mark pulled his helmet off, passing a hand through his hair to comb them back.

it had been two weeks since donghyuck's death.

two weeks since he last went to school.

two weeks since he last partied.

two weeks since he last had a normal life.

he didn't know what was happening to him.

he never thought he would get this attached to a cute nerdy boy.

he never thought he would change him this much.

he never thought he would fall in love this easily.

and he never thought a death would harm him like this.

"mark lee." a voice called him. "you're back."

the bad boy looked up from his hands to meet eyes with johnny.

they hadn't seen each other since the hospital.

mark had locked up in his bedroom, and johnny had stayed at ten's house in the meantime.

"hello..." mark said, no ounce of emotion in his voice.

"i'm sorry for what happened to donghyuck." johnny said, his eyes never leaving mark.

the boy shrugged.

"we can't do anything about him anymore." he stated. "i shouldn't have changed him like that."

he tried his best to hold in his tears.

but he failed miserably.

pearly drops slid under his eyes and across his cheeks, making him look even worse than before.

"mark, don't blame yourself for that..." johnny place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"but i am partly responsible."

"what is done is done. we can't go back." johnny explained. "but now, the only thing you can do is change your ways."

mark slowly nodded, thinking deeply about what johnny told him.

☠

"mark!" taeyong exclaimed when they saw the boy walking to them.

they had been smoking weed behind school, as they usually did.

mark hadn't been with them the past two weeks because he was locked at his house.

but now that he was back, everything could go back to normal.

"yuta bought a few things for us." ten explained.

"we'll try them tonight, at lucas' party." jaehyun finished as he was taking a hit from the joint.

"no."

the group of boys all turned towards the younger boy.

"no?" yuta raised a brow.

"no." mark repeated sternly. "this shit killed donghyuck. i can't believe you're still doing it like nothing happened."

"this shit kills thousands of people every day, mark." taeyong noted.

"but it didn't kill any of us." jaehyun added.

"it killed donghyuck. and so, it kills me."

a few boys rolled their eyes at mark's words.

"he was inexperienced, mark."

"yeah, and as experienced people, we should have stopped him." mark told.

"smoking, drinking and doing drugs never bothered you before." yuta shrugged.

"smoking, drinking and doing drugs took my lover away." mark replied. "and a part of me with him."

"what does that even mean?" jaehyun scoffed.

"that i'm not touching to any of those anymore." mark said before turning on his heels and leaving the group of boys in their toxic atmosphere.

ten was the first one to break the silence.

"what's happening to him?" he asked.

"donghyuck changed him." johnny replied. "more than we thought."

☠

"mister lee, i'm very surprised. all this was... inexpected, i may say."

"i know, mrs oh."

six months after donghyuck's death.

six months after mark stopped his illegal activities.

six months after mark got more responsible.

"in my 20 years of teaching, i've never seen such a... desperate case... i may say... becoming such a good student." she told. "i didn't even think such a thing could be possible."

"i'm aware."

mrs oh let her eyes wander across mark's grades, getting even more surprised each time she looked at it.

"we haven't seen such grades since... huh... since lee donghyuck..." she mumbled the last part.

"he's the one who made me like this."

"pardon?"

mark took a deep breath, slowly lifting his head to allow mrs oh to see the teary eyes he had while speaking about his deceased boyfriend.

"lee donghyuck." he told. "he changed me. and he was right. staying in class can be fun too. i should just have listened to him before changing him myself..."

as requested :)

love y'all <3