When Youngjae gets home from work and steps inside, after struggling with the front door that never unlocks on the first try and has to be shoved to open, it’s dark. The lights are off inside the apartment as well, and the world is quiet after he closes the sound of traffic out on the other side of the door. The fridge whirs quietly, and he can hear a fan going in one of the rooms. Someone in the apartment above them walks across their living room and back. There’s a pleasant smell drifting through the apartment, but it’s faint and disappears moments after his nose picks up on it. Letting out a sigh, he drops his bag beside the coat rack and kicks off his shoes, shrugging off his jacket before stepping onto the carpet and padding into the small kitchen at the other side of the room. As not to disturb the sereneness of the night around him, he opens the cabinet as carefully as possible and takes out a glass, closing it with just as much care. It’s not until he turns on the tap water and places the glass underneath the faucet that he hears it: a footstep, and a door opening. He turns around slowly, bringing the glass up to his lips and taking a sip as he watches light from a doorway pour into the shadows. Mark steps out, running a hand through his hair, and it makes Youngjae a minute to process that he’s not stepping out of their bedroom, but that the light is coming from the bathroom. He raises his eyebrows and brings down the glass, but Mark is already shuffling over to him, a soft smile on his lips.

“You’re finally home! How was work?” Youngjae smiles despite his confusion about Mark being awake at such an hour, placing the glass down and raising his arms to accept Mark’s warm hug. Above him, he can no longer hear footsteps.

“It was… long. But what’s new?” He laughs. “How was work for you? Did Jackson-hyung do anything stupid today?” Mark pulls away, only enough to look at him, arms still hooked firmly around his waist.

“Of course he did. Honestly, I’m surprised he hasn’t been fired yet. But he’s a good personal trainer, so I guess he gets a free pass.” Mark is still smiling, and his smile is contagious. Youngjae can’t help but to smile as well, some of the exhaustion escaping his bones as his lips part to mimic Mark’s mouth. “But I got you a surprise!” Youngjae’s eyebrows slowly climb their way up his forehead as he processes what his boyfriend has just said.

“You did? Hyung, you know you don’t have to do things for me-“ Mark shushes him, bringing a hand up to press a playful finger against his lips while the other finds his hand.

“I promise you’ll like this one, baby. Follow me,” his eyes are twinkling, so Youngjae abandons his glass of water, leaving it to condense near the sink, and follows behind him across the short space, stopping behind him when they get to the source of the light. His eyes widen as he takes in the scene in front of him, and his mouth slowly falls open.

“Hyung…” The bathtub is full, the water still steaming slightly, bubbles bobbing up and down at the surface. A few candles line their counter, and Youngjae realizes that the smell from earlier had been so pleasant because Mark had pulled out his personal favorites. He’s lost for words as he turns to Mark, overwhelmed with some kind of feeling bubbling up in his chest. Mark is still all smiles, and he squeezes Youngjae’s hand when he sees the look on his boyfriend’s face.

“You’ve been working a lot, Youngjae. Honestly, I’m worried that you’re working too much, and since you have a day off tomorrow… I thought I’d surprise you with a bath so we can just relax together. Like we used to back in college.” The bubbles in Youngjae’s chest come out as more laughter, and he leans over to rest his head on Mark’s shoulder, memories trickling through his brain.

“Back when we got our first apartment together,” he giggles a bit, just remembering the tiny place and the even tinier bathtub. “We could barely fit. You had to sit crisscross so I could fit in there with you.” Mark laughs along, softly, relieved.

“Well, at least we’ve upgraded on something! Come on, before it gets cold. Let’s get you out of those stuffy clothes and into bubbles instead.” They’ve been together for years, but Youngjae’s face still blooms a dusty red whenever Mark is so straightforward, words slipping past his lips carrying nothing but truth in what he wishes. He steps inside the bathroom behind the older, and although there’s no one in the house other than them, he still closes the door behind them, though he sees no reason to lock it.

Mark is already shrugging off his oversized t-shirt when Youngjae turns around, so he moves to follow suit, fingers coming up to mess with the pearly buttons on his crisp blue shirt. But his fingers are quickly waved away and replaced by Mark’s long, skinny ones, his eyes narrowed adorably in concentration as he undid each one. His sweatpants hang low on his narrow hips, and the waistband of his boxers can be seen above them with the absence of the shirt. He looks good like this, but Youngjae doesn’t get much time to admire the way his hipbones look because Mark brings his head up and kisses him as he gets the last button undone and pulls the shirt out of his pants, hands sneaking under the fabric at the shoulders and fingers tickling his skin as the they gently pull the shirt back and off him. Youngjae lets his arms go limp so that Mark can pull the shirt down and off completely, actually glad for the button down for once because he doesn’t have to stop kissing Mark lazily to get it off. The undershirt, unfortunately, is a different story, but Mark doesn’t let it be an inconvenience, wasting no time as he detaches his mouth from Youngjae’s and grabs the hem of the shirt, pulling it up and over his head quickly so that he can kiss him again.

Youngjae suddenly decides that he’d rather get in the bath while it’s still warm than sit here and kiss all night, as tempting as it is, so he moves his hands to Mark’s waistband and wraps his fingers around both the sweatpants and the boxers, tugging at them. Mark makes a little surprised noise in the back of his throat, and Youngjae has to break the kiss to laugh. It only makes him laugh more when Mark turns his lips into a pout at his retreat.

“The water is going to get cold if we just stand here all night. We can kiss once we’re inside.” Mark rolls his eyes, but the smile is back and his hands move from where they had been resting around Youngjae’s now bare torso to and his pants.

“I just ran it. If anything, it might still be too hot,” his voice is whiny, but Youngjae can sense the humor in his tone, so he just sticks out his tongue and moves his hands away from Mark’s pants, swatting away his boyfriend’s hands from his own pants as well.

“So check it and finish getting undressed. Hyung, I’m tired,” he mimics Mark’s voice from moments before, and it’s Mark’s turn to stick out his tongue, but he turns around and checks the water like Youngjae said to do, shimmying out of his pants as he does. Youngjae takes the few moments that Mark is turned around to check out his (cute, he thinks) as he finishes taking off his own pants. It feels a little weird, because they haven’t done anything like this in a while, but Youngjae is slowly warming up to it. The lights are a bit dim (mostly because two of the four lightbulbs are out and they haven’t had the time to fix them yet) so the candles give off a warming affect, flickering reflected in the large mirror over the sink. Youngjae steps forward and, while Mark is beginning to stand straight from checking the water, wraps his arms around the older and hugs him tightly, chin resting on his shoulder. Mark jumps a bit before relaxing in his arms, waving his hands as he tries to get the bubbles from the bath clinging to his hand off.

“The water is still hot, like I told you. Are you okay?” He turns his head a bit in concern, looking back at his younger boyfriend as well as he can. “Are you too tired?” Youngjae shakes his head and hums, closing his eyes.

“I’m okay. Just thinking about how lucky I am to have you,” he opens his eyes again and presses a chaste kiss to Mark’s cheek. “I love you.” A faint pink begins to crawl its way up Mark’s neck and into his cheeks, and he turns away to hide it, but Youngjae catches it. He also catches the smile playing on Mark’s lips.

“I love you too, dork. Now come on, let’s get in.” Youngjae laughs again, spirits rejuvenated as he lets his arms fall to his sides so that Mark can climb in. The water splashes slightly as Mark sits down, bubbles twirling around his frame before they settle around his chest, sticking to his arms when he lifts them to beckon Youngjae in. It doesn’t take much persuasion to make Youngjae get in, and he feels warmth spread through his body as he steps in, stress already beginning to wind its way out of his shoulders and hands. There’s not much room, but it’s still more room than they use to have, and Youngjae makes the most of it, sitting down in-between Mark’s legs and scooting back until he feels the skin of Mark’s chest on his, Mark’s arms wrapping around him and covering his sides with bubbles. He lets his head fall back and rest on Mark’s shoulder, body reveling in the warmth surrounding them.

Mark had been right about him needing to relax. He hadn’t realized it until now, but all of the joints in his body had a slow ache and his head seemed to have a constant faint pounding, while his back whimpered whenever he stood up again. The warm water, rocking and swirling around his sore muscles, was soothing, but it reminded him of how much he’d been neglecting Mark in his work stupor. They’d barely seen each other in a week, Mark having to go to work soon after Youngjae woke up, trying to sleep of the fatigue from working such late nights. Swallowing, he wraps his fingers around Mark’s and squeezes his hand.

“Thank you. I’m sorry I’ve been gone so much lately. I’m sorry for worrying you.” Mark is silent for a moment, head tilted back, staring at the white ceiling where the candles cast shadows with their dancing. Youngjae had just let his eyes close when Mark brings his chin back down and kisses the younger’s forehead.

“It’s okay. I know you’re working so hard because you want the best for both of us. I’m just glad I was able to convince you to take this bath with me,” he pauses, and Youngjae opens his eyes to look at his boyfriend, watch the way the light played over his cheekbones and the soft bridge of his nose. “You’re my everything, Youngjae. My home. I just want you to know that. The size of the place we live in or the price of the things we have mean nothing to me as long as you’re here with me.” Youngjae’s breath hitches in his throat as he listens to Mark speak, his low voice echoing quietly in the small space. “That one time, when the heater broke, I didn’t complain because having you in the bed beside me made me warm. When we didn’t have a couch and we had to put pillows and blankets on the floor instead, I was happy because you would always joke about us having all we needed and I got to hear you laugh every night when we watched a movie. Those old plates with the ugly patterns on them that we got from your grandmother are the most beautiful plates in the world to me, because we’ve eaten dinners and had friends over with them. I even love the one with the chip in it, because every time I look at it I remember that you chipped it while trying to dance with me to one of AOA’s songs. We don’t have everything, but we get by with each other. And we’re happy together. So that’s enough for me.”

Youngjae blinks his eyes furiously, trying not to cry as Mark pours his heart out to him in the confines of their bubble palace. He fails when Mark begins to litter kisses across the back of his neck and his shoulders and every surface his lips can reach. A tear escapes a blink and rolls down his cheek, but he catches it and wipes it, laughing to cover it up.

“God, I can’t believe you still remember the AOA accident. That was over two years ago, hyung,” his voice is shaky, copying the motion of his hands, but he continues. “It’s enough for me too, hyung. This house and those damned ugly dishes and the heater that breaks all the time. As long as you’re here, it’s enough for me too. But eventually, I want my voice and my records and my songs to buy you all the things you deserve. Home will always be when I’m with you, but I work this hard so that one day we can have a home that you don’t have to always worry about fixing; a home where we can relax and maybe raise kids and have a family,” he trails off and flushes as he realizes what he’s saying, looking down at the water and the bubbles surrounding their intertwined hands. He can hear Mark chuckle behind him.

“Kids, huh?” Youngjae blushes more, but Mark just sounds amused, and a little touched. “I want that too, one day. But there’s no need to kill ourselves to get it now, right? We’re still young. We can adopt kids and maybe get another dog to give Coco a friend later. And speaking of Coco, we have her now, what’s going to happen to her, our only child, if you work yourself to death?” Youngjae, despite himself, giggles.

“Okay, okay, fine. We have to take care of the child we have now. Good point. I’ll make sure to stop working myself so hard so that you don’t have to be a single parent.” Mark barks out a laugh and pulls his hand away from Youngjae’s, who is about to protest until he feels Mark’s hands begin massaging his back.

“Whatever works, I guess. But there’s no need to worry about big, bad things right now. It’s bath time, just lay back,” Mark lowers his voice and half-sings, half-raps the last sentence as he moves his hands across Youngjae’s back, voice lilting with silent laughter. Youngjae rolls his eyes.

“You’re so lame. I can’t believe you’re quoting one of my own songs to me.”

“You love me, though. Lame and all.” Youngjae beams and pulls away from Mark to turns himself around so that he’s facing to older, legs straddling Mark’s hips.

“You’re lucky that I do. Now I’m going to give you a bubble beard, so hold still.” Mark’s eyes widen along beside his smile, and he brings his hands up to grab Youngjae’s wrists.

“Oh, it’s on, you brat. You’d better be ready to wash bubbles out of your hair.”