Clink! Clang! Clang! Crack! Ssssss!

Jackson woke to the sound of one of Jinyoung’s pans begin dragged out one of the dorm’s beat up kitchen cabinets and something frying. Smelled like an egg.

“What the hell? Why?” Jackson grumbled to himself, very annoyed at being woken up. Rolling over, Jackson reached out, “hey Ma—” Only to find the spot cold and not filled the inviting arms of his boyfriend and roommate.

“What the hell?” Jackson repeated himself. And with a loud groan, he dragged himself out of bed to investigate. At this point, he was far too tried to care if there was just some burglar in the kitchen making himself a meal or that his boyfriend wasn’t in bed, he just wanted sleep. They had dance practice first thing in the morning with that mean instructor that always liked to pick on him. 

Throwing on one of Mark’s looser pants and tank top (just because Mark’s closet was closer to him then his own), Jackson flicked on the bedroom lights, wincing as his eyes tried to adjust to the sudden shock of light. Giving his eyes another minute to become fully functional, just in case he needed to defend himself with his awesome fencing skills, Jackson followed the sounds out into the kitchen.

As he rounded the corner, he found Mark, in his boxers and gloriously shirtless…cooking kimchi fried rice. At o’clock in the morning, Jackson mentally groaned, shoving his palms into his eyes until he saw dots.

Mark looked up when he heard Jackson shuffle in and greeted him with a heart-melting smile that almost made Jackson forgive him for waking him up. “Hey Jacks. I got hungry. Do you want some?”

Jackson stood in the doorway, dumbfounded at his boyfriend’s ease and nonchalant attitude at the absurdness of the situation. Mark never had midnight cravings and never cooked past 8:00 pm. Sure he was okay with being a little weird and going out of the norm every once in a while, but this was just plain odd and out of character.

Shaking his head, Jackson walked into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Mark’s waist as he continued to cook. “Smells good.” Jackson mumbled into his back, kissing the mole on his shoulder. Looking down at the pan, he noticed chunks of tuna and ham mixed into the rice. The way he likes to eat kimchi fried rice. But those were the only two things that Mark preferred to not eat fried rice with. Odd, Jackson thought to himself. Why would Mark add things he doesn’t like into his meal if he was cooking for himself?

He was about to ask, when he got distracted by Mark’s smile. The smaller noticed and turned his head to give his boyfriend a well deserved kiss. “Sorry. Did I wake you?”

Jackson rolled his eyes. “Of course you did.” He complained. “You could at least try to be more quiet about your midnight snacking. JB is going to kill you if he finds out that you ate on the diet.”

Mark laughed, giving his immature boyfriend another kiss to soothe him. “I’m sorry honey.”

Jackson pouts. “You should be.”

“I am,” Mark hums, turning down the heat and continuing to stir the rice. “Do you want a plate?”

Jackson frowned, contemplating if Mark’s fried rice was worth it for a last meal, in case JB caught them. Surely he would’ve liked his last meal to be a bit fancier than most collage kids’ lunch, but hey, Mark was worth it. “Sure.” Jackson smiled, letting go with one last kiss to grab plates.

“Thanks,” Mark smiled, taking the plates, and spooning out unequal portions onto the plates, giving Jackson nearly twice as much.

Jackson raised an eyebrow. “…um thanks, but I don’t need tha—”

Mark ignored him. “Do you want an egg?”

“Did you add an egg to the whole thing already?” Jackson asked instead.

“Yeah, but did you want another one?”

“Are you cooking one for yourself too?”


“I can, if that is what it is going to take for you to eat one.”

“Then no.”

“Jackson.” Mark warned.

“Why is it important to you that I eat another egg? And why did you give me so much?”

“Because you barely ate anything at all today, and you need extra protein since you have been working out more for the comeback.” Mark explained somewhat exasperated. He was already moving to fry another egg.

Jackson stepped in his way and caught Mark’s hands in a gentle but firm grip. “Don’t worry. The rice already has enough protein in it. And there are probably already 3 eggs in the portion you gave me.” He kissed Mark’s pout away. “Don’t cook another egg.”

"But—"

Jackson cut him off with another kiss. "No, Mark. I am fine. Thank you though. Really"

Mark pouted, but allowed Jackson to pull him away from the stove and into the living room. Jackson smiled at him while balancing both their plates on one arm, holding his hand tightly.

Mark tried to offer to hold one, but Jackson shushed him and pulled him into his lap as they tumbled in to the couch with quiet snickers.

Mark let him cuddle him for a few minutes before trying to get out. After another minute of struggling, he sighed. "Jackson. Let go. The food is getting cold." He turned and pouted to his boyfriend, "do you want my hard work to go to waste?"

Jackson immediately let go as if Mark’s skin burned him. But in all fairness, Mark was hot enough that that was a plausible event. "Of course not." And to prove it, he quickly grabbed his plate and shoveled in large bites, making delighted hums and other happy noises to make sure Mark knew he liked it.

Mark watched his boyfriend eat with a slight smile tugging on the corners of his mouth, before grabbing his own and shoving steaming spoonfuls into his own mouth as well. He winced a little, okay, maybe a lot, at the taste of tuna and ham in the fried rice, but accomplishing his goal of getting Jackson to eat was worth the awful taste.

After Jackson had finished his serving, he patiently waited for Mark to finish before he spoke. “So…if you want me to believe you ‘were just hungry,’” Jackson sassed with air quotes. “You are going to have to learn how to lie better then that Mark. You put ham and tuna into a meal that was ‘supposedly’ just for you. Added an absurd amount of eggs. And risked your JB’s wrath. Also, who the hell gets up at the crack of dawn to just make kimchi fried rice? Like if I was getting up at that time, it’d better be because the building was burning down. And I know you share the same revered love for sleep as I do, so you want to tell me what’s up?”

Mark blinked, unaware that his boyfriend could be so observant. He sighed, not used to having to express himself in words, but he knew Jackson would want to hear his thoughts, “I just wanted to get you to eat. You put in so much work everyday for the comeback and you didn’t even have time to have a proper breakfast this morning, and I’m pretty sure you skipped lunch and dinner. You’re getting thinner and thinner as the comeback gets closer. And I’m worried that you are going to get sick”

Jackson froze, letting his boyfriend’s words sink in before melting and smiling brightly, rewarding Mark with a soft kiss. “Thank you Mark. For everything that you do. But I’m truly okay. You’re right, I didn’t eat breakfast, but I did have lunch and dinner. I know better then to ruin my health by not eating. So don’t you worry your pretty little mind.” Jackson smiled, bright and true before kissing him again.

Mark felt his shoulders relax and unwind, free of the worry that his boyfriend was skipping meals and becoming unhealthy. Letting out a loud sigh, he collapsed into Jackson. Immediately, Jackson’s strong arms wrapped themselves around him and pulled him into his lap. Jackson had never seen Mark that keyed up and at the moment something occurred to him.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been letting this boil inside you all week.” Jackson murmured into Mark’s hair, comforting circles across his back.

“And if I have?” Mark mumbled into his chest.

“Then you’re an idiot. A caring and still the love of my life type idiot, but an idiot.” Jackson replied, “you should talk to me if you are worried about something. Especially when it concerns me.” He gently cupped Mark’s face so he would look at him. “You have to promise me that you will talk to me next time.”

Mark swallowed once, before nodding his head. Jackson smiled fondly before leaning in and giving him another well deserved kiss.

“I love you dimsum.”

Mark chuckled. “I love you too Jacks.”