Donghyuck’s Playlist for Cooking By An Open Fire

Girl at Coachella- Matoma & MAGIC! Featuring D.R.A.M

“Did you know that Hansol and I actually went to Coachella a few years ago?”

“Really? How was it?”

“We drank too much, ate too much, made love in the tents all night and had our wallets stolen. It was the best time of our lives.”

******************

We are 5 chapters into this story and I just realized that I have not properly explained Mark and Donghyuck’s relationship. I’m sure you all know by now that Mark and Donghyuck are childhood friends, and that Mark had a crush on Donghyuck’s older and more perfect brother Jaehyun. What I might have neglected to tell you is that Donghyuck had been stewing feelings for the boy next door for as long as he can remember.

Donghyuck’s crush on Mark went back as far as when they were still 12 years old. When Donghyuck was beginning to realize he was attracted to boys as well as girls, he found Mark charming and funny. That boy next door with the sweet smile and funny laugh that you find great comfort in. Falling in love when you are a teenager is of course a lot more complicated than that. Even after a short romance with Somi, and a longer, more serious relationship with Jaemin, Donghyuck found himself going back to Mark. He could be holding hands with Somi, or kissing Jaemin with his hands under his shirt, but when he closes his eyes, he would imagine Mark instead of them.

Donghyuck knew Mark had a crush on his elder brother instead. As he said before, it wasn’t hard to notice. Instead of snapping at him and crushing his dreams, Donghyuck stayed quiet. He hoped the longer he stayed quiet, the faster it would go away. Like a wart on your body or some dirty secret you would hope to forget one day. Things became easier when Jaehyun left for college and he didn’t see him as often as before, but for some reason, Donghyuck could never find the courage to tell Mark how he truly felt.

Maybe it was because he was afraid of rejection.

Maybe he was afraid he would lose Mark.

Maybe it was because he knew deep down inside, Mark would never feel the same way for him.

So why bother mentioning something that won’t happen?

It was a little creepy that Yuta could see through Donghyuck so easily after just 10 minutes of meeting him. Breakfast with them was a mix of slightly charred pancakes, fruits and coffee with milk. After breakfast, Mark and Jeno had gone off for a stroll along the beach while Renjun wanted to take some photos. Donghyuck offered to help clean up after breakfast, to thank Yuta and Hansol for their hospitality. While cleaning up the pan they used to make pancakes, Yuta looked at him with a smile and said:

“Mark seems like a nice young man.”

“He is.” Donghyuck grinned unknowingly. “We are childhood friends.”

“How long have you had a crush on him?”

“I…what?”

“You do have a crush on him, don’t you?”

“How did you…”

“It’s pretty obvious.” Yuta giggled. “Don’t be embarrassed. You should see me when I first met Hansol. I had red cheeks, ears and I stammered like a jackhammer.”

And to think earlier the night before, Donghyuck was making fun of Mark’s crush on his brother. He felt his cheeks heat up as he shifted uncomfortably.

“A couple of years.”

“Thinking about confessing?”

“Probably not. He has a crush on my older brother, and he’s going away to college.”

“Ah…” Yuta nodded. “I had a crush on a guy like that too.”

“Really? How did it turn out for you?”

“I didn’t say anything. Eventually he moved out of the country and I never saw him again. That’s how I ended up with Hansol.”

Donghyuck laughed at that. “So what you’re saying is, I should just wait for the next person?”

“No,” Yuta laughed as well. “I don’t regret meeting Hansol. He is the light of my life, but I wonder sometimes, you know what I mean? I wonder if things would have been any better or worse if I had expressed myself.”

Yuta pulled Donghyuck closer, and almost whispered in his ears.

“Sometimes the wondering is the part that kills you.”

******************

“You kids know how to surf?” Hansol asked Mark and Jeno as they sat down under the shade of some coconut trees, Hansol’s tan skin glistening in the sun.

“No.” they shook their heads.

“Perfect.” He beamed. “Now you get to learn.”

“I didn’t know you could surf in these waters.” Mark said.

“You can’t, but you can float on them. Come on boys, help me get it down.”

Mark, Jeno and Hansol took down his surfboard from atop his camper van, and the three carried the yellow and white surfboard all the way out into the sea. The sea was a beautiful shade of aqua blue, the sun’s rays reflecting off the water, making the waves glitter from far. The sea was too calm to surf on, but Hansol pushed the board out and made Mark and Jeno get on it.

“Can two people…”

“This is a big enough board, go on.”

With some struggle, both boys got on it and Hansol pushed them out into the water. Jeno almost lost his balance once and Mark yelped when Hansol started kicking and pushing at full force, but when they arrived in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by blue waters, the sun on their skin and the breeze through their hair, suddenly there was nothing better than sitting on a surfboard in the ocean.

“What do you think? Beautiful isn’t it?”

“It’s awesome.” Jeno said. “Do you guys do this all the time?”

“Oh yeah. Yuta and I make it a pact to travel and camp somewhere every year as a vacation.”

“What do you guys do?”

“I’m an accountant and he manages a hedge fund.”

“So you guys work in offices?”

“Yeah. It’s not that exciting.” Hansol made a face. “That’s why we love to do this, you know. Away from society, away from your stupid boss, away from pressures from our families. Just nature and all she has to offer.”

You don’t look like you work in a boring office.” Mark said. “You look…you look like you have been doing this your whole life.”

“Maybe I should eh?” Hansol laughed. “After all, life is short. Might as well make the most of it.”

“Hansol!!!!”

“It’s Yuta, I’m going to see what’s up. You kids stay here. If you want to move, just use your arms to paddle.” Hansol swam back to shore, leaving Mark and Jeno on the surfboard, legs kicking in the water.

“He looks too good to be a boring accountant.” Mark said.

“Tell me about it.” Jeno laughed. “Maybe it’s the tan.”

“He looks like a pro surfer.”

“Maybe I’ll get one when I move to America.”

“Wait,” Mark stopped him. “Move to America?”

“Well…” Jeno sighed. “I didn’t tell you about this because I wanted to be sure, but…Renjun won a scholarship to study at UCLA in California.”

“So?”

“You know my sports scholarship?”

“Yeah. You were supposed to go to EXO U.”

“I’ve been talking to them and we’re trying to see if I can get transferred to UCLA too.”

“’Oh.” Mark was utterly dumbstruck. “You want to move to America?”

“It’s been a dream of mine.” Jeno smiled a little. “They were very supportive and my parents even said they would fork out the rest of the money if my scholarship couldn’t cover it.”

“Is it a dream of yours or are you going because of Renjun?”

“Hey, that’s…”

“Mark!! Jeno!!” Hansol called from the shore. “Time to roll back in!!”

“Come on Mark.” Jeno said, dipping his arms into the water and paddling. Mark paddled behind him while silently wondering if he was discreet enough, could he push Jeno off the board, paddle off, and make it look like an accident.

******************

“Where do we head for next?”

“Let’s just drive to the nearest city and call it a night.” Jeno said, pulling his map out as Mark took control of the van. Renjun and Donghyuck were napping at the back of the van, little snores escaping Renjun’s mouth. Jeno smiled at them affectionately.

“God, he looks so cute when he sleeps.”

“You didn’t tell me you were going to America.” It was less of a question and more of a statement.

“I didn’t want to tell you until it was confirmed.”

“And when was that going to be? Graduation? Prom? When I walk up to your door and find you gone forever? At the airport?”

“Jeez Mark calm down. I was going to tell you as soon as I had gotten a confirmation. You were going to be the first person to know.”

“Why are you doing this though? Why are you leaving?”

“UCLA has a good sports programme, and I’ve always wanted to study abroad.”

“Is it the ball, or Renjun that made you decide?”

“So I’m going with my boyfriend. What’s the big deal?”

“What’s the big deal?! Jeno, we are supposed to be best friends and you didn’t tell me about this life changing decision until you accidentally spurted it out! I can’t believe you would leave the country just to follow your boyfriend.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean…you can’t even speak English. You hated that class so much so failed it on purpose.”

“Are you saying I was making the wrong decision?”

“I’m saying you let your obsession with your high school boyfriend cloud your future judgement.”

“Hey, just because I’m getting the chance to follow my dreams doesn’t mean you get to put down the fact that you don’t!!”

“What’s going on?” Renjun whined out softly, getting up and rubbing his eyes. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine. Mark is just being a .” Jeno rolled his eyes. Mark scoffed lightly, but he had to stay focused on the road. He chewed his bottom lip in anger, feeling Jeno’s cold presence overtake the front part of the bus.

“Turn left here Mark.”

“The sign said to go right.”

“We’re following the map. Turn left.”

“But the sign…”

BOOOOOM!!!

“What the !” Mark swerved to the side, stopping the van immediately and getting off. He saw the rear left tyre was completely deflated and he nearly kicked the stupid van in frustration.

“Damn it! Flat tyre!”

“Don’t panic, I’ve got a spare under the seat. Mark, come on and help me out here.” Jeno said, grabbing Mark’s arm. Donghyuck, who was asleep all this time, finally opened his eyes.

“What happened?”

“Flat tyre.” Mark grunted, carrying the spare.

“That’s terrible.” He got off the bus and sighed. That piece of rubber was the flattest thing he had seen since the pancakes earlier in the morning.

“Do you guys need help?”

“We should be fine for now. Try finding a call box or something.”

“Okay, come on Renjun.” Donghyuck wrapped an arm around Renjun’s shoulders as they walked away. Mark and Jeno were still busy looking for tools when suddenly, a loud screeching sound could be heard from afar. Then, something banged into the back of the van, throwing Mark and Jeno off balance and a huge crashing sound could be heard.

“Holy…” a car had banged into the side of the van, breaking its lights and denting the left side and crashed into a sign post. It was a beautiful baby pink Ford Mustang and it just ran into a post and damaged the front like paper.

“Oh my god…” Jeno’s jaw dropped from shock, and he just stood there in pure horror.

“Is anyone…” Mark inched closer to the car, for its windows were tinted and he couldn’t see who was in it. He reached for the handle, opened the door and whoever was inside slapped him a very expensive leather bag from Louis Vuitton.

“That will teach you to crash my car!”

A tall girl emerged from the other side, obviously shaken but still holding up. The girl who slapped Mark with her bag finally emerged from the car. She had on yellow Louboutins, a tight leather skirt, her silky hair parted to the left and her eyes looked like they could kill.

“Oh .”