Ships Passing In The Night ｜Markhyuck (OT21 AU)

Chapter 47

A/N: Sorry for the unexpected two-week hiatus. Life got in the way, but I'm back and I'll try not to make you wait that long again. Enjoy...

"...this is my friend Lee Jen--"

A few seconds too late, Mark must have finally caught up with the stunned looks on the faces of his two companions, because his mouth snapped shut with an audible clack of teeth. He frowned, glancing first at Donghyuck and then at a thoroughly shell-shocked looking Jeno, before hesitantly interrupting the eerie silence that Jeno's arrival had wrought. "Oh. Do you two know each other?"

"Uh--" Jeno blinked rapidly, rendered incapable of uttering a single coherent word in his own defence. Recovering far more quickly, Donghyuck flashed Jeno what he hoped was a reassuring smile and then turned his attention back to Mark.

"We go to the same school," he offered. Mark's eyebrows attempted to make a break for his hairline, and Donghyuck could practically see the cogs in his brain turning as he processed that particular piece of information, but he still pressed on with his explanation. "We're in different classes, but we eat lunch together a lot of the time."

He didn't bother to try and explain that their friendship was a fairly recent phenomenon, at least in this part of the universe, knowing that he'd end up spilling all of the details to Mark--and likely Jeno too--sooner rather than later, but he did think Mark deserved some semblance of context. From his perspective, this all had to seem like a huge coincidence--which, if Donghyuck was honest, was hard to argue against at this point--and he didn't want the older boy to think he was being manipulated or lied to in any way.

"Jeno is my..." Family? Brother? Kind of, almost, maybe boyfriend to two of my closest friends? Donghyuck caught Jeno's eye just in time to see the flicker of pure panic cross his face. The older boy shook his head almost imperceptibly and, even without context, Donghyuck didn't need to be a genius to interpret that. For whatever reason, Mark didn't yet know about Jeno's new relationship, and he wasn't about to be the person to spill that secret if Jeno didn't want him to know. "We're friends, I guess."

"Oh." For a moment, Mark continued to glance curiously between the pair, surely not missing the way that Jeno's posture visibly relaxed at Donghyuck's words. It actually seemed as though he might try to question their friendship further, as he licked his lips and then set about worrying the bottom one with his teeth, but, instead, he simply shrugged. "Cool."

Awkward meet-cute over, Mark quickly pulled Jeno into a fierce one-armed hug. He slapped Jeno on the back as he did so, in a move that looked to Donghyuck like it would probably hurt a good amount, but Jeno returned it with an even more aggressive slap and a bark of laughter that didn't sound pained.

Mark started to giggle, pressing his splayed palm into Jeno's shoulder blade for a brief moment, but then released him and stepped back. Jeno was still grinning, fighting to hold back another laugh, and any tension that still lingered was suddenly gone, as quickly as it had first arrived.

"Damn, I've missed you, hyung," Jeno said, elbowing Mark lightly in the ribs. The older boy feigned mild discomfort, which Donghyuck thought was laughable considering the aggressive bro-hug they'd just exchanged, but still offered him a broad smile.

"I've missed you too, Jeno-yah."

"So, how do you and Hyuck know each other?" Jeno asked inquisitively. For a moment, Mark seemed a little thrown off by the nickname, so Donghyuck offered him a small wave and then pointed a helpful finger at his own face. Understanding dawned in a hurry for Mark, and then it was his turn to look slightly panicked.

"We, uh--" Mark swallowed loudly, eyes begging Donghyuck to intercede for the second time today, but Jeno wasn't paying attention to anyone but him. "We don't. Not really...It's a long story."