|Part 1|

Same time.

They all peeked at Mark who was sitting on the chair, all alone. His head down, conceivably resting.

"Mark? Get up... Let me drop you to your room." Kash moved his body negligibly. "I'll take Mark to his room. Y'all should be going too." Everyone bobbed their heads except for Aiden. He was horrified, still huffing.

"Come on..." He supported Mark out of the diner and pressed the elevator button. Once they entered the room, Kash tucked him in.

"Careful. I'll come to your room in the morning to wake you up. Don't wake up now, fine?" Mark nodded with a small smile. As Kash was going to exit, Mark held his hand.

"You don't have to do so much for me... I don't have the right to it, trust me." He whispered.

"Shush, don't say that. And besides, you seem like a decent human to me." Kash ruffled his hair and hunkered down to Mark's level.

"Take care, okay?" He conversed, not realising Mark's face getting closer to his.

Their lips soon designed into a perfect kiss. It was dreamy enough, to let them forget about the real world revolving around them. They pulled in need of oxygen.

"Well, that escalated quickly." Kash grinned notoriously.

•••

"Are you feeling okay now? Please tell me." Blake requested.

He wasn't used to such situations. He didn't know how to handle someone who just had a minor panic attack. Everyone was long gone to their compartments. Blake lingered because he didn't want to leave Aiden alone.

"I'm fine now." He said between short wails.

"I told you it's okay, I did right? Then why are you crying? Can you tell me the reason?" He questioned.

"Everything happened so abruptly. Mark got harmed and I don't even know if he's okay right now." He mewed weakly.

"So you want to meet Mark right now?"

"No, I just didn't know that all of it could have happened. I shouldn't have taken others out with me. It's all my fault..." Aiden sobbed yet again. Blake engulfed him into his embrace.

"It's not your fault. I'm sure Mark thinks the same. Don't fret, it's okay. You didn't know this was arriving, did you? So you have no rights to blame yourself for this. It is not your fault. I don't want to hear anything else, okay?" Blake sighed at his motivational speech. He knew he wasn't good at this.

"I don't know. It's just so appalling. I'm sorry." Aiden couldn't stop apologising, but it was too late to muse over whether going out was worth it or not.

"Hey, hey. It's okay, trust me. Let's scramble up and sleep, okay? You look worn out." They came out of the restaurant and were in the hallway when Aiden stopped suddenly and respired. He seemed to be okay now.

"I'm sorry, I discomforted you. I couldn't take it all at once." He said. Aiden's voice turned back to normal, but he kept his head low. "What can I do to pay back?" Aiden finally peeped up.

"I don't want anything."

"No, just tell me what I can do."

"Why do you think of me as someone who's selfish and doesn't care? I care... I care for you, for everyone!" Blake talked, slinking closer.

"Don't you trust me?" He harmlessly pushed Aiden to the nearest wall, trapping him between both of his arms. Aiden met his gaze, then watched as Blake's eyes slowly flicker from his eyes down to his lips, then back up again. Blake tilted his head and leaned forth.

Maybe time stopped when their lips met, but the flutter only strengthened. Aiden's heart banged in his chest as his knees got weaker. He could only focus on how sloppy he felt against Blake's mouth, how addictively Blake invaded all his bits of knowledge. Their lips hurried in sync as if choreographed.

It still wasn't clear if Blake yearned for this moment to ensue, but there was raw emotion in the way Aiden's hands curled around Blake's neck.

Blake kept his eyes half-open, sneaking a guilty peek at him every time he came back for air, just to make sure this wasn't a product of his imagination.

For Aiden, Blake's kiss was a black hole pulling him in until all gravity was lost under his touch. A giddy sense of euphoria ran through his body, giving him goosebumps. They pulled away soon after only to be crashed into another.

Blake pressed a tender kiss on Aiden's lips. They both smiled at each other. Maybe Blake did want this to happen.

"I never knew I needed this." Blake spoke with a smug smile on his face.

"But jokes apart, ain't I a good kisser?" He added, backing up and puffing his chest proudly. Aiden laughed at the silliness.

"But you said jokes apart, though!" Blake gave Aiden a look causing him to snort.

"This is the face of a man who's been defeated." Aiden snickered.

"Playin' kissy-kissy, smoochy-smoochy, talkin' mooshy-mooshy bout nothin'." They both looked at the way where the disturbance came from and witnessed Jiho dancing and singing to himself. "How was it, best friend?" He emphasised, shooting them a smirk.

"You asshole!" Aiden ran to him as Jiho ran away. Blake face-palmed, sighing. But only he knew how happy he was from inside.

|End Of Chapter|