Ships Passing In The Night ｜Markhyuck (OT21 AU)

Chapter 30

The first clue that something was up should probably have been the change in the seating plan, as Donghyuck arrived in homeroom on Friday morning to find his new seat next to Renjun already occupied by its original owner. He would later blame it on the late-night drive the evening before, or on the mental strain of discovering the truth about Jisung and Chenle, but, if he was honest, the truth lay more in the fact that he'd visualised this exact moment so many times in his head that, when it finally happened, it didn't register immediately.

The second clue should have been the way that Renjun froze in surprise as he entered the room, eyes immediately landing on the boy who had taken up residence at the desk next to his for the first time in weeks. He paused in the doorway, just long enough to hold up the other students trying to enter behind him, before he walked calmly to his desk and sat down, not daring to glance over at the boy beside him.

It wasn't until Donghyuck saw Jaemin turn to face Renjun, a placid smile firmly in place as he spoke loudly enough for the room to hear, that he realised that something in the equilibrium of his current reality had shifted yet again. "Good morning, Renjun-ah," Jaemin said pleasantly, sounding for all the world like he did this every single day. Donghyuck couldn't see Renjun's face, angled as the older boy was towards the front of the room, but the curious looks thrown their way from the students on either side of them told him more than enough.

"M-morning, Jaemin," Renjun replied. He might have said more, but the teacher chose that moment to arrive and start the school day. Donghyuck watched the pair closely throughout the class, but neither boy made any other moves to engage each other. He might have even believed it was a fever dream, a feat that would have honestly made more sense than the scene playing out before his eyes, if Renjun hadn't cornered him in the corridor outside before their next class.

"What was that?" Renjun hissed, fingers clamping down on Donghyuck's arm like a vice. He stared up at his friend, eyes searching Donghyuck's face like he might somehow hold the answer to Jaemin's sudden, unexpected personality switch. "You saw that too, right?"

"I don't know," Donghyuck finally managed to say, pulling his arm free from the older boy's surprisingly strong grip. He thought for a moment, Renjun still watching him expectantly, but no logical explanations jumped to mind. "This is what you wanted though, right? You wanted things to go back to normal, so maybe Jaemin wants that too now."

In truth, Donghyuck had absolutely no idea what Jaemin was up to, but it was as good a guess as any. "What do I do?" Renjun sounded almost panicked, so Donghyuck patted him reassuringly on the arm as he guided them both down the crowded hallway.

"Well, you can either act like nothing's wrong, or you can ask him about it." Renjun shook his head vehemently in response to the second option, so Donghyuck doubled down on the first. "Let him do whatever he needs to do to sort things out his way, then maybe he'll talk to you about it."

Donghyuck strongly suspected that there was very little chance of Jaemin actually talking directly to Renjun about any of this, but then he had been wrong before. After all, he hadn't seen this morning's events coming. He made a mental note to check in with Jaemin as soon as he could get him alone. This was strange behaviour indeed from the younger boy, and Donghyuck didn't want either of them getting any more hurt over this than they already were.

--

At lunch, Donghyuck half expected Jaemin to hide out in the dance studio again, as he had on every other odd day for the past three weeks. So, when he reached the cafeteria and found Jaemin seated in his usual spot, he couldn't help the shiver of unease that slid down his spine. He was happy to see his friend--of course, he was--but he wasn't entirely sure he was going to like what followed.