a/n
hey lads, sorry it's been a while... i was definitely putting off this scene bc .... IM BAD AT WRITING DRAMA
so it took a while
butttttt it's here now :)
the passageways into wingate, just as la had, looked exactly the same, aside from maybe a few new graffiti tags sprawled across the wall. the same tangy smell hung thick in the air, the soles of his shoes stuck to the cobblestones in the exact same manner, and every twist and turn was still memorized in the back of his mind.
this familiarity, however, did absolutely nothing to calm mark's jostling nerves.
there was something so obviously wrong, and from what he had gathered from the messages from his friends, it sounded like it had something to do with jinyoung. that thought alone was enough to send spiralling worry into the pit of his stomach.
what had jinyoung done?
all mark had wanted was to be happy, would that be impossible now?
he didn't know, and would have no way of knowing until he made it to the courtyard.
dread.
it settled like a fog behind the backs of his eyes, and he started to wish he could turn around and walk away. but, deep down, he knew he couldn't.
he couldn't walk away from his home.
that didn't stop his hands from shaking as that familiar iron gate came into view, the letters still rusty and rough, the g still lost somewhere in the dust below.
immediately, he noticed jackson through the gate, who was leaning against the wall of his apartment block, smoking a cigarette. the curling grey smoke dangled gently in the frozen morning air, so calm, so opposite to the way mark's insides were twisting.
it didn't take jackson's wandering eyes long to find him, they flitted lazily to where mark was standing below the gate almost as soon as mark's feet came to a standstill. at first, jackson didn't seem to really notice, probably lost in whatever was making him look so pensive. but then the cogs turned in his brain, and he looked again to mark, this time with a shocked, dazed expression.
the cigarette fell from his mouth.
at once, jackson rushed over, a flurry of hasty movements and surprise.
"mark?!" he said, his voice travelling across the empty courtyard, "you're back?"
mark nodded, unsure of what to say, expecting jackson to give him a quick nod, or smile a little uncomfortably at him. instead, he was pulled into a bear hug, pushed into the smoky smell, and warmth of jackson's shoulder.
"i can't believe it." the man spoke in his gruff voice, happiness evident.
perked up a little by jackson's sudden affection, mark smiled warmly, "me neither! i'm so glad to be back home."
and then jackson's face fell.
"oh fucking shit."
mark at once remembered his text messages, and jinyoung.
"what? i read your message, something's wrong with jinyoung? is he ok?" his words were fast and nimble, and as he spoke jackson only seemed to look more and more uncomfortable.
"he's fine, yeah. let's just go find the others, we can talk then."
no time was wasted, jackson was already walking away, paranoid eyes scanning the courtyard as they always did. mark followed, mind worrying at a mile a minute.
jinyoung was dead.
no, he was ill with an incurable disease
no, he had got attacked by a blue
no, he had stopped loving mark.
no no no he was definitely dead.
shit. jinyoung was dead.
"we're here."
mark had hardly noticed his own feet moving, and was surprised when jackson shook his shoulders gently. it pulled him suddenly from his thoughts, leaving him dazed for a few seconds. but when the haze drained away from his glassed out eyes, he knew exactly where they were.
bambam's apartment.
the door to the apartment stood proudly in front of them, red paint barely chipped, number marking it as 26 shiny and gold. jackson grimaced as he knocked quietly on the door, not able to look at mark without flinching.
"is he dead?" mark asked, and jackson shook his head.
"i wish he was."
so if he wasn't dead what could've happened? it didn't make sense to mark, why had everyone been so concerned over text if jinyoung was alive? they had seemed really concerned, extreme.
obviously he had done something to piss off jackson, and that thought was something mark did not care to consider. even yugyeom had seemed annoyed over text.
after a few awkward seconds in which mark couldn't think of anything to say and jackson mellowed in the extremity of his words, bambam opened the door.
"YUGYEOM! ITS MARK!" he screamed immediately and mark managed to form a small smile, when really he wanted to grab bambam by the shoulders and demand answers.
he stood still, toes pressed against the doorway as the sounds of yugyeom standing up and running to the door grew louder.
yugyeom eyes widened, breathless in excitement and his sign language was done in such a hurry that mark barely caught what he had said.
damn it, we thought you were dead!
"i can't believe it!!" bambam grinned, pulling mark close, "we really, really thought we'd never see you again."
jackson stood in stony silence, watching as mark then proceeded to hug yugyeom, exchanging a quick greeting in sign language.
"we need to tell him, bam." the man said, once everyone had calmed down, and the shining grin began to fade from bambam.
yugyeom nodded, as mark noticed just how quickly the mood soured. the happiness was all but drained away, mark's arrival already forgotten, and that blissful reunion had already faded away.
the three people in front of mark exchanged deep glances, and painful sighs as they slowly led mark into the apartment. bambam shut the door behind them and turned to mark with an expression so horrible that mark felt almost physically sick.
there was no chance of slowing his brain down, it was spiralling out of control, imagining all the awful things jinyoung could've done.
it was funny, he would think, after he found out the truth, that not once did he even consider what had actually happened. trust. his trust in jinyoung had failed him.
"listen..." bambam began, trying to tread lightly, knowing just how hurt mark would be, "a lot happened while you were away.. with park.. he ... i-.... i don't really-"
"he ran away with jaebeom."
jackson's blunt remark felt like a joke at first. mark had hoped it was a joke. but then he saw how yugyeom's eyes flooded with tears, and how bambam flinched away- eyes trained on the floor, hands shaking.
"w-wha-"
bambam rushed to him, "are you okay?"
"i-i don't understand... jaebeom.. he- where is he?"
mark was blank. his mind was blank.
it had shut off, he couldn't think, he couldn't breathe.
everything was fuzzy.
jinyoung was gone.
was jinyoung really gone?
his throat closed up, and he could taste the metallic tang of blood in the back of his mouth.
what was happening?
what was happening?
WHAT WAS HAPPENING?
"we don't know where he is." jackson's voice cut through the fog, though they only caused more pain.
it tore at the edges of his heart.
jinyoung washed over him.
like a tsunami.
he drowned in him, in the agony of losing him.
though it hadn't really sunk in yet.
it felt like a sick dream, and soon he would wake up in his bed panting.
and jinyoung would be next to him....
jinyoung.....
"wh-what happened?"
the words barely found their feet before fading away in the air, so weak, so feeble.
bambam clutched his hand gently.
"it's a lot." he whispered, stroking the edges of mark's knuckles, "i think... we should give it a second."
jackson sighed, "let him down slowly? that's very bambam..."
the words were distant.
"look jackson- he's barely even conscious. just give him a sec."
"we need to get it out of the way, i don't know how much longer i can be here." jackson's voice was raising in volume, ringing in mark's head. the sound hurt.
it was bambam's turn to sigh, "please. jackson we talked about this, please don't leave us.. just because park did..."
"once we tell mark what happened, i'm leaving. that's final bambam."
things faded out more, all mark could see was a dull blur of movement as bambam shoved jackson against a wall.
"and what about us? huh? we're family!"
everything hurt.
"it's over. i'm done."
jackson's shadow opened the door, and left with a slam and a shout of, "don't come looking for me!!"
"I FUCKING WON'T!"
what was going on?!
woah my writing skills are rusty