Donghyuck ran downstairs in excitement only to have it got killed because of Wendy, aka Miss Perfect aka Miss Last Year Prettiest Freshman aka his neighbor, is getting into Mark's shiny car. She even stops halfway when she sees the broken-hearted freshman and waves. "Good morning Donghyuck!"

Before Donghyuck could say anything back, Mark took the words out of his mouth. "I'm gonna drive Wendy to school."

"Ok," Donghyuck answers, trying to hide the disappointment and the sadness that he felt inside. The freshman even tries to smile at the two of them as Mark closed the door to the passenger seat and walk over to the driver side. He paused for a moment to look at Donghyuck as if he was trying to apologize. All that the short freshman could think of is whatever, even though it really hurt his feeling. It not like my feeling should have any effect on him or anything. I'm sure I'm just another freshman he has to take care of because of the competition. 

As the car's wheels start to roll away, Donghyuck glares at the back of the car as if it's the one that promises to take him to school but instead drove the prettiest girl on campus instead. In the end, he decided to call up Chenle to pick him up. Chenle, being the best friend that he is, arrived in a timely manner and greeted me with a happy face but his smile disappears when Donghyuck gave him the fake smile the short male wore when the shorter male is sad. He's been Donghyuck's friend for almost their entire life so he would know what it means. The guy could read Donghyuck like an open book. 

To avoid the unavoidable conversation, Donghyuck put on his earphones but he didn't turn on any music. It's just a facade so Chenle won't say anything. When they got to Donghyuck's class building, the shorter freshman immediately jumps out of the car, says thanks to his best friend, and sprints away. However, the conversation was unavoidable so Donghyuck wasn't surprised when Chenle appeared outside his class around lunch time. Chenle dragged the shorter male to one of the benches outside of the cafeteria and the two of them sat there in silence. 

"What's wrong?" Chenle broke the loud silence. 

"Nothing..."

"I know it's something with that face. Tell me now!"

Honestly, Donghyuck doesn't know why he's not dating Chenle instead. He has been knowing the guy for a while. Even though he's a huge player, Chenle is pretty faithful and only mess around with one person at a time. It's because of the fact that they have known each other for so long. The two of them skipped the possibility of dating and went straight to being brothers. As the little brother, Donghyuck doesn't want to burden his big brother with his problem so he does the next best thing. "What are you doing for the talent show?"

"It's nothing..." Chenle shrugged as he put up his fist. "...Just some martial art. Girls love a macho manly man. I don't ask for much, just being popular with the girls is enough. As for you, get popular with the boys. We'll rule this school."

Chenle knows it's something serious if Donghyuck doesn't laugh at his joke or don't reply with some sarcastic comments. "Seriously, you're not nervous about the talent show, right? It's something else, isn't it?"

"I went home with Mark yesterday night," Donghyuck told him but he should already know that since Chenle was the one pushing him to do it. After a slight pause, Donghyuck continues talking. "He didn't send me to my room."

"You guys did the naughty in his car?" Chenle jumps to conclusion. "You're not limping though. Is he that small?"

"We went to have dinner," Donghyuck deadpanned.

"Ohhh..." The taller freshman smiles to himself. "...Wait, you guys did it afterward!"

"Do you want to hear the real story or not?"

"Damn exciting! You made some progress. At least, you have dinner with him. Spill every single detail now."

"He wanted to know what I'm doing for the talent show. I choose to play the piano and he said he would help me find a place to practice. The kicker is that I have to be his servant. He asked me to clean his room in the morning and I did. I even woke up early. Afterward, he said he'll give me a ride but he told me he will not wait for long. I rush to my dorm on the fifth floor to change. His dorm is on the third so he got downstairs quicker than me. I managed to only take a couple minutes but by the time I got to the lobby, I saw Miss Wendy getting into Mark's car. The jerk changed his mind and gave Wendy a ride to the campus instead. He just left me there..."

"I see... What a long story," Chenle's tone turned serious. "I get it. Of course, you don't get the right to ask anything of him but you have the right to be mad."

"You know, he gave me hope," Donghyuck's eyes got a bit watery. "But he's also the one that crushes it. How cruel is that?"

"Donghyuck, you have to differentiate between hope and disappointment," The taller freshman wraps his arm around his shorter best friend. "Look on the bright side, you got to spend some time with him."

"I'm just a servant but Wendy..."

"She's one the same playing field as you since she also likes Mark."

"But I'll lose."

"Buddy, this will not be the hardest thing in your life. No matter how it ends, you'll survive and come out stronger than before. Whatever that comes your way, just know you'll get through it and you'll have me. Come on, let's go practice for this damn competition and I'll buy you ice cream afterward."

Donghyuck got up from the benches but he was too slow so Chenle pulled him up forcefully. A little bit of Chenle's energy got into Donghyuck as the shorter male smiles a bit and follow his best friend to the training area. The training today is just walking a runaway. Apparently, the representatives of each department will walk like a model down a runaway to present themselves to the student public. Chenle has no problem with the walk, the pose, and the walk back. On the other hand, Donghyuck couldn't smile one bit and keep on making mistake, like bumping into people, even his partner, Yeri, noticed it. She exchanged a questioning look to Chenle but the guy only shook his head no to tell her not to say anything to Donghyuck. It's best for the shorter male to go through this sad phase so he could get better. The best Yeri can do is offer him a comforting smile and the best Chenle can offer him is a comforting hug. 

On the other side of the school, Jaemin, one of the three top medicine students, was eating by himself until his friend, Renjun, another top student of the medicine department, sat down across from him. Renjun was the first to speak to the sophomore with food stuffed in his mouth. "Where is Mark?"

Jaemin swallowed the sushi he bought made before answering. "Mark? He probably goes to the practice area."

"Why? It's far away and isn't he hungry?" Renjun starts digging into his soba noodle.

"If you don't know, I don't know."

"My mistake. Let me have some of that!"

Their "peaceful" lunchtime was interrupted when a pretty girl walked up to them. The pretty girl is none other than the infamous Wendy. She smiled politely at them. "Renjun, Jaemin, can I ask you guys something? It's ok if you're busy."

"Go ahead, Wendy," Renjun swiped a sushi off of Jaemin's plate and scooped over to make room for Wendy to sit down. "What's wrong?"

Wendy sat down and put her small silver bag on her lap. "Is Mark familiar with the freshman rep of the Science department? His name is Donghyuck."

The two males look at each other knowingly before Jaemin answer Wendy's question. "I think so because... we went to the same high school. He's just looking out for his junior."

"I see," Wendy replied. "I asked Mark to give me ride this morning because my car's wheels were flat. He did but he said nothing the whole ride. Mark kept on looking out the rear-view mirror when we were about to leave the dorm. I didn't know if he's mad or anything since the freshman showed up right before we leave. Donghyuck also looks kinda sad as well. Mark seems to really care about that freshman."

Renjun and Jaemin communicate with each other through their eyes again. Their silent conversation lasted for a few seconds before Renjun speaks up. "I think it's not like that. We just know Donghyuck from high school."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah," Jaemin jumps in. "The kid got lost a lot and he had this unlucky cloud following him everywhere so we're just looking out for him."

"Actually, you should talk to Mark about it," Renjun awkwardly told Wendy. "He took care of the kid a lot more than us during high school years. It's probably embedded into his instinct."

That was a lie and both Jaemin and Renjun knew it. The trio barely interacts with Donghyuck during high school, except a couple of time he accidentally bumps into Mark in the hallway. They just need to buy time for Mark and stop Wendy from asking any more awkward questions. Both of them know Mark is going through some personal thing so the last thing their friend need is Wendy's questions. 

Back at the training area, the freshmen are being released back to their personal schedule. A couple of the male reps invited Donghyuck and Chenle out to eat at a restaurant behind the school but Chenle declined for the both of them. He told a little lie that the two of them already got plans for the evening. The other male reps left but not after giving knowing a knowing look and some hidden chuckles. Just as the two friends about to leave, Chenle spotted Jeno, the sophomore of the engineering department, aka Chenle's senior aka second most popular male at the school aka Donghyuck's admirer, walking toward them.

Chenle elbows Donghyuck a bit to get his attention. "We're gonna have to take a rain check for that snack I promised. Last night, I was having a drink with Jeno and his friends and he asked me to help him get together with you. I know it's the last thing you need to worry about but I just want to give you a heads up. HI JENO HYUNG!"

Donghyuck didn't have time to process everything before Jeno appears in from of him, smiling like he's just seen an angel. "Hey guys, going out for lunch?"

"A little late for lunch, don't you think?" Chenle joked. "We were just getting some snacks."

"Y-Yes..." Donghyuck agrees awkwardly.

"Oh cool, mind if I tag along?" Jeno basically invited himself. 

"Oh wait, I can't hyung. Some of the guys asked me to hang out the restaurant behind the school earlier," Chenle suddenly said. Donghyuck snapped his head toward his friend but Chenle only communicates something back using his eyebrows. "I got to go now. Bye!"

"Ok," Jeno watched Chenle ran away before turning back to his target of affection. "Let's go, I'll pay."

Donghyuck grabbed his bag and followed the engineer sophomore out of the training area. They were about to turn a corner before Mark walks out from the corner, one of his hand is behind his back and a smile on his face. Both Jeno and Donghyuck were surprised to see Mark here because both knew that Mark is very academically involved. This means Mark takes a lot of classes so it's surprising to see him walking around like he's free. 

"What's up, Mark?" Jeno said casually. "The kids got released from the practice already so you didn't have to come."

"It's nothing," Mark answered. "Just passing by."

"Pretty far for a random walk," Jeno's words have a hidden meaning to them as if he's challenging Mark. "Your department is like 30 minutes away, isn't it?"

 Mark only smiles in response.

"Anyway, I'm gonna take Donghyuck out to eat, see ya," Jeno wraps his hand around Donghyuck's shoulder before walking the younger male away. 

Mark watched them walk away with disappointment and now, he's late for his next class. His friends, Renjun and Jaemin, also worry about him as well. The two of them are already in their seat and save him a seat. The question is whether or not Mark will make it before the devil teacher arrive. 

"Where the hell is Mark?" Renjun asked worriedly. "This is the devil teacher class."

"If you don't know, I don't know," Jaemin replied. "Hopefully he'll teleport himself here soon."

From far away, all the students hear the footsteps of the infamous devil teacher and immediately scramble to their seats. The door opens and the lady walks in, carrying a stern face and a red purse with some folders in them. "Good evening everyone, please take out your note as we will continue where we left off the other day with the respiratory system."

Before the devil teacher could say anything else, Mark ran in. He looks like he just ran a marathon but somehow his hair is fine. He saw the teacher and immediate bow apologetically. Everyone in the room, except the teacher, prepare themselves for the worse. Although almost all of them envy Mark, they do not want to be in his spot right now.

"Running out of oxygen in your respiratory system can cause sudden death,"  The devil teacher commented casually. "For instance, the infamous top medicine student arriving late to class. Any excuses?"

"I'm really sorry, Miss," Mark bowed again. "No excuses, ma'am."

"Let hope you won't be this late when a patient is waiting on a surgery table," She sighed and turned back to the class. "Let this be a lesson for all of you. You may sit down now. Please turn to the page with the diagram of the lungs, please."

Mark walks to his seat with his head down. Renjun pointed at the empty seat next to him and Mark quickly sat down. "Gonna tell us where you were?"

"No..."

"What's so important that makes you willing to be the devil teacher target?" Jaemin asked even though Renjun and he already know the answer. 

"He having lunch with Jeno," Mark answered shortly and stay quiet the whole class. Renjun and Jaemin look at each other and talk through their mind power again. Halfway through the class, Mark pulls out his phone to text his brother, asking him to find a good place to practice piano.

It wasn't until later that day that Mark will have to face his problem again. He sat on the bench with Renjun, Jaemin, and a bunch of last year reps. After hearing the rowdy greeting of the other guys, he turned around to see Jeno, who look brighter and happier than yesterday. 

"Hey man," Jeno sat down next to Mark. "I heard from Donghyuck that the freshman reps are gonna take a trip to the beach to shoot some promotion for their Facebook voters campaign. Are you going?"

"Don't they need to practice for the talent show?" Mark asked.

"They do but it's only gonna take a day or two," The engineer sophomore explained. "The promotion will be the beginning of this week and the competition is at the end of next week, which give the kids approximately two weeks of practice."

"Where are they shooting the promotion again?"

"The beach nearby."

"Staying overnight?"

"Probably. One night max. Don't worry, your studying will not be interrupted."

"I'm going then."

"Hey, don't make a rash decision," Jaemin intervened. "Don't forget about the of your midterm at the end of this week. Think about your grade, not your ."

"I don't think you can have with the freshman girls," Jeno commented, oblivious of who Jaemin actually preferred to.

"It's fine," Mark ignored Jaemin's sly statement. "We don't have class tomorrow and we can always bring our books along. Besides, your would get more excited than mine, watching the freshman girls in bikinis."

Jaemin stuck out his tongue in retaliation.

"The three of us will take Jaemin's car," The top medicine student also adds in, much to the car owner's actual disbelief. "We don't want to bother the freshmen."

Some of the guys can go while other decided to stay back. Jeno got the mental list of people going and decided to report back to the competition staffs. The trio went back to watching the freshmen practice. 

"What a beauty!" Jaemin commented.

"Who?" Renjun asked. "Jeno?"

"No, you idiot," Jaemin pointed at the direction of Donghyuck. Mark glares at his friend for a moment before seeing the person Jaemin actually pointed to, Donghyuck's partner, Yeri. However, seeing the initial reaction of Mark, Jaemin decided to even more. "If Donghyuck was a girl, I would definitely chase after him."

Renjun smacks him on the head but the two friends were already being ignored by Mark, who's gazing at Donghyuck dreamingly. The training today is dancing so it was extremely tiring to the freshmen. The choreographer gave them a couple of minutes to rest so Donghyuck immediately went to get a refill of water at the water cooler near where the sophomores are sitting. Most of the sophomores left already so the only one left is the trio of medical students. 

"Hey Donghyuck, how are you?" Renjun gained the freshman's attention first. 

"I'm good, hyung," Donghyuck answered with a smile, completely ignoring the fact that Mark is looking at him. "The dance is good exercise."

"You going to the beach promotion shooting?" Jaemin asked.

"I kinda have to," The freshman answers shyly. "Are you two going?"

"We may or may not tag along, depending on our boss," Renjun nodded toward Mark. 

"Stop teasing the freshman," Jaemin smacks his friend. "We're going. We're all going since our boss forced us."

"Hope to see you two there-"

"When are you finish with practice?" Mark spoke up for the first time. 

Donghyuck was trying to act tough by ignoring Mark but when the sophomore speaks up, his anger melts away unwillingly. Mark just has that effect on him. "I-I don't know."

"I'll wait..."

"Why? Gonna give me another ride like this morning?"

"I only had a cup of that strawberry milk that you like today. I'm hungry and I want you to accompany me."

"Why? Didn't have lunch?" Donghyuck mocked Mark but when the sophomore didn't answer, Donghyuck got worried. "Why didn't you have lunch? Not eating is unhealthy. Go eat something!"

The freshman jogged back to where his bag laid and searched inside. Luckily, he kept a piece of candy in his bag so he jogged back to the sophomore with it in his hand. The whole entire time, Chenle had his eyes on Donghyuck. He was very happy when he saw Donghyuck talking to Mark again.

"Here, eat, now," Donghyuck held out the candy to Mark. "It's not much but it'll stop the hunger until later."

"Hey hyungs," Chenle appeared behind Donghyuck but glaring at Mark. "I need to steal Donghyuck back to practice."

Without waiting for them to answer, Chenle pulls Donghyuck back to the training area. Mark followed them with his eyes, feeling jealous of how close Chenle is to Donghyuck. 

To be completely honest, I really like this chapter because it focuses more on the friendship between characters rather than the romantic relationship. Of course, the story is center around the romance but that's not always enough to keep the viewers/readers interested. In the original story, the friendship between the trio of medical student and between Wayo and Ming (Donghyuck and Chenle's character) are always enjoyable to watch because we kinda know how all romance story is going to end. It's always the misunderstanding and the journey it takes to get there. Anyway, I just want to y'all to know I like the dynamic between all the characters. 

FIGHTING!!!