as soon as donghyuck stepped on school ground the next monday, the whole school ran to him. donghyuck smiled back proudly at all the attention he was receiving.

"congratulations!"

"well done donghyuck!"

"you're the best!"

"you did so good!"

"bravo!"

"welcome our champion!"

donghyuck waved at them, allowing himself to shake hands with a few students who were holding their hand out.

it seemed like he was the most popular boy out here.

it seemed like he was the preferred one.

it seemed like he was the boss.

and it was a pleasant feeling.

"thanks a lot, guys!" he screamed out as the whole corridor applauded him.

donghyuck's soccer team had participated in the national championship over the week end. and he had made their school enter in history by making them go all the way through semi-finals.

donghyuck's team had ended up fourth of the tournament. sure, they were not on the podium, receiving their big heavy medals, but they had managed to get to semi-finals.

the whole school knew about this never being achieved before.

they knew that donghyuck's team had arrived 4th place thanks to donghyuck's efforts.

they knew how much of a great captain he was.

and they were thankful of him, because he had made their school known.

donghyuck headed towards his classroom, never getting enough of all the attention he was receiving.

during times like those, he felt like he was better than mark.

but let's be real. mark would be so modest that he would be saying that he wasn't the one responsible for their 'win'. he would keep saying that luck was on their side and that they played really well facing opponents who had done lots of mistakes. he would make sure to say this was all thanks to their coach who had trained them well, and made sure they were ready before sending them off.

but donghyuck wasn't like that.

he was more selfish. donghyuck's team had 'won' because they had been good. they had played better than they ever had, and their opponents were hard to beat, but some of them weren't as good as donghyuck's team. there was no modesty, donghyuck didn't like it – it made him think of mark.

"well, first things first, i need to congratulate our soccer team captain for bringing us to semi-finals during the national championship." the teacher declared as he smiled at donghyuck.

"thanks sir." donghyuck replied, bowing.

"oh, it's normal." the teacher chuckled. "i'm sure you've already been applauded, but knowing you, you'll never get enough of it, so, another round of applause for our team captain!"

the whole classroom clapped and cheered again, making donghyuck feel good on the inside.

the tanned male even caught a glimpse of mark clapping his hands energetically while looking at him.

it felt good. having the others respecting you like that.

"well, now let's start concentrating on more serious things." the teacher declared with a cough as he started teaching his lesson.

donghyuck was still in a daze, amazed by the jittery feeling in his stomach.

he couldn't believe that the whole school had been behind him like that.

he couldn't believe that he had been the very centre of attention for a while.

he couldn't believe that he had made all of them proud.

he simply couldn't believe it.

it felt so good... almost like a dream...

donghyuck was so mesmerized by all of his thoughts that he hadn't realised the lesson passing. he was so lost in his mind that he hadn't even heard the bell ringing and the screeching noises made by the people pushing their chairs back. he hadn't even noticed the whole class leaving the classroom to run to the cafeteria – something he was usually doing first.

he was only pulled out from his daydream when someone pulled a chair to sit in front of him.

"hello, captain."

donghyuck blinked a few times, his vision still blurry for a while before he acknowledged who was sitting in front of him.

"mark lee..." he whispered, raising a brow. "aren't you mad i'm stealing all of your fanbase?"

"my fanbase?" mark chuckled. "what are you talking about?"

"don't you mind all of your little followers and friends being around me?" donghyuck explained. "your world should be lonely..."

"my goal isn't to have all the attention on me, donghyuck..." mark shrugged.

"oh really?" donghyuck almost snorted. "it seemed like it was."

even when his day was so good, donghyuck managed to be pissed off by mark's sayings.

this boy was so kind and so modest. it was ridiculous at that point.

"yeah, i just... live my life i guess..." mark told. "and people tend to like me because i respect them. well, i think."

"you respect them..." donghyuck forced himself not to let his eyes roll to the back of his head. "but do they even respect you?"

"of course, they do." mark assured.

"so, you think i do respect you?" donghyuck crossed his arms over his chest.

"well..." mark took a pause, his cheeks slightly flushed and looking away.

donghyuck didn't respect mark.

he never did.

why? because he couldn't bear the fact mark was better than him.

and one part of him was saying that if mark – who was so used to being showed off – felt rejected, maybe he would lose his means and be bad. and then donghyuck could beat him.

but this hadn't worked. he had been trying it for almost a year, and mark was completely bulletproof to his harsh words and nasty remarks.

"you're... particular..." mark tried describing donghyuck in the less offensive way possible. "but this doesn't mean you don't respect me."

"i don't respect you." donghyuck stated, looking at mark unphased. "and you can see it perfectly. don't try to make me feel better by not telling the truth. be bold and insult me if you want to. i don't care."

"n-no, no!" mark shook his head with wide eyes. "i-i don't want to insult you!"

"great, well, let's be honest, i want to insult you most of the time." donghyuck told, looking at his nails uninterestedly.

"i know, but it's just the way you are, and i can't hate you for that." mark explained.

"i can't understand you, mark..." donghyuck declared, his eyes staring right through mark's, and making the older boy feel like his whole privacy had been intruded.

he really couldn't.

he was awful with mark.

he was the worse.

he insulted him.

he made fun of him.

he didn't respect him at all.

and yet, mark still came to him, and he still acted sympathetic towards him.

was this boy sadomasochist?

why would he keep trying to approach donghyuck and to be kind with him when donghyuck would always reject everything he said or did?

it felt as if mark was trying to be on donghyuck's good side. as if he wasn't to be accepted.

but why...?

anyway, donghyuck had already decided this would never happen.

"what don't you understand?" mark raised a brow questioningly.

"you." donghyuck spat. "you, your kindness, your modesty, your bubbliness, your intelligence, your sympathy... you and your freaking perfectness."

"come on..." mark flushed slightly at the words pronounced by the bad boy. "i'm not that- "

"shut up." donghyuck slammed his hand over mark's mouth. "please, shut up. i can't bear it anymore."

donghyuck retreated his hand when mark nodded slowly.

the older boy looked at the smaller curiously, wondering what he had done for him to hate him that much.

"we're rivals. we shouldn't be sympathizing like that." donghyuck explained. "you do you, i do me. and that's all. no talking, no chit-chatting, no eye-contact. nothing. we're rivals. do you understand?"

mark nodded slowly again, not daring to open his mouth and get scolded by the boy again.

he wasn't so sure why donghyuck acted like that with him, but he knew better than angering him even more. it was probably time for him to leave donghyuck.

"great. now go." donghyuck sighed. "i don't want to be with you anymore."

mark nodded again, slowly picking his bag up and walking to the door.

once he got there, he turned around one last time, giving donghyuck a last glance – only to find him staring back. "see you later." he told before walking away.

donghyuck rolled his eyes fully.

why couldn't mark understand that donghyuck didn't want to see him anymore?