seven 》nct dream

22

"There's a home basketball game this Friday, be sure to come support our boys." A girl's voice crackled over the intercom, only one of the many messages interrupting class time.

Lee Donghyuck sat slumped in a chair, hunched forward as he watched his pencil roll up and down the face of his desk with the flick of his finger and some assistance from gravity.

Barely paying attention to anything going on, the rebel was drawn back to reality with a familiar voice being broadcasted.

"Looking for some excitement? Head down to the library after school for games, food, and fun." The tempting tone was a fan favorite of Donghyuck's classmates, but the voice personally made his eyes roll.

Although he could avoid seeing the boy by skipping class and acting up to be sent to detention all he wanted, there was no permanent escape from Mark Lee.

Donghyuck kept his eyes on the loudspeaker as the paid advertisement continued, fantasizing about it bursting into flames.

"The club accepts all kinds of students, everyone's welcome." The Canadian continued, drawing in customers like the others never could. "I've even visited myself, the guys there are great."

Mark's co-host made some comment about how if he'd be there, then everyone would want to stop by.

Donghyuck couldn't help but pick up on how Mark took a completely different approach than they did, focusing less on pointing out being lonely and friendless and just inviting everyone. It did help them to seem less like losers.

"So come on down after school and hang out with us." Mark's toothy smile was easy to picture as his muffled voice echoed through the building. "We hope to see you there."

We. The word meaning not just the usual club members, but Mark himself as well.

The idea of that kid still being there took Donghyuck's attention completely away from torturing his fellow detention dwellers and into a stew of stress.

The tan skinned boy wandered from class to class the rest of the day, barely focusing.

Maybe Mark was just like a cheap salesman, promising people he'd show up, but not following through. The only reason he'd been there in the first place was to give the advertisement, and he'd done just that. There was no more cause to visit.

This hope followed Donghyuck until the very end of the day, his hesitant footsteps leading him to the club. Peeking through the open door, his eyes were trained for the Canadian, but something else caught his attention.

People. Bodies. Visitors. So many of them, all standing around the bookshelves.

An exhilarated Renjun appeared from the masses, smile bigger than Donghyuck had ever seen.

"Isn't this great? These are just the kind of numbers we need." The Huang's excited eyes jumped around the room.

Compared to the nine or ten kids that usually visited, the crowd before them appeared like an army. Donghyuck knew this was great for the club, but the amount was overwhelming. "How many of them are there?"

Renjun moved to let a pair of kids through the door, voice barely audible over the buzz of other conversations. "Counting those two and the usual group, twenty eight."

Donghyuck knew this success was only achieved because of one smooth talker, but he archived that in the very back of his mind.

A wide eyed Jaemin wandered in, glancing to the plate in his hand. "I don't think we have enough brownies."

"I have a few protein bars left over from practice this morning." Jeno joked, following the boy in with hands in his pockets. "Just throw those in with them."

A familiar pair emerged, showing up at Renjun's side. Hearing the problem, a solution came from the mint haired boy. "They're pretty big, just cut them in half. Jisung and I will go get stuff from the vending machine as backup."

"We can do this, guys." Renjun glanced between his current friends and all his hopeful new ones. A determined and excited smile appeared on his face, the happiness spreading. "I'll go start some games."

While Jeno and Jaemin ventured to find something sharp and Chenle and Jisung went to blow all their money, Donghyuck moved around the edge of the room, catching the eye of someone at the book drop off.

Donghyuck saw the arms crossed in satisfaction, the proud smirk. Moving to the boy's side, a flurry of possible words flew through his mind. Backs against the counter, both boys kept their eyes ahead.

Mark Lee waited for a stinging statement, a crass comment, or a rude remark, but nothing like that came. Instead, he had to listen closely to hear the hushed 'thank you' over the mumbling crowd.

Half worried that he'd scare the honey skinned boy away, Mark simply nodded. "Of course. That's what friends do."

Donghyuck knew the rebellious, loner reputation he had. He also knew of the Canadian's apparent indifference towards him. That's why he was surprised that someone as popular and cool as Mark Lee would ever call someone like him a friend. But if he had learned one thing about that kid from both today and years before: when Mark said something, he meant it.