A few weeks into August, the seven boys decided to meet up, for the final time that summer. As they got their boba tea (after waiting in line for half an hour) and ice cream and walked into Dolores Park, a bittersweet feeling took over all of them. They were happy to be together, but at the same time, they all knew it would never be like this again, not to mention that for most of them, school was starting in just a few days. 

Jeno laid an old sheet down on the grass at the top of their hill on Dolores Park and they all sat down: Jaemin rested his head on Jeno's chest, Chenle and Jisung laid on their stomachs, and Donghyuck leaned against a tree, Mark sitting between his legs. Donghyuck played with Mark's hands, a small gesture almost protective in nature. 

"Mark, dude, whatever happened with your mom? Donghyuck was ing freaking out the other-" Jeno started, but Donghyuck made a gesture for him to shut up. Maybe Donghyuck had called Jeno in tears on the phone after Mark went home that day, with worry and sorrow and sympathy in his heart, but Mark didn't need to know that. They'd only been together two weeks, after all. 

"Oh, yeah, that," Mark responded with a chuckle that did little to hide his sadness. "She caught Hyuck and I making out in my room and she was so pissed. I mean, I wasn't out, so I can see that it was kinda shocking to her..."

"She literally screamed slurs at you, don't downplay it," Donghyuck interrupted. 

"Holy Mark, I'm so sorry," Jaemin said, his voice unusually serious. 

"A-anyways," he stuttered, staring down at his lap, feeling a bit of comfort seeing Donghyuck's hands wrapped around his. "Donghyuck and I walked around for a little bit so I could cool off. Like an hour later she called me and said she was sorry, and asked me to come home, so I did." He sighed. "When I got home my dad was there too, so I was like...really nervous. But...my mom gave me a sincere apology. She didn't mean to say things like that. They were just mad that I'd lied about where I was the whole summer, but they weren't even that mad because they realized they were probably too strict on me. They said they'll be less strict if I promise to let them know where I am. And as for the whole gay thing...they're still kinda surprised and a little weirded out, but they promised they'll learn."

"Dude, that's...I'm sorry," Jeno said slowly. 

"I wish your parents were more accepting," Jisung added. 

Mark shrugged. "It's fine. I'll be alright. I'm going to college soon anyways." 

The boys all sighed sympathetically; they didn't quite know what to do to comfort their friend. The atmosphere was melancholy anyways; the dread of separating over the school year hung over them, yet they didn't want to speak of it. 

But the sky was getting darker and nobody wanted Mark to get in any more trouble over breaking his curfew. They had to talk about it; or it would just be worse. 

"I don't wanna go back to Lowell," Jisung whined, breaking the silence. 

"Oh yeah, I always forget that you and Chenle have another year of high school left," Renjun responded. 

"You always forget?" Chenle cried. "How could you forget that you're abandoning me to go to school all the way up in Oregon?" 

Renjun chuckled and sighed. "I don't wanna think about leaving you guys," he admitted. "At least all of you will still be in California. I'll be in the rain at Reed." 

"Don't even say it!" Jaemin whined, wrapping his arms around Renjun. 

"You can't even complain at all, you guys are staying in SF with Chenle and Jisung too," Donghyuck said. 

"True," Jeno responded. "We'll still get to bug these kids whenever we want." 

"Plus we're going to CCSF so no tuition. You three are gonna blow your parent's savings out," Jaemin said, gesturing to Donghyuck, Mark, and Renjun. 

"Do you think you guys will transfer after two years?" Mark asked.

Jeno and Jaemin looked at each other. "I dunno. As of right now community college seems like a good fit for us. But I dunno...who knows what life will be like in two years," Jeno answered. 

"We'll either be dead from global warming or still together, that's all I know," Jaemin responded. They shared a secret smile, and Jeno kissed the top of Jaemin's head. 

"And you guys are going to the same school too! That's lucky," Chenle said to Donghyuck and Mark. They exchanged a quick smile. 

"Yeah, it was a complete coincidence too," Mark responded with a chuckle. 

"I told y'all you two were soulmates," Jaemin said quietly. 

"Stop!" Donghyuck whined, but the two of them were beaming all the same. 

"Are you guys sharing a room?" Jisung asked. 

"God no, do you think my parents would ever allow that?" Mark asked. 

"Anyways, we did the housing applications before we even met," Donghyuck added. "But my roommate has a girlfriend who lives off campus." 

"What does that mean?" Chenle asked. 

"That he'll never be in my dorm. So Mark will practically move in."

Mark flushed a little bit at the thought. 

"UC Davis is close by, right? So you can come up and visit?" Chenle asked casually, but the tone of his voice expressed how much he'd really miss his best friend. 

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll come up some weekends. And we'll definitely be back for thanksgiving." 

"You better be too!" Jaemin said to Renjun. 

He gave them all a look. "Duh," he answered. The silence fell upon them again, and Donghyuck squeezed Mark's hand. 

"I'm gonna miss you all a lot," Mark said. "I swear, I...I feel like a different person now. I dunno....it's not like I'm a total badass or anything. Or that I'm not a study-holic nerd anymore...but I...I have more balance. And more friends." 

"Aw Mark! I'm gonna miss you so much too. For real," Jaemin responded. "I'm so, so glad I texted Renjun back in June. Meeting you guys was really amazing." 

"We have a real squad now," Jisung said, puffing on his juul. 

"It's not like we're never gonna see each other again," Renjun said. "I'll be back in November." 

"True, true," Jeno sighed. "It's just not the same." 

"We'll skype and ," Donghyuck said.

"Don't pout like that Hyuck!" Jaemin said with concern. Mark turned to face Donghyuck and even though he was sad, he couldn't help but smile. 

"Stop pouting; it's too cute," Mark mumbled. Donghyuck pouted more but a smile started to poke out from the corner of his lips. 

"You guys are lit as . Seriously," Jisung said. 

"Wait, Jisung...can we finally see all the drawings of us you did?" Jeno asked. 

Jisung chuckled. " it, why not..." He trailed off and pulled the notebook out of his bag, passing it to Chenle first. He flipped over and rested his head on the dip of Chenle's back, trying to act casual about it but secretly really nervous to share his passion with his friends for the first time. 

"This is amazing!" Chenle said excitedly as Jisung puffed in his juul, blowing the smoke into Jaemin's face. 

"Stop, that smells disgusting!" Jaemin whined quietly. 

"Chenle, you can be honest with me," Jisung said quietly. 

"No, I'm serious. You have a gift," Chenle said, finishing looking through all the sketches. He twisted around and passed it to Jeno, looking Jisung in the eye. Jisung's skin flushed pink, staring down at the sheet beneath them. 

"Ooh! Does Jisung have a cr-"

Jisung promptly interrupted Jaemin by smacking his arm. "You shut the up or I'll kick your ing -" 

"Chenle was right, this is amazing!" Jeno spoke, interrupting Jisung now. Jaemin leaned on his shoulder and they looked through the pictures together. 

"I'm so glad you did this Jisung, these are amazing," Jaemin said, echoing everyone else's thoughts. 

Finally, Mark and Donghyuck were passed the notebook. They'd been patiently waiting for it, Mark leaning back against Donghyuck's chest and Donghyuck chastely kissing Mark's neck, Mark gripping the notebook so the two of them could look at it. 

His friends had been right; Jisung's sketches were amazing. Every little drawing he did, although maybe not anatomically accurate, captured the entire mood of their days and nights together. Moments that he'd posed for, moments that he hadn't even realized Jisung was drawing them, copied down into a perfect memory of that summer. Yes, most of the drawings were of Chenle, but that didn't change how he'd practically taken a snapshot of each and every one of them. It was a perfect picture of Mark, Donghyuck, Renjun, Chenle, Jeno, Jaemin, and Jisung in that era, who they were and how they lived. Yes, Mark had done a lot of things this summer, both good for him and bad for him, mistakes and miracles. But it was a summer he couldn't possibly forget; a summer he couldn't possibly regret. 

"This is really amazing, Jisung," Mark said softly, passing him back the notebook. 

"Promise?" Jisung asked. 

"Of course," Donghyuck answered with a smile. Jisung grinned shyly and put the notebook back into his bag, again resting his head on Chenle's back. Chenle played with the grass, and Jisung stared up at the sky, which was slowly growing darker. Again, it was full of beautiful colors, the perfect sendoff for a special summer. 

Renjun sighed and released a dramatic, loud groan. "Curfew," he groaned at the end of it. 

"No!" Jaemin screamed, tackling him in a hug. Jeno just laughed and watched them with his gentle smile. 

"I don't wanna go either but I'd rather you didn't break my bones!" Renjun yelled and Jaemin got off of him, laughing loudly and helping Jeno stand up. 

"Do we really have to go?" Chenle asked quietly, uncharacteristically sad. 

"You'll still have me," Jisung answered. "And those es," he added, pointing to Jeno and Jaemin. At that, Chenle released the tiniest of laughs, and everyone felt a lot better seeing Chenle less down. 

Mark sighed and stood up, hugging all of his friends tightly. He couldn't believe that he was really leaving the next day, that his parent's car was already packed and they were gonna drive off, that his life would never be the same. It made him too sad for words, tightly wrapping his arms around all of his friends, in the way he was never quite comfortable with before. They respected his silence and responded with it, Chenle swallowing his words back. 

He hugged Donghyuck last of all. 

"Don't be sad," He mumbled into Mark's ear. "You'll see me tomorrow." 

And he was right. Maybe one part of his life was ending, but another was going to begin, with Donghyuck by his side. He couldn't be too sad about that; he couldn't view this as the end. He had to view it as the beginning. 

"Check up on Chenle while I'm away," Renjun whispered into Mark's ear as they hugged a second time. Renjun darted his eyes to the younger boy. "Make sure he doesn't do anything...stupid." Now, Renjun spared a glance at Jisung. Mark laughed and Renjun gestured for him to shut up. 

"Alright, alright," Mark answered with a smile. 

"My bus is here!" Donghyuck suddenly yelled. 

"Bye!" Everyone screamed loudly, enough for the other people still in the park to turn their heads. 

"See you tomorrow Hyuck!" Mark yelled. Donghyuck ran over and stood on his tip-toes to give Mark a kiss on the forehead, before running down the hill to catch his bus. 

"Tomorrow, baby!" Donghyuck yelled back as he was running, turning around to give Mark that grin he could never get used to and waving. Mark flushed pink, thinking with smiling eyes what was waiting for him out there in the future. 

Maybe, possibly, despite leaving everything behind...he couldn't wait.