mark walked into school with his head hanging low.

he had chosen to come earlier than usual to school to cross paths with the less students possible in the corridors, but sadly, there were already dozens of people around, staring at his every move.

it was monday morning, two days after the basketball match that mark's team had lost and 48 hours after the announcement of mark's and donghyuck's little adventure.

the canadian had hoped this was all a nightmare, and that he would be waking up, realising that none of this had happened, but the harsh glares he received from the people who used to be friendly with him made him understand that it wasn't the case.

mark hadn't talked to donghyuck since their conversation in the school's bathrooms.

he hadn't dared approaching dahyun either. he considered that having such things revealed would mean that dahyun and him weren't together anymore. he didn't feel the need to be screamed at by his girlfriend as she broke up with him.

he had already been humiliated enough.

trying not to pay attention to the loud chatters that erupted everywhere he passed, mark made a beeline to his classroom. he decided to sit at the very back row to receive as little attention as possible.

with a sigh, he let his bag fall to the floor and he leant on the table, nestling his head between his crossed arms, in an attempt to make his surroundings disappear.

he felt so stupid.

how couldn't he realise that this was all too good to be true?

donghyuck had never been sympathetic with him.

donghyuck despised him.

donghyuck didn't respect him.

he should have understood that this had been donghyuck's plan all along...

the only thing donghyuck wanted was to be better than mark. and he openly said it.

so, it was logical; because donghyuck didn't manage to be better than mark, he tried making mark worse than him... and what better way to do that than make mark cheat on his girlfriend?

this was unanimous: if you cheated on your girlfriend, you became the worst asshole this earth had known, and you didn't deserve to live a peaceful life anymore.

how the fuck could have mark not noticed that before?

all those times donghyuck had tried to help him with dahyun...

all those times donghyuck had been ambiguous with mark...

all those times donghyuck had made mark cheat...

this was all for one single thing: donghyuck's pride.

and mark was so stupid not to have realised that before.

＃

with slow steps, donghyuck headed out of the school building to reach the soccer field.

he wasn't sure he really wanted to go there and practice.

but sadly, as team captain, he needed to be there every training.

well, as team captain... he was sure that he wouldn't keep this title for long...

"oh, look!" one of the players exclaimed when donghyuck placed his schoolbag and clothes in the changing rooms. "it's our national freak."

laughter erupted in the changing rooms as donghyuck tried his best to ignore their mean comments.

they weren't that wrong actually.

donghyuck really was a freak.

making out and having sex with his sister's boyfriend.

who in their sane mind would ever do that?

so, let's say he couldn't be mad at them for pointing out the truth.

but it still hurt.

"hide your sisters and your girlfriends, guys." another player declared, sending the whole group of boys into another pit of laughter.

donghyuck sighed, walking out of those changing rooms as soon as he was wearing his soccer attire.

he couldn't stay in there a minute more, hearing all those boys pointing out the obvious about him.

he already felt bad enough with everything he had done. he didn't need his teammates reminding him how awful he was.

so, the tanned male walked onto the pitch, placing his bottle of water and his phone on the bench where the players usually had their stuff during practice.

"donghyuck!"

the boy turned around at the sound of his coach's voice. "yes, coach?" he asked, his body tensing. he knew this wasn't leading to a friendly conversation on how to manage his team. of course not. this was leading to a serious conversation about what had been revealed. and this meant nothing good for donghyuck.

"come here please. i'd like to talk to you."

dragging his feet, donghyuck walked to his coach and kept his head low as he crossed his arms behind his back.

"i overheard what happened at the basketball match this weekend." the coach started speaking, staring at donghyuck while the young male tried his best to stay calm and collected.

"you overheard..." he mumbled.

"i was sitting in the bleachers." the coach specified. "and to say the least, i am very disappointed in you."

donghyuck gulped, swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat.

he badly wanted this conversation to be over.

he couldn't bear standing in front of his coach anymore, and to hear him telling him how much he fucked up. he already knew that very well.

"i know the way you act outside of the pitch has nothing to do with the fact you are a great soccer player, and a great team captain." the coach explained, crossing his arms over his chest and making donghyuck want to disappear of the surface of earth. "but sadly, i can't keep you as team captain."

and here they were.

those words that hurt so fucking bad.

donghyuck had lost his soccer team captain title.

he was just a mere player now.

"y-yes coach." donghyuck stammered, trying to contain his sadness and frustration.

"i hope you understand that i still consider you as the best person that could lead this team." the coach continued – making everything worse for donghyuck. "you lead the team like no one ever did before, and you even brought your team to semi-finals at the national championship, which was an exploit that you are responsible of. but in order to keep the reputation of the team as the best, i think it will be better for it not to have you as its head and representative."

donghyuck nodded slowly.

of course, no one would want a freak as the captain of a team.

this would make the whole team lose its credibility, and they could even be bullied for that and for supporting donghyuck's acts – or at least, not reprimanding them.

this was all for the team's reputation.

they didn't want donghyuck's stupidity to tarnish it.

"o-of course coach." donghyuck bowed, seeing the other players walking onto the pitch with silly smiles as they stared at the young boy who was liquefying under his coach's announcement.

"thank you for understanding." the coach nodded. "team!" he declared, catching the attention of the dozen players. "give a round of applause to your new captain: chunho! you'll lead the team for today's training. let's go!"

the soccer players all clapped at chunho, congratulating him loudly before they started running around the pitch as a warm-up.

donghyuck stayed frozen on his spot, facing the coach. he wasn't sure he wanted to run behind all those players who now despised him.

"i'm sure you received enough scolding and bad words to know that what you did was wrong, donghyuck..." the coach spoke again, placing his hand on donghyuck's shoulder.

"i know it was wrong, coach. this is a misunderstanding, i- "

"donghyuck. you're still the same player in my mind. even if you did something really bad." the coach interrupted him. "but i have to warn you, you already lost your spot as captain, and another problem reported by the student office or anyone could have you losing your place in the team."

donghyuck's head lowered again.

"i understand..." he mumbled.

"i know you are necessary to our team, and that we won't be able to win as much games if you're not on there anymore, but for the sake of the team, we cannot have a student that doesn't respect the most basic ethical codes of humanity." he continued.

"of course." donghyuck nodded.

"i'm glad you understand." the coach patted donghyuck's shoulder. "now, go with the rest of the players to train."

donghyuck sighed, jogging towards the group of boys who were stretching and warming up.

he was now paying the consequences of his act.

he should have known not to try playing with fire.

because fire burns, and even if the burn is temporary, it leaves a scar and comes with consequences.

＃

donghyuck was in his bedroom, lying on his back on his bed, arms and legs spread apart as he stared at the ceiling.

he had come back from practice around an hour ago, and he had taken a burning hot shower as soon as he had gotten home.

the hot water had made his body red, but donghyuck didn't care how much it had hurt anyway.

nothing hurt more than the pain he felt inside his heart anyway.

practice had been awful, if not to say horrible.

as soon as donghyuck had joined his teammates, he had been rejected, and constantly made fun of.

chunho had made them work by pairs for some simple dribble exercises, and donghyuck had ended up alone, because no one had wanted to play with him.

and later on, when they had done a training game, donghyuck hadn't been able to touch the soccer ball. none of his teammates had wanted passing him the ball, as if doing so would contaminate them with donghyuck's filth.

so, now, the poor boy was on his own, locked in his own bedroom, and hoping for fate to make him die soon, because what else could he do at that point?

"donghyuck?"

the tanned male groaned at the sound of his sister's voice on the other side of his bedroom door.

he hadn't spoken with her for two days, since it had been admitted that him and mark had had an adventure.

they lived in the same place, so they had crossed path, but neither of them had tried speaking to the other or stealing glances at them.

but now, it seemed like his sister had decided to confront him, and let's be honest, after the shitty day he just had had, he didn't need to make it even more shitty.

"please, go away..." donghyuck replied. "i promise you can insult me and hit me all you want, but do that tomorrow, because today is just not it..."

a long silence followed, donghyuck sighing in content as he guessed that his sister had listened to his prayers. but sadly, this silence was followed by a door creak.

"i'm not here to insult or hit you." dahyun declared, stepping inside the messy room and closing the door behind her back.

"and you're not here to thank me either. so, i'm really wondering what you are doing here." donghyuck replied, sitting up on the bed and looking at his sister.

she had her head hanging low, and she was fidgeting with her fingers, swaying on her feet from left to right. she stayed silent for a while, allowing donghyuck to stare at her.

her long brown hair was hiding her face, making it impossible for donghyuck to know what she was thinking.

"why aren't you trying to scream at me for what i did?" donghyuck's brows furrowed. "why aren't you mad at me? i fucking kissed and had sex with your boyfriend. he cheated on you, and it was my fault."

"i'm not mad at you." dahyun said simply, lifting her head and finally meeting donghyuck's eyes.

the boy sighed. "please, don't be mad at mark. he did nothing wrong, i mean... he wouldn't have done anything wrong if it wasn't for me. i pushed him to cheat. he didn't want to cheat on you and- "

"i'm not mad at him either. i can't." dahyun cut her twin brother's sentence.

donghyuck blinked a few times, not quite understanding anything about their current situation.

"what?" he asked, raised a brow.

"i'm not mad at you or at mark. i have no right to be mad at you two." she explained, taking a sit on the bed, just next to her bother. "i'm mad at myself."

"why would you be mad at yourself...?" donghyuck questioned confusedly.

"because i cheated on mark too."