the sun set slowly, as the sky turned into an ombre of yellow, orange, and pink. the colors fading into each other, as the rest of the sky became midnight blue, revealing the sparkling stars. yugyeom had left mark an hour ago telling him that he had to go to his dance class, leaving the older alone again. he leaned his head against his seat, his coffee now complete and his sketchbook open to the page he had been working on from before yugyeom joined him. he used his sleeved covered hand to move the wisps of hair on his forehead to the side as he looked around the shop.

the coffee shop was fairly empty, there was only two workers behind the counter and a couple of other customers sitting at tables away from his. he often sat in the coffee shop till it was closing time, which would be soon. this was one of his favorite spots, besides the riverfront. the small shop had a welcoming aura to it, it had beige walls that were filled with artwork, large windows graced with flowers and other small plants that welcomed the bright warm sun to bask in. the employees knew who mark was, as he came regularly, often giving him his drink for free. none of the workers would bother mark, knowing that the deaf male would be peacefully sitting in the shop drawing.

mark was shy despite the way he acted with yugyeom. outside of interactions with yugyeom, mark barely interacted with anyone. he would shyly smile at others, often playing with the sleeves of his shirt or jacket he wore, never making direct eye contact with the other person. he was scared to see how others would react when they discovered he was deaf so he didn't interact with anyone other than yugyeom. when someone approached him, he would read the lips of the person talking to him, quietly nodding or shrugging in response when they asked him a question. reading lips was something mark had become good at, before yugyeom learned sign language he would read the youngers lips to communicate and write his responses back in notes.  yugyeom had been very persistent to be marks friend, pushing past his shy exterior, bugging the older consistently, mark was glad that yugyeom didn't give up on him. the younger was mark's only friend, often hanging out with him when he had the time in between his busy school schedule.

letting out a soft breath, mark closed his sketchbook, feeling that there was nothing else he could add to his drawing. he unzipped his clear pencil case and placed his eraser and black pencil back inside it, making sure to zip it back up and placing it into his dark brown leather bookbag. he let his fingers softly trace the cold zipper of the bag. at the end of the zipper was a red keychain in the shape of a cardinal, he held it in his hand delicately, feeling the cold metal against his hand. he softly traced the gold outline of the bird, running his pale warm fingertip over the red body of the cardinal keychain. he closed his eyes feeling tears form, he took a deep breath of air and exhaled it slowly, trying to calm down. his milky hands shaking slightly, as his fingers gripped the keychain, his nails digging harshly into the palm of his skin. his knuckles turning paler than his already pale skin, as he winced slightly at his nails digging into his skin. his other hand gripped his sleeve tightly as he exhaled shaky breaths of air. his thin pink lips trembled as a small tear fell from his eye. he brought his sleeved covered hand up with shaky movement as he softly wiped the tear that fell from his eye, exhaling more air trying to calm down.

he opened his eyes softly, as he unclenched his fist that was gripping the keychain, letting the chain softly fall against the bag once again. bringing both of his hands to his face, he rubbed his eyes with his sleeve covered fists, trying to get rid of the tears that were formed. he brought his hands back down, keeping his head down, as he looked at his legging covered thighs, breathing softly. he played with the end of his long striped sweater that rested on his legs as if it was a dress. he felt someone tapping his shoulder, causing him to abruptly look up to see one of the female workers looking down at him with a smile. he shyly smiled back, his hands still playing with his sweater, as he tugged it down a bit more, a habit of his when someone approached him. he looked down at her name tag, may, he turned his head back to her face. he watched as may opened her mouth to speak and read her lips.

"someone wanted me to give you this," she spoke as she extended her tan slender hand to him. she was holding a folded piece of paper, between her soft pink covered nails. he looked at her hand then back to her face, giving her another shy smile and nodded back softly, not wanting to interact anymore. he brought his hand up and took the paper from her, bowing his head back as a way to say thank you. she nodded, smiling down at him even though he wasn't looking at her. mark lifted his head slightly, pieces of hair falling above his eye as he watched the worker go back to the counter. he looked down at the paper confused, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, causing creases to appear between his eyes. no one in the shop ever noticed mark. not many people approached him as he didn't make eye contact with anyone, he was more focused on drawing. he gently unfolded the paper, making sure it didn't rip. his hazel eyes scanned the paper reading it, as he held it with his fingers delicately.

"someone as beautiful as you shouldn't cry".

click for : previous

the smell of freshly brewed coffee invaded the air as mark took a sip of his warm latte. he sat in the corner of the small shop, where his sketchbook laid untouched. the page crisp and white aching to be marked up by pencil with precise lines of his next creation. gazing out the window, his twinkle as he follows the crowds of people walk every which way. he watched as they smiled and opened their mouths, laughing and talking. he's never heard the harmonious sounds come from someone when they laugh, the shrill squeals and giggles they make when they're happy. he's only ever seen their smiles stretched widely on their face, their eyes squinting into crescents, glistening in joy, as they hold their stomachs as if it aches, but not a painful ache, a joyful, euphoric ache. to him laughing wasn't a sound that he needed to hear but something he enjoyed seeing others do, that's what he told himself. that was his inspiration.

he moved his pencil elegantly with each stroke he created. his attention only on recreating the image of the people laughing outside the window. a loud thud vibrated along the glass catching his attention as he felt it against his jacket covered shoulder, halting him from his drawing. he turned his head toward the window curious as to what made contact with it to see a squished face pressed against it. wisps of black hair peered out under the red baseball cap that was titled upward due to the pink lips and round nose smushed on the glass. mark felt himself shake in laughter, as he made eye contact with the man looking back at him through the glass. the man moved away slightly and smiled brightly, his brown eyes twinklingly in joy as he waved aggressively and made finger hearts to the artist inside. smiling widely, mark covered his red cheeks in with his long sleeves, which formed sweater paws after they unbundled from his elbows, in an attempt to calm down from laughing. he watched as his friend ran toward the entrance of the shop, turning back he quickly closed his sketchbook and placed is on his lap waiting.

he watched as his tall lanky friend sat down in front of him, crossing his legs as he leaned back against the seat with a hazy smile. his friend was wearing a black jacket with a red striped shirt under that was slightly tucked into black skinny jeans with black shoes, mark often told the younger friend that he wore too much black and as always the other would respond with "that's my vibe". mark looked at him with a smile, waving softly, the other responded with a bright smile, his eyes creasing in joy to see his long time friend. yugyeom had known mark for a couple of years now, he knew his friend was deaf, and communicated with him through sign language. he had learned sign language to talk to his friend after meeting him, although it was difficult, the younger never regretted going through the struggling of learning for his dear friend.

"hi, hyung," yugyeom signed as he looked at the older with a smile. "hi yugyeomie," mark signed back, reaching forward for his coffee mug, taking a satisfying sip. "were you drawing again hyung?" yugyeom asked as he rested his head on his hand, watching the older nodding in response. the younger friend was quite curious when it came to the older's drawings. mark never showed his drawings to anyone, he didn't sell them or revel them, rather he kept them to himself as if they were something sacred to him. mark looked at the younger, noticing his usual pout, he knew the younger would soon ask to see the drawings and as always his answer would be no.

"before you ask, i will not show you my drawings yug," mark signed with a smile. yugyeom gasped and pouted dramatically in response, crossing his arms over his chest as if he was mad. mark shook his head in amusement, the younger would do this often, it wasn't that he didn't trust yugyeom, he just doesn't show his art to anyone. "but hyung why not?" yugyeom signed as he pouted. mark giggled before signing back, "that's my vibe yugyeom". yugyeom's mouth dropped, he didn't except his hyung to sass him. sure the older was sassy from time to time, but when it came to his drawings, he was sensitive.

"you did not hyung," yugyeom signed back with wide eyes, mark nodded in response and took another sip of his coffee, watching yugyeom with an amused expression. yugyeom slouched down in his seat, a frown planted on his face that the older knew was fake. mark just shook it off and smiled as he reached forward and took off the younger's hat and put it on his head. yugyeom laughed at his hyung, his eyes turning into crescents as his dimples appeared on his cheeks due to his wide smile.

oh how mark loved his laugh, he just wished he could hear it.

click for : prologue

the water glistened as the sun reflected off of it, shinning down on apple of his cheeks. wisps of auburn brown hair fluttered against his forehead, tickling his pale milky white skin as the wind blew softly. his soft hazel eyes focused on the paper in his small hands, as his fingers delicately held the white eraser, erasing small dull lines he had drawn earlier.

sighing softly, he looked up watching the pale pink petals fall off the tree above him, trickling down onto his lap and around him on the vibrant green grass. he smiled softly as he felt the velvet texture of the pink petal in between his fingers. quickly picking his black pencil back up, he flipped the page he was using to a blank white one. his hand vigorously but gracefully started drawing his new creation, his focus solely on the paper and nowhere else.

"he's beautiful".

click for : previous

❝maybe when the time is right you'll find me again❞

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in which mark an artist meets jaebum a pianist who admires him from afar.

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anacusis :: to be completely deaf.

a deaf-stalker markbum au.

all rights reserved -ddaengtears (@-cherrywang on wattpad)