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It starts with Dejun and Guanheng.
They've been friends since the beginning of time (soulmates, they're both 100% confident) and live next door to each other, so they have been around each other every minute of their lives.
McDonald's becomes their spot when middle school starts, and they go there to blow their wallets on happy meals and seeing who gets the better toy in the box. It's their first step towards independence, taken together and connected at the hands.
They meet Mark and Yukhei a year later on the walk to school. As it turns out, they all lived in the same neighborhood but on different streets (Mark lived on Fifth with Yukhei who was across the street while Dejun and Guanheng lived on Earlgrove) and would have met up at some point, but the times never ended up colliding.
Something clicks. Two turn into four and it feels like the most natural thing in the world. Their teachers start to fear the group as word of the troublesome boys echo down the hallway, and Dejun's parents ask him why he couldn't get better friends (they were kidding, of course). They begin to feel like home.
Naturally, the two-seater that Dejun and Guanheng sat at in the Golden-Arched establishment upgraded to a four-seater, and some of the cashiers begin to recognize them.
("So you're the group of kids that come in late. Nice to know my coworkers aren't messing with me. What can I get you?")
As time goes on, they meet more and more people. Mark introduces them to Taeyong, his older brother and his wacky entourage of friends. Kun Qian and Junhui Wen, president and vice president of the Chinese Student's Association (CSA for short) take the three young Chinese boys under their wing freshman year. But no one joins them at the McDonald's. It's their thing now. Whether it's 9 p.m. or 3 a.m., they're there when they need to be.
(Yangyang Liu comes close to joining them. He's bubbly, and got a smile as bright as the sun, but he's too busy running around with Renjun, another CSA member, to fully immerse himself in their group.
That won't matter anyways, since Taeyong pulls people in like gravity, and Kun, Yangyang, Renjun, and many other people the four boys come to know band together to make one 21 person friend group. It turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.
Well, maybe except for Guanheng confessing to him. That was pretty good too.)
Sometimes when they go, it's good. They laugh and eat to their heart's content, and some people give them weird looks if it's earlier in the day. They write music together for their slowly forming band or they all play games on their phones, and those are Dejun's favorite days.
Sometimes they're quiet, and they bring homework or laptops and do their work. Mark sometimes falls asleep on his keyboard and the Google Doc he has open goes on for twenty pages with the letter 'H' in Times New Roman font. Those are the days Dejun remembers the best.
And on the rarer occasions, they meet up to comfort one another. Yukhei doesn't get the drum solo he worked hard for in band, or someone's fish dies. Sometimes there's tears or pounding fists, and Dejun doesn't like those days at all because there isn't a lot of laughter.
He still cherishes every time they meet at the McDonald's, and hopes they keep the tradition running for however long they have together.
The first time they go, it's like the stars are aligning.
7th Grade, 2nd Semester, 3:02 p.m.
"We usually go to McDonald's to work on some homework or hang out, do you guys wanna come with us?" Dejun asks the two boys on his left .
"Why McDonald's?" Mark asks when they're walking out of the main doors at their middle school.
"Because it's convenient, and they have the best food on the planet," Guanheng says in all seriousness while toying with the straps of his backpack.
"Nah, my Taeyong hyung's fried chicken is pretty good. But I'll still come,"
"Yeah! Sounds like fun!" Yukhei agrees, and that's that.
When they get in the McDonald's, the four stand at the counter awkwardly and wait for someone to take their order. It's only 3:30 so they shouldn't be busy since most kids had gone home and most adults were still at work, but the group still has to wait five minutes to get their order taken. Twelve-year-old Dejun thinks it takes forever.
Usually when it's just Dejun and Guanheng, they sit at a two-seater across from the counter at one if the windows while watching the cars pass by. But now with two new additions, they want to preserve the memories of "their table" and pick a new one that seats four people in the middle of the establishment. Mark had wanted a booth for comfort, but Yukhei reasoned that tables were easier to get out of.
(And later once they're in highschool, they each think that the table feels more real. Like people pick the booths for a few minutes of comfort, but tables are for the people that stick it out and want to enjoy the world for every moment it offers. It's their table. It's their little spot in the world.)
Yukhei gets a McDouble and a large fry with Coke, Mark gets a medium fry and a large water ("Free refills!"), and Dejun and Guanheng share a cheeseburger combo meal because it's what they've always ordered since the beginning of the school year.
Once they sit down, it's a little awkward. There's no food to distract themselves from the tension, and nobody wants to come off as rude by pulling out their homework. So they just sit there and stare off at different points in the room. Even the boisterous Yukhei falls silent, and Dejun thinks their friendship is doomed, because he's dramatic in his preteen years.
Then the food gets there, and the tension snaps in half. Guanheng laughs at Mark for not actually getting food, and Dejun takes a sip of Yukhei's Coke since Guanheng hogs their shared Sprite. Mark takes out his Language Arts worksheet and laughs along to jokes that are being thrown around.
The rest from there, is history.
Summer After Graduating 8th Grade, 10:47 p.m
Their 8th Grade Dance just finished an hour ago, and the four are at their table digging into the ice cream sundaes from the machines that rarely worked.
It's quiet. That's the first thing that's different. Yukhei isn't laughing, and Guanheng is just twisting the plastic spoon in his hand without eating. Dejun feels like crying, though he doesn't know why.
Mark pipes up at some point when all their ice cream is just soup and asks, "We'll still be friends when we go to highschool right? We're not gonna act like these past two years didn't happen and split into different groups... Right?"
Dejun had seen that in movies. Highschool changes people, they move on. Best friends forever doesn't last forever. Everything gets so much bigger.
"Of course. You guys are my real friends, not the guys on the football team," Yukhei says, because he was on the football team at thirteen. (Why? Literally, why?) He puts his hand on the back of Mark's chair and scoots a little closer. The vulnerable tone of Mark's voice draws them all in since they had never heard that from him.
"It's middle school but bigger. We may not have the same classes but we'll still see each other. We'll still live near each other and have all these great memories," Guanheng amends while shoving three fries in his mouth.
"We'll always be best friends, Mark. That's not changing anytime soon," Dejun finishes, and he puts his hand on top of Mark's hand. Guanheng joins in, and Yukhei places his on the top of the pile. They giggle and share looks and then retreat back to their respective meals.
The night goes on, and Dejun wants to stay in this moment forever.
Freshman Year, 1st Semester, 4:17 p.m
"—and then I fell down the stairs! Right in front of him! I can never show my face in the school again," Mark finishes while shaking his head.
"Stop being so dramatic, he probably forgot about it already," Yukhei tries to comfort him, but Mark only shakes his head and sip on the straw of his cup. He still gets water, even after three years.
"You don't get it Yukhei, he was the one who helped me up. He talked to me. Looked me in the eyes and asked if I was okay. I swear, you could fry an egg on my face,"
"That's not any different than how you usually look," Guanheng adds unhelpfully.
All Mark does is whine and bang his head on the table a few times. Yukhei just pats his head and continues eating.
"Anyway, did you guys see the CSA thing? I think the first meeting is tomorrow if you guys wanna come with me," Dejun says to the other two boys at their table.
"What CSA thing?"
"Chinese Student's Association. The President came to my math class and talked about it and what kind of things they did during meetings. I don't remember his name though,"
"It sounds cool. I'll go if you both go," Yukhei says as he balls up the hamburger wrapper.
"Why not?" Guanheng adds, and the discussion drops there.
(They didn't know it then, but that's when everything changed.)
"So, how long are we gonna bet before Mark has another panic attack about Daniel Kang,"
"Shut up Guanheng!"
Freshman Year, Second Semester, 6:01 a.m.
"Did your mom say anything?" Dejun asks the shaking boy in front of him.
"No, she just said to go to the hospital after school," Mark says while running his hands through his hair at an erratic pace.
"Have you texted Taeyong hyung?"
"He won't answer me, I've called like, nine times,"
"Have you asked your mom—"
"—Yes I've asked her what's going on but she hasn't responded either. I'm really freaking out,"
"Calm down man, it might not be anything serious," Yukhei says walking up to their table and placing a cup of water and a McMuffin in front of the fretting boy.
"But what if it is. Hyung could've gotten hurt or something and I have to wait until after school? He might need me!" Mark stresses, toying with the straw of the cup.
"Dude, if your mom said to come until after school, that might mean it isn't serious. You gotta give it time." He puts a hand on Mark's shoulder and squeezes slightly, flashing the other a smile.
The two let Mark calm down and collect himself for a few minutes until Guanheng comes up to their table and sits in his seat between Mark and Dejun and starts poking Mark on the cheek. Mark bats his hand away and frowns at him.
"I paid for that. Four dollars I could've spent at the vending machine, but I chose to spend it on your sorry ass, now eat it,"
"I hate you," is all Mark says in reply, but he still takes a petulant bite of the McMuffin.
"Sure you do Mark, sure you do,"
(All it turned out to be was that Taeyong tried to hop a really tall fence to get a football, and got his jeans caught on a loose wire and fell off, breaking his ankle on the landing. Johnny and Yuta couldn't stop laughing when they saw Mark's reaction.)
Sophomore Year, First Semester, 10:51 a.m.
When the four boys enter the McDonald's, the woman at the cash register yells out, "The usual boys?" because they'd been there enough times on a regular basis for the cashiers to recognize them. It was all four or nothing, they'd say, and so far it was true.
Mark yells, "Thanks Trisha!" and shoos them to the table so he could wait up front to pay.
The three sit down, and Yukhei goes, "It's crazy how they know us. I mean it's a fucking McDonald's, how many people come in here a day?"
"Considering we've been going here for the last four years and sit at the same table, they'd probably see a pattern," Guanheng says while taking out his Geometry homework.
"Still," and Yukhei falls silent while watching Mark talk to Trisha at the counter.
A while later, Guanheng pipes up and asks tentatively, "Are you... writing song lyrics?"
Two pairs of eyes snap to Guanheng and Mark, the latter starting to blush and close his composition notebook slowly. He must not notice everyone staring at him because he replies with a very drawn out, "No,"
"You are! That was your writing notebook in 8th grade! When did you start writing music?" And Guanheng lunges for the notebook that Mark is unsuccessfully trying to hide in his lap.
"I'm not! Get off me!"
Dejun just watches them scuffle from his seat, slowly eating his burger and occasionally opening up Instagram to swipe through his feed.
He wonders why Mark was starting to write music. He hasn't shown any interest in music ever since he's know the boy, and now seems like a weird time to get into it. Mark wasn't one to go through phases either, like Yukhei with Football or Guanheng with dance; he usually stuck out whatever thing he was interested in no matter if he enjoyed the activity or not.
A poking in his arm brings him out of his thoughts, and he looks over at Yukhei and raises his brows.
"Mark said Taeyong hyung took him to one of their music studios on the campus. He loved it apparently because that's all he's been talking about for weeks. He said he found out what he wanted to do for a living, and started writing music," Yukhei whispers so their conversation doesn't interrupt whatever the other two are doing.
"How the hell do you know, and why didn't he tell us?"
"I dunno, I guess he's just been busy with everything. And he only told me when I cornered him when he was talking to one of the music teachers,"
"Huh,"
Dejun watches a little kid spill Hi-C all over himself and wail at the top of his lungs. Yukhei snorts when he points it out.
"I picked up the drums too. Finally decided to use the pad my parents got me a few years ago,"
Dejun looks at Yukhei, the sparkle in his eyes and the grin that his lips stretch into suggests something under the surface of what he's saying.
"Mark said he wanted to start a band,"
Summer After Sophomore Year, 1:00 a.m.
"God I'm so fucking tired," Mark says the second after they sit down. He drops his head into his arms on the table and sighs heavily.
"Summer school hasn't even started, why aren't you sleeping?" Yukhei asks without making eye contact. He and Juhaknyeon have been playing Clash Royale since a week before school ended, and even got Chan from their Biology class/new Summer Camp trainee to join. Dejun is always amazed at how well Yukhei makes friends.
"I dunno, I feel like something really bad is going to happen. Like, I got this feeling in my gut, kinda feels like I'm gonna throw up all the time,"
"You'll be fine. When has anything ever interesting happened here?"
(Little did they know, that coming fall was when things would start to fall apart.)
Guanheng bounces up to their table, talking about the new song he learned and that he thinks he found a way to rework one of the roadblocks Mark and Dejun hit with lyrics, and all is forgotten about Mark's uneasiness.
The first blow to their group is when Jeno leaves.
Junior Year, First Semester, 5:02 p.m.
"Yes, I'll talk to him Kun-ge," He says into the phone.
"Thank you Dejun, I just want to make sure he's alright. I would come down and check on all of you but I've got a paper due on Wednesday and I have to keep up," Kun says. There's some rustling and distant shouts that sound like Ten, but he can't quite make out the voice.
"Just focus on your work ge, I'll make sure Renjun's alright. Chenle's been keeping him company and Yangyang's been taking his mind off of it,"
"He hasn't talked to Jaemin?"
"No one's really talked to Jaemin. Sicheng-ge told me Yuta hyung came back yesterday but other than that I haven't seen him,"
"Is he still mad?"
"Renjun? Or Jaemin?"
"Renjun. He texted me last week to see if I could come down to go see a show with him but I was tied up with work. He sounded so upset, and started muttering something about people not making an effort to stay friends. I know he's just angry and trying to find someone to point fingers at,"
"I mean, I'd be mad if my best friend left the state for seven months without saying anything and my other friend kept it a secret. I just hope he'd talk to one of us about it,"
Kun sighs and the background shouting gets quieter. "Yeah, I'd be the same. Tell him I'm here if he wants to talk anyways. I miss talking to him,"
"Will do. Bye ge,"
"Talk to you later,"
Dejun pulls his phone away from his ear and hangs up, sighing heavily and running his hands through his hair. This whole ordeal had been stressing him out, and with CSA responsibilities, ACT test prep, and their band practices he hasn't had time to breathe in a while. There was a lot of tension surrounding the members of their friend group, and people had started to split off and "take sides" so to speak, to keep the peace. Renjun and Jaemin weren't talking—to each other or anyone else—and that forced separate parts of the group to try to talk to both boys. Dejun was tired, of everything really.
The table is quiet as Dejun sips on his Sprite and everyone chews on their thoughts. No one knew this was coming, no one knew it had gotten so bad that he needed to leave for a mental hospital for half the year. It was a shock to everyone, except maybe Jaemin. That boy always seemed to know everything.
"Hey Yukhei, you remember that time we went to the gym with Jeno and we had to pretty much pull him away from the lat pulldown before he passed out?" Mark asks after Luca brings out his Americano. At Yukhei's nod, he adds, "I wish I would've noticed then. Maybe told Jaehyun hyung or Doyoung hyung and gotten him help,"
"You can't think like that Mark. He is getting help. And the only thing we can do now is get over ourselves and get ready for when he comes back," Dejun replies, and Mark looks at him with a pinch in his mouth.
"I hope Renjun and Jaemin make up though. Yangyang told me Renjun wasn't sleeping," Guanheng adds, and silence falls over them once more.
5:20 hits, and the four are just walking out of the door when Dejun gets another call.
It's Yuta's contact that comes up, and he knows immediately that something's wrong.
He doesn't even get a word out seconds after pressing the answer button before Yuta is practically shouting, "Jaem just had a panick attack, get everyone over to our house now," and then he hangs up.
They're all running to Mark's car before his screen times out.
The second blow was Donghyuck's accident, though that title leaves a bitter taste in his mouth and he doesn't know what else to call it.
Junior Year, First Semester, 2:38 a.m.
When Dejun enters the McDonald's, he sees Mark sitting at their table with tears streaming down his face.
That's how he knows something is horribly wrong. Mark doesn't cry. He hasn't seen Mark cry in the five years he's known him. It's like a shock, to see one of his best friends crying to himself in the middle of the McDonald's. It feels like he shouldn't be here watching this, but Mark asked him to come, so he has no choice but to go up to him.
He walks up slowly to their table, as if Mark is a wild animal, and comes around the back of the boy's chair to lean down and give him a back hug. He takes Mark's shaking hands in his own and squeezes, giving the other the comfort that he needs.
They don't move for a while, just breathing together and communicating through hand squeezes. Dejun sees Trisha and Michael look at them with worried looks from the counter, and he just shakes his head at them. Mark's breathing is less heavy, and he stopped shaking, but Dejun can still feel tears drop onto his arm from where he has them wrapped loosely around his friend's neck.
The door jingles again, and Dejun feels two pairs of arms wrap around his body and Mark's. He can see Guanheng's green tie-dye sweatshirt when he turns his head to the left, and he can see Yukhei's sandy brown hair leaning on Mark's arm on his right. None of them know why Mark is here crying his eyes out, but the important part is that they're here, and they're together.
Mark starts shuffling around after Dejun looks at the clock and sees thar 15 minutes have passed and lets the boy turn around so he's facing his three friends.
There's still tears on his cheeks and clinging to his lashes, and his face is blotchy and red with mussed hair falling into his eyes. He tries to say something, but the words get caught in his throat and more tears slip down his face. Yukhei lays his head on Mark's shoulder and Guanheng puts his arm around Dejun's shoulder.
They wait for Mark to say anything, anything that will indicate what happened, but all they get is a few choked words that none of them can make out.
Yukhei shushes him, and goes, "It's okay Mark, take your time, we're not gonna judge you," while patting his hand.
It feels like the world stops when Mark finally swallows and says the words Dejun doesn't think he'll ever forget: "I just stopped Donghyuck from—from jumping off a bridge. He's in the hospital with Jungwoo hyung now but... God I was so scared I almost lost him," and he's back to crying silently.
Everyone's in a daze after that.
Yukhei goes back to hugging Mark, the older of the two clinging harder than before. Guanheng slips outside to presumably call Taeyong and Johnny and anyone else to help. Dejun goes over to the counter and orders a water and some fries, and Trisha takes his order with a sad smile and a shake of her head when he tries to hand her a five dollar bill.
Guanheng sidles up to him when he's waiting for the fries, hands in his pockets and looking a lot older than 17. All he does is sigh and hang his head, and Dejun distantly notes that he never wants to see his best friend looking like this again.
"Who'd you call?" Dejun asks.
"Taeyong hyung, Johnny hyung, and I texted Kun-ge just in case,"
"What'd they say?"
"Taeyong hyung said he was gonna get all the hyungs together and drive down. Kun-ge was going to try and come down later tomorrow since he has a class in the morning,"
Dejun hums and takes the fries that Trisha hands him, and the two walk back to where Yukhei is talking quietly in Mark's ear. They both look a lot better than before, dried tear tracks on both of their faces.
Guanheng sits down heavily in his seat and puts his elbows together to place his head in his palms. "Do you wanna eat here Mark, or do you wanna take the food to-go while we drive back to the hospital?"
"To-go," the three hear Mark mumble, and Yukhei slings an arm around Mark's shoudlers while Dejun and Guanheng take the food and wave goodbye to the people at the counter.
Mark doesn't eat in the car, or in the waiting room, or in Donghyuck's hospital room.
He stops smiling for a while.
Everything seems so much dimmer that fall.
The winter, ironically, is when things brighten.
Junior Year, First Semester, 3:52 p.m.
"Should we tell them, or do we let them figure it out themselves?" Dejun asks Guanheng from where he's positioned on the other boy's shoulder.
"Let's face it, Yukhei can't pick up social cues for the life of him, and Mark can't even acknowledge his own feelings for Donghyuck, so there's no way they're going to catch on,"
"Catch on to what?" Yukhei asks as he drops his bag on the floor and starts digging around in it to find his homework.
"D'you notice anything different, Yukhei? Anything at all?" Guanheng asks him, and Dejun silently stomps on his foot.
Dejun watches as the other's eyes flit around the room as he tries to find something out of place, but eventually comes up empty handed and shrugs.
"That's what I thought," and Guanheng goes back to playing a game on his phone.
"I didn't know you could think," Mark quips as he sets their food tray down.
"Funny Mark, really funny," Guanheng snaps back as he takes his and Dejun's food off of the tray. He hands Dejun some napkins and lets him take a sip of their shared drink first while not noticing Mark eyeing them suspiciously.
Yukhei starts telling a ridiculous story about his gym period's game of Hide-and-seek with dodgeballs, and neither of the two notice Dejun and Guanheng being more touchy than usual.
Until Mark clears his throat and says, "So," while shoving five fries in his mouth, "are you guys finally dating now, or are you still pretending you're "just friends" that have been pining over each other for a really long time?"
It's unexpected, so Dejun chokes on the chicken nugget he was chewing and Pepsi comes out of Guanheng's nose and spills onto the table and his shirt..
Yukhei slaps Dejun on the back to keep him from actually choking, and while he's still spluttering, Guanheng manages a, "Fuck you Mark," then runs to the bathroom to wipe up his shirt.
"He's an idiot," Mark deadpans, and Dejun watches as his boyfriend (boyfriend!!) hobbles into the bathroom while holding his shirt away from his body.
"Yeah, but he's my idiot,"
Junior Year, Winter Break, 2:04 a.m.
"Merry Christmas bitches!"
"Can we go one day without swearing?"
"Sorry Markle Sparkle, but swearing adds a dash of color in my bleak life,"
"Were you always so dramatic,"
Guanheng slaps a hand to his chest in mock offense. "I am insulted Markie. How dare you,"
"Can we just open presents, I'm tired and I wanna go home and sleep," Dejun whines.
"Yeah guys, we can bicker tomorrow, I wanna open gifts," Yukhei shakes one of the bags in front if him for emphasis.
"Yeah Mark quit bickering, we have presents to open,"
"Guanheng I'm gonna kill you,"
They go in oldest-to-youngest order because Mark doesn't want Guanheng to go first, so Yukhei wastes no time in ripping open the first box from Mark which has a new pair of drumsticks in it. Guanheng had gotten him a pair of aviators and a cross earring, and Dejun had gotten him a new patch for his jean jacket. Mark gets a deck of cards from Yukhei, a Star Wars pillow from Guanheng, and a new glasses case from Dejun. Guanheng gets a really good bass care kit from the three of them, and Dejun gets three different vinyl records from his favorite artists.
When the four part ways and it's just Dejun and Guanheng in Guanheng's car, he feels a sense of peace, just watching the neon lights flicker in the McDonald's. Guanheng is toying with his fingers on the gear stick, and they're just sitting there, enjoying the moment together.
Guanheng turns to him and whispers, "Merry Christmas Jun," and presses a kiss to his cheek before putting the car into drive and pulling out of the parking lot.
It's one of the best Christmases he's had in his life.
Junior Year, Second Semester, 7:53 p.m.
"Did Jaemin say what time he would be back?" He asks when he sits down at their table.
"Sometime tomorrow. He wanted everyone there to surprise him but I think his mom said it'd overwhelm him," Mark answers without looking up from tapping on his phone.
"Taeyong hyung said he was going to throw a party right?" Yukhei adds.
"Yeah, since Taeil hyung's coming down and Doyoung hyung is coming back from his trip he wants to get everyone together," Mark says while smiling at something on his phone.
"It's gonna be for the first time in forever," Guanheng sing-songs while carrying their food over.
"Why. Why are you like this?"
Guanheng just smiles and shrugs.
"Anyway," Dejun continues, "we should get something for him. Or help set up the party at least,"
"Johnny hyung said we're gonna have it at his since we already claimed the basement,"
"You guys should sleep over, so we can all carpool and have more time to set up before they get there,"
"It's gonna be weird, seeing Jeno again, wouldn't you think? I mean, we haven't seen him for half a year, and if Jaemin's panicked caps-lock texts mean anything, then something's changed,"
"Nah, it'll be the same. We've always managed to pick up where we left off with the hyungs, this won't be any different," Yukhei says while shoving at least half his burger in his mouth.
"Chew with your mouth closed please. God you guys are a bunch of imbeciles," It's funny, Mark looks like he's aged twenty years in ten minutes. That might be a new record.
Jeno comes back after spending seven months at a mental facility. When he gets to the party, it's like he never left.
Senior Year, First Semester, 3:16 p.m.
Mark gets a text from Johnny in the middle of their test practice for Government, and the second he finishes reading it, his eyes go wide and he starts shoving his things in his bag without caring where they go.
Seconds later, his, Guanheng's, and Yukhei's phone ping at the same time. Mark stops packing and looks at each of them with a wild look in his eyes. Something about that look makes Dejun shiver.
He picks up his phone and sees a text from their group chat from Johnny that reads, "Family meeting! Get here ASAP"
(They're all pretty much family at this point, so they just decided to use "Family meeting" to gather people faster. It works, and Dejun likes it.)
"You guys get that too?" Yukhei questions, and the only answer is the sounds of papers being shoved into bags and chairs being pushed in.
"I can't believe this is happening, like, I knew they were bad but I didn't know they were this bad," Mark says, and the other three stop what they're doing.
Guanheng replies, "What d'you mean? Johnny just called a family meeting," and Mark stops in his tracks. His brows furrow and his mouth opens and closes a few times before finally saying, "What? No, Donghyuck's parents—." and he cuts himself off while looking at each of them again. He must realize something then, because he suddenly yells, "Shit, he didn't—Doesn't matter, you guys need to hurry, we gotta get to Johnny hyung's, fast," and then he's out the door.
Donghyuck's parents had kicked him out.
Senior Year, Second Semester, 6:00 a.m.
"Okay, open on three," Mark starts.
After four years, it doesn't feel real.
They each have a letter in front of them, Berklee College of Music for Mark and Dejun, and University of Michigan for Yukhei and Guanheng.
These letters hold the keys to the rest of their lives, and it was only fitting that they open the doors to next part of their lives together.
"One," Yukhei says.
"Two," Dejun continues.
"Three," Guanheng finishes, and the sound of papers ripping fills the room as the three eighteen-year-olds rip open the letters.
Dejun only reads, "Congratulations, Dejun!" in the letter and then gets this weightless feeling flow throughout his body. The weight on his shoulder from the school year is gone, and he feels free.
He looks at his friends with a giant goofy smile on his face, and sees that they all have similar expressions on their faces. Mark actually has tears in his eyes, and Guanheng is looking at him with pride radiating from his face.
Later on, when it's just the two of them in Dejun's room laying on their backs on his bed listening to Billie Marten, Guanheng will turn his head and look at him the same way he's looking now, and talk about how far they've come. He'll smile, laugh, and then lean over and kiss him square on the lips, tasting like strawberries and love.
But that's later, and this is now, and right now all four of them are hugging and laughing and feeling like they're on top of the world. Right now, they're who they're meant to be.
Freshman Year of College, Spring Semester, 1:14 p.m.
When they both have a weekend free in March, he and Mark fly down to their hometown to see everyone who's left and check up on them.
As it turns out, Chenle and Jisung had gotten together (which everyone predicted), the 2000 boys had all gotten accepted into colleges, and Donghyuck's adoption was being finalized in the coming weeks. Everything was... Good.
When he and Mark are driving down one of the main roads, something catches Mark's eye, and Dejun pulls over in a very familiar parking lot to get a closer look.
"They tore it down," Mark says.
It was just an empty lot, chain-link fence surrounding the area where the McDonald's used to be.
"Yeah. They did," he replies, and the two just stand there looking out at the trees that they never knew existed behind the now non-existent building.
It feels like there's a hole in his chest, sucking out the air in his lungs. He feels tears building behind his eyes. He doesn't know why.
"At least we have our memories right? They can't tear those down,"
Maybe he does know why. Maybe it was because that place was a third home of sorts. He spent so much time there, laughing and crying along with his best friends, and now it was just gone. Maybe it was because he felt like he'd just lost a friend.
"Yeah. We had some pretty great times in there huh?"
Maybe he was sad that he lost a part of his childhood, and that it means that he's really growing up now.
"Yeah, we did,"
Maybe he's okay with that.
"There's a new Five Guys on Burlington; you wanna go get something?"
Maybe that's all it will be now, memories he can look back on and enjoy.
"Sure,"