"Father," Donghyuck says once he reaches home. He's sitting in his living room, back straightened and his dad was looking at him with a curious look. "You know how I graduated from uni 5 months ago."

"Mhm," his dad hums, glancing down at the file he was checking through.

"I was thinking," he clears his throat and runs his clammy hands against his jeans. "About finally applying to places for an internship?"

"An internship?" His dad echoes, eyes darting up to meet Donghyuck before falling back onto his file. "You can always apply to our company."

"I thought about that!" Donghyuck exclaims, hope flowing through him because his dad didn't just flat out reject his idea of working. "But then I thought about it seriously, practically. You told me only just a few months ago that you have enough people in the web development area of your company. You even told me that if you were to hire me, the others would get annoyed that I got accepted without a proper check."

"But you don't need to worry about what everyone else thinks," his dad assures him and the conversation ends with the way his dad flips to another page. Donghyuck shuffles around in the silent room and dreads every second of it. Donghyuck was so ready for applying at Mark's place, but his dad would be the issue.

The silence stretches for a while longer until his dad gets tired of his constant fidgeting.

"Alright, tell me what's going on," his dad sighs and takes his glasses off, his scrutinizing gaze making Donghyuck think twice before speaking.

"There's this place I want to do an internship at," he explains, using his hands to emphasise how badly he wants to go there. "I went to talk there and they explained what the entire program is going to be like. I even have the card they gave to people to apply."

"You do?" Donghyuck knows he's done something wrong when his dad puts his glasses back on and returns his focus to his file. "If you've planned that far, what's the point in asking me about it?"

Donghyuck realises his mistake and almost groans out loud.

"Father," he whines, switching his plan, and gets up from his seat. His large clothes make it look as if he's drowning in them and he knows that this tactic would probably work better than his previous one. "You know how much I love my degree, and you also know how much I would love to work at Lee Tech."

At the mention of Lee Tech, his dad snaps his head up in surprise.

"You want to work in that place?" Donghyuck nods slowly, unsure about what to do with the sudden change of the mood, and his dad smiles at him. "I know a few people there."

"You do? How did I not know this before?" Donghyuck walks over to his dad and crouches beside his seat. "Anyways, Father, I really want to work there. I don't want you to think I'm doing this without your permission, that's why I'm here asking you if it's okay. If you say no, I'll understand, but I really do want to go there."

Donghyuck mutters another small 'please' before poking his bottom lip out. His dad is weak against him as he takes a few sniffles. He knows he's acting like a child, but that's the only way to get his dad to ever listen to him. A few moments go by and his dad gives in.

"Fine, you can apply there," his dad says, shaking his head with a fond look on his face. "Good luck, and if you don't get in, there's always space for you at ours."

"I know," Donghyuck gets up and gives his dad a quick hug. "Thanks, Father, I love you."

"I love you too," his dad dismisses Donghyuck with a shake of his head, but Donghyuck catches the smile that blossomed on his face when he said that.

-

"He said yes?" Jaemin asks giddily. The smile on his face beating Donghyuck's when he jumps into a hug. "Finally!'

"I know right," Donghyuck chuckles as they walk into the cafe. "I was almost thinking he'd never say yes."

"Don't be dramatic," Jaemin slaps his arm. "Your dad would've come about it one day or another."

"I'm glad that one day was yesterday," Donghyuck sighs before turning to the cashier. He chants his usual order and then waits for Jaemin to say his. As he leans against the counter, Donghyuck looks around the cafe. It's still the same as it was four years ago when they first opened. It became the cafe he always visited with Jaemin because of their range in choices and variety of food.

The only thing that probably changed was the colour of the store. From silver-blue, it became a dark red. Donghyuck liked the change, it made the cafe look warmer. He has a serious addiction with warm things for some strange reason.

"Let's sit?" Jaemin says once he orders. Donghyuck nods and they take a seat at their usual table.

"You know," Donghyuck pouts and leans forward. "Remember the dream I told you about a few years back?"

"Yeah."

"I've been having them again," Jaemin raises his eyebrows and then nods as a gesture for Donghyuck to continue. "It's the same dream, just less blurry."

"So have you figured out anything other than a child and adult?" Jaemin was the second person to find out about his dream. After he had cried in his dad's arms and finally stopped shaking, Donghyuck had called Jaemin that night. Instead of shrugging his dream away and trying to distract him from it, Jaemin had suggested that Donghyuck tried understanding the dream. He guessed that maybe it was something that might happen in the future or something that had happened in the past. It could also just be his mind morphing a different situation into a more horrifying one.

"Not much," Donghyuck sulks. "I only realised that I'm the kid who's running away."

Jaemin begins to say something when the door to the cafe opens. The annoying chiming sound that Donghyuck had complained about multiple times rings through the cafe and they both turn to see who entered.

"Mark Lee?" Donghyuck whispers to himself when he recognises who the new customer was. Somehow, Mark hears Donghyuck and snaps his head to look at him. His furrowed eyebrows rise immediately and a smile takes over his face.

"Donghyuck, right?" Mark says as he walks over to their table. Jaemin clears his throat when Donghyuck stays silent.

"Yeah, yeah. That's me," Donghyuck coughs out. Mark awkwardly looks between Donghyuck and Jaemin until the youngest out of all of them gets up from his seat "Where are you going?"

"Did I forget to mention?" Jaemin sends a wink his way. "I have an appointment to get to, I'll see you later, Donghyuck."

"What appointment-" Jaemin grabs his drink and packet of food as soon as the waitress places it on their table and reaches over to pat Donghyuck's face. Ignoring the glare Donghyuck sends his way, Jaemin rushes out of the cafe after bowing at Mark.

"Can I?" Mark looks over at the chair Jaemin was seated on a while ago, and then back at Donghyuck.

"Sure," Donghyuck runs a hand through his hair and then takes a sip of his milkshake. "Do you come here often?"

"No," Mark answers. "I thought I had seen you through the window and so came in to check. I was right."

Donghyuck feels heat burn his cheeks at Mark's honesty, and he averts his gaze to the wooden table, appearing even more conscious knowing that Mark was still looking at him.

"So," Mark says after a couple of minutes (which consisted of Donghyuck taking noisy sips of his drink). "Did you think about the internship?"

"I did," Donghyuck mutters, spinning his cup. "I thought about it."

"Are you going to apply?" Mark asks with wide eyes filled with anticipation. Donghyuck was already going to say yes, but looking at his excited expression, he wondered who could say no to him.

"Yeah," Donghyuck finally replies, and Mark's shoulder slumps down in relief. "I asked my father if I could apply and he said yes."

"Your dad? How old are you?"

"I'm 22."

"You're 22 and need your dad's permission to apply for an internship?" Mark questions with a serious look on his face. It's something he gets a lot. People find it weird that Donghyuck has to ask his dad before doing something, but they wouldn't understand his reasoning.

"He's protective of me," Donghyuck explains. "My mother died when I was younger, so I didn't really have a motherly figure in my life, causing my father to take responsibility of two people. He's nice, he really is. And he cares a lot for me, he's just a little protective."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your mum," Mark lowers his head.

"No, no! Don't be," Donghyuck smiles. "She passed away when I was much younger, and I barely remember anything from when I was a kid."

"You don't?" Mark looks a little disappointed to know that and it makes Donghyuck feel strange. Was it not normal for people to not remember their childhood? Donghyuck can't seem to recall anything from when he was 9 and younger, but that was normal, right?

Mark's phone rings in the middle of their conversation, and they both jump at the sound. Mark chuckles at Donghyuck's surprised face and picks the call, the tone of his voice completely different from the one he was using to talk to Donghyuck. It was more serious, and somehow his voice sounded deeper than usual. Was he speaking to Donghyucksweetly on purpose? Or had he not realised?

"I have to go," Mark states once his call ends. He looks frustrated to have to cut their meeting short, but weirdly enough so does Donghyuck. "You're going to apply, right?"

Donghyuck laughs at his insisting and nods. "Yeah, I'm going to apply."

Mark shoots Donghyuck one last smile before leaving the cafe. Watching the older walk through the cafe doors reminds Donghyuck of something, he just can't seem to understand what it was.

-

"You can do it," Jaemin calls out to him from the car. Donghyuck shoots him a dirty look from over his shoulder, but when he turns back around he smiles to himself. Jaemin was always there for him and he didn't know how to thank him for that.

When Donghyuck called the number on the card a week ago, he was a little reluctant to actually book an appointment. Fear flooded him and he wasn't quite sure if he was going to be good enough to apply there. But of course, Jaemin hung up on him and barged straight into his house without a worry in his mind. He had dropped down next to Donghyuck and helped him make the call, the reassuring smile on his face was enough to give the older confidence to speak.

"Lee Donghyuck," he says to the receptionist when she asks for his name. With a polite nod, she holds a hand up to one of the corridors and tells him what room he needs to go to.

Donghyuck thanks her before hurrying over to the corner. It wasn't as if he was late, in fact, he was a good twenty minutes early in case he got into some traffic. Making a good impression for the company was what mattered most, even if that meant he had to skip getting his daily coffee.

As Donghyuck reaches the end of the corridor and comes to face the door, he realises that there's a long line of people ahead of him. He could've gotten his coffee, to be honest.

"How old are you?" The guy who Donghyuck sits next to asks. He looks a little surprised to see Donghyuck, maybe it's because he looks younger than he is.

"22," he answers and feels uncomfortable under the man's gaze. His luck comes through and the man gets called in. The way he walks into the room looks a bit suspicious as if he was holding his head up too high, and the way he leaves only a few minutes later with a scowl on his face tells Donghyuck that he was definitely not getting the job.

"Lee Donghyuck?" The mentioned boy glances up to see Mark standing by the door, a faint smile on his face. Everyone else around them is confused by their strange interaction and even groan when Donghyuck gets up to enter the office. They came before me, he notes, but Mark had called him in first. Why? "Take a seat, I've read through your file."

Donghyuck silently sits down and Mark sighs.

"So, how are you?" Mark asks.

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow. "I'm fine."

"That's good," Mark smiles. "So what do you think, fruits or vegetables?"

"Fruits?" Donghyuck replies in a confused tone, but Mark pays no mind to it. Instead, he continues.

"What do you think is my favourite fruit?" Mark's questions were way off-topic and nothing like what Donghyuck had prepared himself for. But instead of questioning the meaning of it all, Donghyuck answered.

"Watermelon?" Mark's smile widens.

"And so far, how much do you like me?" Donghyuck's mind stops working for a moment. What? Did Donghyuck hear that correctly? Was Mark asking him whether or not he liked him?

"Excuse me?" Donghyuck splutters and Mark finally eases his teasing grin.

"Do you know how to play snooker?" Mark leans back in his chair and Donghyuck has no idea what's going on.

"I played it a few times, but I'm not very good," he clears his throat and sits up. "Uhm, are these the questions you're supposed to ask?"

"I'm just creating a mood," Mark says with the same teasing glint in his eyes. Donghyuck knows he's just trying to be friendly and ease his nerves, but not knowing where the conversation was going made him tenser.

"You got a 1:1 in your degree," Mark finally opens his file and points at his certificate. "You've completed a few courses here and there, and even done some work experience at..."

Mark pauses as he stares down at the file. Donghyuck looks at him expectantly when he turns his head up.

"You worked at MSI. Co?" Mark asks.

"Yeah," Donghyuck hates talking about his work experience at his dad's company. Mostly because people assume he got it without any questions asked, but in fact only after a thousand questions were thrown at him (that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the questioning procedure was dreadful) and he was given multiple practical things to test did he get the place. "You see, it's my dad's company."

"Oh," Mark nods, flipping the page. "You're the son of Lee Heechul?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Donghyuck looks at Mark's blank expression and wonders what he did wrong.

"No, of course not." The conversation ends there. Mark continues to flip through his file with a neutral look and then places it on the table. "What did you think about the project that I mentioned in the talk?"

"It was interesting," Donghyuck replied, feeling his heart beat faster as he realises that this was the reason he had come here. "I had heard that a few other companies were trying the same thing, however."

"There's always someone there to copy you, and honestly nothing is ever original," Mark smiles and then asks him another few questions. Donghyuck blushes every time he stutters, but then Mark says, "Nobody's perfect, Donghyuck."

Just as Donghyuck was about to say he understood, Mark continued. "I'm nobody."

Lame, Donghyuck thinks but smiles nonetheless.

Mark suddenly stands up and only then does Donghyuck realise that they had hit the 10 minutes mark. "Anyways, Lee Donghyuck."

"Yes?" Donghyuck follows him and stands up.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing you next week on Monday. The group that you'll be part of will be under my supervision." Mark shakes Donghyuck's hand. "It was nice talking to you again. We should probably meet up outside of work as well."

"Sure." Donghyuck had gotten in.

"See you later," Mark nods and then gestures towards the door.

"Goodbye," Donghyuck says before turning around and exiting the room. He had gotten in. Donghyuck had gotten in. "I got in!" He screams once he gets into Jaemin's car. Jaemin looks surprised by his sudden outburst but then starts rejoicing with him.