MARK

The shrill sound of the ringing bell pierced through the silent halls. Thank God it's over. Mark Tuan thought as he jumped out of his seat.

He had been itching to escape from his last class on his tiresome Friday afternoon. He quickly stuffed all of his books into his worn-out bag and started racing down the hall. The previously deserted hall was now swarming with loud, babbling students. Mark definitely could not be late for this special event that his mother had been harping on about for the past month. She was gonna kill him even if he was as little as five minutes late.

➳ Five days ago ➳

"Why do I need to attend this dinner anyway? It's only between you and your friends right? It would be really awkward for me to be there..." Mark sighed.

"Mark, I know this may not be important to you, but it is for me. Friday night will be such a precious night for me. I'm finally going to have a reunion with my loved ones whom I haven't seen for years. I need this Mark and I need you to be here with me too. Please, do this for me." His mother pleaded.

Mark knew that his mother had been having a difficult time that heavily affected her work as well as her personal life. Of course, he agreed to go for the sake of his dear mother's wellbeing. If she was happy, he was happy. He never failed to give her his best efforts in trying to make her happy but it took a lot more than holding her and lending her his shoulders to cry on. The only thing he could do was listen, listen to her many concerns about her tainted future. He would give up his life for her. She had been completely isolated from everyone who cared about her due to her condition. Mark's mother suffered from severe anxiety and depression since her divorce from her husband two years ago. She was still torn about it to this day. Mark was devastated. He himself was suffering but seeing his mother so lifeless and pessimistic was heart breaking. His father was a horrible man who cheated on his mother more times than he can count with both of his hands and feet.  She decided that she could no longer live with the shame of being married to a scumbag so she demanded a divorce. Even though it was her own request, she was still completely distraught over it. All Mark wanted to do was comfort her in his arms and assure her that everything was going to turn out alright no matter how challenging it was.

♥ ♥ ♥

As Mark frantically scrambled out of the High School doors, he accidentally bumped into a young boy around his age. The boy fell on the rough concrete, dropping all of the books that were in his arms.

"Oh God! I'm so sorry, are you hurt?" Mark asked with a concerned expression whilst helping to pick up the hefty textbooks.

The boy looked up at him with the sweetest smile Mark had ever seen.

"I'm okay, thanks for asking. Might have a few scratches here and there but I'll be alright," he said with a wink.

Mark nearly lost it.

Mark passed the books back to their rightful owner while trying to conceal the nervous energy that was bubbling up inside of him. He sent Mark another gracious smile while replying a small 'thank you' upon receiving his books.

Oh , he's gorgeous. I’m not usually one to marvel over one’s looks but wow. As soon as he set his eyes on mine, all I could see was gentleness and sincerity. When he smiled at me, his eyes crinkled at the edges. Damn, why did he have to look this cute? His lips look so desirably indulgent and soft and he also has the most luscious chocolate brown hair I think I’ve ever seen. He’s just so mesmerising.

Oh crap! I think I’ve been staring for too long…

The other boy broke the silence with his sweet, velvety voice.

"I'm Jinyoung by the way, I'm really surprised that we haven't met before. We look around the same age. 94' line?"

"O-Oh hi, I'm Mark. 93' line. You probably wouldn't have noticed me because uh, well. I'm not that interesting and I'm not in any school clubs or anything. You're probably a very outgoing person. Er, I mean you probably have a lot more commitments that I have and I'm not seen around campus much because of it."

He was hopelessly flustered.

"Ohhhh okay, and thanks for the indirect compliment! You're partially right, I do like to do my bit in school and help out as much as I can. It’s quite lonely at home since my family is normally absent from home, too caught up with work I guess. Besides, soccer is fun when you get to kick the other team’s .”

Mark laughed quietly and an amused expression flickered on the younger’s face.

“And also, I'm sure you're not tooooo boring!"

No really, I am

Mark thought to himself. He gave Jinyoung the most genuine smile he could muster while his insides were turning into jelly. Mark was very inexperienced when it came to making friends due to his introverted nature. The fact that Jinyoung looked like an absolute stunner didn't help him one bit either.

"A-Anyways I'm sorry to rush off so suddenly, but I have a really important event soon and I'm running late."

"That's okay, I should probably be on my way too. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Mark. Catch you around?"

"S-Sure. Nice meeting you too Jinyoung. See you soon."

Both boys parted ways and Mark mentally cursed himself for acting like a fool in front of him.

What the hell was that, dude? Why did you stutter for? Now he's gonna think you're retarded or something! After that, he's never going to want to speak to you again! Oh well, I don't have any friends anyway so I'm used to all the loneliness. I'll just have to add him to my pile of failed attempts...

Mark is a very shy and quiet boy.

Even though he required a high level of independence, he preferred to keep quiet unless he was required to speak. He believes that the quieter he becomes, the more he can hear. After the separation in his family, he decided to seclude himself from the crowd. He found it easier to deal with the pain when he reduced as many other possible distractions such as friends because they could lead to more problems that Mark would have to deal with in the future. He was longing for a simple life where he did not have to worry about what could go wrong. He was afraid of getting hurt again. In saying that, Mark did in fact start to feel extremely lonely after a while. There had been an ongoing battle inside his head on whether he desired to have friends again. Mark decided to just let life go on. Whatever happens, happens and there is always a reason behind it.

Let fate decide.