Summary

jinyoung moves from the countryside to the big city of seoul and ends up with an inconvenient new roommate.

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jinyoung wearily glances around the hallway.

from his locker, he has a good view of everything about three quarters of the way down, from the students standing in crowds blocking off sections of space, to the kids that are obviously too excited as they run down the hallway to catch up with friends, to the staff that have long since given up on keeping the students in check, to the couple that's making out about 3 lockers down. jinyoung rolls his eyes.

why had his mom ever thought moving was a good idea? everything was great before. he had lots of friends, knew practically everyone in every class as well as his neighborhood, and was comfortable there. small is better, he'd always thought. and now that thought is only reinforced as he stands in the hallway of a four story high school in the middle of seoul. he reminds himself to complain to his mom again when he gets home and then closes his locker, pulling a folded piece of paper out of his pocket with his schedule.

first class is physics. it's down a floor and on the opposite side of the hallway. jinyoung briefly wonders if he'll even be able to make it to room alive before he sighs and begins walking.

his mom had been very insistent. "just think of it as a new adventure! you always liked adventures when you were a kid," she had said. yeah, but i'm not a kid anymore, jinyoung thinks wryly. he has to catch himself on the wall when a student pushes past him and nearly knocks him over. "you'll be fine sweetie," she had added as he left the house that morning to head to school. "good luck!"

if jinyoung's being totally honest, he feels like luck is probably the last thing he has right now.

but if he thinks things can't get any worse, he's very sorely mistaken. he should have known it was coming, especially with how rowdy everyone is being around him, but for some reason he's still taken by surprise as a particularly rough shove has him tumbling over and slamming his eyes shut in preparation for the impact. he expects to land on the hard floor, maybe experience sharp pain in his knees and a sting in his hands.

but instead he's met by a surprising warmth and something soft underneath him, which, eyes still closed, his fingers cautiously explore. until he feels something that resembles the zipper of jeans and his lids shoot open in shock. he's now face to face with a boy- or maybe a prince would be more accurate, but jinyoung tries to push that thought out of his head as quickly as it enters. the boy has fiery red hair that's styled up and messy, and although jinyoung doesn't want to admit it, super sexy. he also has bright eyes that catch the hallway lights rather well, which jinyoung wouldn't have thought was possible, and gorgeous lips that are pulled into a small smirk. his voice is deep and charming as he chuckles and whispers, "you're staring."

shit. jinyoung is totally staring, isn't he. he also just accidentally groped this flawless human being in front of him. oh god.

jinyoung leaps up so fast he almost falls over again. "i-i'm so sorry!" he half mumbles, half shouts, bowing multiple times to the prince- er, boy who's now standing and brushing himself off. "i-i got knocked over-"

"it's fine, don't worry." another beautiful laugh sounds from his lips and jinyoung inwardly swoons a little. "new kid?" ah, that was a question. jinyoung hurriedly nods in response. "good luck, then." and the boy gives a wave as a farewell before heading past jinyoung to a classroom further down.

jinyoung watches until he's completely gone and then has to fight the sudden urge to fall to his knees. he just totally embarrassed himself. in front of that incredibly attractive, totally smooth, probably upperclassman.

he finds himself seriously hoping he never sees that boy again. he also thinks it's now definitely 100% not possible for this day to get any worse.

luckily enough for jinyoung it gets a little better by lunch. physics and his second class, a required lit class, go over smoothly and he manages not to make a fool of himself again. it will probably take a little while to catch up in the classes, since he's coming in mid semester, but he knows the information so he doesn't think it will be too hard.

the cafeteria is big and loud and jinyoung can barely hear himself think as he moves to sit at an empty table by the back. he finds himself wishing he was at his old school, so he would be eating with friends instead of picking food off a tray by himself.

this thought has hardly crossed his mind, though, when he suddenly feels like he's being watched and he glances up to find a pair of eyes on him. they belong to a boy with blond hair and black framed glasses, who raises an eyebrow when he sees that jinyoung has noticed him. jinyoung's eyes widen and he looks away, but sadly this action is in vain because he can see out of the corner of his vision that the boy is making his way over to jinyoung's table. jinyoung hopes this isn't a school where senior students beat up on new kids.

"you're a new student right?" the boy asks as he approaches the table. jinyoung stares down at his food in reply and maybe this guy can read his mind because he laughs before taking the seat across from jinyoung and dropping his tray carelessly on the tabletop. "hey, no need to be worried. this isn't the kind of school you think it is. we don't bully new kids," he seems to catch himself and jinyoung looks up to see he has a thoughtful expression on his face. "or at least, i don't think it's that kind of school? i've been here for 2 years and haven't seen anything so i don't think there's much to be afraid of but i don't know maybe you shouldn't take my word for it, i've been wrong before."

"you talk a lot," jinyoung says rather bluntly, but he immediately slaps his hand over his mouth. why does he always do or say something stupid when he's trying so hard not to?

the boy just laughs again. "yeah, i know. it's a habit i guess. i just can't stop sometimes. i'm jaebum, by the way," he holds out his hand and jinyoung shakes it hesitantly. "my friends call me jb sometimes but they don't do it all the time so you can call me whatever you want, i guess."

jaebum nods at jinyoung as if urging him to return the sentiment, and jinyoung swallows before giving a quiet introduction of "i'm jinyoung, nice to meet you." jaebum smiles.

"look, if you need something like, you don't know where to find a class or you want to know about good teachers or bad teachers or what classes to take, or you just want to know pretty much anything, just let me know. i know mostly everything about the school so i'll definitely be able to help you out."

"oh," jinyoung says. "thanks?" he's not really sure whether jaebum is serious or not, but it's the thought that counts, at least. "can you tell me general information about the school then?"

"general info?" jaebum leans back in his seat. "yeah, i got you. as you can probably tell already, it's a darn big school, right? so there's a lot of students here. it seems like all of them are crazy, but it's actually kind of separated by grade. the seniors are the ones you want to avoid most of the time, if you avoid anyone. they're a little unpredictable and more likely to shove your head in a toilet if you mess with them. some of them are pretty nice though, so they're cool to hang with." those two statements seem quite contradictory and even jaebum seems to notice this but he scrunches up his face and continues.

"the juniors are kinda cool. much more lax than the seniors. a little uptight sometimes, but they definitely won't beat you up or anything. of course, if you want the actual cool kids, that would be our grade. wait, i'm assuming you're a sophomore right now, please feel free to correct me," jaebum pauses, waiting for jinyoung's input.

"ah, yeah i'm a sophomore." he says, and jaebum sighs in relief.

"usually i'm good at guessing what grade a kid's in, but sometimes i'm wrong and i'm always worried it could be one of those times, you know?" he laughs and waves a hand in front of his face. "anyway, like i was saying. our grade is pretty chill. except jackson wang. don't talk to jackson wang, he's actually a loony, and should be avoided at all costs-"

"hey, who are you calling a loony, huh, jb?" jinyoung jumps at the sudden new voice and a new boy approaches the table. his dark hair is pulled back by a snapback and his face looks a little mean. jinyoung swallows nervously.

jaebum lets out strained snort. "oh, hey there jackson, old buddy," he slings an arm around the boy as he takes a seat in the adjacent seat. "i wasn't talking about anyone is specific, you know. school's just full of loony kids." jackson obviously doesn't buy it and he punches jaebum's shoulder.

"next time you call me names i'm gonna beat you up," he threatens. jaebum just grins at him. in a matter seconds, he's grinning back, wrinkles forming around his eyes and mouth, and now he doesn't look so scary

jinyoung is glad to just sit off to the side and let the friends bicker, but of course, it's already too late and jackson's gaze turns on him. "so who's this?" he asks curiously.

"new kid," is jaebum's reply. "name's jinyoung. he just transferred here and i was telling him about the school."

"oh, cool," jackson says, giving jinyoung a nod. "how do you like it so far?" jinyoung could tell the truth. he could say that he really doesn't like the school so far, really doesn't like seoul, and just wants to move away again. but he tries to be polite instead.

"it's... interesting," he says through clenched teeth.

"yeah, i know what you mean." jackson agrees. "change of scenery and all. it's a little hard to get used to, but once you've been here for a while, you kind of adapt. i'm from hong kong, right? so i've only been here for a few years, but trust me, you just have to let yourself pick things up and you'll feel more comfortable in no time. i remember when i first moved..."

jackson's still talking but jinyoung catches sight of a familiar head of fiery red hair and he's sufficiently distracted. a few students move and he gets a better look, and yeah, it's definitely the prince- er, boy jinyoung fell on that morning. he's glad the boy can't see him from where he's standing chatting with his friends.

god, he's really so attractive.

"and i finally started making friends-" jackson is saying as jinyoung suddenly interrupts.

"hey, jaebum, who's that?" he points a finger in the direction of the boy, ignoring the hurt expression on jackson's face at being cut off. "the one with the red hair," he adds when jaebum seems to be searching for who jinyoung is asking about.

"ooh, you mean mark? that's mark tuan. he's a junior, and really popular at that. he just moved from the states at the beginning of the semester, so his korean's still a bit awkward sometimes, but he speaks english a lot and the girls seem to love it."

"mark." jinyoung repeats the name several times in his head. he watches the redhead walk with his friends over to a table across the lunchroom. once he sits down, he's out of sight, and jinyoung finally has a reason to look away. "mark."

"why are you asking about mark?" jackson questions. "do you know him?" jinyoung chokes.

"no, i really don't want to know him." he says firmly, pretending he can't see the confused looks both jaebum and jackson are giving him. "i just need to know so i can avoid him."

"why would you want to avoid him though?" jaebum says. jinyoung heaves a big sigh.

"see, i could tell you, but then i would have to kill you." he goes back to the food on his tray. "let's just finish lunch." he's glad when jackson picks up his story again and the topic of mark is dropped.

mark tuan. why does his name have to sound so nice to jinyoung's ears?

it's only natural that jinyoung's heart nearly leaps out of his chest when he walks into his third hour algebra class to find mark sitting at the front table. he's leaning back in his chair, laughing at something his friend had said, eyes sparkling like little stars on his face and oh god this is so not good.

and here jinyoung had been hoping that avoiding mark would be a piece of cake. but no, jinyoung has to be super good at math, which means he's in the upper math class so of course juniors are in the class as well.

he's even more upset by the fact that when he walks into the classroom, he accidentally locks eyes with mark, earning him a half smirk and a wave from the redhead, and he rushes past to the back of the room while trying to rid his face of the blush that he can feel coloring it. he thinks he hears one of mark's friends ask about him but he focuses on getting his pencil and notebook out for class. he's already embarrassed enough about this morning and he really hopes mark hasn't been hilariously retelling the story to all his friends and making jinyoung into a laughingstock.

this is just so.... jinyoung pauses while his gaze returns to the front of the room. perfect, he unwittingly thinks, propping his head up with a hand. his seat gives him a clear view of mark's table and he can stare unhindered all class period if he wants. he sighs dreamily. mark really is so attractive.

wait a minute... jinyoung catches this thought process a little late and shakes himself. no, he needs to pay attention in this class. he can't allow himself to be distracted by pretty boys with nice laughs and cute eye smiles. especially not if their name is mark tuan. he's going to stay on task and make sure he gets all the notes.

of course, none of this prep talk stops him from staring at mark all class period, though, and when the bell rings to signal fourth period, jinyoung blinks dismally at the small page and a half of notes he'd taken. he could have gotten three or four pages easily, had his attention span been longer, but his eyes kept wandering back to a certain fiery head at the front and that meant forgetting a majority of the time to write what the teacher was saying. maybe i can email my teacher and get the notes from him or something, he thinks as he slips his things into his backpack.

but that's when he notices there's someone watching him. he feels the pair of eyes on his back and his head shoots up in confusion.

to his utter surprise, it's mark. the older boy is still standing by his table despite that everyone else has left, but he's watching jinyoung pack up and it makes jinyoung feel like his heart just jumped up into his throat. he immediately looks back down at his bag when mark sees that he's been noticed and gives him a friendly smile. he really wants mark to just leave, but mark doesn't, and instead, pushes off his table and walks back towards jinyoung's table. jinyoung silently pleads for this to be over quickly.

"hey, new kid," mark says in that way-too-attractive voice.

"h-hey," he tries to sound casual with his reply but he probably sounds like a dog that had its tail stepped on. "wh-what's up, mark?" wait crap he just said mark's name when they haven't even been properly introduced, he probably seems like such a creep now oh god-

"oh, you got my name already?" mark raises an eyebrow and then grins. "cool." not the response jinyoung had expected but either way, he's still quite embarrassed at letting that slip. "well, i just wanted to give this back to you, i figured you would probably be missing it, if you'd even noticed it was missing yet."

jinyoung wonders what mark means until he watches mark pull a familiar electronic device out of his pocket and he suddenly exclaims, "my phone!" wow, he's such an idiot. how had he not noticed he'd been going the whole day without it? but wait a minute doesn't this mean he lost it when...

"when you fell on me," mark fills in, and jinyoung's face turns bright red. "it must have fallen out of your pocket and into mine because i discovered it in first hour." he holds the device out and jinyoung readily snatches it out of his hand. "anyway, i'll see you later jinyoung."

he gives another smile before heading out of the classroom. jinyoung stares after him until he's gone. it takes him a minute to realize that mark just called him by his name, and another ten seconds before jinyoung has to fight the urge to bang his head violently against his desk.

avoiding mark is definitely going to be much, much harder than jinyoung had initially thought it would be.

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by the end of the first week at his new school, jinyoung is completely exhausted. the first day was of course the worst, but it doesn't seem to get any better with each progressing day, and he's struck again with the urge to find a way to convince his mom to move back (this hasn't gone well the other times he's tried though so he gives that up without following through).

if jinyoung's honest, his plans for the weekend include sleep, sleep, maybe work on homework, sleep, and more sleep. he doesn't want to do anything else and he's dead set that nothing is going to stop him.

that is, until his mom comes bursting into his room at 10am saturday morning shouting about how he needs to get up and clean his room and make himself presentable. jinyoung just pulls the covers back over his head, his mom is obviously crazy. but this action only cause her to stomp over to his bed and yank all the blankets off. "yah, park jinyoung, get up right this instant!"

jinyoung groans, blinking sleep from his eyes and opening them slowly to find his mom glaring at him.

"mom, it's the weekend..." he mumbles while attempting to pull himself into a sitting position. "what's the big deal?"

his mom lets out a huff, happy to finally have his attention. "yes, it is the weekend. but i have important news and this means you aren't allowed to stay in bed any longer, mister."

jinyoung frowns. he's angry at being woken so unceremoniously, but now he's also curious what his mom means by 'important news.' "what kind of news?" he asks cautiously, shifting so that he can swing his legs over the side of his bed.

"yesterday, i met up with a friend of mine," his mother begins. "i actually met her directly before we moved and she was very kind to me so we became friends quickly. she had also moved with her son recently, so we had a lot in common and that was how we started talking. anyway, when we met up yesterday, she told me that she wanted to go back to the states- ah, did i mention they moved from the states? well, she said that but then told me she wanted her son to stay in korea, since he liked it here and was adapting well."

jinyoung thinks he sees where this story is going and doesn't like it. "let me guess," he says with mock enthusiasm. "you offered to let her son stay here with us."

"bingo!" his mom replies excitedly. "he should be around your age and his mother compliments him highly, so i'm sure you two will get along perfectly." jinyoung rolls his eyes.

"so you want me to clean my room because he's going to be staying here, is that it?" she nods and he sighs. "it would be cool if, you know, you asked my opinion on stuff like this, mom," he mutters as he gets off his bed and heads over to his dresser to pick out some clothes. "especially if, you know, i'm gonna suddenly be having a stranger sleeping in my room." he sighs again. "wow, awesome. a stranger is going to be staying in my house."

"oh, jinyoung, don't be so glum." his mom laughs at his reaction, although jinyoung doesn't find the situation funny at all. "it will be really fun having your very own roommate, i promise! he's coming at noon, so make sure you're all ready by then ok?" she heads out of his room, but then sticks her head back in and adds, "ah, i forgot to say he goes to your school too! you guys can walk to school together. won't that be nice?" she smiles and then disappears and jinyoung sighs yet again.

as he starts searching through the top drawer for a shirt to put on, though, he freezes. a few things his mom said are clicking in his head. this new roommate is around jinyoung's age, moved from the states, goes to jinyoung's school...

he swallows, coming to only one conclusion. could it be... mark?

but then jinyoung shakes himself. no, of course not. that's ridiculous. there's no way it's mark. he chuckles at how overactive his imagination is and hurriedly changes into his clothes.

there's no way... right?

he starts imagining what it would be like having mark as a roommate without realizing he's doing it. eating breakfast together and walking to school, coming home and working on homework, playing video games and laughing, getting ready for bed, sharing the same bed, and sleeping next to each other. doing everything together.

he maybe imagines kissing mark but he pretends he didn't as he finishes making his bed and fixing his pillows. mark's not your roommate, stop thinking about it, jinyoung inwardly chides himself. and besides, he adds, a mental note flashing in his mind. you're avoiding mark, remember?

when jinyoung's just about done with cleaning everything, he hears the doorbell ring and it makes him jump. glancing at the clock on his nightstand, he's startled to find that it's already afternoon and he'd spent two full hours cleaning. his mom's voice sounds from another room, probably the kitchen where she's preparing lunch. "jinyoung, can you get that, honey? it's probably your roommate!"

jinyoung's heart pounds as he rushes out of his room and to the front door. he almost stumbles but catches himself just in time on the door knob. he's excited and nervous. what kind of guy will it be? he hopes it's someone nice.

he takes a deep breath before opening the door.

of course, being met by a familiar head of fiery red hair doesn't help one bit. jinyoung almost slams the door closed again but he catches himself and forces a smile. "m-mark, hi," the older boy is standing outside his house in a red plaid shirt and dark jeans, a large rolling suitcase in one hand and a wallet in the other.

"jinyoung," mark says with a grin that sets off butterflies in jinyoung's stomach. "it's nice to see you again."

jinyoung feels a little faint. he fans himself a and tilts his head. "so, um, what are you, uh, doing here- i mean- that is... um..." he's starting to sweat. this is really not good. "wait a minute..." suitcase. mark is standing outside his house with a suitcase. on the day that jinyoung is getting a roommate. jinyoung's eyes suddenly widen. "you're my roommate?!" he exclaims, pointing a finger at mark in shock.

mark beams at him and nods. "yep!"

wow. how is this happening? jinyoung's thoughts are jumbled and he kind of just stares at mark for a moment until mark gestures toward the inside of the house and he snaps out of his stupor. "ah, r-right, come in." he reaches out and grabs mark's suitcase from him and leads him inside.

"thanks," mark says gratefully. jinyoung knows his mom will probably have lunch ready anytime, but he first takes mark to his room so mark can drop off his things. wow, it feels so surreal saying that. and jinyoung had just been imagining this while cleaning his room... he's torn between feeling very lucky or very, very unlucky.

"h-here we are," he says, allowing mark to enter first and then following behind him, setting his suitcase over by the dresser. "um, sorry if it's not to your taste." mark gazes all around the room, and jinyoung can't really read his expression, but then the redhead is smiling and nodding and jinyoung feels a little relieved.

"i like it," he says, turning to look at jinyoung. jinyoung thinks his face is possibly turning bright pink from having mark look at him like that, but he tries to ignore it. "it's nice. thanks for letting me stay, by the way."

"ah, you should be thanking my mom, not me," jinyoung waves a hand in front of his face. "i didn't even know you were coming until this morning, honestly."

"neither did i," mark says with a shrug. jinyoung blinks at him, unsure whether he's serious or not, but then the two of them burst out laughing and jinyoung relaxes a little. "come on, my mom's got lunch going so we should go eat."

"cool," mark agrees and the two of them head out of jinyoung's bedroom and toward the kitchen. maybe this won't be so bad, jinyoung thinks. if he can just act normally around mark.

mark doesn't actually stay saturday night. after dropping his stuff off and eating lunch, he tells jinyoung that he's spending one last night with his mom and he'll be coming back sometime sunday afternoon. jinyoung doesn't mind this at all, given he's still trying to figure out how he's going to handle sleeping in the same room as mark, and he nods and says he'll see mark later.

but working on homework sunday morning and early afternoon ends up being jinyoung imagining scenarios with mark and not much work actually gets done. what if mark doesn't like sleeping on the floor and wants to steal jinyoung's bed? what if he's sloppy and makes messes all over jinyoung's room? or maybe he never takes showers and he'll smell up the room?

but no, he argues with himself. mark isn't like that. he's a neat and considerate person. he probably showers like twice a day and does laundry every other day and picks specks of dust off his things and can't stand the sight of dirt. ok, maybe that's stretching it, jinyoung laughs to himself, tapping his pencil on his desk.

"something funny?" the sudden voice causes jinyoung to nearly fall out of his chair and he whips around to see mark standing in the doorway to his room. his face flushes as he tries to come up with an excuse.

"mark!" he exclaims, much louder than he'd meant to and he resists the urge to slam his face into his desk. "when did you get here?" he then adds, "ah, i-i just remembered a joke a friend told me the other day." he really hopes mark won't ask for the joke.

"i see." mark smiles and then enters the room. "my mom dropped me off and she called your mom when we got here so your mom let me in. i hope i'm not bothering you." he begins walking around the room a bit, seems to be exploring.

"n-no, not at all." jinyoung insists, but as he attempts to get back to his homework, he realizes just how hard it is to focus on anything with mark so close by.

yeah, he really needs to work on this whole getting flustered by mark's mere presence thing.

"so what are you working on?" mark asks, and jinyoung looks back up only to find the older boy has approached his desk and his face is only inches away as he leans down to look at jinyoung's papers. this time, jinyoung does fall out of his seat, but he catches a hand on the corner of his desk and pulls himself back up quickly. "sorry for surprising you," mark says with a chuckle.

"it's all good," jinyoung assures him, although he's not sure that's true. at least, the pounding of his heart is a definite sign it isn't. "just doing math homework." he sees mark glancing over his work and gets an idea. "actually, i'm kind of stuck on this problem, do you think you could help?"

mark reads over it, his face going straight as he concentrates, and jinyoung finds himself smiling because it's really so cute. "yeah, sure. so what you want to do here..." he explains the problem to jinyoung very thoroughly and ends with, "did that make sense?"

wrong, jinyoung thinks. that was all wrong, you used the wrong method and messed up the formula, and ended up with a totally wrong answer. but he nods along anyway. "yeah, i think i get it now, thanks," but as he proceeds to use the right formula instead, he wonders how mark is managing in a math class that he doesn't even understand. i should be the one helping him, he thinks incredulously.

afterwards, mark seats himself on jinyoung's bed and gets his own homework out and the two of them work in silence for an hour, until mark's stomach decides to growl loudly and jinyoung laughs, saying they should take a break for dinner. it's already almost six, so his mom will probably have food ready soon anyway.

they talk all through dinner (jinyoung's surprised he manages to keep up a conversation with mark), and he finds out that mark is from california, speaks english and korean fluently, and has a lot of siblings. he likes dance, hip hop, and acrobatics, to which jinyoung makes him promise to show off his flips later, and mark agrees.

jinyoung tells mark about his old school and neighborhood. he makes sure to specifically mention how much calmer and relaxing it is, as oppose to the city, just to annoy his mom, and he maybe brags a little about being one of the smartest kids in his class. mark applauds for him, making him blush. by the time they finish eating, jinyoung feels like him and mark may be able to become best friends.

they head back to his room around nine. jinyoung had finished his homework before dinner so he ends up letting mark move to his desk to work and just lays on his bed and watches the other. mark works diligently, and if he notices jinyoung's eyes on him, he says nothing.

at some point, jinyoung ends up falling asleep but he dreams of mark and that's why he's disoriented when he hears mark's voice and feels fingers tapping his arm.

"hey, jinyoung," mark is saying, and jinyoung can barely open his eyes. he doesn't know how or when but he's under the covers of his bed and the lights have been turned off. maybe it was mark's doing, he thinks. when he finally gets an eye open, he sees the outline of mark's head next to him. the clock on his nightstand blinks out a neon 12:30AM that's a little blurry to him.

"wh-what is it?" jinyoung croaks out, his voice laced with sleep.

"it's really cold," mark says, and jinyoung thinks the older boy would probably be grinning sheepishly if he could see his face. "i can't fall asleep on the floor because i keep shivering. is it ok if i move into the bed next to you?"

for a second jinyoung really does think he's dreaming again. he lets his eyes close because there's no way this is possible, right? he's not about to sleep with mark, what a good joke... but then he opens both eyes again and almost gasps. he is about to sleep with mark, oh god.

"y-yeah sure," he mumbles a bit belatedly, scooching over closer to the wall. he feels his heartbeat begin to race as mark climbs in next to him, pulling the blankets up over himself. his leg brushes against jinyoung's accidentally in the process which causes the younger to let out a small, involuntary squeak. "you ok?" mark asks, alarmed by the noise, but jinyoung hurriedly brushes it off.

"y-yeah, i just touched the wall and it was cold so i was surprised, that's all." smooth jinyoung, he thinks, mentally wanting to punch himself in the face. you squeaked like a fucking little girl, you sure are cool.

"oh," mark says with a chuckle. "you should be more careful. goodnight, jinyoung." and then he falls silent as he snuggles into his pillow. jinyoung sighs quietly to himself and wonders if he's going to get any sleep at all now.

jinyoung has no idea how long it took for him to actually fall asleep, but he just knows that much sooner than he would have wanted, he's being shaken awake and he's pretty sure there's an angel in front of him, all blinding smiles and light laughter.

"come on jinyoung, it's time to get up. if you keep sleeping, we're gonna be late going to school," the angel says, but it's mark's voice and jinyoung has to blink a few more times before his eyes adjust to the light in his room. he sees that mark is standing beside his bed, already dressed. his hair is messy and flat across his forehead, probably from sleeping on it, but it looks so casual and hot that jinyoung almost forgets to breathe.

wait a minute... school. that's right. jinyoung sits up abruptly, ignoring more laughter from mark as he hurries to flatten his own hair because it's probably sticking out in more than place.

"you were staring again," mark comments, heading to jinyoung's door. jinyoung resists the blush that wants to color his cheeks and instead lets out a cough. "i'll be in the main room so once you're ready, let's go to school together."

jinyoung tries not to think too hard about the situation and how he can't believe just days before he was imagining stuff like this as if it couldn't possibly happen, but he's so caught up in his thoughts that he only realizes he put his pants on backwards as he's heading out of his room. good job, jinyoung, he thinks, rolling his eyes while fixing his mistake. yeah, you really need to work on this whole living with mark thing, don't you.

when he comes out to the main room, he finds mark seated at the table and chatting with his mom. ok, if he's being honest, he has to admit the sound of mark's voice echoing around the room is a very pleasant thing to wake up to. he can't think of any other sound he would prefer.

they eat breakfast quickly and when they're done, jinyoung's mom sends them out the door with a big smile and a shout of "have a good day, boys!"

"i think your mom likes me," mark says, pulling his backpack further up on his back as they start the fifteen minute walk to the school. "she's already treating me like i'm her son."

"well, there's a lot to like," jinyoung replies without thinking. by the time he realizes the words have left his mouth, it's already too late. mark is beaming at him and he has to do his best not to hide his face in his hands. "well, i mean, you know, you're pretty cool is all."

"thanks," mark laughs. "you're pretty cool yourself, jinyoung." jinyoung pretends the compliment doesn't make his heart race.

"th-thanks," he returns, imagining the stutter is only due to the cold morning air. he pulls his coat tighter around himself.

the two keep chatting until they reach the school and jinyoung had been sure that mark would probably head out to find his friends and leave him on his own, but instead he follows jinyoung to his locker and stands by while he takes off his coat and hangs it inside.

"what class do you have first hour?" mark asks.

jinyoung's mind blanks for half a second before he remembers to answer. "physics. and then lit." he adds, in case mark had been curious about his second class as well.

"oh, i see," mark nods. "i have government first hour and then chemistry. it's kinda sad we don't have more classes together, right?" he gives a small frown, an absurdly adorable expression, jinyoung has to confess, but it's immediately replaced by another smile. "but i am glad we have one class."

"yeah, me too," jinyoung agrees. why is mark being so goddamn cute? it's not fair.

mark waits until jinyoung's locker is closed and he seems ready to head to class before he waves a goodbye. "i'll see you later, jinyoung." and then he's heading down the hallway. jinyoung sighs after him. again, he's struck by the same thoughts as earlier. he can't believe it's only been a week and he's already talking to mark like they're friends. are they kind of friends? he hopes so. he heads to physics with a fuzzy feeling in his head.

when lunch rolls around, jinyoung hasn't even considered the possibility of mark joining him because, of course, mark will be sitting with his real friends, not his new roommate. he sits at his usual table and waits for jaebum and jackson to show up, since the two have developed a habit of bothering him during the break (not that he entirely minds though, since they're rather entertaining).

both are currently late, as jinyoung has been sitting by himself for five minutes already since the lunch bell rang, but then he sees feet out of the corner of his eye and the seat next to him is being pulled out. he turns, ready to chew out whichever of the two had arrived, but to his utter surprise, it's mark placing his lunch tray on the table and filling the seat

"mark," he gasps. "what are you doing here?" mark gives him a look that makes jinyoung realize his question was actually kind of weird. "i-i mean, don't you usually eat lunch with your other friends?"

mark shrugs. "sure, but you're my friend now, too," good, jinyoung thinks, his heart involuntarily skipping a beat. i'm glad the friend thing is mutual. "so I wanted to eat lunch with you, too. besides, you looked kind of lonely sitting here by yourself."

"ah," jinyoung laughs lightly. "i don't sit by myself, my friends are just late. i don't know where they are right now, actually-"

as if on cue, a loud voice cuts off jinyoung mid sentence. "jinyoung!" jaebum approaches the table and takes the seat across from him, slamming his tray of food down rather carelessly. "sorry i'm late, i got caught up with one of the freshmen who wanted help figuring out when and where to sign up for sports- oh, hi mark." he only notices the older boy a minute later. mark gives him a grin in return. "what's up?"

"not much," mark replies casually.

"cool," jaebum nods, but then something occurs to him and he turns to jinyoung with a suspicious expression. "wait a minute... jinyoung," monday last week plays over in jinyoung's head: his morning mishap with mark and then at lunch, after finding out mark's name, making a verbal promise to avoid mark. jaebum and jackson had been there and heard him say that. oh man, they're not gonna let this go, are they? "i thought you were avoiding mark?"

mark raises an eyebrow at the statement. "wait, avoiding me? why?" jinyoung feels his face flushing. just great, thanks a lot jaebum, he thinks mutinously. i mean, it's not like you accidentally fall on and grope super cute boys all the time or continue to embarrass yourself in front of them. no, of course he has no reason to want to avoid mark.

"i have no clue, but just last week, jinyoung said-"

"y-yah!" jinyoung cuts in, leaning hurriedly across the table to shove a hand over jaebum's mouth and silence him. jaebum gives him an affronted look and shoves the hand away. "i'm not avoiding anyone, for your information." he puts emphasis on the words in hopes that jaebum will get the hint and not mention it again.

thankfully he does, but not after sneering at jinyoung. "ok, i guess i must have heard him wrong. he's probably not avoiding you." mark continues to look skeptical but jinyoung's pleased to have jaebum on his side.

that is, until jackson shows up.

"jaebum, jinyoung!" the voice calls and the two of them, plus mark, look up to see the boy approaching their lunch table. "oh, and mark." he adds in confusion. "but jinyoung, i thought-"

a mixture of jinyoung's voice,"i'm not avoiding anyone," and jaebum's voice, "he's not avoiding anyone," makes jackson's eyes widen and causes mark to start laughing. "just- drop it ok?" jinyoung begs, pouting at the three boys around him. he lingers in mark's direction because the other boy is still laughing.

"ok, i get it. you're not avoiding me," he agrees, and jinyoung sighs in relief.

"but that doesn't explain why mark is sitting at our table," jaebum points out. "mark, why are you sitting at our table?" jinyoung suddenly wonders how to explain the situation. should he just say roommates? that's technically what they are, but it's not like dorm roommates, since mark is staying in jinyoung's own bedroom and even slept in his bed and wow, was it always this hot in here?

"we're friends," mark fills in for him. jinyoung is always thankful for mark's ability to stay composed, although, he guesses that mark probably doesn't go through the same inner turmoils as he does and maybe that's why it doesn't bother him. and jinyoung can only conclude it doesn't bother him because he says right after, "i'm living with him right now." his eyes bug out.

jaebum and jackson both gape a little. "living... together?" jackson repeats. "wow, genius, jinyoung. i didn't see you as the type to make such a bold move but congrats."

"roommates," jinyoung chokes out, praying his whole face isn't turning red. "we're just roommates."

"roommates?" jaebum presses. "sounds fishy to me." jinyoung opens and closes his mouth a few times, trying to come up with the best explanation, but thankfully, mark comes to his rescue again.

"our moms are friends and my mom is moving back to the states so she asked jinyoung's mom if i can stay there. it was kind of a spur of the moment thing, jinyoung and i didn't even know about it until the day of."

"incredible," jackson shakes his head. "i don't know whether this is the best kind of luck or the worst kind." jinyoung wants to punch him and mark looks confused again, but then jaebum interrupts.

"come on, let's eat lunch before it gets cold," and then they're all going back to their food. jinyoung is more than relieved to finally have the topic dropped as jaebum begins talking about the sports clubs at the school.

he also really hopes mark doesn't bring this up again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the rest of the week plays out exactly like monday. jinyoung and mark eat breakfast and walk to school together, sit together at lunch, and mark even moves from his front table in math to come sit at the back with jinyoung. they walk home from school together as well, and talk more than jinyoung thinks he's ever talked to anyone in the span of a week. he's definitely growing more comfortable with mark, and he's glad that mark seems to like him, too.

although he doesn't really understand it considering he's pretty much a loser and mark probably has way cooler people he could be hanging out with, but hey, he's not one to complain.

friday morning on the way to school, the weather is particularly nice for the last day of january. jinyoung only has on a light jacket and he's not cold, which is a nice change if he's honest, but mark uses the opportunity to suggest the two of them head outside during lunch.

"let's go to the baseball field! i can show you some flips and stuff." mark's obviously excited about it and jinyoung's been hoping he'll get to see mark in action soon anyway so he readily agrees.

it ends up working out well because jaebum mentions that he'd offered to help out the same freshman from before so the four of them take the back door once the lunch bell rings and trek across the hills behind the building to reach the baseball field. it's jinyoung's first time being out there and it's a lot bigger in person than it looks from far away.

there's a group of freshman on the right of the field and they enthusiastically greet jaebum as he approaches them. "jb's got a mini fanclub," jackson jokingly whispers to jinyoung and mark. they both snort as jaebum throws a punch at jackson, who dodges and just laughs at him.

then mark and jackson lead jinyoung over to the left side of the field, jinyoung and jackson taking seats on the bleachers while mark moves farther out so he'll have space.

"are you guys ready?" he calls and jackson waves to give him the ok.

"there's nobody who can flip like mark," jackson comments to jinyoung while mark prepares himself. "you should be careful because you might come out of this liking him even more than you already do."

jinyoung makes a face but instead of replying he focuses on mark down on the field. the older boy is posed with his arms over his head and jinyoung wonders what exactly he's going to do.

"3, 2, 1," mark counts down, and then he's moving in a slow motion cart wheel. he speeds up quickly, though, head over heels as he cartwheels again, and suddenly, he's soaring through the air. jinyoung gapes in astonishment. it's over in less than second, his feet hitting the ground in a way that causes him to bounce.

Mark holds up a peace sign and before he realizes it, jinyoung is applauding loudly. "that was incredible!" he shouts. mark grins up at him. he thinks he also sees jackson smirking out of the corner of his eye but he pretends the other isn't there. "you're so cool, mark! how did you even do that??"

"thanks," mark calls back, scratching the back of his head shyly. "i've just practiced a lot. should i do it again?" jinyoung nods so violently that he almost falls backwards off his seat.

mark must like showing off because he does the flip two more times and then proceeds to demonstrate a few others for jinyoung, each just as impressive as the previous. he even calls jinyoung and jackson down for a special flip that involves jinyoung crouched down on the ground while jackson pushes mark over him. jinyoung won't lie, his heart feels like it jumps up into his throat as he watches mark fly over him. but it goes so smoothly that jinyoung immediately begins applauding again as he stands up.

after jinyoung takes his seat back on the bleachers and jackson decides to go over and join jaebum who seems to be helping the freshmen with their baseball techniques, he starts to notice something.

it's the way mark is always watching him before and after each flip, maybe like he's hoping for jinyoung's approval or maybe because he wants to see jinyoung's reaction, but either way, they keep catching each other's eyes and it's doing funny things not only to jinyoung's heart rate but also to his face because he's pretty sure he's unable to keep himself from blushing.

it's nice, though. he likes it because it feels like mark is paying sole attention to him, trying really hard to impress him. it makes him feel like the situation is reversed, and that mark is the one who likes him instead of the other way around.

mark's next flip is the most impressive yet as he spins around twice before he lands back on the ground. he must be really happy he was able to pull it off, too, because he's beaming up at jinyoung as soon as he's finished and jinyoung beams back.

but then mark's expression falters. it makes jinyoung worried and he's about to wonder what went wrong but then mark's eyes are widening and he looks shocked and there are shouts of, "watch out!" that sound like jackson and jaebum.

jinyoung tries to think of what in the world they could possibly be shouting about, that is, until something collides with the side of his head and he keels over, abruptly blacking out.

he wakes up in one of the school infirmary beds with a pounding headache. the overhead lights make him groan and less than a second later, an anxious mark is leaning over him. "ah, you're awake," the older boy breathes out in relief.

"yeah," jinyoung makes an attempt to sit up, but finds out it was really a bad idea as his head decides to throb painfully and he's forced to lay back down, another groan escaping his lips. "what the hell happened?"

"apparently jaebum has discovered one of the freshman has rather awful batting skills," mark explains, carefully brushing fingers through jinyoung's hair to examine his head, and jinyoung tries to swat the hand away with no success. "you're so lucky it didn't hit you square in the face and break your nose or something."

"i sure don't feel lucky," jinyoung grumbles but mark pouts at him and he falls silent.

"thankfully, there doesn't seem to be any serious damage. you might have a bump but i think it probably won't be visible underneath your hair." mark takes a step back only once his thorough inspection of jinyoung's head is complete and returns to a chair that had been pulled up beside the bed. had mark been staying with jinyoung while he was unconscious? the thought makes jinyoung's cheeks flush a little.

"were you... worried about me?" he asks. he laughs lightly when mark raises an eyebrow at him.

"no, i wasn't worried at all," he replies sarcastically. "you dumbass, of course i was worried. you've been out for a while." jinyoung can't stop a small smile from pulling on his lips. he likes seeing mark like this, all worried and protective of him. "we practically missed the second half of the day too, school gets out an hour."

"wait- are you serious?? we have to get to class-" jinyoung sits up way too quickly and this time, he sways, nearly falling out of the bed, but mark is up in less than a second and strong arms catch him around the waist. mark's face is now only inches from his own and he can feel mark's fingers braced right around his hips and it causes his heart to rather painfully skip a beat.

"jesus christ, jinyoung," mark chides, his tone sounding irritated but his eyes betray just how much he really has been worrying about jinyoung, and ok, maybe jinyoung feels a little bad for making him worry so much. "just stay still, you're not ready to get up yet. it doesn't matter if we miss a few classes, ok? just think about your health for now."

"a-alright," jinyoung agrees. he allows mark to help him lay down again while watching the way mark concentrates, his brow furrowed as he makes sure jinyoung is comfortable, fluffs up jinyoung's pillow, and asks if jinyoung is cold and wants him to pull the blankets out. jinyoung politely tells him he's fine, but on the inside he's screaming because he feels kind of like he's living out a scene from one of the dumb dramas his mom is always watching.

to be honest, maybe he doesn't mind getting hurt all that much.

when school gets out, jaebum comes to check on jinyoung and brings with him the freshman who had apparently swung the bat and caused the ball to hit jinyoung.

"this is choi youngjae," jaebum introduces, and the younger student hides behind him briefly before being shoved in front. "he has something to say."

youngjae seems like a shy type, jinyoung thinks. his face is stiff as he stares apprehensively at jinyoung, but he bows a full ninety degrees after another moment. "i-i'm really sorry for my carelessness. i didn't mean to hit you and i promise i'll be more careful in the future." even the way he talks is stiff and jinyoung can't help laughing, but he can tell the kid means his apology.

"don't worry about it," he grins. at his words, youngjae seems to relax a little and he gives back a tiny, crooked smile. "just keep practicing hard for tryouts so this doesn't happen to any other unfortunate people." youngjae nods eagerly.

"I will!"

jaebum gives jinyoung a brief summary of what he missed in his afternoon classes, since, aside from math, they have both of them together, and then him and youngjae leave, youngjae calling out a final, "i hope you feel better soon!" before the door to the infirmary closes.

"we should head out too," mark says, turning to jinyoung with a concerned expression. "how are you feeling? do you think you can walk?"

jinyoung sits up slowly and carefully, pleased when his head only gives him a light throb in protest. "yeah, i think i should be fine." he says. he's disappointed, though, when he stumbles as he starts to get off the bed and mark has to jump in and catch him.

"or not fine," mark says with narrowed eyes. "there's no way i'm letting you walk home." he steadies jinyoung with one hand and then he squats down, and jinyoung briefly wonders what he's doing but then he realizes and he feels his face flushing. "come on," mark gestures to his back. "i'll carry you."

"n-no way, i'm really ok-" jinyoung insists, but it's too late and he squeaks as mark grabs him around the wrist, yanking him gently forward so that his armpits rest on top of his shoulders. he then stands up, scooping jinyoung's legs up in his arms.

"you don't have to worry," mark says. jinyoung's heart is pounding loudly in his chest and he hopes that mark can't hear it. "i'm strong so i won't drop you." jinyoung finally gives in and wraps his arms lightly around mark's neck, settling himself closer to the other. mark's cheeks seem to be a light shade of pink but jinyoung might be imagining it. mark grabs his own backpack off the floor and then picks up jinyoung's from the spot where it had been laying next to the bed and the two leave the infirmary.

the walk back to jinyoung's house is only a little bit longer than normal but to jinyoung it feels like an eternity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"yah, park jinyoung," jinyoung starts at the voice and turns away from the window to see a very irritated jaebum giving him a glare from the adjacent desk. "you haven't been listening to a word i've said, have you." it's not a question because it's really rather obvious that he's been staring outside and everything from jaebum's mouth has gone in one ear and out the other.

"s-sorry," jinyoung apologizes, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "i was thinking about, um... stuff. what were you saying?"

"and by stuff you mean, mark, am i right?" jaebum rolls his eyes as jinyoung coughs. "and that's why you should have been paying attention to me. i'm talking about important things that involve mark."

"oh? what kind of things?" jinyoung says, suddenly paying more attention to the conversation. he repositions his chair so it's facing jaebum's desk.

"you know what day friday is, don't you?" jinyoung raises an eyebrow at his friend. yeah, friday is valentine's day. but what does that have to do with anything? and more specifically what does it have to do with mark? "do you have any plans?"

"what do you mean plans?" jinyoung asks. jinyoung's not interested in girls, so why would he have valentine's day plans? what a weird thing to ask. and he still doesn't get how this relates to mark in any way.

"you really haven't thought about it?" jaebum sighs, shaking his head. "wow, and here i was thinking you were the romantic type."

jinyoung blushes. "yah, thought about what?"

"giving mark chocolates, you dumbass." oh. jinyoung blinks. now that is something he definitely hadn't considered.

he'd always viewed valentine's day as a boy and girl holiday, one where girls confess to boys with presents and homemade candies and boys accept them regardless of whether or not they return the feelings. but who ever heard of a boy giving another boy chocolate on valentine's day?

and besides, sure he and mark have grown even closer after now having been living together for two whole weeks, but that doesn't mean they're in a situation where he could just give chocolates to the other boy, right?

"wh-what a silly idea," he comments. his mind's already ahead of him, though, and he's imagining a cute smile on mark's perfect lips as he holds out a box of cutely wrapped chocolates made from scratch. mark would, of course, accept the chocolates and would eat his alone, even after receiving many from other girls. "yeah, totally silly."

"you want to make them," jaebum states. jinyoung buries his face in his hands in embarrassment.

"b-but i can't make them at home," he whines, suddenly flopping his upper body onto his desk top and hanging his arms off the sides. "he would see and ask me who i'm making them for and even if refuse to tell him, he'll keep pressuring me. and then they won't be a surprise because he'll have seen me making them so he'll already know what they look like and-"

jaebum interrupts him with a laugh. "that's why i have a solution, my friend."

the solution ends up being jinyoung telling mark to head home by himself after school on thursday under the pretense that he's staying to help jackson and jaebum with some of their club activities. of course, mark offers to stay and help as well, but jinyoung somehow manages to convince him otherwise.

then jaebum is leading him and jackson to the school kitchen that jinyoung didn't even know existed and setting down bags of ingredients on the counter space. "alright, first you need to decide what kind of chocolates and how many you want to make."

jinyoung's so busy gazing around at the room that it takes him a moment to realize jaebum spoke and then he stutters out a quiet, "i-i hadn't thought about it yet."

"well, first off, does mark like dark, milk, or white chocolate?" jackson asks, going through the bags on the counter.

"milk," jinyoung says. he doesn't have to think hard about it because his mom brought home two bars of chocolate, a milk one and a dark one, the previous weekend and mark had practically begged jinyoung to let him have the milk chocolate. jinyoung had obviously obliged him without a second thought.

"alright and does he have a big appetite?" jaebum follows up, taking the bag of milk chocolate chips from jackson and using scissors to cut it open.

"yeah, he does," jinyoung nods. mark always eats more than him at pretty much every meal. he never seems to be full, actually.

"ok, so you should make milk chocolates for him and make a lot of them," jaebum clarifies. "oh, and i also got food coloring so if you want to use the white chocolate and food coloring, you can add some decorations."

jinyoung gulps. "o-ok. so where do we start?"

"well, you need to melt the chips," jackson points out. he lifts a pot out of one of the bags and holds it out for jinyoung, who takes it hesitantly and then follows jaebum over to the stove top. he sets it down and jaebum pours about half the bag of chips into it before turning the stove on.

"i have a few types of molds, you can pick one once we have the chocolate melted and ready," jaebum says. jinyoung's heart does a flip flop as he again thinks about giving mark chocolates.

""b-but this is really such a dumb idea..." he mumbles, turning away from the stove and leaning on the countertop next to it. "mark's just gonna think i'm weird if i give him chocolates..."

"come on, jinyoung," jaebum smirks. "you didn't see his face when he was carrying you out of the infirmary on his back, which i might add was probably the gayest thing i've ever seen in my life, but he was totally red and-"

"shut up!" jinyoung exclaims. blush coats his cheeks and he tries with no success to get rid of it. "he-he offered to carry me home and i wasn't in a position to refuse, ok?"

"wait, mark carried you on his back? you mean, like a piggy back ride?" jackson asks curiously. jinyoung gives him a shy nod. "dang, and what's stopping you from jumping this guy? he obviously likes you, man."

"stop..." jinyoung claps his hands over his ears and pouts. "don't give me false hope, alright? me and mark are just roommates, there's no way he likes me like that."

"sure," jaebum says. "if that were true, i would eat my own sock." he then quickly adds, "but don't make me bet on it because i'm against gambling." jackson gives him a look and he just shrugs. but then the three of them collectively remember the chocolate and hurriedly return to the stove, where it turns out they've accidentally overheated it and it's seized into rather disgusting looking lumps.

jinyoung's suddenly very glad they only used half the bag.

he starts afresh with the second half of the bag of milk chocolate chips, this time keeping a much closer eye on it, and jaebum sets up a second pot next to him where he's melting half the bag of white chocolate chips. jackson had asked him about it and the other has just muttered something about dumb cute freshman and "i hope youngjae likes white chocolate..."

once they finish the melting, jaebum pulls out his molds. he says he got them from his mom so that's why they're cheesy, but jinyoung wouldn't put it past the older boy to have picked them out on his own. most of them are large hearts with smaller indents for decorations such as ribbon and lettering, but jinyoung decides on a tray of smaller hearts because he feels like a big one is a bit too forward. but jaebum, of course, decides on a big heart, ignoring joking comments from jackson.

after they've both let their chocolates harden by leaving them in the refrigerator for a while, jaebum heats up the rest of the white chocolate chips and uses the food coloring to dye it red and pink. they use it to create drizzled patterns and add decorations to their hearts.

when they're finished, jinyoung has to admit the chocolates look quite pretty, especially for their first try.

"ok, so you have to come up with a plan, jinyoung." jaebum instructs while they're packing up. "figure out the perfect timing to give those to mark."

"o-ok," jinyoung agrees. his heart is pounding. he really hopes this goes over well.

it only takes half the day for jinyoung to decide he officially hates valentine's day. including the time spent at his locker in the morning and then the fifteen minutes of lunch they've been sitting together, he's already had to watch at least ten different girls come over and offer chocolates to mark.

no surprise, mark has accepted every one and to be honest, jinyoung's surprised the boy isn't carrying around an extra bag at this point because he has no idea how else he would be dragging around that much chocolate.

and of course he's not jealous. no way. mark receiving chocolates from other girls doesn't make his blood boil and make him want to slam his face into a wall. nope, not one bit.

"you sure are popular," jackson comments over their meal and mark shrugs.

"i guess," he says with a grin. yeah, be proud of all the dumb girls who've fallen for you, jinyoung thinks, resisting the urge to scrunch up his face and pretending he can't categorize himself with them. well, i'm definitely not helping you finish eating all that chocolate.

"you guess?" jaebum raises an eyebrow. "come on, mark, how many do you have now? i've only gotten three and i'm pretty popular on my own so don't you try and act modest here."

"three?" jackson says, in surprise. "i only saw those two freshman girls give you theirs this morning, who else did you get from?" he then gasps and adds, "wait, did you already give your chocolates to youngjae and that's why-"

"enough about me," jaebum cuts him off, a light rosy pink coloring his cheeks. jinyoung laughs. the older boy's crush on the freshman is somewhat cute, he has to admit. "but seriously mark. what are you even gonna do with all that chocolate?"

"i have no idea," mark says. he laughs and leans back in his chair. "eat it? i'll figure it out later, i guess."

jaebum's now looking in jinyoung's direction, and jinyoung shrinks back a little. he had been successfully staying out of the conversation because, one, he hadn't received any chocolates, and two, he didn't want to think about giving his own chocolates to mark yet and he can tell that's why jaebum is staring at him intently.

he mouths a firm 'not yet' to the other boy and he's thankful when jaebum rolls his eyes and turns to jackson. "so how about you mr. hong kong? last time i checked you were pretty popular."

jackson smirks. "yeah, maybe a little. i've gotten six so far." jaebum's eyes widen and then he shakes his head.

"you know what, i've had enough chocolate talk. so how about that weather?"

after lunch, on the way to their math class, another girl approaches mark but she seems shy with jinyoung being there, and well, jinyoung's not really keen on sticking around anyway so he excuses himself and heads to the bathroom.

looking into the mirror, he sighs and suddenly feels so self-conscious. what is he doing? mark probably likes girls. there's no way he would even want to accept chocolates from jinyoung.

there's no point.

he yanks his backpack off his back and pulls the small box out of the main pouch. jaebum had also conveniently happened to have decorative boxes and ribbon, so the homemade chocolates are currently wrapped in a small valentine's day themed bag and tied with a red ribbon and then set carefully inside the square box with a bigger pink ribbon on the outside.

they look so nice. jinyoung frowns. such a waste...

he almost throws the box into the trashcan on his way out of the bathroom but instead just returns it to his bag and heads to class.

after math class, when mark gets chocolates from two other girls, jinyoung is just about ready to pull his hair out, and after school, when mark and jinyoung are leaving the building and yet another girl stops him to give her chocolates, jinyoung can't even stop himself and he rolls his eyes as mark accepts them with a smile.

"what do they even think they're achieving by all giving you chocolates like this anyway..." he mumbles, mostly to himself, but mark chuckles and he jumps because he hadn't expected the older boy to hear him.

"that's a good question," he says.

"and a better question, why do you keep accepting those chocolates?" jinyoung adds, kind of glad to have mark's attention on him. he's tired of all those girls coming in as distractions.

"well..." mark grows thoughtful. "even if i don't return their feelings, the least i can do is accept their chocolate, right? that way i'm not being totally rude and rejecting them to their faces." jinyoung guesses it makes sense. it would be pretty sad if mark had turned down the chocolates and the girls had walked away in tears or something.

"but still, if you accept all the chocolates, there's no way you'll be able to eat them all, right? i mean-" he's cut off abruptly as mark calls out to a student that's walking a little ahead of them. the student freezes and turns around with wide eyes but upon seeing that it was mark who had called to him, he relaxes.

"hey, jaehyung," mark says as he jogs to catch up to him. "this is the last one, i swear," he gives an apologetic smile as he hands the chocolates he just received to the other boy. jinyoung is suddenly very confused. why is mark giving away the chocolates?

jaehyung laughs. "you act like i don't want to take your chocolates, but trust me, i'm so down with this, ok." jinyoung watches as he slips them into a big plastic bag he's carrying in his right hand that appears to be full of an uncountable amount of boxes and bags of chocolates. "i'm gonna have a lifetime supply of chocolate after this valentine's day, with the combination of the chocolates i've received on top of all the ones you've given me."

"then i guess i'm glad to help," mark laughs as well. he chats a little bit more with the boy before they wave farewells and jaehyung heads on his way. mark turns back to jinyoung and, seeing the utterly clueless expression jinyoung assumes must be on his face, cracks up.

he feels his cheeks flush.

"i haven't been keeping the chocolates," mark explains before jinyoung has the chance to ask. "jaehyung is a senior and he and i have been friends for a while so i come to him sometimes when i need favors. since i was getting so much chocolate, and i honestly didn't want it, i asked if i could give it all to him, and he agreed."

oh, jinyoung thinks. so that's why mark's load never seemed to get heavier even after he was getting all that chocolate: he wasn't keeping it. his heart lightens a bit. he had been so annoyed all day thinking that mark was just going to eat a bunch of chocolates from random girls that finding out he's not is quite a relief.

wait... jinyoung now becomes a little nervous. does this mean mark doesn't want any valentine's day chocolate? did he make his own in vain?

but then mark completely surprises him as he pulls out a box from his backpack. it's small and heart shaped, with a red ribbon tied around it. jinyoung wonders briefly what the box is for until mark is handing it in his direction.

"i... well, that is..." mark seems a little flustered and it's honestly so cute that jinyoung has to use all his strength not to jump on the redhead. "ok, so i might have made you chocolates or something, if you want them."

jinyoung's heart feels like it's going to stop beating. he blinks at the chocolates, hardly able to even believe this is happening. mark... made him chocolates? when he had been fretting all this time over whether or not to make chocolates for mark? he almost reaches up and pinches himself to make sure he's not dreaming.

he must have hesitated a bit too long though because mark grimaces and starts to pull the chocolates back towards himself. "s-sorry, it was probably a dumb idea, i shouldn't have-"

"no!" jinyoung quickly hurries forward and snatches the box from him. "i want them." he almost adds, 'i only wanted chocolates from you in the first place,' but he also just noticed that the ribbon on the box is familiar and instead says, "wait, this ribbon is from my house, isn't it?"

mark nods sheepishly. "on that day you stayed at school for club activities with jaebum and jackson, i... i asked your mom to help me make chocolates for you."

"you did that??" jinyoung exclaims, almost laughing when mark hides his face in his hands. "th-thank you so much..." he tries to imagine his mom standing with mark at the stove and showing him step by step how to make chocolates in the same way jaebum had showed him. except mark probably wouldn't have messed up. "actually, i-i made some for you, too." he reaches into his own backpack and pulls out the box he's now so glad he didn't throw away earlier. "i-i wasn't sure if i should give them to you at first, but now..." he holds them out.

mark's expression becomes so much happier that jinyoung starts to think he's going to melt at any moment. "this is great! i was hoping all day that you would have- i mean- all those girls kept giving me chocolate but i only really wanted chocolates from you-" he's beaming at jinyoung but his face is turning bright red. jinyoung seriously wants to just kiss him right then and there but he resists. "ah, i'm embarrassed. well, anyway, this is the best. thanks, jinyoung."

it must suddenly dawn on him, too, because his mouth forms an 'oh' and he's laughing again. "you didn't go to club activities that day, did you."

jinyoung grins.

they walk back to jinyoung's house while snacking on their homemade chocolates and jinyoung decides, ok, maybe he doesn't hate valentine's day so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"a party?" jinyoung says. second hour has just finished and he pauses while putting away his things from class to glance up at jaebum who had just come into the room to find him.

"yeah, this weekend," jaebum nods and pushes up his glasses further on his nose. he leans on the desk next to jinyoung, watching while jinyoung puts his pencil case into his backpack. "youngjae's hosting it and he asked me to help as a co-host so he said i could invite whoever i wanted."

"youngjae?" jinyoung repeats, the name ringing a bell. "oh, you mean the freshman who hit me in the head with a baseball?" jaebum starts to insist that "that was one time-" but jinyoung laughs and quickly interrupts to add, "ah, the one you gave valentine's chocolates to, right? are you guys dating now or-"

"shut it!" jaebum snaps, his cheeks turning light pink and jinyoung smirks. "even if we are dating, it's not like it's your business. anyway, do you want to come to the party or not?"

"hm, not really. i don't care for parties," jaebum looks like he's about to complain and jinyoung laughs again. "you forget, i'm from the country. i don't usually go to parties." he zips up his backpack and slings it over one shoulder, heading away from his desk and towards the door.

"but think about it, jinyoung," jaebum whines as he follows jinyoung out of the classroom. "this is a golden opportunity. do you know how many people hook up at parties?"

jinyoung freezes, feeling his face heating up, and jaebum hasn't noticed that he's not moving anymore so he walks square into jinyoung's back and grunts, giving him an annoyed look. "um, i'm not trying to hook up with anyone," jinyoung says firmly before continuing on his way to the lunch room.

"yeah, sure, of course you're not," jaebum rolls his eyes. "you know, you could invite mark to the party and knowing how much i know mark likes you, he'll say yes and this could be the chance we've all been waiting for and you guys could finally get together-"

"stop it!" jinyoung claps a hand over jaebum's mouth. jaebum gives him another look.

ok, sure, he's thought about situations such as parties. he's imagined (even though they're both underage) getting drunk with mark at a party and maybe dancing together, maybe touching, maybe making out. but hey, those aren't thoughts he shares and they're definitely not things that could ever happen. a party is out of the question. "no way, alright? i'm not going." he moves his hand away from jaebum's face and starts walking again.

it's funny how it happens, though, that suddenly, as soon as they're in the lunchroom and jinyoung catches sight of mark, he forgets that he had just been telling jaebum how much he didn't want to go to the party and now it's all he can think of.

he's going to go over and invite mark, he's going to do it.

"just consider it, ok, jinyoung?" jaebum is unknowingly saying, but jinyoung isn't listening because mark is glancing up and locking eyes with him with that breathtaking smile of his. he waves as if to get jinyoung's attention even though jinyoung's obviously already looking at him and jinyoung smiles back.

but without trying to, he notices something. when mark waves, his shirt lifts up a little bit, revealing his stomach, and of course this is something jinyoung shouldn't be but is staring at, and the band of mark's underwear is visible for a brief second. but even though it's such a short moment, jinyoung immediately recognizes the band.

it's his own underwear.

with this knowledge, he leaves jaebum behind (the other shouting a, "hey, where are you going?" after him) and approaches mark with a fuzzy feeling in his head. "hey, jinyoung!" mark says excitedly once he's by mark's side. "i want to introduce you to my friends." it's only now that jinyoung sees the two boys who are standing next to mark. one is tall with a baby face and the other has a streak of pink in the front of his hair. but jinyoung's too distracted.

"mark, i... you're wearing my underwear," he can't help saying. he can see the eyebrows of one of the other boys raise as they exchange looks and mark is momentarily speechless, mouth opening and closing a few times like a fish out of water.

but then he's laughing, a wide smile on his face as his cheeks flush. "a-am i? i-i hadn't, um, n-noticed," he's stuttering and biting his lip and jinyoung thinks he might have embarrassed him in front of his friends but right now he honestly doesn't care because a flustered mark that also happens to be wearing his underwear is something that makes him feel like he's actually getting somewhere.

"a-anyway, these are my friends," he tries to go back to his original topic of conversation and gestures to the two boys again, who seem to be snickering over the situation. "yugyeom and kunpimook."

the taller boy gives jinyoung a grin. "kim yugyeom," he says. "it's nice to meet you."

"and i'm kunpimook bhuwakul!" the other boy with the pink in his hair says enthusiastically. "mark's told us a lot about you! it's great to finally see you in person." jinyoung's about to thank him for the sentiment but then he pauses.

wait. 'mark's told us a lot about you,' kunpimook's words repeat themselves in his head. that means that mark talks about him, and enough for his friends to know about jinyoung and want to meet him. yeah, jinyoung's heart is definitely starting to pound.

"kunpimook..." jinyoung says the name and the boy nods. "that's not korean, is it?"

"nope! i'm from thailand," he says happily. "i've been in korea for a while, though. actually, me and mark became friends since we're both foreigners."

"that's cool," jinyoung says, smiling. kunpimook is cute, jinyoung likes him. "and what grade are you guys in?"

"we're both freshman," yugyeom says. jinyoung's eyes widen. he honestly would have thought yugyeom was at least a junior, especially since he's so big. " kunpimook is actually older than me." even more shocking, jinyoung thinks.

he's still stuck on the greetings, though, and he finds himself saying, "hey, you said mark told you guys about me, what did he say?" and he enjoys the way mark starts at the mention of himself. he's blushing, maybe, but he hurriedly jumps in.

"i-it's nothing, really," he says, pushing the two younger boys away. "why don't you guys go sit down and eat lunch? we'll talk more later." they resist a bit, kunpimook throwing out a, "but i want to talk to jinyoung more," before they give in and leave and jinyoung is left alone with mark.

"sorry about that, um, maybe it was a bad time," mark says, scratching the back of his head. jinyoung chuckles because, no, it wasn't a bad time, you just did a really job of embarrassing yourself, mark.

"it's fine," jinyoung assures him. and now's the perfect time to ask, so he takes a deep breath. "hey, mark, would you want to go to a party with me?" he has a mini mental breakdown at his wording. "i-i mean, wait. not literally with me, but like, jaebum told me youngjae is throwing a party and he said to invite anybody so-"

mark is laughing at him and now he suddenly feels like he's the one who embarrassed himself. but mark's next words comfort him greatly. "yeah, i would like to go with you. i'd like that a lot."

"cool," jinyoung says, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. he has to admit he's looking forward to the weekend now.

saturday comes and mark and jinyoung get ready for the party together. mark has on a red plaid button up under a cardigan and his hair is styled up in the way that always makes jinyoung inwardly swoon. if he's being honest, mark looks too good and he feels kind of like a trashcan standing next to the older boy in his plain black tee and white checked button up.

more like he'd just grabbed the first thing he saw in his drawer but oh well. mark's attractive enough for the both of them so it doesn't matter.

he tells his mom they're just going to hang out at a friend's house because he's not sure what the party will be like and he doesn't really want his mom to know he's going to a party in the first place. she falls for it, of course, tells them to have fun, and they head out.

it's easy enough to get to youngjae's house. it's just a bus ride and a short walk, but when they arrive, jinyoung is quite glad he hadn't told his mom about it. as they enter the front door, they're attacked by sound; music is blaring from speakers at a volume jinyoung thinks shouldn't ever be allowed and there are people everywhere, in crowds and on their own, all talking and laughing and drinking and eating.

jinyoung suddenly feels quite overwhelmed. maybe coming to the party wasn't such a good idea. but mark grabs onto his hand comfortingly, causing his heart to skip a beat, and pulls him further in.

they find youngjae and jaebum seated by the refreshments, or rather, youngjae is sitting in jaebum's lap with an arm wrapped around his shoulder and he doesn't move when mark and jinyoung approach.

jaebum only seems mildly embarrassed. "you guys made it," he says, or rather shouts (it would be impossible to hear anything aside from shouting in this place), a tinge of pink on his cheeks, and he uses an arm to gesture around youngjae to the tables beside them that hold snacks and drinks. "help yourselves. i think someone ordered some pizzas so that might be here soon, too."

"might," jinyoung repeats incredulously. he's starting to find this whole thing a bit ridiculous. "hey, youngjae, are your parents ok with you throwing a party like this?"

youngjae shrugs, clinging closer to jaebum. "they're out of town. they don't even have to know it happened. besides, right now i'm pretty much the coolest freshman ever so i can worry about it later." jinyoung raises an eyebrow but says nothing.

mark moves from his side and heads over to the tables, picking up a cup of whatever's there. "this isn't alcoholic, is it?" he asks, giving it a sniff, and when youngjae just gives him another shrug, he laughs and takes a sip. "hey jinyoung," he turns back to jinyoung with a small smile on his lips. "let's have something to drink and then let's go dance, ok?"

jinyoung nods shyly.

but 'let's go dance' turns into jinyoung sitting alone by the snack table as jackson shows up out of nowhere and starts chatting with mark. jinyoung didn't even know jackson was coming, although he should have assumed jaebum would have invited the other boy.

the two are a little ways off, swaying to the beat of the music that's still unbelievably loud considering it's not even playing from this room, and jackson is leaning close to mark to whisper something in his ear. then it looks like mark is laughing and jinyoung feels like puking. since when have they been that close anyway? jinyoung sets down the cup he hasn't even been drinking from with a slam and doesn't care when a bit spills out on the table.

as soon as it looks like jackson is putting a hand on mark's hip with lips dangerously close to mark's neck, jinyoung decides he's had enough and stands from his seat. he heads out of the room, into the main area where it's the most crowded and the music is the loudest. he wants to move to a somewhat quieter room but he accidentally ends up running into kunpimook and yugyeom who are dancing together. they look close enough that jinyoung wonders if maybe they're dating.

"hey, jinyoung," kunpimook greets. he had been standing with his arms around yugyeom's neck but once he spots jinyoung, he removes himself and comes over to hug jinyoung, who's surprised by the action considering they only just met earlier that week, but hey, he supposes this at least means kunpimook likes him already. yugyeom smiles and waves. "great party, right?"

".. sure," jinyoung replies hesitantly. he adds as an afterthought, "you guys haven't been drinking anything, right? i'm pretty sure there's alcohol in the refreshments."

"ah, yeah, i've been staying away from them," yugyeom laughs. "i don't like alcohol and my mom would kill me if i did end up drinking any." kunpimook nods in agreement and jinyoung sighs in relief. he's glad there are some younger students who have their priorities straight.

a more upbeat song begins playing from the speakers and kunpimook and yugyeom excitedly say farewells before going back to dancing. jinyoung, grateful to be back on his way, leaves and snakes around groups of people until he finally reaches one of the back rooms. there's significantly less people here and the music isn't quite so loud. jinyoung finds a comfortable seat on a couch where he can bring his knees up to his chest, wrap his arms around them, and then bury his face into his arms.

he lets out a sigh. he knew he shouldn't have come to the party.

but practically as soon as he sits down, he feels the cushion beside him sink and he glances up. it's mark sitting next to him on the couch. "m-mark," he gasps, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice. "i thought you were with jackson..."

"jackson was being weird... and i saw you leave the room so i followed you," mark says. his face looks a little flushed and jinyoung wonders if he might be tipsy. "i was worried... are you ok? do you want to leave?"

"n-no, i'm fine," jinyoung says. he feels much better now that it's just him and mark again, and the fact that mark not only said that jackson was being weird but he was also worried about jinyoung makes his heart flutter. "we can stay." he allows himself to lean over slightly so that his head is rested on mark's shoulder and he's very pleased when mark doesn't complain.

they stay like that for a while, jinyoung's not really sure how long, and he would have been very content to spend the rest of his time at the party like this, but it's then that jaebum is coming to find them and announcing, "we're gonna play truth or dare, you have to join us!" and he's forced from mark's shoulder as the two of them stand and follow jaebum back to the main room.

of course there would be truth or dare, jinyoung thinks. of course jaebum would make him play. something about people always hook up at parties, right? jaebum must secretly have a part time job as an evil mastermind.

and all he can do while he sits amongst the massive circle of people is pray that the bottle doesn't land on him and that jaebum isn't the one behind it. although, many dares and truths later, he guesses he should have also been praying the bottle wouldn't land on mark either, but that thought only occurs to him far too late as jaebum is grinning like a maniac at an unsuspecting mark.

jinyoung can see this going one of two ways. one, mark chooses truth and jaebum tells mark to confess if he likes anyone, since he's so convinced that mark returns jinyoung's feelings. jinyoung doesn't like this plan of action though, because it's far too risky. what if mark doesn't like him? what if mark confesses to someone else at the party in front of jinyoung? no way, that would be unacceptable.

but then again, jinyoung honestly wouldn't want mark confessing to him in front of so many other people, so honestly, this one is a no-go either way.

it ends up going the second way, anyway.

jaebum's grin only grows wider as the word "dare" escapes mark's lips. "dare? are you sure?" and jinyoung's heart is pounding so hard in his chest it feels like it might burst. he's pretty sure he knows where this is going and he's doesn't think he'll live through it. when mark nods, jinyoung almost falls over and jaebum pumps a fist in the air. "alright! i dare you to kiss jinyoung."

yep. jinyoung really should have known this party was a bad idea.

mark's eyes widen to the point that he looks like a deer in headlights. they flit sideways to land on jinyoung and then go back to jaebum. the punishment for not doing the dare is sitting in the form of a bowl of some strange liquid in the middle of the circle. of course, refusing to do a dare or to tell the truth results in having to drink the liquid. no one has done it yet.

"a-alright, fine," mark finally says after a minute of silence. jinyoung immediately stiffens, trying to swallow the butterflies in his chest and throat by convincing himself that mark is only kissing him to avoid the punishment. there's no way he would kiss jinyoung because he wanted to... right?

he's expecting a kiss on the cheek as mark moves to sit in front of him, and when he leans closer, jinyoung snaps his eyes shut and tries to pretend his heart isn't beating a mile a minute. mark's breath is warm against his face and he definitely smells like alcohol. jinyoung runs through every excuse he can possibly come up with as to why he shouldn't just get up and leave. the rising chanting of "do it, do it!" creates a low hum that makes his ears ring. damn, what a party-

and then soft lips press against his own.

jinyoung swears he stops breathing all together. lips. a kiss on the lips. mark is kissing him on the lips. mark tuan is kissing park jinyoung on the lips. jaebum hadn't specified a place to kiss so jinyoung had been so sure it would be the cheek but this is just too much. he definitely feels faint as one of mark's hand finds its way onto the back of his neck and his skin prickles at the sensation.

god, what is going on, jinyoung thinks.

it lasts a few seconds (although he wishes it had lasted for far longer), jinyoung nearly letting out a moan when mark's tongue swipes along his bottom lip, but then it's over and a red-faced mark is heading back to his seat leaving jinyoung light headed and craving more while the room fills with cheers. jaebum is smirking on the opposite side of the room, probably for the exact same reason jinyoung feels like melting into the floor. if they were alone and in close enough proximity to talk, jaebum would probably say, "he kissed you on the lips when he could have easily just kissed you on the cheek. try telling me he doesn't like you now."

jinyoung can't come up with any valid argument at this point. that was quite a kiss.

the rest of the party goes by pretty much uneventfully. jinyoung (and mark) avoid punishments for the rest of the game and once it's over, everyone packs up and gets ready to head out. jinyoung stays behind to help pick up since he's one of the few who didn't drink anything and can see and think straight, and mark sits nearby and waits for him to finish.

jaebum and youngjae thank him for his help but hurriedly tell him they can handle the rest and send him off with a goodnight and jaebum whispering in his ear, "fucking told you he likes you, man," and jinyoung just punches his arm heatedly before walking back over to mark and informing him that they can leave now.

honestly, jinyoung is quite glad to be leaving. the party lasted for five hours and felt like forever. but now that's it done it feels somewhat like a blur. though, he's still incredibly exhausted either way. he's also glad that it lasted so late and that his mom will have already gone to bed because he told her they might stay out late to hang with their friends. he's positive she would know right away that mark had been drinking something alcoholic.

when they step out of youngjae's house, the night air is much chillier than he had expected and he pulls his jacket tighter around himself. as they begin the walk to the bus stop, it's not just the frosty air but also the quiet between him and mark that makes his stomach churn.

this is the first time jinyoung can remember walking home with mark where neither of them is saying anything, and it's almost awkward, but he's unable to ignore the tingling feeling in his cheeks as he tries and fails not to think about the kiss earlier. it makes him incapable of coming up with anything to talk about. he still can't really believe it happened, it seems so surreal.

mark must be thinking about it, too, because jinyoung sees him reach up a hand and brush fingers over his lips. god, his lips... jinyoung really wishes he could just kiss mark again, and this time, much more thoroughly. but he instead focuses on his feet and the tap of his sneakers on the pavement.

after a few more moments of walking in silence, mark finally speaks and it causes jinyoung to jump. "h-hey about earlier..."

jinyoung is quick to interrupt, despite that he really doesn't have any idea what mark would have to say about it. "it's all cool, don't worry. i mean it was just a game, right?" he laughs nervously. "not a big deal-"

"no, that's not it," mark cuts him off. "i just..." he looks like he might be blushing a little and jinyoung doesn't know whether it's from being intoxicated or because he's embarrassed about what he's going to say next, but it seems to take all of his effort to get his words out. "y-you're a really good kisser..."

ok, jinyoung wasn't expecting that one.

he blinks and swallows hard. "th-thanks." mark just nods and falls silent again. this time jinyoung doesn't mind. mark sure has a way of turning situations that otherwise would have been awful into something that maybe he doesn't really regret so much.

because right now, he really doesn't regret going to the party whatsoever.

the next morning when jinyoung wakes up to find mark complaining of a pounding headache and jackson keeps texting him to apologize for drunken behavior at the party and possibly accidentally flirting with jinyoung's new boyfriend (he grins widely at the 'boyfriend' part), he just laughs to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

surprisingly, nothing happens between mark and jinyoung after the party. jinyoung had been thinking that maybe... things would be different. like maybe they would start dating or something. maybe they'd be cute boyfriends who hold hands and sneak kisses in public and cuddle when they're sitting together. logically, that was the supposed to be the outcome, right? they did kiss at the party, after all.

but one day, two days, three days pass and mark never says anything about it so they just go back to acting like best friends. of course, jinyoung is confused and disappointed, but he doesn't ever bring it up. he'd rather not make it awkward, especially if mark is specifically avoiding the topic for some reason (when he puts it that it way, it sounds pretty bad).

he's getting rather impatient, though, and the fact that mark seems completely oblivious only makes him more frustrated. he kind of wants to just kiss mark again to remind him about what happened and then maybe confess or something, but that requires courage and motivation, and those are two things jinyoung is seriously lacking at the current moment (and an indifferent mark definitely doesn't offer any encouragement).

it isn't until two weeks later, though, when jackson makes a comment at lunch, that the truth of the situation starts to sink in. "you guys are together all the time, you're practically joined at the hip," he's saying casually while he picks up a french fry and pops it into his mouth. he also gives jinyoung a smirk that makes jinyoung seriously want to punch the older boy. "it almost seems like you're a real couple, you know?"

the statement causes jinyoung to immediately choke on his burger and shoot daggers in jackson's direction. what is even trying to pull saying something like that?? but mark's reaction disconcerts him; mark just laughs while patting his back, and he doesn't even seem phased by the words. after he's finally able to swallow, jinyoung starts to think he's losing his appetite.

but before he has the chance to say anything in reply to jackson, mark speaks, and ok, yeah, jinyoung definitely doesn't feel like eating anymore.

"we're just friends," mark says. jinyoung blinks at his tray of food. "actually we're more like brothers." he's laughing again and jinyoung knows he should laugh along too but he can barely even crack a smile.

it's the truth, isn't it? that's exactly what jinyoung would have said to jackson. well, maybe minus the brothers part... yeah, nevermind, this is going too far.

wow. brothers, he thinks wryly. way to rub it in.

so that kiss really meant nothing to mark all along. and all this time, every thought, every feeling, it was all one-sided.

it's weird, but he feels almost betrayed, because he kept thinking there was some amount of hope. mark never did seem to give him a clear indication of what he was feeling. but no, he should have known better. he was so stupid. of course mark wouldn't like him.

now looking at mark is making him feel sick and he doesn't know if he'll be able to get through math class sitting next to the other. when the bell rings and signals the end of lunch, jinyoung abruptly stands up and mark glances up at him in surprise. "what's up?" he asks.

he ignores the worried looks on jaebum and jackson's faces (they might know what's bothering him and he really doesn't want to talk to them about it) and forces on as much of a grin as he can muster. "i-i'm just gonna head to the bathroom. i'll see you in class." he doesn't have any intention of going to class, though. once he's out of the lunchroom, he walks to the office instead. the woman at the desk glances up when he approaches.

"can i help you, dear?" she asks in a sugary sweet voice that jinyoung thinks all employees who work in school offices are required to have.

"yeah, i'm really not feeling well and i already talked to my mom so i'm going home," he lies. "i just came to sign out. that's ok, right?"

she gives him a sympathetic smile. "usually we need a parent signature when a student is signing out, but if you already talked to your mother, then i'm sure it's alright." jinyoung sighs in relief and comes forward to fill out his name on the necessary sheet. "i hope you feel better."

"thanks," he replies, and with a bow, he takes his leave.

he briefly wonders if mark is going to miss him in class but then he reminds himself not to think about certain people and he walks home in silence.

when jinyoung gets home, he spends the whole afternoon on his bed with his head stuffed in his pillow. he'd told his mom he caught something so he would be resting in his room, and she hasn't come to bother him, so he's thankful for that. and it probably looks like he's sick too, so at least he can just lay there and mope in peace.

he keeps trying to force himself to think of other things. think about the countryside and your friends back at your old school, he commands himself. think about how well you've been doing in your classes since you transferred. think about how nice it's been living here in seoul. think about the new friends you've made, too. think about refreshing walks in the morning with the sun shining and waking up to blinding smiles from dumb boys who don't understand how you feel at all- oh dammit.

somehow, his train of thought always ends up back on mark.

how did it get this far? how did it get to the point that jinyoung becomes an emotional wreck over mark simply stating the facts about their relationship? it's never been more than friends, and why should that bother him?

he was fine before when mark made comments about it like this so why is it any different now?

it's because you like him so much, his mind tells him. it's because the two of you kissed and because that might not actually mean anything to mark and because you're the biggest fucking loser on the planet and you fell in love with your dumbass roommate even though you knew it was a bad idea.

jinyoung lets out a deep breath and sinks further into his pillow. if only things didn't work out this way. if only he hadn't run into mark on his first day at school. if only he hadn't ended up liking mark so much.

but what can i do, he thinks.

after who knows how long, jinyoung hears footsteps and then his bedroom door opens. "hey jinyoung," god, it really sucks when the last person you want to see right now is the person you live with. "you disappeared after lunch and i tried texting you but you never replied. your mom said you're sick?" he hears more footsteps and he can only assume mark has approached his bed. "are you ok?"

mark's voice, which usually makes jinyoung happy, is only serving to make him incredibly irritated and he finally shifts, removing his face from his pillow. he sits up and turns toward mark, though it wasn't a very good idea because looking at mark only makes him angrier. "actually, i'm fine." he replies coldly.

mark looks concerned and that really only makes jinyoung even more angry because it's not the kind of concern he wishes it would be. jinyoung's just a friend, and mark is worried about his friend, nothing more than that. he has no idea what jinyoung is going through because of him. jinyoung feels like his blood is boiling. "are you sure? do you want to talk about it?" mark asks.

and that's honestly the last straw. "yeah, i do want to talk about it," jinyoung says. then he does something he would never be able to do if he wasn't so upset. he abruptly gets up, grabs mark around the waist and then pulls him in to capture him in a kiss.

it's so sudden and unexpected that mark gasps against his mouth and stiffens, making no attempt to kiss jinyoung back or even push him away, but jinyoung doesn't care. he's beyond being logical at this point. it feels wrong but so right to have mark's lips against his own again. when he finally releases mark, who looks almost ready to collapse, jinyoung flops violently back onto his bed.

there's a few moments of silence before mark whispers, "w-why did you kiss me?"

"why do you fucking think i did?" jinyoung snaps, and mark flinches. "god, i can't understand you. all this time i thought i was getting somewhere but now i feel like i've just been going in circles. have you been leading me on this whole time?" he sits back up, crossing his arms over his chest. "or is it my fault for blindly believing in something i couldn't have? did i just misinterpret everything that's happened between us? because for some reason, you keep sending out these mixed signals. or maybe they were just mixed because i wanted them to be? but i mean, sometimes you give me these small glimmers of hope and i think that maybe i wasn't imagining things, but then other times you say shit like that and i'm right back to wondering why i even bother."

"shit like what jinyoung, i don't know what you're talking about- " mark tries to say, but jinyoung cuts him off.

"if you don't know what i'm talking about, i'm not going to explain," he growls. "and what about the party, huh? what the fuck was that?" jinyoung can't stop what he's started. his mouth is operating on it's own even though his heart is throbbing painfully at the weak expression on mark's face.

"wh-what about the party?" mark says, his voice shaky.

jinyoung lets out a sarcastic laugh. is he even for real? "are you serious? wow, i guess it really was nothing to you after all. and here i was thinking i was special somehow. but of course i was wrong, i always am."

"jinyoung, what happened at the party?" but jinyoung's done.

"you know what, it doesn't even matter. i don't want to see you right now." he lays back down and pulls his pillow over his head. "just leave or something."

there's a brief moment of silence and jinyoung feels tears forming in his eyes, but then mark's mumbling a quiet, "fine." and there are hurried footsteps followed by the slamming of his bedroom door.

he lifts his pillow away slowly and rolls over, eyes lingering where mark had been standing, and then he gets up, moving over to his door. his fingers reach for the door knob. it's not too late; he could run back out and apologize to mark for everything he said, promise not to act like this anymore, and they can go back to being friends.

but his tears are blurring his vision and his knees suddenly buckle under him. he falls over onto the floor, burying his face in his arms.

he really fucked this one up.

jaebum is in his room doing homework (or rather messing around on his phone because he got bored) when he hears the doorbell ring. he glances up and wonders if he should answer it, but his mom will probably get it and he'd rather just stay here because leaving his room would require too much effort. besides, it's probably not even related to him so he doesn't need to care.

the sounds of someone coming upstairs alerts him to the fact that it actually is for him though, and he grimaces to himself because now he will have to stand up. "jaebum, honey," his mom says as she opens his door. "there's someone here to see you."

"why didn't you just send him up?" jaebum complains, peeling himself off his bed and making a face at his mom. she readily returns the face.

"because he said he didn't want to come inside and just wanted to speak to you. why don't you just go down and see him?" she replies. jaebum grabs his jacket off the chair by his desk and slips it on before pushing past his mom and exiting his room.

"fine, fine, i'm going." he heads down the stairs, ignoring mocking remarks from his mom as she follows him down about how he needs to stop being so lazy, and tries to figure out who it could be. jackson, maybe, he thinks. but he probably would have texted me if he was coming... i guess it could be jinyoung. after all, he did seem pretty shaken up after mark made that stupid comment at lunch. and then he was absent from afternoon classes, too. i hope he's ok...

when he opens the front door, he's quite surprised to find mark standing outside.

"jaebum," mark says in relief.

"mark," jaebum raises an eyebrow. "what are you doing here? it's kinda late, shouldn't you be at home?"

"i-i wasn't really sure who else to go to..." mark taps a foot on the ground in a nervous manner. "you're not busy, are you?" the older boy looks somewhat distraught and something is obviously bothering him so jaebum is suddenly worried, but also curious.

"no, i'm not busy at all. do you want to go for a walk?" he asks, and mark nods. "hey, mom, i'll be back in a bit." he zips up his jacket, puts on his shoes, and steps outside, pulling the door closed behind himself.

the two of them walk around jaebum's neighborhood in silence for a few minutes. jaebum wishes mark would just hurry up and tell him what's on his mind already, but he also doesn't want to be pushy, so he doesn't say anything.

thankfully, after a few more moments, mark finally speaks. "does... does jinyoung... like me?" he asks quietly, and jaebum snorts.

"does jinyoung- dude, are you only just now realizing this?" jaebum holds back laughter as mark's face begins turning light pink. "you're a bit slow, aren't you?"

mark frowns at him. "yeah, i guess i am. so can you help me understand a few things then?" jaebum shrugs and he goes on. "jinyoung, he-he kind of blew up at me earlier. when i got home from school, he was in his room and i asked him what was wrong and he kind of... kissed me-"

"what? really??" jaebum interrupts excitedly. "i didn't know he had the guts to do something like that." mark punches his arm and he laughs. "ok, ok, i'm sorry. go on."

"well, after that he started saying all these things and i got lost. he... said i was leading him on and giving him mixed signals?" mark sighs heavily and slips his hands into his pockets. "i don't know, i can't really remember most of it... but i know he said that i sometimes gave him hope but that i then said shit like 'that' and he didn't know why he tried." he pauses, and the two of them come up to the neighborhood playground so jaebum motions for them to go sit at the swing set.

once they're both seated, mark sighs again. "do you... know what he might have meant? i say shit like what?" the answer is so clear to jaebum and he thinks again that mark must be pretty slow. but he doesn't laugh this time.

"think about it. think about today. when you were with jinyoung, was there any moment where he maybe seemed off?" he gives mark a few seconds and then mark's mouth forms an 'oh.' "after lunch right?" he prompts, and mark gives him a nod. "exactly. so what happened just before that?"

"well, jackson said something silly about us being together all the time and being attached at the hip, and then he said we were practically like a real couple, i think, and i said- oh." realization dawns on mark and he sinks deeper into the swing, his feet dragging along the grass beneath him.

"get it now?" jaebum says.

"he likes me. he likes me and i said we were just friends. i fucking said we were like brothers. oh my god, i'm so stupid..." mark lifts a hand and massages his temples.

jaebum snaps and points a finger in mark's direction. "bingo. so why did you say it?"

"i-i don't know," mark says, flustered. "i just didn't know what else to say and i didn't want to make him uncomfortable. i didn't-i didn't know that he liked me yet so i was worried about making things awkward between us, i guess..."

"you were worried about making things awkward.." jaebum repeats, thinking about the words for a second, and then it hits him and he suddenly claps his hands together, startling mark in the process. "wait a minute, you like him, too, don't you!"

"i do..." mark mumbles, and jaebum pumps a fist in the air.

"i knew it! i kept telling him i was sure you liked him back but he didn't believe me, but i was right!" jaebum's ecstatic. he knew that all the times he'd seen the way mark looked at jinyoung and the way he was always watching out for jinyoung couldn't just be just a roommate's affection.

"i've always liked him, ever since the first day we met," mark confesses, and he must be able to tell that jaebum is about to ask about it by the way he opens his mouth because he quickly explains. "it was jinyoung's first day of class, actually. he bumped into me in the hallway and fell on top of me and well, kind of groped me a little bit."

jaebum bursts out laughing. jinyoung definitely never told him this story. and then another things occurs to him. "ah, it suddenly makes sense why he would say he wants to avoid you."

"yeah, i kind of figured that one out when you guys brought it up the first time." mark agrees, sitting up straighter and pushing off the ground so he's swinging again. "he was probably really embarrassed, but it was really cute. he was really cute. in all honesty, i didn't mind having a cute boy like him fall on me."

"so you've liked him for a while then." jaebum says. he's also a little confused. "it was really obvious that jinyoung liked you all this time. how did you not notice? i mean, he was shy and he stuttered a lot, and he basically stared at you all the time."

mark blushes. "i-i really thought it was just because i was an upperclassman and he thought i was cool or something. i had no idea it was even possible that he liked me back. and the few times i caught him staring at me, i teased him because i thought he was only staring at me because he spaced out a lot."

"but what about valentine's day?" jaebum points out. "he made you chocolates."

" well, i made him chocolates, too," mark admits and jaebum gapes.

"did you really... he never told me." jaebum shakes his head. so much jinyoung was keeping from him. he's definitely going to hound the younger boy when he sees him tomorrow.

"yeah. but i... i still didn't think it was possible that he liked me so i just attributed it to the fact that we're roommates and friends and he wanted to do something nice for me." it's getting colder as it grows later and jaebum pulls his jacket closer around him, shivering slightly. mark notices and slows his swing before standing up. "we should head back."

they begin walking and it's quiet between them again for a few minutes, until jaebum remembers that mark had said there was 'a few' things he wanted help understanding. "hey, what else were you going to ask me about?" he questions, and mark gasps.

"oh, that's right! we got so off topic that i completely forgot... there was another thing jinyoung said to me. he said, 'and what about the party?' and i really don't know what he was talking about. did something happen at the party?" jaebum stops walking. mark is asking about the party. does this mean... he doesn't remember the kiss? then again, he was pretty drunk and wow, this must have really hurt jinyoung.

"um," jaebum takes a deep breath. "first off, what do you remember about the party?"

"i remember arriving with jinyoung and talking to you and youngjae and drinking a few cups from the table, and jackson was acting kind of funny but i think he was drunk... oh, and i think maybe remember sitting with jinyoung on a couch... and then we were playing some game? but it's all fuzzy."

jaebum pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his pointer finger. "that's because you were drunk, too, you dumbass. no wonder jinyoung is pissed."

"wh-what do you mean?" mark asked. he looks flabberghasted. "can you please just tell me what happened?"

"the game we played was truth or dare and i dared you to kiss jinyoung." jaebum says simply. mark's eyes widen. "and if you're going to ask me if you kissed him or not, well, let's just say, you sure gave jinyoung a lot of hope that night."

"fuck." mark squats down, wrapping his arms around his knees and burying his face into his arms. "i'm a fucking idiot. i totally fucked up."

ok, jaebum feels a little bad for him. but he feels worse for jinyoung and right now, all he can think of is making sure things work out for his friend. "yeah, you fucked up, but there's still time to fix it."

mark is quiet. but then he's nodding. "you're right. i need to fix it." he stands up again and gives jaebum a small smile. "thanks so much for talking me through this. i think i probably would have fucked up even more if it weren't for you. is it ok if i.." he's gesturing in the direction of the bus stop and jaebum grins.

"yeah, go ahead. i can walk back the rest of the way by myself. go make it up to your boyfriend ok?" he laughs as mark sticks his tongue out at him and then turns and jogs away. he waits until mark turns the corner and disappears and then he starts walking again. it only takes him another five minutes to get back to his house.

"you were gone for a while," his mom comments from the living room couch as he enters and slips off his shoes by the front door. "anything happen?"

"not really," jaebum replies. "i just pretty much singlehandedly fixed a relationship."

"impressive," his mom says before going back to the drama that's playing on the tv.

jaebum just grins again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

jinyoung wakes up and the first thing he notices is that he's in his bed, which is very strange, because he doesn't remember ever making it to his bed. in fact, he specifically remembers laying around on his floor last night and crying a lot and then probably passing out. so why is he in his bed?

he opens his eyes slowly, aware that they feel quite puffy and dry. that's what i get, he thinks, pursing his lips. he stretches and lets out a deep sigh.

the next thing he notices is that, despite the curtains of his window being shut, he can still tell that sunlight is shining through them. which means it's already at least late morning, if not early afternoon. which means he is seriously late to school.

he abruptly sits up, his head throbbing in protest, and throws back his blankets. but that's when he notices a third thing in the form of a small post-it note stuck to the top of his alarm clock on his nightstand.

he hesitates before reaching down and plucking it off the clock. it's a cute stationery that he's never seen, but he immediately recognizes the handwriting as mark's. it reads, "good morning, sleeping beauty." he's blushing already. "i took the liberty of turning off your alarm because i knew you needed the sleep. don't worry about school, i already had your mom call you in so you don't have to come today. i hope you slept well~"

so mark must have been the one who moved him into his bed. mark is still taking care of him even when he was such a jerk to him last night... jinyoung feels kind of awful, now that he thinks about it. he really owes mark an apology.

he pulls himself to the edge of his bed and stands, slowly so he doesn't aggravate his head again, and then he heads to his bedroom door. to his surprise, there's another post-it note on the knob. this one reads, "take your time getting ready this morning. pamper yourself, ok? take a nice long shower and relax. you deserve it." a small smile is tugging on the corners of his lips as he takes the note off the knob and exits his room.

he then makes his way to the bathroom. a long shower does sound particularly nice right now. he finds a third post-it attached to the knob used to turn the shower on. "good, you took my advice. i would have been very unhappy if you didn't. i'll be thinking about you all day today. relax well~" jinyoung sets it with the other two before going back to take his shower.

he finds a fourth note at the bottom of the railing of the staircase. "breakfast (or maybe it will be lunch?) is awaiting you at the table! you don't have to make anything, since i've already prepared it for you, although i can't take all the credit since your mom helped me but~ think of me while you're eating ok?" jinyoung smiles again as he adds the note to the other three.

on the table, there's a plate in the middle full of muffins. jinyoung walks over and examines them, picking one up and sniffing it, before he notices a fifth note next to the plate. "i wasn't sure what kind of muffins you like, so i made a few different kinds. the two on the right are chocolate chip, the two on the bottom are blueberry, the two on the left are cinnamon, and the two at the top are cherry. go ahead and pick your favorite~"

jinyoung notes that the muffin he's holding is a chocolate chip and he nods to himself before removing the outer wrapper and taking a bite. it tastes delicious. jinyoung will definitely have to compliment mark on his baking skills later.

the sixth and final note is found on the pitcher of water when jinyoung heads over to get a glass once he's finished eating. "i hope you enjoyed your breakfast~ and also.... i have something to say. i'm so sorry for all the suffering i've caused you. i've been so stupid all this time and my stupidity has only caused problems between us." jinyoung shakes his head. no, mark wasn't the one being stupid. it was definitely him. "so i promise to work harder in the future to make sure you're happy! after all, you're the one i like the most~ i'll see you when i get home."

jinyoung rereads it several times. his heart is pounding. "after all, you're the one i like the most~" that... could mean multiple things, right? 'you're the one i like the most' could just mean in terms of friends, couldn't it? but jinyoung's mind is telling him he's wrong and he feels his face heating up. mark did all this for you, and you're going to try and say he would do that just because you're friends?

he goes back up to his room, gets dressed, and slips the post-it notes into his pocket. then he's downstairs again, putting his shoes on, and heading out the door. he needs to see mark.

jinyoung reaches the school building about 15 minutes before class gets out. he definitely doesn't want to go inside, since he was called in sick and he's technically not supposed to be there, so he waits by the gate at the entrance.

when students start filing out, he watches and waits patiently for any sighting of mark, but it's not until the the main streams of students are gone and there's just a few stragglers left that he finally sees the familiar head of red hair. his heart automatically skips a beat.

mark had been chatting with jaebum but as soon as the two of them spot jinyoung, mark blushes and jaebum laughs and gives a wave before walking past jinyoung to leave him alone with mark. he, of course, whispers a teasing, "you owe me," as he's going but jinyoung hardly has time to throw a punch in his direction before he's gone.

"h-hey," mark says, approaching jinyoung slowly. his cheeks are still pink. "i didn't expect to see you here- i mean, i thought i would just see you when i got home, that is... um..." jinyoung pulls the post-it notes out of his pocket. "ah, you saw my notes..."

jinyoung takes a deep breath. "i need to say a few things. first, i'm really sorry for the way i acted last night. i was selfish and childish and i shouldn't have imposed myself on you like that."

"no, don't apologize!" mark quickly says, reaching out and brushing his fingertips lightly against jinyoung's cheek. the action causes butterflies to erupt in his stomach and he's pretty sure he's probably blushing now, too. "it was my fault, i was the one who only made things hard for you."

jinyoung shakes his head with a small smile. "second, thank you for these." he gestures to the notes. "and thank you for this morning. everything was perfect, and your muffins were delicious." mark looks quite relieved.

"i was so nervous all day. i kept wondering if you would like them or if you would even see the notes or pay attention to them or if maybe you were still mad at me-" jinyoung cuts him off with a laugh. he really loves seeing mark all flustered like this.

"now, third. this." he holds up the sixth note. "i need to know what this means." mark blinks at it nervously.

"well, it's... um, my apology? i-i didn't mean to hurt you in anyway, so i really am sorry." he swallows and averts his gaze. but that's not the answer jinyoung is looking for and he points to the last part.

"you said, 'you're the one i like the most.' can you explain this to me? i don't want to misinterpret it." he watches smugly as mark bites his lips and his face grows more pink.

"it means... well, to put it simply.... it means that i like you." he steps forward and wraps his arms around jinyoung's waist and jinyoung can't help but beam at him. "not as friends, not as brothers. i just... like you. i've always liked you. i want you to be my boyfriend. and i hope that all the times i've let you down, whether it was saying something dumb without meaning to or forgetting kisses at parties because i was drunk-"

jinyoung snorts. "you talked to jaebum, didn't you."

"maybe a little," mark admits. "but as i was saying, i guess i'm just hoping that... even after all the trouble i've caused, maybe you'll still like me, too...?" jinyoung is laughing again, which brings a smile to mark's face.

"you idiot, i could never stop liking you." this time, when he leans in to kiss mark, he's met by equally eager lips and mark kisses him back sweetly. it's deeper than their first two kisses, and jinyoung doesn't know if anything has ever felt this good.

of course, he means the kiss, but also the feeling of finally fixing things between him and mark. no more misunderstandings, no more wishing and hoping, and no more problems. mark is his, now, and he is mark's.

when they pull apart, both of them are grinning at each other. they walk back to jinyoung's house hand in hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"so jinyoung, what's this i heard about you groping mark on your first day here?" jaebum says over lunch the next day when jinyoung comes back to school. he chokes on his food and jackson gasps.

"oh my god, you did what??"

jinyoung turns to his mark with a murderous smile. "you said you only talked to jaebum a little." mark blinks at him innocently.

"ok, maybe it was more than a little."

"and now you all know too much. i have to kill you." he reaches across the table, pretending to strangle jaebum and jackson lets out a yelp as he jumps up from the table to make a run for it. it's all mayhem.

but mark just laughs. his boyfriend is too cute.