What if...? || Markhyuck

-70-

[july 2021]

[steven]

We had been sitting in deathly silence for two days. Everyone did their own thing. We didn't greet each other, we didn't look each other's way. Donghyuck rummaged in papers, sometimes went out somewhere but he didn't inform me about anything and neither did I give him assignments.

And - oh god.

I didn't think anything would ever be so hard for me to endure. I have come to the conclusion that even arguing with my beloved Miranda doesn't leave an atmosphere as heavy and dense in the air as arguing with Hyuck.

I thanked Mark mentally for finally coming down. Though our attitude towards each other was not expansive, he at least spoke to me at all. I absolutely didn't blame him for taking Donghyuck's side because if my pride hadn't forbidden me to do so, I would have taken his side myself. However, my emotions prevailed over rational thinking and now we were stuck in this sick atmosphere.

"Hi," boy only said in my direction but approached Donghyuck.

"Hey," I replied, watching their quiet talk in Korean from a distance. It wasn't hectic but neither was it calm. There was a conflict in the air but because of the language barrier, I couldn't tell of what kind. Finally, Mark put a hand to Donghyuck's forehead, which must have been very hot because man began to address brunet with a clear pretense.

"Please, take it easy," Hyuck pleaded but then they went back to Korean again. Mark held his boyfriend's hands tightly and taught him some wisdom about life until Donghyuck was forced to close his mouth with his own. Sometimes that was all that worked for Mark but for obvious reasons, I never tried to silence him in this way.

I sighed heavily, so in my head, because I didn't dare out loud. I thought I was experiencing some kind of remorse about the day we argued. I simply know that I was wrong then. I have instructed Minhyung so many times that he has to learn to apologize and I clearly haven't mastered the art myself. 

They really are in love with each other, I was more sure of that than anything else about this job. Calling Hyuck a manipulator, however, was the best form of self-defense at the time. In fact, I manipulated myself. I tried to convince myself of my own infallibility and cunning, which completely took away the remnants of my ability to distant judgment of the situation.

So old and so stupid, Miranda said as I complained about my dilemmas. And there was a lot of truth in that.

~ * ~

[donghyuck]

I woke up in a room bathed in twilight. It was my room and the only source of light was three candles - one on the windowsill, one on the desk and one on the bedside table.

The last thing I remembered was work and I would have bet that I haven't left the basement on my own. I remember head that ached so terribly at one point and I assumed that I simply fell asleep on desk from the rising fever. However, if I fell asleep, Minhyung had to bring me home, and I was completely alone in the room now.

I sat down slowly on the mattress, not quite coping with the drowsiness and distraction. I raised hand to forehead but it was at a fairly healthy, normal temperature. I started looking for my own phone. However, it was lying on the bedside table right behind the candle, so I didn't even have to get out of bed. I dialed Minhyung's number with a misunderstanding painted on my face as two crumpled pillows meant two people in bed and I didn't understand why I woke up alone. The situation quickly cleared up, however, when, along with the vibrations of Mark's phone wrapped somewhere in the sheets, Mark himself entered the room with a mug of something warm to drink. I sighed heavily and ended the call.