Chapter Text
Lee Donghyuck was the worst roommate Mark could imagine.
He was everything Mark hated - extroverted, annoying, selfish, rude, loud, careless, reckless and worst of all…
Messy.
He was the polar opposite of Mark.
And to make it worse - he was attractive. Fluffy hair, tan body, eyes that sparkled when he laughed.
It was just a shame that such good looks had to be wasted on such an irritating person.
Mark hated him.
Donghyuck had just waltzed through the door one day and thrown his whole life into a whirlwind of chaos and stress. And, to make it worse, they had only been living with each other for 2 weeks.
There was a whole year left of this.
—
Mark Lee was the most boring roommate Donghyuck could imagine.
He was just so….how to put it…underwhelming.
When Donghyuck had walked through the door of their university apartment and seen the unfairly gorgeous blonde boy sitting at the table, he had been ecstatic. This would be someone fun who he could go out and party with, or stay up late and game with, or have some sort of romance with.
But Mark had quickly crushed his hope.
He was so clean and quiet and introverted. Which was fine. If Donghyuck wasn’t the complete opposite of that.
Mark was just soooooooooo dull.
And to top it all off, he did not like Donghyuck. No matter how hard he tried to be fun and friendly, Mark refused to tolerate him. He might have been an introvert but he sure liked to complain at Donghyuck.
All because he liked to live and party a little.
Mark was the epitome of a blurry, black and white movie.
Unimaginably, insanely, and painfully lifeless.
—
“You still haven’t tidied up your dishes?!” Mark said incredulously as he walked through the door at 7:34pm. He had just come back from a long day of lectures and his checked shirt was still immaculately clean, his blue jeans pin straight and his hair was perfectly combed back.
“Nice to see you too Mark. How was my day? Oh it was great thanks. How was yours?” Donghyuck smiled sarcastically, looking up from where he was lounging on the sofa scrolling tiktok. Unlike Mark, his black hair was a mess, sticking up in every possible direction. He was wearing grey sweatpants and a black t-shirt embossed with the university logo that he had almost definitely gotten for free in the first week of his first year given the fact it was fraying at the edges.
“How is it that you have been sat here the entire day and haven’t managed to drag your lazy ass 2 steps away to put away your plates.” Mark hung his jacket up, wrinkling his nose as he saw Donghyuck’s hoodie on his peg. He pulled a face and moved the jacket to the other peg as if it was poisonous to touch.
Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Because, dear Mark, I only got out of my room 2 hours ago and so I haven’t fully woken up yet. Besides, they’re not going to kill you. At least they’re clean dishes.”
“Yes. Because I cleaned them for you!” Mark rubbed a hand over his face in distress, contemplating his life as he glared at Donghyuck.
“Exactly. Thanks for that by the way.”
“Fuck off. Maybe if you didn’t spend your whole life partying you would actually have more time to be a decent human being.”
“Look man, I’ll get to it. It’s not the end of the world. Take a chill pill.” Donghyuck said breezily, turning his attention back to his phone.
Mark opened his mouth to argue back but stopped when he realised it was futile. He was so fed up of trying and so instead he glared daggers into Donghyuck’s skull as he walked to his room with a sigh, throwing a middle finger up at his back.
That made him feel a tiny bit better.
Donghyuck just incited a rage Mark didn’t even know he had in him. He had always been quiet and polite but when it came to the careless nature of Donghyuck he just wanted to hit someone.
It wasn’t healthy at all and he really didn’t know how he was going to survive the next 11 months.
—
2 hours later and Mark re-entered the kitchen only to find it Donghyuck-free and the dishes, surprisingly, put away. And although the boy had left his clean laundry all over the sofa, Mark refused to let it bite him.
When it came to living in this apartment, he really had to appreciate the small wins.
He smiled to himself and got to work on his dinner, a smoked salmon bowl with just the right amount of greens and exactly 1 portion of long grain rice. After that he headed to the bathroom, throwing Donghyuck’s dirty socks into the pile of clean laundry with a smirk.
Another win for Mark.
After a 15 minute shower and his 4 step skincare routine, he read exactly 50 pages of his book and switched off his bedside lamp at 10:20pm ready for a peaceful nights sleep after a long day.
…
“DUDE. HOW THE FUCK DID THIS GUY JUST KILL ME!!” Donghyuck was yelling into his headset, banging his fist on the desk.
Mark pursed his lips. This always happened. The boy just had to game at ridiculous hours of the night and keep Mark awake far too long.
Not wanting his sleepy mind to be infiltrated by his anger he calmly picked up his ear buds, twisting them in his ears to muffle the ridiculous gaming talk. Laying back down, he pulled the duvet up higher and finally fell asleep with a small frown.
This year would really test his patience.
—
Donghyuck groaned as he woke up to a loud rumbling sound coming from outside his bedroom door. Turning to look at his clock, he read the time.
8:16 AM.
Even the sun wasn’t awake.
He grumbled, pressing his face back into the pillow when the rumbling sound came back. Climbing out of his bed he cursed Mark under his breath. “Stupid idiot. Thinks he’s so amazing and organised. Doesn’t have a normal sleep schedule.”
He opened his bedroom door. “Are you vacuuming?” He asked, shock evident in his sleepy voice. He rubbed a hand over his crusty eye and scratched his bare stomach.
Mark switched the hoover off and cast a disgusted look over at Donghyuck as he observed his messy, shirtless state.
“Yes. I am. And for goodness sake put a shirt on.” Mark tossed over a shirt from the messy pile of Donghyuck’s clean laundry that Mark had moved from the coffee table to the sofa when he was dusting this morning.
Donghyuck pulled it on. “Why the fuck are you vacuuming at 8 in the morning.”
“Because the floor needed cleaning and you obviously weren’t going to do it.”
“You stupid clean freak. You woke me up,” He narrowed his eyes at the hoover.
“So? You kept me awake last night with your game.”
Donghyuck opened his mouth to argue but then shrugged, no longer in the mood as he dragged himself over to the kitchen area. “Touché. Coffee?”
Mark stared at him in disbelief. “Wha- no. I don’t want coffee. Aren’t you going to apologise for keeping me up?”
Donghyuck looked at him through glazed eyes, tiredness etched in every corner of his face.
“Would that make you feel better?”
Mark took a deep breath. “It is the decent thing to do.”
“Okay, then I’m sorry for keeping you awake last night.” Donghyuck said, offering Mark a satisfied smile which he only scoffed at.
“You’re actually the worst. Are you going to go into uni today or are you on a mission for the worst attendance rate?”
“Hilarious. And I can’t. I have too many assignments to work on.”
“Maybe if you actually went to the lectures you wouldn’t have so much extra work to do.”
“Yeah but I also wouldn’t have a social life would I.”
“Socialising isn’t everything.”
Donghyuck brushed past Mark, going to sit on the sofa with his coffee. “But some of us actually have friends to see.”
Mark went silent. He refused to let Donghyuck irritate him this morning. Not after his successful vacuuming plan.
“Well if you’re going to stay here, then please can you organise your laundry.”
Donghyuck hummed nonchalantly, already looking at his phone.
Mark grumbled, shoving the hoover into its corner and swinging his backpack on before walking out the door, closing it with slightly more force than usual.
He pursed his lips as his mind filled with the unwanted thoughts Donghyuck had infiltrated it with.
He had friends. Didn’t he?
No. Of course he did. There was that guy from a group project he had done in 1st year. Granted Mark couldn’t remember his name, but they had still gotten along. That made him a friend right?
And there was his childhood friend Johnny. They had been close until they had lost contact after going to separate universities. But they had still been friends at one point.
He just found it hard to make friends. Being an introvert riddled with social anxiety didn’t exactly make it easy to create and maintain friendships.
Suddenly, he felt a large shoulder collide with him as he walked with his head down through the corridor, sending him flailing backwards but thankfully not onto the floor.
“Watch where you’re going, loser.” A taller boy spat. He was definitely a rugby player given the size of his shoulders.
Mark flushed, averting his eyes and nodding his head. “Yeah. Uh- sorry,” He muttered, quickly dashing towards the safety of the library as he felt the people around him begin to laugh.
He heard the guy say something like “pathetic,” and then he was in the library and it was quiet.
He closed his eyes, breathing deeply to control his shaking. He hated confrontation so much. Why couldn’t he just stand up for himself. Why did he have to let these people get to him. Why couldn’t he just be a normal guy like everyone else.
Embarrassed, he wiped a tear from his cheek. “Pull yourself together Mark,” He whispered as he tentatively stepped back out into the corridor, making it safely to his lecture and into his seat at the very front where, naturally, he was alone.
He opened his phone to check the instagram page of his favourite series when a post from Donghyuck appeared.
He looked so happy.
The photos showed him at a recent party, surrounded by people with huge smiles plastered to their faces. They were laughing and enjoying life, smiling and singing and dancing.
What had Mark been doing at that time?
Probably reading, or working on an essay, or getting an early night. He closed his phone with a sigh, the sounds of people chatting to their classmates muffling inside his head.
Donghyuck was right.
He really didn’t have any friends.
—
After the realisation that he was, indeed, friendless, Mark had had a shit day. He just wanted to go home and cry in his mothers arms. But alas, he was at university 5 hours away.
“Where is my rice?” Mark said tensely as he flicked through his cupboard in the kitchen. He just wanted to eat and then sleep but of course the universe wouldn’t allow a peaceful evening in his life.
“I dunno. Where did you last have it?” Donghyuck said unhelpfully from his spot at the table where his laptop was in front of him. Mark didn’t believe he was working for one minute.
Mark glared. “It was in my cupboard at the very front.”
Donghyuck looked up. “A blue bag?”
Mark nodded.
“Oh shit, yeah I ate it. I needed some carbs. Sorry dude, I’ll buy you another one tomorrow.”
Mark felt a match strike in his body, the flame immediately engulfing him, not giving him any time to calm down. “Why the fuck did you eat it?”
Donghyuck frowned. “It’s not a big deal man. I said I would get you another one.”
“You don’t just take peoples stuff without asking. That was literally my food!” Mark yelled angrily.
Donghyuck stiffened, not used to seeing Mark so riled up.
“I’m sorry, Mark. And I won’t do it again if it makes you this upset. You don’t need to lash out though.”
“I’m not lashing out! And if you were a bit more considerate then I wouldn’t need to get mad.”
“Look bro, just calm down. Do you want me to go buy you another bag now?” Donghyuck muttered, confused. Mark never usually spoke like this.
“Why can’t you just be normal! You always make everything so much more difficult for no reason. Like your washing for example. Just tidy it away! It’s really not so hard.” Mark’s cheeks heated up with anger as he breathed heavily. Today was really not his day.
“Woah, come on Mark. You’ve just walked through the door and you’re attacking me for no reason,” Donghyuck said, trying to stay calm.
“Yeah because you’re so fucking careless! If you actually gave a shit about your life then it wouldn’t be so disgusting around here. Why have you got to be so inconsiderate! I don’t understand why people put up with you!” Mark shouted, the heat of his emotions making him go into overdrive.
There was a cold silence as Donghyuck straightened and looked Mark dead in the eye. Mark saw hurt flash across the boy and a chill ran through his body. He hadn’t meant to break down like that, he hadn’t meant to say hurtful things. It had just…happened.
Donghyuck silently stood up, collecting his papers and closing his laptop.
“Wait- Donghyuck,” Mark said quietly, regretfully taking a couple of steps towards the boy. But he was met with an icy stare that made him stop and instead he was left to watch as Donghyuck walked to his room without another word.
—
When Donghyuck left his room 3 hours later he was surprised to see Mark sitting on the sofa with a book in his hands.
“Mark? What are you doing still awake. Its way past your normal bedtime.” Donghyuck muttered, walking past him. Mark looked up with tired eyes, an apologetic look on his face.
“I was waiting for you. I wanted to apologise for how I spoke to you earlier.” He mumbled quietly, a flush painting his cheeks. He wasn’t used to being in the wrong and Donghyuck could see that. His heart tugged as he saw the overthinking boy looking awful.
“You could have just come to my room.”
Mark fiddled with his fingers. “I didn’t know if you wanted to be left alone. But I really am sorry, I shouldn’t have got so angry with you. It wasn’t fair.”
Donghyuck shrugged nonchalantly. Enough shit had happened to him for him to not care about this sort of thing.
“Dude, it’s fine. You had a bad day and I annoyed you. Things happen.”
Mark looked at him, surprised that he was so calm about it. “But I yelled at you?”
Donghyuck smiled. “Yeah I know, it was crazy. I’ve never seen you so heated.”
Mark was too tired for this sort of confusion. He shook his hair that was hanging over his eyes and frowned. “What?”
The boy laughed. “Mark. It’s okay, I promise. Now go to sleep. You look terrible.”
As Donghyuck turned his back on him, Mark stood up slowly. Why was he stressing about something so easy? And why did the thought of making Donghyuck upset make him sick to the stomach?