"hey," a voice said next to donghyuck. not expecting anyone so soon, donghyuck dropped the book that he was reading out of his hands, and accidentally banged his head on the desk when he leaned down to retrieve it.

   "shit! that was my fault, i'm sorry. are you okay?" donghyuck now recognized the voice to be mark's, and cold, calloused, fingers lifted his chin up gently. "that must have hurt a lot," mark frowned, eyebrows knitting together in concern. 

   his soft and pink lips were just slightly pushed out, and his round eyes stared at donghyuck's forehead, examining the spot that was quickly turning a greenish color. mark shifted their angle just a little bit, and a small gasp fell from donghyuck's lips. the sun cast the most perfect beam of light over mark's face, and for the first time, he noticed how enchanting the pools of honey in mark's eyes were.

   he's so pretty, he thought in awe.

   "donghyuck?" mark's voice brought him back out of his thoughts. "oh, hi," donghyuck said, offering a shy smile. "maybe you bumped your head a little harder than i thought," mark chuckled which caused donghyuck to blush. 

   "how bad did it hurt though?" mark questioned before donghyuck could feel the soft pad of his thumb brushing over the newly formed bruise. he winced and closed his eyes for a brief moment, only to open his eyes and fall in the trance of mark's brown orbs again. "just a bit," the younger let out. "maybe we should get you some ice. what do you think?"

   donghyuck watched as the blonde slowly tore their eyes from his injured area, and they met eyes for a quick second. it felt so slow yet so long at the same time. the second they made eye contact, both of them looked away and mark instantly cleared his throat. "i uh, think i'll be fine," donghyuck managed to say without stuttering.

   the older looked at him, clearly unconvinced, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and hauling donghyuck up with him. "easy there," mark teased with a coy smile when donghyuck stumbled over his own feet, running into the taller's side. 

   "where are we going?" donghyuck asked with burning cheeks, urgently trying to take the focus off of himself. "to get you some ice," mark announced as they passed through the doorway. "i said i was fine. you really don't hav-," the sun-kissed male was interrupted. "it's okay to not be okay."

   the words pierced at donghyuck's heart a bit, causing a small stinging sensation. why was he suddenly blinking back tears?

   "...you do know that right, donghyuck?" mark immensely slowed his pace and donghyuck was somewhat grateful for it. he made sure the tears wouldn't show before bringing his head up and putting on the most convincing smile that he could come up with, "yeah, i know. we can get some ice, but i'm fine, really."

   mark stared at him with an unreadable expression and continued back on their original pace. the rest of the walk was silent and donghyuck was happy to take a moment and sort out his thoughts. he knew that what mark said was right, but he didn't know why it felt like he wasn't included in that.

   the knocking on the door brought him back to reality, and in moments, the door swung open. "hi mark, and hel- ooh, that's a nasty bruise you've got there," a pretty woman who was most likely in her mid thirties answered the door. "right," donghyuck's hand automatically shot up to his head, and he traced the spot. 

   "come on in," the woman gestured, opening the door wider for the two students to step inside. she led donghyuck to a bed and made him sit down as mark remained standing next to him. "what happened here?" she asked, lifting donghyuck's chin gently and holding up his chin. "i made him bump his head," mark explained before donghyuck could even open his mouth. "no no no, it was my fault. i was being an idiot and hit myself on the desk," the younger stepped in.

   "well, he wouldn't have bumped his head if i hadn't startled him the way i did, so honestly i should just take the blame," mark argued. donghyuck frowned, "who knows? i might've bumped my head anyway even if you hadn't been there." mark turned to look at him, eyebrows knitting together, "i should've warned you or maybe spoken softer. plus you were reading. it was just dumb for me to do what i did." "the fact that i dropped my book in the first pla-"

   "alright alright, i get it. i won't ask anymore," the nurse quieted the two with a small smile playing at her lips. thats when mark and donghyuck looked at each other and broke out laughing, realizing how stupid their small quarrel had really been. 

   the next ten minutes were spent with the nurse talking about the different shapes of ice and how she wished she had round and circular ones rather than the oddly shaped crescents that she had. donghyuck just sat on the bed with his hands on his lap trying to stifle a giggle and mark actually contributed to the conversation which made the whole thing even funnier.

   "here," the nurse said to mark after filling a plastic ziploc bag with ice. she handed him the bag and mark grabbed a soft towel, gently wrapping it around the bag before crouching before donghyuck. 

   "look at me."

   their eyes made contact for a split-second and both immediately looked elsewhere. to ease the tension that had just started to build up, mark cracked a friendly smile and used one hand to direct donghyuck's face. he brought the bag up to his head and the sun kissed male flinched before he sighed in content.

   "better?"

   "better," he nodded.

   the sound of the nurse clearing her throat stole their attention as they both looked her way. she was slipping on a coat and grabbing some papers. "i have a brief meeting now with some of the other staff, don't get to class any later than first period. homeroom isn't important so it's alright with me if you skip that one and i'll let your teacher know that i had you two here," she smiled.

   "thank you miss," donghyuck said timidly. "of course, she laughed, "just let me know who your teacher is." "we have mr. oh," mark answered. the light in her eyes that had been there seconds before dimmed a bit but the smile remained on her face. "i'll let him know for you," she said quickly, leaving the room without another word. 

   the sound of the door closing seemed to echo in their heads at the sudden silence. "am i the only one who found that weird?" donghyuck asked breathily. mark glanced at donghyuck to shake his head, "no," he turned to look back at the door, "that was pretty weird."

---

   "so i have art with you?" a voice said next to donghyuck. he looked up and was met face to face with renjun. "oh... hi," he said, unsure how to act. it was strange knowing that renjun was attracted to guys, and it was strange knowing that he knew without the other male knowing. quite confusing, really. 

   "i think we're drawing stuff outside today," renjun smiled, looking excited. "oh really?" donghyuck found himself scooting away before he realized what he was doing and mentally scolded himself.

   just because he's gay doesn't mean that he isn't the same nice and cute guy that i liked talking to from before. renjun is still renjun.... he's just ga-

   "wanna draw the ducks in the pond with me?" renjun asked, a grin plastered on his face. donghyuck paused, unsure what to do. he didn't want to feel weird with renjun just because he had a different sexuality, but at the same time, it would be hard to explain if jaemin or jeno found out. especially jaemin though.

   he decided to back out, "isn't this a solo project though? i would hate to get in trouble on my first day of art class." renjun frowned a bit, "yeah it is... but at the same time the teacher doesn't mind."

   donghyuck was using every shift and gear in his head to back out of hanging out with renjun until he let the overthinking engine shut down. fuck it, he thought. 

   "you know what? sure, why not? i don't even know anyone else in this class," he laughed a bit. renjun's smile returned, and he hooked their arms together.

   after class had begun and the students were let outside, renjun pulled donghyuck's hand and brought him to the duck pond. they sat on the grass, knees touching as they both were in the crisscross applesauce position. it was peaceful and quiet aside from the sounds of water splashing or ducks quacking every so often.

   donghyuck was busy sketching the outline of what he could see when he heard humming coming from next to him. he paused what he was doing to stare at the chinese male, completely oblivious and absorbed in his drawing as well as the song that was obviously stuck in his head.

   when he finally realized that he had been humming out loud and gained the attention of donghyuck, he blushed. "sorry, i tend to do that unconsciously a lot. i'll stop now."

   you don't have to, he wanted to say. instead, his brain betrayed him and agreed, "yeah it's alright, but thanks."

---

   "so you are awake," donghyuck mused when he heard the sound of a sigh below him, a smile creeping its way onto his face. "indeed i am," mark answered. 

   the smaller male heard the sound of mark's bed shifting, and he assumed that he had sat up. "how's your head feeling now?" donghyuck rubbed his fingers over the spot, "i can only feel the pain if i put pressure on it, so it's pretty okay, i think." 

   "that's good," a pause. "i really am sorry by the way." donghyuck giggled, "we already discussed this but i'll say it again if i need to; it wasn't your fault and whatever you say next won't sway my opinion in the slightest." "well...," mark said, sounding slightly defeated, "i'm still sorry." donghyuck could hear the hint of a smile in his voice which caused him to crack his own. 

   "i really wasn't expecting you this morning though," donghyuck began. "no joke," mark snorted before donghyuck shushed him. "you were only here on the first day and for the rest of the time you've had practice," donghyuck explained. the canadian hummed, "yeah, sorry about that by the way."

   a comfortable silence settled, but didn't last long. "did you miss me?" mark asked. there was a playful edge to his tone that donghyuck liked and wished he could experience more often. 

   "no, i actually preferred it over your company," he fibbed, biting his lip in anticipation. "rude," there was a short moment before donghyuck could hear the sound of mark's soft chuckles.

   "did you sleep last night?" the older steered the conversation into another direction. "yeah, i did. just... i had a bit of a hard time i guess," he said honestly, leaving out the part where he ran into yang yang in the kitchen. for some reason he felt like he should hold onto that piece of information, and if he ever felt the need to tell someone, he could.

   "you slept though," donghyuck pointed out the obvious. his raven locks fell over his eyes and shut them closed, drowsiness coming over him. "you left me all alone to be lonelyyyyy."

   mark smiled to himself, aware of how donghyuck was getting sleepy, quickly. 

   "i'm sorry donghyuck ah. you can always wake me up though if you want to talk, or if you want... someone. i won't mind, you know?" his question was met with silence just as he suspected. 

   he waited a few minutes in the dark, consumed by his thoughts, and following the sounds of donghyuck's breathing. 

   "i wonder," he said so quietly that he himself could hardly hear, "i wonder what you would think of me if you knew of the things i've done."

   mark waited for a little more time to pass, and when little snores were heard above him, just like most other nights, he crept out of bed. he opened the dorm room door, and slipped into the shadows of the hallway, descending onto the path that he'd now taken more times than he could even remember.

-----

word count: 2100

love is so fucking confusing man

✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾