Mark exhaled roughly as he rushed into one of the smaller lecture halls on campus with Haechan and Renjun hot on his trail. The door opened with a resounding bang as he miscalculated the force at which he pushed. At the sudden sound, heads whipped around to look at the panting teens who were late to the cheer-off practice.

Mark's cheeks coloured a deeper red in embarrassment, changing from the soft pink his exertion had painted them with just moments prior. Haechan slipped past him quietly and slunk into a seat in the front of the room beside Jeno and Jaemin. Similarly, Renjun voiced out a hushed apology before following the redhead and sitting beside him.

Last night Taeyong had told the first years to be ready around 8:00 am to practice for the cheer-off that was going to take place in the early evening. Jeno and Jaemin had insisted on leaving their residence early, stopping for coffee on the way. Although Mark had woken up early as well, unable to sleep properly after last night's conversation, he chose to stay back, not wanting to third-wheel whatever strange dynamic the pair had going on. This, however, had turned out to have been a mistake, as apparently, Haechan loved taking his time, making sure to fluff his hair up just right and apply some light concealer and lip tint before leaving the house. Renjun also felt no need to rush either as he had insisted upon eating a hearty breakfast before the meeting.

Mark could see why the two got along so well as they raced across campus after him, giggling without a care in the world. Thankfully, upon their arrival Taeyong and Doyoung had only paused briefly in their explanation of the evening's event but resumed shortly after, not wanting to waste time.

Now standing at the door, Mark glanced around for a seat, frowning when Jeno cast him an apologetic look and mouthed sorry, as he had only been able to save two seats. Mark clenched his hands and shifted his gaze away from his friends towards the back row, where he saw a flash of muted silver.

Yuta was sitting alone, eyes fixated intently on him. The icebreaker waved slightly when Mark returned his stare, and his lips broke into a soft smile when Mark nodded and began to walk up the stairs in his direction.

The elder would not have been his first choice, but no one else he knew had a free seat beside them, and honestly, despite the uncomfortable curling his stomach does around the icebreaker, he really did not mind his company.

Mark slipped into the chair to the left of the older, with an apologetic smile resting on his lips. Yuta returned the smile with a brighter grin of his own; the warmth emanating from the older boy’s smile was somehow able to reassure Mark that sitting next to him was not the worst choice he’d ever made.

“Busy morning?” Yuta asked. The genuine interest sparkling in his eyes betrayed the subtle teasing tone his question took on.

“Yeah, I mean, I guess,” Mark voiced out quietly while turning to face the front of the room, “sorry bout that.”

Yuta shrugged in return, “I mean, it’s no big deal. If you haven't noticed, we are about ten kids short of usual anyways. Tae’s probably just glad that you decided to attend.”

Reassured that he had not caused as big of a disturbance as he thought, Mark relaxed his shoulders and exhaled gently through his nose. He shifted and settled into his chair, glancing at Yuta out of the corner of his eye. The elder had leaned back in his seat, gaze fixed on the front of the room, as his eyebrows slightly furrowed in concentration.

Mark returned his attention to the centre of the room, where Taeyong stood explaining cheers and attempting to motivate a group of tired teens. Mark had to give it to Taeyong. The Don had not been deterred by the lack of enthusiasm, as although the responding echoes of his repeat-after-me were slightly lethargic, they were still present nonetheless. Honestly, an incredible feat if you asked Mark since teenagers can be pretty hard to engage. Once focused on the cheers, Mark began to repeat after Taeyong quietly under his breath, staring forward in concentration. Smiling softly when Haechan suggested some actions to accompany the words, with an excited flourish.

Just as a giggle broke past his lips when Haechan suggested a particularly flashy move, an arm flopped gently onto the backrest of his chair behind his shoulders. Mark tensed slightly, then glanced to his right.

Yuta’s arm had come to rest across the top of his chair, brushing lightly against his back, but the icebreaker remained focused on the front repeating after Doyoung, who was leading the next cheer. Mark gulped quietly and subtly squirmed in his seat.

"Is this okay?" Yuta voiced softly after feeling Mark's body stiffen.

Mark nodded softly and then hesitantly leaned back into the chair. Once he settled, the arm around his shoulder shifted slightly, and a warm palm came to rest softly against his shoulder blade.

_________________

The practice finished about an hour later, with Yuta’s arm remaining pressed against Mark until the very end, only shifting slightly every once in a while. The younger teen had flinched with each shift but eventually settled back, leaning onto the older boy’s arm and pressing firmly against the tentatively placed hand.

Mark’s lack of proper sleep from the night before finally started to catch up to him as his eyes drifted shut, only to snap open when the arm wrapped warmly around him began to slip away.

The meeting had come to an end, and the only people remaining in the room were Jeno and Jaemin, who stood shoulder to shoulder while conversing with Renjun, Taeyong, and Yangyang. Haechan had begun speaking to a curvy brunette with bright eyes and long, straight hair.

Turning to his right, he noticed that Yuta was looking at him with an amused smile on his lips, as he asked teasingly, “Slept well, kiddo?”

Realizing that the older may have been uncomfortable, Mark flushed and fumbled for words, “I am sorry. I should have paid attention. I--”

The words bubbled up uncontrollably until fingers began to card through his hair and cut his rambling short. Yuta had turned his body towards him, arm raised and fingers deftly arranging unruly strands on his head. A soft smile rested on the elder's lips as he gazed at him gently. Mark blinked slowly, and if he were a fool enough to project, he would have almost believed that the older boy was looking at him fondly.

“Markie, s’ok. You obviously needed it, and I don’t mind. You’re cute when you sleep anyways,” he spoke gently as his hand slid down from its place on Mark's head, across the younger boy’s cheek, and finally onto his own lap.

Mark glanced down at the hand and then back up at the elder. Light reflected faintly off of a silver ring on his pointer finger. Flashes of the silver in the elder’s mouth popped into Mark’s head, but he quickly pushed the thought aside.

“Thanks, I guess,” he voiced softly, subdued, glancing at Yuta’s face gingerly. Eyes catching on the gentle curve of the elder's lips, which had lifted upwards.

Dazedly he scanned the elder's face, taking in the thickness of his brows that framed his seemingly obsidian eyes, which instead shone a deep, rich brown under the fluorescent lights of the room. The elder’s silver hair framed his face loosely, and Mark caught himself wishing to touch. Whether he wanted to run his fingers through the wispy strands or run them along the curve of his cheeks, he could not discern.

Mind-wandering, he drank in the other until a call from Renjun shook him from his thoughts, and he swiftly turned away from Yuta towards the front of the room.

Renjun's beckoning drowned out the soft, disappointed sigh to his right. Suddenly aware of himself, Mark stiffly turned to Yuta, voiced a quiet, stilted goodbye. He quickly stood up to join the others, stumbling on his first step.

Good god, what was he doing?

_________________

The walk back to the apartment had been full of teasing as Haechan whipped out his phone to reveal that he had scored the pretty brunette's number, a contact punctuated with a heart that he claimed she had put there herself.

The news that Haechan liked women came as a shock to Mark and shook him from his embarrassed daze. The red head's earlier reaction to the word had led Mark to assume that he liked dudes, which was fine, but yeah. However, as they walked on, he concluded that if this week had taught him anything, he really shouldn't assume.

If anything, he was just glad that the redhead had been too distracted to see him and Yuta, or he'd never hear the end of it. He sighed gently and sped up his pace, walking after the others, who giggled as Haechan recounted his conversation with the attractive Digital Media and Journalism major.

Once the group had returned home, Mark settled onto the lounge space's rough, blue couch as the other boys puttered around. Jeno and Jaemin had slipped off into one of their bedrooms, giggling as Jeno steered Jaemin with a hand resting on the other boy's hip. Renjun rolled up his sleeves to make lunch, and Haechan slumped on the couch, sprawling out dramatically beside Mark.

"Gosh, it's not even dinner yet, and I'm exhausted," Haechan whined, making grabby hands at the cup of water Renjun was carrying over to him.

Mark nodded in agreement, feeling as if his head was swimming in lazy, lopsided circles. Just as his eyes began to drift closed again, his phone rang, and he slipped his hand into his jean's pocket to retrieve it.

The screen displayed a video call request from Lucas. He perked up instantly. It'd been a while since he'd talked to his best bro and he wondered how the other boy was. He quickly swiped accept and the screen crackled to life as Lucas's pixelated face appeared.

"Yo, Mark, my man, how are you?" The blonde's ever-energetic voice boomed out.

Mark’s thoughts drifted to memories of earlier in the morning, stalling his answer for a moment. He wanted to talk about Yuta, but if he did, that would make whatever was or wasn’t happening real. Later, he resolved, he would talk about it later.

"Hey Cas, I'm alright. How's life back home?' Mark chose to respond instead, beaming at his screen and waiting eagerly for a response as the taller boy adjusted his limber frame on his bed to find a more comfortable position.

"Oh, you know, same old, same old. Just picked up more shifts at work," Lucas pouted comically. Mark chuckled, causing the other boy to jut out his plush lower lip further.

"Boss’ still giving you a hard time?" Mark asked in understanding sympathy, as he had previously worked in retail and was also used to hearing tales of Lucas’ many work reprimandations.

Lucas sighed and nodded sullenly, "no creative freedom in that place. You combine a few menu items one time, your coworker coincidentally can't come into