~~

“Remind me why I’m doing this again,” Jinyoung sighed dramatically as he stared at his reflection in the mirror, tugging on his stubborn tie in an attempt to make it lie straight.

“Because you’re a pushover? Because you owe Jaebum? But more importantly, because you desperately need to stop sulking over Hyunwoo, especially since you never even got around to confessing in the first place?”

“Hey!” Jinyoung shot Jackson a scathing look. “Since when did I sulk over Hyunwoo? I never-”

“Oh pleaseee,” Jackson rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to get all defensive, we all know you had a giant crush on the dude. You just never got around to acting on it, is all. Yet ever since he’s been announced as taken you’ve been moping like you just got dumped or something, so it’s about time you got some real action. Then if you do get dumped, you’ll actually have something legitimate to cry about.”

“Oh, shut up,” Jinyoung shoved Jackson aside but didn’t say anything more; as much as he hated to admit it, there was some truth to Jackson’s words. It hadn’t been a major thing, just a budding crush was all, but it was also true his mood had been affected when Hyunwoo and Wonho had suddenly gone public with their relationship.

“Still though, I can’t believe Jaebum’s making me do this,” Jinyoung whined, giving up on his tie to flop down in a chair instead. “I don’t want to do this.”

“Be grateful you have this opportunity,” Jackson chided. “Besides, Jaebum’s been worried about you, too. You work too hard, you’ve been burying yourself with stuff at work. It’s about time you went out and had some fun.”

Jinyoung leveled Jackson with a flat stare.

“And speed dating is your definition of fun?”

“Oh, trust me, you’ll have fun!” Jackson gave Jinyoung a reassuring pat on the back, before pulling him upright.

“Come on now, you better get going soon or else you’ll be late!”

~~

Quite frankly, Mark was ready to be done already. He wasn’t sure what exactly had possessed him to agree to his friends’ persuasions and try this whole speed dating thing, but now he was regretting it. It was as if he’d somehow forgotten that he hated being forced to talk a lot, much less being forced to talk to strangers. He could do it- he wasn’t awkward or shy, or anything like that- but it was still absolutely draining. Keeping up a charismatic front took energy, and even nodding along semi-interestedly was taking its toll. He already had to do a day of that bull at work, and doing it in his off-time was just too much to ask for.

To be fair, the first few “dates” weren’t that bad, when he still had energy. But after constantly being cut-off whenever he hadn’t managed to vocalize his thoughts fast enough, after being asked the same questions over and over, and even after receiving the same compliments over and over, Mark wished he could just leave.

When the sixth man slid into the space in front of him, Mark had exhaled softly, trying to hide his sigh by pouring himself more water. He froze, however, when a similarly exasperated exhale sounded at the same time as his own. Startled, Mark looked up to lock gazes with a pair of surprised brown eyes that mirrored his own.

The other man was partially bent over, about to sit down but now also frozen with his jaw slack, expression a cross between surprised and panicked, as if he’d been caught in a much more compromising act than a simple sigh.

And then the moment was broken as they both burst into laughter, the stranger nearly collapsing into his seat as a hand came up to cover his mouth, the skin around his eyes crinkling into oddly charming whiskers as his eyes all but disappeared. He was good-looking and crisply dressed, allowing Mark to immediately place him into the category of good first impressions.

When they finally calmed, Mark was the first to speak, initiating conversation for the first time this entire night.

“Getting tired of this, too?”

The other man nodded, eyes still curved in that pleasing way.

“Glad to know I’m not the only one,” he readily admitted. “I’m Jinyoung, and you are?”

“Mark,” he answered, keeping it short and simple.

“Mark,” Jinyoung rolled the name around on his tongue, as if savoring it. “I’m guessing you’re not from around here, then?”

“Yeah, moved here in high school. From the US, California. For my dad’s work.” Mark’s answers were short and concise, but didn’t come off as dismissive. Jinyoung nodded, pausing to take a sip from his drink as he looked at Mark expectantly, as if waiting for him to make the next move.

“And how about yourself?” Mark added after a heartbeat.

“I’m from Busan, came here for school,” Jinyoung replied promptly. Now that he mentioned it, Mark thought he could make out the faintest hint of an accent, but then again he could’ve been just imagining it. He wasn’t all too great at differentiating yet.

There was another slight lull in the conversation, though not uncomfortable. Mark was taking his time gauging Jinyoung, and unlike the others so far, Jinyoung didn’t seem to be in any hurry to pelt him with questions. Mark had never found silence to be particularly awkward, unless someone had done something to make it so, but most others didn’t share this sentiment. Usually, as soon as a pause would present itself, they’d feel the pressing need to fill it, to cover it up with useless chatter.

Jinyoung was a strange, but very much appreciated change from that particular mindset. Despite the lack of conversation, he didn’t shy away from Mark’s contemplative gaze, holding his eye contact easily.

“You don’t seem to do this whole speed dating thing often,” Jinyoung finally spoke, lip quirking upwards as he appraised Mark. Mark shook his head, a smile forming on his lips as well.

“Friends convinced me to try something new, but it was pretty much what I expected. I’m not really a talkative person with strangers, and ten minutes isn’t really enough time to get to know a person well enough.”

At this, Jinyoung shook his head.

“You’d be surprised, actually. Ten minutes is plenty to figure out if a person is dickhead sometimes.”

The sudden coarse language that left Jinyoung’s mouth caught Mark off-guard, drawing out another surprised laugh. He leaned forwards on the table, intrigued.

“It sounds like you’ve already established a dickhead in our midst, then.”

Jinyoung grimaced slightly.

“My third ‘speed date.’ The guy’s ex-boyfriend was bi, apparently, and cheated on him with a woman. Which is a terrible thing to go through, and he’s probably still got a whole bunch of insecurities about that to work through, but I still found it rather unnecessary how he tried to link his ex’s infidelity to his uality. And I might’ve said something rather…passive aggressive in return. Think he was pretty offended by me calling him out, but whatever.”

“Yikes,” Mark agreed. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t let him get away with that, or else I would’ve had to kick him in the balls or something if he said something similar to my face.”

“You’re bi?”

Though Jinyoung’s words formed a question, Mark could tell by the look in his eyes it was more of a statement awaiting confirmation.

“Yeah,” Mark affirmed, impressed by how perceptive Jinyoung was. “And while we’re on that topic, how about you?”

“Strictly gay,” Jinyoung grinned.

~~

They went on to talk about a variety of things, including work, places they’d like to travel to, and were in the midst of discussing best restaurants in the area when a bell suddenly rang, signalling the next rotation of partners.

Almost immediately Mark made a face- for once, he’d actually been enjoying himself, completely forgetting the environment and getting genuinely caught up in the conversation. Jinyoung had made it so easy to be engaged, and talking to him had felt so natural. He gave Mark his full, rapt attention, never pushing him and moved to match his pace in conversation, something Mark greatly appreciated.

Now, he recalled that Jinyoung was only number six, and he still had three more of these most-likely uninteresting “dates’ to get through.

Jinyoung himself also didn’t look too happy about the situation, grimacing. He glanced down at his watch, and when he looked back up at Mark, noted the similar discontent. He his lips, as if considering, before opening his mouth to speak.

“You wanna get out of here?” Jinyoung asked, for the first time appearing slightly insecure and hesitant, his brow furrowed as he probed Mark’s gaze worriedly, as if he was afraid he’d just crossed some unmarked line.

This nervousness was quickly banished, however, when Mark immediately returned a relieved grin.

“Definitely,” Mark laughed, but then pulled back himself, uncertain but for different reasons. “But is that allowed?”

Jinyoung shrugged, appearing uncaring as he stood, offering a hand out to Mark.

“Who cares?”

Despite his casualness, Mark managed to glimpse another flash of insecurity in Jinyoung’s eyes, prompting him to quickly take up the proffered hand. It was warm around Mark’s own, though also slightly clammy. Mark smiled at Jinyoung, squeezing his hand slightly in reassurance, and was pleased to see the insecurity fade away.

Though they’d really only known each other for ten minutes, Mark felt he’d already learned so much about the other man. Clearly, Jinyoung’s calm and collected appearance hid a much more complicated interior. Mark couldn’t wait to slowly peel back more of his layers, it’d been so long since he’d been genuinely interested in getting to know another person.

They walked over to the organizer of an event together, a man who also appeared to be participating in their speed dating rotation. Mark hadn’t gotten to pair up with him yet but Jinyoung seemed to have already, if the slight frown that appeared on his face was any indication of familiarity.

“Hey, do you mind if Mark and I head out first?” Jinyoung jumped to the point without preamble. “There’ll still be an even number of people if the two of us leave so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

The other man looked unimpressed by Jinyoung’s words, almost disdainful, and Mark had a sudden suspicion that he might’ve been the one Jinyoung “accidently” offended earlier.

“Why? That’s not fair to people, we haven’t finished the full rotation yet. First you come in Jaebum’s place and now you’re trying to leave with Mark? Now that’s just -”

“Sorry, we weren’t asking for permission,” Mark suddenly cut in and both Jinyoung and the other man snapped to look at him with surprise. “We were just informing you out of courtesy, we’re leaving.”

During their conversation, Jinyoung’s hold on Mark’s hand grown slack, so now Mark regripped their hands together tightly, all but tugging Jinyoung out of the coffee shop, not sparing a single look backwards.

The moment they stepped outside Jinyoung exhaled loudly in relief, shoulders relaxing in a way that suggested a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

“You came in the place of someone else today?” Mark asked curiously, thinking back to that Jaebum the man inside had mentioned.

“Oh, yeah,” Jinyoung’s free hand came up to rub at his nape somewhat bashfully, though he then quickly dropped it in an attempt to wave the matter off. “Jaebum’s a friend and coworker, he actually signed up with no intention to come though, he… he just really wanted me to do this and kinda tricked me into it?”

“Ah,” Mark raised an eyebrow as he noticed the tips of Jinyoung’s ears growing red. “And why was that the case?”

Realizing that Mark had caught onto the fact that there was more to the story, Jinyoung deflated, shuffling slightly awkwardly.

“Uh, I, I guess I kinda had a crush on a guy? But he just got a boyfriend, so I was kinda… just a little mopey about it, I guess. It wasn’t that big of a deal, though!” Jinyoung was quick to add.

Jinyoung’s hand was growing more clammy again, and Mark couldn’t quite hold back an amused grin at how embarrassed Jinyoung looked, attempting to explain. Mark dropped Jinyoung’s hand and his face immediately fell, but it soon morphed into an expression of bewilderment instead when Mark took two quick steps towards him, eyes intense. Jinyoung stepped backwards on instinct, backed up against the side of the building within seconds.

“Well then….” Mark drew out his words, fully enjoying their current situation. He leaned in closer, so close he could feel how tense Jinyoung was holding himself, a bowstring drawn so taut it was about to snap.

Mark raised an eyebrow, his hand finding Jinyoung’s again and twisting so that their fingers were now interlocked tightly, palm against palm. He squeezed slightly, gaze softening as he leaned in even further, never breaking eye contact.

Jinyoung’s eyes widened but not out of apprehension, a smile quirking his lips when he noticed the playful glint in Mark’s eyes and his flushed cheeks that gave away perhaps more than intended. Jinyoung squeezed back firmly, body relaxing and smile growing ever wider to reassure Mark of his thoughts.

“I’ll just to have to make you forget him, then, won’t I?”