3rd month
"Cut!"
I pull away from the actor, looking at the director.
"Let's go on a lunch break. We'll continue after!" the director announces.
"Good work," Eunwoo says, a smile playing on his lips.
I bow, "thank you. You did great," I tell him.
We both amble to the shelter where our belongings were located at. I grabbed my phone before rushing into the van. My manager had bought me lunch, he had left it in the van. I didn't feel like interacting with everyone else, so I decided to eat in the van alone.
When I enter the van, my manager had turn on the A/C beforehand, so it was a nice cooling temperature once I went inside. It's already April, the weather is getting warmer everyday.
My manager had pulled up a separation wall between the driver's seat and the backseat. so that I can get my own privacy.
I open the box of food, putting it on the table in front of me. I fished out my phone from my bag, face timing someone. After waiting for a few minutes, the boy finally picks up his phone.
"Hey baby," Mark groans, voice raspy and deep.
"Hey- were you asleep?" I ask, resting my phone against the bottled water so I don't have to hold it.
The screen was dark, I could barely make out his face.
He grunts, "yeah, but I think I need to get up soon anyways," Mark says. I hear him fumbling with something before the room was filled with bright light.
Mark was adorable when he wakes up. His hair is always a mess, his eyes and cheeks were puffy and his lips were always pouting. I took notice of the stubble growing on his chin.
"I'm sorry for waking you up," I apologize, taking a spoonful of rice, "are you guys having rehearsal today?"
He nods, "I'm gonna go shower in an hour."
I hum, "you're in Paris right?" I ask.
Mark was starting to get used to the bright light, his eyes were wide open by now.
"Yeah, I just arrived yesterday morning," he says, "we spent the whole day walking around. I even got you something."
My eyes widen, "what did you get me? Can I see it?"
He smiles, shaking his head, "you'll know when I see you babe."
I roll my eyes, taking another bite, "what's your schedule today?" I ask, watching Mark as he lays on his side, an arm under his head.
He looks away, "rehearsal, then we have a few hours of doing whatever we want, then it's concert, then we go to London."
I nod. The both of us continue to talk to each other for the next hour until I need to leave again for filming.
It has been about 3 months since Mark left for tour. We made sure to call often, not everyday though, since I am aware of how busy Mark can get. Timezone isn't helping either. It was hard for the first month, not being used to having Mark being away from me. But after a while, I started to get the hang of it.
It all happened very fast, really. I was crying almost every night, because of multiple reasons.
1. I had to leave my members because of the whole dating thing with Mark.
If I had to choose, it might've been the hardest moment of my life. I had spent most of my time with the girls, and leaving them was the hardest decision I had ever made. I felt like a burden whenever I was with them, and when Chaewon told me about their true feelings, I lost it.
The members, except for Chaewon, had texted me the day after the news had come out. They told me to change my mind, and that it isn't too late for me to go back, or how they missed me. But I was amendment with my decision.
2. Mark had to leave for tour
Mark was by my side throughout, but that didn't last for long because he had to leave for tour. He was a bit reluctant to leave me alone, but I had lied, telling him that I would be fine. The moment Mark left, I cried every night for the next few weeks.
It didn't go unnoticed by Mark, he gave me advice, telling me to go step outside, go for a walk, just... leave the house. I took his advice one day and decided to spend a day to myself. I went shopping, ate good food and did many other things that I liked. By the end of the day, I felt relieved, like a heavy weight had been lifted off my back.
I felt better from then on, I decided to distract myself with work, so I had picked up a new project with Eunwoo from Astro.
"I have to go," I tell Mark, "I'll talk to you soon?"
Mark sends a sweet smile, "okay, babe. I love you."
"I love you more," I tell him before ending the call.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
4th month
A smile was stuck on my face as I watch Mark talk about his day. Today, he was in a Canada. It was his 2nd day there, but he had done more things than I had done in a week. He was talking about how he went to visit his friends, and his old school and a few of his teachers. Tomorrow he was planning on visiting his high school and eat out with a few of his friends.
I loved listening to my boyfriend talk. His voice was so comforting and raspy. Especially when it was about the things he loves.
"How long are you staying there?" I ask.
Since it was very well known that Mark was born and raised mostly in Canada, the staff made an exception for them to stay a little longer so Mark could linger around a little bit. It was also technically, a resting stop for everyone else.
"About 5 days, I think?" he answers, "and then we're going back to the states."
I nod, "New York?"
I watch as Mark nods, "yeah, New York for 3 days, then we go to Chicago."
"You must be happy, finally being able to see your friends," I tease.
Mark was laying on his side, an arm under his head while his free hand was holding his phone as he looks at me through his phone.
Mark's grin grew wider, "I seriously missed them so much," he whines. "I even told them about you, and they all want to meet you."
I turn red at his words, "shut up, you're annoying."
Mark chuckles at her words, he turns, laying on his back this time. "Do you want to watch a movie?"
It was a Friday for me but Thursday for Mark. It was past 1AM here, but I insisted on calling Mark before I go to bed. Furthermore, my sleep schedule had been fucked from the start since I had been calling him every now and then.
Fridays were movie nights. We were both busy with work, but we try to make time for each other by having movie nights. Mark was the one who suggested it and I thought it was a good idea.
"Okay, but just one though, because I wanna go to bed," I tell him, pulling out my laptop, turning on my Netflix account to pick a movie.
Mark agrees, as he grabs his laptop, turning on a website where we can watch a movie at the same time.
5th month
It was starting to get dreading. My heart felt heavy and I felt like I had no motivation left in me. I was almost always alone, I barely talk to Mark anymore because of timezone and things were just starting to go downhill.
I trudged into my home, throwing my bag on the couch before climbing into bed. I didn't bother changing- I don't have the energy to do so. I pull the duvet over my body, laying in bed as I watched the dark sky from the window.
The lights were off, the bright moon and the city lights were the only thing illuminating my room. It was quiet- just how I like it.
A heavy sigh leaves my lips.
I suddenly felt my phone vibrate against my waist. As much as I don't want to talk to anyone right now, it could be something important. I reach out for my phone, checking who was calling me.
lion mark is facetiming...
I bit my lip, my thumb hovering the green button. I miss him so much, it would only hurt me more if I ignored his call. I press the green button, waiting for the screen to load. It took my phone a few seconds before I see Mark grinning.
His room was bright, probably because it was morning wherever he was at. I assume that he was at work because he had a full face of make up, and his hair was styled in a sleek look.
"Babe, what took you so long to answer my call?" Mark asks, but he didn't let me answer because he had already flipped the camera to show me the view from wherever he was in. "Look at the view~" he trails off.
The sky was a bright blue colour. I could only see the bright buildings that were all different in height and colour.
"That's really pretty, Mark," I sigh.
Mark turns the camera back to his face, "are you okay? Why can't I see you?"
My lips turn into a straight line as I tried to hold back my tears. It has been a while since someone asked about me. And now that I'm hearing it, it was making me emotional.
"I was asleep when you called," I lied, but my voice was shaky.
I could hear the boys yelling from somewhere.
"Babe, are you okay?" Mark looked worried, it made me feel bad that I was making him worried.
My throat was starting to close up, it was hard for me to say something. I let out a choked sob as the tears started pouring down my cheeks.
"Yo, shit, hold on," I hear him say.
With blurry vision, I watch Mark rush off to somewhere, I could barely see his face- only the ceiling. I hear a small 'click' before he shows me his face again.
"Babe, why are you crying? what's going on?" he rambles, "did something happen at work?"
I pulled myself together to answer him, "it's just getting hard," I say incoherently, but Mark understood me. "I just- I feel so alone. You're not here with me, and I don't have the members with me. I have no one, Mark."
"What are you saying?"
I sniffle, "don't you think this is hard?" I ask, "I hardly talk to you, and it's not helping not seeing you for 5 months straight."
"Wait- what, no," Mark shakes his head, "baby, I know this is hard, and I would do anything to go back home and be with you right now," he starts, "but this is just another obstacle we have to go through, babe."
A sob comes out of me.
If Mark and I broke up, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.
"One more month, baby," Mark smiles, "we can do it."
I nodded, but I knew he could barely make out my face from the dark room. "Okay."
Mark's right. This was going to happen someday, somehow. It was definitely something that we had to go through no matter what.
Mark smiles, "We'll call everyday from now on, okay?"
I reach out and grab a tissue, dabbing my tears, "you're crazy," I choked out, "you're way busier than I am, calling every single day isn't going to work."
"I'll work it out for you," Mark smirks.
I roll my eyes, "Mark, you're so annoying."
6th month
It's comfortable silence between Mark and I.
I had my phone resting against a pile of books on the table, a movie playing on the television. Mark was seen writing something on screen. He would take a few pauses here and there.
The movie was starting to get boring, the acting was absolutely terrible, and the plot, god, don't get me started on it. I dart my eyes to my phone, where Mark was immersed in writing something.
"What are you writing?"
Mark jolts slightly at the sound of my voice, making me smile.
He shakes his head, "just a song,"
My eyes widen, grabbing my phone off the table, "can I hear it?" Mark bites his lip anxiously and I frown, "don't you want me to hear it?"
His eyebrows furrow, "it's not that... I just don't think it's that good yet."
I didn't want to push him so I just shrugged. I laid down on my couch, watching Mark stressfully stare at the piece of paper. I had to squint to notice a few lines scribbled over the words.
Mark suddenly looks up at me, "I'll show you one that I'm proud of, give me a minute," Mark mumbles, standing up from his chair, rushing off camera.
He comes back a few minutes later with a piece of paper in one hand, and a guitar in the other.
"I wrote this a while ago, when we were calling, remember?"
I tried to recall a time about a month ago where I was in a similar position. My mouth parts when I remember vividly. Mark couldn't sleep when he was in London and had facetimed me while I was doing some work. We barely talked that day, I was busy with work and he was immersed with song writing.
Mark starts by strumming the guitar a few times. He suddenly stops, smiling sheepishly at me.
"I'm kinda shy now," Mark giggles.
I roll my eyes, "why would you? I'm sure it sounds great, babe."
He takes a deep breathe, strumming a few times as warm up before a beautiful melody starts playing.
"I can hear you breathing,
because we're so close like this,
everything is so transparent,
as if time has stopped, yeah." he sings.
My heart soften at the lyrics. Never in my life had anyone write a song about me. And hearing it from someone I love for the very first time, made it even more special than it already is.
"In this place,
just you and me,
outside all blurry,
my focus clear as day 2.0 2.0
warm and cozy,
covering us from all the crazy," Mark raps.
I had a smile plastered on my lips when he was done.
"You're so good, Mark. Why were you nervous for?"
"Do you really?" he smiles, he scratches his head, "Babe, you won't believe me, but every time when we're on call, I always end up getting inspiration for songs."
I roll my eyes, but I couldn't lie- what he said made my heart flutter, "don't be dramatic."
"I'm serious!" he claims, putting his guitar on the floor, "anyway, I can't wait to see you," he squeals cutely, "6 months felt like 6 years," he shakes his head.
"when are you coming back?"
Mark thinks for a while, "June 15th," he tells me.
I nod, "you'll probably be tired that day, we can meet a few days after,"
Mark frowns, "what? No, I'll go straight to your place once I'm there. I'll sleep at your place."
"Who said you could come here?" I teased.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
a/n 2 more chapters!!!!!!!!!!!!!