the day continues, and all of them started leaving their dorm, walking towards their van that's waiting for them in the parking lot. they had a call from their manager that they're going to start writing the song and maybe start recording too. 

they jumped inside the van, some members are still half asleep, walking like a zombie towards the seats since they did stay up too late last night.

the maknae line decided to sit at the very end of the vehicle, meanwhile, renjun and jeno just sat at the nearest seats, not having enough energy to walk anymore.

mark also settled himself to sit behind the two, sitting near the window. as a leader himself, he lifts himself at his seat to look if everyone is already in the van. "one, two..." he counts jisung and chenle that's sitting a seat far away from him, "three, four, five..." mark pointed at renjun and jeno, and the last count is for himself.

he furrowed his brows and looked around more. he finally saw jaemin and donghyuck arriving, at the door of the van.

"guys hurry, come on!" mark slightly scolds and the two did as what told.

donghyuck stepped inside and immediately saw a vacant space beside the older. he noticed that mark's hand landed down on the foam and started patting the seat, "seat he—"

"i-i'm going to sit here!" he cuts the older off, pointing at the seat behind him. he awkwardly smiled at mark before settling himself, "jaemin! you can sit here instead."

the younger was confused but did it anyway. jaemin didn't think much of it since sleep is starting to knock him out. "well then, we're good to go." mark told his driver, nodding.

luckily the members had a thirty-minute drive towards the sm building, enough for them to take a small nap inside the van.

well, donghyuck on the other side only focuses his gaze outside the window. for the whole ride, he's only staring blankly at the road, his mind is clouded by something or, more specifically, someone.

admitting it's embarrassing is an understatement. this is not the first time it happened, he didn't know where all of this started and how but really want to get those unholy thoughts and wet dreams of the older off his mind—especially knowing it's one of his co-member and his best friend.

the ride is faster than he expected, maybe because his mind is wandering around, he definitely got lost in time. when their driver parked the van just at the main entrance, exactly all of the members woke up from their sleep and immediately realized where they are.

they jerked their selves up from their seat forcing their eyes to open.

jumping out of the van, they made their way to the entrance of the building as soon as possible. there are not many fans that spotted them since this is a private schedule anyway, although they still saw a few people recognize them.

finally walking through the entrance, a couple of bodyguards greeted them as they proceed to the elevator, pressing the button that'll lead them to a specific floor.

when they arrived at the floor, where the studio and music rooms are located. one by one, they then started recording their tracks for their album. making some adjustments and changes on the go, everything is going smoothly as they expected it to be.

the rest of the members have already done their part, they're just waiting for jaemin, mark, and donghyuck to finish recording at the table, just placed outside of the recording room.

"hyung, what do you think?" jaemin asks inside the live room, looking at the older through the small window as he waits for his answer.

the members always trust mark, and always ask for his opinions whenever they do their own recordings. asking him about specific opinions, about their tune, flow of their rap, and even when writing lyrics.

the older smiled and gave jaemin a nod, "i suggest try making your voice more comfortable to your style," mark said, the smile still not fading away, "don't be too tensed jaemin-ah, you got this."

the younger nodded and tried again. this time he did his rap the way mark told him to, finding his style more and loosening up a bit. the time he finished his verse, he looked at both his producer and mark.

they gave the younger a wide smile, and gave him a small clap not forgetting to shower him with compliments afterward. "that's right!"

after he left the live room, jaemin bowed to his producer and gave mark a pat on his shoulder, telling him that he'll go first. he grabbed his hoodie on one of the chairs and bid his goodbye on the two before leaving the recording room.

"who's next?" the producer asked, his eyes not leaving the screen, too busy observing.

mark looked behind him and saw donghyuck sitting on the couch while spacing out. seems like he didn't even notice that it's his turn now, "oh it's donghyuck's turn!"

the said name snaps out, looking at the older with brows furrowed, "hm?" 

"it's your turn," mark states, "get inside."

donghyuck only nods, going straight at the live room and wears the headphones, as he walks in front of the mic. he gave a signal to their producer and mark to start the music.

for the whole recording, donghyuck can feel mark's gaze on him, and it's surely distracting him from singing his line. he tries his best to avoid it by just focusing on the lyrics that are printed on the paper.

the tanned male halts on his spot and clicked his tongue. he went out of tune, causing him to lost focus on the song. he removes his headphones and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

what just happened to him, he asking himself. closing his eyes, he's irritated, that the first time that happened to him.

"what's wrong?" their producer asked, also removing his headphones, worriedly looking at the younger.

mark also looked at the younger with a worried look, "is everything okay?" the older asked, "don't go hard on yourself, hyuckie."

donghyuck released a heavy sigh, lightly tapping his head by his palms in an attempt to get rid of the thoughts that have been bothering him. "yeah, i'm okay," he wears his headphones back, "let's try this again."

both their producer and mark shots the younger a smile before playing the tune again.

second time's a charm, and the younger finished his first line clean and clear. he nods, satisfied at his voice. however, there are still a few more lines he needs to do so he just waits inside the live room for another signal.

a phone buzzed on the table, startling mark for a second as it was a bit too loud. "oh?" the man beside mark made a sound as he picks his phone up, "mark, can you handle this for a second? i need to answer this real quick."

"yeah, sure!" mark nods, as their producer went out of the room, he sits down at the chair.

the younger heard a door closing, grabbing his attention. "where is he going?" donghyuck asked mark, who's now sitting at where their producer is earlier.

"just picking up a call." mark said, while wearing the headphone. "let's start?"

the younger just nods, since he knows mark has a lot of experience about this considering that mark helped and wrote half of their songs. they started doing more of his parts, with donghyuck doing all of them at ease.

to mark, donghyuck's voice is the most unique voice he heard, he loves hearing it every time, with that, he'll always give the younger a lot of compliments every moment he can.

of course, donghyuck can't help but blush at the act. he'll hide his face or avoid eye contact just so mark couldn't see the red blush creeping on his cheeks.

the older called donghyuck to get out of the live room so he can monitor the outcome of the younger's verses. mark made the younger sit on the swivel chair and made him wear the headphone as he observed his reaction.

donghyuck bops on the beat, smiling at how satisfied he is. he pauses in his place, and took one side of the headphones off his ear, "oh wait," he started, catching the older's attention, "can you adjust this part here?"

mark examined where the younger is pointing at and he immediately nods his head, "sure! of course."

the older leaned down, to match the computer's height, to take a clearer view of the screen. without even noticing it, his face is almost an inch apart from donghyuck, he's too busy doing his work on the computer.

donghyuck widens his eyes at how close they are. he's about to lean his head back, but he only came in contact with the headrest of the chair.

mark played the song again, bopping his head in sync with the catchy and lively music. he smiled, thinking this will now satisfy the younger.

the older looked back at donghyuck and raised his brow. with their position right now, donghyuck can see how beautiful the older's features are. especially his lips—mark's addicting lips.

"what do you think?" mark asks in a whisper, catching a glimpse of the tanned male's eyes before fixing his stare at his lips.

donghyuck can't help but feel the same—to stare at mark's lips. it's like the time had stopped, both of their eyes are only looking at each other's lips, it's like they're waiting for who's going to do the first move.

"i like it..." donghyuck replies, eyes are still not leaving the latter's lips, "mark i—"

the older shuts off the other by chasing donghyuck's lips. the younger released a small gasp, he was taken back for a second but immediately reacted, softly placing a hand on mark's cheeks to hold him in place. the kiss was soft and gentle as if mark is scared to hurt the younger.

they pulled away, to catch their breath but it did not take them long enough to press their lips at each other, once again. donghyuck's hands find their way on mark's nape, meanwhile, the older placed his hands on the latter's thighs, to steady himself.

mark's mouth formed into a smug smile, as he observes the younger's reaction. cute, he thought. "do you like it?"

the younger didn't reply, he only stares at mark for god knows how long. "hyuckie?" mark calls out again and raises his brows as he released a small chuckle, "hello?"

"hyuckie?" donghyuck hears mark calls his name again, but it feels like it's from far away.

"donghyuck?"

as soon as he finally realizes what's happening, he rapidly blinks, confused. he saw mark waving his hand in front of his face, worriedly looking at him, "donghyuck?" mark calls again when he saw donghyuck not moving on his spot, "did you not like it?"

mark gets back to the computer to try and fix the younger's verse. maybe he needs to fix the beat more? mark thought, but what he's not expecting is donghyuck shots himself upon the swivel chair, as if he saw a ghost.

"i-it's good..." donghyuck stutters, slowly walking backwards away from mark, "i'm j-just—" once his back is met with the door, he reaches for the doorknob and ran as fast he can, away from the recording room.

exactly by that, their producer slowly opens the door with his brows furrowed. he looked at mark that's standing in front of the table, "what happened?" he asked, but mark on the other hand looks like he's lost too.

why did donghyuck ran away like that, he still hasn't even heard the rest of his verse, mark thought.