Something Good - MarkJin

-11-

The tapping of Jinyoung's pen against the wooden table frustrated Yugyeom enough  to make him want to scold him just like old times but also enough to make him realize how conflicted his friend was.

The elder rested his head on his left palm, staring at the glass of icy water in front of him. Across him, sat Yugyeom who was somehow dragged to the penthouse so Jinyoung would have someone to rant to. 

"Have you spoken to him sin--", Yugyeom started cautiously before Jinyoung interrupted. 

"No.", he said with a frown, lines forming above his eyebrows.

"Someone who takes advantage of others to cover up their mistakes does not deserve to be sympathized."

~

Two weeks prior 

"He can go now."

"Jinyoung let me --", Mark began, taking a step closer to the said male.

"Let you explain? There's nothing to explain, Mark.", he said with a sour smile, as if to mock the elder.

"At least to me there isn't. Why don't you let our two friends know what you did?", Jinyoung said, tilting his head in a teasingly daunting way. 

"W-What's happening?", Jackson pleaded for something to explain to him and Youngjae. 

Mark avoided all three pairs of eyes, scanning the floor with anxiety before managing to compose himself and speak up. 

"I messed up. I did. I ruined the only good thing I had left."

The room was silent for too long. The ticking of the clock, the whooshing of the air conditioning, and the faint sound of hearts pounding surrounded the room. Jackson and Youngjae still held onto Jinyoung to support his balance, making it seem as a three against one situation. 

"Yes you did. And you can go now.", Jinyoung said bitterly. 

~

"I still can't believe he walked out.", Jinyoung clicked his tongue, confusing Yugyeom. 

"D-Didn't you tell him to leave though?"

"You're supposed to be on my side, Yugyeom!", the elder whined.

Yugyeom raised his brows in surprise. "I'm not on anyone's side! I just wish you guys would've approached this in a more mature way. I mean, asides from Jaebum and Youngjae we were rooting for you two." 

"But don't you think it was sweet?", he continued. 

"How was it sweet?"

"I-I mean, he went through all of this just to recreate everything. Someone must really have to be in love in order to put this much effort into their relationship."

This irritated Jinyoung in a way that he wished Yugyeom wasn't right. He did feel special when he was with Mark. The sweet dates, stolen kisses, and the warmth he felt whenever Mark held him. As if he had finally found refuge in the unknown and foreign world. 

"H-He was just trying to cover up for his mistakes.", Jinyoung protested. 

"My point exactly.", defended the younger. 

"He saw it as an opportunity to start over with you. I know you're angry, hyung. But he did it for you."

Jinyoung furrowed his brows and pouted his lips, almost like a child whining. 

"J-Just drink your choco shake."

~

"Sorry, I ordered a pomegranate green tea.", a young customer shyly told Mark when she noticed he prepared the incorrect drink for her. 

He pressed his brows together, slightly confused considering he thought he heard her say 'passion fruit'. 

"Oh, I'm sorry about that.", he lightly chuckled, taking the drink from her hands. 

As he made his way to restart the order, his supervisor patted him on the shoulder. 

"This is the third order you've messed up, today.", he said in slight annoyance. Mark pursed his lips, the situation making him feel embarrassed. He had been thinking of Jinyoung for all fourteen days and his mind being absent definitely affected his work. 

Jinyoung had packed his bags and left the apartment during one of Mark's light night shifts so that he wouldn't have to face him. Mark then visited the younger's home which he expected him to be and he was. He waited by his doorstep for a couple hours, not leaving even after Jinyoung's mom had explained that he didn't want to speak to him. 

After much restraint, Jinyoung finally stepped out of his home only to send Mark away and not even bothering to hear an explanation from him. That was the last time the two had seen each other. 

"Why don't you take a break for bit to clear your head?", his supervisor suggested. Mark nodded his head and agreed but finished the last order considering it was the least he could do. 

He removed his apron and grabbed his phone from his bag, seeing a text from Jaebum that was sent not too long ago.

Can we meet up? We'll be at the coffee shop in 5.

Mark checked the time and it had been seven minutes since the text, meaning he was at the shop already. His eyes searched for him but landed on another familiar figure instead. Youngjae, being. Across him sat Jaebum, legs crossed. 

He took a deep breath while approaching the couple, already knowing what they would want to speak to him about. 

"If it's about Jinyoung, yes I've tried to talk to him. No, he hasn't forgiven me, and yes, I know I messed up. Anything else?", he said as he threw himself next to Youngjae on the small sofa. 

Youngjae sighed heavily, placing a hand on the elder's thigh. "Hyung, we're not here to scold you. Well, at least I'm not.", he said, glancing at Jaebum who was none too pleased. 

"I know you know your mistakes so I won't say anything about that. Y-Yugyeom told me he spoke to Jinyoung."

This made Mark perk his head up, becoming more attentive to their conversation. 

"He said he's still stubborn as an egg." Mark slumped back into his seat.

"I-I'm not saying to give up! Listen, I get it. Yugyeom gets it. Not sure if Jackson does 'coz he never understood the whole story to begin with but we're trying to convince him, hyung."

Mark managed to put a soft smile on his face for the youngest, a slight warm feeling in his heart that allowed him to know that the entire world wasn't against him. And then he turned to Jaebum.

"I hope you know that this is the one thing Youngjae and I don't agree on.", he said coldly, almost scowling at Mark. 

"You're a good friend of mine but it's taking me an awful hard time to cut you some slack. What kind of idiot move was that?!"

"Jaebum.", Youngjae stopped him firmly. Jaebum's look softened by the slightest before starting again. 

"I know your excuse is that you didn't want to hurt him. That you did it to save your relationship but guess what? You did hurt him. I hope you're not forgetting he and I were friends first--"

"And I hope you're not forgetting that I am still the eldest.", Mark interrupted. 

The three were silent for a few moments -- slight sheepishness coming over Jaebum, not knowing what to say next. Mark's anger threatened to spill over the top but he managed to compose himself. 

"I need you guys to understand that I know what I did. That I hurt him to begin with and I made it worse by lying to him. But I also need you to understand why I did it -- that it wasn't just because I wanted to cover up my mistakes and that maybe, just maybe...I wanted him to change his answer to the question I had asked him. Which caused all this to begin with."