Ships Passing In The Night ｜Markhyuck (OT21 AU)

Chapter 20

By the time Donghyuck and Jaehyun made it back down the stairs, the food had already been laid out on the coffee table and the sofa was quickly reaching maximum capacity. Taeil sat in one corner, with Yuta sprawled out at the other end. Jungwoo was carrying a wooden kitchen chair across the room, followed closely by their final roommate. He clutched a fistful of cutlery, and was complaining loudly to anyone who would listen about how Jungwoo wasn't walking nearly fast enough for his liking.

"How was class today, Dongyoung-hyung?" Jaehyun called out, taking a quick detour left into a room that Donghyuck hadn't yet visited. Doyoung turned in their direction at the sound of Jaehyun's voice, frowning when he caught sight of the younger boy and not his roommate, but responded regardless.

"Same as the last five times you've asked." Jaehyun returned a few seconds later carrying another straight-backed wooden chair, a mischievous grin plastered across his face at the unmistakable irritation in his friend's voice.

"Don't shoot the messenger," Jaehyun told him, elbowing Doyoung gently in the arm as he carried the chair past him. He set it down next to the one Jungwoo had been carrying, angling it slightly so that it faced the small flatscreen television mounted on the wall in the corner, just like the rest of the furniture that crowded the small coffee table. Straightening up to his full height, he turned to fix Doyoung with a knowing look. "I'm not the one who chose to torture himself with all these extra evening classes this semester."

"I've told you before, Jaehyun," Doyoung bit back, without any real venom behind his words. "I need extra classes if I'm going to graduate on time." He unceremoniously dumped the assortment of cutlery in his hands onto the table next to the take-out boxes, then claimed the chair nearest to Taeil. "Besides, at least I'm making the most of my academic career, unlike some people I could mention."

Jaehyun laughed, which set off a chain reaction from Yuta and Jungwoo. Even the stoic Taeil cracked a smile for a half-second, and Doyoung scowled at each of them in turn. "You're trying to graduate a year early, hyung," Jaehyun said. "That doesn't sound like making the most of it to me." Doyoung--or Dongyoung, as Donghyuck guessed he probably should start referring to him in his head--opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Instead, he just sighed dramatically and flopped down on the floor by Yuta's feet, leaning into the older man's calf heavily.

"Don't be so mean to him," Yuta told Jaehyun, but the smile on his lips told everyone that he was taking this about as seriously as the sophomore was. "Dongyoungie here is just extra grumpy today because that mystery guy he's been stalking for weeks still has no idea that he exists." At that, Dongyoung surged up from the ground and started attempting to beat Yuta to death with a pillow that had fallen off the sofa onto the floor. Yuta just started laughing as he easily held Dongyoung off, and Donghyuck couldn't help the surge of familiarity and home that swept through him at the visual.

"Hey, Hyuck," Jaehyun said suddenly, distracting him and the two men play-fighting on the sofa momentarily. Blinking, Donghyuck realised that he was still standing at the base of the staircase, watching the domestic scene unfolding before him like he was watching live theatre. "You don't have to stay over there all night." He patted the chair next to him. "Come and make yourself comfortable. We won't bite."

"Speak for yourself," Yuta quipped, as he finally managed to push Dongyoung off the sofa and into a heap on the floor. He winced when the other man smacked his thigh in retaliation, the sound like a whip cracking through the small room, but his smile barely faded. "Come sit by me, baby brother."

Donghyuck noted the small frown that eclipsed Taeil's otherwise calm visage, as he turned to eye the empty space between himself and Yuta on the sofa, but didn't say anything as Yuta waved the younger boy over and then all but dragged him down next to them. He felt Taeil shift a little closer to the edge of the sofa, leaving a clear gap between their bodies, but he tried not to allow it to bother him too much. Yuta looped an arm around his neck and he let the older man pull him closer, not protesting even when Yuta started to ruffle his hair and coo softly at him like he might a small child.