𝗨𝗣 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘, ᴅᴏɴɢ sɪᴄʜᴇɴɢ

eight

Both Hyewon and Sicheng made their way back to their campus. Since they still had time before their joint class, they decided to check if any of their other friends were around.

They walked past the table they always occupied. Noticing a familiar figure, the two decided to approach this person.

"Renjun, " Hyewon said catching the boy's attention. "Hey."

Renjun smiled at her, though it looked like he put his all into forming it.

"I haven't seen you in a few days... Are you holding up okay?" she carefully asked.

Renjun hummed in response as the two friends took seats across from him. "Life is great." he bitterly let out.

Sicheng and Hyewon gave each other a look, clearly worried for their friend. Sicheng was going to try to question the boy further when the voice of someone yelling interrupted them.

"Huang Renjun!" the boy yelled, stalking up to the shorter Chinese boy. Renjun's eyes flickered to Mark. The boy was clearly not happy and Hyewon gulped as he neared the table.

Renjun didn't even get to answer when Mark had already gotten hold of the boy's shirt. "How could you do that?!" he shouted in Renjun's face.

Hyewon gasped, clearly shocked by how angry Mark was. Luckily, Sicheng shot up to get Mark away from Renjun but Mark ripped away from Sicheng's grip and went at Renjun once again.

"How could you do that to him?" Mark asked, a bit calmer than before.

Renjun stared at him with wide eyes, "I- I didn't mean to hurt him." he stumbled over his words, frightened by Mark's angry side.

"I don't fucking care if you meant it or not. You still did it! And you didn't once think about the consequences and now my best friend is crying day and night because your sorry ass couldn't stay loyal." Mark's words hit Renjun hard and it was clear by the way his eyebrows furrowed.

"Mark..." Hyewon interjected but Mark held out his hand to silence the girl.

"What? You probably helped him cover it up." he spoke through gritted teeth.

"I was the one who told him to tell Hyuck. What are you talking about?" she asked, taken aback by her friend's attitude.

Mark scoffed, running his hands through his hair. "So, he told you before he went to Haechan? Is that what I'm hearing?"

"Mark, I think you need to calm down." Sicheng spoke up, putting a hand on Mark's shoulder.

The latter roughly pushed Sicheng's hand off, before taking a step back from them. "I can't believe you guys. You're not even the littlest bit upset about what he did?"

"Of course, we are! But Renjun did the right thing coming clean and he's obviously facing the consequences now. Is that not enough? Do you want him to suffer every day being reminded of his mistake?" Hyewon retorted, getting riled up herself.

"And what about Hyuck's suffering?!" Mark yelled out, Renjun flinching at his tone of voice.

"What's going on?" a new voice entered. Hyewon was relieved to see Aeri with Jaehyun right behind her. She hoped that the girl could calm Mark down before things escalated.

Mark looked at his girlfriend as she tried to read the situation. "Are you okay?" she immediately asked, placing a hand on Mark's cheek. "Why are you yelling at Renjun?" she softly asked as her eyes flickered between his.

"I wanted to do much more than yell at him, babe." Mark grumbled, making Aeri's eyebrows furrow and the girl stepped back from him for a moment.

"Is this about the break up?" she asked, gaze shifting to Renjun's visibly upset figure.

"You don't even want to know what he did, babe."

"Mark... I already do..." Aeri replied hesitantly and her gaze fell to the ground.

Mark looked at the girl in disbelief. "You already knew? And you didn't think to tell me?" he asked, anger no longer evident as hurt flashed through his eyes.

Aeri nodded her head before daring a look at her boyfriend. "It wasn't my place to tell you and I knew you'd react this way."

"I have every right being upset. Haechan is my best friend!" Mark shouted. Aeri's eyes widened at his raised voice.

"You have no right raising your voice at her." Jaehyun quickly interjected as he took a protective step towards Aeri.

"Don't tell me what to do in my relationship." Mark lowly warned, glaring at Jaehyun.

"See? This is why I didn't tell you. You're acting irrationally and now you're taking it out on your friends." Aeri spoke, looking at Mark with an unreadable expression.

"I can't believe you're siding with a cheater. Glad to see where your loyalty lies. And since you're so fast to defend Jaehyun, maybe he should be your boyfriend instead." Mark carelessly spat out. His words caused everyone else to panic.

Mark was on dangerous territory and he himself knew he had just messed up big time. They all looked towards Aeri, awaiting her reaction.

"You know better than to even think of spewing nonsense like that." Aeri calmly spoke. "I'm going to give you some space to calm down. Call me when you finally come back to your senses. Or better yet, don't call me at all."

Mark stood speechless as he watched his girlfriend ask Jaehyun for a ride. The two walked off before Mark could even comprehend the situation.

When he finally snapped back to reality, he let out a frustrated groan. He knew what he just said was so wrong, and that he owed the girl a big apology. Though what scared him the most was the way she was calm the whole time. Usually she'd be yelling too, but this time she didn't.

"Mark," Hyewon called for the boy. He begrudgingly looked at her, seeing the disappointment on her face. "Please, go home. You've done and said enough."

Mark didn't even protest and just left without a word. Hyewon turned to ask Renjun if he was okay but the Chinese simply sighed, him too leaving.

Sicheng didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her, Hyewon burying her head in his chest. "This isn't my fault, right?" she asked her voice muffled by his jacket.

"Of course not. Mark was just being protective of Haechan. I'd react the same way if that happened to you, so I understand him." Sicheng answered, resting his cheek ontop of her head.

Warmth spread across her chest at Sicheng's words and she tightened her arms around his torso.

The two stood there for a moment, basking in the comfort of each other's presence before Hyewon lifted her head as Sicheng looked down at her eyes. "Stay over tonight?" she asked, to which Sicheng simply smiled in response.