THE LITTLE COPY ⋮ markhyuck

Chapter 𝟭𝟬

Donghyuck didn't know how Mark ended up in his apartment. Well, it was partly his fault. He asked the teacher if the latter wanted to tutor Dongchan on Friday evening. Like this, Donghyuck tried to save the weekend. He didn't want another weekend with Mark...

But the person who chose Donghyuck's apartment was Mark. He said Dongchan would feel better in his familiar environment. All the changes start from there. The teacher also didn't plan to push such a thing that late in the evening. As soon as he heard Donghyuck finished his work earlier on Friday, Mark said they should go and start right away as he, too, left his work earlier that day.

On his way home, with Mark's car behind his, Donghyuck wondered if the teacher was even busy. The same question wandered his mind even when Mark was already inside his apartment. How free was his schedule?

"Your place is nice," Mark whistled as he looked at the furniture and the comfortable design. "Everything is so green and bright."

"We love plants in this house," Donghyuck explained briefly.

Avoiding getting into a meaningless conversation, Donghyuck led Mark toward the coffee table and said this would be the studying place. He expected to hear a few complaints from the teacher right after. You see, the coffee table was small. But Mark didn't protest and even sat on the floor first. Touching the fluffy rug underneath, he laughed but then paid his attention to Dongchan, who sat beside him.

"Okay, Dongchannie. I think your papa had already told you, but repeating things twice will make you remember it better," Mark started, not wasting any time. "I'll be your tutor from now on. All the struggles you're facing when reading are normal, but with my help, we'll try to make it easier, okay?"

Dongchan was really obedient when it came to Mark. He listened to every word that left the teacher's mouth, and just like that, they started reading one of the books Donghyuck had bought earlier. As expected, the kid struggled to read just like the last time he dealt with this. Mark was supportive, but he only fully assisted his student when the latter couldn't read properly.

And that happened a lot. Dongchan mispronounced words, and Mark didn't let him read further until he read it correctly. That seemed a tough way to the kid even when the teacher was soft and sensitive to his mistakes. Perhaps, feeling too much pressure, Dongchan suddenly stopped reading and turned to Papa. Donghyuck stood behind all this time, and his baby was aware of it.

"Dongchan. Don't get distracted," Mark scolded him, but the kid didn't listen.

"Papa, I don't like it," he declared, looking at Donghyuck with sparkly eyes.

Dongchan knew the effect he did whenever he looked like this. Donghyuck's heart clenched! He was so sensitive to his kid's mood that he almost told Mark to stop torturing him with that book.

It was great that he caught the teacher shaking his head and didn't say anything. Of course, Dongchan didn't like it. He frowned and tried to win Papa again.

"Are you sure you don't like it?" Mark gasped dramatically, and that was the moment Donghyuck knew he was a professional teacher. "How can you not like such a great book? It's a bestseller! Do you know what is a bestseller?"

Mark's questions got Dongchan's attention back on him. Shaking his head, the kid looked at the older in interest. So, Mark briefly explained it and made his student believe that a stupid book such as that one was very popular.

"It is said that whoever reads a few chapters of this book they'll grow tall and healthy. But most importantly, their parents will always be happy," Mark began telling fairy tales, but to Dongchan, they seemed pure truth. "Do you want your papa to be happy?"