"mark!"
the familiar voice of mark's girlfriend sounded through the school halls and he flinched. he felt slender arms slip around his waist, restricting his movement. he noticed how stiff his own body was under yeona's touch. her fingers ran over his stomach and mark quickly grabbed her hands to stop her. she gave him a confused look, but it disappeared when he laced their fingers together.
"you've been acting weird lately, is everything alright?" she was genuinely concerned for him and mark appreciated that.
"yeah, i'm just stressed because i have a big test coming up." he lied without hesitation, a tiny fake smile working its way onto his face.
"just be sure to take a break while studying. too much stress isn't good for you." yeona swung their hands back and forth as they walked down the hall. "there's a party at yukhei's house on friday, maybe you should go."
mark scoffed at the mention of the older boy's name. he thought back to the picture of yukhei and donghyuck together and frowned.
"i don't think that would be a good idea. he seems a little sketchy." mark rubbed the back of his head awkwardly with his free hand. the idea of going to yukhei's party was not appealing at all. "he also smokes and drinks."
"it's just a party, mark. besides, it's not like just because he smokes that you'll just start smoking as soon as you step into his house."
"i don't know, yeona. are you going?" he questioned, hoping that she would say no.
"of course i'm going." she said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "yukhei's parties are the best. can you please go? please, for me?"
mark rolled his eyes and sighed. he nodded reluctantly and he faked another smile at yeona. he wondered how long he would have to keep faking his smiles.
"thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed as she reached up to kiss mark. he gave her an uncomfortable peck and continued to walk, his hand still held in his girlfriend's grasp.
a similar situation was happening at the other side of the school where donghyuck and jaemin walked down a corridor.
"donghyuck, please," jaemin dragged on, making a praying sign with his hands. "please come to yukhei's party."
"i already told you i want to just sleep when i get home." donghyuck whined back. he had never been to a party before and the thought of it sounded scary. as much as he loved being around people, the thought of being surrounded by a bunch of wasted teenagers didn't sound very pleasant.
"yukhei will be really sad if you don't come." jaemin smirked as he watched donghyuck's eyes grow wide at the mention of the older boy's name. "he was talking to me earlier and he really wants you to be there."
donghyuck groaned at the teasing note in jaemin's voice and lightly slapped him on the arm. jaemin noticed a light blush fanning across his cheeks and he laughed under his breath.
"i guess i'll go." donghyuck said in defeat.
if you can't already tell, shit's gonna go down at the party
