Canadian boy

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 shit 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 his chance to go back to the table.

"Aw, c'mon Haechan! Just joking!" Areum called, and Sora's smirking voice added,
"It's not like it bothers you anyway, right?"

Sighing, Haechan steeled himself and turned back, waving at Renjun to scooch in so he could take the corner of the table. He looked up and smiled sweetly at Sora's famous cat-grin. "I was just throwing my trash away, you got a problem? If you want me to stay here that bad, then I'll make you my trash bin next time."

"Oh-hoh," Sora's grin darkened. "Yes, I was so sad when you left." She patted something underneath the table. "I was needing a legwarmer."
"That's so gross," Hana sighed, finally taking her attention away from Mark for a second. "Stop making Haechan do those kinds of things."

"What kinds of things?" Sora said innocently. "I'm only trying to make you jealous –"
"Well stop it, cause it's not working," Hana said tartly, touching Mark on the arm. Sora raised an eyebrow and, seeming to notice Mark for the first time, paused to give him a quick scan over.
"Hm, not bad." Sora agreed with a nod.

Mark smiled sheepishly. "Uh…"
"Hey, I have a question for you guys." Mika interrupted coolly, pushing a piece of paper into the midst of their half-finished lunches.

"Oh jeez," Sora said, turning away, while Hana and Areum leaned forward in genuine interest.
"Come on, I need some help from… experienced… people." Mika said with a faint smile as she pointed out the variables on her piece of paper. "Okay, so let's say that it takes about this many seconds per thrust, so there are this many thrusts per minute, and each one consumes this much energy. Supposing it moves this far, how many calories do you burn per hour of sex?I heard my older sister talk about something like that."

Sora raised an eyebrow, her originally bored expression lighting up in curiosity. "Huh? Let me see."
"What do you mean by experienced?" Areum complained in the background. "I wish I was."
Haechan sighed in relief as they started bickering over the question, catching Mika's eye for a moment and smiling in thanks.

Mika just nodded briefly, turned and fixed one of Renjun's messy hairs, and passively nibbled on her sandwich.
Tuning back into the conversation, Haechan was momentarily startled to see where the topic had gone.
"I've never," Hana said adamantly, face red, while Sora reached over Areum to poke her in the arm, cooing.

"Liar, you've had so many boyfriends, how can you not have done something?"
"Yeah, what about with Haechan?" Areum piped up.

Haechan sighed. "Now why would you even suggest that?" He said in a gently lecturing tone, giving Areum a venomous glare as Hana cried "No way!" and shook her head.
Areum gave him an apologetic smile and shrugged. Sora rolled her eyes.
"Hey, what about you?" Sora nearly jumped up to speak to Mark, who had been zoning out until then.

He seemed to pop out of his reverie with a start and stared at them for a couple uncomprehending seconds. Hana remained quiet, face red but wide eyes staring at him, and Areum leaned forward in obvious anticipation. Haechan realized a couple seconds later he was holding his breath and looked away in annoyance.

What the hell, why do I care? These girls seriously need to control their hormones.

"I'm sorry, pardon?" Mark said eventually when they didn't elaborate. "I didn't catch that."
"Have you ever, you know," Sora said, lowering her head and giving him a hinting look.
Mark stared at her blankly.

"You know," Areum made motions with her hands.
"They're asking you if you've ever had sex," Haechan said dryly, and all three girls reeled like they were shocked to hear him say it.

Mark stared at him for a while, and Haechan waited for him to deny it. Then his face flushed, and he didn't answer, and all three girls broke out into a chorus of gasping.

"Are you serious?!" Sora squealed, looking ecstatic. "What was it like? Who was it with? Was she older than you? Was it her first time too?"
"Look," Mark said uncomfortably, glancing away. "I've never –"
"Then what was that pause all about?" Areum jumped in excitedly. "And the blushing and all?"
Mark sheltered his head in his arms, looking totally miserable. "I didn't –"
"Really now," Hana giggled, and at that point, Mark looked up and gave Haechan a desperate look.

Sora followed the look and her eyes lit up instantly. "Oh my god, do you know something about this?" She said, pointing at Haechan.
Startled, Haechan moved to defend himself, but Hana beat him to it.

"What are you talking about," Hana said, face contorting for a moment. "Why would Haechan know anything about this? They're barely friends."
"Yeah," Areum agreed after a moment's thought. "You're finally losing it, girl. I mean your sanity."
"Hey look, there's two minutes until class!" Haechan said loudly, standing up with a sigh and a dramatic stretch.
"Haechan pull down your shirt," Sora called. "It's turning me on."
Haechan laughed, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "That's not my problem. Hana let's go, you have a quiz today remember?"

Hana's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah!" She made to take his offered hand, but then hesitated and looked back at Mark. "Come on, Mark! We're in the same class, let's get there on time!"
Right, they're in the same class. Annoyed, Haechan tucked his hands into his pockets, about to offer to leave when Mark beat him to it.

"Nah, my stomach's not feeling so good today," Mark said, standing up with a grimace. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Again?" Hana reached out and rubbed Mark's arm. "Get better."
"Yeah, thanks," Mark said with a friendly smile. "Excuse me." He then added, before turning and jogging away.

"Way to bolt," Sora commented, with a sly look at Haechan.

Haechan pursed his lips, ignoring Sora as he turned and headed in the direction of Hana's classroom. "Come on, let's go." He repeated, a little less enthusiastically.

Notes