Mortal Masks

Chapter Seven

Jaemin felt like he was submerged in water.

As he tried to concentrate on moving his legs, placing one foot in front of the other, it felt like the tide pulled him back, the waves soaring over him, engulfing him in a depthless nothingness. His body ached, strained, and yet he wasn't moving anywhere. He couldn't summon any more energy.

He'd returned from Donghyuck's under a sky stained by spilt black ink, just a few minutes before midnight. However, he hadn't slipped into slumber until the sky was set ablaze from the rising orange sun of the early morning, by which Yoshi and Mashiho had finally ceased responding to his messages about a black-haired football player that apparently wanted to get to know him too.

He felt somewhat giddy despite his tired body making him feel like he's desperately trying to tread water to achieve a reasonable state of consciousness for school- and very obviously failing.

It's only when an arm slots through his and the scent of wildflowers and pear pools around him, calming his mind and body, that Jaemin manages to turn his head, looking at his friend with drooping eyes.

"How are you so awake?"

Donghyuck only chuckles as Jaemin groans, fighting the urge to rest his head on Donghyuck's shoulder and shut his eyes once more.

"You'll be amazed what waking up to an unimpressed grandma and a jug of herbal tea will do" Donghyuck shakes his head, a phantom smile on his face as he gently begins guiding Jaemin towards their classroom, "Did you get home alright? Were Sungchan and Jeno proper gentlemen?"

Even with his brain half asleep, he knew a blush had crept onto his cheeks. However, even if he was oblivious to his own physical state, Donghyuck's knowing eyes told him everything.

"Well then" Donghyuck states, turning Jaemin into the doorway of their English class, an amusing smile stretching wide across his handsome face, "Shall we see how our friends are fairing?"

— • —

On the whole, Jaemin felt like he was in good company. Aside from Donghyuck, their four other friends look like they too are in various stages of zombie apocalypse mode, which sent Jaemin to his assigned seat with a smile on his face.

He managed to catch Jeno's eye on the way to his desk, and as they exchanged small, friendly smiles, Jaemin felt his next steps become lighter.

"Right class can everyone settle down please! Phones away, pens out and ready!"

Jaemin slides into his seat, offering an acknowledging nod to his seatmate who offers a curt one back. His eyes drift over the boy's personalised stationary- everything branded with an 'R'- until their teacher continues speaking.

"Now since we have finished reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, we are to do some scene analysis- so I need everyone to get their playbooks ready please. This will be a group assignment, your desk mate will be your partner and I shall allocate each group a scene to analyse and then present to the rest of the class. You will have a week."

Jaemin immediately grimaced. It's not as though he didn't like Shakespeare, he really did... but group projects were never his thing. He prefers individual work over anything, basking in the security that he wouldn't have to pull anyone's weight but his own.

Also there was the issue of his desk mate.

Him and R had only ever exchanged nods, not words. He didn't know the boy, he didn't even know his name...

"Right, table at the back, Act 1 Scene 5!"

Jaemin doesn't need to flick open his book to know that it's the meeting scene between Romeo and Juliet at the party. It's a decent scene, a good one to annotate, but he knows he'll be forever envious of Donghyuck and Mark getting Act 5 Scene 3, Romeo and Juliet's death.