Summer 2015
“Hyung, how about we bring
Mark hyung to the beach? He could use some fresh air.” Yugyeom beam a big grin
on his face while waiting for Jinyoung’s response.
Bambam nods his head, agreeing
with Yugyeom’s brilliant suggestion. “Don’t forget the sand. He could really
use some of that too.”
Jinyoung looks at Yugyeom and
Bambam, back and forth. He shakes his head slowly. “I don’t think that’s a
great idea. You guys know that Mark’s condition isn’t that good and staying
under the sun could make him feel more exhausted and can cause him to collapse
and all, right?”
“But hyung, this is summer.
Summer is all about the sun, beach and ice creams. Letting him to lock himself
at the apartment is also not a good idea.”
Yugyeom starts to pout. Youngjae who was in the kitchen just now moves
to the living room and joins the conversation.
“Yes, hyung. Yug’s right. I
don’t see any harm bringing Mark hyung to the beach. It’s not like we’re
staying there forever. Besides, we should spread him some positive vibes and
encourage him to do things like normal people do. I’m not saying that he’s not
normal. You know what I mean right?”
Jinyoung slowly nods his head
and turns his whole body to face Jaebum who was sitting at the coffee table.
Jaebum smiles and gave Jinyoung the ‘the-boys-were-right’
look. Again, Jinyoung nods and turns to the three maknaes who were staring
at him with anticipation. He let out a small sighs and smile.
“Then to the beach it is.”
-----
-----
“Now, tell me again why you
can’t come along.” Mark sits on his bed and cross both of his arm while staring
at his girlfriend who was busy packing his stuff inside a bag pack. Mia giggles
as she saw Mark pouting his lips. She walks and sits right beside him.
“I have something to do at the
café. Aunt Jess asked me to help her today. You do know that I can’t say no to
her right?”
“I know but that literally
means you’re saying no to me.”
Again, she laughs as she heard
Mark’s response. Mia pinches Mark’s cheeks and he let out a small ‘aww’. Mark
rubs his sore flesh and continues to pout.
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I’ll
go with you next time, I promise.”
“Only if I ever be able to meet summer again.” The words that come
from Mark’s mouth are almost inaudible but Mia can still hear it. It definitely
gives a pang in her heart. She quickly slips her hand into Mark’s and hold it
tightly while looking at him with eyes full of love and hope. He tries to avoid
her gaze and swallow his saliva hard.
“You will, Mark. Don’t lose
hope, okay?” With that, she gently pats his head and swiftly rises from her
seat and went back to pack Mark’s stuff. Her tears were on the edge of falling
and she doesn’t want Mark to see it. She can’t be weak in front of him. She shouldn’t.
She felt sudden warmth on her
back and realizes that it was Mark, giving her a back hug. She pulls a tiny
smile on her face as she hears Mark murmurs the word sorry. Mia taps Mark’s arm
in response. The hug broke and they start to face each other. Mark slowly brush
off Mia’s hair from her forehead and slips it to the back of her ears. He
leaves a small peck on her forehead. His fingers softly shed tiny tears at the
corner of her gorgeous eyes and spark an apologetic smile.
“Don’t cry, please.”
Mia shakes her head and gave
Mark a warm smile.
They suddenly here a knock on
the door and it open widely from the outside. Yugyeom’s and Bambam’s faces come
into view. They grin playfully to both Mark and Mia.
“Looks like your chauffeurs
have come to pick you up.” Mia laughs. Mark laughs too. He hugs her for one
last time and grabs the back pack on top of his drawer and moves towards
YugBam. She walks them to the front door wave them goodbye.
“Text me when you reach the
beach, okay? Have fun!”
‘’Okay. Take care. Love you!”
Love you too, Mark Tuan…
-----
-----
It felt like ages since he
last stepped out from his soulless apartment and being under the scorching
summer sun brings him to life again. The refreshing summer breeze sweeps across
his face, giving him sudden warmth that he has been longing for. The sound of
waves crushing the shore, people chattering non-stop and seagulls flying above
him are music to his hears. He can’t help but smiling.
All seven of them left their
belongings at one spot and quickly ran towards the sea.
Mark looks at his friends who
were having so much fun pushing and splashing water at each other’s faces.
Jackson and Bambam both lift Yugyeom up and spontaneously drop him dead onto
the sea floor. Yugyeom quickly stand up and pushes them heartlessly as revenge.
The three of them laugh their heart out. Jaebum and Jinyoung on the other hand
kept on digging some sands and put it into Youngjae’s shirt, just to annoy him.
Youngjae swiftly make his way out of the sea and ran for his life while
shouting to the top of his lungs when Jaebum chases after him. Five of them
cracked up to see such a hilarious scenario. Mark slowly shakes his head with a
little smile still hanging onto his lips.
They are still a bunch of
dorky kids.
Jinyoung comes towards Mark
and hang his arm onto Mark’s shoulders. “It’s been a while since I saw that
smile of yours.”
Mark looks at Jinyoung and
grins widely. “Well, thanks to you guys.”
“You know what, Mark?”
“What?”
“You could really use some
water.” With that, Jinyoung pushes Mark right into the sea and call the others
to gang up with him and splash Mark with water till he is all wet.
All of them kept on laughing
and playing happily, without worrying about anything because all of them had
sworn-- they’ll cherish this trip. They want to remember today. They want to
remember this summer. They want to remember every single thing they did
together.
They want to remember them,
especially Mark.
-----
All seven of them sit on the
white sandy beach, circling the campfire they have made just now. They were
going to head back to the town actually this evening when suddenly all of them
come up with the idea of staying the night camping by the seaside. Of course,
it was a last minute plan and they certainly didn’t bring along any camping
equipment such as tents and stuff but with all seven of them being together in
one place, it is just more than enough.
“Soooo, what should we do now?”
Jackson’s voice broke the silence.
Yugyeom enthusiastically stand
up and grins widely. “How about we play Yaja Time? I’ve been waiting for years
to play that game!”
“No we don’t want to play
that. Sit down, Kim Yugyeom!” Jaebum pulls Yugyeom’s short and make him sit
back to his place.
“Boooo, rejected. Okay, next
suggestion please.” The usual hyena laugh of Jackson fills up the whole
atmosphere and it made the others laugh as well.
Youngjae raises his right hand
and smiles. “How about… the game of truth or dare? I saw in the dramas, they
always play that game when they were having campfire and stuffs.”
“You and your kdramas,
Youngjae.” Jinyoung shakes his head slowly chuckles.
“Alright, call!” All of them
agree in unison.
“So, he wants to start first?”
“Me! Me! Pick me!” Jackson
replies excitedly to Bambam’s question.
“Okay, Jackson hyung. Truth or
dare?”
All eyes are on Jackson now.
Jackson smirks as he confidently shouted dare.
“Okay, Jacks. Listen. Run
towards the seashore, spin for like ten times and shout the name of the person
that you like or you’re having a crush on or whatever but not one of our names.
If you can’t to do, then you’ll be rewarded with a nasty flick on your precious
forehead. Got it?” Wide grin forms on Jaebum’s handsome face. Jackson pauses
for a while and scans everyone faces before he starts to smirk.
“Piece of cake!” With that, he
quickly run across the beach and spins around. Jackson tries to steady himself
and yells ‘my mom’ loudly. He comes back to them and all of them laugh.
“You, come here.” Jaebum locks
Jackson’s head and gave him a nice flick. Jackson shrieks in pain and it made
all of them to crack up again.
“Yah, what’s with the flick? I
did the mission!”
“You’re not doing it properly,
Jacks. That is why you deserve a punishment. Your mission is to shout your
crush’s name not ‘my mom’.” Jaebum replies sarcastically.
“I don’t have one so why
should I?” Jackson smiles bitterly and settles down back to his place, right
next to Bambam. Everyone started to become quiet and seems to agree with
Jackson’s answer and they continue with the game. Various missions of dare have
been done and several confessions of truth have been heard. All of them were
really having fun with this game as they could see another side of them that
they have never seen before.
Time flies by and it was
already the last person’s turn which is Mark’s.
“I pick truth.” Mark smiles.
“I want to ask!” Youngjae
raises his hand again. Mark nods his head.
“How does it feel when… you
first knew about your health condition and also the cancer thingy? I’m kinda…
curious…” Youngjae bit his lower lips.
“Choi Youngjae!” Jinyoung
stood up but Mark quickly pulls him back and taps his thigh. He smiles gently
at Jinyoung and nods his head few times. Jinyoung let out a small sigh.
“You don’t have to answer it
hyung. I’m sorry. Let’s change…”
“No, it’s okay!” Mark cut off
Youngjae’s words. He gives each one of them a look and continues to smile.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking
about that a lot lately and I think, it’s better to tell you guys how I really
feel. Well, you guys are my bros and I should open up to you guys. I shouldn’t
shut you guys off because I know…it certainly didn’t bring any good to me or to
any of us. I know, I don’t talk much but there are no harms to me for opening
up and being honest, right?”
All six of them give each
other a glance and look back at Mark. The silence grows louder.
“You guys do know that…” Mark
stops and swallows his saliva hard. He smiles bitterly and continues with his
words. “That I don’t have much time left, right?”
“Hyung…” Yugyeom and Bambam softly
call Mark. Again, Mark gave both of the maknaes a look. The smile on his face
was still there, still didn’t fade away.
“It’s the truth, Yugyeom…
Bambam… Well, everyone will die. It’s only a matter of time but, I guess my
name is first on the list among you guys… ha… haha…”
Huh so much for laughing, Mark Tuan.
“So, back to Youngjae’s
question; frankly, when I first knew about this whole thing, I felt like I want
to die on that very day. What’s the use of leading this life when you know that
you’re going to die soon. But somehow, I have managed to pull myself together
and didn’t do anything stupid, yet. It’s a major lie if I tell you guys that
I’m fine with this kind of fate. I still can’t accept all of this. I feel like
giving up most of the time, really… But then again, I remembered, I have you
guys. I have Mia. You guys are the sole reason why I am still fighting this
disease because obviously, I only have you guys. You’re my life…”
“And sometimes, I kinda felt
grateful as well for being the ‘chosen one’ to have this disease. At least, it
makes me to appreciate life more. It opens my eyes to see that there are still
people who care for me and I am thankful for that, really.”
Mark knows, his words are
beyond cheesy but the truth is, that is how he genuinely feels. He looks up and
saw the maknae line was already deep into tears. Jaebum runs his finger through
his hair while sighing heavily. Jackson sniffles a bit and turns his gaze away,
silently hiding his tears. Jinyoung, who was sitting beside Mark, kept on
patting his back softly and grip Mark’s hand tightly.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to
ruin the happy mood we’re having just now. I’m sorry…” Mark bit his lips as he
tries hard to hold back the tears from falling. No, he can’t cry. Not in front
of his friends, at least.
Bambam suddenly stand up,
walks towards Mark and spontaneously hugs him, followed by Yugyeom and
Youngjae. “Please, don’t leave us hyung.”
The three Js also join the
group hug. Their embrace tightens.
Mark froze in time and tiny
tears suddenly rolls down his cheeks. His body is full with warmth, thanks to
the hug given by his buddies. He looks up to the tiny stars that decorate the
dark blue sky with its bright twinkling lights. Mark smiles.
The dark blue sky is him and
those tiny stars are his friends.
They are the one who lit up
his gloomy life and are always there for him. They are the stars of his life.
They are his precious bros. No matter how many times he pushes them away, they
are inseparable. Just like the dark night and the stars.
“I love you punks, badly…” And
his tears fall again.
“Don’t leave us hyung…”
“No, I won’t.”
“Promise us.”
“I promise…”
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