Jinyoung woke up drowsy, with a growing pain in his right arm. He then checked his phone and the one unread message in his inbox.

Good morning! I’ll see you this afternoon ~ <3

Day one of living with the brace. A serious wrist sprain during dance practice meant Jinyoung had to tolerate a bar of metal encased in nylon, attached to his wrist at all times.

Though Jinyoung had to be thankful for several things.

There was the fact that Jackson and their manager drove him swiftly to the hospital, and the fact that the emergency bay was rather empty, permitting Jinyoung to be seen immediately by an old stuttering man in scrubs and a lab coat. An hour later, and Jinyoung had walked out with a horrendous new fashion statement, courtesy of JYP health benefits. In Jinyoung’s mind, this was just as bad as when Regina George had to suffer the neck brace with her prom outfit in Mean Girls.

But then there was Mark.

After arriving home from dinner, Jinyoung promptly booted his laptop to Skype call the other boy. Mark had been cast for a CF – an advert for a new flavour of frozen yogurt. The filming required Mark to leave town and stay the night in a hotel. Hence the two resorted to exchanging their usual goodnights through a webcam chat.

That call had been the most uplifting thing that day for Jinyoung. It was what Mark did – everything from the silly faces, to the calm but genuine assurances. Mark helped him smile, laugh.

But that morning Jinyoung woke up alone.

It startled him briefly, realizing how much he wanted that red-headed goofball to be next to him in those hours of sunrise, to be holding him from behind, breathing steady currents of warm air along the back of his neck.

But alas, the boy could only hope. Maybe in a year they could move out of the apartment together. Or maybe if he went back to sleep for a year, he'd magically wake up in a bed with that special someone lying next to him. Until then, Jinyoung did his best to combat the growing pain in his right arm with optimism.

It wouldn’t matter if the brace would clash with whatever outfit he chose to wear that day.

Because that day he’d see Mark again, and Mark assured him he’s one heck of a boyfriend.

Jinyoung opened his phone.

Good morning! I’ll see you this afternoon ~ <3