Soyoung paused, looking at him with an arched brow, "Are you gonna help or just stand there and stare at me?" He faintly smiled, placing the box on the countertop beside the sink.
"It's just you look very... different." He voiced out, waiting for her to turn and face him once she was done with cleansing while he grabbed some cotton and soaked it with the alcohol that poured out of the bottle.
"In a good way or?" Soyoung muttered, spinning on her toes to look him directly in the eye and lean herself on the counter. Mark smiled, cupping her jaw in his callous hand, and tilting her head for better access to the gash so he could examine it thoroughly, making sure it was a surface laceration.
"Good way of course." He mumbled as his eyes trailed up her neck to meet her honey-brown ones that stared back at him, "This is going to sting." He warned before lowering the ball of cotton down on her open cut and she slightly flinched, screwing her eyes shut as her hands raised to rest on his waist only to be met with his warm skin and she instantly retracted.
Mark hastily took note of her reaction, "You can hold onto the belt if you want to." A tug at the corner of his lips and she reluctantly placed her hand on his belt, fingers wrapped around loosely but when he swiped the cotton once again over the wound, her grip tightened, holding in the wince that almost escaped her lips.
"Done." Mark said resulting in her relaxing all her tautened muscles as he extended his arm to grasp the roll of white gauze, "How did the wound reopen? Cause of Xiao?" He asked while gesturing for her to look up.
Soyoung did as asked, gaze wandering across the ceiling, "No, I might have strained myself because it tore open before Xiaojun did anything." He hummed at her response, wrapping the thin, woven translucent fabric around her neck just enough to cover it from rubbing against her clothes and causing irritability.
Soyoung knew she was restricted from any physical exertion, especially of her shoulders and neck, but the rash decision she took to join Doyeon in the boxing ring just so she could distract herself from what had happened with Mark felt so childish and immature to her.
"All set." Mark thinly smiled before placing everything back in the box and discarding the bloodied cotton into the dustbin. He seized the box back into his palm and gave her a soft smile, ready to exit but her hand that hung by his belt tugged onto it making him come to a standstill.
"Mark, can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked, seeking permission and he looked over his shoulder, hands fidgeting with the lid of the box, "I'll take that as a yes." She muttered, turning to get a better look at him but his back was still facing her.
"Look, I know I neglected you all along and never let you explain yourself. I'm sorry about that- sorry about a lot of things in fact. I know you had your own reasons, but it was stupid of me to blame you for it." She began, and he turned to face her, placing the box down and shifting all his focus onto her.
"But I'm not gonna invalidate what I felt 'cause if I'm being honest, I don't think I can build the trust I had in you once again." She stated with sincerity, wanting to get rid of all misunderstandings between the two and his heart lurched in his chest to know he lost her trust, but it was not something he had unforeseen.
"I apologize for not letting you speak, it's wrong on my part for not even trying to hear you out. I just could not come to terms with my feelings. I did not bring this up to get the truth out of you but instead, I don't want any sort of explanation from you. I believe that you did so for a reason and what you felt was the best so please don't try to explain yourself. Some secrets are best left untold." She smiled, glad that she could confront him and voice out the thoughts that pestered her the past year.
"I totally understand if you decide to walk away and distance yourself from me. I know we can't get back to how we were, but a fresh start doesn't hurt, right?" Soyoung looked up into his black eyes, searching for any sort of answer in them and to her surprise, she could make out the corners crinkle as he smiled.
"Youn" Mark called out and her teeth sunk down on her lower lip, attempting to keep her emotions at bay at the nickname she missed hearing from him. She almost forgot how her heart would blunder in her chest and a flush of red dusted her cheeks every time he addressed her as Youn.
"Even if it isn't like before, just having you by my side is all I need" Mark uttered sounding so genuine that she felt her eyes turn glassy though no tear formed in her eye and nodded in agreement with his words, pleased to know their feelings were mutual.
Soyoung sucked in a sharp breath at a thought that popped up in her mind out of the blue, "Also, sorry about earlier..." She pointed at the bed, indicating when she had abruptly dashed out of the room without an explanation after the kiss.
Mark chuckled, pulling her by her hand as his hand snaked around her waist and rested at the small of her back, while his other hand lightly touched the butterfly locket that dangled on her chest as emotions bubbled in him.
"What did Doyeon say?" He asked, moving the strewn strands out of her face to tuck them behind her ear, and she sighed with a worrisome expression morphing on her face as she never let her gaze off him.
"About how we are buying time and that anything could happen to us... thinking about it makes me feel on the edge. I don't know how things will end- scratch that, I don't even know if I will survive tomorrow. But even with all that extensive uncertainty in my life, I most certainly knew just one thing." She stopped herself, eyes flickering in between his, wondering if she should continue but after she had let all her thoughts out to him, she did not want to conceal anything anymore.
"I asked myself what I'm most afraid of losing at this very moment of life and-"
His hand cupped her jaw in his calloused palm, tilting her head before his lips hastily pecked her.
"-it's you." Soyoung breathed out.
"I missed you too, beautiful." He chuckled in a hushed tone as he bent down to kiss her forehead and she took the opportunity to wrap her arms around his waist and buried herself in his embrace, feeling lively, euphoric, and nostalgic.
Her heart erratically pumped in her ribcage and dopamine coursed through her body making her feel elated and merry. To have him by her side, someone who made her feel at ease and safe, was all she needed. She had no control over the past or future, but she did not want to lose the present in her hands.
The only way to terminate the war of mixed emotions she ceaselessly battled in her mind was by making herself come to terms with her feelings and find comfort in her own headspace; exactly how Mark made her feel.
"Don't you dare leave me again" She threatened while resting her head on his chest, soon feeling his chin lower down on the crown of her head, his arms pulling her closer to disclose any gap as they swayed in each other's arms.
"Never." Uncontained smiles masked their faces and on cloud nine to restart their relationship but this time skipping the betrayal or heartbreak phase.
Even if it hurt every time she reminisced about the past, he was all she needed.
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THE SHIP IS SAILING AFTER A LOOOOONG WHILE Y'ALL 😫
