What if...? || Markhyuck

-84-

[december 2021]

[donghyuck]

The day we entered was shaping up to be a very cold day. Occasionally, gusts of wind made me shiver. Steven and I stood behind the restaurant and waited for everyone else - Marco, Vernon, Hunter and Mark. There was another banquet waiting for us, which I honestly hated because it was held at Tony Esposito's. The host made me shiver, his villa filled with blood disgusted and his son induced vomiting. An unusual combination.

"I don't want to be nosy..." Steven broke the silence between us by starting a conversation.

"Of course you don't," I laughed, genuinely amused. Steven was the biggest gossip whore I've ever met. He couldn't say anything more absurd than that he didn't want to be nosy.

"Oh, fuck you, really," he pushed me sideways by the shoulder. Despite everything, started laughing himself.

"What do you want to know?" I asked, lighting a cigarette, still smiling. Even if it was cold, it wasn't a bad day. For now.

"How's living with Mark? You haven't complained about him that much lately," man remarked, treating himself my pack. I didn't want to reproach but he already owed me five cigarettes this week.

"You seem like it's keeping you up at night?" I muttered in amusement. "Because I guess I really have nothing to complain about," I admitted openly. Minhyung behaved more than properly. He was an exemplary boyfriend. And even fiancé. I smiled to myself at the thought, which was still a secret to others and would probably remain so for a long time. "But I think if you asked Mark, the answer might be different," I added quietly. The boy didn't get enough sleep because of me. I felt stupid. There were times when I tried to pretend that the insomnia was over but it was hard for me to stay still in one position in bed. Especially when I felt like smoking and Mark would wake up as long as I wasn't around.

"Are you grumpy and insufferable again?" he asked sarcastically, putting things brutally as they were. I gave him an annoyed look.

"Sleep-deprived," I corrected dryly. Steven put hands up in surrender. There was an unspoken thing hanging in the air. "Minhyung told you I'm insufferable? Oh, I'll talk to him for sure..." I muttered under breath, checking the time. Mark was due to show up for work soon.

"Come on. This idiot is so in love with you that even if you did the scene of the century, he wouldn't say anything bad about you." Steven quickly defended Mark. It was so strange. He must have taken the time we'd broken up very much to heart. It seemed that he took some of the blame for it. Since then, Steven has become an advocate for our relationsip. He did his best to suppress any conflicts before they arose. "It's me who think so" spoiled the good impression with a malicious comment and a nasty smile. "The way you wiped the floor with Hunter at the last banquet is a prime example of this. Drugs stopped working?" he asked maliciously, wanting to make a joke out of it, completely unaware that he unknowingly hit home. When I didn't react to the taunt and just ignored Steven's comment, the man quickly put two and two together. "Oh fuck, sorry," he muttered awkwardly, shifting from one foot to the other.

"How were you supposed to know," I said calmly. Either way, the fact that we're talking about it so late only meant that at least I wasn't acting so terribly at work. "I was weaning body from Xanax, so yeah, I was probably grumpy and insufferable," I muttered under breath, stubbing out cigarette under the sole. "I still am sometimes," I admitted, very reluctantly. I didn't do it consciously. I found myself being mean when Minhyung sighed heavily in annoyance or muttered the Donghyuck... warningly - as we agreed on when I overdid it.