best friend ꒱ markhyuck

sixteen

It's rare that Donghyuck ever made it to their lunch table first. He usually liked to hang around in the hallways before entering the lunchroom, or sometimes he would stay behind to ask his teachers questions when he needs to. Today, however, he just trudged right over to their usual table and sat down, completely by himself.

When Renjun, the person who normally arrives first, turned the corner and spotted Donghyuck already sitting down, he startled, taking in his friend's appearance curiously as he sat down.

"Hey Hyuck... is everything okay? You look a little down today."

Donghyuck didn't look up at him, just miserably picked at the chipping wood on the table.

"Everything's fine," he lied, his voice monotone and utterly unconvincing. Renjun furrowed his eyebrows and looked at him in concern, about to press him further when Jeno walked in next and interrupted.

"Hi Jun. You're here early, Hyuck," Jeno hummed casually, taking his seat. Renjun elbowed him in the side, nodding his head pointedly at the state Donghyuck was in. The brunette was still staring down at the table, barely moving or reacting, like some sort of zombie. Jeno widened his eyes in alarm, and looked at Renjun questioningly, as if to ask, "what's wrong with him?". Renjun just shrugged, as if he was replying, "I don't know, I found him like this."

Jaemin walked in next, immediately picking up on the current mood of his other friends. He shot them all confused looks, and both Jeno and Renjun shrugged again in response. Jaemin, being the much more proactive one out of the three, leaned forward and gave Donghyuck a gentle pat on the head.

"Hello, Hyuckie. How are you feeling today?" He asked sweetly. Donghyuck startled, pulled out of his daze by Jaemin's touch.

"Huh? Oh... I'm alright," he mumbled back, and then immediately his eyes visibly unfocused again and he was back to staring blankly at the table. The trio all exchanged concerned looks.

"Are you sure? Because you don't really look so good—"

Jaemin's voice was cut off by the loud sound of Mark's laughter, accompanied by an unfamiliar voice. Donghyuck stiffened, tightening his grip on the table, and the trio all turned around to find Mark walking in with a girl none of them had seen before, talking and laughing.

"Donghyuck!" Mark called happily, walking over and taking his usual seat next to the smaller boy. "Hey, I'm sorry I forgot to walk with you to school today. Yeri wanted me to show her around so she doesn't get lost on her first day."

"It's fine," Donghyuck muttered quietly, looking up wearily as Yeri sat down in the seat on Mark's other side. The trio across from them took in the situation, their eyes darting back and forth between the distress on Donghyuck's face and the newcomer, and understanding finally dawning on them.

"Oh! Guys, this is my old friend from Canada, Kim Yerim," Mark chirped, gesturing at Yeri beside him. "She just recently moved back here, and she's going to our school now."

"Hi everyone! You all can just call me Yeri," she said sweetly, leaning forward to shake all of their hands. "I hope we can all get along! I don't have any friends here yet, and I'd love to hang out with all of you if that'd be okay."

"Of course that's okay," Renjun said smoothly, offering Yeri his best friendly smile as he shook her hand, "I'm Renjun, it's nice to meet you. Those two are Jeno and Jaemin... and have you already met Donghyuck?"

Jaemin and Jeno both nodded and smiled politely. Yeri smiled back as she sunk back down into her seat. "Yeah! I met Donghyuck at Mark's house a couple of days ago, he's super nice!"