The Professor's Son

"Mark me in your heart" - Part 10

On Monday morning, two days after that awful fight you had with Jaehyun, was the day of your Philosophy exam. You hadn't called Jaehyun since Saturday night, when you had last invited him over. It made you cringe to look at your phone and see the message flashing constantly at you.

15 MISSED CALLS FROM JAE

He had tried to call you repeatedly that night and all of Sunday morning. You guessed he wanted to apologise for leading you on, but you didn't want to hear his words. What good would they do?

You took in a large gulp of air and prepared to enter the exam room with the rest of the students. Scanning the top of the papers you found your number and took a seat at the rigid metal table. No matter how hard you tried you couldn't seem to get Jaehyun's remorseful face out of your mind. Your focus was off and your hands were shaking from the stress of the situation. Silently, you mouthed a prayer as the exam began.

***

A few hours later you were standing alone outside the cafeteria, in a corner tucked away from the main entrance so no one could see you. You smoked a cigarette to calm your nerves and slowly took a sip of coffee.

The exam hadn't been as bad as you had anticipated, and despite all the distractions and anxiety, you had a feeling that you would get a good mark.

Now that you were left by yourself and your own thoughts you couldn't help but feel detached from reality. What were you doing here? Should you reach out to Jaehyun?

Out of the corner of your eye you noticed someone walking towards you. Familiar raven black hair and rounded silver glasses came into focus.

"Hey Y/N what's up?" Mark shouted, reaching his hand out in greeting.

You jumped at the sight of him and his loud jovial voice. Quickly, you flicked the cigarette down to the ground and crushed it with your heel, like you had just been caught by your mom doing something awful.

"Oh nothing much, just taking a break." you tried to smile and shook his hand.

"You seem kinda sad today, did something happen?" his eyes were full of genuine concern for you. Mark could tell by the pitiful look on your face that something wasn't right. Lately, you and Mark have become closer. He would occasionally text you about class related stuff and sprinkle a couple of jokes into the conversation.

You really enjoyed spending time with him and getting to know him, but right now all you wanted was for Mark to go away. Dammit, how was he so perceptive?

"No, I swear I'm fine." you said monotonously.

"But you look like you're about to cry?"

It was true, tears had been welling up in your eyes all morning, coming and going like the tides. Making your eyes pink and hot.

"Y/N tell me what happened, you can trust me. This will stay between you and me."

At that moment you fell into Mark's arms and sobbed into his shoulder. He consoled you by rubbing circles into your back.

"There there," he repeated into your ear, "It's okay to cry, let it all out."

"I'm so sorry," you whispered in return, "I don't know what's with me today."

"Is it cos of the exam? Did it stress you out too much?"

You pulled away from Mark's arms and wiped your nose with the cuff of your sweater.

"It's because of Jaehyun."

"Who?" Mark's eyes grew wide, "Who is that son of a bitch? Did he hurt you?"
You couldn't help but giggle at Mark's words.

"No, I'll tell you the full story. Jaehyun is my tutor and I kinda fell head over heels for him, but then he told me the other night that he already has a girlfriend."
"Oh, so now you're broken-hearted?"

"Yeah, and I just don't know what to do. Maybe I need some time for myself right now? Time to think about my life and future, without him."

Mark took you into his arms and gently sighed, the exhale from his nose tickled your ear.

"I'm so glad he didn't physically hurt you." Mark cupped your face in his hands, "I've got a great idea."

"What is it?" you drew his hands away from your face, not wanting to be touched in such a sensitive state. Mark understood and flashed you an apologetic grin.

"My friend Jungkook invited me to a party this Friday. Maybe we should go? Have some fun, you know, meet some people and stuff like that."

"But all I wanna do is curl up into a ball and disappear right now."

Mark frowned sympathetically, "Hey, don't say that! You've got such a great life to live, think of all the fun we can have at the party. Come for an hour and if you don't like it then you can leave."

You thought for a moment, trying once again to weigh up the pros and cons, but your head was so muddled up you couldn't think straight. You sighed, "Alright, I'll come. But just for an hour and no more. By the way I'm not drinking."

"That's okay," Mark grinned, "In that case you can be my Uber for the night."