Prompt no: #028
Prompt: Jinyoung seeks the school love guru Mark, in order to help his best friend Jaebum with his crush on Jackson. However, Mark requires a payment for his help and in this case he wants a kiss from Jinyoung.
Title: How to pay with a Kiss
Author: megs_got_all7 (AO3)
Side pair: JackBum
Rating: Teen and up Audiences
Word count: 2.5k
A/N: To the prompt-writer, I really thought this prompt was so cute, and I enjoyed writing for it. I hope you enjoy reading it!


---


 
Something was wrong with Jaebum-hyung.
 
"Something is wrong with you, Jaebum-hyung," Jinyoung accused at break time, distracted from his Arcane Integrals notes. He felt thoroughly annoyed with Jaebum's dreamy air. To anyone else, Jaebum's saturnine disposition was intact, a dangerously attractive result of his siren heritage... but Jinyoung had been friends with him for far too long to miss some very worrisome signs.
 
"What are you talking about," Jaebum answered, very flatly. Instead of eating, however, and reviewing notes for his upcoming Advanced Counter-Curses class, he was staring at the screen of his phone, thumb slowly scrolling up a page...and he was smiling.
 
It wasn't a big smile. Jaebum was of the opinion that he needed to maintain his Cool image at school, although he was an utter dork in reality; however, to Jinyoung that small quirk of his mouth was as good as a loud burst of laughter.
 
Jinyoung frowned and then activated the last portion of Mission What-Is-Going-On. He turned to Youngjae, whom he had planted beside Jaebum during break for the past week and a half, ever since Jaebum had been acting like he had been walking on beams of starlight. They hadn't even learned that particular invocation as yet. 
 
"Youngjae?"
 
"Hyung has been looking at posts by that fencer guy, Jackson," Youngjae replied without skipping a beat. "That exchange student from Hong Kong." He didn't shift from at all from his position of slouching over his books and food, one hand propped up against the side of his head. Even when Jaebum immediately turned over his phone and glared, Youngjae only grinned and shrugged.
 
Jinyoung was just as unrepentant when Jaebum turned a stormy expression towards him. He had no regrets using Youngjae as a spy, because Youngjae was entirely sneaky behind that gloriously sweet face, and everyone knew that he was Jaebum's fave and therefore could get away with nearly everything. Besides, Youngjae was a banshee, and no one really wanted to cross banshees, no matter how cute.
 
"Why are you checking that guy's posts?" Jinyoung wondered and JB answered with a lazy twist of one hand. "Hyung...do you like that fencer guy?"
 
"You can be quiet now," Jaebum told him in a low, threatening tone, every note a siren's imperative to mind your own business but Jinyoung also had siren heritage. He was immune to such compulsions. In addition, he had practically grown up with Jaebum and witnessed him crooning at stray kittens at least once a week, soothing them with his song in order to feed them; Jaebum might be a figure of doom to most of their schoolmates, but Jinyoung was unfazed.
 
Jinyoung leaned close. "Well, if you like him, that's okay with me...you know that, right?"
 
"Thanks for your permission," Jaebum said, rolling his eyes, but his general air was amused.
 
"You should talk to him," Jinyoung suggested and Jaebum's amusement disappeared, and a foggy mood swamped in its place. "...hyung?"
 
"I'm not his type." Jaebum got up, snatched up his books and bag, and stalked out of the long, narrow room. Other students fairly launched themselves out of his way, and Jinyoung was sure he snarled at some poor soul who dared to pose a question.
 
"What's that about?" Jinyoung pondered, turning to Youngjae, who sighed, pursing his lips so that the puff of air fluttered the fringe of his black hair.
 
"That Hong Kong guy, he can't hear a siren's voice. He can't hear at all, actually."
 
Jinyoung sputtered a little. "But...but that's no reason! And besides, it's not like Jaebum-hyung would force anyone using his call--"
 
"I know that," Youngjae cut in, jabbing towards himself with his thumb. "You know that," and here, he pointed at Jinyoung. "But you know how Jaebum-hyung is."
 
"He's being ridiculous," Jinyoung said, incredulous at Jaebum's patent silliness. "He should just go up to that guy and just...talk to him!"
 
Youngjae shrugged. "Knowing hyung, he thinks he needs some kind of special charm, you know? Like...I dunno, for luck?"
 
Jinyoung stared at him, and felt an idea bloom in his head. "We could make a charm for him! Yes!" He pushed his Integrals notes to one side and dug around his bookbag for his Essential Charms textbook. "Okay...here's a good one! A Charm for Romantic Luck...you need the ashes of an orange rose,  the water from a silver cup that was left in line with star Vega, and--" He stopped short and squinted one eye at the small text. "And one blessing from a deity of love." 
 
"Are there any love-deities here now? No...that Cupid from Europe graduated last year." Youngjae wrinkled his nose. "Oh! The Love Guru!"
 
"Yeah." Jinyoung felt his whole being curl up in a weird sort of sigh. "The Love Guru."
 
The Love Guru was what everyone called that guy from the United States...Mark Tuan, a Taiwanese student who was said to be a personification of Tu Shen. The Rabbit God Tu Shen managed homoual love, but Mark Tuan was out there handling any request he found interesting, whether the persons in question were gay or not. Jinyoung always stared at him when he thought no one was looking, because he enjoyed looking at Mark. He liked a lot of things about Mark, but none of it mattered at the moment, for he needed a blessing for his friend's charm.
 
"Let's go find him." he said, packing his bag with neat, decisive movements. "We have an hour before the next session."
 
"But I haven't gotten all the calculations as yet--!!"
 
"I'll help you later. Come on."
 
He hauled a complaining Youngjae through the corridors, asking for Mark Tuan and getting annoyed with all the coy, interested gazes. Finally, he located the deity in a small study room near to the back of the campus. He pushed open the door and Youngjae let out a delighted yell at the presence of a lovely piano tucked into the corner. He pulled himself out of Jinyoung's grip and stampeded over, fairly shoving at the slender boy who sat there on the bench.
 
"Hey!" the slender boy cried and tried to return Youngjae's jostling. "I was here first."
 
"Let him play, BamBam. I'd prefer him to sing for us, not tell us about our doom," someone called out in a laughing tone and Jinyoung looked around at the source of the voice. About three other boys were sprawled off across desks and chairs. One of those three was Jackson, who gave them a querying little smile. Another, the one who had apparently spoken, was a fox in its human form...Yugyeom, who only had one tail so far and had a very sweet air, at least for now.
 
BamBam was a Thai student, and Jinyoung had heard that he could take the shape of a fearsome snake. He certainly was rather stronger than his slender frame revealed; his dark eyes flashed as he continued to struggle with Youngjae.
 
"Oh, BamBam," the third dude said, voice a low sigh. "Just let him play."
 
"Fine." BamBam folded his arms and shifted over a bit, a scowl painted over his cute face. 
 
Triumphant, Youngjae settled on the bench properly and played a quick cascade of very pretty chords. BamBam lost that sullen expression fairly quickly, watching Youngjae's hands move with increasing delight.
 
"Can I help you?" The third guy was Mark Tuan, and Jinyoung experienced a little tremor of nerves as their gazes caught. Mark's face was nearly completely obscured in the dark shade cast by the hood of his jacket. 
 
Jinyoung opened his mouth, and had to clear his throat before he could speak. "I'd...can I talk to you? Alone?"
 
Mark just stared at him for a long moment. Jinyoung wasn't sure, but it seemed as if Mark had begun to smile at him, an upwards pull of full lips. Before Jinyoung could speak again, Mark turned to Jackson and signed at him, as he spoke aloud.
 
"Jinyoung is asking to talk with me in private," Mark said. "I'll be back soon."
 
"Sure," Jackson answered, his voice pleasantly raspy. "Hello, Jinyoung," he said and waved cheerily.
 
"Oh….hi." Jinyoung returned his wave in an uncertain fashion and Jackson's friendly smile became a huge grin. He could see why Jaebum would be attracted to this guy, really. Mark brushed past him, heading towards the door, and Jinyoung followed.
 
"You know my name," he said when they were out in the deserted corridor, the sounds of the piano and singing muffled by the closed door.
 
"Yeah," Mark replied, very simply. He leaned against the opposite wall, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket. He made no attempt to elaborate and Jinyoung stifled the urge to roll his eyes.
 
"I need a blessing for a luck charm...for my friend. I have to get it from a deity of love."
 
Mark's eyes gleamed in the shadows. "Okay," he answered. Jinyoung had expected more opposition, frankly.
 
"How can I get the blessing?" Jinyoung asked, feeling impatience swirl under his skin. "I mean...how do I pay for it? How much money--"
 
"You can pay for a blessing with cash, sure," Mark said with a faint hint of lecture, even though he was actually smiling, showing off teeth that seemed too large for his narrow face. "But the strongest ones? You petition for them."
 
Petition? Jinyoung scoffed internally. All the other students he'd encountered on his search for Mark said they'd given him cash, or something of fairly high value for his touch in love. None had said they'd petitioned.
 
"Fine," he muttered. "How should I petition? What do I say?" 
 
Mark reached up and pulled back the hood which hid so much of his face. His gaze scanned Jinyoung's face, stopping at his mouth. Jinyoung felt his cheeks get warm.
 
"If you need a blessing for someone else, that takes a lot of power from me," Mark said. "You have to pay me with a kiss."
 
"A...a kiss?" Jinyoung croaked out. He tried to be outraged, but to his own ears he sound rather faint. "What the--has anyone else paid with a kiss?!"
 
Mark shook his head. "No. I haven't wanted a kiss from anyone else."
 
Jinyoung blinked very rapidly. His mouth felt as if it had gone as dry as a desert. He stared at the other boy, who looked back at him steadily. Mark now had one hand pressed against his own chest, and against the soft grey material of his hoodie, his fingers were very long.
 
"Well," Jinyoung managed and then stepped forward. "Okay."
 
Mark's eyes widened as Jinyoung bent close; it was funny, Mark wasn't that much shorter than he was, but he had an interesting quality of diminutiveness. Jinyoung tilted his head close, thrilled to see Mark bite at his lower lip.
 
"Do I say anything?" Jinyoung whispered.
 
"Yes," Mark whispered in reply. "Say anything you want."
 
"Okay." Jinyoung took a deep breath. "I...I ask for a blessing for my friend. I want him to feel confident to pursue his happiness."
 
When he kissed Mark, he felt a press of energy against his lips, the warmth rushing over his face and pushing through his hair like a sweet wind. Mark sighed and pressed back against him, even though he still had one hand trapped between them. The warmth slid down over Jinyoung's shoulders and pulsed in the center of his chest.
 
Mark's free hand slid up Jinyoung's arm and squeezed his bicep, and Jinyoung let out a little whimper. He tilted his head and felt Mark's lips part even more. Mark's tongue slipped into his mouth, slow and sweet and Jinyoung couldn't help himself: he grasped at Mark, eagerly grabbing his shoulders before cupping his face. 
 
Mark moaned something and Jinyoung swallowed it whole. 
 
"Jinyoung," Mark murmured, pulling away. He chuckled when Jinyoung chased after him, capturing another kiss. Finally, he managed: "Jinyoung, look."
 
Practically panting, Jinyoung forced himself to gaze down between them. Mark had pulled his hand away from in his chest; in the middle of his palm, a small orb glowed golden.
 
"Take it," Mark said, and carefully tipped it into Jinyoung's hand when he reached out. Jinyoung gasped as it settled into his cupped hands. The orb pulsed gently, and it was so warm; faint patterns trailed across the surface, dragging through the light.  Jinyoung was caught up in just staring at it, that he almost didn't notice when Mark slipped around him, heading back towards the small room.
 
"Hey, wait," he said and spun around as slowly as he could, in order not to upset the lovely sphere. Mark had stopped and turned to look back over his shoulder. "Suppose...I need another blessing? For myself, I mean?" His cheeks felt hot but he really, really wanted to know the answer.
 
Mark's smile was surprisingly shy for a person who'd been eagerly kissing Jinyoung just a few moments ago. "You know how to ask next time, right?" He pulled open the door, briefly releasing the soft music and laughter from the others before slipping inside quickly and quietly.
 
Smiling at the blessing, Jinyoung thought that he would like to petition a lot.
 
Fin
 
 
END NOTES: I had wanted to write more about Jackson as a deaf fencer like Olympian Ujlaky-Rejto Ildiko but I didn't get to it sorry :(