Jinyoung woke up the next morning feeling light-headed.  He was unsure if it was because he was getting sick or because his body was still hot thinking about the previous day.

After a healthy amount of kissing Mark and Jinyoung had to unlatch from each other, the warmth of their bodies could only negate so much of the cold rain falling on them.

Jinyoung was feeling the pain of not living with Mark the most now because not only did that mean they had to part ways prematurely, but it also meant he had to come up with some random story to explain to Kwon why he had been out in a thunderstorm for so long and came home soaking wet.  He went with some tale of coaxing a stray cat out of a tree- which in hindsight was a pretty stupid story but Kwon seemed thoroughly impressed by the entirely made up feat.

The sound of his cell phone ringing made him jump up in bed, grasping at his night table to pick up.  He could recognize Mark’s distinctive ringtone he had set.

“Jinyoungie,”  Mark said softly into the receiver.  Jinyoung missed that name so much, hearing it now felt like finally getting to take a bite of your freshly baked cookies after spending hours making them.  “I think I caught a mild cold, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,”  Jinyoung lied, refusing to let there be any regrets about the day before.  “Don’t worry about me.”

“Are you gonna come visit me at the dorms?”  Jinyoung could almost hear Mark’s pout through the phone.  “I miss you.”

“You just saw me last night.”

“That was a whole… sixteen hours ago?  Way too long.” Jinyoung felt like he was floating on a cloud, how in the world was Mark this cute.  He had always been like this but to add that extra level of flirtiness to it made Jinyoung’s heart jump.  He wasn’t sure he could handle this whole being in love thing, he was already feeling like he was losing his will to make rational decisions.

“I have class in an hour, don’t you have class?”

“I can’t go,”  Mark fake coughs twice into the phone.  “I’m sick.”

Jinyoung didn't know what he was going to do with this fool.  “Colds aren’t that bad, but if you need a little TLC I might be able to drop by for a short visit.”  Jinyoung’s own flirtatious tone was a shock- when did he learn how to talk like that?

“I’ll run over there and pick you up!”

“I thought you were sick?”

“Oh,”  More fake coughing.  “I’d do anything for you Jinyoungie.”

Jinyoung laughed into the phone, Mark’s silliness had always been next level.  “Alright, I can walk there myself.”

“I’ll be here waiting!”

“Jackson and Jaebum are in class, feel free to sit anywhere you want.”  Jinyoung didn’t have a chance properly spend some time at Mark’s dorm since the last time he had been there for a real visit since he spent it staring a hole into Jackson’s skull.

“You guys barely have chairs,”  Jinyoung said as he sat himself down next to Mark on his bed.  “Also, why would I sit anywhere but next to you?”

There was at most half an hour before Jinyoung had to run to class, but he was still happy he decided to come here first.  “Good, still trying to convince myself yesterday wasn’t a dream.”

Mark’s arm slid behind Jinyoung’s back, and Jinyoung fell into his touch with ease.  “Realer than real.”

With so little time to spare it wasn’t a shock that Mark went in for the kiss as quickly as he could, Jinyoung was sure they both missed this part the most from the day before.

Kissing Mark still felt surreal- like he’d been missing out on one of the best parts of their relationship for all these years.  His lips were super soft, he was always smothering lip balm all over them so Jinyoung wasn’t too surprised by that. His touch was so gentle as well. His long fingers came up to caress his cheek when they both got lost in the moment.

Mark’s tongue slipping past his lips was something new.  It was a little weird, honestly. Jinyoung wasn’t sure what he had expected.  Mark tasted like the minty toothpaste he probably scrubbed his entire mouth with after he got off the phone, but his strong magnolia scent mixed with the mint taste was surprisingly pleasant to Jinyoung’s senses.

Jinyoung didn’t know what he was doing but his tongue moved against Mark’s on its own, when Mark’s tongue moved Jinyoung’s tongue followed like they were doing a choreographed (but unrehearsed) partner dance.

In reality, it wasn’t about what Mark tasted like or what he smelled like- it was all about what was going on in Jinyoung’s head.  The proximity; even just the thought of Mark’s mouth of his was causing most of the dizziness he was experiencing.

Jinyoung almost whined when Mark pulled away. “What are we?”

“Not kissing, which is unacceptable.”  Jinyoung tried to push Mark’s head back towards him but Mark wouldn’t budge.

“No, I’m serious,”  Mark scooched back on the bed and Jinyoung finally gave up.  “Are we like… a couple now?”

Jinyoung wasn’t sure about that title.  He was so used to Mark being his ‘best friend’, he’d rebranded their relationship now to ‘best friend but with kissing’ in his mind. “Are we really a couple?  We haven’t been on an actual date or anything.”

“We’ve been out for enough ice cream to validate us as a couple, in my opinion,”  Mark suggested. “But if you would like an actual date before everything is official, I can arrange that.”

“You’re right those were… pretty much dates.”  The sacred ice cream date was technically the catalyst to the start of their relationship as a couple.

Couple. There was that terrifying word again.  Jinyoung really liked Mark, but the thought of being a boyfriend was making him nervous.  “This is a lot, I mean yesterday I was straight-”

“And now you like guys?”

“That’s not exactly true either… I like you.  Only you.”

“Then what’s with the hesitation?”  Mark was looking at him so softly despite Jinyoung being a brat about this situation.  “Are you scared of liking me for real?”

Jinyoung knew deep in his heart something was holding him back, but he was trying his best not to let it get to him.  “Honestly, it is scary. I know I like you, and I know Kwon wouldn’t care at all but… I don’t even like my aunt and my father's family but I know if they got wind of this it would be a problem.  I know they hate me enough and I shouldn’t care about them anymore, but I don’t know if I would be able to deal with that situation if it ever arose. I don’t even want to think about it.” Jinyoung had always had a part of him closed off and locked away deep inside him, and he wasn’t ready to tell the world.  “People would view us differently.”

“I understand, don’t worry,”  He was lucky Mark knew about all the weird facets of his personality.  “We can keep it between us now but I don’t want to keep it a secret forever.”

“Forever?”

“It’s just an expression,”  Mark was ruffling his hair like he always did when he was nervous.  “I don’t hate the idea of forever, though.”

Jinyoung was almost getting queasy with the number of butterflies fluttering inside his stomach.  “You can’t say things like this to me yet, we’ve barely been dating a day.”

“I’ve known you long enough to know we always find a way back to each other.”  Mark leaned forward, kissing Jinyoung on the forehead.

“Stop, I need to get to class and I won’t be able to concentrate if I’m only thinking about you .”

“You should skip, you’re ruining the moment by leaving so abruptly.” 

Truthfully, Jinyoung needed to get away to calm down and collect his thoughts.  He loved being with Mark but he was having a hard time breathing properly from how in his feelings he was.

“I don’t skip class, I’m not like you.”

“Fine, but call me when you’re finished for the day.  I’ll probably still be here since I’m sick.”

Jinyoung could only laugh at this point.  “Deal, later… sweetheart.”

“That’s way too cheesy.”  Mark said, snorting with laughter.

“I need a cute pet name since Jackson has one I need something cuter ,”   Jinyoung huffed.  “Everything is way too cheesy though, maybe I should use one of your funny nicknames from high school?  Kim Kkori?

“No.”

“Honey no jam?”

“No.”

“Little ?”  The look on Mark’s face after he heard that was priceless.

“Aren’t you late for class?”  Mark most likely did not want to open that can of worms again.

“Alright, bye... boyfriend.” 

Jinyoung hopes that one put a smile on Mark’s face.

“Yo!”  Jinyoung wasn’t thrilled when Jackson answered the door instead of Mark.

“Hi… Jackson.”  Seeing Jackson still made him uneasy. 

“Are you here to see me or Mark?”  Jackson said excitedly. “I’m kidding, I know you’re here for Mark, he went to the bathroom.” 

“Ah.”  Jinyoung realized that was all the way down the hall.

“Jaebum is here too,”  Jackson pointed at the top bunk.  “But he's not talking to me for some reason.”

“You know why I’m not talking to you.”  Jaebum’s murmur came from above.

“He’s grumpy as usual, ignore him.”  Jackson tried to move on.

Jinyoung was curious what happened, but he didn’t think he’d get a straight answer from either of them.

‘You’re back,”  The sound of Mark’s voice was a relief.  “What took you so long?” Mark’s arm slipped naturally around Jinyoung’s shoulders.

“I told you I finished at four.”  Jinyoung’s was so aware of the flirty tone his voice took as soon as he talked to Mark- it almost disgusted him.

Jinyoung wanted so badly to scoop Mark into a kiss right then, but he had to wait until they were alone. 

“Where’s my hug?”  Jackson interrupted- Jinyoung almost forgot he was there.

Mark unlatched himself and gave Jackson a quick hug.  He probably would’ve sat there and whined until he got one, and Jinyoung wasn’t so viciously jealous to stop Mark from giving simple hugs.

“Do you want to go swimming again, Markie?”

Jinyoung was definitely.  Not possessive, and was going to let Mark.  Do. Whatever. He. Wants.

“Uh,”  Jinyoung didn’t say a word, but the look on his face was scary enough to send the message.  “I’m going out with Jinyoung tonight, so I can’t.”

Jinyoung didn’t know they were going out tonight, but he was glad they were now apparently.

“Going out?”  Jaebum peered over his top bunk.

“As friends!”  Jinyoung said much too loudly.

Both Jaebum and Jackson were staring at him like he was on the brink of losing his mind.

“That’s too bad, perhaps Jaebum will go swim-”  A pillow flew right at Jackson’s face, stopping him mid-sentence.

“Jaebum seems angrier than usual,”  Jinyoung whispered to Mark. “What’s up?”

“He's really nice, he’s only this way to Jackson,”  Mark whispered back. “Jaebum caught him staring at him outside the shower, and then Jackson asked if he could join him.”

Jinyoung had to fight to hold in his laughter.  “Jackson is pretty shameless, huh?”

“So are you,”  Mark whispered.  “Now I’m banned from the pool.”

“I didn’t say anything!”  Jinyoung shout-whispered.

“What are you guys whispering about?”

“Nothing,”  Jinyoung assured him.  “We have to go, don’t we Mark?”

“Sure.”  Mark decided to keep playing along, realizing his roommates weren’t going to leave them alone anytime soon.

Jackson barely said bye before Jinyoung whisked Mark into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him.

The hallway was empty, so Mark pulled Jinyoung in for a kiss.  Jinyoung indulged for a moment, but then quickly pushed Mark away.

“Mark, we’re still in public!”

“There’s nobody in this hallway-”

“Someone could walk by at any moment!”

“Sorry,”  Mark apologized.  “I have a surprise for you waiting downstairs, actually.”

“Surprise?  For me?”

“Actually, don’t get your hopes up.  It’s not that kind of surprise.”

Jinyoung  followed Mark downstairs and out towards their school parking garage, not knowing what to expect.

“Ta-dah!”  Mark said as he gestured to the car sitting in front of him.  “I got a new rental.”

Jinyoung stared at the run-down car in front of him.  “Is it this car?” Mark also had a rental in his last year of high school, but that was a shiny new BMW that only someone with a budget like Mark’s could afford.  This car looked so old it could’ve belonged to his grandpa.

“It’s um, vintage.”  Mark tried to say. “Anyway, that’s not the point.  The point is we finally have somewhere to hang out and be alone.”

“In a car?”

“Yes.”  Mark took a look on Jinyoung’s face and double-backed.  “I mean unless you’re uncomfortable with it-”

“It’s fine.  I told you it’s not a big deal anymore.”  Jinyoung demonstrated by walking towards the back door and pulling it open.  “Didn’t you lock the door?”

“That door doesn’t actually lock,”  Mark admitted. “But the car runs fine, I swear.”

Jinyoung got in the crusty backseat while Mark got in the front.  “Mark, are you broke?”

“What?”

“You would never rent a car like this, did your family have to declare bankruptcy or something?”  Jinyoung teased, hoping that really wasn’t the case or he would look like a complete .

“Everything’s okay, I just thought I should buy something with my savings for once instead of asking them.”  Mark said as he adjusted his mirrors.

“Ah, so you’re not talking to your parents.”  That checked out on all grounds- it also explained why he was still living in such a shoddy dorm.  One call to his parents and he could’ve had an apartment to himself off campus.

Mark sighed and Jinyoung knew then he was on the dot in his assumption.  “You know they’re a little pushy, they keep changing every conversation to talk about my future.”

“And you don’t want to talk about your future?  You’d rather drive this car than talk to them?”

“Yes,”  Mark huffed.  “I don’t want to discuss this anymore with you either.”

Mark was usually not this stubborn, was there another reason he was avoiding this conversation at all costs?  It didn’t make sense to Jinyoung.

Jinyoung decided to respect his wishes for now, since he didn’t feel like getting Mark in the wrong mood when they were about to go out.  He wasn’t Mark’s mother and he didn’t want to come off like that.

“Alright, maybe if you distract me with a kiss we can move on from this.”  Jinyoung tried being coy.

Mark turned back, staring at Jinyoung.  “I can’t reach you back there.”

“You’re not trying hard enough.”

“You’re right,”  Mark easily climbed over the center console and tumbled into the backseat.  “Much better.”

While Jinyoung sometimes worried he was pushing their relationship too quickly, there was something animalistic that took over when he was with Mark.  Since they’d spent all these years hanging out like a couple minus the physical aspect it was as if he was trying to make up for years of lost time all at once.

Perhaps he wouldn’t have pushed so hard if Mark didn’t meet him with the same fervor every single time.

Jinyoung had his back pressed up into the car door, his hands wrapped around Mark’s back, and his lips against Mark in a steamy kiss.

Jinyoung felt like a fool trying to keep up with Mark; everything he did made Jinyoung feel the weight of his inexperience.

The only relationship he had Jinyoung knew of was the short stint with Wendy in high school, and he had no idea how far they’d went together.  Knowing that Mark was actually not into girls at all, he could assume things didn’t get too far. Jinyoung wondered if Mark had hidden any other LA affairs from him- he spent enough time there to experiment at least.

Jinyoung’s only experience was the two kisses with Mark before, and even though his body moved on its own he didn’t have a clue was he was doing.  If there was a technique Jinyoung was missing Mark didn’t seem to care.

The parking garage was almost eerily quiet at the moment.  The slick sounds of Mark’s tongue sliding along Jinyoung’s filled the silence and turned him on even more.  Mark was pressing so hard against Jinyoung he was slowly sliding down the car door, his body falling further into the seat, his shirt riding up as it grazed the door handles and levers.  Jinyoung tried to absorb all the different sensations all at once, but he didn’t have a moment to catch his breath and his mind was turning to mush. Jinyoung didn’t dare breathe properly- he didn’t want to miss a moment of this kiss.  If he passed out it would be with no regrets.

Mark must’ve heard Jinyoung struggling, so he stopped the kiss himself and moved his lips down his chin leaving small kisses along the way.

Jinyoung was gasping, his brain turning back on in an instant and registering Mark’s mouth on his neck, kissing his sanity away.

Jinyoung’s goosebumps had goosebumps; the fine hairs on his arms were standing straight up.  He felt powerless; all he wanted to do was give in. His head tilted back, he sunk even lower down ignoring the way his back arched uncomfortably and his was sliding down the seat.

When Mark let his tongue over his skin and down hard Jinyoung had to stifle a moan.  Just days before Jinyoung thought he wasn’t interested in romance and now he was experiencing things far beyond even what he fantasized. Sure- it maybe wasn’t in some sort of fantastical bed with gold lamp posts and velvet sheets on the eve of their wedding, but if a musty car with broken locks after a long day of classes was their reality, he wouldn’t mind it at all.

Mark was still concentrating on the same spot on his neck, Jinyoung knowing very well now that there would be a nasty bruise left the next morning.  That didn’t make him want to stop him though, in a weird way it was incredibly y- to feel like you belong to someone and be marked by them. To be reminded of them every time you looked in a mirror.  To feel their remnants on your skin.

Jinyoung was almost frightened by how far gone he was already.

Wasn’t there a quote you could apply to this?  If a fire burns too quickly it will go out just as quick?  He couldn’t remember anymore. He didn’t want to remember.

Jinyoung’s short gasps of breath turned into a quiet yelp when he slipped down more and got his hair stuck in a crevice on the car door.  Ugh. His body was too awkwardly placed to adjust himself properly, but he didn’t want to push Mark away either. He slowly removed his left arm from Mark’s back and tried to reach backward- but in his attempt, he nudged the door handle causing the door he was leaning on to swing open.

They both toppled right out, Jinyoung’s body hanging off the side, Mark falling so that he was practically on top of him.  Jinyoung hung there for a beat, his heart pounding so hard it rung heavy through his head. “What…?” Jinyoung said dazedly. He was sure he lost a chunk of hair.

“Jinyoungie, I told you the door doesn’t work...” 

Jinyoung’s brain snapped back to reality faster than a rocket leaving the atmosphere when he heard people mulling around in the parking garage, forcefully pushing Mark off his him and he got back into the car and slammed the door shut.

Mark was now lying with his legs up on the opposite seat and his upper body down on the floor beneath him. 

“Ow, what was that for?”

“I…”  Jinyoung was shaking suddenly, his hands trembled in front of his face.  “I heard someone out there.” Why was he so scared?

“Jinyoung,”  Mark got back on to the seat when he noticed Jinyoung’s condition.  “Breathe, are you okay?”

“I didn’t want anyone to see us.”  Jinyoung leaned forward and let Mark envelop him in his arms.  He was immediately calmed. “I’m sorry, I panicked.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry about it.”  Mark comforted him.

He didn’t really know what came over him, but he was prone to overreacting.  Mark is used to it. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, we need to get going anyway.”  Mark affirmed.

“Where are we going?”  Jinyoung had almost forgotten they were going out.

“Wanna go to the movies?  The new Aladdin movie came out.”  Jinyoung’s ears perked up to anything Disney.

Mark wasn’t a man of many words but he always knew the right things to say.  “Sounds good.”

Jinyoung sighed when Mark climbed back over the console and into the driver’s seat, almost out of arm’s reach.

Jinyoung’s chest felt heavy and his neck felt sore, but he had to remind himself that everything was alright.  Nothing happened. Everything was alright.

Nothing happened.

Everyone was alright.