THE LITTLE COPY ⋮ markhyuck

Chapter 𝟭𝟰

After the museum experience, which was the best thing that happened that week, things started to get tough as another month started. Not only Donghyuck's work got harder, but Mark also turned more active and suggested visiting a few more places. He noticed the two liked it the last time, so he started looking for something similar.

They went to a gallery one day, then Mark came with another thing for the next week. Donghyuck had to politely reject it because he felt like he met Mark too often lately. He wanted at least one weekend without the homeroom teacher's interference. It was fun and useful, Donghyuck couldn't lie. Mark came up with unavoidable invitations—every place had something connected to education and culture, which was very useful for someone like Dongchan. But Mark was all over the place each time. It was obvious that he was nervous and excited to have company. As they kept visiting educational and cultural places, he showed off his erudition as if trying to impress Donghyuck. He ditched guides and was a guide himself!

That was too much, wasn't it? Mark was getting bolder, even though he never put straight why he was doing this. But Donghyuck remained humble when rejecting those offers no matter how high Mark's courage went. So, one day, he told Mark he wanted a few calm weeks and rejected future suggestions. The teacher got upset but let his friend be.

Donghyuck used the time to rest. He spent his time with his son alone—that was always his priority. He also wanted to see his family, so he came to them one weekend, but instead of having normal and warm conversations, he got them all questioning him about Mark.

The ones who were truly curious had to be Mom and Dongmin since they didn't meet him eye to eye yet. Dad was annoyed when Teacher Lee was brought up but was the one doing it the most. Donghyuck got tired before they could even spend an hour in that house. Luckily, Dongwoo, his secret savior, changed the topic when he asked whether Dongchan had any school clubs.

"Oh," Donghyuck paused. "I completely forgot about that!"

"That's okay. We can decide on that altogether," Mom smiled. "I would recommend Dongchan apply to an art club. He likes drawing, doesn't he?"

"What about sports? You keep telling us he enjoys Physical Education class," Dongmin suggested.

"Has perfect Teacher Lee never told you about the club?" Dad grumbled but was left ignored.

"Dongchan should go to a club where they take care of the environment!" Dongwoo proposed. "They have clubs like these, right?"

Donghyuck looked at his son, who stared at the rest of the family in confusion. It seemed like the kid had no idea what was that club thing and had no interest in it.

"Is there anything particular you would want to try?" Donghyuck asked after he briefly described what were the after-school clubs.

"I want to read books!" Dongchan said happily, stunning everyone.

The Lee family was known for their great Math skills, so they all gasped, grabbing their heads, shivering, and widening their eyes. They hated literature. They barely read books. Some of them even sucked at writing. For example, Dad was bad at grammar, and every time he wrote an email or something, he had to ask his wife to proofread, altough she wasn't that great either.

So, hearing that Dongchan was going completely the opposite way than they all, they thought of one thing. Mark. The genes were too strong.

"That stupid—"

"Honey," Mom glared at him.

"Channie," the kid's grandpa started all over. "Is it because of Teacher Lee that you want to do something related to reading?"