upstaged || markhyuck

49: reflection.

"morning, mark."

mark tripped over a box and fell into donghyuck's arms, the peachy-haired boy looking very pleased with himself.

"morning," the older grunted, cheeks turning red as donghyuck helped him up.

donghyuck kept hold of mark's hands and grinned. "you good?"

mark bit his lip. "yeah," he replied, nodding. he grabbed one of donghyuck's hands tightly. "how come you're here so early?"

"it's the theatre, i practically live here," he said with a shrug.

"it's still pretty early, even for you," mark pointed out. "i only just got here."

donghyuck just smiled wider. "i brought you something," said, grabbing a paper bag from the table in the wings. "it's fucking cold outside, so i got you this instead of a milkshake."

inside the bag was a take-away cup of hot chocolate, the smell reaching mark's nose. "thanks, hyuck," he said, beaming at him.

the peachy-haired boy couldn't stop himself from ruffling mark's brown hair with a huff. "hyung, why are you so cute?" he asked with a pout.

"pfft, i'm not cute," mark said, flustered.

donghyuck rolled his eyes. "stop lying~"

"donghyuck!" mark protested, embarrassed even though there was no one else around.

the younger boy just giggled, throwing an arm around mark's shoulders and leaning his head against mark's. he rubbed his thumb against the soft fabric of mark's oversized hoodie, asking, "you busy?"

"shit," mark muttered, remembering. "sorry, hyuck, i have to hand in an essay before class."

"ah," donghyuck said, releasing his grip on mark's shoulder. "you should do that. homeroom will start soon."

mark nodded, grabbing his rucksack from beside the props closet and slinging one strap over his shoulder. he almost rushed off, but returned to donghyuck's side, the paper bag clutched in both hands.

"thank you, hyuck," he said, kissing donghyuck's cheek before running out of the theatre.

"fuck's sake, mark lee," donghyuck huffed, touching the spot on his cheek that mark had kissed. he paced back and forth in the wings, shaking his head. "how could i fall for you so fast?" he wore a stupid grin as he crossed his arms, almost stamping his foot on the floor as he recalled mark's smile. "so damn cute!"

mark was running to his english literature class, trying his best not to spill the hot chocolate he was carrying.

"hello, mark," his teacher said with a grin, "cutting it a bit fine?"

"sorry, mr nam," mark apologised, fumbling in his rucksack for the all-important piece of paper.

"i'm just kidding," the brown-haired man told him, adjusting his tweed jacket before taking the essay from mark's hands. "how do you think the exam went?"

"it was okay, i think," mark mused, having to think quite hard to recall the exam from earlier that week.

"and the others?" mr nam asked him.

mark sighed, wrinkling his nose.

"that bad?" the teacher said, making a face.

"it was more of a mixed bag," mark said.

"just forget about them now," mr nam said, waving a hand. "you work hard, i'm sure it paid off."

"thanks, sir," he replied, smiling. "have a good winter break!"