Mark had decided to go for a walk on the beach to escape the stress of his job. The grocery shop he owns was closed today and there were some rapports and bills he had to work through but he honestly wasn't feeling it.

So here he is, walking on the beach. His bare feet touching the soft warm sand. He breaths in the fresh sea air and he feels himself relax in an instant. There weren't too many people, which he preferred. Don't get him wrong he likes people but not right now. He looks around him and he sees a couple of boats sail by. Two ships are quite small but there's also a big yacht sailing by.

Mark would like to have a boat himself someday. Mostly because he wonders how it feels to be free on the water like that. And also because it'd be really good to be able to say that he owns a boat which he saved up for and finally had the money to buy. 

Mark isn't poor yet he isn't rich. Yes, he has his own store but it's a small one and the costumers are mostly adults who want something special or of good quality. There are also a lot of somewhat older costumers. Mark was thinking of a marketing plan to get younger people to his store and with that he means people under the age of thirty. 

He walks close to the sea and the water would touch his feet sometimes. He was drowned in his thoughts about all the work he still had to do at home, he almost forgot how far from the parking lot he has walked. Yet he decided to walk a little further.

He is abruptly taken away from his thoughts when he something sparkling just a few meters ahead of him. The sparkling object made him curious and so he found himself walking further away from his car and closer to the sparkle, when he reached it, he saw a green glass wine bottle with something in it.

He couldn't exactly tell what it was but he could tell that there was paper in the glass bottle. He picks it up and starts to examine the green bottle some more.

He twists and turns it around to see if he can see anything on the paper. The twisting and turning isn't helping so he decides to take it home and open it there. On the way back to his car he fantasies of what could possibly be in there. 

He walks all the way back to his car, gets in and drives home. During the drive all that occupies his mind is what could possibly on the paper. He is so busy thinking of it that he almost ignores a couple of red stop signs. 

Mark feels like he is in some 90's movie where people would find messages in bottles and in the bottle there would be an important message for them. He gets all excited and really wants to know what's in that goddamn bottle.

Mark finally reaches home after a rather short drive but he felt like it took him ages to get home. He throws his jacket, keys and shoes to the side and walks into the living room.

His mood changes immediately when he sees all the papers that are scattered around on his kitchen table.

"Right.. Those papers." He mumbles to himself and he puts the bottle down on the edge of the table. He gathers all the papers and piles them up so there is enough room on the table. 'I will have time for that later.'

He grabs the bottle again and brings it to the kitchen. He grabs a Stanley knife from his toolbox which he hides in his bottom kitchen drawer. He carefully cuts the duct tape and opens the lid. He then remembers that he won't be able to get the letter out since it's rolled out against the inner glass. That made that he couldn't read what's on the paper.

He sees no other choice then to destroy the bottle. So he walks outside and in front of his door he smashes the bottle on the steps which lead up to the front door.

The green glass breaks into a million little pieces and he crouches down to carefully pick up the letter between the little sharp shaped pieces.

He lifts the paper up and the green pieces fall down on the stone bricks. He goes back inside and reminds himself that he'll clean up the mess later.

The 23 year old boy sits in his favorite chair near the heater and starts to read the letter. He notices that the outlines of the paper turned brown, so he assumes that it's either old or burned.

The brown-haired boy reads through the letter carefully, taking in every sentence one by one. He gets emotional when he reads how desperate, angry and confused the fifteen year old boy is. It wells up the feeling of himself figuring out if he was gay. He can remember it all clearly and it's definitely not something I will forget.

Though for the older boy it wasn't so difficult and he grew up in an environment where everything was accepted, by his parents but also by his friends. He grew up in Los Angeles, America. He moved to Seoul after he graduated high school, his parents moved with him and they still work here.

When Mark finishes reading the letter he feels the tears rolling down the cheeks. His tears falling down on the paper he is holding. He watches his tears fall down on the piece of paper, the ink fading a bit. He dried his tears with the end of his sleeve and looked up to his living room. He felt so sorry for the boy.

He stands up and walks to the kitchen where he grabs a glass of water. He drinks it, his thoughts with the other boy. 'How could I possibly help him?' he thought.

He walked back to the kitchen table and sits down. He grabs a piece of paper and a pen. He starts writing a letter to Jackson, maybe it wasn't the best choice since he was so emotional. But on the other hand, it might be a good choice since he can sincerely write advice from his heart. Mark loves to help people and he makes it his personal mission to help this boy out.

Dear Jackson,

Congrats, your letter has arrived after some time. My name is Mark and I live in Seoul, I'm currently 23 years old. When I was walking on the beach today (9th of October 2016) I found your message. I felt so touched by your letter that I am writing you back.

Let me start off by saying that I'm really happy that you found some sort of help. You've reached out to someone, whoever that someone may be. You took the risk of not getting an answer and I think you're very brave for doing so. That someone I am referring to is me, I am glad you reached out. I think I'll be able to help you in some way, so let's get right into it.

I have read your letter carefully and I can relate. I am gay myself and I have struggled with my sexuality too, not in the same way you did, but I have struggled. Since you said you wanted some advice, I am going to give you some.

Honestly, the first and the hardest step in this whole process is accepting that this is who you are. I know, that's tough. But really, when you get through it you'll be relieved. Now, you might be wondering how do I do this? It's hard, but I'll try to explain how I got through it.

What I did to accept it is finding people who have struggled/are struggling with the same thing as you. Now, how do you find these people? You can look online if there are any special meeting groups or café's where people of the LGBTQ+ community come. If you can talk to them you'll feel more relieved about your situation, since you'll know that other people encounter the same problem aswell and that you're not alone in this adventure called life.

I highly encourage you to go to such a meeting or café because it has helped me a lot. If there aren't any of those then try to find people yourself. Or if you want to stay anonymous, search for an online form where they discuss these things.

When you feel more relieved the time has come to accept yourself, you're born this way and you can't change that part about yourself. Whether you like it or not you shall have to accept this. That may sound harsh right now but really, that's how it is. Even if people want to change you or say it's not right, ignore them. Do not do it. It'll only leave you behind hurting. This might be the most important advice I can give you. Don't let other people change you.

After you've accepted yourself, which may take a while, depending on how fast you'll feel relieved and have found comfort with yourself, you may finally tell others. Start with the people closest to you, like your parents and closest friends. I'm sure that they won't hate you. Yes, they might not accept it immediately or they'll have to take their time to accept it, but trust me as long as you're confident in your story and in who you are then they'll accept you who you are. They'll see what you stand for and that you're proud of who you are.

For your sleeping problems I'd recommend to try some sleeping pills or another calming drug so you can sleep peacefully, or atleast fall asleep earlier. Try and empty your mind with mindfulness or meditation. I sound very weird right now, but search up some exercises online and try it. Maybe it'll work for you, it helped me a lot and still does. 

With that your grades may also go up again, you can try to focus on your school again, because it's really important I learned that. 

Honestly, I wish I could help you through this from more close by. I really wish I could, but since I'm not able to, I'll just do it this way. I'd like to be your guide through this process, that you'll have someone to fall back on. Yet, I can't.

Jackson, listen to me, I know you're confused but believe me if you follow these steps for somewhat try to accept you as you then you'll be alright. I hope all these tips can help you a bit. If you feel the need to contact me again then I'll attach my address to the bottom of this letter.

You can do this Jackson! I believe in you! 

Believe in yourself too, you can do this!

Love,

Mark

He looks up from the letter and re-read it. Though it was quite an emotional letter, he is happy with it. He gets an envelope from his desk upstairs and he puts Jackson's address on it. He also gets some international stamps after he looks up how many he needs for it to reach Hong Kong. 

He heads to the mailbox and puts the letter in it. He hopes it'll arrive soon so Jackson can read his advice. He actually has no clue if it'll will arrive in Hong Kong, but he'll take the risk.

When he gets home he cleans the mess from the shattered bottle. He looks at the clock and sees it's already 6:30pm, which meant it was dinner time. 'Oh right, I was supposed to meet my friends for dinner' he thinks. Mark leaves his house and heads to his friends.

About ten minutes later he arrives at his friends' house, he gets out of his car and walks to the front door. He rings the bell and his friend opens it.

"Hi Mark hyung come in." His friend Jaebum says.

Mark smiles and gets into the house. He takes off his shoes and jacket then proceeds to walk into the living room of Jaebum's and Youngjae's apartment.

Jaebum walks to the kitchen to proceed his cooking and Youngjae greets the older and walks Mark over to the dinner table where he gets him something to drink.

"So how are my two favorite lovebirds?" Mark asks with a smirk on his face.

Youngjae starts to blush and puts Mark's drink in front of him. "We're good. How are you? Have you found someone yet?" Youngjae asks.

"I'm fine and no I haven't."

"Mark hyung, you can't marry your vegetables. When are you going to start looking for someone?" Youngjae whines.

"When I feel the need to or find someone Youngjae-ah, how many times do I have to repeat that?" Mark says slightly irritated.

Youngjae heard the slight irritation in Mark's voice and was taken aback by his reply, making him feel a bit uncomfortable. 'Mark never gets irritated this easily' he thought.

"Sorry Mark hyung I just want you to be happy."

Mark walked up to Youngjae as he saw that he made the younger uncomfortable and gave him a hug. "I am happy Youngjae, I can't miss what I don't know."

"I know hyung but you deserve to have someone who makes you as happy as Jaebum hyung makes me."

"I hear my name, are you guys gossiping about me?" Jaebum yells.

"Oh yes, about how much we hate you!" Mark yells back.

"I swear to god, why am I friends with you guys?" Youngjae says and chuckles.

"I will find that someone someday Youngjae-ah, don't worry." He gave the younger another hug and sat down again.

Jaebum came walking in with the food and put it on the table. "I hope it's tasty." He says as he sits down next to Youngjae.

"I'm sure it'll be hyung, your food is the best." Youngjae says his mouth curved into a wide smile.

They start digging into the food and there is a comfortable silence. Mark's mind is occupied with the letter he wrote. He decides to tell his two friends about it since he wants their opinions on it.

"Guys? I think I have to tell you something." He begins.

The other two look up from their food and continue to chew slowly, they nod confirming that the has their attention.

"This morning I went for a walk on the beach to escape the paperwork from the grocery store I still had to do. So walked and walked and I saw a shiny object laying in the sand. When I reached it I saw it was a green glass wine bottle with a letter inside of it. I took it home and I opened the bottle. There was a letter inside of a young boy named Jackson, I read the letter and it made me quite emotional. That's also why I was acting slightly irritated earlier, I'm sorry for that Youngjae. It wasn't your fault, it was just me still being emotional."

"It's okay hyung I understand now."

"What did you do with the letter?" Jaebum asked Mark intrigued by his story.

"Well, the boy is struggling with his sexuality and I think that's something all of us here can relate with. He was very desperate for advice so I wrote a letter back with some advice and I wrote him my experience a bit aswell."

"That's really good of you, hyung. I think you really helped the boy and he'll probably be really happy with your advice." Youngjae says.

"I hope so, I attached my address to the bottom of the letter, so he can always reach out if he needs to."

"That's nice of you. I hope he sends you a thank you." Jaebum replies.

"I don't expect him to. But honestly I just want him to figure it out. He sounded so stressed in the letter."

"What did the letter look like?" Youngjae responds.

"Well it was a bit brown on the sides, so it's either old or burned for some reason. The rest of the letter had become a bit yellow. "

"That's weird though."

"Yeah I know but nonetheless I wanted to send something back. Letting him know that his efforts weren't for nothing. Even it's really old, I think I'll hopefully read that somehow."

"I hope so too." Jaebum says and Youngjae nods in agreement.

They continue to eat and talk about a few standard things, work, studies etc. Just the normal yet not boring things. After they finished eating, they all clean up and decide to watch a movie together.

Mark is chosen to pick a movie so he picks Superman and for some reason they all get very excited to watch it. They are gathered on the couch, popcorn, chips and drinks in front of them. The old film starts playing and they all become quiet as the intro plays. They may have seen this film before but they don't really care.

After two and a half hoursof the movie Mark goes home. When he comes home he goes straight to bed, he haswork tomorrow and doesn't even want to think about all the things he has to dothe next day. It'll be a long day and with the thoughts of all the events that happenedin the back of his head he drifts into a slumber.

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A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know your thoughts :) 

Love, jacksonsidiot