Jinyoung and Jackson sat in the crowd with their arms crossed, looking pissed. They were at Mark's graduation. They were happy for him, but their boyfriend had made the choice to not tell them where he was going to go for college, and they were going to have to find out when it was announced.
That was the literal worst way possible to do it. But, Mark was too scared so he thought it would be best.
The ceremony finally started, and since Mark's last name was Tuan, he was towards the end in the lineup. Jinyoung and Jackson sat nervously through everyone else, cheering halfheartedly when they announced one of their friends or someone they knew.
Finally, it got to the T's. Jinyoung took a deep breath. After a few names, it was Mark's turn.
The announcer called his name and he went up to the stage to get his diploma. Then, he went on the whole spiel about Mark's accomplishments and how the school was going to miss him. "Mark also will be going to an extremely good college!" he continued. "He has chosen to go to... UCLA!"
Jinyoung and Jackson just stared at each other as the announcer continued about how he was going out of the country and how it was such a great opportunity. Meanwhile, Mark was standing there looking slightly uncomfortable. He tried to catch the eyes of his boyfriends, but they were looking at each other with blank expressions.
The rest of the ceremony kind of went by in a blur, until it was finally the after party. Jinyoung and Jackson were trying to avoid Mark, as they thought he was going to try and find them. But Mark was doing the same things, avoiding his boyfriends thinking they were going to look for him.
Mark went to the bathrooms to hide out, only to find the other two there. He looked at them with a shocked expression and then slowly walked toward them and waved. They awkwardly waved back.
"So... UCLA huh?" Jinyoung started. He tried his best to look happy.
"Yeahhh," Mark rubbed the back of his head. "I just kind of went with my heart? I don't know."
"No, it's fine, you don't have to try to explain," Jackson said. He rubbed his shoulder. "We understand."
Mark forced a smile. "We'll make it work, okay?" He pulled them in for a tight hug. "We will," he whispered.
Jinyoung's eyes started to water so he bit his lip to keep them in. When they pulled away, they all just stared and nodded at each other.
"Let's go back out?" Mark suggested.
They nodded. Might as well try to have fun.
Once they got back, they were swarmed with classmates and friends of Mark who were wishing him well since this was likely the last time they would see him for a while. He was one of the only seniors going overseas for college. After they got through the swarm, BamBam, Yugyeom, Youngjae, and JB were there waiting for them.
The four of them just smiled sadly at them. They then went to Mark to clap him on the back and hug him. BamBam held him at arms length and said, "We're gonna miss you bud."
JB nodded. "You literally just go here too!"
He's right, Jinyoung thought. Mark had just joined them at the beginning of that school year. He guessed it wasn't that much time, but it had felt a lot longer. Mark hadn't even been in his life for a whole year.
And he was already going to leave. Jinyoung shook his head to try to get rid of the thought. He should be trying to lighten up. It wasn't working to well so far.
The rest of the night went relatively smoothly, they had as much fun as they could. Which was a fairly decent amount. They tried to forget about the bad stuff for a couple hours.
But once they got back to the apartment, everything came rushing back.
The seven of them sat around the living room with solemn expressions. "So when do you have to fly there?" Youngjae asked.
"Towards mid-July," Mark answered. That meant he had less than two months. Youngjae nodded and looked at his lap.
"Come on," Mark urged. "You guys are acting like you're never going to see me again. I'm going to visit a lot. You guys can come to California as well. And we can call and facetime and text... it's not going to be that bad." At least he hoped. He hadn't known any of them for very long, but they were his best friends. He sighed. He should try to focus on the fact that he would be seeing his old friends and his family in LA.
They all nodded, trying to believe his words.
"Let's try not to be sad, okay? I'm not leaving tomorrow."
And on that note, they all avoided the topic completely until it was time for the rest of them to go home. They just talked and messed around normally. Jackson had invited them all to sleep over, but they politely declined saying that the three of them should be together right now.
So, they said their goodbyes and headed to Jinyoung's room. Jinyoung sat in his chair and Mark opted for the bed, while Jackson decided to plop down on the floor.
"Let's not talk about it okay?" Mark asked. "We can worry about it another day. I'm tired."
Jinyoung nodded. Fair enough. He wasn't in the mood to talk about it either.
"Come sleep with me?" Mark mumbled into a pillow. Jackson chuckled. So the pair went on either side of their boyfriend pressed up against him. It had always been hard to fit all three of them on Jinyoung or Jackson's bed, but they always made it work.
A few moments later, Mark's slight snores could already be heard. Jinyoung and Jackson smiled at each other and reached over to turn off the lights. Jackson covered all three of them with the blanket and then joined his boyfriend in his slumber.
Jinyoung tried to sleep as well, but his mind was too full of thoughts. He tried to get rid of that by focusing on his breathing, but his head always wandered back.
After a few more minutes of this, he decided that sleep just wasn't going to happen right now. So, he slowly got up from bed, careful not to disturb his boyfriends. He crept out into the living room and threw on a hoodie before going out and taking the stairs down to the lobby. He didn't really have a destination, so he decided to sit on a bench outside of the building.
The stars were really visible tonight; there weren't many clouds. Jinyoung sighed as he stared at them, remembering the promise him and his boyfriends made that night at the river. He realized in that moment that everything was going to be okay.
He was about to go back inside when he felt someone sit down next to him.
"What are you doing up?" Jackson croaked, rubbing his eyes.
Jinyoung looked at him. "I could ask the same thing to you." Jackson just hummed. "I couldn't sleep."
Jackson nodded. "I figured. I heard you get up and very well thought about going straight back to sleep but thought that I should probably follow you." He grinned.
Jinyoung laughed. "I was just about to go back in."
Jackson slung his arm around his boyfriend. "Well, we could stay out here a little bit longer. It's nice out here."
Jinyoung nodded and then rested his head on the other's shoulder. "At least we're still going to have each other, right?"
Jackson looked at him questioningly. "Yeah... I mean we're still going to have Mark as well. He's just going to be in another country."
"I know, I know," he mumbled. He fiddled with his fingers. "I just haven't gotten used to the idea yet."
"I get that. He's not going to be gone forever, though. We'll be just fine."
Jinyoung knew it was true. He really did. He was probably just being dramatic.
The two stayed out there for a little bit longer until Jinyoung fell asleep against Jackson. Jackson carefully picked him up bridal style and carried him back up to their room. Good thing Mark was still asleep, he probably wouldn't have liked waking up and seeing his two boyfriends gone.
Jackson set him down back in his spot and recovered him with the blanket. He smiled as he looked at the two. They looked so peaceful when they were asleep.
He gave them each a kiss on the cheek and went to his own room to go to bed. Hopefully Jinyoung would sleep peacefully this time.
A/N: I haven't updated in a while so I haven't gotten the chance to say: BLACK LIVES MATTER. please do everything you can to help the cause, post on social media, donate if you can, talk to your loved ones about it. anything can help. if any of you are going to protests, please stay safe. hopefully this movement will actually change something in this fucked up country. as well as anywhere else around the world. I'm just glad something is finally happening.
also happy pride month to all my fellow lgbtq+ brothers and sisters and anyone in between :)) you are all welcome here and this is a safe space. I love you all!