flipped :: markhyuck

9 | accidental confession

'nine

"hey mar- oh, good morning sir!" haechan quickly recomposed himself as he saw mark's grandpa open the front door, much to his surprise.

"you're the boy on the news," the old man stated rather bluntly. "book-seller. i never got your name."

"i'm haechan," he replied, making the latter smile.

"what can i do for you haechan?"

"is mark inside?" he asked. "i needed to give him something."

"he left for school not too long ago," his grandpa replied. "shall i deliver a message to him?"

"no, no, that's fine," haechan chuckled. "just... i'll be back tomorrow. you don't have to tell him that i stopped by."

mark's grandpa nodded. "don't be late for school, now."

"oh, i won't," the young boy beamed. "bye, sir!"

the latter waved in farewell as haechan walked off the lawn of his neighbour's, and headed back inside his house.

he was somewhat relieved that he didn't have to see mark. something felt different; after all, haechan hadn't practised greeting mark in a chic way all morning like he usually would. 

as he subconsciously packed his school bag, one thought clouded his mind:

am i starting to see mark differently? 

♔

mark walked along the school hallway, greeting every passing person as jeno stayed on his tail.

"formal's coming up soon," jeno smirked. "got anyone on your mind? i heard that jiyeon's been keeping an eye on you recently..."

"they're rumours," mark replied, turning to his friend. "i'm going to go to the bathroom really quick. go on without me."

"alright," the latter replied as he walked off against the flow of the school crowd. mark entered the toilets with a sigh, opening the closest cubicle and sitting down. he didn't know why, but he needed a breather.

he heard the bathroom door open, followed by the familiar voices of two people.

"it's kind of a private topic, so i didn't want to tell you in the hallways..." mark recognised haechan's voice, and he sat up.

"no worries. what's up?" renjun's easily distinguishable tone was heard.

on the other side of the cubicle door, haechan looked down at his feet nervously. "so this is kind of random, but... i just thought you should know this about me."

he took a deep breath before looking at his friend straight in the eye. "i'm gay."

there was a pause, a silence which even suffocated mark, and renjun opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't know what to say.

"oh," he finally managed to say as he cleared his throat. "well, of course i'm cool with that. you're okay with the fact that i'm straight, right?"

"of course," haechan replied, sighing in relief. "it's just something really big to me, and i didn't want you to find out before i told you or... i don't know-"

"hyuck," renjun laughed, "we're okay. i swear."

"cool," he nodded, relaxing his shoulders. "okay... let's get to class then."

renjun slung an arm around the boy with flushed cheeks as they exited the bathroom. "so, are you interested in someone..."

as the door slung closed, the boys' voices drifted into the blur of the crowd outside, and the toilets returned to its muffled silence. mark sat on the toilet seat alone, jumbled thoughts occupying him.

it was confirmed. lee haechan was, indeed, attracted to men, and it made mark a lot more confused than he expected.

turns out i have to be more cautious around him, mark thought. i can't send him the wrong message.