"Hey, bros!" Yugyeom announced their arrival, as he and BamBam took the seats opposite Jaebum, Youngjae and Jackson, at the table, at the canteen.
"Hey, Youngjae hyung, long time no see!" BamBam greeted Youngjae, who had been previously conversing with Jaebum.
"Yeah. How're you both doing? All good?"
"As good as ever," BamBam responded, "By the way, hyung, do you still play mobile games? There's a-"
"Stop talking about your mobile games, BamBam. Youngjae has no time to play them now, right?" Jaebum softened his voice, as he addressed Youngjae.
"I don't have much spare time these days, Bam ah."
"I see. But what's with Jaebum hyung?"
"He looks aggressive," Yugyeom added.
"Simply, because you were about to distract Youngjae, BamBam. He was having good time with our Youngjae before you came. Even my presence'd been forgot," Jackson said, dramatically.
Youngjae blushed slightly and Jaebum stole glances at him, to make sure that he was not frightening Youngjae away.
"Why am I not surprised?" BamBam said, drily.
"By the way, where's Jinyoung hyung?" Youngjae tried to change the subject, "Doesn't he attend classes today?"
"He does. He told us to go ahead. What is taking him long?" Jaebum mused.
Jackson smirked knowingly, "Don't worry about him. He just has something really, really important to do."
Jaebum furrowed his brows, suspiciously looking at Jackson, "Why you look so smug? Are you hiding something from me?"
Before Jackson could reply, however, BamBam exclaimed, "Speak of the devil, there he comes. Oh my, who's it?"
Entering the canteen were Jinyoung and Mark, with their hands interlaced. They were talking and smiling, as if the world was so perfect in their eyes. They were going to the counter first to order the food, before coming to the table.
Aside from Jackson, everyone else at the table was dumbfounded by the sight. Then Jaebum turned to Jackson, with an expression of surprise and anger mixed.
"You knew it, Jackson? Why was I omitted? Both of you didn't give me even hints!"
"Calm down. He thought you'd be so worried about him and wanted to talk to you only when everything went okay."
"How long have you known it?"
"Just about a week."
"A week!"
They could not talk further as Jinyoung's 'Hey, guys' interrupted them and he and Mark seated themselves beside BamBam and Yugyeom.
"Are we perhaps dreaming? The Jinyoung hyung who has been chasing girls as long as I've known him, is now with a boyfriend?" Yugyeom said, incredulously, while BamBam's and Youngjae's eyes were running over Mark curiously.
"I can't believe you were hiding him from us!" BamBam said.
"We've become an item only since yesterday, Bam," Jinyoung said and then turned to Jaebum, who was eying both him and Mark with a frown.
"Jaebum-"
"I need an explanation now, Jinyoung. Why did I know nothing about this when Jackson has known everything?"
"Jaebum, I didn't want to talk about it to anyone, even to Jackson. He just forced everything out of me. I told him not to tell you because I knew you'd get angry and upset if Mark'd just played with me or something like that. I didn't want you to know that I'd been such an idiot. But everything is alright, now. I'm sorry for not having told you."
"I'm your best friend too, Jinyoung. Don't just do something like that again. I'm always willing to share your misery."
"I know," Jinyoung muttered, quietly.
"Why're you making Jinyoung hyung upset!" Youngjae said, trying to lighten up the atmosphere, "Introduce him to us, Jinyoung hyung."
Jinyoung turned to look at Mark and returned Mark's warm smile. He felt Mark's hand squeezing his, comfortingly.
He, then, shifted his eyes to his friends, "Guys, this is my boyfriend, Mark Tuan. Jaebum and Jackson know him. And he knows all of you."
"Oh my god, you are one of those two students who Jinyoung hyung was with in the forest?" Yugyeom asked, surprised, and BamBam and Youngjae were equally astounded, as the name had already been familiar to them.
"I'm," Mark said, with a smile, "Nice to meet you all. You all are Jinyoung's special friends. So I'd be glad if you can accept me as your friend too."
"Of course! Don't worry, Mark. We warmly welcome our Jinyoung's boyfriend. Just don't make him miserable like you just did, okay?" Jackson said.
"As long as you two love each other, it's all fine. You can hang out with us anytime and anywhere you like," Jaebum said, amicably.
Soon their food arrived and they started having their lunch, with less conversation. Mark and Jinyoung could not help but feed each other, too often for the others to ignore. While Jinyoung was pouring the water into the glass for him, Mark grabbed the tissue and wiped Jinyoung's lips leisurely, staring at them long until he heard Jaebum's fake cough and Jackson's 'eww!'.
"I feel like I shouldn't be here," Yugyeom said.
"The same, man. It's so gross!" BamBam added.
Jinyoung laughed at their fakely disgusted faces because he knew that deep down they were happy for him. He had his supportive friends and Mark, who he loved and was willing to spend his whole life with. Life could not be more perfect than now, and he was going to cherish all of these memories with them.
After lunch was finished, they chilled, drinking the smoothies. "So you were in the forest and I can imagine what you did there," BamBam said, wrinkling his nose.
"Actually, I'd sort of planned to make this guy fall for me there," Mark said, looking at Jinyoung and then turned to his friends, "Because I've been in love with him since one year ago. It's a long story." Mark revealed everything of his scheme and why he had done so, to Jinyoung's friends. He wanted to be honest with them as well. At the end of his narrative, they were left shocked and dumbfounded.
"Gosh, so that was all your plan?" Jaebum asked, incredulously.
"Oh my god, Mark, you're a legend. It's called true love," Jackson cheered.
"It sounds a little creepy," Youngjae remarked, "But I'm glad everything has turned out well."
Mark grew more comfortable with them afterwards and got quickly fit into the group. Everything was overwhelmingly, surreally, pleasant to him - the news friends he had got, and the one he loved with his whole heart being by his side, to make his days wonderful.
The more he thought of all the good changes, the stronger he felt his love for Jinyoung. Because of Jinyoung's love and understanding, all these perfect dreams had come true. He tightened their interlaced fingers, and promised, silently, that he would never let Jinyoung down.
Jinyoung leaned against Mark's shoulder, as his friends were now falling into their own conversations. Mark, instantly, pressed his lips against Jinyoung's forehead just for a quick moment. Jinyoung smiled and at the same time, was glad that his friends were pretending that they had not seen it. Everything was so joyous in his eyes. Indeed, loving Mark was the best thing he had ever done, in his life.
The End
Hi, everyone. I hope you've enjoyed this fic and thank you so much for reading this. I'll be back with another fic soon.
