Safe place (Markhyuck)

19

Of course by Monday morning Mark feels a bit better, he may not be able to date Haechan but he is still his friend and that's a lot. He decides that he needs to make up for his abrupt departure on Saturday and send him something special so he goes to a cafe close by Haechan's and orders breakfast to be delivered at 8:30 before he starts his first class. He writes a little note on the paper bag that they will deliver it in and makes sure to put his initials so he understands it was from him. He instructs them to set it down and ring the doorbell and leave, he paid a generous tip already so everything is good.

Haechan: you didn't have to do this, I feel bad enough and now you have to be good to me?

Mark chuckles when he reads this.

Haechan: thank you though, it was really good. Will you have time to come and see me tonight?

Mark smiles softly then grimaces.

Mark: I think I can stop by, it will be a bit later since I have to close the cafe tonight.

Haechan smiles in relief not knowing just how much this pains the other and if he has his way he never will. After exchanging a few more texts he sets his phone down and stares at the papers in front of him. Winwin, sensing something is wrong taps his hand. Mark looks up slowly and Winwin can see the difference in his eyes today.
"Why so down?" He asks simply.
"I-I'm ok." Winwin shakes his head.
"You are also a liar, it's obvious. You are sitting here trying to be happy but your eyes tell a different story." Mark leans back in his chair, just ready to spill when a nervous Doyoung pops his head in.

"Mark I need you in the conference room, the CEO would like a word with you." All the color drained from his face. For the life of him he can't figure out what the CEO of this company would want with a no name intern in the advertising department. Of course a sense of impending doom settles in as he follows Doyoung to the huge conference room at the end of the hall. It's unusual for the head of the company to come to them, if ever anything was needed they would have to come to his floor so Doyoung is sweating, and on the verge of collapse as he shakily walks with Mark to the door. He opens it and they both walk in, of course Doyoung expects to be needed so when Mr Lee shoos him out he is taken aback. He instructs Taeyong to bring tea and snacks right away.

Inside the room Mark is awkward and shaky, he walks close to where he is sitting and gives a deep bow.
"G-good morning sir, what brings you here to see me?" He asks in a tone of utter disbelief. The CEO clears his throat while looking him up and down, Mark is just trying not to not to piss himself.
"Have a seat, please." Mark struggles to pull out a chair but finally manages to sit, he wipes the sweat from his palms and swallows hard watching the man stand and start pacing. Taeyong walks in and quietly sets down the tray and bows before leaving.
"It is my understanding that you are Mark Lee? Interning in the advertising department correct?" He nods and tries to answer but gets cut off by him holding up his hand.
"Relax, your job is not in jeopardy and you did nothing wrong. I want to talk to you about my son, actually I want to thank you." Now Mark can't hide the confusion which makes the older gentleman chuckle.

"My son called me Saturday night in crisis because of you, and I got to go see him. It was, well it was the best thing that has happened in a long time." Mark frowns but just listens.
"As you know, Haechan has been through a lot and there was a time that he blamed me for not being there. Obviously there was nothing I could do, it was something he needed to work out by himself and about a month or more ago he called me and we talked and it was a really nice gateway to getting back to where we need to be, but this weekend he called me. He was upset of course." This caused Mark's frown to deepen as he sighs.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't want to upset him at all. I wasn't planning any of that. I wasn't planning on putting it out there that I like him as more than a friend, but it happened and I now realize it was unfair of me to expect anything from him, especially when I'm not sure how he sees me." Mark even surprised himself just now with how easy it was for him to open up to this man.

"I know, but it's ok. He kind of needed it, a little push emotionally to open himself up and I know that wasn't your intention but it happened and it's wonderful." Mark doesn't really know what to say.
"He called me and I got to see him, hug him and talk to him like I used to when he was younger." Mark is a little taken aback by the tears coming out of this feared mans face and finds some kleenexes across the room and brings him some.
"He told me how thoughtful and respectful you are and that you don't pity him and I can only agree, considering what I've heard and seen myself." He smiles softly at Mark who is still so surprised by all of this.

"I'm sorry, I guess I didn't know his father was my boss so I'm still processing a lot of this." Mr Lee chuckles again.
"I just called you in here to say thank you and to ask that you please just wait for him." Mark looks up quite surprised by these words.
"I'm not going into detail about my son and his feelings, but you are a good person and he really wants you to wait but I don't know if he has the self esteem just yet to ask, himself. I don't know how long it will take him to come around but it's happening so quickly since he's met you. I can tell you make him want to get better more than anything." Mr Lee stands and gets ready to leave.

"Oh and Mark?" Mark looks back into his eyes.
"This is not a drama, your job is not at all in jeopardy no matter what you do. I respect you as a worker and a friend of my son." Mark smiles relieved and starts to follow him to the door.
"Wait sir? I know my coworkers are all wondering why you called me in here, what should I tell them?" Mr Lee pauses a moment then snaps his fingers.
"Tell them that I will be conducting surprise visits with all of my employees randomly." He says chuckling.
"That should keep them on their toes." Mark laughs and nods.
"Uh, thank you sir. I'm happy to have met you and I'm glad to know that there is still hope for me." He smiles shyly, while the other pats his back.
"Just keep doing what you are doing, there is something about you that he responds so well to and I'm so happy it's with a person like you." They go their separate ways and the smile that wants to creep onto Mark's face is hard to hold back but he does it for the rest of the work day while simultaneously fielding questions about his meeting.

After a long day, working both his jobs he's exhausted again and wants to sleep so badly but he of course will stop at Haechan's first.
He knocks and waits nervously, not knowing what state of mind the other is in. He's been too nervous to just go back to texting him until he sees him face to face and knows that their relationship as it stands is still good.
Haechan finally opens the door then opens his arms, Mark of course goes right into them where he belongs. He holds on a little tighter and a little longer than before until Haechan pulls away slightly.

"Are we ok?" Mark asks quietly.
"Yes Mark we are ok. We were never not ok as far as I'm concerned anyway. I'm just happy you came back. I'm sorry for hurting you." Mark stares into the deer like eyes of the other and fights back the urge to gently kiss him on the lips and kisses his cheek instead.
"I just want you to know that above everything else I'm you're friend, if you ever decided that you might possibly feel the same as me then I'll be there." Haechan smiles brightly and pulls him in for another hug.

"By the way, guess who I met today at work?" Haechan raises his brow and responds with a hum.
"Our CEO, Mr Lee. We had a conference." Haechan frowns feeing a little uncomfortable.
"He seems like a really nice guy." Haechan nods, still unsure.
"What did you talk about?" He asks playing with his fingers.
"He just showed me a bunch of baby pictures and we talked about how cute you are." Haechan crosses his arms and smirks.
"Yeah, right. I was cute and I actually am not embarrassed about my cute chubby cheeks when I was a kid so there. Really though, tell me." Mark smiles softly.
"He told me how happy he was that he got to see you and spend time with you and how proud he is that you've come this far, so basically he thanked me for upsetting you. I'm sorry, that I did that, but I guess it turned out well right?" Haechan smiles and nods.
"You know you've been here for like fifteen minutes and we're still in the doorway. They both laugh before Mark announces he has to leave. He's still tired and will come and see Haechan soon.
Of course they text each other his whole way home.