"OH WELL LOOK WHO FINALLY SHOWED UP!"
It was a cold Monday morning, breakfast being served by Jaemin like it always was, when Mark entered the kitchen.
Jaemin was fuming as he stood by the counter, spatula in hand and the other resting on his hip. Jisung feared, for a moment, that Mark was about to be hit by a flying spatula covered in egg. Jisung and Donghyuck looked between the two with apprehensive stares, Renjun, Jeno, and Chenle having already left for school and work.
The first thing that Jisung noticed about Mark was the coffee stain on his light brown sweater. Under the sweater was a white-collared shirt and the tops were paired with a complimentary pair of black slacks. He was wearing fluffy socks too -- they were purple.
"You've got a stain on your sweater," Jisung piped up and Mark's head whipped around to look at him through gold, circular-rimmed glasses. A green ceramic mug rested in the boy's ink covered hand and there was a well-used notebook under his unoccupied arm.
"Whose this?" Mark asked to the kitchen, Donghyuck and Jaemin collectively letting out groans of annoyance and shouts of disappointment.
"Park Jisung, Mark," Jaemin groaned through grit teeth and Donghyuck buried his head into his hands, stressfully running his fingers through his air, "He's been our new resident, although I can hardly call him as such since he's been here for over a month Mark."
"Oh a whole month, wow," Mark smiled at Jisung and gave him a thumbs-up gesture, "Uh, how are you liking it here? So far, I mean."
"Everyone's really nice," Jisung said politely, still a bit amused at the way Jaemin and Donghyuck were treating Mark and how nonchalant Mark was acting. All things aside, it was really great to finally meet the last resident of the house.
"Well that's nice, now Jaemin do you think you could make me a pot of coffee?" Mark inquired, sitting down next to Donghyuck on the diagonal side of the counter from Jisung, "I mean like a whole pot, maybe one I could like bring up to the attic with me? I really can't take too much of a break."
"Over my dead body will you be bringing one of my coffee pots into your room," Jaemin threatened, reaching over the counter to grab Mark's coffee mug. Jisung laughed a little at the joking threat, watching as Jaemin tossed the remains of Mark's old coffee into the sink and grab the new pot of coffee. He slid the new mug of fresh coffee over to Mark and the older smiled, taking a grateful sip of the coffee after muttering his thanks.
Feeling his curiosity get the better of him, Jisung leaned onto his arm, "What exactly do you do? I mean it must keep you so busy that you can't come down often." At the question both Jaemin and Donghyuck grumbled again.
But Mark seemed impassioned, holding the used notebook up. "I'm a writer!"
"Oh, you're a writer too?" Jisung blinked owlishly at Mark and the older's eyes widened, his mouth dropping open. That was something that he wasn't expecting.
"Too?" Mark said, his eyes twinkling with wonder and amazement, "Wow you're a writer as well? This is so great! Finally someone who can understand me," Mark smiled and placed the notebook onto the counter, everyone's attention suddenly turning to Jaemin as he began to dish out plates of breakfast food -- today was chocolate chip pancakes and pear slices.
"Yeah except Jisung doesn't lock himself in his room and isolate himself from society," Donghyuck pointed out but Mark either didn't hear him or dismissed the boy's comment almost immediately.
"Wow, I'd love to see what you're writing sometime," Jisung said in between bites of his food and Mark nodded enthusiastically. "We could even bounce ideas off of each other for our respective stories, or at least I would certainly appreciate that." Jisung laughed, feeling a bit lighter now that he had a person who he could talk to in order to work through his writer's blocks.
"Yeah It'd give you a good reason to get out of your room," Jaemin lectured, passing Jisung a fresh cup of tea, Jisung briefly wondering what homemade mix Jaemin had used when he hadn't been looking, "Speaking of, when's the last time either of you have been outside of this house?"
Jisung's eyes widened and he looked over at Mark who had the same guilty expression on his face. Then Jisung turned to give Jaemin a sheepish and apologetic look, the pink-haired boy looking less than amused. Jisung hadn't even realized that he hadn't been out of the house but locked in his room for the past week. But his head had been killing him, so he didn't have the energy to go outside.
Or at least that was his feeble excuse.
"Maybe Mark and Jisung could spend sometime together outside, it would do the both of them good," Donghyuck chimed in and Jaemin verbally agreed, Mark and Jisung giving each other a nod and a look as if to say 'that doesn't sound so bad'.
So, after breakfast was finished of course, Mark and Jisung grabbed their coats - the stain still on Mark's sweater - and headed out the front door, opting to walk along the sidewalk nearest to the beach.
It always seemed to be getting colder every single day, and Jisung felt himself grimace at the thought of how cold the winters were, especially being this close to the ocean. Jisung tugged his grey coat closer to his body and crossed his arms, hugging the fabric to his torso. Mark was wearing a black coat, a staple piece in anyone's fashion wardrobe.
"So, you've been getting headaches?" Mark started, Jisung a bit taken aback by the random question. Really, he could have started a much more generic way. The personality of a writer Jisung could only sigh internally.
"Yeah, I've been having them for the past week and nothing seems to be making them feel better," Jisung explained and Mark hummed, looking over at him curiously.
"Have you asked Jaemin for a herbal remedy yet? It always helps with my headaches," Mark said and Jisung shook his head, Mark frowning and looking a bit skeptical at the statement. "Huh, maybe just ask him later and give it another go. Everyone in the house goes to him when they're feeling crappy and we all usually feel better within 24 hours."
Jisung just sighed, "Yeah, I'll make sure to ask him later. But, moving on a bit, you're a writer? Tell me about that?" Jisung smiled, eager to know more about his job companion.
"Ah, well, I started as an investigative journalist out of college but realized that wasn't really the work I've wanted to do. You see, celebrities' are all like, boring if you really dig into their lives," Mark began to ramble on as they continued to walk alone the border of the sandy beach, "They're just like regular people and it didn't really interest me as much as I thought it would. So I saved up like a lot of my money and a year ago I became a freelance writer."
"Have you released anything yet?" Jisung was curious to ask and Mark shook his head 'no'.
"This will actually be my first novel, it's a mystery one you see, and in order to perfectly write it I needed to stay in that house without distraction, although-" Mark continued on, fixing a curious gaze on Jisung, "-I find the rule thing very strange."
"Oh yeah, me too," Jisung agreed, and he felt his phone resting in his pocket, the device containing the strange list of regulations to never be broken, "Hey, do you know what happens when someone breaks the rules?"
But to Jisung's dismay, Mark shook his head yet again. "I've asked that question to each and every single one of the residents and they all tell me the same thing. That-"
"-They don't want to worry you and that you'll just have to trust them," Jisung continued the sentence and Mark looked at him with a bewildered expression, "Yeah they've said the same thing to me too."
"Funny people," Mark commented almost absentmindedly and the older shivered against the cold, looking around before settling his gaze on the ocean, "You know I really should spend more time at the beach. But it's colder now, maybe when it gets warmer, you know?"
"Yeah," Jisung agreed, although he still very much liked the ocean, even in the winter time. "It's nice to finally meet you Mark, especially since it seems like you're in the same sort of outside situation that I'm in."
Mark laughed a little and nodded, ruffling his dirty blond hair slightly, "Yeah, it gets kind of lonesome being the only one on the outside, so I'm glad I, uh, I'm glad that you're here too."
"Even though you didn't know I lived in the house?" Jisung teased and Mark laughed, his eyes crinkling up and his hands moved out of his pocket just to clap once in amusement, his foot stomping down.
"Yeah man, I'm really sorry about that, I just get so wrapped up," Mark laughed again and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, "But we can definitely hang out more often now that I know you're here."
"I'd like that," Jisung commented and the two continued on their walk, making a U-turn sometime to walk back towards the house.
It was early afternoon when they found themselves entering into the house again, shrugging off their coats and basking in the heating that the house had, regardless of how old it looked. And with a friendly goodbye and a comment about how much fun he had, Jisung watched as Mark retreated up the first flight of stairs, then the disappeared to walk up the second and third flight of stairs. All the way to the attic, where Jisung was sure it was a lot colder than down here.
Walking into the living room and then the kitchen, Jisung scrunched his nose when he didn't spot Jaemin. So, wandering behind the staircase, Jisung walked over to where Jaemin's bedroom was and he poked his head into the open doorway, smiling once he saw Jaemin sitting at his desk.
"Hey Jaemin," Jisung said softly and knocked at the door lightly in order to not scare the boy. Jaemin turned around, his eyebrows raised in-question before his face melted into a welcoming smile.
"Oh hey Jisung, how was your time with Mark?" He asked and Jisung smiled.
"It was good, although it came up in conversation that you usually help with headaches and the herbal tea I drank earlier in the week didn't really do anything," Jisung prompted and Jaemin's face turned surprisingly quick to a frown, an apprehensive look on his face.
"Well which herbal tea did you have?" Jaemin said carefully, frowned, and stood up, looking at Jisung curiously, "I didn't give you any."
"Oh, well, Donghyuck did," Jisung explained and Jaemin seemed to recoil a bit at the piece of information, "He said he just found the one with his name and he gave me that one since it helps with his sickness."
"Jisung I really wish you just asked me directly," Jaemin's mouth pressed into a firm line and Jisung shifted his weight from foot to foot, suddenly feeling guilty as if he had done something wrong, "Donghyuck's tea is specifically made for him and I have another one for other resident's headaches or aliments."
"O-oh, I'm sorry I didn't know," Jisung stuttered out and Jaemin softened his face, walking towards Jisung and reached out to lightly ruffle his hair.
"It's okay Jisung, you didn't know so there's no harm done, I can make you some tea right now," Jaemin motioned for Jisung to move back out of the doorway so they could go to the kitchen, "Just make sure to ask me directly if something's bothering you. Really, anything at all. Stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, headaches," Jaemin listed as he led Jisung back to the kitchen, "I promise I'll try my best to help."
"Okay, I promise I will, thanks Jaemin," Jisung said gratefully and Jaemin turned around briefly to nod, the pair pausing to stop in the middle of the kitchen doorway.
"Of course Jisungie," Jaemin cooed and reached out to brush his hand against Jisung's arm, "I can't have my tenants feeling bad, now can I?"
Jisung rolled his eyes at the cute tone of voice and Jaemin laughed, walking further into the kitchen, Jisung following close behind but careful not to sit at the kitchen counter. It wasn't breakfast time.
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