What if...? || Markhyuck

-24-

[may 2020]

[donghyuck]

I smoked a cigarette quietly, sitting on the porch steps. I was hoping that the smoke would fill the feeling of emptiness that I felt after so many months of hard work that ended more easily than anyone would have expected.

I began to wonder what my life would look like when I returned to New York. Stagnation was something I couldn't imagine.

Was there more free time waiting for me at home?

I was supposed to spend time on paperwork?

Marco was going to shoot me as soon as he saw me?

Idleness seemed very real if Perez doesn't have any camouflaged issues he has held so far because of this one priority. I didn't exclude this unrealistic option. It was positive. I would love to spend a weekend at home with my mother, for example, but there were five other days left from the week and the money didn't come from heaven. The end of Carl's case caused many unknowns and many potential threats to a peaceful and normal life. Minhyung didn't make anything easier for me with his return. I came to the conclusion that the appearance of the boy again in my life destroyed virtually every emergency plan that I had in case Marco wanted to get rid of me quietly.

The morning promised to be hot. It was about 5 am now, so I could watch the rising sun calmly. Single birds were already chirping somewhere in the forest, letting other creatures know that it was time to get up slowly. Personally, I was eager to get back to bed and not get out of it until noon. However, there was a lot of work ahead of me and a nap would thwart plans to return home for the evening, which was probably not going to happen anyway.

My attention was suddenly caught by the specific noise coming from the driveway. However, I didn't get up from the stairs, really expecting who it got to us. After a few minutes, Steven emerged from around the corner of the house, waving me a greeting. I answered him with a tired nod. Talking to me by the end of the day seemed to be a laconic exchange of opinions.

"How did you survive?" he asked, coming closer.

"As you can see," I replied calmly, stubbing out a cigarette on the stairs.

"Where's Mark?" he looked around as if he were about to fly out of the bushes on the edge of the plot and greet him with a smile.

"He's taking a shower," I explained. Steven gave me a questioning look that I immediately decoded. I shrugged slightly in response, letting him know that the black-haired is rather all right. Stable.

"That's good," he sighed, as if getting rid of a huge worry stone from his chest. As you can see, the Perez's stone becomes the stone of all of us.

We went silently to the car. Minhyung always parked on the north side of the house so that no rays of the sun would destroy his only true love. I opened the trunk slowly, turning my head sideways almost immediately. The smell of digested alcohol was unbearable to me. Steven covered nose with hand, looking at Carl in disgust. I don't think he was so happy about the fact that he must chauffeur him around a solid six hours in such heat.

"Well," he sighed, taking a few steps back. "Let's leave him like this," he added suddenly. "I don't even want to touch him, so I'll just wrap your car and someone will do it for me on the spot.

"You won't say we have to go back with your heap?" I was surprised.

"Calm down" he raised two fingers up as a sign of peace. "I took the company car."