“See that guy? One day, I’m gonna marry him.”

Mark Tuan can still remember those words he uttered during the first day of freshman year. Up till now, he still recalls the judgmental look received from his seatmate after freshman orientation (Sometimes, he wondered how that friend is doing. Last time he heard, he moved abroad before freshman year ended. He hopes his doing well.). He might have been a little bit fresh faced and naïve at that time, but he knew. Mark Tuan knew that from that moment he saw Park Jinyoung, he is the one; that person who he would end up with someday.

It was like a scene from an old movie. Mark sitting across the auditorium, lining up with his classmates and waiting for their homeroom teacher to bring them to their classroom. That was then when section 1A passed by and Mark finally saw him, the Park Jinyoung, carelessly laughing at perhaps a joke from one of his friends as if in slow motion. Mark Tuan immediately knew he was a goner. He suddenly remembered his mother always telling him that you will not meet the love of your life when you are a teenager, but Mark says otherwise.

He had just met his.

From then on, it has been an effort trying to get to know any information on the other guy. Mark gave him the nickname, “Rice Cake” in his head, because there was this pink chewy snack he was fond of buying on his way home, which kind of reminds him of his crush’s soft looking cheeks. He eventually did learn his name though, because luckily, their PE class were just right after Rice Cake’s and Mark had the privilege to hear one of his classmates calling him “Yah! Park Jinyoung, are you coming with?” on their way to the locker room.

It was easy to say that Mark was too happy to care even if he was scolded by their PE teacher for being late, since he was too busy watching Park Jinyoung aka his Rice Cake running to join his classmates (and nope, he was totally not checking out his as Rice Cake runs adorably in his shorts. Nope! No sir.)

Unfortunately, it did not take long till he learned that Rice Cake broke Mark Tuan’s heart.

Okay, not really, because technically they do not know each other to be at that level. However, Mark did eventually learn that Rice Cake (well, he still calls him ‘Rice Cake’ in his head sometimes – most of the time. No judgements here) already has someone special in his eyes. Unfortunately for him, the guy’s name is not Mark and definitely not Tuan.

It was a senior of theirs, Han Jaesung, a year older than them. Mark can hear his inner self berating him every single day that he was going to regret going out of his way to pass by hallways or classrooms he knew Park Jinyoung will be in (He has his scheduled memorized by heart. Again, let us make it clear, no judgment here), but no, Mark Tuan is a proud listener of his heart, and that was when he saw Rice Cake with Han Jaesung aka ‘that-stupid--face-kind-of-git-i-know-i-look-better-than-him-in-so-many-levels’ sunbaenim, the two of them talking. Mark cannot even deny, even if inner Mark is already drowning himself in tears, there were literally hearts in Jinyoung’s eyes as he looked at that guy.

How could Mark even refuse to see it, when he is fully aware of himself looking at Jinyoung the same way?

He tried giving up, for a little while – hmmm, maybe a day or two, but even then, Park Jinyoung was still the one Mark searched for. Walking down school corridors, subconsciously passing by the Theater Club room where Jinyoung was a member of or just maybe looking at Rice Cake’s way in the cafeteria during lunch breaks, Mark still cannot help himself. Maybe it just became a habit, he tried to convince himself. It will be fine, I’ll get over him. Mark told himself every morning, however, the moment Park Jinyoung just passes by in his own cute glory; he knew he was whipped every single time.

So now, here Mark Tuan was a high school junior and still very much smitten with a certain Park Jinyoung.

Nothing much has changed since then, although Mark is not as wide eyed as he was back in two years ago. He had finally learned to expand his circle of friends and got to hang out with them as much as possible. By the way, Park Jinyoung has been his classmate for the past two years, which made his heart soar. He did also learned that Rice Cake had never been in any way, shape or form, been together with Han Jaesung; that made his heart soar higher to the sky and the moon and the stars.

That did not mean his chances with Jinyoung got any higher though, because as much as his feelings for this particular cutie developed over time, Jinyoung’s affection towards their senior seemed to grow as well. Mark was just left with himself staring from afar, looking on as someone else made his precious little love smile and love and blush and all (and no, he was not feeling sulky at all.)

“So I confirmed with the hyungs yesterday that we’ll go to the party on Friday.” Wang Jackson, Mark’s self-proclaimed best friend, says absentmindedly while he lounges on Mark’s desk. It was that lazy free time between classes and club activities and Mark cannot help, but wish it was already basketball practice. He seriously needs a workout ASAP.

Oh right, the party. Mark thought uninterestedly. He knew he was going to forget about that as soon as the seniors walked up to their table during lunch break yesterday. To be honest, as much as he thought how amusing Jackson looks like spouting mixture of Korean, English, Mandarin, Cantonese and from time to time, Japanese whenever he was totally wasted, Mark had never grown fond of drinking alcohol and he hangover that follows the next morning. However, Jackson had always educated him about how important networking is during high school (although Mark had doubted that a few times already), so he had no choice to just reply a simple, “Yeah, alright. I’ll be there” to his best friend about the seniors’ party. I can’t even remember which senior is holding a party. Maybe I’ll just confirm it with Jackson later. Mark mulled in despair.

Mark sighed exasperatedly and unconsciously turned his head to his right, specifically on the guy sitting two seats away from him. Jinyoung seemed to be organizing his notes as always. There was a frown and a pout already forming on his face, which meant he may have copied something incorrectly. Mark cannot help but smile at that, His Rice Cake must have been an angel sent to make his heart flutter just by his mere existence. He notices Jinyoung looking at the clock, seemingly, hurry up. It was almost three in the afternoon which means in five... four... three... two... and one...

“PARK JINYOUNG!!!” Of course.

Choi Youngjae, Jinyoung’s best friend, strutted inside their classroom and always on time. Just like Rice Cake, Youngjae is also a member of the theater club and he never fails to come to their classroom on time just as the three o’clock mark comes to fetch his best friend and head off together to club activity. Mark thought it was cute seeing Jinyoung laughing and chatting away with his best friend, who seemed to care about him a lot. Jackson meanwhile, does have a whole lot of things to say about Youngjae.

“Great,” Jackson muttered under his breath as Youngjae excitedly tells Jinyoung to hurry up since he has something important to tell him. “It might be some kind of life and death situation, but does that really need to broadcast it to the whole classroom? What a loser...”

Mark cannot help, but snort, “Come on, man. Be nice. You’re even louder than him to be quite honest. Besides, didn’t you use to have the hots for him during our sophomore year? I can totally remember.” Well he really does remember, and he also recalled one time that Jackson got drunk as hell spouting nonsense and crying about Youngjae turning him down the other day, but Mark feels that Jackson does not have to be reminded about that.

“Oh, shut it,” Jackson said scratching his head in annoyance. “Unlike you who’s Mr. Popular, I don’t have a barrage of students walking up to me every single day to confess, so I do have some unfortunate slip ups in judgment like every now and then.” He made a not so subtle gesture towards Youngjae’s direction, which thankfully went unnoticed. Mark does not have the time to witness them spatting and have himself embarrassed in front of Rice Cake, so when Jackson told him it was time to go to basketball practice, he was more than willing to go.

(He did bump into Jinyoung who was also making his way out of the room. Jinyoung said a small, “Oh, sorry, Mark” before heading out. It was safe to say that Mark made all of his three point shots that afternoon and made a successful slam dunk. Coach was really pleased. But truthfully, Jinyoung’s voice echoed the whole afternoon and whole night like a broken record, kicking his feet in the air while lying on his bed. He felt so soft against him like a cotton candy. Mark was smiling from ear to ear until the following day – Jackson told him he looked creepy.)

“Hey Mark! You told me you’re treating me today!” Although it was already lunch time and most students have already crowded the cafeteria all over, Jackson’s thunderous voice still made a few heads turn and chuckle.

Mark made his way towards his friend. As much as his wallet was already crying for allowance, he did lose a bet with Jackson yesterday and now he has to let his best friend buy his own lunch to his heart’s content. Mark doubts Jackson will finish his impossible tray full of food right now without having a stomach ache, but well, a bet is a bet and he reckons, Park Jinyoung would never like a man who is not up for a challenge.

They were later joined in by some of their friends at their usual table. Mark usually just smile, nod politely and just join in the laughter when he was supposed to, but as always, he had always looked out to the direction a few table from theirs to have his special time aka stare shamelessly at Rice Cake while everyone else stuffs their faces with lunch food.

Like most days, Jinyoung’s table is pretty much comprised of most of his theater club friends. Jackson had carelessly called it the loser’s table because the club is mostly comprised of the school’s infamous ‘geeks’. Mark had always thought it was a bit unfair, since they all seem pretty nice and happy in their own little circle. In fact, he became biology lab partners with one of them last year, Im Jaebum; he recalled his name in his head. And aside from the fact that he would suddenly just belt out Broadway or trot songs every now and then (which may or may have not almost given Mark a heart attack while slicing a frog), Mark did think he was all in all a decent guy.

To his dismay, Mark sees Han Jaesung looming towards Jinyoung’s direction. Man, he really hates how Rice Cake’s eyes would seem to brighten up at the sight of him (Oh yes, Mark Tuan is still bitter and salty about it. Very much so. Affirmative.), but aside from that he had never really gotten the reason why Jinyoung liked him that much. Han Jaesung had pretty much a terrible reputation amongst the senior students, but seemed to grow a halo when he was talking to Jinyoung. Sometimes, just rarely, Mark pictures his inner self snatching that imaginary halo and using it as a Frisbee and just let it fly, fly away in the sky.

Unfortunately for him, he had to witness Jinyoung looking at him lovingly; conversing and seeing those adorable little whiskers appear in his eyes. That Jaesung guy must be telling him something funny. Mark thought regretfully in his seat, since his only chance with Jinyoung is only looking at him longingly from afar. I hope he really does make him happy one day. He can only sigh in despair. Inner Mark is already packing his things to fly out of the country, because real Mark Tuan is such a pathetic, love struck man.

He sees Choi Youngjae and Im Jaebum looking suspiciously at his direction and Mark quickly diverted his attention, regretting it as soon as he did since he did not plan to swallow a whole piece of tater tot (NOT. CHEWED.) Mark thought he was going to die.

“Oh! Oh my God! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know there’d be anyone in here!”

Okay, so maybe Mark Tuan will die of heart attack one day. Thank God (?), it was not this day or not. Maybe. The basketball team’s locker room was so crowded that day since the football team had some ongoing plumbing repairs. It was enough for Mark to feel claustrophobic, so after bidding a rather quick goodbye to Jackson, he then decided to just change in his casual clothes inside their classroom. He assumed everyone was just too busy with club activities anyway so it will be alright stripping off his clothes here. Well, or so he thought, not until he heard Park Jinyoung squeaking at the door.

“Oh, crap! Sorry! Sorry!” Mark can feel the heat creeping up his cheeks as he grabbed his shirt quickly from his bag. Suddenly, he is now super aware of how bare he looked like. “I didn’t know anyone would be back here! It’s just the gym’s locker room is so full... I thought. Uh... Sorry!”

Jinyoung was covering his face with his hands by the time Mark had successfully put on his shirt (after a couple of panicked attempts). “Are you decent now?” He mumbled quietly from his position. He seemed to be frozen from where he was standing.

“I am,” Mark replied nervously. He watched as Jinyoung finally removed his hands from his face hesitantly. “Sorry. I, I didn’t mean to freak you out that much, are you alright?” Despite being in love with Park Jinyoung for almost three years now, he can probably count on his fingers how many times they have spoken to each other in a decent conversation. Aside from the usual polite, hi’s and hello’s and ‘good mornings’ and ‘see you tomorrows’, they had never been really a chance for them to chat. One possible reason was that they do not share the same circle of friends anyway, so chances of hanging out (despite wanting to do so, oh so much) was literally zero percent and the other possibility (and probably 90% of it) was because will always make a fool of himself and say something stupid – which would probably keep him up all night figuring out what he should have said or what he should have done. Boy, he will most probably mess up.

You know, like, right now.

“N-no, it’s okay,” Jinyoung says, waving his hands immediately. “I... I shouldn’t have reacted that way! I... yeah. I was not expecting anyone to be around at this time, I thought you were a ghost or something. I was so scared for a bit there. I don’t like ghosts, you know?” His precious Rice Cake had ended it with a soft, embarrassed chuckle and Mark thought he would melt into a freaking puddle. So rather than thinking and worrying of him walking in on me while changing my clothes, he was more worried he has seen a ghost. This is really not good for my heart.

“Haha...” Mark trailed off while he desperately racked his brain for something interesting to tell him, because quite frankly, he does not want this moment to end. “I’m completely alive! See?!” Mark does not know where all this cheerfulness is coming from. To top it all off, he even did some stretching and flexing off his arms to emphasize that he is indeed alive. Inner Mark is dying of secondhand embarrassment though. IF THE FLOOR WANTS TO SWALLOW HIM UP WHOLE, NOW WILL BE THE BEST TIME PLEASE. HAVE MERCY ON THIS POOR SOUL.

Park Jinyoung must really be an angel sent from above, because instead of running away from the room, yelling at the top of his voice, “OH MY GOD, MARK TUAN IS A LUNATIC”, his adorable Rice CAKE just went on and laugh at his joke. His hands covering his mouth so daintily and his eye whiskers appearing immediately. Mark wants to bask in this moment. This is the first time he had made Rice Cake smile – no, laugh and it must be the greatest thing that happened in his entire life. What did the universe do to deserve someone as nice as Park Jinyoung?

“You’re so funny. I did not expect that.” Jinyoung says, before widening his eyes. “I mean, I did not mean anything wrong about that. I... I just. We haven’t really talked to each other, you know? And here I am, suddenly talking to the ‘Great Mark Tuan’. I did not expect you would be this nice, since you’re so popular and cool. I guess it’s true that you cannot judge a book by its cover. I... you’re even talking to a peasant like me. I feel honored.” Jinyoung giggled good naturedly. That got Mark so confused, is that how Jinyoung had seen him over the years?

Before Mark could say anything more, there was a knocking on the classroom door. Since Jinyoung was the one closest to it, he took the liberty to answer it. From his position, Mark sees a familiar sophomore he had met during one of Jackson’s parties. He thought he heard her ask Jinyoung, “Is Mark-sunbae there?” before Jinyoung turning around at him with a soft smile.

“Looks like one of your admirers is here.” Jinyoung tells him before fetching his bag from his seat. “It was nice talking to you even if just for a bit, Mark. See you tomorrow! Don’t want to keep your admirer outside for too long! Be nice to her, okay?”

Jinyoung was already gone when Mark’s soul finally returned to his body. He was left in a dazed all the way home that he cannot even remember what happened or what he told his sophomore friend after that. It might have been something bad, because the next day, Mark found his desk surrounded by his classmates and covered in, what he hopes to be, whipped cream. Jackson asked him about what happened, but he can only shrug. He saw Jinyoung looking worriedly at him, with his eyebrows furrowed deeply. He mouthed an ‘are you alright’ question at Mark from his desk. Of course, now he was more than alright. Smiling to himself, he does not have any care in the world right now; especially when Rice Cake stood up from his seat and helped him and Jackson clean his desk.

Mark made sure to circle yesterday and today’s date in his calendar, because he is awesome like that.

Friday came around as quickly as possible and Mark suddenly found himself entering an unfamiliar house with Jackson. The party seems to be in full swing by then when they arrived. The music is inhumanely loud that mark can hear feel his heartbeat pounding in his ears. Everything smells of booze and smoke and some other substances he hopes he will not find out about. It was really lucky for him that he will be tonight’s designated driver. He seriously is not in the mood for drinking tonight to be honest. He just wanna stay at home and probably play some video games (and maybe check Jinyoung’s SNS for a bit. #notastalker101)

“Dude, come on, just drink just one bottle.” Jackson was already shouting at him at the top of his voice, but Mark can only barely make out what he was saying because of the loud music. “The hyungs are already waiting for us at the pool table. We should come. You can just sober up later. We’re not gonna leave soon anyway.”

It seemed weird, Mark thought as he drinks his bottle of beer. He watches Jackson along with their other friends play beer pong and getting themselves smashed. He had managed to talk to some of familiar faces at school, whom he seemed to not remember the names. They may have put something in these drinks. Mark realized warily in his head as his thoughts has gotten a bit muddled. One bottle of beer surely does not make him this tipsy. Putting the bottle down, Mark then proceeded to tell Jackson (who for some reason started to play strip poker now) that he would go outside for some air.

“Ah, fresh air I missed you!” Mark exclaimed as he went out of the porch. The cool evening breeze wispily blowing against his cheeks as he slowly breathed in and out. Thankfully, the closed windows and door had somewhat trapped the throbbing music in his ear, because another minute of it might make his head explode.

He made himself comfortable sitting on one of the steps near the doorway. He decided to sober up as he whipped his phone out from his pocket. He sees Jinyoung posted a picture on his SNS an hour ago. He seemed to be hanging out with his mom and sister baking a cake. Jinyoung’s face was covered in icing and what looks like strawberry cream while his mom and sister holds out V-signs mischievously. He sees another Rice Cake’s post, this time a video, of them surprising his father for his birthday. Mark smiled fondly as he watches it over and over again, listening to his little love sing the birthday song. His thumb hovered over the Like button, mulling over whether to press it or not.

His musings, however, was unfortunately interrupted when he hears voices coming his way. Mark quickly put back his phone in his pockets to find another hiding place to sober up, because by the sounds of those voices, it is something he does not want to either hear or see. Deciding that it would be better for his soul and sanity to walk the opposite direction, Mark finally stands up from his position. Unfortunately (or rather fortunately?) for him, he was able to hear what the voices were saying that made him completely stop on his tracks and made his blood boil.

“Oppa,” Mark heard an unfamiliar voice of a girl, giggling and whining to the person she was with. “Are you sure this is okay? I mean, aren’t you dating that guy Park Jinyoung from class 3A?”

“Dating? Me?” Mark can already feel his hands turning into fists when he heard Han Jaesung’s reply. “Don’t worry, babe. I’m not dating that guy. He’s just a guy who seemed to like me a lot and likes to do some errands for me every now and then. Why would I date a loser like that? I only like you.”

Three years. Three ing years, Mark had always wanted to punch the guy. He just never had any legitimate reasons to do that aside from the fact that the love of his life seemed to dedicate almost all of his time and efforts to this... this bastard. And right now, like a buffet up for grabs, the opportunity to make this guy pay presented itself. Flashes of Jinyoung smiling up at this guy adoringly while he watched from afar, crossed Mark’s mind. He had long surrendered to the fact that Jinyoung will never ever love him back and that he will eventually end up with this guy. This was supposed to make him happy, to offer the whole world – no, the whole universe and beyond to Park Jinyoung and he was just out here spouting words that Jinyoung was just his errand guy? Park Jinyoung deserved better.

Mark Tuan has been described to be a lot of things, but he has never considered himself stupid. However, when he hears something bad being spoken against the love of his life, all his logic goes out of the window. So when he turned back and marched to punch Han Jaesung in the face, Mark knew the pandemonium it would cause after. At that moment however, once he landed one, two, three other punches on the other’s face, Mark did not have any notions to care one bit.

Mark felt himself being pulled up by a now, seemingly sobered up Jackson, who probably like everyone else was, surprised at his actions. Regrettably, it proved to be harder to separate Mark from Jaesung as the former’s grip on him was so tight, the other was already gasping for air. It took two other guys to finally separate them, but not without Mark saying the final words.

“You don’t ing deserve him.”

Monday morning came and as soon as their homeroom teacher came in, Mark kind of expected to be called to the principal’s office already. Now to be quite honest, this was not his first time to be called in. There were maybe once or twice that he was caught cutting classes since he was too immersed in playing basketball, to which he has served a week long detention. He had not been called in for something as serious as this though.

As much as he hated to let his parents down, there was nothing worse than coming into their classroom and seeing Jinyoung’s disappointed look at him. Mark knew as early as he stepped inside the school premises that the news of what transpired at the party has already spread like wildfire. It did not matter, because it was indeed his fault, he thought as he raced towards their classroom. The only thing that mattered to him the most, the only person he cared about stared back at him with sad eyes, those eyes that he loved the most, telling Mark that he had been hurt for what he had done. Mark tried to say something, but what else can he tell Jinyoung? He can only watch as Jinyoung finally turns away from him, as if seeing Mark, the person who had hurt the one he likes the most, pained him so much. Mark felt like it was the end of the world for him.

“Punching a schoolmate, a senior even, during a study group is something we do not tolerate, Mr. Tuan.” Mark could only stare in disbelief as their school principal spoke to him. Study group? Mark wanted to laugh, so this is how it was going to be. The school received a call from Han Jaesung’s very angry parents that morning to inform them that a junior student aka him, Mark Tuan, had gone berserk during their precious son’s study group sessions with his classmates. Wow, Mark could only sigh to himself. Even how he handles things, that guy is seriously a coward. “Your parents are on their way to speak with me today.” Principal Lee continues. “I had spoken with your homeroom teacher earlier and we had decided as to what will be your consequence of your actions. We hope that this will be the last time I hope to see you in my office again, Mr. Tuan. Understood?”

“Participate in the Theater Club’s play?!” Mark hears Jackson exclaiming at him during lunch break. “Dude, dude, dude, this is bad. They really know how to make punishments, don’t they? I mean you participating in those losers’... Gosh, it would’ve been better if they just suspended you for a week or something. At least that would’ve sounded badass.”

“Gee, thanks for the support.” Mark answered sarcastically while he stared at his untouched lunch. Although he was supposed to look forward to spending time with Rice Cake even after classes, he absolutely is not looking forward to seeing an upset Jinyoung looking at him with the same kind of disappointment in his eyes. It might really just break his hearts into tiny powdery pieces. Inner Mark is already pulling out all of his hair. “The lead actor suddenly got a leg injury, because he slipped in the shower and won’t be able to perform without crutches in the next three months, so they’d been so kind to offer me, me being as a person who has zero theater experience, as the new lead for the play. They felt that it would help me personally to socialize with other students to lessen my ‘violent tendencies’. My parents are already every possible relative to come and watch.so yay for that.”

Jackson, being the true friend that he is, only offered him a snort and a tap on the shoulder. “Well, good luck with that man. I’ll also make sure to get everyone to watch so it will be a smash.”

Good luck to me indeed. Mark thought bitterly as he starts to eat his lunch unenthusiastically. He looked up to see how Jinyoung was going. Jaesung was once again on their table, looking like he was showing Jinyoung the wounds he got from Mark’s fists. Jinyoung touched them gently with his soft and delicate fingers, his expression full of concern. Mark nearly broke his fork in two.

“Okay, so I believe everyone has already heard of what happened to Hansol-hyung, am I right?”

There was a murmur of agreement inside the theater hall, as everyone listened to the Theater Club president who turned out to be (surprise, surprise), his previous biology lab partner, Im Jaebum. Mark has never felt so out of place in his entire life. Although Mark had never been technically suspended at school, their basketball coach had temporarily relieved him of his duties with the basketball team to give way for his “Theater Club detention” and for Mark to, using Coach’s words, “reflect on his actions”.

Im Jaebum, thankfully, was accommodating. He even went out of his way to fetch Mark from his class to guide him where the Theater Hall was (although Mark already knew where it is of course). At least, the universe still is blessing him in its own little ways, because even though all of these things happening to him felt so alien right now, there was at least a friendly face he could talk to at some point.

“So,” Jaebum continued on. “I know this might come off as a surprise for some of you but Principal Lee has informed us that for our next project, we’re gonna be joined by a special guest!” To emphasize his point, Jaebum nodded towards Mark’s direction and at least thirty heads turned simultaneously at his direction all wearing the same curious expression on their faces. Mark had never felt so small. “I’m sure everyone knows him one way or another, but I hope to get everyone’s cooperation to feel him welcome to our little group. So now, Mark! Why don’t you join me here onstage for a bit and say a few words! I’m sure everyone here wants to get to know our play’s new lead actor!”

“Uhh,” Mark started to say. It had never been a problem for him to speak in front of an audience, at least that was what he thought so. However, with thirty sets of eyes looking at him expectantly as if he would say something brilliant can be quite pressuring. He looked across the stage where Jinyoung was sitting down typing away in his laptop and completely ignoring Mark’s existence. That did not help him at all (although he still gave Rice Cake the benefit of the doubt since he was the club’s playwright after all). “Okay, uhm, well, I’m not making a great impression am I?” Mark laughed awkwardly and seeing the continuous silence, confirmed that yes, he was not making a good impression. So what else can he do but to breathe in and out, and count one to three. “Hi everyone, I’m Mark Tuan of Class 3A. I know most of you won’t believe me since I only ended up here, because Principal Lee has sent me. However, I really am excited to work with everyone else! So I’ll make sure to work twice as hard and I hope to have lots of good memories with you guys. Please take care of me well.”

“Alright! That’s the spirit! Let’s welcome Mark to the team and using his words, let’s make great memories with him!” Jaebum clapped from his seat. He was soon followed by everyone else and that made his nerves calm down a bit. He looked at Jinyoung staring at him as well with an unreadable expression. Mark could only give him an apologetic smile. He should at least apologize to Jinyoung soon.

“Dude, here it is.” Jaebum handed him a copy of the script, which felt a bit heavy on Mark’s hands. “I know this might be a bit too much to ask from you, and please don’t be surprised. It is almost fifty pages and most of it will be your lines. Look, you can read them through today and I’ll go practice with the guys while you watch since it’s your first day. Then tomorrow, you can join practice with the script, but please memorize it as well during your free time, okay? And if you have questions, feel free to ask anyone here. Except Jinyoung, I think he’s still pretty pissed at you. But don’t worry. I know you’re a nice guy. He’d chill out soon.”

“Right... Thanks, Jaebum. I’m really serious, man.” Mark says gratefully. Quite frankly, he would not know what to do had Jaebum not been here. “Can I ask something though?”

“Sure.”

“Did Jinyoung write this whole play?”

Mark noticed Jaebum studying him carefully, before answering. “Yeah, he did. It’s his dream to be a playwright. He’s written our last three plays, but you already know that, don’t you?” He says smiling before turning into a smug expression. “Pretty awesome, huh?”

“Yeah,” Mark replied not knowing how to interpret Jaebum’s knowing glance at him. Oh well, he does not know Jaebum enough to really interpret it in any kind of way to be honest. “You know what; you think I can join practice today? I’ll make sure to watch you first, if it’s okay?”

Theater club rehearsals, as it turned out, finishes a bit later than usual. It was already half past seven in the evening when Mark along with the other club members stepped out of the auditorium. All in all, the practice in itself was quite a bit of fun. There were some instances that they had to rehearse over and over again, since Mark is a total rookie and is a bit helpless about blocking or using proper intonation with his lines. Everyone for the most part were helpful and approachable, which Mark was grateful for. They were all so nice that if Mark does not do a hell of a job in this play, it would be on him. The least he could do was to at least return the favor and listen and learn as much as he can and hopefully get some interesting results.

“Oh Mark! You’re heading off this direction too?” Mark heard Jaebum yelling a few steps ahead of him. Jaebum was accompanied, to Mark’s surprise, with Jinyoung’s best friend, Youngjae.

Jaebum, Mark realized, handles the entire directional job for the club and had been for the past year. It totally made sense now since he was the club’s president despite being only a junior student. On the other hand, Youngjae was assigned to direct the musical aspect of the play. He mostly coordinates with Jinyoung a lot to make sure everything fits the scenarios. And all of the compositions are mostly composed by Youngjae. Mark felt like he was studying in an arts school earlier, because seriously, all of the people who keeps ignoring the Theater Club are completely sleeping on their talents.

“Yeah, I am,” Mark replied after finally catching up to them. “I didn’t know you guys are going this way too!”

“Oh, by the way,” Jaebum says gesturing at Youngjae. “I don’t know if you two guys have met? I mean, I’ve been your lab partner, Mark. I don’t know if Youngjae already...”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve been lab partners,” Youngjae says with a roll of his eyes. “You’ve been spouting that same information since last year. Enough already. Seriously, Mark Tuan, this guy is such a fanboy of yours.” Jaebum only answered with a ‘hey!’ “Of course, I know who you are, Mark Tuan. Everyone knows you, of course. Jackson Wang’s friend, right?”

“Oh, about that,” Mark scratched his name in embarrassment. There was still something nagging in his head about Youngjae and the fact that Jackson’s name came from him only meant that Youngjae still does remember THAT INCIDENT from a year ago. “Yeah, I’m Jackson’s friend. And I just want to apologize to you about last year’s incident of him suddenly showing up to your house confessing and singing so loud.”

Youngjae snorted at the memory. “That’s alright. I mean you’ve already apologized then. No need to say sorry about the same thing over and over, right?”

“Ah well,” Mark replied. “I was carrying Jackson’s lifeless body that time; we should’ve apologized properly after that, you know? Your parents might have not appreciated the noise.”

“I say forgive and forget!” Youngjae shrugged. “Besides, Jackson Wang has not looked at me or spoken to me since then. I don’t think an apology is still possible to be honest. Anyway, good job earlier. He did well for a rookie, right, Jaebum?”

The next day’s practice ended up an hour earlier than usual since the auditorium had to have its weekly cleanup and inventory. Although it was such a brief a rehearsal, everyone, not only Mark himself had noticed a significant improvement compared to yesterday’s practice.          Well, it definitely should have since he had been obsessing over the play since yesterday. He thought that at least, he would be able to properly apologize to Rice Cake if he sees him working hard. And Mark Tuan does work hard (He had his nose stuck in the whole script book all day; he did not even notice Jackson throwing uneaten grains of  rice on his hair not until he went to the wash room. He is seriously, so rude.)

“Hey guys, want to hang out?” Mark asked Jaebum and Youngjae as the three of them stepped out of the school gates. It was still a bit too early and can feel his theater adrenaline (if there was such a thing) flowing in his bones. And maybe Youngjae can have Jinyoung join in too (which totally what NOT Mark Tuan’s intention was – please do not side-eye him). Jaebum and Youngjae looked at him as if he had just lost his mind. Ah, they might be thinking I’d get them drunk or something, given what happened with Han Jaesung. “I mean, I promise I won’t get you guys in trouble. I’m just really hungry right now and craving for some good and juicy burgers, curly fries and milkshake. Or maybe grilled meat and rice!”

“That sounds good.” Youngjae says after a minute of probably just them staring at Mark in disbelief. “But, forgive me. Would it be alright if you hung out with us theater geeks though, I mean.” He pointed his thumb at Jaebum. “This guy looked like he’s having a mental breakdown just by having you invite us to eat out, Mark Tuan.”

“Seriously, I’m just a normal guy.” Mark chuckled uncomfortably. He did not know where all these assumptions about him came about since most of his high school life as far as he remembers was him pining for a certain Rice Cake and watching from afar. That was why being perceived as something of a... a... whatever they see him as makes him a tiny bit uncomfortable. Inner Mark Tuan is feeling blue and having a ‘quarter life’ crisis “I just want to eat and have fun with everyone, so? Are we going?”

Jaebum, who finally regained his consciousness finally say. “Oh! I know just the place!”

Turns out, one of the sophomore club member’s family owns a barbecue restaurant just near the subway station. Mark remembered the guy’s name as Kim Yugyeom, who, if he was not mistaken, was the club’s floor director. He was mostly in charge of blocking and the choreographies if the scene requires one. Thankfully, Mark did not require any dancing (AS FAR AS HE WAS INFORMED!). He would just be able to showcase everyone about his two left feet. Yugyeom was very nice and accommodating once they have arrived, even going as far as offering to have them use the VIP room where there is a large karaoke machine – on the house. Youngjae and Jaebum seemed very excited that Mark did not have the heart to politely decline.

To round out their little dinner group for the night, they were joined in by Yugyeom’s best friend, Bambam. Now, Bambam is also a part of the theater club and mostly part of the wardrobe team. Mark had encountered him once already when they did the fitting, since he had a different set of body measurements compare to the last guy. But for the most part, he mostly see Bambam, sewing away while the rest of them rehearsed.

“We should totally take a picture tonight, you guys!” Yugyeom exclaimed all of a sudden, that some of the grilled meat he was eating spewed out of his mouth and before Youngjae could berate him in any way, he continued. “No one would seriously believe that Mark-hyung hung out with us!”

“I would be very honored to take a photo with you guys.” Mark says after swallowing a mouth full of rice. “But seriously, you guys. Can we at least chill on having me spending time with you all? I’ve never ever seen myself as anything above anyone else. We’re all the same students here, aren’t we? We can be friends. I want to be your friend.”

“You’re seriously too cool, Mark-hyung.” Bambam piped in. “We do know how the rest of the school viewed us, the theater geeks. Although we do not mind since we are doing what we love in the first place, but having you coming here and join us really is amazing. We’re just not used to hanging out with cool people and having them being nice to us that’s all.”

“Yeah but we’re glad that you’re here, aren’t we?” Jaebum says with thumbs up.

“Thanks guys.” Mark says as all of them resumed eating.

“And thank you too, for punching Jaesung-hyung in the face.” Youngjae added solemnly. Jaebum tried to argue with him but Youngjae just shrugged. “What? It’s no secret that I hated the guy, even Jinyoung knows it. You guys hate him too, don’t you? Anyway, no matter what your reason is for clocking him in the face, I’m glad you did what you did.”

Mark’s ears perked up at that piece of information. Oh. He totally did not expect that. However, he was not able to ask what he was about to say when Yugyeom joined him. “Why did you punch him anyway, hyung? If you don’t mind me asking of course.”

“He said something unforgivable.” About Jinyoung. Mark felt it would be inappropriate if he say anything more. To be honest, he hated remembering what he said that night. Those words just triggered emotions Mark had never felt before and it was bad.

“I knew he would do something like that!” Youngjae almost shouted. “He’s always running off and making Jinyoung do stuff like, ‘Jinyoung, I can’t do my homework, please help me’ or... or ‘Jinyoung, I forgot to pick up this or that’ ugh! Seriously the man just irritates the hell out of me. Jinyoung is not your maid! And the worst part is Jinyoung is so blinded by his feelings for him that he just do all those stuff without questions asked!”

“Jinyoung really likes him that much, huh?” Mark Tuan must really be a masochist. Even though he knew the answer for the longest time, he thought that hearing from people close to Park Jinyoung would just get rid of that little doubtful monster that tells him he still has a chance with Rice Cake.

“Unfortunately, yeah.” LITTLE DOUBTFUL MONSTER IS SLAIN. Inner Mark is weeping for real Mark’s soul. Feelings shutting down in 3... 2... 1... Heart disintegration is confirmed.

Ah who is he kidding anyway? If anything, now he wants to protect Park Jinyoung from that bastard more than ever. How? Well, he would have to figure it out really, really soon.

“Mark-hyung, please pass the green one.” Yugyeom says as Mark handed him the freshly opened can of paint.

It was Saturday and instead of staying at home and bumming around, Mark found himself back at school and helping the Theater club with props making. Looks like everyone were back here as well, Mark observed as even the actors were all hanging out and painting backdrops and fake trees like it was the most natural thing to do on a beautiful Saturday morning.

“Hey, is Jinyoung coming?” Mark tried to stop himself from asking more than once already, but it has been an hour since they arrived and he still has not seen any signs of his beautiful Rice Cake.

Bambam, who was assigned on painting all the fake rocks, joined in. “Jinyoung-hyung? Yeah he should be here soon. He just helps out with his mom’s bakery in the morning, but after that he goes here too to help out.”

“Mark-hyung!” He heard Yugyeom called him from behind and just as he had turned around, Mark his face being swabbed by a thick green paint soaked paint brush.

“YAH!” Mark gasped, and heard Yugyeom’s cackling away from him. However, he did not have any more time to react since Bambam had attacked him as well with his own gray paint brush. In fact, if he had not been mistaken, he heard Jaebum and Youngjae joining in to, with Youngjae squeaking a loud and enthusiastic, ‘Let me join in too!!’ Needless to say, Mark’s face ended up with an array of colored paint like a street art, courtesy of his new friends. (Also, it did not help that Yugyeom had found his tickle spot so it made him impossible to run away. Inner him is not amused.)

“You guys are so dead!” Mark called after them once he heard them runaway a few moments later. Laughing to himself, he decided to head off to the washroom to at least make himself presentable once Jinyoung arrives. To his dismay, however, that will not be possible anymore, since upon exiting the backstage, Park Jinyoung is the first person he runs into. And yes, Mark wanted to run back home and just bury himself under the sheets and stay there for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, he was still here, still rooted in his feet with his #1 Rice Cake looking up at him in shock.

“Oh, uh, hi.” Mark managed to stutter, but before he can say anything else, he sees Jinyoung crack a smile and soon his little chuckled turns into a legitimate laughter. Mark is about ninety percent sure his soul just left his body and he was left watching his own self staring at the love of his life while gaping like a fish. COME ON, MARK TUAN. TALK! SAY SOMETHING. ANYTHING. THERE’S SIMPLY NO OTHER WAY OUT OF THIS SO JUST USE YOUR WORDS. OH MY GOD. THIS IS THE LONGEST SILENCE IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANKIND’S EXISTENCE.

“You sure look like a mess.” Jinyoung says wiping his eyes from laughing too much. Mark had been aware of how much he missed Jinyoung, but he never realized how much, not until he heard his beautiful, soft voice again. If Mark could just scream and sing to the heavens, he had already done it. Let’s just say he would just leave Inner Mark dancing happily in the meantime. “Looks like those guys finally got to you, huh? It’s like their own little initiation right. Good job, looks like you’re already part of the club.”

“I- I am?” Mark said dumbly. He dreams of the day that he will be able to talk to Rice Cake without having his brain going into serious overdrive. Seriously, it was bad for his well-being.

“You are.” Jinyoung said smiling at him. Mark’s knees are melting. If the floor would be so nice and catch him. He might have turned into a jello pudding already from all the fluffiness. “Hold on, stay there. I’m gonna go get the cleaning kit. Those paints don’t just come off using water only. I’ll be back.”

No need to say anything else, since Mark is practically frozen in his position anyway. Jinyoung at some point seemed to have forgiven him. He does not know how, he does not know when, but he did. Or maybe Jinyoung is really just an angel who is just a blessing to every human being. Yup, that last one seems to be the most plausible explanation of them all.

“Mark, you like Jinyoung, don’t you?” Youngjae’s voice echoed behind his back as he and the other boys came out of the backstage as well and Mark, along with Inner Mark, wants to die out of the embarrassment. What else can he deny about it since from when it was the truth anyway?

“Of course, he does!” Yugyeom yelled joyfully. There was a teasing smile on his face as they stood in front of him in a half circle. “Mark-hyung, your face is covered in face paint, but it’s too obvious that you’re blushing!”

“It is?” Mark touched his face and only felt the now dried paint covering them. He can still feel his cheeks burning though, so Yugyeom is probably right. He did not appreciate Bambam’s ‘hashtag whipped’ comment though (although he was probably 101% right.) “Ah, what’s the point? Okay, you got me. I’ve liked him since first day of freshman year. But please don’t tell Jinyoung, alright? I don’t want him to hate me.”

“I. FREAKING. KNEW. IT!” Jaebum cheered loudly which earned a few of the members looking up at him in judgment. “I knew you were always staring at Jinyoung during lunch time, ha!” He turned to Youngjae with an amused expression. “What did I tell you, huh, Choi Youngjae? And you wouldn’t believe me at first, didn’t you, huh?”

“Alright, alright...” Youngjae sighed exasperatedly. “I did tell you I believe you eventually, didn’t I?”

“What– you guys knew?” Mark blinked at them in surprise.

“Mark, you’re not exactly subtle, you know?” Youngjae looked at him in amusement.

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with us.” Jaebum added with a pat on his shoulder. “We’ll make sure to leave you and Jinyoung alone, so you two can have your quality time while he washes your face.”

That night, he was invited to join a chatroom named, ‘Prince Mark Tuan and his Love Musketeers’, which in principle is the most extra thing he had witnessed in his entire life. But oh well. There was a small smile on his face as he went to sleep that night. (But he had to turn his notifications off since the guys had flooded the chatroom with Jinyoung’s photos in all shapes and forms; he did appreciate the support though. Now he does not know which photo to use as his wallpaper. Maybe he would just use them all, one day at a time.)

“Hey dude. Donghyuk from Class 3D is inviting us to his party this Friday. I’ll tell him we’d go, alright?”

“I can’t.” Mark replied while he stares at his script. To be honest, there had been so many scraps on the edges and writings on the sheets that he cannot help but feel a bit proud of himself. In fact, as the premiere date of the play approaches, he has been able to rehearse with the others without any cheat sheets prompted whatsoever. Well, of course, if he would be really, really honest, seeing Jinyoung proudly smile at him is definitely a wonderful bonus. He cannot help, but work harder. “We have early rehearsals on Saturday morning and you know my parents are watching me like hawks now, so no thank you.”

“Ah you ,” He can feel Jackson’s eyes boring holes at him, but he will live. “It seems that you hung out with those theater geeks more than the guys these days. Seriously, what’s so great about those losers?”

“Hey, you can learn to be a bit nicer to them, can’t you?” Mark tried to play it off as a joke, but his forced smile might already be a dead giveaway that he was serious. “Come on, man. Look, I just wanna say that they haven’t done anything wrong to you, so can you please stop calling them losers before you even get to know them for real?”

“Alright, fine. Sorry.” Jackson replied sarcastically. “I’m going back to class. Are you coming with?”

“You can go right ahead.” Mark answered, taking a quick glance at the Theater Club’s lunch table. There was still something that was not clear for him during last night’s rehearsal.  “I have to ask Jaebum something. I’ll just see you later, okay?”

“Whatever man.”

It was almost eight in the evening, yet Mark had chosen to stay behind. Everyone has already gone home, but fortunately Jaebum was kind enough to leave the auditorium’s keys with him. It almost felt like it was just yesterday when Mark had first stood in front of all the Theater club guys and awkwardly made his introduction. And now, as he stood on the center stage, looking at the strangely comforting empty seats, it now felt unbelievably exciting that in less than two weeks, he will be standing here in front of an audience.

It will be then when this dream will end, won’t it? Hanging out with the “Musketeers” (a self-proclaimed group name the guys were now officially calling themselves with) and seeing Jinyoung typing away in his little laptop, offering Mark an encouraging smile whenever rehearsals will start. He cannot help but wonder if things will still be the same after this play. It saddens him a little bit, whenever he thinks about it.

“Mark? You’re still here?”

“Oh holy smokes and cheeses!” Mark clutches his heart in surprise when his sentimental moment was suddenly interrupted by Jinyoung’s voice. Good thing Mark exercises a lot and eats healthy food, because seriously his heart has been too stressed and surprised lately. And it definitely does not help one bit that he is once again alone with his Rice Cake. “I thought you’re a ghost!”

Jinyoung giggled once again, covering his mouth in the most adoring way ever. It makes Mark want to record his laughter and use it as his lullaby (Oh yes, creep alert 101 entering No Judgement zone) “That makes us even then.” He says before climbing up the stage to join Mark. “I bet Bambam and Yugyeom already told you about the ghost of that little boy who roams here at night, didn’t they?”

“Unfortunately, they did.” Mark said through gritted teeth. He had the misfortune of Yugyeom and Bambam telling him about the ‘ghost experiences’ they had in the auditorium. Now, Mark is not really a believer of supernatural beings, but it must be their theater background; they told the stories to him so dramatically that they kept him up all night long. Inner Mark is not amused.

“Take it from a professional. It’s probably best not to listen to them 100% of the time.” Jinyoung said in amusement. “Jaebum must really trust you if he had left the keys with you. I left some of my stuff behind, I had to go back and I was kind of surprised when I saw the doors were unlocked.”

“How did you get in?” Mark asked curiously. Well, only partly curious, because another part of him is trying to figure out how to breathe normally in the presence of his one and only Rice Cake.

“Three years of being a part of Theater Club, I’ve learned a few tricks here and there.” He watches as Jinyoung took a hairpin behind his hair and showed it off to him. “They still haven’t figured it out, so this will be our secret, okay?”

“Of course.” OF COURSE HE WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR HIM SO HIS LIPS ARE TIGHT SHUT.

“Thanks. So,” Jinyoung chuckled. “What are you up to?” He walks over to sit down at the edge of the stage and faced Mark. Most of the light in the auditorium were already turned off and from where he was standing, Mark can perfectly see Jinyoung’s face illuminated perfectly by the moonlight. “Come on, I’ll watch you rehearse since I’m already here.”

“What? No! That’s embarrassing!” Mark felt the heat creeping up his cheeks. He stayed behind to perfect his performance, not stutter around in front of his crush. “No, I’ll be fine. It’s already late. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jinyoung only laughed some more. “What are you saying? It’s just me.” Yes, that’s the point. It is YOU. “You’ll be performing with hundreds of people come premiere night! Come on. Please?” Mark knows Jinyoung was just kidding around, but this is not the right moment for Jinyoung to press his fists on his cheeks and bat his eyelashes at him. Oh, he just did.

“What the hell... Fine.” Mark says as a smile graces his lips. You’re lucky that I love you, Park Jinyoung.

“Jinyoung, aren’t you mad at me?”

It nearly took an hour for them to finish up and lock the auditorium. As it turned out, Jinyoung lived just a few stations away from Mark, but he did not mind walking him home. Jinyoung had the impression they were going the same direction, but Mark did not have the heart to tell him otherwise. Besides, this is the very first time he had the chance to legitimately spend some alone time with Rice Cake and he definitely does not want to miss his chance. (His phone is buzzing like hell in his pocket. He probably should not have told the Musketeers about what happened since they were now asking for updates every two minutes.)

Jinyoung did not say anything for a few minutes and Mark wondered if he heard what he said. “It was unfortunate about what happened with you and Jaesung-hyung.” Jinyoung said thoughtfully. “I wish it did not go down like that, and I wish it never happened, but at the same time, I’m also glad it did.”

“You are?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, and please don’t take this the wrong way.” Jinyoung chuckled. “When I heard about what happened, I was really worried; especially when I saw what happened to Jaesung-hyung’s face.” Somehow, as selfish as it sounded, Mark hated the way Jinyoung says his name. “But more importantly, I was confused why you of all people had done that. I know we didn’t know each other that much and it was wrong for me to just assume things, but you did not seem to be that guy to do those kinds of things for no reason at all. I thought I made an error of judgment. Maybe everyone’s right all along. Mark Tuan is cold and aloof; a total playboy. He’s so popular that he only talks nicely to people at his level. So I’m glad when you came and joined us in the Theater club. You became friends with everyone so well and we came to see the real you. It made me happy at some point. For me it meant a lot that the Mark Tuan I met is the same nice person and not how the rumors made you out to be. It kept my mind at ease.”

“I’m so sorry for what I did though, Jinyoung.” Mark says quietly. He had no idea that Jinyoung cared about it – him a lot. It probably was just because he was being nice and should not be taken in any other way, but Mark still felt he owed him an apology.

“What are you apologizing for?” Jinyoung asked with a smile. “I mean, I was not the one who got punched in the face, which reminds me that I should not get on your bad side. Wow.” Mark must have looked pretty solemn that Jinyoung’s expression changed in a flash. “You must have known I like him if you’re looking at me like that. But all jokes aside, you don’t have to say sorry to me. I’m just a friend in his eyes, more like a little brother, so I have no right to be upset in any way if something happens to him.”

“It’s alright if you got upset about what happened.” Mark says after a while. It seemed so crazy. He was actually comforting the love of his life about having a one-sided love with the person he likes. Inner Mark is already building a monument for him.

“It is?”

“Yeah,” Mark replied. “I mean he’s a person that you like. If someone does or say anything bad or offensive to the person I like, I would seriously want to punch that person in the face too.”

“I don’t wanna punch you though.” Jinyoung says pouting. “You’re my friend.”

“I am?” Oh no, he should have bought some oxygen like Yugyeom had mentioned to him earlier.

“Yeah, aren’t we friends?” Jinyoung looked up at him curiously. “You know sometimes I’d get jealous when you and the other guys hang out. It seemed like I got left behind. I wish we can hang out sometimes too.”

“Aren’t we hanging out now?” Mark asked, ignoring the fact that Inner Mark kept on yelling “FRIENDZONED! FRIENDZONED! FRIENDZONED!” at the back of his head.

“Oh, you’re right about that.” Jinyoung laughed, and Mark’s heart ached at how beautiful he looks.

But at this moment, Mark thinks it was enough. Seeing Jinyoung smile and being comfortable is enough. Just being with him even if not more than just a friend is enough for Mark’s selfish heart.

“What the , Mark?!” Jackson yelled at him as soon as he entered the classroom. “I texted you like fifty times last night!”

“Sorry my phone was in silent.” Mark tried to explain, but Jackson was having none of it. “I didn’t see them till this morning.”

“Yeah, I know. You already texted me about that.” Jackson said bitterly. “Everyone kept asking me at the party, ‘Where’s Mark at?’, ‘Have you talked to him lately?’ and what should I tell them? You don’t even hang out with me and the guys anymore! Look man, I know you’ve been pretty busy lately and I’m glad you’re working hard. But it seems that lately you’re kind of shoving us, your friends, away!”

“Well what should I do then?” Mark retaliated. “I already apologized to you and the other guys and to be honest, I would have invited you to hang out with me if you guys weren’t calling the guys ‘losers’!

“Oh, get off your high horse, Mark.” Jackson answers back. “We know what this is all about. You don’t want to really hang out with them, don’t you? This is just about...”

“Then what about you?!” Mark cuts him off before Jackson can say anything more. Quite frankly their classmates are starting to gather around them and it does not look pleasant. “Aren’t you acting like this because of him?”

“Don’t bring it up! This isn’t about that!” Jackson exclaimed. “’s sake, this isn’t about that!”

“Get over yourself, Jackson Wang.”

“You’ve just proven me right that you’re a crappy friend, Mark.” Jackson says finally before leaving, but not without slamming his chair first. Mark only watched him in anger. He sees Jinyoung looking at him worriedly, but right now, Mark just felt suffocated.

“Well, this is depressing.”

They were back at Yugyeom’s family restaurant and no one was eating at all. Mark felt apologetic bringing the atmosphere down. He should have gone home after all even if the guys offered to cheer him up.

Of course, everyone had gotten a whiff of what happened at the classroom earlier with Jackson. Mark has never been a fight with him in the past and to be honest, he regretted everything that he told his best friend earlier. He knew there were some things he should have done to not make it come to this and there were some things the past few weeks that he lacked for the most part. He just did not realize it would come to this.

“Hey Youngjae, is Jinyoung still coming?” Jaebum asked from his position. He the karaoke machine to have some music in the background, but no one was in the mood to sing.

“Yeah, he texted me he’s already on his way. He’s just doing something... Oh!” Youngjae exclaimed as they hear a knock on the door. “I think it’s him!”

“Hey guys! Sorry for being late!” Jinyoung says excitedly when Youngjae opened the door for him. “I had to finish something just now, but guess who I ran into!” Mark looked at him curiously and hoping to the great heavens above that it was not Han Jaesung.

It was not.

It was Jackson.

“You made him come here, didn’t you?” Mark asked Jinyoung after a while. By then, Yugyeom and Bambam had started a girl group song medley with accompanying dance steps while the others are dying from laughter. It was not long when Jackson joined in even though he has zero idea of what the steps are. Youngjae’s laughter was filling up the whole room. Mark is starting to fear that Yugyeom’s parents might kick them out sooner or later.

“Maybe, maybe not.” Jinyoung said cryptically. “You did make up, didn’t you? So it doesn’t matter if I did or did not do anything to haul Jackson here.” Well, Jinyoung was partly right. All it needed were just a short awkward silence combined with a few nape scratches and a quick bro hug with a light tap on the back before everything went to normal. And it did certainly help when Jackson’s stomach started growling. That was when they all realized that they are all starving as hell.

“You did something. I’m 99.9 percent sure.” Mark narrowed his eyes at him, but Jinyoung only stuck his tongue out as a reply. “Stop being cheeky.” He says chuckling to himself before pinching Jinyoung’s cheek. Mark must have lost his mind, because with the way Rice Cake freezes before him, yeah, he finally lost it. Inner Mark is shaken to the core.

“Hey, what are you guys doing there, flirting all by yourselves? We’re getting lonely over here!” Jackson said in the mic, while the Musketeers all snapped their heads in unison all with smug expressions on their faces. Mark realized he still has not removed his hand from Jinyoung’s cheek. Regretfully, he pulled his hand back and made sure to at least put a gap between them.

“Youngjae, Jackson says he wants to have a duet.” Mark retaliated. Jackson’s ‘I’m gonna throw this microphone at you!’ expression was enough to tell Mark that he had won.

“Tonight was great. I’m glad we’ve finally get to hang out with the guys.” Jinyoung told him while they were waiting for his bus. “I didn’t know Jackson was that funny. He should come the next time. He seems to still like Youngjae a lot.”

“Ah, please, I’m glad he didn’t freak you guys out.” Mark replied with a snort. “Oh, looks like your bus is here.”

“Right, I’ll see you tomorrow okay?” Jinyoung says with a wave as he ran to the bus door.

“Jinyoung-ah,” Mark called out, making Jinyoung turn around. “Thanks a lot. What you did... I meant so much to me.”

“Anytime.” Jinyoung smiled at him, before hopping on the bus. Mark watches as he paid his fare.

He was about to leave when Jinyoung turns around once again and called a “Good night, Mark!” before finally finding a seat. Let’s just say scandalized looks followed Mark home that night, but he hardly cared. Tonight, he will be dancing his way back home.

“Jaebum, does this look right?” Mark was reviewing the revised script had Jinyoung sent them last night and something does not seem right. “Jinyoung kind of removed an entire scene.”

“I know.” Jaebum snorted as he looked through his copy. “I asked him why earlier, and I’m quoting him here: he just said he felt like it didn’t belong to the entirety of the play.”

Mark thought about the deleted scene. It was just a quick scene of Mark’s character reuniting with his first love briefly before entering the war. It did have a lot of skinship with the other person in it which made him uncomfortable at first, so he was kind of relieved when he noticed it was out of the script. It did not sit well with the actress opposite him though. Mark had seen her protesting to Jaebum the moment he had entered the hall that afternoon. Oh well, at least that was a scene out of his worries. His mind was filled with the play the past few weeks, sometimes he answers his parents with lines from it.

“But you know what I think?” Jaebum says cryptically. “I think maybe Jinyoung just don’t wanna see you touching someone else.”

“Haha, very funny.” Mark says with a roll of his eyes. “Is this a new way for you guys to tease me?”

Jaebum shrugged laughing. “We’ll never know, won’t we? I mean, the guy did scrap a whole scene from a play that he wrote.”

“Okay, that’s it. I feel like I’m throwing up.”

It was finally the night of the play. Months of preparation coming down to this. Jackson, who for some reason came to be an honorary member of the club, accompanies him backstage as the lead actor’s one man security team (if that really existed). Bambam had finished his wardrobe and make up half an hour ago and it is just a few minutes left before show time. Yugyeom has just burst in a few minutes ago announcing that for the first time since Theater Club history, they have a full house. Tickets were all sold out and some audiences are still outside hoping for a chance they could get in. If anything, that only made Mark’s face greener. Inner Mark is already a throwing up mess.

“It’s gonna be fine.” Jackson snorted, as if seeing Mark suffer amuses him a lot like a true best friend. “I actually saw some people selling your merchandise while I was doing security checks earlier. Your parents bought one of each.”

“Ugh...” Mark groaned helplessly. Okay, so maybe he has a stage fright. He was just finding about it now, unfortunately.

“Oh , dude, are you seriously gonna throw up?!” Jackson yelped as Mark started grasping his stomach. There was a sudden knocking on the door which made both of them turn. “Get a hold of yourself, Mark Tuan! I’ll be back.”

Jackson gasped a silent ‘It’s your muse! Make yourself decent!’ at Mark when he finally found out who was at the door. . Mark straightened up immediately and fixed his hair in panic.

“Yeah, come on in, Jinyoung.” Jackson says a few moments later, when he was 100% sure that Mark was not gonna throw up. “Mark’s super cool here. We’re just chilling till show time. Why don’t I leave you two alone for a sec. I’ll just do an inspection, make sure no one bought lasers or monopods or stuff, you know? See you!”

“How are you?” Boy, Mark felt his whole world tilt once again as he took in Jinyoung’s look tonight. He was wearing a tuxedo with a cute baby blue bowtie on it. It was one of those rare times that Mark had seen his hair gelled up and it did look nice on him. (His mind is bordering over the word ‘y’ but Mark’s willpower is so strong. He wanted to keep everything PG tonight.)

“I’m fine.” With the way Jinyoung chuckled at him, he was definitely not convinced. “Okay... uhm. If you really wanna know... probably half throwing up emoji and half poop emoji.”

“That’s an interesting way of putting it.” Jinyoung closes in on him, that Mark can already smell his sweet perfume. “Here, it’s my lucky coin.” He took one of Mark’s hands and presses a small nickel on his palm. “Whenever I take exams or a play I wrote debuts, I always keep this in my pocket. It’s not really magic, but knowing it’s there makes me feel a lot more relaxed. I’m loaning this to you, okay? Don’t lose it.”

“Are you gonna be alright without this in your pocket tonight?” Mark asked worriedly. “I mean, this is yours Jinyoung. I don’t want to...”

“I’ll be fine.” Jinyoung offered him a reassuring smile. “Tonight, I’m not worried at all. Because it’s you who’s gonna be there performing and speaking the words that I have written, I feel confident that everything will go well.”

Mark might have had an out of body experience, because the moment that he came back to his senses, Jaebum was already introducing him to the roaring thunders of applause echoing the whole auditorium. Youngjae brought them all bouquets of flowers as the whole cast and crew took one last bow for the crowd. Mark can hear Jackson’s loud ‘That’s my best friend right there!’ shouts from the front seats. He tries to look for Jinyoung in the chorus line and he sees him giving a huge thumb up at him with his eyes sparkling with happy tears. Mark tries to go to him, but as the curtain finally falls, he was suddenly crowded in by hugs and cheers of his other cast mates. A few moments later, he sees Jackson escorting his parents and other well-wishers backstage.

When the crowd had dissipated, Mark cannot find him anymore; the person he wants to see the most.

Please don’t let this dream end.

Jinyoung watches as Mark’s friends and family gathered around him backstage. The small potted plant rested in his the paper bag in his hand. He bought for Mark as a thank you and congratulations for doing a heck of a job. Maybe I can just give this to him on Monday. His small token now rather looked silly compared to the large bouquets of flowers Mark had received. This is what he gets for listening to his sister about gifts. He should have bought him a bouquet as well, but no, Park Jinyoung had decided to give him something special instead. Bad move. Inner Jinyoungie is rolling on the floor and basking on how pathetic he is.

Mark looked so happy surrounded by his loved ones, that even watching the, from afar, Jinyoung felt like he was already trespassing.  Oh well, it’s alright. Of course he would want to be with them tonight. He assured himself as he walked back at the dressing rooms. What was Jinyoung thinking anyway? He can always tell Mark congratulations in a text or on Monday if they see each other in class. He really should not be making a big deal out of this. It was not like anything would change now that the play is all set and done. All of them would still get to hang out together even if Mark will be back with the basketball team on Monday.

...Right?

“Good job, Jinyoung-ah!” Youngjae as per usual jumped on Jinyoung as soon as he saw his best friend. “Four plays down! My best friend is the most amazing playwright in the world!”

Jinyoung laughed at his best friend’s exaggeration, “That’s too much, Youngjae-ah.”

“But it’s true!” Youngjae exclaimed with widened eyes. “All of us won’t be here tonight if you didn’t make another masterpiece.”

“I’m sure somebody would make one if I wasn’t here.” Jinyoung replied.

“Seriously, you’re too nice, Jinyoung-ah.” Youngjae scrunched his nose at him. “He didn’t come didn’t he?” He asked a few moments later.

Jinyoung shook his head sadly. He was so ready for Youngjae’s usual ‘Why do you keep on inviting him to your plays? He’s never come before, he’d never come ever! Can’t you see he just doesn’t really in all honesty about how you feel, Jinyoung-ah?’ litany, but tonight Youngjae just gave him an exasperated sigh and a quick shake of his head. It would have been better if he just shouted at him as per usual.

“He must have been busy with cram school.” Jinyoung tried to explain, but he, himself, was also getting tired of the same excuses. He was not that stupid. He sees the photos tagged on Jaesung online and yet, a part of himself still hoped that one day he would look at Jinyoung in a different light. “You know he’s a senior. University exams are coming soon.”

“Sure, Jinyoung-ah,” Youngjae replied. “I’m sure last year he was too busy with varsity team activities as well so he was not able to come. Come on, Park Jinyoung. He does not even have the audacity to reply to your texts! I... Fine. I promised myself I won’t say anything more about him. We all care about you, Jinyoung-ah and we don’t have want you to waste your youth for some childhood crush who does not even see you as a proper human being. Okay... I’m getting mad again. Let’s just talk about something else.”

“Hyungs!” Yugyeom swoops in excitedly, followed by an excited Bambam and Jaebum, both dabbing all over the place. “Grilled meat for everyone at our place on the house! Come on!”

“You coming?” Youngjae asked while they stared at their silly friends running all over the place.

“I’ll try to follow as early as I can.” Jinyoung answered.

“Ah right, your ritual.”

Hi Jaesung-hyung! It’s my new play’s debut on Saturday! I hope you can come. We’d all be glad to see you there!

Jinyoung stared pathetically at the ignored message on his phone one last time before bitterly putting it back on his pocket. Clean up has been finally done and everyone had gone off to Yugyeom’s place to celebrate the success of his play. On the other hand, Jinyoung sits himself on the edge of the stage, his feet dangling playfully above the floor.

It has always been a tradition of his to at least stay an hour or so after the debut of his play, soaking up the feeling up till the last bit of it. He always had the thing on the silence that follows. It felt like somehow made Jinyoung remember clearly the sounds of the audiences’ applause. He wants to have all of them etched on his mind. Every single piece he has done.

He felt his phone vibrate, Jinyoung quickly fishing it out of his pocket to see who it was. It was a photo of Youngjae and Jackson’s faces stuffed with food. It was captioned, ‘IF YOU DON’T COME HERE SOON, WE’LL EAT EVERYTHING!!! :-P”. Jinyoung snorted at how silly they look. Unfortunately, he caught glimpse of his message to Jaesung once again. He had been used to feeling this way so many times, he was starting to think he was starting to feel immune about being let down by this person so much.

The small potted plant stared up at him from his side. Jinyoung took it out of the paper bag and held the tiny pot in his hand. “Little plant, you’re the only one that I have tonight, so don’t give up, okay? I’ll make sure to give you a nice home. Jackson says Mark has a huge house with a wide garden. I’m sure you’ll be well taken care of there. Mark will make sure of that. He’s nice and handsome and smart and will make you smile. I’m sure your flowers will bloom in no time. Fighting, little plant! Fighting!”

Oh my God. I’m now talking to a plant. Hooray.

Just then, the Theater Hall’s doors burst open, that Jinyoung almost dropped the tiny potted plant from his hands. From where he was sitting, Jinyoung sees Mark’s huffing and puffing figure walking down the stairway. He looked like he ran a marathon, although despite that, he still looked like a prince who has just come down from his horse,

Jinyoung quickly hid the potted plant back inside the paper bag as Mark finally approaches him. He stood so royally in front of Jinyoung. He really is the school’s prince. “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you! Youngjae told me you might be here! Come on, everyone’s waiting for you.” Mark says still a bit out of breath as he offered his hand to Jinyoung.

“I... I thought you had already gone home.” Jinyoung stuttered in surprise as he looks down at Mark. He unconsciously grasped the paper bag on his side. “I didn’t know you’d be there. Mark, why are you...?”

“And miss a free meal?” Mark snorted as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Never. Yugyeom’s place is the best. Now let’s go. I bet you’re really hungry. I still have to return your lucky coin back to you, right?

“Okay, I’ll get down.” Jinyoung nodded with a smile, motioning as he was about to stand up.

“You can just jump.” Mark suggested as he opened his arms wide. “Come on, I’ll catch you. It’s not that high.”

“Alright.” Jinyoung says finally as he gripped the paper bag tightly in his hand. He squeezed his eyes shut as he pushes himself of the ledge and into Mark’s strong arms. His fists almost turning white as to how tightly he was gripping Mark’s shirt.

“Now wasn’t that hard?” Mark chuckled as he let down Jinyoung in his feet. “Let’s go, Jinyoung?” Mark offered his hand once more to him to which Jinyoung took it willingly.

 Together they ran up the steps of the auditorium, laughing for reasons unknown to the both of them. Jinyoung feels Mark tightening his grip on him and Jinyoung finally felt safe and protected. It suddenly felt like little blossoms of flowers seemed to appear in his heart, making it flutter softly like a light breeze on a perfect spring day. It felt so light and pure that Jinyoung does not want to let go. He wants to feel this way for a very, very long time, maybe if possible the rest of his life.

Tonight, in this dark, moonlit auditorium, Jinyoung had let his heart wait for that person to come. And tonight, he finally realized, his grip tightening in Mark Tuan’s hand determinedly in return:

The person his heart was waiting for...

You’re the person I’m waiting for, Mark Tuan. I’m happy it was you.

Hi!

Posting this earlier before #LAPrinceMarkTuanDay trending party because I have work tomorrow. *weeping*
But I hope you guys had fun reading if you're still reading this.
This was supposed to be a oneshot, but I ran out of time.
But Part Two should be up by next week, don't worry.
Thanks for reading! :D See you soon!