Work Text:
The first time Donghyuck slept with him was on the very first day they met. Nothing new, on Donghyuck’s end, though what made it slightly more shameful was the fact that they worked together. But as a gay man of 29 — old by his own standards — he’d become less and less careful about his encounters.
Their first run-in was at an elevator, mid-afternoon in the fall. Donghyuck was on the way to work — a small English school for teens and adults on the 6th floor of a high-rise building in Gwangjin-gu. Mark, dressed in a suit and tie, was headed for the same place to interview for a position.
As they entered the elevator together, they shared a smile and a quick greeting. On their way up, Donghyuck could feel Mark eyeing him, which in his experience, was often code for I wanna bone. But Donghyuck restrained himself and merely glanced at him once, smiled again — and Mark smiled back, eyes glittering between the partition of his hair, causing Donghyuck’s little old heart to flutter.
He had dimples. And you didn’t see those every day.
It surprised Donghyuck when they left on the same floor as it never occurred to him that there was only one number pressed on the button pad. There was a short corridor leading up to the school and they walked at the same time, side by side, Donghyuck feeling suddenly conscious about whether or not his pink dress shirt was too tight or if he made the right decision to get a bowl cut the other day.
“You work here?” Mark asked, as they approached the glass doors, where the sign Breakthroughs English School hung in bright blue colors.
“That I do,” Donghyuck said, trying on a smile as he fixed his bangs. “And you? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before. Are you a student, or—?”
Mark laughed. “Nah, man. I’m here for an interview. Hoping to get a job.”
“Oh.” Great.
The school was small, with only a couple of offices for the teachers and marketing staff and a total of four classrooms fit for 10 to 15 students each. Mark made his way toward the academic manager’s office, while Donghyuck started his afternoon in the staff room, where he immediately hit the books to finalise the lesson for his evening class. Donghyuck’s job was to teach beginning English learners for three hours every weekday; the students were mostly in their late teens or early 20s, many of them looking to get a visa to work or study in another country.
The staff room where Donghyuck worked was less of a formal office and more of a shared space with a round table and a few plastic shelves for the teachers’ things. Donghyuck sat there alone, browsing through the exercise book — Cambridge English for Beginners — to review the flow of today’s module.
A while later, Donghyuck started hearing voices from outside the door; he checked his watch and saw it was still 3:30, too early for the other teachers to arrive. Usually, it was just Donghyuck who came in ahead of time to prepare. Later, Donghyuck realized that the voice belonged to his boss Doyoung, who entered the room with Mark trailing behind him, scanning the room with curiosity.
“So this is where you’ll find all the materials you can use,” Doyoung explained, patting his hand on the shelf full of learning guides. Mark was nodding along, his gaze fixed on Doyoung, only broken for a split second of eye contact with Donghyuck.
Doyoung continued, “And it’s also where our other teachers take their breaks. Most of them haven’t arrived yet, but it looks like Teacher Donghyuck's here early”
Donghyuck proceeded to stand up, expecting them to be formally introduced.
“Teacher Donghyuck here teaches the beginner class,” Doyoung said.
Donghyuck bowed his head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
This was how Donghyuck learned his name: Mark Lee. Minhyung, in Korean, but he preferred to go by Mark. The two shook hands as if they hadn’t already met. They smiled at each other, again. Donghyuck felt his heart flutter, again.
It was one surprise after another, as Doyoung revealed that Mark had already been hired and was starting today since someone needed to fill in for Teacher Johnny, who’d just called in sick. “Take it as an initiation,” Doyoung explained, to which Mark laughed, nervously.
Because of this, Donghyuck found himself at the same round table with Mark as he browsed through the materials Johnny prepared for the day. And Donghyuck also found himself having to explain to Mark how things went at the school, that they always began with a greeting and roll call, that latecomers needed to get a slip from reception, that a lot of the adult students had part-time or even full-time jobs, so you might expect them to come in tired.
“We don’t often get a newbie to sub for the teachers, but I guess Doyoung trusts you?” Donghyuck said, trying to assure Mark, who seemed a little nervous, sweat dripping from his forehead as he only had an hour left to get everything right.
“Thanks,” Mark said, shaking his head. “I owe you one, man.”
Man. He keeps calling me that. He knew they were English teachers, but the foreign colloquialisms in Mark’s sentences were odd just the same.
In class, Mark turned out to be a natural and Donghyuck didn’t need to coach him at all, as he got on with his students almost instantly. The Advanced class was a different ball game from the beginners since they could easily call bullshit when a teacher was fucking up, but Mark seemed to be all smiles the whole way through. And Donghyuck could even hear him from the other classroom, a soothing voice explaining today’s grammar lesson — mixed conditional clauses.
So their 3 hours of teaching went on with nary a problem. Donghyuck finished his session with a quick game of Pictionary, as he was teaching his class English words for different jobs — doctor, businessman, priest, politician. His students were lively enough, shouting some answers, though not in excess since they were all pretty knackered and itching for the day to end.
As the students emptied the classroom and as Donghyuck started collecting his things, placing his pens and markers into a blue pouch, Mark turned up, bright and beaming after a successful first day. He leaned against one of the desks, gave Donghyuck an overeager “hey,” and started a no-filter account of today’s experience. Donghyuck thought his voice was much too quick and energetic for the end of a workday.
“So I was thinking—“ Mark started, which was the one thing that got Donghyuck’s focus to return. “Do you wanna hang out tonight? Dinner, and maybe a couple of drinks? My treat.”
Donghyuck’s lips parted. He didn’t know what to say. But of course, the only possible answer was yes.
Dinner was brief, at a quaint Portuguese chicken restaurant two buildings away. Drinks lasted a bit longer, as they moved to one of the gay-friendly bars nearby, hidden below a hardware store. As they sat by the counter and as the bartender filled up their pints, Donghyuck began to really appreciate Mark’s face and physique. His jaws were quite defined, Donghyuck noted. And Mark had taken off his coat and rolled up his sleeves, revealing his arms — not the most herculean, but had faint outlines of muscle. Mark’s pants hugged his legs, long and lean, while he seemed to have big feet hidden behind his expensive leather shoes.
Donghyuck also found the following things of interest: Mark grew up in Canada, though he went to university locally (which explained the colloquialisms). He lived alone, just like Donghyuck — one train-stop away from work (a happy coincidence). He never planned on becoming an English teacher, but after taking a few courses in college, he realized he had a passion and talent for it.
“So here I am,” Mark went, arms in an upthrust.
Donghyuck sipped on his beer. “And here you are,” he said, smiling, nodding, their knees brushing together.
“And you?” Mark asked, with a glint in his eyes that told Donghyuck all he had to know of what was to come. “How’d you end up here?”
Donghyuck’s story was not exactly the sexiest, but he told him anyway. He sighed, set his arm on the counter, and began to talk about his parents. When he was young, they were very adamant about him learning English and using his skills to work abroad. “But even when I had the chance to, I refused.”
“How come?” Mark said, his hand snaking its way to Donghyuck’s arm to give it a soft hold.
Donghyuck shrugged. “I wouldn’t have been happy away from home,” he said. “And my friends would miss me too much.”
“I kind of get that,” Mark said. “And I guess I’m lucky you didn’t move.”
Donghyuck let Mark lace their fingers together. He regarded Mark — “You’re not subtle, are you?” he said.
The night was always leading up to this. The moment Mark asked Donghyuck out for drinks—heck, the moment their eyes met in that elevator, there was only going to be one direction their evening would take. Donghyuck went with the flow, only slightly tipsy as he followed Mark’s lead towards his apartment. Donghyuck let himself get swept away, as Mark started properly kissing him, without rhythm or method, in a sloppy way that made Donghyuck shudder. Mark did this as soon as they stepped into his living room, a white-walled space with a loveseat and a coffee table where his morning tea still sat.
There was a bit of awkwardness here and there, as they fumbled to take off each other’s clothes in between languid kisses, and as Donghyuck excused himself to the bathroom. He needed to take a piss and clean out his asshole because he could never be too careful if things went in that direction.
Mark was sitting on the bed, completely naked, all lean and lucent, when Donghyuck returned. At first, Mark didn’t notice him as he was browsing through his phone, but after Donghyuck let out a quick cough for attention, the glint in Mark’s eyes returned.
The awkwardness did not cease, as Donghyuck whispered to ask Mark to finger him and Mark tried to do so while kissing him at the same time. Nails started hitting the wrong places; one of Donghyuck’s legs got a minor cramp from being lifted at the wrong angle. And Donghyuck didn’t mean to, but he let out a laugh when Mark started kissing his neck.
“Fuck, I’m sorry—”
“Shut up,” Donghyuck said, sliding his fingers through Mark’s hair encouragingly. “You’re doing awesome.”
His words were met with a pout and a weak glare. Donghyuck could feel Mark’s cock harden against his leg.
“So are you gonna fuck me or not?” Donghyuck said.
And this must have set Mark off because what followed took Donghyuck’s breath away.
Mark placed a pillow behind Donghyuck’s head, and one under Donghyuck’s lower back. In a careful pace, Mark lifted Donghyuck’s legs behind the small of his back, which gave Donghyuck some needed lift. All the while, Donghyuck thought about how broad Mark’s shoulders were and how they might taste in his mouth. Donghyuck met his gaze and they smirked at each other as Mark angled his dick towards Donghyuck’s hole.
“You’re a big one, aren’t you?” Donghyuck said, feeling the pressure of Mark’s cockhead
“Me? Big?” Mark blushed, and Donghyuck wondered if no one had ever told him that. By the looks of it, Mark didn’t think much of himself in terms of sex, which was utterly ridiculous.
This was far from Donghyuck’s first try at the rodeo — fuck, he even blew a guy just the other day, and got a little careless at a bathhouse a couple of weeks ago. But for some reason, this was different. As Mark’s lubed up dick eased into his ass, he couldn’t help but writhe and sigh and whimper loudly at the sensation. The initial sting was always something Donghyuck looked forward to; he thought the pain elevated the whole experience.
“You fucking like getting pounded, don’t you?” Mark said, voice hoarse as he nudged harder into Donghyuck.
Donghyuck’s back arched and some very unmanly moans escaped him in great, long gasps. His hands were unsure of where they should be, as one moment, he grasped at Mark’s hips, and then Mark’s ass, trying to shove as much of Mark in him as possible. The next moment, Donghyuck was pressing his fingers on Mark’s back, as Mark leaned down against Donghyuck’s collarbone and started pounding him slowly.
At some point, Donghyuck was able to bite Mark’s shoulder, drool dripping from his mouth in the most unseemly fashion. Mark’s fingers sent him over the edge, as he held Donghyuck’s cock and jerked him off with care. Donghyuck came in brief, soft spurts, around four or five. As Donghyuck reached the peak of his orgasm, Mark continued to smack his hips against him and Donghyuck went into a fit of moans and even croaked an apology for leaving a bite mark on Mark’s skin. But Mark assured him it was okay and kissed him as he gave Donghyuck five quick thrusts before he came inside the condom and fell on top of him. The rest of the night, Donghyuck took in the heady smell of Mark’s hair and the scent of Mark’s neck, a hybrid of lemon and Axe body spray. He’d noticed the smell earlier that night, but only now did he get to savor it. Donghyuck guessed he didn’t smell half bad either, as Mark took a whiff of Donghyuck’s hair and stayed there for some time, unmoving.
This would not be the last time Donghyuck would find himself pinned under Mark’s weight. They continued to see each other over the next few days, though at work everything was kept at a down-low. They shared secret looks now and then and as soon as everyone dispersed for the night, they would leave together and Mark would hold his hand as they went to whoever’s apartment was available.
When their workmate Johnny first met Mark, Donghyuck kept quiet as the two shared pleasantries, though Donghyuck almost melted in embarrassment when Mark greeted Johnny by saying “what’s up” in his North American accent. The two gave each other firm handshakes and went over to the pantry together, and Donghyuck counted himself lucky that he didn’t get to hear most of the conversation.
“Cool guy,” Johnny said when Mark was out of the staff room. “Bit weird though.”
“How so?” Donghyuck asked, eyebrow raised in genuine wonder.
“First of all, he tried to give me a high five. And he kept calling me man.”
Johnny was more or less on point about Mark, but Donghyuck wouldn’t have him any other way.
The rest of the week proved to be the most sex Donghyuck ever had in a period of five days. By the end of it, his whole body felt horribly sore — a fact that Mark seemed to notice, as they resorted to quick handjobs on Friday night at Donghyuck’s apartment. The night before, Donghyuck took a particularly hard fucking, which he had initiated and egged on, for sure, but came to regret as he woke up contemplating if he should call in sick for work.
But come to work he did and because he was nothing but a horny fucker, he insisted on inviting Mark back to his apartment. That night, their dinner was nothing but mac and cheese, which Donghyuck still tasted in Mark’s mouth as they kissed.
“You’re still hard,” Donghyuck said, eyebrows furrowed after the ill-fated handjob. They lied in bed together in Donghyuck’s tiny bedroom where a Michael Jackson poster hung over them, arms folded and eyes brooding in judgement. They were buck naked, sweaty, Donghyuck’s stomach coated with his cum. Mark, meanwhile, was sporting a hard-on that Donghyuck felt a little too exhausted to touch.
“It’s fine,” Mark said, leaning in for a speedy kiss. “I’ll do it myself.”
Donghyuck stared and held Mark’s grimy, left hand while Mark jerked himself off with his right in rapid motions. “Huge fucking dick,” Donghyuck said. “What is with that.”
Mark heaved and laughed, his voice in the midst of an orgasm. ”I—fuck—honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Donghyuck thought about it—and perhaps he really was exaggerating and perhaps his fondness was blinding him, but when it came to sex, perception made all the difference in the world.
His orgasm was small, semen spilling out in a single burst that dripped onto his fingers. Not long after, they fell asleep, though this time not in each other’s arms. Donghyuck slept on his side while Mark lied on his back. They were comfortable, unfazed by each other’s company after five days worth of sex.
In the morning, Donghyuck realized that perhaps he was getting a little too comfortable, a little too used to Mark’s company, because the moment Mark revealed he had plans with friends that weekend, Donghyuck’s heart sank. He tried not to let on as he sent Mark off, though he made sure to leave Mark one big, ferocious kiss before he left, to seal himself in Mark’s long-term memory.
“You take care,” Donghyuck said, giving Mark a pat on the cheek, to which Mark responded with a grin and fleeting kiss, soft and loving.
There was no chance in hell that he’d spend the whole weekend moping, and to his luck, he received a text that morning from his friend Jungwoo, asking if Donghyuck wanted to hang out in the afternoon and come to a trivia night at the Why Not Bar in Itaewon.
But they weren’t meeting until after 4, so Donghyuck had quite a bit of time to kill. In the hours that followed, he tried picking up a book, started reading the second chapter of a Kyung-Sook Shin novel — which he couldn’t last through, despite the lyrical prose. He then tried getting a head start on some work, which didn’t last as well; he ended up with a powerpoint template, well-designed with a vintage color scheme in the style of a scrapbook but without any content. In the end, Donghyuck decided to give up, just lie in bed, and watch music videos on his phone.
On the weekends, it was usual for Donghyuck to hang out with Jungwoo, often with some other friends like Taeil and Jaehyun. Usually, they would spend Saturday night picking up guys at bars or helping each other flirt with twinks on Grindr, and Donghyuck figured Jungwoo would want to do the same tonight. Though Donghyuck didn’t know if he’d be up for it, or if he would even allow himself, given the whole Mark situation.
At Tully’s Coffee later that day, he confessed his lack of interest in doing anything crazy that night, to which Jungwoo reacted by giving him a look, eyes squinted, mouth pursed.
“You met someone,” Jungwoo said, index finger pointing at Donghyuck suspiciously.
Donghyuck hid his face behind his hands. “That obvious?” he said.
Jungwoo sipped on the metal straw of his iced coffee. “Tell me about him,” he said.
“God, where do I start?”
Donghyuck honestly didn’t know how he should explain it. New guy at work should be fact number one. Mind-blowing sex should be fact number two. “And you know those online quizzes that tell you about your ideal guy? I think he fits the bill.”
“The sex is that good?” Jungwoo asked.
“Do I really need to say it again?”
“It’s important to me that my friend’s with someone good in bed.”
“Thanks for the concern.”
“You’re welcome,” Jungwoo said, after another sip. “So you’ve met this guy and you say he’s perfect, basically. Now what’s the problem?”
“The problem is it’s been, what, five years since I’ve had a real relationship and I don’t know what to fucking do.”
“Donghyuck, just talk to him. It’s that simple.”
Donghyuck frowned. He was an adult; he knew that was what adults did. They communicated. They were honest about their feelings.
“Fucking feelings,” Donghyuck groaned.
Later that night, Donghyuck and Jungwoo met up with Taeil and Jaehyun at the bar for the trivia night. They formed a single team for the competition, whose theme today was “musicians in the 80s and 90s”. Donghyuck, ever the professional, got his team to the final round, as he was especially well-versed with Western music from those decades.
They didn’t win but got close enough to get free beers and some gift certificates for Nature Republic. Donghyuck snapped up a photo of the certs, thinking he might send them over to Mark to tell him what he was up to that night.
By happenstance, as Donghyuck and his friends shared a drink at their booth, his phone rang, a quick and high-pitched ping. On his screen was a message from Mark — a picture first, of Mark himself doing the peace sign in front of a buffet. He had on his circle specs and the strands of his hair were pointing in all directions. On a separate text, Mark wrote: Pigging out tonight, want anything?
“You’re grinning,” came a voice. It was Jaehyun, bringing Donghyuck back to reality.
“Oh, am I?” Donghyuck shook his head, and though he tried his best to withhold his smile, he couldn’t help it from returning. “It’s...“ He looked back down on his phone, at Mark’s smiling face. He waved a dismissive hand, “Psshh. It’s nothing. It’s—yeah, fuck, it’s nothing.”
“Donghyuck has a guy,” Jungwoo chimed in, which Donghyuck should’ve expected.
Jaehyun gasped. Taeil nodded amusedly.
“What kind of guy?” Taeil asked.
“‘Ideal’ is the word Donghyuck used,” said Jungwoo.
“I don’t like the sound of it,” Jaehyun said.
“Me neither,” Taeil added.
“Well fuck you then,” Donghyuck replied, before he lowered his gaze back to his phone to think of a reply.
He decided to take a picture of their beer pints and send that to Mark instead of the certificates. We’re all set over here, he typed.
In the background, Taeil and Jaehyun were asking Jungwoo all the questions about Mark, where Donghyuck met him, what he was like, how he was in bed. Jungwoo offered very little, and Donghyuck was not in the mood to answer any questions.
Man I wish I could get a drink, Mark said. They don’t have a bar over here.
You could always come over to mine, Donghyuck replied. Still have some beer in the fridge.
Wish I could, Mark answered. But not actually in the city tonight. Went on a bit of a road trip.
Donghyuck sent two texts after that. The first: Oh cool. The second: Have fun!
Mark didn’t reply, and Donghyuck didn’t expect him to. He wondered if his texts sounded awkward, though he immediately felt silly—that he was almost 30 and still getting anxiety over texts to a guy he liked. It never got easier, did it?
For the rest of the night, Donghyuck fell silent and decided to drown out the noise and simply focus on finishing his beer before heading home. His friends said this was odd for him, and Donghyuck wasn’t going to argue with that. Because it was definitely odd, but what could he do? He just wasn’t in the mood.
On Sunday morning, the first thing Donghyuck read was a text from Jungwoo.
Communication is the key, was all it said.
Fuck that, was his first reply, though he immediately added — But I know you’re right.
Don’t forget to send us pics by the way, Jungwoo said. Wanna see what this Mark fellow looks like.
Donghyuck obliged, sending a selfie Mark had taken with Donghyuck's phone plus the photo from last night, just to prove his point about Mark and his stupid face. Jungwoo asked for permission to show the photos to Jaehyun and Taeil, to which Donghyuck agreed without a second thought.
He had a lot of work to do that day, so at least that kept him busy. But truth be told, at the back of his mind, he was thinking about whether or not Mark was going to text, or if he would call and say he’d come over. Or if tomorrow they’d resume last week’s routine of dinner, then drinks, then non-stop fucking.
What he wanted from Mark, he wasn’t completely sure, as the word “relationship” still sent unwanted shivers down his spine. The last real relationship Donghyuck had was with a guy named Jaemin, who was a year younger than him and certainly just as attractive as Mark, though in a more conventional way. Donghyuck tried to recall if he felt this silly while he was with Jaemin, if he felt this same pang in his heart whenever Jaemin talked to him.
The answer was probably yes, but Donghyuck’s memories of his feelings at the time were admittedly quite hazy. What he did know was that Jaemin would be mildly insulted that Donghyuck was comparing their 1-year relationship to a 1-week fling whose future was up in the air.
Last time Donghyuck heard, Jaemin was in a steady relationship with a football player (or was it a hockey player?). He didn’t know for sure, as Jaemin’s Instagram posts never revealed too much about his love life.
And here Donghyuck was, very nearly 30, pining over some guy he met just a few days ago. A guy he fucking worked with. A guy who Donghyuck was texting at this very moment, because communication is the key, and sending him a brief, emotionless question still counted as communication, right?
wyd? he wrote.
Ten minutes, no reply. 1 hour later, empty notifications. Donghyuck figured he was still out.
He set a limit for himself: If Mark didn’t text by 2, he would leave to stock up on groceries. After eating a salad for lunch and working on some slides for his class, he decided it was time to leave the apartment.
There was only so much quiet he could take, even as he was out and about in the grocery store, so he got Jungwoo on the phone as he walked through the produce aisle to pick out the cheapest garlic gloves and the most expensive gourmet tomatoes (he wanted to make pasta this week).
“It’s been five years since Jaemin,” Jungwoo told him. “Are you seriously still hung up about that?”
“No, I’m honestly not, fuck.” Donghyuck massaged his forehead, as he picked up some tomatoes to weigh them on the scale, 500g total. “It’s just he’s doing so great! Too great. And I’m doing—Ok, my life’s not complete shit, because I love my job and I have great friends, but this romantic stuff is just...eluding me.”
“There there,” Jungwoo said. He yawned. Donghyuck knew he was disturbing Jungwoo’s Sunday afternoon nap. “It’s not like I’ve got everything figured out. And I’m older than you. Remember two months ago when I said Lucas and I would go West and get married? Look how that turned out.”
Lucas was Jungwoo’s ex, who unceremoniously left him for another guy and unceremoniously moved to Shanghai to be with said guy. Donghyuck never actually met him, but at the time, Jungwoo was so smitten — much like Donghyuck was now.
He sighed and pushed his cart over to the frozen foods section. ”We’re just two old lonely queers, aren’t we Jungwoo?”
“The word old is not in my vocabulary. And it shouldn’t be in yours either.”
Donghyuck let out a laugh, which was half genuine and half self-deprecating. It was then that he realized his hand had been positioned too long on a pack of frozen peas, so one of his palms was more or less chilled for a good 2 minutes.
Upon reaching home half an hour later, Donghyuck finally received a message from Mark — which to Donghyuck’s surprise, he was able to read with relative calm.
Heyyy, came the first text, followed by a smiley face and five more words: Just got home, pretty smashed.
Donghyuck replied, Cool. He thought for a bit— Good to know.
Mark sent another smiley face, which Donghyuck found excessive and perhaps just a little bit cute.
What you up to? Mark said.
Nothing much, just got some groceries.
What kind? Mark replied.
This was a thinker. Regular groceries I guess? Vegetables, poultry, meat. How would you usually describe them?
That was a stupid question sorry
Donghyuck smiled and lay his upper body down on his bed, legs bent down, feet on the floor. He noticed Mark was typing, as the ellipsis bubble appeared on his end of the line, but then it disappeared for a minute before reappearing again.
He was taking too long — five minutes total, so Donghyuck decided to beat him to the punch.
I never got to ask how old you were, Donghyuck said.
Oh, said Mark. I’m 29.
Ah, Donghyuck replied. Same, he continued.
Once again, Mark seemed to be taking his time, typing and deleting, as the ellipsis kept re-emerging on the screen. Donghyuck resolved to just let him finish because he might have something long and substantial to say.
What came next was quite unexpected, as Donghyuck’s phone began to vibrate and ring, with Mark’s name flashed on the screen.
“Hello?” said Donghyuck. He rolled his body to his side and held the phone close to his ear.
“Hey. I hope you don’t mind that I called.”
Heat rushed to Donghyuck’s neck as soon as he heard Mark’s voice. It was more intimate, somehow, hearing him on the phone.
“I was actually busy,” Donghyuck said.
“Oh—Sorry, I didn’t think—“
“Just kidding,” he laughed.
“Oh.” The laugh from Mark’s end had a hint of nerves, which Donghyuck took as a positive sign.
“So why’d you call?”
“I dunno—I just wanted to hear your voice, I guess.”
Donghyuck blushed. “I see,” he said, hand tightening its grip around his phone. “Same here,” he added.
“I don’t think we actually got to talk this week,” Mark said. “I mean, a little bit over dinner, but not really.”
“All the sex got in the way,” Donghyuck said.
“Yeah.” Mark’s voice went soft. “All the sex.”
“I mean, that’s how it is most of the time, right? You meet someone on Grindr, or Jack’d, or Scruff, whatever. And then you have a lot of sex. Or maybe just a little sex — blowjob, handjob, rimjob, then go home. Depends on the guy.”
“Yeah, but we didn’t meet on an app. So this is different, right?”
“Sure,” said Donghyuck. “Different.”
“Because we work together,” said Mark.
“For sure, yeah.”
“And we’re, like—connecting, I guess?”
“Oh most definitely—we connected quite a lot last week—penis in ass, penis in mouth, penis between the thighs at one point.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes I do.” Donghyuck sighed. “I’m bad at this.”
This atmosphere was different, more serious, and Donghyuck didn’t know whether he liked it or not. Probably the latter, because he was struggling to think of what to say without sounding flippant.
Communication is the key, he was reminded.
“I don’t know what to say,” Donghyuck said. “Maybe—just ask me a question?”
There was a pause. Donghyuck closed his eyes.
“So—” Mark began, “when we met on the elevator, what did you first like about me?”
Donghyuck chewed on his lower lip. “Your face, I think. Or your smile. Those damn dimples.”
“I get that a lot.”
“You do, do you?” This made Donghyuck giggle. “What about you? What did you first like about me?”
“Ah—do I have to answer that?”
“Yes! Mark, c’mon.”
Mark sighed. “Fine,” he went. “It was your neck, actually.”
Donghyuck moved his hand to rub the back of his neck. “My neck?”
“Beautiful neck.”
“That sounds kinda kinky.”
“Well, it kind of is if you think about it.”
Mark went on to talk about how much he also liked Donghyuck’s legs, how tight they were, in his words. And he liked Donghyuck’s smile as well, and the way his eyes shined behind his reading glasses. Hearing all this was quite overwhelming, but Donghyuck listened and controlled his responses.
“That was a mouthful, I’m sorry,” Mark said.
“No it’s ok,” Donghyuck said, “I like getting compliments.”
“Are you gonna say anything back?”
“About you?”
“Of course about me.”
“Umm, maybe not.”
“Why not!”
“You’re head’s gonna get too big. And we can’t have that.”
“That’s disappointing,” Mark said. “I’m pouting right now, by the way.”
“You’re too old for that. Stop.”
This was the atmosphere Donghyuck liked, light and breezy, none of that deep feelings crap. After some coaxing, Mark finally got Donghyuck to talk and Donghyuck told Mark about his arms, and his legs, and the touch of his hands. And he talked about Mark’s hairstyle, all big and floppy, which Donghyuck found endearing. At the end of it all, Donghyuck had to admit he was starting to feel a bit aroused.
“Cool,” Mark said. “Cool cool cool,” he continued, aimlessly. “God, this is kind of turning me on.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
“So.”
“So?” Donghyuck gulped.
“My place or yours?”
Donghyuck almost choked, hearing that. It made him feel unreasonably happy.
“Come to mine,” Donghyuck said, and without any hesitation, Mark agreed.
It took about an hour for Mark to arrive, which gave Donghyuck enough time to take a shower and clean himself all over, plus a little bit of time to declutter his bedroom. He dressed in a yellow t-shirt and some skintight jeans, which he was certain would just end up in the hamper in a few minutes.
When he opened the door for Mark, the first thing Donghyuck noticed was the box of Godiva chocolates, gold and red, in his hands. Donghyuck looked him up and down. He was in a black t-shirt and bootcut jeans, plus a big green coat, that trademark smirk plastered on his face.
“You got me—“
“Chocolates,” Mark said, handing Donghyuck the box. “They’re supposed to be pretty good.”
I thought we were having sex. Donghyuck stared at the box, feeling confused about what to make of it.
He stood out of the way and let Mark inside. Donghyuck initially thought that as soon as Mark arrived they would be kissing and taking each other’s clothes off, but the chocolates changed everything.
Mark waltzed into Donghyuck’s living room and sat on the couch. Donghyuck stood a few meters from him, not knowing what exactly he should say. He put the box down on the kitchen counter and approached Mark to sit beside him, an inch of space between them.
Donghyuck shifted his gaze and regarded him pointedly.
“Do you not like chocolates?” Mark asked, looking at Donghyuck directly in the eye.
“You’re making this weird,” Donghyuck said.
“Why? What’s so weird about it?”
Donghyuck wanted to explain it without sounding like an asshole. “The chocolates—are a gesture, right?”
“I mean, I guess.”
“And gestures mean something.”
Mark nodded silently.
“So what does this mean?”
“Do I need to spell it out?”
“Unfortunately you do, Mark Lee.”
Mark stared at him, mouth open ever so slightly.
Communication is the key, Donghyuck was reminded anew.
“I really like you,” Donghyuck blurted out. “As in really, properly like you. Which is weird, because I barely know you. But that’s how I feel.”
At this, Mark was wide-eyed, though this slowly morphed as words came out of his mouth.
“That’s awesome,” Mark said, with a smirk.
“Is that what those chocolates mean?” Donghyuck asked. “That you like me too?”
“Oh.” Mark nodded. “Yeah.”
Donghyuck broke the eye contact and turned away. “Well okay then. So I guess that’s settled. We’re two guys who like each other, imagine that.”
Mark leaned back on the couch. They sat there in silence for a while, partly due to the sheer awkwardness of what had just occurred, partly because Donghyuck needed to reel in all the giddy feelings that were building inside of him.
When Donghyuck finally met Mark’s gaze, he found Mark’s smile, again. Which made Donghyuck’s heart flutter, again.
This was all it took for things to go back to normal. It did not take long for Mark to slip his thumb between Donghyuck’s lips and for Donghyuck to suck on Mark’s salty skin as he moaned encouragingly. Soon after, things devolved into a 30-minute make-out session on Donghyuck’s couch, with Donghyuck pressing his weight onto Mark’s and Mark rubbing Donghyuck’s lower back from under his shirt.
Pants were unzipped, then slipped off. Donghyuck pulled Mark to the bedroom. He let Mark sit down on the linen and Donghyuck sat so his legs were around Mark’s waist. He didn’t often sit on guys’ laps or vice versa; that was usually reserved for the most intimate occasions. The position allowed him to see his partner’s face very clearly, and this was exactly what he wanted with Mark. He wanted to see him, his jaws, his full lips, his dark eyes. As soon as Donghyuck got into position, Mark went from pretty cute and reasonably hot to incredibly beautiful.
Donghyuck got fucked like that, sitting on Mark’s lap. He rode Mark’s cock and met Mark’s thrusts, which were labored and needy and just what Donghyuck wanted on a Sunday evening.
He squeezed hard around Mark’s dick and arched back as he whimpered about how good this all felt. His own cock leaked and bounced as Mark pounded into him. It was the fullness, the feeling of being filled with Mark that sent him over the edge.
“Goddamn,” Mark said, as they pressed their bodies together in a tight embrace. Donghyuck eased himself further on Mark’s cock, keeping his eyes locked with Mark’s, who looked like he was about to cry for a second. Donghyuck kissed him to prevent that from happening and Mark shoved his hips up, in a quick snap, while groaning in Donghyuck’s mouth.
Almost too soon, after some frantic thrusts, Mark let out a gasp and a moan, an oh fuck, yeah, I’m gonna fucking bust, to which Donghyuck could only react with frenzied nodding.
“I’m a mess,” Mark said. His hair smelled musty and his face was covered in sweat, but Donghyuck continued to let Mark leave bruising kisses on his neck and jerk Donghyuck’s leaking cock.
“Me too,” Donghyuck said, before biting Mark’s shoulder like he did the first time they fucked. His chest expanded and his teeth clamped harder on Mark’s skin, as Mark brought him to an orgasm, cum spilling between them. It was almost unbearable, the way this made his body tremble.
Donghyuck refused to let it end. Mark heaved as he lay back, chest expanding as Donghyuck crawled on top of him. He licked Mark’s cheek like a sated mate and planted a kiss on Mark’s forehead for good measure.
Mark practically growled and bit Donghyuck’s ear before he grabbed Donghyuck from under his armpits, flipping them over and pinning Donghyuck down on the mattress. His eyes blurred for a moment. The fact that Mark could do all that made Donghyuck want to swoon.
The night was still young and they were working on empty stomachs. But after cumming for the third time, Donghyuck felt too exhausted to move and even think about dinner. Despite declaring that they’d finish the box of condoms, Donghyuck was the first to cave and say enough was enough. Mark, meanwhile, still had some energy, which he channeled towards kisses on Donghyuck’s neck as he got himself off for the umpteenth time. “You smell like a meadow,” Mark said. “It’s driving me nuts.”
Sleep fell on them for a couple hours, Mark pulling them together under the blanket. By eleven, Donghyuck awoke, only to find that Mark was no longer beside him. After a quick search in the apartment, Donghyuck found him in the kitchen, shirtless as he sat on a stool by the kitchen counter, helping himself to a bowl of Oreo cereal and milk. Beside him was the box of chocolates, still wrapped in its plastic.
Donghyuck put on a shirt, took a seat beside Mark, and rested his head on the counter. He gazed up at Mark, who sneaked glances at Donghyuck as he ate.
“We could just order a pizza, you know,” Donghyuck said. “Though I know a good ramen place that might deliver at this hour.”
Mark smoothed a hand against Donghyuck’s hair, making Donghyuck shut his eyes for a second as he savored the feeling.
“If that’s what you want, go ahead,” Mark said. “I’m fine with anything.”
Pizza it was, then. There was a thirty-minute wait before it arrived, time they killed by turning on the television to watch a late-night drama on TVN. Later, they sat on the floor as they each took a slice of the veggie and meat pizza. Donghyuck barely paid attention to anything on the TV, and it was probably the same for Mark. They talked about nothing, laughed about the sauce on Mark’s face, and figured they’d be a little late to work tomorrow and that their boss might grow a little suspicious. They examined the hickeys on each other’s bodies and Donghyuck felt a little sorry for the number of marks he’d left on Mark’s shoulders.
Things didn’t devolve to kissing or fucking this time around, and Donghyuck was more than content with that. He was tired, first of all. Plus he supposed this was how most nights were going to be like, from now on — not that he didn’t want to have lots more sex. Rather, he felt like he was getting something much more valuable than anything sexual, something he couldn’t name at that moment.
By 2 AM, Mark still hadn’t gone home and they finally got to open that dreaded box of chocolates. Donghyuck ate the ones with all the nuts because Mark didn’t like them. They took the pink one and ate it together, Donghyuck biting half between his teeth before Mark swooped in to bite the other fraction, their lips meeting in the process.
The next day, they turned up for work earlier than expected, despite their initial dispositions. They didn’t go together since Mark needed to go home and have a change of clothes. But they both arrived at the same hour. Donghyuck, for one, couldn’t bring himself to break his work routine. Mark, meanwhile, said he knew Donghyuck would come early, “And I just wanted to spend some time with you, I guess.”
Donghyuck frowned and blushed. His writing hand froze despite the urgency of the notes he was taking. “This guy,” he said.
Mark smiled.
They didn’t have long to flirt and muck around, because the other teachers started coming in and they both needed to concentrate. Class that afternoon went by as usual, though Donghyuck realized there were quite a lot of typos on his slides, spelling “her patience” with an ‘s’ instead of a ‘c’, a product of his sporadic efforts at powerpoint-making over the weekend.
He finished with a card game he’d fashioned on his own with construction paper and a Sharpie to teach his class about possessive pronouns. In the other room, Mark was giving a crash course on Canadian English, which was not at all part of the curriculum. Donghyuck found this hilarious, and very Mark, whatever that actually meant.
Much like last week, Donghyuck was tired by the end of the session. He begrudgingly cleaned up the mess of papers the students left him, gathered up the cards, erased the writings on the glass board. And just like last week, Mark turned up in his room, and this time, Donghyuck listened to Mark’s story: about a new student who came all the way from Jeju to learn English in the city. Lots of stories like that, Donghyuck supposed.
As the whole school began to grow quiet around them, Mark and Donghyuck shared a quick kiss, the plush of their lips brushing together in slow motion.
Later, Donghyuck would have to tell Jungwoo all about his Sunday afternoon and how he managed to get a serious boyfriend in the span of a few days. And he would have to hear from Taeil and Jaehyun as well, who would probably just congratulate him on the sex. Mark’s apartment was most likely where he’d be tonight, and it was also likely that they’d need to stop by the convenience store to buy some new condoms. Or perhaps they won’t, and practice some abstinence for once. (Highly unlikely, he knew.)
But for the moment, they remained in Donghyuck’s classroom, hands tangled up, eyes locked on the other’s. It was a first for Donghyuck to feel this way so fast, but these kinds of surprises were just what Donghyuck wanted out of this humdrum life.
“We better go,” Mark said, giving Donghyuck another kiss. “I’m craving for something sweet.”
A box of chocolates, maybe? Donghyuck wanted to say, but then he didn’t. Though just the thought of saying it made him giggle. Mark looked at him bemusedly; Donghyuck shrugged it off. “I actually want something cheesy,” Donghyuck said.
No matter where they decided to go, Donghyuck was content. “But I’m fine with anything,” he said, because with Mark—he really was.
fin.