upstaged || markhyuck

13: deja vu.

mark snuck backstage during lunch that friday. the soccer team had a big game tonight, and listening to donghyuck cough and sneeze in rehearsals all week just made mark feel even more guilty for not offering him a lift that day. and the peachy-haired boy had to last the whole game whilst sick.

the cast had gotten through over half of the script now, perfecting songs and learning lines. mark hummed dunk shot under his breath as he ran his fingers over the mess of wires on the table in front of him.

"on a night that was especially quiet, i looked at the sky..." he sang quietly, his voice echoing a little in the silence of the wings.

he started shuffling his feet as he sang the words, having watched the cast perform it enough times for the choreography to be practically burned into his mind.

"what i really want, no one will know..."

and mark didn't want anyone to know. liking donghyuck was embarrassing, because the younger boy was so out of his league that it wasn't funny anymore. he should just forget it now.

he sighed before singing a little louder, for once not wincing at his own voice. he leaned on the table, tracing out patterns with his feet on the floor.

"it looked so far but now it’s in front of me; almost there, just a little more..."

what he wanted might be right there in front of him, but there was no way in hell that he'd be able to have it. he stood up, stretching his arms and started dancing.

"if i could make one dunk shot-"

"shit, you can sing," said a familiar voice.

mark nearly had a heart attack as he froze on the spot, watching lee donghyuck come out front behind the curtain. he stood there in the wings, looking at mark with a curious expression. mark's hands disappeared inside his sleeves as he took a step backwards.

"h-how long have you been standing there?" mark stammered.

"not long, bitch," donghyuck retorted, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

"what do you want?" he asked, his tone coming out rudely.

donghyuck sniffed. "nothing," he scoffed. "i was just... doesn't matter."

"well, just go, then," mark mumbled, wanting to look away, but donghyuck's deep brown eyes were actually warm for once.

"you sound shit," donghyuck said, the corners of his lips curling upwards.

mark frowned and shook his head, turning to go. "well, thanks-"

"wait," donghyuck said, grabbing hold of mark's arm. his fingers pressed through mark's sleeve.

"what?" mark uttered.

"i was just kidding," the peachy-haired boy said quickly.

"no, i can't sing," mark said in acceptance, unable to bring himself to shake donghyuck's hand off. "plenty of people have told me that."

donghyuck sighed. "no," he said. "i'm... sorry. i was just kidding about you sounding shit."

"why are you apologising?" mark questioned, this nice side of donghyuck overwhelming him slightly.

"because i don't want someone to feel bad because of me," he mumbled. he swallowed, letting go of mark's sleeve and clasping his hands behind his back.

mark noticed the redness under donghyuck's eyes and how bloodshot they were. he opened his mouth to speak but the peachy-haired boy quickly walked away, leaving mark lost for words.

***

"remind me why i'm here again?" mark grumbled as yeri and chaeyoung dragged him by the arms towards the bleachers.

it was almost six pm and the sky was full of grey clouds that didn't exactly bode well for the soccer game about to commence.

"duh, to support our school team?" yeri suggested, wearing a royal blue dress and stripes of blue paint on her cheeks to match the school team's uniform.

"and i need a wingman," chaeyoung told him, tugging on his arm with a grin. she had been forced to wear something blue by yeri (so that 'yukhei would notice') so she had reluctantly thrown on a blue tank top with her usual black skinny jeans.

mark sported a royal blue polo shirt that yeri absolutely hated, but he didn't really care what she thought. he knew his fashion sense basically didn't exist, anyway.

"hey, mark lee," a voice called, and chaeyoung sprung away from mark when the soccer captain appeared at his side.

yukhei slung an arm over mark's shoulders and grinned. he was in his soccer kit and lots of people were staring at him. mark even had to remind himself that he no longer had a crush on the chinese boy.

"hey, yukhei," mark replied. "ready for the game?"

"don't pretend you know about soccer, man," yukhei drawled. "oh, hey, there," he added to chaeyoung. "nice shirt," he told her, though he was looking more at her arms than at the tank top.

chaeyoung was suddenly grateful for her past self, who had been working out at the gym for the past three years.

"thanks," she said, adjusting her snapback.

"i played soccer all though middle school," mark protested, but yukhei cut him off.

"sorry, can't talk, i need to hype up my team," yukhei said, patting mark on the back with so much force that the small boy thought he might fall over. "let's get lit!" he shrieked, running onto the pitch.

"the opposing team should be afraid," minhyuk remarked, joining them. chan was with him, and had blue stripes on his face like yeri.

"he's an idiot," chaeyoung said, though she sounded reluctant.

"he's hot though," minhyuk mused.

"hey," chan mumbled.

"and he's a nice guy," he added, prodding chaeyoung's shoulder. "can't really ask for more."

"what about me?" chan demanded.

"what about you?" minhyuk asked innocently. "shit, i'm kidding, i'm kidding! channie!" he quickly grabbed the boy in a hug when he looked upset.

"guys, enough of this fluff," yeri snapped, grabbing their arms, "the game's about to start. we need to find seats."

"god, don't ruin the moment," mark chuckled, but followed his friends to a spare spot in the bleachers.

he was looking down on the pitch again, and seeing donghyuck standing dead centre sent a chill through mark.

as the peachy-haired boy turned and inexplicably found mark in the crowd, deja vu just wasn't enough to explain what they both felt when they looked at each other.

____________________

i love markhyuck ahahahah

i feel like the tension is rising between them  now lol

thank you so much for 1k!! i feel like this book reached 1k sooo fast so thanks ^.^

oh i've been meaning to update baby brain before updating this one but i had this chapter waiting to be published oops

i'll update baby brain very soon

taellipses out x