mark sighed, sitting down at one of the many tables at the canteen.

just like every day since last saturday, he was alone.

the only persons that accepted to approach him were chunho and his whole team of soccer players, and mark would rather have no one befriending him than this asshole named chunho who was responsible for all of mark's and donghyuck's misery.

speaking of which, mark couldn't stop thinking about the younger male.

as much as his heart was broken, and he felt completely stupid for falling for donghyuck who had been playing him all along, he couldn't help but thinking about him day and night.

for example, for the past days, mark had been sleeping wearing donghyuck's soccer jersey, to feel like he was in donghyuck's embrace all night long. and the boy's manly scent did a very good job at helping mark falling into a deep slumber.

mark was in love. he was sure of that. but sadly, he had known his very first heartbreak.

however, there were still some unclear things in his mind.

one out of many was the fact donghyuck had beaten up the guys that were hurting mark, to the point he lost his spot in the soccer team.

and then, he had brought him to the infirmary, and the nurse had even claimed he was worried about him.

but why would donghyuck loose his spot on the soccer team to protect mark if his goal was to beat mark?

why would he even be worried about mark's condition when the worse mark's state was, the better donghyuck was supposed to feel?

why was donghyuck this paradoxical?

mark had absolutely no clue, but he would need to figure it out soon, because all those small ambiguous things that donghyuck did only made mark fall deeper for him.

and sadly, the deepest mark fell, the hardest it would be for him to stand up again, because he had to remember that: donghyuck and him were nothing but rivals, and there was no way donghyuck would ever return mark's feelings.

"i do, and... i need your help because... well... things are complicated..."

"complicated...?"

the whole canteen fell in the silence as a recording they all knew too well blasted full volume through the school's speakers.

mark tensed as the whole canteen faced him.

was he about to get humiliated once again? was one not enough? was it really necessary to do it another time?

"it all started rather smoothly, with me helping mark. the poor boy is so bad at loving people... so, i helped him, telling him to offer chocolate or flowers to dahyun, and simple things like those."

the canadian male wanted to leave. he badly wanted to.

but it was as if he was glued to his chair, as if the stares of the crowd surrounding him had frozen him on his seat, preventing him to love an inch.

mark badly wanted to kill chunho for being such an asshole.

he knew how much it hurt mark, and yet, he was playing it again... wait, actually-

with a glance to the side, mark noticed chunho with some members of the team sitting at a table with girls, and looking as confused as the rest of the canteen.

so, he wasn't responsible for this? but was then?

the only other person to have the recording was the coach. and he would never do that, would he?

＃

donghyuck's foot was nervously tapping the floor as his shaking hand tried not to let go the mic he was holding.

he was standing in the principal's office, the headmistress and the soccer coach by his side as they played the recording of the basketball game again.

his mind was a mess, and he kept replaying the conversation him and the coach had had two days ago, when he had asked donghyuck to have a talk with him.

he had started by voicing out his apologies to donghyuck about throwing him out from the team, just like he had done the day he had actually fired him. he had repeated that donghyuck was a key element of their game, and surely the best captain the team ever had, and he had said that it was a pity he wasn't part of the team anymore, but that it could change.

donghyuck remembered how the coach had pulled his phone out, and showed donghyuck pictures of him and mark kissing in the infirmary, and then the recording that had destroyed his and mark's lives.

at first, the tanned male wanted to curse at the coach for ruining his life. he wanted to beat him for having the audacity to be sorry about having to kick donghyuck out of the team when he was responsible for everything. and he almost got angry and lashed out at the coach.

but thankfully, the adult had pronounced a sentence that had made donghyuck's feelings change completely.

that great kid, i don't remember his name, but he's the basketball captain... he sent them to me after he found them in chunho's phone.

mark was the basketball captain. and the coach couldn't have mistaken mark for someone else.

the whole school knew who mark was – first because of the incident – but also because he was the most perfect kid to exist. good grades, excellent at sports, friendly...

not knowing him would be a sign of ill will.

the tanned male's heart had almost burst in his chest when he had registered what those words meant.

mark had searched for the person to blame in this whole mess.

mark had found who was responsible for their misery.

mark had told everything to a responsible adult.

mark had found a way to solve things.

and donghyuck couldn't help but tear up at that thought.

damn, he loved mark a whole lot, how much he wanted to cuddle him into his arms right now...

"donghyuck?"

the tanned male lifted his head, looking at the headmistress.

"you wanted to go to the canteen?" she asked as their mics were switched off while the full recording of donghyuck and his friends' conversation played through the speaker.

"i-i... i can do it f-from here..." he stuttered in nervousness.

"you should go to the canteen." the coach explained. "mark will surely need you."

donghyuck looked at the headmistress who gave him a small smile.

"take all the time you need for your speech, and do whatever you feel comfortable to do. i'm allowing you do to anything for this one, okay?"

the tanned male sighed, smiling at the two adults inside the principal's office.

"thank you so much." he said.

"good luck." the coach declared before donghyuck walked away, his grip tightening on the mic.

＃

mark was still frozen on his seat at the canteen by the end of the recording that had been played at the basketball game.

his eyes were getting teary, and he couldn't even blame himself. who was able to listen to someone being this harsh about them for the second time without breaking down? well, not mark.

"long story short, mark and i had sex. and i made him cheat. for real..."

lowering his head at those words, mark allowed the first tears to leave his eyes.

more eyes were on him now that it had been said out loud, once again, that mark had lost his virginity to donghyuck because he was too naïve to believe his feelings were reciprocated.

now that the speech had ended once again, mark wanted to run away from this hell of a place.

this school, this town, this country, this world...

mark didn't fit there anymore. he didn't want to.

"y-you guys had sex...?"

"the problem isn't that they had sex. the problem is that you went all the way to having sex with someone you hated just to make him cheat on his girlfriend."

the chatters that had erupted in the canteen after donghyuck's speech died down quickly as they all realised the audio wasn't finished.

mark almost wanted to dig his knife into his chest not to have to live the next seconds.

now that donghyuck's harsh words had ended, he needed to hear donghyuck's friends analysing how wrong all of this was.

what a way to help mark with his trust issues at the moment...

"well..." mark recognised donghyuck's voice. "that's where things get more complicated..."

"there's more?!"

"i would never have sex with anyone. mostly not for my first time. i wanted it to be special. and the fact is... after mark and i kissed for the first time... i don't know... my mind went crazy and... and i couldn't think about anything else than mark."

mark blinked a few times, his head slowly rising until his eyes were fixed on the speakers in the corner of the room.

was he hearing things, right?

no, this had to be a fake audio... this had to be a montage...

there was no way donghyuck was saying that...

"as soon as i saw him, i wanted to pin him to a wall and to kiss the hell out of him. and yesterday, he begged me to watch fifty shades of grey with him, because dahyun wanted him to watch it with her, and he wanted me to help him knowing how to act with the... explicit scenes... but, yeah... i cracked before any explicit scene came out, and i started making out with him, and this led to having sex."

more chatter erupted in the room, boys and girls reacting to donghyuck's thoughts that were exposed through the speakers.

none of them could believe what was being said.

had the school's inaccessible heartthrob lost him mind?

was he choosing mark over the dozens of pretty girls that were trying to court him?

"a-are you trying to say that..."

"that i fell in love with him. yes."

a loud and collective gasp was heard as everybody turned fully towards mark.

but the canadian couldn't care less.

fresh tears were rolling down his cheeks as his heart beat faster than it ever had.

donghyuck had fallen in love with him too?

donghyuck loved him back?

"you fell in love with the boy you couldn't stand..."

"well, that's not the biggest problem. i fell in love with my sister's boyfriend, and i can't fucking stop thinking about him. so, i need your help, because i'm fucking lost right now and i have no idea what to do."

the canteen was a mess at that point, everybody talking about how this was impossible, and how this recording had to be a fake one.

the only person who was still silent was mark. he was too busy trying to figure out everything that was happening to care about the other's opinion.

"and, what about mark?

does he... return your feelings...?"

"i don't know... but he's with dahyun, and their 8th month anniversary is coming up... and breaking up with her isn't in his plans."

"that's fucked up..."

mark was the only one left paying attention to the words that were being said.

and, this was fucked up. for real.

"yeah, i know. so, please, if anyone had an idea, i'd love to hear it, because if this keeps going, something bad is going to happen."

jokes on them, mark thought.

something bad already happened.

something really bad.

but could this instant be a proof that it was about to get better?

a beeping sound indicated the recording was over.

this was a signal for the whole canteen to get loud again, discussing about what they had just discovered.

mark was still frozen, in the same position as before, but this time, it wasn't of fear and apprehension. this time, he was frozen in shock.

he was too much in a daze that he didn't even notice the few girls and boys that had approached him to scream at him for brainwashing donghyuck.

but thankfully, it didn't last long as a cough was heard through the speakers.

"guys, i need your attention for a few more minutes."

mark's eyes blinked on their own as his whole body flushed at the sound of donghyuck's voice resonating across the canteen.

everybody had now shut up, even if a majority of students were standing.

the canadian boy couldn't believe his ears.

donghyuck had found out about the recording? donghyuck was now taking action?

"i am lee donghyuck, and i'm guessing a few things need to be told right now to clarify things." he said. "first of all, what you heard and saw at the basketball game was true, but it wasn't the whole truth. you just heard the whole audio file, the whole conversation that i had. and this is the whole truth."

a few whispers got heard, claiming that it was impossible, and that they were getting tricked.

but mark didn't care about those, donghyuck and his words were the only thing on his mind – and in his heart – at the moment. nothing else mattered.

"second of all, i am taking responsibility for what i did. i admit that at first, i wanted to make mark cheat to prove the world that i was better than him. this was my obsession: being the best. and thanks to my sister's amazingly true words, i realised that if i wanted to be the best, it's because i wanted to be recognised and loved by the others. i had a very specific idea of the way i wanted things to happen, and that was having all the attention on me for being at the very top of everything, for being perfect. but at the same time, i didn't realise that i had caged myself in a psychologic prison that made it impossible for me to trust and accept others in my life, because i was scared i wouldn't get loved and recognised the way i wanted to be." donghyuck paused to take a breath. mark could hear the shakiness in his voice. "but everything changed as mark and i started to get closer. unintentionally, i let him break down the walls of the prison i had created, and i allowed myself to open to him, and to make him see aspects of myself that i didn't even know about. so, yeah, i admit my intentions being bad at the beginning, but i also admit them changing as soon as i realised how precious mark was. and i admit everything that was said in that recording. i admit kissing him. i admit making out with him, multiple times. i admit losing control whenever he was around. i admit not being able to think about something else than him. i admit having sex with him. this is all true, and as much as you don't want to believe it, it is, and you guys won't be able to change that."

mark's hands were shaking under the table as he fidgeted with his fingers.

he couldn't believe donghyuck was opening himself in such a way, in front of a crowd of judging students that had spent the last week making their lives a nightmare.

he couldn't believe donghyuck was saying the truth, the whole truth, and that this truth implied donghyuck not hating mark's guts, and not trying to break his heart.

"and third of all..."

a loud thud was heard, everyone's attention diverting to the canteen's doors that had been kicked open.

loud gasps were heard as donghyuck made an appearance in the canteen, his eyes falling onto mark who was seated alone, at the table facing the doors.

both mark's and donghyuck's hearts accelerated as they locked eyes for the first time in forever.

god, they had missed this feeling...

"third of all, i have one last thing to confess." donghyuck said through the mic as his eyes stayed fixed on mark's shaking figure. "mark is the most wonderful person existing on this planet, and he might look like the perfect boy on the outside, but the truth is... the truth is mark is flawed, just like me, and just like any other person in here. but you know what? i love those flaws. they're what makes him even more perfect in my eyes... and i regret hating his perfectness in the first place. i regret wanting to hurt him and his feelings. i regret trying to make him cheat. i regret it all."

donghyuck took slow steps towards mark's table as the people that were standing walked backwards, creating a path from donghyuck to mark.

this whole situation was so surreal.

"mark lee, i fell for you, and as wrong as it was, i couldn't help myself. you're just too perfect. i loved every single second we spent together, and i would do everything to be able to spend the rest of my life by your side. trust me when i say that the past week was the worse i ever lived knowing how much you hated me for what i had done, and mark, i am sincerely sorry for all of that. i know that a sorry is far from being enough to heal all the pain i made you endure, but i hope that my next words will help you accepting my apologies..."

mark gulped, his stomach being a mix of butterflies and fireworks as his face was brighter than a traffic light.

not only donghyuck's attention was on him, but the whole school was watching him and waiting for donghyuck's next words so that mark could give his final answer.

"i love you, mark, and the weeks i spent by your side, even though what we were doing had to stay secret, were the best of my life. i cannot stop thinking about you and how stupid i was to let you slip between my fingers. so, mark, i want to prove you for real that i fell in love with you and that i will cherish and adore you for as long as possible. i want to show the world how much i love you, and how i am ready to take a bullet to save you. that is why, mark lee..."

the people around gasped collectively again as donghyuck got on his knee, pulling from out of nowhere a white flower that mark recognised immediately.

a white chrysanthemum, mark's favourite flower ever, meaning true love.

"...will you be my boyfriend?"

mark didn't hesitate a second. there was no space in his mind for hesitation, not when it came to donghyuck.

he was so helplessly in love with the younger boy.

he would do anything to be able to jump into his arms and to kiss his lips.

and now that donghyuck had asked him to be his boyfriend, he would be able to do all of those...

the canadian stood up, the feet of his chair screeching against the floor, but nobody flinched at it.

the students were all too focused on the drama in front of them to care about an annoying noise.

as soon as he was up, mark's lips curved into a smile as his eyes became teary again.

he ran towards donghyuck and tackled the younger boy in a hug, closing his eyes as he hid his face in the crook of donghyuck's neck, his tears wetting the tanned skin.

"yes. yes. yes. yes." he mumbled, crying fully as he tightened his embrace around the other boy. "i love you donghyuck. i love you so much..."

the crowd of students around them started cheering loudly, clapping their hands and whistling as mark and donghyuck pulled away from the hug to kiss each other passionately right in front of everyone.

it felt absolutely amazing, being able to kiss donghyuck with all the love in the world in front of so much people. mark had dreamt of doing that. and it had finally become reality.

"i'm in love with you, baby..." donghyuck whispered against mark's lips as he glued their foreheads together. "i truly am, and i'm so fucking happy about it..."

"i'm in love with you too, dongyuck." mark giggled before leaning in and gluing their lips once again.

and while majority of the students inside the canteen were celebrating, one of them had his brows furrowed and his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw tightened at the sight of mark and donghyuck kissing passionately as if nothing wrong had happened.

but this didn't last long.

"students, your headmistress speaking!" a female voice rang again through the speakers. "the soccer coach and myself are very happy about what just happened, and we would both like to have a quick meeting with chunho, right now. thanks, and best to mark and donghyuck!"