MY GOLDEN BLOOD - JossGawin FanFiction

CHAPTER 19: HAUNTED

Tong awoke with a start, the sunlight spilling across his face like a warm, unfamiliar touch. For a moment, he stayed still, feeling the quietness of the apartment surrounding him, the weight of sleep still heavy in his limbs. 

His eyes blinked open, and his mind slowly adjusted to the brightness of the new day.

It took him a few moments to realize that the warmth he had felt last night—Mark's embrace—was gone.

Tong sat up quickly, glancing around the room as if hoping to catch a glimpse of him, but there was no sign of Mark.

The space beside him on the bed was cold, and the white flowers Mark had brought lay abandoned on the bedside table, the only evidence that he had ever been there at all.

A familiar ache settled into Tong's chest.

He appeared when Tong needed him the most, but like a ghost, he always vanished before the morning light could touch him. It was as if he were nothing more than a dream, fading with the dawn.

Tong let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing his temples as the events of the previous night came rushing back to him.

His graduation, the overwhelming joy of seeing Mark again, the quiet intimacy of their time together. But then, as always, Mark had slipped away.

"I should've known..." Tong muttered to himself, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

He ran a hand through his messy hair, trying to shake off the lingering sadness that clung to him. But it wasn't that easy. It never was.

He made his way to the kitchen, mechanically going through the motions of making coffee, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

The questions that had been swirling in his mind for years began to resurface, gnawing at him with a new intensity.

Why did Mark keep leaving? Why did he always come back, only to disappear again? What was it about their connection that kept pulling them together, yet driving them apart?

Tong leaned against the counter, staring blankly at the cup of coffee in his hands.

He had never truly understood Mark—not fully.

There were so many secrets hidden behind those sad eyes, so much pain that Tong could feel but never reach. It was as if Mark carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and no matter how much Tong wanted to share that burden, Mark wouldn't let him.

The day dragged on, filled with half-hearted conversations with friends and family congratulating him on his graduation. But the feeling of emptiness that gnawed at him, the lingering sense that something—someone—was missing.

By late afternoon, Tong found himself standing in front of his apartment window, staring out at the bustling city below.

His thoughts drifted back to Mark, as they always did. He had known from the beginning that Mark was different, that there was something not quite human about him. But Tong didn't care. He had never cared about that.

He just wanted Mark to stay.

His phone buzzed, pulling him out of his thoughts. It was a message from one of his friends, asking if he wanted to meet up for drinks later to celebrate.

Tong stared at the screen for a long moment before typing out a polite decline.
He wasn't in the mood for celebrations.

Not today.

As the evening crept in, the apartment grew quieter, the silence almost suffocating.

Tong sat on the couch, his mind replaying every moment he had ever shared with Mark. The memories were both sweet and painful, like a wound that had never fully healed.

He thought about the way Mark had held him last night, the way he had looked at him with such sadness, such longing.

There was something in Mark's eyes that spoke of a deeper pain, a pain that Tong couldn't quite understand. And it was that pain that kept driving Mark away, no matter how much he seemed to want to stay.

Tong's fingers traced the edge of the coffee cup, his heart heavy with uncertainty. He had tried to move on before, to forget about Mark and live his life without waiting for him to return.

But every time, Mark reappeared, pulling him back into a cycle of hope and heartbreak.

"I can't keep doing this..." Tong whispered to himself, the words sounding hollow even as he said them.

But even as he spoke, he knew he didn't mean it. He couldn't stop waiting for Mark. He couldn't stop hoping that one day, Mark would choose to stay.

The sun began to set, casting long shadows across the room, and with it came the familiar weight of loneliness that settled into Tong's chest. He stared out at the darkening sky, his thoughts turning to the one person who could fill that emptiness.

Mark.

But as the night deepened, there was no sign of him.

And once again, Tong was left alone with nothing but the fading memory of Mark's presence, and the hope that maybe—just maybe—he would return.

But how long could Tong wait for someone who kept disappearing? And how much longer could he endure the pain of loving someone who was always just out of reach?

As the city lights flickered on below, Tong sat in the growing darkness, his heart heavy with questions and longing. He didn't know the answers, and he didn't know when—or if—Mark would come back.

But for now, all he could do was wait.