Work Text:
Freshman year:
“Class, I’d like you to welcome Mark Tuan. He’s a new student in this class that came all the way from America,”
A few hushed “Ooo’s” were heard in the back of the class as the teacher continues,
“This is his first day, so please treat him well.”
Jinyoung leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he eyed the slender boy with the cherry red hair that stood in front of the class. The boy’s head was low and his cheeks matched his bright hair color, which Jinyoung couldn’t help but smile at when he noticed. The teacher looked towards the small boy with a polite smile and gently spoke,
“You can take that seat over there.”
Jinyoung glanced over to the teacher, her voice breaking him out of his thoughts, and found the teacher pointing directly at him. His eyes widened for a split second until he remembered the empty desk that day behind him. Mark nodded gently before quickly shuffling his way to the seat, his gaze still glued to the ground. Jinyoung couldn’t help but stare at the boy as he grew closer, inspecting his face which was honestly quite dainty and cute. The boy had large dark eyes that held a blank expression, with a long slender nose, high cheekbones, and plush deep pink lips that only grew darker as he bit them, contrasting greatly with his pale skin. Jinyoung scanned the boy as he made his way down the aisle, growing closer and closer, when he felt a sudden jab to his side. A small yelp of pain escaped his lips as he turned to find the jabber and he came face to face with his (sadly) best friend, Jackson Wang. He leaned closer as he hissed out,
“What the fuck was that for?”
A smug smirk grew on Jackson’s face, not affected at all by Jinyoung’s tone of pure hatred,
“Jinyoung, why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer.”
All rage left Jinyoung and confusion took its place. Jinyoung’s eyebrows furrowed as he replied,
“...What?”
A small high pitched giggle escaped his lips before Jackson responded dramatically,
“I’m sayinggg, if you stare at the new boy any longer you’ll burn holes into him.”
Jinyoung felt a heat rise to his cheeks as he quickly mumbled a “shut up” which only caused Jackson to giggle more, hand covering his mouth so he wouldn’t draw attention from his teacher. Jinyoung swatted at Jackson’s arm to shut him up as he tried to calm his bright red face, when he heard a noise from behind him. His head whipped around instinctively to the source of the noise and he came face to face with none other than Mark Tuan. Mark’s eyes widened as he made eye contact with Jinyoung and the two boys stayed frozen in place, just staring. After what felt like minutes (it wasn’t, probably only a few seconds) Jinyoung was the first to break the silence. He coughed awkwardly before holding out his hand to Mark,
“H-Hi, I’m Jinyoung.”
Mark’s eyed Jinyoung’s hand for a couple seconds, as if he didn’t know how to respond, before hesitantly reaching out and grasping his hand. Jinyoung felt a small tingle as his hand was enveloped by Mark’s warm slender fingers and he smiled gently at the boy. Mark nodded slightly, cheeks tinting red again as he spoke for the first time that day,
“Nice to meet you, Jinyoung.”
Jinyoung’s eyes widened hearing the boy’s deep husky voice, which contrasted greatly to his shy and tiny appearance. Jinyoung took a couple seconds to finally compose himself before gaining the courage to ask,
“Would you like to eat lunch with my friends and I today?”
Mark’s wide eyes brightened as the question left Jinyoung’s lips and a small smile grew on his face for the first time that day. He nodded his head quickly, rustling his messy mop of red hair, as he responded,
“Yes...I would love that.”
Jinyoung looked down when he realized that the two boys’ hands never separated from the handshake, a small chuckle escaped his lips.
He may not have realized it then, but it was at that moment he made a best friend.
*****
Sophomore year:
Mark’s head nuzzled further into Jinyoung’s lap as he focused on the game on his phone, pressing rapidly at screen. He leaned on his side, facing Jinyoung’s knees, as he stretched out his slender legs further across his brown leather couch. Jinyoung looked down when he felt the movement and smiled warmly as he watched the now golden blonde Mark who’s eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. Jinyoung chuckled fondly as his eyes trailed the boy’s profile, watching Mark’s sharp jawline and pouted lips as he brought his hand up to play with his friend’s golden locks. Mark’s focus didn’t break from his game as Jinyoung carded his hands through his hair, the boy’s were both quite used to this by now as they were both quite touchy people by nature (or at least that’s what they told themselves). After a few minutes of this, Mark let out a small yelp of joy, sitting up abruptly and grabbing Jinyoung by the shoulders,
“I did it! I finally beat that level I’ve been working on for the past two days!”
Jinyoung laughed gently as the boy’s puppy-like excitedness. His eyes creased as a fond smile grew on his face. He scanned the boy’s excited face, lingering on his messy golden hair that covered his eyebrows and stuck out everywhere. His smile grew even wider at the sight in front of him as he jokingly replied,
“I’m very proud of you, Mark.”
Mark continued excitedly, almost bouncing on the couch now,
“I swear it’s like you’re my good luck charm or something, Jinyoung! I can beat anything when you’re by my side!”
Jinyoung knew Mark was only talking about video games but he couldn’t help his eyes from widening at the boy’s sudden intimate words. A heat rose to his ears and cheeks as he stared at the boy in front of him, who was basically half sitting on his lap now. Mark’s eyebrow raised at the sudden silence before his eyes widened, finally putting together what he just said out loud,
“O-oh, I just-“
The two boys were suddenly cut off by a dramatic gagging noise that came from the entrance to the living room. Both boy’s’ heads whipped to the source of the sound and found none other than Jackson Wang, the boys’ (sadly) best friend.
“Ew guys. You know Jaebum and I are here too right?”
Suddenly a mop of jet black hair appeared behind Jackson and Jaebum rested his chin on Jackson’s shoulder, causing the latter to release a small giggle.
“What did we miss? We were only in the kitchen for like 5 minutes.”
Jaebum’s deep monotone voice asked, eyes half lidded like he really didn’t care for the answer. Jackson let out another dramatic puking noise,
“Mark’s straddling Jinyoung again!”
He whined to Jaebum, who now turned to the shorter boy and watched him with a small amused smile. Mark’s face turned beet red as he quickly slid off of Jinyoung’s lap and took the seat next to him,
“Shut up, Jackson! I was not straddling him, don’t be ridiculous!”
Jinyoung pouted at the loss of touch from Mark, who was now glaring at Jackson with his arms crossed.
“Don’t lie to me! My eyes cant ever un-see that!”
Jackson shouted back, pointing an accusatory finger at Mark. They two boys continued to argue, switching between Korean, English and Cantonese as they got more lost in the conversation. Jinyoung tried to keep up but after a few seconds quickly grew lost and bored, losing himself in his thoughts.
“To be honest,” Jinyoung thought to himself, “I don’t think I’d even mind if Mark straddled my lap. Definitely wouldn’t be mad at it.” Jinyoung stared off into space as- “Wait what?” His eyebrows furrowed as he realized what just went through his mind......”Fuck.”
It was at that moment, Jinyoung realized he had his first crush.
*****
Junior year:
The wind whipped through Jinyoung’s hair as Jackson’s car sped down the highway. Jinyoung stared out the window of the backseat, watching as the trees and dainty shops whipped by. He was lost in thought and tuning out Jackson’s loud singing as best as he could, when he felt warm fingers begin to intertwine with his own. His head whipped around to the blonde boy next to him, who was staring at him with shining eyes and an impossibly bright smile that exposed his sharp canines,
“You ok, Jinyoungie?”
Jinyoung sent Mark a small smile and nod, assuring him that he was perfectly fine while also trying to conceal his rapid heartbeat, which became more difficult the longer the boy stared at him. Jinyoung’s ears tinted pink as he dragged his attention back to the window, trying to calm himself and focus on something, anything else. Mark’s head tilted, one eyebrow raised as he stared curiously at the boy next to him. His lips parted as he began to interrogate Jinyoung on his strange behavior, but he was quickly cut of by the sound of Jackson’s excited shrieking,
“GUYS! GUYS! THIS SONG IS PERFECT, WE HAVE TO ALL SING IT! JINYOUNG, I KNOW YOU KNOW THE WORDS AND IM FORCING YOU TO! KARAOKE TIME!!”
Jinyoung’s attention snapped back at the sound of his name and he let out a long dramatic sigh when he actually registered what Jackson was talking about, a smile growing on his face as he heard the first few beats and immediately recognized the song. Jaebum, who was in the passenger’s seat, looked over to Jackson with a fond smile. He let out a small laugh as he told Jackson to start it off, which Jackson easily agreed to as soon as the words left Jaebum’s lips. Jackson reached down, pressing the buttons to lower all the windows of the car, before reaching his arm out and screaming wildly,
“TONIGHHHTTTTT, WE AREE YOUNGGG!!”
The three boys couldn’t help their laughter at Jackson’s wild and never ending energy. Jackson continued to scream the lyrics for a couple more lines, pumping his arm out the window as he did, before gasping for air dramatically and turning to Jinyoung,
“JINYOUNG! JINYOUNG! IT’S YOUR TURN, YOU SING!”
Jinyoung’s hand reached up to cover his mouth as he laughed loudly at Jackson, shaking his head aggressively,
“Jackson I can’t, I can’t! Look at the road!”
He spoke between laughs. Jackson’s head whipped towards the road, as if now remembering that was there, before whining,
“C’mon Jinyoungie!!! You used to sing this with me all the time, please?!??”
Mark turned to Jinyoung with an amused and curious smirk. He leaned closer so that Jinyoung could hear him and teasingly whispered,
“Did you like to sing a lot, Jinyoungie? How come I don’t hear you sing more often?”
Jinyoung’s ears turned a deep pink as he attempted to casually shrug it off but Mark continued,
“Well I wanna hear you sing now, you should join Jackson!”
Mark whispered excitedly, causing Jinyoung to look over and make eye contact. The second their eyes met and he saw that large smile, Jinyoung knew that he couldn’t say no to him. He gulped as he nodded and his plump lips parted,
“Carry me home tonight, just carry me home tonight.”
Mark’s eyes lit up as he watched Jinyoung. Jackson screeched at the sound did Jinyoung’s singing voice, which was a rare gift,
“LOUDER JINYOUNGIE, LOUDER!”
Mark nodded aggressively and Jinyoung couldn’t help the small laugh that left his lips before he began to shout out,
“THE MOON IS ON MY SIDE! I GOT NO REASON TO RUN! SO WILL SOMEONE COME AND CARRY ME HOMMEEE!”
The boys laughed and giggled throughout the whole song as they took turns singing different parts. Mark always shook Jinyoung’s hand excitedly when it was Jinyoung’s turn and Jinyoung just couldn’t describe how warm it made him feel inside. Jinyoung squeezed his eyes shut, bringing his free hand up to clutch his heart dramatically as he belted out the chorus with Jackson. Mark’s high pitched giggles joined along with the singing as he watched Jinyoung’s “performance” and he couldn’t help but stare at the boy’s profile as the boy sang his heart out.
“Wow,” Mark thought to himself, “what can’t he do perfectly?” He found himself smiling at the thought as his gaze trailed down Jinyoung’s side profile. From his raven hair that somehow always fell perfectly, to his whiskers by his eyes that formed when he smiled, to his soft pale cheeks that Mark always loved to squish, right down to his perfectly pink plump lips. Mark’s eyes lingered and he wasn’t sure how long he was staring until he looked up to find the boy watching him with an eyebrow raised. A heat rose to his cheeks but he shook his head to let Jinyoung know everything was fine and broke out into a large grin, shaking the boy’s hand to cheer him on more. Jinyoung smiled back widely and continued to sing and Mark continued to watch fondly, until the last lines of the song hit. The beat slowed down and Jackson was left panting, when Jinyoung slowly turned to Mark with a gentle smile on his face. Their eyes met instantly and Jinyoung shot Mark a teasing wink as he gently ended the song,
“I’ll carry, you home...tonight.”
Mark let out a short giggle, slapping Jinyoung’s shoulder gently and causing the male to cover his face as he held back his laughter. The boy’s laughed gently, their hands still intertwined, and Jinyoung smiled warmly at Mark before turning to Jaebum who was now asking him a question. Mark smiled at his best friend as he watched the boy get lost in concentration and began to admire his profile again. He liked watching the ways he interacted with them, because no matter what the tone was there was always an undertone of deep caring. He like the way Jinyoung’s brows furrowed as he was lost in concentration and the way his eyes would flicker as he inspected people’s faces because he was always observant and sure to say the right thing. He loved that Jinyoung could always say the right thing, or at least to Mark it always felt right. He liked that they seemed like total opposites, yet at the same time like they were made to know each other. He liked the way Jinyoung smiled at his friends, his eyes always fond and crinkling in the corners. But most importantly, Mark liked the way Jinyoung smiled at him. This may seem selfish and maybe Mark just imagined it, but he always liked to imagine that when Jinyoung smiled at him it was always just a bit warmer, a bit fonder, just something... different. That’s what this boy was to Mark, something amazingly different and beautiful in every way. Jinyoung turned to Mark when he sensed the boy’s eyes on him and a small smile formed on his face as he leaned in and bumped shoulders with Mark,
“You ok?”
A large smile broke out on Mark’s face as he leaned over and rested his head on Jinyoung’s broad shoulder, nodding gently,
“Never better, Jinyoungie, never better.”
Jinyoung let out a deep chuckle and reached up to ruffle Mark’s hair, his fingertips lingering on Mark’s cheek as he pulled his hand away.
“I’m glad.”
He whispered back, and the car fell into a comfortable silence. Mark’s eyes fluttering shut as he nuzzled further onto Jinyoung’s shoulder.
It was in this moment Mark realized, he was absolutely in love with Jinyoung.
*****
Senior year:
Mark lay spread out on Jinyoung’s bed, his head at the foot of the bed and his feet on the blue fluffy pillow, with his phone in his hand as he focused on this challenging level of his game. Jinyoung is seated directly next to Mark, his back leaned against the head board as he looks down and solves the problems in his math textbook. Jackson and Jaebum are seated on the side of the bed, Jaebum’s head resting on Jackson’s shoulder as he watches the boy solve his own math homework, occasionally asking Jinyoung for help on certain questions. They sat in comfortable silence, just merely wanting to be together as much as possible as they enjoyed their final year of high school.
Jinyoung brought his pen to his lips, biting on the tip as he studied the problem he was working on with furrowed eyebrows. He was dragged out of focus when he heard a deep voice call him,
“Hey, Jinyoung?”
Jinyoung’s eyes flickered up to the boy across from him who was pushed up on his elbows and now staring at Jinyoung, his expression more serious than normal. He raised an eyebrow and Mark continued,
“Do you want to go to prom with me?”
Jinyoung began to choke setting his pen down and bringing his hand up to his chest,
“W-what?”
A small smile formed on Mark’s face, but Jinyoung saw as his hands began to fumble and his gaze flickered away from Jinyoung, clearly showing he was nervous.
“Are you sure you... want to go with me?”
Mark’s eyes widened before he began to giggle gently, eyes scrunching up as he replied,
“What kind of question is that? I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
Jinyoung’s cheeks turned red as he looked down at his book, he nodded quickly before quietly replying,
“Then...I would love to.”
Mark’s giggles stopped and he leaned forward, an excited grin spread across his face. He gently grabbed Jinyoung’s hand, causing the boy to look up at him, before excitedly replying,
“Ok great, please tell me you’re not kidding!”
Jinyoung giggled, shaking his head to confirm that he was serious which allowed Mark to continue, basically bouncing in his place,
“Then... wow I didn’t think this far ahead. Wasn’t even sure I’d have the courage to ask. So um, I’ll buy the tickets. I would say dress pretty but you look great in everything. And um...”
Jinyoung’s cheeks turned even redder (if that’s possible) as he listened to the boy, but he let out a small giggle over Mark’s reaction. As Mark hesitated to find the right words to say, Jinyoung cut in,
“Um maybe we could even...get dinner before?”
Mark’s eyes widened as he processed Jinyoung’s question before he began to nod his head rapidly,
“Yes, yes, definitely.”
Jinyoung’s smile grew wider, biting his plump bottom lip as he nodded at Mark,
“Ok, then it sounds like a plan. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Mark’s hand clenched Jinyoung’s tighter and he looked in the boy’s eyes. His tone was serious and gentle as he replied,
“God, me too. Me too, Jinyoungie.”
The boys sat frozen in place, holding each other’s gazes as their hands remained intertwined. After a moment a small mutter from the side of the bed was heard,
“Took you losers long enough.”
They broke eye contact, turning to the side of the bed and laughing as they shouted in unison,
“Shut up, Jackson!”
They four boys all laughed loudly as they threw joking insults at each other and Mark scooted closer to Jinyoung, eventually curling into his side as he watched the boy finish up the math problems.
It was in this moment that both boys realized, this was definitely something more than a high school fling.
*****
College, Junior year:
Jinyoung pulled the spare key out of his pocket and slid it into the lock, opening the door and stepping into the room before being greeted by complete chaos. Mark stood on one side of the living room, a pair of boxers in one hand and a laptop in the other, while Jackson stood on the other side of the room facing him,
“I swear to FUCKING GOD JACKSON WANG, LEAVE YOUR NASTY ASS UNDERWEAR AROUND HERE AGAIN AND I WILL THROW YOUR ASS BACK TO CHINA!”
“HOW DARE YOU? YOU SHOULD FEEL GODDAMN BLESSED TO EVEN BE NEAR MY UNDERWEAR! MANY PEOPLE BEG TO EVEN SEE THEM!”
Mark’s hand pulled back as he prepared to fling them at the blonde across from him, when he heard a small cough from the corner of the room. His head whipped over instantly to the sight of his boyfriend standing there with a very amused look, and he instantly dropped the objects he was holding onto the couch. He walked over to Jinyoung with his arms spread and Jinyoung immediately fell into them, wrapping his arms around Mark’s waist. Mark kissed the top of Jinyoung’s raven black hair as he whispered,
“Hey babe”
Jinyoung smiled, nuzzling his head into Mark’s neck with a muffled,
“Hey sweetie”
Violent retching noises from the corner of their room interrupted the small moment and both boys turned to find Jackson still standing there with arms crossed over his chest as he attempted (and failed) to look pissed.
“Jinyoungieeee”
Jackson whined loudly, running up to the boy,
“Mark’s bullying me again, control him.”
Jinyoung laughed, patting the short boy’s blonde locks gently before replying,
“You probably deserved it, Jackson.”
Jackson face twisted into one of betrayal as he stepped away from Jinyoung, clutching his chest dramatically,
“That’s it! Demons, you’re a couple of demons. I get no love here, I’m going to Jaebum’s!”
Jinyoung laughed as Mark monotonously replied,
“Have fun.”
Once the blonde boy was out the door, Mark’s hand intertwined with Jinyoung’s, dragging the boy to the small living room couch and pulling them both into it. Jinyoung chuckled gently as he snuggled into the boy’s side, wrapping an arm around Mark’s torso. Mark grabbed a remote, turning the tv on and flipping onto a show he knows they both love. Jinyoung smiled warmly as he watched Mark before leaning up and pressing a small peck to Mark’s cheek. Mark grinned, looking down to face Jinyoung and leaning in. The boy’s lips brushed against each other, gently at first. Mark’s hand raised up to cup the side of Jinyoung’s face and pull the boy closer to him. Their lips met more roughly this time, lingering for a bit longer before Mark pulled away and rested his forehead on Jinyoung’s,
“I love you.”
Mark whispered. Jinyoung smiled gently before whispering,
“I love you too, so much.”
It wasn’t just this moment, but every moment that Mark realized he wanted to spend every day with Jinyoung next to him.