Leafy Greens

Gayness and God

A young Korean man sat at the dinner table with his family. They were all holding hands, saying Grace. He had his eyes closed as well, but wasn't really paying attention to the prayer. He was more focused on how hungry he was, and these prayers would last 5-10 minutes. By then, the food would be cold, and he just wanted to eat. He opened one eye, and saw that his older brother, Thomas, wasn't even closing his eyes. He was reading the text messages that were appearing on his phone without touching the screen itself. Mark pressed his lips together, to try and not laugh at this. Thomas looked up and over at Mark, he grinned and winked.

"In Jesus name we pray... Amen." "Amen"'s were chorused all around and everyone could finally dig in. Mark's predictions were right, the food was cold. Go figure. But it would be the last thing they could eat until the morning, and by then Mark would be at Kiyana University. "Mark, are you excited for college?" His mother said in a cheery voice. He shrugged, "Uh, I guess so..." He said trailing off, ignoring his Father's glare. He tried to refrain himself from talking, as he usually did, but tonight was different, seeing as he was going to drive over to the University tonight. It was an odd time to leave, but his Mother was convinced that that was the safest time to drive for some reason. He didn't bother try to argue about it, once his parents made up their minds, there was no changing it.

His Mother, Father, Brother, Grandmother, and Aunt were all there. Mark would have preferred if it was just his Grandmother, and Brother. Seeing as how cool Thomas was about everything, and how, well, crazy his Grandmother was. She was easily the funniest one out of the whole family, and the most open-minded. Whenever Mark needed to talk to someone, he went to her. 

His Parents and Aunt were a whole other story. They were the most strict, and conservative people he knew. They resembled Protestants in style, but called themselves Catholics. One time, when Mark was around 7 years old, he and his parents and Aunt were walking home from Church, when he saw two girls holding hands. He grew confused, and asked, "Mama, why are those two girls holding hands?" His mother immediately pulled him harshly on the opposite side of the sidewalk, away from the two girls. She glared at them and shielded her son's eyes. "They're faggots, honey. Devil worshipers whom are burning in hell." She hissed loudly enough for them to hear. One of the girls immediately broke down, while the other tried to comfort her, to no avail. Mark looked back at them, they were kneeling on the sidewalk, one was still crying, the other hugging her, and rubbing her back.

The adults stopped not too far away, seeing some old friends, they stopped to make small talk. Mark grew bored of this, and wandered off. He shuffled down the sidewalk, kicking a dented Coke can. He soon saw the two girls, the one that was crying seemed to have calmed down a bit, the other girl was pulling her to a wooden bench a few feet away from them. Mark walked up to them, and said "I like your hair. It's really long." To the girl who was crying. The couple looked up, surprised. The girl wiped her tears off, and smiled as best as she could, "Thank you sweetie." "Why were you two holding hands?" He asked, honestly curious. The two girls studied him, there didn't seem to be any malice, or anger, or fear in his facial expression as they saw in adults. Only innocent curiosity. "Because we love each other." The crying girl said. "Like, mama and daddy love, or sister love?" He asked tilting his head rather adorably which caused the girls to chuckle. "I suppose more like Mama and Daddy love. Although we would both be 'Mama's'." The girl who consoled her girlfriend said. Mark nodded, and then stuck out his hand, "I'm Mark Fischbach." The two girls smiled and giggled at this, "I'm Jessica, this is Tiffani." The crying girl said, shaking his hand. Tiffani did the same, smiling down at him. "So, can boys love each other like Mama and Daddy love?" He asked, sitting down on the ground in front of them, his legs criss-crossed. "Yeah, everybody can love who they want." Tiffani said, looking adoringly at Jessica. "So, can I marry Spiderman?" Mark asked, poking at the can he was kicking with a stick. The two girls laughed, "Maybe not, he's a bit old for you." Jessica said, all traces of sadness gone. Mark pouted at this, but quickly got over it. "Are you two married?" He asked. "Not yet, sweetie. It isn't allowed yet." Mark looked confused at this, "Why not?" "Because some people don't like it, I suppose." Tiffani said with a sad smile. "That's stupid. I eat my broccoli, and I don't like it. But it makes Mama happy, and it gets me ice cream." Mark said, stabbing the can now with the stick. The girls smiled, "I wish more people thought that way." Jessica said, looking down. "If you guys get married when it IS allowed, you should have a superhero wedding!" Mark said smiling toothily up at them. The couple smiled, Tiffani ruffled his hair, "I promise, we will." She said.

"HEY! GET YOUR FILTHY SIN-STAINED HANDS OFF MY SON!" Mark heard his mother screech, running over to them. Tiffani quickly pulled her arm back and stood up, keeping her arm back, as if to protect Jessica. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" Mark's mother shouted, wrenching Mark's arm back and away from the girls making him yelp in pain. "Ma'am! Don't hurt him! We're sorry, we'll leave!" Jessica said, behind Tiffani who kept her arm back. "Don't you filthy faggots tell ME what to do!" "Go to hell!" Tiffani said defiantly, glaring daggers at Mark's mother. Mark covered his face once he saw his Mama raise her hand. He flinched at the loud CLAP sound that emanated. He heard one of the girls shout in pain, the other made a horrified squeak. 

"Come along Markimoo, time to go home." She said, roughly grabbing his upper arm and yanking him away. He cried out in pain, and struggled, but the more he struggled, the tighter her grip became.

Mark knew from that point that he was different from his family. He was never able to express it, seeing as once he was able to defend himself from his mother, his father stepped in. And when his father was away, his beast of an Aunt would step in. He would often find himself crying and running away to his Grandmother's house as a child. She would cheer him up with a slice of her famous Cookie Cake, and tell funny stories from her childhood all the time. Then she had to move away, only 15 minutes away by car, but far away enough where he couldn't walk to her house anymore. He eventually wandered into his brother's room when he grew upset, and found that Thomas was a very good listener, and always gave great advice. However, when Mark was in high school, Thomas had to go to College, and wasn't able to keep in touch with Mark as often. Mark grew extremely isolated and lonely, until he met a certain boy by the name of Felix. Felix was bullied often, seeing as he was foreign and couldn't speak English very well. They both grew to be fast friends, and eventually best friends. Felix also helped Mark explore his sexuality, by letting him kiss him. They never had feelings for each other, they only wanted to see which felt better. That was the year Mark discovered that he was Bisexual. He never dared tell his parents, or peers at school obviously. But he did tell his Grandma and his Brother, who supported him wholeheartedly. His Grandma was really happy about it, in fact, because she wanted him to help her pick out outfits and whatnot for "Hot Nights Out". Mark unfortunately was terrible at Fashion, so she stuck with whatever Apps she could find that could match outfits somewhat.

"Mark? Mark! MARK!" He heard a distant voice grow louder, shattering him out of his daydream. It was his mother, "Time to go!" She said a bit too cheerfully. He nodded, and started moving boxes into his car. Once all that was done, he awkwardly hugged his Parents, and was nearly crushed by his Aunt in a bear hug. He gave real hugs to his Grandma, and Thomas, where they promised to call at least once a day.

It wasn't a particularly sad or tearful time. He couldn't wait to leave, actually. He was eager to go out and explore the world on his own, make his own mistakes, leave his own mark on the world. With that being said, with a smile, he started up his car and drove away, not looking back.

**Sorry the first two chapters are so uneventful! I just want to get the characters introduced and show their personalities. Thank you so much for reading! Tell me if you want more, what could be fixed, etc.! Boo-Baii!