Mark was at a random town in a book store flipping through pages of some novel to kill time.

It's been a few weeks from when he was released from the hospital. He was lucky his wallet and his phone were in the pocket of his jacket or else he would have had to say goodbye to them too like he had to the rest of his belongings.

After he was released from the hospital he had to go buy new belongings to continue his destinationless journey. New bag, new clothes, new toothbrush, new everything. Then he left town with a random bus. He didn't really care where he was going. He just had to stay moving. Had to do something so he didn't have too much time for his thoughts.

The novel seemed boring. He put the novel back to the shelf and randomly picked another one. He still had a bit over an hour to waste. He sighed. This novel was also boring.

He thought that since he spent most of his time on public transportation, he could at least use the time he was sitting to read something to improve himself or give himself a new way of thinking. Books tend to do that, or so he thought. He never was an avid reader himself. Never picked up a book in leisure, just for fun. The last time he even read anything was when he was doing his financial degree.

Jinyoung, his friend would always preach him about reading books. How he should pick one up to walk into a new world. How he's missing out on so much by not doing so. Open up your mind! He would say. One of Jinyoung's most overused catch phrases was, what you read in your free time is who you really are so pick up something anything, so you won't end up being nothing.  But Mark really couldn't trust him at all. Jinyoung was literary major after all. That was what he was supposed to say.

Either way, he gave it a go. He was finding himself after all. He would focus solely on himself and forget about everything else. So books seemed like a part of that quest.

Though which books, he wasn't sure. There were too many books to choose from.  Jinyoung did always recommend some books that were a-must-read. However, there were too many books Jinyoung raved about. And it happened so often, that Mark, most often than not, found himself zoning out as soon as he even heard a word book. Now it had gone and bitten him in the as he was looking through endless amounts of books to find one that could hold his attention for at least a solid 10 minutes. Which was a mission on its own, since Mark had an attention span of a-gold-fish. Jinyoung should be proud, Mark even stepped inside the stingy old book store all on his own free will. That's character development right there.

He read the back cover of Stephenie Meyer's new book 'The Chemist'. Well, it didn't seem that bad. But Mark doubt this was the kind of book Jinyoung would approve of. A young adult romance roman. Well, Mark did need a little romance in his non-existent love-life. And the heroine of the book seemed to be on a run from some bad guys like he was. Very relatable. Though Mark was running away from his feelings but who cares about details anyway. He decided to keep the book just in case he won't find anything better.

He also carelessly picked another dark looking book without even sparing a glance at the title and walked away from the best sellers to a random shelf to pick out a random book. But someone else - whose presence Mark had ignored, too occupied by his own thoughts- also reached out for the same book at the same time. As a result their hands briefly brushed against each other electrocuting both of them in the process, making them both jerk back.

"You.." Mark's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the equally surprised boy, who hid his surprise almost immediately after.

Jaebum looked so different, Mark almost couldn't recognize him. Almost, if not for the twin moles above his left eye. Jaebum looked so soft. His black straight hair was down and unstyled unlike the up-styled sleek hairdo Mark associated with the guy. He wore a comfortable big red hoodie with a severely ripped black jeans instead of the leather jacket and the black shirt he wore the last time. He was also free of his earrings and rings. The scratches on his face, no doubt from fighting, were now gone too. Now Jaebum looked like a complete opposite of the guy with hard edges Mark met few weeks ago. The difference between then and now was so vast mark couldn’t believe they were a same person.

"Fancy seeing you here" Jaebum smirked at Mark before he glanced down at Mark's hands where he was holding 2 books against his chest. "The chemist and…" Jaebum tilted his head slightly to the side so he could read the other book's title better. He cocked his eyebrow up in surprise, "50 shades of Grey?"

Mark sputtered and immediately turned to the books in his hands only to find out that yes he was holding an adult romance a in his hands. He felt himself flush. He really should read book titles before carrying anything in his hands. Mark groaned and looked up at a very amused Jaebum. "That was a mistake… I don't know how it got in my hands…" Mark mumbled wishing he was anywhere else but here in this small old bookstore.

"Not judging you or anything." Jaebum raised both of his hands as if to surrender. "Enjoy it, I guess," He said with a grin.

A grin! Mark really couldn't believe he was intimidated by this guy the last time they met. Now he just felt a slight annoyance towards the guy and that had nothing to do with the embarrassment he was feeling. Or so he told himself.

"Then what about you? You were about to take" Mark looked back up at the book they both were going for "Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? What kind of book is that?" Mark asked, eyes filled with confusion when he looked back at the much taller male.

"You were about to pick it too and you don't even know what it's about?" Jaebum asked bemusedly. Amusement must be Jaebum's constant state of mind or he just enjoyed seeing Mark struggle, he thought grudgingly.

"I thought the title was interesting" Mark lied through his teeth. He didn't even read the title, he was more drawn to the red cover of the book. He shifted his eyes from the overly amused male to the clock behind the male's head and gasped. How had time have flown by so fast? He had about half an hour left anymore and he still had to go by the store to buy something to eat.

"You know what, it was nice to meet you again! Sorry but I have to run" Mark said hurriedly with a polite apologetic smile watching Jaebum's smug lopsided grin melt from his face. Jaebum's mouth opened as if to say something but before he could, Mark already bristly walked to the counter to pay for his book -but not before he got rid of the offending a like it was some contagious disease he was afraid to catch- and hurriedly exited the store without sparing a glance behind.

Mark almost ran to the nearby shop and took his time buying snacks enough to feed a small kindergarten before speed walked to the bus stop meant for long distance buses. He checked his wristwatch. It was 10 minutes till the bus had to depart. He was in time for once.

The bus arrived at the bus stop soon after and the driver helped the passengers put their luggage to the storage place at the side of the bus. Mark gave him his, showed his ticket and climbed on the bus with his back bag. There were no designated seats on the ticket, so he just sat down on a window seat towards the back of the bus. He put his back bag down at his feet and plucked his charger in the pluck under the armrest to charge his iPhone. He leaned back on his seat to make himself more comfortable.

Mark lowered his snapback down to cover his bruised face and didn't pay any mind to the person that sat down next to him, too focused on his phone. Jackson had updated his Instagram with a few new pictures. One was a landscape of a sunny ocean and a small brown cottage on top of the blue water. The picture was uploaded with a caption of stay warm and be careful to not catch a cold. Maldives sure was a nice place for a honeymoon. Another picture was a selca of Jackson. Jackson was smiling so bright in the picture, it made him look like a happy little puppy. The unaware new wife could be seen to be sunbathing on the top right corner of the picture. It was captioned with a heart. Mark smiled looking at every detail of Jackson's sunny face and let his eyes drift lower to the muscular chest where the picture was cut just above his s.

He was filled with a familiar warmth at the sight of Jackson's warm eyes. He really did miss Jackson.

Mark touched Jackson's cheek on the picture with a soft smile. Then wrote a comment on the picture with a simple lol and double tapped both pics. He contemplated on whether to take a screenshot to save the selfie on his phone or not before deciding against it and went on YouTube.

Mark was out within half an hour after the bus started moving. When Mark woke up, he noticed he had fallen asleep against a shoulder of the person next to him. And on top of that, he could feel his drool rolling down his jaw. As discretely as possible, Mark slowly sat up straight while stretching his sore limbs while secretly wiped his drool with a sleeve of his over-sized hoodie. He leaned against the window and tried to unnoticeably peek at the poor passenger sitting next to him to check the condition of his shoulder.

Thank god the guy's shoulder looked dry without any drool stains. Mark's eyes traveled lower, the guy was holding an open book in his hand. Maybe he was too busy reading to notice Mark even leaning on him. He highly doubt it.

Though something about the red sleeve covering the guy's wrist was unsettlingly familiar making alarms ring inside Mark's head. It couldn't be. Mark's eyes darted up.

It was Im Jaebum. Only he wasn't reading his book. He was looking straight back at Mark. The beginnings of the annoying lopsided grin was already playing on his lips.

Mark unconsciously quickly shifted his gaze away from Jaebum's eyes, heart beating like he was caught staring. Which he was. Then he forced his eyes back on Jaebum's, determined not to show how flustered he felt. Before Mark could open his mouth to say something, Jaebum beat him to it.     

"If I didn't know any better I would've thought you were a stalker" feigning shock, Jaebum quickly added "Actually I don't know any better," he suspiciously squinted his eyes at Mark and asked carefully "Are you stalking me?"

Mark stared at Jaebum for a good 2 minutes mouth gaping open before he regained himself "Me stalking you? I should be the one asking you that question, are you following me?"

"Nope, that's pretty much all you"

"I sat here before you!" Mark exclaimed incredulously.

"A stalker and in denial about it… Gosh, I should be scared, shouldn't I?"

"Unbelievable…" Mark mumbled shaking his head trying to hold back a smile, that was already twitching at the corners of his lips. Jaebum was ridiculous.

Jaebum seemed satisfied and closed his book after marking the page he was on with a bookmark.

"You know if you wanted to meet me that much, you could've just called instead of stalking" Jaebum's voice was light as if he was just joking without any hint of accusation in his voice nor eyes.

Now Mark was feeling kind of bad. The Jaebum sitting before him looked like a nice guy. If this Jaebum would have been the one to give him the number instead of the Jaebum he met few weeks ago, he would have had a higher percentage to be inclined to text instead of keeping the crumbled up napkin on the bottom of his luggage. Without the quote, he would have trashed the napkin in the first trash-bin he would have seen. This Jaebum, seemed like a fun guy to keep around.

"Why did you give me your number?" Mark asked instead of answering.

Jaebum seemed unfazed by the question. "Why didn't you call?"

"I asked first"

"I'll tell you, after your answer"

Mark felt like this was becoming a habit. This back and forth ball throwing of a words happening between him and Jaebum. It would be great if not for the feeling of not having the upper hand like he had with Jackson.

With Jaebum, it felt like Jaebum had all the control of the situation. Jackson was never like this. He would always answer whatever questions Mark asked him. Though more times than not it was Jackson asking the questions. Sometimes the questions were so dumb to the point of Mark not giving the questions any value by answering them. He would ignore them and Jackson would whine cutely how he was being mean. Jackson really was adorable little ball of fluff. Even with his annoying tendencies.

"Fine" Mark sagged against the window, still holding Jaebum's gaze "I was kind of intimidated by you the first time we met…" his eyes drifted to the side while he tried to keep himself from laughing at the incredulous thought he had back then, "I thought you were a gangster"

"A gangster?" Jaebum repeated flabbergasted.

"Well, you had the presence! And it didn't help that you looked a bit beaten up as well…"

"I looked beaten up?"

Mark ignored Jaebum and continued, "I didn't want to call you cause I couldn't figure out what a gangster would've want from me" Mark shook his head at his stupidity. "Actually I didn't really contemplated on it that long, thought it was best to stay away from trouble. And I thought you looked like trouble" Mark confessed guiltily. "Sorry shouldn't have assumed." Mark gave Jaebum a small smile.

"Interesting" Jaebum didn't seemed to have taken any offence.

"So why did you give me your number?" Mark asked curiously.

"You seemed like you needed a friend" Jaebum shrugged, "I thought I could help"

"Oh, now I feel bad. I'm sorry I can be prejudiced sometimes."

"Don't be, it's refreshing to talk with someone as honest and straightforward as you"

"I can't figure out if you are being sarcastic or sincere," Mark replied as he squinted his eyes skeptically at Jaebum.

Jaebum burst out in laughter. The laugh so infectious that it left Mark feeling giddy inside with a wide smile. "Trust me I'm being sincere" Jaebum managed as he was catching his breath "Honest people are surprisingly hard to come by now days"

"Oh?"

"It just feels like no one speaks their minds anymore. Sometimes I feel like everyone around me are faking it to gain something from others" Jaebum shrugged "You don't seem like the type"

"I don't seem fake? You don't even know me, how would you know?"

"I'm good at reading people" Jaebum smiled "I could use a honest person in my life"

"Well, since you practically begged me to be your friend and I feel sorry for your rotten luck in people," Jaebum scoffed at that "as a token of our new friendship, I should share my secret with you" Mark leaned closer to Jaebum and whispered lowly "I have a secret stash"

"Secret stash of what?"

"Secret stash of snacks" With that Mark dropped a fistful of different kind of candies in Jaebum's lap.

"Oh, good. I almost got scared there" Jaebum laughed.

"What did you think I had?"

"I don't know. Drugs? Knifes? Weapons? Illegal money?"

"… It's the hoodie and the snapback, right? Too much?"

"No, I think it's the occupational habit I guess. I tend to assume the worst to be safe."

Mark slowed down his rummaging for a chocolate bar that he was craving from his pack bag to slowly look at Jaebum's calm face "What do you do?"

Jaebum shrugged "I'm in law enforcement"

"Oh cool, I expected something worse. Well, mister policeman I hope you like strawberry milks" Mark said nonchalantly as he threw the milk at Jaebum, which he caught with ease.

"I have a weakness for these… I should be careful of you, you found my one and only weakness within the third time we've met. Who knows what else you are capable of?"

"Who do you think you are? Superman? So strawberry milk is your kryptonite?" Mark asked amusedly.

"Exactly." Jaebum then looked down at his lap at the vast variety of different candies and a few mini bags of chips that Mark had thrown in his lap as an afterthought. "Is your back just full of snacks?"

Mark paused his chewing and looked at Jaebum pointedly "Yes? Problem?"

Jaebum only laughed heartily "No, not at all, mister candy man"

"Good, you almost lost your right to eat these deliciousness"

Jaebum could only shake his head in amusement and continued to drink his strawberry milkshake.

The two boys talked through the long bus drive to a next city. Both of them were too busy getting to know each other to notice the sun going down and the passage of time. They didn't talk nonstop the whole ride, though. But even the silences shared between them were comfortable.

Never had Mark felt so at ease with a barely known acquaintance before. Slowly he felt excitement beginning to bubble in his guts, which comes with getting to know a new person. The smile on his lips felt carefree and sincere. Just for a little while he felt like he could pretend he was just a normal happy person sitting next to a new acquaintance. Making small talk and enjoying his time. A normal person without any care in the world. A normal person not desperately, hopelessly still in love with his best friend despite the heart break. Still in love with his male best friend who just got married.