Sorry I've been so long with the update. But finally, here it is!  (*^_^)

Chapter 7

Mr Yoon talking to uniformed police officers didn't go unnoticed. Neither did the fact that JinYoung and Mark were missing from classes all day. KyungChul made it his business to find out what was going on.

"Mr Yoon," he asked innocently, "why were the police here? Is someone in trouble?"

Mr Yoon wasn't taken in by his concerned act for a minute, but he had promised the officers that he would cooperate, by sensitively asking the students about the two missing boys.

So now was as good a time as any to raise the subject.

"No, KyungChul, no one is in trouble," he answered before addressing the class in general. "I need every to all pay close attention. It appears that both JinYoung and Mark have been reported missing."

A subdued gasp rippled through the classroom.

"They don't suspect any foul play," he added quickly, "but it can't be ruled out either. Most likely, they just decided to play hooky or something like that. If any of you has any information about them, please tell me after class. We should try to help the police find them as soon as possible, just to lower the possibility of them getting hurt."

"Is there a reward?" KyungChul shouted out.

A few students, mostly his friends, snickered.

"No, KyungChul," Mr Yoon answered wearily, "there's no reward. But helping your classmates should be reward enough."

Even Mr Yoon had to groan inwardly at that cheesy statement.

"Maybe if you help them they'll give you a 'get out of jail free card'. That should be useful," one of his underlings joked.

A lot of the students laughed and the underling looked around satisfied with himself.

But KyungChul must have left his sense of humour at home that day, because he threw that selfsame joker a nasty look that said he'd have every word of that crack taken out of his hide later.

*                                 *                                 *                                 *                                 *

"I hope they're okay. I don't want anything to happen to Mark-Oppa," one girl sniffed.

"JinYoung-Oppa . . . " another girl wailed.

The courtyard quickly became a makeshift setting for some sort of vigil for the missing students during breaks. Girls and guys who had long been admirers of the two good-looking students had gathered to express their concern for them. If Mark and JinYoung could have seen them, they would have been shocked. As far as they were concerned, except for a few obvious girls, they'd presumed themselves to be personas non grata within the student population. Now it seemed they were genuinely missed by some. Others just revelled in the unexpected drama that was spicing up their otherwise mundane school day.

On the periphery though, some were gathering that were not quite so concerned as much as looking for a way to take advantage of this opportunity.

"Ran away?"

"That's what Yoon said," KyungChul replied.

TaekMyun smirked. "I didn't think they had it in them. Ran away, huh? And that JinYoung was acting so big, like he was going to college or something. But now, what is he? Homeless?" he said in a mocking voice.

His minions laughed.

"Shivering under a bridge?"

They laughed even more.

"Oh no, I forgot. He has Markie with him to keep him warm."

They continued laughing. It was quite a skill they'd developed. Laughing at any nonsense their leader spouted. But it was a sure way to stay in TaekMyun's good books. Or, at least, not find oneself in his bad books.

He suddenly stopped joking. And as soon as they'd noticed, their moods switched accordingly.

"Damned orphans . . . worthless. All I can say is that wherever they are it had better be far away and they'd better stay there," he threatened. "If they know what's good for them, they'd better hope the cops find them first and not me. JinYoung still owes me and I'd hate to have to take the payment out of his little boyfriend," he said.

Then, he made a pronouncement.

"I want you guys to keep your eyes and ears open. I want to find them. Then JinYoung won't know what hit him."

"Is there a reward?" one of the underlings kidded, repeating KyungChul's joke from earlier. But his chuckling grew weaker as he noticed his companions hadn't joined in. Then he realized his mistake.

"Yeah, I'll give you a very special reward," TaekMyun returned. "If you find them for me, I'll let you keep your teeth, smiley."

*                                 *                                 *                                 *                                 *

While all this was going on, JinYoung and Mark were just stirring. They lay still enclosed in each other's arms, warm and secure, but were steadily ascending into wakefulness.

"Hey," JinYoung whispered.

"Hey," Mark answered groggily, snuggling closer to JinYoung's neck.

JinYoung placed a loving kiss on Mark's forehead.

"We should get up now. We have a lot of studying to do."

"Just another minute," Mark yawned. He smiled as he remembered what had passed between them earlier. It felt so good. He never would have imagined that anything could ever feel that wonderful. Being with JinYoung, the person he loved . . . being able to show him how he felt . . . knowing that JinYoung felt the same . . . it was the best feeling in the world.

"Hey, did you notice something?" JinYoung asked.

"What?"

"You slept right through again without a nightmare," he said smiling.

Mark kissed his neck.

"You must be magic," he breathed.

JinYoung felt his skin heat up where Mark's breath caressed it. He kissed Mark on the forehead again before holding him close and rocking him in his arms.

"If this keeps up, we can go back soon," he said cheerfully.

Mark didn't answer.

Honestly, he didn't find this prospect too attractive. Here, in this small space, he and JinYoung were alone. No one was there to question what they were doing or what they felt for each other. More importantly, there was not one to tell them that what they were doing was wrong. And he knew that there would be people in charge of their lives who would think that what they were doing  and what they meant to each other was absolutely wrong.

. . . disgusting . . .

The voice still rang in his head . . . no matter how much he tried to shut it out.

Why couldn't they just stay here? Here everything was peaceful and they were content. He knew somehow that it was impossible to stay there forever, but he still didn't want to be reminded of the fact that they had to leave at all, much less soon.

"Mark?"

"Yes?"

"Let's get up, now. We have to start studying. We haven't done anything all day and we've got a lot to cover."

Mark reached up and placed a loving kiss on JinYoung's lips.

"Okay, I'm ready," he said.

*                                 *                                 *                                 *                                 *

During the long time that the afternoon and evening classes were going on,  Mark and JinYoung were conducting their own classes and study time in the attic space. They took short breaks to rest or sometimes to have a snack but then quickly returned to their studies.

Between the two of them they decided that from then on, they would have to lead a sort of inverse life: their day would have to be lived largely at night and they would sleep primarily during the day. This made the most sense because during the day they had to lay low, but at night, they could basically have the run of the school.

But for right now, Mark was getting a little tired. Since they'd got up from their nap, they had been studying almost non-stop.

". . . we have to stay on track," JinYoung was saying.

"I know, but . . . "

"There are no 'buts'. We have to go on to make sure that we both pass the university entrance exams."

"The what?"

"Entrance exams. I'm going to university. Don't you want to go?"

Mark hadn't thought about it. When he was much younger he had somehow always assumed that he would because he always thought it was a way for him to do well, but for the past few years, the idea hadn't even crossed his mind.

"How can I pass university entrance exams, JinYoung? I've barely caught up now. There's no way I can learn enough to pass them by the end of the year."

"Haven't you noticed how much you've learned in such a short time? I don't think I could have picked up so many things so quickly. You might even be a genius," he said.

A genius?

Mark appreciated JinYoung trying to encourage him, but a genius?

"Mark, I know you can do it. We just have to study hard, that's all. You want us to stay together, don't you?"

"Yes.

"So then we both need to pass and go to university together. I don't want to go without you," he said.

Mark looked into JinYoung's eyes. His heart thudded hard in his chest as he saw the sincerity in his expression.

He leaned forward to kiss him.

But JinYoung pulled back.

"If you want to kiss me, we have to cover this whole section and you have to complete these exercises," JinYoung said running his fingers across several pages in their schoolbook.

Mark groaned.

"We haven't even had this in class yet, JinYoung-ah," he complained.

"Class is going on whether we're there or not, so they might have started this already. Plus it's good to work ahead because then when it's covered in class, you'll already be a little familiar with it. That's always a good thing."

"Okay, okay, I'll do all this, but first, could I just have a little kiss? Just to help me focus," Mark bargained.

JinYoung kissed him very briefly on the forehead.

"That's all you're getting until we've finished all this."

"You're mean," Mark pouted.

JinYoung just smiled and pointed at the page where they were to begin.

"You'll thank me later."

The final study course was over at 10pm and the school was locked up within half an hour.  They waited until almost eleven before stirring from their hiding place however. It was best not to take chances.

"It's sort of spooky walking around here at night," Mark said as he and JinYoung stole carefully towards the locker room. They'd decided to take showers before doing anything else so that there would be enough time for the water on the tiles to dry before morning.

JinYoung reached out and took Mark's hand so that they would both feel less scared. He held his hand tightly.

"It would help if we had a flashlight or something. We'll just have to do our best without turning any lights on. Sorry I didn't think of that."

"You thought of a lot. You couldn't think of everything," Mark said squeezing his hand encouragingly.

But it did feel creepy going into areas that were usually teeming with students and were now as silent as a tomb.

Once they reached the locker room they started moving uncommonly fast. There was very little light shining in from outside due to the frosting of the windows, so everything seemed to be bathed in an eerie light. No matter how much they tried to convince themselves and each other that there was nothing to be afraid of, they both found themselves shivering slightly.

"Did you bring a beanie?" JinYoung asked.

"Yes," Mark answered.

"Good," JinYoung smiled, "I don't want you catching cold from having damp hair at night," he said helping Mark dry his hair.

It felt so nice feeling JinYoung rubbing the towel vigorously and then smoothing his hands through Mark's hair.  But it was as he was helping JinYoung dry his that he suddenly remembered something.

His mother's words.

Her kind smile as she would dry his hair. The way she would also warn him against the dangers of damp hair at night.

His smile faded.

That was so long ago.

Back when they were happy.

Before he came along.

*                                 *                                 *                                 *                                 *

"We can't take much of any one thing. Only bits and pieces."

"Okay."

JinYoung and Mark were now moving about the kitchen to replenish their stock of food for the following day. They packed their backpacks with essentials before returning to their hiding space.

After eating, they went to the library bathroom to clean their teeth and were then ready to settle down for the night. JinYoung had already decided that they should stay awake for as long as possible so that they could adjust their body clocks quickly. Mark thought they would be studying some more but, as they sat there, across from each other, JinYoung raised a subject.

"Remember when . . . when you said that you didn't want to talk to a stranger about the things that were bothering you?" he asked tentatively.

Mark looked down. "Yes, I remember."

"Well . . . would you like to talk to me?" JinYoung asked, but then he added hurriedly, "it won't change anything about what I feel about you, so don't worry about that."

Mark just sat there silently, looking uncomfortable.

He wasn't actually worried anymore that JinYoung would reject him. His biggest fear had been that he wouldn't like him anymore once he'd found out 'what he was'. But JinYoung seemed to share his feelings, so that was no longer a concern. Now he wondered what good it would do to bring up everything that happened in the past. He hadn't had any nightmares, so why stir everything up and risk them coming back?

"I don't want the nightmares to come back," Mark admitted in a small voice.

"You think if you talk about . . . those things . . . your nightmares will come back?"

Mark nodded.

"I noticed," JinYoung said simply.

"Noticed what?" Mark asked.

"I noticed something while you were drying my hair. For a moment, you were different. Were you remembering something?"

Mark raised his eyes to meet JinYoung. He couldn't believe that he'd noticed what he'd thought was such a small change.

JinYoung reached out and started Mark's hands.

"I notice everything about you," he said, his eyes never leaving Mark's. "I'm not saying that you won't have any more bad memories if you tell me what happened, I'm just saying that they might not hurt you so much."

"It wasn't . . . a bad memory," Mark returned. "It was a good one. One of the last good ones."

JinYoung took Mark's hand in his and led him to their makeshift bed. He laid down with Mark next to him and his head on JinYoung's chest. He Mark's slightly damp hair tenderly with one hand while rubbing his arm and back with the other.

Mark wanted desperately to feel secure and comfortable as he lay underneath the covers in JinYoung's arms. Maybe it was time to trust somebody. He'd kept silent for so long, it had become habit. No one would believe him. No one would be able to help him. That's what he'd thought in the past.

But now he wanted to think something else.

JinYoung.

He wanted to be think that JinYoung would believe him.  That JinYoung would help him. That JinYoung wouldn't leave him.

That's what he wanted as he lay in his arms.

He wanted to believe in Pak JinYoung.

Mark didn't talk to JinYoung that night. He just couldn't form the words and didn't know where to begin. And most of all, he was afraid that once again someone he trusted to help wouldn't believe him. Or even worse, would abandon him forever.

He could feel himself loving JinYoung more and more with every moment they spent together. And the thought filled him with equal amounts of pleasure and pain. The truth was that the thought of loving JinYoung . . . of trusting him . . . frightened him terribly, because those thoughts for Mark were now inextricably linked with losing the one person he cared for most. It was chained to the memory that the person he'd wanted to protect by keeping silent, ultimately didn't care enough about him to stay and protect him. So, as his love increased, so did his suffering.

As they held each other in the early morning hours JinYoung was the first to drift off to sleep. He was warm and sweet as they lay together in a loving embrace and Mark breathed him in deeply, filling himself with him, willing himself to be at peace. But the last thoughts he had before he slept were anything but serene.

Please he begged, pulling JinYoung's slumbering body even closer to his as he began to drift off, don't leave me, JinYoung. Please . . . don't leave . . .

*                                 *                                 *                                 *                                 *

Mark had a mixture of dreams.

His dreams started out being about JinYoung. Those dreams made him smile in his sleep.

But then they started to be mixed with snatches of the other dreams, dreams he wanted to run away from but couldn't, and before long, they were the ones which dominated his sleep.

Now you know about him.

No, it can't be . . .

This is the person you've been protecting. Putting the likes of him above your own husband! You see what he is now, right? How dirty . . .

please don't look at me like that . . . don't send me away . . .

you're my best friend . . . you can do it . . . I don't want to go without you . . . we can go back soon . . . genius . . .

f*****

it can't be true . . . any sense of decency . . .? maybe this is why . . . i don't want you catching cold . . . i wish your father were here to see . . . i'm glad your father isn't here to see . . . it would have broken his heart . . .

disgusting . . .

"Mark . . . Mark . . . it's okay . . . it's okay . . . "

Mark struggled silently in his sleep.

The voice he heard sounded a long way off.

JinYoung? I can't see you. Where are you?

"It's me. Mark . . . I'm here."

He started to feel arms about him.

He started to smell the scent that calmed him.

The voice that soothed him drew nearer and nearer.

JinYoung.

"JinYoung . . . "

"I'm here, Mark, I'm here."

He finally saw him.

He held him close. Tighter. Tighter.

"I'm here, Mark-Hyung," he cooed softly, his back. "I'm here."

"JinYoung-ah . . . " he cried softly against his neck.

JinYoung just cradled him in his arms, kissing him lightly with deep affection.

As they lay together quietly, Mark was beginning to realize that simply loving JinYoung wasn't enough. He was going to have to trust him too.

And that meant, that no matter how painful it was to remember, if he was going to stand any chance of getting better, he was going to have to talk about what happened. No matter what, he was going to have to tell JinYoung.

And he was going to have to tell him . . . today.

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