"Summer break might be close but that doesn't mean you guys can slack off." The teacher told no one in particular as he watched the students pack away their things. "Your reports are due next Friday and I will not except any late submissions."
"Yes, sir." Mark smiled, waving goodbye to the teacher before he exited the classroom.
"Hey, man. Wait up!" Mark heard Lucas call for him down the hall. He turned around just in time to avoid a whack on the shoulder. "How you been, man?" The taller asked, goofy grin on display.
"Besides that shit that went down on Saturday, I'm alright." Mark replied, pulling his backpack higher onto his shoulders.
Lucas' eyes widened, "Oh, yeah man, I heard about that! The whole Kyungjae and Vanessa thing at Johnny hyung's hotpot place."
Mark nodded, "Yup, that's the one."
"Shit, man." Lucas sighed, "Poor Haechan. If I see Kyungjae, I'm gonna make sure his-"
"Don't worry about it." Mark refrained Lucas, stopping as he stood in front of his locker. He opened the metal door and turned to the taller before asking, "How have you been anyways?"
"Oh..." Lucas giggled, mouth boarding into a toothy grin and cheeks reddening at their roses. "I met Jungwoo's parents on the weekend."
"Man, that's great! How'd it go?" Mark smiled widely with raised brows.
Lucas nodded as he lowered his head slightly with shyness, "Yeah, it went pretty good."
Mark slapped the taller's arms with excitement, "That's great, man! You guys will be married with two kids in no time."
"You reckon?" Lucas genuinely asked.
Mark laughed as he gathered his things from his locker. Turning around, he petted Lucas' firm shoulder with a suppressing grin, "Maybe focus on school first."
Lucas shook his head with a cough, "Y-Yeah, yeah, of course."
Mark was about to walk down the corridor and leave when he remembered he wanted to ask the taller something, "Oh, you coming to the lake house with us during summer break?"
It was a yearly thing that they all did. After weeks of hard school work they'd go to the Lee's family lake house and just have fun. No doubt they'd probably have extra guests this time, and no doubt Mark was left to deal with the sleeping arrangements and food.
"Probably not, man." Lucas frowned apologetically, "It'll be my first time not going in years, but Jungwoo has always said he wants to go to Japan, so I'm taking him as a surprise."
"Nah, it's fine. That seems like a pretty valid excuse." Mark smiled warmly. "I was just asking because there'll probably be more people coming this year. Johnny hyung will no doubt invite Ten hyung."
"What about you?" Lucas raised his eyebrows almost comically, "You taking a plus one or?"
"I don't know." Mark frowned. "I'd like to but I don't know."
"Ask them then." Lucas shrugged, walking off down the corridor and out of sight.
He wishes he could, but he didn't want to look weird. What if Haechan rejected him? What if he wasn't interested or thought Mark was coming on too strong. Haechan is still trying to get over Kyungjae after all. Maybe he could rely on Jaemin on inviting him. Speaking of Jaemin, he better go see if he's okay. The younger wasn't at school because he caught a flu. He told Mark that his nose was going to be on the map soon because it's overflowing more than Niagara Falls.
Mark met his father in the teacher's staff room to tell him he was going to visit Jaemin before going home. He's father was completely fine with it and told him to be back at a reasonable hour. Jaemin didn't live that far away from the school so he'd just walk through the park to get there, then he'd call Johnny to pick him up afterwards.
Walking out of the building most associate with hell, Mark made his way to the park where he could easily make a short-cut to Jaemin's house. He frowned as a loud rustling sound came from the bush beside him. He was about to investigate when a large fluffy head stuck out from the bush.
Mark smiled at the bear-like dog, "Hey, buddy. Where's your owner?"
The dog barked in return and disappeared back into the bush. Mark assumed the dog at least got 'owner' out of his sentence and went back to said owner. He continued walking down the path the park provided until he'd turn off into the grass. He heard another rustle from the bush in front of him. He approached the bush thinking that the dog was there but he was pleasantly surprised.
"Hi, Mark." Haechan smiled up at the older from his position on the ground. He was currently nearly completely consumed by the bush, patting his hands on the soil and whistling.
"Oh, hey." Mark greeted, "What are you doing?"
Haechan groaned as he stood up from the bushes, "Jeno's bloody dog ran off and we're out here looking for him."
"Big grey looking bear thing?" Mark asked.
"That's him! You seen him?" Haechan questioned, his soft features glowing with relief.
Mark nodded. "About a minute ago back that way." He said, pointing behind him.
"Oh my god, thank you Mark." Haechan wrapped his arms around the older, "You have no idea how much my back hurts."
Mark's facial muscles relaxed into the softest smile as he enveloped the other in his embrace, "Glad to help."
Haechan pulled out of the hug, patting Mark's shoulders thankfully, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dog to catch."
As Haechan started to run off in the other direction all Mark could hear in the back of his head was Lucas' damn voice telling him to just 'ask them then'. He anxiously bobbed on his toes and balled his fist as he watched the younger's bewildering retreating figure. Should he ask or just continue walking?
Before Haechan got too far away and after Mark built up the confidence he finally called, "Haechan!"
"Yeah?" Haechan answered, stopping and turning to face the other.
Mark gulped before continuing, "What are you doing this summer break?"
"Probably sleeping a lot and gaining weight, why?" The younger frowned.
Mark chuckled lightly at his reply. Before hesitating slightly, he answered, "How about you come with us to my family's lake house? It'll probably be just a few people."
Haechan smiled and Mark swore his whole heart bellowed like a bass drum.
The younger nodded, "Sure, sounds fun. Just text me the details later."
"Okay." Mark responded calmly, though his whole being felt paralysed with glee. He watched as Haechan turned back around and started running off again. He too turned around and continued walking, joy bubbling in his veins like fresh lemonade.
It was new this feeling... being accepted and not rejected for once. It didn't sting his heart like poison ivy, it didn't make his eyes prickle with tears. He could already tell his heart made the right choice this time.
Fuck Vanessa.
-
Haechan sighed with content as he wore his soft pyjamas, putting his wrinkled and filthy school uniform in the laundry basket. He flopped onto his even more comfortable bed with a soft thump. After wriggling his way into the pillows and blankets, he grabbed his phone from the bedside table. As if on cue, his phone vibrated with a text from Mark.
It was the information about the vacation to the lake house. It went as far as the address and date to the list of people that are and could be going. Mark even went as far as sending pictures of the rooms and lake. The older is so sweet it would make others feel sick, but to Haechan it made him feel cared for. Vanessa missed out on so much, she was so stupid to not at least care a little for Mark. If he knew Mark wasn't straight then he would have definitely fallen for him, but he learnt his lesson with straight guys from Kyungjae. He wasn't going to hurt himself like that again.
~Markhyuck chapptterrr
Mark is just a hopeless romantic who has a fear of rejection
and Haechan is just clueless and hurt :(
~Anyways, I hope you enjoyed