Seven Years Later
Donghyuck leaves the courtroom after his client is uncuffed, officially a free man from now on. His phone rings, echoing in the grand hallway. He bows to those nearby, apologizing as he answers quickly. “Lee Donghyuck, defense attorney. How can I help you?”
“Hyung, he gets out today.” Is all Jisung says, the words knock the air from Donghyuck’s lungs, stopping him dead in his tracks. The flow of people coming and going wrap around him, ignoring the way his heart stops.
He had tried to forget. He tried to ignore the countdown to today.
“Hyung? Are you okay? Do I need to come get you?”
“No, I’m fine. I’m just leaving court, I’ll be home in about an hour.” Donghyuck tells him, hanging up without hearing a response. He sits in his car for twenty minutes, staring at a contact on his phone without clicking it. He wants to, he really does, but he won’t let himself take that step back.
Instead, he calls his boyfriend.
“Hey baby, how was the trial?” Yunho asks sleepily, Donghyuck smiles at the sound of his voice and the worry melts from his mind. “What’s wrong? You seem stressed?”
“I’m-” Donghyuck stops himself, not wanting to lie to his boyfriend of two years. They’ve been friends since second year of university, Donghyuck was just struggling to get over Mark and didn’t want to start anything else until he was sure he was over it. “My ex is getting out of jail today.”
“Ah, the infamous ex.” Yunho hums, trying to keep Donghyuck from panicking. He was told about Mark before they had started dating, his own hyungs warned him about getting involved with Donghyuck if his ex is this dangerous. But Yunho ignored them, he loves Donghyuck and wants to make him happy. “Don’t stress, if he reaches out, it’s your choice to talk to him or not.”
“I- I just- it’s my fault he was arrested, if it weren’t for me he would’ve - he would’ve been fine.” Donghyuck shuts his eyes tight, refusing to cry today. He’s shed too many tears over Mark. “I don’t know if I want to see him. It’s been so long, he might blame me for ruining his life.”
“Donghyuck, he loves you, he wouldn’t blame you.” Yunho tells him, he’s fine knowing that this man still loves his boyfriend. He knows that if that man hadn’t gone to prison when he did, Yunho and Donghyuck never would’ve gotten together.
In his heart, he fears that when Donghyuck meets with his ex, he’ll want to get back with him. Yunho knows it’s a possibility, even if it happens, he cherishes the time he’s had with Donghyuck.
“But he’s been locked away for seven years, he’s- he’s twenty five now, hyung. I stole those years from him,” Donghyuck cries, unable to fight it anymore. He hates this, he hates crying about Mark, especially to Yunho. It’s not fair that he’s stuck with this. “I’m sorry hyung, I know he’s my ex but you’re my boyfriend now. I don’t love him.”
“You still love him, Hyuck. He was your first love, I don’t expect you to be over him completely.” Yunho says softly, regretting his words when he hears Donghyuck sobbing. “Where are you? I’ll come over, I’m sorry-”
“It’s not your fault, I’m crying because you’re being so understanding. I don’t deserve this,” Donghyuck says, wiping his tears, he hides his face as people walk by, staring at the crying lawyer. “I gotta go, I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“Never hesitate to call, baby. I’m always here for you,” Yunho says, hoping Donghyuck knows how much he loves him. “Let me know if you’re free tomorrow, we can go see a movie or Seonghwa-hyung is throwing a party.”
“Okay, thank you, hyung.” Donghyuck whispers, smiling to himself. Just knowing Yunho loves him and won’t leave him is enough, he’s still terrified of being left again. “I-I have to get home…”
“Where are you? Let me pick you up? I know you have a hard time driving when you’re upset,” Yunho says gently, Donghyuck shakes his head, trying to think of the way home and coming up empty. “Are you still near the courthouse?”
~~~
Yunho knocks on the door to the manor, holding the half asleep Donghyuck upright as Irene answers and reaches out as well. “Thank you, Yunho.”
“No problem, noona.” Yunho smiles, easily lifting Donghyuck up fully to carry him up the stairs to his room. As he lays his boyfriend down, taking off his shoes and dress pants, tucking the blanket around him gently. He grabs makeup wipes and kneels beside the bed, cleaning his face cautiously, not wanting to wake him.
Yunho has heard stories of Donghyuck’s ex, never by name though. Donghyuck refuses to let anybody say it. What he’s heard about this ex, is that he’s dangerous. Incredibly dangerous.
Jaemin had quietly shared that he was in prison for torture, he had gotten away with a murder and nobody even knows who he had actually killed. He has gang affiliation, he knows a lot of dangerous people. Having spent seven years in prison, Yunho fears that if he doesn’t like that Donghyuck moved on, he could easily intimidate his new boyfriend.
“What are you worrying about, lovely?” Irene asks as Yunho wanders into the kitchen to say hello, the man jolts, surprised she picked up on it so easily. “I wouldn’t be a good business woman if I couldn’t read people, and you have an awful poker face.”
“I just- I heard that Hyuck’s ex got out of prison today,” Yunho says quietly, wrapping his hands around the mug Irene had pushed towards him. “Donghyuck refuses to talk about him, the only reason I know about him is because everybody warned me. My hyungs had told me Hyuck was in a gang- that he had dangerous friends.”
“I’m sure you know gang members too, you just might not know it.” Irene shrugs, sipping her tea to hide her smirk. Donghyuck had made everybody promise not to talk about ‘business’ around Yunho, not even theoretically or in passing. He had threatened to cut them off, not wanting Yunho to get tangled up in his life. “Besides, everybody knows somebody that’s dangerous.”
“I don’t.” Yunho shakes his head, Irene had gotten her criminal history sealed, according to public records, she was clean. “I mean, Mingi was in jail for illegal racing, but he was only there for six months. It wasn’t for anything violent, what if Donghyuck’s ex comes after me-?”
“Minhyungie wouldn’t do that, he trusts that Donghyuck would choose somebody good. And if he didn’t, Minhyung would trust I’d kill them.” Irene tells him with a sweet smile, Yunho’s eyes widen at her words, nearly spilling the hot drink on himself. “I’m kidding, don’t worry. Minhyungie was Hyuck’s first love, he was sixteen and Mark was a sweet kid. Before we knew it, they were in love. They took months though, they had even gone to Johnny’s wedding together but still didn’t confess.”
“They went to a wedding together?” Yunho asks meekly, Irene reaches out and takes his hand, squeezing it comfortingly. “Donghyuck never told me that.”
“He’s tried forgetting about Mark, tried erasing every part of him from his life. I’m not surprised you didn’t know any of this,” Irene says softly, trying to comfort him. Yunho just stares at his tea, not looking up to her. “Yunho, Donghyuck doesn’t like talking about his past. Only reason I know about it is because he lived with me when this was happening.”
“I have to get going, noona. Thanks for the tea,” Yunho says standing, he bows as he turns, stopping when Irene puts a hand on his shoulder.
“Yunho, don’t get insecure. Donghyuck loves you, you make him so happy. Mark just brings up bad memories, don’t get caught up on it.” Irene tells him, hugging him tightly to get him to relax. She really likes him, she likes that he makes Donghyuck happy. She misses Mark, obviously, he was her first and only partner in crime. “Get some rest, lovely.”
When Yunho leaves, she sits at the counter again, closing her eyes as she thinks. She jumps when a warm hand presses against her back, her eyes snap open but she relaxes when she sees it’s just Wendy. “Did Yunho hear about Mark?”
“Yeah, he’s getting insecure.”
“I’m not surprised,” Seulgi says appearing, Irene sips her tea and sighs, not wanting this boy to leave. “I like him, he’s a good kid. But Mark holds a big piece of Donghyuck’s heart, even after all these years. The fact that Yunho doesn’t know about our past, our business, is hard too. If he finds out we’ve been keeping this from him, it would be upsetting.”
“I don’t want to break Hyuck’s trust, we’ve been working to earn his trust for almost twelve years.” Irene explains, both of her girlfriends rub her back, easing her nerves as she sighs again. The three of them adored Mark, when he broke up with Donghyuck they understood why, but he never apologized properly.
Mark had told Donghyuck his reasoning, had explained why he had to do it, he even cried and said that he still loved him. But Donghyuck was angry, he was angry that Mark didn’t tell him why.
Donghyuck refused to talk to him the rest of his sentence, his desperation to get them out had fallen away, realizing that his father can’t be taken down. His ties with NCT drifted, Johnny and Ten are family in a different way than the others are so he can’t ignore them, but Lucas had held on tight.
He doesn’t want to hear about Irene’s business, the not so legal trading part of the art distributing company her and her father run. Wendy avoids any criminal activity in general, something she avoided even before she was arrested for murder.
“Johnny told me that Mark’s starting at the university next week, he got in halfway through the semester because he was studying during his sentence.” Wendy mumbles, since she works at the school, she and Johnny eat lunch together and catch up when they don’t see each other for a while. “I think Mark will make friends, if Johnny avoids talking about Hyuck, I think he’ll move on.”
“I don’t think he will, I don’t think he ever has.” Irene sighs, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Seulgi rubs her shoulders to calm her, Wendy shuts the lights off and they bring Irene to the bedroom, laying her down and curling on either side. “If they run into each other, I don’t know how it’ll end.”
~~~~
“Hyung,” Mark greets with a smile as he steps out of the gated exit, Taeyong and Jaehyun had come to pick him up. His license had expired while in prison, it’s on his list to get fixed. “Your hair is white.”
“Yeah, you’ve gotten so many tattoos.” Taeyong comments, noticing the ink through the white dress shirt Mark had worn to court that day. His younger brother had asked everybody to stop visiting him, he wanted them to focus on their lives and he didn’t want them becoming targets. “Let’s go home, Minhyungie.”
“It’s been a while since I heard that,” Mark says shutting his eyes, letting the sun wash over him as he inhales slowly. Jaehyun takes the small bag of things Mark had either bought, stolen or been given during his sentence and sets it in the backseat. “I’m starving, can you make beef stew?”
“Of course, you want anything else?” Taeyong asks softly, not being a businessman, rather being Mark’s big brother. He hasn’t been able to be his brother in so long, other than letters and the annual birthday visit, he hasn’t seen him at all. “The guys wanted to come over, do you want to see them?”
“Hm?” Mark hums, opening his eyes in a daze. “Oh, yeah. It’ll be nice talking to people that don’t try to strangle me at night.”
“I’ll text the group chat then,” Jaehyun says grinning, Mark nods and climbs into the back of the car, still not fully accepting that he’s free. After seven years of routine, the idea of making his own decisions is foreign to him. “Johnny says that you’re registered for school, we got your textbooks last week.”
“Thank you hyung,” Mark says nodding, the ride home is quiet, nobody wanting to break the easy silence. Mark relaxes against the seat, listening to the music playing from the radio as he drifts off.
He has to admit, he’ll miss Changkyun and Wonwoo’s arguments just after the morning bell. He’ll miss Jinwoo’s dumb jokes and loud laughter. He’ll miss Vernon’s stupid raps about things like breakfast or shower time. He’ll miss the shitty food and the awful desserts they get around christmas every year.
Prison was his life for nearly eight years. He’d wake up, eat breakfast, go outside, sit in the sun and smoke or work out, come inside and shower, eat lunch, study in his cell until dinner, they’d watch whatever movie was playing, maybe play a card game and then sleep.
Now he has to wake up early, go to class, eat whenever he has time or if he even remembers, study and sleep. He wants to graduate with good grades, he wants people to forget he’s a convict.
At Taeyong’s apartment, Mark sees that his bedroom is the way he left it all those years ago. He scrunches his face, annoyed at how cluttered it is. Clothes are everywhere, he has textbooks from school and notebooks full of equations from high school, his skateboard laying wheels on the floor with new grip tape beside it.
He thought he’d come home.
Mark lays on his bed, pushing his sneakers off as he buries his face in his pillow. It’ll be hard to adjust to his bed, he’s so used to sleeping on the cold floor with Wonwoo curled up against him, searching for heat.
He must fall asleep because when he opens his eyes, the world outside his window is dark. Downstairs, he sees Taeyong and Jaehyun watching a movie on the couch together, his brother half asleep on his boyfriend.
Mark scoops stew into a large bowl, eager to eat his brother’s cooking. It’s the thing he missed most, that and ..
He shuts his eyes tight, ignoring the memories of bright smiles and warm hands. It’s the last thing he wants to think about right now, the last painful memory. He was never able to fix it, never able to fix his biggest regret.
Mark understands why Dong- why he never came back, why he was angry and hadn’t forgiven him. In his situation, Mark isn’t sure he would either. He was cruel when he ended it, wanting to give him a reason to stay away.
He wishes he had known how easy it was to get rid of Siwon, he would’ve done it in a heartbeat. He was thankful Wendy stepped up and dealt with him herself.
Mark leans against the counter as he eats, just wanting to take everything in. His memories hadn’t held up against time, too many hits to the head had wrecked his mind. Only the important things stayed.
The next day, one of Mark’s old cellmates is throwing a party and invites him, saying it’s a good way to get to know people that don’t mind talking to criminals. Mingi’s lucky he’s so sweet, otherwise Mark would’ve stabbed him when they were living together.
Mark shows up after the party is already bustling, he smiles when he sees one of Mingi’s hyungs, a nice man named Seonghwa that would send him the good ramen.
“Mark! It’s good to see you, you’re taller than I thought you’d be.” Seonghwa comments with a grin, Mark laughs and shrugs, looking around anxiously. “Don’t like crowded places?”
“I’m not a fan of strangers,” Mark says, bowing his head when the elder offers a beer to calm his nerves. “Thanks for inviting me, hyung. I know that-”
“Don’t start with that, Mingi did the same shit when he got out. You aren’t less of a person because you’ve been to jail, you wouldn’t treat somebody else like that, why would we treat you like that?” Seonghwa says softly, Mark shrugs and uses his ring to pop the cap off the bottle. “Go talk to some people, make some friends. Lemme know if you need to stay the night, you can drink however much you want but not too much.”
“Thank you, hyung.” Mark mumbles, smiling when Seonghwa ruffles his hair and hugs him gently. Mark wanders the party, laughing when Mingi hugs him, kissing him as a greeting. “Mingi-we’re at a party.”
“Everybody here is gay or some variation,” Mingi says grabbing Mark’s ass, the recently released rolls his eyes but wraps an arm around the taller’s waist. He wouldn’t ever admit it, but he missed him. “I’ll be free all night if you want to find me, don’t drink too much.”
“Yeah whatever, don’t be annoying.” Mark scoffs, smiling at the girl that comes to talk to Mingi. He heads into the living room and is stopped by a girl, she says her name is Lia and she has an accent that shows she speaks english. “I’m Mark.”
“Mingi said you were from Canada, I am too.” She has a baby face with kind eyes, they get along easily and he even finds her interesting. Mark hasn’t really spoken to normal people, people not in gangs or fight clubs or convicts. “Are you in school right now?”
“Uh yeah, just getting into my first year. I took a couple of years to work so just starting now,” Mark lies easily, shrugging at the question so many people have asked and will ask. His eyes wander the party and settle on two guys lazily making out on the couch, he looks away instantly and smiles at the girl. “Are you here with anybody?”
“My roommates, what about you?”
“I’m one of Mingi’s friends, just moved back to Seoul so I’m trying to meet people.” Mark continues with whatever beautiful life he can create, Lia looks like she doesn’t believe him but just nods and smiles. “I’m not really good with people, I’m kinda shy so this kinda stuff is really hard.”
“You’re doing good so far,” Lia laughs, sipping her own drink as his eyes wander back to the couple. Something about the one in the other’s lap is so familiar, Mark can’t shake the feeling that they know each other. “What’s wrong? You seem distracted.”
“Hm? I’m all good, a little tired.” Mark shrugs, not wanting to dump his life onto this sweet girl. He opens his mouth to speak but somebody laughs, a laugh that used to make his day. His head snaps to the direction, eyes widening at the sight of somebody he neve expected to see.
Donghyuck.
~~
“Mark..?” Mingi calls as he walks into his bedroom to see his friend curled up in the corner, face buried in his arms as his shoulders shake. “What happened?”
Mark looks up and Mingi sees that he’s been crying - sobbing actually, in all the time he’s known the other, Mark has never cried. Mingi sits beside him, back pressed against the wall as they sit in the dark. “I saw- I saw Donghyuck.”
“Donghyuck? You mean Yunho’s boyfriend? How do you know him?” Mingi asks curiously, panicking when the tears start falling again. Mark tries to turn away but the younger puts an arm around him, pulling him into his side. He doesn’t know what to do, he tries to comfort him but is still confused. “What is he to you?”
“Nothing.” Mark shakes his head, wiping his cheeks he looks over to his friend. Mingi freezes when he presses their lips together, he pulls away and Mark shuts his eyes. “Please- just for tonight.”
~~~~
“Noona, I’m going to the club!” Donghyuck yells when he sees Yunho’s car pull up in the driveway, he hears three ‘okay!’s and he runs out, smiling at his boyfriend. “Thanks for picking me up, I haven’t fought in so long.”
“I didn’t know you did,” Yunho says, smiling when Donghyuck kisses him hello. The younger shrugs and checks his phone, texting Baekhyun that he’s on his way with his boyfriend. EXO hasn’t met Yunho yet. Donghyuck had tried to keep them separate but now he’s trying to relax, he knows that Yunho loves him. “How long have you been doing this?”
“Hm, eight years? I started when I was sixteen, that’s the youngest hyung and noona would go. They didn’t want to let me, I mean they couldn’t have stopped me. I would’ve done it anyway, I did that with a lot of things.” Donghyuck casually explains, giggling when Baekhyun says they’re excited to meet his new boytoy. He hadn’t spent time with his hyungs in a couple months, too busy with work and Yunho. “They stopped letting me fight at eighteen though, I was using that as a way to punish myself. The adrenaline is addictive, no matter what injuries you leave with, you always come back. That’s why hyung has his top tier group, we’re the best and the ones that’ve been fighting the longest.”
“Sometimes you say things and I can’t believe it, it’s strange to think about things you had done before I met you.”
“I’ll tell you everything, I’m trying to not be so attached to my past. It never did me any good,” Donghyuck says, he takes Yunho’s hand and kisses his knuckles. It’s odd to have to explain things to somebody, he’s never had to do that before. Everybody has always known what’s going on, what he’s done, what he can do. “Don’t be intimidated by my hyungs, they’re just protective.”
“What-?” Yunho questions, worried about whatever they’d do. When he first met Irene, Wendy and Seulgi, the three of them scowled as he introduced himself and scrutinized every word that passed his lips. They didn’t trust him. They didn’t until Yunho had brought a sobbing Donghyuck home, he had refused to leave until Donghyuck had fallen asleep against him. “You know scary people.”
“They aren’t scary, just passionate.” Donghyuck grins, enjoying the way his boyfriend scoffs. At Lights Out, the club is bustling and humid. Donghyuck enjoys the stench, he holds Yunho’s hand tight to prevent the elder from getting lost. “Hyung! Can I get a beer?”
“I can’t even argue with you anymore,” Chanyeol shakes his head but passes over a bottle of Donghyuck’s favourite, his eyes meet Yunho’s and he calls Baekhyun’s name. “I’m Chanyeol, Donghyuck’s uncle.”
“Not by blood.” Donghyuck argues as Yunho stares in shock, not expecting to meet this man. He forgets how many people his boyfriend knows, how many people adore him and would kill for him. “Oh, grandad wants you to go to the next dinner and bring Baekhyunnie-hyung.”
“You must be Yunho, you’re taller than the last one.” Baekhyun appears at Yunho’s side, startling the doe eyed man and he grips Donghyuck’s hand, not liking all the new people. “You look too soft, not enough trauma. Ever been in the back of a patrol car-?”
“Hyung!” Donghyuck shouts, covering Yunho’s ears as he stands on the foot rest of the barstool. Then he mouths a quick ‘he doesn’t know about the gang’. “When I’m fighting, you have to be nice.”
“I’ll think about it,” Baekhyun smirks, giggling when Chanyeol pulls him behind the counter, mumbling something against his temple. Donghyuck scowls at him, opening the bottle with the ring on his middle finger, leaving the cap on the counter and flicking it at his hyung with perfect accuracy. “Bitch.”
Donghyuck mimics him childishly, the only thing that stops Baekhyun from hitting him is Chanyeol’s broad chest. He smiles up innocently at Yunho, reaching over to get another bottle, opening it the same way. “How do you do that?”
“The ring? I learned it from a friend when I was a kid, he always wore these bulky rings and gave me some when he moved away.” Donghyuck explains, trying to come up with a lie that’s close to the truth. Yunho kisses his shoulder before he sips his drink, a silent way to show how much he loves him. “Wanna watch my fight? If you don’t like the crowd you can watch from the office upstairs, that’s where Jisung and Chenle used to sit and eat pizza.”
“I’m not fourteen, Hyuck. I’m older than you are,” Yunho says rolling his eyes, Donghyuck tilts his head back and kisses his jaw, he has a thing for how tall the older man is. “I’ll watch up close, okay? I’ll take care of you when you’re hurt.”
“You don’t have to, I like the pain.” Donghyuck grins, watching when Yunho turns scarlet at what that insinuates. The elder has always been so shy, especially with sex. Donghyuck finds it endearing, thinking it's funny considering he was his first time and Yunho had plenty of experience. “I gotta stretch before my match, don’t wanna pull something.”
~~~
“Hyuck- you don’t want to fight.” Jongin stops him before he gets to the ring, the younger tries to push him away but is stopped again. “You don’t want to fight this match, trust me.”
“Why? Is he eight feet tall? Definitely on steroids? Too many prison tats?” Donghyuck stands on his toes and catches the glimpse of a familiar smile, Jongin can’t stop him as Xiaojun stands in the centre of the ring as their ref. “Mark?”
“Hyuck.”
“Okay boys, fair fight.” Xiaojun announces, winking at Donghyuck. He doesn’t know Mark, he joined the gang after he was in prison and people didn’t talk about him around Donghyuck.
Donghyuck yanks off his shirt, tossing it to Yunho who catches it with a smile. He watches the way Mark follows the shirt, he raises a brow at the stranger and scoffs. Even through the white shirt, Donghyuck can see the tattoos decorating his skin. Once the cloth is shed, he sees he has a sunflower on his shoulder, a snake down his spine with vines and petals that disappear beneath his waistband.
Sunflowers. Of course.
Xiaojun announces the match has begun, both men drop into their ready stance and Donghyuck knows it’s evenly matched. Not like how it was when they were in high school.
“I didn’t know you still fought,” Mark says from the other side of the ring, Donghyuck doesn’t answer, instead he swings his right arm at his ex’s face. It takes him by surprise but it doesn’t last long, Mark grabs his wrist and twists it behind his back. Donghyuck whines before stomping on his foot angrily, reaching back and throwing Mark over his shoulder. “You’re stronger.”
“Stop talking,” Donghyuck says angrily, the weight of Yunho’s gaze sits heavy on his back as he straddles Mark’s chest and begins to hit him. Mark launches him off, the younger groans as he hits the concrete ground hard. “How was prison?”
“It was fine, how’s being a lawyer?” Mark asks, dodging out of Donghyuck’s arm's length. People are cheering loudly, Yunho watches silently, wringing his hands anxiously every time Donghyuck is struck. “I don’t think you should be doing illegal things as a lawyer.”
“You don’t care about my job, what do you want?” Donghyuck snaps, lunging at him only to be caught by the waist and thrown to the ground. He can’t move fast enough to prevent Mark from climbing on top and hitting him hard, in the corner of his eye he can see Yunho panic. “Bitch-”
Donghyuck is cut off by a pair of hands around his throat, he scrambles to grab onto Mark’s wrists but he knows the elder would let go if he really thought he was hurting him. The lawyer manages to bring his legs up and he closes his thighs around Mark’s neck, squeezing his arms together and forcing him to release him.
Yunho watches from the sidelines as his boyfriend locks his ankles and the stranger is frantic as he tries to free his arms, when he gets them loose, he tries to pry Donghyuck’s thighs from his throat as he’s strangled.
Donghyuck doesn’t let up, he does waver though when he meets Yunho’s eyes. It’s slight, but his eyes soften for a moment, like he’s afraid of what the other will think. At the threat of Mark breaking free, Donghyuk leans up and sucker punches him, knocking him out as they both collapse.
“Oh my god, he fucking choked me.” Donghyuck coughs as he kicks Mark off of him, weak and sweaty as Xiaojun helps him to his feet. “At least I won.”
~~~~
“Are you okay?” Yunho asks concerned as Donghyuck marches to the bar, not caring to see if Mark is okay. “Donghyuck- what’s wrong?”
“What? I’m fine, it was just my first fight in half a decade. I’m just tired, not to mention sore. When he threw me on the ground, I think my ribs are bruised. I’ll probably have bruises around my throat too,” Donghyuck says popping open a beer and nodding to Chanyeol when he drops off the first aid kit. “Do I have any scraps?”
“Your hands, why don’t you wrap them?” Yunho asks softly, knowing that whatever is troubling his boyfriend will remain a mystery until he decides to share. “It would prevent all these little injuries.”
“Wrappings are for new boxers, they’re mostly used to keep wrists strong and prevent dumb injuries. I’ve been fighting forever, I don’t need to wrap. If you wrap your hands here, everybody knows you’re new and you’ll be a target in the ring.” Donghyuck explains shrugging, sipping his drink before he presses the cold can against his cheek. “People don’t play fair, most of the fighters aren’t exactly white collar workers.”
“Still, your hands are going to be all sore and you need to have them wrapped in bandages.” Yunho mumbles, obviously worried about Donghyuck, not wanting him to regress to bad habits again.
When they first met, Donghyuck was completely drowning in his schoolwork. The prerequisites for law had him drained already, in addition to the work from Doyoung’s law firm. After exams for the year had finished, Donghyuck would party for a whole week, constantly too drunk to remember his sorrows.
After Yunho had gained his trust, Donghyuck would offhandedly mention an ex boyfriend and everybody else would go quiet. It had taken a couple years for Yunho to even be considered a friend, but he was still an outsider in regards to the past.
“I’ll be careful, okay? A couple more scars aren’t going to be the end of the world though, my hands are already so calloused.” Donghyuck sets his beer down, pushing the gauze aside to hold Yunho’s hands properly. “I love you, I know you’re just concerned but you gotta keep in mind that I’ve done this for a long time. You don’t need to be worried about me.”
“I’ll try not to worry, but I can’t promise I’ll never say anything.” Yunho kisses Donghyuck’s knuckles, careful not to cause any pain to his boyfriend. “Is your throat okay? You’re already starting to bruise.”
“Oh fuck, I am?” Donghyuck opens the camera on his phone to check, pouting when the outline of two hands. “I guess I have turtlenecks in my future, I have a fucking hearing this week too. Motherfucker.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Yunho asks, continuing to clean the scrapes and cuts on his boyfriend’s arms and face. Donghyuck just smiles, yawning softly and leaning into Yunho’s hand when he holds his cheek. “I’ll drive you home, you should get some rest in the car too.”
“Thank you, I love you, hyungie.” Donghyuck leans up and kisses his chin, too short to reach his lips without standing. Yunho chuckles, meeting him halfway for a proper kiss. “I’m going to go to the bathroom before we go, could you grab my bag from upstairs? I think I left it in the office.”
“Of course, love.” Yunho shuts the first aid kit as Donghyuck weaves his way through the crowd, as he wanders to the staircase he can keep an eye on his short boyfriend, watching until he disappears into the bathroom.
The upstairs office isn’t common knowledge, so Yunho doesn’t expect to see a person sitting on the couch under a blanket.
“Patrons aren’t allowed up here,” Yunho says without thinking, Baekhyun had told him that the first time Donghyuck brought him up here. It’s for staff and family. “I think there’s a couple empty booths downstairs if you need to rest-”
“I’m not a patron, I’m a friend of the owner.” The man groans, wiping his eyes as he turns to look at the intruder.
Yunho freezes when he realizes it’s the man Donghyuck just fought, he can’t remember his name though.
“Oh, sorry. I was just grabbing a bag, I’ll be right out.” Yunho apologizes, scanning the room for Donghyuck’s large canvas bag. He starts feeling nervous because as he looks, he can feel the fighter’s eyes glued to him. “I’m Yunho, by the way.”
“I’m Mark.” The other tells him shortly, Yunho can’t remember where he’s heard that name before. Maybe in a show or movie. “Who’s bag are you looking for?”
“Uh, the guy you just fought. I’m his boyfriend and he asked me to come find his bag, it’s a canvas bag with a big sunflower on it, have you seen it?” Yunho asks innocently, checking behind the bar and biting his lip anxiously. He can’t tell why, but something is wrong. The air feels heavy and there’s obvious tension between the two of them. “Have we met before?”
“No, I think we must have mutual friends though if you’re allowed up here.” Mark stands up, tossing the blanket on the top of the couch as he starts to look as well. They both search in awkward silence, but neither say anything else for a few minutes. “How long have you known Donghyuck?”
“Hm? We met first year of uni, so I think it’s been about six years.” Yunho answers, smiling as he crouches to look under a takeout covered table. He stands with a sigh, checking his phone to see if Donghyuck texted him. He assumes the bathroom line is crazy, after each fight it seemed everybody needed to go. “When did you meet him? Or, how do you know him?”
“We met when he was sixteen, we had a bunch of mutual friends. We haven’t seen each other in a while though, eight years I think.” Mark glances to the space between the couch and the wall, pausing before he leans over and pulls out the bag Yunho described. “Here, I think everything is in there.”
“Okay, thanks man.” Yunho smiles, bowing his head as he grabs the bag and goes to leave. The time frame Mark said seems familiar.
Donghyuck is waiting at the bottom of the stairs, talking absently to somebody before he notices his boyfriend with a smile. Yunho immediately forgets about the strange interaction, more focused on the way Donghyuck holds his hand, lacing their fingers together as he looks up with a pout.
“You take forever,” Donghyuck says with a whine, Yunho rolls his eyes as he passes the bag over. “Were you talking to yourself? I could hear your voice.”
“No, that guy you fought was upstairs. He helped me find your bag, it was kinda weird though. He just seems miffed at me, I don’t know why though. I don’t think I’ve ever met him before.” Yunho shrugs, sliding his arm around Donghyuck’s shoulders to keep him warm and to prevent him from wandering off. The couple waves to Baekhyun as they pass the bar, they race across the street to avoid being hit by an oncoming car. “Y’know, there is a crosswalk nearby. We could’ve used it.”
“It’s too much work, I’d rather jaywalk than wait for the crosswalk.” Donghyuck laughs, rushing to get into the car and out of the rain. He wipes off his clothes with napkins from the glovebox, shivering while Yunho turns the heat up, cursing when it’s just cold air. “I’m getting the seat all wet, sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, are you cold? I think I have a hoodie in the backseat,” Yunho says reaching back, scrambling around until he feels fabric. Donghyuck rubs his hands together, physically shaking as Yunho takes the napkins and gives him the sweater. “I might have a blanket too, do you want me to check?”
“It’s okay, I think once the heat starts working I’ll be okay.” Donghyuck smiles, pulling up the hood as he disappears in the excess fabric of the hoodie. Yunho holds both of his boyfriend’s hands between his own, exhaling hot air onto them to keep him from freezing.
Donghyuck giggles at how seriously Yunho is trying to keep him warm, he rests his head against the other’s shoulder, yawning as he continues to shiver. His eyes flutter shut and he nuzzles in closer, drifting off before they’ve even left the parking lot.
“I love you, Yunho.” Donghyuck mumbles, not using honorifics because neither of them actually care. He feels Yunho carefully buckling his seatbelt, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead before he finally starts driving.
~~~~
“Injunnie, how’s being a fancy boss man?” Donghyuck is answering emails as he talks to his friend on the phone, glad he has his own office so he doesn’t disturb anybody else. That and he doesn’t have to actively work as much as he needed to when he sat in the cubicles.
“It fucking sucks, I wish I ran away when we were still in Korea. Do you want to trade? You come take over Huang Corp and I do some law and drink.” Renjun groans, cutting Donghyuck off by snapping at somebody in Mandarin. “Why are people so fucking stupid? I don’t want to be like, an arrogant ass, but for fucks sake, people are so fucking dumb. Why am I in charge of all these fucking idiots.”
“I think I’d rather stay and live with the risk of running into Mark.”
“Oh right, I forgot he was released. How are you doing?” Renjun asks, dropping the facade he keeps around people as he steps into his own office. “Jaemin said you’ve been fighting again.”
“Yeah, wait- you guys still talk? I thought you guys lost contact after you took over.”
“I mean, we did. But Jeno had a business trip here and we had lunch, apparently Jaemin stopped talking to the both of us about the same time. We think it was his family, you know how they are.” Renjun sighs, not wanting to talk about his own relationship problems, but knowing Donghyuck needs a distraction. “We’re trying to figure it out, maybe start dating again. The three of us, together. After I left, we fell apart. Jeno and I kind of stayed together, but Jaemin just disappeared.”
“I think that was probably my fault, after Mark and I broke up, Jaemin spent a lot of time with me. I think he thought I’d do something bad if he wasn’t with me at all times, after I was coping better, he went to Jeju, I think.” Donghyuck mumbles, he never fully understood what happened with his best friends, but he knew it was his fault. “Did you date anybody else? You were single, and sexy in Shanghai for eight years. Did you at least have a sex fling?”
“Oh my god, you sex addict. I was busy, all of a sudden I was the leader of the company when my dad died. Good fucking riddance, but awful timing.” Renjun’s voice gives Donghyuck comfort, even though he’s uptight and cursing constantly. He missed his best friend. “You should come up to visit, I would come down but I can’t take any days off.”
“I’d have to talk to Doyoung-hyung, but I probably could. I don’t speak enough Mandarin or Cantonese to not immediately get mugged though.” Donghyuck laughs, connecting his phone to his airpods so he can multitask. “I’m not smart enough to be bilingual like you, I’m a dumb lawyer.”
“Bitch, I would never make you stay in a hotel or take a taxi. I’m not that much of an asshole. You can stay with me in my house, I’d get my driver to pick you up from the airport too. If you want, Yunho could come too. I haven’t met him yet, I’m your best friend and I haven’t met your boyfriend of five years.” Renjun clicks his tongue disapprovingly, his giggles give away that he’s happy Donghyuck has somebody, this somebody is completely separate from everything dangerous in his life. “Is he tall? If he’s cute, I might swoop in-”
“You’re mending your relationship with your ex lovers, if you sleep with my boyfriend, I think that’ll affect something.”
“Maybe, or maybe foursome.”
“Renjun!”
~~~~
Yunho pets Donghyuck’s hair as a movie plays, but neither are paying attention to it. The younger is half asleep, laying on top of his boyfriend with a blanket pulled to his chin. A good chunk of their date nights end like this, the couple on Yunho’s couch with whatever movie on the tv is playing.
“Hyung, do you want to visit a friend with me? He lives in Shanghai, I know you have work so if you don’t want to that’s okay-”
“Of course I’ll go with you, I’ve never gone to China before. Do we need to find a hotel? I think we’re going to get robbed.”
“That’s what I said! But no, Renjun has a bunch of guestrooms we can stay in. He said he’ll get a driver too, we don’t have to pay for anything other than the flight.” Donghyuck tells him, speaking into his chest as Yunho hugs him tighter. “I haven’t seen him since high school, we really need to catch up and be dumb together.”
“I think it’ll be fun, you’ve mentioned Renjun to me before but I’ve never actually met him. I think your noonas have talked about him too,” Yunho’s voice rumbles in his chest, causing Donghyuck to giggle and snuggle closer.
The apartment is empty other than the two of them, Yunho shares it with Mingi and Yeosang so there’s normally at least five other people in at all times. Luckily, the others try to make plans so the couple can have alone time.
“Renjun used to date Jaemin and Jeno, but when we graduated it kinda fucked everything up. He had to go home to take over his father’s company when he got sick, then his dad died and he wasn’t allowed to be a kid anymore. I don’t think he gets any time to himself, I don’t know how he’d be able to date.” Donghyuck rambles sleepily, not thinking about what he’s saying fully. He knows Yunho won’t repeat anything he says though. “Jaemin kinda disappeared, he helped me get over the breakup then he just kind of, left.
“It was hard to have him leave, Renjun was my best friend, then he left. Then Jaemin left, and Jeno was busy with school. I was really depressed, I only got up in the morning because of school and work. Everybody I cared about had left me, all I had was school.”
Yunho stays silent, letting his boyfriend talk without fear of judgement. He knows that if he speaks, Donghyuck could get scared and stop.
The fact that Yunho is hearing any of this, amazes him. It took so long to earn his trust, by the time they had started dating, Yunho hadn’t fully known about his life.
Sure, he knew that Donghyuck wasn’t living with his parents. But they were in university, most of his friends weren't either.
Then he found out that Donghyuck’s step brother wasn’t living with them either, that was odd because Jisung was only sixteen.
None of Donghyuck’s friends said anything about it, so Yunho didn’t either. Everything was just something Yunho didn’t question, he just learned to accept anything that seemed odd. Donghyuck didn’t want to talk about his family, so they would talk about anything else.
Anything but family, exes, what his friends did, or his childhood.
Yunho thought it was a little weird, but he simply assumed that Donghyuck had a toxic upbringing that he didn’t want to mention.
“I’ll let Injunnie know that you want to come too, when do you wanna go? I’m thinking maybe two weeks? Then we can be there during spring break too,” Donghyuck says with a yawn, hitting the floor beside the couch until he finds his phone, squinting when the light hits his eyes. “Injunnie is gonna be so excited, I really missed him.”
“I”m glad you’re happy, if you want we can go sightseeing too, find something gay to do.” Yunho suggests, laughing when he hears Donghyuck scoff. “At the very least, we should at least spend a night alone so we can have a date night.”
“Everything we do is gay, hyung. We are two men cuddling in the dark.”
“But my socks are on.”
“That’s even gayer.”
~~~
“Mr Lee?” A man in an all black suit asks, Donghyuck’s eyes snap to the sign in his hand that has his name in Korean. “I’m Mr Huang’s driver, you can call me Mr Xiu. I’m going to take you to the estate.”
“Estate?” Yunho whispers, sipping his iced coffee as Mr Xiu takes their bags and loads them into the car. “Do I need to know Chinese? Hyuck, I don’t know anything other than ‘ni hao’-”
“I’m fluent in Korean, I lived in Seoul with the Huang family.” Mr Xiu tells them, bowing his head as he opens the back door. Donghyuck is hesitant, but Renjun had sent him a photo of the driver to ease his worries. “Sir.”
“Ah, you can just call me Donghyuck. This is my partner, Jeong Yunho.” Donghyuck introduces, knowing that any employee close to Renjun would be open minded about queer relationships. Yunho gives a shy bow, holding Donghyuck’s hand to comfort himself in the foreign country. “It’ll be okay, hyungie. Don’t worry.”
At the house, Donghyuck grabs the slippers Renjun bought him to use at his house, there is a guest pair right beside them for Yunho too. Mr Xiu tells them where their room is and the passcode for the pool, wine room, and the main gates.
Yunho just stares in shock, he never fully comprehended what kind of friends his boyfriend had until this moment. Donghyuck isn’t phased, he grabs the bags and wanders through the house to where Mr Xiu told them their room would be, tossing his sweater on the bed before he lays down.
“I’m so tired, I know there’s barely any time difference but I hate flying. I only started travelling around after I moved in with noona, my family never travelled when I lived with them. My mum’s family lived in Jeju, so sometimes I’d go with her during the summer.” Donghyuck stretches his arms out, shrieking when Yunho lays on top of him, face in his chest as the younger wraps his arms and legs around his boyfriend. “Noona’s dad gave me and Jisung the access key to the summer home in Thailand, so we spent a couple weeks there when we were younger. He has a bunch of places in random countries too.
“He’s not our real grandparent, but we call him grandpa because he considers us family. At the very least, we’re in the will. If he dies, me and Jisung get some stocks and a chair on the council for the company. I don’t know why he thought it would be a good idea to let two dumbass teenagers decide the fate of the company.” Donghyuck runs his fingers through Yunho’s hair, moving further in the bed so his tall boyfriend isn’t hanging off the end. He loves having a taller partner, however, snuggles do become troublesome if it’s not in the largest bed money can buy. “Then, if noona goes to jail for longer than twenty years, Seulgi-noona gets the house and the club.
“It’s probably odd that they have all these protocols for ‘just in case’, but they’re paranoid about people trying to take their companies. I think if grandpa really wanted, he could fake his death just to see how everybody would react. I’m sure he’s thought about it.” Donghyuck hums as Yunho nuzzles closer, pressing his ear against the other’s heart. “My family is weird, they aren’t related to me biologically but they care for me more than my father ever did. I feel bad that I left Jisung in that house for so long, he was just a kid.
“I know I never told you about my family, or really anything about my personal life. It wasn’t good, there was nothing about it that was worth sharing. My dad was a busy corporate man, my mom was a stay at home mom before she got sick. She died when I was twelve, he was at a strip club.” Donghyuck shuts his eyes, not wanting to cry at the memories of his mother. “Dad remarried as soon as he could, Jisung’s mum was a teacher and let him do whatever he wanted. She was just as bad, she encouraged the abuse.
“Noona never knew how bad it got until I showed up with welts on my back, I spent a lot of time at their house but I never stayed because I was still under their care.” Donghyuck feels Yunho shift, his chin pressed against his sternum as he listens. “I got kicked out, I don’t even remember why. I moved in with noona, but I couldn’t bring Jisung with me. They weren’t hurting him so I thought it would be okay, but then they did. Noona had him removed by cps, both of us were legally adopted after some teachers testified against his mum.
“After I got out, it was okay. I was working, I was at school, I was fighting, I went to drag races with Jaemin, it wasn’t too bad. Just before I was kicked out, I meant Minhyung. We had some mutual friends, it was surprising we hadn’t met before. I think it took about a year before we started dating,” Donghyuck says slowly, knowing that his now boyfriend knows next to nothing about his ex. It was on purpose, but it was unfair. “He was in a gang, officially in a gang. He had the tattoo on his hip to show it. Noona had business with them, she had taken in some guys from the gang when they were teenagers and they trust her.
“Minhyung went to school with me, we went to the same clubs, same parties, we kept running into each other. Then we became friends, we went to Johnny-hyung’s wedding with Ten-hyung, so I’m sure you’ve seen a photo of him.” Yunho is scared to breathe too loud, not wanting to discourage him even a little bit. It blows his mind how much Donghyuck trusts him. “But then somebody tried to kill me, it was a couple times but Minhyung didn’t think it was an accident. He found the guy, then found out who gave the order.
“It was my dad, my dad hired a hitman to kill me because he knew I would ruin his reputation. It didn’t come up in court, but Minhyung killed the guy and dumped his body in the river, there wasn’t any evidence so nobody was convicted for his death. But Minhyung and Irene-noona were convicted for kidnapping and torture, my dad paid the jury but nobody ever found out.
“I tried, but after about a year in prison, Minhyung broke up with me.” Donghyuck smiles when Yunho holds himself up on his elbows, watching intently as a tear falls. “Apparently, somebody had threatened to hurt me. He thought he was protecting me, I walked away and never talked to him again. It’s been seven years since I’ve had a proper conversation with him. I didn’t want to tell you about all this because I don’t want you to think I’m broken, or that because I have all this baggage I’m not worth loving-”
“Donghyuck, you deserve the world. I love you so much, okay? It doesn’t matter what you’ve gone through, I want to just be able to give you the love you deserve.” Yunho kisses his forehead, kissing the back of his hands as they cover his face. Donghyuck silently cries, not wanting to show how scared he was to tell him the truth. “Look at me, love, I love you. Do you understand? I love you, Lee Donghyuck. I love you. Look at me, love. I love you.”
“I- I love you too, I’m sorry-” Donghyuck cries, sniffling pathetically even though Yunho kisses his eyelids, humming softly to try and distract him from his pain. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, baby. Do you know how much I love you? That I’ll do anything for you?”
“Yes- yes, I’m sorry I’m so annoying and gross.” Donghyuck wipes his face with the back of his hands, scrunching his nose up in disgust. Yunho shakes his head, rolling off and sitting up, pulling his boyfriend upright. The younger hides his face on the other’s shoulder, he knows his face is all patchy and red from crying. “I didn’t mean to ruin our first night here, I hate having emotions.”
“You didn’t ruin anything, love. I’m glad you trust me enough to tell me, I love you so much. Do you want me to tell you something dumb about my exes?” Yunho whispers, making his sad boyfriend laugh and curl up. Donghyuck yawns, pulling his sweater sleeves over his hands, hugging Yunho’s arm. “Um, my first boyfriend and I would go to movies, but we would only go to really late movies that we knew nobody else would want to see. So we’d see bad horror movies like two weeks after they started showing, then we would sit in the top corner and make out.
“But because we spent the entire time not watching the movie, we would have to google what it was about. I know my parents wouldn’t have cared if I came out to them, they always kind of knew I was gay. I think they saw how I interacted with my friends. They probably even knew when I hooked up with the captain of my basketball team,” Yunho giggles, his ears turn red as he blushes at the memory. Donghyuck laughs, finally his tears have stopped as he listens to his boyfriend recount his high school years. “I don’t even remember his name, he was a year older than me. I think they at least knew I had a crush on him, I made it way too obvious to have been completely closeted.”
“And you were surprised when I danced with you at Seonghwa-hyung’s party, you looked like a twink. Weren’t you wearing a crop top?” Donghyuck scrunches his nose when Yunho laughs, startling him as his body shakes.
The party they met at was Donghyuck’s third in the same weekend, he was wearing two day old body glitter and five day old eyeliner. He was staying at Hendery’s dorm during the break, not wanting to let his noonas know he was being destructive again.
Jaemin and Jeno stopped going to house parties, both of them were too busy with school or anything else they could do alone.
It wasn’t the first of Seonghwa’s parties he had attended, but it was the first Yunho had gone to. It made sense why Donghyuck had been drawn to the elder, Yunho was the only guy that was definitely his type.
Yunho was tall, doe eyed, a wall flower in a social situation, but above anything else, he had a smile that made Donghyuck feel safe.
So they danced, Donghyuck knew he was attractive in his sheer shirt and tight black jeans and Yunho wasn’t going to say no to him. It was just a dance, neither had the other’s name so neither paid much attention to the interaction.
Until Lucas introduced them.
After that, Donghyuck avoided him for about three months. Yunho had to corner him in order to talk to him one on one, but the younger one was hard to find when he wanted to be unseen.
“I’m not going to talk to Minhyung anymore, I wasn’t talking to him before, but I’ll do better to avoid him now.” Donghyuck murmurs, hating the way his ex makes him feel. Minhyung makes him angry, angry that he couldn’t do better to get him out. He is just washed with guilt over ruining lives, ruining Mark’s life and having Irene get convicted. It’s too much some days, “I love you, Yunho. I’m sorry you’re caught up in all this drama.”
“Don’t apologize, love. I’m here to support you, no matter what you’re up against. I’m on your side, you are so strong and beautiful and smart and creative and cute-” Yunho is cut off by Donghyuck kissing him, giggling at the praise. Yunho tries to keep talking but his boyfriend interrupts him with more pecks and soft spoken ‘i love you’s. “I hope your friend likes me.”
“He will, don’t worry about it. He’s the least scary person I know.” Donghyuck assures, laying down again and holding his arms open. Yunho smiles and lays against him, allowing himself to be the little spoon because it makes Donghyuck happy. “Love you."
“Love you too-” Donghyuck’s phone goes off, alerting them that somebody is trying to call the lawyer. He groans and grabs it, not looking at the caller ID before answering.
“Hello, Lee Donghyuck. Who am I speaking to?” Donghyuck’s goofy playful tone has completely disappeared, he’s slipped into professionality as he tends to do. It’s always weird for Yunho to see the switch, he is so mature for somebody so young. “What-? Is he okay? What happened?”
Donghyuck looks pale, like he’s seen a ghost. He stands and starts pacing as the person on the other end answers his questions. Yunho feels useless, just sitting to the side without knowing what’s going on, unable to comfort his boyfriend.
“I- I don’t know why I’m his emergency contact, we haven’t spoken in nearly eight years. Besides, I’m in China at the moment. I can give you other numbers to call, but I shouldn’t be on his contact list.” Donghyuck shakes his head, crossing his arms as he continues to walk side to side. The door to their bedroom opens and a short man steps in, smile dropping when he sees Donghyuck’s expression. “Have you tried calling his brother? Oh, let me find other numbers and I’ll tell you.”
The call continues for about five more minutes, Yunho and the man stay silent as he speaks, both worried about the topic but neither can ask just yet. When Donghyuck hangs up, he turns and just hugs Yunho, not speaking just yet.
“What happened?” The man asks, bowing his head to Yunho but focusing on Donghyuck. “Is everybody okay?”
“It was the Seoul Hospital, Mark was in a car accident.”