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Today just sucks. Those ass heads won't stop bothering Mark, calling his mother names that shouldn't even being said. Mark knows his mother is not some kind of saint. She does bad things for money. But that doesn't mean those ass heads can say shits about her. Mark is pissed not because those ass heads annoy him but because he calls his mother by names. They don't even have the right to do that. They don't even know the reason why his mother does that job in the first place. They don't know how hard it is for her.
Mark finally decides to go to the school rooftop. He needs his cigarette. Well, not his, but Donghyuck's. As expected Donghyuck is there. Sitting and blowing smoke from his mouth.
"Sup bro?" Donghyuck says that with his usual tone. Excited.
"Nothing, can you just give me yours?"
"Sure."
Donghyuck hands his cigarettes to Mark, who’s sitting beside him. Mark lights the cigarette with his favorite white lighter, tries to blow his problem away. Donghyuck is Mark's smoking buddy. They have the same bad habit. Yes, smoking. But Mark only smokes when he's pissed or sad while Donghyuck smokes in every occasion. At first, Mark was annoyed because Donghyuck kind of take his favorite spot. But after all, they become friend because that brings Mark benefit. He doesn't have to hide cigarettes and worry about being caught because Donghyuck will support all his cigarettes need. And he's a fun person to talk to also Mark is comfortable with him. That's the real deal actually.
"So what's wrong?" Donghyuck finally speaks again after 10 minutes of silent. Mark blows the smoke before finally says something.
"Those dicks keep talking shits about my mom. And I'm just so pissed. I can't hold that anymore." Mark sighs. Still so pissed about what just happened.
"Want me to help you beat them up?" Donghyuck asks. His voice is just warm. The kind of warmth that makes you wants it to linger as long as possible. And sure Mark wants to keep that warmth forever.
"I’d love to. But that won't make me feel better. They'll tell the teacher and you know we can't win against them. I don't want to cause any trouble for my mom. She's been through a lot."
"Then i know exactly what you need other than beating them up."
"What?"
"Meet me after your class ends at the parking lot."
The bell rings before Mark could ask about anything. Every plan that includes Donghyuck doesn’t sound good. But mark is curious and he needs support from someone. And he knows Donghyuck is the only one who's going to give him that. So after class Mark really comes to the parking lot. He sees Donghyuck's car. Donghyuck's waving his hand and telling mark to get in the car.
"So what are we gonna do?"
"It's secret Mark, but it's gonna be fun I promise." Donghyuck smiles. He's shining; Mark must be hallucinating right now.
"I hope we won't do illegal things."
"Chill dude. Seriously we won't do anything illegal okay. Well except smoking. Now shut up and wear the seatbelt." That is enough to shut Mark’s mouth from asking more questions, but that isn’t enough to stop his anxiety.
Donghyuck drives the car and they finally stop in a convenient store.
"You better change your clothes, I'll buy some stuff. You can use my clothes. Here."
"Seriously where the fuck are we gonna go Donghyuck I'm having anxiety right now. At least you can tell where we are heading to."
"Okay slow down mark we're going to Vancouver" Mark can't believe Vancouver is 2 hours’ drive from his home and definitely they won't back until midnight.
"Are you crazy? My mom will be worried as hell, Donghyuck."
"That's why you need to say that you're staying in my house doing some projects. Now get out and change your clothes or we'll be late." Mark can't help but to do what Donghyuck has told him. But he's still anxious. This is just a crazy idea. But mark also feels excited and he doesn’t understand.
Mark finally changed his uniform with Donghyuck's jeans, t-shirt, and jacket. Donghyuck already changed too and he bought some snacks too.
"Okay, we're ready now. Let's go"
Another drives while listening to Justin Bieber’s songs, their favorite. Somehow Mark enjoys this trip. It's been a long time since the last he went to another city. And the fresh air that he's breathing right feels so soothing. Maybe after a while, he could forget his problems.
"Mark look" Donghyuck finally speaks. Mark looks at where Donghyuck is pointing his finger right now. He sees sunset but more beautiful than he ever saw in his entire life.
"Let's stop." Donghyuck stops his car. Donghyuck and Mark lean on the car. Donghyuck smokes once again. Mark follows him, blowing smoke from his mouth. He can't believe today he really makes his lungs work so hard.
"Do you always do this kind of thing?" He can’t help but ask Donghyuck this question. Donghyuck is full of mystery and Mark is always so curious about it.
"What do you mean by this kind of thing?" Donghyuck looks at Mark’s eyes for a second, but that’s enough to make Mark feel the butterfly inside his stomach.
"Driving so far just to smoke?"
"Sometimes" Donghyuck laughs before continues. "You know my parents don’t even in the house so I could do this thing. And to be honest I love it. My home feels so empty but by traveling I can make my heart less lonely. The perks of having shitty parents"
Mark realized he and Donghyuck are such a contradiction, yet they have more similarities.
"So without me today, you still gonna go?" Mark asks.
"Of course. But you know I really have planned to invite you today even though without you feeling awful. But you know the fact that you're annoyed today makes thing a lot easier." Donghyuck laughs as if there's nothing to worry about. As if everything is fine. Something Mark could never do.
"Come on, we have to go now if we want to come back before midnight." Mark follows Donghyuck to the car again, enjoys the wind that blows through the car windows.
After 2 hours of driving, they're finally in a carnival and Mark can't believe what he sees.
"Really Donghyuck? We drove 2 hours just to go to a carnival?" Actually, Mark doesn't feel angry or annoyed at all. He just really surprised. The fact that Donghyuck can do this without any kind of worry really freaks him up.
"Yup, now let's enjoy this before we can't."
Donghyuck drags Mark to a game arena. Mark misses doing this, to be honest. Carnival used to be his favorite before his dad suddenly left him alone with only her mom remains.
"Mark let's try that game."
Donghyuck points at the shooting game. Again, Mark follows Donghyuck, he's really excited right now. But he's not sure whether it's because of the game or because of Donghyuck. He maybe just realized this, but Donghyuck always able to create happy moments for Mark, from the simple thing until the complicated one. And this is just one of them.
"That was hard." Donghyuck laughs. His laugh is so contagious, Mark finally laughs too.
"Yeah, we just wasted 10 bucks for that game. I can't believe." Mark feels like he finally can forget his problem. How magical. Donghyuck itself is magical. As magical as the spell, that can turn Mark’s bad day into a good one.
"Wanna go to the beach?" Donghyuck asks. He smokes his cigarettes again.
"Is it far? I mean it's almost 11?"
"No, it’s only 15 minutes’ drive."
"Ok then" Mark knows this is such a crazy idea, again. He never did this before. He barely goes to the beach at afternoon, then why he suddenly agrees with Donghyuck's idea. What possibly he can get from going to a beach at 11 p.m. but it's just weird how he's so excited right now.
They finally arrived at the beach 15 minutes later. It's just a small beach nothing special. But the smell of salt is really calming. The weather is cold as the wind blows but Mark feels warmer than when he is in his bed. They sit on the sand. While Donghyuck smokes, Mark just stares at the ocean. Enough cigarettes for today because he's not feeling terrible anymore, thanks to Donghyuck. Donghyuck is just quiet, something that doesn't happen very often. The silence should kill, but mark feels safe. He's just happy. Happiness just seems reachable when he's with Donghyuck. The thing that Mark only realized today, took him months to admit that he feels happy when he's with Donghyuck. Mark is just scared to admit it. But in the silence he can't help but to admit everything.
"Donghyuck, I need to tell you something." Mark says. He has to spill this now or everything will become harder. He knows probably Donghyuck won't return his feeling but he just can't keep it anymore not when he's finally able to admit it.
"Me too." Donghyuck answers.
Mark takes a deep breath before spilling his words. He tries so hard to look at Donghyuck in the eye. But Donghyuck's eyes make him lost. Mark doesn’t know where this gut comes from but he finally speaks.
"Donghyuck, I think I fall for you. I know this is probably weird but I just need to spill this to you because I don’t know if after this I'll still have the guts to do this. so.."
Mark's words are hanging. And Donghyuck remains silent. Both of them are thinking something. Mark starts to feel more anxious but Donghyuck finally found his voice.
"But Mark I, I have to go. I will move to Korea, tomorrow. I won't be in Canada anymore. My parents want to move. And I have to follow them. This is my last adventure in here. That's why I ask you to come because we won't able to do this anymore. And I, I really want to accept your feeling. But I can't, Mark. I'm just gonna give you false hope and endless time of waiting, because I won't be back. I can't. My parents business is collapsing right now and we just can't back to Canada. My parents have so much debt. They have to run away. Mark, I'm sorry."
Mark can see how miserable Donghyuck is right now. He wants to cry but trying to resist all of his feelings. Why Donghyuck? Why can't you just take out your emotion? He wants to hug Donghyuck so bad. But will that make anything better? He’s too broken to fix someone. His heart is too hurt to feel anything right now. How he could comfort Donghyuck, when he’s trying so hard to hold himself so every piece won’t shatter. He thought he’s going to be with Donghyuck and finally found the real happiness he’s been desperately looking for. But everything's gone. He feels like waking up from a really good dream. Leaving him sad because no matter how good it is, it's still a dream, not reality.