Part 2 of the double-update.

Chapter 37b

Mark was surprised to see a call from ‘Treacherous Bastard’ come up on his phone.

He had entered that name directly after JinYoung had confessed what had happened between him and MiRa. He hadn’t received a call or text from him since, so even though his anger had abated, he hadn’t had the occasion to alter it.

I’ve got to remember to change that, he thought to himself as he picked up the call.

Hey.

Hey. Am I disturbing you?

No.

Silence.

How are you?

I’m fine. How are you?

Fine.

Okay, enough small talk.

I was calling because I wanted to invite you over. For lunch, I mean.

Over to yours?

Yeah. You haven’t been here yet and I wanted you to see it. You’ve always had a good eye. I was hoping you could give me some tips on décor while you were here.

My consultation fee is pretty high, you know.

Name your price.

Good food.

Is that all? he heard himself flirt.

Good company.

I’ll do my best.

Awkward silence.

I can come over, but not for lunch. I work the mid-shift.

JinYoung mentally slapped himself. How could he have forgotten? Now he’s going to think I don’t care enough to have remembered that. I have to save it, though. He’s already agreed to come.

How about breakfast?

Sounds good. What time?

Nine?

Okay.

Day after tomorrow?

Okay. Day after tomorrow.

Okay . . . well . . . see you then?

Wait . . .

Hope, hope . . . .

Should I bring anything with me?

Hope dashed.

No, just yourself.

Okay, then.

Yeah. See you then.

Yeah.

Goodnight, Mark.

Goodnight.

End of call.

*                                *                                *                                *                                *

“Hey, Brah,” Mark said, embracing JB as he came through the door.

“Not too late, is it?” JB asked. It was already 9pm. “The recording session went longer than we’d expected.”

“No problem, I know you don’t work a nine-to-five. You’ve redeemed yourself with this,” Mark said unpacking the nice bottle of wine JB had handed him, while his friend stepped out of his shoes.

“It’ll take me a minute to get everything on the table.”

“Do you want me to help with something?”

“No. Stop trying to be polite and sit down,” Mark smiled.

JB was relieved. He’d had a really long day and didn’t actually want to have to do anything at all. He was so tired that if he thought he could get away with asking Mark to feed him dinner by hand, he would have asked him to.

Mark was as good as his word. Dinner was on the table in no time.

“Everything looks so good. When did you have time to do all this?”

“All afternoon up to about . . . half-an-hour ago, if I’m honest. Hey, I may not be speedy, but I’m pretty sure it’ll taste okay.”

“False modesty aside, I know you can cook. So, can I start? My mouth is watering.”

“Feel free.”

“Thank you for the food. I will eat well,” JB said and then he started serving himself.

There was quite an array of colours as Mark had set out at least eight side dishes, along with some fish, some other seafood and wholegrain rice.

While JB started, Mark opened the wine he’d brought with him and poured it into their glasses.

There wasn’t much conversation during the meal. JB hadn’t eaten since breakfast that morning, so he was famished. Mark had to smile watching him eat with such gusto. It always made him feel good when he saw someone enjoy his cooking. He didn’t like cooking every day and he certainly didn’t make a great effort every time he did cook, but he always tried to make everything he made tasty, filling and nutritious, so he liked when it was appreciated.

But, as he sat there watching JaeBum, thoughts of JinYoung flew, uninvited, into his head.

He had always been so grateful for every morsel of food Mark had ever made for him. Mark had assumed that, over the years, JinYoung would’ve stopped appreciating it and start taking it for granted, but he never did. And whenever Mark had tried a new recipe, and JinYoung had found it delicious, the way his eyes would light up and he would wrap his arm around the back of Mark’s neck and affectionally pull him down for a kiss would show Mark how much he valued it.

JinYoung had always had a way of making Mark feel warm and loved.

“Penny for your thoughts?” JB said.

“Oh . . . nothing . . . nothing important,” Mark said.

“JinYoung?” he guessed.

“Yeah . . . ” Mark admitted reluctantly.

They both sat in silence for a moment.

“I’m really sorry about what happened between you guys,” JB finally offered.

“Yeah. So am I.”

Then they sat in silence again; JB playing with the stem of his glass, while Mark seemed to fix his attention on something behind and to the left of JB before letting out a sigh.

“Did he tell you what happened?” JB asked.

“Yeah. He did,” Mark answered.

“It was pretty scary there for a while,” JB said.

“Scary?”

“Yeah, when he was in the hospital. His parents thought he wasn’t going to make it, and I hate to admit it, but after I saw him, I thought, ‘they might be right’.”

“Wait. Hospital? When was he in the hospital?” Mark asked slowly.

Not make it? What? What is he talking about? his thoughts ran over each other in a jumble.

“You said he told you everything . . . ” JB said carefully.

“I thought he had. We talked. He told me about MiRa and about thinking she was pregnant and about wanting to marry her . . . “

“I think ‘wanting’ to marry her isn’t quite right, Hyung. ‘Having to’ was more the impression I got. He was panicking.”

“Wait a minute? Saw him?” Mark asked, his brain finally catching up to register what JaeBum had said. “You said you saw him.”

“I went to see him, Hyung. Didn’t he tell you that?”

Mark was stunned. He, of course, had known nothing about it.

“No, he didn’t, tell me. And neither did you,” Mark said accusingly.

“I thought . . . I thought you two had talked it out and he had told you everything, so I thought you knew.”

A thought occurred to Mark. A very unpleasant thought.

“So, when did you find out about this MiRa thing?” Mark asked pointedly.

“When I went to see him. His parents called me and asked me to come. They were worried.”

“So, you went there and saw JinYoung and found out about MiRa and everything and came back and didn’t tell me anything? Even though you knew that I was going crazy wondering why JinYoung wasn’t contacting me?”

“Hyung . . .”

“What, JB,” Mark snapped.

“I didn’t think it was my place to tell you. I told him to tell you as soon as possible,” JB tried.

“Thanks.”

“Hyung . . . I didn’t know what else I could do. How could I be the one to tell you about MiRa, about a baby, about a wedding? How could that be my place?” JB argued.

Mark knew he was making some sense, but he still couldn’t help but feel hurt. All those days he was worrying about JinYoung and JB knew exactly what was going on and didn’t even hint at it. He hadn’t even told Mark that he had been to see JinYoung and not to worry about him. It was all a bit much.

“Did YoungJae know?”

“No, I didn’t tell him anything. I thought he might let something slip.”

“So you were trying so hard to hide everything from me that you didn’t even tell your own boyfriend?” Mark demanded.

“Hyung, please. How could anyone be the one to tell you what was going on other than JinYoung? He was going to marry her because of this . . . lie. How could any of us be the one to tell you that?”

They both sat in silence again. Mark didn’t want to say anything because he was angry and never liked to say much when he was angry because he knew that words that hurt were seldom forgotten. JB didn’t say anything because he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to say any more lest he hurt his friend more than his intentional reticence already had. So they both just sat for a while.

Finally, Mark spoke.

“Tell me why you went there and what happened.”

JB took a deep breath and then started.

“JinYoung’s parents phoned me and asked me to come and see him. They were really worried. He was in the hospital and they were afraid that he wouldn’t recover. They were desperate. They didn’t know why this was happening and thought he needed someone to talk to. So they thought that my coming there would help,” he began.

“Why? What was wrong with him?” Mark asked.

“He . . . he was overwhelmed with this MiRa and baby business, but the reason he collapsed . . .”

“He collapsed?” Mark asked, anxiously.

“Yes, that’s when he was rushed to hospital. He hadn’t been sleeping or eating, or even drinking for that matter for days it seems. His parents said every time he’d tried to eat or drink, it wouldn’t stay down. After days of that, he collapsed and hit his head when he fell over. He lost a lot of blood,” JB explained.

Mark couldn’t believe his ears.

“He was that worried about the situation with MiRa?”

“He was worried, but that wasn’t the reason he got so sick. He got sick because . . .”

“Because of what?” Mark asked uneasily.

“Because he thought that he could never be with you again, Hyung.”

Mark’s thoughts started spinning.

“Do you mean he was trying to kill himself?” he asked shakily.

“No, I don’t mean that. I mean more like he had . . . lost the will to go on. He tried to eat, but he couldn’t. He tried to sleep, but he couldn’t. He told me he couldn’t face living a life without you.”

Mark felt weak. He just sat there trying to process everything he’d heard.

Why didn’t JinYoung tell him? He'd told him all the rest. Why hadn’t he told him this?

“Hyung . . . ” JB said, breaking the silence.

“His parents were so worried about him they phoned you, but then they wished him dead?”

“I wasn’t there when that happened, but he told me about it. They did that when he told them the truth and that he was coming here to you.”

This was all too much for Mark. He just got up from the table and went to the sofa where he crumpled under the weight of this bombshell. He closed his eyes and tried not to think for a while.

JB, seeing the state he was in, decided to leave him alone with his thoughts for a while. He cleared the table and packed the leftover food away. Mark called out weakly that he should leave everything there; he would take care of it later, but JB ignored him.

Once he’d finished clearing everything away, he joined his friend on the couch. He drew Mark into his chest and held him.

“JaeBum . . . what am I going to do? Every time I think we can move on, something else happens. Now that I know, I can’t just ignore what happened to JinYoung, can I? What am I supposed to do now?” Mark asked miserably.

“I don’t know, Hyung. I wish I did,” JB answered honestly.

Then, although JaeBum wasn’t known to be the cuddliest or most consoling type, the two friends sat together in each other’s arms, one comforting and the other being comforted, until the time came when JB had to leave.

“Will you be alright, Hyung?” he asked.

“Yes. You go on. I’m sure YoungJae is waiting for you.”

JB thought that JinYoung was most probably missing Mark as much as YoungJae was missing him right now, but thought better than to mention it. Mark needed time to think.

And, who knew? Once he was given that time, maybe he would hit upon what the rest of them already knew.

That he and JinYoung should be together.

Not because of fate or destiny or because they belonged together, like some people believed, but simply because they had been good together. Really good.

A lot had happened, that was true, but through it all, they had continued to love each other, whether they wanted to or not. That was painfully evident to everyone around them.

But just as he was he was sure of that, he also knew that there was more to a relationship than just love. There was trust. And, he had to admit, that that had been broken.

But if two people really cared for each other and were ready to try, it could be mended, couldn’t it? A new bridge could be built and they could find their way to each other, couldn’t they?

Later, as JaeBum headed towards the arms of the man he loved most to the world, he hoped that one day that bridge would be built and Mark and JinYoung would be doing the same.

And that this time, they would never let each other go.

Hoped you liked this double-update, you wonderful, loyal readers! I could only read it through once, so please forgive any typos or grammatical errors.

I didn't really have time to write these chapters, but your very kind and encouraging comments compelled me to make time. 

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Thank you so much for reading!  (*^_^)