p̶ ̶r̶ ̶i̶ ̶n̶ ̶c̶ ̶e̶ ➸ mark lee

xxiii

" 우린 함께야 그런 생각들 전부 throw it "
we're together, so throw away all those thoughts, throw it

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

haneul heard a distant knock coming from her window.

"gee, if it's the same squirrel again, i will—"

she moved to pull the curtains aside, almost freaking out in the process, coming face-to-face with a familiar boy outside. he cracked a goofy smile, waving at her in return.

after the window creaked open by the girl, she hit the young man's shoulder. "you scared me half to death!" 

"sorry," mark moved to jump in her room. "you came back from the trip yesterday, right? how was it?"

"it was fun. i learnt a lot of stuff. y'know, about stars and planets and whatever," haneul smiled, closing the window back. "i heard from the guys you're adapting well in school now. you're being called.. is it mark?"

"uhuh, cool right? doyoung-hyung suggested it,"

"why mark?"

"cause it sounds like an absolutely fully capable rapper. but if you're still used to minhyung it's fine," the prince shrugged before adding. "or you can call me yours too," he winked before earning another smack on the shoulder.

"shut up. you're horrible at flirting," she rolled her eyes. "what brings you all the way here at night though?"

"i don't have night shifts on sunday, so i just thought i should come by,"

the two hung out on haneul's bed, talking to no end after a week of not seeing each other. though, during their conversation, mark would notice haneul's expression slightly fall, or her tone changing a tiny bit when she speaks. it was like something was bothering her at the back of her head, making the young prince change the subject suddenly.

"hey.. are you alright?"

".. what? of course," haneul laughed nervously. was she that easy to read? "maybe i'm just tired,"

"are you sure? if anything's bothering you, you can tell me about it," mark knew all too well what's been bugging her the past few days. jeno had even told him what happened a day prior when they coincidentally met at the café. mark promised to keep that a secret between them though.

"really, it's nothing. i'm fine, mark lee," she faked a smile, using his new nickname to drop the subject. "i swear, if anything's wrong, i'll—"

"you're crying,"

haneul blinked. she quickly reached a hand up to touch her cheek. he was right, a few tears had rolled down her cheeks, in which she didn't even notice. "o-oh—"

"it's.. it's about jeno, isn't it?"

she was taken aback once again, eyes staring directly into mark's. "how.. how did you know?"

well, great. mark's non-existing braincells had finally decided to expose himself. he bit his lip. might as well just reveal the truth by then. "i.. i might have overheard your confession to jeno a week ago before you left for the trip, so.. i—"

"you what?!"

"i didn't mean to! i'm sorry!" he raised his hands up. "you were taking too long so i had to check up on you at your locker but then jeno was there and i overheard a bit of your conversation but i swear, i left right after that!" he continued quickly.

"but.. it's about him, right?"

haneul leaned against the headboard and looked down. suddenly, her feet looked more interesting than anything ever. "he.. he rejected me,"

"o-oh.. i'm sorry," mark bit his lip. the air felt suddenly a bit too awkward.

"imagine if you like someone for so long— heck, for years, and finally have the guts to break it to them that you like them, only to have them reject you because they didn't like you back, then.. of course it's going to hurt.. right?" haneul's voice cracked at the end of her sentence. more tears await to escape her eyes, and she sniffed.

mark looked back at her, frowning. for some reason, he really felt her pain. as if a part of her sadness was passed down to him too. she must've been going through a lot. in fact, she was probably distressed during the trip, having to overthink jeno's rejection repeatedly. it made him feel a sense of wanting to protect her and just tell her he wanted to be the one who will make her happy, to take the position of being with her, as cheesy as it sounds.

mark had only scooted closer to the other and surprised haneul in an embrace, having an arm wrapped around her waist, while a palm rested on the back of her head, letting it lean on his shoulder. he held her that way for some time.

"it's okay. let it all out,"

and she did. with her face buried into his shoulder, she cried until she was sure that her tears had soaked the prince's shirt completely, but mark couldn't care less.

"everything's going to be alright. it happened for a reason, okay?" mark comforted her. "maybe.. maybe there's someone better for you out there. and he'll come by to shower you with so much love you'll drown from all the affection and die happily! so don't be sad,"

he heard the other laugh a short while later, she pulled her head back slightly to smile at him, and mark felt like exploding in heart pieces just looking at her. he wanted to hold her in his arms forever.

"thanks, mark. whoever gets to be loved by you must be really lucky,"

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

🌱 thanks for reading 🌱