Mark

  The sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet rung in my ears, my hands grasping wood as I leaned against an oak tree. My breath came out in pants while I anxiously searched through the woods. The feeling that I was repeating an action over again came over me. I couldn't help but remember when Jinyoung had gone missing, only this time he had left on his own, and away from me. He left because you hugged him without thinking. I scolded myself. How could I have forgotten the first time he pushed me away? I dared to touch him again, and now he's gone. If I had been able to talk to him about what happened, or ask if he's okay, then I might understand why he suddenly hates my touch. I just have to find him.

  The odds of finding Jinyoung in the middle of the woods are low. Who knows how big this forest is, and where Jinyoung decided to hide. What if he isn't hiding but running? I'd never be able to find him. My whole life was spent within a mile of my house, how could I find someone who has lived in the forest for years. The last time this had happened he had found me, well the camp. You are over thinking things. I grunted in frustration and worry. My hand gripped his clothes tightly where they were placed against my clothed chest.

The sun was nearing the horizon, making the forest temperature drop slowly as the day passed. Why did he have to run away practically naked in autumn of all the seasons? I shivered in my damp attire. Jinyoung running off had made my thinking process stop entirely, causing me to jump into my clothes without thinking. It was a few minutes later I realized I had been dropping wet, and was now paying for it.

   Pushing off of the oak tree I took in a deep, tired, breath. No matter how stressed and exhausted I am, I had to put Jinyoung first, because out of every bandit in this forest, his current state was the most worrisome. Along with the fact I felt connected to Jinyoung on a whole different level than everyone else. What had happened for me to worry about someone this way? I hadn't felt as worried as I did right now, over anyone except my family. Does that mean Jinyoung is similar to family to me? No, people don't kiss their family on the lips with a longing, or think of them in such a way. This couldn't be a normal connection. Possibly... a stronger connection of some kind? I'll have to ask him about it later... if I can find him! I shook my head to clear it of all the thoughts getting in the way of my goal. Even if it takes all night, or days, I'll find you Jinyoung.

  The beauty of the forest, of the sway in the trees and fall of the autumn colored leaves, would have normal captivated me. I would have stood still, eye's cast upward to stare at the bright blue and white sky in awe. I would have watched the animals crawl and fly, and would have carried a smile on my face watching life carry on naturally, as if I wasn't there. I would have witnessed everything I could never witness from my bedroom window, or backyard. Nature has always been a love of mine, but at this moment in time I did not stop to stare. I marched through the woods, animals going into hiding as I made my presence known. The sky suddenly wasn't as captivating, the leaves falling only blocking my sight. The forest was not so beautiful, and I couldn't help but think it was because something more captivating was missing from the picture.

"Jinyoung?" I called, the sounds of a forest night flooding my senses. It wasn't long ago crickets had begun their daily routine, followed by the night buzz that seemed to come from everywhere all at once. My voice got no response, but who could be sure Jinyoung would respond if he heard me. What if my voice caused him to move further away? The sun slowly lowered, the day moving towards its end.

As I walked through the woods with searching eyes the sound of the river got quieter and quieter. I reminded myself the river was my only sense of direction, a sudden conflict appearing. The smart thing to do would be to go back to the river and think about where Jinyoung would run to. For all I know, he ran back to camp. I instantly felt stupid for not thinking of that sooner. With a quiet groan I turned in place and walked towards the sound of rushing water. My feet weaved through the trees as the sound changed directions every so often. I picked up my pace, the noises getting louder. By the time I emerged beside the familiar current I was running. I searched for any type of surrounding that could tell me if I was in the same spot we had swam earlier. Confirming this was not the spot I made the decision to head down stream.

  When my eyes caught sight of the rock I had been laying on earlier I let out a sigh of relief, though it was half hearted. My shoulders still felt heavy with worry, barely able to think straight,"Jinyoung why did you have to run?"  Going to set Jinyoung's clothes down a flash of almost light pink appeared in the corner of my eye. Turning to face the direction I fell into a defensive stance, hands in front of my face. Peach like skin made me automatically drop my stance. There Jinyoung sat, against an oak tree, across the river. His body shook violently from the cold, hair dried from the time spent out of the water. I stood helplessly before springing into action, bending down to grab the clothes that had been dropped moments before.

  Holding the clothes above my head I walked into the river without a second thought. My body flinched unwillingly as it made contact with the freezing liquid. Reaching shoulder length in the water I took a deep breath, clothes still held high, and moved my head under the water letting my body practically glide the rest of the way. The feeling of my knee hitting a rock let me now I had reached the shore. Standing up panting I stood in front of Jinyoung. Now that I had reached him, I was at a loss for what to do. The tremble of his lips as he looked up at me helped me make a decision.

  Water dripped from my body as I motioned for him to put his arms up. Jinyoung's lips frowned, standing up with his hands now pointing to the sky. I tried to ignore his curious gaze and carefully placed his clothes beside the water. I grasped his shirt, holding it at the bottom hem to place it over his head. He slipped his arms through and pulled the fabric over his shivering form. As I pulled my hands away I felt Jinyoung's skin against my palm, making him tense. I moved away quickly, not wanting to do anything to upset or hurt him.

  Grabbing his shorts next, I placed them by his feet letting him step in the gaps. Being extra careful not to touch him I successfully placer them up at his waist. My fingers moved quickly to tie the strings together, helping the shorts stay in place. When I finished I took a few steps back, giving him all the room he needed. We should head back to the camp, it'll be warm there. I wanted to suggest, but breaking the silence that surrounded us outweighed the thought.

Jinyoung sat down silently, back leaning against the same tree. A shaky breath left his lips. His eyes turned to me, searching my face, something he did often before the bombing,"I don't want to go back there tonight." The words came out of nowhere, Jinyoung's head burying itself in his hands.  The husky sound in his words made me realize he probably hadn't spoken in hours. His voice held a gentle yet firm tone, a whisper telling me he was hurt and angry all at once. I nodded even if he couldn't see it, taking my place two trees away to whisper back,"Then we won't." Closing my eyes I moved myself into a semi comfortable position. Arms crossed over my chest, my chin up, head back.

  I kept them closed as the sound of someone moving appeared. The wind that had been currently hitting me stopped, making me look over to see Jinyoung had positioned himself beside me. Our eyes locked for half a second before he turned away, cheeks becoming a light shade of pink. A small smile slowly made its way to my face, hidden from Jinyoung's view. It wasn't too long until we both eagerly fell into a peaceful sleep.

I groaned as my mind woke up, making me aware of my senses yet not fully awake. The sounds of rustling leaves had been the source of my awakening, followed by birds chirping. I swear, I will kill every animal in this forest if I can't fall back asleep. The lack of brightness against my eyelids let me know it was either still nighttime, or close to dawn. Scrunching up my nose in annoyance I changed positions, willing myself to go back to sleep. The rustle of leaves only got louder and more urgent, followed by small, rushed, breaths. Jinyoung? I internally smacked myself in the face, idiot who else would it be? Sitting up with a childish whine I slowly blinked, letting my eyes adjust to the bit of sunlight falling through the branches hovering above me.

Letting out a yawn I stretched my arms and legs from the sitting position I was in. An ache in my neck making me wince. What can you expect from sleeping against a tree? Shaking off the discomfort I turned to see Jinyoung had moved to lay on the forest floor, his back to me, knees curled to fit against his chest. Leaves had fallen all over his clothes, making the black fabric a mix of brown, yellow and red. I thanked the forest silently for giving me the opportunity to see such a sight, as if he was yanked out of an oil painting and placed directly in front of me on the forest floor.

  Jinyoung's body twitched, jerking out of his current position. My own figure flinched in surprise,"Jinyoung? Are you awake?" Not getting a response my hand hovered over his shoulder. His face was covered by his hair, making me unable to tell if he was pretending. When his body jerked again, a sickening crunch followed as his hand moved to hit one of the rocks he was laying on. Without hesitation I caught his hand in mine, using the other I pulled his body to face me. He immediately began to squirm wildly in my grip, words dripping from his mouth in slurs,"Stop! Let go, please." His arms moved in the air with no sense of direction, my hands going to his shoulders to try and stop his movements,"Jinyoung wake up!" The yells and desperate cries had no doubt traveled far into the quiet forest. I had to wake Jinyoung up, and we had to leave. We still hadn't been able to confirm if villagers had left the forest, and it's always better to be on the safe side.

  Jinyoung's eyes were shut tight, his body using all its power to push me away. The action was breaking me little by little. I was making everything worse and I could tell in the pushes and frightened shoves,"Jinyoung you have to wake up!" Tears were now spilling from his eyes, his hands and legs becoming weaker and slower with time,"Please just...don't- touch me anymore! You've hurt me enough for one day." He cried out, hiccups interrupting him as he successfully smacked my arm for the first time. I pulled away even though it didn't hurt, deciding to try I different approach. When my hands were removed from his body he stopped fighting the air, still panting, tears not stopping,"Leave- leave me alone!"

  I sighed, feeling helpless once again,"Jinyoung! It's Mark. None of this is real and you need to wake up." At this point in time the sun had made its way to the sky. Animals scurried across the forest floor in search for food. Morning had begun in between my blinks it seemed. My mind floated away into a world of worry, the world still spinning without me. Without both of us. I turned my gaze to the still sleeping Jinyoung, his eyebrows furrowed, a frown on his lips,"Jinyoung." I tried again, in a gentler tone,"Wake up." After a few seconds Jinyoung's face began to relax, lips going from a frown to a neutral expression. I watched worriedly as he slowly opened his eyes, the soft and welcoming familiar brown making my shoulders drop in relief. I hadn't even noticed they were tensed.

  "Good morning." I breathed out as if it was the first time I had in years. My head fell against the tree trunk in an exhausted daze. Jinyoung's confused gaze followed my motion,"You look tired. Go back to sleep." His own yawn interrupted him, arms and legs extending in a stretch,"What woke you up anyways?" My head tilted in confusion, is he seriously going to pretend nothing happened? Avoiding the question I decided to find out if he was hiding anything from me,"Did you sleep well?" Jinyoung sighed,"You changed the subject Mark-"

"So did you."

  Another sigh,"No." Good, he didn't lie. The thought of being someone Jinyoung could trust gave me comfort,"You had a nightmare," I stated over asking,"and that's what woke me up." Jinyoung slowly nodded, the sudden feeling of not being able to tell what he was thinking bothering me. He stood up, looking at his surroundings, unconsciously holding the hand he had injured earlier.

"What are you thinking?"

  The man staring at the sky turned his eyes towards me, chin still pointing at the clouds. He paused, acting as if he had to think about his answer. If you pause, I know you're lying,"I was thinking, that we should head back to the camp." Don't lie, please. Clenching my jaw I simple stood up, dusting the leaves and dirt off my clothes,"You're right." Looking down at the ground to regain my composure I put a smile on my face before standing up straight and walking towards Jinyoung,"Lead the way."

We seem to be getting further apart Jinyoung. If you keep pushing me away, at one point I'll stop trying.

"Do you two even understand how worried I was? You didn't return last night and all I could think was you were attacked or kidnapped, or dead!"

"Youngjae calm down." I tried to get the freaked out male to stand still as he paced back and forth in front of the flameless camp fire. As soon as Jinyoung and I had found and entered the temporary camp Youngjae had pinpointed us, clearly upset and ready to make a speech. Everyone else seemed to still be sleeping, other than Hansol, who had joined the 'pissed at you idiots' club. Speaking of Hansol.

"Maybe they just wanted some alone time if you know what I'm sayin- ouch!" The boy's hand rubbed the back of his head where my palm had hit,"Shut it." Hansol lifted his hands up in surrender,"It was just an idea-"

"He said shut it!" Jinyoung joined the conversation, a shade of red on his cheeks, matching mine. His arms lay crossed against his chest, an embarrassed glare pointed at the boy in front of him. Youngjae cleared his throat,"As I was saying. Just tell us before you leave next time that you won't be back until the next morning. I mean, is that really so difficult?" Being the child that I am, I had to find a way to argue and win the argument.

"We weren't playing on spending the night out there, it just....." I realized to late the situation I had gotten myself into. I could tell the two that Jinyoung had run away and I had to search for him, but if I don't say something believable they will assume what happened on their own. Jinyoung caught my wandering gaze and jumped in to save me,"We got too lazy to walk back, so we decided to just spend the night outside and come back the following morning. Sorry for worrying you Youngjae, it won't happen again."

"It better not! I swear, I'm going to get grey hair before I turn thirty because of you kids."

  "Uh, I'm older than you-"

  "Did I ask Tuan?"

Standing back in mock surrender I noticed Jb appearing from his place in the woods. Not waiting, or wanting, to make eye contact I moved closer to Jinyoung, unconsciously feeling safer beside him. My eyes widened at what I did, but a lazy smile fell on my face when he didn't flinch, only stepping in my direction in return. His comforting stare helped me tune out what Youngjae had been saying. Youngjae's words stopped, making the two of us turn to see Jb had made a space for itself between Youngjae and Jinyoung.

  "Hello."

The four of us looked taken aback at his presence, causing Jb to stare at us with a 'I know I'm great' expression,"Don't get to excited. I came to talk to Mark." Raising an eyebrow I stepped forward, leaving Jinyoung's side only to have him follow me,"What did you need to talk about?" Four pairs of eyes stared him down, yet he didn't so much as blink at the attention,"I came to remind you, you have two weeks until the two month bet comes to an end."

"Oh."

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GUYSSSSS JAJSJIWIWJE WE REACHED 4K VIEWS!!!!

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To celebrate hitting 4K I updated a total of 3091 words for you guys, nearly doubling my usual update total! I hope you enjoyed it! Now the real drama begins!

Update: guys my friend Miyu-Rin just published her first book! It's about some characters we made up together and I would love for you all to go check it out and support her for me <3 Go give her some love!! She deserves it

Some Markjin for you to enjoy! Thanks so much for reading and voting and commenting on my story! I look forward to working on future projects with you guys and finishing this book of with a bang! Ah if I keep going it'll sound like a goodbye speech! Cya next Sunday peeps! <3

And jackbam because all my ships are beautiful....well ALL ships are beautiful! Ship away 🚢