Chapter Text
Donghyuck kept his eyes on the raven haired boy that sat across the hall from him, as he chewed on his food. Mark Lee. His perfect brushed forwards hair, lying over his wide round eyes, and his high cheekbones raising higher when he smiled and let out a loud laugh through his peachy coloured lips. He was part of the basketball team, and had a role that Donghyuck never really paid attention to, because who even liked basketball (clearly not him). Mark was also one of the popular kids in his year, jokingly being called as part of the F4 (which was quite funny as none of the boys included were flower boys) alongside some guys called Lucas, Hendery and Xiaojun. Who were they? Donghyuck had no idea.
To be honest, Donghyuck didn't really know anyone else in his school. He only knew Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, Chenle, Jisung, some guys who had graduated, and his one and only best friend Lee Minhyung, who apparently likes going by the name Mark now. But let's just make this clear, Donghyuck knew Minhyung, not Mark. He didn't know who Mark was at all.
Because Minhyung was that adorable boy Donghyuck met back in 5th grade. That awkward kid who kept avoiding eye contact, whilst playing with his sweater paws. He was the cutest person in the world. The way he pushed up his glasses nervously and continuously licked his lip, although they weren't really dry and the habit was horrible, it made Donghyuck's heart melt. Minhyung used to like wearing oversized jumpers, (as although his body was nicely toned, he never felt the need to show it off, and especially not in front of Donghyuck who even after years of trying couldn't gain any abs) wore his glasses proudly - but that was mostly because Jeno once complained about being the only one to wear his glasses as the others in their group had bought contact lenses - and always leaned as far away as he could from Donghyuck's kisses even though it was obvious he enjoyed them.
But Mark Lee. Mark was something completely different. They had only been apart for a year, as Mark disappeared to Canada to live with his brother Chanyeol for a while before returning to Korea, however his entire life style had changed. He wore skinny jeans and tight shirt, clearly flexing the muscles he had since he was 16. Mark no longer donned his golden circular glasses, but instead found himself poking his eyes with contact lenses. To be honest, those weren't even the things that shocked Donghyuck the most. It was when one of the girls on the table (a nice one Donghyuck had spoken to once but never again after finding out how she had had over 50 boyfriends) leaned forwards to playfully plant a kiss on Mark's cheek, Minhyung would've pushed her away and told her about how he didn't like his personal space being invaded (since he did that with Donghyuck way too many times). But Mark didn't. Instead he hummed and moved forwards to accept the sloppy kiss that included some lipstick being stained on his pale skin.
So maybe Donghyuck's heart shattered at the scene. His former best friend was blending in with the crowd so perfectly that it hurt him more than he expected it to. As his eyes began to sting, he froze in his spot when he locked them with the so-called new heart-throb. A small laugh escaped Mark's mouth, before he shot a wave with his tiny hands in Donghyuck's direction and then turned back to his friends and laughed hysterically, whilst throwing his head back revealing his neck and bouncing his freshly dyed hair, at one of the jokes someone made.
The tears that had formed in Donghyuck's eyes might've poured out the second they broke eye contact, if it wasn't for Jaemin, who grabbed his face and shook it furiously, poking his fingers into Donghyuck's eyes in attempt to stop then from leaking.
"Lee Donghyuck," He said sternly, giving him a disapproving look, "You are not going to cry over a boy, especially since you laughed at me and called me an idiot when I did that."
He didn't mean to laugh and call Jaemin an idiot when he found him crying his heart out, with his hair sticking out because if sweat and his limbs tangled in his sheets. It was more like a reflex to avoid any heart to heart talks, as he was terrible at those however, ended up having one of those with him in the end (and his few words of encouragement such as "don't be a wimp and just tell him" actually worked out). Donghyuck didn't know what to say to comfort his best friend as he sulked over the fact that he had lost Jeno's cat (which was actually a stray he found in the streets), and now he wouldn't be able to face Jeno ever again. Obviously, when Jeno found out, he immediately forgave him, because Jaemin was more important to him than some cat he found on the roads, even if the cat had found a special corner in his heart during the five days he had known it.
But after that incident, Donghyuck had been teased for being heartless as he laughed at Jaemin whilst he was at his worst, so when they saw him on the verge of tears because of their former best friend who most probably forgot the memories he had made with them over the past years, it was scary, understandable, but more importantly painful to watch.
Donghyuck's lips tugged into a smile and he couldn't hold himself back from laughing. The others on the table, who were a little afraid of speaking and somehow making Donghyuck sadder than he was already, also began to laugh.
A few seconds passed, everyone stopped laughing, except for Donghyuck, who was now clutching onto his stomach and laughing.
"It wasn't...that funny." Jaemin muttered, staring at Donghyuck with confusion, earning a hum or agreement from the others.
The tears that were in Donghyuck's eyes fell, and his face turned redder than before. His laughing slowly changed into painful coughs and he jumped out his seat, gasping for air. Leaving the rest of the group oblivious as to what was going on, he dashed towards the bathrooms, scared that he already knew what was happening to him.
Hanahaki.
Donghyuck burst into the toilets, hurrying into the first stall and thanking the fact that he saw no one else there. After managing to lock the door behind him, Donghyuck turned around to lean against the cold door, before coughing aggressively again. The clogging feeling he had in his throat worsened by the second, and he felt something at the back of his mouth.
With one last cough, Donghyuck bent forwards and threw up a single petal. The delicate red petal gently flew down swaying left and right majestically before landing on the dirty toilet floor. Seconds afterwards, Donghyuck dropped to the same ground, doubling over and throwing up a handful more before coming to a stop, panting to catch his breath, yet the horribly agonizing feeling in his chest remained.
Another tear escaped Donghyuck's eyes and he silently sobbed in the isolated toilet stall. His cries couldn't be heard by anyone, and even if they were no one would help him anyways. Donghyuck glanced back down at the crimson coloured floral leaf, disgust filling his body and he knew exactly what this meant.
Hanahaki disease.
He was in love with someone and they didn't love him back. He was stuck in a stupid and foolish unrequited love that he knew wasn't going to get a happy ending like the ones people get in stories.
But that wasn't even the worst part of it all.
That someone that he was in love with was no other than Mark fucking Lee, or specifically the Minhyung in this Mark.
And Mark did not love Donghyuck.
And he never would.