Note: I apologize in advance for the cliffhangers >:D

It has been a whole month since the party. Mark and Jinyoung have only grown closer over time, Jinyoung’s and Mark’s friends have been officially introduced to each other and have been spending plenty of time together. Jackson took a liking to annoying Jaebum and hearing Youngjae’s loud laugh as he watches Jaebum chasing Jackson in the middle of the street. Yugyeom and Jinyoung spent most of their time together bickering over everything, anytime Yugyeom would do something as simple as breathing, Jinyoung would be right there glaring at him. Despite all the bickering, they were both fond of each other even if neither of them would admit to it. Mark didn’t easily let people in, but he felt comfortable around Jinyoung and his friends.

As for Mark’s crush on Jinyoung, it was still stemming and getting worse each passing day. Unfortunately, Jinyoung still hasn’t mentioned the kiss they shared that night, and Mark assumed that maybe Jinyoung was just too drunk to remember. He frowned as he recalled Jinyoung’s soft lips against his own, arms wrapped around one another before Jinyoung pulled away, Mark wished he had savored that kiss. If only he knew it would’ve been the only time he’d get to kiss the younger. However, Jinyoung turned out to like touching and holding the older more than Mark would like. He would casually hold Mark’s hand, rest his head on his shoulder, and hug him whenever he felt like it. Mark definitely didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t really assisting with his feelings towards the younger. Mark’s heart would flutter at the slightest hint of physical contact between him and Jinyoung.

Currently, Mark was sitting on the floor of Jinyoung’s apartment, with Jinyoung sitting by his side as they watched a movie, while the others were scattered in different spots in the living room. Jaebum and Youngjae took up most of Jinyoung’s cherished brown couch that his aunt gave him so they could cuddle. Bam, Yugyeom and Jackson were currently squished on the other small couch that could only fit two people, but none of them would be convinced that one of them had to sit alone, so they were just piled on top of each other, covered in a big blanket that was supposedly bought for one of Jaebum’s cats, but the trio claimed it for the night.
Jaebum and Jinyoung managed to trick the younger four into watching ‘A Walk to Remember’, telling them that it was one of the best romance movies out there, so as the saps they are, they agreed to watch only to end up bawling when the female lead died of leukemia. The trio got off the couch and attacked the two masterminds while Youngjae just sat in the corner of the living room crying while looking at pictures of his dog, Coco to make him feel better. He would cry a little and then coo at a picture, then go back to crying.

While the boys were still arguing and crying over the movie, Mark started feeling drained and couldn’t resist when sleep pulled him in. After what felt like a few minutes to Mark, he woke up from his unexpected nap. He scanned the living room and found that there was no one. His friends must have gone home and didn’t want to wake him up. He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, and heard indistinct chatter coming from somewhere close, most probably from Jaebum’s room as it was closer to the living room. He didn’t want to eavesdrop but their voices grew to be a little audible to Mark, and he couldn’t make out much at first but it was much clearer now.

“Are you going to tell him?” A voice asked, probably belonging to Jaebum. “No! Listen, I can’t do this to myself again, okay?” It was Jinyoung’s voice this time.
Mark furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, who were they talking about? Jinyoung took a deep breath and continued, “I can’t put myself or YOU in that situation again.” Jinyoung’s voice was slightly lower and softer. Jaebum sighed and asked, “How do you know that this time will be like the last? It’s obvious that you like him, so why won’t you just admit to it?” Jaebum finished, and Mark’s face fell. Jinyoung liked someone. Is that why he didn’t mention the kiss or did he really not remember it? Before Mark could delve deeper into his intrusive thoughts, he heard footsteps coming his way, so he closed his eyes shut, pretending to be asleep so Jinyoung wouldn’t know that he overheard their conversation. He hears Jinyoung sighing and could already imagine a stressed Jinyoung standing there, with one hand on his hips and the other running through his brown strands. Mark slowly opened his eyes, trying his best to look like he just woke up. He was definitely right about Jinyoung’s stance.

“Where did everyone go?” Mark questions as he looks up at Jinyoung, his voice still hoarse and rough. He tried to cover up the frown that was itching to make its way onto his face at the information he just overheard. Jinyoung smiles at him, and Mark can’t figure out if that was a genuine or forced smile. He was still trying to keep up with the fact that the guy he likes, most probably likes someone else. “They left an hour ago, I asked them not to wake you up, you looked tired and I didn’t want them to disrupt you.” Mark gave him a sad smile, he loved how caring Jinyoung is, but he hated the fact that there was someone out there that Jinyoung would care for in the way Mark wants.

Mark unlocks his phone, it was 1:31 A.M. , did he really sleep for that long? He gets off of the floor and stretches his arms over his head. “Why are you still awake? Don’t you have work tomorrow?” Mark asks as he walks over to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, hoping it would soothe his throat. “I wasn’t tired, and I didn’t want you to wake up and not find anyone around. I also don’t have to go, I own the café and I have employees, remember?” Jinyoung answers as he makes his way to where Mark is standing and attempts to fix his bedhead. Mark subtly moves away to avoid Jinyoung’s touch. “I should probably leave, I have a class early in the morning.” Mark lies, Jinyoung looks at him in confusion. “Aren’t you off tomorrow though? It’s Saturday.” Mark curses at himself for not coming up with a better excuse.

“Oh. That’s right, slipped my mind I guess.” Mark chuckles nervously. Jinyoung walks over and starts dragging Mark into his room. “Come on, try to get some more sleep, an hour and a half isn’t enough sleep, don’t try arguing your way out of this.” Mark realized there actually was no way out of this now, so he gives in. Jinyoung grabs some clothes from his closet and hands them to Mark. “Go get dressed, I’ll be waiting for cuddles, I haven’t gotten any since the night of the party.” Jinyoung voiced with a smile and Mark froze in his spot. Mark wasn’t in bed the morning after the party and the cuddling happened right before and after the kiss, which means Jinyoung wasn’t supposed to remember much of that. Jinyoung seemed to notice his slip up, but before he could say anything Mark was already making his way out of the room, tears welling up in his eyes. Jinyoung knew about the kiss. Jinyoung also promised him he wouldn’t regret it. Lies.

“Mark, please let me explain!” Jinyoung yelled as he ran after Mark who was now trying to unlock the main door to leave. He felt a hand grabbing his upper arm. “You knew! You knew about it and made me think you were too ing drunk to remember.” Mark felt furious, upset and stupid all at once, God, how was he so stupid? He should’ve known something like this would happen. “, okay. Yes I knew, okay? I just…I couldn’t tell you that I remembered it.” Jinyoung held his head with both of his hands. “You told me you wouldn’t regret it, Jinyoung. YOU initiated the kiss.” At this point Mark didn’t bother with stopping the tears streaming down his face.

Jinyoung didn’t know how else to act at this moment. He didn’t expect to slip up. He said the first thing he could come up with. “Fine. I did regret it. I couldn’t mention it to you because I regretted it. I can’t see myself with you in a romantic way.” Jinyoung immediately felt like after he uttered those words, and his heart broke at the sight of Mark who know looked even more hurt than before. “I can’t believe you right now.” Mark said in between sobs. He couldn’t look at Jinyoung right now. He looked around in his pocket and grabbed the car keys Jackson left with him and made his way out. Why was he upset anyways? Jinyoung was drunk and he didn’t mean it right? Jinyoung likes someone else anyways. He got into the car and fumbled with the keys as he tried to unlock the car and made his way out of the parking lot. He looked behind and realized Jinyoung wasn’t following him. Jinyoung truly didn’t care about him.

Mark didn’t know where he was heading, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to go back home and confront his friends, who know of his crush on Jinyoung. He didn’t want them to pity him. What made this situation even worse was the fact that despite everything Jinyoung had just said to him, he couldn’t bring himself to hate him. He told Mark right to his face that he regretted it. He slammed his hand on the steering wheel out of frustration. Mark’s vision was blurred with tears and he couldn’t stop them. How was he supposed to look Jinyoung in the eyes now? What about their friends? Mark was in no way focusing on the road, with his tears and thoughts taking over.

He was driving so fast he couldn’t even be bothered to stick to the speed limit. A loud horn blaring took Mark out of his trance and knocked him into unconsciousness.

                                                                         ________________________________________________________________


“Hello, is this Mr. Wang?” Jackson heard on the other end of the phone call. “Yes, who is this?”
“We’re calling from Sloan Hospital. Mark Tuan was admitted earlier. He was in a car accident. He has you, Mr. Jackson Wang, as his emergency contact.”