A/N: I know some of you are expecting a What Comes After update, and I WILL be updating that in a few days, but I promised my BFF a request fic between our two birthdays-- Markjin for me and Yugbam for her, so here it is! Hope you enjoy

CAT

Park Jinyoung is pretty sure Mark Tuan is perfect.

He's had a lot of time to reflect on this, after all. There aren't a lot of benefits to being an after school tutor-- other than that it covers a part of his tuition, which is always a bonus-- but the absolute best part about it is Mark is complete garbage at History. Technically he knows plenty about American history, but that doesn't do him much good in his high school classes, where it takes thousands of years for American and Korean history to overlap. For the vast majority of it, America isn't even known as a country yet, and Mark is left scratching his head over which Korean Dynasty is which, and who is invading and ruling who.

Jinyoung happens to be first in his class at History, so when Mark flunks a test or gets an incomplete on a homework assignment, he's scheduled right into Jinyoung's tutoring block and shows up after the final bell, grumbling a little under his breath but still smiling. He brings a bag of pull apart bread from Tous Les Jours every time he comes, pretending like it's something just for him, but they wind up sharing it every day. Mark takes the first pull, then Jinyoung, and back and forth as they work their way through the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.

They don't do much talking outside of dry history, but that they're together at all is a small miracle. Mark and Jinyoung are in different circles socially, mainly because Mark is an exchange student and they tend to keep to themselves due to the language barrier. On top of that, Jinyoung is an Honor Student fast tracking his way to a top university, and Mark is... not stupid, exactly, and definitely not unmotivated since he came all the way here to study. But he has a life outside of it, much more so than Jinyoung does.

But even though Jinyoung's not talking about anything more exciting than the Samebyeolcho Rebellion, Mark stares at him while he does it. If Jinyoung's not mistaken, Mark's eyes in particular seem to be glued to his lips. Maybe because having his mouth as a focal point makes it easier to follow the unfamiliar Korean phrases coming from it. Jinyoung isn't sure. He thinks Mark might have an oral fixation. If he's not eating pull apart bread, he's chewing on his own lips or biting the top of his pen cap or peeking his tongue out just slightly to run it against his lower lip.

Jinyoung tries not to notice these things, but can't help it. When he's doing the teaching, it's mostly just Mark looking at him while Jinyoung pays full attention to his text book. But when he's giving Mark a practice exam, there really isn't much else to do but look at him. Mark has a lot of cute habits when he's concentrating. There's the pen biting and the forehead wrinkling, and the lip savaging he does only becomes more prominent when he's stuck on a question. He probably should have disgusting, bitten up lips from how often he does it, but for some reason, they always look bright red and perfectly moist rather than dry and cracked. Jinyoung wonders if he uses some kind of miracle lip balm when Jinyoung's not around to get them to look that flawless all the time.

Jinyoung thinks sometimes that he would also like to savage Mark's lips. Or be savaged by them. His mind can't help but go there when he's watching Mark work on his practice tests simply because Mark is perfect from his lips to his wrinkled forehead to his generous pull apart bread offerings to his inability to remember important historical dates. Of course, he doesn't just want to kiss and be kissed by him because he's perfect. It's more so that Mark is perfect to him; he's everything Jinyoung wants, and he can't get around imagining what having him would be like.

Mark asks him out for the first time in the most nonchalant way possible. “I forgot to bring the bread,” he says as soon as he arrives at the study carrel where they have their lessons. “Let's go to the bakery and get it.”

“We're not supposed to leave the library,” Jinyoung whispers, glancing at the front desk. The supervisor is dozing, his head thrown back and his eyes closed underneath his square rimmed glasses.

Mark leans into his ear, his breath brushing against it. “No one has to know,” he whispers back. Jinyoung shivers, but nods.

He doesn't know if this even counts as being asked out. Mark is acting kind of gallant, showing him to a table and taking care of their order, but he's probably always like that. He orders Jinyoung an extra pastry and tells him, “It's because you're sweet” and then cackles like a maniac when Jinyoung blushes. The flirting part makes him somewhat convinced it is a date, so after the color on his cheeks dies down, Jinyoung smiles back at Mark, making sure it's not just any smile, but a let's make this the first date of many smile.

While they're eating their way through their order, Jinyoung learns for the first time about who Mark is outside of school. He's a Cali boy, ethnically Taiwanese but better at Korean at this point than Chinese, and has a pretty big family back home. In Korea, he's staying with the Kims.

“But which Kims, though?” Jinyoung asks. “Everyone is a Kim.”

“You're not.”

“Everyone who isn't is a Park.”

“I'm staying with the Kim Yugyeoms.”

“Kim Yugyeom,” Jinyoung repeats. “Do I know him?”

“Why are you asking me? I don't know who you know.” Mark smiles, flashing his sharp canines. Jinyoung wonders if his oral fixation would include biting more than just his pen caps and finds it hard to meet Mark's eyes for a few seconds.

“Yugyeom's younger than us,” Mark says after awhile. “He's in his second year.”

“Mmm,” Jinyoung says. His eyes make the journey back up to Mark's starting at his throat. It's such a nice, luscious throat. He wants to press his lips against Mark's Adam's apple. Maybe he also has some sort of an oral fixation. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Right now?” Mark asks. “Very much. Or are you talking about at the Kims'?”

“I was talking about the Kims'.”

“I love it. It already feels like family, you know. Yugyeom's like my new little brother. You should meet him, I think you'd like him a lot. We're having this picnic by the river in a few days. You should come.”

“Yeah?” Jinyoung finally meets his eyes. “So you are enjoying yourself.”

Mark tilts his head. “Are you talking about right now this time?”

“Yes.”

“Very, very much. Can't get better bread than what they've got here. And the pastries are good on my sweet tooth.”

“You have a sweet tooth?”

“Surprised?” Mark laughed lightly. “I mean, I did say you're sweet, didn't I?”

Their second date is at the park, and this time it probably really isn't a date because there is a third wheel. A giant, squeaking, extraneous wheel named Kim Yugyeom.

Jinyoung had been prepared to like Yugyeom because Mark only has nice things to say about him. “He's so cute,” “he's such a good kid,” “Yugyeommie's like the perfect little brother.” He imagined him as the teenage version of the Song triplets, irresistible and charming and everything Mark had made him out to be.

Yugyeom is cute, in an odd sort of way. He's taller than Mark and looks a few years older than him, but he has the charms of someone younger, especially around Mark. Other than that, there's really nothing nice Jinyoung can say about him.

When Mark introduces them, Yugyeom fakes being polite, but is clearly sizing Jinyoung up and wrinkling his nose as if he doesn't like what he sees. When the three of them walk side by side, he clings to Mark's arm and doesn't let Jinyoung get a word in edgewise. When Mark buys Jinyoung a tea bottle, he whines about a time a few weeks ago when Mark wouldn't pay for his ice cream cone. And worst of all, when they're relaxing on their picnic blanket, he snuggles into Mark like he's his favorite teddy bear. He places a hand on his chest, and his nose is practically poking straight down into Mark's V-neck.

“Ah, it's too hot for this, Yugyeommie,” Mark whines, pushing him back a little. “And I can't see Jinyoung like this.”

“Nope, not letting go,” Yugyeom says, pulling him tighter. He sticks his tongue out at Jinyoung who is fighting back a strong urge to deck Yugyeom in the face. This is supposed to be his date, but feels like he's watching one between Mark and Yugyeom completely against his will.

“Then get over here, Jinyoung,” Mark says, extending an arm. Jinyoung scoots closer, and Mark pulls him down onto the blanket next to him, wrapping him against his side with the arm not around Yugyeom. He's so slim that there really isn't all that much to lean into, but Jinyoung rests his head on his shoulder anyways. He can smell his shampoo from here, and it smells perfect, like coconut milk.

Yugyeom glares at him over Mark. This time Jinyoung sticks out his tongue.

“You look like some sort of pimp like this,” Yugyeom says to Mark, poking his shoulder. “Stop playing.”

“If you care so much about what it looks like, don't participate,” Mark says, not unkindly. “Or, you could go and find BamBam. He's calling you nonstop.”

“How do you know it's him?”

“Who else would you set to the 'Watch me whip, watch me nae nae' ringtone?” Mark turns to Jinyoung and, oh my god, his lips are right there. “BamBam's my friend from the foreign exchange program, and Yugyeom stole him. That's why I have to be careful he doesn't steal you, too.”

“That won't be a problem,” Yugyeom says crossly. Now he's really glaring at Jinyoung, as if contemplating his murder. Apparently the brotherly feelings only go one way. Realizing this gives Jinyoung a moment of panic. These two live together. What if they share a bed? What if they shower or bathe together, what if Yugyeom has seen Mark before Jinyoung has gotten a chance to? How long will it be before Yugyeom attacks him, and what if Mark winds up liking it?

Eventually they sit back up and work their way through the picnic basket full of food Mark brought. Mark feeds Jinyoung with chopsticks from time to time. Yugyeom gets his revenge by planting little kisses on Mark's cheek to thank him for the food.

Yugyeom is lucky that Mark never leaves the two of them alone. By time the day winds down, Jinyoung is also contemplating murder. Those cheeks are his.

The third and fourth date luckily don't include Yugyeom. The third is at the movie theater. Mark plays with his fingers through half the movie. The second half, he runs a hand along Jinyoung's thigh, and Jinyoung loses all awareness of what the movie is actually about.

The fourth date is back in their study carrel during their tutoring session. Normally Jinyoung wouldn't count that as a date, but with the way Mark is staring hard at his lips while biting his own makes it hard to think of it as tutoring.

“Come over to my house,” Mark says, very much in the same tone he would say let me kiss you passionately, so Jinyoung is pretty sure the two sentences mean the same thing. He squeaks out a yes, and, going against his rigid code of scholarly honor, disbands their tutoring session early for a second time. He hopes he can learn something very valuable at Mark's place to make up for it. Very valuable.

Of course, Mark's place isn't exactly Mark's place. Jinyoung is relieved to see he has his own room at least, since he puts his finger to his lips and urges Jinyoung to be quiet as they tip-toe past Yugyeom's, where they can hear Chris Brown's “With You” playing on his stereo.

“He's going to kill you if he finds out you brought me here,” Jinyoung says when they sit down on Mark's bed. His sheets are blue and white plaid. Their thighs are touching, and he can't stop staring at them.

Mark shrugs. “He doesn't have a real brother of his own, so he probably finds it hard to share the one he has right now.”

“Right,” Jinyoung says. It's supposed to be sarcastic, but it doesn't work because Mark's hand is slipping around his waist, and everything about him is quickly deteriorating into a beautiful mess.

“Jinyoungie,” Mark whispers. “Let's not think of Yugyeom right now.”

“I... wasn't...” His eyes flutter shut. The last thing they see is a pair of red lips coming closer to him.

But he never feels them against his. Instead, he hears the door being thrown open. Jinyoung's eyes fly open, and Yugyeom is standing there, snorting like a bull.

“You're supposed to let me know when you come back from tutoring, hyung,” he says, folding his arms across his chest. When Mark slowly pulls away from Jinyoung, he storms towards them on the bed, forcing a space between them and taking it for himself.

There is only one thing that isn't perfect about Mark Tuan, Jingyoung decides.

He's living with Kim Yugyeom.

0

MOUSE

“I hate Park Jinyoung,” Yugyeom says, throwing a dart at BamBam's target board. If only he had a picture of Jinyoung to put in the center. He'd never miss out on getting a bulls-eye, in that case. Except if he wanted to litter it with holes. Which would also be fun.

“I know, right?” BamBam says noncommittally. He's not supposed to really dislike Jinyoung because he's friends with Mark and Mark is friends with Jinyoung, but that's exactly the problem for Yugyeom. Jinyoung clearly doesn't want to be just friends. How dare he try to pounce on Mark in his own home like some kind of cat in heat?

“He's trying to seduce Mark. If I hadn't walked in... ugh, I'm going to kill that guy. What's so great about him, anyways? Mark hyung has plenty of friends, why does he need him?”

“Because you've scared all of Mark hyung's other friends away but me?” BamBam guesses.

“Jackson deserved to be sent away. Not only was he flirting with Mark hyung, but he was flirting with you, too.”

“And you. Jackson just flirts. It's not against the law.”

“Flirting with Mark hyung should be against the law. Then we could arrest that Jinyoung guy.”

BamBam sighs. “Come on, man, what happened to playing Smash Bros? Stop attacking my dart board and get over here.”

Yugyeom throws one last dart and collapses down onto the bean bag chair with BamBam. He almost knocks him over in the process. He forgets sometimes that BamBam is smaller than him, even though he's technically the very slightly older of the two. Yugyeom reaches out and grabs BamBam, holding him in place. As a second thought, he grinds his chin into BamBam's head and presses him tighter against him. “You're supposed to be on my side,” he says grumpily.

“I'm supposed to be on no one's side, right?” BamBam says, squirming a little. “Mark's my friend, too.”

“But you're more my friend. And it's not me vs. Mark. It's me vs. Park-evil-Jinyoung. I'd say he's the son of Satan, but that would be an insult to Satan.”

“What do you want me to do, anyways?”

“Help me kill Park Jinyoung.”

“Hey, maybe Mark hyung will come visit you in prison!” He finally squirms the rest of the way out of Yugyeom's arms. “But, you know, what if Mark's the one who likes Jinyoung hyung? Or... they like each other?”

Yugyeom stares at him in horror. “BLASPHEMY!”

“I just meant, what if-”

“BLASPHEMY, BAMBAM!” This time he does wrestle him off the bean bag chair. “Did or did not Mark Tuan tell me that I was the most important person he met after moving to Seoul?”

“He did,” BamBam acquiesces. “But wasn't that before he met Jin-”

“Why are you doing this to me?” Yugyeom asks, poking BamBam's side. He's ticklish there, and immediately falls into giggles, kicking his slim legs wildly. “You're supposed to be on my side, Bammie. You're supposed to HELP me, not make fun of me.”

“All right, all right, I got it, I got it!” BamBam yelps. “What's your big plan? You can't exactly keep Jinyoung away from Mark, he's his tutor.”

“If Mark hyung stops failing his History tests, he won't need Jinyoung anymore. I can help him study at home, and it won't be a problem.”

“But they meet outside of school, right?”

“Just the once, but Mark invited me, too.”

“Oh, so I guess Jackson was wrong about seeing Mark on a date with some guy at the movies...”

“WHAT?”

“I'm just saying what he said!”

“I can't believe this. Not only is he seducing Mark hyung, but it's working? It's just because he's stealing all of Mark's free time, if Mark went back to hanging out with me...” He pauses. “By the way, didn't I tell you to stop talking to Jackson?”

BamBam tilts his head. “I thought that was just Mark?”

“Jackson's after you, too.”

“And that would matter to you because....?”

“Because you're my main bro, I can't have people stealing everything I have away from me, right?”

“Mark's your real bro. You're living together and everything.”

Yugyeom shakes his head. “Don't get it reversed. You're my bro. Mark's my... goal?”

BamBam frowns. Yugyeom doesn't think he looks good like that. He has a face made for smiling, one that doesn't look right serious like this. He kind of wants to tickle his side again, if only to have him laughing.

“We could always tail Mark and Jinyoung,” BamBam says finally. “We go to school together and everything, we can keep them from doing anything... stealthily.”

Yugyeom perks up at that. “That actually sounds fun. If we can sabotage Satan Jinyoung's seduction, Mark hyung will see the light in no time.”

“By the way, are you fine even being here at all? You never know, Jinyoung could be at your place with Mark right now.”

Yugyeom sighs. “But I did say I'd sleep over, didn't I? Gotta be a man of my word.”

BamBam smiles again. “Great. Let's play Super Smash Bros and forget about it for now, then. I'll crush you, Kim Yugyeom!”

“Bring it on!”

They stay up half the night playing games and bad mouthing their annoying classmates, laughing hysterically at their endless inside jokes. They haven't even known each other that long, but Yugyeom feels like he's known BamBam his whole life. Or maybe he just wishes he did.

“God, I love you, man,” BamBam says drowsily when they finally start dozing off. He winds a hand against Yugyeom's T-shirt and yawns.

“Love you, too,” Yugyeom says, as he always does.

“Not really,” BamBam murmurs. Yugyeom is pretty sure BamBam is dreaming now, about something else, because he really does love BamBam. He has to know that.

When he gets back, he goes right to Mark's room in case Jinyoung is there after all, but it's just Mark, resting on his bed and watching videos on Youtube.

“How's BamBam?” Mark asks lazily.

“Great. He says hi.” Yugyeom slips into bed next to him. He loves how the room smells like Mark now after being a guest room for so long. His parents had originally intended it to be a nursery, since they'd wanted to have another kid after Yugyeom, but when that didn't work out, they just had it repainted, stuck an extra bed in it, and only opened it when they had visitors. It took a lot of nagging on Yugyeom's part to get them to fill out the hosting application for the study abroad program, but he was getting so lonely that he needed someone or another to fill that empty space.

He can't, even now, describe his gratefulness to Mark for being there, exactly when he needed him. Mark listens to him, Mark is nice, and Mark doesn't push him too hard, but lets him go at his own pace no matter what he does. And Mark introduced him to BamBam, his first best friend. To him, Mark is pretty much the closest thing to perfect. With him around, he doesn't feel so lonely anymore. He's even stopped wondering what it would be like if his parents had had another kid after all, and he'd wound up with a real brother or sister in this very room.

“Hey, Yugyeommie,” Mark says, looking up from his phone. “Shouldn't you stop coming into my room without knocking? I could be changing or, you know, something.”

Exactly. Mark is pretty private, so Yugyeom hasn't managed to see anything since he's moved in. He's got skinny legs like BamBam, but Yugyeom thinks he's more substantial up top. He can feel the difference when he's hugging them; sometimes it feels like he can bury BamBam inside him, while Mark feels more resistant.

“Sorry,” Yugyeom says, because he doesn't want Mark to be mad at him. “But it was just you and that friend of yours that time. I didn't think it mattered.”

“That time,” Mark repeats. “But maybe not next time. And you know it.”

Yugyeom sniffs. There isn't going to be a next time. And you know it.

“I have it on good intelligence that Mark is going with Jinyoung to see the new Stars War movie this evening,” BamBam says.

Yugyeom cracks his knuckles. “Thwarting time!”

“Already got us tickets, man.”

“You're the best!”

“I know it.”

Yugyeom doesn't really know much about Star Wars other than that there are stars... and probably some wars, too. And lightsabers, too, he knows that one. But still, he's pretty excited when he hears BamBam splurged on the 3D showing. It sounds like a cool movie to see with all the extra effects. He and BamBam grab temporary seats in the theater, and while Yugyeom scopes the place out for sign of Jinyoung and Mark, BamBam reads through the wiki pages for the other films so they have a general idea about what will be going on.

BamBam looks up from his phone for a brief minute. “Hey, isn't that Jinyoung right there?”

Yugyeom squints. It's kind of hard to see in the dark, but it looks close enough to him from the back. The hair color is definitely right.

But his arm is looped around a person who is definitely not Mark. Unless Mark has dyed his hair since Yugyeom saw him that morning, which technically could happen knowing Mark, but is pretty doubtful.

“Park Jinyoung is a two-timer!” Yugyeom says, pumping his fist. “Just wait until Mark finds out about this.”

“You could at least be disappointed on Mark's behalf,” BamBam says, lifting an eyebrow.

“I will be. Later. Right now... I am... smug.” He reaches into BamBam's popcorn bag. “Want to throw popcorn at his hair?”

BamBam considers for a moment, then smiles wickedly. “Kind of.”

“Ten points if it sticks.”

“You're on.”

They both get 30 points, though Jinyoung winds up brushing a few out of his hair as time passes. “Take that, Im Jaebum,” BamBam whispers, nailing the guy next to Jinyoung.

“Jaebum?” Yugyeom asks. “Is that the guy he's with?”

BamBam presses his hand over his lips. “No. Well, kind of.”

“Kind of?” Yugyeom racks his brain. “Wait, isn't Jaebum that really hot guy in Mark and Jinyoung's grade?” He whistles. “The nerve. Dumping Mark for someone more popular.”

“Er... if you say so.”

Before he can get a better look at the two-timers, the previews start rolling and the movie begins. It's a fast beginning, and Yugyeom is quickly on the edge of his seat, holding his breath and feeling like he's flying through the galaxy right with the characters. BamBam is getting really into it, too, and soon they're both turning towards each other when something exciting happens, checking their reactions, sharing the excitement and even sorrow of every moment with each other.

“That. Was. Awesome!” BamBam yells when the film is over. “Oh my god, Yugyeommie, let's get all the others and BINGE.”

“We can watch it on your host family's big screen!” Yugyeom says excitedly. “Should we marathon during one sleep over? Or have three consecutive sleepovers?”

“Doesn't matter. We just have to see them.”

Yugyeom glances down at Jinyoung, whose hair is now popcorn free. Except it isn't Jinyoung. Now that the theater lights are on and the person's profile is turned to them, it's pretty obvious that it's someone with an entirely different face and haircut and even fashion sense, though all of that is pretty secondary to the fact that whoever it is is quite enthusiastically some serious hot-guy face even with the lights back on.

“Looks like your information was wrong,” Yugyeom says. “That's not Jinyoung.” He glances around the theater, but doesn't see the real Jinyoung anywhere, or Mark for that matter. “This was the only theater showing it at this time, right?”

“Uh-huh.” BamBam glances at the making out couple. “That's Choi Youngjae. Whoops.”

“Who was the 'good intelligence' anyways?”

“That would be Jackson.” BamBam snorts. “Guess I shouldn't have trusted him for intelligence, it's not something he's known for.”

Yugyeom's eyes narrow. “I thought I told you to stop talking to him.”

“You didn't give me a good enough reason to stop.”

Yugyeom can't stop thinking about it. Not Mark, for once, but BamBam. He'd told BamBam to stop talking to Jackson because Jackson was after him, and Yugyeom didn't want his main bro taken away from him. And that wasn't a good reason to stop?

He doesn't know how to phrase it. It's not like he doesn't want BamBam to be happy, but it seems unfair for it to happen without him. They share everything with each other, both the good things and the bad things. He doesn't know what he'll do when BamBam is sharing that with someone else.

But when he's going to the cafeteria, he sees the two of them together, Jackson resting his chin on BamBam's shoulder and making a kissy face. The sight of it makes Yugyeom want to break something, preferably Jackson's nose. Jackson fools around with everyone, but BamBam is not just anyone. He's Yugyeom's...main bro. His best friend. His everything.

He doesn't like that a feeling of loneliness is creeping back inside of him. He doesn't want to go through with this, not again. He doesn't want anything more to be taken away.

0

DOG

Park Jinyoung's lips are quite possibly flawless.

Rather than documenting the life and tastes of so-and-so Khan invading countries and subjugating natives, someone should document Jinyoung's lips. The lower lip is just so damn plump that Mark just knows that kissing it would be like burying his face in the softest, warmest pillow. He his lips at the thought. And the color... the color. Mark wishes he could find a paint in the exact color and cover his room in it so he could stare at it for every hour of every day. It would be a little girly since they're just so damn pink, but he doesn't care. Pink is a man's color, too. The color of the lips of the most perfectly formed man in the world.

It hurts that he hasn't really kissed them yet. He's been close, literally only inches away, but close isn't close enough. He wants to do everything to those lips, hurt them, make them feel blissfully good, smash them, caress them. He wants to run his fingers along them just like he's run his fingers along Jinyoung's palm and his leg. Each patch of skin feels different from each other, and he thinks the lips will feel most different of them all. One day he'll put his mouth on every single part of Jinyoung and know for sure.

“Are you even listening to me?” Jinyoung asks, sighing. “Do you want to fail another exam?”

Mark thinks that maybe he kind of does if it means he will keep being tutored by Jinyoung for the rest of his life. He likes Teacher Version Jinyoung. He's so smart and buttoned up like this, so strict and bossy when Mark doesn't do things the way he likes them. But at the same time, he's up pull apart bread between those plump lips of his, and Mark wants to make an absolute mess of him.

“Come over after tutoring,” Mark hums, tapping his shoe against Jinyoung's ankle. “We can talk more about... khans.”

“After last time, I'm not sure that's a good idea,” Jinyoung says. But he's flushing.

“Yugyeommie will be at Star Wars all evening with BamBam,” Mark says. “I have it on good intelligence.”

“You sure about that? Because he's such a giant that I haven't missed the fact that he and BamBam have been stalking me for the past week.”

“I know. And I'm sorry. But right now, BamBam has fed him a little story about us being at the Star Wars screening, so Yugyeom thinks he is stalking you.”

“Won't he just come racing home when he doesn't see us there?”

“Youngjae is going star as fake Jinyoung in the dark and get a free date with Jaebum from BamBam for it to boot. Win win.”

“Why is BamBam paying for us to have some... alone time?”

“He isn't. He's paying for a date with Yugyeom.”

Jinyoung's eyes widen. “Awwww, that's actually pretty cute. He likes Yugyeom.”

“Yugyeom likes him, too.”

“Uh...”

“He does. He just hasn't figured it out yet.”

“Fools in love, huh?”

“Are you just talking about them? Or us?”

Pink is such an amazing color. Jinyoung's cheeks have the capacity for so many shades of it when he's blushing. Mark loves them all; he'd smear every single shade on a canvas, frame it, and hang it up on his lip-pink walls and drown in Jinyoung's exquisite pinkness. He leans forward and plants a kiss on Jinyoung's cheek, practically feeling each individual color on his mouth.

“You're so sweet,” he murmurs, kissing him again. “You're a Pink Starburst.”

“This is a library,” Jinyoung hisses. “Not a bedroom.”

“Okay, then.” He leans towards Jinyoung's ear and bites it. “Tell me all about...uprisings.”

“You'll never learn History at this point,” Jinyoung murmurs. “But okay. Uprisings. If you insist.”

His fingers dance along Mark's thighs, then he gets to his feet and Mark follows.

He kisses like a kitten. Little nips, delicate gasps, nose nuzzling against Mark's cheek in between kisses and he breathes sweet milky breath against his lips. He tastes like heaven.

But maybe that's because they're only just starting, just ten seconds into everything that happened when Mark pushed him down into his bed. Give him a little longer, and who knows what he'll become?

Mark plays with him, a puppy to his kitten. When Jinyoung lifts his head up to kiss him, he pulls back, making him lift up a little more, then he swoops down, gives him a quick lap with his lips before pulling back again. Jinyoung mewls a little, and Mark laughs lightly. “You're perfect,” he whispers, because Jinyoung is, and he's wanted this from the first day he walked into his tutoring session and never stopped wanting it for a single moment.

“But that's what you are,” Jinyoung says, lifting his chin. “And I'm not like you.”

“Good. Because you're perfect as you. You're perfect.”

He looks down into Jinyoung's brown eyes and his breath catches. What was he thinking, dreaming of a room all in pink? Brown is also beautiful. But he doesn't think there's another way in the world to recreate this exact brown, the different colors of love and want mixed in. There is only Jinyoung.

He bends down and kisses him earnestly this time. He feels everything in his lips, every single color of Jinyoung blended into one. He tastes it in every single way, lips, tongue, teeth, and each way is equally sweet. Jinyoung's hands curl around his back, and he hums into him, and Mark can feel it to his very core.

“Hey,” Mark murmurs, pulling away just a little. He doesn't think he'll ever be pulling away completely from now on.

“Yeah?”

“We're dating, right?”

“Is now the time to be asking this? I mean...” Jinyoung bites his lips-- his freshly kissed lips, their brightest shade of pink yet. “Shouldn't you have done that before this?”

“But I couldn't go another second without kissing you.”

“If you like me that much, I think we're dating.”

“I like you beyond that much.”

“I like you, too.”

“Beyond that. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He stops kissing like a kitten after awhile. The mewls turn into purrs. His back arches beautifully, his nails dig into Mark's.

He tastes like something better than heaven. Somewhere I have never traveled,gladly beyond any experience...

He's never been so in love in his entire life.

Mark doesn't like being happy when Yugyeom is miserable.

It makes him feel terrible. He'd thought his date with BamBam would open Yugyeom's eyes, but if anything, it only seems to have made things worse. Right now, he's lying on Mark's bed, making the most pitiful squeaking noises Mark has ever heard in his life. He sounds like an overgrown field mouse, but not as cute. And Mark doesn't even find mice all that cute to begin with.

“Mark hyung, you have a brother, right?” Yugyeom asks. “An honest to god brother?”

“Yeah. You.”

Yugyeom sniffs. “I mean the other one.”

“Yeah?”

“You wouldn't be bothered if your brother started dating someone, right?”

“Unless the person he was dating was horrible to him, I probably wouldn't be bothered.”

“Hmmm.” Yugyeom kicks his legs. “Jackson's not horrible. He's actually really nice, and I know that better than anyone. So why am I bothered, then?”

“Because BamBam's not your honest to god brother.”

“I know. I'm an only child.”

“That's not when I meant.” He rests his chin on top of Yugyeom's head. “There are different kind of loves, Yugyeommie. Of course it's easy to confuse them.”

“Then how is someone supposed to know the difference?”

“You don't know it first. You feel it. Then you know.”

Yugyeom sits up and stares at him for awhile. Mark wants to tell Yugyeom just how precious he is, but doesn't want to confuse him any more than he already has. So he quietly lets Yugyeom watch him, eyes trailing over his face, as if searching for something specific.

“I don't like Jinyoung dating you because you're someone who rescued me,” Yugyeom says after awhile. “And I don't want to share that about you.”

“I know.”

“And I don't like BamBam dating Jackson because... because...”

“Because?”

“Because he's giving to someone else something I don't have.”

“You're selfish, Yugyeommie. You can't keep both of us all to yourself. Shouldn't you figure out what you really want?”

“If I said it was you, you wouldn't give up on Jinyoung, would you?”

Mark shakes his head. “I wouldn't.”

“So why would BamBam give up on Jackson if I asked him to?”

“Have you asked him to?”

“Several times.”

“Have you explained why?”

“I said that I didn't want my main bro stolen.”

Mark snorts. “If that's your reason, I'd go skipping off into the sunset with Jackson if I were BamBam. Next time you talk to him, why don't you tell him the truth?”

Yugyeom collapses back into the bed, burying his face in Mark's blankets. Mark doesn't blame him. Love can be the most terrifying thing to tell the truth about because it means exposing the most sensitive part of yourself. But sometimes the not doing it hurts worse and longer than doing it unsuccessfully. He wants to tell Yugyeom that he'll always regret it if he never bothers finding out if he can let another person in and paint his world in their colors, but knows it's something he needs to find out for himself.

Mark pats Yugyeom on the back and lets him stew until he arrives on whatever answer on his own.

Mark passes his History exam with a slight feeling of regret. It's his own fault. Joking about khans and uprisings in bed has worked in branding the right vocabulary words and details into his brain. It calls to mind other things, of course, things that make him squirm a little as he pencils in his answers, but nonetheless, he remembers.

Jinyoung is proud, but also a little regretful. “I'll miss our study sessions,” he says. There's a new name on his tutoring schedule where Mark's used to be, and Mark feels a stab of envy thinking about the unknown person sitting in the place where he stared at Jinyoung's magical lips, where they shared bag after bag of pull apart bread, where he kissed Jinyoung's cheeks, where he fell in beyond love. He hopes a little bit that Jinyoung's beauty is something only he can see.

“We can study other things,” Mark says, taking his hand. “Better things than Korean history.”

“You were never really studying Korean history,” Jinyoung replies. “You were studying my lips.”

“Well. They're fascinating.”

“So are yours. Why are they never chapped? You bite them all the time.”

“Only when I'm around you. It's to hold myself back from kissing you.”

“And the ?”

“Guess.”

“Seriously though. How are they not chapped?”

“Lip balm. Don't you taste it?”

Jinyoung leans in to kiss him, lingering a little bit after pulling away slightly, smiling against Mark's lips. “Is it strawberry?”

“You win.”

“Mmm.” Jinyoung kisses him again. “Your lips are my favorite red.”

0

RABBIT

BamBam's nose is twitching. On one hand, he wants to wrinkle it in disgust because he really doesn't need to be seeing this. He's only stalking Mark and Jinyoung because Yugyeom wants to, not because he wants a front row seat to Make Out Theater. On the other hand, they are quite good at it, and part of him can appreciate a good drama-like kiss. He'd take notes, if he thought the person he loves would ever kiss him like that.

Yugyeom isn't watching. Yugyeom is depressed, probably because his crush is playing rather serious homage to another guys lips right in front of him. But surprisingly, he's not threatening to kill Jinyoung or rushing in to break things up. He's just giving a thousand yard stare out to a point in the distance, his eyebrows wrinkled in concentration.

BamBam pokes the spot between his brows. “So... I'm guessing you have a Plan B?” he asks.

Yugyeom almost leaps out of his skin at his touch. “For... for what?”

“Um, well, for... that... over there.”

Yugyeom spares a half-hearted glance towards Jinyoung and Mark. “Shameless,” he mutters, but doesn't say anything more than that. BamBam wonders if his soul has left his body and he just doesn't care at all anymore.

He wonders if that's a good thing, the not caring. He doesn't want Yugyeom to care about Mark anymore. At least not in that way. It had never seemed fair to him, that he and Mark had entered into Yugyeom's life at the exact same time, but Mark was the only one Yugyeom really saw. Yugyeom doesn't have to love him, of course; he's not entitled to anything special just because he loves Yugyeom so much. He just wishes Yugyeom would acknowledge his feelings even a little.

But he doesn't want Yugyeom to stop caring about Mark on these terms. He doesn't want him to feel defeated or hurt. He just wants him to be happy. And Yugyeom clearly isn't.

“Gyeommie... what do you want to do?” BamBam puts a hand on Yugyeom's arm, and Yugyeom jerks away slightly. BamBam blinks. This isn't something he does. No matter what he's feeling, he always lets BamBam close. What's happening?

“Nothing. Let's just...” Yugyeom clears his throat. “Let's just go somewhere. Or do you have somewhere to be?”

“Why would I?”

“I don't know. Jackson, or something.”

“I'm just one of Jackson's billion friends. I don't need to be with him, I need to be with you.”

“Implying that you're my only friend?”

I'm only your friend because that's what you want me to be, he thinks. Out loud, he says, “I'm the only one who knows what you're going through right now.”

Yugyeom smiles faintly. “Wanna go watch Star Wars?”

“Your place or mine?”

“Yours.” He jerks his head towards Mark and Jinyoung. “I don't think it'll be a movie improved by certain background effects.”

Yugyeom has fantastic hair. It's thick, like a carpet of grass. He's been styling it differently a lot these days-- Mark's influence-- but right now it's dark brown and curly. It smells like pine. BamBam wants to nibble it. Or burrow into it. Or both.

He doesn't need to be fixating on this. The Millenium Falcon is in the middle of an intense battle on screen, much more appropriate to be thinking about. But he can't help it. They'd started the film practically on opposite ends of the couch, which was unusual for them, but Yugyeom had deliberately been keeping away from him for his own reasons, and BamBam wasn't about to force him to cuddle. As the film progressed, Yugyeom had crept over little by little until he was right next to BamBam, head tucked against his shoulder and curly, pine-y hair tickling against his nose. He thinks it's probably twitching again.

Does Yugyeom know what he's doing? Maybe he doesn't. He has to be thinking of something, though, with the way he's retreating and then coming back close. He still hasn't said anything about Mark and Jinyoung. He hasn't said anything about anything.

BamBam tests his boundaries. Gently, he runs his fingers through the sweet smelling field of Yugyeom's hair. Maybe this isn't romantic. All the pew-pew-pewing going on in the background isn't helping anything, and this was something he used to do before falling in love, anyways, because Yugyeom's hair is soft whether you're in love with him or not. But he feels romantic. He wants Yugyeom to lift his head and kiss him. Or at least ask him what he's doing so BamBam can explain I like this hair so much because it's yours and it smells like you and when I'm touching it, I'm touching you.

He doesn't.

When the movie is over, Yugyeom acts like his old self again. They talk about the movie and speculate about the next one. Of course, BamBam had already spoiled it on the Wikipedia page before they'd realized they would get hooked, but they pretend like they never heard any of those details and make up their own.

It takes until one in the morning for Yugyeom to say something about Mark.

“I'm not really that upset, you know,” he says.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I think he and I... I think we're going to make great brothers.”

BamBam smiles in relief and wraps his arms around Yugyeom. Not romantically this time, but just because he's glad he's okay. “I'm glad. And Jinyoung?”

“Still want to kill him. But I don't think that has to do with Mark. I just want to kill him.”

“Mhmmm.” BamBam laughs a little at that. “Mark might kill you though.”

“I know. So I won't do it.” Yugyeom sighs, still sounding a little bit unhappy. “But I'm still upset about something.”

“What?”

“I can't tell you yet.”

BamBam's eyes widen. “What are you talking about? You tell me everything.”

“Not this.” Yugyeom ducks his head and adjusts their position so BamBam is leaning into his chest, close to his heart. It's a soothing sound, but BamBam doesn't know what it means. It's just badump-badump-badump like everyone else's heart. He can't translate it into what Yugyeom's actually feeling, and for the first time, Yugyeom isn't telling him. So he listens to his heart again and again, waiting for it to tell him something he can finally understand.

It doesn't.

“I'm not supposed to be talking to you.”

“Join the freaking club,” Jackson says. “First Mark, now you?”

“Actually, I think Mark's ban is lifted. Unless Jinyoung has a problem with it.”

“Are you kidding me? Mark won't let Jinyoung anywhere near me. Doesn't trust me not to touch, he says.”

“A reputation you've earned, by the way.”

“That guy has a great . You have great legs. Mark has a great face. I don't see why I can't innocently enjoy them.”

“Innocently?”

Jackson laughs. “Who's banning you from talking to me, anyways?”

“Yugyeom.”

“Wait, you guys finally hooked up?”

“Nope.”

“Then why?”

“Apparently he gets super protective of his main bro.”

“God. Just hearing about the delusion secondhand is painful.” He hooks his arm around BamBam's shoulder. “Too bad, Yugyeom. You're my main-”

He doesn't get to finish his sentence. Someone is throwing his arm off of BamBam and grabbing BamBam away from him. He can tell from the broad chest he's suddenly being pressed against that it's Yugyeom.

“No,” Yugyeom says coldly.

“No what?” Jackson asks. He's smirking. He loves this sort of thing, but BamBam is kind of freaking out. How much has Yugyeom overheard?

“You're not his main anything. He's mine.” The way Yugyeom says it brings goosebumps to BamBam's arms.

“Yeah, your main bro, right? You don't have dibs on anything else.”

“I...” Yugyeom's arms waver for a moment, then suddenly grow firm. His hand is lifting, reaching up to turn BamBam's face. His fingers are touching him so gently that BamBam feels himself moving to their rhythm, body slowly revolving to meet Yugyeom.

“He's my main everything,” he whispers. His eyes are on BamBam, gleaming fiercely, possessively, lovingly. “Mine.”

Yugyeom kisses him like no one is watching, pressing him firmly against the considerable length of his body. He's so tall, but still such a kid at heart. He seems almost surprised by what he's doing, and BamBam almost expects him to leap back with a squeak and say he's just joking. But he doesn't. He keeps on kissing him as if to carve his words right onto BamBam's lips. Mine, mine, mine.

His.

BamBam is pretty sure this isn't the right order for things to be happening in, but kisses him back because he's not going to run away from the thing he's been waiting for for so long.

It defies expectations. Yugyeom actually means this. Every kiss BamBam's ever dreamed of between them, Yugyeom doesn't participate in as a lover, just a friend. But there's love in every part of this. No question of that.

After a while, he forgets all of his expectations. He forgets everything but his lips and who is touching them.

They have to stop eventually. He thinks he's going to faint when they do. The world is spinning around him. Everything has changed.

“Wow,” Jackson says, giving a whistle of appreciation. “Thanks for the show, guys.”

“Explain,” BamBam says.

“I love you,” Yugyeom says back.

“As main bros.”

“As main everything.”

“Elaborate.”

“I love you.”

“You said that already. We've been saying that to each other since we've met, and if you're going to change the meaning of 'I love you' on me, you're going to need to inform me of what it means now.”

“As... lovers, I guess?”

BamBam holds his face in his hands. That's good enough, his body thinks.

If you don't get it out of him while he's weak, you'll never get it, his mind reminds him.

“I need to know how you got from being in love with Mark to kissing me in front of Jackson and a small portion of our high school class,” he says, deciding to go with his mind for now.

“I got angry seeing you with him... and...and...wanted to kiss you. Because I love you.”

“And did you like it... as lovers, I mean? It was good?”

“God yes,” Yugyeom says, a bit impatiently. “I want to do it again. And again. And again.”

“You're not suffering from a delusion, are you?”

“No.” Yugyeom frowns. “Do you want me to be? It was... bad for you?”

“NO.”

“Then why aren't we kissing some more?”

“Because you need to know I'm in love with you. Much longer than you've been in love with me.”

Yugyeom's smile returns. “Does it have to be a competition?”

“No. But this whole thing has kind of been unexpected, yeah? I didn't think you would ever...”

Yugyeom kisses him, shutting him up quite efficiently. He's a precise kisser. His lips aren't that small, but he makes it feel like they are, the way he's giving him tiny nibbles, tiny pecks, concentrating on small areas before taking it all.

“You thought wrong,” Yugyeom whispers when he pulls away.

“What made you realize?” BamBam asks.

“Mark made me think of the reason why I really didn't want you talking to Jackson.”

“And?”

“Because I really wouldn't care if Jackson stole you as his main bro. But no one else can have you like this.”

This is a beautiful thing. This is tangled lips and tangled limbs and BamBam running his fingers through Yugyeom's hair and Yugyeom finally seeing him completely. Always before when he was Yugyeom's arms, he wanted something more, something different from him. Now he finally has it, and he still wants more. He wants enough to drown in.

“I love you,” Yugyeom whispers before they fall asleep, and though BamBam's heard these words hundreds of times from him, he can feel their difference in every single syllable.

0

CAT MOUSE DOG RABBIT

They settle on a truce. There's no way around it, since BamBam is Mark's friend, and since Yugyeom is dating BamBam now and Mark is dating Jinyoung, there's no way for Jinyoung and Yugyeom to avoid each other.

“Just don't think you can get away with doing things in my house,” Yugyeom snaps.

“Wouldn't dream about it,” Jinyoung snaps back. He'll keep the number of things he has already done in it to himself. Yugyeom spends enough time at BamBam's not to know.

“I hope this isn't awkward for you,” Mark murmurs to BamBam. “For what it's worth, I don't think Yugyeom ever really liked me like that.”

“Don't worry about it,” BamBam says. “He's made his feelings pretty clear.”

“Got it.” Mark pauses. “You know, I like this arrangement we have going of him spending time at your place so Jinyoung can spend time here. Can we keep it going?”

“You got it, bro.” They seal the deal with a fist bump. It's just a quick one, though. Someone has to stop Yugyeom from dumping soy sauce down Jinyoung's shirt.