flipped :: markhyuck

22 | pity party

'twenty-two

"so what do you work as?" mark's dad asked as everyone sat around the table, plates filled.

"oh, well we're both language teachers," haechan's mother replied, "except i work with disabled people."

"that's absolutely lovely," mark's mother spoke. "you must have so many enriching experiences everyday..."

mark couldn't help but drown out the conversation as his gaze fixated on haechan, who did not glance at him even once throughout the duration of the dinner. he genuinely seemed interested in whatever the adults were talking about, and as much as mark tried to get his attention, he couldn't.

having lee haechan be mad at him was even worse than having him be obsessed with him. 

"so haechan," everyone's gaze turned to the said boy as mark's father asked, "how's school going? you see mark around?"

"oh... yeah," he awkwardly glanced over at mark, who was grateful for such an action, before clearing his throat. "we're not really that close though."

"hey, do classmates go to each other's houses as often as you two do?" his father chuckled, and haechan shuffled in his seat.

"i guess."

after another short silence, mark's father spoke up again. "has anyone seen the new mall yet? they're working ridiculously fast on it."

"the one that replaced the library?" haechan's mother asked in a low voice, and the man nodded in reply.

"yeah. i think they made a smart move by removing that place," he stated. "no-one goes to the library anymore. kids have technology these days."

haechan pursed his lips, and his mother squeezed his hand under the table.

the rest of the dinner consisted of staggered conversations like such, and when it was finally over, haechan felt bad.

he ignored mark the entire time. he didn't want to be on bad terms with anyone; he wanted to stay neutral, almost numb, at school from now on. so as the two families began bidding goodbye, he looked at the latter.

"mark, can i talk to you?"

with a surprised nod, he followed haechan into the dimly lit living room.

"i'm sorry i was so mad," he said, looking down. "i shouldn't have ruined the dinner like that. it was really nice of your parents to host this."

mark only nodded, wishing haechan could at least maintain his eye contact.

"i'll see you at school," the younger boy quickly said, before turning back to the front door, thanking mark's parents, and jogging up to his family who were already halfway across the road.

mark felt even worse now. why was haechan apologising to him? it was as if he wasn't even significant enough to hold a grudge against.

was he?