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Mark's mood was visibly improving. His sleep deprivation was still apparent, but it didn't seem to be putting him down as much as it used to.
Why?
That was what his friends intended to find out.
It was evening time in the school building and students were milling about after dinner. The moon hadn't quite reached its peak yet, so the entrancing shades of pink, orange and even tinges of indigo near the top flooded down the halls through the windows.
As Ten chatted with another nameless senior whilst strolling down the hall of the common building, Mark froze in his place and watched in wonder.
Jaemin bumped into his shoulder, grunting out profanities as he took a step back and looked around to see what his friend was so taken by.
Once his sights landed on the two boys walking down the opposite direction to them, Jaemin chewed the wall of his cheek curiously and hummed.
"What? What's this?"
Mark continued to move again, brushing off the younger's question and nearing Ten the further he got.
"Oh, hey Mark," the ravenette waved in a cute and friendly way. "See you tonight."
"See ya," the younger smiled warmly, passing him and wondering if the other boy with him was this alleged 'annoying roommate'.
Jaemin scoffed with a small laugh, slapping his friend's shoulder firmly. "Dude, who was that? A crush? One of your dorm-mates' friends...what?"
Flicking his forehead, the shorter shook his head with a small smile and answered honestly. "He's someone I get to talk to at night. He's not insomniatic or anything, and tends to sleep through three or four hours of the night......but it's nice having something to do."
"What's his name?"
"Ten."
"Woah, that guy was Ten?" The bluette gasped, looking back over his shoulder down the empty hall to find that the pair had already disappeared. "No way."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he's just sort of well known around here. He's gay, y'know? A popular and foreign student."
Mark furrowed his brows, not having heard any of that before. He and Ten usually discussed things like interests, or classmates......it made him realise he was dodging more personal questions. "Where's he from, then?"
"I don't know. Thailand or something....." Jaemin shrugged, gazing out the long window scaling the length of the hall. His eyes darted from one thing to another, the sun always falling lower and lower behind the horizon.
"Jaem," Mark murmured, earning a small hum in response. "What did you think when I first admitted to you that I liked boys? We were roommates at the time.....so it must've bothered you."
"Actually, I was totally fine with it."
"Seriously?"
The younger giggled, turning to him with a heart lifting and radiant smile that could've lit up a lost galaxy. His blue hair was fluffy and soft while sitting over his eyes and the loose jumper adorning his tall figure fell adorably around his body. "Mark, I genuinely never minded that you were the way you were. In fact, I'm really proud that you told us....."
The older didn't know what to say, which was convenient, since Jaemin seemed to have more left.
"Look, I know Renjun, Chenle and I can be a bit harsh and oblivious sometimes.....and we aren't always as supportive or helpful as we'd like to be-"
"That's not-"
"But we do care about you, okay? We do want to hear about your day, about how much Donghyuck annoys you and what guy you think looks cute. We're also not dumb," his expression went a little more serious, "Chenle and Renjun noticed it first, but we can all see that you're hiding something. It's not like we'd ever force it out or anything......but we're hear if you need someone to listen."
The intense pounding knocking against Mark's rib cage was almost painful, had the feeling not been so soft and sweet. Those words were what he'd been needing to hear from his troublesome friends all along, wishing that they'd take things more seriously.....
"I'm sorry about hiding things from you," the ravenette murmured gently, taking his taller friend into his arms for a much needed hug. "And I will tell you guys everything soon. When the time is right.....but for now-"
"We can wait," Jaemin agreed, ruffling his hair fondly before pulling away and grinning yet again. "As long as you know that we're aware."
"Of course."
☆★☆
Donghyuck lay out across his bed, staring at the same ceiling Mark would always look at during the night. It was still a bit early though, so he was alone in the dorm room.
Shadows danced across the chipped white paintwork in patterns. The teen's eyes followed each of them, losing himself to a daydream.
Memories of the past four years flooded back into his mind, things like when he first met his friends, or when he and Mark roomed together for the first time. Innocent days worth of fun when nothing really mattered.
He knew it was his fault for losing most of that, but he couldn't help but selfishly wish for those days back. They were all growing up, soon to be adults......the silly twelve year old group of boys was becoming an old piece of their history with each passing day.
They treated the seniors like older and wiser people, yet that would be them in two years time. It was too soon, and Donghyuck didn't feel ready. He never did.
A sudden darkened vision came and went. It was in this very room, though late at night....and the whole thing sent a chill down his spine.
Sitting up, Hyuck looked around him to see if anything seemed off. Because he sure as hell felt an odd atmosphere.
That same memory hit him once more, this time showing a darkened face close to his own.
It was all vaguely familiar yet very much foreign. Like a dream was resurfacing after years of being suppressed......but Donghyuck never really had dreams (or not that he knew of). It was something he was quite proud of, really. Waking up well rested, without a memory of some strange night vision.
It's nothing, he assured himself, assuming it was just one of those nights where he and his friends wrestled at stupid hours of the morning for the sake of breaking curfew rules. That was what the memory had to be, right?
The door creaked open near him, sending him scurrying back on his mattress in slight distress.
Mark wandered in, stretching his arms over his head and yawning softly. He looked briefly at the younger who stared back at him, muttering something incoherent before flopping onto his bed.
There was a small three minute gap where nothing was said. But Donghyuck felt the need to ask one insignificant question. "Mark?"
"Mmm?"
"Just out of curiosity......do you remember our first year? When we shared the same room with a few others?"
"Of course. Why?" The ravenette was sitting up now, intrigued by the conversation.
"No, it's nothing. I was just....just thinking back to when we all wrestled each other late at night."
"Yeah, that was pretty stupid. We only ever did it once though."
"Wait, seriously? I thought we were always at it."
"Nope. We got in trouble because our light was on, remember? I'm pretty sure Renjun was in our room too and yelled at us after....."
"The light was on?" Donghyuck questioned somewhat breathlessly. But that dream was completely dark.....
"What's wrong?" Mark tilted his head. "Feeling nostalgic?"
"Yeah," Hyuck hummed, laying back to try and fall asleep, "Something like that."
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