flipped :: markhyuck

16 | remember to forget

'sixteen

upon his return to school the following monday, haechan received something completely unexpected.

a hug from renjun.

the chinese boy had a strange yet addictive way of embracing people; he ran head-first into haechan's chest, threw his arms around the latter, and pulled him close.

"woah," haechan breathed with a chuckle. "finally realised you can't live without me?"

"you didn't reply to any of my messages until late last night," he scowled as he pulled away, clearing his throat and regaining his posture. "i don't know... i guess you're my only real friend around here."

seeing haechan's smirk, renjun rolled his eyes and added, "but since you were gone for three years, i hung out with lots of people and am now a lot more popular."

"just say you missed me," he hissed, before grinning. contrary to his expectations, no-one was staring at him, or whispering, or doing anything out of the ordinary. everything was back to normal.

"so hyuck... what are you going to do about mark?" renjun asked hesitantly, unsure of whether the incident was still a sensitive topic.

the latter sighed, his shoulders drooping. "i don't know. he came over and said some stuff, then he apologised. i think i might accept it."

"hey," renjun frowned, "isn't it too soon? he'll think you're easy if you give in now."

"he's known i'm easy since forever ago," he said reluctantly. "but... maybe i should move on, jun. over the weekend i was thinking about it and... i feel like i'm already entering my recession stage. i'm not as intense about him as i once was."

"you do you, hyuck," his friend advised with a bright smile. "look at you, all grown up and making your own decisions."

"i'm a big boy," he replied childishly, to which renjun scoffed. he ruffled haechan's hair and swung an arm around his shoulder, and the two headed towards their homeroom.

♔

"oh—after you."

"no, after you."

"no... well, thanks—oh!"

"sorry... go ahead."

without another word, haechan quickly shuffled forward, escaping the cringe-worthy string of events that followed his awkward door encounter with mark.

"jesus," he muttered to himself as he stepped into the line of the cafeteria, before someone tapped on his shoulder. he turned with a smile, only to falter as he met mark's gaze.

"oh... we meet again," he joked nervously, and mark chuckled.

"yeah... uh, i wanted to have a quick chat with you, but i rarely ever find you during break," mark said.

"what about?" he asked.

"well... about last week."

haechan paled. "oh, that's okay. i'm over it."

"no you're not," mark said immediately, and he paused.

"what?"

"you're not over it."

"what makes you say that?"

"don't try to hide from me."

haechan looked down. "i'm not."

"i'm not someone to suppress feelings from," he reassured in a quieter voice, but again, it only made the younger boy feel weaker.

"i'm okay," he replied, his voice lowering with his tone. "i'm okay to forgive you. i talked about it with jun this morning."

"jun?"

"renjun."

"oh," mark nodded. "you tell him everything?"

"i guess."

"alright... well, i appreciate it," mark said earnestly. "and don't forget about the library card, alright?"

haechan looked back at his feet and nodded subtly. mark stared at him before rubbing his arm comfortingly and turning away from the line, walking back to his friends.