"jeno, jeno!" the canadian asked, hitting his best friend's arm repeatedly. "jeno!"

"what the hell mark?!" the boy replied, pulling one of his air pods out.

"what did you say the boy i find hot's name was again?" mark asked, a mix of fear and nervousness obvious in his eyes.

"so, you admit that you find him hot."

"this is not important, i want his name!" mark spoke quickly.

"donghyuck." jeno replied, putting his air pod back in.

"DONGHYUCK?!" mark repeated so loud that eh caught the attention of the whole bus – jeno was sure that even jaemin who was seated at the very last row had heard him.

"god, shut the fuck up!" jeno whisper-shouted, slamming his hand over mark's mouth.

mark was getting paler with every second passing.

"j-jeno... i-i have a p-problem..." mark declared, nervously passing his hand through his hair.

"why?"

"i'm rooming with him!" mark declared.

jeno raised a brow at this statement. "and?"

"and i'll see him every morning and every night! we'll be sharing our lives for a week!"

jeno sighed loudly. "why do you even care?" he asked. "you're both dudes, with dicks, and you're not even interested in men. it will be the same as rooming with me! unless..."

"unless what?" mark questioned expectantly.

"unless you're interested in him. and then, it won't be like rooming with me." jeno snickered.

"no!" mark answered immediately. "i'm not interested. i am not gay!"

"okay." jeno laughed. "then, there's no problem."

"yeah. you're right."

✯

"miss!" jaemin exclaimed, running behind one of the teachers as soon as they had arrived at their destination.

he had left jisung alone with donghyuck – after making sure he had slipped back of course – because he was decided to have a talk with the teacher who had chosen the different rooming arrangements. he needed to make donghyuck change rooms and be with either jisung or him.

"yes, jaemin?" the teacher turned around, readjusting the glasses on the bridge of her nose. "is there a problem?"

"huh... it's about the rooming arrangements..." jaemin spoke slowly.

"i already said that you couldn't change rooms, jaemin." she replied firmly.

"yes, i know!" jaemin nodded. "but... huh... i'm worried for donghyuck..."

the teacher's borws furrowed at the mention of her other student.

he was someone very calm and collected, and a brilliant student.

she couldn't understand what worried jaemin.

"what about donghyuck?" she raised a brow.

"he's very scared to be around people he doesn't know..." jaemin explained. "and i'm not sure his roommate will take good care of him, like jisung or i would have. he's someone fragile..."

the teacher looked down at the piece of paper she had in her hand, where were written the rooming arrangements.

"he's rooming with mark lee." she said.

"yeah, and... i don't really know this boy... i don't know if he'll be gentle with donghyuck." jaemin fidgeted with his fingers.

"he will be."

jaemin lifted his head slowly, meeting eyes with the teacher.

"what?" he asked.

"mark will be gentle with him for sure." she specified. "he has been my student for two years, and this boy is incredibly friendly and kind. as the basketball's team captain, he knows really well how to socialise, and he's friends with everyone. i know how much everyone likes him. there's no reason donghyuck won't be comfortable around him." she continued.

"so... it's a no...?" jaemin asked, trying his best to make the eyes of the puss in boots.

"i'm sorry, jaemin." she apologised. "but i'll make sure you and..." she looked down at her paper. "...and jeno will room next to them if you're that worried."

"thank you miss." jaemin bowed.

"of course, jaemin. now go pick up your suitcase, and enjoy the first evening there." she said with a smile before heading towards a huge chalet that was probably going to be their hotel for the week.

jaemin sighed before turning around and walking back to the bus where all the students were excitedly chatting and admiring the snowy landscape.

he found jisung and donghyuck next to chenle.

"i'm back..." jaemin said, catching their attention.

"so? what did she say?" jisung asked.

"no." jaemin shrugged. "i'll be rooming not too far from them, though."

"about what?" donghyuck asked innocently.

first of all, he had been in little space for the whole ride, and because of this, he didn't really remember what had happened during the bus ride. and second, he had slept for the majority of the time, so he had no clue what they were talking about.

"the rooming arrangements." jisung explained.

"what about them?" donghyuck raised a brow. "am i not with you?"

"sadly, no..." jaemin sighed.

"what?! i'm not with you?!" donghyuck exclaimed, suddenly starting to get stressed.

"don't worry, you'll room with mark." chenle reassured him.

"who is mark?" donghyuck sniffled, almost starting to cry because of stress.

"he's one of my closest friends. he's the team captain also. everyone likes him. you'll see, he's very cool." chenle continued.

jisung and jaemin looked at their childhood friend.

he was stressing a lot, and it was visible in his eyes.

"don't worry, hyuck." jaemin reassured him. "i'll be in the room next to you."

"yeah, you'll just need to call one of us if there's a problem, okay?" jisung added.

donghyuck slowly nodded, calming down a bit.

"now, let's take our suitcases." jaemin declared. "it's so freaking cold here."

✯

donghyuck's hand was shaking when he opened the door of the room that had been assigned to him.

the guy he was supposed to room with – mark – was nowhere to be seen. jeno had claimed he was called by one of the teachers.

so, here was donghyuck, pushing open the heavy door of their shared room to discover the place he would be living in for the next week.

before he had entered his room, jaemin had shown him his door which was directly across from him. jisung's room was also near: two rooms on the left.

donghyuck nervously took a step inside the room, looking around him to familiarize with his surroundings.

the first thing he noticed was that the roof was quite high, and the thick brick walls were covered by various paintings of beautiful snowy landscapes. they looked awfully like the view he had from the window of the room. donghyuck smiled brightly when he saw the huge tv resting on a cupboard, meaning that he would be able to watch cartoons all night long.

his eyes then diverted to the wall opposite the tv, where the beds were.

well, correction: the bed.

donghyuck's eyes widened at the view of the beautifully sculpted wooden king-sized bed, on which had been placed bright white sheets as well as a very fluffy blanket made with the fur of an animal.

donghyuck searched around the room, looking for another room where there could be a bed, because there was no way he was going to spend one week sleeping next to a stranger.

sadly, donghyuck only found the bathroom which was of a decent size.

the boy pushed his suitcase in a corner of the room, sitting on it to stare at the bed that was sitting in the middle of the room.

he couldn't believe he would have to share a bed with a stranger.

what if this person was mean?

what if they were violent?

what if they tried to harass him?

what if they tried to use him?

what if they discovered donghyuck's secret?

"hello..."

donghyuck pushed away all these naughty thoughts, his body tensing when he heard the greeting being pronounced by the boy that had entered the room.

he really hoped that mark would be someone good, and someone kind.

donghyuck slowly lifted his head, using all his courage to voice out an answer.

however, no words escaped his mouths when his eyes fell on the stranger that had opened the room – his mouth fell open though.

in front of him stood the handsome boy that had helped him pick his maths copybook in his locker. the same one that had called him beautiful. he was mark.

and donghyuck was about to spend one whole week sleeping in the same bed as him...