THE LITTLE COPY ⋮ markhyuck

Chapter 𝟭𝟵

"Next time, I'll bring one exercise book my niece uses to study," Mark said, but it was hard to understand who he was talking to.

He looked at Dongchan as he said this, but the kid had no idea who Mark's niece was. Perhaps, the teacher said it to Donghyuck, but he refused to look at his student's dad as he was still damn embarrassed.

"I'll have to go now," he jumped on his feet and gathered all of his stuff.

He then successfully passed by Donghyuck without even making eye contact.

This, for some reason, got the younger upset. He was confused about why he felt this way, but before he could analyze it, he followed Mark to the door. The silence was too loud here. Donghyuck was sure that both were glad that Dongchan turned on the TV. The stupid noises of high-pitched voices of the kid's favorite animation at least filled the awkward silence.

"Don't forget the parent-teacher conference," Mark suddenly said.

"It's in a few weeks..."

"Yeah, but still..."

They had nothing to say to each other but tried to communicate as normally.

Mark finally put on his shoes and reached for the door handle. Still, he avoided looking at the other man.

"I'll walk you to your car," Donghyuck said very mindlessly.

"Sure..."

Donghyuck grabbed his keys and quickly locked the door as soon as they left the apartment. Mark waited for him even when he had his back turned to the younger. They didn't say any words to each other, then they went to the elevator and pressed the button at the same time. Their fingers touched, causing even more panic and muting them instantly. Donghyuck's body shivered, and what was happening inside of him could hardly be described in words. His mind was a mess, he felt like there was a thick fog in there. He just had too many thoughts about everything at once that they scarcely fit into his head. Donghyuck got dizzy. His heart pounded, heating his blood, and forcing him to grip the railing in desperation as if hoping it would help.

He glanced at Mark on the other side of the elevator. The older seemingly avoided eye contact at all costs and instead looked at the wall. He, too, held the railing, impatiently tapping it with his index finger. Such a sight, for some reason, encouraged Donghyuck to do something stupid. He chose one of the impulsive thoughts out of his foggy head and let it take over him. Sliding his hand to the teacher's, with the tips of his cold and sweaty fingers, he touched the latter's hand.

Mark reacted as if he was electrocuted. He jumped, then quickly turned his head to Donghyuck, staring at him speechless. He seemed perplexed about what was going on, but so was Donghyuck. He had no idea what he was doing and why. But he continued touching the older's hand, staring him in the eyes, until Mark relaxed and could finally maintain normal eye contact.

The mood completely changed inside the elevator. The embarrassment and confusion slowly faded away, and the two got lost in each other's eyes. The eye contact was so intense that Donghyuck felt like he was all swamped up. He forgot to breathe, his whole body turned numb, and he knew he would melt if Mark looked at him like this any longer.

Donghyuck had no strength to resist. All he could do was stare at Mark's dark and deep eyes, lose full apprehension of his surroundings, and learn that the latter felt just like him. Mark, too, forgot how to breathe, and his body was stiff as if he were a statue. The only thing that showed that he was still a human was his warm hand, which Donghyuck kept touching, and his eyes, which suddenly softened as he slowly blinked twice.

Something would've happened in the elevator. Donghyuck could feel it as Mark's breath suddenly hitched, and he slightly shifted closer. Before something could occur, the elevator let out a sound, and they were interrupted when the door opened, and a woman stood before them. Both men flinched, and Donghyuck moved his hand away in a blink of an eye. Trying to get a hold of himself as his cheeks tinted pink and realization of what just happened hit him, he greeted her as she stepped inside. He even tried to form a normal conversation with her—a friendly neighbor one floor below—even though his chest was burning, and his head was on the verge of exploding with all those thoughts.