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donghyuck remembered losing his footing and falling straight on his ankle. the hard ground of his dorm room did nothing but harm, failing to cushion the impact of his fall.
at first, he thought he just twisted his ankle because of that failed jump, but when the pain started kicking in, he knew it was something more.
mark, who was there at that time, was laughing heartily at the other boy but when hyuck’s little giggles turned into choked sobs, he started to panic.
hence, he ended up calling their advisor and minutes later, hyuck ended up on a stretcher and was carried off into the ambulance. mark had an apologetic look on his face, probably feeling guilty for laughing at the younger earlier.
though when he caught a glimpse of donghyuck’s mischievous grin, he knew that the boy will be okay. hopefully.
everyone got back to their sectionals after their short lunch break and the whole accident with donghyuck.
mark was instructed to return hyuck’s trumpet back to its casing by the teacher, and when he opened the empty casket owned by donghyuck, he couldn’t keep the smile from creeping to his face.
he knew donghyuck kept pictures and polaroids of them inside the casing of his trumpet, yet, seeing them again after a millionth time never failed to bring a soft smile to his face.
god, he hoped donghyuck was okay.
hours passed by and after his training finished, mark asked for permission from their advisor to go visit hyuck.
maybe he had been too disturbed from what happened earlier so their advisor gave him a day off until tomorrow, which is a rare case, considering how strict he is with the students.
but perhaps he could sense the obvious worry of mark or how one could almost see a black cloud hovering over the poor boy's head. mark's relationship with hyuck was never a secret from their bandmates or their instructor. they were all cool, as long as they’re practicing for that wind orchestra competition and not making out somewhere.
although that was highly unlikely because mark played the flute while hyuck played the trumpet. so, different sections, different ensemble, nowhere near each other.
the only time they had for themselves was after the practice, and in their shared dorm room. since it was a school break, the band members were encouraged (forced) to stay at school for practice. it was getting more insane lately, it seemed like the only thing they did was practice.
that's why mark came up with a little game that led hyuck to his accident. he challenged hyuck to jump from his bed to mark's own, emphasising on doing a black flip for added points.
hyuck, being the one who never backed down from a thrill, agreed to do just that. except it didn’t go as planned and now he was stuck in the hospital with a busted foot.
when mark entered the room occupied by lee donghyuck, the sight in front of him made him feel guiltier. donghyuck’s left foot was stuck in a cast and lying lifelessly on the mattress of the hospital bed.
"hey, they said that i can check out soon, they just need to make sure i'm okay.” donghyuck, who saw the familiar face of his boyfriend began to speak, but later noticed the grim expression plastered on mark’s face.
he knew right away why he was acting quite aloof, of course. so, he sat up properly on his bed, heaving a light sigh.
"mark, it’s not your fault, baby.” his voice was so soft, luring mark closer and closer until he was right next to the bed, standing by hyuck’s side.
donghyuck’s voice never failed to make mark's heart beat a little faster but all he feels right now was overwhelming guilt. he had his head hung low, but he wasted no time in cradling donghyuck’s frame into his embrace.
his arms wrapped around the other boy’s waist tightly, face already buried in the crook of donghyuck’s neck.
"but if I didn’t suggest that stupid game, you wouldn’t be here right now.” was all mark said to the boy, earning some light pats on his head by donghyuck.
"silly, things happened, it’s not like i'm not at fault too. i agreed to play along, right?” donghyuck replied, already pulling away from the hug to look at mark properly.
his hands went to cup mark's face, thumbs gently hovering over his boyfriend’s cheekbones. “i'm doing fine here, okay?” he reassured and mark nodded, although still quite uncertain.
few moments of them just staring into each others eyes and exchanging smiles, mark finally accepted that this was irreversible. their eye contact was broken when mark shifted his attention to hyuck’s busted ankle.
“ugh, that must’ve hurt so bad.” he muttered, earning a huff from the boy on the bed. he noticed how clean and white the cast was, until an idea came to his mind.
the idea made him smile even bigger when he noticed a permanent marker pen placed on the side table among many other random stationery in a basket.
“what are you thinking, dumb?” hyuck noticed the stupid grin on his boyfriend’s face yet didn’t manage to figure out what’s about to happen.
"oh, you’ll see.” mark answered shortly, zooming towards the marker pen and popped the cap open to see if it’s useable or not. to his delight, it was a new one.
when donghyuck saw this, he already knew what’s going to happen. “i swear to god if you draw stupid things, i'm not gonna give you kisses for a month.”
hyuck concluded, earning a naughty chuckle from the other. “a month? you won’t even last for more than two days.” mark was right because hyuck was already pouting at this point, further proving his point valid.
the older of the two noticed this and leaned closer to his partner, leaving a quick peck on his lips, which later earned a hearty giggle from the other.
and so, mark began his quest. he took a nearby chair and sat down, trying to figure out what to write on that white surface of donghyuck’s cast.
he began with doodling small hearts, of which were scattered across the whole thing, only leaving the middle section free from them. he knew the thing he was about to write was very dumb, but that surely didn’t stop him.
he wrote ‘YOU SUCK’ in big capital letters, right in the middle. but he didn’t forget to include a really small and unnoticeable ‘but mark loves you though’ right below it.
it was cheesy, he knew.
hyuck didn’t notice the second part of the message at first so he was enraged. when he did, he cooed and awed at his boyfriend, tugging him closer by the arm to steal a small peck from his lips.
“i love you too, baby.” hyuck confessed and mark swore his heart missed a beat.
he flashed a broad smile to his lover, whispering a soft ‘i love you more’ before claiming hyuck’s tiers again in a sweet kiss.