5

chapter 6

After Jaehyun and Mark had finished eating dinner together, they both headed upstairs to Mark's room and sat down on his bed. Mark had brought his laptop out with him when he arrived home, so he opened it up to search for some videos of his favourite movies. He was looking up the latest animated version of the movie The Little Mermaid when he heard Jaehyun call his name.

"Uh, yeah?" Mark responded without turning away from his computer screen.

"Are you ready yet?" Jaehyun asked him.

"For what?" Mark responded as he continued searching for movies related to mermaids.

"To watch The Little Mermaid! Remember? You said you wanted to watch it last night," Jaehyun reminded him.

"Oh... Right! Okay then..." Mark nodded his head. "Just give me a second," he added.

"Okay."

A moment later, Mark found the movie that he was looking for on the web page and clicked on it to begin watching it. Jaehyun got closer to Mark's side of the bed and leaned down towards his younger brother until he reached out and took hold of the mouse in front of Mark. He slowly moved the mouse around and began clicking on various scenes of the movie while simultaneously talking to Mark.

"I love watching Disney films," he informed his little brother. "You probably won't understand why, but it just reminds me how much I love Disney."

"I never understood why people watch Disney movies, but I suppose I can sympathize with you," Mark responded. "Maybe someday you'll understand why."

"When I grow up I want to become an actor," Jaehyun said.

"Actor?" Mark repeated in surprise. "Like Robert Downey Jr.? Isn't he kind of old for you?"

"He's young compared to all the other actors. Anyway, don't you want to see what happened to Princess Ariel?" Jaehyun questioned.

"Of course I do!" Mark exclaimed.

"Then why are you questioning me about it? Let's watch the movie!"

The movie began playing and Mark continued to stare at the screen as he spoke aloud to Jaehyun, "This is one of the best parts of the movie. The story of Ariel and Prince Eric is just so beautiful! I wish I could sing and act like her…"

Jaehyun laughed softly and replied: "Let me know when you start singing and acting then. I'll sing and act along with you."

After the movie, they decided to watch another one, this time one of the Disney classics called Frozen. When the song began playing, Mark stood up and started dancing around the room. Jaehyun joined in with him. They danced around the room and sang along to the lyrics until they eventually stopped dancing. Once they did, they sat back down on Mark's bed, but neither of them said anything. Mark had taken his headphones out during the Frozen movie because he knew that if he tried to listen to music while listening to Frozen, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on the song. So, all he had to do was stare at the screen in front of him in order to focus on what was happening on the screen. Jaehyun, on the other hand, was just sitting there staring at Mark the entire time.

About an hour passed by after the movie ended and Mark wasn't sure how long they had watched it. His attention span was pretty low right now, so he couldn't really keep track of the hours that passed by. He figured that they had watched it at least twice and that was good enough for him. Jaehyun noticed that Mark hadn't even bothered to look at his phone all day.

"Hey, you okay there bud?" Jaehyun suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?" Mark turned his head in his older brother's direction.

"Why haven't you checked your phone all day?"

"I dunno..." Mark shrugged his shoulders in response. "My eyes are starting to hurt and I'M tired... But I'll be fine once we go to sleep again. Don't worry about me."

"Okay..."

Mark glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall opposite of his bed again and realized that it was almost 7 pm.

"What time does it have to be seven?" Mark asked.

"Seven thirty," Jaehyun answered.

"Shit, I've been awake since eleven. We should go to sleep now."

"Yeah, that makes sense..." Jaehyun agreed and then smiled at Mark. "Goodnight."

"Night, bro!"

Mark and Jaehyun climbed onto their twin beds and got underneath their blankets before closing their eyes. After about twenty minutes, Mark's eyelids became heavy and he felt his eyes getting heavier and heavier. Just as he fell asleep, he heard footsteps coming towards their beds, and before he could react, a person's body fell on top of his, knocking him out instantly.

Chapter 7

Mark woke up from his deep slumber only to realize that he was lying down on his mattress. When he turned his head, he saw Jaehyun standing next to his bed with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm sorry I knocked you out," Jaehyun apologized. "I didn't mean to wake you up, but I was worried about you. Are you feeling okay? Do you need something to drink? Do you need to throw up?"

"No, no, it's okay." Mark shook his head vigorously. "I'm fine... Thanks though." Mark then noticed that the clock on his desk read 7:55 pm. "Did you stay up waiting for me?" he asked Jaehyun curiously.

"Yes."

"I thought you were going to bed after I fell asleep."

"I still am... But I just couldn't fall asleep again. And I was too nervous to go to bed."

"Why are you being nervous about sleeping? Aren't you usually the happiest when you're sleeping?" Mark wondered.

"Yeah, but not always. There are times when sleep doesn't feel right anymore," Jaehyun admitted quietly. "But that's not important right now." He then pointed at his alarm clock on his nightstand. "It's seven already. We have ten minutes to get ready. Let's get dressed and then we can leave."

"Alright," Mark agreed.

Mark and Jaehyun quickly got dressed. In less than five minutes, the two brothers left their bedroom and made their way downstairs. Once they entered the living room, they were met with the sight of Mrs. Lee and Mr. Lee sitting down at the dining table together, eating some fruit snacks.

"Morning guys," Mrs. Lee greeted happily.

"Hi mom," Jaehyun responded with a smile. He gave his mother a hug which she returned with equal enthusiasm. She then let go and went over to give Jaehyun a big hug. "Happy birthday Mom."

"Thanks honey. Happy Birthday Mark."

"Thank you, Mrs. Lee."

She released Mark and looked down at his feet. "And happy Birthday Mark. It's such a nice day today, isn't it?"

"Yep," Mark responded. "It's really great that you're here. Thank you."

Mrs. Lee grinned. "I should be thanking you. I couldn't have done it without you guys... You guys are my life."

The two younger boys smiled and nodded their heads. Their smiles faded however when they remembered the events of the previous night.

"Mom… Are you going to stay here for dinner?" Jaehyun asked hesitantly.

"I actually planned on staying here and doing the dishes, but you two look hungry. Why don't I make us a late lunch instead?" Mrs. Lee suggested.

"That would be great thank you," Jaehyun smiled happily. He and Mark walked over to where their parents were standing and sat down at the table. As soon as they placed their hands on the tabletop, Mrs. Lee grabbed the dish towel off of the countertop nearby and started wiping the kitchen counter down. As soon as that was finished, she placed the dish towel on the floor.

"So, tell me more about yourself boys," she encouraged. "How come you two are both in high school?"

"Mark is a junior and Jaehyun is a senior," Mark told their mom.

"You're already seniors?!" Mrs. Lee gasped. "You must be very smart for you to get into college already."

"Thanks," Mark replied.

"We studied a lot this year."

"That's right! And we're gonna study more this term. That's why I'm trying extra hard to catch up this year," Jaehyun added.

"Well, I'm glad you're making progress, but that's not the reason why I'm asking," Mrs. Lee replied. "Tell me more about yourselves. Is there anyone special in your lives? Any family or friends that you want to see?"

"No family members yet."

"Are you planning on seeing anybody?"

"Not at the moment," Jaehyun answered.

"Really? You seem awfully quiet today. What is wrong?"

Jaehyun glanced away from their mom as he answered, "Nothing's wrong."

"If you say so," Mrs. Lee shrugged her shoulders.

They continued eating lunch while chatting about random stuff. After that, they ate and cleaned up. Afterwards, everyone put their dishes in the sink and washed them using the dishwashing liquid soap. Afterwards, they took their dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Then they each went up to their respective rooms.

Once Mark got into his room, he lay down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling for a while. He couldn't help wondering what was going to happen tomorrow. Would they be able to return home? Were they going to go back to California? Or maybe they would move somewhere else? He wanted to think that they would stay in Korea forever, but deep inside he knew better. He knew that their dreams will never come true. His dream was to become a model and Jaehyun's dream was to travel the world. Even so, Mark hoped that someday they'd find their dreams. After all, those dreams would surely bring happiness to both of them. Mark closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, hoping that tomorrow won't be as stressful as today.

* * *

At first, Mark thought that he was still dreaming, but as he opened his eyes and saw Jaehyun staring at him, he knew that it wasn't a dream. Jaehyun was still looking at him and smiling.