A Beautiful Butterfly

Chapter 25

Once Mark entered the classroom, the very first thing he checked was the seat Jinyoung usually sat at and the one next to it. Jinyoung was already seated but Mark's plan to sit next to him was destroyed as someone else was already there.

Jinyoung was looking out the window, most probably not even having noticed Mark's presence. He had that faraway look and Mark wanted to know what he was thinking. He wanted to know if Jinyoung and Jae were still a thing. He wondered if Jinyoung had given thought to what he had said. Was there a possibility that they could be together?

It was still a bit too early for the lecturer to arrive. Mark made his way to the back of the room and addressed the classmate, who was next to Jinyoung and whose name he could not remember.

"Hey, excuse me," Mark called the male student's attention. "Mind if I sit here? Could we exchange seats?"

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Jinyoung turning to look at them. The student was a little confused but still replied, "You wanna sit here? Your seat is at the front row?"

Mark nodded eagerly, pointing at his seat, and thanked him when the student took his belongings and moved to the front. Leisurely, Mark sat down at the vacated seat and stole a glance at Jinyoung, who looked not at all happy about this arrangement.

Before Mark could say anything, Jinyoung swung his bag over his shoulder and walked to the student, who had just settled down at his new seat.

"Sorry but can you sit there? At my seat?"

For a moment, Mark really wanted to laugh at how childish Jinyoung was, which he felt was cute. But he was not going to let Jinyoung succeed. He grabbed his bag and hurried to them before the classmate could say yes.

"I suggest you sit here. You don't need to move again. This seat's pretty good, isn't it?" Mark persuaded the puzzled male, who obviously did not know which to agree to.

"You want to sit at the back, don't you? Wasn't that why you were there? Let me sit here and you take my seat?"

"It's okay, you can sit here. He's just mad at me. Don't mind him," Mark insisted, which earned a scowl from Jinyoung. "You don't need to move again."

"Um, I guess I'll just sit here."

Jinyoung hissed while Mark beamed at his classmate, who was on his side. But Mark's triumph did not last long because of what Jinyoung said next.

"Fine. You can sit here. I'm not in the mood to attend the class anyway." With that, Jinyoung turned and was soon out of the room. But Mark stopped him just then.

"Where're you going?" Mark asked, tightening his hold on Jinyoung's wrist. "You don't usually skip classes. Why now?"

"You know the reason," Jinyoung said.

"Come on. What can probably go wrong just because we sit next to each other? Let's go back."

"Can you stop bothering me?" Jinyoung's eyebrows were furrowed in a frown. And yet, at that sight, Mark could not help smiling.

"If it's called bothering-"

"What're you two doing here?" The sudden presence of the lecturer distracted both Mark and Jinyoung. "Are you going in or not?"

"We're." Mark tugged Jinyoung and led him, who followed grudgingly, to the two vacant seats at the rear.

It was a relief, which Mark had wanted to feel, to see Jinyoung alone on the campus, after all the classes had been over. Did that mean Jinyoung and Jae were no longer together? Because the other days, Jinyoung had always been with Jae in the afternoons.

Mark hurried to keep up with Jinyoung while he was certain Jinyoung did not like it. But Jinyoung said nothing nor did he walk faster when Mark caught up with him.

"The weather's fine today, isn't it? Are you going back straight to the dorm?"

No response. Mark cleared his throat and checked Jinyoung's facial expression, which did not convey any particular emotion. But Mark was patient and in a good mood. Since he had not seen Jae the whole day. That alone was more than enough.

"How're your grandparents doing? Have they ever asked about me? Tell them I really miss them," Mark said, feeling like talking to himself. "Do they know about us?"

Again Jinyoung did not bother to answer him. Mark knew he was taking a risk but could not help it. He wanted a reaction from Jinyoung, whether it was positive or negative. But he was certain it would be a negative one.

He held Jinyoung's hand. Entwined their hands, to be exact. As expected, Jinyoung stopped abruptly and pulled his hand off.

If only Mark knew how that brief skin contact had stirred sparks, which were not wanted, in Jinyoung. He did not hate Mark but allowing himself to love Mark again was another thing. He would rather date a dozen of boys or girls who could not break his heart in any case than enter a happy bubble with Mark, which at some point, he would become too afraid of losing it.

The more he loved Mark, the more he feared how broken he would be again one day, because of unseen circumstances. And the stronger his love was for someone, the more difficult it was for him to overlook the scar they had given him.

"Are you still mad at me? What do you want me to do? How do I prove that all we need to do is give it a try? We're better together than apart, Jinyoung," Mark said, his voice more shaky than confident. No matter how many times he had been rejected and had expected this kind of reaction from Jinyoung, he could not get used to it.

But he was far from giving up. He knew it was only a matter of time before things would get easier.