Ships Passing In The Night ｜Markhyuck (OT21 AU)

Chapter 57

"I—" The man looked utterly baffled by Chenle's statement, which the boy temporarily took to be a good thing. Confused, he could work with, as long as he acquiesced. Behind the teacher, Donghyuck was already halfway out of his seat, grabbing his bag off the floor beside his desk, so Chenle decided to just run with it.

"It won't take long," he insisted, blinking up at the teacher as beseechingly as he could muster. "Please! It's really important..."

The teacher sighed, frowning down at Chenle in a way that suddenly didn't feel quite as promising. He seemed to be reevaluating the situation, irritation and suspicion creeping into his gaze, and it didn't look like it was going to go Chenle's way. Fortunately, Donghyuck must have realised it too, because he was dragging Chenle out of the classroom before the man could say another word.

"Thanks, Monsieur Dupont," Donghyuck called back over his shoulder, not slowing his pace as Chenle ran to keep up. "I'll catch up on anything I miss after school tomorrow." They both heard the older man splutter something unintelligible as the classroom door slammed shut behind them, and then Donghyuck was spinning on his heel to stare down at Chenle. "What's wrong? Is it Mark?"

"What—?" Chenle wasn't sure where that question had come from, but he ignored it for now. He could worry about his older friends' complicated—and, frankly, confusing—relationships later, when Jisung wasn't waiting for them. "No! Of course not. It's Jisung."

Donghyuck's eyes flashed dangerously for a second, as an entirely new kind of worry flooding his expression, and then they were moving again. They weren't going the right way, the older boy stalking the length of the corridor without any real direction, so Chenle tugged on Donghyuck's arm to stop him in his tracks.

"Where is he?" Donghyuck asked, letting Chenle's hand slip down his shirt sleeve until he could wrap it in his own bigger one. Their fingers tangled together effortlessly, Donghyuck squeezing vice-like as they clung to each other, and, for the first time since he'd left Jisung's side, Chenle felt like he could finally take a proper breath.

He wasn't alone anymore. He had help.

"He's in the main office," he told Donghyuck hurriedly. "We don't have much time. He—" Chenle hesitated, not sure how much Jisung would want him to say to the boy opposite him, but the overwhelming worry in Donghyuck's gaze reminded him that this was not the time for secrets. "He did something stupid. It wasn't his fault. The other boy started it, I swear!"

"Slow down, LeLe." Donghyuck squeezed his hand again, heat searing into Chenle's skin where they connected, and he realised that his heart had started to pick up speed again. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision, fixing his gaze on Donghyuck's face. It was hard to focus, to think through the sudden surge of panic, but the thumb gently tracing the back of his hand helped a bit. "Talk to me. Tell me what I need to know."

"Okay..." He took a deep breath, and then tried again. "Jisungie got into a fight. It was an accident, but he got taken to the Principal's office." Donghyuck's eyes pinched microscopically at the corners and his grip on Chenle's hand turned painful, but otherwise he didn't react, so Chenle continued. "T—they're sending him home."

"Right...and that's an emergency, why?"

"Because," Chenle took another deep, steadying breath, "he can't get hold of Taeyong-hyung or Sicheng-hyung. The Principal gave us twenty minutes to try and get through to them, but they're not answering their phones." He almost stumbled over his words, but Jisung needed him to get it right, so he forced away the scratchy dryness threatening to clamp down on his windpipe. "If he can't, th—they'll call his d—dad."

Understanding didn't immediately dawn for Donghyuck. Granted, it had been months ago when they'd last talked about it, and Jisung avoided the topic like the plague most of the time, but Chenle really hoped he wouldn't be forced to explain again. Especially since even he didn't know all the details himself—only what little Jisung had confided in him.