4 o'clock / markoeun

#20

“mhm? yeah, hyung. ..okay. will keep that in mind. i'll be back by six.. just gotta work on this choreography and this one verse. by six! i promise. it's four now, i won't even be here that long. hyung. i'll hide my dirty clothes so you can't do the laundry. oh, you'll make me do the housework? ..i need backup for this... okay, fine, but please, just this one time? please? i'll.. i don't know, i'll even make donghyuck sleep on time? before the clock hits 2. that's a yes? thank god. see you soon, hyung. by six, yes. goodnight. aggghh. love you too..”

the phone call energized him yet somehow, also managed to drain all of his leftover energy. with sagging eyebags, mark shut the door close behind him – his hand almost slipping and knocking his head on the doorknob because that's how tired he was – and proceeded to the centre of the practice room to continue 'practicing' their new choreography.

jokes on everyone, he needed some time to himself.

as he found a place to set his backpack down on, the legs on the floor almost went unnoticed. if mark hadn't noticed the pair of skinny legs on the floor, (he was facing down) he could've just tripped right over and faceplant.

(he could see a good side to that, though. he could fall straight asleep.)

mark raised his head to see a figure leaning against the mirrors of the practice room. judging by its looks, it was a female, but she had her hair covering her face. the girl was asleep with her head lowering down. mark imagined the neck pain that would come afterwards.

his legs dragged him to the figure without even realizing it. it must be the tiredness, he thought, as he squatted down and tilted his face to look at the female's face. mark was in awe. a wave of familiarity washed over him as he swept her bangs aside clearly, showing shiny cheeks.

stained with dried tears.

koeun's eyes fluttered open slowly as it met mark's. both pair of eyes were red: a pair caused by sadness and pure despair, another caused by exhaustion. the two friends met each other's eyes and held the eye contact, they've got so much to say to each other but so little time, and their minds were absolute messes.

a fresh tear trickled down koeun's cheek, and mark felt a piece of him break.

"hey, eun-ah.." he sat beside her cautiously and held her face in his hands as if it was very fragile, and met her eyes once again. it was shining under the bright studio lights, glowing even, but it was from sadness. mark held himself back from gritting his teeth and wiped her tears away with his thumb, managing a weak smile. "it's only you and me here.. why are you crying?"

mark couldn't even fathom what koeun was trying to squeeze in between her sobs. it was heartbreaking, it was mark's first time seeing koeun breaking down before him in quite a while, and he wanted to give her all of the comfort and support he could but he froze. he froze as his mind registered her sadness, the bitterness, the longing for something that feels like it's never coming, and everything else that was the reason behind koeun's tears. mark was still cupping koeun's cheek when a tear rolled down his cheek without his knowledge.

"you're crying too.." koeun mumbled in between her sobbings, forcing a smile at mark. mark felt his heart crushing into more pieces as he saw the bitter smile. "you shouldn't cry, mark. your puffy eyes won't be good for your schedules tomorrow."

mark wiped his own tears away with his fist, with a lot of things running through his mind. he wanted to make sure koeun was okay, but how could he save someone else when he can't even same himself? he braced himself to look at koeun again, who managed to calm down, sniffling a few times while looking at the floor blankly.

"why were you crying?" he realized that they were sitting with each other, so close that their shoulders and thighs touch. it was enough to make mark feel better, plus the fact that koeun didn't pull away. "i didn't expect to see you here.."

"of course not." there came the bitter smile from koeun again, as she drew random patterns on the floor absently. mark watched. "you've always came here when your trainer didn't assign you guys to use another practice room. i've known you long enough, mark."

and i've been with you long enough, too.

"i.. our trainer refused to hand me my phone back." koeun's finger stopped. her eyes furrowed, thinking back of the horrible things her trainer had said to her over the past few days. koeun mentally cursed herself as she felt another wave of tears coming. "i don't know. i ex-explained to her already! but.. she doesn't believe me." she clenched her fist, so hard that it turned white almost instantly. mark wanted to give her a hug. "sh-she doesn't believe me.... my mom will worry so much. what will i tell her? that my trainer thinks i'm trying to stalk one of my best friends? what-what about my family..?" she broke down again, sobs echoing throughout the empty practice room.

and mark pulled her into a warm hug.

"i-i don't get it!" koeun's voice cracked. there was frustration, desperation, anger and sadness evident in her voice. "i don't get it... yiyang and ningning are at china, hina and lami are busy with schoolwork that even our practice session had to be cut short, and herin.. herin, she's been avoiding me lately! why? i wonder why.. what did i do wrong, mark? maybe i don't even deserve the title koleader. maybe herin is gonna leave me too. i have... i have no one else, mark. not even my family.."

"you have me," mark mumbled into her hair as he pulled her closer, hoping that she felt his sincerity. "even if we are breathing different air as each other, under different skies, miles away from each other. you have me, and i have you, no? if you've managed to hold on up until now, why are you thinking of letting go now?"

mark still knew koeun well. he knew that she was on the verge of breaking apart. he was so right about everything that it triggered more tears.

"even when the skies are falling onto us and the ground is crumbling around our feet," mark pulled away and maintained eye contact with koeun, a slightest hint of a smile on his face. "we still have each other, okay?"

--

(a/n)

did any of you cry reading this? it was such a mess but i really wanted to update and not leave it on hold like my other stories smh, i hope you guys liked this chapter!!!!

it's 12 midnight and i honestly feel like this storyline is heading for another way instead for the original way that i wanted