A Beautiful Butterfly

Chapter 28

A girl was following Jinyoung. He had a habit of seldom taking notice of the surrounding and it was not surprising that he had no idea of her near presence.

She was to be in the same class as him and naturally was still at his heels when he walked into the classroom. But her lingering gaze at Jinyoung did not escape Mark's attention and when she followed Jinyoung to his seat and then took the seat in front of his, Mark felt a growing sense of suspicion.

"Hey, Jinyoung, morning!"

Jinyoung raised his eyebrows in question at her sudden greeting. Just another girl who wanted to flirt with him, he concluded. He had already decided not to get involved with girls anymore. But when he saw, from the corner of his eyes, that Mark's eyes were on them, he changed his attitude for the time being.

"Morning. And you're?"

"Jia! Choi Jia! You never noticed me before?" she said, trying to produce a cute pout. "Will you recognise me from now on then?"

"Sure, Jia. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"N-No. Nothing in particular. I've just been thinking you're so cool," she cooed, her face flushed. "A-Are you seeing anyone at the moment?"

"Thank you and I'm not," Jinyoung willingly followed her bait, with a smile. "What about you?"

She was on the brink of squealing at his question but struggled to keep her composure. "N-No. Can I get your number?"

How fast she was! Probably, she was assuming he was also interested. Imagine how she would react if he rejected her request. And Jinyoung felt really tempted to do so. But Mark was coming their way and Jinyoung knew what he had to say.

"Yeah, if you want it."

"No!" Mark interrupted, placing his hands on Jinyoung's desk and looking at the girl with a scowl. She was not at all pleased by his interference and studied him with annoyance. "You aren't getting any number. Piss off!"

She turned to Jinyoung for help but he was as impassive as he could be and watching them like the audience. "That's none of your business! What's your problem?"

"Well, for your information, he's taken." Mark stole a glance at Jinyoung, whose irritation was now evident. He was hesitant about what he was going to say next, because he was certain Jinyoung would not like that. "He's mine. So you should search for someone else to ask their number."

"What! For real?" She was flabbergasted.

Jinyoung was about to protest but the unexpected cheers from the classmates startled him. "Wow, Mark! That's epic!", "Suddenly openly gay?", "I'm on his side. Back off, Jia!"; everyone who had heard the conversation was shouting all those random things all at once. Jinyoung felt like leaving here immediately.

He glared at Mark, who looked apologetic. "Go back to your seat," Jinyoung said, through his gritted teeth.

"I'm-"

"No. Just go!" Jinyoung insisted. And Mark did as he was told, his head hung low.

In the afternoon, Mark hurried after Jinyoung saying again and again that he was sorry for what he had done that morning. He knew Jinyoung was still angry with him.

"Stop following me!" Jinyoung said, "And stop all of this. Who said I'm yours, huh? Stop declaring that I'm! I'm tired of this, Mark. Let's stop this. I don't want to hate you."

"Why don't you understand how I'm feeling? You think we can just stay like we don't have feelings for each other? How the hell will it solve everything?" Mark raised his voice.

"It's at least better than you bothering me like this!"

Mark went silent. But eventually said, "Is it really what you want? I thought you just needed time but it's starting to feel like you don't really want to be with me."

Jinyoung made no reply, letting his silence be the confirmation. But he was also starting to question himself if that was really what he wanted. But he did not want to picture himself with Mark again.

There was no more word said between them again. Neither was Jinyoung insisting Mark should go away nor was Mark trying to talk to him again. Yet Mark followed him all the way to the dorm.

When they got to the room, however, Jinyoung shut the door before Mark could come in as well. Although he did not know if Mark had been planning to. And he never knew that Mark remained there pensive, leaning against the door for several, long minutes.

Wonpil was in the room and checked behind Jinyoung, who had just closed the door. "I thought I saw someone."

"It's just Mark," Jinyoung said, dismissively. He had no desire to talk nor to answer his roommate's prying questions.

"Did you have an argument with him again?"

"When didn't I have? I'm so tired. Let me rest for a moment." Jinyoung went on to the bed and sat down at its edge, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. He did not even know what exactly he was frustrated with.

"Jinyoung, I think you should give him a chance. You've already seen he's being serious about you, anyway," Wonpil advised. "You both like each other obviously. What're you waiting for then?"

Jinyoung shook his head. "You don't understand. He's broken my heart once. I love him, so I could've easily forgiven him, right? But it's just the opposite. And I'm afraid of being hurt again. I'll never be able to forget what he's made me gone through once. I'd rather be with someone who cannot break my heart."

"What're you going to do then?" Wonpil asked. He wished Jinyoung would see the situation a little more positively.

"What do I do? Wait till he moves on." But the thought disturbed him all the same. Maybe, he was a hypocrite.