Tidal Wave ✔️

12

Mark was greeted by his mother, when he arrived at home. Mrs. Lee was slicing some pears on the sofa, while watching a cooking show. The chef was pouring strawberry juice, cream cheese, and strawberry ice cream inside a blender. Mark cringed when he saw the pink mixture on the wide screen. He disliked strawberries.

"Hey, honey. How was the sleepover?" Mrs. Lee asked.

"Nothing much."

"What did you guys do?"

Mark's brain rotated to find an answer. He couldn't remember what was playing on Taeyong's television. All he could remember was his interaction with Haechan at four in the morning. Mark smiled, he grew fond of the tanned, savage guy.

"Mark?" Mrs. Lee turned her attention from the pear to look at Mark.

"Eh, we just... watched... Spiderman Homecoming on tv." Mark lied. That was the only alibi he could come up with.

"Ah, okay... What's your friend's na—"

"Ma, I'm still tired. We actually had a Marvel movie marathon until four. Can we talk later? I need to shower and probably have a nap." Mark cut her off. No, he's not going to tell his mother about Taeyong nor Haechan. She would ban him from going out again, maybe.

"Alright. What do you want for lunch, darling?" Mrs. Lee asked before his son went upstairs.

"Anything is fine, Ma. What do you want for lunch?" Mark retorted.

"How about gamjatang?"

"Okay. Gamjatang it is." Mark answered and headed to his bedroom.

He saw that the bed was neatly made, unlike the morning before when he left it messy. His mother must had made it for him.

Mark threw his waist bag somewhere and went to the bathroom to take a shower, spending a long time inside the cubicle, droplets of warm water poured over him. He took some extra time to wash his hair.

When Mark got out of the bathroom with only some grey shorts and a towel on his shoulder, he saw the clock showed him it was eleven. Mark tossed his towel on the sink, and plopped down on his bed. Mark laid down for a moment, before he fetched his waist bag from the floor (it landed near the window).

Mark re-charged his portable charger, and came back to his bed with his phone. Mark stared at the plain, blue lockscreen.

He was bored. Spending time with Haechan definitely had changed him. He couldn't stand being at home all day. There were so many things to discover in the city. For seventeen years, Mark had lived in Seoul. Not once he had discovered the small streets of Yongsan, nor having a sleepover at a friend's house. Mark felt like he became slightly more adventurous.

Mark placed the phone next to his ear. He frowned to himself. Who did he called unconsciously?

"Hello? Mark?"

"...Hi, Johnny hyung."

"Hi. What's up? You're already at home, right?"

"Uhuh. I just took a shower."

"That's good. So... How did it go?"

"Still trying to remember. It gets more familiar as I spend more time with Haechan. The caretaker of the orphanage called him Hyuck. It sounds familiar, but I just... can't grasp around it."

"It's okay, Mark. That's actually a good progress. I'm sure you will remember soon."

"I hope so. What are you doing right now, hyung?"