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Chapter 17

Quote
♡ "I said I'm fine" ♡

-unknown

Mark's POV

It has to be perfect. Everything has to be perfect. My form....my stance.... my breathing....it all has to be perfect in order to be acceptable.

"You should take a break now, Mark." I heard my coach say. It was just me and him left in the campus gym after hours of practicing.

"Should I really?" My voice was cracking, probably because I barely drank water since I started, but how could I? I needed to practice. I needed to be better. There wasn't any time for me to take breaks, not when I had to be perfect.

"You've been at it for hours," he patted my shoulder, "you need to stay healthy to win spring finals too you know?"

"Yeah," I pointed my arrow down. "I guess you're right, coach Park."

"I would expect to be. I've been a trainer for fifteen years and your personal one for about ten," Chanyeol chuckled. I always admired how easygoing he was despite my parents being the ones to scout him. He wasn't uptight and I appreciated that.

"Don't drain yourself, kid. Enjoy your break."

Ha.

There's nothing to enjoy.

"I will, but I'll be practicing too. I have no time to slack off, coach."

"You're too hard on yourself," he shook his head, pulling his bag over his shoulder while walking to the exit. "Don't forget to spend time with your girlfriend and buy her a present for Christmas."

I didn't have a girlfriend and I didn't want one. The females that were interested in me were interested in the things I accomplished and the luxury I received....not my personality. Could they be considered sluts if they constantly threw themselves at me? Not really. They simply lacked the attention that was supposed to be given to them at home. But were they gold diggers? Definitely.

"You too," I replied, removing the arrow from my bow and placing it into my black quiver. I cherished the set. It was the only gift given to me by my mother after placing me into archery. After she no longer could continue her beloved hobby, she told my father it would look exceptionally well under my profile because I would not only be good in academics but an all-rounder in any given sport.

To be fair, it's not as though I enjoy archery in general, but I appreciated her thought of carving my initials onto the set.

"Baekhyun would kill me if I had a girlfriend while dating him!" I heard Chanyeol's laughter echo throughout the empty gym once he was past the exit. I wanted to be like him. He had nothing to worry about. No one to please. No one to be judged by. No one to prove his worth to. He was carefree.

I wanted to be carefree.

After setting aside my belongings and taking a moment to stretch, I switched my 'DND' off and immediately heard my phone ring. To be honest, I wasn't expecting anyone to contact me in the middle of the night. My parents didn't care and Jeno was probably too busy unpacking or catching up with his brother to bother me.

My Haechanie🌹
What time will you be back?
sent at 12:35 pm

Oddly enough, I'm bored and I need to be entertained because Jaemin and Renjun are off the fxkibng grid 🙄.
sent at 1:45 pm

Are you at least taking breaks while practicing?
sent at 3:00 pm

We should go out for dinner once you get back.....only if you want to tho😆
sent at 5:37 pm

Don't forget to wear your jacket...it's really cold outside.
sent at 6:15 pm

Please be safe, Mark
sent at 8:00 pm

"I really should learn to check my phone in between practices," I mumbled to myself as I read the messages sent by Donghyuck. I know that I get too caught up sometimes, but distractions were never an option for someone like me.

Yet I always found myself being slightly distracted by Donghyuck. Everything about him distracted me. His pretty face. His curvy body. His plump lips. His need for skinship. Since high school, they were all too much of a distraction for me.

I tried to distance myself, even treated him a bit rougher during our senior year. But then, too many people started paying attention to him. Despite him always being pretty, puberty had done its magic, making so many males thirst after him to the point where they made bets on who'd get to fuck him first.

I couldn't allow that, but I also had to be subtle about the way I handled them. Because....what would my father say if he knew his son was so gay for his childhood best friend. What would he say if he knew I was willing to ruin our entire family image just to keep Donghyuck to myself?

"Hello," I heard Donghyuck's soft voice answer my call.

"Did I wake you?" I said, taking my bag and shutting the lights off in the gym.

"No—I was actually waiting on you," Donghyuck quickly replied. I could hear the shuffling of his bed sheets as he spoke indicating that he was more than likely asleep in his room. "I hope you don't mind, but I wore one of your shirts because all of mine needed to wash...."

Oh. The image of Donghyuck wearing one of my shirts really made me feel somewhat prideful?

"Is that really why or did you just miss me?" I teased.

"D-don't say stuff like that." I could tell he was blushing just by the sound of his voice.

"Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"Hyung-"

"Tell me, Haechan does it?"

"No...no—just hurry come back!" Before I could reply, I heard the call ending on my side which was really no surprise to me because I know how easily flustered he could get.

"Lee Donghyuck," I chuckled while staring at my phone background which just so happened to be a photo of hyuck sleeping with his head resting on a desk. "It's just something about you that keeps distracting me in the worse, yet best, way."