“The park?” Renjun couldn’t hold in his surprise when he saw the familiar scenery of the playground, memories of him and Donghyuck having fun before he began to date Mark.

Now that I think about it…how often did I spend time with Donghyuck when I was dating Mark-hyung?

“He’s probably somewhere around here,” Mark said, ignoring Renjun’s own mumbles. “In the tunnel, probably.”

“Why the tunnel?” he asked, following Mark around the wings and down the side of the slide where the tunnels rested in the concrete supporting the metal. He watched Mark take a deep breath before the elder answered him.

“He used to cry here a lot.” Mark’s voice was soft and filled with so much hurt that Renjun wondered just how many times the elder had seen his best friend cry. “Every time you were mean to him, he’d call me to go here and then he’d complain with tears streaming down his face.” To Renjun, the mere image of Donghyuck crying because of him – because of his words – felt as if he someone or something was squeezing his heart enough to hurt as much as possible without crushing it. A constant stream of pain, just like the tears that Donghyuck had probably shed.

“Why didn’t he tell me?” he whispered, taking in the tunnels and noticing how the floor was probably cold and dirty and yet served as refuge for Donghyuck in the past. “If he was hurt because of one of my comments, why didn’t he-”

“Because they’re the things he loves the most about you,” Mark interrupted, turning to give Renjun a grim smile. “I knew that Donghyuck was in love with you even before I started liking you. He liked your harsh comments because they rival his own, he likes your laugh because its rare, he likes how small you are because you’re smaller than him…I knew and yet-”

“And yet you dated me,” Renjun finished for him, feeling tears of his own form in his eyes for he had never noticed. “If you knew your best friend loved me, why did you date me?”

“Because I love you too,” Mark answered too easily for Renjun’s liking, his face showcasing sadness and regret. “I love how your hand fits in mine, how you get flustered when I compliment you, how your voice sounds when you sing…am I wrong for chasing after someone I love? Plus, didn’t you love me as well back then?”

“That may be true but-”

His words were cut off due to the ringtone of his phone, Mihyun’s name evident on his screen.

“Mihyun?” he answered, immediately being met with pants and cries coming from the other end of the line. “Is everything okay?”

“Donghyuck is-” He heard her sob midway as faint voices in the background began to yell at each other. “He got hit by a bus while riding his bike!” Renjun couldn’t help but think of how much Donghyuck loved his bike nor how careful he had been every single time they rode on it together. “End of our street! They’re taking him t