start somewhere; markhyuck ✓

four

next friday, june 7th, 12:36 pm. SMHS cafeteria.

donghyuck does love how his mother still manages to sneak a sandwich into his lunch every day. she knows he won't do it on his own. donghyuck's not organized enough.

he eats it every day. still guilty of the year he spent throwing out the sandwiches claiming he wasn't hungry. jisung and chenle continue to bicker and jaemin stares at jeno, nothing is new.

jeno seems very set on this whole "fate" thing. he says he'll find the "perfect" person one day. donghyuck slips in "maybe they're right in front of you" just to make jaemin smile a little wider.

"maybe they are!" jeno exclaims, "i'll know deep down in my heart. it'll be like the same feeling i feel with jaemin as my best friend!"

"what about me?" jisung pouts.

"you're my best friend," chenle responds.

"me too," renjun adds.

"and me!" donghyuck blows a kiss to the youngest which he catches and presses to his cheek.

this was nice, just best friends being best friends even if there were secrets between them. there's secrets in everything. secrets in every friendship.

as they leave the cafeteria donghyuck passes mark. the older passes him a note, secretly.

meet at my house tonight. blue house down the hill from yours. please come.
-mark

donghyuck shoves it in his pocket. he turns back to his friends. they all congregate around renjun's locker because he keeps a packet of gum and "jisung's breath stinks."

"english class is going to kill me, seriously," jeno whines leaning against jaemin, who just pushes him back up.

"i'm with you. i'll bring you back to life" jaemin says sweetly causing jeno to pinch his cheeks.

the warning bell rings and the group scurries to their lockers. donghyuck has to get to the second floor just to grab his science notebook. then, all the way back down to his class. it was a workout to say the least.

donghyuck sits down at his desk and puts his head down. school is so exhausting. he barely even hears mark's voice and the chocolate left on his desk. a small gesture, but kind nonetheless.

mark sits at the opposite end of the classroom, behind donghyuck too, so he can't even see what mark is up to anyways. every time he musters up the courage to look back mark seems enthralled in his work anyways.

mark's work ethic is just another thing to admire. donghyuck slowly feels like mark is taking over his life. every waking moment revolves around mark.

this time when donghyuck turns around mark notices and flashes a quick smile. that's it. donghyuck is going to die.

the day goes by slowly. by the end of the day donghyuck is begging the clock to tick faster.

"you know i love jaemin with my whole heart but english will still be the death of me," jeno walks with his arm around jaemin, they seem closer these days. another secret donghyuck thinks.

"can we hang out tonight?" renjun asks, "my mom's out of town and i think my house is haunted."

"it's definitely haunted," jisung answers.

"i would love to hang out but my family was planning on having movie night tonight," donghyuck lies. it hurts but he knows it's for the best. it's safer this way.

"we're getting ice cream on saturday then, and hyuck's paying!" chenle hits donghyuck on the shoulder and starts running to spare himself.

"with what money?"

"chenle you have the most money. you pay!" jisung argues, "hyuck's broke."

"hey!"

donghyuck and chenle start bickering about who should pay. the others watch, renjun hangs his head low so no one can recognize him.

"you guys are so embarrassing..."