𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄, lee donghyuck

four

iseul's face had 'concerned' written all over it in red bold letters. next to her, mark mirrored the same expression. "so... you guys hate each other now?" iseul was stunned to hear the crazy details of the unfolded events at read-through.

jihye stabbed the pasta with her fork before aggressively feeding it to herself, the couple in front of her received their answer. "i don't know how i'm going to work with him." by him, she referred to lee donghyuck.

the incident from yesterday evening had jihye still filled with so much rage. it wasn't supposed to go that far but lee donghyuck kept going on, and on, and with jihye being just as stubborn as him, the situation had escalated way more than it needed to have.

"it's only been a day. you guys just need to forgive, forget and move on. a stupid feud over how many butts we have shouldn't be getting in the way of you two putting on your big girl and boy pants and getting the show on the road." mark reasoned.

jihye shook her head, "i'm not saying anything when he's the one who overreacted. first. overreacted first. i'll admit that i also overreacted."

"yeah and you still are." iseul deadpanned, watching jihye aggressively eat her lunch.

"ugh to think i have to see him every day now. i already have too much pressure with seojun and yuri on my back." the image of donghyuck's face showed up in her mind, sending her to shudders.

as the bell chimed, announcing the end of lunch and the start of the last period, jihye rushed to finish her food. "what do you have now?"

"maths, i'm very much 10 chapters behind but you know what? we'll get through this." iseul squinted, nodding as if she was trying to convince herself.

jihye glanced at mark who was shaking his head in disbelief. she snickered, copying her friend's actions. "right. off you go then."

on the other side of the school, the soccer team was on the field. it was the final minutes of the period before the school day ended. and for donghyuck, it only meant having to breathe the same air as his new arch-nemesis.

the players watched as their captain asserted control over the ball, nudging and pushing anyone in his peripheral vision to the ground. "what stick is up his ass today." jisung stared at his brother-like friend, pulling himself up after being one of his victims.

as donghyuck easily scored a goal, he walked back to the benches. a deadly glare on his face as he wiped the sweat off his face with his jersey. the group of friends gathered at their undesignated designated corner watching donghyuck gulp down his bottle of apple cider, then stare right in front, eyes shooting lasers. anyone would be able to tell he was fuming mad.

"what's going on man." jaemin tapped the back of donghyuck's arm, not receiving any answers.

renjun rolled his eyes, "he's been acting this way ever since the read-through yesterday."

jeno's attention was grabbed by the mention of the read-through as that meant it may involve jihye. "what happened?"

"jihye and donghyuck were going at it. that's what happened." chenle recalled the scene from yesterday.

"jihye? what do you mean, going at it? did they fight?" jisung questioned, visibly confused.

donghyuck shook his head as he recalled back to the anger and frustration his stubborn self felt.

renjun scoffed, "they were both being so immature, debating about butts. i swear jihye almost started throwing punches. it was so bad."

jeno eyed donghyuck. how is it that he was acting so head over heels for her not too long ago? like a day ago to be precise, and yet here he was, sulking over a small argument. with both of them having such stubborn personalities, jeno was sure donghyuck would never be able to get along with jihye. and it almost made him happy.

"hyuck, you have to apologize. how are you supposed to work with her if you hate each other's guts?" jisung, being the more innocent and pure-hearted one spoke out.

"ain't no way. she won't be hearing any apologies from me anytime soon." donghyuck took another sip of his drink.

chenle looked at the purple-haired boy, "and to think that just one day ago you were dancing around thrilled to be with her." he chuckled.

donghyuck rolled his eyes. "i don't know what i was thinking. i might drop out of the show."

"what?!" renjun gasped. "you can't do that. that's not fair for everyone else who actually cares about this."

as the school bell rang, donghyuck grabbed his things, walking away from his friends first. "i'll think about it."

taking the longer route to the shower rooms, donghyuck reflected, considering everything that his friends were telling him. maybe he was being a bit too extreme, but it didn't help that jihye was sharing the same anger towards him. it made him feel reluctant to apologize in case she would still be pissed, and he wasn't going to let him hurt his ego.

+

jihye's hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and her hair tie slowly becomes looser every time she shook her head around. her sharp facial features were more defined as her jaw clenched in focus and determination. 

watching her work so hard made donghyuck soften his gaze, admiring her devotion to this show. he stood behind the door, peeking in the room as he was practising his own choreography in the room next door.

donghyuck had spent the entirety of his practice mustering up the courage to apologize. his friends were right. he had to admit that he still wanted to be around jihye and acting like this would not be the best idea if he wanted her to like him back.

by the time he was done, he rushed to the next door to see that everyone was gone. including jihye. he muttered a curse word, brushing his fingers through his hair. he grabbed out his phone as he walked to his car, going through the members of the show group chat.

he needed everything to be good by tomorrow's rehearsal as they would be starting to run through their shared dance number. as soon as he found her number, donghyuck immediately tried to call her, but all his calls were going to voicemail. he sighed, waiting for the computer to tell him to leave a voicemail one last time.

"hey jihye, it's donghyuck. i know you probably don't want to talk to me right now but please call me back. or text me. or anything, please. i want to apologize for my behaviour," he paced around in front of his car.

"but like, if it's too soon for you and you don't want to hear my voice or speak to me, we can just ignore the fact i even sent this to you and just pretend i never sent this, yeah? yes, goodbye."

- 

a filler chapter... woo..