mark is a real estate agent trying to sell a house that has been unoccupied for years but donghyuck (the ghost who haunts it) won’t let him.
warning: very long post / aged up!markhyuck
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i wrote this bc i had to get this out of my system - yall can keep scrolling if u dont like markhyuck !! ALSO i have z e r o clue how the real estate industry works so this is probably super inaccurate
no one wants to buy this property bc its apparently haunted by a ghost
mark thinks thats just stupid
hes just trying his very best n rly wants a promotion !!
so his boss (obviously taeil bc we love a moon taeil managing a real estate business) offers to give a raise n promotion to anyone that can sell the house bc the last dude that tried to got so close but the couple pulled out last min after hearing abt the rumours
mark thinks he is aBSOLUTELY FULLY CAPABLE of selling this house so he tells his boss he wants to give it a shot
taeils like r u sure you’ve only been working here for 6 months
n mark lee’s all hell yea i got this thats why rumours around the world are saying mark is abs-
so boss man’s like aight ill leave this task to you
everyone else in the office is all :000000
sicheng the cute intern is all ARE YOU SURE ABT THIS MARK in his broken chinese n he’s all cute and worried and its the first time the others have heard him speak this much
jaehyun his bff in the office is like good luck man bc he once tried selling it too but whimped out after encountering so called ghost
so anyways mark has to go inspect the property the next day
he gets given the keys yadda yadda
when he turns up to the house (which, mind you, is a very nice house located on the outskirts of town by a little lake) and opens the door he hears a loud “WHO GOES THERE”
like he legit jumps n he’s pretty sure he almost peed himself n hes sso oso scared but then he remembers his mission and that he’s not going to turn out like the rest and he w I L L sell this house
so he loosens his tie with a d e t er m i n e d face and enters the home
“whos there!! show yourself!”
he thinks he sounds pretty fierce but it actually came out a quiet squeak
anyways it’s silent for a bit and mark’s like super wary as he closes the door behind him
“LEAVE THIS HOUSE IMMEDIATELY!!!” and suddenly theres a picture frame thrown at the wall
mark panics again and he’s so close to running out but he stays determined!!! bc!! fully capable mark!!
“no i have to sell this house and i won’t leave until i do so!!”
and it just goes silent again until the voice speaks up again
“well. i mean, would you kill me for being a little nervous? jheesh”
he looks around. where is the voice even coming from? it projects through the entire house like its on speaker
mark’s not sure where he got this sudden confidence from but he feels a lot less scared than before so he just loosens his tie and walks around the house with his clipboard, doing his lil inspection
the ghost? spirit? whatever it is doesn’t say anything and mark just shrugs and carries on with his business and before he knows it an hour has already passed
“hey spirit” he calls out
and it’s like silent for ages
so he just shrugs and he’s about to leave when
“you can’t sell this house. it’s mine”
and mark just stops at the door and he can’t help but feel a lil sad at the spirit’s sad tone bc it probably has like so many memories in the house and it probably hasn’t crossed over or whatever (he’s not sure how the whole supernatural thing works but he’s watched ghost whisperer before)
the last thing mark says before he leaves is “i’ll be back tomorrow and you better be gone”
he thinks he hears the spirit scoff but maybe its just his ears
honestly mark has a hard time believing all of this and he goes to bed that night wondering h o w he’s going to deal with this situation
anyway mark turns up the next day and this time the spirit doesn’t seem as hostile
that being said it continues to threaten mark and starts moving objects around
but honestly mark (and his newfound confidence) only rolls his eyes as makes a list of the repairs that need to be done (bc deep down he doesnt believe any of this is actually happening)
so they fall into a routine
mark keeps coming back and the spirit keeps threatening him
sometimes it tries to sabotage his work by moving things around
mark’s gotten so used to it that he literally just sighs like “give it back”
the spirit actually listens to him and does
eventually they start talking more
mark’s found out the spirit’s name is donghyuck but that’s all the information he knows
he thinks it’d be inappropriate to ask stuff like “oh so how did u die” so they just end up having the most random conversations
“make sure you paint the hallway walls blue. the mustard yellow is so outdated”
“you’ll leave and let me sell the house if i paint them blue?”
and mark ends up spending more time at the house than necessary
so one day jaehyun pulls him aside at work n he’s all “dude??? are u ok? you’re hardly in the office these days”
and mark’s like “yeah man u know its just the repairs for the house they’re taking ages”
jaehyun is suspicious but shrugs it off and tells him to be careful
taeil asks how the task is going and mark suddenly gets all nervous for no reason bc HOW IS THE TASK GOING??? he doesnt even know
he just gives another casual response n says the house should be ready soon for him to start bringing in clients
taeil just pats his back and wishes him good luck
when mark finishes work that evening he literally feels so down bc he literally had one j o b but here he is being all chummy with a ghost that haunts this house and its all just so messed up in his head
he doesnt know what makes him do it but that evening he ends up going to the house
“someone’s working the night shift”
mark just blinks in confusion at the words because what the heck. he’s meant to be here for work and this isn’t work so w h y is he here at 7pm on a friday???
instead he just takes a seat on the floor by the wall in the empty living area and sighs like a sad puppy
“what’s the matter?” donghyuck asks and his voice sounds genuinely concerned??? if anything it scares mark a bit
“who - no. what are you?” he finally asks
it’s literally like that for almost an hour before mark asks again
“are you like some kind of ghost? spirit? do you need help crossing over? i just. i really need you to leave and you’re not making my job any easier and i’m so confused and half of me doesn’t even believe any of this is real”
it almost convinces mark that he really is going mad because there’s no such thing as ghosts and he’s just talking to an empty house
mark feels so, so confused and he just ruffles his hair in frustration
“what’s your favorite color?”
he’s taken aback by the question
nonetheless, he responds with a quiet “green”
“green is disgusting. red is better”
“red is literally the color of the devil i’m guessing thats what you are”
he’s expecting an angry remark but instead he’s met with soft laughter and all mark can do is smile in return
he ends up spending the night at the house talking to donghyuck all night
it’s a saturday the next day and mark is so co n f u s e d when he wakes up to the smell of pancakes?
he follows the smell and finds a plate of pancakes sitting at the table with a note “i’m assuming you never ate dinner last night. eat up - D”
mark thinks he’s living in a dream bc did a ghost just?? COOK for him??
reality at this point has become so warped in his mind that he doesn’t care anymore and he starts eating
“calm down youre eating as if its your last day on earth”
he sticks up a middle finger at no one in particular, hoping donghyuck will see it from wherever he is, and he’s only met with more laughter
when he’s finished eating and rinses his plate (which he has no idea where it came from) he’s thinking about what donghyuck said to him last night about not being a ghost
for a brief moment he’s startled. it’s the first time donghyuck’s said his name and he’s not sure how he feels about it. if anything, the tips of his ears growing red must indicate a positive sign
“what ar- i mean. how do yo- no. what do you look like?”
he runs a hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh before leaving the house again
he doesn’t return for another week
when mark comes back, he’s with a client
mr johnny seo and his boyfriend chittaphon seem extremely keen in the property and want to move in despite hearing rumors about a ghost
mark doesn’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing
johnny and chittaphon are into that buzzfeed unsolved kind of shit and run their own vlog series on youtube and theyre just e c s t a t i c that they might be moving into a haunted house
mark thinks theyre weird as shit but he wants that promo
donghyuck probably doesn’t mind sharing anyway
when he thinks back to donghyuck he feels a pang in his chest and dare he say it, he misses them?
mark takes the couple back to the house and he feels weird
he can’t pinpoint what’s wrong but he just feels strange inside his chest
there are two things he’s learnt about johnny and chittapon:
one, they cant keep their hands off each other
and two, they can’t stop filming every waking moment of their lives
so when they’re following him to the house with their giant ass camera and chittaphon’s giggles, mark can only roll his eyes as he inserts the key
mark’s confused - he hadn’t come back to change the locks so why won’t the key fit?
he feels slightly flustered in the presence of the couple and their camera and he laughs nervously
they must feel pretty bad for him because they laugh nervously too
mark tries again but to no avail and sighs in frustration when it hits him: donghyuck - this was clearly his doing
mark clears his throat awkwardly before turning back to the couple “i’m sor-”
johnny and chittaphon jump back, eyes wider than saucers while mark has to c o n t a i n himself from rolling his eyes at donghyuck’s ~scary voice~
he half expects the couple to run away but instead johnny only begins to roll the camera once again and there’s a look of nervous excitement on chittaphon’s face
mark turns to the door once again and hisses “donghyuck open the door”
he hopes the couple haven’t heard him but judging by the looks on their faces, they have
“LEAVE MY HOME AT ONCE BEFORE I CURSE YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES”
johnny looks absolutely f a s c i nat e d by this point and mark groans internally before beginning to knock on the door
“donghyuck not cool just open the damn d o o r before i break it down”
there’s silence and mark takes it as his cue to try unlocking the door with his set of keys again
it works and he allows the couple to enter
donghyuck attempts to scare the trio a few times during mark’s tour of the house by moving things around - causing johnny to drop his camera at one point and chittaphon to curse at him for bringing it because its probably broken now
anyway the tour goes t e rr i b ly
he’s not sure what johnny and chittaphon are feeling
when he sees the couple off he just shuts the door angrily and donghyuck just g i g g le s
“what the fuck man did u have to do that?”
“and i told you to leave. what is even your problem???”
at this point mark’s just yelling and donghyuck doesnt seem to care tbh
there are a few more clients he tries to bring that week and the week after
they all go awfully thanks to donghyuck and by the end of the fourth week mark is on the verge of giving up
donghyuck on the other hand seems to be having way too much fun
“can you just like, stop?” mark sighs
he’s very very tired at this point and he’s considering giving the keys back to taeil and telling him he can’t do it
he’s picks up his blazer that he’d taken off earlier and is about to leave when he hears a
mark just releases the loudest snort before turning to the empty walls of the house and raising a brow at nothing in particular
“are you kidding me? i’m done. congrats donghyuck you get to keep your damn house”
donghyuck doesn’t say anything
- when mark shakes his head and turns to open the front door
“very funny, donghyuck. open it so i can leave”
he’s met with silence a g a i n so he pulls the keys out of his pocket
he whips his head around in confusion bc its the first time he’s heard donghyuck speak in such a desperate tone
he feels his ears growing red again
there’s a couple seconds of silence before donghyuck speaks in a quiet voice
“you asked me what i was right?”
mark just scoffs bc why is he even having this conversation at this point
he decides to answer anyway
“like every day but sure”
mark spends a few seconds contemplating whether he really should or not
he follows his gut instinct and makes his way to the loft
he’s only actually been up to the loft once just because it takes forever to get up there
when he climbs up the ladder and looks around at the empty space he shrugs
“go up to the bookshelf on the far left”
mark feels like a child being directed right now but he follows the instructions anyway
he feels slightly nervous and a part of him wants to escape
its congested up here and he can feel the back of his neck grow sweaty like he’s been waiting for this moment for ages!!!
a part of him wants to run out of the house as quick as possible he’s not even sure what hes expecting
“now um.. move that red book on the end”
mark’s hand is s h a k i ng at this point and he slowly does what hes been told
suddenly????? the bookshelf starts moving
its a fake bookshelf thats actually meant to be a revolving door
mark is literally about to collapse bc he doesnt know whats waiting for him on the other side
when the door finally reaches the other side all he can do is stare
he feels like he’s in a different world, standing in the loft which resembles an open space apartment, with a tiny window and a mini kitchen on the side, a door which leads to what he assumes is a bathroom and a small bed
but that’s not what catches mark’s attention
standing in front of him is the most b e a u t i f u l boy he’s ever seen in his entire life
he doesn’t look much younger than mark himself, slightly shorter with dark red hair, golden skin and the biggest chocolate brown eyes he’s seen on a person
mark doesn’t know how to react
his mouth goes dry and the boy looks so frightened standing there in his own vicinity that mark’s afraid he’ll disappear if he touches him
clearing his throat in an all too familiar voice, the boy speaks
when he wakes up a while later, he’s on an unfamiliar bed and he looks around with narrowed eyes - realising that it wasn’t a dream and donghyuck is in fact a human living in a loft
mark looks around at the place and his jaw drops when he sees the wall opposite the bed is fULL of screens capturing cctv like images of almost every corner of the house
there are about three computer screens at the desk and mark is baffled
it looks like the bedroom of a teenage hacker
“oh good you’re up. i thought you were dead” donghyuck says, walking over to him from the kitchen with a plate of food
mark sits up slowly, his head is aching and hearing donghyuck’s voice like this, so clear, so close to him, so soft - he thinks he’ll pass out again
he feels himself growing warm when donghyuck takes a seat beside him on the bed, putting the plate on his lap before getting up
before he can, mark grabs his wrist “wait”
“you probably have a lot of questions” donghyuck speaks over him
“eat up we’ve got all night” donghyuck says
mark hasn’t even made eye contact with the other boy yet because he can’t bring himself to
donghyuck is intimidatingly beautiful
“9. you were out for hours”
“it’s been a long day” mark shrugs, taking a bite of the surprisingly good food donghyuck managed to cook up
so it turns out donghyuck’s family were the owners of the house but he’d been left an orphan as a teenager
in order to avoid being taken into social care, he made his own living space up in the loft so no one would find him - once he’d turned 18 they stopped looking for him and using his intelligent brain, he’d conjured up all the right devices to make it seem like the home was haunted by the ghosts of his family members
mark is baffled by the end of the explanation
“but the things moving around the house..”
“ever heard of remote controlled toys and simple physics?”
mark nods slowly and donghyuck just shrugs casually
later on donghyuck shows mark how he’d managed to keep up this strange lifestyle of his
he also finds out that donghyuck is not much younger than himself like he’d predicted - there are only a few months separating them
mark ends up spending the weekend at donghyuck’s place
when it’s sunday night and mark’s getting ready to leave, donghyuck actually walks him up the front door
it feels weird to say the least - hearing donghyuck’s voice like this and not projecting through the speakers he had hidden behind the walls
he doesn’t want to admit it to himself, but donghyuck’s voice is sweeter than honey and he feels like melting every time the younger speaks to him in a quieter tone
“hey donghyuck” he says, once he reaches the door and turns to the younger
“you ever thought about just.. buying the house?”
donghyuck lets out a laugh
mark finds it condescending
“do you think i have the money to do that?”
“well since you’ve managed to maintain it so well - yeah” it turns out donghyuck does weird internet jobs from home where he gets paid a shit ton of cash through his online services - mark thinks its illegal but doesn’t want to say anything
donghyuck shoots him an amused smile and shakes his head
just as mark pulls the handle of the door, there’s a warm hand on his and all he can do is gulp as he meets donghyuck’s nervous eyes
“you won’t still try to sell it.. right?”
mark remembers his outburst a few days ago and he sends the younger a sympathetic smile, shaking his head slowly “i won’t”
“thanks” and then donghyuck’s hand is gone
mark lowkey feels sad at the loss of warmth but it returns when donghyuck asks him in the most v u l ne r a b l e voice
mark tries to ignore the heartbroken expression on donghyuck’s face while he’s driving home that night
the next morning at work mark feels miserable
mainly because it’s a monday but also bc of donghyuck
he’s just so conflicted and he doesnt know what to do
when he’s on his break and passes by taeil’s office, he hears taeil talking to one of his co-workers nakamoto yuta, a guy who transferred to the company a few months before mark joined
they’re talking about the house and most importantly they’re talking about mark
“boss just give me the house i’ll do it - i’ve already got a couple people i know who would be willing it purchase it despite the current situation”
“yuta you very well know this is mark’s-”
“boss it’s been over a month now and he’s scared off all his clients. please?”
there’s a pause before he hears a “alright. i’ll talk to mark tomorrow”
mark just p a n i c s because all he can think about is donghyuck
that night mark drives back to donghyuck’s place and the door is already open for him
“you came back” donghyuck sounds breathless - like he just ran down from the loft
- mark sees sparkles in his eyes and his stomach does a backflip
“i came back” he repeats, the smile on his face growing
when he’s later sat down on donghyuck’s bed, eating the leftovers from the dinner donghyuck’s just made, mark explains his work situation to him
the younger boy nods, trying desperately not to let the sadness show on his face but fails
“hey” mark says, bringing a hand to the younger’s cheek
it’s weird but neither of them say anything
donghyuck thinks mark has the softest!! hands
“i won’t let them sell it” he says in the s o f t e s t voice and donghyuck wants to melt
instead he just scoffs and shrugs mark’s hand away
“if anything, i won’t let them sell it” he says and mark laughs
deep down they both know it’s not selling the house that’s the issue at hand; it’s mark not having an excuse to keep coming back
the atmosphere is weird and tense when mark leaves that evening
donghyuck walks him down to the door again and mark has the urge to hold has hand and tell him it’ll b ok
just as mark’s about to get into his car donghyuck calls for him
when mark turns around donghyuck is suddenly !! in his arms!! and wow! soft and warm donghyuck!!
about a hundred alarm bells go off in mark’s head and his heart is POUNDING but all he does is bring his arms around the younger boy and tighten the hug
when mark arrives at his own place he thinks that donghyuck doesn’t just sound like honey, but smells sweet like it too
he decides honey is his favorite smell
the next day at work mark isn’t surprised when yuta greets him enthusiastically in the morning
he also isn’t surprised when both he and yuta are called into taeil’s office
mark has to act fast - he can’t let yuta take this from him
he’s been up all night thinking about this, thinking about donghyuck
so when taeil’s about to speak up, mark cuts him off:
“boss i want to purchase the property for myself”
both taeil and yuta’s jaws drop and he’s pretty sure he hears jaehyun gasp from outside the door - the office wasn’t exactly a large place
“yes. i’ve thought this through and yeah. as a customer, i want to buy it. i’ve already spent so much time at it it practically already feels like home” donghyuck feels like home
“i’ve already thought about selling my place for a while now anyway - and i don’t think anyone else would be more willing to buy this house more than i am”
taeil and yuta stay silent
eventually taeil agrees but hands over the property to yuta to sell to mark
when they all come to a deal or whatever mark is dragged aside by jaehyun
“is this why you spent so long there? you wanted it for yourself?” poor bb he is so confused
mark just smiles and nods “yeah, guess i did”
mark doesn’t return to the house for another few days - he’s gotta tell his parents about his abrupt decision to sell his place and purchase a new one
since he lives in a different town from his parents, they offer to come with his younger brother jisung to help with the move out - he tells them its ok and that he has lots of helping hands here and he’ll call them over when he’s settled in
mark heads to the house towards the end of the week, the contract behind his back as he unlocks the door with his keys
“hey spirit - come out wherever you are!” he calls out playfully
to his surprise donghyuck’s already on his way down - trying not to smile at the sight of the man in front of him
“donghyuck” he says, unable to contain his excitement as he holds up the paper in front of the younger
donghyuck squints at it, confused for a moment before his eyes widen
donghyuck doesn’t know whether he should laugh or cry
“what the hell you just bought my house?!”
mark’s slightly confused bc he thought donghyuck would be happy
donghyuck looks like he’s abt to burst into tears and mark the awkward turtle starts panicking again
“i - i thought it would be better than a random person buying it??”
“nO because a random person would never buy this house for as long as im alive and now yOU just came out of nowhere and TOOK POSSESSION OF IT??!?!?”
donghyuck’s a lil mad bc he feels like the house is all he’s got and now its gone and he’s mad at himself for letting his guard down in front of mark and getting so attached to mark and falling for mark and he doesn’t even realise he’s saying this all aloud until mark stares at him with wide eyes
“you do realise not saying anything won’t work anymore since i can actually see you now, right?”
there’s a quiet mumble “sowhatifilikeyou”
mark feels like he’s about to comBUST
donghyuck’s face is literally the color of a tomato and he just shrinks and he’s so cute mark wants to kiss him
donghyuck’s lips taste like the warmth of the summer, the confused and nervousness of their feelings, but most importantly they taste sweet - just like honey, just like donghyuck
when mark parts from the kiss first, donghyuck’s fingers curl softly into the material of his shirt, he presses his forehead against the younger’s
“i’m sorry i did this all without telling you - i just. i did what i felt was right. this feels right, donghyuck. being with you feels right.” mark’s just so nERVOUS and half of what he says comes out so shaky until donghyuck responds quietly
this time however, he doesn’t
time skip a couple of weeks
donghyuck moves out from the loft and they settle into the house properly
after much insistence donghyuck removes the cameras from around the house except for the exterior and they turn one of the spare bedrooms into a little study for donghyuck where he can do his “illegal business”
mark suggests him getting out a bit more and donghyuck reluctantly agrees
mark takes donghyuck out on dates to the movie theatre and out for breakfast
donghyuck is so nervous in public and is practically glued to mark’s side the whole time it’s adorable
they’re both living so d om e s t i ca l ly its sickening
at mark’s housewarming he tells his family and friends that he met donghyuck through tinder
jaehyun doesn’t believe him bc donghyuck’s voice sounds so familiar but he doesn’t know where from - he chooses to drop it though bc the couple in front of him look so happy so he goes to bother sicheng
“hey loser” donghyuck walks out from his study room one sunday afternoon when mark’s on the couch watching tv
“yeah??” mark lowers the volume
“cough up your rent for the month - we gotta pay the water bill cause your fatass won’t stop showering every two minutes”
mark almost chokes on his spit
donghyuck nods, flopping down to take a seat beside him
“idk if you’ve noticed but im the owner of this house if anything you should be coughing up rent”
donghyuck snorts “owner in name. we all know who this house rly belongs to”
mark gives him the stink eye “listen you little shi-mph”
before he can begin his string of insults donghyuck’s already climbed onto his lap and his lips are on mark’s
and they live happily ever after !!!!
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