ᴄɪɢᴀʀᴇᴛᴛᴇ | ᴍᴀʀᴋʜʏᴜᴄᴋ

sᴇᴠᴇɴ

-ɪ ғᴀʟʟ ᴅᴏᴡɴ

ᴛʜᴇɴ ɪ ғᴀʟʟ ᴅᴏᴡɴ-

“Hyuckie!” The 16-year-old child yelled, waving at the other guy on the other side of the room. “I missed you.”

Donghyuck jumped onto his friend, his heart swelling with happiness as the other boy hugged back. After a whole 5 months, Jaemin had returned from his trip with his dad. Since business always called for his dad to go to different cities and check factories out, the boy was dragged along to attend those meetings - though he was just left in the waiting room where he annoyed the reception. 

“I missed you too,” Donghyuck replied, and finally peeled himself off the taller boy. “How have you been?”

“No need to ask me questions like that, Hyuck. We aren’t old people,” Jaemin giggled and slipped his hand into Donghyuck’s, immediately dragging him through the halls of the room. The two boys ran out to the garden, their clean shoes getting dirtied by the mud from the grass. Their laughs echoed in the open area and Donghyuck looked over at Jaemin, admiring the way his eyes lit up and his smile widened. He really did love that boy.

“Jaemin, Donghyuck!” One of the butlers yelled out, holding a hand out to wave at the kids. “Your father’s are calling you inside!”

The boys didn’t waste any time getting up from the floor, both of them cursing at how dirty their clothes had gotten, and they hurried changed out of them. As they walked to the dining hall, Donghyuck and Jaemin tried to dissolve their small problem of giggles, but it only got worse as Jaemin tripped on his own feet. They pushed open the door to the hall and took long and fast steps, they were already late and didn’t want to disappoint their parents any further.

“Donghyuck,” His dad said in a stern voice, his face as emotionless as always, and Donghyuck felt all his giddiness leak out of him. “This is Yangyang, he’s the child of one of my friends.”

Donghyuck looked up from his lap and came to face a cute brunette sitting across him, awkwardly playing with his food. Yangyang raised his head and shot Donghyuck a nervous smile, to which Donghyuck returned. 

“Yangyang, this is my son. The boy sitting beside him is Jaemin. I’m sure you three will be great friends.”

“Definitely!” Donghyuck cheered, and then glanced at Yangyang, who seemed calmer now that Donghyuck had confirmed their future friendship. But Jaemin stiffened next to Donghyuck, shooting him a look which meant, ‘but what if we don’t match?’. Donghyuck shook his head and grabbed the youngers hand underneath the table, hoping that his warmth would be able to calm his nerves. 

Jaemin didn’t seem convinced but still gave Yangyang a chance.

“We’re gonna get late!” Donghyuck said as he tapped his hand aggressively against the surface on the car. Yuta scowled and shot him a glare, but he ignored it. Finally, his dad had given him a chance to hang out with his friends - which were only truly Jaemin and Yangyang - so he wouldn’t want to be late to that. Those two boys had already cancelled way too many trips because of him. And on top of that, Donghyuck was sure they were still awkward around each other (since it had only been two years since they met) and Jaemin still gave the youngest out of the three weird looks. There was something about the way Jaemin looked at Yangyang, however, but he still couldn’t understand what it was. 

“Shut up, and go away,” Yuta muttered, pressing a button that closed the small glass window between the passenger’s seat and the drivers. Letting out a long sigh, donghyuck fell back into his seat and pulled his phone out, smiling at the picture he had as his home screen. 

It was of Jaemin and Yangyang, holding peace signs at the camera, whilst looking extremely uncomfortable with the lack of space they had between them. It had been taken the day they all had met, so it was understandable that they looked like strangers.

The car came to a stop and Donghyuck thanked Yuta with his loudest volume before jumping out and making his way to the entrance of the cinema. As he entered, he saw Jaemin leaning against Yangyang and showing him something on his phone. They still had this odd look and atmosphere around them that made Donghyuck chuckle, but for some reason, their intimacy seemed to have a different feeling. One that Donghyuck couldn’t recognise.

“You-” Donghyuck stopped himself from saying anything. His eyes remained fixated on Yangyang’s neck - the one covered in marks - and his mouth dried up because of how long he had it open. It wasn’t every day that you walk into your best friends making out. And not only your best friend, your crush, the person you love, the person who you’ve trusted since forever. Donghyuck felt himself getting light-headed and took a step back as his stomach twisted. This was a strange feeling. He had never felt it before, but watching Jaemin scramble away from Yangyang and try to walk over to him with shaky knees only intensified the feeling. 

“Donghyuck, please listen to us,” Jaemin pleaded, and Yangyang followed in pursuit. The two were spouting nonsense and Donghyuck shook his head to clear his thoughts. If this is what fate had planned for him, then he had to tolerate it, even if it made his heartburn.

“Congrats,” He said, cutting Jaemin off and hoping he didn’t sound too bitter about it. Jaemin seemed a little surprised, and his face morphed into one with confusion.

“Wait...you're not homophobic?” Jaemin asked hesitantly, taking a step back to take ahold of Yangyang’s hand, almost as if to use him for support. Donghyuck used to be his source of comfort.

“No, of course not,” Donghyuck raised his eyebrow at this, confused by how Jaemin could’ve even come up with such a bizarre conclusion. “I don’t have any problem with you two…”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Jaemin fell to the floor, Yangyang quickly helping the older hold onto him. Donghyuck throat constricted as he watched Yangyang run a hand through Jaemin’s hair and honestly felt horrible. He felt horrible because he wanted to punch his best friend for touching the person he loved with such caring hands. He wanted to get rid of Yangyang just so that Jaemin could be his. He was a horrible, horrible person.

Apologising for interrupting the moment they were having before Donghyuck barged in, he waved at them before leaving. The pit in his stomach only worsened as he took heavy steps out of the building. He wanted to surprise Jaemin with the news of him getting accepted in the university he had dreamt of going to but instead walked in on something that ruined his mood.

With a mind full of thoughts, Donghyuck sat in his car and stared out the window at he made his way home. A buzz from his phone made him regain his senses, and he checked the message, groaning as he realised it was one of the annoying girls from his highschool. They had invited him to a party, again, and he was going to reject it, again. But then something crossed his mind. He wanted to celebrate his happiness, so he might as well go to a party.

The car came to a stop and Yuta watched as Donghyuck ran into the house, his eyes still red from the tears that refused to fall. Donghyuck’s dad was in his study, like always, so it wasn’t hard to find him. Donghyuck knocked on the door five times - a rule his dad made so that he would know who was knocking- before he heard a small, ‘come in’.

“Father,” Donghycuk started, fidgeting with his fingers and took cautious steps towards the desk. “Since I got accepted into the uni you wanted me to attend…” Donghyuck waited for his dad to respond and all he got was a grunt, “could I perhaps head over to a friends house where a-”

“Absolutely not,” His dad answered before he could even finish, and Donghyuck immediately got filled with anger.

“Why not?” Donghyuck blurted, and his dad looked at him with surprise, clearly not expecting his son to speak back to him. “I never get to go to hang out with my friends, or go to parties that you always reject, I even got acceptance into one of the best universities in this country yet you still won’t let me go to one party?”

Once he finished, his dad looked at him with an unimpressed expression, and Donghyuck thought he was going to reject him again. But then his dad waved his hand, telling him he can go but must be back home before 10 pm otherwise he’ll never be allowed to go to any other party.

With a buzzing feeling in his chest, Donghyuck rushed out of the study and headed for his bedroom, eager to change his clothes and finally find out what a party was like.