𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 - 𝕐𝕦𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕜

t h r e e

The cool air swept through Yuta's hair. Winter was slowly coming to an end, shifting into spring. Yuta had finally worked up the courage to ask Mark on a date, a platonic one, of course. He's not trying to have a romantic relationship with a fourteen year old. They didn't have many opportunities to spend time together alone anymore. More of Mark's free time was being taken up by schoolwork. Occasionally, if he was in an insecure mood, he would take this personally and feel sad because he thought that Mark might not care about him anymore. It wasn't usually a problem but sometimes when Mark would retreat into his room to study for a test, he felt a little left behind.

He was going to change that today. Yuta had brought Mark to Lotte world. Fighting with their manager to let them take the day off to make this trip and leaving discreetly so they didn't have to bring the other members was definitely worth it to see Mark's face light up in childish glee.

Mark actually squealed and then ran off, but not before grabbing Yuta's hand again.

"LETS GO GET CANDY FLOSS, HYUNG!"

"Okay"

After they arrived at the stand, Mark ordered the largest size possible and then another one for Yuta.

"Hey Hyung?"

"Yeah?"

"I forgot my wallet" he smiled sheepishly "can you pay?"

This was happening way too often for it to be a coincidence anymore, either that, or Mark was one of the most forgetful people on the planet. Yuta didn't mind paying though, seeing Mark smile was more than enough. He swears he could live off Mark's smiles alone.

"Sure" Yuta raised his eyebrow at Mark, but his wide smile made it obvious that he wasn't in the least bit annoyed or inconvenienced.

"You're the best!"

"Good to hear, Markie"

They spent the next few hours going on all the rides and queuing, lots of queuing. Eventually, Yuta noticed that Mark was getting a little tired, so he suggested that they stop off for lunch. He agreed, so they sat down in a small booth in one of the many restaurants.

"Hyungggg, my feet hurrrrt" Mark whined.

"What would you like me to do about that?" He replied.

"I don't knowwwwww, make it go away, or like, carry me"

"I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not carrying you"

"Why not? Are you calling me fat?"

"NO! Of course not! We're just uh, sitting down right now, so I really couldn't carry you if I tried"

Mark huffed in response and was about to open his mouth again when the waitress came by to take their orders and was looking Yuta up and down. She was very pretty, but obviously not his type. Yuta cleared his throat.

"I'll take a cheeseburger, curly fries and a large sprite, please." Yuta gives her a polite smile.

"Sure, Oppa" She fluttered her eyelashes. Yuta wanted to leave the situation, she was definitely older than him. Help. "and what do you want, young man?" She directed her stare at Mark, finally remembering he was there.

"Um hi, I'll have a double quarter pounder and a-" Mark stopped what he was saying to glare at the waitress, who had opted to ignore Mark to stare at Yuta's jawline. "excuse me, but are you writing down my order? I asked for a double quarter pounder and a chocolate milkshake?" The waitress was off in another world.

Yuta had to intervene.

"My friend ordered a double quarter pounder and a chocolate milkshake."

Broken out of her trance she finally wrote their orders down with flushed cheeks. But before she left she put her hand on Yuta's shoulder.

"Oppa, my shift ends in half an hour and maybe you could ditch the child you're stuck with at the moment to hang out with me instead~~" She said with regained confidence into Yuta's ear, while smirking in Mark's direction. His eyes widened in disbelief, he was about to politely decline but Mark beat him to it.

"OH MY GOD, WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP? HE'S CLEARLY NOT INTERESTED IN YOU, GIVE IT UP ALREADY! HE'S TAKEN, HE'S GOT A SOULMATE ALREADY!" Mark spat angrily.

"Oh what does it matter to you anyway, kid? Soulmates certainly don't matter to me"

"Leave now to the kitchens with our orders or I swear I will call the manager" Mark seethed.

The waitress scoffed but left anyway.

"Bitch" said the younger boy.

"That's not a very kind thing to say, but she was kind of asking for it" Yuta let out a breathy laugh, he was relieved and very grateful towards Mark.

Thankfully, twenty minutes later, a different waitress returned with their food. They sat in a comfortable silence, occasionally commenting on how nice the food was until Mark remembered the waitress and her lack of enthusiasm towards soulmates.

"Hyung?"

"Yeah?"

"Soulmates are really important, right?" Mark looked unsure of himself "I thought everyone wanted to be with their soulmate exclusively?"

"Well, most people do, I think that soulmate marks are a blessing."

"Me too, I can't wait to turn eighteen, get my mark and then meet my soulmate. I wonder what she's like? I bet she's going to be the prettiest girl I've ever seen"

Yuta felt his heart shatter into a million tiny fragments. He knew he shouldn't tell Mark, he's straight and would hate Yuta if he found out that his fantasies of a beautiful girl as his soulmate were never, ever going to come true. Mark was stuck with him.

"One can hope" he said, deflated.

"Hyung, you never told me who your soulmate is, when can I meet him?" Mark pressed.

"Hopefully, one day, if he accepts me" he mumbles.

"You guys aren't dating? Why not?"

"It's complicated, Markie"

"Can I do anything to help?" Yuta could laugh at the irony.

"Um, not really, sorry"

"Okay, Hyung"

Their mood was now considerably dampened and when it was time to pay, the first waitress came back. Yuta ignored her flirtatious smile, her fluttering eyelashes and even Mark's glare. He felt numb. Yuta paid and when the waitress wrote down her number on the back of the receipt, he threw it in the bin on their way out. He was not in the mood anymore to let her entertain the idea of them being together for even a second. His heart was reserved for one person only, and that person didn't even want him.