Work Text:
jaemin’s the one who convinces mark to join theater. he’s usually the one who convinces the boy to do crazy things, but this is one of his more wild ideas.
“dude, i— no!” mark snaps as jaemin laughs at him over their trays.
“why not?” jaemin shrugs. “i heard theater’s fun.”
“but he’s in theater,” mark hisses with his eyebrows raised.
the boy across from him pauses and gives him an annoyed look. “yeah… i know. that’s why you should join.”
mark groans and squeezes his eyes shut. “no, jaemin, and i can’t even act.”
“you can join crew,” jaemin suggests. “jeno said he likes painting props the most.”
when jaemin sees mark doesn’t look like he’ll budge he sighs. “just think about it, okay? not like you have anything better to do.”
lunch ends and jaemin tells mark he has two weeks to sign up before hurrying off to his next class. it probably would’ve been the end of it, except a week later he gets called into his counselor’s office to discuss college.
“your grades are amazing, mark,” she says before smiling wanly. “but you don’t have any extracurriculars. i’m a little worried.”
mark gulps and clasps his hands in his lap. “well… loads of people get into college without extracurriculars,” he supplies in a weak voice.
“mark,” she sighs. “there’s so many things you can do at this school, it’d be a shame to do nothing. just think about it.”
he nods and stands up, gratefully accepting his pass back to class before ducking out of her office. on his way back to physics, he grabs the theater club application form from the bulletin board in the hall.
***
“look who showed up,” jaemin says as he claps mark on the back.
“touch me again and i’ll kill you,” mark sighs.
jeno laughs. “relax, mark. today’s just introduction, you won’t be on stage just yet.”
“ yet ?!”
“it’s a joke, mark,” jaemin cuts in. they file into the dim theater and mark glances around as the three of them find seats in the back. there’s around forty or so kids, all talking loudly and laughing and hugging. mark’s always admired how close theater kids are, but he knows being in theater also means noise. constant noise.
the drama teacher finally comes up on stage and sits with her feet dangling over the edge. “how was everyone’s summer?” she says warmly, and there’s a chorus of positive replies and laughing.
she smiles and looks down at the notes in her hand. “okay, just a few things. first off, welcome to drama club for any new students,” she says. “and welcome back to you veterans.”
everyone claps and she nods and goes over a few more things before she sets her notes aside with a glint in her eyes. jeno squeezes mark’s arm excitedly.
“she’s about to announce the fall play,” he whispers.
she stops and looks around and one senior groans. “please ms. p, just announce it already!” he calls out.
ms. parker laughs. “alright, alright,” she says. “for the fall musical we’ll be doing cinderella.”
“finally!” someone yells, and everyone starts excitedly talking amongst themselves.
“they’ve been begging for that one for two years,” jeno explains.
“so!” ms. parker says after explaining the roles. “auditions are in two weeks, on the 30th. i believe elliot has the monologues for each role, stand up elliot!”
people head over to get them and once everyone’s settled again she claps her hands together. “alright, if you’re on crew, see renjun,” she says. “everyone else, good luck with your lines.”
jeno leads the two of them over to a small boy with dark hair and impeccable style. he has that kind of face that instantly calms you at first glance and when he smiles at mark he can’t help but smile back. “are these the new guys?” he asks in a smooth voice.
“yep,” jeno answers. “jaemin and mark.”
“nice to meet you,” mark says as the production crew sits down in a circle off to the side of the stage. renjun starts talking and assigning work and mark looks out over the rest of the theater at the little groups forming to practice for the auditions. just then one of the double doors opens and donghyuck lee walks in, running his hand through his hair in worry and speed-walking towards ms. parker. mark watches him say something to her and then she nods and hands him the monologues.
there’s always been something about donghyuck that drew mark to him. outside of the fact that he has the face of an angel and a smile brighter than the sun, he just seemsinteresting . mark’s always seen him talking to his friends and wondered what it would be like to have a conversation with him. he has such a big laugh that mark figures he’s definitely funny, and something about him gives off the feeling of being pretty smart and sure of himself too.
“mark!” jaemin says then, and mark turns to him and blinks. “you’re okay with doing props with jeno?”
“huh? oh, uh, sure,” mark shrugs.
after the tasks are handed out, jeno takes mark to their prop room and shows him the copious amount of clothes and fake food and any number of things you could need. with the list given to them by renjun, they start collecting all the things needed for the production.
“hey jeno,” mark says about thirty minutes in as he rummages through a bin of scarves. “have you ever, like, talked to donghyuck before?”
“yeah,” jeno answers. “why?”
“i was just wondering,” mark coughs. “i wondered what he was like.”
“he’s really nice,” jeno answers. “funny, too.”
mark’s heart does a little skip as he realizes some of his theories were right. the only interaction he’s ever had with the boy was sixth grade when he tripped in front of him in the hallway. that’s how he already knew he was nice; only nice people stay with you to help you get your things up, even if it makes them late.
***
the next week, mark shows up to the theater a little early. only a few people have arrived, taking seats spread far apart and murmuring lines to themselves. mark decides to head to the prop room and wait for jeno but as he’s about to cross the stage he sees donghyuck off to the edge, pacing around in a circle as he says the lines to himself.
he’s upstage…? no, downstage right , mark thinks to himself, remembering the stage directions jeno made him learn. he stays in the shadows of the wings, holding in his breath as he watches the other boy.
“hey,” donghyuck suddenly says. “could you help me out for a sec?”
mark almost chokes and glances around him as he realizes donghyuck’s eyes are on him. “me?” he says, and donghyuck nods. “uh, sure.”
mark takes slow steps towards him and realizes he hasn’t been this close to him in years. as he gets nearer, his eyes pick out the other boy’s button nose and pouty lips and the dotting of freckles lacing his face and neck.
“could you look at this while i say the lines?” donghyuck says softly. his hand reaches out and hands mark a tattered and wrinkled piece of paper with tons of pen marks and highlighted words. mark nods and donghyuck clears his throat, delivering each line with such fierce sincerity that mark’s almost too captivated to check the paper.
“how’d i do?” donghyuck says, grinning and taking the paper back.
mark shakes his head in disbelief. “you did gr—”
“donghyuck!” a boy says from in front of the stage. “you wanna come practice with us?”
“sure, jisung,” donghyuck answers as he grabs his bag and smiles at mark. “thanks.”
then he’s gone.
***
“jaemin, i swear, were you listening to a word of what renjun said?” jeno groans. jaemin huffs and throws his paintbrush down.
“look, man, i don’t know how the hell any of this works,” he says. “maybe if you spent more than two seconds teaching us—”
“alright! fine!” jeno interrupts. “i’ll teach you. come here.”
mark looks up from painting his tree and smiles as he watches jeno guide jaemin’s hand with his own. he pretends not to notice the faint redness in jeno’s cheeks or the way jaemin’s hand trembles slightly. instead, he peers over from their corner to watch the auditions taking place on stage. some poor girl drags her feet as she walks offstage and ms. parker scribbles down a few notes. everyone who decided to audition waits nervously in the audience while a few onlookers have trickled in silently to watch from the back. the atmosphere is grim and tense after the last few auditions, but as soon as ms. parker calls “next!” and donghyuck stands up, the room buzzes with the pulsing energy that seems to emanate from him. he gets to centerstage and takes deep breaths before smiling at ms. parker as she finishes the last bit of her notes.
“name and role?”
“donghyuck lee. i’ll be trying out for prince christopher,” he answers before taking his position.
donghyuck seems to slip into another body. he talks, laughs, and moves just like you’d expect prince christopher to. mark watches him in fascination because he’s never seen someone so effortlessly slide into another role before. and that’s before ms. parker asks him to sing.
he chooses “do i love you because you’re beautiful?” from the third act and clasps his hands behind his back as he waits for the students in the booth to get his backing track going. when it finally starts, the sound of a soft flute fills the theater before he opens his mouth and sings out the first words. mark lets out a little gasp as he listens because donghyuck’s voice is lilting and beautiful and fills the entire stage with an almost palpable magic. everyone watching is stunned into silence as he holds his chin high and lets his eyes fall closed when he hits high notes.
when he finally finishes, everyone is so mesmerized that at first people forget to clap until a senior in the back starts to and they follow along. mark’s too stunned to clap and just watches donghyuck grin brightly and bow before walking offstage. ms. parker can’t contain her smile as she scribbles down some notes and calls for the next person.
jeno nudges him and mark turns with his eyes still full of stars. “what’d you think?” jeno whispers.
“he was amazing,” mark breathes.
“now you see why he’s kind of our crown jewel,” jeno says as he goes back to cutting out fake leaves from construction paper.
mark gets back to work on his own leaves and when auditions finally end ms. parker announces when the cast will be posted as the crew starts putting their materials up. as everyone starts leaving and gathering in little groups to talk, mark finds donghyuck standing with his friends as they praise him quietly and shake him. he looks super happy and mark feels his heart start to warm up as he watches him.
“go talk to him,” jaemin says to him as he comes up with their backpacks. mark takes his and slips it on over his shoulders.
“god, no, i’ll probably pass out,” mark sighs.
“won’t know until you try it,” jaemin shrugs as he starts leading the way towards one of the exits. mark watches his back disappear into the crowd and takes a deep breath. he’s right.
he turns and walks over to where donghyuck is, his back as straight as ever and his hands grab his backpack straps so his hands don’t betray how nervous he is. donghyuck’s leaning against the wall typing something on his phone and he looks up when mark steps up to him.
“hi,” mark says. “you did really well.”
“thanks,” donghyuck says. he smiles so wide his eyes starts sparkling and mark feels his heart speed up. “couldn’t have done it without you helping me with my lines last week.”
he remembers. “oh, right,” mark says, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing. “you had it down, though, i don’t think you even needed my help.”
“it was still really nice of you,” he replies. just then, one of his friends calls to him to say that they’re leaving and he sighs. “sorry, i’ve gotta go. i’ll see you next week.”
mark gives him a feeble wave and watches the other boy sprint away to join his friends. jaemin comes up to him then, out of breath. “did you just actually take my advice?” he says. “did i see you talk to donghyuck?”
mark blushes furiously and grabs his arm, dragging him towards the exit. “just come on,” he mumbles. “i’ll tell you about it in the car.”
***
rehearsals officially start the next week after the cast list is posted on monday. julia king gets the part of cinderella and donghyuck gets the part of the prince alongside her. the entire theatre department buzzes with excitement since it’s the first year they’ve done this particular musical. but rehearsals are long, and soon they start happening more than just once a week. they last for so long that sometimes mark finds himself packing himself dinner for the nights where they don’t leave until nine.
mark only gets the chance to talk to donghyuck occasionally and for extremely brief periods of time, half because everyone’s so busy with the show and half because mark’s usually too nervous to say more than a few words. but it’s okay, because donghyuck fills up the silences no matter how tired he is. when they break for dinner, sometimes he’ll come over and say hi to mark and when mark asks him how his day went he conveys it in such a cute way that mark doesn’t mind just sitting and listening. donghyuck’s singing voice gets a lot of praise, but sometimes mark feels like no one ever talks about just how beautiful his speaking voice is, too.
this all changes one night when mark stays after rehearsal ends to clean up the backdrop he’d been finishing up for renjun. donghyuck is one of the last members of the cast in the theater that night and he comes over to help mark round up his paintbrushes.
“hey, you don’t have to help me, go home,” mark laughs.
“maybe i want to,” donghyuck says with a smirk, dropping the brushes he’s grabbed into mark’s hands.
“seriously, though,” mark continues. “aren’t you exhausted?”
“yeah, but that’s just how rehearsals are,” donghyuck shrugs as he watches mark stack the materials in his arms. “and i have to wait for my mom to pick me up anyway.”
mark frowns and doesn’t say anything as donghyuck follows after him and opens the door to backstage for him. after he sets down his materials, they start walking towards the parking lot together. “i can give you a ride if you want,” mark finally says. “i wouldn’t mind.”
donghyuck’s face brightens and he grins at mark. “really? you don’t have to…”
mark shrugs. “it’s no big deal. besides, i want to.”
donghyuck won’t stop grinning to himself as they walk to mark’s car and when he gets in he tells mark his address. “you wanna stop and get something to eat?” mark asks after he puts the address into his phone and starts the car.
“no, i’m good, thank you,” donghyuck says, settling into his seat.
mark backs out and starts driving, meticulously following his phone’s directions. donghyuck eventually ends up falling asleep and mark glances over at him with a smile. he figures the other boy’s more tired than he’s letting on.
when mark pulls up in front of donghyuck’s house, he leans over and shakes his arm gently. donghyuck awakes with a groan.
“here already?” he mumbles tiredly with his eyes barely open.
mark chuckles and nods and donghyuck yawns. “okay. i’ll wake up.”
he stretches his arms out and sits up. “thanks for the ride,” he says with his hand on the door. “i really appreciate it.”
“it was no problem, really,” mark says. he’s thankful it’s dark out and donghyuck can’t see how red his cheeks are. “anything you need…”
“that’s really sweet of you,” donghyuck says with a smile that gleams in the moonlight. “i’ll see you tomorrow, mark.”
then he’s closing the door behind him and disappearing into his front door.
***
disaster strikes just three days before opening night. donghyuck comes down with a terrible cold and completely loses his voice and a cloud comes over the entire theater department. of course he’s got an understudy who is a pretty decent replacement but it’s nothing compared to the real thing. not to mention the fact that donghyuck himself is so good at making everyone feel at-ease and his absence only sets everyone on edge.
but while everyone works on what to do with the show, mark sneaks out of rehearsal and goes to visit donghyuck while he’s sick. he calls him when he’s outside and donghyuck comes to the door with pajamas on and the reddest nose mark’s ever seen.
“hi,” he just barely rasps out. it sounds like a tiny wisp of a whisper and mark sighs.
“i’m so sorry about this, donghyuck, this sucks,” he says as he steps in and shuts the door.
donghyuck opens his mouth to say something but mark gasps. “wait, don’t talk! sorry!” he says. “uh, let me make you some soup or something.”
donghyuck smiles tiredly and goes back to the nest of blankets he’d made for himself on the couch. mark goes into his kitchen and suddenly realizes he has no clue how to cook. it takes him longer than he intended to make the soup, mostly because he has to google how to make it in the first place, but soon he’s walking into the living room balancing two bowls of steaming hot chicken noodle soup.
“thanks,” donghyuck rasps as he takes it into his hands.
“no problem,” mark says, sitting down on the couch. “wanna find a movie to watch?”
the other boy nods with a tiny smile and mark grabs the remote and flips through channels. donghyuck sips away at his soup from his spoon and makes a little noise as mark lands on a movie he’s interested. after they finish eating, they bury themselves under blankets and pillows and settle in to watch.
“thanks for coming over,” donghyuck says halfway through the movie. his voice sounds the tiniest bit better and mark’s glad that the soup may have helped a little.
“you don’t have to thank me,” mark mutters. “you shouldn’t have to be all alone.”
donghyuck beams at him and soon mark finds the other boy’s head on his shoulder. his stomach tenses up at first because he’s always seen donghyuck as this unattainable, delicate flower, yet here is, pressed up against him like it’s nothing. soon the nervousness goes away, though, and he relaxes back against the cushions and listens to donghyuck’s breathing slow into sleep.
***
mark visits him after school on opening night and decides to miss the show to keep donghyuck company. he shows up to his house with his favorite foods and is about to text him that he’s outside when the front door swings open and donghyuck runs out pulling his jacket on. his shoes are barely on right and his shirt is on backwards but he’s grinning from ear to ear.
“my voice is back!” he shouts as soon as he opens the passenger door and slides in. “the doctor cleared me and what are you waiting for take me to the school !”
mark blinks and is fumbling to start the car back up. “right! this is great, donghyuck,” he says as he starts driving.
donghyuck giggles excitedly. “i thought i was gonna miss the show,” he says. “after all the work i put into it.”
“you’re just meant to be prince christopher i guess,” mark says, glancing over at him before blushing a little. “and you’re really good at it, too.”
donghyuck blushes with him.
they get to the school a little later and donghyuck leaps out of the car and goes sprinting inside. mark speeds after him as donghyuck takes the long winding hallways to the arts hall. the theater classroom sits across from the back entrance to the auditorium and they enter into the hallway backstage where the dressing rooms are.
“donghyuck!” someone yells, and he gets accosted by dozens of people as they all laugh happily.
“donghyuck! what are you doing here, i thought you were sick!” ms. parker exclaims, moving her way through the crowd of people surrounding him.
“speedy recovery,” he shrugs. “i got cleared by the doctor.”
“thank god,” his understudy says, already taking the fake crown off his head. “you’re way better at this than i am.”
renjun slides through the crowd holding his clipboard above his head and moving the mic from his headset out of his face. “alright people, we’ve still got a show,” he says. “donghyuck, please get into makeup and costume, you’ve got twenty minutes.”
“right, right,” donghyuck says, trying to get serious but still unable to contain his grin. everyone starts getting back to business and renjun tells mark jeno needs him backstage.
“good luck,” mark says to donghyuck before they split up.
“that’s not how it goes, mark,” donghyuck laughs.
“break a leg, then,” mark groans, and donghyuck grins.
“see. now you’re officially a theatre kid,” donghyuck says before running off to the boys’ dressing room.
mark finds jeno and jaemin getting the set together behind the closed curtain. “welcome back,” jeno says as he slides a fake bush into place and straightens up.
“sorry,” mark heaves.
“we get it, man,” jaemin jokes. “you had to pick your boyfriend up. duty calls.”
mark hits his shoulder. “he’s not my boyfriend.”
“yet,” jeno adds in with a chuckle.
mark gasps and whirls back towards jaemin. “you told?”
“no, dude, you’re just that obvious,” jaemin laughs, rubbing his shoulder where mark hit him.
“am i really?” mark sighs.
“make a move,” jeno says. “make a move, or he will, and knowing him it’ll be dramatic if he does it.”
mark wants to tell him he should do the same with jaemin but he holds his tongue because he knows he’s right. instead he assists in finishing up the set and then goes to stand in the wings to wait for his cues. ms. parker goes out to introduce the show and then the house lights dim as the overture begins to play. as this concludes, the stage lights finally raise and julia comes out in costume. the show finally begins.
when donghyuck comes out, mark lets out a little gasp. he’s seen him during dress rehearsal in his full costume and makeup, but seeing him in front of the audience under the shining lights with the entire universe in his eyes is incomparable. when he begins to sing “me, who am i?” mark can see his voice put everyone in the audience under a spell. he’s never been so proud.
towards the end of the show when julia and donghyuck perform “do i love you because you’re beautiful?” the entire audience becomes mesmerized. mark feels like he’s the one onstage because of how elated he is and he can only imagine how donghyuck feels.
when the show ends and the cast comes out to do their bows, the crowd goes wild for them. donghyuck’s smile is so bright that mark thinks they don’t even need stage lights and suddenly he wants to tell him. but he watches him from the side of the stage after the curtains close and everyone’s hugging happily and mark hears someone say if opening night was this great then the rest of the weekend should be amazing. he can’t even rejoice in that, though, because suddenly donghyuck’s nowhere to be found.
he stumbles out onto the stage to find him in the group and finds jaemin instead. “they did really well,” he tells him, and mark nods.
“they really did,” he agrees. “hey, have you seen donghyuck?”
“i thought i just did, i dunno,” jaemin answers, glancing around with his eyebrows drawn together. jeno comes up then and throws his arm around jaemin and they start talking excitedly. mark slides away politely.
suddenly he feels arms wrap around him from the back and someone giggling in his ear. “did you see me?!” a voice says, and mark laughs and turns around to see donghyuck’s glowing face.
“yes! you were amazing!” mark laughs, grabbing donghyuck’s shoulders happily.
“was i really?” donghyuck teases.
“yes! you look beautiful on stage,” mark’s saying before he can stop himself.
donghyuck goes silent and stares at mark in surprise and mark mentally kicks himself. “beautiful?” donghyuck repeats. mark lets go of him and starts turning away in embarrassment but donghyuck grabs his arm and pulls him back towards him. then, before mark can even register what’s happening, donghyuck’s lips are on his.
he gets over the initial shock and lets his eyes slide closed. donghyuck’s lips are soft, unbelievably soft, and his skin feels warm as mark reaches a hand up to touch his cheek. a certain hush falls over the stage as people turn their attention towards them, but this only makes mark smile a little into the kiss. when he pulls back, he feels like he just got electrified.
“what was that for?” mark mutters dumbly.
“because i like you, dummy,” donghyuck replies before leaning in to press a softer, more chaste kiss to the corner of mark’s mouth. “and that’s because you asked.”
mark grins and strokes donghyuck’s cheek with his thumb. “then i’m glad i asked.”
“you were right,” mark says to jeno sometime later when they’re putting props away.
“about what?”
“donghyuck made the first move and it was dramatic as hell,” mark chuckles.
“well,” jeno shrugs, “welcome to theater.”