Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It has been a year and today would be the day I would see Mark again. Or more so, in another 15 hours. My phone was on and I heard Mark shuffle in the background, my boyfriend staring into the camera while I shifted through the clothes in my closet. I held up the dress and laid it on my body, Mark tilting his head to the side before frowning.
"I don't understand why you can't just wear one of my hoodies," he said as he squinted at the screen, his finger pressing down on something. "Uh... It says that it'll rain—"
"It's one of those family gatherings, Mark," I said and Mark furrowed his eyebrows, his lips pursing. It was obvious that he wanted to say something but was stopping himself. "And right after that, my parents are going on their yearly retreat and my brother will send me to the airport to pick you up."
"Yeah... so...." Mark's voice trailed and I placed the dress on the bed, trying to decide between the red and blue one. "So, if it's one of those family gatherings, shouldn't you be okay with a hoodie?"
I raised an eyebrow and I could see him lower the phone. There was a flash of his passport and I could see that he was checking in. There was a soft voice telling him that the process was done and Mark thanked her politely. He had a beanie on and I smiled when his face came back into the frame. When he saw me smiling, he smiled back shyly and I sighed.
One year had been quite a ride for the both of us and we spoke like how we usually did. We went through handling the time zones, trying to understand the concept of distance and relationships, put up ground rules of what we can and cannot do and Mark had been nothing but cooperative and I was entirely grateful for how hard he worked in trying to be a reliable boyfriend.
He was still Mark though, and more often than not, he hardly voiced out his thoughts because he was scared of how I would react. But our dynamic didn't really change, we just showed each other how much we cared a little bit more.
I could see the strap of his Jansport bag and he told me that he was going through immigration now. I nodded and I could see him pocket the phone first when my brother called me to go down and I did, my parents asking me if I was ready. Our aunt from another country came to visit so we would be having dinner with her in the hotel and coming back to the house before my brother would send me off to pick Mark up.
"You should standby by the gate," I told Mark and his voice cackled from the other side. Jaehyun was bringing his girlfriend again and she was more like family now than my 'brother's girlfriend', New York slipping on heels. "I'll see you in another... 14 hours?"
"Okay," Mark replied and I saw him appear back at the camera, smiling at me before he kissed the camera, and I couldn't help but blush. "See you in a bit."
