mark was awoken by someone banging on his door. he slowly opened his eyes, rubbing them because of the sudden bright light, and looked towards the door where the person was still knocking.

it wasn't jaemin nor jeno for sure, because those two would have already either broke the door or yelled at mark for not opening sooner. this meant it was a teacher or someone that had gone on the vacation.

mark tried getting out of the bed, but he was pulled back down by donghyuck who was snuggled by his side.

the pillow barrier they had set up the night before between them was still at the exact same place, but on the other side of donghyuck's body. the cat-person had managed to squish next to mark and cuddle into his embrace to sleep. it was something he did often when he was a cat. mark didn't really mind. a cat was rather small and not that heavy. he could easily pick it up and push it away. but the cat-person that had an arm around him right now had a tight grip and his fluffy ears were tickling mark's chin. however, mark admitted the sight was the cutest ever. donghyuck seemed so peaceful here... mark could actually cuddle him back.

he was woken up from his daydream by a nth loud knock that motivated him to untangle from the hybrid's grip. he carefully slipped out of the bed, letting the cat whine at the sudden warmth loss, and pulled the covers over his head, making him smile in his sleep.

mark then got to the door, opening it while blocking the view of the room so that the person couldn't see the hybrid who was peacefully sleeping inside his bed.

"mmh?" he mumbled, not recognizing the person who had disturbed his sleep.

"mark? we're leaving in half an hour! you should prepare everything. let me help you." hina said, slightly laughing when she saw mark's messy bed head.

mark quickly tried rearranging his hair when he realised his crush was standing there, but he abandoned the idea when he understood what she was proposing.

"what?! half an hour?"

"yeah, come on! i'll help you." she said, pushing the door open.

mark put his feet in the way, blocking the door. "no!" he yelled startling the girl. "i mean... everything is ready. i just need to dress... so yeah." mark rubbed his nape.

hina glanced at the room through the opening of the door, noticing how messy the room was. mark had lied. nothing was ready. but well, he had his reasons.

"well... okay." she smiled sadly. "i'll go see if minsun needs help then. see you, mark." she added before leaving.

mark closed the door before banging his own head on it repeatedly. "fucking idiot."

the human turned around, glancing at the cat sleeping soundly before throwing a pillow on him, making him wake up immediately.

"move your ass. we need to leave in half an hour." he grumbled.

the cat person hissed. "someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." he said, scratching his ear.

"well, perhaps that if you had slept on your side of the pillow frontier, i would have been in a good mood. i didn't allow you to transform to wake up with you all over me." mark spat, picking up some clothes and putting them inside his suitcase.

donghyuck looked around and noticed he was actually sleeping on mark's side of the bed. he lied back, inhaling the scent of the pillow: it was mark's. donghyuck unconsciously hummed and put the pillow in between in arms and legs to hug it.

"what the hell are you doing?!" mark yelled, pulling the cover to reveal donghyuck's body snuggling to his pillow. "get ready! we're leaving!"

mark didn't know himself why he was mad at donghyuck.

he had no valid reason to be actually. the cat-person had done nothing. it was even better, haechan was a way to grab hina's attention.

and yet, mark couldn't help but blaming donghyuck of everything.

ever since this cat was brought to his life, mark only had troubles.

first, the cat being a cat, it was troublesome – and by troublesome, you have to understand very troublesome in mark's eyes. mark hated cats, and well, he is perfectly sure of it now.

second, he discovered it wasn't actually a cat, which was a big problem. and he still doesn't know anything about his kind, so he needs someone to help him finding answers.

then, this half-human half-cat thing almost died by destroying his chemistry project to which mark earned a big zero. thank god mark had a heart and he brought him to the vet, otherwise the creature would have perished on the spot.

and fourth, he is a pain in the ass. mark has to take care of his as if he was a baby when he has the appearance of some beautifully grown teenager. and because of that, he misses his chances with hina who spends all the time she could spend with mark with minsun who she is going to date before the end of the month if things continue to go this way.

so yeah. in mark's head, if his life was this shitty right now, it was all haechan's – or donghyuck's – fault.

^.^

"what's with the long face?" jeno asked mark after one hour of bus ride.

mark had once again sat on a seat next to the window with his bag on his knees, and jaemin and jeno had taken the same seats just on row in front of him. on detail had changed though: hina hadn't sat next to him.

"isn't it obvious that it because hina is sitting with minsun?" jaemin rolled his eyes, his head poking out next to jeno's.

"i don't care." mark grumbled.

"you sure look like you don't." jeno laughed. "want some milk?" he asked showing a bottle of milk.

mark shook his head.

"something is not right. mark never says no to milk jeno." jaemin gasped.

"it's okay guys. i'm okay..." mark rolled his eyes. "i'm just... is hina ever going to notice that i like her?"

"you know mark... maybe she's not the one for you after all." jeno shrugged.

"but if she's not, who could be?"

"there are tons of girls in the world, mark. and even boys!"

mark looked at jaemin with furrowed brows. "i'm not gay."

"that's what jeno said too." jaemin nudged his boyfriend.

jeno hit jaemin's head to shut him up. "what jaemin is trying to say is that you are young mark. you don't need to find your significant other right now. you will meet tons of other people in the future. you don't have to focus on someone who doesn't give you the attention you should be given..."

and let's say this small talk with his friends helped mark feeling better.