777 Ways

CHAPTER 85 -MANUS IN MANU

"Jinyoung said you had a fever. Are you feeling okay now?" Bambam asked worriedly, as he touched the older's forehead. He sighed in relief when he confirmed that his best friend wasn't as warm as he expected. Jinyoung was still attached to the American's hips while the others surrounded them, and waited for Mark's answer. They had millions of questions to ask him, but they were too nervous to voice all of them at once. Except for the writer. He was neither nervous nor inquisitive. He was content to have his lover in his arms again and nothing could take that feeling of fullness away from him. The fact that Mark was in that living room, even though all the odds led everyone to assume that he would vanish one more time, was a victory. Mark wasn't lying when he told him that he had had enough of running away. Jinyoung was grateful for his sincerity. He felt like his lover was finally ready to commit for real. The American chose to stay and face whatever life threw at them as a team. He had put their relationship first instead of walking away from it, and that was the only thing that mattered at that moment.

"Yeah, I'm much better now. Sorry for worrying you guys. I was just sweating out an unpleasant fever." Mark gave them a small smile, and wrapped an arm around the shoulder of a delighted Jinyoung.

"Hyung, my cousin said you were as sick as a dog! How could you leave without telling us where you were going? You scared us all!" Yugyeom exclaimed, ignoring the glaring lie that came out of the American's mouth.

"It was reckless of you to take off so suddenly, but I guess we're used to that already. Where have you been by the way?" Jaebeom finally spoke, giving the older a suspicious stare.

"Nowhere in particular. I just went for a walk, to clear my head." The American replied calmly. Everyone exchanged knowing looks.

"Have you met any acquaintances during your walk?" The editor pressed with a frown. Mark gave him a strange smirk. It was clear to the others that he wouldn't discuss whatever happened between him and Chan-wook. No one expected him to confess a crime in the middle of Jinyoung's living room.

"I might have. But the fever must have made me forget all about it." The American replied, and silence fell. No one dared to press the issue any further. Jinyoung's hold on him tightened, as if he wanted to inform his lover that wherever he had gone, and whatever he had done, made no difference to him.

"It's a pity your fever made you forget about giving us a call too. Jinyoung wasn't the only one freaking out here." Bambam fired at his best friend. The latter made a face at him.

"Well, I do have to agree with Bam on this one." Jackson commented, trying not to sound too judgemental.

"Come on, guys. He already said he's sorry. Just give your American hyung a break, will you?" Youngjae commented, and patted Mark on the back. "I'm glad you're safe and sound. We all know you're invincible, but you still should get some more rest. Let Jin look after you. It's not so bad to let yourself be taken care of." The publicist turned to his husband and announced, "We're leaving, Beom. All is well now. Let's give the couple some space."

Jaebeom opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it again, and simply nodded to Youngjae. He stared at Mark and Jinyoung for a long second and sighed. He was oscillating between worrying about them, or simply being envious of their bond. The couple's complicity had no limits. Jinyoung didn't seem to just tolerate Mark's wayward ways, he approved it. The Bonnie and Clyde vibe they gave off was uneasily fascinating. He couldn't help but remember that the infamous Bonnie Parker was a poet, who even wrote some lines about how the man of her life drove her to a life of crime. Jaebeom hated his own analogy, and just hoped that his best friend's integrity wasn't completely warped by his 'ex-criminal lover'. After the writer met Mark in America, he definitely wasn't the same. And Bambam kept saying that Mark also had changed a lot since Jinyoung entered in their lives. The American seemed to have absorbed a portion of his lover's stability, and the author had eventually swallowed a chunk of his insanity. They had become a perfect messy mixture of something that couldn't be split anymore. Mark being there was a proof of that. He'd rather risk being accused of a crime and suffer the consequences of his actions than leaving again. Jaebeom had the feeling that no matter what happened from that moment on, Mark would never choose the prudent alternative of running away for a third time. The writer had at last succeeded in cementing Mark by his side. The editor didn't feel like he was in a position to criticize them, he didn't even know how. None of them would welcome his opinion anyway. There was some sort of unconditional level of acceptance between those two that was almost scary from his point of view. Jaebeom was sure that even he and his husband hadn't reached that level yet. Mark had just hurt someone pretty bad, and Jinyoung didn't look even a little fazed about it. The fact that the injured individual was Jinyoung's father, and the author hadn't even confronted the American about it, made the situation even more unsettling.