Jackson wakes up to the sensation of the mattress dipping beneath someone’s weight as they crawl up the bed. He opens his eyes to see that that someone is their massive white Labrador, who pads his way up atop the duvet and squishes between Jackson and Mark’s lying forms. He paws at the blanket a bit, then hunkers down onto the bed with a deep sigh.

“Hey there, birthday boy,” Jackson says, propping himself up on one elbow and Hana’s soft white fur. On the other side of the dog, Mark stirs awake, and after blinking a few times he reaches out sleepily and starts petting him too. “Happy birthday, you stupid sack of .”

Hana doesn’t move in any way that suggests he understood what Jackson just said, just lies there basking in the attention of his two owners. 

“Six years old,” Mark murmurs, watching Hana quietly. “You’re already past the halfway mark, man. You’re a middle aged grump now.”

“He’s gonna need that extra-nutrient old dog food soon,” Jackson says. “What a waste of ing money.”

“Not as much as the money you waste feeding him ing grilled sirloins.” 

“Hey, every man deserves to indulge once in a while.”

Hana rolls and flops onto his side, with paws facing Jackson. He’s half on top of Mark’s arm now, but in response to this the elder just snuggles up against the dog’s back and encages him with arms around his thick, furry neck. Hana had been Mark’s birthday present to Jackson, six years ago, but Mark loves that dog more than anything, even though the younger is more susceptible to spoiling him when faced with those begging puppy eyes of his. 

Still, it’s in Jackson's nature to complain about everything that he can. “How come I don’t get cuddles?”

Mark lifts up his top leg and swings it over the dog’s body so that his ankle flops and hooks over Jackson’s calf. “There. Happy now?”

“The kind of lame cuddle is this? Give me a good morning kiss.”

“Your morning breath is rancid, I don’t want to give you one.” 

Jackson scoffs. “Fine,” he sulks.

Mark exhales deeply through his nose, then lifts one hand and presses his middle and index finger to his lips. He reaches out and transfers the kiss to Jackson's lips. 

“Dog’s in the way,” Mark explains, letting his fingers fall away.

Jackson is silent for a while, watching Mark rub Hana’s fur and bury his face in it a little. He’s got bed head, dark red hair sticking up at odd ends, but it somehow blends in with the dog’s fur nicely. Mark’s expression is morning-hazy and thoughtful, and Jackson thinks he’s never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life.

“Let’s get married,” Jackson says. 

Mark’s gaze shoots up. For a few seconds he stares at Jackson. “What?”

“We should get married,” Jackson repeats. “You know, we’ve got the apartment, the dog, everything. We should just get married.”

Mark is quiet for a bit. Hana starts squirming in his arms, leaning up to sniff at Jackson's leg, and with the shift Mark instinctively braces his hand on the inside of Jackson's thigh. 

“Why now?” Mark asks.

Jackson shrugs. “I don’t think I can take it anymore. Not being married to you. I want you to be mine forever.”

“Gross,” Mark says, but he’s gone absolutely still, because never in their seven years together have either of them made such a statement before. Everything was so casual when they first started dating; agreeing to the relationship, moving in together, raising the dog. They liked each other and they were content, and they never asked for anything more than that. Neither of them went into this expecting to make promises of forever.

Jackson rolls over on the bed to reach into the nightstand, sifting through the top drawer until he’s found what he’s looking for. He rolls back, a diamond-studded ring in his hand.

“I got this a year ago,” Jackson says, offering it to Mark, who reaches out slowly to take it. “I didn’t even know if I was gonna use it. I just got it just in case, to be honest.”

Mark inspects the ring and turns it over in his fingers, and Jackson watches him patiently. When Mark finally looks up, his eyes are shining.

“You really wanna marry me?” Mark asks.

Jackson folds an arm under his head and gazes at Mark. “I love you. Somewhere in the middle of all this I fell in love with you. All this time I was happy with what we were doing. But, I’m happy with you now, like this. So, the way I see it, why not?”

“You want me forever,” Mark says, and his voice shakes ever so slightly.

Jackson nods. “Yeah. I want to keep doing this with you until I die. I mean it.”

Now Mark’s eyes are really swirling with emotion, beginning to look overwhelmed, and when he moves forward Jackson leans in to meet him halfway, squishing the dog a little between them as they meet for a long, deep kiss. It’s simple and it’s slow, and it might just be the best kiss Jackson's ever shared with Mark, by far.

“I love you too,” Mark breathes, eyes still closed.

Jackson rests a hand on Hana’s shoulder, who’s gone still and is looking a little taken aback to suddenly be in such close quarters between the two of them. “So that’s a yes?”

“Yeah,” Mark says, leaning back again. “But only if you throw out that nasty Weezer t-shirt that you won’t junk. It’s disgusting, I’m not gonna marry a man who wears that thing. And only if you walk Hana in the dog park in Sangnam-dong once in a while.” 

Jackson stares. “You know I hate walking him there!” he protests. “All the other dog owners are y housewives with their stupid utility belts! They ing gave me cut-eye when Hana kept taking a everywhere and I had to ask them for a plastic bag cause I didn’t have any more.”

“Yeah, and because of you Hana is a forty-two year old in dog years.” On cue Hana sneezes between them. “ it up and take him. I’ll buy you one of those utility pet belts too so you don’t have to ask them for plastic bags anymore.”

“They look gay, I don’t want one.”

“You are gay, retard.”

“Shut up. Okay fine, but you have to come to all my fencing tournaments, and you have to make me your budae chigae whenever I ask.”

“That’s like twice a week, and you can literally make that yourself.”

“Yours tastes the best, baby,” Jackson croons.

Mark huffs a deep sigh. “Fine. Deal.”

Jackson breaks out into a massive grin, one that he knows Mark can’t help returning, and he knows his boyfriend is sold. He watches as Mark slides the ring onto his finger and admires it.

“Fit?”

“Yeah. I’m surprised.”

“I’m not marrying you for nothing.”

Hana lifts his head, nuzzling Mark’s hand to sniff at the ring. Mark pats him on the head and looks up at Jackson, gaze fond. “I’m glad,” he says, and Jackson thinks he can definitely keep doing this for the rest of forever.