donghyuck's smirk had never been wider than today.

the tanned male was sitting at his seat, his eyes focused on the classroom's door, and his fingers lightly tracing the contours of his desk.

it was a bit more than 30minutes before the beginning of their midterm exam, one they must absolutely take, because if they missed it, they would earn a zero.

donghyuck had arrived a few minutes ago, and he had already prepared all of his stuff: pen, pencils, rubber, ruler... everything was already placed on his desk, waiting for the exam to start so that they could be useful.

the boy's eyes followed carefully every single person who entered the classroom. he was waiting for someone.

"hello."

finally, here he was.

mark lee entered the room, greeting the teacher and walking to his seat.

the older boy sat down, placing his bag onto his lap to take out the things he'll need for the exam. just like donghyuck, he placed pens, pencils and a few markers on the table before closing his bag shut and placing it next to him.

"excuse me?" he said, catching the attention of the teacher.

"yes?"

"can i go to the bathroom? i'll be back before the exam starts." mark asked politely.

"of course. but don't be late. late comers can't take the exam, you know?" the teacher replied.

"of course." mark nodded before standing up and walking away.

donghyuck took a deep breath before standing up as well.

now was his time to shine.

the young boy walked out of the classroom and followed mark across the corridors of the school, staying a few meters behind not to get caught by mark. after changing corridors a few times, mark finally got to the men's bathroom. he had chosen those that were quite far, in a silent corner of the school, surely because he didn't want to see too much people before his exam. anyway, this just made everything easier for donghyuck.

mark pushed the bathroom door open and entered the room before getting in one of the stalls. after a few seconds, donghyuck peeked inside the bathroom, noticing no one at the sink neither at the urinals. one quick glance down made him realise that no one was in the stalls either except for mark.

donghyuck laughed evilly before heading out in the most silent way possible.

once he was out, he plunged his hand inside his pocket, pulling out a small key. the boy didn't hesitate a second to insert it into the lock and to turn it, locking the bathroom door from the outside.

"good luck on getting out of here and getting to class on time now." he muttered, placing the key back into his pocket and walking back to the classroom.

he had been planning this over last week.

in fact, this seemed like the best option.

in their school, the supervisors had keys to lock the bathrooms because they didn't want people to stay in the corridors during breaks.

donghyuck had managed to get a key from the student office one day, begging someone to give him a key because he badly needed to pee. and he had given them back a different key to keep that one to himself.

donghyuck could actually have done other things to make mark fail.

offer mark a drink before the exam and put some laxatives in it... pay someone to beat him before the exam... convince his sister to make mark sleep at their house, and giving him a sleep pill so that he didn't wake up... hack into the school's website and send him a mail saying that the test had been reported to another day...

he had so much ideas... but they were all quite... violent... and trackable.

if donghyuck had chosen one of the precedent options, mark would have ended up finding out he had tried to make him miss his class.

but this... locking him in the bathroom... how could donghyuck have done it when students didn't have the keys?

plus, mark was so naïve that he'd imagine a supervisor locked the bathroom assuming no one was inside. he would never doubt a student. not when he was adored by everyone – well, almost everyone.

sitting down on his seat with a smile, donghyuck looked at the clock above the door.

it was 8:21a.m., meaning that the test started in 9 minutes.

and this also meant that mark had only 8 minutes left to find a way to get out, which was almost impossible.

from his seat, donghyuck had a clear view of mark's phone that was resting on his desk. this way, he knew mark wouldn't be able to call someone for help. his only option was to shout. but unfortunately – or thankfully – he had chosen to go to the bathroom on the very corner of school, where people never went.

how unfortunate...

"guys, get ready, we'll be starting in a few minutes." the teacher declared. "please put your phones in your bag on plane mode and make sure you have all you need on your desk."

donghyuck tried his best controlling his grin as he placed his phone into his bag.

he was about to win... 5 more minutes and he was better than mark... 5 more minutes and he had achieved his goal...

he had never paid this much attention to the clock on the wall.

usually, donghyuck was so interested by the topics his teachers blabbered about that he rarely glanced at the clock.

but now... he had his eyes fixed on the second hand, watching its every moved. it was incredible how its little moves forwards made seconds pass, and how this very thing would determine mark's failure and donghyuck's victory.

"okay, a few seconds left." the teacher announced, checking her watch.

donghyuck had never been this happy in his entire life.

fifteen fucking seconds left. and mark's seat was still empty.

he had made it... finally...

ten seconds...

donghyuck's heart beat so fast in his chest, and the deafening noise was ringing into his ears.

he was so close...

six...

five...

four...

three...

"i'm sorry! i'm so sorry! i was locked in the bathroom!" mark jumped inside the classroom; his cheeks red while he was panting.

it took donghyuck all of his self-control not to let out a curse word out loud and just throw his table away – yeah, because if he did any of those, mark would know that he had locked him inside the bathroom.

but he was so fucking close... he had almost made it!

and yeah... mark had to be this fucking perfect boy again and get there on fucking time!

"mark, you almost missed the beginning of the exam." the teacher declared.

"i-i... sorry..." he panted, throwing his phone away and looking at the teacher.

"well, please start the test now. you have an hour and a half. good luck."

it took donghyuck almost half an hour to make his anger die down and to start the test.

good thing he knew a lot about the topic and didn't struggle finishing everything in an hour.

because if this hadn't been the case, he would have blamed it all on mark again, and this time, he wasn't sure he would have simply locked him into a bathroom... it would have been more... violent.

＃

donghyuck was still salty after the midterm accident a week later.

he couldn't believe that he had been so close to being better than mark.

he couldn't believe that his victory had been crushed either.

the poor boy didn't have a clue what to do next.

it seemed like mark was invincible.

no matter what donghyuck tried to penalize him, mark would always manage to dodge it and do great after.

he had found a fucking new strategy at the basketball match...

he had managed to get the bathroom door opened by a supervisor before the midterm – donghyuck had overheard a few girls' conversation about the unfortunate events.

he copied all of his lessons in a neat way when he was home, so he had no problem revising when donghyuck had stolen his copybooks a few days after the midterm...

he always had spare clothes in his locker, so he didn't find it problematic when donghyuck 'accidentally' tore his shirt when he fell down with his scissors in hand...

donghyuck didn't know what to do anymore.

it was as if mark always had a back-up plan...

well, he was perfect... that was surely it...

and let's be real, donghyuck could never be as good as him.

"donghyuck, i'd like to see your routine!"

"h-huh... yeah, sure!" the boy replied, getting cut off his daydream by their p.e. teacher.

they were having the gymnastics cycle, and even though donghyuck was good at everything, he hated gymnastics. it's not that he particularly disliked the sport, no... it's just that... how could he bend his body in such ways without it hurting? donghyuck was absolutely not flexible, and the routine he had to do had too much things involving flexibility for him to enjoy what he was doing.

nevertheless, donghyuck showed his teacher what he had been working on for the past classes, making the teacher nod.

"not bad. try stretching a bit more, it will help with the flexibility." he told. "wait, let me call mark. he'll help you. mark!"

donghyuck rolled his eyes in annoyance.

why was it always mark lee?!

his eyes eventually fell on the boy he couldn't bear, noticing his position.

donghyuck couldn't even understand how a human being could end up in such a position. it looked really painful, and donghyuck wondered if it was physically possible for the human body to bend in such ways.

wow, mark was really another level of flexible.

before donghyuck had even noticed it, mark was standing next to him and the teacher with a bright smile.

"you called me?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"yes, could you please help donghyuck with his flexibily? maybe share a few tips, you know?" the teacher told.

"yes, of course. i'd be happy to help."

and so, donghyuck had to bear with mark explaining him how to stretch correctly and how those stretching exercises could help him get more flexible

not only did he hate being taught something by mark, but he also highly disliked the fact that it would hurt like hell every time mark would try placing him in the right position.

if it kept going like that, donghyuck would pull a muscle...

thankfully it ended after a few minutes with the teacher telling them to take a break and have a quick drink before they would start new exercises.

donghyuck walked to the bench on which he had placed his bottle of water and sat down, having a sip. of course, mark had to come next to him.

"god, my back is hurting... i think i pulled a muscle." mark declared, one of his hands reaching for his back.

"i wouldn't be surprised." he snorted. "have you seen the way you bent your body just 10 minutes ago? this must be- woah!" donghyuck's eyes widened when he noticed mark taking his shirt off. "don't get undressed like that in front of me! i may have the same face as her, but i'm not your girlfriend!"

mark ignored donghyuck's remarks as he tried moving his arms to stretch his back.

"do i have something?" he asked, showing his back to donghyuck.

the tanned male could see nothing except from muscles. i mean, he hadn't expected less from a basketball player.

"no, nothing." he replied.

"can you press on the muscle there please?" mark asked again, his hand trying to reach for the painful spot.

"okay, so, first getting undressed in front of me... and now begging me to touch you..." donghyuck rolled his eyes. "this could be considered cheating you know?" he asked, placing his pointer finger on the sore spot and pressing hard – if this could hurt mark when the older boy had willingly asked him to do it, he wouldn't miss it.

"ahh!" mark exclaimed out of pain. "and don't say stupid things... we're both boys..." he added as donghyuck kept pressing on mark's back making him groan in pain.

but then, donghyuck thought again about what he just had said.

this could be considered cheating

donghyuck's eyes widened as he gasped in realisation, an idea suddenly popping into his mind. "wait a minute!"