Ships Passing In The Night ｜Markhyuck (OT21 AU)

Chapter 31

A/N: I cross-post this over here from AO3, which is my main posting site, so I didn't realise until the other day that I still had Chapter 25 saved in my drafts here. If you started reading before like three days ago and you missed it, I'm really sorry. If you don't remember reading the musical audition process and you're interested, I'd recommend you go back and check it out. Thanks. <3

"Hyung, I asked you a question."

Eyes still firmly fixed on Donghyuck's face, Jaehun took another step towards an increasingly uneasy Yuta. Jaehyun looked a little unsteady on his feet as he moved, eyes less focused than they had first appeared. As he stepped closer to one of the torches lining the edge of the decking area, Donghyuck got a distinct sinking feeling in his gut. He'd seen a similar glazed look in Jaehyun's eyes once before--at the SM Halloween party last year, when Jaehyun had decided it would be a good idea to try to match Johnny shot for shot and had nearly ended up in the hospital--but the accompanying anger was entirely new, and that worried him.

"It's not what it looks like, Jaehyun-hyung!" Donghyuck insisted, holding out his hands placatingly towards his brother, who had mercifully paused for the time being. Yuta was nearly flat against the railing that ran around the deck now, and he would have nowhere to go but over and down if Jaehyun started for him again.

"It looks like he gave you alcohol," Jaehyun said flatly, glancing down at the bottle still clutched in Donghyuck's fingers. Too late, the younger boy realised that holding the beer out in front of him probably wasn't the best way to make his point, so he thrust it at Yuta, not waiting to make sure the man had a firm grip on it before backing away quickly.

Yuta took one look at the item in his hand and then upended it over his shoulder, the dark liquid gurgling as it disappeared into the darkness of the garden below. When he was done, he set the now empty bottle down on the railing behind him and neatly stepped in front of it, effectively hiding it from view.

"What alcohol?" he asked innocently, smiling up at Jaehyun, whose right eye twitched as he struggled to maintain his steely focus on his roommate's face. The younger man took a deep breath, fists clenching at his sides, then took another decisive step towards Yuta. Without thinking, Donghyuck hurried forward, wrapping a hand around Jaehyun's bicep and tugging at it, as though he might actually be able to stop him if he took a swing for Yuta.

"Yuta," Jaehyun growled, dropping the honorific. The low sound ripped through his body as he spoke and Donghyuck felt the lean muscles under his fingers start to bunch, just before Jaehyun pounced. He squeezed down hard, freezing Jaehyun in place mid-stride and pulling his brother's attention away from a wide-eyed Yuta.

"Hyung, I swear it's not what it looks like." He tugged on the arm again. This time, Jaehyun turned from Yuta to face him, swaying a little as the pungent scent of beer hit Donghyuck in the face like he'd been punched. He'd already known that Jaehyun was slightly drunk, but the way the man's eyes focused and then immediately unfocused on him let him know that he had slightly underestimated the extent. "Yuta-hyung just asked me to hold his beer while he went to the bathroom, that's all." He watched Jaehyun's chest rise and fall a few times, the man squinting from Yuta to Donghyuck and back again, as he seemed to be trying to decide if he believed what was being said. "I promise, hyung. He didn't do anything wrong."

Donghyuck wasn't entirely sure why Yuta giving him a sip of his beer would be such a big deal anyway, since the Jaehyun he'd grown up with had done exactly that many times--with all of his fellow Dreamies--over the years, whenever Taeyong, Doyoung and Kun weren't watching too closely. He, Johnny and Yuta had taken on the task of preparing the younger members for the adult world with considerable relish, ensuring that Donghyuck and the others knew their limits and their personal tastes long before it was time for them to be let loose on their own. It was something he had often been grateful for in his reality, so he couldn't see why the prospect made Jaehyun quite so upset here.