“Jin, is that really you?” His voice addressed him silently- deeper and coarser than Jinyoung had remembered. Jinyoung could only stare at the figure obstructed by the shadows of the leaves- the moon bringing light to his nostalgic brown eyes- was this unrecognizable person, really the boy he had spent years in his childhood with?

~~

“Found you,” the familiar voice brought Mark’s attention to the thicket of trees to his left. “What happened this time? Did she beat you again?” Jinyoung’s familiar silhouette appeared out of the leaves as he sat down beside Mark.

Mark winced as he became conscious of the state of his face. The pain of his torn lip had faded away with his adrenaline, along with his aching stomach, his tattered shirt hiding little of the purple bruises beneath them. “You already know the answer to that Jin,” Mark sighed.

“I was expecting you to deny it like usual,” Jinyoung’s eyebrows raised as he dropped himself down beside Mark, the mossy den of the forest cushioning his weight. “Does it still hurt?” Jinyoung had placed a handkerchief onto Mark’s lip, although the blood had already crusted up around the wound, the white silk fabric, although soft, still stung the wound it touched.

Mark winced. He had been beat time and time over- Jinyoung had always been there to comfort him and provide him with support- but the wounds still ached and he was reaching his limit. “I’d be lying to you if I said it didn’t.”

“It’s okay to lie Mark,” Jinyoung said. He pulled out a water bottle and poured it onto the handkerchief, dabbing it gently onto Mark’s lip, “if it helps you escape from your hell that is.”

Mark oddly, smiled at Jinyoung’s seriousness, “Jin have I ever told you about that famous quote my father told me once? There was a man and his mistress sitting in their car, and when the lady asked where they were heading to, the man answered ‘With you, I could go anywhere, even if our destination was hell’.”

Jinyoung looked at Mark, surprised at his sudden quoting of his father, “I’d rather not go to hell Mark, even if it were with you.”

Mark remembered that Jinyoung was Christian, a silver cross dangled from his neck and there was not a day that Mark had seen him without it. “I would,” Mark took the soiled handkerchief from Jinyoung’s hands and placed it in his own, “I’d travel with you to hell any day Jin, even though I’m sure you’ll go to heaven.”

“Let’s get off that topic Mark, must you always be so dark?” Jinyoung coughed, “I know it can’t be helped at times but I’d much rather be positive.”

Jinyoung fell backwards onto the moss, his hair be