Mark Tuan hated sweets with a fiery passion that was on the verge of it being ridiculous. It all started one day when his mother offered him a beverage on a hot day during summer. The poor boy was sweating buckets of sweet that day and he didn’t hesitate to say yes because he just felt so, so hot. It should be illegal to sweat that much. No wonder his mother pitied him. (Two additional things he hates to the core: sweating and pity.) Mark waited patiently for his drink downstairs in the inferno living room of theirs, and that itself is a big thing. The air conditioner was upstairs in his room and the urge to run upstairs and turn it on was just so strong… but he held it in for his kind mother.

When his mother finally finished the long awaited cold beverage, the boy drank it in one gulp. Everything should’ve been okay after that; him feeling refreshed and going up to his room without any fuss, finally leaving alone his mother to rest in her room. That didn’t happen. Instead what happened was that Mark did feel cool but it was just so… sweet. Too sweet actually. Where was the happy-medium in the sweetness? Was it strawberry? He didn’t know until he got a look at the pink beverage in his hands and his face went blue. He made a face with his puffed cheeks that were full of the beverage and his mother laughed because he looked like a blow fish.

She wasn’t laughing anymore when he barfed it all out on the guest toilet.

And yeah, he was grounded for it but he didn’t regret it. It was either that or to chug it down and be forced to do it hundredth times more in the future. Ever since that day, his parents never made him or brought him a sweet beverage. Mark sticked to the classic, pop never ending Coca Cola or Sprite because he simply couldn’t get enough of the pop it had.

His hate for sweets ranged from cold beverages to strawberries to candies to cakes to milk chocolate (he tolerated and liked enough dark chocolate). He preferred saltier and spicier foods like Doritos, Cheetos, Lays, popcorn, junk food in general. Mark still ate healthy despite his picky taste and did the necessary exercise to burn all those unwanted calories. He had his looks to take care of after all.

Friends of his have been trying over and over again to get him to like it. They’ve taken him to places like Cold Stone and made him try the chocolate devotion with a waffle as a cup. Mark was the kind of the guy that liked getting his friends hopes up because their reactions were hilarious whenever he acted as he was supposed to. Because of that, he’s gotten incredibly good at lying and at acting so really, it’s a win and win situation (they get him to try stuff and he practices on them). They’ve also taken him to Yoguen Fruz to try the cheesecake frozen yogurt. If Mark had to pick which place he prefers then by just a tiny centimeter he prefers Cold Stone. Apart from that, he thinks the places .

However, everything started to take a 180 degree shift when Mark entered high school. Everything was the same as usual on his first day; he got up, washed himself, changed into his uniform, ate breakfast, and left. He was still pretty tired from playing games all night with his best friend, Park Jinyoung, but it was a must since they had to spend the last day of summer vacation in style… or at least, that’s what his best friend said to convince him. Before he had called him up about it, Mark was planning on sleeping early so he wouldn’t wake up sleepy like it happened. But whatever, what’s done is done and he doesn’t really regret it because not only did he level up like 10 times, Jinyoung and him were able to beat a tough boss that one they knew had defeated it yet. They were surrounded by other players and they had the pleasure of having a fictional feast served for just them. It was awesome.

Mark was busy yawning that he didn’t notice the boy he bumped into. He only noticed because of the cute “Oh no,” he heard and he turned at that moment and he scolded himself for not noticing the boy he bumped into.

Because damn.

The boy was a walking piece of adorable with the way he struggled picking up his things, and Mark didn’t think it was possible up until that moment. He reacted fast; he quickly closed his open mouth (he hadn’t even realized he had it open) and scrambled to the ground to help the boy pick up his… candies. The sight of candies made him disgusted and he just wanted to throw it back to the ground and stomp all over them, but he didn’t. The urge was strong but he didn’t because the boy in front of him was breathtaking up close. Mark had noticed his blond hair from earlier but he didn’t know how dark his feline eyes looked like in comparison. His cheeks were flushed for some reason and his pretty pink lips kept biting his lower lip nervously.  “Y-You don’t ha-have to help m-me, you know…” the boy said shyly and Mark was ready to jump a cliff because this is not possible.

“B-But I bumped into you so,” he replied automatically. “Sorry.”

His lips tugged upwards into a small smile and this was just all too much for him. Mark quickly gave back the candies and practically dashed out of there, face feeling hot and his heart threatening to break out of its confinement. Smooth, Mark. Smooth. “W-Wait!” the boy called out to him before he ran further away. Luckily, he hadn’t run away so far and he stopped almost instantly. The latter smiled beautifully as he waved to him. “I’m Choi Youngjae!”

Mark was silent for a moment, busy registering the name in his mind. It was one he certainly wouldn’t forget. “Mark Tuan!” he shouted back.

Then he ran faster than he ever had.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Though Mark should’ve known this was all too good to be true. He had found his crush like in some romantic comic and he’s proud to say it has progressed. Youngjae approaches him sometimes and they hang out during lunch. Most of the time it’s Mark the one that looks for him but he doesn’t care or mind. He’s just happy it’s progressing and that Youngjae is perfect for him… except for that tiny detail that’s actually pretty big that is so hard to ignore.

He really should’ve noticed that Choi Youngjae breathes sweets.

Yes, the boy is actually sweet but he means literally. There’s not a moment he doesn’t see Youngjae without a sweet. During the morning, the latter brings with him a bag of sweets (lollipops, chocolates, mints, cupcakes…) and by snack time, he already has devoured half of the bag. When it’s lunch, he only has half of the bag full (and it’s because Youngjae holds himself back) and he still buys more sweets just in case he’s still hungry. So he was a bit of a fatass too (a cute one at that) but what concerned Mark were three things: one, he must have a ton of cavities, two, he’s still in shape despite how he eats and three, he breathes sweets.

There was a time when Mark casually up that topic and voiced out his questions. Youngjae looked so amused as he listened to him, his lips forming a tiny smirk and his eyebrows raised. “It’s simple, really.” The boy explained. “I just need to go to the dentist regularly. Besides, I exercise.”

This came as a shock to Mark because he thought the latter didn’t exercise. He looked like he was un-athletic after all. “You exercise?”

“Yeah.” Youngjae paused. “Is it so shocking?”

“W-What? No! Of course not!” Mark’s voice went a pitch higher than usual, and he inwardly cursed himself. “I-I’m just surprised is all…”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” And the latter was close to a tiny mental breakdown, trying to think of an excuse that wouldn’t make Youngjae hate him. The boy’s laugh distracted him for a moment and he calmed down at the sight of his beautiful smile. “I’m just pulling your leg!”

“O-Oh…” Then he forced an awkward laugh out of him.

Despite his hate for sweets, Mark found himself willing to listen Youngjae talk or better said fatass about sweets. The images the boy gave him made his skin cringe with so much dislike, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. It was all worth it in the end because the latter always looked excited to be talking about something he loves. The sight was just so endearing, it melted all the cold hate he felt for sweets and ignited something else inside of him instead. It’s the first time he’s ever felt this strongly about someone (he’s had his girlfriends) and it’s scary how he was willing on doing anything just to see that lovely smile he loves so much. However, no matter how scary it is, Mark likes the tickling sensation he feels all over inside of him when he’s with Youngjae and he thinks that maybe it isn’t so bad.

That maybe he likes his current self that’s crushing on a certain someone.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Mark’s determination and health (and everything else) was put to the test on one particular hot day after school. He was in his classroom, getting ready to leave since classes had ended for the day. He should’ve been happy about it, but it was too hot that he was sweating. His best friend normally would’ve been hurrying him up and going on about how he was gonna beat him so bad in Mario Cart, but he knew better than to annoy a pissed Mark. It never ended pretty and it usually ended with a fuming Mark slamming his door to his freezing room.

But Youngjae didn’t know that.

The poor boy didn’t know half of his quirky mood swings and he was about to learn it the hard way. “Mark!” Youngjae chirped happily, skipping on his way. The latter stiffened at his presence and managed to smile without making it seem forced. “What’s up, Jae?” Jae was the nickname he had given to him. “Why are you in such a good mood?”

He hummed in reply as if confirming he was in a good mood. “So there’s this new shop…”

Mark listened as he continued what he was doing previously. As far as he remembered, there weren’t any new shops around here.

“A candy shop to be specific.” No wonder he didn’t know. He probably walked passed it without even glancing at it. “And I was wondering if you would come with me.”

Normally, Mark would have already flied to Cloud 9 and maybe run to an isolated mountain and scream at the top of his lungs “Holy , Choi Youngjae asked me out on a date!” and run some more laps, but he was being the normal, rational and sweet-hating Mark. “But why me? You could’ve gone with Bambam.”

Bambam was a younger friend of theirs that shares the same tastes as Youngjae. “But I want to go with you! Besides, he’s out on a date with his boyfriend.”

“But I want to go with you!”

“But I want to go with you…” Mark stood dumbly looking at Youngjae, the words repeating in his head like a mantra. Why did Youngjae always say the most unexpected things at the most unexpected times? It was such a ridiculous skill of his that without fail gets Mark’s heart skipping erratic beats and his face feeling warm out of embarrassment. He hoped the latter wouldn’t notice it and would let it pass as the heat that’s getting to him. Mark sighed, giving in. “Fine…”

The things he does and endured just to see him smile.

Youngjae smiled brightly, white pearly teeth showing in process and eyes becoming two moon crescents. Mark almost stops functioning properly because why is he so beautiful?! “Yay!” the boy cheered and pulled an arm of his, trying to get him to move and hurry up. “Hurry up! We need to go now or it’ll get full!”

Although the idea of the candy shop being too full for them seemed so appealing and tempting, the image of Youngjae smiling was better. Mark reluctantly let himself be pulled by the latter when he finished picking up his books. He wasn’t really paying attention to where they were going. All he knew they were already out of school and passed by the near bus stop ho his house. Either that means it’s close to the school or not close at all to anywhere he knows.

Luckily, it wasn’t the latter. It was actually close to the school and the arcade Mark frequents to when he and Jinyoung are bored. The candy shop was just across the arcade and it seemed like an ideal spot for it since kids of all ages when to that arcade. Its exterior was cute with its funky flower designs and swirls, and lots and lots of pink. There were kids running around with their bag of candies on their hands while their parents tried to calm them down. He had a feeling that he would soon know what that must feel like when he looked at Youngjae and saw that his eyes were sparkling. They proceeded to enter and it was everything that Mark hated.

Endless stacks and rows of lollipops, of chocolates, of mints, of Jolly Ranchers, of gummy bears, of Oreos, of everything. There were even selling cakes, ice creams and shakes at the corner of the shop. It outside was ridiculously cute, then inside is the triple of its cuteness. Pink tables and chairs at one part of the shop contrasting with the walls, a pretty lilac with more funky flowers decorations and swirls only that this time, with hearts and sparkles too. There were even cute animal cartoon standees saying to remember to wash their teeth afterword at the start, middle and at the end of the row (but Mark thinks its creepy how their eyes make you feel like their staring into your soul and how the smiles look so big that its fake), and just so much candy… if the Church repels demons away then this might as well be the equivalent to that. Mark was about to turn away, his face paler than it already was, when Youngjae dragged him deeper into that hell hole. The only thing that comforted him was the image of his crush smile in his mind. The rest was hell because one, even though they were in a shop with air conditioning, he was still hot and sweating (most likely for the wrong feelings), two, he was surrounded by sweets and three, he was surrounded by sweets!

Mark was acting like a boyfriend who accompanied his girlfriend shopping, but he isn’t sure which one was worse because Youngjae was taking up the same time a girl would when she shops for clothes. He lets out an impatient sigh, checking to see what time it was when he realized he didn’t have a watch. He sighed for the one hundredth time that day when he heard a couple of girls giggle. “Look at that boy! He’s waiting for his boyfriend to finish up!”

“That’s so cute!”

“I wish my boyfriend would do that!” His face flushed at the word boyfriend and made him forget about his previous hateful thoughts towards sweets. Being boyfriends with Youngjae would be a dream, considering how they connect and share similar interests. Yet the latter doesn’t know the giant detail that Mark loathes sweets.

It was hard trying to admit it to the latter because he’s always talking to him about it and whenever does, Youngjae always looks up to him with sparkles in his eyes. He’s ashamed of himself for keeping it as a secret for so long, but he’s weak against him whenever he does that. Mark clears his throat and calls out to the boy. “I’m going to sit over there!” And he points to a table near where he’s standing. He doesn’t move until he hears a faint okay from Youngjae.

Twenty minutes later, Youngjae appears, grinning from ear to ear with two bags that were full of sweets and holding two shakes. Mark suddenly had a very bad gut feeling that one was for him.

“Hey, sorry for making you wait!” the latter said, giving him an apologetic look as he placed the stuff on the table. “Bought you this shake for making you wait.”

Depending on what flavor it was, he could do it and later barf it out. “What flavor is it?”

“Strawberry!”

“S-Strawberry?” He repeated, his voice going a pitch higher than he intended and his face going blue.

Youngjae nodded, still smiling. “Yeah, I didn’t know what you liked so I figured you couldn’t go wrong with strawberry.” Which was probably a correct reasoning for the general public but not for Mark.

The latter started to drink his shake quietly when he noticed Mark hadn’t touched his. “What’s wrong? Don’t feel burdened and drink.”

So that’s what he did. With shaky hands, Mark grabbed the shake so it was closer to him and slowly drank from the straw. It was more disgusting than what he remembered; the texture was still so weird with its sort of mushed up state, and he was so sure they added more sugar to the drink because it was just so sweet. It was refreshing (not that he would admit it out loud anyways) but all Mark could think at that moment if there was a bathroom nearby.

Snapping from his thoughts, Youngjae placed his hands on his shoulder, their eyes locking in the process. “Mark, are you okay? You don’t look good.” The latter said, worry traced all over his adorable features.

For a moment, he contemplated lying his way out of there but he didn’t. Lying doesn’t get you somewhere and it only made problems more complicated than they already were. He should be honest with him with his feelings so that a situation like this doesn’t happen in the future again…

He sighed as a response and shook his head. “No…”

“Why? Did I do something wrong?” Now he looked alarmed.

What if Youngjae doesn’t like him anymore once he finds out the truth? What if he stops talking to him? He breathed in and out steadily, ignoring his thoughts as he looked for appropriate words to explain. “The truth is I hate sweets.”

“What?” That was a way of putting it.

“All of this,” he pointed to the bags of candies to the shakes and looked everywhere around them. “I hate it. It literally makes me sick.”

“Oh…” Then he fell quiet, making Mark’s heart stop for a moment. (He didn’t notice that the latter never retreated his hand from his shoulders.) Youngjae then tilted his head, looking curious now. “Then why didn’t you tell me? Did you think I wouldn’t like you because of that?”

He was too embarrassed to answer because it was true.

The latter laughed, his eyes forming crescents and filling his ears with music. “You’re so silly… why did you think that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, I mean,” Mark struggled to get out the right words. “You’re just so nice and fun to be with, and I really like you but I’m a potato that hates what you like and I thought you would be into someone who likes the same things?”

Youngjae bit back a smile as he blushed lightly. “Wanna know a secret?” Then he leaned closer to his ear and whispered something. Mark froze before he looked at him again and smiled widely. His cheeks were red from all the excitement and happiness he felt, and he was starting to feel the ticking sensation again whenever he’s with the latter.  He grabbed the boy’s bags with one hand, not really stopping to think what he was doing, and with his free hand he grabbed Youngjae’s hand, leading him out of there.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

“The truth is I still like you even knowing that… besides, you’re a handsome potato if anything.”

The end.

A/N: This was actually supposed to be a crack? Like Mark kept on trying for Youngjae's sake and Youngjae wouldn't realize until Mark gave in

But then I realized, I can't write crack to save my life ಥ‿ಥ 

I rly don't know how to feel about this so I'll just stop here

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