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The weather is perfectly nice. No clouds up high and the only thing in the sky is the sun, bright and warm although a moon starts to make itself seen on the opposite direction, a constant reminder of the lateness of the hour. The breeze that occasionally messes his hair, once warm on his face, has become drier and colder, but Mark doesn't mind it at all. It's still refreshing.
The end of the afternoon paints the sky in dark yellows and oranges that will soon become red then give way to the usual dark blues of the night. It's pretty, but it's easier to loose cats when darkness takes over the skies above the small park. It makes his task harder to accomplish. To watch over two energetic kittens and a third one that is not as energetic is a difficult thing to achieve. Even more when he has to do it alone.
When he finally finds Jeno coming his way with two soft serves on hand, one half eaten and the other melting on his hand, Mark smiles and tenses up.
The hour and a half they have spent watching over Seol and Dong going from enemies hissing at each other to friends rolling around the green turf of the park, and Nal trying to eat fresh grass and ignoring his companions has passed quickly.
The uneasiness, an old friend of Mark's, hasn't shown up. Instead, the familiarity from talking through their cats Instagram accounts for over two months has made it easy for them to slip into a casual conversation. Jeno has made him comfortable from his arrival until now in a way few could.
Jeno finally sits down on the grass and hands over the self serve, “I'm sorry,” He apologizes and the smile he gives Mark makes his eyes turn into thin lines and whatever it is that he's sorry for, Mark forgives him at the spot, “I should have ran. Now it's all melted and soggy,” He finishes his thoughts with a sigh.
Mark gives him a pout as reassuring as a pout can be. And maybe it's a lot, because Jeno smiles at him. Again it is pretty, and Mark should be used to it by now but he isn't.
It's pretty how his eyes have to disappear so his smile can show up, Mark thinks as Jeno continues to fight the afternoon's heat and tries to eat the ice cream before it is gone in a creamy puddle of vanilla, they are never at sight at the same time.
Maybe it's physically impossible for him to do so, Marks has been wondering for long now. And while looking at the smile in person for the first times—Instagram maintains the HD quality of photos, but the warmth and the bubbling happiness inside him are things only available in real life— it also seems physically impossible for Mark to move his gaze away.
(He eventually succeeds. Only god knows how hard he tried and how he wished he hadn't once he looked away.)
The ice cream drips through the waffle cone to Mark's hand and from there to his forearm, “Oh, shit,” It's a slip of the tongue and Mark almost feel apologetic. Only when Jeno's laugh hits his ears he allows himself to relax, “Sorry.” He still mouths the sincere apology that Jeno simply shrugs away.
They stay in silence for the first time since they met but it's not awkward, it's not the way Mark's silences usually go. It's an easy silence, because they're trying to eat the ice cream before it melts away on their hands instead of their mouths. It's a long silence, as long as the sky above them—that now holds a gradient from dark blues to bright reds painted throughout its extension— but it doesn't feel long, because when Jeno scratches the back of Nal's ears time flows in slow motion for them and when Mark grabs his phone to take a picture, the action takes eons to happen. It's a deep silence, but it's never completely silent.
Dong tries to run and hisses loudly when Seol ambushes him, tangling her small frame around him. She playfully bites his pawns over and over, and all that can be heard are Dong's high-pitched meows, until he finds strength out of thin air to sprint away from his white furred demise.
The small cat doesn't run far from where they stand, but Mark's gaze follows him regardless.
Soon the orange cat comes back panting from the small run, his tongue sticking out of his mouth cutely. Jeno coos at him and Marks takes loads of pictures in succession—for Instagram matters. The past torture session is probably forgotten by his cat mind because he runs towards Seol and starts playing with her again.
Mark finishes his waffle cone and joins Jeno in taking pictures of the cats playing around—to no success— and the one sleeping peacefully inside the transport box. When Mark is taking a picture with Jeno to upload to his personal Instagram later, he feels sharp small teeth biting his bare calves. He screams out of surprise more than pain, but it sounds pathetic either way.
When he looks down, Seol is jumping up his legs, painfully climbing him with her claws. It stings at first and it's just when she stops moving and tries to retract her claws that pain hits Mark, making him scream again.
The pain intensifies as Seol tries to let go, swinging her back pawns frantically, drawing thin deep lines on Mark's calves. When Jeno detaches her from Mark's leg and locks all of the cats inside their respective boxes, he grabs some tissues and help mark clean himself from the small spurs of blood that sprout from the holes and scratrches left in his skin.
“I'm so sorry, Mark,” He starts to apologize in behalf of Seol while applying some pressure to the small cuts, “She's not usually like this. She's so— It's bleeding a lot, maybe we should go to the hospital,” Jeno carries on with his mumbling while using his whole stock of tissues to clean the scratches. “I think there's one a mile or so from this park—”
“I am not going to the hospital for a few scratches, Jeno,” Mark smiles. It's endearing, really, to be the one receiving the caring and preoccupied look of Jeno's eyes, even if for such trivial thing on the life of cat owners. Mark laughs, “Seolie is a good kitten, Jeno. It happens. Dongie once tried to escalate my back...” His face scrunches as the ghost pain hits his back where Dong launched himself back then.
It's clear how Jeno calms down upon hearing his words. A shy smile takes the place left from the preoccupied frown, one he isn't used to looking at—not in the two hours at the park, nor in Jeno's personal Instagram feed. And Mark can't help it but to let the word he has repressed for the whole cat date to leave his lips.
“Cute,” The word rolls off the way it has wanted to and although it feels good to let it out, Mark couldn't help but blush, embarrassed. Once again, Jeno makes him comfortable without even trying. A big laugh is the answer he gives to Mark's compliment. Simple and effective, but elusive. Mark wonders what the laugh means while he stupidly tries to contain the heat on his ears with a massage.
When he grabs the boxes where his cats are—and he makes sure not to take Dong for mistake, checking and rechecking—, Jeno has come back to his usual self, “You gotta clean it when you get home, ok?” He reminds Mark when they start the walk back to the bus stop.
Mark nods, grabbing Dong's box. It's the right thing to do, he can't trust his lips anymore.
The natural light of the sun is no longer seen and artificial lights surround them everywhere. People just leaving work crowd the streets but not the buses, not yet.
Even after the small cat incident, everything is well. A bit glossed over but it's part of the nature of first meetings. They fall into a small talk of frivolities and some not as mundane matters. Unfortunately, an empty bus appears in the city's peak hour. Impossible to skip.
While he waits for the elders to go inside first, Mark says his goodbyes, “Dongie really liked the company, Seolie, Nalie,” He mimics the high-pitched voice Jeno uses to talk to them, eliciting another laugh off the boy, “Maybe we could set another cat date for them, you know,” He suggests.
“Yeah, I think they'd love to. Good-bye, Dongie. I'll miss you. Good-bye, Mark-hyung. I'll miss you too,” He smiles another of the mysterious smiles Mark has never seen.
When Mark enters the bus he can still see Jeno's all-knowing eyes as he waves him good-bye and his words ring fresh on his ears, and whether Jeno is a breath of fresh air kissing his face lightly or a wild whirlwind messing his life completely, it's a matter for the Mark of the future to worry about.
Present Mark will enjoy the company for as long as he can.
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