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The sunset is just as beautiful as when Mark saw his friend Donghyuck at the bus stop. He had a suitcase and he was wearing a blue shirt and black jeans with white sneakers. He seemed to notice Mark’s presence because he turned around and a cheeky grin appeared. “Hi Mark hyung, fancy meeting you here.” He greeted.
A warm feeling started to settle in as Mark calmed his nerves by fidgeting his hands. “Nice to see you too, Donghyuck. Where are you going?” He asked, walking near him. Donghyuck scoffed and looked at the orange tinted skies. “I’m heading to the airport to go to Jeju Island, my parents just got a new job and they wanted me to go with them.” Donghyuck explained.
Mark tilted his head, a feeling of sadness struck his heart. “Does that mean we won't be playing together anymore? Can’t you stay here longer?” He pleaded, his doe eyes made an appearance. Donghyuck felt a little bad for leaving so soon, he’s been with Mark ever since they were kids. Now that they’re close to their teenage years, Donghyuck wished that this didn’t have to come.
He placed his suitcase near the bench and embraced Mark, which Mark also did in return. The scent of vanilla is present in his shirt, Donghyuck nuzzled on the crook of his neck and sighed. “Hey, maybe one day we’ll meet each other again. We’ll never know, right Mark hyung?” He let go and noticed Mark’s eyes were slightly glazed and cooed at him.
Donghyuck cupped his cheeks and placed his forehead on his, trying to soothe his friend’s heart. “I just don’t want you to go too soon. How am I supposed to go to school without you? We’re best friends, aren’t we?” Mark stammered, holding his friend’s waist. “We always go to school together, we would always go to your favorite restaurant to eat Ramyeon and tease each other about how we almost failed our tests. How can I do those moments when you’re not around?”
Donghyuck can feel his heart crack at Mark’s words, he looked into his eyes and said, “I can promise you this: When I get older, I’ll come and find you. It sounds dumb, but I’ll do it for you. Okay?” Mark sniffed and nodded, holding out his pinky finger. Donghyuck wrapped his finger around it and heard Mark whisper, “You promised… You better come and find me by then.”
The bus arrived just in time Donghyuck smiled and hugged his friend one last time. He got in the bus and sat down, looking out the window and seeing Mark’s face. He waved goodbye with a smile, which made Mark giggle and waved back. As the bus drove away, Mark looked at it and sighed.
“As soon as we grow up, you better come back, Donghyuck…”
~~~
Mark closed his laptop and stretched his arms. He had no time to rest nowadays due to the amount of projects that he was unable to finish. He looked at his desk and noticed a photo; A polaroid photo which he had taken with Donghyuck, they were at an amusement park for a field trip and he can recall how Donghyuck was so excited to ride the ferris wheel. He recalled the both of them admiring the beautiful night sky as their other classmates were busy doing whatever.
“I wonder what he’s up to these days?” Mark pondered as a yawn escaped his lips. When he looked at the clock, it was exactly 5:30 in the afternoon. He decided to take a walk in the park, he got up from his seat and went to the bathroom to get ready. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and dried his hair.
He opened his closet and grabbed a black shirt, a green flight jacket, denim pants, and gray sneakers. As he got dressed, he looked at the mirror and frowned. Eye Bags were visible from the previous nights of producing songs and the insufficient amount of sleep. He took his phone and walked out of his apartment and went on his way to the park.
When he got to the park, he noticed that nothing much changed. The swings still had a shade of yellow and red, the slides were in good shape, the seesaws were cleaned from the fallen leaves. Yep, it is in the same state as how Mark remembered when he hung out with his best friend.
Him and Donghyuck would have the best time until dawn arrives. They would talk about anything; To how their day went to what they both want to be when they grow up, there was never a dull moment every time Donghyuck was around.
Mark sat on the swings and pulled out his phone, his wallpaper was a photo of him and Donghyuck back in elementary school.
He laughed at Donghyuck’s silly expression but was soon replaced with sadness. He missed him too much, how much longer does he have to endure? It felt like Mark would go insane if this keeps up.
Mark was too occupied with his thoughts that he didn’t notice footsteps approaching. A gasp made Mark look up and his jaw dropped. A man, who looked like in his twenties, was in front of him. Brown curly hair and freckles that reminded him of the constellations that he counted in the evening skies, a lightbulb went off in Mark’s head as he spoke up.
“Donghyuck? Is that you?”
It was silent, the only sound that could be heard was the rustling of the trees and a few birds chirping from the distance. A laugh rang in his ears and a smile came up the man’s face.
“You got me, Mark Lee~ It’s me alright.” Mark got up from the swing and tackled him in a hug. Donghyuck laughed as he hugged back, the warm feeling remained the same just as Mark recalled.
“It’s been, what? 7 years since I came back to this place? It’s crazy how nothing’s changed.” He stated, rubbing the older man’s back. Mark wanted to talk but couldn’t, his throat was dried up. He only hugged tighter and buried his face on Donghyuck’s chest. “Gee, you really missed me, huh Mark hyung?” Donghyuck asked sweetly.
Mark nodded as a reply, which made Donghyuck chuckle. “You were so brave, waiting for me after all this time. You got a lot to tell me, huh?” He asked again. Mark pulled away and tears were forming in his eyes. Donghyuck saw and cooed, wiping the tears away as Mark whined. “I tried so hard not to call you. It was painful, too painful. I wanted to see you so bad.” Mark confessed, his voice was almost hoarse from building up his emotions.
Donghyuck nodded and caressed Mark’s cheek with his thumb. “I’m so grateful that you waited. I got to keep my promise and returned to where we first became friends.” That alone brought a small smile onto Mark’s face, which made Donghyuck’s heart flutter.
“Hey Hyuck?” Mark called out, resulting in Donghyuck humming in reply. “Can you stay with me? Back at my apartment? I always missed your hugs…”
That request made Donghyuck’s eyes light up, he sat up and replied, “But of course, how can I say no to you?” And as they walked back to Mark’s apartment hand in hand, the sunset accompanied them on their journey; The same sunset that once separated them brought them back together.