best friend 》 nomin

15

"Mark, it's beautiful!" The girl exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her distracted boyfriend. She hardly even noticed the boy's lack of attention as her eyes moved around the landscape.

The two were currently on their date in the countryside, a small picnic on a lush green hillside.

Although they were there physically, Mark was somewhere entirely else mentally. He just hadn't been the same since a few days ago.

"I can't believe you planned this all by yourself." The woman said, pressing her lips to the boy's cheek. Seeing the lack of reaction, she frowned.

"Mark, are you ok?" She questioned, her eyes scanning the Canadian's blank face. "You were quiet the whole ride up."

Mark's gaze was still far off, and it took him a minute to realize she was speaking to him. "What? No, I'm fine."

He said the words with a smile, but inside he just wasn't sure.

He had tried hard to forget about the sudden confession the other day and just enjoy the time with his girlfriend, but it was proving to be impossible.

He couldn't help but be filled with a sense of dread knowing he had messed up big time.

He blamed it on the fact that he just wasn't expecting to hear that from Donghyuck, so he was rendered speechless. He desperately wished that he had said something, anything. But at that moment, all words left his poor scattered brain.

Now everything was ruined.

He wouldn't be surprised if Donghyuck never spoke to him again from how he handled the situation.

Every day since he had wanted to call the younger boy to apologize, but he wasn't sure what he would say.

Curse his awkward self.

A huge part of him wished that he could go back in time to that moment, and tell Donghyuck that-

"Mark?" The girl said, waving her hand in front of his face. She had been calling his name for a while with no response.

"I'm sorry." He laughed, not believing how he let himself get distracted yet again. Seeing his girlfriend's worried gaze, a comforting smile appeared on his lips. "I just zoned out for a minute."

Not wanting to talk about it anymore, he grabbed the rest of the food out of the car and led the girl over to sit down.

Seeing the girl across from him, Mark smiled to himself. She was amazing. So why was he having these struggles?

No, he decided it right then. He was going to stay with her, and be happy. He didn't even know if things would work out with Donghyuck anyway! He should just stay where he was.

Although he did like being around this girl, the feeling he had when he was around Donghyuck was just...

Different.

Mark shook his head, attempting to clear all the thoughts of the tempting tan boy from his head.

Instead he focused on the girl he was with and the wild array of food before them.

The two joked around and laughed for a while, enjoying the serene atmosphere that they had all to themselves.

Noticing an assortment of sliced fruits, the girl smiled and stabbed one with her fork. "These are my favorite! How did you know?"

Seeing her choice, Mark couldn't help but shake his head. "Hyuck hates those. He says they-"

Realizing what he was saying, Mark stopped himself, eyes wide. Luckily his girlfriend hadn't seemed to notice his outburst, as she was too focused on the food in front of her.

He had sworn to himself that he was going to forget about Donghyuck and everything he had said, so what was that?

He just couldn't get that boy out of his head no matter how hard he tried.

Ever since Donghyuck had run away that night, Mark had felt like there was a hole inside of him, like he was missing something.

But he wasn't used to this feeling. Therefore he wasn't able to define it or cure it.

"Oh, Mark look!" The girl exclaimed, pointing off somewhere in the distance.

In the excitement, her hand accidently brushed Mark's, and he couldn't help but notice something different.

Where usually there would be a spark between them, the Canadian now felt nothing, and it only added to his confusion.

Remembering what he was doing, Mark followed where she was leading him and found the golden sunset, just as he had planned.

"It's so romantic." She sighed, laying her oblivious head on his shoulder.

Staring at the setting sun, Mark's mind was racing, and the pit inside of the poor Canadian only seemed to grow.

He was hit with a sudden wave of realization as his eyes scanned the vibrant blues, purples, and oranges in the sky.

Mark now understood what was causing him to feel so empty inside.

He was missing something that had always been there with him.

Through the thick and thin it had stayed by his side, and now that it was gone, Mark was in obvious pain.

All of the sudden, he needed it back desperately.

He missed his sunshine.

He missed Donghyuck.

Mark never was one to go off the rails, but now in this moment, all worries left his mind. Throwing caution to the wind, he stood up in an instant.

"Mark? What's gotten into you?" His soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend asked, watching as the boy stormed away from her. She stood up, following suit. "Where are you going?"

"I'm sorry!" The Canadian said, barely even turning around. He had a mission, and there was no stopping him now. "There's something I have to do!"

Before she was able to react in any way, Mark was already running down the hillside, leaving a very confused girl behind.