~*~

One week.

7 days.

More than 168 hours.

Mark stares at the other side of his bed, heavily missing another warm body, a much broader and wider one than his, the other man’s beautiful and flawless face, his tall nose, and those two attractive moles beneath his eyebrow.

I miss him so much.  Mark mumbles to himself as he grabs the pillow Jaebeom uses and hugs it close to his body.  The younger's scent is almost gone, and he hates it—because it only makes him miss Jaebeom so much more that he already is.

Mark knows it's stupid, because—damn, there are other couples who have not seen each other for years, yet, here he is, missing his other half like he haven't seen him in decades when, in reality, it's just been a week since him and Jaebeom shared warmth in the same bed he's lying, a week before their individual schedules ate them up and they cannot even talk to each other for a long time over Facetime or Skype due to exhaustion and heavily conflicting schedules.

He misses Jaebeom like crazy and he doesn't even know how he's gonna go about it, really.

Mark turns to the other side of the bed and figures that it's almost 11.  He wakes up earlier (around 7 or 8, he cannot exactly remember) to see a quick message from Jaebeom that they're about to get on the plane back to Korea, and Mark wanted to tell him that he wants him there with him once he arrives, if possible.  However, he also knows that Jaebeom is tired, him and Yugyeom just completed a three-day fan meeting in Thailand with Bambam and he knows how exhausting that can be.  He can't just bring himself to tell Jaebeom that he doesn't know what to do anymore if he doesn't see him today—that he is hurting, both emotionally and physically, because he hasn’t seen him for seven days, because, well, number one—it’s embarrassing.  Just like what he had thought of earlier, it’s as if it was seven years and not seven days that they didn’t see each other, he might appear as a clingy lover.  Moreover, someone who is not strong enough to handle just one more day to see the love of his life.  Number two—he genuinely cares about the younger's well-being so much that he swallows the dire need in his throat to text their leader and ask him if he can go straight to his house instead of, maybe, relaxing and resting at the comforts of his own home and his beloved cats, so he just responded to his message with a take care, and rest well, Beommie~ and goes back to sleep.

Mark sighs heavily before rubbing his still tired eyes.  He had been quite busy after given a day off when he came back from Thailand for yet another magazine photoshoot.  Since three of their members are still out of the country, the rest of them gathered to work—practicing the choreo for their new songs on the album, as well as brainstorming for the upcoming world tour.  They would phone or video call the other three while they're at it, but they won't be in for too long since they need to prepare for their fanmeets as well, which left Mark sad when it's about time to bid his boyfriend goodbye through Facetime or Skype.  He would always bring his phone (or the company laptop) outside the room when it's time to say good bye to Jaebeom since he knows how much the younger members would tease them for being such a cringey couple, where they would share "I love yous" and "See you soons", as well as kissy faces and bright smiles.

Mark doesn't know why he is still recalling those encounters with Jaebeom when his heart is already feeling heavy knowing that he may not see Jaebeom until tomorrow afternoon for their practice and album/concert meetings.  Should he just call Jaebeom and ask him to stay with him and swallow his pride and embarrassment?  He knows that the younger wouldn't judge him or would make fun of him about it since Jaebeom had his fair share of clinginess, per say, over the last years, especially when he went to the jungle and was gone for a week. 

He easily remembers the younger boy plastering himself on him and never left his side until they’re both lying on his queen-sized bed, where they just talked and talked and basked in each other’s warmth until they’re both called for dinner by Jinyoung and Jackson—or that time when Mark was injured and had to be at home to rest and miss some of their schedules, their leader would always come home to him and rant how tired he is for handling the kids alone, since Jinyoung would sometimes join in on the teasing and the noise instead of helping him control them, and Mark would hug him and kiss his forehead and lips, assuring him that it’s just a few more days, and I’ll be with you—even telling him that he is excited about their duo stage that they had planned months ago, (in which Jaebeom is still adamant about Mark having to his jacket to somehow imitate Jackson going shirtless for Phoenix because, he says, Mark’s body is just for him to see), which brought a huge smile on the leader’s face, and, not long after, he felt the younger’s lips brushing his and warms hands creeping up his oversized shirt.

Mark had been pretty much in control of his emotions, but, at times like this, it’s just hard to ignore the deep yearning in his heart, the heightening desire to see Jaebeom and be in his arms, for them to just hug and kiss on the bed and talk about mundane or deep stuff, anything, especially when his individual schedules out of the country are increasing, on top of them moving out of the dorms and living separately, there had been a gradual change on how often they see each other, and it hurts him, but, at the same time, his pride is twice the size of his balls, so he doesn’t say anything, letting the frustration and emptiness in him stay and slowly eat him up inside.

Conflicted and face still crestfallen, Mark steps out of his bed and proceeds to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.  He has no appetite whatsoever, and this is one of his ugly habits whenever he's left alone in his home, or would be on off for too long even back in the dorms—he can be a lazy log and forgets about everything other than his phone, the remote and television, or his PC and games, even food.  However, he remembers how he is trying his very best to gain weight these past few months and that he promised his fans that he will work hard this year to exercise and eat well, he ditches the "no eating" part altogether and tries to remember the contents of his refrigerator—if any of those can be used to make a decent meal.

Mark steps out of the bathroom and walks to the kitchen with heavy steps when he hears the beep from the front door.  He didn’t even notice it at first, but, when he heard the loud click of the door knob turning, he abruptly stops in his tracks, who could this be?  He isn’t expecting any of his friends arriving today from LA or Taiwan, and he cannot remember inviting anyone who are in Korea either.  Also, Randy is back in the States so that's definitely not him, and the only other person who knows the passcode to his home is—

Oh.

Oh God.

Could this be—?

Mark sprinted from the kitchen to the living room and his breath got knocked out of his lungs when he sees Jaebeom slowly removing his shoes from the front door, lifting his head when he hears the elder’s footsteps approaching him.  Mark almost loses himself when the younger smiles at him, wide, happy, his eyes a little swollen and face puffy, maybe because of sleep, or lack of, removing his cap and his new Beats before placing them all in his bag, his gaze never once leaving his.

“Hi,”  Jaebeom says, and that’s all it takes for the LA-born to run towards him as fast as he can—almost knocking the younger boy off when he jumps at him and hugs him tightly, wrapping his arms around his neck and his legs around his hips.  Luckily, Jaebeom is strong enough to hold Mark steady as the older almost knocked both of them over by jumping on him, the younger finding support at the wall right next to him.  The impact on his back isn’t that much, so he didn’t feel any pain whatsoever.

“J-Jae—” Mark is already sobbing, hiccupping against Jaebeom’s neck, pride already swallowed when he sees Jaebeom’s beautiful face, and he cannot seem to complete what he’s saying, his emotions are all over the place, making him overwhelmed and tears just kept on coming, and he has no idea how to stop them, his mind replaying the statements he’s here, Jaebeom’s here, he’s actually here.

Jaebeom is pretty much in a state of shock how Mark reacted, but he cannot deny the flutter in his heart when Mark is hugging him this tight, but he is also concerned—Mark doesn’t normally cry like this when they see each other, he is all smiles, perfect toothpaste-ad teeth on display whenever they see each other after some time, or maybe a cute pout or puppy face, or eyes just a little wet if it has been so, so long.  He wants to ask Mark what’s wrong, if he was hurt, or if he was in pain, but he can’t seem to because Mark is still clinging on to him like a koala, his face buried against his neck, still crying, wetting his shirt that the boy in his arms gifted him on his 25th birthday, so he just soothes him by rubbing soothing circles on his back, while the other is wrapped tightly around his waist to keep him from falling, as he walks towards one of the couches slowly (since Mark had already gained a couple of pounds so he’s not as light as before).  When he was about to sit down and keep Mark on his lap, the older keeps a tighter hold around him before shaking his head against his neck.

“What’s wrong—?”

“B-bedroom…”  Mark says against his neck, which is still wet, and continuously getting wet because his baby is still crying, so he walks towards the open bedroom, being extra careful not to jostle the emotional boy in his arms. 

Jaebeom closes the door with his foot before he sits on the edge of the bed, keeping Mark on his lap, who is still crying, but his face is no