DAY 3 - A GLIMPSE OF OUR FUTURE

Walking along the cloudy street as the cool yet damp air crawled inside his sleeves, Mark took few steps to reach towards a colorful beam of light in front of him. No matter how hard he tried, he was stuck at the same place and couldn't bring himself to find the mysterious colorful light in the midst of thick fog.

Just then, he heard someone screaming for his name. The voice was somewhat familiar but he couldn't determine the person behind it. The scream gradually went louder and louder until it suddenly became an unwanted sound of annoyance - a ringing tone.

And that's how he realized that he was actually dreaming.

He groggily popped an eye and grumpily crawled to reach for the alarm clock on the table. Struggling to tap the clock, Mark realized that it wasn't the thing which was actually ringing. Feeling really annoyed due to his interrupted sleep, he frustratingly searched where the ringing tone was coming from. He searched all over the bed, and through his thick sheets until he found his phone ringing for a call.

Struggling to keep his heavy eyelids open, he squinted his eyes to check the ID caller.

Park Jinyoung calling...

He mentally scoffed from seeing an unexpected name in an unexpected hour. However, he still managed to answer the call, which surprisingly turned out to be a video call.

"Good morning!!!" was the first cheerful greeting coming from the person who just called. He saw how Jinyoung adorably waved his hand while plastering a wide smile.

"Psh, what now?" He hoarsely groaned in annoyance, totally not in the mood for anything adorable.

"Oh, you're still in bed?"

"What the do you want? You just woke me up from a deep dream!"

"Oh sorry! Someone was nagging me a lot just to see you. Didn't know you're still dreaming when it's almost lunch time," he heard him chuckling that he immediately threw an eye because it was purposely intended to mock him, then he suddenly heard a grumpy small voice from the other line. He saw how Jinyoung crawled over the couch and encircled his arms around the little kid, who seemed to be busy playing on his own, "Gom-ah, say hello!!!"

"Du-du mamam adudu" the little kid whined with pouty lips while playing with his stuffed bear.

"Look at the phone, Gom-ah!"

"Ahh! Da-da!!!" the little kid giggled when he saw Mark at the screen.

"Say hello! Hello~!" they both playfully waved their hands.

"Hi" Mark soullessly responded in a hoarse voice and tried to wave his hand back at Gom. "Okay, seriously, I don't know what we're doing. I'll hang up then," he sat up and heaved a sigh when he realized that this video call was a bit embarrassing and totally awkward. Was it even necessary to have a video call when they were just living in the same city? Truthfully, it was like a long distance relationship scenario. He was actually curious, if this video call was also part of the responsibilities they have for the little kid.

"Don't leave!!! Gom was crying a lot this morning and I figured out that he was looking for you when he pointed out the chocolate doughnut you bought for him inside the fridge."

"Da-da? Da-da di doo? Aaaaheee!" The little kid constantly tried to talk as if he was telling him what happened throughout the day.

"He will feel bad if you'll hang up already. You don't need to say anything though. I actually think, he just want to see you."

"You woke me up just for this?" Mark brushed up his messy hair and casually puts on a shirt.

"Just to clear it out, it wasn't intentional. And for the second thought, look how happy he is to see you!"

"Aaaahmmm!" Then he shifted his eyes at Gom, who playfully the screen.

"Oh goodness, no! Don't my phone, Gom-ah! It's dirty and ew!"

"Didi? Ewww!"

Mark unknowingly chuckled from the toddler's adorable attempts in saying the words.

"Yes, small nose. It's dirty and eww," he saw how Jinyoung carefully pinched the little kid's nose. "Alright, I'll just check the rice. Just stay there for awhile and don't swallow my phone!"

Jinyoung left the kid alone to prepare for their lunch, leaving only both of them while talking to each other through a video call.

"Da-da dadi doo mamam woo woo," Gom mumbled with pouty lips, as if he was reporting a bad day to Mark.

"Let me guess, Park Jinyoung did not let you eat those chocolate doughnuts for breakfast?"

"Dadi-doo-doo!" The little kid exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I will treat you some doughnuts again and we will not tell Park Jinyoung," he bit his lips and let out a chuckle from seeing the toddler's adorable expression.

"Aheeeee!! Dada ahhhmmm!!"

"Hey hey hey. Park Jinyoung told you not to eat his phone, buddy. You won't like seeing his scary face!!!" He tried to warn the little kid, who was about to the screen once again.

"Ahhhmmmm!" However, the little kid still continued to swallow the phone.

"Aaaaahh, don't eat me! Don't eat me! Someone please save me! This eating machine is eating me alive!" Mark acted like he was being eaten alive and whined with a mini voice that made the toddler laugh really hard. "You actually found it funny huh? Some people actually doesn't appreciate my jokes. They said it wasn't funny."

"Dadada!! ahhhmmm!"

"Hey, stop swallowing the phone! How can you eat me?" he acted really hurt which made the kid to laugh again. "Just kiss me instead. Try it," he pointed his cheeks on the screen.

"Mmm.. Mua!"

"That's good, buddy. You're doing good," he proudly commended when the toddler seemed to understand him.

"Da-da nam nam broom broooom!"

"I'm guessing you want to ride a car again, don't you?" He chuckled at the thought that it seemed really entertaining to talk with the toddler, who was struggling to hold the gigantic phone with his little hands.

"Broom broooom broooom raraaaaawr!"

"I see! I see! You looked really excited huh?"

"Aheeeee!!" Gom cheerfully exclaimed that he accidentally threw the phone into the floor from his excitement.

"Oh my god, my phone!!!" was the last thing that Mark heard before the call ended.

ㅡ

Mark wasn't sure himself on what he was actually doing in front of the same apartment once again. He can actually just ran away from the temporary responsibilities when he wanted but since he got nothing to do for the day, he agreed to come along. Besides, dealing with the toddler seemed like a stress reliever.

He knocked for three times and casually slid his palm inside his pocket while waiting.

"Da-da!!!"

A sight of two perfectly matched duo, wearing their white tee, jeans and matched yellow cap, welcomed him at the door. Mark furrowed his eyebrows as he couldn't seem to understand Jinyoung's hobby in matching outfits. He mentally cursed himself when he realized that he was in-lined with the outfit concept since he was also wearing an oversized white tee, and he was actually grateful that he did not wear any cap today.

"What took you so long? He was waiting for almost an hour and a half already," he heard Jinyoung mumbling.

"Psh. You talk like I agreed to come in a certain time, when I obviously didn't."

They ended up at the grocery mart since Jinyoung was actually planning to shop for groceries for next week. Truthfully, Mark just came along without knowing the activities that Jinyoung planned in the afternoon, and it's a relief that it was just a matter of simply shopping.

He silently followed them as Jinyoung casually led the way to look for the things he needed for the upco