donghyuck's eyes rolled to the back of his head as mark entered the classroom surrounded by a bunch of people. this action had become an automatism for donghyuck, as if the boy couldn't do anything else in presence of the perfect boy.

donghyuck knew very well why these people were all over mark. how could one of the most popular boys at school not be up to date with the latest events. and let's admit it, this made him despise mark even more that he already did.

"class, today we're going to work by pairs, so pay attention for a few seconds." the teacher declared, pulling out a sheet of paper. "i paired all of you depending on your level, and the task you'll have to do will be adapted to your capacities."

donghyuck snorted as the teacher started calling the names of the pairs.

he was second, so this necessarily meant that he had to be paired with mr perfect.

and effectively, once all the names had been called, donghyuck's eyes met mark's, as the canadian waved at him with a smile.

donghyuck resisted to roll his eyes. "come here." he declared, making mark nod and pack his things immediately. a few seconds later, mark was sitting next to him.

"are you ready?" he asked with a charming smile.

"i have no choice." donghyuck replied nonchalantly.

"well, i expect us to do very good and to impress the teacher." mark added.

"of course, you do..." donghyuck muttered.

one thing that made donghyuck doubtful about beating mark one day was his friendliness.

mark was super friendly, and he was always willing to help or to cheer on someone.

this was mostly why people adored him. he was friends with everybody, and he respected everyone, even those who had made fun of him. and that made him so popular.

donghyuck could never be like that. sure, he was very popular as well, but not for the same reasons.

he was the school's heartthrob, bad boyish with his leather jacket and attractive to both men and women. he was the flirty type, but never had a girlfriend or a boyfriend.

people often approached him to ask for his number or for a date, and he wouldn't decline, but he wasn't interested in relationships, and the whole school had understood that by now.

he knew a good majority of people at school, and he had no problem talking to them, but he wasn't always surrounded by a group of fans like mark was – blame it on his sassiness.

but honestly, he didn't mind. he was okay saying 'hello' to people in the corridors and being with his five close friends the rest of the time.

mark didn't have a group of friends to hang around like he did. that's surely why all of his admirers were following him around.

anyway, donghyuck would never be able to be as friendly as mark was.

perhaps because he didn't have any patience, and he couldn't spend a whole minute without letting out a snarky remark that could make someone uncomfortable.

but well, donghyuck had accepted that. if he had to beat mark lee somewhere, it wouldn't be in popularity or in friendliness.

"so, are you ready for the national championship?" mark asked, breaking the ice after the long silence that had taken place. "it's at the end of the week for you, isn't it?"

"yeah." donghyuck replied, his eyes focused on the assignment they had to do. he wasn't there to chat with his main rival. he was just there to work, and be better than him in the end.

"good. i'm sure you'll do amazing, like... i've seen how you trained your team, and i'm impressed. you're working so hard to get a good rank in the competition... i'm convinced that- "

"look, shouldn't you concentrate on your team for your national championship instead of trying to flatter me and the way i trained mine?!" donghyuck snapped back, his anger exploding.

here was the news that had put donghyuck in such a bad mood early in the morning.

here was the same news that had half of the school following mark to congratulate him.

his team would participate in the basketball national championship for college students in a few weeks for the first time ever.

and this pissed donghyuck off.

as soon as he was able to get his moment of glory... as soon as he was able to become better than mark somewhere... as soon as he was able to gain recognition from the other students...

mark was always here to fuck everything up.

"w-well..." mark became a stuttering mess after donghyuck's harsh reply. "i-i was h-hoping you c-could maybe.... m-maybe help m-me? in m-managing my team... since, y-you know... y-you've already b-been to a national championship..."

"oh..." donghyuck's eyes widened at mark's sudden request.

one thing was amazing donghyuck more than anything.

how could mark be this sympathetic with him, despite donghyuck being an asshole?

donghyuck hated it when someone disrespected him. he hated to be told he was doing something wrong. and most of all, he hated it when people said he wasn't first.

but now, he had disrespected mark and he had just said he was doing things wrong, and yet, mark was still here, talking to him in a friendly way – even if donghyuck's harshness had made him stutter.

how the hell was he able to keep his calm?

"so... you'd help me?" mark asked again, shyly glancing at donghyuck.

"yeah, we'll see if you let me beat you next test." donghyuck huffed. "now focus, because i don't intend spending all day doing that shit."

"sure, let's do the work." mark nodded.

donghyuck and mark worked together on their assignment, both boys answering the questions with ease despite it being difficult.

mark always seemed to have the answer right away, but since he had noticed donghyuck was a bit annoyed by him being always better, he stayed silent for a few seconds, making it seem like he was searching for an answer while donghyuck actually searched and often found the answer.

mark secretly loved making people happy, and he could see that donghyuck would be ecstatic whenever he would find an answer that mark 'hadn't found'.

being kind-hearted was one of mark's biggest qualities, and this was what had made him so popular.

mark didn't want fame. he just wanted to spread happiness, and he had tended to notice that people were happy when he was around and asking them about their life. so, that's what he did.

the 21-year-old worked hard to be who he was. even though he had some facilities, he studied long each night to make sure to be brilliant in class, and he would often stay on campus to practice sports in the afternoon. he didn't really have friends, i mean, he had plenty of them, but there were just people he knew because he had asked them how they were doing once, and they had congratulated him later on for making their team win the game. mark had no real group of friends, but it didn't matter. as long as the people around him were happy, then he was too. and he didn't need to hang out with people for that.

"done. it was interesting!" mark declared, writing down the last result on their paper before turning towards donghyuck.

the boy was paying no attention to him, instead, he seemed to be wiggling his brows and winking at a brunette sitting a few rows away from them.

"you're interested in mina?" mark asked as he saw the girl turning around with red cheeks.

"huh... did i speak to you?" donghyuck raised a brow, looking at mark.

"no, which is why i'm asking." mark explained. "to start a conversation. so? are you interested?"

"why? you're planning on asking her out?" donghyuck snorted. "go on. i don't want a relationship."

"no, i'm not interested." mark shook his head. "i have a girlfriend already, you know?"

the tanned male scoffed. "no, i don't know about your whole life, mark." he told as his eyes rolled to the back of his head in annoyance.

"oh..." mark let out. "i mean... i thought you would know since... you know...?"

"well, don't get your hopes too high, mr popular." donghyuck declared. "you can put your tongue and your dick wherever you want, i don't care."

mark flushed red at the words that left donghyuck's mouth.

donghyuck was someone truly amazing. the way he spoke so carelessly, not fearing to pronounce words that could shock surprised mark. wasn't he supposed to be one year younger and having skipped a grade? because he sounded like a typical bad boy who didn't care about classes and grades as long as he was surrounded by girls and money.

in fact, donghyuck was a bad boy.

he was simply a particular bad boy, who had very good grades and who wasn't interested in being involved romantically with girls and who paid no mind to money.

the only thing he wanted was to be better than mark.

and he would make it. he was sure of it.