table, Kay," he kindly offered, soft smile still in place. She smiled and sat back down, "See, this is what I mean. You're so nice," she gushed. Her dark eyes glimmered as she stared at him. 

 

Donghyuck stared at the girl with a curious tilt of his head, "Who's this Mark-hyung?" He leaned a hip against his boyfriend's chair and awited an answer, though he never took his eyes off the girl.

 

"Oh this is my classmate Kay," Mark introduced as he looked up at his boyfriend. He turned his eyes back to Kay and said, "This is Donghyuck," as he pointed up in Hyuck's direction. Donghyuck reached out and shook her hand as they both politely said, "Nice to meet you," to each other. Mark grinned up at his boyfriend and said, "Kay just gave me these cookies as a thank you for giving her a pencil last week."

 

"Oh cookies for that? Really?" Donghyuck skeptically asked keeping his eyes on her. He was instantly suspicious of her. She nodded and awkwardly laughed, "Uh yea it was exam day,  I was in a jam and had forgotten everything at home. He swooped in with that pencil like my knight in shining armor. I just wanted to thank him properly, that's all," she anxiously explained. "Ahh I see," Donghyuck replied with a knowing nod. He looked back at Mark and jokingly said, "You're her knight, Canada."

 

Mark laughed and shook his head, "Nah, just a nerd with ample supplies," he waved off. Donghyuck rolled his eyes as his oblivious boyfriend stood up. "Before we go, I have to use the bathroom," Mark told the younger. Donghyuck nodded as Mark asked him, "Do you want to go with me?" Donghyuck snorted and shook his head. He plopped down in Mark's newly vacant seat. "No I wanna sit here and wait. I'm tired from the jog," he replied. 

 

Mark grinned and reached out to pinch the younger's cheek, "Alright. I'll be right back," he said before turning and walking off towards the restrooms.

 

Donghyuck turned his attention back to Kay and noticed that she was watching Mark walk away. He did his best to bite his tongue, he really wanted to tell the girl to stop gawking at his boyfriend. He cleared his throat and that shook Kay out of her trance. She laughed in embarrassment and Donghyuck resisted the urge to roll his eyes again.

 

"That was very nice of you to bake Mark those cookies," Donghyuck complimented. She nodded, "Can I be honest with you?" she asked him. 'Me? A total stranger?' Donghyuck sarcastically thought and gently replied with, "Sure." She leaned in closer to Donghyuck like she was telling him a secret, "I actually made Mark those cookies because I kind of have a crush on him," she revealed. Her face turned scarlet the second the word 'crush' left her lips.

 

'Duh!' Donghyuck thought. "Really?" he asked feigning shock. She bashfully nodded and released a small giggle. "I've liked him since the first day of class when he told me he liked the heart tattoo on my finger," she said pointing to the bold outline of a heart inked into her left ring finger. It was a cute tattoo, Donghyuck could admit, and Mark liked cute things so he could understand why Mark would say that. He also understood her attraction; Mark was tall, handsome, nice, and smart. And Mark had this quirky, but charming aura about himself that most people were drawn to. Donghyuck was very lucky and also very selfish.

 

"I've been trying to build up the courage to ask him out, I figured the cookies would give me a better chance for that," she continued, "Men like women who cook, right?" "Right," Donghyuck pettily agreed, he couldn't help it...he was catty like that. Kay didn't even notice anyway as she continued. "Do you know if Mark has a girlfriend?" she aked him hope shining in her big pretty eyes. Donghyuck thought deeply about how he should answer his boyfriend's admirer.

 

Should he be blunt? Should he taunt her? Should he break it to her nicely? Did he want to be a brat about it? He was good at being a brat.

 

"He is definitely seeing someone," Donghyuck carefully told her. She seemed to be a nice girl and he didn't want to be mean, but honesty was always the best policy. Her face instantly fell and Donghyuck hated the amount of satisfaction he felt. "Damn! Do they seem happy? Is she pretty? Is she smart?" Kay fired off questions like was a rifle. Was she really trying to find a way to squeeze into Mark's love life? Donghyuck laced his fingers together on the table and firmly told her, "She is me."

 

"Excuse me?" Kay was visibly taken shocked. "What? You? Huh?" she rambled with a vigorous shake of her head, "Mark's not gay." Donghyuck frowned at her for assuming she knew anything about Mark. " Well he is bi, not that it's any of your business," he snippily corrected. She shook her head in disbelief, "This can't be true." Donghyuck could understand why she was upset, but he would leave absolutely no room for hope in having any chance with Mark.

 

"We've been together for two, going on three years," Donghyuck told her.

 

"How come I've never seen you before?" Kay asked him with furrowed eyebrows. He felt like she was accusing him of lying. "I don't know how to answer that for you Kay. He's not extra clingy and we have different majors so we're usually on opposite ends of campus," Donghyuck could not BELIEVE he was explaining himself to this girl, "Not that I need to prove anything to you anyway, but I am all over his Instagram. Don't you follow him?" He picked his phone up from the table and unlocked it.

 

 She shook her head, "No, I tried to find him but there are quite a few Mark Lee's on there and none of the profile pictures looked like him," she admitted.

 

"You must not have looked hard enough," he said, already pulling up his boyfriend's IG page. "See? This is Mark in his profile pic and his most recent post is a picture I literally sent him like 20 minutes ago," Donghyuck revealed as he slid his cellphone over to her. He watched her eyes widen as she scrolled through Mark's social media page.

 

There weren't very many posts on Mark's page overall, only about 200 pictures, but there were quite a few posts that proved the two were together. Pictures and videos featuring Donghyuck with cute captions and infatuated commentary were scattered amongst random selfies and normal college boy posts. "God you're even tagged in his bio with a little heart emoji next to your name," she sighed out as she clicked on Donghyuck's profile next. Unlike Mark's Instagram, Donghyuck's page had about 1,000 posts and Mark seemed to be in every other one.

 

Kay grimaced as she said, "I feel so dumb." She passed Donghyuck his phone back. She looked like she wanted to cry and Donghyuck felt a twinge of guilt for having to break her heart. He had to though. It needed to be done.

 

Before Hyuck could comfort her Mark had returned, wiping his wet hands on his pants. "Ready?" He asked placing a hand on Donghyuck's shoulder. The younger boy nodded and looked over at Kay, who was looking at the hand on his shoulder. "It was nice to meet you Kay," he said to her again. She nodded but said nothing, clearly sad now. Mark grabbed his boyfriend's hands in his and pulled him to his feet. "You're paying for dinner this time right? Sunflower?" he asked Donghyuck.

 

Donghyuck saw Kay flinch out of the corner of his eyes at the nickname, "Uh yea. Let's go Mark," he said releasing one of the elder's hands. "Bye Kay," Mark happily said with a quick wave, "And thanks again for the cookies." He grabbed the tin and card off the table with his free hand and led Donghyuck out of the student union. Donghyuck stared over his shoulder at Kay until she was completely out of sight.

---

Mark stared dreamily at the bowl of hot queso that was just placed on the table between them. "Sweet!" he excitedly said as he rubbed his hands together. He pulled the basket of tortilla chips closer to his side of the table and dug out the biggest one. He swirled it around in the melted cheese before shoving the whole chip in his mouth. He was in HEAVEN. 

 

Donghyuck wanted to laugh at how cute Mark was being but for some reason he felt like garbage for having to hurt a person he didn't even know. "You OK, Hyuck?" Mark asked breaking through his trance, "You seem out of it suddenly." Donghyuck watched as his boyfriend dug another chip out and dipped it in the cheese. Mark stared back at him for a moment. "Hyuck? Do you hear me?" he queried as he busied himself with dunking another chip.

 

Donghyuck swallowed and then blurted out, "Kay has a crush on you." Mark's eyes widened as he dropped the chip in the queso, his hand following suit. 

 

Donghyuck reached out and smacked his boyfriend's hand out of the dip. "Yo Mark! What the hell!" he yelled in annoyance, "You ruined the queso!" He quickly shoved a stack napkins at the elder. "I'm so sorry babe, you shocked me," Mark said as he wiped his hands clean as best he could, the cheese dried on his fingers like wax. Donghyuck pouted and sat back in his seat, crossing his arms, "I ought to sue you. Now we have to order more," he complained.

 

"Lee Donghyuck! Please focus," Mark snapped his fingers in the other boy's face, "You said Kay has a crush on me?" Donghyuck nodded, "Yes, Mark Lee, Kay has a crush on you," he confirmed. Mark frowned, "How do you know?" he questioned. Donghyuck crossed his arms and glared at the elder, "Because she literally told me to my face while you were peeing," he replied. Mark raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Wow, I had no idea." Donghyuck squinted skeptically at his boyfriend, "Really? She baked you a ton of cookies because you loaned her a pencil," he pointed out like it was the most obvious evidence in the world.

 

Mark chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, "Yea I thought that was weird too," he agreed. Donghyuck shook his head at his boyfriend, "God you're so dumb sometimes," he scolded, "How could you not notice? I picked up on it immediately." Mark shrugged his shoulders, "To be honest, I don't pay attention to stuff like that. She was never on my radar as anything more than a classmate. I'm happy with you Hyuck," Mark easily revealed.

 

"As you should be. I'm the best person for you," Donghyuck cockily responded. Mark rolled his eyes and responded with, "You know, most people would just say thank you." Donghyuck shot finger guns at Mark along with a lopsided smirk, "I'm not most people," he countered. Mark rolled his eyes even harder but he did nod, "Yes. You're perfect for me," he conceded. Donghyuck reached over and patted Mark's hand, "Good boy." Mark shook the younger's hand off and pulled the queso dip closer to himself, "You no longer want any of this right?" he asked his boyfriend.

 

"Seriously Mark-hyung? Donghyuck whined. "I'm not gonna let your money go to waste babe, I'll take one for the team," Mark sarcastically replied as he dug his abandoned tortilla chip from the liquid white gold. "You disgust me," Donghyuck gagged as Mark the cheese off his fingers. He grabbed his bookbag off the back of his chair and pulled out a travel-sized bottle of hand sanitizer. He sat it down next to Mark and said, "For when you're done being a slob." Mark ignored him and continued to devour the cheese dip.

 

He only looked up when their waiter returned. "How's everything going over here guys?" he asked them through a commercial smile. "Great," Donghyuck answered for them both. "Good. Can I get anything else for you two while you wait for your food to come out?" the waiter asked them. "Another order of queso please," Mark eagerly requested, "And some more tortilla chips please?"

 

The waiter nodded and scribbled on his oder pad. "Can we also get an order of guacamole?" Donghyuck added. "Sure thing," their waiter cheerfully said before turning and heading back toward the kitchen. A silence fell between the couple as Mark crunched on the chips now that all his queso had been eaten.

 

"Are you gonna eat the cookies?" Donghyuck curiously asked his boyfriend. Mark grabbed the hand sanitizer and squirted a generous amount into his hand, "I don't know. Will you be angry if I do? Will that mean I've accepted her feelings?" he playfully taunted. "I might feel some type of way," Donghyuck truthfully admitted. His gaze fell to his twiddling thumbs on the table top. "Honestly, I was planning to give them to you. I don't really like cookies and they have a lot of chocolate in them with nuts, that just sounded like a toothache to me," he explained to his boyfriend.

 

"I don't want to eat your fan's cookies," Donghyuck denied with a shake of his head, "Let's give them to Taeyong-hyung and Jaehyun-hyung." Mark shrugged nonchalantly, he didn't really care what happened to the cookies. "Has she given you any other presents?" Donghyuck questioned his boyfriend. Mark started to shake his head, but then remembered, "A card," he said.

 

"Card?" Donghyuck echoed as Mark fished the card from his back pocket. He placed it on the table between them and looked at his boyfriend. Donghyuck's eyes followed the cursive writing over the envelope and then bounced around from heart sticker to heart sticker. Seriously, how could Mark not have noticed? "Are you going to open it?" he asked the elder, trying to sound as nonchalant as Mark looked about the whole situation.

 

Mark easily shook his head. "I don't think I need to," he said, "Do you think I should?"

 

Donghyuck looked at Mark with wide eyes, feeling nervous all of a sudden. "Will it change anything?" he asked him softly. Mark smiled warmly at the younger and shook his head again, "Never," he told him, "I love you Donghyuck." Donghyuck's face was engulfed in flames. He wanted to run away. Anytime Mark confessed like this it made him want to explode.

 

He pulled the brim of his bucket hat down over his eyes in an attempt to hide his face. He wanted to die from embarrassment and he KNEW Mark was just staring at him, grinning like a freaking clown. Donghyuck felt a relieved breath leave his lungs when the waiter returned with the queso,tortilla chips, and guac. The waiter deposited the dishes on the table, left a promise to shortly return with their entrees, and disappeared again.

 

Mark gave his attention to the piping hot fresh bowl of queso. He only looked up when he felt a toe gently tap his ankle under the table. Donghyuck didn't make eye contact, but he did quickly say, "I love you too, Minhyung," before dipping a chip into the guacamole and shoving it into his mouth. 

 

Mark smiled widely, a tiny blush covering his own cheeks. Mark could admit to himself that he felt a bit bad for Kay, but he couldn't return her feelings. He had found the love of his life and he wouldn't give Donghyuck up for the world.