the married life [paused]

13

Three days.

They've been non-stop face timing and texting for three days.

They couldn't meet up because Jinyoung was busy looking through cook books and even trying to make his own dish. He failed on his first three tries. "Too salty." Minhyuk says with a scrunched up face when he tasted it while Hyungwon, who visited them that Monday, kept a straight face and told him to add some water and Taeyong who just dropped the food on his plate from his mouth. "Doesn't it taste bland?" Taeyong asked when he took a bite from the same dish the next day when he cooked it again and Johnny squints his eyes. "A bit." He says, chuckling nervously when Jinyoung stared dead at the pan. Minhyuk sighs, but he smiled at Jinyoung. "Oh, this kind of taste better than the last two." Taeyong says, blinking at the same dish Jinyoung cooked the third day. "It needs something else, though." Minhyuk says, looking at Jinyoung who looked relieved that he hit something.

While Jinyoung was busy with the dish he has to make on Saturday, Mark had to finish up the piled up paper works for an upcoming wedding three weeks from now before he and Jaebeom goes to the reunion on Friday. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was a mess, but even so, he managed to look at Jinyoung through the screen of his phone every time they face timed with a smile. They didn't know why they did it every time they can.

It didn't matter if they talked the whole time or just have it on while they do their own thing. Mark would give him some advice on his dish, which is why he achieved his third try, he just needed to know what was missing. "If I don't find what's missing by Friday, I'm cooking kebabs." Jinyoung muttered last night, scrubbing the pan. "Just know that we have your back, alright?" Mark says, not looking up from the paper, but his voice was sincere. Jinyoung smiled at that. On the other hand, Jinyoung would tell him to take a break when he noticed Mark sighing almost every minute. "Jeez, I know you and Mr. Im are rushing, but please breathe." He says, teasing yet concerned. Mark chuckled, nodding his head as he leans on his chair. "Thank you." He would say.

It went on like that. It felt different from when they first met. They felt it. The change that happened that Sunday. It was like a switch has been flicked. But they were both ignoring it, even after having the strength and confidence to hold hands, feed a chocolate and even just look in each other's eyes differently. Even now that they face time like this. They were still cautious.

It's Thursday night now. Jinyoung was washing the dishes, his phone placed on a shelf above the sink while Mark has his phone set by the side of the table, finalizing his papers. "Are you almost finished?" Jinyoung asked, shaking off the water from his hands just in time for Mark to let out a loud yell and leaning back for a stretch. Another loud yell came from the screen and Jinyoung remembered that Jaebeom was in there too. "Yes!" JB yelled and a sound of thud came after.

Jinyoung raised his eyebrows. "What was that?" He asked and Mark chuckled, taking the phone to flip the camera. Jaebeom was lying face front on one of the sofa's, a bunch of coffee cups spread on the ground, but Jinyoung sees two other pairs of feet. "Oh. Who's that?" Jinyoung asked, taking the phone as he walks to the sofa in his living room. "Oh, it's Youngjae and Jungkook." Mark introduced, facing the camera on them.

Jinyoung chuckled nervously, smiling at them. "Hello, nice to meet you! I didn't know you were there." He greets and Jungkook takes the phone from Mark who tried to grab it, but he was tired so he lets him. "Hyung!" Jungkook says with a big smile and Jinyoung greets him. "Hi, Jungkook-ie." He greets back and the younger gives the phone to Youngjae. "Nice to finally meet you." Jinyoung says and Youngjae smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you too." He says and Mark finally gets up and snatch his phone. He comes back to his seat before putting his headphones in.

"Rude. I was talking to Youngjae-ssi." Jinyoung states, ruffling his hair as he looks at himself on the screen. "You can meet him tomorrow. I want to talk to you." Mark says, closing his eyes and tilting his head back on the chair. Jinyoung rolled his own eyes. "You should rest instead of talking to me, we have somewhere to be tomorrow, remember?" He asks and this made Mark open his eyes and look at the ceiling.