“You haven’t corrupted me, you know,” Mark says softly, watching the wisps of smoke drift out of his mouth and dissipate into nothing. The clouds above start to drift, sending blinding rays of light into his eyes. Still, he doesn’t move from where he’s lying on his back. In the corner of his eyes, he sees Jaebum pluck the cigarette from his fingers and lift it to his lips.

“Oh?” Jaebum hums, exhaling an almost perfect ring of smoke from his mouth.

“How do you do that?” Mark frowns, turning his head to the side.

“Years and years of practise,” Jaebum grins slyly.

You’re only seventeen, how long have you been smoking? The words are on the tip of Mark’s tongue, but he swallows them. “Teach me how to do that,” he says.

“There’s nothing to teach, really. You just do it until it works,” Jaebum shrugs.

Mark takes the cigarette back from Jaebum and takes a draw, relishing the slight thrill he always gets when his lips make indirect contact with Jaebum’s. He contorts his mouth as he attempts to replicate the ring, but the smoke just comes out as a shapeless cloud. Jaebum sits up, chuckling lowly.

“Where are you going?” Mark sits up when the other boy gets to his feet.

“To the station. The sun’s coming out, so there should be people around to watch me dance.”

“Hold on, I’ll come with you,” Mark stumbles to his feet as well, throwing the cigarette stub to the ground and grinding it with the toe of his shoe. Jaebum gives him a look over his shoulder. “What? It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve ever cut class. I told you, you haven’t corrupted me,” Mark shoulders his bag.

“Alright,” Jaebum says airily, picking up his own bag and sauntering over to the door to the roof.

Mark clenches his hand around the strap of his bag so that Jaebum doesn’t notice the slight shaking of his hand as they slink through the corridors. They’re not stopped by anyone this time, but Mark can’t help but throw a few glances in the direction of the admin office as they’re climbing the school gate.

“Ah, ,” Mark hisses when the leg of his trousers gets stuck on a protrusion on the gate.

When he lands on the other side of the gate, the trouser leg flaps where the seam was ripped. He tries to hobble away, conscious of the fact that they’re right outside school property, but Jaebum grabs him by the arm and moves him over to a nearby bench. Mark blinks as he’s pushed down and his leg is lifted up.

“It looks like it broke the skin, but it’s not bleeding just yet,” Jaebum murmurs as he moves his hand over Mark’s leg.

“Right,” Mark breathes, his eyes fixed on Jaebum’s profile.

“Come on, there’s a convenience store right next to the bus stop. We can get something to clean and wrap your cut there,” Jaebum kneels down in front of the bench.

Mark hesitates for a moment.

Jaebum looks over his shoulder. “You have three seconds.”

Mark swings his legs down from the bench and slides them around Jaebum’s waist, wrapping his arms around Jaebum’s neck.

“, man, you’re a lot heavier than you look,” Jaebum groans as he straightens with Mark on his back.

“Just know that if you put me down now, you’ll lose your tough guy reputation forever,” Mark laughs.

“I think me giving you a piggyback ride is doing more damage to my reputation,” Jaebum snorts. Still, he carries Mark all the way to the convenience store, letting him down right by the entrance.

“I’ll be right back,” he says as he heads inside the store.

To pass the time, Mark moves the flap of his trousers to inspect the cut. Spots of blood have seeped through the white of the exposed skin, dotting the length of the abrasion. The top part of his calf is lightly smeared with blood from where the flap of his trouser brushed the cut. Mark wonders if he should just find a knife or a pair of scissors and put the thing out of its misery.

“Let’s go,” Jaebum steps out of the store and lifts Mark onto his back. Mark has to hold tight to the other boy’s neck to prevent himself from falling off. “I’ll dress it when we get to the station,” Jaebum says.

Mark blinks when he realises that he isn’t carrying a bag. “Wait a minute, did you…”

“Steal it? Yes,” Jaebum says simply.

Mark’s entire body goes tense, his scalp pricking and his face blanching. “You…”

“In all fairness, I told the cashier that I had shoplifted from the store before I left.”

“I…okay, maybe you are corrupting me,” Mark mumbles.

“If you were smart, you’d leave before I manage to succeed,” Jaebum glances back at Mark.

Mark holds his stare until Jaebum has to look away to watch where he’s going. Mark wraps his arms tighter around Jaebum’s neck, leaning down to rest his head against Jaebum’s. He breathes in deeply, the sweet smell of Jaebum’s shampoo mixing with the faint smell of smoke.

“My highest grade ever was a B in P.E.”