2 Days after the Accident

Jinyoung was currently holed up in the café’s storage room. Mark had regained consciousness yesterday and Jinyoung never felt more relieved…until he realized the situation he was in right now. Jaebum and Youngjae took the last two days off to stay by Mark’s side. Jinyoung hasn’t seen Mark since he coded, he just wasn’t brave enough to face a conscious Mark. Both Jaebum and Youngjae keep him updated by sending him multiple text messages throughout the day, such as: ‘He’s doing better! He hates hospital food so Jackson brought him his favorite soup.’ Or ‘He just tried getting out of bed to smack Bambam for making a stupid joke lol.’

Those texts made Jinyoung’s day better, knowing that Mark was doing better and was healing. There was the occasional text from his friends that read: ‘Are you really not going to come see him?’ But Jinyoung would divert the attention away from that topic. He wanted to ask if Mark has mentioned him or if he had mentioned the argument that led to this situation but he was too scared of the answer.

He finally walked out of the storage room and back into the café to help out the employees. He knew he looked terrible, he couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat but managed to snack on something light so he wouldn’t pass out of exhaustion. He couldn’t face Mark nor could he face the fact that he just lost him and probably his friends too, the ones he’s grown closer to in the last month. He looks up and takes a deep breath, trying not to cry in the middle of his work place. He forces a smile and walks up to the counter to take a customer’s order. The same counter where he met Mark for the first time. He recalls that day, it was way after midnight when Mark walked in. Jinyoung remembered how flustered and adorable Mark was whenever Jinyoung did something as simple as looking at him.

Jinyoung handed a cup of caramel macchiato to one of the customers, right as he turned back to the counter to take another order, he was met with someone he had never wanted to see ever again. Standing right in front of him was his ex-boyfriend, Minho, with a smug smile. Jinyoung was boiling with anger at this point. He didn’t want anything to do with this man. The man who took away two whole years of his life and left him when Jinyoung dropped out, telling him that he was a failure who wasn’t going to make it anywhere in life. On top of that, Minho had cheated on him, only to be caught red-handed by Jaebum at a club. That ended with Minho getting a bruised jaw and a broken nose.

Jinyoung didn’t want to deal with him so he called out for Taehyung to take his order. “Jinyoung, wait!” Minho called out before Jinyoung could make it into the back room. Jinyoung huffed and turned around to face the man who broke his heart. “I don’t want to speak to you, or even breathe in your direction. Just get your order and get out of my café.” Jinyoung spoke with a stern tone. It took him so long to move on, and he sure as hell wasn’t joking around now. Minho was his first love and Jinyoung hoped it would be the last. He didn’t want to fall in love ever again, that was until Mark entered his life and flipped it upside down. Minho let out a laugh that Jinyoung has grown to hate, “How nice of you, I was coming here to apologize and maybe win you back but I guess you’re still as stubborn as you were before.” Minho replies and crosses his arms. “I see Jaebum isn’t around, did he get bored of you too?” Minho snickered. Jinyoung has had enough at this point, he couldn’t stand looking at him without feeling furious. “First of all, I am not some ing toy, you can’t ‘win’ me back you trashcan.” Jinyoung was seething with rage. “Second of all, Jaebum’s whereabouts are none of your business. This is a café, get your and walk out.” Jinyoung continued, but before he could hear Minho’s reply, one of his employees, Wonho, makes his way up to Minho. “This man bothering you, Jinyoung?” Wonho asked as he glared at Minho.

Minho looked so much smaller in contrast to Wonho’s built figure. Jinyoung nodded and Wonho took that as a sign to grab Minho and throw him out of the café, Jinyoung followed behind. “This is a respectable café, we don’t serve people like you in here.” Jinyoung said as he his heel and walked back to the counter. Wonho gave him a warm smile and a pat on the back. Jinyoung thanked him and went back to serving the customers.

5 Days after the Accident

Jinyoung was just getting more miserable each day, he was lying on the floor of his kitchen trying to think of a way to help him get rid of his feelings towards Mark, but it proved unhelpful as he was in too deep this time. As cheesy as it sounds, Mark managed to trip him and made him fall for him, made him fall for his wide smile and high pitched laugh, made him fall for his soft golden brown locks and warm eyes. The sound of the front door getting unlocked dragged Jinyoung out of his thoughts. He doesn’t budge and remains in the same position as he looks up at the ceiling, seeking answers. Jaebum walks into the kitchen and almost steps on Jinyoung. Jaebum lets out a squeal followed by a string of curses, “’s sake, why are you on the kitchen floor? I could’ve stepped on you and accidentally killed you.” Jinyoung shrugs at Jaebum’s comment, he didn’t have the energy to give him one of his witty comebacks. “Up, come on. Off the floor.” Jaebum stretches out his hand to help Jinyoung up. He groans but accepts and makes it off the floor.

Instead of sitting on the couch he just lies back down on the floor, but this time in the living room. Jaebum sighs and plops himself next to Jinyoung. “I heard him say that he misses you.” Jinyoung’s ears perk up, he didn’t need to ask who ‘he’ was because he knew Jaebum was talking about Mark. Jinyoung’s heart starts racing at the thought of Mark missing him, but he still couldn’t face him. Jinyoung just looks up at Jaebum and back at the ceiling, “Minho was at the café a few days ago.” Jinyoung mumbles, too afraid to look at Jaebum who would probably be furious at the information. “I know.” Jaebum replied casually and twirled a strand of Jinyoung’s hair around his finger. Jinyoung was shocked at how calm Jaebum was being, and at the fact that he knew. Jinyoung looked back to Jaebum waiting for him to continue. “Wonho texted me when he saw him trying to talk to you. I simply told him to take out the trash.” Jaebum chuckled as he ruffled Jinyoung’s hair, a small smile making its way onto his face.

“Is he the reason you don’t want to give Mark a chance?” Jinyoung nods, he loved Mark, but he didn’t want to get hurt again. He didn’t want to hurt Mark either, so he decided to just distance himself from the older. Jaebum speaks up again, and for the first time in forever he actually made sense, “You loved Minho and you thought he loved you too, but you were never sure, his actions didn’t prove his love to you. Mark on the other hand is so obviously in love with you, it’s painful. You love him too, and as cheesy as it sounds, you do complete each other. Both of you are miserable without one another.”

Jaebum finished and got off of the floor, and Jinyoung just thinks ‘ it’. He grabs his coat and walks out of the apartment. Once Jaebum made sure that Jinyoung was gone, he calls Jackson and lets him know that Jinyoung is on his way to the hospital. The other four make excuses to leave Mark but reassure him that they’ll be back in a few hours.

Jinyoung walks into the familiar hospital and into the second floor’s hallway. He stares at Mark’s hospital suite for a couple of minutes before taking a deep breath and knocking. “Come in!” He hears Mark’s voice from the inside, he beams at the sound. He missed it so much, he missed Mark so much. He walks in, his brows furrow in confusion as he notices that their friends are nowhere to be seen, his eyes then move to Mark, who looks so much better than the other day. However, Mark’s expression is unreadable. He takes a seat on the chair next to the bed. “Hi…” Jinyoung starts nervously, his voice coming out a little strained. “Hi.” Mark replies and Jinyoung lets out a breath. He thought Mark would ignore him or kick him out but so far he’s relieved. “Listen, I-“ Jinyoung tried to explain but was cut off by Mark, “Did you mean it?” He asked, looking right at Jinyoung, not breaking eye contact for a slight second. “...The kiss?” Jinyoung assumes, “No, the things you said when you were here before I ing died and came back to life.” Mark snaps. Jinyoung eyes widen in shock, did Mark actually hear his confession? He gulps and starts playing with the hem of his shirt. “I wasn’t completely unconscious, I still heard most of what happened around me. I heard you, and I wanted to believe it so bad. But then you just, ran off.” Mark continued, his voice cracking. Jinyoung’s face fell, he didn’t know how to explain himself properly to Mark. He wanted Mark to listen to him and trust him again. He just didn’t know where to start.

He cleared his throat and began explaining, “I did mean it, I meant every single word Mark. But I walked away because I thought you deserved better. I put you in this situation, if I had just told you the truth the other night this wouldn’t have happened.” Jinyoung was letting the tears flow as he continued, “I didn’t regret that kiss one bit, I was selfish and I didn’t want to acknowledge my feelings for you. You broke my walls, walked in and made my heart your .” Mark chuckled at that last part but tried to cover it up with a cough afterwards. “I got hurt so bad in my previous relationship, I never really talk about it with anyone except for Jaebum because he was there and he witnessed everything.” Jinyoung then proceeded to tell Mark the whole story about Minho, the cheating, the emotional abuse, everything up until the encounter at the café. At some point while Jinyoung was retelling the story, Mark grabbed Jinyoung’s hand and entwined their fingers.

“I can’t believe I was so stupid. I wish I told you how much you meant to me earlier. I wish I hadn’t ed up like this. I don’t even think you’d want me after all of this. Who would?” Jinyoung wiped away his tears with his free hand, and then he suddenly feels someone pulling him forwards. Mark adjusts himself, and cups Jinyoung’s face. Mark was warmly smiling at him with tearful eyes. One second he’s lost in Mark’s smile, the next second Mark pulls his face closer and pecks his nose then his lips as if to test the water, he then captures Jinyoung’s lips with his own into a slow, passionate kiss. Jinyoung’s mind and heart were racing, he could barely remember how their first kiss went because of how drunk he was, but this kiss was definitely more meaningful for both of them. Jinyoung shifted closer and placed his hand on Mark’s neck as the other hand unconsciously gripped his thigh, Mark whined and deepened their kiss. Jinyoung never thought he’d get to kiss Mark ever again, so he was savoring the moment up until he heard a squeal and someone clearing their throat. He frantically pulls away from Mark to look at the intruders. Jackson, Bam, Youngjae and Jaebum and were standing at the doorway, Bambam was clinging onto Jackson with his jaw dropped, and Jaebum placed a hand to cover Youngjae’s eyes. Jinyoung rolled his eyes at that, Youngjae may look innocent but he was the farthest thing from that. A few seconds later, Yugyeom walks in with an Iced Choco and looks around at everyone, “What? What’d I miss?” He asks and everyone in the room bursts into laughter.

Jinyoung averts his gaze back to Mark, he smiles at him and goes back to holding his hand while their friends chatted. Jinyoung decides that maybe this isn’t so bad, maybe he and Mark could be happy together. For the first time in a while, Jinyoung actually loved someone truly, and that person loved him back. This time around, Jinyoung wasn’t afraid of falling in love, as long as it was Mark he was falling for.