“Hey, aren’t you a third year? What are you doing here−”

The doors to the fourth year classroom are flung open and thirty-something heads whip up from their previous discussions to glance in the direction of the intruder. Lee Donghyuck visibly flushes at the attention, the prior confidence that he had tried so hard to muster seemed to dissipate and he felt close to a nervous breakdown. He tilts his head up as he awkwardly scans the room, eyes watering.

Everyone was staring at him, but he couldn’t recognize a single face.

Embarrassment etches itself onto his face and Donghyuck thinks about booking it out of there, but he knows Renjun and Jaemin (who had dragged his tsundere to the classroom and were standing guard outside right now) would throw him back in if he didn’t do what he came to do.

God, will it kill you to just confess??? You’ve been pining after this loser for three years, can you please just confess and let him reject you so you can move on?! Even Renjun has had enough of your fanboying… and it’s Renjun we’re talking about here, he’s so patient! You’re gonna lose all your friends at this rate if you let this infatuation take over your sanity! LEE DONGHYUCK DO YOU HEAR ME-

“MARK LEE, I LIKE YOU SO MUCH!”

The confession echoes throughout the hallways of the high school. Renjun bursts out in laughter and holds his hand out as Jaemin reluctantly presses a twenty in his palm.

“Ugh, not fair,” Jaemin whines. “How did you know that ultimate tsundere was finally going to man up?”

Renjun smiles, tiger teeth poking out in a way that made him seem more innocent than he was. “Well, I am the smart one of the group.”

Inside the classroom, Donghyuck feels his soul leaving his body. He quickly turns around to bolt out of the room before his crush could respond, only to be blocked by a super quick Meng Meiqi.

“Sorry Donghyuck, I can’t let you leave just yet,” the petite blonde explains shyly. Oh my god, I ship you two so hard! Her inner fangirl threatens to unleash herself, but Meiqi pushes her down. “Besides… I think Mark’s napping right now.”

Everyone is now staring at a boy in the back corner who was sleeping on his folded arms. A surge of anger courses through Donghyuck’s veins as he stomps his way towards Mark’s desk, pushing up his shirt sleeves in the process.

“Did you hear me just now?” Donghyuck demands in a wobbly voice, a look of utter humiliation on his face.

There’s a moment of awkward silence so long that that one could hear a pindrop.

Finally, the apparently sleeping boy lifts his head up from his arms. Mark Lee rubs the back of his neck as he blushes lightly, raising his eyes to meet Donghyuck’s shaking pupils.

“Um… yeah Donghyuck, I heard you.”

Meiqi squeals internally while Donghyuck screams.

“YOU IDIOT! WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO LISTEN TO ME?!?! WHY ARE YOUR EARS SO OBNOXIOUS? DID I SAY I I LIKE YOU?! HA-HA WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD LIKE YOU, CLEARLY NOT ME-”

Mark leans down to pick up an envelope that had dropped out of Donghyuck’s pocket as an oblivious Donghyuck continued his full-body rant about how much he did not like Mark Lee. On the pale blue envelope in a familiar messy scrawl, were the words ‘TO: MARK’.

Mark peels off the sticker and opens the envelope, pulling out the letter and glancing through the contents. The more he read, the redder his face got, until it turned into a red that rivalled Donghyuck’s. Suddenly, Donghyuck seemed to realize what Mark was doing. With a shriek, he ripped the letter out of Mark’s hands and proceeded to shred it into a million tiny pieces.

“Donghyuck…”

“Shut up Mark Lee, don’t you even start! That’s not a love letter! I’d never write you a love letter!” Donghyuck’s voice starts breaking as tears well up in his eyes. “W-why do you think I would write you, the idiot Mark Lee a-a…”

Before the boy could burst out in tears, Mark grabs his arm and drags him out of the classroom. His pace is so fast that even Renjun and Jaemin are startled as the two race down the hall.

Mark doesn’t let go of Donghyuck’s wrist until they’re on the rooftop. After he gingerly lets go, he turns back around to look at Donghyuck but the younger holds his wrists in front of his face, attempting to shield himself from view.

“Don’t look at me…” Donghyuck sniffs, fresh tear tracks glistening down his tanned cheeks.

“Donghyuck…” Mark says softly, closing his hands around Donghyuck’s wrists but the younger shakes his head furiously.

“Donghyuckie is always a crybaby, huh?” Mark smiles, and Donghyuck shakes his head angrily but can’t stop hiccupping.

His breath is almost knocked out of him when an arm circles around his waist and pulls him forward into a strong chest. Another hand tangles into his hair, and Donghyuck chokes, sobbing openly into Mark’s shirt and thoroughly wetting the fabric.

“I’m so happy right now, Donghyuckie. Because I’ve liked you too… so, so much.”