What if...? || Markhyuck

-69-

[july 2021]

[minhyung]

We sat in Steven's apartment in a silence that I would describe as incredibly awkward and full of a strange tension that I didn't quite understand. In fact, since I picked up Donghyuck from the driveway of his house, the day was just quiet. Halfway down the road, he only whispered embarrassed, sad I'm sorry about that and I replied That's all right, bee, although I could only guess what he was really apologizing me for. But it tended to admit that Steven was somewhat right that I am a manipulated retard. The question, however, was how badly manipulated.

Each of us occupied a different piece of furniture in the room. Donghyuck was the first to sit in the armchair, Steven took the second, opposite Hyuck, so for me there was the couch in which I sat in the middle. And so I knew that this conversation would not be about me, that this meeting was a private game - between my boyfriend and friend. I didn't want to take a side in this conflict because I didn't even have full knowledge of what the conflict actually is. As always, anyway.

"How did you fool me?" Steven finally asked first. Apparently, the information related to his wounded ego was the most relevant now.

"You're not that hard to fool," Donghyuck replied straight from the shoulder, not messing us about with unnecessary ornaments or a smokescreen. It made me understand that today I would get to know another side of his personality and I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle it because it was diametrically different from those I dealt with on a daily basis.

"Don't be insolent," man muttered menacingly, not at all surprised by such a response. It was probably not the first of this kind given in a similar tone and probably also not the last. They both shared a common history and a separate communication channel from the one we three used while standing on a cigarette before work or from those we used in private.

"I'm honest," Donghyuck corrected immediately Steven, who sighed irritably and rolled eyes.

"Why were you silent?" Another question was asked, which made this meeting more and more of an interrogation. I looked at hands and followed closely the lines that were carved in them. This kind of maze was for me the only escape I could make at the moment.

"Are you kidding me?" Hyuck asked indignantly and incredulously, as if Steven were just making him an idiot. "You would kill me," he threw a nasty, cold fact that made me shudder. Death has always been around us. People were dying all the time - by our hand or before our eyes. The Grim Reaper, despite everything, did not appear in such a direct form during our private conversations. Meanwhile, Donghyuck made me realize with these words that he makes us equal and gives us the rank of being a target, not a person to talk to. "You would kill me like all of them," he added, to which Steven no longer got an answer. The silence in the living room was more telltale than anything else.

Steven rested elbows on thighs and tilted head forward. He had to think clearly about how the conversation would continue. Meanwhile, I was wondering why neither of them touched on Marco. The situation with Simon did not suit both of them, and they both didn't know about it. Meanwhile, they acted like Perez didn't exist, although he was responsible for it and was our boss.

"So you're telling me that when I told you to follow Mark before you went down to the basement, you knew exactly who I was?" Steven finally asked, frowning in deep thought.

"I knew," Donghyuck admitted, albeit with obvious reluctance and confusion.

"Did you know who he is?" nodded at me, completely ignoring the fact that I have a name and the right to vote.