"So you're gonna call him?"
"I don't know yet."
"Don't you have his number?"
"Maybe."
"'Maybe'?" The male snorts. "What kind of answer is that?"
"I don't know, Lucas. Just leave me alone about it." Mark rolls his eyes, pushing himself to walk further away from the prying giant that had come to be his friend. "He just seems to be making a game out of this. Like he's stringing me along just for shits and giggles. So why bother?"
"Because he's hot!" Lucas shouts nonchalantly. Mark panics, meeting the curious gazes of their peers with shy eyes. He turns to flick Lucas in the forehead, glaring harshly at him when he brushes off the act with a laugh.
"I honestly don't get your obsession with him." Lucas states at a much lower volume. "I mean, you hardly know the guy. You haven't even been here a month, haven't gotten to see what else this place has to offer. Why'd you decide to stalk to first guy you laid eyes on? What's so special about him?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out."
"Is it because of his thing?" Lucas pries with a knowing smile, wrapping his arm around Mark's shoulder.
Mark stops in his tracks, looking the taller with a horrified stare. "You did not just call it a 'thing.'"
Lucas' booming laughter resounds in the emptying corridor once again. The few students who had yet to exit after wrapping up their mid-morning and afternoon classes glance their way once again at the sound.
"I didn't mean it like that." He smiles, continuing to laugh softly as they exit the school. "I meant, everyone has this thing about them that makes them attractive. A quality that people can't pinpoint, right?"
"Right."
"Okay, so what's his?"
Mark sighs, squinting his eyes against the afternoon sun. His gaze floats around the courtyard, skimming the faces of other students when his eyes settle on the devil himself.
Donghyuck sits perched on the ledge at the bottom of the steps with his back against a pillar, a pen between his lips while he types away on his phone. One leg is tucked underneath him while the other swings against the pillar, supposedly in tune with whatever music in playing in his headphones. He glances up, scanning his surroundings when he makes eye contact with Mark. His blank-faced expression gives way to a smirk.
Mark visibly gulps at the change, eyes widening when Donghyuck raises two fingers to beckon him over. His legs move before he can stop himself, but luckily Lucas is there to hold him back.
"Woah dude, try not to seem too desperate." He smiles teasingly, both of his hands on Mark's shoulders holding him firmly in place.
Mark breaks from his daze then, relaxing underneath Lucas' hands. He focuses his gaze back on Donghyuck with a small frown. "I'm not desperate. He's just.. very pretty." He mumbles lowly, eyes still trained on Donghyuck as they begin their descent of the stairs.
"I mean yeah, he's hot, but what else is there?"
Mark snaps his gaze in Lucas' direction, eyebrows furrowed with his lips set in a frown. "Excuse you?"
Lucas' eyes widen. "Oh, shit! Th-That's not what I— I didn't mean it like that!" He laughs nervously, the tips of his ears reddening in shame. "I didn't hear the way that sounded before I said it out loud."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I-I meant," Lucas smiles brightly, eyes avoiding Mark's narrowed ones. "what else is there, other than his looks, that you like about him? You've only seen him, followed him around, got in two five minute conversations with him and nothing else. So what else is there that you like about him?"
