FOR THE FUTURE ⋮ nohyuck/markhyuck/markhyuckno

Chapter Sixteen

Donghyuck found himself in the dance practice room, practicing alone for a performance he'd have the next week. He would've been excited about it if not for growing exhaustion. It was the second month of his pregnancy already and some things started to get unbearable. Even though it was only the beginning.

He could be calm about one thing, at least. He could spend the time here as much as he wanted as he left Noram with Jeno. It was as if they already had to deal with child custody just because the kid came from the future.

"Don't worry," Jeno said, smiling. "We will watch some movies."

"And go to sleep at 9 PM, okay?" Donghyuck said, sounding exactly like a papa.

"Okay."

"Noram, be good and don't talk too much, alright?" the boy chuckled. "Jeno isn't used to hearing you talk for straight hours."

Donghyuck went hard on himself that evening and tried to memorize the choreography others had already learned and mastered. Since he was quick-witted and had a good memory, he learned the first part quite fast but struggled with the second. That part had too many complicated moves, although the beat of the music wasn't even that fast. Donghyuck as a student majoring in vocals and music found this complicated. His ears caught the melody, analyzed it, and complained about the music production instead of hearing it and turning it into one smooth sequence of moves. And he struggled to separate two different things.

"Damn it," he huffed as he sat on the floor, grabbing his head, "I won't go and perform, fuck this. Fuck this! I'll just call in sick. That's all."

Donghyuck could say whatever, but after a few minutes, he would return to his task and start over again. Sometimes he didn't know how to give up.

But that night, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't succeed. After fifteen minutes of practicing the second part, Donghyuck broke down again and went to the very corner of the room to cry his eyes out.

"Is the baby growing already? If so, is his head so big that I can't keep my balance?"

When the music wasn't playing, the room was drowned in a deafening silence. Sitting in the corner and staring at the ceiling, Donghyuck could feel himself on the stage and hear the sounds of buzzing lights and see a bunch of faceless people in the audience. Although it never bothered him before as he was always prepared. Now, Donghyuck felt worried as he didn't really believe in himself that much anymore.

He must've really got too deep in his thoughts that he didn't hear any footsteps. The only time he knew he wouldn't be alone had to be when Mark had already entered the dance studio.

"What are you doing here?" the senior asked, although he didn't look surprised.

"Practicing," the boy grimaced.

"Practising in your head?" Mark scoffed at him.

"Don't get on my nerves, hyung. I'm not in the mood to listen to your crap. I might actually kill you if you don't stop."

Mark walked further into the room and dropped his bag on the chairs. Turning at Donghyuck, he asked, "Having trouble with choreography?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Donghyuck barked.

"I did too. It's a difficult one. But there are some hooks. You have to find them in order to understand the moves."

"Bullshit."

"Want me to help you?"

"No."

"Come on," Mark motioned Donghyuck to stand up and walked to the music equipment.