start somewhere; markhyuck ✓

one

saturday, may 26th, 11:32 pm. jeno's house.

"prom is so soon how am i gonna ask her?" jeno sighs, exasperated at the ideas his friends are giving.

"why don't you put rose petals on the cafeteria floor and say some shit our love is blooming," jisung suggests in a dreamy voice.

"blooming? it's a promposal he's not becoming a new man," renjun gags.

"he still looks like a baby if you ask me. are you sure you're a senior?" jaemin shoots, everyone laughs. not donghyuck though. donghyuck has seemingly been quiet all this night. he focused on picking at the dirt under his nail and not much else.

"any suggestions from the great hyuck himself?" chenle asks, causing everyone to turn to donghyuck who just let out a soft "huh?"

"well," donghyuck starts, "if she really likes you she'll like you for you. you don't need to have a grand big gesture." as true as it was, donghyuck just didn't want to give an actual suggestion.

"so poetic."

"artistic."

"dumb!" jeno insists, "i want to do something nice for her, show her how much i like her."

donghyuck shoots a quick glance at jaemin, he looks visibly deflated. donghyuck shrugs it off. just teenage angst, maybe he's having a bad night.

"she plays sports right? why don't we spell PROM? on the football field and get someone to lead her there?" chenle thinks he's hit a stroke of genius.

"she plays basketball. why would she be on the football field? i don't understand why you're asking her in the first place. is she special?" jaemin grumbles.

"she's so special. i care about her so much," jeno replies. jaemin, not expecting the response, goes silent and turns back to his phone. donghyuck knows he's not texting anyone. he doesn't say anything.

"i think chenle's finally onto something," jisung says excitedly, chenle pushes him so hard he almost falls over. the two end up almost fighting on jeno's couch.

"guys chill my mom's upstairs," jeno warns.

"how can your mom resist this?" chenle squishes his and jisung's faces together so they're cheek to cheek, "we're sweethearts."

"disgusting," renjun deadpans.

donghyuck has felt zoned out for the past hour and a half. he's not even thinking of anything just staring at jeno's popcorn ceilings with his legs propped up on the couch. being a teenager is hard right? all the drama, all the crushes, all the sleepless nights. donghyuck's in senior year and he feels like every day gets more confusing.

all of donghyuck's friends seemed to have it all sorted out. they were happy, they had their lives planned out. donghyuck remembers the night renjun gushed about his future art career. donghyuck admires renjun, he always has, renjun had passion. donghyuck just feels lucky that he's alive.

in his dreams, donghyuck goes to space, he becomes famous, he's loved and adored, so many things that seem out of reach. he guesses that's just the life of a suburban teenager.

they all live in the middle of nowhere. just a city with two high schools. as much as donghyuck begs for change he wouldn't change his friendship for the world.

jeno, jaemin, renjun, chenle and jisung his childhood best friends. they've known each other since they were in diapers. donghyuck has seen them at their highs, like when jisung won his first baseball game, and their lows, like when jaemin wound up crying on donghyuck's doorstep. jaemin begged donghyuck to promise that no one would ever hear about that.

as much as donghyuck cares about his friends he has an extra soft spot for jaemin. originating from the night donghyuck came out to jaemin and ended up crying on his shoulder for two hours. it was common knowledge that no one came out. no one was gay. if you didn't say anything you were bound to be safe.

safe from what? donghyuck doesn't know. jaemin doesn't either. but they both decide that it's best to keep a low profile. donghyuck's just scared he'll lose everything.

that was the night jaemin came out too. he didn't say the words exactly but he admitted his love for his best friend. love that's lasted for nearly six years these days. donghyuck let jaemin sob on his shoulder afterwards.

throughout this whole flashback the conversation happening around donghyuck feels slurred and muffled. he can hear chenle and jisung yelling but he can't guess what they're yelling about.

"so we're doing this thursday night right?" jeno says, snapping donghyuck back to reality.

"i can't thursday night i'm babysitting," jaemin replies quickly.

"all good. plus if she says no you'll never have seen it so i can ask you instead," jeno jokes and everyone else laughs.

"like i would say yes to you."

"i'm hurt nana. you don't love me?" jeno teases and jaemin feels his throat go dry.

"nah."

"renjun's driving!" chenle exclaims, renjun hits him and goes on about how "chenle is old enough to walk there on his own."

"hyuck you've been quiet all night," jeno shakes him lightly, "you good, loser."

"you're calling me loser when you can't ask a girl to prom? ok." donghyuck sticks his tongue out, "i'll come."

"i just hope the football players aren't as annoying as they always are." jisung sighs.

"they win one city championship and think they're the only people who matter." chenle leans into jisung, holding a pillow to his chest.

yeah, stupid football players.