Chapter 8

The week flew by pretty quickly. Both Mark and Jungwoo couldn’t get the weekend off their minds. They found that they were both going out on Saturday. Saturday was Dday.

Mark Knew Jungwoo would really be taking advantage of his time with Lucas. He knew Jungwoo was hoping things would work out, but he knew he was smart enough to see the possibility of things falling apart.

For the rest of the week, Mark came up with excuses to somehow go see Sicheng after school. Like forgetting he had left something in class, then leave to go back to school. He also just wanted Jungwoo to get as much time with Lucas as he could.

The night before Saturday came Mark was laying down on his bed. His window was open letting in a slight breeze. He pulled out his phone and went to Sicheng in his contacts. He stared at the phone screen for a couple of minutes. He hadn’t really messaged the other since he got his number. However, he felt it was necessary since they were meeting up tomorrow, but at the same time, he felt nervous.

He bit his lip thinking about what to do, then went to the messages. He took a quick picture as a joke and was planning on deleting it but he somehow accidentally sent it. His eyes widened, and he sat up on his bed. “!” Mark said, then started to bite his nail, as he waited to see if Sicheng would see it.

Of course seconds later it showed Sicheng had seen it, and almost immediately it showed the other in the process of texting. Mark moved to the edge of his bed feeling his heart beating incredibly fast. Then the text came.

You look good, it read.

Mark could feel his whole body get warm, and he was sure if he could see himself right now his ears would be red. Every time with Sicheng he’d feel this way. He thought back to the times when they were only inches away in the art room, and his heart started beating fast again. He always tried to excuse how he felt in those moments as if it were nothing, but now? Now it was about time he’d come to terms with his feelings. He liked Sicheng, more than a friend. If he had to be honest, he felt attracted to the other, probably the day they met, he just never wanted to admit it. He’d never liked anyone before so it was such an odd feeling when he was with Sicheng, but by now he knew what that feeling was.

Mark definitely wasn’t one to just admit everything, and he had no intention of moving fast with his feelings. There was no guarantee that Sicheng felt the same way anyway. He was fine to come to terms with his feelings, but having an intimate relationship with Sicheng would probably take time if anything were to happen.

Mark looked back down to his phone, and replied, I didn’t mean to send that with an emoji.

Sicheng quickly replied, sure you didn’t.

The two messages each other for a while, talking about tomorrow and their plan. They ended the conversation with adding each other's locations on their phone. It was definitely necessary for the next day just in case something happened.

Thanks to each other they somehow sleep well that night.

The next day a bit later in the day Mark began to get ready. The location Sicheng was supposed to meet Yuta at was a bit farther away than usual, so Mark had to take the subway to get there. Wearing a blue jean jacket, a white t-shirt, and some blue jeans, he went on his way to the subway.

As he got onto the subway he looked around for a seat. There really wasn’t any room, so he just stood, while holding a handhold up above. He put in his earphones and listened to music for a bit. While he waited he also texted Sicheng, trying to keep up to date with him.

Mark left earlier than Sicheng just to make sure nothing would happen without him being near beforehand. He was incredibly worried and all he could think about was the possibility of Yuta hurting Sicheng. He wouldn’t stand for that.

The subway train came to a stop, and Mark got off. Immediately he came face to face with a huge crowd of people. He definitely wasn’t use to the city life. After searching around a bit he found his way out of the subway to meet the beautiful blue sky, with tall building reaching the clouds. He squinted up as he looked up towards the sun. He felt today was going to be fine.

A cafe not too far from the subway was where Sicheng and Yuta were planning to meet up. Originally Sicheng had told him that Yuta wanted to meet up somewhere more private, but there was no way Mark or Sicheng would agree to that. Somewhere public gave Mark some space to breathe.

He walked inside and ordered a small coffee just to blend in, also because he didn’t want to be kicked out just in case he didn’t buy anything. Just to fit in even more Mark had brought his laptop to make it seem like he was there working. He wore a white face mask just in case Yuta was to see him and recognize him. He was really prepared, he wasn’t going to let Yuta put a hand on Sicheng.

About 15 minutes later Sicheng had texted Mark saying he was almost there. And before he knew it Sicheng came walking in with a black leather jacket on, and a backpack over his shoulders.

Sicheng smiled brightly at the sight of Mark. He wanted to go over and just give him a hug knowing he was there, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t the time to do so.

Sicheng bought a drink as well, and found a seat at a table where Mark could see him well enough, but also not to close. Sicheng couldn’t stop smiling, Mark to underneath his face Mask, but those smiles soon went away the moment Yuta appeared.

Mark got tense and leaned back in his seat, as he watched as Yuta sat down across from Sicheng. He wasn’t close enough to hear the two clearly, but he was able to see clearly. He watched closely looking at both Sicheng’s and Yuta’s body language, it seemed fine at first, but after while he could see that the conversation was becoming more heated. He wished he could hear what they were talking about, but at the same time it was probably better he didn’t.

At one point he noticed Sichen