Jinyoung’s morning routines were as anyone expected. A shrill alarm would announce to him that his slumber was over. He would make his bed, take his shower, get changed, dry his hair, eat his breakfast, pack his lunch, pack the rest of his bag, and leave. Everything had allotted time, everything was always done in that exact order. Jinyoung hadn’t strayed from his schedule in years. Even when he had his last boyfriend.

Of course that was a fight in itself. Jinyoung’s routine and how moody he would get if his boyfriend tried to throw him off of it. Even to do cute things in the morning, Jinyoung had no time.

When his alarm went off, Jinyoung groaned and moved to turn it off, confused by the weight next to him and how his arm wasn’t reaching the nightstand. Tired eyes blinked open to see Mark’s sleeping body curled up against his chest. He remembered the night before. Giving Mark pajamas to wear, letting him shower and change in privacy. Offering him the spare toothbrush to use as they brushed their teeth together before spending a solid hour under the covers kissing. Mark fell asleep first, Jinyoung watched him like the angel he was resting so peacefully before drifting off himself. Jinyoung had no dreams, but who could dream when his reality was Mark in the bed next to him.

Carefully he reached over to turn the alarm off, not so angry about it this morning. Blurry eyes picked up his phone as he started to scroll through his emails to see if anything happened overnight. When Mark started to stir in Jinyoung’s arms he moved carefully to curl back up with him, easing Mark back to sleep carefully before he opened his most recent email.

“Snow day?” Jinyoung raised his eyebrow as he scanned over an email about how the accumulation of snow over night had lead to the school being closed for the day.

When did it start snowing?

Carefully moving away from the bed, Jinyoung walked across the floor to the window, flipping the blinds open just enough to look out and see the blinding white snow covering a eerily quiet city. The way everything seemed to glow in the untouched snow, no plows had yet come to make way for anyone brave enough to try and drive. Jinyoung got so lost looking out of the window he didn’t notice Mark had gotten out of bed and walked over to him. When he felt his hand being taken he jumped slightly, looking over to see Mark pouting at him.

That pout was going to be the death of him.

“Back to bed.” Mark mumbled and dragged Jinyoung from the window. Again, the room fell into darkness as Mark crawled back under the warm covers and motioned for Jinyoung to do the same. Looking at his clock, Jinyoung felt an itch in his skin that he was behind schedule. Then again, there was no school.

“Maybe an hour more.” Jinyoung said softly, moving back under the covers to curl his body back up against Mark’s. He smirked when he felt Mark push his head close to Jinyoung’s neck. He knew Mark didn’t hear him, he didn’t care either.

Jinyoung’s whole body shivered when he felt Mark place a few lazy kisses against his neck, moving carefully, Jinyoung wrapped his arms tighter around Mark’s hips to draw him closer. He didn’t even care about the male typical morning problem. He had one, Mark had one, both of them seemed to ignore it as Mark’s lips trailed up until their heads were at an even level with each other.

“More sleep.” Mark whispered and Jinyoung nodded, leaning in to close the gap between their mouths to kiss Mark gently before he settled back down. A snow day was perfect for them, the thought of leaving the bed again outweighed the anxiety of not completing his schedule. It was the first time ever Jinyoung broke his schedule on a weekday.

Did it really count if there was no school? That helped ease his mind.

They slept for not one, not two, but three more hours. Jinyoung waking up with a fright that he was missing so many things he needed to be doing. When he realized again that there was no school, all of his homework was done, and Mark was now startled awake in the bed next to him thanks to his own anxiety, Jinyoung fell back against the covers with an apologetic look on his face. Mark looked down at him with a concerned look on his own face before he kissed gently at Jinyoung’s chest.

“You don’t sleep in often do you?” He asked, looking up at Jinyoung carefully. Jinyoung shook his head no and moved to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

“The last time I slept this late was… never probably?” Jinyoung admitted, putting his arms up under his head.

“I sleep this late every day I don’t have class.” Mark laughed, rolling his body so he was sitting half on top of Jinyoung. Jinyoung happily moved his hands to let them rest on Mark’s thighs as he looked up at him.

“If I were a wild man, I would take advantage of how good you look like this.” Jinyoung teased, keeping his hands at a safe distance away from doing something too much for a relationship that was less than a day old.

“I’ll keep that in mind for when the time comes. Does this mean you like to take control?” Mark smirked, bending a little to get a better view of Jinyoung. The blush covering Jinyoung’s cheek was adorable, although Mark knew that his cheeks were just as bad, if not more flushed.

“I can go either way. It’s been a long time for me, but whenever you’re ready to explore all of that, we’ll jump into it however we’re comfortable.” Jinyoung offered a kind smile, and Mark’s heart melted at how thoughtful he was. Mark didn’t need to tell Jinyoung he was a , he could have guessed by earlier conversations about Mark never having had a boyfriend before.

Not that that mattered to Jinyoung. He wasn’t the most experienced either. Enough to guide them comfortably for whenever came up but he knew that it would take some time. Mostly because midterms were coming up and honestly when would he have time? That sounded horrible, he needed to stop that behaviour if he expected to keep Mark.

“I’m going to use the bathroom, then I’m going to start making us breakfast. Come join me when you’ve cleaned up.” Mark leaned down to kiss Jinyoung’s lips lightly, Jinyoung happily kissed him back before he watched Mark crawl off him and scurry into the bathroom down the hall. Rubbing his hands over his face, Jinyoung tried to calm the itching feeling that started up again.

Getting up, Jinyoung picked out clothes to change into, laid out clothes for Mark if he wanted to change out of the pajamas, then made his way into the bathroom after Mark. He did his routine exactly as he would if it were a normal school day. He showered, shaved, brushed his teeth, put on lotion, dressed, and walked out to grab his glasses from his bedroom. Walking in, he saw Mark in the middle of changing, standing there in just his boxers pulling on his own pants from the night before. Jinyoung’s eyes took in his milky white skin, how slim his body really was; he noticed the definition in his chest and arms. Feeling his body reacting he had to look away until Mark was finished pulling on the fluffy sweater Jinyoung had left out for him. Even slightly blurry, Mark looked better than he could have ever imagined.

“Oh! Hey don’t look .” Mark teased when he noticed Jinyoung. Stuttering over his words, Jinyoung was happy Mark couldn’t hear the embarrassing sounds he was making as he pointed to his eyes like he was going to push up his glasses. Mark got the gesture and grabbed Jinyoung’s glasses off the bedside table, walking over with them, he carefully put them on Jinyoung’s face for him before he leaned in to give him a proper hello kiss. Jinyoung purred at the taste of his chapstick, reaching down to slide his arms around his body pulling him closer.

“Behave, I’m supposed to be cooking.” Mark teased, leaning in to kiss Jinyoung seconds after he finished talking. Jinyoung smirked against Mark’s lips before he scooped him up in his arms bridal style. Mark let out a yelp at Jinyoung’s surprising strength before he walked the two of them out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen. Jinyoung set Mark down in front of the stove where all of his items were laid out waiting to be cooked.

“I am going to get some reading done if that’s okay?” Jinyoung asked while Mark was looking at him. Mark nodded happily and waved Jinyoung off to leave him to cook. Smiling gently, Jinyoung kissed the side of his head before he walked back to his bedroom and sat at his desk opening one of his text books.

His phone going off almost an hour later pulled him out of his trance, setting his pen down on top of his note pad, Jinyoung looked over to see a message from Mark telling him breakfast was ready. Feeling quite hungry, Jinyoung got up quickly, cleaned up his desk, and made his way into the kitchen where Mark was setting everything out on the small table. Taking in all of the smells, Jinyoung rubbed his hands together before he moved to help Mark get everything set out on the table.

“I might be stuck here another night if the snow doesn’t clear up. I hope that’s okay. I have sketch books and stuff to keep me busy while you study.” Mark said once the juice was poured and the two were sitting down.

“Of course it’s okay, All of my homework is done, everything I’m doing now is to ready myself for the next bit of assignments. Tomorrow if this snow keeps up, school will likely be closed again.” Jinyoung divided the food out among the both of them before gesturing to Mark to dive in.

“I won’t stay in your hair that long, I’ll find some way to get home. I know it takes a lot out of people to deal with how much I need.” Mark let out a laugh but Jinyoung was oddly startled by the sadness behind his words.

“What do you mean takes a lot out of people… I’m not.. Dealing with you being deaf. That’s just a sad incident but you’re not extra work for me.” Jinyoung moved to make sure Mark was paying attention to his words. Mark looked at him a bit stunned, his hands stilling before he looked down at the food.

“I… nobody has ever thought like that before. I’m sorry I just… feel like me being deaf is a burden to everyone.” Mark admitted, and Jinyoung sighed, nudging his legs under the table to get Mark to look up.

“Every day when I wake up, I make my bed, shower, get dressed, dry my hair. I follow the same routine every morning until I step foot into my car and drive to school. Even after I do the same things every day, my last boyfriend he… he broke up with me because I was too much work for him.” Jinyoung sighed, chewing at his lip gently before he looked back at Mark.

“I wouldn’t ever break my routine, I get such anxiety if I don’t do everything in order. If things are out of place. He said it was too much to deal with, he felt like I was a robot. A loveless robot that he couldn’t try to fix anymore.” Jinyoung sighed, pushing his damp hair out of his face.

“Your bed isn’t made.” Mark said softly, Jinyoung sat upright a little at the comment.

“I know, and I don’t feel like jumping out of my skin. You help me relax, you help me feel at peace. Do not ever think you’re a bother to me. I care about you so much that I’m actually okay breaking my routine for you.” Jinyoung reached across the table, taking Mark’s hand in his own.

Looking down at their laced fingers, Mark felt his heartbeat quicken, he grasped everything Jinyoung was telling him; mind racing to process it all. His eyes fluttered shut as he let their fingers carefully lace together. He opened his eyes when his hand was lifted off the table. He watched as Jinyoung carefully kissed each knuckle before kissing the back of his hand carefully. Mark felt himself falling in love all over again, watching with dewy eyes as Jinyoung took such delicate care in how his lips pressed against his skin.

“You mean everything to me, and I’m scared… we haven’t known each other long but I feel as if we have known each other for a lifetime.” Mark said softly, watching Jinyoung’s eyes look up at him.

“You bring quiet into my world, I’ll never not admire how much you’ve helped me in your own way. You have such a powerful hold over me Mark.” Jinyoung admitted and Mark smiled softly, moving his hand to cup the side of Jinyoung’s cheek before he gestured to the food.

“Eat so that we can lay down and put on a movie neither of us have any intention on finishing.”

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The snow let up in the afternoon, meaning the roads were able to become clear for school the following day. Mark still spent the night, insisting that they behave and sleep early, much to Jinyoung’s protesting.

In the morning Jinyoung’s alarm woke them both up, they spent the duration of a snooze cycle kissing before Jinyoung got out of bed to shower. Mark carefully made his bed for him before taking his own shower. It felt odd for Jinyoung to have someone work their way into his morning routine again. Walking into the kitchen, Jinyoung went to go make his lunch when he saw a bag already sitting on the counter top. Raising an eyebrow, he pulled the little note off the bag and smirked.

Jinyoung carefully tucked the bag into his school bag and put the note on the fridge before he felt Mark wrap his arms around him from behind.

“Thank you for making lunch, baby.” Jinyoung turned so Mark could read his lips, leaning in to kiss him gently. Mark got up on his tippy toes to make the kiss deeper before he rubbed their noses together.

“I hope you like it, mostly just leftover from dinner last night with something special thrown in. I already packed mine, we should leave if we’re going to stop for coffee on the way in.” Mark stole another kiss before he moved to throw his bag over his shoulder, Jinyoung noticed the way he had seemed to steal not only another sweater of his, but a spare jacket he had hanging up. He was happy Mark would be warm all day, and covered in his clothes.

Mentally it comforted Jinyoung to know that people would see him in another man’s clothes.

They managed to get coffee, and get to school with ample time to spare, walking hand in hand through the campus towards the art building where Mark’s class would be held a half hour before Jinyoung’s first class started. They didn’t have to talk about meeting in the library since they both knew they would head there during lunch, Mark decided kissing his boyfriend was a better way to pass the few minutes he had before art history started.

Jinyoung walked back to his own building and read outside of the classroom until it was time to take a seat. It was weird how distracted he felt, thinking back to just how beautiful Mark’s smile was first thing in the morning. How innocently he took care of Jinyoung without him even seeing him do it. Jinyoung never felt at peace breaking his routine, but with Mark, it seemed so natural.

He got so lost in his thoughts that by the time he knew it, his class was ending. Everyone was packing up and the teacher was erasing the homework off the board. Jinyoung cursed at himself before he waited for everyone to leave. Saying sorry roughly 50 times before asking the teacher for the assignment. Luckily for Jinyoung, the teacher said it was just reading from one section to another, and answering multiple choice questions on a link he would send out around 6pm. Jinyoung thanked him and quickly left the room, rushing to head towards the library to meet up with Mark.

Jinyoung opened the door carefully to see Mark sitting with his lunch spread out, Jinyoung took his seat across from him and Mark pouted a little.

“You’re late!” He reached over for Jinyoung’s hands.

“I’m sorry baby. I spaced out during class and forgot the homework, I had to stay after to get it from the teacher. You could have started eating without me.” Jinyoung took Mark’s hands in his own giving them a squeeze before he moved to set out his own lunch, smiling wide at the cookies Mark packed for him.

“I will always wait! It doesn’t feel right to eat without you.” Mark smirked, digging into the food once Jinyoung was settled.

The two ate in silence, doing as they always did. Jinyoung worked on his homework while Mark worked on his drawings. Despite now being in a relationship, nothing between them seemed to change. There were more lingering glances this time, but Jinyoung still got everything done before the hour was up.

Typically he would sit there and read, but today he took to eating the rest of his meal in peace. It wasn’t until Mark finished his work and came over did he set his container to the side and slide out so Mark could sit in his lap.

“You were too far away.” Mark said softly, bending down to kiss Jinyoung’s lips lightly. His heart was beating wildly in his chest at the notion that someone would miss him that much. Arms wrapped loosely around Mark’s slim frame, pulling him closer as they shared in their kiss, another thing Jinyoung rarely ever did. Public affection wasn’t something he was known for but the delicious taste of Mark’s lips outweighed his fear of being judged.

“We both have another class soon right? What do you wish to do for lunch tomorrow?” Jinyoung asked, letting Mark shimmy into the chair next to him, pulling it closer so their legs brushed together.

“Let’s do soup tomorrow. You brought a spicy kimchi soup the other day that was delicious, you should make that again.” Mark smiled wide, rocking back and forth in his seat before he settled against the back of it.

“Soup sounds good, it’s cold out. We should also have fish cakes, it goes well with the soup. I’ll go grocery shopping after work.” Jinyoung commented more to himself, opening his planner to take some notes before tucking it away in his bag. Mark watched with a fond smile before reaching down to snatch the book up. He wrote a few things down on several pages before handing it back over to Jinyoung.

Curiously Jinyoung opened the book back up to see how Mark made a note for every morning slot to “Remind Mark: I Love You.” Jinyoung giggled at the notes and set the planner down, nodding his head at the request before he leaned forward to catch Mark’s lips in his own.

“I do love you, I hope you know that.” He added, Mark looked confused for a moment but Jinyoung said it again slower and Mark’s eyes lit up. A smile taking up half of his face.

“I love you too.”

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“Youngjae! Youngjae! Hey have you heard from Mark.” Jinyoung ran over to the boy who was walking out of the art building. Youngjae stopped in his tracks and blinked at Jinyoung who repeated himself.

“Mark oh! Is he not here yet? I didn’t see him this weekend.” Youngjae said softly, throwing his bag over his body.

“I didn’t either. He’s not answering any of my texts or calls… is everything okay.” Jinyoung’s face was full of worry, mind wrecked with wondering if he had done something wrong.

Typically Mark never missed a day, or a night. Either they were together, or on the phone. It had been a perfect couple of weeks but Jinyoung noticed that Mark had been acting different the night prior to going missing. It made him lose a considerable amount of sleep and the fact that Mark didn’t even come into school was cause for even more worry.

“He… . I thought you would make it stop!” Youngjae groaned as he pulled out his phone, quickly trying to call not Mark but his parents.

“Make what.. Stop.” Jinyoung nearly dropped his books, moving to listen in to Youngjae’s phone call.

“Mrs. Tuan… is Mark.. I see. What happened?... oh.” Youngjae rubbed his face and sighed, chewing at his lip as he listened. Youngjae hung up quickly and nodded for Jinyoung to follow.

“I have.. Class.” Jinyoung rushed after him, confused about where they were going.

“Skip class, this is more important.” Youngjae rushed to the bus stop, nervously looking over the schedule. Jinyoung rolled his eyes and took Youngjae's hand rushing the two of them to the parking lot where he unlocked his car and quickly threw his bag into the trunk.

“What happened!” Jinyoung demanded when they got into the safety of his car. He knew where Mark lived by heart now, taking off was the easy part.

“He went to the doctor after school yesterday, they told him there was a surgery to fix his hearing but it’s not covered by the insurance and not guaranteed to work. It’s too expensive for them to even attempt if it won’t work. Mark gets into these… dark places sometimes because of what happened. He probably never told you about them, he’s going to kill me for taking you but maybe you’re the only one that can do something about it.” Youngjae sat back nervously texting Mark to see if he would answer.

“He…” Jinyoung frowned and started to drive a little faster.

He nearly killed them twice driving more dangerously than usual, issuing endless apologies to Youngjae who was holding on for dear life. He pulled into Mark’s driveway and got out of the car with Youngjae who just let himself into the house. Shocked at how improper it all was, Jinyoung quickly removed his shoes and bowed his head at who he assumed were Mark’s parents.

“I brought Jinyoung. Maybe that will help?” Youngjae said to them, the two standing to bow to Jinyoung.

“You’re the boyfriend he talks about all the time. So handsome. He’s upstairs but he won't talk to anyone.” His mother said, flinching at the loud bang coming from upstairs. Jinyoung looked up quickly and let Youngjae lead him up the stairs towards Mark’s room. Turning the handle carefully, Youngjae poked his head inside, quickly backing out when a brush went flying at his head followed by a scream to go away.

“Mark stop!” Youngjae quickly signed, slipping into the room to try and get Mark to stop his fit.

“I said GO AWAY! Get off me Youngjae. Why are you even here!” He screamed again, fighting with Youngjae to get away from his hold. Mark’s entire body stopped the second he saw Jinyoung walk in. Frozen he looked at his boyfriend’s face in shock.

Mark’s face dropped, body covered in bruises and art supplies. His hair was a wreck, bags under his eyes, Jinyoung had never seen him in a state like this before. Where did his always bubbly boy go? His ray of sun that always had a smile on his face.

“You brought Jinyoung! What the is wrong with you? How could you do this to me!” Mark whimpered finally getting away from Yongjae. Quickly backing up to his bed, Mark curled up away from them, his head pressed against the wall.

Jinyoung walked around the mess, not wanting to step on anything despite Mark having already made the mess. Youngjae started to clean up a bit of broken glass, Jinyoung moved carefully kneeling on the bed by where Mark was curled up, he put his hand on Mark’s shoulder rubbing at the soft skin. Mark let out a loud cry and curled away from Jinyoung only to be pulled back by Jinyoung’s hand.

“I don’t ever want you to see me like this. I couldn’t text you, I didn’t want you to worry.” Mark whimpered, sniffling as tears started to flood his eyes. Jinyoung let out his own whimper as he laid down on the bed and hugged Mark close to his chest.

“We will do this together. I’m never going to let you go. Don’t ever shut me out like that! I want to be here for the good and the bad.” Jinyoung made sure Mark saw him before he curled up more.

Mark let it all out, crying hysterically, wailing about how it wasn’t fair. Nothing was fair. He was so close to being fixed and now this happened. Jinyoung kept quiet while Mark let his emotions flood down his face and into the material of his chest until he had seemingly cried himself to sleep. Jinyoung was so worried about what he was seeing, more so because Mark kept it so bottled up he never would have guessed.

“He finally asleep?” Youngjae asked, sitting on the edge of the bed looking at the two of them. Jinyoung nodded carefully not wanting to move Mark until he knew he was in a deep slumber.

“If it were me he’d be throwing things until 3am and then crying. I knew you’d work a lot better. Thank you for coming. He never wanted you to see this but he gets these dark moments sometimes. He has so much built up anger about the accident. I don’t know what we can do, I wish I could help.” Youngjae added, moving to pull a blanket up over Mark’s feet before he looked to Jinyoung.

“How often does this happen?” Jinyoung asked and Youngjae could only shrug.

“Less often since he met you, almost daily when the accident first happened. He’s learned to control his fits more, he hasn’t had once since you two started spending time together. He told me whenever he feels his mood starting to change, he calls you or draws you, and it puts him in a better mood.” Youngjae leaned against the side of the bed and sighed.

“I love him so much, it’s painful for me to see him this way. I want to take all of that anger from him. There has to be something we can do about the procedure like…” Jinyoung chewed at his lip deep in thought.

“He will never ask you for help, so whatever you’re thinking don’t let him know. He will refuse it right away. He always wants to do everything on his own. If his parents didn’t have a heart attack at the thought of him living alone he would be doing that too.” Youngjae watched as Mark stirred in Jinyoung’s arms, pulling the male closer to his body.

“I’ll keep that in mind. We should get this cleaned up for him though. I don’t want him to have to do all of this on his own.” Jinyoung added, moving carefully to replace his body with a pillow. Watching Mark hug it close to him as he kept sleeping. Jinyoung got up and started to tidy the drawing area of Mark’s room, smirking at all of his little cartoons before he came across several in depth portraits of him. Sitting in the little stool, Jinyoung felt almost wrong looking at Mark’s personal art, he couldn’t help but giggle at the little post-it note of him sleeping in the corner of one of the drawings.

He peeled the note off the paper and stuck it in his pocket, figuring Mark wouldn’t mind if he added it to his collection. He pushed the drawings to the side and went to help Youngjae clean up the mess on the floor. It wasn’t until Mark started to wake up, did Jinyoung stop what he was doing and move to sit on the edge of the mattress.

“I never wanted you to see that.” Mark said, hanging his head in shame.

“Hey…” Jinyoung waved to get Mark’s attention, when he looked up, Jinyoung thought for a moment before he started to move his hands.

“I love you, nothing will change that. Even this. We will get through everything together.” Jinyoung hoped he signed that correctly, Mark’s eyes went wide and Jinyoung worried he got it all wrong. Before he knew it he was being pushed back against the bed, Mark’s body covering his own.

“YOU LEARNED SIGN LANGUAGE FOR ME?” Mark yelled excitedly, pushing his face into Jinyoung's neck. Jinyoung could only laugh and pull Mark closer to him.

“You didn’t have to do that… but you did it. Like for me. When you have so much to do already.” Mark felt like crying again, but not in the same manner as last time. Jinyoung tapped him to make him look up and he beamed.

“It was fun! You can help me more. I know this is easier for you.” Jinyoung moved his hand to brush Mark’s hair from his face.

“I’m covered in paint, I probably got you dirty.” Mark frowned, sitting up some, looking over to Youngjae who was still cleaning.

“You know I’m mad you brought him here.” Mark pouted, glaring at the dark haired boy.

“Couldn’t hear you, what?” Youngjae put his hand to his ear and leaned in like he was trying to listen. Mark cursed him out in sign language. Jinyoung reached out and grabbed his hands, yanking Mark back down on the bed.

“Behave. I was worried sick about you. That was the longest I hadn’t heard from you. NEVER vanish like that again.” Jinyoung made crystal clear, Mark studied his face for a moment before nodding his head.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with me. I told you it was a lot of work.” Mark moved to take Jinyoung’s hands in his own.

“You’re not a lot of work, you can’t hear. So what. How many times have I told you that your hearing is only an impairment if you make it one? You are my boyfriend, we will work through everything together. This is not something you’re going through alone. Do we ever have trouble at my house when we spend the day together?” Jinyoung made sure to talk slow, really letting Mark watch his lips. Carefully Mark shook his head no.

“You never have to repeat yourself… things always go so easily. But they won’t always be like that baby. Like..” Mark whimpered, moving his hands to start signing.

“They told me they wont fix me, it’s too expensive. How can insurance not cover repairing your hearing? That is something so important in survival right?” Mark wiped at his eyes, feeling the anger bubbling up inside of him again.

“So we find alternative options. Both of my parents are doctors, my oldest brother is a doctor. Let me talk to them and see what they know. They don’t specialize in ears but they might know someone that can help us.” Jinyoung signed back, a lot slower than Mark but he managed to get it all out.

“I won’t take this for free, I know I have to pay, I just wish my insurance would pay for most of it!” Mark curled back up on the bed, pushing his face into the pillow. Jinyoung watched him with a frown.

“Do you really think your parents can help?” Youngjae moved to sit near them, pushing a paint brush off the bed.

“I don’t know, but it’s an option, so I’m going to try. If this means that much to him than I won't give up until I can make it a reality for him.” Jinyoung checked his watch before he looked back down to Mark, kissing the top of his head.

“Wait! Jinyoung you have class, wha… did you skip class to come here?” Mark looked at his own watch again before his eyes flicked from Youngjae to Jinyoung.

“I made him skip to come with me.” Youngjae signed with a smile.

“He has never skipped a class a day in his life!” Mark signed back and Jinyoung let out a laugh. It was sad, but true. Even when sick, he would just put on a face mask and go; his parents never saw it as an excuse to not go to class, no matter how sick he was.

“His skin is probably crawling.” Mark teased, smiling affectionately at Jinyoung.

Waving the two of them off, Jinyoung got up from the bed to check his phone, he had sent a quick email to his professor while cleaning that due to an emergency he wouldn’t be in class. The teacher seemed more worried that he was okay than anything in her reply; knowing Jinyoung never missed class. She also mentioned the homework was mostly reading, and she figured Jinyoung already completed it so there was no reason to worry.

It was relieving to see, the itching feeling under his skin subsiding some as he put his phone back and looked down at his paint covered shirt. He heard Mark mumble an ‘i’m sorry’ from the bed before Jinyoung looked over at him and smiled.

“This was not how I thought our first time painting together would go.” Jinyoung signed and Mark sat upright. Youngjae groaned.

“Did you think it would end with you two rolling around ? erts, the both of you, don’t think I don’t know what you get up to!” Youngjae said, looking away from Mark so he couldn’t see what he was saying.

“Wah!! WHAT NO!!!” Jinyoung threw his hands up, eyes blown wide as he fumbled over himself trying to come up with something to say.

“We have never, it’s not… we’re waiting… I haven’t…” Jinyoung groaned, nearly speechless for once in his life.

“AH HA! I KNEW HE WAS LYING!!” Youngjae turned to Mark and punched his shoulder.

“WHAT THE HELL!” Mark yelled, rubbing the now sore spot.

“When I asked you how your life was you said great!” Youngjae signed and Mark looked confused.

“I thought you said love life! ! You know you talk too fast for me!” Mark moved to jump at Youngjae, the two friends play fighting around the room until Jinyoung walked over and pulled Mark off Youngjae.

“Calm down you! Enough abuse for one day. Come back to my house with me, you can clean up there and spend the night.” Jinyoung signed, kissing the top of Mark’s head gently.

Youngjae giggled at how quickly Mark threw clothes into a bag, cleaning up around his room a little knowing his parents would have killed him if he didn’t. Jinyoung and Youngjae left him to finish getting ready, heading down to the living room where Mark’s parents got up quickly and moved to find out what happened. Jinyoung saw the look of worry written on both of their features, frowning slightly, Jinyoung bowed his head politely.

“I’m taking him back to my apartment for the night, we got him to calm down.” Jinyoung said softly and the two of them let out a long relieved sigh.

“Sometimes we think he would be happier if he lived with you.” The mom commented and pushed her hair out of her face, Jinyoung chewed at his lip gently.

“Wouldn’t you be worried we’re rushing into things? It hasn’t even been 100 days for us yet.” Jinyoung looked at the both of them curiously.

“Our son has never let anyone into his heart before. Other than Youngjae and a few other friends, he almost never leaves the house. But since he met you, he spends every weekend with you, every free moment he has is by your side. As parents, his happiness is the only important thing, and you seem to be that for him. I’m saying to you, think about it. Because we trust you will take care of him.” The father spoke and Jinyoung felt blown away. He looked towards the stairs to see Mark coming down and smiled wide at him, reaching out for his hands. When Mark took them and curled up close to his side, Jinyoung felt protective of him.

“Youngjae do you need a ride home?” Jinyoung looked up and Youngjae shook his head no.

“I live very close, I can walk. Thank you though. Please let me know how he does. Make sure he goes to school tomorrow, we have an exam.” Youngjae said before showing himself out, Jinyoung smirked and bowed to Mark’s parents, following shortly after.

The ride was quiet. Mark’s head hurt from all the crying and he chose to sleep. Jinyoung agreed it was best and held his hand as they made the 20 minute drive back to his house. Jinyoung used that time to replay what Mark’s parents had said over and over again, weighing the options. He did love Mark, he loved having him around. He had already seemed to thread himself into every area of Jinyoung’s life. The only days they weren’t together were the nights Jinyoung worked because he got home so late.

It was strange to him, how his once quiet and organized life could have became what it was. If this were months prior he wouldn’t have skipped class for anyone, he wouldn’t have ever dreamed of giving someone so much of his time. The thought of doing everything he did with Mark would have made his skin crawl because it was all out of order, but with Mark, all he ever felt was peace.

Sitting in his parking space, Jinyoung just watched Mark sleep for a few moments before he leaned down to kiss the top of his head gently, his nose rubbing against his hair before he moved to carefully rub his shoulder. When Mark blinked up at him, Jinyoung smiled wide.

“We’re here. Let’s go inside.” Jinyoung said slowly before he climbed out of the car, wrapping his jacket tighter around his body before heading up to his apartment with Mark.

In no time the two of them had fallen back into their same comfortable rhythm. Mark took a shower, Jinyoung studied what he thought he missed in class. Once Mark was out of the shower Jinyoung made them dinner, Mark made dessert, and they ate at the table peacefully together.

Mark scribbled in his sketchbook on the bed while Jinyoung did his homework at his desk. It was as if Mark had always been living with him, not even knowing that he had already helped Jinyoung break so many of his OCD-like habits. Habits that his ex worked years trying to change but was never successful at.

Once his studying was done, Jinyoung left to take his shower, doing his nighttime routine as usual. When he got back to the bedroom, Mark was already changed into his pajamas and reading one of his favorite comic books. Jinyoung watched him in the doorway for several moments before he felt a giant smile come across his face. Walking across the room, Jinyoung moved to sit on his side of the bed, reaching for his post-it notes, he started to write before sticking the note to the book.

“I have a question for you.”

Mark looked at the note and raised an eyebrow, reaching for the little stack of notes he had left on the nightstand. Quickly writing something down, he stuck it to Jinyoung’s leg.

“Ask me anything.”

“I have been thinking, I would really love it if you were around me more often.”

“I would love that too, but I know how busy you get with school and work. I’m happy you make so much time for me now.”

Jinyoung frowned at that note, he didn’t want Mark to think that he came after school and work.

“I want you to move in with me. Or if this place is not big enough we can look for a new place. One with a room for you to draw in.”

Mark looked at the note for what felt like forever, reading every line over and over again before his head turned to Jinyoung, unsure if he was reading it right.

“You want me to live with you… wh… aren’t you scared we’re moving a little fast? You don’t have to because of what happened. I’m okay now, I promise.” Mark said, scooting his body to better face Jinyoung.

“I was thinking about it a week ago, and your parents brought it up to me today. They said you would be happier living with me. I hoped they were right, I would be happier with you living with me… If you think it’s too soon that’s fine, I will wait. But know that I want this, I love you so much. How can you being around more be anything but good.” Jinyoung was sure to speak slowly, using his hands as well in case there were any words Mark might have missed. He wanted him to know how serious this was.

“I.. will move in under one condition.” Mark said, moving his whole body to be straddled across Jinyoung’s lap.

“Tell me. Anything you want and I promise it will be yours.” Jinyoung moved his hands to rub at Mark’s thighs, carefully inching his hands up to his hips pulling him down closer.

“Our new place must have a bigger bed.”

Jinyoung giggled, looking down at his twin sized bed. For the longest time it was perfect for him, why would he need anything more when it was just him. Mark was right, two bodies needed more space to sleep together, not that they ever slept away from each other. Jinyoung nodded his head in agreement before surging up to capture Mark’s lips in his own, his arms wrapped tight around his body, now pulling him close as he carefully rolled them over to be on top of Mark.

“Our first night moved in… I want that to be the night we make love for the first time.” Mark added, Jinyoung’s eyes must have went wide with the way Mark giggled up at him.

“Are you sure you’re ready for that baby?” Jinyoung asked, slotting his body between Mark’s legs. Mark let out a quiet sound before he nodded his head, sliding his legs up so that his thighs were resting on Jinyoung’s hips.

“We will probably be tired but.. It will be our place. I’ll be living with the man that I love starting an official chapter of our life together. What better time?” The look in Mark’s eyes was breathtaking for Jinyoung. He looked so pure, so in love, there was no hidden meaning behind anything he was saying.

“Why do you love me so much? What have I done to deserve someone like you?” Jinyoung whispered, leaning down a little to kiss at Mark’s lips before picking his head up to let him talk.

“You brought music to my quiet world. I feel like… I hear your voice in my dreams, nobody has been able to make me feel like my world is normal in years. You make me feel like myself again.” Mark said softly, eyes focused on Jinyoung's face so he knew how serious his words were. Jinyoung paused for a moment, letting everything sink in before he leaned down to kiss Mark’s lips lightly.

“I will help you fix this. Believe me I will.” Jinyoung promised, and for the first time, Mark nodded in agreement.

He hated accepting help because everyone always failed him, but Jinyoung was different, he could make everything happen. At least in Mark's eyes. If there was one person to trust, it was Jinyoung.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’ll be right there!” Jinyoung yelled, hearing the bell at the front desk being rung. Rushing from the back corner of the shop, Jinyoung smoothed back his hair and smiled wide until he saw who was standing there.

Wonhui. The man he spent ages trying to be enough for. The man that left him cold and abandoned with seemingly no hope of recovery. Standing there with a smug smile on his face and a single rose in his hand.

“I knew you would be working today.” Wonhui said, taking a step closer to Jinyoung, holding out the rose.

“I always work on this night. Why are you here?” Jinyoung took the rose but quickly set it on the counter.

“I miss you. I realize that things just haven’t felt right without you. I know I hurt you but we can work things out right?” Moving closer to Jinyoung, Wonhui tried to touch his waist only to have Jinyoung shove by him. Moving to the back, he yelled to Jaebum that he would be leaving early. Jaebum rushed out to see what happened.

“Is Mark oka- YOU! Get the out of my store!” Jaebum nearly jumped over the counter, trying to get at Wonhui, who put his hands up.

“I came to say sorry. I want Jinyoung back. We are going to work things out.” Wonhui looked around but Jinyoung was already leaving the shop. Completely forgetting Mark and Jackson had gone next door to the cafe to get them all drinks.

Wonhui quickly ran after him, moving to grab Jinyoung’s arm only to have him be shoved away. Moving, he stood in front of Jinyoung so he would stop walking.

“I know you’re mad, we can talk. Please. Let's go in the cafe and talk.” Wonhui begged, looking hopeful to Jinyoung.

“Even if I wanted to, which I don’t, I’m not a cheater like you. I have a boyfriend, I love him. I’m going home to him.” Jinyoung brushed by his ex, stopping dead in his tracks when he heard the man start to laugh.

“You. Love someone? A boyfriend? Jinyoung, when did you start lying.” Wonhui kept laughing, holding onto his stomach before he felt the sharp sting of Jinyoung’s fist connecting with his jaw.

“I have wanted to do that for months. you! I do have a boyfriend.” Jinyoung yelled, his blood boiling the longer he looked at Wonhui. He didn’t notice Mark leaving the cafe with Jackson, too busy glaring at his ex, in what looked like a nasty fight that was about to break out between the two of them.

“Is that… oh .” Jackson stopped walking, looking across the street at Jinyoung squaring off with his ex boyfriend.

“How do you even know you care about that boy? What makes him so special? What makes you think you’re in love with him? You don’t know how to love. We tried forever, nobody can ever get in the way of your schedules, your lists.” Wonhui rolled his eyes, reaching to try and grab at Jinyoung’s hands.

Jinyoung pushed him away, pretending to shake the germs from his hands before he crossed his arms over his chest. He stood tall, proud, not scared around Wonhui for the first time ever. All those years of feeling like he wasn’t good enough, like he was inferior, that gripping fear that haunted his dreams, had vanished. And he knew why it was gone, who helped it fade away into the dark void with the rest of Jinyoung’s insecurities.

“How do I know it’s love? Because the way he looks at me... that look in his eyes… Is the way I used to look at you. Only you never seemed to notice that was my way of showing it. I may not be the best with words, and slow with my actions, but I am a ing human and I know what love is! Love is something you are patient with, you take care of it, and I won’t make the same mistakes you did by letting the best thing to ever happen to me slip by because I was too stupid to notice. You had your chance, you ed up. I now have my chance… and I’m going to take it.” Jinyoung stated firmly. Holding his eye contact that had his ex stumbling back. Shocked at the way Jinyoung was speaking, with a passion he didn’t know the other held.

“Baby!” Mark yelled, not liking the way the two were looking at each other, looking nervously to Jackson; seeing that even he looked upset at the situation, Mark didn’t think twice before he ran across the street. Jackson yelled to get him to stop, making Jinyoung look over and yell for Mark to be careful, grabbing him right before a car got to him. The two stumbled back but everyone seemed okay, Jinyoung looked Mark over to be safe, pure worry on his face.

“Who is this guy? Why is he touching you!?” Mark signed, glaring angrily at the man before he looked to Jinyoung. He was completely unphased by the car that nearly took him out.

“My ex, he is trying to get me back. Wants to work things out. Wont believe me that I’m in a relationship already.” Jinyoung signed to Mark, smiling to Mark who turned to look at the male.

“He’s ing deaf? Of course he is. You got someone that doesn’t have to listen to you constantly worrying over tests and deadlines. You never have to call him because he can’t hear you anyway.” Wonhui rolled his eyes.

“Hey, ugly, I can read lips. Go near my boyfriend again and I will smack you so hard your kids will come out with bruised faces, am I clear? I might be deaf, but I’m not weak.” Mark stated so firmly that Wonhui’s entire demeanor changed.

“We’re late to go look at apartments baby.” Jinyoung moved to take Mark’s hand in his own.

“Late.. it’s Thursday. You work until 9, then go home and study until 11.” Wonhui said, Mark rolled his eyes.

“No, he’s leaving work early so we can go look at apartments, then we’re going to go home and make dinner together, then we’re going to watch a movie before we go to sleep.” Mark said softly moving to Jinyoung's side.

“I told you. I’m in love.”

Notes:

i'm currently accepting prompts on twitter! or on tumblr. the main place to reach me would always be twitter but feel free to leave them here in the comments below as well! thank you for reading if you liked it let me know.