After

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⋘ 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡 – 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙

Ⰶ║ July 7 2020 ║Ⰶ

Mark curses under his breath and begins to run back to the restaurant, not caring if Jeno is behind him or not. He crashes through the door, startling the 5 other boys inside and waking Jisung fully. 

"For fucks sake Mark! Don't scare us like that! Donghyuk almost had a heart attack." Renjun scolds and Mark's eyes widen.

"Sorry just–" Mark bends over, catching his breath. "Something just...Something big happened." He turns and gestures for Jeno, who was right behind him the whole time, to take the phone.

Jeno grabs the device and holds it up for all the others to see. "See this?"

Chenle rolls his eyes and nods. "It's a phone dimwit, what about it?"

"Well smartass," Jeno glares. "It just fucking rang."

"Wait– What?" Jaemin's voice was airy with disbelief. "That's–"

"–Impossible. Or so we thought." Mark finishes for him. "We picked up and heard someone. Thanks to shit connection from Armageddon, all we could make out was a guy's voice and that they were at Jeju."

Donghyuk's eyes widen. "You aren't kidding right?"

Jeno and Mark shake their heads. "Not in the slightest."

"Holy fuck..."

The 5 older boys all stand in a circle, completely silent. That was until, of course, Jisung fully came to and looked around in confusion. He turns to Chenle. "Peelers?"

Chenle shakes his head, eyes on his hyungs. "No baby, a person."

"Person?"

"Mhm. They found a person."

Ⰶ║ July 10 2020 ║Ⰶ

Mark sighs with his hands on the steering wheel and Jaemin beside him in the passenger's seat.

"Mark..."

"mm?"

"We've come a long way, don't you think?"

Mark chuckles. "Figuratively or literally?"

Jaemin shrugs and looks out the window. "Both. I mean, even though it's only been a couple of months, it feels like years."

Mark nods, turning left on the turnpike and heading up the ramp. "April 23rd, right?"

"Yeah..."

"God, it does feel like forever ago."

Jaemin sighs. He sits up in his seat, bringing his legs into a crisscross on the car seat. He and Mark always had a deeper relationship, not anything romantic, but they've known each other the longest. They took care of the others and each other, and they would usually find themselves awake late at night in the seats of the car or back in the living room in the now-abandoned motel.

"Do you think...do you think someone is actually out there?"

Mark shrugs. "I think so since I heard them. I and Jeno both did. But there's really only one way to find out."

Jaemin smiles softly and nods to himself. "Good thing we were going to Jeju anyways."

"Yeah...good thing."

A few more minutes of silence pass between the two friends, the older boy busy with his eyes on the road and the younger boy's mind wandering back to the past. It was a calm night, and the moon was full and bright in the sky. The stars were twinkling brightly and the breeze was gently coming in through the windows which Mark and rolled down earlier. Jaemin always enjoyed nights like this, where it was peaceful and tranquil. Where nothing went wrong, and it could just be Jaemin, the stars, and the moon.

"Hey, can I...can I tell you something?" Mark's voice was soft, nervous almost.

Jaemin turns to him and raises a brow. "Sure, what's up?"

Mark glances through the viewing mirror to see that everyone else was in deep sleep. He sighs in relief and continues talking. "So...I think I...I-"

"You...?" Jaemin waves his head in anticipation.

"I love Donghyuk."

Jaemin takes a moment, a huge smile growing on his face. "Knew it! I fucking knew it!" He cheers to himself silently.

Mark breathes out. "Oh my god, that was terrifying to say."

Jaemin chuckles. "I can see how much you care for him, just wait to have sex till after his arm is healed."

"See Jaemin! This is why I don't tell you anything!"

But Jaemin only laughs in response.

Ⰶ║ July 10 2020 ║Ⰶ

YangYang continues to make funny faces at the baby girl as Xiaojun washed the dishes and Hendery followed his boyfriend around the kitchen. YangYang could hear the boy's protest for cuddles and Xiaojun's harsh scoldings. It only made the youngest boy grumble and pick the baby up.

"You shouldn't hear your parents fight Xi." He brings the girl upstairs to the makeshift nursery. Although he found her before finding Hendery and Xiaojun, the older boys took over as Xifeng's parents. YangYang still kept a strong relationship with his niece. Well, not really his niece, YangYang more so is her self-proclaimed uncle. The other two either don't know or don't care to know.

"YangYang don't hurt that baby!"

"Just go have sex with Hendery, mom!"

⋘ Tʀᴀɴsᴍɪssɪᴏɴ ᴇʀʀᴏʀ. Pʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴛʀʏ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ. ⋙