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It was the middle of the school semester, and Mark is happy. He loves his classes, has a good group of friends and has adjusted surprisingly well to life in the States after living in Korea for a few years. How he hasn’t forgotten his English is a mystery to him.
When the bell rings for recess, Mark is the first out the door, rushing to the cafeteria to save his friends a seat. But he can’t help but notice a student is being cornered by a group of other students. Something immediately feels off and alarm bells go off in Mark’s head. He approaches the group as quietly as possible to listen to the conversation.
“Hey, why aren’t you answering?” One person says as they shove the student, who remains tight-lipped.
“You’re in America. Why can’t you speak English?” Another bully taunts.
Mark has heard enough. The student finally looks up, and when his eyes meet Mark’s, his heart stutters in his chest. His eyes are shining with unshed tears, begging Mark to help him. And Mark? He’s in awe at how pretty the stranger is.
Another shove. “Hey, Renjun. Aren’t you going to say anything?”
So his name is Renjun. Mark squares his shoulders and makes his way over, trying not to let the bullies intimidate him. “Junnie! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
“Mark? You know this fweak?” One bully says.
Mark folds his arms and furrows his brows. “Dude, I don’t know what your pwoblem is, but Wenjun is not a fweak! You guys are all poopy heads! What’s so great about English anyway? I had to learn it again when I came back to America after leaving Korea. And when I visit my grandparents, it’s really hard to talk to them sometimes. You guys suck. Leave Wenjun alone and pick on someone your own size.” Everyone stares at him and Mark feels a little self-conscious after his outburst, so he just grabs Renjun’s hand and leads him away from them. Too stunned to speak, no one questions him.
They’re still holding hands when Mark leads them to a deserted corridor. He only realizes it when his hands start to sweat. “Sorry.” He says, practically yanking his hand out of Renjun’s grip and scratching behind his ear nervously. Renjun stares at him in awe.
“Thank you,” Renjun says weakly. “I wanted to say something so bad. Mom taught me how to defend myself with words, but I forgot everything. I’m so embarrassed.” His cheeks puff out in a cute pout, and he covers his face with his tiny hands, sniffling as he tries not to cry.
Mark gasps and shakes his head. He gently removes Renjun’s hands from his face and holds them. “You were weally brave for not crying. I would’ve started crying the moment they mocked my English. You’re weally cool Wenjun.”
Renjun’s eyes are shining. “Weally?” He asks, uncertain if this is some cruel joke. He knows how popular Mark is, he can’t believe they’re talking right now.
Mark giggles. “Yeah! Do you wanna be my fwend?”
Renjun nods with a smile, and Mark feels a sharp pain in his chest. His smile is so radiant and pure and he can't help but think about how adorable Renjun is in that moment, about how he would do anything and everything for him if he asked. Mark flushes at the thought.
This time, he doesn’t hesitate to give his new friend a hug. When they pull away, Mark blurts out the first thought that comes to mind. “Do you wanna go on an adventure with me?”
“Eh?” Renjun tilts his head, like a confused fox. “But school isn’t over yet?”
“No one will notice we’re gone!”
Renjun smiles again. “You’re a bad influence on me, Mark.”
“You know my name?”
Renjun laughs, a light tinkling sound, not unlike a fairy. “Who doesn’t.”
Mark grins, grabs Renjun’s hand, and leads them through a back door to a back gate where no one ever goes. He looks around and enters the code he memorized when he accidentally saw it in his teacher’s email when she wasn’t looking and together they leave the school grounds hand in hand.
From that day on, Mark and Renjun are inseparable. Despite them being in different classes, they manage to find a way to hang out. Their parents become close and sometimes all of them even go on vacation together. Mark can’t help but feel like maybe the way he feels about Renjun is a different from how he feels about his other friends, but Renjun is his bestest friend in the whole wide world. He would rather lose his favorite toy than do anything to lose Renjun.
Said thought haunts him now. Renjun really grew into his looks and is now one of the most coveted guys at their university. Unfortunately for him, Renjun has persuaded him to attend yet another party, and he watches with jealousy, the feeling making him queasy as Renjun flirts up a storm with some guy.
He nurses a drink as he shoots daggers into the mystery guy’s back. As if he can sense his glare, the guy turns and looks directly into his eyes, smirking at him as he does so and then leans to say something into Renjun’s ear. He realizes that the mystery man is none other than Kim Jaejun, who flirts with anything that moves. That bastard. He shouldn’t be anywhere near his precious Renjun. He kinda wishes that a chandelier would fall on his head, perhaps the ground suddenly opens and swallows him up, a million different scenarios of how he could possibly meet his early demise run through his mind. Mark catches himself then, Fuck. What the hell am I doing? This is so pathetic, what’s wrong with me?
Mark is trying his absolute best not to just go over there and monopolize Renjun’s attention, to the point that he’s practically almost breaking the glass with his iron grip. Deep down, he knows that despite Renjun having the worst taste in men ever, knowing that says a lot about him, considering he’s had his fair share of incidents, but he’s gotten better! He knows that he has no right to meddle in Renjun’s love life. With a groan, he turns his back to them, determined not to have to observe their spectacle any longer if he doesn’t want to pass out from the rage and jealousy coursing through his veins. He meets eyes with the bartender, who shoots him a look of pity.
“What.” Mark says, deadpan.
They shake their head. Seonghwa, their name tag says. They walk over and level Mark with a raised eyebrow. “Rough night?”
Mark sighs, “I mean, not exactly.” Sadly, his eyes betray him as his gaze drifts over to Renjun, who is now busy grinding on Jaejun and he blushes, looking away as fast as he looked in the first place. He’s really starting to feel sick now. He should really go, but he doesn’t want to be a bad friend.
Seonghwa laughs. “Oh man, I’ve been there before.”
“Huh?” Mark is affronted, what does that mean?
A drink sliding across to him brings him out of his thoughts. He looks up into Seonghwa’s soft gaze. “Oh um... I didn’t order this.”
“It’s on the house.” Seonghwa says with a wink, “You look like you need it.” He says with a soft pat on Mark’s shoulder before he turns his back and serves the other customers who seem to have suddenly materialized out of nowhere. Mark sighs and throws back the drink. As good as it tastes, it also has a strong aftertaste that makes him recoil in horror with a wince. This is going to be a long night. He thinks. Eventually, Mark decides he’s had enough of wallowing in self-pity and wants to just go home. He curses Kim Jaejun in his head as he approaches Renjun. As if sensing his presence, a tipsy Renjun grins at him. “Hyung! You’re here!”
“Yeah, I um… Think I’m gonna head out now, Renjun-ah.” Mark rubs the back of his neck, uncomfortable. “Gotta get an early night, you know? I have to head out pretty early to get to work, haha.”
Renjun’s face falls, and then the smile is back before Mark can even question it, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Oh, I see… Are you okay? You don’t look so good…”
Mark feels terrible for lying right to his face because he knows Renjun is a human lie detector, but he just nods. “Peachy.” He tries for a smile, but he feels stupid, and it turns into a grimace instead.
Renjun stares at him a little longer before he relents, and Mark internally lets out a sigh of relief. “Okay… Let me know when you get home, stay safe.”
Renjun hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Mark since he left so abruptly. He’d never seen Mark look so downcast, something must have happened. He wanted to pry so bad, but he knew it wasn’t a good time and how cagey Mark can be when it comes to his feelings sometimes, so he didn’t want to make things worse. “Hey.” Someone says into his ear. Renjun startles and then remembers who he’s in the company of.
Renjun turns to him and plasters a smile on his face. “Hey.”
“Wanna get out of here?” Jaejun asks, wiggling his brows. And Renjun just got the ick, but he nods anyway. Something feels off, and his stomach feels funny, but he thinks he just needs to get his mind off Mark, it would never happen anyway. The guy calls an uber and Renjun is still so in his head, he doesn’t even notice the guy’s hand on his thigh. He just can’t stop thinking about Mark’s expression. Was it something he said? Did someone hit on Mark and make him uncomfortable? He needed to get to the bottom of this. Before long, they arrived at Jaejun’s apartment complex and Renjun feels unimpressed, but allows Jaejun to think Renjun is his prized possession for the night. He already knows about his reputation, how could he not?
Jaejun tries to talk to him when they enter the elevator, but Renjun just tunes him out, and he eventually gets the hint that he should shut up. When they reach his floor, and walk to his door, Renjun physically cannot move his feet to walk inside, something just feels wrong.
Jaejun gives him a funny look. “You good?”
Renjun gives him a weak smile, “Yeah, I’m fine.” He takes a deep breath and forces his feet to move. He can see Jaejun’s small smirk and feels slimy, but tries to ignore it. They’re sitting on his couch, Renjun planted firmly in his lap, making out when Renjun gets a weird feeling again. He pulls away and shivers as Jaejun leaves wet kisses on his neck and sighs. “Stop.”
“What’s wrong?”
Renjun maneuvers himself out of his lap and grabs his things. “I’m just not feeling it anymore. I think I’m just gonna go home.”
Jaejun scoffs. “Really? You’re blueballing me right now?” Renjun just stares at him. “You little slut.” He mutters. Renjun reels in shock and before he knows what he’s doing, he’s just left a handprint on his face. Jaejun stares at him in shock. “What the fuck, man? What the hell was that for?” Renjun just turns on his heels and storms out. That was the most humiliating ordeal of his life. Was this how guys really saw him? As an easy conquest? Renjun storms angrily to the lift, hot tears falling as he rubs his face with his sleeve. Stupid men.
When the elevator finally comes, he gets in and looks at himself in the reflection. He’s a mess, and his neck looks mangled. He’s gonna have to wear turtlenecks for a week, maybe even more. Was this guy a vampire or something? He truly did a number on Renjun’s poor neck. Thankfully, he had a scarf in his purse so he tied it around his neck neatly.
He needed to get away, away from stupid men who treated him badly. Was it so bad to hope that things would be different every time? Was it bad to have fun? Renjun just keeps on walking and walking, lost in his thoughts, and soon, the city gets further and further away. Before he knows it, his surroundings are completely devoid of noise, and Renjun is shivering in his skimpy outfit.
He’s scared. And suddenly he thinks of Mark. How Mark would never treat him like this. Mark who abandons everything in a heartbeat and comes running at the drop of a hat, Mark who never sees the worst in him, even if he does the walk of shame back to their shared apartment. Mark who gives the best hugs and puts on his favorite movie when he’s having a rough day. He remembers on that day that Mark had said, “You fit right in my embrace when I hug you too.” Mark who always tries to make him laugh, even at the expense of himself. “I wanted to see if Renjun could protect me.” He had said, holding onto Renjun’s arm for dear life, looking like a scared kitten after putting on a horror movie that Renjun had really wanted to see, but due to his influx of assignments for Psychology, he just couldn’t find the time. Renjun knew how much Mark hated horror movies, but he still put himself through it, just to make Renjun happy. Suddenly, the tears begin to fall again. He really needs Mark right now.
There’s barely any service, but the line miraculously rings, and Mark picks up immediately. “Hello?” And Renjun has never been more relieved to hear his voice. The tears start to fall again, and he sniffs loudly. “Mark.” He wails; he’ll be extremely embarrassed about it later, but for now, he can’t bring himself to care.
Renjun hears some shuffling and realizes Mark is probably sitting as straight as an ironing board in his bed right now. “Injunie? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Hyung, am I really a s-slut?”
More shuffling and suddenly Mark sounds a lot clearer as well as extremely angry. “What? No. Who the hell said that? Was it that Jaejun guy? Give me his address, I’ll give him a peace of my mind.”
Renjun laughs and sniffles pitifully. “No need, hyung. I slapped him and I got out of there.”
“I’m so proud of you, Junnie. Wait, so where are you right now?”
Renjun’s smile drops. He looks around and realizes he’s in the middle of nowhere. “I… I don’t know.” He whispers into the line and holds his phone to his ear for dear life, another full-body shiver coursing through him. It was pitch black and extremely cold. “I wanna go home, hyung.”
“Stay where you are, okay? Can send me your location? Hyung will be right there, okay? Just stay put and stay on the line for me. Can you do that for me?”
Renjun affirms and sends his location straight away. He realizes his phone is on 13%, and he doesn’t have any sort of portable charger. He sits on the curb and waits, praying Mark will get there in time. He doesn’t notice that his eyes have closed until bright headlights force him to peel his eyes open. His annoyance immediately fades into relief when he realizes it’s Mark’s car pulling up.
The car door flies open, and Mark rushes over to him with a blanket. “Renjun. I’m sorry I was late.” Renjun just smiles weakly as Mark carries him bridal style and lays him carefully in the back seat. “Just sleep, okay?” He says from the driver's seat. “We’ll be home soon.” Renjun lets his eyes close, finally safe and when he next wakes up, he’s back in his bed, tucked snug as a bug in a rug.
This event is probably what Mark would say was the catalyst, a final straw of sorts. All these guys treated his poor Injunie so poorly, not like the precious treasure that he is. He deserved to be treasured, not left behind, knocked over like a beautiful piece of china that someone carelessly knocked over, leaving Mark to sweep up the pieces and glue him back together again. Even though Renjun had been on his fair share of dates and been in his fair share of relationships, they never lasted very long. Although they ended amicably, Mark could see that it was taking its toll on his self esteem.
To be honest, there were always a lot of red flags with the guys Renjun dated, but he didn’t feel like it was his place to meddle in his love life and to the disappointment of his friends, he hadn’t gotten in a single relationship since Renjun. He would rather love him in silence all these years and everything he could not to cross the line and blur the boundaries of their friendship than hurt Renjun and just disintegrate.
But then it hits him, none of these guys ever deserved Renjun, they didn’t know how to treat him well, no one knew Renjun like he knew Renjun and he decides he needs to get his head in the game and after years of pining, he’s finally going to try and make a move. He eneds Renjun to see that the perfect one for him was right there in front of him all along. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? But first, he needs to find a way to subtly cross that line from platonic to romantic, which is hard considering a lot of the things he already does for Renjun are taken as platonic anyway due to the nature of their relationship. But he has to get the needle moving anyway. 23 days. He decides. He’ll make Renjun fall for him in 23 days.
Day 1:
Mark knows that Renjun has been stressing and slaving away, hunched over his laptop trying to get his Psychology research paper done, and thinks, what better way to show his feelings than by getting Renjun’s favorite snacks?
So Mark goes out to the convenience store at 3 in the morning to get the Skittles that Renjun is always craving, a massive cup of iced lemon water, and even picks up some chicken for him on the way home.
When he returns, Renjun has fallen asleep, lightly snoring, and his laptop nearly falling off his lap. Mark smiles to himself and strokes his hair. He removes his laptop from harm’s way and leaves Renjun’s chicken on the table with a note, ‘Picked up your fav from that place you like <3 - Mark’ and leaves Renjun’s drink in the freezer with another note attached, ‘Hope this makes you feel a little better :] - Mark’
Renjun wakes up the next morning, saliva dripping down his chin and onto his arm. He groans as he wipes it away with the back of his hand. His vision is a bit blurry, and he doesn’t really recall how he fell asleep. Must’ve just fallen asleep reading or something.
He sits up from the table, letting out a loud yawn as he stretches his arms and rubs his belly, heading to the fridge to grab something to quench his thirst. As soon as he’s about to open the fridge, his eyes widen and he darts back to the table, looking around frantically for his laptop.
It finally clicked that he was writing his psych paper, so where was his laptop? His eyebrows shoot up in surprise as he notices a bag of chicken on the table, along with skittles and a little note. He grabs it and reads it with a smile on his face, shaking his head lightly at the cute gesture from Mark. He thinks it’s probably not that good now, since he slept too much and didn’t eat it in time. Silly Mark, he should’ve just put it in the fridge.
He walks back to the fridge, opening the freezer compartment, and smiles once more as he sees the water, taking a big sip of it as he reads the note. Mark really was very thoughtful. Renjun didn’t know what he did in his previous life to deserve someone as good as him in his life. Mark must be some kind of guardian angel; he needs to do something to repay him for his kindness. He feels like he’s taking advantage of it and like he doesn’t deserve it. He’s not someone to just take and take; he wants to give back, too. He just isn’t sure what he can give to someone who already seems to have everything. Maybe he can try to set him up with one of his friends? It pains Renjun to say,
He heats up the chicken and grabs his laptop from the kitchen counter, setting it down on the table and getting to finishing his paper once more, not before shooting Mark a quick text, since he was probably already at school.
‘hyung! thank u 4 the chicken, skittles & water <3 i’ll pay u back soon !!’
‘no need, junnie :) just make sure you eat and don’t beat yourself too much over your paper <3. you’ll do great. you always do. you got this!! 🩵’
Renjun feels himself blush at Mark’s reply. He sets down his phone and finally gets back to work.
Day 3:
Renjun comes back from classes, exhausted. He’d gotten drenched in the rain and looked like a wet cat.
“Injunie!” Mark calls, so Renjun follows his voice until he surprisingly ends up in his own room.
“Hyung? What are you doing here?”
Mark smiles, “You’ve been super stressed these days with back-to-back deadlines, so I thought I’d try to ease some of the pressure on you.”
Renjun feels his resolve melt instantly, when he realizes Mark is folding away his laundry for him. Mark knows how particular he is about it and can’t help but feel touched when he notices that Mark remembered how he likes to fold away his clothing. His face burns red when he realizes his lace lingerie is among the pile and embarrassingly snatches it up. “Oh! I wonder how that got there!”
Mark pretends not to see and says, “Oh man, you’re drenched. You should go take a shower before you catch a cold. I’ll make you some soup, and you can choose what we watch tonight, okay?” He pats Renjun’s shoulder on the way out and defeated, Renjun slides to the floor screaming into his lingerie set as if it had personally offended him. It was just his luck that Mark had to stumble on it.
Later on, Mark calls to Renjun on his way out of the apartment. “Hey, I’m just gonna do some shopping! Do we need anything?”
“Not that I can think of!” Renjun yells back.
Not long after, he hears a knock at the door. Strange, Mark should definitely have his keys. His phone pings with a notification, but he ignores it to go to the door and looks through the peephole, but there’s no one there. He notices something lying on their doormat, though, so he opens the door and sees a bouquet of roses delicately lying there. There’s also a note attached, “To: Huang Renjun. From, Your Secret Admirer” Renjun is bewildered. Should he be scared? Was this going to be a one-time thing or a regular occurrence? Phone . He thinks. I need to get my phone. He places the bouquet on their dining table and grabs his phone to see a notification from their doorbell camera app. He holds his breath as the feed loads, only to see, Mark? Relief floods him immediately, although he’s puzzled about why Mark is posing as a secret admirer. He dismisses it, thinking maybe he’s just trying to cheer him up.
Something inside him, though, in the deepest part of his heart that Renjun tries to hide from everyone, becomes hopeful. Hopeful that maybe Mark is finally trying to make a move, hopeful that maybe, just maybe, there is something more to them .
He takes the bouquet of flowers inside and places it in a vase, sitting on the table and staring at it with a shy smile.
Day 7:
Renjun is sitting at his laptop, working on yet another paper, when Mark pops his head in. “Junnie, you busy?”
Renjun gestures helplessly to his laptop and the mess around him. He’s actually not sure the last time he got a decent amount of sleep was.
Mark’s expression softens. “I know it’s last minute, but I was meant to watch this one movie with a friend, but he canceled on me last minute, and I really don’t want the ticket to go to waste… So I thought… Maybe we could go together?” Mark crosses his fingers behind his back, hoping Renjun doesn’t catch onto the lie.
Renjun is thankfully too tired to question him and shuts down the laptop. “Sure, let’s do it. I really need a break from this research paper anyway.” He stretches and pushes his glasses up. “I think I’m starting to get burnt out.”
“I feel you.”
Ten minutes into the movie, Renjun realizes that despite him remembering how popular this movie was, they happen to be the only people there. A very strange occurrence. Is this… A date? He thinks. It feels very date-y, they’re sat at the back eating from their massive bowls of popcorn, this is giving off major date vibes. Renjun immediately shoots that down, he was just a last minute replacement. No way was this a date. By the end of the movie, not one person has walked in, almost like the screen was rented out, but Renjun tries to brush off that strange thought. Why would Mark do that?
Day 10:
Renjun is at his monthly meeting with his friends at a little cafe, where they meet to hang out, talk about what’s new in their lives, and, most importantly, talk shit. He thinks Mark would like this place and giggles to himself.
Zhang Hao raises an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. “You’ve been giggling a lot lately. What gives?”
Xiaoting, Minghao, Chenle, Ricky, and Ten also lean in close. “Spill. You’ve been holding out on us.” Ten says, a mischievous smile on his face.
“It’s nothing, just Mark.”
“Oh? You guys finally got together then?” Zhang Hao leans back in his seat to observe Renjun, giving him a once-over.
Renjun rolls his eyes, “Then, did you finally make things official with Hanbin hyung?”
“Touché.” Zhang Hao sips delicately at his latte and looks away.
Undeterred, though, Chenle wants to get to the bottom of it. “So? What happened?” He asks excitedly.
“I mean, it’s nothing crazy. He’s just been really nice to me lately… I’m pretty sure he went out in the middle of the night the other day just to get me some of my favorite snacks to reward me for working so hard on my assignments, so I was a little touched. And then he folded my laundry for me and embarrassingly saw my lingerie set—”
Xiaoting gasps dramatically as if scandalized, covering her mouth with her newly done set of Hello Kitty acrylic nails. “No… That purple set I got you for your birthday that you really wanted and ended up being your lucky charm?”
Renjun nods sombrely, “The very one.” Xiaoting pats him on the shoulder reassuringly.
“That is so embarrassing… Wouldn’t let that happen to me, though!” Ricky chimes in, lifting his cup of iced americano to his lips and looking around with a smirk before taking a big sip. He immediately chokes when Minghao smacks the back of his head. “Ow!” He glowers at him, “What was that for?”
Renjun ignores Minghao and Ricky’s heated bickering and presses on. “And he- he’s been getting me flowers.”
Minghao and Ricky stop their hair-pulling to exclaim, “WHAT?”
“Are you guys dating? I need to meet him right now. Give me his number.” Ten demands. “My precious baby, I need to make sure he treats you right.” He fusses, squishing Renjun’s cheeks with his hands. Xiaoting, Chenle, Minghao, and Ricky are still frozen.
Renjun looks at his lap shyly (or well, attempts to). “I don’t think he likes me like that.” But because his cheeks are still squished, it comes out funny. His friends, though, fluent in Renjunisms, understand perfectly.
“Only you guys would be dating without knowing it and somehow find a way to make it platonic!” Chenle exclaims, exasperated. His friends loudly chime in with their agreements.
“I mean, he did tell me that he had a spare ticket for this movie I really wanted to see, but he said Seonghwa hyung canceled on him last minute.”
“Renjun, you’re so silly.” Zhang Hao flicks his forehead. “That’s the most classic excuse in the book. He was clearly trying to spend more time with you.”
Cheekily, Renjun claps back. “Then, are you talking from personal experience?”
Zhang Hao flushes bright red. “This isn’t about me! And besides, do I not deserve to be treated like a prince? It’s fun to act oblivious! You know me, I never chase, I attract.” He huffs.
Renjun laughs, taking a scoop of his ice cream with his plastic spoon from the little tub he’s eating from. “Whatever you say, gege .”
He smirks in satisfaction as Zhang Hao chokes on his drink. He knows how much it affects him when Hanbin calls him by that particular honorific, and he’s just so fun to tease.
By the time Renjun gets home from his hangout and being grilled by his friends for more info about Mark, as well as having to pinky promise them he will immediately report to them with any new developments, he notices Mark is on the couch, arms crossed and sleeping, head touching his neck in an uncomfortable position. Renjun smiles to himself as he walks over and just watches him. He always looks so serene when he sleeps, not a care in the world. Catching himself smiling and realizing his cheeks are heating up, he smacks them, whirls around to turn off the TV using the remote, and lies Mark down, throwing a blanket over Mark and ensuring he’s warm. How cute, he thinks. He was probably waiting up for me.
He heads to his room, not before hearing a few mumbles slip past Mark’s lips.
“ Mmm.. Junnie..”
Renjun whips his head back at Mark, eyes wide and heart almost beating out of his chest. Was he having a dream about him? It couldn’t be, right?
He sees Mark hugging one of the pillows on the couch, rubbing his cheek against it like a cat. Ok, not the type of dream he was thinking about, but it was definitely a dream about him. He blushes and can’t help but giggle, shaking his head lightly as if to try and ignore how bad his cheeks are burning, and just as he’s heading back to his room to sleep, he hears, “Please don’t leave me, Renjun. I think I would die without you.” Renjun’s eyes widen, and he runs back to his room, immediately texting his friends with a simple ‘What the fuck.’
Day 15:
As usual, when Mark comes back from classes, Renjun is already at his laptop, peering at his screen with glasses sitting prettily on his nose. He smiles, observing him before schooling his expression and knocking on the door. “Injunie? Wanna take a break?”
Renjun looks at him helplessly, “I’m starting to think studying Psychology was a terrible idea.”
“Nah, our Junnie is gonna be the best therapist this country has ever seen.”
Renjun giggles at that, “Are you sure you’re not just saying that because you’re biased, hyung?”
Mark puts his hands up in surrender. “I may tell a joke, but never a lie.”
Renjun rolls his eyes, but he knows Mark is right. “I’ll grab a jacket. Where are we going?”
Mark’s eyes twinkle with mischief and mirth, “You’ll see. But for now, let’s go on a walk to clear your head. You’ve been working so hard on your mid-terms. You deserve a break.”
Renjun had no idea what Mark was planning as they get into Mark’s car, but when they pull up to the park, he started to suspect that maybe Mark brought him to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. He opens the car door for him like a true gentleman and, with a hand on the small of his back that definitely doesn’t make his heart flutter, takes him further and further inside the park. He can’t help but tear up a bit seeing how beautiful the cherry blossoms are. He always wanted to see them, but because of his demanding Psychology degree, he was constantly holed up in his room, going between the apartment walls and the university campus. If it wasn’t for his friends dragging him out once a month for their hangouts, Renjun is sure he would go out even less than that.
Where they’re standing now, Renjun has the perfect view. Touched, Renjun asks, “How does hyung know so much about this stuff?” And with a wide smile, Mark answers, “I know a lot about cherry blossoms because you were born in spring.” Renjun is stunned into silence, his eyes shining in awe. He doesn’t even notice Mark reaching for him until he feels something behind his ear. “Our Injunie’s beauty puts even the prettiest cherry blossoms to shame.” Renjun smiled shyly, realizing that Mark had plucked a cherry blossom for him and tucked it behind his ear.
Day 22:
The day Renjun’s mid-terms finally come to an end, Mark is at the entrance, ready to pick Renjun up. “Hyung! You were here!” He says, surprised.
Mark envelopes him into a hug. They get a few wolf whistles, which Renjun tries to ignore, and tucks his face into Mark’s neck—breathing in his comforting scent. He doesn’t understand how he never wears any kind of deodorant or cologne, but still smells so good. Mark is surprised by Renjun's easy acceptance of his hug and clears his throat, the tips of his ears already flushing red. “Of course. You said you wanted me to come, so I did.”
When they pull away, Renjun teases, “So where are we going today?”
Mark laughs awkwardly, and Renjun feels a little bad. He’s about to apologize when Mark cuts in. “Umm, I was thinking we could maybe go to a pottery class? I managed to get a discount and that art exhibition you really wanted to see, the last day is today sooo…” He trails off, looking sheepish. “I got us tickets.”
Renjun’s face lights up. “Hyung! You’re the best!” He doesn’t even think before he plants a peck on his cheek and skips ahead, leaving a dazed Mark in his wake, clutching his cheek and staring after him, mouth wide open. He eventually snaps out of it and runs after him. “Junnie! Wait up!”
The pottery class goes well, despite a few slips up on Mark’s clumsy end. Every time Mark tried to shape the perfect bowl for Renjun, his mind started to wander and more times than he’d like to admit, the clay flew off the potter’s wheel and conveniently out of the window. Considering how the cafe is nearly at the top of a skyscraper building, he prays his clay didn’t just fall from the sky and knock someone out. But he doesn’t even mind because Renjun laughs, the mug he’s making just as perfect as him. Mark’s… Has spirit for sure! Eventually, he gets the hang of it and by the time the class ends, they leave with perfect pottery.
They managed to make it to the art museum in just time, too. Mark buys the ticket and after they pick up their audio guides, they start their tour. Mark had bought them some ice cream and they were strolling through the gallery at a leisurely pace. Renjun, as someone who nearly chose to become an art major, knew a lot about art, so he was happy to whisper his extended knowledge about artists Mark knew nothing about and even talked his ear off about how sculptures came to be. He spent more time listening to Renjun talk than the actual audio guide they paid for, but he didn’t mind. He could listen to Renjun talk all day. He was also happy to take pictures of Renjun posing in front of the beautiful oil paintings (unfortunately none of them compared to his beauty) and eventually, they found a bench to sit on. Renjun swung his legs happily. “Thank you, Mark. This was the best day ever. Thank you for making so much time for me lately. I really appreciate it.”
Mark shrugs with a smile. “You’d do the same for me.”
When they get home, there’s another bouquet on their doorstep, an assortment of different colors, and Renjun sighs. “Ah, another bouquet. I wonder who my secret admirer is.” He levels Mark with a pointed look, who is busy looking around shiftily.
Day 22 (around 11pm):
Renjun paces around his room after his day with Mark, multiple thoughts running through his mind. Well, he knows he likes Mark, and he’s pretty sure Mark likes him, too. I mean, why else would he get him so many flowers? And take him on trips? And spend his free time helping him, and taking him to see stuff he likes?
Geez. How did Renjun never see it before?
He finally stops pacing and sits on the corner of his bed. He will confront Mark tomorrow. He will tell him how he feels and hope it’s not all in his head.
Day 23:
When Mark gets home from uni, Renjun is sitting on their couch looking extremely concerned. He’s surrounded by bouquets and Mark feels a bit bad. He didn’t know there were so many.
“Mark.” Renjun says gently, as if scared to spook a distrustful kitten. “Can we talk?”
Mark plays innocent, arms curling around his backpack straps and rocking back and forth on his feet. “Oh for sure! What about?”
Renjun sighs and pats the space next to him. “Come sit, hyung.”
Mark gingerly perches on the couch and looks at Renjun. “What’s up?”
“I know it’s you.”
“Well, I’d hope so? We live together after all.”
“No, Mark. I know it’s been you sending the bouquets of flowers.”
“Huh?”
Renjun purses his lips as he takes out his phone and Mark forgets they have cameras. There, clear as day, is Mark carrying a large bouquet of flowers, knocking and leaving them delicately in front of the doorstep before running away. Mark deflates instantly, mentally slapping himself for forgetting such a detail. Also because he looked kinda silly while running away.
“I just don’t understand why. I mean, why go through all of that trouble? You don’t need a special occasion to give me flowers, nor do you need to pretend to be a secret admirer to do so…” Renjun says, biting his lip afterward. It’s true. Mark didn’t need a special occasion to give him flowers. Renjun would have accepted them either way because they’re best friends. Who says best friends can’t give each other flowers? Of course, he hoped it wasn’t because of that, but who knows?
Mark stays silent, looking down at his lap like a scolded puppy. Renjun swears he could see puppy ears flattening against his head.
Mark struggles to find the words to describe his feelings, playing with his fingers a little too much that it’s starting to drive Renjun a little crazy.
“Mark, what’s going on?”
“It’s just- I didn’t know how else to tell you without making it seem like too much. But I guess there’s really no other way to say it. I love you, Renjun. I always have. I’ve loved you since the first day we met and every other day since then. I hate seeing you hurt. I hate watching you suffer because of other guys who will never treat you the way you deserve to be treated. I know you might not like me back, and that’s a risk I’m willing to take, but I just couldn’t hide it anymore. I can’t hold these feelings back,” Mark says, almost all in one breath, because he knows that if he stops to take a breather, he’ll probably take everything back in fear.
Renjun’s a bit taken aback, and he’s unsure how to react. What the appropriate reaction would be. It’s a lot for him to take in right now, he wasn’t exactly expecting the conversation to take this turn. He thought Mark would be emotionally constipated as usual, clamor up, maybe make an excuse, they laugh about it and maybe watch Glee, but here they were. “Wow,” is what comes out instead.
“Yeah um… That was a lot. Sorry about that, haha. I don’t blame you if you wanna find a new roommate or something. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I can um… Stay with Seonghwa noona until you find someone else to move in with.” Mark makes to get up, but Renjun pulls him back down. Mark furrows his brows in confusion, about to ask what he was doing, when Renjun closes his eyes and kisses him.
When they pull away, Mark asks. “So like, does that mean I don’t have to move out? Or—” Mark is silenced once again by Renjun kissing him again and smiles into the kiss.
“Is that a good enough answer for you?” Renjun demands.
“I’m not sure. I think you might have to kiss me again.”
“You’re pushing it. Mark, you have to be one of the stupidest guys I’ve ever known—”
“Hey!”
Renjun just continues as if Mark had never spoken. “But somehow I realized that it just had to be you. Well, I wanted it to be you. All the times you saved me from the craziest dates, the way you dropped everything for me all the time, I thought wow, whoever ends up with him is going to be the luckiest person alive. Secretly I wanted it to be me, you know? But we were always affectionate, so I didn’t think you saw us as anything other than best friends until recently. I think deep down, I always loved you too. Since you stood up for me when I was being bullied and you were my only friend for the longest time. If someone were to ask me what you are to me, I’d say with full confidence, ‘You are my voice.’ I used to have no confidence and feel unworthy of being loved by anyone, but you taught me otherwise, so thank you, Mark. For everything.”
Mark is in tears now, eyes shining with the tears threatening to spill over like a dam about to burst. “Injunie…”