upstaged || markhyuck

20: good.

mark wound up a cable, tossing it into one of the boxes backstage. chittaphon had run off after school ended, claiming he was busy, whatever that meant. but the thai man had kindly left a (rather long) list of things for mark to do that day.

the dark-haired boy grumbled to himself as he tidied up in the wings, hauling one of the heavy boxes through the corridor of dressing rooms. he left the box in one of the smaller rooms, dusting his hands off on his jeans. walking back through the passage, he poked his head around the black curtains of the wings.

the stage was empty, lights low and auditorium bare. mark wandered onto the stage, going towards the centre marking.

"if i could make one dunk shot..." he sang quietly.

he exhaled loudly. he didn't belong onstage. but he still found himself dancing along to the cute yabalabahiya in the song. it was cuter when donghyuck did it, at least.

a clatter from somewhere backstage startled mark, painting his cheeks red at the thought of anyone seeing him singing. especially if someone like donghyuck saw him. he couldn't face that again.

a door slammed open.

"what the hell?" he murmured. there was no rehearsal tonight in favour of most of the cast needing to be at the dance class instead. they were about halfway through rehearsals for the show and things were starting to get busier as new choreography still had to be taught.

mark left the stage and made his way through the wings and down the corridor. most of the dressing rooms doors were shut. he glanced into the one he had last been in, and closed the door. the door at the end was open; the biggest dressing room.

he walked closer to the door before being startled so much by a chair being thrown across the room that he fell on the floor.

then silence as mark sat stunned on the floor outside the dressing room.

and then someone was sobbing.

it sounded awful, like the person was physically hurting by the sound they were making.

"oh, god," mark murmured. who could it be?

he half-wanted to turn back and leave the person alone, but the other half of him thought there was no way he could walk away now. not when he should make sure they were alright.

mark just didn't expect to walk in to see lee donghyuck sitting on the floor in front of the mirror and crying his eyes out.

"oh my god, i'm sorry," mark stammered, one foot in the room.

"go away," donghyuck said thickly, wiping his nose on the back of his hand, his eyes red and cheeks wet with tears. he was wearing his soccer uniform, knees drawn to his chest.

"donghyuck," mark said after a pause, looking at the younger boy in the mirror, "are... are you okay?"

"didn't you hear me?" donghyuck snapped, his voice cracking. he pressed his hands to his eyes, his shoulders starting to shake again.

mark walked towards him slowly, reaching out to lay a hesitant hand on his shoulder.

"just fuck off, mark!" donghyuck yelled, flinching away and starting to cry again.

"i'm sorry," mark sighed, chewing on his lip as he turned to go.

then donghyuck caught his hand. the peachy-haired boy's hand was wet with tears and probably snot, but it was warm and sent an electric pulse through mark.

"please s-stay," donghyuck whispered.

mark nodded. donghyuck let go of his hand and wiped his face again, and mark sat down on the floor beside him.

"what happened?" mark asked quietly.

donghyuck scowled at his reflection. "shit happened. don't wanna talk about it."

"okay," mark replied. and he just sat there.

he sat there quietly until donghyuck's lower lip began to wobble and he burst into tears again.

and then mark gently wrapped his arms around donghyuck, who froze at first, but melted into the hug. donghyuck threw his arms around the older boy's neck and just sobbed as mark patted his back.

"i can't do this anymore," donghyuck said, rather incoherently. "it's fucking shit living like this."

once the sobs had subsided, and mark was feeling a little less awkward having his arms around donghyuck's waist in quite a different circumstance than he'd been imagining lately, mark spoke.

"what do you mean?" he asked in a hushed voice, as if there were people who could possibly hear them.

donghyuck made a noise of complaint into the side of mark's neck. "just everything."

"i thought you had dance today? what's with the soccer uniform?"

"don't even talk to me about soccer," donghyuck grumbled, his arms still around mark's neck, not wanting to show his face. "jaemin is a fucking piece of shit so i told him that. and then i quit the team."

"woah," mark said, his eyes widening. thankfully, donghyuck finally pulled away from him, retreating back to where he was sitting facing him, but still within touching distance.

donghyuck gave a wry smile. "bet you didn't see that one coming. quiting the cause of my status in this school. well fuck that, i'm not going back to soccer whilst na jaemin is still on the team."

mark blinked. "aren't you and jaemin best friends?"

"how d'you know that?"

"everyone knows it," mark said without thinking. "anyway, what happened?" he repeated, his curiosity getting the better of him. "did you get in a fight?"

"this isn't relevant," the peachy-haired boy said with a huff. "i quit the team because i have priorities, namely this musical. so don't try and tell me what to do, okay?" he added defensively.

mark put his hands up. "look, i already know all this, you don't have to convince me."

"whatever," donghyuck muttered, crossing his arms. he glanced at mark before looking away, but neither of them moved from their spot on the floor.

"anyway, it's probably best if you quit the team..." mark thought out loud.

"what you say, bitch?"

mark was startled. "oh," he said, blushing, "i just mean if you've been at training when there's dance rehearsals on-"

"save it, i already fucking quit," donghyuck sneered, standing up.

the older boy got up just as quickly. "well, see you at rehearsals tomorrow?" mark wanted to face-palm. he didn't mean to sound so hopeful about it.

donghyuck wrinkled his nose. "obviously."

mark nodded. "uh, good."

"yeah, good," donghyuck said shortly. he looked at mark again. "now fuck off."

mark scrunched his nose as he watched the peachy-haired boy stalk out. he sighed at the wet patch on his hoodie, but recalled how hurt donghyuck had sounded just moments ago. that was a sight he thought he'd never see. lee donghyuck with feelings? a rare sight.

"what an asshole," mark muttered, frowning at donghyuck's last words.

maybe, but you still like him. he's still handsome after all that crying, his brain went.

"oh shut up," he told himself, "he's still a dick."

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thank u so much for 3k reads i'm crying

taellipses out x