Music to My Ears

20

I remember when this story went 6 months without any new reads. I considered giving up but kept going anyway, just hoping for a change. The fact that I have at least a few readers for each new chapter let's me know my work isn't invisible. Thanks for enjoying this story. Even if you don't read these notes on the top or truly like this story seeing people have looked at it makes me happy.

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"Jackson got a son?! Why didn't you mention this to me all those times we texted?"

Mark rubbed his ears, "Could you not yell please? It's rude for me to be so loud at someone else's house."

Jinyoung angrily took a deep breath, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Mark looked away, "It makes me uncomfortable."

Jinyoung rolled his eyes, "Imagine how I feel. Finding out that you two aren't living together anymore, and now Jackson is legally caring for a child." Mark was silent, which annoyed Jinyoung. "Will you just talk? You abandon your boyfriend and his son and decide to stay quiet?"

"I didn't abandon him. You did."

"What did you just say?"

"Abandon! You're the one who abandoned him! You don't care about him enough to actually talk or spend quality time. And if you do, it's at your own convenience. You don't MAKE time you look for EXTRA time and decide to toss it at us."

Jinyoung's nostrils were flaring, "I honestly thought you were a better person than this."

Mark glared at him, "So I'm the bad guy here?" Jinyoung hung up. Mark groaned, punching the floor and ground his teeth together. He'd been frustrated for several days. Constantly worry about everything around him and stressing himself more than he really should.

"You look like death."

"Thank you." Mark responded to Ha Yang, writing her order on the cup.

"Haven't seen you around Jackson's house lately."

"Okay. Your order will be ready in a few minutes." Mark said, purposefully dismissive. Ha Yang rolled her eyes, leaving with her son. The son asked about Zeyu, but Mark was vague and basically said the call Jackson. Mark had been drowning himself in work and distractions, not really caring to connect with those around him.

Ha Yang did annoy him, mostly about the cafe he worked at. She refused to go to the original cafe, saying that she had become addicted to his style. He ignored her, focusing just on his job. He realized that now that he wasn't at Jackson's house he was working for nothing.

Jungkook didn't ask him to pay and Jin was always in charge of the food. Jin would be leaving to his house eventually, so the money would go to food, but most of it was just sitting there. Mark had taken even more hours, never giving himself time to think about the problems at hand.

All of his money, all of his deposits, were sitting there and growing. No investments, just checks constantly being pumped in and nothing being taken out. Mark couldn't help think about how Jackson must be struggling. How he had to watch a kid and still find a way to make money. He had been inactive for a while, and traveling far wasn't something he could easily do anymore.

"You look less happy since I last saw you." Judging by the lack of jewels and less harsh vocabulary the woman before Mark was Ha Young.

"Would you like cream with that?" Ha Young got the hint, and didn't bring up Mark's mood again. Mark noticed her child. He realized he couldn't remember the names of the twins' kids. He felt a little bad about it, but they had only met once. Besides, if things continued the way they were knowing them wouldn't make a difference.