Mark doesn't remember much of what happened on his 16th birthday. Other than the failed birthday party his parents held for him, to which only Donghyuck and his family had been invited to, he can't remember much. All he does recall is making a plan with Lucas. The memory of him jumping out of his window, his phone tightly clenched in his hand and his legs pressed against his chest, and then finally landing in Lucas' arms was one of the only prominent things he remembers. As the older (by a few months) boy had said, he really did catch Mark like Rapunzel.

"Come on," Lucas tugged on Mark's hand and led him to his car, which wasn't parked directly in front of the house since his parents knew about what his car looked like. With strict parents like Mark's, he needed to be prepared to do all this sneaking around. Of course, he never really wanted to lie to his parents or hide the things he did but he could also never disappoint them. He couldn't disappoint anyone (except maybe Donghyuck - but his opinion didn't matter to Mark).

"Final-fucking-ly," Renjun rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat as Mark climbed into the car. "You took so long I was thinking about ditching you."

"On my birthday? Isn't that a little too mean Renjun?" Mark teased, poking a finger into Renjun's shoulder and thriving off the way the younger squirmed under his touch. "Anyways, has everyone else reached?"

"Yeah man, they've been there for the past hour, or so," Lucas informed him, buckling up his seat belt and then looked at him through the mirror. "So how was dinner with Hyuck?"

"It was alright," Mark replied, sighing a little and relaxed into his seat. "And why do you still call him Hyuck?"

"Because we're still friends," Lucas scoffed at Mark's reaction.

Even though Mark had decided to cut everything off with Donghyuck, a decision he's not proud of but he doesn't really care much about it anymore, Lucas had kept in contact with the younger. When they were still in primary school, Lucas had met Donghyuck before he met Mark. The two had become friends after Donghyuck had mistaken Lucas for one of his bullies. After getting punched straight into the face by Donghyuck, Lucas had declared him a brave soul and befriended him. It was an odd way to start a friendship, but the two had worked their way through it.

"I don't understand how you tolerate him," Mark mumbled and no one probably would've heard him if it wasn't for Renjun's great hearing.

"You may think he's annoying," Renjun started and he turned around in his seat to look back at Mark, a serious expression on his face. Renjun had always been defensive of his friends, and Donghyuck just happened to be the one he protected the most. "But he's more than that, you just never tried to find out."

"Sure," Mark averted his eyes and looked out of the window. He stared at the clouds in the dark sky that seemed to follow them, reminding him of the time when Donghyuck used to do the same. He used to believe Mark was the centre of his universe, the sun of his galaxy (which was funny to them when they were younger since Mark used to call Donghyuck his sun) and he never let anyone come close to them. Maybe that was why Mark disliked the shadow Donghyuck created around him, keeping everyone at arms distance. Mark, someone who loved getting attention from everyone, couldn't handle it and pushed Donghyuck away. Perhaps there could've been a better way to do it; softer words, gentle gestures or even confronting the issue would've helped.

"We're here," Lucas said once they pulled up in front of a small building. The sound of muffled music was present and the lights outside were a dim purple colour. Cliché for a nightclub but that's exactly what Mark wanted. "Let's go."

The three entered the building, immediately getting bombarded with a bunch of drinks and got dragged across the floor. Mark soon found himself sitting on a sofa with a drink in his hand. He glanced down and eyed the liquid. The way it splashed against the glass made him feel sick. He didn't want to drink it. He looked up and saw his school friends gulp it down. He looked down. He drank it.

The drink passed down his throat, leaving a bitter taste at the back of his mouth and Mark grimaced. The feeling was as bad as how it looked. He shut his eyes close and took deep breaths, not knowing how to handle whatever the hell was going on with him. Someone laughed beside him and Mark just wanted to punch the guy in the face. So he did.

Without any hesitation, Mark swung his fist to the right, ramming it right into someone's cheek and he swears he heard something crack. It wasn't his knuckles, and only once he opened his eyes did he realise it was the guy's nose.

"What the fuck?" He yelled, holding a hand to his nose as blood burst out of it, the shape distorted and his eyes clenched down in pain. The people around them cheered for Mark (he doesn't really know why) and offered him more drinks. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Lucas pulling Renjun to the side, disgust on their faces as they watched Mark chug down drink after drink. For a 16-year-old, he had quite a high tolerance.

"That was hot," Someone said and Mark snapped his head towards the voice, a smile on his face as he watched his girlfriend walk over to him. She threw her leg over his and sat on his lap, rubbing her hands up his arms and then settled down on his neck. "When did you learn to fight people, Mark? Aren't you the innocent, sweet boy?"

"Seems like you haven't met me properly then, Yerim," Mark grinned, his eyes wandered up her dress, surprise was written over his face as he realised she was wearing the one he gave to her on her birthday. "Nice dress."

"Thanks, babe," Yerim smiled back and leaned forward, catching Mark off guard as she kissed him randomly. Wasting no time, Mark brought his hands on his waist and pulled her forward, leaving no space between them. The noise of the party died down and Mark could only hear the sound of his heart beating. He felt Yerim pull away and she took a deep breath. "You getting drunk may be the best thing to ever happen."

"Really? We should do this often then," Mark chuckled, using one hand to cup her face and pull her back into another kiss.

He doesn't remember how long he kissed her for, or if she was the only one he kissed. Time passed so quickly and soon he was falling onto the ground with a thud. His name was getting called out and Mark didn't know what was happening. A hand grabbed his arm and then cold wind slapped him in the face.

"Mark, dude wake up," Lucas helplessly pat Mark's face, worry flooding him as his shorter friend struggled to stand up and had a stupid smile plastered over his face. "Fuck. Renjun, what do I do?"

"I don't know, should we take him home?" Renjun ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he watched Mark collapse on the ground again. "Can't do that, his parents will probably find out he went out drinking if he goes home like this."

The two were discussing what they had to do when Mark pulled his phone out and brought it up to his face. He was on the ground as he called up Donghyuck, a goofy grin on his face when the younger picked up and asked in a tired tone, "what's up hyung?".

"Donghyuck-ie!" Mark said at the top of his voice, and the two standing over him immediately brought their attention to him. "How are you?"

"Shit, don't call Hyuck," Renjun dropped to the floor and attempted to pull the phone out of Mark's hand, but the older simply kicked him away and buried his head into his knees. "Lucas, do something!"

"Mark hyung...where are you?" Donghyuck asked and Mark started to giggle.

"Outside the club! What about you Hyuck-ie?" Lucas facepalmed as he heard Donghyuck continue the conversation. "You want to speak to Lucas? What about me? Speak to me!"

"Pass the phone, Mark," Lucas grumbled and snatched the phone out of Mark's reluctant hand. "I'm sorry, Donghyuck. We'll solve this, don't worry.'

"No no, hyung it's okay. You can bring him over to my house," Donghyuck answered and Lucas looked at Renjun with confusion. Renjun shrugged his shoulders and pointed down at Mark, who began to whine about how he wanted to talk to Donghyuck instead.

"Fine," Lucas bent down to pick Mark up with Renjun following closely behind. "We're coming over."

The next thing Mark knew was that Donghyuck was holding a hand over his mouth, preventing him from making any sound. He giggled like a madman when Donghyuck reached over and helped him out of his shirt. The rest of his clothes were pulled off afterwards and Mark found himself chin-deep inside water. He blinked slowly and felt hands brush through his hair. Shampoo got into his eyes and he shut them close, taking deep breaths as Donghyuck washed out the rest of the foam. The younger helped him up, his boxers soaking wet as he guided him back to his room. When Donghyuck turned around, Mark finally stripped himself of that last piece of clothing before dragging his limbs into Donghyuck's clothes. He felt a wave of relief when the sweet smell of vanilla flooded his nose.

"Come 'ere," Donghyuck whispered, gently grabbing Mark's arm and pushed him onto the bed. He switched off the lamp and joined Mark in the bed. "Come on, go to sleep, hyung."

"Mhm, g'night, Duckie," Mark muttered, shuffling closer to Donghyuck and wrapped his arms around him. He tilted his head to catch Donghyuck's glassy eyes before stuffing his face into the younger's chest. He ignored the sniffle he heard and hummed once Donghyuck pat his back, enveloping him in a blanket of warmth. "I missed this."

Sleep overcame him quickly and he missed Donghyuck's reply, but it wasn't as if it would've changed his sober states reaction to the position they were in.