☾unavngivet - ☼

"Mark? Your turn."

Mark looks up as he hears his teacher mention his name. He clears his throat and makes his way up to the front of the class, his poem in his hands.

He smiles brightly and lets his shoulders fall down as he scans over the anticipating eyes of his classmates. Mark always has this beautiful way of expressing himself, so all his classmates are always excited when it becomes Mark's turn to read aloud a project.

"As you all know, we're currently working with literature. I pulled the sentence 'From a heart'." Mark looks down at the short poem he has written. "I had a hard time figuring out what that meant. From a heart," he repeats.

The class listens intensely, minus the one guy who is sleeping in the back.

"So last weekend, I traveled home to my family and I went stargazing on our roof. It made me think about what my sentence could mean," Mark goes over to the computer that is connected to the projector and plugs in a USB. A picture of the night sky opens up and a few of his classmates start whispering in awe.

"I took this picture while I was stargazing," Mark says. "From a heart," he adds. "Most people associate a heart with love, and I do too. So that's what I came up with."

"From a heart, love can bloom."

Mark glances at his teacher. Her facial expression is sharp, showing she's listening.

He takes a deep breath and looks at his poem. He smiles and starts reading it out loud. "From a heart, love can bloom," he starts off.

"Love is like a universe. Stardust and tenderness, black holes and distress. Two attached souls are like the sun and the moon. Because the moon can't light up without the sun, and if the sun isn't there, the moon is just a dark and cold object floating in space."

Mark looks up and bows, taking out his USB and making his way back to his seat while the room fills with applause and his teacher's feedback.

"That was good," Yukhei, Mark's seatmate tells him as he sits down.

Mark nods and gives him a smile, but deep down, his insides are crumbling. Something is missing, something he loves...

He can feel it.

☾ ☼

Chenle's loud scream echoes through the hallway. "Congratulations, Mark!!"

Mark sighs in embarrassment. He turns around and is met with the sight of his five friends running towards him. Chenle is the first to reach him, where he's quick to hug Mark as tightly as he can.

"I can't believe you finally graduated!" Jeno screams as he clinches himself onto Mark as well.

The rest does the same, surrounding Mark with tight embraces. "I c-can't breathe," Mark chokes out.

Yes, Mark just graduated! And that isn't even everything that had happened since last summer.

Renjun slowly but surely started accepting both Jeno and Jaemin's love, and in the end, he fell for Jeno too. The three are so happy together, and Mark is just as happy for them.

Chenle and Jisung came home from their trip to China a month ago. No one quite knows what has happened there. Chenle and Jisung just seem weird and awkward with each other ever since they came home. Mark has his theories, and every time he catches Chenle sneaking glances at Jisung, his theories only become stronger.

Maybe Jisung finally told Chenle?

"I have to go now. I need to say goodbye to my classmates," Mark smiles. "Wait for me outside?"

Everyone pulls away and gives Mark some space before leaving him alone in the hallway. Mark sighs and starts walking towards the chatter that beams from afar. He reaches the ceremony hall where most of his classmates are currently. He has never been extremely close with any of them because he has always had Jeno. His relationship with his class is more of a casually friendly one.

The only one he is merely close with is his seat mate, Yukhei. And that is mainly because the latter just can't stop talking when he first gets at it.

So the first face he starts looking after is automatically Yukhei's. His eyes travel around for some time before they find the rather tall boy.

Mark is about to call out the latter's name but he stops as he catches the glimpse of another familiar person behind Yukhei.

Next to the stage, stands a boy.

A boy who seems so awfully familiar.

A boy with brown hair, the cutest grin Mark has ever seen, and beautiful eyes-

"Mark!"

Mark's attention is taken by Yukhei, who is making his way over to him. "I almost thought you left!" the tall boy smiles quirkily and swings his arm over Mark's shoulder, dragging him away and starting to ramble about who knows what.

Mark glances back to where the familiar boy stood at, only to see he is gone.

He frowns but quickly forgets it.

Don't worry Mark.

I'm so close...

You'll remember me soon.

☾ ☼

people can be so awful...

i'm happy to see a lot of you being worried about me,

but i don't take stupid comments like that to heart, so don't worry!

the comment didn't unmotivate me,

it just made me a little sad...

sideways has two chapters left!

thanks for staying with me through the ride💜💜