“So, you want to know my story?” Jackson sighs deeply, letting his eyes fall closed. “It’s delicate ground to be treading, but then again, no broken bone can heal properly without being re-set, no matter how much it hurts. Alright, here it goes.

“It all started three months ago at a house party thrown by one of my teammates. It was the 19^th of July, the day that I met him, Im Jaebum. The air conditioning was set to full blast, but it barely made a difference to how swelteringly hot it was that night, especially with the combined body heat of everyone inside.

“Honestly, I kind of liked it,” Jackson chuckles wryly. “The heat sets a certain mood, you know, makes people sweat and drink more and then act in ways they never thought possible of themselves. Also, there’s something amazing about leaning in closely to a dance partner and a bead of sweat that’s slowly rolling down their neck…but I digress,” Jackson shakes his head.

“Getting laid wasn’t my M.O. that night, but I wasn’t going to turn away anyone that truly tickled my fancy, you know? I had just come off the dancefloor to take a breather and get a drink, and that’s when I saw him.”

Jackson pauses, stopping his monologue to take a long, slow pull of his glass of cranberry juice. Against his better judgement, Mark remains in his seat at the kitchen table, waiting for Jackson to continue.

“He was…I don’t even know how to describe it to you, man,” Jackson runs a hand through his hair. “He was ing hot. His broad shoulders, those piercings, his stupidly perfect hair, and then he turned and ing stared me down. It was like I was pinned in place, the way I couldn’t move!”

Jackson closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths, his hand clutched over his heart.

“Are, are you okay?” Mark blinks.

“Yes, I’m…Anyway, back to my story. I saw him and in that moment I knew that I wanted to him—that I was going to him. He seemed to know it to, judging by the looks he was giving me, the vibe he was giving off. God, it was just a perfect bubble of , the likes of which I probably won’t ever see again,” Jackson groans, looking equal parts wistful and aroused.

“Uh…”

“So, after the bubble popped, he leaned in—he smelled amazing by the way, like a Gucci purse— ing smirked at me, and asked if I wanted to dance. I thought he was being coy and asking if I wanted to just head off to the bathroom and have a quickie, but he took me by the hand and pulled me out onto the dancefloor.

“I was surprised, but definitely not disappointed when he pulled me in close and started doing body rolls,” Jackson bites his lip.

“It’s a good thing I was wearing my fitted jeans that night ‘cause, let me tell you, I was hard in a minute. I was just about ready to grab him and hustle him to the bathroom, be damned, but then he pulled away and started dancing normally. I wasn’t going to just take that, hell no. I made a grab for his hips, but he spun me around like a Beyblade, pulled me back against him and started grinding. Tease.”

Jackson solemnly shakes his head. Mark throws a glance at the doorway.

“I admit, I was weak to his boldness. I’m accustomed to be the one leading and making the first moves, but I didn’t fight him. How could I..?

“Anyway, if I was hard from his body rolls, his grinding turned my to steel. Or stone.  Something really hard. Yeah, so, I pretty much just followed his lead, grinded back on him and delighted in finding out that I wasn’t the only one who was painfully hard.“

Mark coughs and glances at the doorway again.

“Between the bangin’ music and the heat and Jaebum’s hard against my , I’m surprised I didn’t in my pants right then and there on the dancefloor, but by some magic, I held it in and then he finally said the words, ‘Let’s go back to mine.’

“That was a hint,” Jackson says seriously, his fingers steeped before him. “Not ‘My place or yours?’ In retrospect, it seems so obvious, but at the time I didn’t have a clue. I just grinned like an idiot and practically tripped over myself to follow him.

“The first thing that stood out to me was how clean and tidy everything in his apartment was, it was like a freakin’ showroom. I didn’t have too much time to look around though, he had me up against a wall with his tongue down my throat in a minute.

“Now, I know I can be loud at times—”

Mark snorts.

“—but I was like a , can I tell you? I don’t know how many people he’s kissed, but it’s got to be a lot otherwise he just has a gift, he’s so good at it. It’s hard to put in words, but it’s like his tongue is reaching into your soul and grabbing your at the same time, amazing.

“Even at this point, I still entertained the thought of sticking it to him. Dude…I don’t even know, he must’ve had my brain more messed up than I thought. So, he had had me up against the wall, his hand down my pants, me like he was born to get me off, I wish I could describe it in a way that makes you feel what he made me feel, man.”

“No, that’s, I’m alright,” Mark says hesitantly.

“I had to have come in my pants at least once. I can’t even remember, but he was so good, it must’ve happened. The next thing I know, I’m bent over the arm of his sofa.

“Now, at this point, I came back to my senses, tried to pull the brakes on things. I was like, ‘The ? I’m a top.’

“Jaebum didn’t care. He said, and I quote, ‘I’ll make you scream my name as you make a mess of my nice sofa, that’s a promise.’

“Not even gonna lie, a shiver ran up my spine when he said that, but I wasn’t going down—literally—without a fight. I insisted that I didn’t bottom, especially not when my partner is so pretty. I might as well have been talking to a rock. He ing and at my neck like I didn’t say anything, and then he slipped his hand back in my pants and started my again.

“I was like, ‘Jaebum, I’m not your personal toy.’

“He deadass looked me in the face, with his eyes ing gleaming, and said, ‘I get what I want.’

“‘I get what I want.’ I…That’s something I would say! What the do I even say to that?!” Jackson slaps the table, shaking his glass of cranberry juice and Mark’s plate of toast.

“I can’t lie, after he said that, well, I kind of melted like a snowman in hell. I always thought that I had a dominant, borderline overbearing personality, but Jabeum has changed my whole paradigm of thinking,” Jackson says pensively, his chin held in his hands.

“He ate my , you know?”

Mark chokes on his own spit.

“When he had me bent over his sofa, he spread my cheeks and ate me out like he was a starving man at a buffet. That was the first time I’ve ever experienced that,” Jackson hums, his eyes glazed over. “And true to his word, he had me screaming his name—and all kinds of obscenities—when he finally gave me the .

“I was practically paralysed when he was finished. He had to scoop me up and physically carry me to his bedroom afterwards, and that was just after round one. By the end of the night, I was a different person. Society likes to pretend that only changes women, but after that dicking down, I know that to be false.

“My life changed that day. I found a new boyfriend, someone who I plan to be with for as long as possible, and not just because of how the skilful way he touches my . It’s kind of unbelievable, but I almost feel as giddy when I get him to do something stupid and ill-advised as when he’s hitting my prostate just right,” Jackson chuckles.

“We at each other all the time, but I kind of enjoy that too. I don’t have to worry about whether or not he can handle me when I get hyper—oh no, far from it—and he can be ridiculously cute when he lets go of his image,” Jackson sighs dreamily, his eyes falling shut as he rests his cheek on his fist.

“O…kay?” Mark blinks owlishly.

“I’ll never be the same again,” Jackson murmurs.

“Jackson, I…Look, all I wanted to know was if I could have the last tin of baked beans,” Marks says faintly.

“Weren’t you listening?” Jackson opens his eyes. “I can’t have beans, not anymore.”

Mark blinks. “Wha—?”

“I’m extra careful now about anything and everything that affects down here,” Jackson says with a pointed glance at his lower body. “I’ve doubled my squat reps and I’ve traded in milk and sodas for cranberry juice. It really does affect how you taste—”

“ breakfast, I’m done,” Mark mutters as he leaps up from his chair, shaking his head as he makes a break for the doorway.

“I gave the baked beans away in a food drive,” Jackson calls out around a mouthful of granola.