"Why didn't you wake me up?" JinYoung asked as he rushed through the door to Mark's office.

"You looked so sweet sleeping there, I just couldn't wake you up," said Mark as he smiled, looking up from the papers on his desk. His handsome, raven-haired partner had to smile at the compliment. Mark always knew how to get to him. It had been that way almost since the day they met.

*                                 *                                 *                                 *                                 *

The first day he saw Mark was a day he would never forget. He had just been selected to be in the university singing group and he was floating on air. He had always enjoyed singing, but he really hadn't believed that his voice would be good enough to impress the panel of upperclassmen who auditioned all the prospective members. He had sung at a few assemblies in secondary school, but university was something else altogether. There were so many people auditioning, he really didn't think he'd stood a chance. But he'd been chosen! He was so excited, his bright smile never faded as he ran to his dance class. It was the first day, so he didn't want to be late.

When he arrived with enough time to quickly change before class started, but when he looked at locker #12, he noticed it had already been taken. It was a small thing, but 12 was his favourite number and always chose it if he had a chance. Well, there was nothing for it. He put his clothes in locker 11, right next to it, instead. He was curious to see who it was who had chosen 12.

He walked into the class and started a mini warm-up. He didn't have a lot of room because the class appeared to be full. Once the teacher came in, everyone formed lines to start. He wasn't in the best spot, but he could see himself in the mirror and had a good view of the teacher, so it wasn't too bad. He liked to be in the teacher's line of sight, though because he liked being corrected if his technique or placement wasn't quite right. He was a bit of a perfectionist, so where other students might feel a little embarrassed if they were corrected, he welcomed it.

They were just over halfway through class when he noticed someone just to the left of him in the row in front of him. He had been watching the teacher and himself so intently in the mirror, he had rarely looked around, but now that they had finished getting the choreography, he felt relaxed enough to look around at the other students. That's when he saw him. He had flaming red hair that should have made him noticeable right away, had Jinyoung been paying attention. The expression on his face was soft, almost careless as he performed the dance. Occasionally, though when he did a sharp move, his face would get a determined look. Those looks were like a sort of punctuation that followed his body. He had a special sort of style and swagger to his moves that became only more interesting as he mastered the steps. JinYoung started dancing as though they were the only two in the room; he synchronized his movements the red-haired dancer. Dancing with someone that good would only make him better.

"Great, JinYoung!" the teacher called to him. He smiled with pride. He had a very cool and smooth style when he danced and most teachers really liked it. Just at that moment, he looked in the mirror and locked eyes with the red-haired dancer. And a remarkable thing happened.

The dancer smiled at him.

A perfect smile. So bright. So real. So full of joy.

JinYoung couldn't believe he was smiling at him that way.

He smiled back.

"Great class, everyone! Great job, Mark!" the teacher complimented. The red-haired dancer bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement.

Was that his name? Mark?

Everyone started heading for the locker room. JinYoung turned to go.

Just then, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned to see the beaming face of the red-haired dancer smiling at him.

"You dance really well."

"Thanks. So do you."

"Thanks."

"I know this might sound strange, but would you like to run through the choreography a couple of times with me? I like to do it a few more times after class, just to keep it fresh in my mind, but it's too embarrassing to do it alone," he confided.

JinYoung agreed and they started the music. He now had a better chance to watch the dancer and the more he watched, the more impressed he was.

After they had run through it three times, the dancer said to him: "You have a real flair when you dance. I really like it."

"Thanks, but that's how I feel watching you dance," JinYoung answered.

As the two made their way to the locker room, it dawned on JinYoung that he would, most likely, had missed seeing the person who'd taken locker 12.

But as he headed for his locker, he noticed he wasn't the only one heading in that direction.

The red-haired dancer turned to look at JinYoung curiously.

"My stuff is in locker 11," JinYoung said by way of an explanation.

"Oh, it's right next to mine," the dancer replied. And he opened locker #12.

"My name is Mark, by the way," he said extending his hand.

"My name is JinYoung. Pleased to meet you."

*                                 *                                 *                                 *                                 *

From that day forward the two grew to be practically inseparable.

They were in different courses of study: JinYoung in Business Administration and Mark in Architecture and Design, so they didn't have any classes together, but outside of that they would meet for lunch and sit together while they did their assignments. Of course, they would also go to dance class together and often hang out afterwards and talk.

It was strange to JinYoung to meet someone he felt such a strong chemistry with. It was as though they'd known each other for years and years. It felt so comfortable just hanging around together, it always felt like, well, fun.

Mark didn't actually say much, but being around him always gave JinYoung an unusual feeling of contentment that he'd only felt at home around his family up until then. He thought a person would have to have been around someone their entire lives to have that sort of homey feeling, but here he was feeling it around Mark.

They started visiting each other's rooms so often, that their roommates agreed to a room switch at the end of the first semester. They decided it was better to change roommates than to have an extra body showing up every other day.

So, Mark and JinYoung started rooming together.

They were well-suited to each other because although each liked to socialize but they also liked their alone time, so they respected each other's space. There were many evenings, nights and weekends when they would just be in the same space, but not talk very much. It was just nice being quiet, yet being together.

Other evenings, nights and weekends, they would chatter almost uncontrollably. They never seemed to run out of topics. JinYoung would talk about his courses and Mark would tell JinYoung about his. They didn't retain much from those kinds of talks, but it was just nice to be able to have someone to talk to about stuff that mattered to you, who would willingly listen.

As the second semester went on, they started to gather a small circle of friends. Jia, YoungJae and JaeBum from the singing club. JoKwon and Min from dance class.

And then there was Jackson.

He breezed into dance class one day like a force 10 on the Beaufort Scale. He was loud. He was funny. He could dance and he latched onto Mark right away. There was something about the dancer Jackson really liked. He flung his arm around Mark's shoulder that day, and from that moment, they were friends.

Jackson liked JinYoung, too, but if JinYoung became a special friend to Jackson, Mark seemed to occupy the place of special, special friend.

That sort of irritated JinYoung a little. He was friends with Mark first and now Jackson was always hanging around.

Well, always was a bit of an exaggeration, but still . . .

One day when JinYoung was feeling especially sensitive, Mark noticed. JinYoung wasn't the best at hiding his feelings.

"Aw, what's the matter with my bestie?" Mark asked.

"Are you talking about Jackson?" retorted JinYoung.

"Hey, what do you mean by that?" A slow smile spread across Mark's face as he narrowed his eyes. "Are you jealous?"

JinYoung pouted.

"You are! You're jealous!" Mark teased.

"Shut up," JinYoung pouted.

"You're jelly..." Mark continued to tease.

JinYoung looked down. He was sad and a little angry that Mark was teasing him.

"Hey," Mark said and placing his fingers under his best friend's chin he lifted his head until JinYoung's face was level with his.

"You do know that you're my bestie, right?"

JinYoung grunted reluctantly in reply.

"Come on, you know I like you best. Don't be jealous of Jackson." Mark was beginning to look serious. "Do you like me best?" he asked.

JinYoung didn't answer.

Mark pouted.

"You don't like me best?" he asked.

JinYoung just looked at him sadly before replying.

"I like you best," he said quietly.

"Aw, c'mere," Mark said, smiling once again and grabbed JinYoung to his chest. He wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly. He whispered in his ear.

"I like you best, too. I will always like you best."

JinYoung smiled and hugged him back.

After that, even though Mark and JinYoung hung out with their other friends, Mark always made sure he spent special time with his best friend.

*                          *                            *                              *                            *

The two best friends helped each other through their grueling final exams. Even though they didn't have the same subjects, they kept each other's company as they studied, made coffee to help the other stay awake during long study sessions and massaged each other's tired back and shoulder muscles, and even hands when they ached from being hunched over books for hours on end, or from the tension of extensive note-taking.

At the end of term, they rewarded themselves by going on holiday with their friends to Jeju. And there, for the first time, they shared a bed together.

As everything that had happened between them before, this was no different. It was so comfortable, it felt almost familiar. Like a good dream that you recall even when you're awake.

They fell asleep next to each other, but sometime in the middle of the night, Mark reached out and pulled JinYoung close to him.

JinYoung felt the comfort of Mark's arms around him and snuggled even closer to him.

That was the best night's sleep either of them had ever had. So, they slept like that every night during the holiday.

During the day, though, JinYoung started to notice things about Mark.

He noticed how good he was with his hands. He was good at building things. He made the most elaborate, sturdy and beautiful sand castle JinYoung had ever seen.

JinYoung made sure to take lots of pictures of it. He'd felt sad at the thought that the wind and the surf would erase it so thoroughly that no one would ever know what Mark had built that day, so he made sure that some images of it in the world would be preserved.

As he watched him build meticulously, JinYoung noticed Mark's hands.

They were beautiful. That was the only word for them.

And he started to notice that his beauty didn't end at his hands. For the first time, he noticed that Mark was beautiful altogether.

Mark felt JinYoung's eyes on him that day and it made him feel self-conscious. When he would look up and catch JinYoung staring at him, his best friend would smile his usual smile and Mark would smile back.

But Mark noticed that his eyes were different.

There was something there that hadn't been there before.

The night they returned from that trip, they lay in their own beds trying to sleep.

JinYoung stared at the ceiling.

Mark lay on his left side. Then he turned restlessly onto his right side.

Then back onto his left.

Neither of them could sleep.

Mark had a picture in his mind of JinYoung's eyes, with a look in them that both scared him and . . .

. . . excited him.

JinYoung thought of Mark pulling him close to his body to sleep. He remembered Mark's face so close to his as they had shared that bed every night.

"Mark?"

"Yes?"

"Could you come here for a minute?"

Mark knelt at the side of JinYoung's bed.

"Can you sleep here?"

Mark didn't answer.

He simply climbed into the bed made for one and pulled JinYoung close to him.

JinYoung looked into Mark's eyes with that look that scared and excited him.

Mark understood.

He and JinYoung moved closer to each other, slowly and steadily. Each could feel the other's breath tickling their skin. Their hearts were pounding so hard against their chests they were sure the other could feel it.

Mark looked from JinYoung's eyes to his generous lips and back again.

JinYoung began to close his eyes slowly as the moved ever closer to one another.

Their lips touched. Lightly at first. Then pressed. Then they slowly began to move. Tenderly, at first. Then, gradually more and more urgently. Once their lips parted they began tasting each other tentatively, carefully, savouring each other and feeling the texture of the other's kiss. But the more they kissed the more they craved the taste and feel of the other. Their lips became insistent as they moved over the other's with increasing hunger.

So, that night, the night of their return, the night it all began, they held each other and kissed. And kissed. And kissed. Sweetly and deeply. Never wanting to let go.

And like everything that had passed between them since the day they first met, it felt immediately right.

*                                 *                                 *                                 *                                 *

"Oh, your mother called," Mark said as he gathered his papers. He had a meeting with the catering staff this morning.

"This early?"

"It must be important." Mark tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. He must have succeeded since JinYoung didn't seem to hear it.

She'll never give up, he thought.

"I'll call her back. It won't take long," JinYoung called behind him as he walked out of Mark's office.

He was hoping she hadn't called about the thing she usually called him about these days. As he pressed her number on his contact list, he felt a slight feeling of dread. He heard the click as she picked up and his breath involuntarily hitched just before he spoke.

"Hello, Umma. You phoned?"

Well, that was nervewracking! My very first chapter on AFF!  "\(^_^)/"

Hope you liked it and are looking forward to more! Thanks for reading so far!  (*^_^*)