When the light inside the room was suddenly , Mark's sight was full of colorful confetti. His eyes squinted, trying his best to quickly adapt with the sudden brightness around his surrounding. His former college roommates were standing in front of him while laughing uncontrollably, appreciating their own strategy that managed to trick him. 

"Happy birthday, Mark!"

Both sides of Mark's lips curled upwards, forming a wide gummy smile before joining the loud noises. He didn't expect that those bastards would come all the way from their hometown to LA. It had been roughly two years since the last time that they saw each other, and he didn't expect that all of them would be reunited that day.

"Oh, I hate you all," Mark mumbled.

"No, you don't," Jaebum embraced him, smiled as satisfied as ever.

The prank that they had prepared didn't stop there. Jackson suddenly lifted Mark's body and ran down the stairs, then threw him into the swimming pool. In the end, not a single one of them managed to stay on the land because Mark pulled Youngjae then Youngjae pulled Yugyeom and so on. Jaebum was the last person to get wet.

It turned out that they also prepared a mini garden party for him. Bambam was busy preparing the meat when Jackson brought out the bottles to accompany their night. Mark was just sitting above the bench, chit-chating with the rest who didn't do anything. They prevented him to do any chore since it was his birthday. While having a conversation, he noticed that his friends' appearance may changed a lot but it mostly stayed the same on the inside.

Mark glanced at the pool, finally noticing someone that he had been searching for the past minutes. He was floating there alone, didn't seem to be bothered by anything in this world. It didn't take long until Mark decided to grab a bottle of wine and two empty glasses then approach him in silent without telling anything to the others.

"Jinyoung, what are you doing here?"

Mark sat beside the stairs, waiting for the answer. He put the drink carefully beside him.

"Swimming," Jinyoung chuckled, "and you?"

"Aren't you cold?" Mark asked, ignoring the question.

"No," he shivered.

Mark shook his head while snickering.

"Come here."

"And why should I?"

"Because I got a bottle wine for both of us?"

"You sure know how to got me."

Mark stumbled a little bit to the front, welcoming Jinyoung that swam to his way. Jinyoung then lifted his body while Mark was helping him and sat beside the drink that placed between them, joining him to splash the water with their foot.

"I'll get us a towel."

The red-haired man then immediately got up and came back in less than a minute. Jinyoung thanked him when he returned with two yellow towels in his hands. They began to dry their hair by ruffling it slowly.

Mark slowly poured the drink until it filled almost the half of the glass. He didn't say anything when he offered it to Jinyoung. The raven did just the same while looking at him in the eyes. He didn't say anything either and grabbed the glass, sipping it then gulped twice.

"Why didn't you join us there?" Mark asked in curiosity, "Bambam is grilling some meats right now. Surely it will taste good."

"You may stay there, Mark," Jinyoung smiled, "I'm really fine here."

"No," Mark sighed, "that's not what I mean."

Jinyoung sipped his wine again then he gulped three times. Mark hadn't even touch the glass that he prepared for himself yet. He was busy staring at Jinyoung's face, scan