THE LITTLE COPY ⋮ markhyuck

Chapter 𝟵

Instead of formal clothing, Mark wore a simple T-Shirt and jeans. Therefore, he looked like the same guy who shamelessly flirted with him and then folded Donghyuck at the back of his car, just like show-off uncles do to a balloon to entertain birthday party guests. The only difference was the attractive length of his hair which symbolized he was the older version of the same short-haired guy.

"Teacher Lee! Hello. Hello!" Dongchan scooted toward Mark before Donghyuck could even stop him.

"Oh, hello, little friend," Mark's eyes brightened. He then looked up to see where Donghyuck was. "Are you alone here? Did you lose your Papa?"

"He just ditched me at the door," Donghyuck scoffed, getting a little offended right here. Whatever he was witnessing, made him think that if they had Papa vs. Teacher Lee, Papa would lose.

"Dongchan, you should always be aware of your surroundings, okay? Isn't that what you learned last week?"

As Mark just gave Dongchan a short lesson, his voice sounded friendly and soft. Donghyuck observed that in curiosity as it was his first time seeing the older talking to his kid.

"Yes, I'm sorry!" Dongchan lowered his head.

Mark smiled and then shifted his attention to Donghyuck, motioning for him to sit. The younger did, pulling Dongchan close, before the latter could wander to Mark. So, sitting across the teacher like this, Donghyuck hoped Dongchan would get a glimpse of both of them better.

The adults ordered coffee as simple as that. Dongchan, however, wanted everything. He couldn't decide which milkshake he wanted and when he finally did, he made up his mind and chose a piece of cake.

"Dongchan is very ambitious, I see," Mark commented subtly, perhaps noticing how much power the kid had and how patiently Donghyuck followed his wishes.

"Just like my family," Donghyuck scoffed.

While waiting for drinks and the cake, the adults started a conversation about education. Mark mentioned the university once, but they didn't get too much into that topic because soon it was interrupted. All because of Dongchan.

The kid indirectly started asking for attention, and Donghyuck couldn't hide his smile as he realized it was finally happening. Dongchan kept whining until he rested his head on Papa's arm, and stared at Mark. The teacher just smiled at the kid and flicked his eyes back on Donghyuck. They continued talking to each other till Channie made another move.

"What is this for?" he asked, lifting an empty napkin holder. The next second he looked at Mark as if the latter knew everything on Earth.

Since Mark was the one taking away Papa's attention, Dongchan's motive seemed really clear. While asking a question, he wanted to distract the teacher and stop him from talking to Papa.

Well, it seemed like it at first, but the more it happened, the better Donghyuck realized that Dongchan was jealous of Mark's attention to him. Perhaps, he was used to the teacher talking and looking at him most of the time, and now that Teacher Lee was more interested in Papa, it seemed unforgivable to the kid.

After one question went another, and soon the university topic was long forgotten. Mark began questioning Dongchan about learning and reading difficulties, and the kid got happier. Even though it sounded like he was working even on Sunday, Donghyuck took that as a generous act—Mark's thoughts on this were way more important as he was also dyslexic.

The kid responded very actively and even asked the teacher about dyslexia himself. The conversation turned into a whole list of pieces of advice from Mark's experience. Donghyuck was barely needed there, but the way Teacher Lee would look at him, even when talking to the kid, at least comforted him that he wasn't a ghost.