Haechan didn't see Mark again until lunch break when he went to his usual spot beside Hana and her usual group of friends and saw that Mark had taken it.

"Hey, Haechan." Mark's eyes lit up when he saw Haechan approaching, and Haechan did his best to hide the queasiness in his smile when he saw Hana pressed up against the boy's shoulder.

"I see my spot is taken," Haechan spoke jokingly, but he stung inside.

"Oh, really?" Mark stood up. "Sorry I didn't know–"

"It's okay," Areum, one of Hana's close friends, said firmly, gesturing for Mark to stay with an elegant flick of her hands. "Haechan can find his own spot. Hey Hana, why don't you sit on his lap? That way he has a seat." Smiling smugly, she shot Haechan a you-owe-me look.

"Stupid," Hana giggled, while Haechan shot Areum a glare. "I'm too heavy for Haechan."

"You're like, ten pounds." Hana's other friend, Sora, brushed her brown hair to one side and rolled her eyes, then smiled at Haechan. "Haechan can sit on my lap."

Haechan laughed. "Why thank you." He went over and Sora leaned back, offering her well-toned arms up. Haechan sat and she made a face.

"Holy you're like a feather!"

"Haechan, you shouldn't sit on a girl," Hana said, sounding a little upset.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Jealous?"

"I'll scooch over." Mark interrupted, moving closer to Hana and opening up space beside him.

"No, it's fine. There's plenty of space." Haechan pointed out, standing back up. Sora gave him a bit of a shove as he went to the other side, sitting across from Mark.

"My legs are numb." She complained.

"You offered first," Haechan said, avoiding Mark's gaze as he took out his lunch. "Ugh, salad."

"Salad's good for you." Mika's cool voice brought their heads up.

"Right, like I need to know that," Haechan muttered under his breath.

"Oooh," Sora cooed first, while Hana and Areum giggled. "Look who it is."

Renjun, his hand entwined with Mika's, flushed and looked at Haechan squeamishly for help. Haechan smiled and shook his head as Mika sat down next to him, dragging Renjun with her.

It's your own problem, big guy.

"Welcome back to the girl's table, Renjun," Areum smirked

"Girl's table?" Mark said in bewilderment. "But Haechan –"

"It's okay, he's around girls so much that he's included in the term 'girls'." Sora laughed. "Isn't that right Haechan? Everybody knows that 'girls' means 'girls and Haechan.'"

"Oh, shut up," Haechan said, surprised to find himself flushing. He normally didn't care – he had a good enough reputation otherwise – but the way Mark was eyeing him made him feel strange. "It's just because I'm so nice, you princesses all come to me crying when your boyfriends break up with you."

"Yeah right," Sora scoffed, at the same time Areum sighed.

"That's kind of true, you know," Areum said, looking up a little dreamily. "What was his famous line, again? 'Why are you crying, princess? Hold up your head, your tiara is falling?" She snickered, and Haechan glanced off to the side with a scowl.

"And who was the one that was crying?" He muttered.

"Haechan's like our counselor," Hana said proudly, rubbing her shoulder against Mark's with an obliviously happy smile.

"Yeah, he's a nice guy," Mark said, his gaze fixed on Haechan the whole time.

Feeling warm all of a sudden, Haechan brushed it off with a laugh. "Nah, what kind of guy wouldn't want a girl to come running to them when they cry?"

"I've never done that," Sora said indignantly. "It's just Hana."

"Cause you know," Areum grinned. "Haechan and Hana have a thing."

Haechan clenched his fist as Hana turned to him, looking surprised. "We do not," he said firmly, finishing the last of his lunch and standing up to leave. In the background, the girl's laughter and cooing voices rose, but all he was aware of was Hana saying "Stop it, we're just friends!"Gritting his teeth, Haechan tossed the remainder of his apple into the nearest trash bin and hesitated for a moment, knowing this was hi