Jinyoung dragged the luggage out of the room, first, and then locked the door. He made his way to the stairs but stopped when he heard Mark and Seonhwa talking downstairs.
He cursed under his breath; usually Mark would already be on the way to work, by now. It would be difficult to leave the house if Mark was still here. But time was ticking away and his train left in an hour. He couldn't just waste his time here.
As he had expected, once he made it to the foot of the stairs, both Mark's and Seonhwa's eyes turned to him.
"Where're you going?" Mark asked, with a slight frown on his face.
Seonhwa hurried to him and offered to carry the luggage. He handed it to her and continued his way to the main door.
The sound of long strides behind him was heard and in just a heartbeat, his wrist was grabbed and he was turned around.
"I asked you where you're going, Jinyoung. You can't go anywhere. You've barely recovered."
Jinyoung rolled his eyes, "I'm as good as you're, now, Mark. Either you let me go or I'm going to miss the train."
Mark tightened his grip on Jinyoung's hand, "Not until you tell me where exactly you're going."
"Naksan."
"How many days?"
"A week, maybe. Not sure. Let go of me now. I don't have time for you."
For a moment, Mark looked troubled and then heaved a sigh, "I don't want you to go, Jinyoung. Last time, you left like that, we almost lost you. I won't be able to bear it if something similar happens to you again."
"That's pathetic. Are you saying that I can't take any more trips for the rest of my life? Besides, it's not that far from Seoul. I can't just stay caged inside the house everyday."
"Let me accompany you then. I'll take a leave of absence from the company. There I'll stay with you as long as you want."
Jinyoung hissed, while wriggling his wrist out of Mark's grasp. "You can't follow me. The point is I want to be away from you. I need some time away from all of this. And last time, I planned to visit a place that I could relax but I couldn't. I'm not going to miss the chance this time."
"You were nearly killed last time!" Mark's eyes were demanding Jinyoung to stay.
"You're just overworrying. I'm going by train and Daewon's nowhere to harm me. When I tell you I want to go somewhere, it's because I really want to. I'm still going to find a way to even if you stop me now."
Jinyoung's lips were pressed firm with determination and Mark could do nothing but let go of him.
"At least, promise me that you'll come back, all safe and sound. And return here as soon as possible. My mind won't be settled until you're back."
"I'll."
Jinyoung took a final glance at him and then led Seonhwa to the outside.
It would do him good, Jinyoung had reminded himself, all the way to the station. But once he was seated inside the train and it was on the verge of leaving the station, a sense of loneliness clinged to him.
He had claimed that he needed time for his thoughts; but he did not even know, himself, what exactly he was giving thought to. All he could feel was emptiness.
It took more than three hours. The hotel he headed for, was really near the beach and a nice, sophisticated one.
His room had already been reserved and a bellboy helped him to the room. Just as it costed a lot, Jinyoung found that the window there overlooked the beach.
From the eighth floor, people on the beach were only tiny spots moving there. Suddenly, he longed for Mark; if only they had been together here, he thought he might be enjoying this trip a lot more. Just like those people there.
For the whole day, he confined himself to his room, wrapping the sheets around himself and sinking further into the bed. He felt like he was all alone here - all away from the humanity. Sometimes, he seemed to be hearing Mark's words, and often, Mark, himself, popped up in his head, challenging him if he really could live without him.
In the evening, however, Jinyoung changed into a t-shirt and pants, and headed out for the beach. There seemed to be even more people now than when he had looked at it from the window.
He appreciated the fresh air, the damp sand under his sandals, and the rambling of the waves. The sight and noise of the people around made him feel a little better, as if their joy was spreading to him.
Placing his hands inside the pant pockets, he stood facing the sea. Not far away from him was a young couple teasingly fighting in the water.
He could even hear their screams and laughters; he couldn't help but envy them. He imagined, if only it were him and Mark in their place.
On his left side a little far from him was a girl of his age lying on her back on the sand. Her eyes were on a man, apparently her boyfriend, who was coming to her.
Just when he was looking at the sight, the man's face turned to Mark's. Mark was smiling dazzlingly at him and not going to her, but coming to him.
Jinyoung shook his head, and when his eyes fell on the man again, he was already beside the girl, talking to her.
More misery grew in him as he realised he had been probably daydreaming. He missed Mark. He wondered if he was on Mark's mind now, like he was on his.
