Prompt: hello can i request markbum or markjin fics?maybe something fluffy or a lil bit ? the story is about summer vacation :D thank you <333

If there was one thing that was certain during this year’s annual family vacation, it was that the Malaysian sun was definitely out to get people because holy it was hot. And Mark’s a LA boy through and through so he knows what he’s talking about when he says something’s hot.

Speaking of which however.

The red haired boy lounged lazily under a thick parasol blocking out the treacherous gamma rays produced by the flaming ball in the sky. He had a towel (a blue finding nemo one courtesy of his brother) nicely separating his fragile behind from the scorching sand and his trusty ipod curled next to him, so he could listen to some A$AP and chill.

Near him was group of boys playing volleyball on a makeshift net they placed. Mark was never one to be so upfront about the things he liked (read: people) but he had a thick pair of shades on and he figured it wouldn’t hurt to oogle a bit, after all a bunch of hot shirtless guys showing off their muscles in front of you didn’t happen every day.

The rest of Mark’s family had gone back to the hotel already but Mark being obviously the stronger of his kin resisted the temptation of an air conditioner to stay and maybe once and for all achieve at getting a healthy tone to his skin, he’s tired of looking like a vampire all the time with his paleness.

The song softly comes to an end and Mark drums his fingers along the device until if fades out completely. Of course like everyone his ipod has its fare share of embarrassing songs, call them guilty pleasures if you will. So when a familiar guitar riff and auto tuned voice comes on Mark is surprised at how fast he scrambles to change it. Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears should definitely not be on his summer jam playlist.

Maybe it’s his frenzy or the heat that’s gotten to him because when he jabs for the ipod instead of switching the song he somehow ends up raising the volume, like a lot, to the point that he misses entirely the shouts of “Watch out!” as a white ball flies straight at him.

It only takes a second of him glancing up instinctively to see the spherical object collide into his chest sending his ipod falling to the ground; Mark stiffens and clambers to catch the ball as it bounces into his lap. The shock if it over rides any pain and the redhead can only stare dumbly at the thing as the sound of footsteps approach him from the front.

“Are you ok?” An accented voice asks in wary English and Mark looks up slowly. He trails his eyes up at an agonizingly sluggish pace as he takes note of defined lightly haired legs, striped swimming trucks and a slim but toned torso, muscles slicked with sweat and a broad chest. Ok Mark might have stopped his eyes at the chest area but who can really blame him.

The figure crouches down unexpectedly and the redhead sees a handsome face, cheeks chiseled and damp black hair swept back but when he tries to meet his eyes the stranger is looking downward. Slowly, as if stuck in some kind of slow motion loop Mark looks down as well. Next to the ball on his lap lies Mark’s ipod face up displaying clearly Britney’s Spears’s album picture and the title of the song, his earphones which had fallen off from the attack also laid on the ground, the muffled lyrics hit me baby one more time ringing through Mark’s ears like gunshots.

It happens almost instantaneously, the speed at which Mark gets up onto his feet with the ball in hand and his foot not so secretly kicking his towel over the device. The stranger glances up out of surprise from his movement and stares at Mark with widened eyes. The silence between them lasts about a second before Mark is blurting out the first thing that comes to mind.

“Can I join you guys?”

“Uhh sure.” The stranger replies caught off guard but his expression isn’t bad per say, more like he got a nice surprise. Mark fights back a blush from his earlier mortification and hopes the thundering of his heartbeat isn’t as loud as he hears it internally.

“Cool I’m Mark.”  He replies trying his best at casual as he walks side by side to the stranger, the volleyball grasped in his hands almost exploding from how hard he’s gripping it.

“I’m Jaebum, but you can call me JB if it’s easier.” The black haired male responds, and Mark wonders where he’s from because his accent didn’t sound like those of the native Malaysians.

“Ok, Jb.” Mark rolls it off his tongue, it sounds…familiar, familiar in a sense it’s something he could get used to. “Nice to meet you.” The redhead adds after a heartbeat and the smile that blooms on Jb’s face after he says it makes Mark realize instantaneously that yes, it really is nice to meet him.

Turns out JB is actually a student from Korea and due to a school sponsored trip him and his classmates were flown to Malaysia to enjoy a bit of their summer break there. Mark doesn’t know what kind of school would send kids out to Malaysia but he won’t linger with the details, much too busy distracting himself by staring at JB’s pretty mouth for that. His friends are nice as well and what some of them lack in English they make up in body language and at least Mark hopes the thumbs up aimed at JB when he was brought over was a universal good sign.

They ask him where he’s from and Mark tells them he’s from the states and currently on a family vacation. Their oohs and ahhs are entirely convincing and the crude gang signs they throw up to imitate LA “swag” (as the kid with the snapback put it) only makes Mark chuckle. JB seems to at least be slightly embarrassed at his friends’ actions but he laughs it off in a good natured way and suggests a 2v3 match when Mark had let it slip that he played volleyball back at his school.

They end up losing because they have a distinct disadvantage no matter how much Mark has practiced but the laughs coming from the black haired boy as he hits the ball or cheers Mark on make the redhead feel like he’s won an Olympic medal.

“Want to play again tomorrow?” Jb asks him once the sun has begun to set low in the sky, the last rays of sunlight peeking out in beautiful hues of orange and red. Mark wonders what JB would look like in other lighting, in the bright morning sunshine or under the glow of the night sky.

His family was going to a wildlife reserve tomorrow but Mark could care less about seeing monkeys up close with the way Jaebum was looking at him. So with a nod and a desperate internal yes! Mark bids the other farewell and walks away from the beach with the parades of goodbyes and waves from the group.

His family doesn’t comment when Mark’s smile lasts past food service or when he fakes sick the next day to stay back at the hotel. His mother sends him a knowing look though and Mark can only turn away and hide his embarrassed flush under his bed sheets.

*

They meet the next day and the day after that and somewhere along the lines of exchanging phone numbers and texting until the late night (JB’s typos are so ing cute) Mark’s pretty sure the other has asked him out on a date, that or the message

From: JB

ar you busy later? Do you want to go get food togeder? (´ー｀)

is entirely misleading, but Mark churns out a quick reply, trying his best not to sound over eager but the extra exclamation point he forgets to delete says otherwise. The Malaysian heat is as hot as ever so Mark dresses in his loosest tank top (nothing to do with the fact that it shows off his arms) and some simple jeans and shoes. He drowns himself in deodorant and aftershave to the point he’s sure JB could smell him from a mile away, but it’s better than reeking of sweat he reasons. After a quick google mapping of the address the other sent him Mark was out the door, skateboard in hand as he made his way down the hotel elevator.

The place isn’t far and it only takes skating a couple of blocks away, he doesn’t get lost but avoiding crashing into someone as he looked at the map on his phone was pretty difficult. Seriously, Mark should get an award for that. He reaches the little lunch shop which he’s pleased to find english signs and enters the sweet air-conditioned room with a sigh of bliss.

He spots JB at a corner table right away, looking through a menu idly and Mark stiffens immediately because JB is wearing a shirt with cut out sleeves and he rocks it way better than Mark ever could. His arms are thick with muscles and the redhead sees them twitch with every page he flips of the book. Feeling extremely self-conscious Mark tugs the skateboard into his backpack and walks towards the other with cautious steps, unconsciously worrying his lip from the nerves.

Jaebum looks up from the sound of footsteps and gives Mark a grin when he spots him, quickly standing up to offer Mark the seat across. It’s so stupidly gentlemanly that Mark doesn’t have enough mental strength to fight off his blush and only nods dumbly as he takes the seat.

JB seems to finally look him over because Mark can see his eyes wander down his body (they linger a little longer on his exposed collarbones) and Mark blushes harder.

“You look…” JB starts, and looks like he has trouble saying a word, he repeats look a couple times and Mark can practically see the gears in his head turning, poor guy Mark doesn’t blame him, he’s sure if he had to speak Korean he would have just as much trouble.

“Like a hot mess?” Mark guesses with a chuckle, meaning it as a joke, after all he’s pretty sure the sweat on his forehead damped down his hair.

“No!” JB responds, almost a little too quickly. “Just..hot” He finishes, voice trailing off as if he had lost confidence.

Mark’s eyebrows shoot up at his words but he quickly grabs the menu and brings it up to his face in an effort to hide his tomato red face, Jaebum looks sheepish and clears his throat. Mark bites back asking Jaebum to clarify what kind of hot he meant and instead distracts himself with the menu.

“You look good too.” Mark whispers in reply, voice muffled by the object in his hands. Jaebum catches it anyway because the small smile that lights up on his face sends Mark’s heart into overdrive. It’s dangerous, liking JB as much as Mark is starting too. Dangerous because him and JB live on completely different sides of the world, dangerous because they can barely communicate as it is let alone having to do it without the aid of body language. But something in the way Jaebum talks to him during their date, the way he tells Mark about the things most people don’t talk about casually let alone to someone they’ve only recently met makes Mark realize that it. He probably will never see JB again after this trip, but he knows he’ll regret it forever if he doesn’t make the most of it while he can.

Jaebum pays for the meal despite Mark’s best efforts because JB doesn’t understand the term going dutch (or at least pretends not too) and Mark can’t really fight back against someone who understands probably only 70% of the things he says, so the redhead sits back and lets Jaebum guide him outside towards an ice cream shop.

The afternoon breeze definitely cooled everything down and Mark and Jaebum decide to eat their cones while exploring the city. Since JB studied about the area in school he acts as a makeshift tour guide and explains to Mark about the attractions as they pass by them. They pass through the markets and Mark messes with whatever knickknacks he finds, JB buys them local snacks which they munch on after his ice cream has been long gone.

It’s so natural and fun the Mark doesn’t even realize JB’s been holding his hand for the better half of the hour until a guy in a bike almost runs him over and Jaebum tugs him out of the way. The redhead blushes at the revelation but says nothing, munching on his beef jerky quietly. He doesn’t bother to hide the upward twitch in the corners of his mouth and if JB notices he doesn’t say anything.

The sun is midway in the sky and it’s dulled a bit, taking on a cozy orange hue. The air feels so fresh and Jaebums hand is so warm against his palm as they walk by a nearby park. Talking about whatever silly thing comes to mind and laughing about it as they sit on a bench overlooking a gorgeous pond. The buzz of people from earlier has gone away leaving them secluded to themselves, its intimate and personal and Mark feels his belly swarm with butterflies when Jaebum seems to get really interested in his mouth.

He trails off forgetting what he was even talking about and lowers his gaze as well. Jaebums lips look so inviting, slightly puckered and tinted a baby pink. Mark his own out of habit and that seems to set of something in the other male because Jaebum leans in in one fell swoop and draws him into a kiss. It’s slow and romantic and Mark swears for a minute someone’s going to come out of a bush and yell cut because no way this is real.

But Jaebum starts into his mouth and Mark can’t resist letting out a quiet moan, bringing up a hand to dust it over Jaebum’s cheek. Feeling his jaw hollow and shift as their kiss deepens and quickens but it never grows more and oddly enough it’s the most passionate thing Mark’s ever experienced. They pull away when air becomes a necessity and by the look on Jaebums face Mark can only guess what his own face looks like, a sprinkled blush on his cheeks, mouth swollen and slickened with saliva, his eyes are probably glazed over too. But at that moment the redhead couldn’t really bring himself to care because he’s got his fingers entwined in JB’s hair as he pulls him in for another breathless kiss.

Mark feels the other smile into it and it draws out an unexpected laugh from Mark, which Jaebum quickly mirrors as they pull away early, both sporting wide grins.

“Can I see you again tomorrow?” Jaebum asks breathlessly; face twitching into an eye smile as he looks at Mark as if someone had named a country after him.

Mark doesn’t have it in him to be coy and admits with embarrassing honesty. “Yeah I’d love that.”

He doesn’t know how many more tomorrows he’ll get with Jaebum, they’re both here temporarily after all. Loving on borrowed time or something equally as poetic and sad.

But when Jaebum grasps the back of Mark’s head to tug him into another kiss the redhead can’t find it in himself to care at all.

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