Chapter Text
Mark spins the basketball in his left hand, he wants to play, but the others don’t, so he just sits, spins the ball and listens to them. The sky is clear and the weather is nice, there is no reason for them to not play in Mark’s opinion. He isn’t failing chemistry, so the conversation doesn’t strike him, all he cares about is how he’ll get them to play basketball with him.
“Are you listening, dumbass?” Jaemin asks, sitting in front of Mark, widening his eyes, trying to look scary. His shirts first two buttons are unbuttoned, revealing a part of his chest. There is a group of girls behind Mark, sitting under a tree and eyeing them, mostly Jaemin. Mark finds that disturbing most of the time, because whenever Jaemin is near him, he can spot the girls hiding somewhere, he knows that they’ll never be truly alone together. Jaemin doesn’t make things easier, he winks at the girls sometimes and the girls smile at him and giggle, but they don’t have the courage to make any move, even if they do, it will end up with a heartbreak. When Jaemin asks, the girls start speaking, whispering to each other and Mark turns around, sends them an angry look, but the girls don’t seem to care.
He turns back to Jaemin and looks at him. “Yes, I am, and it’s not my problem that you guys don’t study.” He responds, turns the ball on his finger but Jaemin grabs it mid-turn.
“Why don’t you help us study then? Whenever I call you, you’re either playing your old ass guitar or playing video games, I’ve never ever seen you study.”
“I do!” he argues. “How else can you explain how I got 90 out of 100?”
“You are the luckiest guy I’ve ever met, that’s how you got it. It still amazes me how you perfectly predicted Sungchan’s movements at the last basketball match.” Jeno says.
“That’s not luck, that’s talent.” Mark whines, but knows that it’s neither of them. He recalls the match, or matches, to be more accurate. Sungchan kept scoring and Mark couldn’t stop him, which naturally led to a defeat, but he’s avid, doesn’t like losing, so he just rewound. He went back to the start, still let Sungchan’s team win but memorized most of his movements, how he acted. He rested for a bit after the match ended, then rewound again, flawlessly blocked his attacks and kept passing the ball to Jeno, the team captain and power forward, and they won thanks to the them. It was just a practice match, but Mark took it seriously, he always does. Time travelling is still really new for him, but he does all he can to make the best out of it, especially about basketball.
“No one, and I mean it, no one can read someone that perfectly. Not to demoralize you but you weren’t like that before, at all.”
“I improved.”
“Sure, Mark. I’ll see how you do in the next game.” Jeno laughs.
Renjun sighs and all three pairs of eyes turn at him, he smiles as a sign of victory, getting the attention he wanted. “Can we go back to chemistry now? Miss Yang can’t teach shit and I need to pass this class.”
“How about Mark tutors me after practice and Donghyuck tutors both of you after school? Donghyuck got 95 out of 100, that’s even more impressive.” Jeno suggests to Renjun and Jaemin, not asking if Donghyuck and Mark have anything else to do.
“I have practice too, you know.” Jaemin barks as Jeno gets the reaction he wants.
“Sorry, I have no respect for football players.”
“Oh really? Everyone except you has, I don’t see any girls or boys drooling over you, right? Also, I know for sure that-”
“I think that’s a pretty solid plan.” Renjun says, ending the bickering between Jeno and Jaemin. “You okay with that, Donghyuck?”
“Yeah, sure.” he answers. “I can’t come on Thursdays though, as you know.”
“I can’t believe that you’re still not bored of it. How can a fucking cooking club be fun?” Jaemin sneers.
Renjun nods in agreement and Donghyuck sends him a glare, then turns to Jaemin. “You kick a ball around all day, you have no right to decide what’s fun and what’s not.”
“He’s right.” Mark and Jeno say in unison and high five afterwards.
“Now all of you are trying to humiliate me and my passion, how lowly of you. I don’t just kick-“
“Yeah, shut up.” Renjun says. “Are you okay with the tutoring thing, Mark?”
Mark panics as he remembers the exam, or exams. He doesn’t know even a little about chemistry. “Uhm, I’m not much of a teacher.” He replies. “I doubt I can teach you anything, I’ll do more harm than good.”
Jaemin rolls his eyes. “Shut the fuck up, you got 90. How can you not teach?”
“I don’t know man.” He says. “I’ll do it, but don’t expect too much.”
“Thanks a lot.” Jeno smiles.
Mark grabs the ball back from Jaemin. “No problem. Can we play basketball now? We have fifteen minutes until lunch break is over.”
Jaemin plays unwillingly, Renjun and Donghyuck keep getting hit by the ball, Jeno plays relaxed, but Mark plays like how he plays in a match, no mercy. Everyone gets bored at the end because Mark is too competitive and ruins the game, so they just let him score as much as he wants. When the bell rings, Mark smiles and looks at the others, the face of victory. The others don’t even bother to put up a fake smile as all of them are tired. Everybody leaves, except Donghyuck, because they don’t want to hear Mark’s babbling about how well he played. Donghyuck’s and his eyes meet as Donghyuck walks towards him, lips parted, breathing heavily, the front of his hair wet from sweating, Mark thinks that this is the most attractive he’s ever been.
“Can we hang out after school? Just the two of us?” Donghyuck asks as soon as he comes over.
“Yeah, sure. Did something happen?” Mark says. Handful of students pass near them, making it difficult to hear.
“Does something have to happen in order for me to hang out with my best friend?”
“No, but your tone was weird, kinda.”
“It wasn’t.” Donghyuck says and puts his arm on Mark’s shoulder as they move towards the school building.
Mark feels something fishy as they walk to the pizza place they decided to go to. It was hard to get rid of Jaemin but Mark thinks that it would’ve been better with him, he could’ve stopped the awkward silence, at least. The reason why Mark suspects that something’s going on, is not because Donghyuck wanted to hang out alone with him, they frequently do that, but because he doesn’t say a word and looks very nervous, his shoulders are high, his walk is stiff, and he keeps rubbing his hands on his pants, wiping the sweat. Donghyuck is the last person out of the group to get anxious according to Mark, he has an easy-going and relaxed personality, he thinks that he must’ve done something really wrong in order for him to act like this.
“What’s up with you? You look like you are gonna faint any minute.” Mark asks.
Donghyuck doesn’t even turn his head to look at him. “I’m fine. Just nervous about tutoring Jaemin and Renjun, you know how stupid they can be.”
“I’m actually really nervous about that too. Jeno is really nice, I’m sure he won’t give me a hard time, but the problem is, I don’t know shit.”
“You got 90. It’s impossible for you to not know anything about chemistry, unless you cheated, which is really unlikely.”
“Well, I might have cheated a bit…” Mark confesses.
“How the fuck did you cheat? Miss Min was literally breathing on my neck while I was taking my exam.”
“Talent, I guess.”
“No fucking way.” Donghyuck laughs. “So every little thing you do is talent?”
“Not my fault that I was created perfect.” Mark giggles. “Wow, I sounded like you.”
“I don’t say cheesy stuff like that.” Donghyuck says as he hits Mark’s arm.
“Uh, yes you do. Wow, I can’t believe how I got a perfect score on maths, I must be the new Jesus! Look at the way my hair shines, do you guys ever feel jealous? That rhymed, by the way, Jesus, jealous.” Mark mimics Donghyuck. “Hey, stop hitting me!”
When they arrive at the pizza place there are already a few students who must have walked faster than them, Donghyuck sits on the table that’s the furthest from them. The place smells like sour dough and is poorly decorated, but the best for students because the prices are moderately low. They order a large mushroom pizza and sprite, as the awkward silence continues between them. Donghyuck taps on the wooden table, making a beat, Mark feels like he knows it but quite can’t make up the name.
“What song is that?” Mark asks, pointing at Donghyuck’s finger.
“Raspberry Beret. Do you know it? It was on the playlist I sent to you.”
“Of course. I listen to everything you send.” Mark says with a smile, Donghyuck can’t help but smile too.
“Renjun and Jeno never do. I’m not even talking about Jaemin. He doesn’t read my messages at all.”
“He doesn’t read mine either. Being an ass is the most important trait for him.”
“Yeah, right.” Donghyuck says. Mark notices that he is making the same rhythm with his feet too. “Totally random, but I can see that you and Yewon are pretty close these days.” He gulps. “Do you like her or something?”
Oh, this is what was troubling him, he thinks. “I don’t, we just get along really well.” Mark answers. “I don’t like anyone, for now. Last year fucked me up.”
“Hyemin? She was a bitch.”
“Don’t call her that. We ended on good terms.”
“Yeah, sure, but I have to remind you that she was the one that spread rumors about you being a drug addict. I wouldn’t call that ‘good terms’.”
“She never confessed or anything, how can you be so sure?” Mark says, annoyed.
Donghyuck stops the rhythm and starts cracking his knuckles, someone else would’ve found him intimidating judging by his facial expression, but Mark finds it funny. “Who else would do that? Everyone in the school loves you.”
“I doubt that. Sungchan is planning on killing me.”
“That is because you keep taunting him. I talk to him sometimes, he’s a really nice guy.”
“You talk with the enemy?” Mark hisses. “You are betraying me too? First Jeno, now you. What do you find in him?”
“Stop being a baby.” Donghyuck says. “Also, you’ve got to stop taking every fucking thing seriously. That’s probably why you and Sungchan don’t get along too, you are too competitive, he’s your teammate for fuck’s sake! Just because he plays better than you doesn’t mean that you should rag him.”
“You think he plays better than me?”
“Well, I’m not a basketball expert, I’m just saying what you think is true, you are the one that thinks that.”
“No, he’s the worst player in the team.”
“Sure, hyung.” Donghyuck murmurs as he tilts his head in annoyance, trying not to get angrier.
“Is this why you wanted to hang out? To humiliate me?” Mark raises his voice, and he forgets that Donghyuck can raise his even higher.
“Nobody is humiliating you, since when did you become this oversensitive?” He partially shouts, Mark knits his brows as the sound pierces his ears. The other students and the old lady sitting in front of the kitchen door watch them as things get heated even more.
“I’m not oversensitive, you can’t call me that after talking bullshit, it’s my right to get angry.” Mark says, his face becomes red.
“Just shut up, I just wanted to talk about something, unburden myself, and now you ruined it. Let’s just eat and leave.” Donghyuck says as the waiter approaches them. The pizza smells awful to Donghyuck. “I hate pizza, why did we even come here?”
The waiter doesn’t say anything but looks offended. “I didn’t ruin anything, you did.” Mark says, Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “Wait, what were you going to talk about?”
“Nothing, just eat your food. It tastes like shit, though.”
“No, tell me. I’m curious.”
“You fucked up the mood.” Donghyuck says, taking a bite.
“Okay, I’m sorry, will you say it if I apologize? You know I won’t be able to sleep without knowing.”
“No.”
Mark’s curiosity rises as Donghyuck’s denial continues. “Come on, tell me.”
“No.”
“Please?”
“Oh my god, just eat your food.”
"Donghyuck, please." he begs, “You can't just throw the bait and expect me to not catch it."
"I'll tell you when I'm not angry at you."
"You are always angry at me!"
"Yeah, that's the point. Suffer."
He abruptly rises from his chair, looks at Donghyuck with an angry face. “Okay, sure, you begged for this. You eat, I’ll be back.” Mark says, rushing to the bathroom. Donghyuck doesn’t understand why he rushed out like that, but doesn’t question it in order to not get angrier. Mark goes to the bathroom, it’s empty, just like he wants. It smells awful and the light is dim, he can't help but mop his face. He closes his eyes, sits on the wet, dirty floor that's surrounded by footprints. “Go back to when we first sat at the pizza place. Go back.” He whispers, thinking of that moment, when they first sat. Someone opens the door but closes it as soon as he sees Mark on the bathroom floor. Mark doesn’t even flinch from the sound of the door, doesn’t even bother to open his eyes. He repeats this over and over again and opens his eyes when he feels nauseous and the unbearable smell disappears. He finds Donghyuck sitting in front of him, still tapping on the table, to Raspberry Beret. They stare at each other, Donghyuck looks confused, Mark does too.
“I think you have something to tell me.” Mark says, no patience. “Also, can we get pepperoni pizza instead? I’ve heard that the mushroom pizza is not that good.”
Donghyuck looks irritated. “What?”
“I don’t know, I just feel it. I’ve known you for a while, so…”
“Haha, no shit." Donghyuck fake-laughs "I actually do have something, but I really don't feel like saying it right now.”
Mark’s heart starts beating faster. “Are you into Sungchan?” He interrupts Donghyuck as soon as he opens his mouth. “Wait. Are you dating him?”
“No, what the fuck?” Donghyuck says. “What made you think that?”
“Nothing. Just a guess.”
“We only talked for a little, that doesn't mean I'm in love with him or anything.” Donghyuck says with a quiet and fragile voice. “Actually, there is someone else I’m into.” He whispers after a few seconds of silence.
Oh no, Mark thinks.“Don’t tell me that it’s someone among us.”
“Well…”
“It’s Jaemin, right? This is a nightmare.” Mark says as he puts his head on his hands.
“No, it’s-“
“No, wait… Jeno? You come to practice to watch him. Woah, I should’ve guessed this. He's better than Jaemin at least.”
“Mark, just shut-“
“Renjun? No way. I think Renjun is into someone-”
“Can you shut the fuck up for a second?” Donghyuck snaps as every head turns to them. “All of your guesses are wrong.”
Mark becomes astonished.
“I’ve liked you for about two years now. I had no intention of telling you, but realized that if I keep this to myself, I’ll suffer more.” Donghyuck whispers, but people are still looking at them, trying to hear what they are saying. The old lady sitting in front of the kitchen floor quietly calls for someone. Mark is speechless, trying to grasp what’s happening. He thought that he’d gossip, or maybe he’d tell him that he was also a time traveler, but he was wrong. Mark sits there, petrified, mouth slightly open. “I go to practice to watch you, not Jeno. I think everybody knew except you. I tried to make it so obvious, too obvious. I don’t think a normal friend randomly kisses his friend on the neck, or tries to hold hands in every occasion, or sends them a playlist full of love songs every night. I hoped that I’d make you fall in love with me, but I guess I was wrong, judging by your expression.”
“I can’t believe this." He says, his voice cracks as if he's on the verge of crying. "We’re best friends, this is wrong. I mean, we've been together the whole time, as friends I mean, and you're telling me you love me, it's crazy. I just can't-”
"What's wrong with me liking someone?"
"It's not just someone, it's me! You know everything about me, every little thing, so I thought you'd be kind of disgusted by me. We've been friends for so long that I thought that a romantic relationship or any romantic feelings were impossible between us. I'm sorry Donghyuck, I don't feel the same, it's just... Wrong."
“You think so? Alright.” Donghyuck says as he stands up. “This is embarrassing, so I’ll leave.”
Mark watches Donghyuck walk out of the door, every eye still on them. As soon as he leaves, he runs to the bathroom, sits on the floor, closes his eyes again. His mouth is dry, his eyes the opposite, he feels like everything is collapsing. This can't be real, I refuse to believe this, he thinks. “Go back to the basketball game, where he said he wanted to hang out. Go back, please, go back.” He whispers. He feels nauseous, the disgusting smell disappears again, and he opens his eyes, finding the same sweaty Donghyuck in front of him, walking towards him. Mark looks puzzled, and he sees that Donghyuck does too. He probably noticed something's wrong, he guesses. He shivers as Donghyuck gets closer, he thinks of what to say.
“Can we hang out after school? Just the two of us?” Donghyuck asks as soon as he comes over. "Are you okay, by the way? You look like you are gonna faint any minute."
Mark gulps. “Actually, I promised my brother that I’d hang out with him today. Sorry.” He says, his voice shaking.
“Really? It’s alright. How about Friday?”
“I have basketball practice.”
“We can go after practice, I watch you guys anyways.”
Just shut up, Mark shouts at Donghyuck in his head. “I'm busy after that too, sorry. Tutoring and stuff."
"Alright then." Donghyuck says. "We'll hang out some other time."
"Yeah, okay."
After school, Mark heads straight home, throws his backpack harshly on the floor as soon as he comes home. The house smells like oil and dough, fried dumplings to be more exact. His mother doesn't hear him and this relieves Mark because if she did, he would get scolded for at least ten minutes. He quietly goes to his room, closes the door and throws himself on the bed, like he did to his backpack, harshly. He buries his face on the pillow. The smell of the freshly washed sheet makes his head ache. He thinks of what to do, how to talk to Donghyuck. I have to turn everything back to normal, this is wrong, very wrong, he thinks. His whole body aches from the sequential time jumps, he's still not used to it. He knows that he can't jump back two years, jumping even two days is torture for him. I have to change his feelings somehow, he thinks. The last thing he wants is to lose his best friend.