Mark
Hey, um, I was just thinking about
this, I'm going to work in a bit and
I was wondering if you wanted to
come?
I'm just asking cause I know you like
music and then maybe we could go
on a date after?
Only if you want to though
Jeno
You're cute when you're nervous
Mark feels his face heat up, but the longer he stares at the text, the more familiar it feels.
And then he remembers.
No
He shakes his head, it having no effect on the thoughts in his head. Then he realizes that Darci said the sentence too. It's not the most comforting thing but it makes him feel better that Annalise isn't the only person he has a memory of hearing those words with.
He gets pulled out of his thoughts when his phone vibrates in his hand.
Jeno
Pumpkin?
Did I say something wrong?
Mark
No, no
I just...
I don't have good memories with
every phrase
But it feels better when it's you,
Jaemin or Haechan saying it
I know you don't mean it badly
Jeno
I don't
It's adorable when start rambling and
then you get flustered and your face
turns red and you try to play it off
but you still wanna hide your face
Mark
You noticed that?
Jeno
Back in high school, I paid attention
to you without realizing
Now it's on purpose
Also, I'd love to have a date with you
and go with you to work
I could use some relaxing before
going to Shimmer
Mark
Okay
I'll be there in half an hour
Jeno
Okay Pumpkin :)
➳
"So, who's this?" A girl asks, smiling.
Mark rolls his eyes. "This is my Jeno." His eyes widen, face instantly flushing. "I mean, not my-well he is mine-but not like-he doesn't belong to me. Oh my God." Mark hides his face in his hands and then hides himself even more in Jenos shoulder.
Jeno shakes the girls hand, smiling. "Nice to meet you, I'm Marks Jeno."
Mark smacks Jenos arm. "Dude, shut up."
The girl laughs. "It's a good thing you spoke to me first, Devon wouldn't let you live this down."
"Please don't tell him."
"Sure thing. Now, why don't we try this again? Mark, who is this?"
"He's one of my boyfriends", Mark mumbles, still feeling too embarrassed to look at either of them.
"Are you dating Jaemin too?" The girl asks, now looking at Jeno.
He nods. "We have another boyfriend too."
"Will I see him one day?"
"Yeah."
"Why don't you two go so Mark can calm down? And Jeno, if you post anything from here, tag us, please. Thank you."
Without looking up, Mark takes Jenos hand and drags him towards the stairs. Jeno finds it cute and amusing with the way the boy won't look at him.
"Pumpkin", Jeno says softly. "Pumpkin, look at me." Mark raises his head the slightest bit, causing Jeno to coo. "You're so cute."
Mark relaxes when he feels kisses being pressed to his face, counteracting his overthinking.
"You're cute too", Mark mumbles, eyes meeting Jenos.
The two stay that way for a minute before Jeno asks, "Is there a reason we're by the stairs instead of the elevator?"
"This place has hidden charms. We'll take the elevator when we come back down. And if you want a snack or something, there's at least ten vending machines, some healthy and some unhealthy and coffee is like, everywhere."
"Long nights?" Jeno guesses.
"Yeah, it helps. I usually just have a really cold drink if I don't feel coffee, which works just as well."
Jeno nods in understanding and silently gestures for Mark to go up the stairs so he can follow him. As soon as they're on the second floor, Jeno instantly sees one of the buildings "hidden charms" and stares in awe at the graffiti art, loving how the colorful paint looks against the grey building.
Oddly enough, it reminds him of when Chenle made him color all over a piece of paper to get his feelings out. But instead of a chaotic mess, it's beautiful.
"I love it", Jeno says quietly.
Mark watches the boy for a moment, clearly being able to tell how much he likes it, but also confused. He thoroughly agrees that it's beautiful, but something about Jenos reaction makes him feel like they see two different things.
"When you're ready", Mark speaks up after a minute, "we can go to the top floor. That's where another cool thing is."
Jeno nods and continues to admire the art for a moment longer before pulling himself away from the spot and up the stairs behind Mark.
He gets confused when Mark leads him into a dark room, not bothering to turn on the light. Mark looks at him and laughs at his reaction.
"You look more confused than Jaemin did."
"Do you just make it a habit to bring people into dark rooms, Pumpkin?"
Mark rolls his eyes at his tone. "I brought you here to show you something. Look."
Mark turns on the lights by the door, causing the room to slowly light up by the colorful lights. So it's not blinding Jeno, he chooses the blue lights to keep on, just showing how the room looks when lit up.
"It's very colorful here."
"Mhm. Go stand in the middle of the room and look up."
Before even getting to the center of the room, Jeno is already looking at the ceiling. He gasps at the sight of the skylight, keeping his eyes on the sky for a moment.
He turns to Mark to say, "This place is fucking awesome."
"I know, right?" A voice says, startling him.
Devon chuckles. "Sorry about that. I'm Devon, I work with your boyfriend, Mark. Did you know he can dance well?"
"I heard that. Our boyfriend, Jaemin, told me and our other boyfriend all about it."
"You can stop waiting for me to piss you off, Mark has already mentioned you, Jaemin, and Haechan."
"How do you know I'm not Haechan?"
"I don't. I just guessed and hoped I'm not wrong."
"You aren't", Jeno tells him. "So, what do you do?"
"I'm a producer. But really, let's have Mark showcase his talents. And please try to embarrass him as much as possible."
"Shut the fuck up, dude", Mark groans, pushing the male out of the room.
He turns back to make sure Jeno is with him and holds out his hand for the boy to take. Jeno takes it, but doesn't walk right away so he can smile at Mark and say, "I think I'll get along with your coworkers well."
"That's what I'm afraid of", Mark mutters.
➳
"Jeno, you're up!"
"Huh?"
Devon points to the recording booth that Mark is currently in. "Go in there. I wanna hear you in action."
"What?" Jeno repeats, still not processing the request.
"He wants you to record?" Mark asks, going towards the male.
"Yes! Thank you!" Devon turns back to Jeno. "You got that?"
"Yes, but I mean why?"
"Basically every worker at Shimmer cafe-" Jeno groans at the mention of his job, finally understanding what's going on, making the two males laugh. "Is like a local celebrity. And I heard you're popular."
Mark nods. "He is."
"Plus, I wanna see if my girlfriend actually has a point when she gushes over you. Like I'm sure you're great, but she fangirls over you like she's single."
"I'm not interested in women. Hopefully that helps."
"I'll see if that does anything. Anyways."
Jeno sighs and makes his way into the recording booth, having no idea what do since none of this is planned.
"Wait, what do I do?" He asks.
"Just tell me a song", Devon tells him.
Jeno racks his brain for a good song choice, not exactly hating the opportunity to show off.
But he's not gonna admit that.
When he starts singing, Mark feels proud of the way he contains himself, now more used to this. The calmness all flies out the window when Jeno starts rapping, sending his jaw to the floor.
Jenos expressions don't make it any better, him looking as cocky—and hot—as he did the first time he saw him perform.
"Oh my God", Mark says.
"Oh my God is right", Devon agrees, eyeing his starstruck co-worker. "You're fucking whipped, bro."
"Aren't I supposed to be?"
"Of course. It's just funny seeing it right in front of me. I wonder how you'll be when Haechan is here."
"Honestly, he'd probably be the one looking whipped. But it would be cute."
"Nevermind, I shouldn't have asked."
"How does your girlfriend even like you?"
Devon places a hand on his heart, pretending to be hurt. "Ow. That's harsh, Mark."
The male rolls his eyes, going back to focusing on Jeno, who's singing again. His eyes rake over the males—let's be honest—beautiful face, and just fall back into an awe over how natural he looks, standing there in the recording booth, doing this thing.
He's the same guy who makes an audience go crazy just be being on stage and, apparently, has a fan base. The same guy who had everyones attention in high school when he didn't ask for it, didn't even want it, the same guy who wouldn't dare give him a chance a year ago. The same one whose face lights up at art and colorful lights and the sky. The same guy who's clingy and holds his hands at every possible chance now. The same guy who sang to him with a guitar. In the comfort of his house. Because he wasn't doing it for anyone but Mark and himself.
Maybe Mark is making something out of nothing, but the revelation makes him feel giddy inside, at the fact that he gets to see something no one else sees.
"Pumpkin? Are you there?"
"What?" Mark blinks, coming out his thoughts to find Jeno standing in front of him, looking concerned. He doesn't even have to look at his co-worker to know he's display his irritating amused grin.
He glances at him anyway, proving himself correct as Devons eyes twinkle with mischief. "Yeah, you in there, Pumpkin?"
Mark points at him. "You, never call me that again." He turns back to Jeno. "I'm okay."
"Oh, is this wanna one of those, "only my special person can call me this" nicknames?"
"Yes. And you're not special to me."
"Such a heartbreaker."
"Don't you have a client to bother?"
"Actually, yes. They'll be here soon. They wanna hear the acoustic version of their song."
"You didn't sign me up for anything else, right?"
"I didn't sign you up for anything. But it's not my fault is they ask you stuff on their own."
Mark leans into Jeno to say just loud enough for his co-worker to hear, "Devon lives to piss me off."
"I do. Regardless, Mark still loves me. And Cara, the girl you met downstairs", Devon says to Jeno. "Mark is our, what do they call it? Work B-F-F?"
"Unfortunately. Cara is fine. It's you, though."
"And these are the lovebirds bantering", a familiar voice says as Cara's head peers into the room with a guy next to them.
Mark holds up his intertwined hand with Jeno. "This is my boyfriend. That", he points to Devon. "is a nuisance."
"He's been insulting me all day."
"This is like, one of the only either times. You embarrass every other time."
Devon goes over to the guy and leans into him like he's gonna tell him a secret. "He's trying to impress his boyfriend."
"Mark looks like he wants to punch you."
"I do."
The girl rolls her eyes at the standoff between her co-workers. "Yeah, yeah, you guys have things to do. I don't think Anthony came here to listen to your childish arguing."
That gets Mark to snap out of it, and he turns to Anthony, holding out his hand. "She's right. But really, we are always like this. Um, as you heard, I'm Mark, the demo artist."
"I swear I've seen you from somewhere."
"Probably dancing in a music video. I, uh, do that sometimes."
Anthonys eyes widen. "You're right! That's really cool of you."
Mark blushes. "Thank you."
He steps back beside Jeno and pulls the male into his arms, leaning his chin on his shoulder as he watches Anthony and Devon introduce themselves and discuss the song.
It doesn't take very long for them get thrown into work, Jeno just sitting on the couch, listening and observing while occasionally scrolling on his phone. But while he listens to Mark speak to the two males, he can't help but notice how... different Mark seems. It's like he's himself, but toned down.
Where he would be laughing loudly, he only chuckles, where he can tell them a story, he just says a sentence, instead of giving a lengthy-but-thorough explanation, he just shakes his head to cut himself off and starts over again with a brief explanation. Devon seems used to it and Anthony's never met Mark before so it's fine for them, but weird for Jeno.
➳
"Everything okay?" Mark asks as he walks with Jeno to the elevator.
"Are you usually so...quiet here?" Jeno asks.
"Yeah, I think so. Why? Are you used to me being loud?"
"Louder than you were, yes. And you didn't do any of your usual things. You didn't laugh like you normally do, you didn't use more than, like, two sentences to say something would normally be a story, you didn't even emphasize your point when rambling out an explanation for something. And even when you joked with Devon, you were still more reserved."
Mark nods, now understanding what Jeno is talking about. "Yeah, I'm just more to myself at work."
"Why?"
Knowing he won't get away with not answering, Mark takes a deep breath as he formulates the answer into words. "I just hold back to make it easier for myself."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't take offense to this, alright?" Jeno nods slowly, concerned about what Mark is going to say. "I just feel like, if I repress my personality, then there's less judgement." The recognition on Jenos face makes Mark panic. "It's not-it's not you. It's just that you weren't the only one that had the opinion that you did. And it's not really my favorite thing."
Jeno brings Mark into his arms, crushing the male against his body with his tight he's holding him. "I'm sorry I made you think those things were bad things. You not doing them is way worse."
"Is it that bad?" Mark asks, forcing a chuckle, caring about the answer way more than he'd like to.
Jeno makes Mark face him so he can press their foreheads together, squishing their noses in the process. Mark doesn't care, just looking at the eyes peering into his. "It is. It's even worse knowing that you're hiding the way you are when you're happy and comfortable. That was never a bad thing, and I'm so sorry you had idiots like me convince you it is."
"I don't wanna be too much."
"God, no. Mark-Pumpkin, you're not-God, you're not too much at all. You're perfect. I mean that, I really do. And look, it's not even bad if you take up space. It's good if you do. And you're so lovable, most people wouldn't complain. There's nothing bad about you being you."
"Thank you."
Jeno kisses his forehead and then looks at him again. "Of course."
➳
"Uh, Pumpkin?" Jeno asks at the sight of the hill.
Mark chuckles. "It's fine. Come on."
Jeno gets out of the car and moves over to Mark, who takes his hand before leading him down a small hill and then up, narrow rock steps. It's clearly different than being on a mountain but it's still a little shocking that Mark is okay with this.
Mark stops at a familiar clearing, the impending winter harshness showing on the dull grass and leafless trees. Jeno just stares at Mark, wondering what's happening, especially because it reminds him of when they spoke about their insecurities.
"Um, why are we here?" Jeno asks, now feeling nervous.
"I wanted to share this place with you. It's kinda cheesy but this is my favorite spot and I know you like places like this."
"I would've never thought this would be your favorite place. I assumed it'd be somewhere indoors. And warm."
"Any reason?"
Jeno shrugs. "You just seem like someone who likes more warm, cozy places. But things with a relaxing vibe are also on-brand for you."
"I do hate being cold, but I just like this place. It's nice having somewhere to be alone. I don't mind company though. Staring at something pretty like this helps me think."
"What do you think about?"
"Anything. Some days, I think about myself and other times, I don't think at all."
"Oh." It goes quiet, the two just focusing on the scenery until Jeno speaks up, "Can I ask what you were thinking about earlier? When you zoned out?"
"You."
"Huh?"
Mark laughs at Jenos shocked expression. "You look really cute when you're shocked."
"I, um...thank you." Jeno clears his throat, avoiding eye contact. "Now go on."
"I was just thinking about how you're so charming when you perform, but it's the complete opposite of when you sang for me. Not that it wasn't charming then too, but I mean that it's...interesting."
"Pumpkin", Jeno says, walking forward until he's directly in front of Mark.
"Hm?"
"The difference between me performing at Shimmer and singing to you is that, at Shimmer, I don't care who's in the audience. I don't care who's paying attention to me, I only care if you're looking at me. At work, I do it because I don't mind and I'm good at it. When we're by ourselves, I do it for you. I loved the way you were looking at me and how you leaned on my shoulder. I only care about you."
"I care about you too."
Despite how nervous he is, Jeno grins. "I sure hope so." Any other time, Mark would roll his eyes. Even right now, he wants to. But he's too focused on the male in front of him and how fast his heart is beating, and how much he loves this moment with him. He hardly notices that he's pulling Jeno closer until Jeno asks, "Pumpkin, what are you doing?"
"What I wanted to do that day in your apartment."
And then Mark kisses him.
It takes Jeno by surprise for a few seconds and then he kisses back, melting into the kiss, letting Marks lips lead his. Perhaps it's because it's their first kiss or maybe because he'd just never thought about this, but he isn't expecting Mark to be such a good kisser. His lips are soft but controlling, slowly but surely driving him wild.
It only gets worse when Marks hands move down to the back of his thighs and lift him up, causing him to squeak into the brunets mouth. The sound makes them both break out into a fit of giggles, both being sure not to separate. Their attention goes back to the kiss. Jeno has no idea what's happening until he feels himself pressed against a hard, slightly rough surface which he quickly figures out is a tree.
"You want me that badly?" He jokes.
"Shut up", Mark mumbles back.
And he does shut him up as he slips his tongue into Jenos mouth and explores the newfound area. Between his skyrocketed attraction and deepened romantic feelings, Jeno thinks he could burst. As he tries to deepen the kiss, his nose rubs against Marks, causing the two to giggle again. Mark quickly fixes their angle, doing what Jeno intended to, increasing the pressure of his lips on the males. Finally snapping out of it, Jeno returns the kiss with the same energy, refusing to let another one of his boyfriends take over. It's bad enough that Mark is getting him wrapped around his finger.
They kiss until they run out of breath, and then Mark still doesn't move away, keeping Jeno pinned against the tree. Jeno releases a breath as his eyes lift to meet Marks. Jenos gaze makes Mark want to squirm but he manages to hold it and pretend like he doesn't notice that his face is going red because of him.
"Didn't know you could kiss that well."
"I'm good at other things too." The comment slips out so casually Mark doesn't realize at first but Jenos expression makes him want to slap a hand over his mouth to keep himself from saying anymore.
God-fucking-dammit
"What kinds of things?"
"Guess", Mark mutters, having lost his previous comments.
"Should I?"
"You can try."
Jeno leans in and whispers his guesses into Marks ear, making the brunet glad that no else is around and that Jeno's not being loud if there is. When he can't take it anymore, releases his grip on Jenos legs, causing the male to groan.
"Really?"
"You're having too much fun."
"Hey, you could've corrected me and said something sweet to try to pretend like you weren't thinking the same things I was."
"I was not thinking of anything you said."
"You have your own fantasy then?"
"Shut up!" Mark groans, absolutely done with the embarrassment the male is inflicting upon him.
Jeno just grins and wraps his arms around Mark, stopping him in place. He leans down to kiss the spot in front of his ear. "You're so reactive."
"You like this, don't you?"
Right as Mark turns to look at Jeno, Jeno grabs his chin with one hand and brings their lips together, giving him a long, hard kiss that makes Mark dizzy.
When they pull away, Jeno is still grinning. "Just wanted to return the favor."
Am I still breathing? Mark asks himself, feeling breathless from just everything Jeno.
The same feeling from before comes back, the one he recognizes, from his ex, Jaemin, Haechan, and now Jeno. That mixed with how much he wants Jeno is as terrifying as it always is, but it's weirder that he doesn't feel that scared.
It's a lot, he feels so much, but all he wants to do right now is show it. Regardless of Jenos reaction.
"I like you so much", Mark says, almost whispering. To emphasize his point, Mark brings Jenos hand to his chest so he can feel his heartbeat, shocking the male. "I think I'd scare you if I described it so I'm doing this to show you how much I mean it."
"I like you too. You're not gonna scare me away."
"Are you sure?"
"Try it. Try showing me and see if I do anything besides show you the exact same thing."
Mark looks away, at the ground, unsure of what to do about the words he's tempted to say. They're new but they aren't.
Just try
"I love you."
Jeno smiles, finding Mark adorable and feeling so happy from being told the words he's currently feeling. He kisses his nose before replying, "I love you too."
Y'all probably thinking one of them would give the other a piggyback ride when I asked who should carry who and then you read this
I do have a plan (I think), my only issue is that I have a pending scene idea for some, ahem, people, butttt the way it is described doesn't, let's say, currently fit. I mean I could try to alter it so it would fit, but I feel like the way I wrote it makes more sense than how it would be if I changed it...Am I making any sense?
Don't worry about that too much, right now, but at one point, you probably should worry about that
Not proofread (I actually tried this time, but I just don't have the energy)❤️
I LOVE YOU