" !" Taeil cried. He was sitting at their kitchen table, head between his hands, papers scattered everywhere and his laptop running hot. 

Johnny was sitting beside him, rubbing his back comfortingly. It was this damn final thesis: Johnny had to do one too, but because of the numerous scholarships Taeil was on, he had quite a bit more work to do. Plus, Johnny's thesis advisor was a lot more forgiving than Taeil's. 

Poor Taeil seemed to be working his off constantly on this thing but somehow there was always more to do, always something he had to rush on at the last minute. Now, he had ten pages of research due in twelve hours. 

In a rush, Johnny had made him tea, coffee, and snacks. Now, he was sitting beside his boyfriend, just trying to make him feel better. Taeil was almost never this upset; this was obviously a big deal. 

"Is there anything else I can do for you, darling?" Johnny asked in a soft, low voice. 

Taeil took a haggard breath. "I...I dunno. I just need quiet, and peace, and no distractions." 

Johnny took a peek at the calendar on his phone and breathed out a curse. He had an appointment today: only one, but still. That would be just about the worst thing for Taeil's concentration. 

But... it. He'd make it work, somehow. 

"Alright then. I'll head out in a few minutes and leave you with some peace and quiet at home." 

"Don't you have appointments?" 

"I'll figure it out, don't worry. I won't have them here though." 

"Really? You can do that?" 

"Of course," Johnny answered, kissing Taeil on the cheek and wiping his eyes. "I'll come back around dinner time and whip something up. Does pasta sound good?" 

Taeil managed a small smile. "Pasta sounds amazing." 

"Alright then." He gave Taeil another cheek kissed and gathered all the supplies he'd need today, stuffing them into a bag. Once he was back in the kitchen, he waved to his boyfriend. "Let me know if you need anything!" 

"Thank you, I love you!" 

"I love you too," Johnny answered, and headed out of the front door. 

The first thing he did when he was outside was call his customer for today: Mark Lee. That baby faced freshman had grown into one of Johnny's favorite customers, and more than that, his good friend. He was cool; he'd be flexable about this. 

"Yo Johnny!" Mark excitedly spoke, picking up Johnny's call at this first ring. "I'm on my way. What's up?" 

Johnny checked the time; it was ten minutes before their usual appointment time. "Hey Mark. So....change of plans. We can't really do our appointment at my house today. So...would you mind doing it in my car? We can hot box." 

"Oooh, what's hot box?" 

"Basically you sit in an enclosed place, like my car, with all the windows shut. Everyone smokes but since all the weed's trapped in the car, everyone keeps breathing in all the smoke. So you get extra high." 

"Ooooh!" Mark cried. "That's sounds great dude! Hell yes!" 

Johnny laughed at Mark's enthusiasm. "Alright. My car will be parked on my building's corner; just hop in when you get here." 

"Alright man. Can't wait!" 

Mark hung up and Johnny nodded to himself, taking the elevator down and going to the car to get everything set up: water, cough drops, weed and paraphernalia, of course. Johnny had to admit he was excited too; he hadn't done this in a while. Taeil might be jealous...but oh well. Maybe they'd do appointments like this more, if it went well. 

Mark arrived one minute early, as per usual, ducking into Johnny's car with a childish smile. "Yo! Johnny!" 

"Hey man," Johnny answered, doing a weird hand slap-shoulder bump thing with him that Mark always insisted they do. 

"What's up?" 

"Nothin' much. You ready?" 

" yeah!" 

So Johnny brought out the three joints Mark had been debating buying and they took hits off each. Mark decided and Johnny handed him the baggie of the kind he liked best, while Mark venmoed him the money (which Johnny had recently found out was his little spending cash from his parents, which made him laugh a lot). 

But then the boys decided to share and finish off the other two joints, and then another bowl from Johnny's pipe, until the smoke in the car was thick and swirling and Johnny and Mark's eyes were red.

"Dude...wait...why couldn't we be at your house today?" Mark slowly asked. 

"Oh...Taeil has this...in'....assignment. Final thesis...for graduation. It's so ing hard...and stressful...so I wanted to let him be. Make sure he could...uh what's the word...think good. Wait...focus! That's the word." 

"Ahh," Mark answered, pausing for a long moment. He stared out the car window thoughtfully, his blinks slow and steady. ", Johnny....I want that ." 

"Whah ?" 

"What...what you and Taeil have. It sounds nice as  like putting your business on hold for your boyfriend's success? Man...I just...people always wanna put careers over love but that's not my vibe. No way. I want someone where we can respect each other's but know when the other person means more than that." 

Johnny snorted. "Do you like someone? , you gotta like someone first. Then you can find...love and ." 

The dealer noticed Mark flush a little, and not because of the hot smoke in the car. "Uh...do you remember the guy I told you about the...the first time we met? Donghyuck?" 

Johnny smiled to himself; he knew Mark liked Donghyuck from the first time he'd mentioned him. And Mark mentioned him a lot, at least once every appointment. Johnny was just glad Mark could admit it; he wasn't sure if Mark was still closeted or not, or even realized he was gay. 

"Of course I do man." 

"Well..." Mark sighed. "I...I'm like...ing...in love with him, ...I like him so much, Johnny. It's so bad." 

Johnny raised his eyebrows and took another hit off of the pipe. "Why's it bad?" 

Mark scoffed. "Well I mean, my dad's a in' pastor, first of all. I think my family wouldn't be happy if I was with any guy, let alone a guy as unconvential as Hyuck. But more importantly...I...I dunno if he feels the same." 

"Does he like dudes?" 

Mark nodded. "He's bi. He doesn't hide it. I heard some motherers saying he was like obnoxious about it and and , that's so ing terrible and you know, that's just ing homophobia or like internalized homophobia if they like dudes, that. But yeah. He...he definitely likes guys" 

"Does he know you like dudes?" 

Mark nodded, again. "He was the first person I told," he mumbled. 

"Then what's the issue?" 

"Wh...what if he doesn't like me back? It might everything up. I...I don't want to lose the guy that gets me the most over my stupid ing feelings." 

"They're not stupid," Johnny said quietly. "It's obvious your feelings for him run deep. It's not just a silly little crush. I...I could tell you liked him from the moment you mentioned him to me." 

Mark groaned loudly and slumped against the car door. "Do you think he knows?" 

Johnny shrugged. "I can't answer that. I don't know what kinda guys he is. It's not a bad thing though. I'm sure he knows at least that you care about him a ton." 

"What do I even do?" 

"You tell him. Tell him so you don't waste time together, or before you fall any deeper, in case he doesn't feel the same." 

". But...but that's terrifying Johnny! It's so scary!" 

"God, Mark, I know. Believe me...I know. I think...I think Taeil and I were in a similar place to you and Donghyuck, at some point. We met at freshman orientation and lived on the same floor too. I'd...I'd never met someone I was so completely into. Someone that just....got me, like that. It was crazy. And...I was terrified of telling him how I felt too. He was just...he still is just...perfect. Chill and smart but kind and empathetic. He never fails to make me laugh or make me feel safe on a bad day. I didn't feel like I could ever be good enough for someone like him." 

Mark interrupted by breathing out a sigh of relief. "That's exactly how I feel about Donghyuck." 

"Right? So you get why I was scared to tell him. But I wanted to. I had to, because he's so precious to me, and I wanted him to be in my life, all the way. If I could have him in the way I wanted him, I'd have him. And you know...it worked. Somehow, he's even more precious to me than back then. I didn't think I could love him more, but I do. I do." 

Mark sighed and made grabbed hands for the pipe. Johnny passed it to him and did his lighter, Mark soon swallowing his smoke (he'd improved so much since they'd met). 

"Dude...you're probably right. But I'm afraid." 

"You don't have to do it now. Just...soon." 

"Soon? Maybe...I can do that."