dicey ↬ nomin

Ch.20

"Eww, are you hitting on me?!" A loud voice exclaimed with a disgusted undertone, causing Mark to nearly jump out of his skin. He would recognise that voice from anywhere, and so he looked around to see if he could spot where the boy was. He was just standing at the entrance of the school with his hands tightly gripping the over the shoulder straps of his school bag, watching the various faces pass him on his way in. He tugged gently at his bed hair as he looked around in confusion. The clock he always relied on to carry him through every morning had broken, leaving poor Mark to oversleep and arrive later than usual. Luckily, there was still ten minutes before school started so he was covered.

He jumped again, nearly smacking a passerby with flying arms upon hearing another insult thrown somewhere nearby. Donghyuck sounded annoyed and a bit intimidated, making Mark feel a wave of urgency hit him. He looked around more closely and noticed the sound coming from the side of the building - a popular make out spot for couples. He nervously stalked over to the side of the building, where he saw Donghyuck talking with a taller boy. The boy was speaking in a mild manner, evenly toned so Mark couldn't decipher what was being said. Donghyuck, on the other hand, was breaking the decibel metre and embarrassing the poor boy who was clearly confessing his love.

"No way! I already have someone I like!" He tried to walk away with a scowl adorning his features. His words met deaf ears though, as they didn't seem to register with the guy and further lead him to chase after him.

The other boy tried to grab Donghyuck's hand as he dismissed him, pulling him back and making the atmosphere very uncomfortable. Mark only let his head peep around the corner in fear of being caught. But his whole being sank when he heard those words come from Hyuck's mouth. He already had feelings for someone else. Mark's limbs went numb and dropped to his side, his chest feeling as though it was about to suffocate him. His eyes couldn't leave them as he slowly moved his hands from his sides onto the wall for leaning support.

"Don't touch me," Hyuck growled, trying to pull his arm out of the other boy's grip, but failing when the hand tightened around his forearm. He noticed the not-so-subtle wince that occurred and the way Donghyuck seemed to grow a muffled panicked expression. The eyes he looked at the taller boy with were brimming with pain and fear, making Mark's vision go white as he saw the boy try to kiss him. Donghyuck was able to lean back and dodge the lips closing in.

"No one will love you back if you're always such a bitch!" The unknown boy yelled, being the first words Mark could understand from him. He seemed really mad. He was struggling to hold Donghyuck still as his target was harshly trying to rip his arm from the grip.

Mark dropped his school bag off his shoulders and rounded the corner in a rage, running at them and pulling Donghyuck into him without trouble and glaring like an enraged lion at the boy. "Don't touch him!"

Hyuck was completely frozen in Mark's hold, blankly feeling the warm and familiar arms encircling his waist. He slowly brought his arms up to grip his friend's back, hugging him and burying his face in Mark's neck, smelling the stigmatic musky scent that clung to the boy and made him feel safe. "M-Mark?" He uttered with wide eyes, still hiding his face in the said boy's neck.

"Oh, so now you have a boyfriend? You didn't think you should mention it when I told you how I felt?" The boy was really really mad now, fists clenched as he received no response from Donghyuck, who was just breathily humming into Mark's touch. "So this is it? I can't believe a bitch like you has someone. Here's a word of advice, Lee, this guy is using you." He was referring to Mark using Donghyuck, since he didn't know Mark's last name was Lee as well.

"I don't use people," Mark whispered, more to Donghyuck than the creepy guy, because it made the scared boy shake subtly and sniff. "And I certainly don't use you."

"I know..." was all Hyuck whispered back before pulling out of Mark's hug. He turned around and looked at the confessing guy with disappointment and snide. "Scram before my boyfriend kills you."

The guy looked at Mark's dark expression and felt an ounce of fear sprinkle over him. He walked away slowly, keeping his eyes on them, before running into the school building. He tripped over Mark's school bag around the corner and face-planted, leaving an eruption of well-deserved giggles from the pair as they clung to each other, unmoving and wordless. As they stood there, Mark's arm draped over Donghyuck's shoulder while Donghyuck stared quietly in the direction of the fleeing boy, a wave of quiet encompassed them.

Donghyuck was the first to break the silence. He turned around to look at his friend and couldn't bring himself to smile. "Thanks, Mark."

Mark looked at him and shifted his weight onto one of his legs, bringing his hands into his pockets. He exhaled an ambiguous sigh and smiled half way, not quite genuine since his friend had nearly been attacked. "Be careful about riling guys up, Hyuck, because they take your actions as advances." I'd know, since I'm also a victim, he thought.

"I...." he looked down and ran his hand tiredly through his hair, sighing too and feeling his lip quiver in delayed reaction. "I don't mean to. It's not my fault that they think I flirt with them..."

This made Mark's heart sink, knowing that Hyuck probably didn't mean to flirt with him either. His crushed hopes just got stamped on again, leaving the boy feeling used and trampled on. His feelings were obviously not being picked up on by his object of affections, meaning that they probably weren't returned. His whole chest seized as Donghyuck looked at him, walking towards him slowly and rubbing his eyes. "......Don't cry, Hyuck...." He tucked a lock of hair from the boy's fringe away, trying to coax a smile from him.

"I'm not crying." And with that, he reached in and hugged Mark tightly, letting his scent once again consume him. His heart ached for Mark and drove him to do stupid things in order to get his attention. He felt Mark's hands shake as he returned the hug, making Donghyuck feel even more upset. If his friend wasn't going to reciprocate his feelings, then he wanted to be the best friend Mark could ever have. But when the older boy showed a sign of weakness, it weakened Donghyuck too.

The bell signalled a five minute bracket for the students to get their books and go before being deemed late. "Hyuck, lets go to class now." They pulled away and they both rubbed their eyes free of any potential tears. "You know, calling me your boyfriend rolled off your tongue almost believably," he joked, probably a bit too saltily to make him feel good about lightening the mood. "But....I didn't mind."

Donghyuck smiled faintly and shook his head. "Of course you didn't - it'd be an honour to date me and you know it."

I do, all too well. "Maybe we should try sometime then."

Donghyuck, who was used to making the advances and the innuendos, just laughed off his friend's comment to make his dissolving heart cease. "We should, but I don't think you could handle me. I'm a whole lotta' man, you know?"

Mark shrugged his shoulders jokingly. "I've handled you until now. I think I've done a pretty good job."

Donghyuck hummed and looked down at his feet. His heart almost felt completely empty as his eyes sunk and disallowed him to break any further. "You've done a good job."

Mark hesitantly put his arm around his friend's shoulder and leaned into him to make him feel safe. "I love you, Hyuck."

Donghyuck could feel the emotion emitting from Mark's words, but he couldn't tell if it was platonic love or romantic love. He hoped it was the latter, but his numb feelings begged him not to give them more hope only to crush them again. His eyes didn't crinkle with the smile that followed, they only looked down. "I love you too, Mark."

He didn't realise how that made Mark feel.