Jinyoung stiff shoulders finally relaxed when he saw his best friend snuggled up in his blanket on his bed. The boy’s expression had finally softened and he seemed much more visibly relaxed than his previous grieved state. His body language, however, showed his insecurity. In a foetal sleeping position, JB’s hands gripped onto the sheets so tightly his knuckles turned white. Jinyoung now knew that JB, despite looking strong on the outside, needed care and love as much as any other person.

Jinyoung wanted to help his friend get over this relationship, but the only thing he could do now was to spend more time with him and take care of his broken soul.

It’s not easy.

After changing into some clean clothes he took from JB’s wardrobe, Jinyoung settled on the couch to prepare to sleep, but he had this nagging feeling that there was something that was yet to be settled.

Mark. Oh god.

He stretched his arm to reach out for his backpack on the armchair nearby, then ransacked for his phone hurriedly. When pulling out his phone, disappointment washed over his face. His phone ran out of battery.

Ugh, technology. Jinyoung grumbled, then pressed his lips in a tight line as he willed himself to give Mark a good apology when he sees him the next day. Setting his worries aside, Jinyoung slowly dozed off, falling into deep slumber, unaware that while he was here mending a broken person, he broke the wings of an angel.

~~~~~

Jinyoung’s eyes shot open only to see that the living room was still dim. Yawning and rubbing his bleary eyes, he shifted to his side to check the digital clock on the wall. It was 4.30am. For the first time in forever, he woke up before his alarm rang.

The boy combed his raven hair through his fingers, and then shuffled to the kitchen to get himself a cup of water. While gulping down the drink, Jinyoung casually opened the refrigerator door to source for food, eyes widening in the process. He was pleasantly surprised at the variety and abundance of food in storage for a single person at first, then he just shrugged it off.

Of course, JB eats like… ten meals a day.

Scanning the colours in the refrigerator, an idea struck Jinyoung and a smile crept up his face.

I’ll make breakfast for Mark to apologise to him! What does he like to eat? Yes, sandwiches… With ham, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes…

Jinyoung went to the washroom to wash up first. Soon, he was engrossed in preparing the ingredients for the sandwich, meticulously slicing the vegetables and ham, placing them on the bread as though it was an intricate piece of artwork. He was about to leave when he suddenly remembered about his sleeping best friend. Hurriedly, he took out a pen from a bag and scribbled a note.

JB,

            I hope you’re feeling better today. I’m taking leave for you today so you stay at home and rest! Breakfast is on the table.

Love, Jinyoung

Looking at the clock anxiously, Jinyoung took another piece of bread and slapped some butter on it, tossing it carelessly on a plate before rushing out of the house with Mark’s breakfast, leaving behind a mess of greens and opened packages of ham.

JB stirred in his sleep when he heard a slam of the door.

Groaning at his splitting headache from bawling his eyes out the day before, he stumbled out of his room.

What the…

He was flabbergasted at the state of his kitchen counter. Saying it was messy was an understatement; it was almost a disaster zone.

He picked up the note with scrawled handwriting and scowled when he read the contents of it.

That Jinyoung. Made himself a breakfast using all the ingredients in my fridge and he left me bread with butter? Seriously?

~~~~~

Jinyoung glanced at his watch for the thousandth time, and then scanned the area only see a sea of unfamiliar faces. He scrutinised his watch in confusion.

Is my watch spoilt? No… I remember leaving JB’s house early.

Is it a weekend? No… It’s Friday. We have lessons in the first period.

Then where in the world is Mark?

Jinyoung cussed under his breath. His phone had to be dead at a time like this, and he could do nothing about it, except wait patiently for Mark to appear. However, buses came and went, so many times that Jinyoung lost count of them, but Mark never appeared. Disappointment gradually escalated into worry, and Jinyoung’s grip on Mark’s breakfast got tighter.

Where are you, Mark?

Jinyoung caught a glimpse of yet another approaching bus and checked his watch. He sighed. If he were to wait any longer, he would definitely be late for lessons. His brain churned with the mental debate of what to do, and eventually, he painstakingly decided to board the bus.

Maybe Mark left early today because I didn’t reply his text? Yes, that’s why. I’ll see him in school. Jinyoung attempted to convince himself as he reluctantly boarded the waiting vehicle, turning around one last time to check if a red head was running towards the bus stop, flailing his arms and shouting for him to wait.

There was no one.

~~~~~

“Sorry I’m late!” Jinyoung stumbled into the classroom, panting. He felt that his chest was about to explode, having sprinted non-stop from the bus stop to the classroom. The lecturer waved it off and motioned for Jinyoung to settle for lessons quickly, and so he did.

However, when Jinyoung fleeted to the usual two seats he and Mark took during this class, he noticed that they were both empty.

That’s weird. If Mark isn’t here, then…

He frowned uncontrollably, stopping in his tracks while pondering about Mark’s whereabouts.

“Ahem!”

Jinyoung jumped at the sudden voice. He spun around, prepared to lash out at the person who scared him, but came face to face with the lecturer, face red as a tomato and seething with anger.

“Do you mind?” Annoyance was apparent in the tone of the lecturer’s voice. Jinyoung frantically surveyed the surroundings and discovered he was blocking the whiteboard from the rest of the class.

.

He then fled to the quiet corner of the classroom, turning away to hide his deep blush of embarrassment from the other students laughing at him. When the commotion died down, Jinyoung let down his guard and relaxed. It was then that he realised how cold and lonely he felt sitting at the corner, secluded from the majority of the class without the company of Mark he unknowingly depended on.

~~~~~

Jinyoung could feel his eyelids turn as heavy as lead. He was trying his best to focus on taking down notes but Mark invaded his brain like a virus. His untidy scrawl gradually reduced to illegible snakelike drawings, and soon, he was dozing off into a daydream.

“So who are we left with? Mark and Jinyoung?”

What? Mark and me?

Jinyoung shot up, ears perking up as he heard his name and that of the culprit of him breaking his clean record of not sleeping in class.

“Whaaaaaa?” Jinyoung blurted, voice still groggy from sleep. The lecturer rolled his eyes incredulously.

Uh-oh. I’m gonna be on his black list this year.

“Jinyoung, you and Mark will pair up for this term’s graded project.” He stated, and then simply thanked the class briefly before strutting off.

Jinyoung let out a silent “yes”. It was probably the best thing that had happened to him today; he couldn’t wait to break the news to Mark.

The day, however, passed ridiculously slowly. Jinyoung felt as though he could count the milliseconds from the mocking tick tocks on his watch. When his last lesson ended, he rushed home. For the first time, he did not even bother to greet his mother; instead, he did it only after ensuring his phone charger was plugged into the device.

Jinyoung, being usually happy-go-lucky, was not used to the complex mix of emotions he was feeling now: a little pain from his ignored homemade breakfast, a pinch of anticipation of finally contacting Mark after almost a full day, and mostly the ever growing worry he felt for Mark’s safety, for the red head had never lost contact with him for more than ten hours ever since they exchanged numbers.

When his phone came back to life, Jinyoung curled his fingers around it, awaiting notifications for missed calls and text messages. Seconds flew past and he began to be irritated by the phone’s silence – the screen was still blank.

But… Why?

He did not understand. Mark would definitely call or text him in the morning when at the bus stop, or even if he was sick, Jinyoung was sure that the red head would inform him. Only, he did not.

Five minutes passed. I’ll give him some time. Maybe, he’s busy.

Thirty minutes.

Two hours.

Jinyoung was going crazy. He literally posed like the Statue of Liberty for almost three hours, standing beside his window with his phone held high for the best reception – not that it made a difference. There was no reply from Mark.

At this point, Jinyoung began to contemplate if all the worst scenarios he imagined could happen to Mark really did happen, and he became delirious with paranoia. Unable to bear the suspense, he violently tapped on the screen to call Mark. The unending ringing tone sounded like torturous shrieks to his ears.

~~~~~

“Are you sure you don’t want to pick up your call?” Mr Park asked with concern, for the umpteenth time. He looked at the distressed boy with dark eye circles and swollen eyes, and sighed.

He must’ve cried all night. What happened?

Mr Park had a sixth sense that the phone call had something to do with Mark’s peculiar behaviour, as the boy hardly had friends, not to mention someone calling him persistently.

“If you don’t pick up, I’m going to do it for you.”

“Don’t touch my things!” Mark scowled and snatched his phone, burying it deep beneath all the pillows before putting on his headphones and blasting music so loudly, Mr Park could hear all the lyrics from meters away.

Now, that’s weird. Mr Park scratched his head, puzzled. Mark had thrown tantrums before, but he was always on the meek side, using more passive methods such as hunger strikes. Never had he talked back to him so fiercely before. After all, Mark was Mr Park’s “master” and he could not do much to stop him from acting this way. Instead, he just left the room quietly and hoped his emotional turmoil would die down soon.

Mark reached out for his blanket to cover himself, revealing a dark blue, faded hoodie beneath the sheets. Seeing it, a wave of emotions engulfed him, so much he felt he was drowning in them. He did not know whether to hate Jinyoung for neglecting him, or miss him. He was already experiencing the first signs of “Jinyoung” withdrawal symptoms. It wasn’t healthy. Mark had become overly dependent on Jinyoung for happiness; now that he was gone, despite only for a short time, Mark felt all happiness being drawn out from him, leaving a soulless and helpless body.

Picking the hoodie up gingerly, he wrapped it around his hands and brought it closer to him, hiding his face in the soft material and then, he started sobbing.

~~~~~

“Still no news of Mark?” JB asked in all sincerity. He was beginning to worry about his best friend; he had not been himself for the past week and he knew it was because of Mark’s disappearing act.

“Yeah…” Jinyoung sighed, more heavily than the past million times he did in the week. Jinyoung was glad that JB was recovering from his broken relationship well, and he did not want to trouble his best friend by making him worry about his abnormal behaviour, but he just couldn’t contain his frustration. Furthermore, the project deadline was in two days and there was zero progress because of Mark’s absence, and also partly because Jinyoung had no mood to bother about academics when his friend disappeared into thin air without a trace.

“Why don’t you pay him a visit? You need to do your project anyway, right?” JB offered a suggestion and Jinyoung was about to complain that he did not know Mark’s address when an idea came to him.

Suddenly brightened, he patted JB’s shoulder and mouthed his thanks before running off to the principal’s office.

~~~~~

“What's the matter, young man?” Mr Oh sat behind the principal’s desk, glasses perched precariously at the tip of the nose, glancing at the frantic Jinyoung questioningly.

“Mr Oh, I’m Jinyoung. Uh, I have an issue with my term project because my partner had been absent for almost a week and I couldn’t contact him…” The raven-haired boy began explaining, trying not to shoot off like a machine gun and sound too desperate. Soon, he exited the office with a slip of paper – with Mark’s address – in his hand, smiling triumphantly as he sprinted to the bus stop.

~~~~~

Jinyoung rubbed his eyes in disbelief, blinked a couple of times, then stared at the towering mansion in front of him in awe once again. The building stood three stories tall, ornate in its architecture. The lush greens in the garden were so abundant that Jinyoung felt he was in a forest, and the pool sparkled under the sunlight, blinding his eyes.

He was poor and lived in a small, dilapidated apartment. This was a sight to behold.

Wow. Mark never told me about this. He must have a huge family to need such a big house!

Half nervous and half anticipating, Jinyoung rang the doorbell, praying that Mark would open the gate for him. Instead of Mark, a middle aged man dressed in a smart uniform peeked out, eyeing Jinyoung suspiciously. 

“Hi Ahjussi! I’m Jinyoung, Mark’s friend!” Jinyoung shouted from the gate to the man behind the main door, a distance remarkably far, spanning the length of half of his apartment.

Mr Park was surprised to see a young boy around Mark’s age standing at the gate. They rarely had visitors and whenever there were any, they were always middle-aged men dressed in suits, carrying a briefcase. The boy’s introduction shocked him even more.

Jinyoung? Isn’t he the boy Mark talked about? Is he the reason for Mark’s behaviour?

Slowly, he proceeded to the gate to let Jinyoung in, scrutinising his features as he guided him to the mansion. He noticed that despite the boy’s wide smile, his bloodshot eyes and severe eye bags gave away his lack of sleep for the past few days. He wondered why that looked so familiar.

“Are you Mark’s father, Ahjussi?” Jinyoung piped up, looking at Mr Park closely. The latter cringed at the mention of Mark’s father.

The boy doesn’t know.

However, he was in no position to make a comment, so he simply stated, “Mark is in his room. He hasn’t been eating and resting well. I hope you can help him in any way.”

“Okay.” Jinyoung wondered why the man avoided his question, but not for long, for he was amazed by the details and furnishing of the mansion. Scanning the apartment in sheer wonderment, he noted that the house was exceptionally empty for its size, but swept the thought aside when they arrived at Mark’s room.

“Here we are. Go ahead.” Mr Park gestured towards the door and stepped back.

Jinyoung knocked cautiously and waited for Mark’s approval for him to enter.

“What?”

Jinyoung almost jumped when he heard the bitter voice. It was familiar – he was certain it belonged to the red head – yet it sounded so foreign at the same time. The cracked voice sounded hurt, almost painful, and Jinyoung’s heart dropped when he thought of that voice belonging to precious Mark.

Twisting the doorknob timidly, Jinyoung pushed the room door open, as gently as he could. The room came to view and Jinyoung’s jaw dropped when he spotted a boy curled up in his bed, with crunched up tissues scattered all over the duvet.

The red hair fell over the boy’s eyes as he looked up, startled. Jinyoung’s vision traced his features: his flesh seemed to have sunken into the hollows of his cheekbones, his face was paler than ever, and his eyes were swollen and lifeless. He was a broken soul. 

Mark…

♥♥♥

Hi readers! Well, this took long enough to write... enjoy the development of Markjin's relationship. I hope you guys are enjoying the story and not finding it very draggy... (If you do, please feel free to tell me!) And if you do like it, please comment, subscribe and upvote! The response has been overwhelming so far and I couldn't thank you all more. ^~^ Love y'all!