Slopes

e i g h t e e n

<^>

"No." Donghyuck crosses his arms over his chest, his gaze sharp and cold. "I'm not doing this shit."

Doyoung rolls his eyes in exasperation. "Jesus Christ Donghyuck, I don't care. Stop being petty and end this damn fight."

"It's not my fault he's such an asshole!"

"Look," Doyoung lowers his voice. "I don't know what happened between you two, but either you fix it, or you don't bring it up at practice. We don't have time for confrontation on this team Hyuck, you know that. So fix this."

"Fine. I'll ignore him. Then we won't be fighting and getting in your way." Donghyuck walks past his hyung coldly. "I have to head to classes now. I'll see you tomorrow."

Doyoung, in the heat of the moment, calls after the boy. "Yeah, why don't you go and complain and whine to your pink-haired friend while you're at it. We all know he's all you have anyway."

Donghyuck freezes, his body halfway into the crash room. He turns his head and glares tearily at Doyoung. His eyes were hurt, but showed no sign of surprise or anger. Just pure disappointment. "See you tomorrow hyung."

"Donghyuck wait I–" but Doyoung stops, knowing his "brother" wouldn't care to listen. "Fuck." He sighs and looks to where Johnny was giving the same talk to Mark. They seemed to be calmer, more professional. Mark was listening to Johnny, and both were respectful of the situation. That's the thing about Donghyuck and Doyoung, they don't agree. It's hard for them to come to one decision, the older being stubborn and the younger being spontaneous. They didn't click like Mark and Johnny, and that's what worried Doyoung most; if he and Donghyuck never found a middle ground, what would happen when big issues or emergencies arose? Both have a hot temper, and both hate losing a fight.

Doyoung groans into his hands. "Fuck. I just made everything so much worse."

<flashback time>

Mark shifts slightly, his nerves on high alert. They were heading back from the game, all his teammates sweaty and tired. Half were asleep, and the others were either listening to music or just staring out the window. Mark, though, was drumming his leg up and down as Donghyuck snored in the seat beside him.

Yukhei, who was to Mark's right, glances at him. "You good?"

"Yeah, just...after game jitters..?" His voice raises at the end, making the statement sound more like a question.

"Ah." Yukhei nods. "Well no need to worry bro, you got majority points from the pipe. You did great for your first game on the team."

"Yeah..thanks."

Yukhei smiles and puts his earbuds back in.

<^>

"Ok, what is it?"

"What is what?"

"Don't play dumb Mark Lee, you've been giving a weird look ever since the game on Friday. So just spit it out." Donghyuck's voice was annoyed, and he was fed up with Mark's childish attitude.

Mark sighs and finishes cleaning his board. "I just think..." he pauses, trying to use the right words. "That the way you did the race was a bit...inconsistent."

"What? How does that even–"

"I'm saying you were too risky, dumbass. The way you played was scattered and spontaneous; your speed was dangerously fast–"

Donghyuck scrunches his face in confusion. "Yeah, it was a race, you're supposed to be fast Mark hyung."

"No, I mean.." Mark sighs and shakes his head. "Next time think of the whole team, and don't just go playing around."

"Playing around? I won the damn thing!"

"Yeah, but you did so in an unprofessional and messy way!"

"That's just the style I've picked up! What the fuck?"

"Well change it." Mark glares. "This isn't some backstreet alleyway team Donghyuck, this is the national– no, the Olympic team. Stop playing around and get serious."

The younger boy looks at Mark in disbelief, his jaw hanging open. "You're mad at me...because you think my racing style is too childish..? That's half the reason I got picked for this team you fuckwad! Coach asked me to join because my skill, speed, and style would throw opponents off!"

"Still, you're on a grown-up team, it's time to grow up yourself," Mark states and walks off, his board now clean and shiny; and Donghyuck angered and confused.

<flashback end>

Yuta raises a brow when Mark gets into his car that evening. "Ok, what happened?"

"I got lectured by Johnny."

"Huh?" Yuta stops the car at a red light. "You got lectured?" Mark nods. "What on earth did you do?"

"I said shit to Donghyuck that I shouldn't have."

"Like what?" Yuta starts the car again and the soft engine rumble fills the silence.

"I told him that he was unprofessional and childish because of his snowboarding style."

"I– What...the fuck?"

Mark sighs. "It was stupid really, but now he's been ignoring me and giving me the cold shoulder all week and it's been affecting the team's practice. So Johnny talked to me and Doyoung talked to him."

"Damn."

"Yeah, that's one way to put it."

Yuta sighs and parks the car. "Come on," He and Mark get out and enter the apartment complex. "You and I can order in some Chinese food and talk about what you're gonna do. Then I'll help you with your Korean lessons and work, alright?"

"Well aren't you generous." Mark chuckles and Yuta groans.

"I'm making you pay."

"Fair enough, fair enough."

<^>