the gymnasium was silent.

way too silent for donghyuck's liking.

all the students and parents sitting on the bleachers had their eyes on donghyuck after the announcement that had just been done.

no one dared to talk. was it because it seemed too big to be true?

donghyuck didn't have a clue, but let's say he hoped getting away with the 'it's an audio montage' card.

a single sound broke the silence, making the whole crowd shift their attention from donghyuck to the author of the sound.

donghyuck gulped as his eyes fell on mark as the boy sobbed loudly.

his body reacting before his brain could even process anything, donghyuck stood up, ready to jump onto the pitch and take mark in his arms. but this never happened.

first, because mark had run away, probably in direction of the changing rooms.

and second, because the moment donghyuck moved, the whole crowd looked at him again, with somehow menacing glares.

donghyuck took a step back as a male sitting on his row gripped his collar.

he closed his eyes, expecting a harsh punch. but thankfully, it never happened.

"just so you know..." the voice spoke again through the speakers. "i'm not saying shit. proof in pictures."

the tanned male turned his head, his eyes falling onto the big screens floating above the pitch to display advertisements and replay the best actions of the game. however, what was shown onto those had absolutely nothing to do with basketball.

donghyuck shrieked in horror when the screen displayed a video of him and mark kissing passionately in the infirmary a few days before.

donghyuck took it as his time to run.

he pushed the boy that was holding his collar, the surprise attack making the boy fall backwards, and ran for his life, trying to dodge the people around him.

the crowd was horrified by everything that was happening, and donghyuck could hear the worst insults being thrown at him while he tried to reach for the exit. a few boys and girls even tried to hit him when he ran past them, but donghyuck was so fast that none of them really managed to hurt him.

as the crowd continued roaring profanities, some of them filming the whole scene, donghyuck reached the exit and didn't waste a second to run towards the changing rooms. he pushed the few people that were blocking his way staying alert to the sound of any cry or whimper.

donghyuck slammed open every door he found, screaming for mark's name and searching for the older male.

everything was so wrong.

he had been played. he had been tricked.

and now the whole school knew about him and mark.

everybody knew that he had fucked his sister's boyfriend to make him cheat.

but no one knew that he had feelings for him, which made everything worse.

donghyuck remembered clearly the conversation he had had with his five friends.

he had told them everything that had happened with mark.

he had explained in detail how he had made his plan work.

and then, he had exposed his real feelings for the boy, and how fucked up this whole situation was.

he had said how wrong all of this was, and he had asked his friends for help, because he couldn't do that to his sister.

so, sure, this was still completely fucked up, but at least, it made donghyuck less guilty than what he was at the moment.

but the audio had obviously been cut.

the person behind all of this wanted donghyuck to sound like a horrible person.

and they had succeeded.

now, the whole school was probably disgusted by donghyuck, and would hate him.

"mark?! are you here?!" donghyuck yelled, pushing open the door of the changing rooms and sighing when he didn't find him there. "fuck, mark?!"

the tanned male continued his run around the messy corridors, trying to find the boy he had fallen so deep for.

but sadly, a group of basketball players blocked his way, preventing him to go further.

"i need to see mark." donghyuck immediately said, looking at the players.

"you need to see him, huh?" one of them scoffed. "what for? to humiliate and hurt him further?"

"no, please, i really need to see him..." donghyuck almost begged, trying to run past them, only to be pushed back harshly.

"you're a monster." another player spat at donghyuck. "not only you play people dirty, but you have the audacity to do that to your twin sister's boyfriend."

"guys, i have to see mark..." donghyuck swallowed his pried.

"you're a mentally ill person, donghyuck." a third player declared.

"it's not what you think it is!" donghyuck yelled, angering mark's teammates even more.

"it's not what we think it is?!" the first player that had spoken to donghyuck huffed, taking a dangerous step towards the tanned male. "so, you're going to deny the fact that you made out with him? you're going to deny the fact that you had sex with him? you're going to deny the fact that you made him cheat on his girlfriend, who is your sister, by the way? you're going to deny everything?"

donghyuck gulped, trying to keep his cool in a rather stressful situation.

what was the point of denying this anyway?

they had seen the video of him and mark kissing. and they had heard donghyuck admitting everything.

and donghyuck truly had made out with mark. he truly had had sex with mark. he truly had made mark cheat on his own sister. denying would be lying. and now wasn't the time to create lies to get out of this messy situation, because those were only going to worsen everything.

"i'm not trying to deny anything, i'm just telling you that- "

"we don't want to hear you anymore." another player snapped at donghyuck. "you're an asshole. the worst asshole the eart has even seen. how could someone in his sane mind do such a thing? you horrible monster."

the tanned male stayed silent, looking at mark's teammates as his heart broke inside his chest.

what did he even expect?

bad things happened when you didn't respect the rules.

karma was always there to get back at you, and donghyuck had underestimated this powerful theory.

with tears welling up in his own eyes, donghyuck turned around, running in the opposite direction of the boys that were blocking his way.

he wanted to escape this hell, and disappear from the surface of earth.

donghyuck ran away from the gymnasium, the need of finding mark suddenly becoming less important than his own sanity.

he felt awful, knowing what he had done. and he felt even worse knowing that it had been revealed to the whole school in such a messy way.

hot tears were cascading down donghyuck's cheeks as his vision became blurry.

thankfully, he was far enough from the gymnasium, meaning that the corridors were empty.

he didn't hold himself back anymore, sobbing pathetically as he tried finding his way through the artistic blur that had become his school.

donghyuck limped, tripped, leant on walls... he looked miserable. he was miserable.

the consequences of the acts he was so proud of were hitting him straight in the face, and 10 times harder than he imagined they would hit.

but something was confusing.

at that point, donghyuck didn't know if he was in this state because he was realising that how whole reputation and life would be ruined, or because he had just probably lost mark. forever.

what had been revealed today was so immoral that it would compromise drastically donghyuck's life. he could probably say goodbye to his spot as team captain, and also the way teachers were spoiling him, because he was this amazingly good younger student.

he could also say goodbye to the comfort of his home, where he would have to face his sister day and night after her learning that her twin brother had sex with her boyfriend.

but most importantly, he would surely say goodbye to mark, the love of his life.

and all of that because of a stupid recording that had been cut wisely to be more impactful.

donghyuck let his body slide down against the wall until he was sitting on the floor, loud and ugly cries slipping past his lips.

could he even be more miserable than he was now?

probably not.

wiping his tear-stained cheeks with the back of his hand, donghyuck's vision got a bit better for a second, allowing him to notice a tinted glass door at the end of the corridor he was sitting in.

his shattered heart beat faster for a second as a wave of hope hit the miserable male.

he hadn't realised that in his misery, his feet had brought him here, in this very special corridor.

the corridor in which were located donghyuck's favourite bathrooms.

the bathrooms he had locked mark in, when trying to make him fail, and the bathroom him and mark had some alone time in when they were at school.

if his heart had guided him towards this place, maybe there was a reason. maybe mark's heart had guided him there too.

donghyuck stood up quickly, running towards the tinted glass door and placing his shaky hand on the handle.

this was his last chance. perhaps would he be able to reason mark, and make him understand that this was all a bad joke played on him. maybe he hadn't lost mark forever.

but for that to happen, donghyuck needed to find mark in these bathrooms.

donghyuck held himself from throwing up as his whole body tensed because of the pressure. he had never stressed that much, and he wasn't sure he would be able to keep his calm if mark wasn't in here.

the tanned male hesitantly pushed the door open, taking a deep breath while doing so.

"m-mark...?" he stuttered; his voice damaged by the flows of tears that had escaped his chocolate eyes.

"g-go away..."

donghyuck had never felt so happy and relieved to be asked to go away.

he had recognised mark's voice, stammering between sniffles.

mark was there. his heart had guided him here. in this special place.

"mark!" donghyuck let out, running to the last stall and trying to push the door open. but it was locked. "mark, open the door!" donghyuck pushed against the wooden separation.

"i-i don't want t-to see you..." mark's response came as weak, and donghyuck could hear he was crying.

donghyuck didn't have much choice.

wiping his own tears away, donghyuck took a deep breath before kicking the door with as much force as he could gather, right next to the lock.

the door opened, slamming against the wall separating the cabinets, and mark came into view.

the boy was sitting on the closed lid, his knees against his chest.

"oh my god, mark..." donghyuck immediately approached the older male, opening his arms to take him in a hug.

but sadly, he was harshly pushed away as mark's foot hit him in the chest.

"go away!" mark screamed, lifting his head to look at donghyuck in the eye.

the tanned male was horrified to find hatred in the boy's eyes.

"m-mark... it's all a misunderstanding... i- "

"a misunderstanding?!" mark huffed, standing up inside the bathroom stall. "you dare coming to me crying and begging that this is a fucking misunderstanding?!"

donghyuck gulped, his eyes tearing even more.

so, mark wasn't going to listen to him either. just like his fellow teammates, he considered donghyuck a monster that shouldn't even be on this earth?

"m-mark..."

"i hope you had fun playing with me." mark spat, more tears leaving his eyes and crashing on his basketball jersey, wetting it even more than it already was.

"i didn't- "

"i hope you fucking had fun kissing me and using my body just to make me cheat on your sister. i hope you're proud of yourself now." mark continued, glaring at the younger boy in front of him.

"no, mark, you don't- "

"i genuinely fell for you, donghyuck. and i was so naïve to believe that you had fallen for me too."mark swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "you played me, from the beginning to the very end."

"mark- "

"no." mark shut donghyuck up with a single word. "shut up. i don't want to hear about you anymore."

and with that said, mark walked out of the bathrooms, his shoulder bumping against donghyuck's on his way out.

the tanned male stayed dumbfounded inside this special place for a few seconds until he broke down again, falling to his knees on the dirty floor as more tears left his eyes.

so, he had lost everything.

his reputation, his place on the soccer team, his pride, his family, and even his mark...