“What would you like carved on your tombstone when you die?” Jinyoung asked, filching a handful of tortilla chips from Mark’s stash and piling them in his lap. They were in the middle of playing their little game of truth or truth during a break in customers, and it was Jinyoung’s turn after answering Mark’s question on his most embarrassing puberty moment (having a major voice cracking episode in the middle of singing the national anthem with his school choir on a nationally televised baseball game).

“That’s rather morbid,” Mark pointed out.

“Didn’t you just ask me about my funeral playlist last week?”

“Oh. Right.” Mark thought. “Don’t touch my stuff.”

“They’re just tortilla chips,” Jinyoung said defensively. “You only have like a million bags in storage.”

“No, I meant that’s what I would put on my tombstone.”

“You want it to say ‘Don’t Touch My Stuff’?”

“Yup.”

“I’m sure your surviving relatives will love that one.”

“I won’t be around to know or care.” He took a moment to consider his next question for Jinyoung. “What’s your favorite place in the world?”

Jinyoung got a look on his face, a look Mark had by now figured out meant that he was getting into ideas about something. Usually such looks were followed up by an attempt to get Mark to do something Jinyoung was well aware Mark wouldn’t want to do.

“You’ll still be on break on Wednesday, right?” Jinyoung asked.

“Right. Are you ignoring my question?”

“No. I was just thinking that if you’re not doing anything on Wednesday, I could take you there. To my favorite place, I mean.”

“And where would that be?”

“I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Give me your address, and I’ll come get you that afternoon and we’ll go there together.”

Mark lifted an eyebrow. That was one thing they hadn’t done yet. Mark technically knew Jinyoung’s address by heart from all the times he’d dropped him off in the evening, but he’d never actually gone inside his place. And Jinyoung had never even seen Mark’s apartment before. He most likely had a general idea of where it was, but nothing more than that.

Mark wondered why that was. It wasn’t like he had a problem hanging out with friends at his apartment or going to see them at their own places. Before hooking up with Jaebum, Jackson had practically lived at Mark’s on the weekends since Mark had Netflix and a Playstation. But Jackson was Jackson. He could do a belly flop on you in your own bed and cuddle you so hard that you left an imprint on the sheets, and somehow it felt entirely normal. If Jinyoung did something like that to him, it would end with an ambulance being called to resuscitate his stopped heart. The mere thought of Jinyoung being in his bedroom in general refused to compute.

Still, he didn’t actually need to invite Jinyoung inside if Jinyoung picked him up. All he needed to do was answer the door and step out. All completely doable.

“I’ll text my address to you later,” Mark said finally. “But I’m a little curious about how you intend to pick me up, since you don’t have a car. Will we be walking?”

To Mark’s surprise, Jinyoung actually grimaced. “As for that…that will also be a surprise. Just not a very good one.”

Mark spent Monday morning poking around his closet trying to find something appropriate to wear. Since Jinyoung hadn't told him where they were going, he would apparently be winging it, which now seemed like a risky decision to make on his own judgment. He was probably either going to end up in shorts and a t-shirt at a French restaurant or rock climbing in a suit.

He checked his phone, and another message from Jinyoung was waiting for him:

Jinyoung: Wear a t-shirt, shorts, and shoes you don't mind getting wet :p See you soon

Mark glanced around his room warily. He wouldn't put it past Jinyoung to be spying on him somehow just to play even more mind games with him. And what did he mean about shoes he didn't want to get wet? It wasn't raining, and he doubted Jinyoung would ask him to wear shorts and a t-shirt if they were going to a pool.

Still, he dug up his favorite t-shirt and a pair of baggy shorts, and found a pair of waterproof sandals buried in his closet. Jinyoung's favorite place was apparently wet, and even though he couldn't guess it now, he supposed it would all make sense later.

At 12 on the dot, Mark's doorbell rang. He threw open the door and found Jinyoung waiting on the steps in a pale blue t-shirt mostly covered by a white long sleeve button down, a pair of jeans that could only be described as 'mother-esque,' and a pair of bright blue watershoes.

“Um,” Mark said, looking him up and down and furrowing his brow.

“What, you don't like what you see?” Jinyoung asked, giving Mark a challenging look slightly softened by the smirk playing on his lips.

“You told me to wear a t-shirt and shorts, but you're not wearing either.”

“I didn't want to.”

“But it's hot out.”

“It sure is.”

“And yet you're all covered up.”

“Yup.”

“His body is like the Lochness monster,” a voice called from the street. “You can only catch glimpses.”

Mark looked over Jinyoung's shoulder. A beaten up looking mini-van was parked at the curb, and two guys were peering out through the window at them from the front seats.

“You brought friends?” he asked, turning back to Jinyoung.

“They're our ride,” Jinyoung said, smiling sheepishly. “Don't worry, they're only dropping us off on their way to the gym.”

“I have a truck, you know.”

“No, you have a business. A business that will get dinged up and covered in mud if you take it down certain roads.”

“We're going off-roading?”

“Not exactly.”

“Do you guys need a ride or what?” the driver of the van called out. “Or did you drag us out here to watch your 'man of mystery' seduction trick, Jinyoung?”

Jinyoung's ears turned red, and he whirled around so fast he probably hurt his neck in the process. Whatever expression he showed to the driver got him to shut up pretty fast. The passenger, on the other hand, only stuck out his tongue and rolled his eyes.

“Sorry about them,” Jinyoung grumbled. “Wonpil is the only one I know with a car crappy enough that a few mud stains would actually improve it. I didn't know Yugyeom would be hanging around. He's riling Wonpil up with his obnoxious aura. Anyways, let's get going.”

“Where exactly are we going, though? Are you going to explain it to me now?”

“You'll see.”

“Oooh, so mysterious,” the passenger—Yugyeom, presumably—said in a dramatic voice, wiggling his fingers. Wonpil elbowed him in the ribs, whispering “Don't embarrass him in front of hot guys!”

“YAH!” Jinyoung yelled, yanking the backseat door open. “Do both of you want to die, or something? Because you're seriously giving me a few good reasons to make your wish come true.”

“You can't kill me,” Wonpil protested. “I'm your ride.”

“Mark knows how to drive. We'll just dump your bodies and take the car.”

“I'm not particularly interested in becoming involved in a double homicide,” Mark said. To his surprise, the situation reminded him so much of bantering with Jackson that he forgot to feel awkward around Jinyoung's friends(?). Although a brief flash of it returned as the two of them turned around in their seats and openly assessed him from top to bottom.

“Not bad,” Wonpil said, smiling at Mark.

“What does someone like you possibly have to gain by spending time with Jinyoung?” Yugyeom wanted to know.

Jinyoung unceremoniously clocked Yugyeom over the head with the neck pillow that had been in the back. Wonpil opened his mouth as if to make his own witty retort, but another frosty glare from Jinyoung cut him short, and he turned to fire up the engine instead.

They drove for a few minutes in silence that was quite obviously forced—Jinyoung and his glares were silencing Wonpil, who was in turn silencing Yugyeom with a hissed “No!” whenever he opened his mouth, and Jinyoung himself was staying silent so that neither of the two would be able to respond to anything that he said.

Lucky me, Mark thought to himself. I'm the only one who could actually get away with talking here. He knew Jinyoung didn't want him to, for once, but he didn't exist to give Jinyoung everything he wanted. He was even doing Jinyoung the courtesy of not calling him out for being too rigid and overly careful, considering that Mark got the same way whenever Jackson opened his mouth around Jinyoung. That's just how you got around friends who had way too much ammunition on you to let them just fire at will. 

“So,” he said. “How do you three know each other?”

“I'm Jinyoung's neighbor,” Yugyeom said immediately. “He and Wonpil go to school together. Did you really meet Jinyoung on a date?”

Usually even a small reference to that date would give Mark a twinge of anxiety, but this time he chuckled a little, keeping it good natured. “Right. My best friend Jackson canceled on him and decided it would be fun to send me in as a fill in date. It was probably one of the most awkward things I’ve ever done.”

“Oh, so you were forced? That must be why you didn’t want to date him afterward.”

Jinyoung’s expression tensed, and Wonpil hissed a fierce “Oh my god, don’t say that!” at him. Yugyeom realized belatedly that what he said could be construed as needlessly blunt, and whirled around to look at Jinyoung with a panicked look on his face. Mark got the impression that though he enjoyed teasing Jinyoung, he didn’t want to actually hurt him with anything he said.

“I didn’t dislike Jinyoung, when I met him,” Mark said quickly, recognizing that this could potentially go in a direction no one would want to take it. “I was the one making it awkward, not him. It’s gotten better since then. Not that I want Jackson to pull something like that on me in the future, but it wound up being a good thing, I guess.”

Jinyoung’s expression blessedly relaxed and Yugyeom sighed in relief. He probably wasn’t fully in the clear, but there would be a much smaller chance of Jinyoung killing him now.

“Jinyoung mentioned you had a taco truck?” Wonpil asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah. I do basic Mexican food like tacos, quesadillas, and burritos. My friend Jackson and I go to special events like fairs or concerts every now and then when we get approval, but we’re usually parked by the Songbae Gallery on the outskirts of the public park.”

“I’m totally going to visit. I haven’t had a taco in ages.”

“I’m coming, too,” Yugyeom announced. “Especially if you give us a Jinyoung’s-friend discount!”

The rest of the trip was fairly calm. Wonpil and Yugyeom asked Mark a few questions about school, and in turn they told him a little more about how long they had known Jinyoung along with a few funny stories they had about him they were able to share in the limited time they had before Jinyoung kicked their seats and told them to shut up.

Luckily for him, they pulled up onto a gravelly road leading to the parking lot of their apparent destination without further incident.

“All right, here we are,” Jinyoung said, exhaling.

“Your favorite place in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere?” Mark asked.

“No. We’re going to rest of the way on foot.” Jinyoung pulled open the door almost as soon as Wonpil parked. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Not going to thank me for the ride?” Wonpil asked.

“Thank you. Don’t bring Yugyeom along next time.”

“Good riddance, Jinyoung,” Yugyeom sassed back. “See you later, Mark.”

“We’ll pick you up in a few hours,” Wonpil said with a salute. “Don’t get lost out there!”

Mark glanced around. He couldn’t see anything of note except for a rickety old building with an INFORMATION CENTER sign planted in front of it, which begged the question of what they were possibly giving information about.

“Should where we are be dawning on me at any second now?” Mark asked.

“No. I wouldn’t say this is a very famous place. More like a hidden gem. Come on.” He gestured Mark to follow him down a path leading out of the parking lot and into a densely wooded area past the Information Center. Mark had no idea where it would head—and was still conscious of the fact that they were both wearing waterproof shoes—but decided to follow without question.

The path led them in a straight line for a few minutes before reaching a fork. One of the diverging paths was labeled “Hiking Path,” and the other was labeled with words Mark was failing to translate.

“What does that say?” he asked Jinyoung, pointing to it.

“The first word is a type of tree. I don’t know the word in English. The second word…it’s a type of water. You know, a branching part of a bigger river?”

“Creek, maybe,” Mark guessed in English. “Or tributary.”

Jinyoung shrugged. “That’s where we’re going.”

They took the path, and it started leading them down an incline until the trees began to thin out again and it emptied them out into a rock beach. Sure enough, next to the rocky strip of land was a creek, shallow but quick as it flowed past in a burbling rush.

It was a very beautiful place. The leaves on the trees surrounding the area were beginning to turn red and gold for the incoming fall, and the creek itself was a pretty blue-gray which was brightened by the reflection of the sun. Best of all, other than the sound of rushing water, it was incredibly quiet and peaceful. No one else seemed to be around but them.

“This is your special place, then?” Mark asked. It suited Jinyoung, he thought. It was filled with lively energy and beauty, but was at the same time steady and soothing.

“Almost. This whole place is my favorite, but the best part is at the heart of it all.” He gestured Mark forward. “And to get there, we need to take the water path.”

Mark lifted an eyebrow. “Can’t we just walk along the creek on the rock beach?”

“That decreases the enjoyment of the experience by 50%. Come on.”

“You’re going to get your pants wet,” Mark reminded him.

“Oh, right.” Jinyoung bent down and rolled up the legs of his jeans, exposing his ankles, then his calves, and stopping at the bottom of his knees. Mark was reminded of how, historically speaking, seeing a woman’s ankle had used to be considered tantalizing since their legs were forever covered in stockings and long skirts. This felt surprisingly similar. He’d barely seen anything of Jinyoung’s skin before, and him slowly revealing it now, inch by alluring inch, felt oddly like a striptease.

When he finished, they waded into the creek. At first, it barely reached above their ankles, but as they progressed little by little, it began to get deeper. The water was blissfully cool, especially on such a hot day, but the ground beneath it was covered in rocks of various sizes, and was hard to walk over without slipping. After a few near accidents of falling into the water on both their parts, Mark grabbed on to Jinyoung’s wrist to keep them both steady. Jinyoung drew his arm back, moving so that Mark was grasping him by the hand instead. After a moment, he entwined their fingers together so they were holding hands more securely. Jinyoung’s skin was soft and warm, but Mark tried not to think too much of it. They were just keeping each other from falling, nothing more.

“Do you usually come here alone?” Mark asked as they progressed down the creek.

“Yes,” Jinyoung said. “Though it's really hard not to fall down sometimes when I’m walking by myself. Yugyeom and Wonpil have been down the hiking path with me and to the rock beach, but I’ve only ever traveled down the water path alone.”

“Why?”

“It’s hard to explain, but…some things just lose their magic when you share them. It doesn’t mean the same thing to other people that it means to you.”

“And now?”

Jinyoung looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “To me, taking this path feels like summer,” he said. “It reminds me of when I was younger, being free of responsibility and just taking in everything around me for what it was without constantly worrying about where I was going and what I have to do next. I don’t know if this feels like that to you. But having you here…it’s a similar kind of feeling. I was getting stressed earlier, I know, but now I feel like I can breathe easily. Like everything’s going in the direction it needs to go, and I don’t have to drive it so hard. I just have to relax and follow.”

Mark nodded. “I know what you mean. I used to do stuff like this with my parents when I was little, and it was always so nice and stress-free. It’s good to feel like that again.”

“Do you mind if I ask you a truth or truth question now?” Jinyoung asked.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Even if it’s Youngjae related?”

Mark sighed. Those kind of emotions didn’t feel like they belonged in this kind of atmosphere, but this was Jinyoung’s outing, not his. It was up to him to decide what he wanted or what he was able to tolerate. “Go on.”

“What did you two used to do together? Or I guess more specifically, what did you like to do together with him?”

Mark chewed on his lips. “Well, there were two main things. We’re gamers, so I used to go over to his place and we’d play online multi-players or battle in games like MarioKart or Mortal Kombat. When we weren’t doing that, we’d go out and walk his dog together in the park or go up and down market streets wasting our money. Youngjae went through this random sock obsession when we were in high school. He collected all different kinds, in all types of crazy patterns. He mostly got them for himself, but once a month I’d pick out some for him and he’d wear them all day.”

“On your monthly anniversaries?”

“Yeah.” Mark was surprised to find that this no longer felt like a bitter recollection. It had used to bother him to think of it—all of that time spent carefully picking those socks, and knowing that Youngjae had probably tossed them all when they’d broken up—but it almost felt like something he could look back on fondly, remembering the same enjoyment he’d felt back then. But what had changed to make him feel so differently about it all of a sudden?

“Did you guys talk a lot to each other?” Jinyoung asked. “Deeply?”

“That’s two questions in a row from you. Technically three since you also asked me about picking out socks on our anniversaries.”

“Fine. Ask me something.”

“Did you have a high school sweetheart or am I the only one who needs to be pumped relentlessly about it?”

Jinyoung snorted. “You’re the one whose high school sweetheart caused lingering trauma, not me. I dated in high school, sure, but not anyone who greatly impacted my dating life as a whole. Except for the girl I dated my first year who I have to thank for helping me realize the not-into-girls thing.” He paused. “Back to my question, now.”

“Since we were in high school, I wouldn’t say our conversations were particularly deep. But he was easy to talk to. I felt like if I had anything serious to say, he’d listen to it, make me feel better about it, and then help me move on. He was really straight forward and upfront, but he had a really good heart. The only thing we never really talked about properly was…”

“The break up?”

Mark nodded. “Yeah. It happened, and we stopped talking after that. The end. Over.”

“Maybe you should have talked about it.”

“Too late for that now,” Mark reminded him. Maybe. The fact still remained that Youngjae was now around for him to talk to if he wanted. “Any more questions?”

“Not now. Next time we play, it’ll be back on your turn.” Jinyoung ran a thumb against the back of Mark’s hand, startling him a little. “I guess I just wanted to know if it was your first time doing something like this.”

“Trust me, I can’t really have the ‘visit Jinyoung’s favorite place’ experience with anyone else. Even if this had been Youngjae’s favorite place randomly, we would have fallen in two seconds after we started walking and he’d probably be rolling around in the water laughing at the top of his lungs right now.”

“Sounds more entertaining than anything I’ve done so far.”

“Not everything needs to be constant entertainment. This is good, too. Different, but good.” Mark shielded his eyes against the sun. “Is that a bridge over there?”

“That’s exactly what it is. That’s where we’re going.”

When a cloud passed over the sun, Mark dropped his hand and studied it closer. The bridge spanned over the water, but looked abandoned mid-construction, not fully connecting to anything on its other side. It had seemingly gone untouched for a long time, given the amount of creepers that had extended from the wooded area and woven themselves onto the construct in thick twists.

When they were closer, Jinyoung pulled him out of the water and up the nearby embankment, then used the better angle to hop onto one of the bridge’s concrete support blocks, which was half-submerged in the water. From their position, they were hidden under the bridge, and also mostly shielded from view from anyone walking through the creek or on the rock beaches by a dangling veil of creepers.

“This is my spot,” Jinyoung explained. “My reading nook, I guess. Unless someone walked right past me on their way down the creek, no one would know I was here.”

“It’s pretty far from your apartment, though. Were you able to come here often?”

“My parents’ house isn’t far from here, and it’s really close to my old high school. Everyone else had club activities, but I would come here. It was a nice way to be alone for a while before I had to walk home. High school’s really noisy and filled with drama, so this was how I collected my thoughts back then. I don’t come as often anymore. I wish I had the time to.”

Mark was about to ask him what he liked about it, but as a warm breeze trickled past, it felt like the answer came to him on its own. The bright sun tempered by the shade provided by the bridge and the creepers, the privacy, the cool feeling of concrete on their damp legs, the sense of giving the abandoned bridge a purpose even though it had failed to connect to anything for its entire existence.

Jinyoung was still holding onto his hand, but Mark didn’t feel any urge to let go. It felt natural somehow, like he was able to understand this place so well because he and Jinyoung were linked through their touch, their thoughts and feelings flowing through each other from the place they were connected.

They stayed in the spot under the bridge for a good hour or so. Jinyoung told him about other days spent in this same spot, and Mark assessed it for other uses if they ever came back—it would be a good place for fishing or for jumping off into the water, if Jinyoung could ever be coaxed into a swimsuit.

After a while, they noticed it was getting dark around them, even though it was still afternoon. “Looks like rain clouds are coming in,” Mark said. “Want to head back?”

“It’ll still probably be another hour before the other two come pick us up,” Jinyoung said, checking his phone. “If it starts to rain, I’ll text them. Maybe we can try the hiking path for a little bit if it stays clear.”

They hopped back onto the embankment and began heading back up the creek. The temperature was starting to drop a little, and Mark was beginning to feel cold. “That’s why you should always wear long sleeves,” Jinyoung said sagely, pointing to his own long sleeved shirt.

"You personally asked me to wear a t-shirt."

"You have nice arms. Mine are nothing special."

“But weren’t you sweating in that long sleeved shirt all morning?” Mark asked.

Jinyoung simply shrugged. “And now I’m not.”

Just two minutes into their walk back, it started drizzling, and five minutes after that, it started raining in earnest. It got even harder for them to make it over the rocks without slipping, so Mark quickly dragged them back to the rock beach before they fell in. The rocks there were uneven and also hard to walk on, but at least they were a lot less wet and slippery.

Just a few minutes later, it started downpouring. Within seconds, their hair and clothing were completely soaked and plastered to their bodies, and it grew harder to see where they were going through the pounding rain. “The path to the parking lot is over there,” Jinyoung yelled, pointing to their left. “Let’s make a run for it!”

It wasn’t easy on the slippery ground in their even more slippery shoes, but somehow they made it up the incline and onto the tree-lined path. The canopy of leaves slowed the rain a bit, not that it really mattered. They were both soaked from head to toe and shivering from the cold rainwater.

Mark looked at Jinyoung and the way his hair was flattened and dripping across his forehead and how his white long sleeved shirt was now transparent against his skin and started giggling.

“What’s funny?” Jinyoung asked him in amazement. He was not looking happy about the abrupt change in weather at all.

“It’s fun,” Mark said, though he really didn’t understand fully why he was laughing either. “It went from a relaxing stroll to a survival adventure.”

“All right, Mr. Gamer. Any pro tips?”

“You don’t have an umbrella on you, do you?”

“No.”

“Huh, you really seemed like someone who would prepare for anything.”

“Could you stop wasting time by making fun of me? We’re just going to keep on getting wetter and wetter.”

“All right. Let’s find somewhere dry so you can text our ride to come get us. How about the Information Center?”

They made another run for it, which resulted in slipping a lot on the damp ground and needing to catch each other repeatedly. Mark kept giggling at the adventure of it, while Jinyoung kept yelling at him to cut it out before he eventually started giggling himself when Mark jokingly squeaked out “Save me, Jinyoungie!” one of the times he almost fell over. By time they made it to the Information Center, they were both laughing like they were deranged—which they possibly were, considering how cold and wet they’d already gotten.

“Oh crap,” Mark said, checking the Information Center door. There was a sign posted saying that they were operational only during summer break months and on weekends. He tried the door handle. “It’s unlocked though.”

“Wouldn’t it be breaking and entering?” Jinyoung asked. He was shivering visibly now, his teeth starting to chatter.

“No, just entering. I think whoever runs this would understand that this is an emergency.”

It was completely dark on the inside and Mark couldn’t immediately find a light switch, so he switched on his cell phone flashlight for the time being. “You text Wonpil,” he told Jinyoung. “I’ll try and find some kind of blanket or coat for you.”

“You’re the one in a t-shirt.”

“You’re the one shivering.”

Mark hunted around the room for a while before eventually finding a supply closet. There wasn’t much useful inside, but he eventually dug up a sports towel and a thick padded jacket with a maintenance badge on the front. He quickly toweled off his hair and face before going over to do the same to Jinyoung. When they were both no longer dripping, he slid the padded jacket over Jinyoung’s shoulders. “There.”

“It’s massive,” Jinyoung said. “Get under here with me.”

“Are you sure there’s room?”

Jinyoung yanked him closer, wrapping an arm around his waist to huddle them together and throwing the coat over Mark’s shoulders so they were both under it. “There. Coat warmth and body warmth.”

“I don’t think my body is very warm right now.”

“It isn’t.”

“Yours either.”

They started giggling again, and Jinyoung leaned his head against Mark. “This isn’t exactly how I planned this going.”

“Are you kidding? I love this kind of thing. Every outing should end huddling in a creepily dark building with a downpour outside. It’s exciting.”

“Just watch us catch a cold from this.”

“We’ll just have to take a hot shower when we get back.”

Jinyoung's phone glowed in his hands, and he checked it. “Yugyeom says that they're almost there, but there’s been some road closings nearby. I hope we don’t wind up stuck.”

“Yeah, that would kind of take the fun out of it.”

They got quiet for a bit, listening to the torrential rain outside. With Jinyoung pressed up next to him, he could feel his breathing, steady and soothing. It would have felt almost as peaceful as sitting under the bridge if they hadn’t been so wet and sticky and cold. He liked the way the rain sounded lashing against the window, as long as they weren’t out in the middle of it. He was suprised by how much he also liked being held by Jinyoung. Jinyoung wasn't warm, at least not now, but he was comforting. He was like the blanket you pulled up to your chin during a nighttime thunderstorm, the thing that made you feel sheltered and safe and at peace.

A few minutes later, they heard a car horn honking outside. Mark returned the maintenance coat to the closet, and they both made a run for the car, undoing all the progress they’d made in drying themselves off.

“You look terrible,” Yugyeom informed them when they threw themselves inside.

“And the bad news for you guys is that I don’t want to drive in this anymore, it’s freaking terrifying,” Wonpil said frankly. “I’m not taking you guys home until this stops. We’re all going to my place. It’s closest.”

“As long as Mark and I can clean up and change, I don’t mind,” Jinyoung said.

The drive to Wonpil’s was incredibly nerve-wracking—the relentless rain made it nearly impossible for them to see in front of them, and water was puddling pretty steadily on the road, keeping them from getting much speed. Still, they were able to arrive safely, and Wonpil was quick about letting them in and turning on his space heater so Jinyoung and Mark would stop shivering so much.

“Here’s some sweats and shirts for you guys to change into,” Wonpil said, tossing them a handful of things from his laundry room. “I’ve only got the one bathroom, so you two can work out who’s going to shower first.”

“You can,” Mark said, nodding to Jinyoung. “I think you’re worse off than me.”

“You can come in and towel off again before I do,” Jinyoung said.

The two of them slipped into the small bathroom and grabbed the towels under the sink. Jinyoung turned the shower on to get some steamy air going to warm them up, then grabbed a towel and began patting down Mark’s hair.

All right, apparently we’re drying off each other, then, Mark thought. He grabbed a towel and ruffled it through Jinyoung’s drenched hair, smiling as the strands fluffed up at awkward angles. Jinyoung lowered his own towel and began wiping down Mark's face. “Your cheeks are all red,” he said softly. “You're not feeling feverish are you?”

“I'm fine.”

“Mmm.”

“I am. It's warm in here. I feel like I'm melting a little bit, don't you?”

“Yes. I feel like that, too.”

Mark was so focused on drying off Jinyoung's hair that it took a moment for him to notice that Jinyoung was staring into his eyes, his own movements against Mark’s face slowing down to a halt. It wasn't until Mark accidentally swept Jinyoung's hair up into a ridiculous looking swoosh that he glanced down to laugh and about it and he saw the way Jinyoung was gazing at him and for a moment froze in place.

There was an intense kind of intimacy in Jinyoung’s eyes, a look that was reaching out hungrily, trying to connect with him and draw him in even further than they’d connected earlier that day. And Mark knew the emotions roaring to life in his heart at the sight of that hunger in Jinyoung’s look, the wild flutter, the pounding pulse, the heat overcoming even the freezing cold of his soaked clothes against his icy body. These were things he had felt a long time ago with Youngjae, but with a new and different touch as they adapted to the desire for a different person. The physical want that had used to be so shy and fumbling before was now overpoweringly intense, a borderline uncontainable urge to do something spontaneous like crush Jinyoung in his arms and kiss him until he couldn’t breathe. His body very, very much wanted him to give up his tightly reined in control. His head was the only thing stopping him. It reminded him that doing so would only be instant gratification—he’d still have to face up to the consequences, both short-term and long-term, with one of those long-term consequences being the unforgiving bitterness these feelings had ended in last time.

Mark drew back a little, dropping the towel away from Jinyoung’s hair. “Y-You should probably get out of those clothes,” he said. “I’ll give you some privacy.”

“Mmm,” Jinyoung said. He wasn’t showing any immediate disappointment that Mark had backed off—if anything, he looked understanding, like he hadn’t fully expected anything to happen just then. “I won’t be long.”

Mark turned and opened the door to leave, his heart pounding. This was not good. This was going against everything he wanted, everything he’d planned for. He didn’t want to fall in love again. He especially didn’t want to fall in love with someone who losing would utterly destroy him. He knew instinctively that it would be deeper and more intense than anything that had happened with Youngjae back when he was younger and incapable of such intensity, and that the ending would thus be far, far worse.

You don’t get a say in this, Mark’s heart seemed to be taunting him with its frantic beating. I’ve already decided. It’s already too late.

“Mark?” Jinyoung’s voice came from behind him, soft and careful.

Mark looked over his shoulder. Jinyoung was ing his soaked shirt, pulling it from his shoulders before grabbing for the hem of his undershirt. “Yes?” Mark asked. His throat felt incredibly dry, his voice coming from him in a fragile rasp.

“Thank you for coming with me,” Jinyoung said. “I’m glad I got to share that with you. I hope I can share everything like that…all the important things to me, with you.”

Game over, Mark’s heart informed him gleefully as it went into a wild fever pitch as Jinyoung pulled his shirt over his head. Stop fighting for a victory here. You’ve already lost.