<^>

"You're a stubborn fuck, you know that Mark?" Donghyuck said with a huff, stuffing his snowboarding shoes into his duffle bag as Mark stood by the door with a cocky smile.

He shrugged and held the door open as Donghyuck walked by. "It's a practiced skill."

With a roll of his eyes, Donghyuck muttered, "Oh I'm sure." Mark laughed and hurried to catch up to the high schooler who was quickly walking down towards the bus stop.

The two of them had begun a regular routine of heading to the bus and catching a ride together, Mark tended to get off first but occasionally he would accompany Donghyuck to his stop, where he would make sure the boy got home safe. They didn't talk much, and more than half the time Mark would end up with Donghyuck asleep on his shoulder, thus forcing the older to stay until the high schooler's stop. He didn't mind it, not really, it was nice and quiet and the soft breaths of Donghyuck tended to slow his own heartbeat so that by the time he got into his apartment, Mark was dead tired and felt he could sleep for weeks. Occasionally he would have to wake the boy up from a nightmare or two, in which Donghyuck would go quiet after muttering an apology and Mark would just put an arm around his shoulder and reassure him that he was okay and that everything was fine. Mostly, Donghyuck would just fall back asleep and wouldn't bring it up, but Mark could wait until the boy was ready to open up.

Were the nightmares worrying? Yes. But there wasn't much Mark could do but wake him up before things got too bad. Sometimes he was late and Donghyuck would wake up on his own, tears on his cheeks as the memories flashed through his mind, and Mark would need to shake him out of it just for the boy to quickly slump forward with a sigh. It was concerning but Mark figured he was doing his best and was gaining Donghyuck's trust, considering their rocky start.

Tonight was one such night.

"Hey, Hyuck, wake up. Donghyuck," Mark whispered, shaking his shoulder roughly. Donghyuck was whimpering and flinching, a sure sign of a nightmare and Mark once again had to remind himself that it wasn't Donghyuck's fault he was such a heavy sleeper. "Donghyuck, wake up!"

The boy's eyes opened hastily and he sat up straight, wiping his cheeks and panting hard. "Wh- thanks. I, uh–"

Mark shook his head and brought the boy into a hug. "No, don't worry about it, you're fine."

"Right, yeah, uhm..." Donghyuck swallowed thickly and tentatively put his arms back around Mark and rested his head on his hyung's shoulder. "Thanks."

"Of course. You want me to stay till your stop?"

Donghyuck slowly pulled away and readjusted his bag. "You should really stop that, your stop is before mine and it just wastes your time." He gave Mark a cold stare and the older had the audacity to crack a smile.

"So that's a yes?"

"Do what you want. You're a stubborn fuck."

"Second time you've said that tonight."

This time, it was Donghyuck's turn to smile. "I'll say it as much as I need to until you learn to stop babying me."

"How am I babying you?" Mark asked, knocking their shoulders together.

"You treat me like a kid. Asshole."

"That's because you act like a kid."

"Rude, don't you know how to respect your juniors?"

Mark snickered and shook his head, muttering a joking 'no', making Donghyuck snort as well thus lightening the mood from it's previously gloomy aura.

"Thanks, though."

"I got you, Donghyuck. I'm here, remember?"

"Yeah. I know."

<^>

"Mark," Johnny said, gently pulling the boy away from the rest of the team. "You seem distracted. Is everything alright?"

"I mean, I think so? I don't think there's been any cause for something to not be alright," Mark responded, glancing back at the hill where his teammates were getting ready for their match. They had another game today, this time on their own turf and the nerves were on high alert for every one of them.

"Okay, because I've noticed you've been a bit out of it lately, and as your mentor, I just want to make sure everything's okay in every aspect of your life." Johnny placed a hand on Mark's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "But, if you say things are fine, then I'll believe you. Do good out there today, yeah?" He smiled and walked off, leaving Mark to nod a silent 'yeah' back to him. Johnny Seo was an observant person, apparently more so than Mark because Mark had no idea he seemed off to anyone. He felt perfectly fine, and his life was at a steady, good pace at the moment, so there wasn't anything he could think of that might trigger him to be upset. If Johnny had apparently noticed something, then had anyone else? Surely not, right? Mark was good when it came to hiding his emotions; whether he meant to or not, it was a skill he had and put into practice just about everyday, making him practically impossible to read.

Maybe that was it. Maybe his wall was a bit crumbly. Not like it was an issue, Mark had nothing to hide, but knowing that there was a chance that anyone could read him like a book was a bit unsettling.

"Mark Lee!" The voice of his coach shook Mark out of his thoughts and he turned towards the source of the noise. "You're up!"

"Coming!" Mark quickly slipped his goggles over his eyes and readied himself on his board as his opponent stood and watched from the sidelines. The main ref began the countdown and Mark angled his body correctly. With his focus now directly on the half-pipe in front of him, and his routine running through his head, Mark failed to notice Johnny staring at him with a mixture of concern and confusion.

"Something's happened. I don't know what, and I don't think he knows either. But something has definitely changed."

Ten turned to look at the man with confusion. "What the actual fuck are you talking about?"

"Mark. Something's changed."

Ten snorted and looked to where their junior was completing his routine. "Oh yeah? Seems to be the same rock to me. 'Yo Angelo' and all that."

Johnny rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Was the Jojo reference really required?"

"Yes."

"I hate you."

"You love me. Anyways, back to Mark; what's changed?"

"That's the thing," Johnny said, waving his arm. "I don't know what, but something about his demeanor has totally changed. I just can't tell what."

"Well, is it a good or bad change?" Ten asked, adjusting the goggles that lay on his helmet. "Oooh, that was a good spin," he commented on Mark's routine as Johnny continued to think.

"I can't say it's good or bad, it's just different."

"Maybe he's opened up. Maybe he isn't Angelo anymore, now he's just Rohan: weird as fuck but somehow likeable."

"Will you stop with the Jojo shit?"

"Never."

"You're really taking the seriousness out of this conversation, Chittaphon."

Ten shrieked at the sound of his name and reached on his tiptoes to whack the back of Johnny's head. "Rude! That is a sacred name, your filthy american tongue has no right to utter it."

"Wow, that hurt."

"Suffer." Ten smiled and brought his hand back to his side.

"But you might be right, he might be opening up." Johnny crossed his arms over his chest, and smiled as Mark got off the course, completing his routine flawlessly. He watched as the boy wordlessy made his way over to where Donghyuck was standing next to Jungwoo, high fiving them both before crumbling tiredly against Donghyuck's side, making the boy shriek and shove him off.

"Yeah, it took him long enough," Ten responded. "Anyways, I'm up next so I'll see you in a few minutes. Wish me luck babes."

"I hope you fall and break your face."

Ten cracked up. "Awww, thanks~!"

<^>

<see? I'm not totally dead>