one miss one kiss

The clock hits 6 pm, and Jaemin stands up from his seat at one of the library tables and stretches out his limbs. When Donghyuck near him, on the other hand, doesn't move, continuing writing out math equations in his notebook, he asks, "Hey, you going?" An unnecessary question, if you ask Donghyuck himself, and, quite frankly, Jaemin knows it too. The latter doesn't even know why he bothers to ask that every evening. Because basically everyone knows that he goes to the school's boys basketball club's practices everyday, and if they need Donghyuck for whatever reason, he will most likely be there, watching his boyfriend play with others. "Nope," he answers and looks up at his friend. He might consider taking a short break since he has been sitting in the same place for about an hour and a half now, although he has almost finished his homework. Then, he can go to the practice with an easy heart. One way or another, Jaemin's face shows that he expected it, so he only sighs and starts putting everything away and into his backpack. Jaemin's boyfriend is also on the team, but he, unlike Donghyuck, has better things to do with his time than sit in the gym and watch a game that he barely understands anyways. As if ten hours at school isn't already enough. Meanwhile, Donghyuck ponders over the thought of leaving the library earlier today — tomorrow is weekend, so it's not like the deadlines for his assignments are due or anything. He looks up at his friend and opens his mouth, "Actually, wait for me". Jaemin slightly raises his eyebrows and responds with a smirk, "What? You wanna ditch Mark-hyung today and finally spend some time with your precious best friend?". Even though he asks that, he knows it's not gonna happen — Donghyuck is too whipped for the upperclassman. The other scoffs light-heartedly, "No, of course not," and also gathers everything from the table. When they leave the almost empty library, Donghyuck grabs Jaemin's wrist and starts talking again, "Walk with me to the gym, please?" while looking at him with his pleading pudu eyes. Jaemin's not quite sure if it's working on him, but he just lets the other lead him to the gym nonetheless. Saying bye to Jeno one more time won't hurt, he guesses. When they are near the gym, they can already hear the sound of the ball hitting the floor and sneakers squeaking against it, along with heavy footsteps and shouts of several people. The door is slightly ajar, and soon enough they're standing by the indoor bleachers, waiting until someone from the team notices them. They don't actually have to wait, though. The game abruptly stops when the ball gets into the captain of the team, Mark Lee's hands. "Five minutes rest, everyone!" he announces, smiling and moving straight towards his boyfriend — Donghyuck thinks he looks incredibly hot in his sports uniform, despite being all sweaty and stuff. Jeno reaches them first though, jogging up and saluting to the both of them, a little out of breath, "Hey, what brought you here?" and it's kind of obvious he's asking Jaemin, since Donghyuck is basically an honorary member of the team at this point, while the other boy actually rarely visits the practices. Until Jaemin can answer though, Mark comes up to them too. "Hey, Jaemin-ah!" he greets first, "Hey, baby," he greets second, and Donghyuck is immediately doing cute pouty lips and leaning on the older. Mark hooks an arm around him and only leaves a kiss on Donghyuck's cheek (the latter thinks that if Renjun was here, he would've probably faked a gag or something of that sort). "Yeah, well, I was forced to walk with him 'til here," Jaemin finally responds, pointing at Donghyuck with his thumb — he doesn't need to look to know that the latter rolls his eyes at that. "So, uh, I did that and now I'm actually going home, y'know," he finishes, smiling slightly. Jeno just reaches for his face and pulls him in for a quick and chaste kiss — Jaemin might be left a bit stunned and breathless, but the feeling is definitely very pleasant, he smiles cunningly. "Text me when you get home, 'kay?" Jeno says softly. Jaemin bids goodbye to the guys and leaves the gym, and Donghyuck has a feeling that he is about to receive a message from him with the usual "tell me the details when youre done ;)". Ugh. Mark releases him from his hold, "So... how was your day?". It's a simple question that distracts Donghyuck from whatever was going on in his head as he goes on to tell the older about the chemistry test that he believes he has failed and how Jaemin practically begged him to go with him to a concert the next weekend — he suggests Mark to go with them and the latter agrees without thinking much. He feels at ease like this, and he can also feel his face warming up from Mark stroking his hair and tucking a few unruly strands behind his ear. The team coach is out of town, so for the meanwhile Mark is the one responsible for the practices. He takes a thoughtful look at his teammates chatting and laughing and thinks that the time given was enough for them to rest. When he is about to announce that the break is over though, the gym doors swing open to reveal a pair of very familiar faces. "Sorry, Mark-hyung! I got caught up on the exam preparations!" "I was waiting for him and didn't notice the time!" Mark can only shake his head at that. He signals to everyone that the break is over and gets back on the field. Jeno runs up to the latecomers to dishevel their hair, Donghyuck can faintly hear him scolding them, "Zhong Chenle, if you want to stay on the main team, you need to learn how to balance exams and your extracurriculars. And Park Jisung, if you want to join the main team next year, you need to be more serious about it". He snickers, "Don't think I will be as nice as Mark-hyung when I will become the captain". An undeniably tall guy, Jung Sungchan, from the same grade as Chenle, joins the conversation, "So much pride over the title that you're yet to possess, now, I wouldn't be so cocky about it if I was you, hyung". At that, Chenle barks a laugh, Jisung smiles sheepishly, and Mark chuckles. Jeno seems to be very offended, hence a short and trivial "shut up" is the only response he comes up with. The rest of the practice goes relatively smoothly, aside from boys falling on top of each other during the game — so, the usual. Donghyuck has watched a plenty of the boys' matches to grasp the main idea and rules of the sport along with what role each one of them plays. Therefore, he notices little details like Chenle getting more precise with his three-pointers, Sungchan using the way that Jungwoo — one of their seniors who has already graduated — taught him how to block opponents near the hoop, and Yangyang's dribbling getting better with every practice. He pays the most attention to Mark, of course, who navigates the team he's playing on with simple signals and glances, and it's fascinating how well-coordinated they all are. The progress of the team is steady under Mark's control, and Donghyuck thinks that it is truly wonderful. They take one more break and Donghyuck prepares a water bottle for his boyfriend. In the meantime, however, the one that approaches him is Lucas — or Xuxi, or Yukhei, or whatever — another hella tall dude on the team, who also happens to be from Mark's grade. "Listen, Hyuck," he starts off, "do you know where Renjun is? I've texted him in the morning, but he hasn't answered me yet," and Donghyuck is not sure whether or not the boy is trying to hide his worry, but it is surely evident in his voice. It takes two seconds for him to answer, "Ah, yeah, he is sick and resting at home. Don't worry, he's not ignoring you, he is... um, well, he sleeps a lot when he's sick, y'know?" and Lucas only nods in response. "I didn't know that he's sick too, actually, Jaemin told me about it." "Oh, okay.. Thanks." Donghyuck doesn't really know whether he seems sad or relieved, but he never entirely understood what was going on between them anyways. He shrugs his shoulders and lends the water bottle to Mark, who smiles gratefully, and then the practice carries on. He spends the remaining thirty minutes just like before the second break, getting distracted by his phone from time to time. He was rather tired and sleepy, but it's only natural after another long day at school. The boys finish their practice match, so Mark yells out, "Okay, guys, the practice is over! Thank you everyone!" and Donghyuck is incredibly happy about that, because he can't wait to get back home and fall asleep for a minimum of ten hours. He stretches out his arms, still sat on bleachers, and Mark leans down to give a peck to his forehead and grab his sports bag. Donghyuck is a little flustered, but still very pleased — sometimes he is still a little surprised when something of that sort happens, since Mark wasn't keen on showing his affection in public until recently. He waits for his boyfriend outside the changing room, in the process bidding goodbye to smiling Yangyang, Lucas who is checking his phone, and Chenle and Jisung that always leave together. When Mark finally comes out, he is in his school uniform, freshly showered and smelling like deodorant. He wraps an arm around his shoulders, "Tired?" Donghyuck can only mumble an agreement and nuzzle his cheek. They walk in a comfortable silence, and he feels a familiar warmth spread in his chest. It's late spring, the sun is slowly setting and its last rays land beautifully on Mark's face, gently accentuating his facial features. To be honest, Donghyuck wants to kiss him really badly. It's a five minutes walk from school to home — never long enough for Donghyuck to be satisfied. He wants to talk to Mark until late night, embrace him as much as he can, and kiss him until his lips hurt, his face is burning, and his hands are cold. The basketball court in front of their apartment building is empty, which is rare on a friday evening. Mark doesn't say anything when he grabs Donghyuck's hand and leads him towards it. He puts down his sports bag, getting a basketball out of it. The younger looks at him expectantly, "Hyung, I've watched you play this stupid game for one and a half hours for you to walk me here to see you play again?" he didn't sound amused. Mark smiles awkwardly, "Okay, okay, look. Let's do this: for every shot I miss, I owe you a kiss". Donghyuck bets it sounded like a brilliant idea in the other's head. "...And?" "Uhh," he stammers, "and we can continue talking while at it? What were you saying earlier about Renjun and Lucas?" He starts warming up with the ball, bouncing it off the concrete and passing it from one hand to another. Donghyuck looks at him fondly and sits down, placing his backpack somewhere near. He starts complaining about how complicated he thinks their stupid relationship is (because why does his friend keep rejecting the other's advances? Donghyuck knows that he likes him back!), that sometimes he wishes he didn't care about what will come out of it, and that he finds it so frustrating how they're stuck in the same spot for no visible reason. The older hums a few times to let him know that he is listening, still playing with the ball. "Yeah, when I asked Lucas about it he told me that he will give up on his feelings, probably," Mark shrugs nonchalantly. "He told you what?!" Donghyuck shrieks, "Oh my god, Renjun is so stupid, if Lucas suddenly just stops paying attention to him, he will cry to me and Jaemin about it every fucking day and I can't endure his dense ass anymore". He sighs, "Anyways, aren't you supposed to be showin' off your skills to me and all?" Mark smirks, "Of course, now watch and count". Donghyuck's gaze follows the other's movements — Mark playing basketball is a sight so familiar yet so mesmerising every single time. Or maybe he just likes everything the other does, he doesn't really care. Mark finally sends the first shot and... "Aw, such a shame," he says as the ball bounces off of the basketball shield and right into his hands, "I'm probably just tired after the practice". And he goes in again. And again. And again... And he misses every single shot. Donghyuck has counted to ten, maybe eleven, he doesn't even bother to do it properly. He has seen his boyfriend play a lot of times, so there's no way this is not being done on purpose. As he stands up from the concrete, Mark watches him, now still. Donghyuck approaches the latter with an unimpressed expression, puts his palms on Mark's cheeks and pulls him in for a kiss. Mark's lips are a bit dry and chappy, whereas his are soft and smell like cinnamon. The older drops the ball that has been in his hands somewhere to the side, circling his arms around Donghyuck's waist, drawing him even closer. Donghyuck pulls away with a little smirk, "That's one." And Mark just lets out a satisfied hum, meeting him somewhere in the middle for the next kiss, a feeling so familiar yet so different every time. Donghyuck can feel a delightful fluttering in his chest accompanied by a pleasant buzzing in his head, empty of thoughts other than Mark and his arms and lips on him. He swiftly replaces his palms from the latter's cheeks to his neck, fingers playfully tugging at the hair that has grown out a little over time, trying to reduce the distance between them to a minimum. This time, it's Mark who pulls away, "Hold up, hold up," and Donghyuck watches with a dumb smile how he lets all of his giggles out. After that, he isn't aware of how many times they kiss anymore, just enjoying the time with his boyfriend while he can, bathing in the warmth of the other's embrace and letting out short pleasured huffs in between all of it. They take a pause, for once. Donghyuck is rather giddy, his cheeks are definitely flushed, lips red and a bit swollen, eyes shiny, and chest still heavy. But he doesn't mind it, because Mark in front of him is in the exact same state, and he swears it's one of the most marvelous views he's ever seen — he wants to be a witness to it every single day, if it's possible. "You know, you could've just asked me if you wanted to kiss me this badly," Donghyuck teases with fondness in his voice, soft-spoken and a bit husky. "Mmm, then may I steal a few more kisses from you?" Mark asks, gaze focused on Donghyuck's mouth. Donghyuck only chuckles and leans in once again, seeing stars under his closed eyelids, wishing for this evening to last a little longer.