Waking up soaked in sweat, still dressed in the clothes from the night before was always a little disorienting. So when Mark came stumbling out of his room, hair sticking every which way, Jackson just smirked. He did his best to pretend he hadn’t noticed the older, focusing on the mess of liquid-y eggs he was stirring around in the pan in front of him. He’d never attempted making scrambled eggs before, so he wasn’t even sure if that’s how they were supposed to look. But he wanted to at least try.

The soft padding of Mark’s footsteps shuffled to a stop in the doorway. “Jackson?” he asked, sounding more surprised than anything.

Too focused on not burning the eggs, the younger just shot a quick smile over his shoulder. “Hey, I was wondering if you were going to get up sometime this morning,” he answered. Part of him hoped that didn’t sound too creepy, like he’d just been sitting around all morning waiting for the other to wake up. That was exactly what he’d done, but that was beside the point.

“Oh, uhm,” Mark muttered, still frozen in the doorway. “I didn’t know you were here.”

Jackson felt his heart drop a little. He’d thought surely Mark was surprised enough to at least remember seeing him the night before. “Oh, I guess it was pretty late last night-” he started.

“No,” the older interrupted. “I mean, I remember. You were sitting in the hallway. I just thought it was all a dream.” He yawned, rubbing his eye with the back of one of his hands. “That’s what it usually is.”

Poking the blob of cooked eggs a few more times with the spatula to make sure they weren’t runny anymore, Jackson slid them onto a plate, leaving just enough room to set the still-slightly-warm PopTarts next to them. “You dream about me?” he cooed as he put the finishing touches on the plate.

“I mean,” Mark muttered, getting a little cranky, “is that such a bad thing?”

Giggling, Jackson picked up the plate in one hand, using the other to guide Mark to the table. “No, it’s a very good thing,” the younger admitted. He set the plate down as the older slumped into a chair. “Now try this and tell me if I messed it up.” Strands of the older’s tousled blonde hair fell down into his eyes as he glanced down at the plate in front of him.

“It’s for me?” Mark asked, looking between Jackson and the plate a few times.

“Yeah. I mean, I would’ve made something fancier if I could, but I can’t really cook and that seemed easy enough and-”

“Jackson,” Mark interrupted, mouth already full with a bite of eggs. “It’s good.”

“Really?” Jackson lit up, sitting down himself. “Oh good. I was terrified I was gonna make you sick or something on accident and I just…” Realizing he was rambling, he paused for a moment before shyly looking down at the table. “It’s good they came out alright.” Mark smiled, keeping his eyes locked on the plate in front of him.

It took Jackson nervously glancing at his phone for him to remember something he’d been meaning to ask Mark. Well, there were a lot of things he’d wanted to ask him, but this one was a little time sensitive. “So, one of my friends is a photographer and I guess he’s in Chicago right now,” Jackson said. “He saw that I was here and asked if he could get some pictures of me for his next show while I’m in town.”

The wide eyes that found Jackson’s surprised him. It was definitely last minute, especially considering how he’d arrived the night before saying that he was all Mark’s for the next few days. “Oh, uhm, that’s awesome,” Mark muttered, swallowing down the last bit of his breakfast.

“I mean, I can do it while you’re in class or something,” Jackson continued. He knew he had to get to the point quick, especially after hearing the slight disappointment in Mark’s voice. “I was kind of hoping you’d come with me, though.

If the older’s eyes had been wide after hearing the first part, they were popping out of his head now. “Come with you?” Jackson nodded. “To your photoshoot?” Jackson nodded again. “Why?”

It was an interesting question. It was enough to make Jackson stop and think for a minute. Honestly, he didn’t really think about why he wanted Mark to come with him. He just did. “I guess because it’s a part of my life, so it’s a part of me. I just want to show you as much of me as I can.”

Jackson expected some sort of shocked, stunned silence to follow. That’s what happened in the dramas, after all. Someone made some heartwarming confession, and then there was always silence while the other person worked through their surprise.

But this wasn’t a drama and Mark was anything but predictable. “Okay,” he said almost immediately, smiling. “I’ll go. Just let me know when.” Jackson couldn’t help but notice the flush rising up the older’s neck. Eyes focused back on the table, Mark glanced at his phone and jumped a little. “Uhm, I have to leave,” he muttered. “I’ve got class.”

Without another word, Mark rushed back to his room, leaving Jackson to his own devices. The idol took the time to wash, dry and put away the few dishes he’d used to make breakfast, despite the fact that both Jaebum and Jinyoung had assured him that he didn’t need to clean up. “This is the cleanest the apartment’s ever been,” they’d said. “We really don’t expect it to stay that way.” But Jackson had been raised to be an exceptional houseguest. While he was washing, he heard the faint sounds of a shower getting , then getting shut off soon after. Mark rushed back out of his room just a few minutes later. The black skinny jeans that hugged his frame perfectly would’ve drawn all of Jackson’s attention if it weren’t for the loose white tank top that hung low across his chest, exposing his collarbones. Now those Jackson could really get lost in.

Mark shoved a few things into a backpack that was the most brilliant shade of red Jackson had ever seen as he moved toward the door, slipping a gray beanie idly over his wet hair. Jackson stayed in the doorway of the small apartment kitchen, watching him with a smile. How a person acted when they were running late said a lot about them. At least, that’s what Jackson thought. It had nothing to do with the fact that he just liked seeing the other right in front of him, instead of through a screen.

Just as Mark was about to rush out, he paused, one hand on the door knob. “Oh,” he muttered, turning to face Jackson. “I almost forgot to tell you thanks for breakfast.” With one quick motion, he moved just in front of the idol, leaning in for a quick but not too quick kiss. Jackson felt Mark’s hand on his bicep, but he couldn’t move to hold the other back, frozen in place. Maybe one day he wouldn’t be so surprised when the other kissed him. Maybe.

By the time he thought to grab onto Mark so he couldn’t leave, the older had already broken the kiss and slipped out the door.

“Ohhhhh so you surprise kissed him?” Jinyoung’s eyebrow raised up, a knowing grin spread across his face. Mark just wadded up a napkin and threw it at his chest. When it came to his best friend, Mark knew that saying nothing in response to teasing was the best option. Anything he said almost always got used against him.

“Hyung have you ever even been to a photo shoot before?” Youngjae asked, focusing half on the conversation and half on the sandwich in his hands. Something about that boy’s strange obsession with turkey on sourdough made Mark worry sometimes. He only took a break in scarfing it down to grab a chip from the trendy rectangular plate in front of him and shove that into his mouth. “I mean, shouldn’t he be afraid you’ll mess it up or something?”

It took a total of two second for Jinyoung to smack Youngjae’s shoulder. The older’s teasing eyebrow wiggles morphed into a stern look, warning the forever-smiling boy next to him to watch what he said. “Knock it off,” he said. “It’s cute that Jackson invited him. And, of course he should go. He’d be stupid not to.” His eyes had turned back to Mark, gaze burning into his skin.

It’s not like he didn’t want to go, but he felt nervous for reasons even he didn’t know. “Yeah, I get it. I should go.” Mark waved his hand dismissively at Jinyoung, taking another sip from the iced Americano. For being two of his closest friends, Jinyoung and Youngjae were useless when he needed someone to just sit and blindly agree with whatever he said. They always had to share their opinions.

They finished up their meals, Youngjae not-so-sneakily stealing a few of Jinyoung’s uneaten fries and earning a glare or two in the process, and headed off to their next classes. Before Mark could get too far away, Jinyoung muttered a quick promise (or threat, depending on whose perspective you were looking at it from) that they’d continue their conversation over text before walking the opposite way.

As Mark meandered to the building next door and settled into his seat, trying his best to clear his head so he could focus entirely for his Performance Tech class, his phone buzzed in his pocket. For a second, he ignored the vibration. It was probably just Jinyoung, desperate to try and get another rise out of Mark while he still could. But there was still over fifteen minutes until class started and, like every other kid his age, Mark got bored quickly.

Pulling out his phone, he casually unlocked it and saw that, instead of a new text waiting for him, there was a Kakao notification.

852Puppy: I can’t wait to see you.

Jaebum could barely suppress his laughter as Jackson filled him in on everything from the past 18 hours. They’d decided to meet up at a big park near campus, since Jaebum only had 45 minutes between classes but still desperately wanted to hear how Jackson had managed to sweep Mark off his feet. He might not look it, but Jaebum had a bit of a hopeless romantic side to him. That and he wanted to see if he could take any of Jackson’s ideas for future dates with Jinyoung. He was always searching for a little inspiration to keep things new. “So you slept on our ty couch, then made him breakfast and created some made up excuse to take him on a date? You’re even sappier than I thought.” The scowl that spread across Jackson’s face almost made Jaebum lose his composure. Almost.

“It’s not made up!” the idol protested. “Ven really did call me. I could’ve told him no, but…” He trailed off, suddenly focusing on the way his fingers were laced together in front of him. He might consider Jaebum a friend now, but he wasn’t about to tell him every detail that crossed through his mind, especially when it came to Mark.

The two had been wandering along the edge of the lake for about fifteen minutes, occasionally stopping to try and skip a rock or two across the surface. “Sure he did,” Jaebum said, shrugging. It didn’t really matter to him if it was planned. The end result was still the same.

Spotting a particularly smooth stone, Jaebum scooped it up and spun it around in his fingers for a second before carefully chucking it into the water. It skimmed the surface twice before sinking to the watery depths below. “Whether you planned it or not, Mark’s excited,” he said passively.

“He is?” The half-squeal in Jackson’s voice made Jaebum smirk. It also made him lose focus, causing his searching eyes to skip over a section of rocks. He grumbled a little once he realized it, taking a few steps back to start again. “Did you forget that Jinyoung is Mark’s best friend? I know more about your boyfriend than I ever wanted to.”

Jackson tried to ignore the twinge of jealousy that flared up for a second, coaxing it back down almost immediately. Of course there would be people in Mark’s life who knew him better than Jackson did. For now. He always strived to learn at least three new things about the blonde boy the universe had paired him with every time they got to talk. Most of the time he succeeded. Sometimes he didn’t. When that happened, he had a tendency to mope around a little.

“I’m excited too,” Jackson admitted. “I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen, but I think it’ll be good. I have a feeling.”

Jaebum turned so he could clasp the idol’s shoulder with one of his hands. “He really likes you, so unless you do something insanely stupid, I doubt anything could go wrong.”

He knew the other was just trying to help, but Jackson’s gut twisted a little at the statement. After all, that was basically how their entire relationship was right now. Smooth sailing until a storm hit, and Jackson wasn’t dumb. He knew that eventually, there would be a storm.

All he could do now was sit back and pray that the skies stayed clear.

Wow! It really doesn't feel like 20 days since I've updated. That's insane. Well, I have to admit, this chapter took WAY too long to write, considering very little actually happens in it. I promise a lot is getting set up, though. I've been working through the plans for future chapters and trying to figure out how I'm going to end all this. There's still plenty more chapters, though, so don't worry.

Thanks to everyone who've left me encouraging comments or let me know how much they like the story. While I mainly write BC for my own selfish pleasure, seeing that so many of you love it too makes it all the more worthwhile.

If you ever have any questions or comments or whatever about the story, or just wanna giggle to someone about how cute Markson are (cause, believe me, I giggle about them all the time), feel free to leave a comment below, send me a Tweet, or send me a message on tumblr.