When the Tables are Turned

Chapter 13

Third Person POV

On the night of Gun's grandfather's birthday party when Mark left without saying goodbye to Gun, Linda kept insisting to Gun that she believed that the reason Mark left was because he was jealous of her.

Gun refused to believe her.

"You don't believe me because you were not there when Title introduced me to him as your childhood sweetheart," said Linda.

"Why, how did he react?" asked Gun.

Linda turned to Title. "You tell him," she said to Title.

"He held on tightly to my arm as if he was going to lose his balance," said Title. "I also noticed the change in his facial expression. His initial smile turned bitter."

"But why would he react that way, there's nothing going on between us," Gun said, clearly puzzled.

"Maybe on your part, you feel nothing but I have observed Mark. I think he's falling for you," Title replied.

"That's impossible. He's just a child," said Gun, shaking his head.

"Stop calling him a child, P'Gun," said Title, "he's a man, a young man sure, but he's a man, you understand?"

Gun started to walk away, shaking his head.

Title grabbed his wrist.

"Hey, listen, P'Gun, tomorrow we're having our charity event. If you really want to confirm how Mark feels about you, why don't we ask Linda to attend and then make her go up the stage to give you a hug. I will closely observe how Mark will react to that," said Title.

"Even if your observations will confirm that he feels something towards me, what am I supposed to do about that?" asked Gun, still shaking his head.

"Don't you feel anything for him?" asked Title.

"No, I can't, he's really just a child in my eyes," Gun replied.

"Okay, let me get this straight," Title said, starting to feel some frustration, "you're saying you can't, or don't want, to feel anything for him because you think of him as a child, right?"

"Right," Gun agreed.

"So, if you looked on him as a young man instead of a child, would your feelings be different?" Title asked.

"I... I don't know, I'm not sure," Gun hesitated to answer because he was remembering how, during the intimate scenes he had with Mark in the LBC drama series, he did feel some attraction towards Mark but he had fought against it because of their age gap.

"P'Gun, listen to me," Title said to Gun, looking him straight in the eyes, "if you're fighting your feelings for Mark just because you think he's too young for you, that is total nonsense. Love has nothing to do with age. He is not a child, P'Gun, he is a young adult, just like you and me. Think about that."

Title turned to Linda, "Are you game with our plan?"

"Count me in!" Linda said enthusiastically.

"You guys are so bad," Gun said, shaking his index finger at his good friends.

Gun was having a hard time going to sleep that night.

He kept trying to analyze his feelings towards Mark. He looked back on the scenes in the drama where Mark placed his body on top of him and placed his arms around him. He clearly was not acting like a child there.

When Mark had kissed him passionately in that scene, he remembered how he disciplined his feelings of wanting the kiss to go on.

The feel of Mark's lips on the side of his neck had aroused him but he made his mind aware of their age gap. Their age gap.

That was it! Their age gap!

The reason he had been fighting his feelings for Mark had nothing to do with his being a child because Mark was NOT a child. He was eighteen years old, almost nineteen. He was not a child at all.

It had been the age gap that clearly had been bothering him. Just because he was three years younger, he had mistakenly looked at Mark as a child instead of a young adult.

If tomorrow's event clearly indicated that Mark felt something for him, should he allow his own feelings the freedom to love him back?

Gun asked himself that question over and over until he finally fell asleep.