WRITER'S BLOCK ⋮ markhyuck

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛

Mark walked Dongsook to the train station. There they talked a little bit more and ended up thinking about seeing each other again soon. Mark took the initiative there and suggested meeting the following weekend. Dongsook agreed even if she said she had a busy schedule before. It only showed that she put Mark above her work.

They had to say goodbye when the train got into their sight. Dongsook didn't hesitate before hugging Mark, but the boy was hesitant. He didn't know how to hug Dongsook. That person wasn't Donghyuck anymore and so he couldn't hug her like he used to hug his university friend years back. Mark didn't want to squeeze the life out of her...

That's why he hugged her softly but then did a bro thing and patted Dongsook's back way too strongly. He knew it was strong because Dongsook even yelped.

"See you soon," Dongsook smiled as she pulled away.

Mark smiled back and watched how she safely got on the train. Then he went his own way and, very soon, he was on his train too. He with Dongsook texted a bit, but after a few minutes, Mark put his phone down on his lap and closed his eyes.

He felt a tingly feeling in his stomach and knew what was happening to him. It was a writer's thing, something magical, something different. Mark was used to it, so he let it happen. There was no way back when it happened, but it wasn't like Mark was against it. Mark liked the feeling.

It all started when numerous phrases and unrelated sentences began making their way into Mark's suddenly refreshed brain. His imagination began painting realistic pictures of the boy who didn't like whom he was born. Pictures, subtitled by long sentences, turned into scenes with a voiceover and, little by little, there was a sign of a possible plot.

Mark was so into his creation that he almost missed his stop. But he laughed it off as he happily jumped off the train and headed toward his home. On his way there, he called Taeyong.

"It's happening!" he happily announced. "My inspiration is back!"

He didn't let Taeyong say anything when he ended the call and raced home. As soon as he stepped inside his house, Mark went straight to his workroom. There he sat for hours and hours, his hands were moving so fast, yet they still couldn't catch up with Mark's thoughts. Everything in his head happened at the lightning speed. He saw the scenes, and dialogues but the way he put everything into words was what made him a good writer. With his great writing ability, the scenes on his head turned... alive.

﹡ ﹡ ﹡

"How is my amazing writer doing?" Taeyong half shouted as he stormed into Mark's apartment with excitement. "I brought you chicken wings!"

There was no response from Mark, which gave Taeyong the impulse to look around for the male in the house only to find him in his workroom... still writing!

"Sweet Jesus!" Taeyong screamed and raced toward Mark.

He pushed the younger's chair away from the keyboard, but Mark was still typing even if there was no keyboard. It freaked Taeyong out, so he had to slap the young writer.

"Why are you hitting me?" Mark snapped and even jumped off the chair.

"Finally," Taeyong sighed. "You scared me."

"What do you want?"

Mark was grumpy. He felt tired but so passionate to write that he didn't care what was happening to him.

"I want you to rest, but for some reason, I find you writing again. Your eyes are bloodshot and you have dark circles under them!" Taeyong couldn't help but snap too. He was quick to calm down, though. What a good manager. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that you got your inspiration back, but that doesn't mean you need to write right away. What if you end up in a hospital?"

Mark clicked his tongue, trying to show that he didn't care what his manager just said. But he knew Taeyong was right. He was always right. Just how and why did he know what was better for Mark way more than the writer himself?

"Okay, I'll go and rest," Mark mumbled, giving in.

"Have you eaten breakfast?"

Mark looked at Taeyong in confusion. But then he noticed the beams of sunshine coming from behind his blinds and felt ashamed that he didn't know it was the next day already!

"Come on!" Taeyong facepalmed as he read Mark's expression.

He wasted no time and grabbed the younger's arm to drag him to the kitchen where the chicken wings were waiting for him. There he asked Mark to sit down and did everything for him just so the writer, at least, could have a normal breakfast.

"Now tell me why you suddenly got inspired to the point you drowned yourself in work? What happened yesterday?" Taeyong asked as he sat across from Mark and looked at the eating boy like a proud mother.

"Dongsook," Mark mumbled with his eyes still on the food.

Taeyong frowned at an unfamiliar name but kept questioning.

"So, did you two kiss or something? When you called me, you were so happy."

Mark stopped eating and looked up at Taeyong.

"Happy? I don't know if I'm happy. Donghyuck is gone and all I have left right now is my memories."

Taeyong slammed the table. "HE'S DEAD? OH MY–"

"No, yes, I don't know!" Mark shouted and dived his fingers into his hair, forgetting that he had just eaten chicken wings with sauce. "What I wanted to say, Donghyuck isn't here anymore. Well, he is, but he's not the same..."

"What happened to him?"

"He matured," Mark said with a sad smile. "He is she now."

Taeyong gasped, then hiccuped for some reason and then gasped again.

"Your crush is now a girl?"

"She always wanted to be one, apparently, and now when she finally is, she's happy."

"But you're not happy," Taeyong noticed.

"I'm trying. I care about her, so I try to accept it, but it's hard, Taeyong. I loved Donghyuck for who he was and now he is she. Everything is almost the same, but at the same time, it's not."

Taeyong didn't like how upset Mark was getting. He brought only chicken wings, there was no alcohol there that could help Mark to go through his distress.

"If you're worried that your feelings are on the verge of disappearing, remember that you're bisexual who writes books about all kinds of couples! You can become a pansexual too. You shouldn't care about her gender!"

"Well, you're right... But still."

Taeyong looked at the troubled Mark with concern. He, just like Dongsook, read that writers might have a hard time finding a lover just because of the fictional characters that keep their standards high. But that wasn't the case. Mark's life was like a story itself. The conflict was like in a book!

"You're visibly upset by the situation, I can tell. Is that what made your inspiration come back?"

"Maybe," Mark shrugged. "Maybe the sadness, maybe my memories. I don't know, but I can't stop writing."

"What is the story about?"

Mark looked at Taeyong and chuckled.

"Guess in one try."