Work Text:
Donghyuck really hated technology.
He hated it with a burning passion, because technology sucked ass when it didn’t work.
He had an online exam due in literally an hour and his laptop is not working, at all. He tried practically everything in the books; he restarted his laptop, he moved locations to get a better wifi signal, he switched devices. He probably shouldn’t have waited until the last minute to do this damn exam, but Jaemin dragged him into a round of Mario Kart and there was no way he was going to back down from a challenge like that.
Now, he was stressed the fuck out and on the phone with the campus IT.
“NeoTech, how can I help you today?” The person on the other line answered, Donghyuck’s mind goes completely blank for a split second, because what the actual fuck? This IT dude had a super velvety voice, like extra smooth. Extra smooth like creamy peanut butter smooth. ‘Uh, hello? You there?”
“Yeah, uh, hello,” He finally managed to stutter out. Donghyuck could feel his ears burning. Clearing his throat once, he said, “Yeah, I need help with my online exam.”
A laugh rang out on the other line as he said, “I don’t think I can give you the answers to your exam, especially if it’s anything math related, because I suck at it. I barely passed algebra with a C man.”
It took a lot of restraint for Donghyuck not to rip his hair out and curse the poor IT guy out, even if he sounded hot as fuck over the phone. His humor was really not appreciated at the moment. Not when he had an online exam to do and the clock was still ticking, now he had only fifty eight minutes left.
Instead, Donghyuck settled for a long sigh. “No. I can’t get the exam to load for me to take it. The university’s website is down or maybe it’s just my shitty laptop. I really don’t know, that’s why I’m calling.”
“Oh, haha, yeah. I can definitely help you with troubleshooting.”
“Yeah, that would be great, because I don’t have much time before this biochem exam is due.” Donghyuck stated as he began to bite on his nails, a terrible habit, but he was stressed.
“Gross, biochem, no thanks. So, what have you tried already?”
“I tried restarting my computer. That didn’t work. I tried switching devices too.”
“Then is your wifi okay?”
Donghyuck was stunned yet again, only this time, it was over how ridiculous the question was. “Did you just ask me if my wifi was okay?”
“Yes. Is your wifi okay? Dumb question, I know, but you have no idea how many students contact us for IT help and it’s because they’re not fucking connected to the wifi. So, is your wifi okay?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Donghyuck tried to calm down by breathing in a deep breath. He could literally feel his blood pressure spiking right now. “Yes, my fucking wifi is okay, dude.”
“Okay, okay, cool. Is there an error message that pops up when you try to login into the university site or no?”
“No error message. The page is just blank like it wants to load but it’s not loading.”
“Um… are you sure your wifi is okay?”
Donghyuck wanted to scream so bad, because if this IT guy asked him the same question one more time, he was going to lose it. He really did not have the time of day for that kind of bullshit. The biochemistry exam that wouldn’t load was worth like a huge chunk of his grade for the semester. He could not afford to miss it.
“For the last fucking time, my wifi is okay! I have all four bars and my laptop is connected.”
“Okay, no need to freak out. I trust that your wifi is okay. There’s like no one here right now, so just bring in your laptop and your biochem notes, I’ll see what I can do. I gotchu man. We’ll pass this biochem exam.”
.
He probably looked like a madman running across campus to NeoTech at the student pavilion, but he had a fucking online exam to complete. Donghyuck swore that if this IT guy didn’t know what he was doing, he was going to be out for blood, no matter how potentially cute he could be.
He was completely out of breath as he pushed through the double door to the IT room, and as the guy had mentioned, there wasn’t a single soul in the room. Thanking his lucky stars that he didn't have to wait for his turn to get his laptop fixed, he walked towards the IT counter.
As he approached the center of the room, a guy dressed in a green hoodie popped out from behind the counter, golden frames slipping down the bridge of his nose as he waved at Donghyuck. The first thing that ran through Donghyuck’s mind was that this guy was cute, like extremely cute. Okay, maybe he was borderline hot too, but whatever. He was a guy that definitely matched his extra velvety voice that Donghyuck had heard over the phone.
Lips curling up into a wide smile, the guy said, “Let me guess, you’re my is my wifi okay cutie.”
At the sudden mention of the nickname, Donghyuck nearly tripped over his own two feet as he made his way over. Cheeks blazing hot, he tried to steady his racing heart, but as the guy laughed at his little mishap, his heart simply raced even faster. When he finally made it to the counter, Donghyuck pushed his laptop towards him, way beyond embarrassed.
“Uh, yeah, that’s me…”
“Dang, you ran over here pretty fast man. That biochem exam must be worth a shit ton of points.” Donghyuck nodded and as he did so, he noticed the white name tag on the IT guy’s hoodie, it read Mark.
“Yeah, Mark, so if you could fix it asap, that would be great.”
When he looked up from the white name tag, Mark was still smiling, eyes twinkling ever so brightly. Mark opened up Donghyuck’s laptop and powered it on, “Don’t worry. I gotchu man.”
And then he winked at him.
Mark, the IT guy, fucking winked at him.
Donghyuck was sure that his jaw dropped to the floor. He was absolutely flabbergasted.
Mark laughed out loud again at his expression. Then reaching behind the counter, he pulled a laptop out and pushed it towards Donghyuck. “Sorry to break it to you, but I don’t think that I’ll be able to fix your laptop in time for you to take your exam. So, you can just use mine while I check out what’s wrong with yours. You brought your biochem notes too, right?”
He felt like his entire body was on fire and it was all because of Mark the IT guy, who was wearing a super cute green hoodie and equally cute glasses.
When Mark noticed that he hadn’t taken up on Mark’s offer to use his own laptop to take his exam, he stopped whatever he was doing with Donghyuck’s laptop, saying, “Uh, I know that I’m probably cute and all, but don’t you have an exam to take?”
Donghyuck tried to say something witty in return, but all he did was sputter out some incoherent sounds that sounded pretty close to a dying whale. By this point, he was so embarrassed that he really wished that he could just fall back and have the ground swallow him whole. He was making a fool of himself in front of a really cute boy. Totally not cool, not cool at all.
Hastily opening Mark’s laptop and going to the university’s site, he tried to busy himself with organizing his biochemistry notes on clinical enzymology as he waited for the site to load. He had a feeling that his cheeks were bright red at the moment, but he really didn’t want to find out. He was so embarrassed , like there were no words to explain how embarrassed he was.
Mark sniffled back a chuckle and Donghyuck prayed to whatever God up above for Mark to return his attention back to his laptop and not on him. Donghyuck didn't think he could survive another second of Mark staring at him.
Then by some miracle, the university’s site finally loaded on Mark’s laptop and he soon found himself too occupied with his exam to worry about feeling embarrassed anymore.
.
Donghyuck submitted his online exam exactly two minutes before the deadline. He really shouldn’t procrastinate like this again, but he knew that his ass was going to pull a stunt like this again for sure. Leaning back in his seat, he cracked his fingers a couple of times, relieved that it was done and over with before collecting his notes back together. When he looked up from them, he was surprised to see Mark reclining back in his own chair, head bopping along to whatever was playing through his earbuds.
“Oh, is my laptop fixed?” He asked, reaching out to trade Mark’s laptop with his.
“Your laptop? Yeah, it’s fixed. Just a simple system issue, no big deal.” Mark told him as he yanked out his ear buds. Smiling, he added, “You should be good to go.”
“Oh, okay. Cool.”
“Yup.” Mark nodded, his wide smile still ever present on his lips.
Donghyuck opened his laptop and did a test run to make sure that his laptop truly was fixed because he didn’t think that his heart could handle another round of stress like that, where nothing was working right before an online exam again. Not that he hadn’t trusted Mark in the first place, but true to his words, his laptop was running smoothly, no glitches or blank screens.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Mark began to pack up his stuff and close the IT building down. Heart jumping to his throat, Donghyuck knew that what he was going to do was beyond crazy, but it was totally worth a shot. Finger moving fast across his trackpad, he disconnected from the university’s wifi and watched as his screen went back to the loading error like before.
Gnawing on his bottom lip, Donghyuck turned his laptop towards Mark, muttering, “Uh, I don’t think that my wifi is okay…”
Head snapping up from behind the counter, Mark stared back at him with wide eyes, his eyes looking even bigger behind his glasses. His brows knitted together, a look of confusion decorating his features, “What? Are you sure? I double checked it to make sure that it was good to go.”
Pointing at his blank, white screen, Donghyuck said, “Uh, yeah, it’s not okay.”
Mark rushed over to his side and immediately took a hold of his laptop, checking it out. He began opening up a series of windows and system items, searching for the problem. But before he got working on anything, he hovered the cursor over the wifi bar, and noticed how there was a line through it.
“Oh, you’re just not connected to the university’s wifi. That’s an easy fix—.” Mark began to say, a laugh bubbling out from his chest, but as he caught sight of Donghyuck’s burning cheeks, his lips parted open in realization. “Oh…”
Yes, Donghyuck’s wifi was not okay, but that was because Donghyuck purposely did it.
Throwing his head back in laughter, Mark shook his head as he leaned back onto the counter. “I see, how it is.”
Donghyuck said nothing in response as he averted his eyes down to his fingers, twirling them around nervously, cheeks burning once again.
“Okay, it’s late, but I don’t really mind.” Mark started off, voice filled to the brim with equal warmth and amusement. As he closed Donghyuck’s laptop and slid it back over to him, he said, “How about we grab something to eat and I’ll try to fix your laptop again.”
“Wait, what?”
Rolling his eyes, he urged Donghyuck to hurry up and pack his stuff up. Then with a wink, Mark said, “I’m asking you out on date, cutie.” Shouldering on his backpack, he asked, “So, is that a yes or no?”
“You don’t even know my name?” Donghyuck replied, shocked to the core because Mark really had asked him out on a date. He really didn't think that his plan was going to work.
“Yes, I do. You're my is wifi okay cutie.” Mark laughed.
“That is so not my name,” Donghyuck huffed out, crossing his arms against his chest as he did so, lips jutting out in a pout.
“Yeah, no. I like is my wifi okay better. It’s cute, just like you.”
Donghyuck practically choked and his cheeks burned hotter than the deepest part of hell. But hey, he landed a date with an extremely cute boy, so he guessed it was a win for him in the end.