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"You really are an idiot," Renjun sighed as the nurse inspected Mark's sore arm. The ravenette was perched on the white bed of the medical room, eyes dark from lack of sleep.
"So you wouldn't have caught me if I had fallen?" He tsked, eyes watching as the nurse stood up and trailed over to the cabinets hung upon the far wall.
Donghyuck was standing around as well, having been told to apologise to Mark for his 'stupidity' by the principal, and given three days worth of detention. Jaemin was much the same.
"I would catch you," the Chinese responded with a cocky hint to his tone, "Though Donghyuck fell into your arms, and then you fell down with him. It's a bit....."
"Are you two even friends?!" The nurse scoffed, pulling out a tub of cream and shuffling over to sit beside Mark. "Anyway, I'll put some of this on it to ease the swelling. But you're in luck."
"What's happened?"
"It's just nasty bruising. Tell me if it doesn't start to heal in the next few days, and then I'll try to reassess the problem. But it does just look like a bad case of internal bleeding."
"Thank god," Renjun laughed, "I thought you'd need to go to hospital because of a broken bone. The waiting area is so boring."
"Why do I get scolded for talking like that, yet Renjun gets away with it?" Donghyuck finally spoke, throwing his arms up in the air to express defeat.
"At least Renjun defends me when it counts," Mark answered as truthfully as he could. Of course Renjun's nasty insults irked him now and then, but the younger had always held no malice in them. He was just snarky.
"Okay you lot, go and study or whatever it is that you boys do. Donghyuck, I shall see you next Monday."
They all grunted farewells and filed out of the small room. The hallways were empty since it was Saturday and nobody wanted to be in school. If Mark were to drop a pin, he was sure he'd hear it chime against the old floor.
"So, what should we do?" The ravenette asked as a means to end the silence that was thickly inhabiting the hall. "Food?"
"Food," Renjun hummed in agreement, being the first to stroll down towards the staircase. Donghyuck grabbed Mark's shoulder momentarily before spinning him around to face him.
"Listen," he hissed quickly, almost anxious when put under these circumstances. "Thanks for catching me and all, but this doesn't make us friends or anything, got it? I don't want to owe you anything, so if you have a favour you want from me, just ask now!"
Mark took a step back, slightly disoriented from the sudden conversation. "What?"
"You heard me, Sissyboy. I'm not going to repeat myself for you!"
"Woah, hold on a second, Hyuck," the older began to glower at his snappy attitude. "I caught you because I'm a good person. I don't need any favours, and if I did, I certainly wouldn't come running to you. Just be glad I was there when you fell, and leave it at that. You don't owe me shit."
Donghyuck sighed, retracting his hand and staring intently at the boy for a moment. Then, a sudden wave of soft and sort of sarcastic chuckles fell from his scowling lips. "Whatever. Don't say I didn't try."
The younger then stormed off down the hall, though not before shouldering the the older on his way past.
Jerk, Mark rolled his eyes and rubbed his face. He needed sleep. Desperately.
There was too much of a gap between when his body could rest now. Donghyuck was up way too frequently for his brain to shut down and find peace.
But what could he do? There was no way around this, even if he told the demonic child about his problematic sleep habits. Honestly, the conversation would've gone a little like this:
"Oh, hi Donghyuck. Just wanted to let you know that you sexually harass me in the middle of the night, and my insomniatic ass can't catch a lick of sleep."
"Oh. So what?"
Yeah, that sounded about right. There was nothing Donghyuck could've tried even if he was aware. So alas, Mark was left on his own to suffer. He considered changing rooms at the beginning, very nearly making enquiries with the secretary.
But then his guilty conscience got the better of him, and he couldn't sleep knowing that some guy would see a beautiful boy like Donghyuck and totally deflower him in a heartbeat. He wouldn't wish that sad twist on anybody, not even his worst enemy.
Though that thought led to another. Was Lee Donghyuck a virgin? Was Mark treading extremely lightly for no reason, and making more of a hassle for himself?
An intriguing concept, yes. Though there was no way in hell he would ever consider asking.
Renjun was leaning against the banister alone with a look of sheer boredom covering his pretty face. The Chinese was only about ten metres away, since Mark hadn't moved an inch.
"Oh, you waited?" The ravenette questioned, warmth seeping into his heart to know that his bitter best friend was still a nice person underneath his brash exterior.
"It was funny watching you daydream," the younger sighed, making a stupid sarcastic comment as usual.
Once he caught up, both descended the old staircase and listened to their echoed footsteps ring down the corridors.
Mark held the door open for the other as he took a step outside, breathing in the welcome and much needed fresh air. The snow was ridiculously deep at this point in time, though luckily everyone knew to wear boots.
They stomped across the blanket of freezing white ice, trying to land in the same footprints Donghyuck had left as well as their own from when they made the journey out.
The large chimney above was actually releasing smoke for once, signally that their cheap principal was actually heating the medieval styled building.
"What was Hyuck talking to you about?" Renjun asked as they trudged up to the front door.
"Ugh, nothing. The day he has a logical argument for me, or a decent complement, I'll let you know."
The younger chuckled dryly, walking inside and flinching as the heavy doors slammed shut behind them. "Of course...."
"By the way, how's Jaemin?" Mark voiced his inner worry. "Or better yet, how's Jeno? He collapsed like I did when he caught our dumbass of a friend, right?"
"Both seem to be fine. Jaemin is supposed to help with the kitchen staff today while I believe Donghyuck is dealing with the cleanliness of the dorms."
"He's supposed to work in the medical room on Monday, right?"
"Yup."
Both walked slowly into the dining hall to find everyone talking and sitting down to lunch. Jaemin was behind the kitchen counter, having a laugh with every student who asked for food.
Such an idiot, Renjun and Mark thought at the same time, of course without knowing.
