Mark awoke, feeling something heavy laying on top of him. It wasn't an uncomfortable weight, but Mark wasn't sure what to make of it, considering he was supposed to be alone in his bed.

He turned a little, trying to see the source of the weight, but only managed to see dark hair from his cocoon of blankets, and that could've been any of his roommates. But then Mark inhaled a familiar scent -- one he wasn't expecting to encounter for a few more hours.

Jackson was back! Mark figured he must've flown in early, and he was disappointed he wasn't going to be able to welcome Jackson back to South Korea with the cheesy sign he had made, but having Jackson back with him made it all unimportant. Jackson was back.

Mark carefully pulled back the covers to reveal Jackson's sleeping face, his hair mussed and chest rumbling with slight snores. He smiled at the way Jackson scrunched his face cutely and nuzzled into his pillow when Mark softly blew air at him, teasing him. Reaching out with a hand, Mark gently brushed Jackson's hair out of his eyes, pausing to carefully trace his fingertips over Jackson's eyebrows, nose, lips, and jaw. Jackson let out a sigh, one that sounded a lot like "Mark," and his arm around Mark tightened. Mark moved his head a little closer, and taking a risk, pressed a quick kiss to Jackson's jaw. Jackson didn't move, so Mark again pressed another kiss, and then another, to Jackson's face.

"This has to be the best way to wake up, ever," Jackson murmured, eyes still closed. Mark's lips curled into a smile against Jackson's cheek, pressing one more kiss before attempting to pull away. Jackson was having none of that, however, and pulled Mark close again, finally opening his eyes.

"You missed a spot." Jackson pointed to his lips. Mark grinned and placed his lips against Jackson's lightly, but before Mark could pull his lips away, Jackson's hand wrapped around the back of Mark's head, holding him in place. Mark didn't resist, gently moving his lips against Jackson's as they breathed into each other. They kissed for a few minutes before Mark couldn't help but laugh a little, and Jackson pulled back with questioning eyes.

"Sorry. I'm just really happy you're back. I feel like I still might be dreaming."

Jackson smiled, his thumb rubbing circles into Mark's neck. "Then let's not wake up," Jackson responded, a mischevious glint in his eyes.

Mark put a hand on Jackson's chest, halting him from leaning in further. "As much as I'd love that, we do have things to do today. At least, I do, anyway." Jackson pouted for a moment before grinning. "You'd have to get out of my grip first." To show Mark what he meant, Jackson's hold on him tightened as he wrapped both arms all the way around Mark, squeezing him against his chest. Mark squirmed, testing, but Jackson's strong arms held.

"That's not fair. You're stronger than me." It was Mark's turn to pout.

"Don't care. I'm not letting you go." Jackson nuzzled his face into Mark's hair as he wrapped a leg around Mark's thighs. He began to kiss Mark's ears and neck, knowing the reaction he got last time he paid attention to Mark's neck. "Go ahead, try to break free," Jackson said airily, and he felt Mark shudder under his ministrations, gasping when Jackson's teeth grazed a spot under his ear. Mark couldn't help but melt into Jackson, something Mark was sure Jackson was gloating about in his head, when Mark's bedroom door slammed open with a "JACKSON WANG!" 

Mark hid his face in Jackson's chest, laughing, as Jackson turned to glare daggers at Jinyoung -- the cause of all the noise.

"Jinyoung, GET OUT."

"Oh, you aren't allowed to get all pissy at me, Jackson Wang! You lied to us when you were going to arrive! We had plans! All kinds of embarrassing plans!" Jinyoung dramatically said, hands on his hips and glaring back at the fencer. "You ruined it, so you don't get to be mad at me for ruining you and Mark's little makeout session."

JB had chosen that moment to appear in the doorway behind Jinyoung, looking sheepish. 

"Do you have pants on?" Jinyoung asked bluntly, and Jackson gasped as if scandalized.

"Yes, I have pants on. God, Jinyoung, you can be so..." Jackson never got to finish as both Jinyoung and JB jumped on the bed, hugging the new champion and cheering loudly. Mark laughed from his spot on the bed, filled with happiness, joining in to cheer for Jackson.

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

The next week and a half passed pretty uneventfully, but to Jackson they were the best couple of days of his life. Nothing exceptional happened, but he was finally with Mark again, and they spent every moment they could together. Jackson reveled in waking up next to Mark (after sneaking into his bed every night -- and on one occasion, Mark sneaking into his) and being able to kiss him whenever he wanted. They didn't take it any further than that, despite Mark's clear willingness to. Jackson just really wanted to enjoy this and take it slow, although he had to admit there were times he needed to take care of himself in the shower -- he was pretty sure Mark was being overly y on purpose sometimes, just to drive Jackson crazy.

Exams were finally over, so now they could go out and celebrate Jackson's win properly. JB and Youngjae somehow made fake IDs for everyone (even BamBam and Yugyeom, and Jackson had a bet going with Junior that no one would ever believe those two kids were 20 even with an ID) and Jackson had to admit they looked pretty legit. He was so impressed, whistling to show it, as Mark also inspected his new ID with shock. JB and Youngjae, for their part, looked smug and proud. BamBam and Yugyeom simply screamed with joy, while Junior eyed the ID makers with wariness.

"What did you do to get these?" Junior asked. JB just wiggled his eyebrows suggestively while Youngjae giggled into JB's side. Junior and BamBam immediately yelled, "EW!" while the older pair simply looked smug.

Mark laughed. "Why are you guys being gross? Obviously, Youngjae made them. He is an art student."

"Yes, but I had to pay him to do it." More suggestive winking from JB elicited more shrieks of "EW!" from the others.

Mark was still laughing when he followed Jackson into his bedroom. Jackson loved to hear Mark laugh, but he had other things on his mind right now. They were leaving the school grounds to go downtown to a club, and Jackson was determined to make sure everyone knew that Mark was taken.

"Here." Jackson threw one of his "Wang" shirts at Mark. "Wear this tonight."

Mark looked at the shirt quizzically. "You want me to wear your shirt?"

"Yes."

"It's not really my style..."

Jackson rolled his eyes and huffed, getting ready to pull out all the stops in order to convince Mark to wear it, but when he turned around Mark was already pulling the shirt over his head (giving Jackson a split second to enjoy the sight of Mark's chest and stomach). Once on, Jackson couldn't stop the huge grin taking over his face. Mark, for his part, was an adorable shade of bright red.

"What are you going to wear?" Mark asked.

Jackson took off his shirt and pulled on a different "Wang" shirt, moving slowly and enjoying the glances Mark was sending him as he changed. "We're going to be wearing couple tees!" Jackson declared, pulled Mark close. Mark's face showed shock for a moment before he burst out laughing. 

"Couple tees? More like marking me with your name!"

Wrapping his arms around Mark, Jackson smirked. "So what if I am?" Mark's face was still red and his eyes had focused on Jackson's lips. Jackson pulled Mark closer, so that his lips were next to Mark's ear. "I like you in my shirt, but if I really wanted to mark you, I'd do it with my mouth."

Jackson couldn't help the high pitched laugh he emitted when Mark's face turned even more red than before, which Jackson didn't even think was possible. Mark hit him in retaliation, and got hit again when Jackson said something about Mark being "."

Jackson kissed Mark to make it up to him, which devolved into a full on make-out session -- which was rudely interrupted by JB demanding they get their butts outside. Brushing Mark's swollen lips with his thumb, Jackson pressed one more kiss to the corner of Mark's mouth, pulling him outside with the others.

On the bus, Jackson held Mark's hand and enjoyed the way Mark stared at Jackson with such fondness. 

"I'm so proud of you, ya know." Jackson was surprised by this sudden confession from Mark. "You were amazing in your tournament, and when I watched you practice I could tell how dedicated you were and how hard you work. Your grades are still top notch as well, and you always worry about others." Mark bit his lip, hesitating for a moment before saying, "I'm so glad I met you." Mark then whispered, "This feels like home."

Jackson was floored. He knew how important it was to Mark to find a place to call home, and he couldn't help but give a loving smile to Mark. "I'm so glad you think of South Korea as your home. I..."

"No. Not South Korea. You. You are my home."

Jackson was pretty sure he stopped breathing for a moment. Mark's warm eyes were staring into his, and Jackson wanted to scream from the rooftops that Mark Tuan was his. "I love you."

Mark's eyes widened at the confession. Jackson hadn't quite meant to say it, but it was truly what he felt. 

"I love you, too." Mark kissed him softly, and Jackson kissed back, his hand lingering on Mark's jaw.

A loud cough was heard behind them. "We are in public, you know," Junior said, before Jackson hit him.

"We were having a moment, you jerk! Besides, there's no one else on the bus but us!" Jackson griped, murdering Junior in his head. He was seriously rethinking his friendship with him. Mark just laughed quietly, snuggling closer to Jackson to appease him. Jackson put an arm around him, and made sure that arm never left Mark even as they exited the bus and went to the club doors. Amazingly, Youngjae's fake ID's held up (earning a kiss from JB when they got inside) and Jackson was pumped. Time to dance, drink, and have fun with his friends and boyfriend.

Mark actually let loose for once, dancing up a storm with Jackson, giggling more and more the drunker he got, and even allowed some hip grinding while they danced (and which usually led to some heavy makeout sessions in the corner booth). JB and Youngjae were sweetly slow dancing most of the time, content to talk in each other's ears and stare at each other instead of dance to the beat. Junior was off dancing in the middle of the floor, engaging several admirers. Yugyeom and BamBam would show up in Jackson's vision every so often, but seemed to enjoy going all over the club.

After 4 hours of this, Jackson could tell Mark was starting to reach his end, so he got him some water and sat him down at a table. Mark sipped hungrily, not even really seeming to notice that it was water -- he downed all the liquor given to him that evening in a similar manner -- as Jackson focused on getting the water into his mouth. He had had a few more drinks than Mark had, and his eyes weren't always focusing the way he wanted them to.

Mark sighed happily into Jackson's side, water gone, his hands rubbing Jackson's sides where they rested. Jackson had his arm back around Mark's shoulders, and he tilted his head back to lean it against the wall. He felt Mark shift next to him and then felt Mark kissing Jackson's neck, right on his Adam's apple.

Mark inhaled deeply, and it made Jackson shiver. "You smell so good, Jackson. Why do you smell so good? It's not fair." Jackson opened his eyes to see Mark pouting cutely. That was the best thing about drunk Mark. He acted really cute without meaning to -- and if Mark had been sober, he would've been super embarrassed to know that he acted that way. But Jackson loved it.

"I want to stay with you forever and ever. I can do that, right?" Mark slurred a little, blinking owlishly up at Jackson.

"Of course. I demand it, actually!" Jackson said, almost shouting.

"You can't just demand things. That's rude." Mark poked his cheek.

"Yes, I can. I'm king! Wang Jackson forever! All hail King Jackson!" Jackson was definitely shouting now, and Mark laughed at him, his eyes crinkling with mirth.

"Okay, okay. I'm not your servant, King Jackson, but I will abide by that demand."

"I can think of all kinds of fun ways for you to serve me, though..." Jackson laughed, expecting to be hit for his cheek, but Mark only glared at him and gave him a small push of annoyance.

"You're such a dork."

"Thank you."

"Don't change, Jackson. Even with your greasy lines...don't ever change."

Jackson could feel his heart beating loud and fast with those words from Mark's lips. Despite how Jackson behaved, he had a hidden layer of insecurity about himself. Mark's words made him feel like he could jump over the moon.

"Remember, I love you." Mark smiled his crinkle-eye smile again, filling Jackson's heart up with warmth.

Before Jackson could say anything though, BamBam ran up to where they were sitting, tears running down his face.

"I messed up! I messed up big time!"

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

Mark looked at BamBam with surprise. "What do you mean, you messed up? Are you hurt? Where's Yugyeom?"

"I didn't really realize what I was doing! I thought it was Yugyeom, but then it wasn't, and now everything's a mess!" BamBam wailed, wobbling on his feet, clearly more intoxicated than any of them.

Jackson pulled BamBam down into the seat across from them. "What did you do, BamBam? Speak clearly so we can understand."

BamBam wiped at his eyes only to have more tears fall. "I danced and kissed a stranger! He was dancing with me, but I must've started dancing with someone else without realizing it. I turned around to kiss him, and then I danced some more, but when I turned to properly look at him, it wasn't Yugyeom! I found him storming off, but when I tried to apologize he told me he didn't believe me! He said I had done it before -- when I kissed Jackson at the party -- and accused me of kissing just anyone because I liked it!" BamBam sobbed even harder, trying and failing to catch his breath. "Before, when I kissed Jackson, I was thinking of Yugyeom then, too! I didn't do this on purpose!"

Mark went to BamBam's side while Jackson went to get him some water to help clear his head. "It's a misunderstanding, BamBam. You'll clear it up with him when you are both sober. I think maybe it might be best if you didn't drink for a while, either."

"I don't ever want to drink again! I turn into a kissing monster!" BamBam cried, burying his head into his arms on the table. Jackson returned, sitting on BamBam's other side.

"Where did Yugyeom go, Bam?" Mark asked.

"He ran outside!"

"What?"

"He just ran off! I don't know where he went!"

Mark and Jackson shared looks of concern over BamBam's head. They had both sobered up quite a bit at BamBam's problem, their concern overriding most of the effects of the alcohol. BamBam suddenly stood up.

"I have to go after him!" BamBam went to run towards the exit, but Jackson held him back.

"No, BamBam. You need to stay here."

"I'll go find Yugyeom, BamBam. I'll bring him back," Mark said, giving a nod to Jackson before sprinting out the door.

Mark had hoped Yugyeom was just outside the club, but of course, Mark's luck wasn't that good. Yugyeom was nowhere in sight. Even better, it started to rain. Mark sighed, ignoring the rain in favor of his friend, but cursing it all the same. Mark called Yugyeom's name to make sure he wasn't nearby, and when Yugyeom didn't appear, Mark decided to just pick a direction and run, keeping the directions back to the club firmly in his mind. After just a couple blocks, Mark found a small park across the street. When he walked through the entrance and peeked in, he found Yugyeom sitting on a bench, his long legs pulled up against his chest. Mark gave a small thanks to the sky for at least one small miracle.

He walked over to the boy, making sure he knew someone was headed his way so that he didn't startle him. Yugyeom didn't raise his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Yugyeom was so still, the rain falling harder now, and Mark was about to repeat his question when Yugyeom gave a slight shake of his head. Instead, he uncurled and wrapped his arms around Mark in a hug. It took a while, but Mark eventually realized that Yugyeom was crying -- the rain soaking Mark's shirt making it hard to understand at first. Mark simply rubbed the younger boy's back, knowing he needed some time to let his emotions out.

"Why would he do that, Mark?" Yugyeom's voice was so soft and hoarse that Mark almost didn't hear him.

"It wasn't on purpose, Yugyeom. Surely, you know that. I think BamBam doesn't hold his alcohol well."

"That's not an excuse. He kissed someone else! Right in front of me!"

"I know, Yug. I had to put up with him kissing Jackson in front of me, remember?" Mark pulled Yugyeom away from him to look into his eyes. "BamBam feels horrible about what he did. He thought it was you, and when he kissed Jackson he thought it was you, too. The alcohol just really messes with his brain. He's sworn off alcohol forever, actually." Mark's lips quirked up at how sincere BamBam had looked when he made the declaration. "Do you really not believe him, Yugyeom?"

Yugyeom was silent for a moment. "I want to believe him."

"Then why don't you?"

"It...it just seems impossible that he likes me."

"Why would that be impossible?"

Yugyeom just shrugged. Mark smiled at him. "I also thought it was impossible for Jackson to like me, and Jackson told me once he thought the same. You are worthy of BamBam, Yugyeom -- just as he is worthy of you. I know BamBam and he's not the type of guy to cheat on you or date you out of pity. I've never seen him so in love with someone before."

"Really?"

"Yes. In fact, he's never dated anyone because he was waiting for the right person."

Yugyeom looked thoughtful for a moment. "Thanks, hyung."

Mark smiled again. "Just be sure to talk to BamBam about everything -- all the stuff you're worried about. You won't have a good relationship if you don't talk to him about it."

"I will, Mark."

"C'mon, let's go back." Mark bumped shoulders with Yugyeom as they exited the park, getting the younger boy to grin. Across the street, the rest of their friends came running, shouting their names and stopping when they saw the pair.

"We're coming!" Mark shouted, but BamBam was clearly unable to wait to launch himself at Yugyeom, even though they were in the middle of the road. He immediately started babbling nonsense while crying, and Yugyeom just held him. Mark stood behind the pair, urging them forward. Mark smiled towards Jackson, ready to get home, get dry, and snuggle up to his boyfriend.

But then Mark heard the rev of an engine and saw the headlights.

Close to the sidewalk but not quite there, and BamBam and Yugyeom in their own world, Mark looked at Jackson one last time before he shoved the pair as hard as could. Then, there was nothing but darkness.