"He already drank a glass of milk a while ago, but if he does wake up, you can give him one again. Only one. He's not allowed to watch tv, but he can listen to his mp3 player. Never feed him chocolates. Don't use food to make him behave. And if he ever has a hard time going back to sleep, don't hesitate to call me. I gave you my number didn't I?"

Jinyoung is anxious. 

He's reminding everything that the babysitter needs to know about his son. Did I forget anything? he asks himself.

"Jinyoung hyung, you can be rest assured that Ji Won here will do a great job in babysitting Jio. He's done that countless times for my nephew."

Youngjae's words somehow calmed him.

It's his first time to leave Jio in the hands of a stranger. And as much as he hated leaving his son, well he just can't say no to his friends, especially Jackson who is bugging Jaebum nonstop on dragging him along.

He understands them. The whole gang (aside from Jaebum) haven't seen him for five years. 

Jinyoung should really make it up to them.

"Hey! We need to leave now. Mark is on the driveway."

Jaebum called them out while walking towards the door.

He said goodbye to Ji Won, tapping him on his back and followed after the couple.

"Hey guys!" Mark was standing on the side of his car and greeted the two who is walking ahead of Jinyoung.

"Hi, Mark hyung!" Youngjae happily replied.

"Hi, Jinyoung." Mark said as the younger approached them.

"Hey." Jinyoung just smiled.

"Let's go!" Jaebum said. "I don't want to hear any more of Jackson's complaints on us being late."

Mark agreed and went into the driver's seat. Jinyoung was about to sit with Youngjae in the backseat when Jaebum protested.

"I'm sitting with my Youngjae. Go sit in front." 

"But-"

"No buts. I don't want to be separated from my sunshine." Jaebum said as he went inside the car, leaving him with no other choice.

As soon as he's seated, he stayed quiet. He doesn't have anything to say anyway. 

Jinyoung tried to make himself comfortable despite of the awkwardness surrounding the two of them.

This is going to be one long night.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"HYUNG!!!" And now both Yugyeom and Bambam are squeezing him in a tight hug. They missed him alright.

"Where have you been all along?"

"Why didn't you contact us?"

"We were worried sick!"

"We missed you so much!"

Jinyoung could only smile as the two maknaes expressed their feelings to him. 

"Yah. Park Jinyoung!" Jackson called him. "How dare you disappear on us for five fcking years??? Did you forget that we still existed?"

Jinyoung just sighed and looked at them apologetically. 

"I'm sorry, you guys. It was all just so sudden. I mean, I never planned on ditching on you guys. You're my dear friends. I'm sorry if I've been a no show for so long."

The three became quiet, until Jackson spoke again.

"Well maybe we'll think about forgiving you if you treat us some drinks."

And Jinyoung just rolled his eyes but smiled right after. He called on a waiter and let his friends order.

The topic still revolved around him. Jinyoung talked about his life in Japan. How he raised Jio by himself.

"You know if you haven't left then, you and Mark hyung could've raised Jio together." Yugyeom remarked.

"Yeah. That would've been nicer. Jio having a complete family." Bambam's words seem to hit a portion of his heart.

"Why did you even leave in the first place?" Jackson just have to ask. "You guys were so in love with each other. What went wrong?"

Jinyoung was taken aback. How will he answer that?

"It was my fault...I think." It was Mark who's talking, answering Jackson's question.

"Now that I think about it, I messed up five years ago. I was not really being a good boyfriend." Mark's eyes landed on him. "I understand why he chose to leave."

And maybe it's Mark's words. Or how he was looking at him while saying those. 

But it made Jinyoung think that he needs a drink.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"You two were perfect for each other!" Jackson's slurred words and the maknaes'  yeeaaaaahh resounded in the whole booth.

Mark can't remember how they arrived to that topic again.

All he remembers is trying to remind Jinyoung of not getting drunk. Because whenever Jinyoung gets drunk, he tends to forget his friends' names. Even Mark's.

There was even that time during college when they had a misunderstanding and Jinyoung ended up getting drunk for the first time (mostly Jackson's fault). 

He was trying to put the seatbelt over Jinyoung when the younger suddenly pushed him and told him to stay away.

"Me and my boyfriend just got in a fight but I still love him. So back off, mister! I'm taken!" then Jinyoung looked at him through sleepy eyes. "You're not even half as handsome as he is! Tssss."

Mark could only laugh at the memory.

After his reminder, Yugyeom started chanting Markjin which led to their trip down in memory lane.

Jackson is drunk rumbling about how Mark became after Jinyoung left him. He tried to hush him but he refused to stop. Even Yugyeom and Bambam chimed in. While Youngjae and Jaebum are in their own world, flirting like there's no tomorrow.

"Mark really loves you, Jinyoung." 

"Jackson-" he tried but failed.

"He was a complete mess after you left."

Mark could only slap his own face due to embarrassment.

But he's surprised when Jinyoung answered.

"It's a good thing, then." Jinyoung turned to smirk at him. "At least now I know that I'm not the only one."

Mark was dumbfounded. Not the only one? Not the only one in what?

In being in love or in being a complete mess?

He wanted to ask but before he could, Jinyoung already passed out.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Jinyoung woke up, with his head pounding. Not being able to remember everything that has happened last night and how he managed to sleep on the bed.

He saw a couple of alka seltzers on the side table with a glass of water.

He drank it before stretching his arms and reaching for his phone.

He was just about to check what time it was when he saw an unopened message. 

             From:  +82 yx yyyy xxxxx

             Hey. Good morning. I hope you had a nice sleep. It was crazy last night. I was wondering if we could meet up later this day? If you're free.

            By the way, it's Mark.

He almost dropped his phone after reading the message.

He doesn't even need to ask how Mark got his number.

Why is he even surprised?

He wore his slippers and stood up from bed.

Im Jaebum. You're a dead meat.

Jinyoung thought as he went outside his room and marched down the stairs.

◾◾◾◾◾◾◾

I'm afraid, next chapter's going to be Uncle Jaebum's funeral. HAHAHAHA.

He really enjoys getting on Jinyoung's nerves. Doesn't he?

This chapter is quite short. Haha. Maybe I am still worn out from the double update yesterday. But, I am glad you guys loved it! :) 

What else should I say but, Thank You for reading each chapter and for leaving beautiful comments which touch my heart <3

Thank you for subscribing and upvoting! :* It means a lot to me.

I'll be updating this tomorrow. Along with my one shot "My Kind of Coffee"  (#Markjin too, please do check it out)

Please anticipate and support! :* :)

Toodles!

<3 nicapark