“No hyung, that’s not how you do it!”

An exasperated sigh escaped Mark’s mouth, “Well if you know how to do it, why won’t you.” “Well thank you! You only stumble with the screwdriver.” the younger snaps.

They had travelled to a far away fantasyland, also known as Ikea and bought a shelf from there but the assembling wasn’t going as magical as those Swedish people made it seem to be. The instructions looked simple enough but the thing wasn’t co-operating with them at all. They had followed the instructions, tried to build it fitting the pieces together, but it never seemed to go together. Both of the men were ready to toss the pieces out of the window but some foolish will to finish what they have started kept them going.

They had been working with the pieces only to see a small progress. Two pieces of wood nicely secured together didn’t get them very far. Somewhere along the lines of assembling they made a decision that it’s better to be mad at each other and blame each other because they weren’t getting progress rather than focus on the task at hand or heck, even blame the instructions or the pieces of wood, but no. That’s not how relationships work at all. You need to be petty and wait until the issue at hand blows up before you can say anything or even think about confronting the problem. Exceptions are of course possible and Mark and Jinyoung would have liked to think they are one of those exceptions, like anyone else hopes, but it started to look like the opposite. The tell-tale signs of frustration bubbling up began circling in the air. They had been fighting for so long with a particular joint of two woods it felt like it was cursed until finally something clicked. Mark had gotten hold of the wood while the younger one tried to screw it to the bottom part, this time with success. A small ray of sunshine shone on them and the small bit of progress pulled a relieved sigh out of them.

But there was a down side to everything, with every step closer to finishing, the frustration when something didn’t work out also grew. That’s why Mark didn’t bother to answer when Jinyoung asked for the instructions that he easily could’ve reached himself if he wanted.

Stupid? Yes. Childish? More so. Why did he do it?

Just to be mad at someone or something and hopefully getting Jinyoung to the same mental state. When the raven haired didn’t bow down and kept asking for it, Mark carelessly threw it in the general direction where Jinyoung was without even looking at him. This finally got the wanted reaction out of Jinyoung. With a huff he through gritted teeth said, “Thank you so much, Mark. That was very kind of you,” with sarcasm dripping from every letter. Again they continued their very slow battle with the offending furniture in silence.

The battle had so far been very harmless, only thing hurt were their feelings but it soon looked like some blood were going to be spilled. It all started when Mark had found a mistake and called it out with a sigh. “Jinyoung-ah, you’ve made a mistake here. I guess we’ll need to start almost from the beginning thanks to you.” The frustration and disappointment was evident in Mark’s voice and that irked Jinyoung.

“How can you say that it’s my mistake when clearly it’s you who’s done it? Maybe if you weren’t so busy blaming me, you’d also make some progress.” he fired back and with it also began an argument between the two. Words were fling back and forth containing some profanities with accusations of laziness and never working hard enough and what not.

“You’re as stubborn as this nail, only difference is that you nail me to the floor instead than the other way around,” Mark huffed out.

A snort of laughter came from Jinyoung’s mouth at this. It felt like the funniest thing on earth to him. The laughter began bubbling out of his mouth louder and louder and soon it was unstoppable. It wasn’t even the words that came out of the older’s mouth that made Jinyoung collapse but it was the way he said them, in such seriousness and aim to hurt. To add on this, all the other ridiculous things they had been saying replayed themselves in Jinyoung’s mind. Rolling on the floor clearly was possible if something was fun enough. Mark joined in on this laughter chuckling a little, looking fondly at his other half and thinking of how stupid he looked on the floor. Mark couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that he’s completely in love with a total dork. Laughter simmered down to chuckles until they ceased away from the ravenette’s mouth as well.

“I’m sorry.”

All it took was those little words coming out of Jinyoung’s mouth and they felt at peace again. Peace was easy to break but it was easy to mend as well. The words were like a fresh breath of air that brushed away all the comments they had made prior to this. Mark couldn’t help but to smile at the love of his life and take a step forward to crash the younger one to his chest. It was automatic how Mark’s arms wrapped around Jinyoung’s waist and how Jinyoung’s arms rose to Mark’s neck, a familiar position they often found themselves in.

They stayed like that for a while, breathing in and out, feeling how their chests expanded against each other. Staying inside the comforting embrace of the other felt like home, even smelled like one. With their eyes closed they could feel the other’s heartbeat against their own chest, a constant reminder that the other one was there and that only the two of them could make their hearts beat like crazy.

Something just clicked with the two of them, they belonged together like a puzzle piece fits another. Only together they are complete, the picture isn’t finished if either of them is missing. They both had found a little piece of heaven on earth, like the other was an angel descended from the sky to bring light and love to their lives. They could’ve stayed in their little bubble forever, but something came creeping up on Mark’s mind.

“I’m really sorry to break this moment because I really don’t want it to end but aren’t you at least a little little bit curious how the shelf will look like when we finish it?”

All Jinyoung could do was to sigh. He wouldn’t have wanted anything more than to just forget about the stupid shelf and go to bed comforted by Mark’s embrace but of course Mr. I-Want-To-Build-A-Shelf had to go and ruin it.

“Fine. Let’s just get it over with” he said.

After a little break everything seemed to roll out much smoother. It seemed like the shelf was building itself with how fast progress they were making. Jinyoung didn’t even need to ask Mark to give him something when the other was already at it, like reading the other’s mind. Passing of tools and parts of the shelf was accompanied with loving eyes and sweet words. If they happened to walk past each other they made sure that a lingering hand would caress the other. The sight would have made some people barf. It was all so sickenly cute, like honey oozing out of everything. A piece to another, some screws and like magic the shelf was beginning to look a lot like a shelf. The couple could finally proudly say they had passed the horror of assembling an Ikea furniture together. Some people would even go as far as saying they could rip couples apart but Mark and Jinyoung wouldn’t say that. They needed to let Monopoly enjoy that pedestal, (yes, it’s still forbidden in that household).

Finally finished with the shelf they allowed themselves a breather, finally they could rest. They fell on the couch and sighed out of relief. Mark curled to Jinyoung’s side, content to stay there enjoying the younger one’s warmth. Mark looked happily at the shelf they had built together with their own hands. Something like pride filled Mark’s chest and he actually couldn’t have been happier in the moment. Jinyoung tho couldn’t help but to eye it suspiciously.

“Babe, don’t you think it looks a little crooked?”

“Of course not, it’s perfectly fine. Just trust me. And us. We did a great job.” Mark reassured the other. If Mark believed in them, Jinyoung could feel at ease too.

Slowly the night creeped in after a late night drama they had managed to get themselves hooked into and multiple cups of tea and drowsiness overcame the couple. Yawning they made their way to their bedroom. Again snuggling up to each other, the warmth that the other possessed and the calming heartbeat of the other lulled them to sleep. They slept the night like babies, enjoying the relaxed state they were after a day that was very tiring, mentally and physically. Jinyoung wondered if he had dreamed it or if there was a crash heard in their apartment at night but since Mark hadn’t heard a thing he believed it was just a dream.

Morning came way too soon with sunlight streaming in through their window and the curtains. Together they made their way to their kitchen to begin making breakfast, but their journey had a stop in their living room. The sight that they had to witness had once been a shelf but now it just makes them search for the tools and instructions again.

fin.

wow that was something. so i'll just remind you again how much i love interacting with you so pleeeaasee hit me up :)