Ships Passing In The Night ｜Markhyuck (OT21 AU)

Chapter 39

"I took the liberty of sourcing my own cake, since it didn't look like you were going to," Jaemin told him, grinning sheepishly as if pleading for Donghyuck not to pitch a fit. "I did mention it, but you seemed a little out of it. Are you okay?"

Placing the redundant cake plate back into the fridge unit, Donghyuck hurried to follow Jaemin across to the pay station, where a harried-looking lunch lady was waiting impatiently, an electronic scanner twitching in her hand like it physically pained her that they were holding up the line. As she processed his selection, scanning each item with a practised hand, he handed over his student ID for payment, and then turned his attention back to the boy at his side.

"I'm fine."

"And I'm Kwon Jiyong." Donghyuck's brain stuttered for a moment, before he noticed the small, teasing smile on Jaemin's face and forced out a chuckle. It wasn't a very good joke, but it was the most lighthearted thing he'd heard come out of Jaemin's mouth in days, so he'd happily hype up even the most terrible of references if it would make his friend smile.

"Very funny." When Jaemin's expression almost immediately sobered, eyes narrowing at him in concern, Donghyuck shrugged and added. "I really am fine though. I just got distracted for a second. There's a lot on my mind right now." That was, unfortunately, the inescapable truth. The last week, while relatively quiet from a member drama perspective, had seen a significant ramping up in other aspects of his life. Donghyuck had almost forgotten how stressful student life could be, especially having only experienced it from the very fringes the last time, but he was relearning it all rapidly.

"How did your meeting with Dejun-hyung go?" Jaemin asked, picking up the tray for him and leading the way over to their usual table. It was empty today, Renjun away on a school trip to some World Heritage Site in Gongju with the rest of the International Society, so Donghyuck joined Jaemin at one end, the pair settling in opposite one another.

"Ah." Donghyuck was surprised that Jaemin had even remembered that meeting, since he'd only mentioned it in passing once, but then the younger boy was astoundingly observant these days. It reminded him of the way that the other Jaemin often had an almost psychic sense of timing--and how he had been especially good at identifying when Donghyuck had most needed a hug as a sleep-deprived trainee--but he wished it wasn't under such unfavourable circumstances. "It wasn't great."

Dejun had summoned him, alongside the dance leader, Soonyoung, and several of the teachers, to a meeting after school on Tuesday, to discuss their progress towards the winter musical. Donghyuck had been mildly surprised to be included, having been significantly less than diligently focused on production and preparation for the school event in recent weeks, but he'd since resolved to do better. It was one of the reasons he'd been so busy lately--on top of the never-ending stream of tests, essays and midterm preparation work that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere--especially after hearing what was said in the meeting.

"Dejun-hyung is really stressed about everything," Donghyuck told Jaemin, who had stopped picking apart his sandwich to watch him intently. Jaemin had mentioned a tense environment in the last few dance practices, but to hear it straight from the top was a different story. "Things aren't moving nearly fast enough, and the teachers are talking about pushing the whole thing back to the spring, to give us more time."

"It's not really a winter musical though, is it, if it takes place in the spring?" Jaemin mused. Donghyuck hummed in agreement, shoving a forkful of salad into his mouth as he did so. He chewed, swallowed and then nodded.

"That's what Dejun-hyung said, but they weren't convinced." He shrugged, pushing aside the salad bowl temporarily to retrieve his already stone-cold pizza slice. "I guess I have to kind of agree with them, based on where we're at with everything, but I can understand his frustration. I--" Donghyuck hesitated, then decided that Jaemin would probably understand. "I didn't really expect to be here this long, if I'm honest. If the show gets pushed back, it's going to feel like everything is just..."