Mark just wanted to help a bro out and be the hyung. Too bad he's just a tad bit late from the realisation.

——————————

Mark didn't know how it happened, but it just did. And he was damned for it.

Honestly at this point of time, he might as well walk into Donghyuck's room and just do a 90 degree bow and beg for forgiveness, for he was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to hear this.

Sure, he was pretty naive when it came to all these things, considering he had started training at 10 and who was to educate him about the feelings you were supposed to get.

It wasn't like he never experienced it before, just that music and training came before anything else at that point of time, and he never acted on them. He wasn't even really sure what he was supposed to do with those feelings, besides put them aside and try to focus on other things.

And now he was the hyung, the 'big brother' he wanted to be, considering he never got the chance to, be it at home or with the group. Donghyuck was the only one he really wanted to guide.

This act could probably be counted as one of the worst things a hyung could ever do - eavesdrop.

Added to the guilt was the fact that he eavesdropped on possibly the worst topic to "Donghyuck's crush. It wasn't even as if he overheard a name".

He would be far better with this, it was the fact he saw Donghyuck's eyes as he spoke, ones full of only admiration and glee, praises and compliments spilling out of his mouth at such a rate that even Mark himself couldn't believe it.

Sure, Donghyuck was a talkative person, but he hadn't expect such a response from him. It was even more bizarre that he continued on to gush about his crush in such a manner that it even made Mark's heart burn with how much passion he had for them.

Coupled with Donghyuck's laugh as he went into deep thought about one particular special person, along with a smile that grew on his face the more he talk, and Mark knew.

Donghyuck was whipped, or more so said thoroughly in love with only one person.

Just then, Taeyong's voice boomed through the little space left between the door, and realisation hit that he had been standing outside the shared dorm room for far too long.

"Are you going to tell them, Donghyuck? I mean, they deserve to know." Mark could hear Donghyuck's laugh, but it was more sorrowful than the usual.

"No, because I don't think they know, and frankly speaking I don't want them to know. Also, I doubt they would reciprocate my feelings."

A pang of sorrow came over him. Sure, the entertainment would probably never let Donghyuck or frankly speaking any artiste be in a committed relationship openly, considering the current day and age they lived in, but who was to say Donghyuck never had a chance with this person?

Mark wasn't denying that it would be hard going out on dates or doing anything intimate in particular, the dorms had strict rules and cameras followed them everywhere. But, who was to say Donghyuck shouldn't take that risk and go for it?

"Are you afraid for them or for you?" Taeyong asked in a soothing voice. Mark wouldn't deny it, Taeyong gave great advice.

"They are really talented and they have a great future ahead of them, be it with me or without. I mean, practically everyone online is gushing about how they are this miraculous person who defied the S.M entertainment norms." Donghyuck's eyes lit up again with fiery passion, waving his hands dramatically around.

"They probably never notice me in particular besides being that overly noisy maknae. If I ever did confess, I wouldn't want any bad to go to their life, nor any bad publicity. I mean, we've seen how much attention we're getting as fresh debuts." He paused for a second, as if he was lost in thought in whatever he was trying to convey.

"I'm worried for them. I don't want our relationship to change from what it currently is."

Mark was tempted to just go into the room and hug the ever life out of Donghyuck and tell him a great deal of bravedo, but curiosity kept him hidden.

"You'll get hurt in the midst of it. You do realise that, right Donghyuck?"

"It doesn't really matter to me. All I know is that this person is happy, and when they're happy I'm happy." Donghyuck spoke, but this time it was with the tinge of sadness mixed with the greatest amount of love Mark had ever seen.

So, this was love. This was what love felt like - this warm, tingling feeling he had in his chest as he heard Donghyuck's voice. He sighed, as he forced himself away back to his room. Jaehyun wasn't back yet, so he simply sat on his bed as he pondered over this.

People often forgot with Donghyuck's bright personality, he still did have a heart which could be broken with just a few simple words.

He wasn't one to put his heart out there for people to do so, and to think Donghyuck had the courtesy to hide his feelings for this person not for the fear of rejection, for the fear that that would cause bad publicity for them? What could be comparable to that but just true love?

Mark couldn't remember the last time he had ever thought this deeply about his feelings or even spoken out about them to anyone, and to think Donghyuck had the same fears he had about love. Rejection was common to everyone, but fear of harming the others' reputation, fear of lack of privacy, these were things not everyone got relate to.

They were the exact reasons why he hadn't pursued previous feelings, weren't they? Donghyuck was only a year younger then him, and suddenly that age gap didn't seem so much after all. They were both still teens, going through life with a hazy filter in front of their eyes, finding themselves with spotlights raining upon them as idols.

He never had the will to pursue any feelings, for the fears would come back and remind him why he shouldn't. But, that didn't mean he was going to let Donghyuck feel miserable over these feelings that he couldn't control.

It was time to do something as a hyung, and that something was probably one of the stupidest things Mark could ever think about doing, but at that spur of the moment it felt right.

It was time for Operation Cupid - and a hyung was about to help Donghyuck out.

———————————

Mark was seriously regretting the moment he decided to do this.

The first step to this was finding out more information about this crush. There were far too many people Donghyuck knew to guess, and besides he needed to know the identity of this person before he could do more secret actions to get them together.

Currently, he had 2 options, which was to ask Donghyuck about it (which he cursed himself and almost fell over laughing when he wondered why he even thought of doing that, considering he was a hidden cupid) or to ask the next best thing, Taeyong.

Mark wondered why he even knew about Donghyuck's crush in the first place. They were roommates, but that didn't mean Donghyuck was obliged to tell Taeyong about every single detail about him - especially his love life.

The reason of Taeyong being the leader made a little more sense, he was after all supposed to be in charge about the members' wellbeing, and being miserable over a crush could be a cause for concern.

The clock striking 9 reminded him he had to hurry. Jaehyun and the rest of the members would be back shortly - that was what was claimed at least, and he certainly did not need them coming into Taeyong's room while he was blabbering about Donghyuck's love life.

He walked towards Taeyong's room casually, reminding myself not to look to suspicious as he turned at the door. Taeyong had been sitting by the lower bunk, currently in the midst of listening to something whilst looking at his book.

The room had smelt of the strong fragrance of Febreeze, specifically the Lavender scent which was his personal favourite (Seriously who has a favourite air freshener scent?) Mark only shrugged as his nose got used to the scent.

He hadn't realised that a certain person had also been occupying the space by the study table, and was giving a rather suspicious expression as he eyed him carefully. Also the small, unrecognisable detail that his face had went a tad darker shade of red had went unnoticable to Mark.

"Oh, Mark-hyung, good evening." Donghyuck greeted in English. That surprised Mark, but yet again their teacher was telling them that it was easier to learn the language if they practiced it often. More importantly, Donghyuck gave him a look that almost seemed to say - Why are you here right now?

If you only knew that I was here for you but also not for you at the same time.

"Good evening, Donghyuck." Mark gretted back in fluent English. English was his first language after all, and he did enjoy conversing to people with it.

"Hyung, you wanted to meet me about discussing some lyrics?" Mark continued, while smiling at the younger whom had obviously taken a interest in this conversation.

The younger simply gave a small nod and proceeded back to his previous activity, which was obviously an attempt to study more English.

Taeyong finally looked up to meet Mark's eyes, as he stuttered, "Mark? I didn-"

That caught the attention of the younger right away, as he whipped around to look at Mark with confused eyes.

Oh for the love of God play along. Mark's eyes willed Taeyong as the leader slowly understood the situation, whilst still maintaining a smile.

"Oh, sorry Mark, it must have slipped my mind." Taeyong laughed, but his eyes said different. He removed his headphones and stood from the bed, gesturing for Mark to come and sit by the bed as well.

Donghyuck seemed oblivious enough. Mark thought, as he proceeded to take a seat by Taeyong. Yet, as Mark was about to proceed with some bullshit about lyrics in hopes of somehow luring Donghyuck out, his wish came through with Donghyuck's words.

"Oh, hyungs I think it would be easier if you used the table. I'll go to the living room instead." Donghyuck quickly ushered himself out before Mark could even utter a thanks, not before saying, "Tell me when you are about to wrap it up!"

He had a pause for the joke to be understood, considering it was in English, and then simply laughed at his witty remark before leaving, never losing eye contact with Mark until he left.

Mark was left half in awe and half in shock at it, but soon recovered by bursting into a fit of laughter.

Taeyong laughed nervously before he continued.

"I still don't understand the joke."

"It's okay hyung, it was good while it lasted." Mark said.

"He never cracks these kinds of jokes. Only when you're around I guess. Great chemistry, you two have." Taeyong patted him on his back as he spoke. Mark grew more nervous.

"Yeah.. I guess."

Taeyong's eyes finally grew more serious.

"So, now can you tell me why you've had to lie to Donghyuck to come and see me?" His tone was more heavy, but still bore hints of cheekiness.

"I overheard your conversation with him about his.. crush." Mark continued.

"I'm sorry about that. I really didn't mean it, hyung."

Taeyong's gaze became more serious as his eyes widened. Mark was sure he was upset about it, until he spoke again.

"So, what are you trying to talk to me about?"

"I want to know more about this crush of his, hyung. I want to help him." Mark spoke with such determination even he was shocked.

Mark could tell Taeyong was holding back laughter, but he didn't understand it, and he didn't think he had to.

"So, what do you wish to know?" Taeyong spoke, although he seemed far more interested in the humour in the situation.

"Anything really. Gender, appearance, handphone number? Age? I just want to help them."

"Donghyuck made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone about specifics like names. I also am not allowed to show you pictures or share their handphone number."

"Right." There was a long pause after that.

"Go ahead and ask about anything else then, Mark."

"Okay hyung. Perhaps where they are from?"

"Overseas."

"Age?"

"Younger than 25."

"Occupation?"

"It's complicated. They hold 2 jobs."

"Date of birth?"

"Somewhere near the end of the year."

"When they met?"

"When they were pretty little. They practically grew up together."

"Does this person know the whole of NCT?"

"Yes. You could even say they know us well."

"Languages they speak?"

"Too specific. More than 1."

"Hyung, these descriptions are really vague. How am I supposed to help them with this?" Mark groaned. All the information could be about anyone really.

Sure, you could narrow it down to a person working in their entertainment, but there were thousands of staff that knew them and were younger than 25, hundreds who were overseas and a lot of people knew more than 1 language. He couldn't narrow it down.

"My apologies, Mark, but I'm afraid I cannot tell you anymore. But Donghyuck isn't obliged to follow any rules about talking about his crush, so maybe you could talk to him instead? I mean, you are one of the closest members to him." Taeyong said as he stretched his arms.

It made sense, but he really did not want Donghyuck to know about his knowledge of his crush. Perhaps he could talk to other members about it first, after all if Taeyong was in the loop, who was to think the others weren't?

Mark stood up and gave his goodbyes to Taeyong, before heading back to his room. He didn't forget to go and tell Donghyuck that he had finished his conversation, only to discover the boy on the living room sofa fast asleep.

In the morning when Donghyuck awakes to find himself literally wrapped up in a blanket with the note "I told you I would wrap it up" written in neat handwriting and in English next to him, Mark doesn't see the flush of colour that burns through his face and his ears, and the little smile that forms on his face.

———————————

Step Two: Finding out who else knew.

That wasn't easy. Sure, the members were all pretty open when it came to sharing other personal things or stories, but love was another thing.

They had had plenty of times they talked about girl groups and how they wanted to meet them personally, but it was more of admiration as well as simply the thrill of meeting them than true love.

Mark got his opportunity to ask Jaehyun when he came back to his room. Actually scratch that, he came back to both Taeil and Jaehyun talking about something that Mark honestly didn't understand much of. As he met eyes with the two, they stopped and exchanged greetings, before Mark headed to his bed to rest.

Taeil left shortly after, and Jaehyun climbed up to his bed. Mark could tell the older was tired, dark undereye circles coupled with the fact his voice sounded a lot more groggy than usual.

He took this chance to ask about Donghyuck, figuring the older wouldn't really be in the mood to ask questions, and would simply indulge him with answers.

"Hyung," Mark tried the first time, whispering.

Jaehyun was pretty sensitive to sounds after all, and not before long he got a response.

"Yes?"

"Do you know about Donghyuck's.. uh." Mark paused, thinking about how he was going to phrase it.

"Love interest per se?" Jaehyun answered before Mark could say anything.

"If you are asking, yes, I do, but I am under certain guidelines about what I share."

"I've heard." Mark replied. He was a little confused as to how seemingly the older knew about it, considering it wasn't like Taeyong's case, but he kept quiet.

"How did you know, hyung?"

"He told me around last week along with Taeil and Yuta. We were actually talking about it just now when you walked in, we weren't sure if you knew. He said he wanted us to know and he would get around to tell all of the members soon. I'd assumed Taeyong was the first to know about it."

"Go figure." Mark replied monotonously.

He simply tossed and turned on his bed, wanting to find a more comfortable position. Donghyuck didn't tell him about his crush for any matter, but perhaps it was considering he had been pretty busy over the past week.

Photoshoots, editorials, recordings, and he doubted Donghyuck would be the kind to be so open about such a private thing during a shoot. He just never got the opportunity.

"Do you know the name of this love interest?" Jaehyun asked, trying to keep himself awake, but Mark knew he was lying.

"No. Should I be glad, for I would really like to kno-"

"He probably hasn't gotten round to telling you yet. He will, trust me Mark." Jaehyun cut him off, muttering from the top of the bed, tone indicating his exhaustion.

Mark kept silent for a moment, brain trying to process what had happened. Jaehyun never cut people off like that so suddenly, and before that he was speaking again.

"He said he's been having some difficulties with telling it to Winwin considering the language barrier, but I've heard he's been trying to learn Mandarin for this, which is really funny considering how Winwin's face is going to look when he actually does tell him.

Can you imagine him going up to his Mandarin teacher and asking how to confess in Mandarin?" Mark laughed at that remark, thinking about how Winwin's face would have looked if Donghyuck would actually do it.

"Well, it's not like hyung hasn't heard these things from someone before. Although, I think he's already taken."

"Donghyuck had problems trying to tell me too, Mark. Don't get too discouraged. He said he would, so believe him and don't push him too hard for it. A good opportunity will present itself where he'll just come-"

"Out?"

"Clean... uh."

Both Jaehyun and Mark glanced at each other, each face burning a hot red as they realized what Mark had said, both minds racing with the same thoughts as Jaehyun vaguely said a quick good night and went silent.

Mark's face couldn't have went any redder than this, as he simply pretended he hadn't said a word about this issue.

He didn't just wonder about if Donghyuck was gay, did he? A bitter laugh escaped his lips. It didn't make any sense, the gender pronouns were neutral, which could mean a girl as well, and plenty of female trainees knew him.

And it wasn't like Donghyuck had mentioned anything of sorts of being bisexual or even talking about his inclination. Mark could only wonder, and why did he even think about the possibilities of it happening?

His thoughts drifted to ones which were more personal. So what if Donghyuck was gay? Was that going to affect him at all? It wasn't as if Donghyuck would have a crush on him, considering how their relationship was more brotherly than anything, and furthermore it wasn't like it bothered him.

He imagined Donghyuck's hand holding onto someone else's, walking side by side in the winter, as they turned a corner to a small cafe. He imagined Donghyuck laughing, talking away about how his day went, but not before asking for the other's.

He imagined slow walks by the beach, watching the sunset and come up by the day, late night misadventures as they strolled along the streets. He imagined Donghyuck's flushed face, a slight smile which he would deny as a smirk, warm hands reaching onto his significant other's face, as he asked if he could kiss them...

Just then, he felt his heart tense, and he snapped back to reality. His heart was beating a little faster than usual, he could feel it, and his cheeks had flushed to a colour that was indescribable.

He blinked his eyes several times, trying to get that mental image out of his head, as he forced his eyes shut and forced himself to relax on the bed.

It wasn't jealousy. He denied. It was simple curiosity.

Mark probably shouldn't have forgotten curiosity killed the cat.