Mark was headed to the next art class modeling session, Youngjae talking excitedly next to him. He'd already done two, and with the third class upon him Mark didn't feel nervous at all. He felt pretty proud of himself; he felt like he had grown a little.

Jackson had asked him before why he had dyed his hair bright red if he didn't like attention -- red was a pretty eye-catching color. Mark explained how he had done it in a beginning attempt to protest against his parents' wishes to move again, but afterwards Mark kept thinking about it. It was a really odd choice when Mark didn't want attention, and yet he still hadn't changed it. Now Mark didn't want to change it simply because he was working on getting better about not being a wallflower -- but why didn't he changed it before? Mark supposed it showed how badly he didn't want to move. He wondered if he should dye it black again.

Mark and Youngjae walked into the art studio and Mark immediately went toward the open seat in the middle. It wasn't until he was already sitting down that he got the shock of his life -- and Mark's mouth dropped in disbelief.

"JB? Yugyeom? What the hell are you guys doing here?"

JB and Yugyeom glanced at each other nervously from across the room.

"I was told that working on my art would help me with my songwriting. I didn't realize you were still modeling." JB scrunched his face and pleaded, "Let me stay, Mark. Please! Just to see if this does help. I've got major writer's block."

Mark knew it would be ridiculous for him to kick JB out. His roommate had every right to take the class.

"You owe me, remember? Please let me stay."

Mark groaned. "I only owe you if you didn't tell anyone. Yugyeom's here, so I don't owe you anything!"

"JB didn't tell me. I, uh, was really jealous of BamBam's fashion design drawings. I just thought I would take drawing to become better too. I had no idea you were modeling, otherwise I would've asked. I'm sorry." Yugyeom looked guilty somehow, but remorseful.

Mark realized that he was going to have to model while two of his friends watched -- no, studied -- him. Heat flamed his cheeks and all his nerves came rushing back. No -- he could do this. He was going to do this.

It was just really embarrassing.

"Fine," Mark sighed. "Let's get this over with."

"Are you sure, Mark?" Youngjae whispered in his ear. "I understand if you don't want to today."

Youngjae was such a good friend. "Thanks, Youngjae. I'll survive though. I need to try." Youngjae smiled back at him encouragingly.

"Well, let's see -- for a pose this week, how about you lean your head back on the chair and relax. You can even close your eyes, like you're sleeping."

Youngjae was seriously a godsend. Mark sent him a grateful smile before taking on the pose. Closing his eyes would make it much easier to handle the stares of his two friends.

Mark heard the artists moving their easels to a position they liked, and then the calming sounds of pencils on paper began. Soon, Mark forgot all about JB and Yugyeom and began to doze. He awoke when he felt someone poking his cheek. Mark opened his eyes to find Yugyeom in front of him.

"Aha! So you did fall asleep!"

"No, I didn't." Mark quickly got up from the chair, feigning ignorance on the topic. "I'm really hungry. We should get something to eat. Where's JB?"

Yugyeom just laughed. "You can't fool me. You were totally asleep. And JB's over there, talking to Youngjae."

Mark turned to look where Yugyeom pointed. Sure enough, JB was smiling at the junior, while said junior was laughing hysterically at something JB said.

"You don't think..."Mark began, but then shook his head.

"What?" Yugyeom questioned.

"Nevermind." Mark figured if what he guessed was true, it was up to JB to say something. Mark would just watch JB a little more carefully from now on, and maybe slip a couple suggestions to Youngjae.

Yugyeom slipped his arm around Mark's waist. "Let's go get that food you were talking about, favorite hyung." The younger boy winked for good measure.

Mark rolled his eyes. "You just want me to cook for you. You know I can't cook as well as Junior, right?"

"I just really like the way you make dumplings. They're always perfect." Yugyeom shrugged and gripped Mark tighter.

Mark conceded defeat. Yugyeom was still growing (something really unfair, Mark thought) and as the older friend, he felt like he should pamper the younger boy now and then. Besides, if he thought Mark cooked well, who was Mark to argue? Junior wouldn't be back yet anyway.

JB and Youngjae joined the two of them and Mark made a hearty pot of ramyun and dumplings -- enough that when Junior, Jackson, and BamBam stopped by later, there would be enough for them as well. Mark was excited that even though his cooking wasn't the best, there were several people to cook for, and several people to eat with.

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

Toweling off the sweat from practice, Jackson carefully cleaned his equipment and placed it in his gym locker. Fencing practice had been going really well, and Jackson wasn't being arrogant when he said he was the best. It was the fifth week in a row that no one had been able to beat him. Jackson had always been good, but he hadn't had a winning streak quite like this before. He hoped he could continue the streak for the upcoming competition.

Jackson was really sore, though. He made a mental note to get a massage from the physical therapist at the school -- a perk only athletes were allowed.

Grabbing his gear, Jackson left the locker room, anticipating the shower back at the dorm. On his way, he passed a couple girls giggling like mad over their phones. Jackson normally would've ignored them, except he heard Mark's name. He slowed his pace while trying not to look like he was eavesdropping.

"Can you believe how lucky they are? It makes perfect sense for Mark to be a model, I mean, good lord, look at him!"

"I know! I'm so jealous of Hara! I'm glad she's such a good artist, though -- even if we can't be there to see it, at least we can see him in a perfect replica!"

Now Jackson had to know what this was all about. Mark? A model?

"Excuse me, but what are you talking about? Mark is a model? For what?" Jackson asked the girls. They shrieked and squealed at the sight of him. Jackson couldn't help but smile at them -- it was cute how excited they were about talking to him.

"Oh, Jackson...uh, Mark is modeling for the art students. He didn't tell you?" One girl said. "Our friend told us to keep it a secret though, so I guess maybe he wasn't telling anyone," the girl continued, a bit more unsure.

"Nicole! You just told him."

"But...it's Jackson."

Before the girls could start fighting, Jackson asked to see the picture on their phone. The girl looked like she didn't want to show him (as her art friend requested) but Nicole kept elbowing her until she handed it over.

Jackson was stunned. Whoever the art student was, she was really good. She perfectly captured Mark's likeness. But what really stood out to Jackson was how even in paper and pencil, Mark was beautiful. There were three pictures -- one of Mark biting his lip (Jackson would pay to have that one), one of Mark standing casually looking solemn, and another of Mark asleep on a chair, his lips slightly open.

He didn't want to part with it, but he handed the phone back to the girls. So Mark was secretly modeling for the art students? Another one of Mark's enigmas. He hated attention -- was he trying to prove something? Why would he agree to do this?

Jackson was going to find out. In the meantime, Jackson changed direction and headed toward the counselor's office.

He was suddenly inspired to take drawing classes.

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

Mark was resting lazily against BamBam, his legs in Yugyeom's lap when Jackson arrived back at the dorm. Even without seeing him, Mark knew Jackson was in a bad mood. He slammed the door and practically stomped into the main area. Mark looked up to smile at Jackson and welcome him back, but Jackson's eyes narrowed on Yugyeom's hands rubbing Mark's legs and Mark's head nestled on BamBam's shoulder and he scowled.

"Why are you guys always here? Don't you have your own dorm? Go home!" Jackson threw his fencing gear on the ground.

"Jeez, Jackson. What flew up your and died?" Junior drawled from his spot by JB, just as BamBam yelled, "Jackson! That's mean!" Jackson just gave one last nasty look to the boys before stomping into the kitchen.

"Seriously, what's with him?" Junior asked, looking at all of them. JB just shrugged, concern showing in the slant of his eyebrows. Yugyeom stuck his tongue out at the retreating figure of Jackson, and BamBam pouted, clearly hurt. "Don't worry, BamBam. He didn't mean it." Mark tried to comfort the younger boy.

"I'll go talk to him."

Mark stood up and went into the kitchen, preparing himself for any angry things Jackson might say. He hadn't seen Jackson angry before -- now he knew he was the type to take it out on others. Mark had a feeling that once Jackson calmed down, he would feel extra bad about being mean and try to make up for it, so Mark couldn't get mad at him for his behavior.

"There's ramyun and dumplings in the pot on the stove. I can fix you something else, if you want," Mark said simply.

Jackson had been staring at the inside of the refrigerator. At Mark words, Jackson let the door to the fridge close as he snapped back, "I can get it myself! I'm not a baby!"

Mark put his hands up in a placating gesture. "Okay." He wasn't sure what to say next, or do. He bit his lip.

Jackson suddenly sighed. "Don't do that."

"What?"

"Don't bite your lip. You do that when you're nervous. Don't be nervous because of me." Jackson seemed less angry now and more frustrated.

"Oh. Sorry." Jackson started rolling his shoulders as if he was uncomfortable, and Mark had an idea.

"You're obviously upset about something. Why don't you go take a long shower, and I'll get your food ready. That will help you feel better. And then you can try to beat me in video games."

Jackson smiled at that. Finally, Mark thought. "Try to beat you?" Jackson chuckled.

"Yes, try," Mark said with a smile back.

"Whatever, dude," Jackson said as he walked toward the bathroom.

Mark had the younger two leave (with the promise of ice cream the next day), and JB and Junior retreated to their own rooms. The two boys knew Jackson, and knew that it was best to leave him alone to blow off steam when he was like this, so they were happy to leave him in the hands of Mark.

When Jackson returned, wet hair half dry and a more calm look on his face, Mark had everything laid out for dinner. Jackson sat down and gave Mark a grateful look before chowing down on the hot food.

"Was fencing practice hard today?" Mark inquired, still eyeing the tenseness of Jackson's shoulders. He got a grunt from Jackson in response.

Jackson almost dropped his chopsticks when Mark stood behind him and began to massage his shoulders. The loud squeak he emitted made Mark chuckle.

"Mark..."

"Shut up, I'm trying to do something nice."

It took a minute before Jackson picked his chopsticks back up and continue to eat, but he didn't eat as quickly as he had before. Mark was a little concerned by how tight Jackson's muscles were, but he wasn't much of an athlete so he wasn't sure if that was normal or not. Jackson soon melted under Mark's attention, especially after Mark's hands moved to massage Jackson's neck, and Mark was so focused on getting Jackson to relax that he didn't even realize that Jackson had his eyes closed and the dumpling in his chopsticks stayed on his lips (and never entered his mouth) for a good 5 minutes.

"Jackson?" Mark asked when he was done.

"Hngh?" Jackson said, before snapping back to himself. "I mean, what?"

"Are you tense like that all over? If you are done eating, you should lie down and I'll massage your back and arms."

He felt Jackson stiffen under his hands. "Um, okay." He sounded unsure, but Mark was determined for Jackson to feel happy again.

Jackson laid down on the couch and Mark started massaging his back from the side. He quickly realized, however, that if he truly wanted to reach all of Jackson's back effectively, he'd have to sit on Jackson. Mark blushed, hesitating, thankful that Jackson wasn't looking at him. But this was for Jackson, so Mark went ahead and straddled Jackson's very firm .

Mark could feel Jackson freeze, not expecting Mark to suddenly do that, but Mark began to massage in earnest, and Jackson once again relaxed. A few low moans came from Jackson's mouth at Mark's touch, and Mark blushed an even deeper shade of scarlet than before. Mark reveled in feeling Jackson's muscles -- especially when he moved to massage his arms -- amazed at how toned Jackson's body was. For a brief moment, Mark imagined himself under said body, but then quickly banished the thought. Is is hot in here? Realizing that perhaps this massage was making himself a little too excited, Mark finished the massage with a gentle rub to Jackson's neck before stepping away.

Jackson had his face buried in his arms, but Mark thought he saw Jackson blushing. Probably just my imagination. 

Jackson wasn't moving and was more than likely asleep, and Mark felt like he needed to move away from Jackson before he did or said something stupid, like kiss his handsome face, so he quickly retreated to his bedroom. 

Mark couldn't believe how much that massage had turned him on. Mark hadn't had a lot of relationships, so this feeling was relatively new. It was a good feeling, but scary. He let himself fall back onto his bed, one arm covering his eyes. How was he going to survive this?

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

Jackson waited until he heard Mark's door close before he got up and quickly went into his own room, shutting the door quietly. That massage had been absolute heaven. So heavenly, in fact, that Jackson was extremely happy that Mark couldn't see his raging . 

He knew he was being unfair when he stomped into the dorm and grumped at everyone, but walking in with bad news only to find ing Yugyeom rubbing Mark's legs like he owned them and BamBam practically snuggling Mark just tipped him over the edge. But he couldn't be mean to Mark -- not truly. He had promised to make Mark not regret coming here.

When Mark began massaging his shoulders, Jackson thought he'd die of bliss. It wasn't until Mark was sitting on his for a more thorough massage that Jackson truly knew what bliss was. He had been shocked at Mark's behavior, but Jackson wasn't about to complain.

Maybe this time it would be different. He didn't know how Mark felt, but maybe it wouldn't be like the last time. Maybe they could actually...

Jackson sighed and tried to think of the grossest things possible to get his body back to normal. He was not about to get off when Mark had been trying to do something nice. That would just be weird.

The next morning, Jackson awoke feeling better than ever. He walked out to the main area to find JB and Junior gone, and peeked into Mark's room to find him still asleep, so cocooned in his blankets that you couldn't even see the redhead. Jackson, feeling playful, decided to jump on the bed, finding the lump that was Mark and laying on top of him.

"Maaaaaaaaark!" Jackson cooed. He could feel Mark shifting under him and what sounded like "get off me" but Jackson just grinned. He moved the blankets around until he found Mark's face, eyes closed and face lax in some kind of crazy elfin beauty. Jackson knew he wasn't completely asleep, but if he didn't move Mark would fall back asleep.

"Maaaaark," Jackson cooed again. Mark scrunched up his face, pouting a little before opening one eye. "Jackson" and "what" was all Jackson could make of the mutterings that came out of Mark's mouth. Jackson wiggled on top of Mark, pushing his hands on either side of Mark's cheeks so that they puffed out. "Come and play with me!"

Somehow, Mark managed to worm an arm out from his blankets and shoved Jackson away. "What are you, five?" Mark asked, more clearly this time. He narrowed his eyes in what Jackson guessed was supposed to be a glare, but instead just looked adorably grumpy.

"Yes," Jackson answered honestly. "Thanks to your massage yesterday, I'm feeling really good!" Jackson was lying on his back next to Mark now (who was still mostly cocooned in his blankets), and up close like this Jackson couldn't miss the slight pink that dusted Mark's cheeks.

"I'm glad," Mark answered shyly. Jackson grinned. Man, he wanted to kiss Mark so bad.

"Why were you so mad yesterday anyway?"

Jackson's smile left his face and he sighed. "I have to apologize to BamBam and Yugyeom, don't I?"

"Yes, you do."

Mark was obviously waiting for an answer to his first question. Jackson could feel his eyes staring at his face. Suddenly, he felt Mark's hand gripping his own, fingers laced together.

"There were a few reasons," Jackson said, startled into talking by the phsyical contact. He looked at Mark, who was looking back at him with concern on his face. "It wasn't anything huge. I wasn't able to get into a class I wanted." Jackson still couldn't believe that his legendary charm hadn't worked on the counselor to get into the drawing class. "Then I found out that my fencing competition is getting moved. It was going to be in Hong Kong, where my family is, but now it's going to be in Japan. I won't get to see my family like I thought."

Mark's grip on his hand tightened. "I'm so sorry, Jackson. You must miss them a lot."

Jackson rolled over on his side to better face Mark. "Yeah. I do."

Mark threw off his blankets and wrapped Jackson into a tight hug. He wasn't sure, but he thought Mark's lips brushed his cheek in a light kiss as well. Jackson clung to Mark, appreciating the comfort. Mark was gently rubbing circles into Jackson's back, and Jackson may or may not have gripped the back of Mark's shirt, pulling him even closer, as he breathed his scent in.

The both split apart quickly when they heard the front door of the suite slam shut. Jackson sat up while Mark yawned and rubbed his eyes when JB and Junior both popped their heads into the room before quickly jumping on the pair, their laughter mingling with shouts and giggles from the other two.

Jackson always cherished these moments. He knew things couldn't always be like this. He hoped he could keep them all by his side forever.

Especially Mark. Always Mark.

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

Mark had really enjoyed the day with his friends (especially with how clingy Jackson had become that day), until Jackson had brought up the one thing he didn't want to talk about.

"So, I heard you are modeling for the art students."

Mark froze. He knew eventually everyone would find out -- he just didn't expect it to be so soon.

"How did you know?"

"I overheard some girls talking about it. I thought you didn't like attention." Jackson didn't sound accusing -- he sounded more like Mark was interesting puzzle he was trying to figure out.

"I don't like attention, but I feel like it's stopped me from doing things I want, so I wanted to try and change. My friend Youngjae asked if I would do it, so I said yes. I was nervous, but it got easier, until JB and Yugyeom showed up." Mark figured if Jackson already knew, there was no point in hiding anything now.

"JB AND YUGYEOM ARE IN THAT CLASS!?!?"