fairytale hell asteroid | l.dh

nine.

Donghyuck has been unusually quiet, Jaemin noticed, and it was weirding him out.

For so long since he has known Donghyuck, he has never sat at a table with him where he wasn't rambling off about something. Be it interesting or not, be it a complaint or a rumor, be it a witty reply to something he already said or a conversation starter. The point was that Donghyuck's mouth always moves, and the sight of him today completely deviated from who Jaemin knew him to be.

His head was hung low, but not low enough that Jaemin couldn't see his face. His eyes were focused on the table, the tray of cafeteria food in front of him untouched and cold even though he has chopsticks waiting in his hand. There was a look of contemplation on Donghyuck's face, heavy contemplation, and Jaemin wondered what he was thinking about.

It wasn't like Donghyuck never thinks. He does think a lot, but he does it discreetly without the supervision of others. Unless he is trying to make a point that he was thinking about something then he would put on a face in front of the whole table, but those times, his brain usually isn't thinking of anything useful aside from how to spice up the mood. Other times when there are more important matters in his mind, Donghyuck looks different.

Taking a closer look at his friend, Jaemin's frown increased upon the blank look on Donghyuck's face.

He was thinking about something important, but not quite like the usual. He usually looked annoyed—clenched jaw, grinding teeth, furrowed brows, and a very terrifying glare. Those were moments when he thought about his parents and everything they haven't done for him, when he thought about his leisure friends and all the ways they isolated him from the group whilst still including him in events, and, very infrequently, when he thought about how to really hurt someone.

Donghyuck was never one to take his jokes too far, but that was only because he was self-aware enough that if he wanted to hurt the other person, it would take him less than seconds to think of something, and his words will sting like nails to the flesh, protruding and uncomfortable.

But this was not that. This was not that. His eyes were much gentler this time around, glaring but mildly shaky, and he bit his lips as if he felt more nervous than angry. Donghyuck wasn't thinking about his parents, or his fake friends, or anything in the world that has ever wronged him, like the rock that tripped his bicycle back in second grade.

He cared about this, whatever he was thinking about.

And Jaemin has a high suspicion that it was about you.

"Are you going to eat your food?" He asked after scooting his chair closer to the quiet boy.

Donghyuck didn't look up at him. He simply nodded, and then he didn't move.

Jaemin breathed out a short sigh, a smile of disbelief etched on his lips. Looking up at the ceiling light for a moment, his eyes rolled back down to watch Donghyuck's reaction when he said, "Is this about (Name)?"

The next second was priceless. Jaemin's brilliant eyes were able to catch sight of every muscle on Donghyukc's face as they scrunched at the sound of your name. Donghyuck scrunched his nose up, recognizing you in Jaemin's voice. Then, he slowly turned his head to look at his blue-haired friend, his movement slow with a deadpan expression to create thrilling suspense, acting as if he would pounce on him and scratch his blue locks right off his head for mentioning your name.

"First of all, what the hell made you think that?" Donghyuck asked, turning the attention away from his thoughts when he found a distraction. "Second of all, how the fuck–how do you know them? When did you know them, we didn't study in the same high school!"

"I heard (Name). What are you two talking about?"

Donghyuck flipped away to Jaemin's side after Jeno moved his head over, popping right next to Donghyuck's neck and sending him shivers when he breathed down the poor boy's neck. Jeno laughed at the reaction he gained, his eyes turning into tiny crescent moons and his lips quirking up adorably in forms of little laughter.