Pursuing Her

“Don't rush it. Perhaps Mark said that out of impulse. Just talk to him again after a few days.”

“I don't think so. I think he's considered it for some time now.”

“Is it because you rejected him?” If that were the case, Tristan could understand Mark's decision.

“That can't be.”

That can't be the reason. Mark is not that kind of person.

“All right, I'll help you check out what's happening.” The matter could only be solved if they got down to the cause of it.

“Let me do it myself.”

Sophie's bond with the members of The Wheelers was way more profound than anyone thought. She wanted to handle the matter alone.

“Okay, I understand.” Tristan respected Sophie's wish for him to stay out of The Wheeler's matter. However, he didn't want to see her unhappy. “Do you want me to talk to Mark?”

The man felt this topic would be best left for the men to discuss.

“No. I don't want anyone else to find out about this yet. Don't worry. I can handle it myself.” Sophie only wanted Mark to follow his heart. She didn't care much about anything else.

“Okay.”

There was no sight of Mark in the following days. The Wheelers' workload had been reduced, so the members could finally rest well.

After the much-needed break, The Wheelers got back in action again. A few hours of sleep was all they needed because they were young. Their new album was wildly popular, and The Wheelers were slowly achieving their goal, much to Sunny's delight.

“Mark, we are in a great place now. I really hope it stays like this,” Sunny exclaimed excitedly as they had a barbeque on the top floor. “Too bad Sophie can't join us. How can we celebrate without her?”

“That's right. We had it hard in Sky Media, yet we didn't give up. Now, giving up is not an option.”

“Mark, what's on your mind? Why are you so quiet?” Sunny elbowed Mark when he noticed the latter was silent.

Mark knew he had to bring up that topic himself. However, he couldn't bear to let them down. After all, the members trusted him so much.

If I tell them about my decision now, what will they do? I can't imagine!

The members felt uneasy seeing their leader, the pillar of The Wheelers, behaving as such.

“Mark, do you have something on your mind? Are you in a bad mood? If you are, we can get Sophie to give us time off and we can go traveling.”

“I'm leaving The Wheelers,” Mark declared. No matter how difficult he found it to say that, he knew he had to do it.

The room fell into silence. All that could be heard was each other's breathing.

Sunny dug his ear, then asked with a smile, “What did you just say, Mark? Can you say that again? I didn't hear you properly.”

“No. You've heard me, but I will repeat myself again. I want to leave The Wheelers. I'm not going to stay in the band and fool around with you guys anymore,” Mark uttered his words slowly.

This time, Sunny could no longer pretend that nothing was happening anymore. His voice got louder as he questioned, “When did you make that decision? How long did you plan this? How could you do this? We've been together for so long. How can you quit just like that?”

Are we even friends? How can he quit the band without informing us?

“Don't do this, Sunny. Everyone has their own path to follow, and I'm at the end of my path with The Wheelers. I'm so sorry.”

“Mark!” Sunny roared. “Do you know what you're saying? Do you know it's not easy for us to reach where we are today? I was nearly beaten to death because of The Wheelers, yet I never thought about giving up. How could you, the leader of The Wheelers, say you want to quit the band now? What should we do when you're gone?”

Didn't he consider all these things beforehand?

Mark's mood took a nosedive when he saw Sunny's reaction. He wanted to pat the latter's shoulder, but the latter took a step back.

“It's okay if you want to leave. But I want to know the reason.” Sunny had been upset when Sophie left. He couldn't believe that even Mark would be leaving them.

“Calm down, Sunny. You're just too impulsive. You have to keep your emotions in check when I'm not around, all right? You still have Sophie. She will find a suitable lead vocalist. The Wheelers can survive even without me.”

Sunny sneered in response. “You've planned everything. You're not discussing this matter with us. You're merely informing us.”

Even though Mark felt bad, he could only nod in the end. “Everyone has the right to make their own decision. I hope you can respect me!”

Sunny slammed the beer bottle beside him on the ground in response to Mark's words. “Okay. I will respect your decision. There is no point in us searching for any lead vocalist. We shall disband during our most glorious period!”