"fade it in, please, mark," chittaphon said through the walkie-talkie.
"yes, hyung," mark answered, positioning the light on centre stage before turning it down.
the stage was in blackout. two weeks of rehearsals had passed, the cast were familiar with the songs and the set designers had started painting pieces of set. mark had started making a note of scene changed and lighting cues, with some of the numbers being run roughly onstage.
the music started with the distinctive beat coming through the speakers, the actors invisible onstage.
"and up," said chittaphon, and mark faded the spotlight onto donghyuck, who stood centre-stage.
the lights came up and the dancers started their routine and gathered around donghyuck when he started singing.
"oh, maybe, maybe..."
mark sat on the lighting rig and watched donghyuck and male dancers perform the first verse and chorus of 'my first and last'.
"that's great, thank you everyone!" said mr byun, cutting the backing track and giving the performers a thumbs-up. "it's looking great. good job on learning the choreography so fast, donghyuck, i wasn't expecting it to be all there today."
the peachy-haired boy gave a grin, wiping sweat from his forehead and fixing his hair.
"it's sounding good, donghyuck," taeil added.
seungyeon gave a whoop from the auditorium, kyla joining in as she applauded. they had started running lines for the elementary school scene where the characters chen and luna meet for the first time, only to be separated and reunite in high school.
"nice work, babes! same time on wednesday, yeah?" mr byun added to the rest of them, hopping down from the piano. the drama teacher made a habit of sitting there, even when mr park wasn't present at rehearsals.
"you can go home, now, mark," chittaphon's voice sounded through the walkie-talkie.
"cool, thanks, hyung," said mark, turning the device off, stuffed it in his back pocket and began climbing down the rungs of the lighting rig.
"mr byun!" donghyuck yelled, startling mark so much that his foot nearly slipped.
his stomach took a plunge as he clung on for dear life. "holy shit," he gasped, hurrying back down to place his feet on solid ground as soon as the scaffolding stopped shaking.
"thanks for today, mark," chittaphon called from the stage door, "i'm going now; put the walkie-talkie back on your way out?"
"sure, hyung," mark replied, giving a wave.
chittaphon threw him a grin before he left the theatre.
"yeah, babes?" mr byun asked, straightening his waistcoat.
"do i have to be at the dance rehearsal tomorrow?" donghyuck asked.
"of course, you'll be learning new choreography for 'married to the music'," he answered, frowning a little. "why?"
"oh, just checking," donghyuck said, laughing it off. but his face fell as mr byun turned and walked away. "shit," he muttered. he would have to miss training again. god, yukhei was going to kill him.
"hey," mark said as he passed through the art rooms to return the walkie-talkie to its usual box. "i think we can go home, now, renjun."
the dark-haired boy glanced up, paintbrush in hand and pink paint smeared on one cheek. "oh, hi, hyung," he said with a smile. "i just wanted to finish this first."
renjun was crouching rather uncomfortably on the floor as he painted one of the wooden boards to be used as a backdrop. it was pastel colors, to be used for the sleepover scene in krystal's bedroom.
"okay, it looks really good," mark told him, placing the walkie-talkie with the rest and wandering over to take a closer look.
"thanks, hyung," renjun said. "i'm nearly done for the day. my knees are starting to hurt," he added with a chuckle.
"renjunnie," donghyuck sang as he waltzed into the art room. he stopped in his tracks when he saw mark standing there, and wrinkled his nose.
"see you, renjun," mark muttered, sticking his hands in his hoodie pockets and heading out of the door.
"that's going to clash," donghyuck observed as he looked at the set renjun was painting.
"you're not in this scene," renjun pointed out, frowning up at him. "i have read the script, you know. besides, pink doesn't clash with your colour orange."
"good, you can help me run lines, bitch," he said.
"god, why are you painting a fucking skirting board onto a piece of set?" jaemin scoffed as he entered the room with jeno.
"are you two always together or what?" renjun muttered, sounding vaguely jealous.
"we were bored," said jeno, giving renjun a dazzling eye smile. "wow, this looks amazing, ren-ren! i feel like i'm in an actual girl's bedroom."
"not that that would even happen," donghyuck remarked.
"i thought you were the gay one," jaemin returned, raising an eyebrow.
"bitch, no one asked," donghyuck whined.
"why does it matter?" renjun questioned, getting up and stretching his legs out.
"sorry?" jaemin asked.
"never mind," the chinese boy mumbled, struggling to prop up the piece of set.
jeno stepped in, easily lifting the wooden board to rest against the wall.
"thanks," renjun stammered, going a bit red in the face.
"we should all hang out at jaemin's again," jeno suggested, grabbing renjun's school bag from the floor and slinging it over his own shoulder.
"when did i ever say-" jaemin protested.
"bitch, we're coming over," donghyuck informed him as the four of them walked outside.
"you can all come over as long as donghyuck doesn't eat so many snacks," jaemin said, giving donghyuck a disapproving look. "leave some for the rest of us."
"bitch, please-"
"just keep your fat ass off the chips," jaemin finished.
"shut the fuck up i'm not coming," donghyuck said, giving jaemin a strong shove which sent him crashing into renjun.
"hey, are you okay?" jeno asked, catching hold of renjun.
"yeah, i'm fine," renjun brushed him off with a slight blush. "what was that about?"
"no idea," jaemin huffed. "what's his fucking problem?"
donghyuck walked home alone.
the weather had taken a turn for the worse over the past two weeks, and donghyuck hugged his body through his hoodie as he trudged along the sidewalk. it was cold, the sky was grey, and donghyuck felt like shit.
mark was driving home alone when he saw tufts of peachy hair poking out of a dark green hood. lee donghyuck was walking home in the cold without a coat.
the older boy eased his foot off the accelerator without thinking. but he shook his head and drove past, watching donghyuck disappear from his rearview mirror. he was going in the opposite direction, anyway.
_______________________
thank you so much for 500 reads T.T
also
stan cbx their new mini album is fab and now they're having a japanese comeback too i'm not ready
taellipses out x
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upstaged || markhyuck
Fanfiction"will this ever be enough for you?" [✔completed] of course donghyuck got the lead. lee donghyuck and his stupid angel voice. mark lee was never going to have an easy job backstage when he was in charge of the most annoying boy on the planet. markhyu...
