12 years later

The alarm on Mark's bedside table went off in a few seconds before a hand slammed the clock albeit a bit too hard, annoyed having it rudely interrupted his sleep.

"Mark are you up,sweetie? Hurry up or you'll be late for school",his mother's voice could be heard from downstairs.Mark let out a grumble before replying, "Coming!"

Mark lazily got out of bed and head to the bathroom to wash up,his eyes barely open due to late night studying.Once he's out of the bathroom and dressed in his school's uniform,he went down for a quick breakfast before leaving for school.

The walk to school was quiet because Mark was walking alone.He didn't mind it though.Enjoyed it actually.It was peaceful.The rustling of trees and morning bids chirping was music to his ears.

"Hey,Mark!",a voice was heard right when Mark entered the school gates.Mark turned his head towards the source of the voice and found two boys walking towards him.One had bright pink hair and was pulling his boyfriend with light brown hair by the hand.

"Hi,Jaemin",Mark replied to the pink-haired boy.

"Up late studying again? You should look at those eye-bags", the other boy-Jeno .

"Don't mind him,Jeno.Our top student here needs to make sure he's always teacher's pet",Jaemin joins him.It's true, Mark is well-known for being a hardworker and teachers pet because he aces every class and is able to answer any question directed to him.But he's also very modest about it and doesn't gloat when getting a lot of praise.

Mark rolled his eyes, "At least I'm doing something productive unlike some people who stayed up late texting their boyfriend until 1 a.m."

"Correction, it's 2 a.m.",Jaemin shamelessly corrected him with a grin.

Mark rolled his eyes again.He seems to be rolling his eyes a lot at his two friends. "I think I should get to class rather than waste my time with you lovebirds",he said to them and went to get to his classroom.Jaemin's voice was heard from afar saying that they will still see him during recess.Mark just wishes he could sit at another table so that the couple won't eat each other's faces in front of him and remind him he's partnerless.

Mark was walking along the hallway on the way to his classroom when he saw a boy looking at the classrooms in confusion. 'Hmm,must be a new student',he thought.He carefully approached the boy in hopes of helping him. "Hello,are you new here?"

The boy turned to face him.He had caramel and sunkissed skin.His eyes were a beautiful dark brown colour and his hair was light brown with pink and blue streaks.Beautiful was the word in Mark's head but he pushes it back in his mind in order to help this boy.

"Yeah.Can you help me find my class? It's B-3."

"B-3? That's on the other side of the building"

"Really?No wonder I can't find it", the boy mumbled.

Mark smiled kindly, "I can take you there if you want.". The boy's eyes lit up and an image of a smiling 4-year-old boy flashed in his head but he quickly buries the thought away.He's not gonna bring up childhood memories now and in front of someone he just met.

"Really? Thanks!", the boy gave his hand for Mark to shook, "My name is Lee Haechan.I hope we can be friends".

Mark shook their hands, "My name is Mark Lee and yeah I hope so too".

While they were walking to Haechan's classroom, the two talked about each other.Mark found out that Haechan is a year younger than him and he lived in America during his childhood and came back to South Korea so that he can know more about his own culture.

"That's so cool! So how is it back here for you? You adjusting?",Mark was really curious about this boy's life,it seems.

The younger shrugged his shoulders, "I left for America when I was really small so I don't remember much.I can't remember anything anyway". The last part was mumbled so Mark didn't properly caught it. "What?"

Haechan quickly shook his head and, "Nothing".

Mark wanted to asked more but then he saw a class with a 'B-3' written on the door. "Oh, we're here!"

"Alright,bye Mark.Thank you for helping me"

The boy was about to go into the class before Mark put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Do you wanna hang out with me at recess? I can introduce you to my friends."

Haechan nodded and smiled, "Okay.See you later then".

Apparently, inviting Haechan to hang out with them was a good idea.Since he,Jaemin and Jeno were the same age,they got along well.The fact that Haechan was talkative and able to start a conversation naturally was also another reason why they easily hit it off.

Mark had also offered Haechan to walk home together since they take the same road home. The two bonded during the walk home.The older laughed at all of Haechan's jokes and the latter listened intently when Mark told him about South Korea's best foods and where to get them.The older thought it was cute how the boy's eyes looked like a puppy's when he focused on him.Without them realising, the two made it to Haechan's house.

The younger turned to Mark with a grateful smile, "Thanks for helping me today.It means a lot"

Mark smiled back, "It was nothing.You're new to all of this.I had to help"

"Hey,does this mean we could be friends?", the younger asked.Mark smiled widely, "Of course".And he means it.He really wants to be friends with this beautiful boy.

The two waved goodbye after Haechan asked him to walk to school together tomorrow to which Mark agreed.Because that's what friends do,Mark said.When the younger had entered the house,Mark continued walking to his house with the thought that he made friends with a cute boy,not realising a small smile creeping onto his face.

At home,he greeted his mother and went straight to his room to study.But before he does,he stares at the photo tapped on the wall in front of his study table. The photo was taken 12 years ago of him and his best friend at an amusement park.

"I made a new friend today.He's from America too  and he recently came back here.But when will you, Donghyuck?"

Mark sighed.He didn't know how much longer he has to wait for Donghyuck to come back to his life.To his arms.

Mark sighed again with sadness, "It's okay.I'll wait"

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