eternal ↬ markhyuck

four

He was getting good at finding the garden. This time, he didn't really know where he was going but his feet took him by themselves. He just let them. And sure enough, Mark was standing in the field once again.

"Donghyuck?" He called unsurely. He walked forward and felt the tickle of the plants against his legs.

"Mark?"

He turned around and Donghyuck was standing behind him with a plucked lavender in his hand. "Hey."

"I told you not to come back," he worriedly reminded and quickly approached him. "Look, you can still see the path," he gestured to where Mark had entered. "You should go."

"But it's better here than out there."

Donghyuck pursed his lips and seemed on edge. "You should stop visiting."

Mark looked around at the place that seemed caught in time. It was exactly like it had been during his last two visits. "Can we chat? I'm good company."

Donghyuck already knew that Mark was good company, remembering yesterday's conversations. He was very conflicted. He had to weigh his better judgement against what he would like to do. Of course he wanted company. He was isolated. But he also knew that in letting Mark stay, he was being a bad host.

"I didn't bring anything today," the older added nervously, "but I hope I didn't have to."

Donghyuck turned around and lifted the flower towards his nose, sniffing it. "I'm gardening today. It's busy around here right now."

Mark nodded and watched the back of the other boy. He was small-framed and petite. "Busy? There doesn't seem to be anyone around." He was only noting the surroundings but he realised it sounded pushy and a bit rude. "I mean, I'm free twenty-four seven. Well, except when I'm working...But that's only on the weekends. I can help if you want?"

The persistence was refreshing and Donghyuck couldn't help the amused smile from emerging. He shook his head. How many times did he have to tell this boy to leave? He walked off, eyeing the flowers as he passed. It wasn't an enormous garden, but it was big enough that you could just see the circle of trees around it leading back into the forest. Mark followed him, staying a few steps behind.

"So Donghyuck," he called while looking at the boy walk ahead of him. "Why are you always here?"

"It's my garden. I thought I told you that." He bent down and examined another lavender. Then he uprooted it and stood up, watching the soil fall from the roots. "Why are you always here?"

"Well..." Mark went silent and looked down. He didn't really know. It could've been the serenity, it could've been the strange pull he felt for it, telling him he should definitely go back, it could've been Donghyuck. He scratched the back of his neck at his final thought. It was more than likely that reason. He remembered Donghyuck saying something along the lines of 'no one knows this place', which would mean that Donghyuck was all alone here. He knew that loneliness very well. "Aren't you alone here?"

Donghyuck froze for a moment, caught off guard, before continuing relocating the lavender. "I'm not. I get visitors from time to time."

"Hmm," he walked closer and crouched down opposite him, helping to cover the soil over the roots with his bare hands. Then an idea struck. "My name is Mark, I'm nineteen, I live in the town over there," he pointed over the skyline of trees. "You now know more about me than I know about you. Does this make it any more comfortable for you to let me stay and talk?"

Donghyuck chuckled and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Somehow, the white dress shirt stayed clean. "I'm not worried because I don't know you, I'm worried because..." he exhaled in thought and patted the soil down. "Never mind." The breeze ruffled his golden fringe and Mark caught sight of the stunning face underneath. He was a very attractive boy, but then, Donghyuck could say the same about Mark. "So you live over there? I've never been."

"How? It's literally a few minutes through the forest."

"I have everything I need right here. Why would I leave?"

"Everything you need?" He looked over his shoulder in confusion. "It's just a meadow."

Donghyuck shrugged but didn't lift his gaze. "Anyway, you're nineteen? What's your school like?"

Mark blushed in embarrassment and rubbed the side of his nose. He wasn't sensitive about it, but somehow this mysterious field-bound boy made him feel the need to impress. "I don't go to college..."

"That's okay." They stood up and Donghyuck lay his head back, eyes closed to the warm sun. "I don't either."

There was a comfortable silence for a moment while the tall grass rustled and a bumblebee tumbled past. The sky was so blue that it perfectly mirrored what the ocean would look like today - calm and pure. And just beyond the trees in the forest, the tweeting of the birds broke the silence. So Mark did too. "Hey Donghyuck, what is this place?"

"My ga-"

"No, what actually is it?"

Donghyuck pursed his lips as his shirt was tugged by the gentle, relieving breeze. He stood opposite the visitor with his hands curling around the blades of tall grass. "What do you mean?"

Mark shifted his gaze towards the forest and felt a sense of unease from it. It was just so strange. On his first visit, the scent of flowers was too strong to ignore. It was his third time meeting this boy here, and what were the chances? It felt stronger than a coincidence. Not to mention the locals had never even heard of this little haven. "Well, I get lost every time I try to find my way, but somehow it works each time..." He paused and tilted his head with a hum. "And when I leave, there's virtually no evidence that I even stepped foot here. Like...I turn around and the field is gone."

Donghyuck shifted his weight onto his other leg and twirled the grass around his fingers. "The flowers have such a strong scent that they're probably not healthy to be around for so long. You might be hallucinating." His eyes were deeply concerned following this deduction. "Even more reason to stay away from this garden."

Mark wasn't convinced but he wasn't suspicious either. And he certainly didn't have any way of quenching the urge that told him to visit this place and the boy residing in it. "There's enough space here for two." He smiled at the clear deflation in the younger. "I have nothing to do day in and day out. In fact, this is the most active I've been in a long time. Can't I stay and keep you company, since you must be just as free-scheduled as I am?"

"What would make you think that?" Donghyuck frowned but was secretly, as much as he shouldn't have been, feeling bright from the proposal. They barely knew anything about each other, and yet there seemed to be a small, effortless connection between them that neither had planned.

"Because you're here every time I am. Do you even leave?" Mark was just joking, but it struck a chord in him that made him look worriedly at Donghyuck. Did he ever leave?

"Of course I leave!" He tsked and shook his head. "I have a life too, you know."

"I don't know, so tell me about it," Mark chuckled, feeling less worried. He followed Donghyuck back to the flattened grass and flowers so that they could sit. He didn't feel cautious about getting to know this particular stranger because as strange as he was, he seemed just as lonely as Mark.

He couldn't overlook that.