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Donghyuck has long understood that having money, a lot of money, ironically comes at an extremely high price that even he can’t afford. He was already quick at thinking as a child. Things came to him naturally and from a young age, he realised that everything came with a price. What mattered, always was, always is, and always will be the question of how much?.
It’s easier with material objects since there’s a price tag for them. He could buy a brand new sports car even though he doesn’t have a driving license yet. Not that he would drive it (maybe he would drive it.) His clothes change with the latest fashion trends just because he can. Sometimes, it’s not even about the things he could afford. Being rich also means that he doesn’t have to worry about overdue school fees or paying rent. Meanwhile, on the leisure side, it’s also a breeze getting into exclusive clubs.
Right now, Donghyuck’s in one of those clubs. It’s one that belongs to a family acquaintance or someone from that circle. Probably Jaehyun or Yuta, he doesn’t remember but it doesn’t matter either. There was a line at the entrance but he walks straight to the front and enters without saying anything to the bouncer who bowed to him as he stepped into the club.
Everything about the place is familiar although he just turned legal. No one’s ever stopped him or checked his ID despite knowing his real age anyway.
Now, the problem with having a lot of money lies with intangible things, more specifically relationships and Donghyuck doesn’t know if he’s found a right price for it yet. Friends can be bought contrary to popular belief. It isn’t like Donghyuck pays people to befriend him. He’s generous with his gifts and in return, people are generous with their friendship. Donghyuck doesn’t really believe in how they try to show their sincerity towards him. He doesn’t need it. He doesn’t mind.
When he looks up to the second level where the VIP lounge in, he catches Jaehyun’s eyes. The older boy smiles, dimples and all as he waves at Donghyuck. Being the polite boy that he is (and seeing that he likes Jaehyun anyway), he waves back. There’s someone next to Jaehyun, someone who’s practically in Jaehyun’s lap in fact, which makes Donghyuck come to the conclusion that he’s Jaehyun’s boyfriend. He’s saying something to Jaehyun and then Donghyuck sees the other squinting at him. It’s obvious what he’s trying to do and Donghyuck isn’t going to give him that satisfaction. So he turns around, certain that Jaehyun’s boyfriend is drunk enough that he couldn’t clearly see his face.
From the corner of his eye, he spots a familiar face. Yet it’s one belonging to a stranger.
“Mark,” Donghyuck coos sweetly when the other boy is close enough to hear him. “Fancy seeing you here.”
Donghyuck can see the gears turning in Mark’s head, probably trying to pull up a name and hoping it’s the right one. He doesn’t say anything and Donghyuck thinks he’s stuck between a few choices and doesn’t know which one to say.
“I’m Donghyuck.” It’s a poor attempt at trying to save Mark, trying to put him out of the spot.
Nodding slowly, Mark takes the seat beside Donghyuck. “I know.” Pursing his lips, Mark orders a drink that Donghyuck doesn’t catch the name of before he’s looking at Donghyuck again. “I know your name. That wasn’t why I was keeping quiet. I was wondering if I wanted to hang with you tonight.” His eyes widen at how rude he must have sounded. “I mean…” he raises a hand to scratch the side of his head awkwardly. “It’s already weird, isn’t it? I’m making it weird, right? We haven’t really hung out with each other before. One-on-one, that is.”
Amused, Donghyuck simply shrugs, unbothered by Mark’s lengthy speech, half of it has already flown out from Donghyuck’s mind. “This can be the start,” he says as he raises his own glass of whisky and clings it with Mark’s drink. “Cheers.”
“Cheers,” Mark replies belatedly when Donghyuck’s already downing his drink. “Won’t you get drunk really quickly? Is that the plan here?”
“Not really?” Donghyuck laughs. “I have a high alcohol tolerance.” Then he settles for a smile. “See, that’s one more thing you know about me now besides my name. Your turn.”
Mark looks down at the bar counter and he begins to tap his fingers on the surface out of habit. “Does it have to be about my alcohol tolerance?”
“Surprise me.”
There’s nothing serious about the atmosphere, let alone Donghyuck’s tone, but Mark is furrowing his brows in concentration, as if his answer is going to mean a lot.
“I’m actually living in the dorms right now.”
Donghyuck leans forward on instinct, wanting to hear the end of the story but Mark stops it there and Donghyuck can’t help but feel a little frustrated at what sounds like an imperfect cadence. “Why?” he prompts, wanting to complete the piece on a good note.
Shrugging, Mark grins and Donghyuck instantly decides that it’s a better look on the other than the frown. “No particular reason. Just didn’t feel like staying at home anymore.”
There’s two roads that Donghyuck can choose - dwell on the topic and try to dig up Mark’s dark secret if there is even one, or move on to something else that can actually satisfy Donghyuck’s curiosity without him prying too much. The knowing look Mark gives Donghyuck forces the latter to make a choice immediately.
“I like coffee more than tea and I’ve been going to clubs since I was sixteen,” Donghyuck offers, choosing the second option because he wants to tell himself that he isn’t interested in Mark’s life story. That Mark decided to move out from the comforts of his home just because he wanted to. Nothing else like getting cut off from the family or arguing with his mother.
“They’re completely unrelated facts,” Mark points out, laughing and it puts a smile on Donghyuck’s face.
He shakes his head and corrects Mark. “Not entirely. They’re both things that you didn’t know about me. And now you do.”
“Alright, then,” Mark agrees easily as he clasps his hands together. “Let’s get something out of the way first. I can’t win against you, can I?
“Never,” Donghyuck affirms, content as he watches the way Mark fakes a laugh and resigns to his fate. “We can win together if you want.” Mark sends Donghyuck a questioning look at that and the latter grins, ready to pull something from his sleeve. “You want to have some fun? Besides twenty-questions, I mean.”
“How?”
Donghyuck sticks his chin in Jaehyun’s direction at the VIP section. “I think his boyfriend’s jealous.”
Raising a brow, Mark looks up to where Donghyuck’s looking at before he diverts his attention back to the latter. “That’s your idea of fun?”
“Just play along. It will be fun,” Doghyuck says, promise twinkling in his eyes and Mark’s only just met Donghyuck (kind of) and Mark doesn’t know if he should trust Donghyuck but he does anyway. “Come on.” Donghyuck grabs Mark’s hand and leads him to the bottom of the stairs where the security guards are.
He’s been to enough of the clubs that the security recognises him and he doesn’t even have to say a word for them to let him through. Looking over his shoulder, he grins when he sees how impressed Mark looks.
“So you do come to the clubs very often. You weren’t lying about it,” Mark muses as they ascend the stairs.
“Were you lying during the game?” Donghyuck scoffs. “Not living in the dorms?”
“I am,” Mark assures when they reach the top.
Letting go of Mark’s hand, Donghyuck makes his way over to where Jaehyun’s sitting. He greets Yuta and a few other people before waving at Jaehyun again. “New boyfriend?” Donghyuck asks, gesturing towards the person on Jaehyun’s lap. Now that he has a closer look, he realises that he actually knows who Jaehyun’s boyfriend is, even knows his name - Doyoung. He smirks, letting the question linger despite knowing Doyoung anyway and knowing that he isn’t Jaehyun’s new boyfriend.
“It’s Doyoung,” Jaehyun replies, more amused than annoyed, arms wrapping around Doyoung’s waist to hold him closer.
Donghyuck leans down towards Jaehyun, one hand going around the older boy’s shoulder, the other dropping to Jaehyun’s back pocket where Donghyuck knows the former’s car keys are. When he sees Doyoung scowl, he smiles brightly. “Your bunny bites. I better be careful.”
“Who’s your friend?” Jaehyun nods in Mark’s direction.
Seeing that Jaehyun is momentarily distracted by Mark’s presence, and definitely distracted by the way his boyfriend is sitting on his lap, Donghyuck takes the opportunity, using just two fingers, to pull Jaehyun’s car keys from his back pocket. It wasn’t as difficult as he anticipated since the keys were already sticking out slightly, probably from how much Jaehyun kept adjusting in his seat.
Standing straight up, Donghyuck brushes some imaginary dust off his shirt. “You don’t know Mark?”
Recognition appears in Jaehyun’s eyes and he nods. “He’s standing a bit too far,” he admits sheepishly with a laugh. “Don’t do anything I won’t.”
“Of course.” Donghyuck doesn’t mean it, Jaehyun knows that. There are too many things that Jaehyun won’t do that Donghyuck will. “I’ll head off now, then. It was nice seeing you again, Jaehyun.” This, Donghyuck means and Jaehyun knows that too.
On his way back to Mark who was just waiting for him at the stairs, he meets Yuta’s eyes and the other gives him a knowing look and Donghyuck simply rolls his eyes, then quickly shows Yuta a peak of Jaehyun’s car keys before going down the stairs, Mark following behind.
“Jaehyun’s car,” Donghyuck announces once they’re out of the club, standing on the pavement by the roadside. There’s still a line outside OPAL and Donghyuck honestly even surprised since it’s one of the biggest Christmas parties. He just feels bad for the people having to endure the cold. He feels bad for himself (and Mark) when he thinks about what they have to do. “We need to find it.”
“Why do we need Jaehyun’s car?”
Without saying anything, Donghyuck lets Jaehyun’s car keys dangle in front of Mark. “It should be easy to find it. He drives a Benz and his birthdate is on the car plate if I’m not wrong.”
They find the car soon enough, even without Donghyuck pushing the unlock and lock buttons a few times just to find the car through the beeping sound.
“Isn’t Jaehyun’s birthday on Valentine’s Day?” Mark wonders aloud as he looks at the car plate number. 0201.
Realisation dawns on Donghyuck and his face morph into one of disgust. “It’s probably Doyoung’s birthday. His boyfriend. That’s kind of…” Donghyuck thinks about all the things he wants to say and settles for, “Gross” the same time Mark calls it, “Sweet.”
Donghyuck groans, shaking his head in disappointment. “I’m driving so you’re taking shotgun.”
“Can you even drive? Do you even have a license?” Mark gets into the passenger’s seat while questioning Donghyuck.
Donghyuck pushes the button to start the engine before adjusting the seat (damn Jaehyun’s long legs) and mirrors. “Yes, I can drive but no, I don’t have a license.” He shoots Mark a grin. “You can get off now if you fear for your life.” When Mark doesn’t move to leave, Donghyuck switches the gear to drive and he steps on the accelerator. “Relax. I’ve done this many times.”
“Stealing Jaehyun’s car or driving illegally?”
“Jaehyun’s car is a first.”
When Donghyuck turns onto the main road, Mark is pleasantly surprised that the former is keeping to traffic rules. It’s only then he realises that he’s been gripping onto the armrest for his dear life and he slowly loosens his hold before Donghyuck can see him or worse, make a comment about it.
Thankfully for Mark, Donghyuck doesn’t see him. But unfortunately, he still has a few words to say.
“I’m speeding up once we get on the overpass so you can hold on to the armrest again.”
Mark groans and releases his hand completely, crossing his arms instead and sinking into the seat as Donghyuck smirks at him.
Once the overpass comes into sight, Donghyuck steps harder on the accelerator. Then he’s pushing another button and the hood slowly goes down.
The cold wind slaps their faces and they both screech in unison before Donghyuck breaks into a laugh. “Fuck! I’m freezing!”
Wildly gesturing at the button, Mark shouts, “Close it!”
In response, Donghyuck laughs harder, drives faster, and cheers louder. Soon, Mark’s joining in, throwing his hands up like he’s on a rollercoaster ride. He’s not.
Donghyuck only slows down once they reach the other side and Mark’s about to complain about it when he notices that Donghyuck’s finding a place to park. There’s only a hill nearby, no proper lots around, and Mark feels like he should point that out (although he doesn’t doubt that Donghyuck already knows that). But he doesn’t say anything, choosing to watch Donghyuck, admire his side profile instead.
It’s the first time in the night, he’s really looking at Donghyuck. Looking at him in what feels like slow-motion, without any dancing lights on his face or a blurry, almost pixelated image as they sped on the overpass just before. And Mark concludes that Donghyuck is beautiful. Has always been and will always be, to Mark at least. He wonders why they haven’t spoken before and wonders if they’re going to start speaking more after this.
He doesn’t want to wonder. He wants to be sure.
The question is on the tip of his tongue - are we friends now? - but Donghyuck kills the engine and tells him to get out of the car.
“Are we friends now?” the words roll out from Mark’s lips the moment he steps out anyway and Donghyuck casts him an incredulous look.
“I would hope so.”
Mark doesn’t say anything else as he follows Donghyuck onto the grass patch and sits next to him. “We’re friends.”
Donghyuck grins at Mark, starlight in his eyes. He thinks about the friends he’s bought before, thinks about where they are now (he doesn’t know, he doesn’t care). He thinks about the friends from his small and elite circle, friends like Jaehyun who understands him without words. Then he thinks about Mark and concludes that he doesn’t fit into either category. Mark’s rich, sure, but Mark doesn’t understand him, not yet, and Donghyuck wants to drag the time Mark takes to know him just so that they can be together longer.
All that money in the world and Donghyuck realises that loneliness is something he can’t afford.
The look in Mark’s eyes tells him that the older boy agrees.
“Thanks for accompanying me tonight,” Donghyuck says. “Thanks for stealing Jaehyun’s car with me and trusting me with your life.”
Laughing, Mark lies back down on the grass before adjusting his position and lifting his head slightly so that he can slot his palms underneath. “I didn’t feel like being alone tonight either.”
Silently, Mark tugs on Donghyuck’s sleeve to draw his attention. He closes his eyes just as the younger boy looks over his shoulder.
Understanding Mark’s gesture, Donghyuck shifts until he’s lying back on the grass as well. Then he turns on his side to face Mark. He doesn’t say anything but Mark rolls onto his right and opens his eyes so that he can look at Donghyuck. It’s then that Donghyuck thinks, realises that maybe some things come at too high a cost because they can’t even be bought to begin with.
Here, lying on the damp grass patch, trying to ignore the cold numbing his nose, and staring into Mark’s eyes, Donghyuck guesses that someone like Mark is priceless.