Work Text:
In retrospect, this wasn’t exactly one of the worst things to happen to him at all but it was definitely one of the most underwhelming things in Mark Lee’s Grand Series of Strange Events that he just finds himself in. Granted, he is still quite young and there are many experiences he’s yet to have, like skydiving from a helicopter or bungee jumping in Macau.
But downloading Tinder to try to make friends in a city he’s lived in for the majority of his life? That had to be at the bottom of his list if he was ranking it (and maybe he should) or he’d just—make a new one. Like Mark Lee’s Series of Unfortunate Events (no copyright infringement intended) and trying to have people other than Jungwoo over would be number one right now because of how lowkey (highkey) pathetic it made him feel. Because in the first place, that guy lives with him.
Which is not to say that Jungwoo was not good company because he really was. Their ceilings were pretty high despite the area they were in and it was sick because the space felt bigger than it was but that also meant that Mark couldn’t reach the highest cabinet sometimes. Jungwoo, being the big friendly giant he was, more often than not reached up and over to grab what Mark needed for him. And Jungwoo never left the toilet seat up or got mad at him for leaving it up some nights. He just naturally looked before he squatted. That’s a skill Mark didn’t have and that makes anyone a champ in his book.
Still, it’d be nice to have someone to hang out with consistently instead of staying at home playing Animal Crossing and munching on whatever he grabbed from work on the way back. This month’s trendy hot best-selling item was durian flavored chips and Mark felt inclined to question that based on the taste. But not right now. Right now, he was trying to figure out a way to evict a villager without feeling super incredibly terribly guilty about it.
Then again, he wasn’t running a slave market by sending them to strangers’ islands for thousands of dollars! Nope, not him, he’s just sending them to Jungwoo who doesn’t always have time to accept them but that’s not his fault. Jungwoo actually has his own friends that he hangs out with outside the apartment which is what he’s doing now. Unlike Mark who’s currently harvesting peaches instead of breaking the news to Canberra after having one durian chip too many. So. There’s that.
In his defense, Mark hasn’t actually plucked up the nerve to use Tinder even though he’s had it downloaded for like, two weeks now? Maybe three? Between work and school, hanging out with his pal Jungwoo who he lives with, who has the time? Plus, it’s kinda pathetic, right? Like, he knows that he’s putting it off because he feels a little (a lot) sorry for himself but it is pretty valid. Right? Right.
“Not right.”
Mark’s head whips around to the direction of his door where Jungwoo – hey Jungwoo’s home! – was standing, looking all flushed from drinks with his friends (must be nice) and mildly unimpressed at Mark’s state. Or at his Raymond blanket wrapped snugly around his shoulders as he hunches comfortably over his Switch, chips at the foot of his bed. He feels more than a little silly.
“Did you read my thoughts?”
“You were talking to yourself again.”
Again?
“I didn’t hear you come home,” Marks shrugs, his blanket falling off one shoulder. He holds out the bag of chips. “Want some?”
“If it’ll keep crumbs off your bed, sure. What flavor?”
“Durian.”
“Oh fuck that.” But his roommate takes the bag anyway only to fold the opening neatly and the gentle crinkling sounds so pleasant, Mark doesn’t realize he’s smiling until he sees Jungwoo staring at him. Judging him? “So how’s the Tinder thing going?”
Definitely judging him. The J in Jungwoo stands for Judgmental.
“Well, when’s the last time you did any island maintenance?”
“What?”
“My villagers have probably been sleeping on the beach, think about that for a minute. Just a whole bunch of them… sleeping on the airport seats instead of in nice houses you should be building for them. Did you even start terraforming?”
“I—so that’s a no on the Tinder thing?”
Mark looks down at his Switch.
“Ah.” Jungwoo sits down next to him with the chips still in hand, but his mild distaste has now been replaced by empathy. Mark can tell because his other hand comes up to pat his shoulder. “It’s okay if you’re a little lonely. All you do is go to school, work, and play games. You’re always welcome to hang out with me and my friends too, y’know.”
“Well, yeah I know.” It’s not as if he doesn’t like Jungwoo’s friends, but a lot of them were a few years older than him. And when they were all together in the group, he didn’t wanna be a bother. They’re all Jungwoo’s friends and he’s just—Jungwoo’s roommate slash friend. “I dunno, I guess it’d just be cool to meet someone I have stuff in common with. Instead of bothering you all the time.”
“You bother your mom all the time if not me, so what’s the difference?”
He shoves at Jungwoo with no real malice behind it, Jungwoo laughing and reaching out to rub his head the way people do with cute dogs so he ends up trapped in a hug trying to get away from that too. Mark still feels a little silly, but—but it is nice to have a roommate who was also his friend. Being made fun of wasn’t cool but Jungwoo didn’t mean it like that and maybe it sounds a little better admitting that he’s kinda lonely when Jungwoo was saying it because he cared.
“Did you at least set up your profile?” He asks, hand resting comfortably on the back of Mark’s neck.
“Yeah, I put my name.”
“Seriously?” Ah, back to the mild distaste and unimpressed tug of his mouth. “Mark.”
“Yep, that’s exactly what I put.” He lets out a grunt. “What else am I supposed to say?”
“A friendly greeting, your hobbies? Where you’re from, what you’re looking to get out of this terrible app? That you’re the freakishly cheerful brand of foreign?”
“I resent that,” Mark grumbled under his breath. “What if nobody likes me because I’m Canadian?”
Jungwoo looks like he wants to balk at that but thankfully someone or something out there was being forgiving to Mark so Jungwoo just says, “Someone will. Besides, you’ve been angsting over this way before you even downloaded it. May as well give it an actual try, then quit instead of quitting and letting it sit on your phone to remind you of your failure.”
Which Mark also kind of resented but hey, Jungwoo made a good point. He was so hung up about being lonely and feeling sorry for himself that he didn’t even think to try it first. And Mark Lee was no quitter! He was a full-on tryer at his best(-er?) who went all the way until his best was no longer enough, then gave it up to god!
“I’m gonna guess by the six different expressions you made in the last ten seconds that you’re gonna give this a real shot?” And despite the way he said it, Jungwoo looks sincerely hopeful so Mark nods and receives the epic high-five Jungwoo gives him. “Great, now that that’s settled, I’m gonna use up all the hot water and knock out.”
Maybe Jungwoo isn’t the best roommate, but no one’s perfect. Mark, with his big, heavy brain, had the good instinct to shower when he got home from work today.
He picks up his phone and rests his chin on the other hand, humming. What does one put in their Tinder bio if one is in want of friends?
“And don’t get tricked into paying for Tinder Plus!” Jungwoo calls from the bathroom.
Tinder Plus? As in Plus more new friends?
Mark pursed his lips. Maybe he could just try it out for a—
“You still have to do all the talking yourself!”
Oh. Well, fuck Tinder Plus then.
Two weeks into using it and trying his very best, Mark came to the conclusion that Tinder was actually not a good way to make new friends. Besides getting hit on rather aggressively depending on what time he opened it, a lot of the people he matched with weren’t very good with conversation and that was kind of a bummer. Because yeah, Mark tended to be pretty shy despite being able to get along with others, but a lot of these Tinder matches were strangers he’s never met. It’s hard to warm up to cool vacation pictures and names he couldn’t remember too well if they weren’t literally at the top of the chat.
Sure, he swiped right on dog pics more than anything (he was easy to please in that regard) but nobody really seemed to want to talk. They just wanted to say hi and set up a place to meet. And that would be cool, Mark is so down to hang out! But he wasn’t really down to meet up with someone after talking online for a hot minute, that just seemed to skip all the steps.
Although, not having someone to talk to wasn’t worse than ghosting. No, ghosting was way worse than someone he really didn’t know wanting to meet up right away. Usually, he’d strike up a nice conversation with somebody who seemed really nice and fun to talk to, but after a few days, they’d just unmatch, never to be seen again in the endless void of Tinder’s algorithm pool.
It shouldn’t be something to feel bad about, but he still kinda did. He’s never sure what he did to put them off so much, especially when things seemed alright but then blip! Poof! Gone forever! There isn’t even the chance to ask them if it was something he said or what emoji did it for them. It was like a rejection that was in some ways worse because it seemed like they were trying to say, “Haha, no friendship for you and you’ll never know why! Live with that now!”
It’s all been very disheartening.
“Now aren’t you glad you didn’t pay for premium?”
Mark’s back at it again harvesting more peaches while Jungwoo’s laying next to him with his phone and scrolling through the forsaken app for him instead of letting all the villagers Mark sent him onto the island even though Jungwoo’s own Switch Lite is right next to his arm. Poor guys.
After lamenting his Tinder woes, he let Jungwoo look through the chats because he just wanted to know what he did wrong and what he could do better. And yes, he is very glad he didn’t end up paying for Tinder Plus, but two weeks later and still not even plus one new friend?
“Maybe looking on Tinder wasn’t the right away to go,” Mark answers instead because yeah, Jungwoo was right but he didn’t need to hear it every single time. “It’s been kind of a bummer, to be honest.”
“Well yeah, in the first place it’s a dating app and all dating apps are for hookups at least ninety percent of the time.” Jungwoo spares him a glance full of pity but also understanding which is better than only pity. “I did tell you this has a high chance of not working out.”
“You told me like, two months ago.”
“I’ve been saying it every week since you downloaded it.” He pauses. “At least.”
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter.” Wrapping his Raymond blanket a little higher around his shoulders, Mark clears his throat quite authoritatively. “The point is, I’ll just make friends the old fashioned way.”
“Say hi to your classmates and bond over common interests?”
“No, that’s hard.” He looks away when Jungwoo narrows his eyes, dark hair falling over them when his chin dips indignantly. “I’m just gonna mind my business and someone’s gonna notice me eventually.”
“You know, for someone who gets along with others so well, you are the last person I’d think to have such a hard time.”
And he gets that a lot, actually. Mark has been told on a number of occasions that he was chill and easy to talk to, someone that was easy to recognize, and anybody would know if somebody brought him up in conversation. Much of this was due to the shenanigans he got up to in his Grand Series of Strange Events that he just finds himself in, but he really can’t say that he has a close friend or anybody who really knows him that he can just call when he’s having a bad day that’s not Jungwoo or his mom who lives in the next city over so. Yeah, he was lonely.
But the kind of friend he wants doesn’t seem to be the friend he can just find on some mediocre app with a really problematic algorithm. Seriously, Mark had to swipe away his old soccer coach, and then Jungwoo had to ask why he set the age so low, which was just a whole lot of thinking thoughts that neither of them wanted to think until Jungwoo pointed out that he lives relatively close to them . Not that it was going particularly well, to begin with, but it was all just very not great after that.
“I worked pretty hard on my profile too,” he mumbled mostly to himself.
Well okay so Mark didn’t work that hard, but he definitely did put in marginally enough effort to be able to say he put in the work. He added the two selfies that he got the most likes from his Instagram, but also a good amount of pictures that Jungwoo took of him when they hung out and from trips with his family. Also, his bio wasn’t bad! Short, straight to the point—
“You put, Hi I’m mark and I’m just trying to get to know you in your Tinder bio?” Jungwoo’s face was now twisted into one of utter confusion that he did not understand because what was wrong with that?
“It’s friendly!” He says defensively. “And, I mean, it’s true! I’m only using it to make friends!”
“Then why don’t you just say that?”
“Because it’s super lame, dude!”
“Yeah and super misleading, dude .” Jungwoo huffs, mouth still gnarled into a cross between a frown and a scowl, mumbling under his breath about disrespectful dongsaengs. “No wonder you keep getting ghosted and unmatched, everyone probably thinks you’re just beating around the bush or something. They’re trying to hook up with you and you’re just giving out totally different signals.”
Mark crosses his arms over his chest petulantly. Jungwoo’s right but— “I don’t think it’s fair for me to get blamed for that.”
“It’s not, but you need to understand that nine out of the ten people you talk to are just looking to hook up. The one that isn’t is just playing the long game hoping you’re gonna ask them to hook up at some point anyway.”
And okay, that makes a lot of sense but despite Jungwoo’s sagely wisdom and the look he’s got on right now (the I told you so one), Mark doesn’t wanna feel silly about this because man , he’s already had so many reservations before going into it and now he’s spent the last two weeks chatting up strangers who wanted the total opposite of what he wanted all over a seemingly insignificant lapse in judgment. Damn it.
He’s ready to go back to ignoring accountability for his mistakes to harvest other fruit and craft something else when Jungwoo holds Mark’s up phone to his face.
“Here, at least this one isn’t ugly.”
Mark can’t really tell (not that it matters, he isn’t shallow!) because he keeps blinking rapidly with the screen literally between his eyes so he takes his phone back and finds a chat open.
J O H N N Y S.
Hey, he went by a non Korean name too!
Beside him, Mark can hear Jungwoo’s content (self-satisfied and smug) hum but forget his roommate’s gloating! This guy seemed normal and nice.
that’s a sick view where was this taken
[20:04]
“A sick view,” he finds himself whispering to himself. It was taken at one of the ports in Busan when he went with his parents last year. His dad had woken him up so they could go fishing and watch the sunrise, but Mark underestimated how much he could sleep when he was on break from school (answer: a whole lot) and they’d managed to make it just as the sun was peeking up from the horizon. He’d frantically asked his dad to get the picture first. Yes, Johnny S, it was a sick view. Super sick.
in busan! I went over winter break it was super cold
[20:05]
“Of course it was cold, it was winter break.” He clapped his palm over his forehead, unable to contain the secondhand embarrassment he felt for himself, geez. Mark could see that he was typing, nice. Nothing but respect for quick responders.
Determined to remember the name, he scrolled through to find pictures so he could place a face to it and wow, Johnny S was super interesting?
He didn’t seem have vacation pictures from cool destinations, just one of him in what looked to be a suburban neighborhood but it wasn’t like the spaced out houses they had here. It looked like—what were they called? Cul de sacs? Super not like here at all.
Also, this guy was weirdly good-looking? He had strong features that were kinda soft in the right places, like even though his eyes were intense in some pictures, they seemed really gentle in others. Like when he smiled in the pictures, he seemed warm and kind. It was nice.
But then in other pictures, he had t-shirts or sleeveless tanks on and woah, wait, he was actually super cut? Not really crazy buff with bulging muscles, but he was definitely lean and Mark could tell he worked out. Man, if Mark was cut like that he would for sure post pics flexing, especially if he was as tall too. Well, Johnny S looked tall. His legs looked long. Like, crazy long in some photos where he’s leaning against a wall and stuff.
There weren’t really selfies except mirror ones (Mark’s glad those seem to be making a comeback) and hey, he had lots of photos with some crazy views behind him! Nice bright cities, one with a sun setting behind him too! Hey, maybe they have things in common!
“Oh shit.”
“What? Is he weird?”
“No, he messaged me back.” He ignored Jungwoo’s tsk and went to check, picturing the photos of Johnny’s face as he read the words in the chat.
woah fr? dude where? me and my bf went last time we must have missed it
[20:07]
“B F? B F?” Mark immediately looked to his roommate who was already looking back at him. “Best Friend?”
“Pretty sure boyfriend,” Jungwoo nods solemnly. “But I mean, that’s good, right?”
“Right because—” Wait, how was that good? “Oh! Right, so he must be looking for friends on Tinder too! Dude!”
“Okay, well—” Jungwoo gets up with a loud (but not rough) grunt even though he was only a year older so he really shouldn’t be making such a fuss. He stretches his arms over his head and lets out one of those polite yawns that are real quiet. “I’m gonna go to bed now that you got what you wanted.”
“Good night,” he says to Jungwoo’s back, then immediately goes back to his phone. Now he can text out loud without bothering anyone. “‘It’s cool that you have a B F. Have you guys always lived here? Or did you airplane emoji here from somewhere else?’ Send.”
yeah actually I came here from the us a few years ago
[20:10]
bf is from
[20:10]
Wait, what flag is that? Thailand? It was Thailand, right? Wow, cool, even Johnny S’s boyfriend seems like he’s pretty cool.
nice me and my parents came here when I was rly little
[20:12]
from canada originally
[20:12]
Mark’s hoping he isn’t jinxing himself by thinking this, but he’s got such a good feeling about Johnny S. Not only is he nice, but the fact that he had a boyfriend was actually so great because that means they could be friends and Mark could be friends with Johnny S’s boyfriend too! Not just plus one new friend, but plus two! What could be better than that? Very few things, he’s sure.
wow cool so we can all like
[20:13]
talk shit in english in public
[20:13]
and maybe get away with it?
[20:14]
maybe. really depends on where we hang out but
[20:14]
Mark laughs at that, quickly trying to come up with an answer.
dude maybe??? but hey I totally get references
[20:15]
that counts for something right???
[20:15]
depends on what it is
[20:15]
but let’s just say yeah for now
[20:16]
cool?
[20:16]
“Cool,” he answers out loud first, then texts back. Yeah, Mark has a good feeling about this. He flops back on his bed even though he doesn’t even feel a little bit tired, wide eyed and hopeful because Johnny S could be exactly the kind of friend Mark’s been wanting to make. Man, what if this was the start of a beautiful friendship?
As it turned out, the S stood for S U H which stands for Super Ultra Hot because that is exactly what Johnny Suh is with his super ultra hot personality and super ultra hot looks. Not only was he into good night texts, he also sent good morning texts and even the midday plus nearing-end-of-day texts when Mark seemed to need them the most, like if he had a quiz that morning or picked up a double shift. He could look forward to a message from Johnny and they’d just talk about anything, he was so easy to talk to.
Even though Johnny was a few years older (four whole years), they watched a lot of the same shows and Mark even got him somewhat interested in Animal Crossing, which is a total win because then they could visit each other’s islands. Johnny’s boyfriend wasn’t into fruit, though and that was a little weird but hey, the heart wants what it wants so he told Johnny that they don’t actually have to eat the fruit because they can eat other things. Johnny messaged him back saying that his boyfriend liked the sound of that so they’d think about it.
That’s another thing Mark really liked about Johnny, he kept his boyfriend in the loop about some stuff they talked about and Johnny would relay their messages to each other sometimes. It was nice to feel part of something and not be a third wheel. Some of his friends already had girlfriends, boyfriends, or joyfriends (for his non-binary pals!) but it wasn’t weird with them.
Plus, Johnny’s boyfriend had the coolest name: Ten. Just Ten. Johnny said his real name was actually much longer but culturally, Ten is preferred and Mark super respected that. Hearing from Ten is usually like a witty remark at Johnny’s expense. He teases Mark a little too but isn’t mean. It’s more so biting in that playful way Mark doesn’t really get but likes. It’s hard to explain.
So yeah, long story short, he was wicked excited when Johnny first asked him to hang out. He had to work until the afternoon, but Johnny offered to meet him at the store so they could walk to this bear-themed cafe together. Mark said he didn’t have to but Johnny messaged back that he wanted to and that was just so nice of him so who was Mark to say no?
He’d brought an extra shirt to change out of and Yerim, the girl who was scheduled to after his shift agreed to come early so he could put it on. Not to say that his work shirt and vest weren’t cool (he spent some time putting cool pins and buttons on them, thank you very much) but Mark wanted to make a good first impression.
“Got a date?” Yerim asked from the counter when he came out.
“Friend date,” he all but preened. “We’ve been talking for like, a month now so you know. Wanna make sure I look okay.”
One of her very sharp but straight blonde eyebrows quirked at that. “You can just say you’re hanging out.”
Oh.
“Well, friend date sounds more fun.” He shrugged. “Anyway, register key’s in the drawer. I’ll see you later.”
She lets him go with one of those judgmental hums he usually gets from Jungwoo and got the weirdest deja vu but it all went away when he recognized the sneakers coming from around the street corner. Johnny texted him pics when he got them the week before.
If Mark had to describe exactly what he was feeling that day, he absolutely wouldn’t be able to and looking back, he still can’t because when Johnny looked up and spotted him, waved, and then smiled with his teeth (very clean, very nice teeth), he thought his stomach was going to sink into his butt. Seriously.
He was tall, like at least a head taller and he showed it by putting his whole hand on Mark’s head while saying, “Hey, you’re not as short as I’d expected. Did you wait long?”
“Nah, I was just getting off.”
Johnny blinked at that, then let out a small laugh.
“Off my shift! At the store!” He cleared his throat even as his face heated up, “Is what I meant, obviously.”
“Obviously.” He pulled his hand back from Mark’s head (bummer), then nodded in the other direction. “So you’ve never gone to this place before, right?”
“Nope, never. It’s super close to work, but—” Mark tried to shrug off his slip-up, following Johnny to walk beside him. “My friend Jungwoo’s gone a couple of times, like on dates and stuff. He said the cake’s good and it’s cute so he’s gone with girls and guys.”
Johnny nods at that. “Huh. Is that right.”
It was more so a statement than a question, which made Mark a little nervous because oh no, what if Johnny was biphobic? That’s a serious offense in Mark’s playbook for obvious reasons because you know, he’s got some stuff going on in his own head and heart, but Jungwoo was his closest friend and if Johnny was judging him for that, well, then he can’t be friends with Johnny at all.
“I’ve never gone and I like cute things too, actually so I’m glad you’re coming with me.”
WHEW. STAGE CLEARED.
Mark grinned after letting out the quietest sigh of relief, then nodded along. “They’ve got a bunch of seasonal items shaped like bears too, like a durian mousse cake? I don’t know if you’ve ever had durian, but it’s definitely. Not. My thing.”
Johnny laughed at that before shaking his head and it was such a nice sound, Mark had never felt so comfortable with someone he just met IRL (Johnny is so far the only one he has met IRL but that’s not important). They ended up splitting three different cakes with zero durian anything in them and a coffee each, none of which Mark was allowed to pay for.
Seriously, he tried.
“You’re younger than me,” Johnny had explained with an easy shrug, the kind that came with being a full adult with a good income. Well, Johnny’s not a broke college student anymore but he sees plenty of them since he teaches and does his master’s at the same time. It all sounded very grown up even though Mark wasn’t much younger, but Johnny was really chill about it.
“Basically, I’m an adjunct professor. I teach history and study it at the same time for my own research, which they pay me a little for too. I can keep teaching there once I finish so it’s pretty set.”
Mark nodded along because wow, and Johnny totally didn’t look down on him for being in school and pulling shifts at the mart.
“What about Ten? Is he a teacher too?” It seemed pretty likely. Mark remembers something about Ten being a really good dancer.
Johnny brightened up at that (like, physically beamed he almost blinded Mark for real) before pointing a long finger at him. “You’d think, but no. Well—sort of. He used to on the side. But now he helps our friend Kun run a bistro in Pyeongchang. It’s called Arc En Ciel.”
“Pyeongchang?!” Mark clapped a hand over his mouth, looking around apologetically before his saucer-wide eyes went back to his new friend. “Pyeongchang, that’s like—big baller neighborhood. He… like, you mean, he co-owns it? And it’s French?”
“Yeah well, Kun does most of the work with numbers and all the yucky stuff. Ten’s in charge of the fun stuff, like menu items and marketing. He designed the logo and picked out all the cutlery, designed all the interior himself. Saved them a ton of money even though Kun and the others did everything else.” Johnny shrugs but Mark could tell he was proud from the way his eyes fell to the cup in his hands. He has a gooey expression on his face, fond and all. Not that Mark was jealous or anything. It was so nice. It must be so great to love someone like that. “You could come with me some time, the pasta’s fantastic. It’s Asian fusion, but like hoity-toity.”
“Definitely,” Mark nodded even though he’s sure that he’d have to put away several paychecks just to get through the door. And hear the name a couple more times to really get it right. “But I’d pay since you treated me to all this cake today.”
“No way. When you date the boss, you eat for free. Besides, I’m older than you.” His eyes were so warm when he smiled, Mark thought he was gonna melt right in his seat. “I’m your hyung after all.”
He swallowed, fingers pressing into the warm paper cup of his latte. “Right. My hyung.” Gosh, his ears were definitely hot. “Th-thank you, hyung.”
That wasn’t even the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to him while hanging out with Johnny either. Mark’s been so much worse every time because wow, Johnny is just so nice all the time even when they don’t hang out.
After the first friend date (yes, he’s gonna keep saying that), Johnny had asked for his kakao ID, “Since you know for sure that I’m not a catfish or ax murderer,” (gosh he was so witty and cool and yes, his long blonde extensions were just a phase) so they were totally friends that texted each other for real.
He’s butt dialed Johnny a total of (count ‘em) way too many times but accidentally autodialed Jungwoo when he was done with work or class thinking he was calling Johnny too. But Johnny’s always super understanding about it, always laughing it off when Mark finally does reach him to apologize for being late or getting the wrong address. So it’s not as embarrassing. Johnny’s just so nice.
At times, he wonders if maybe he hasn’t gotten to meet Ten yet because Johnny thinks he’s a total dumb ass loser kid. Though he doesn’t phrase it exactly like that on the phone when Johnny calls to make sure he got home okay after their movie.
“You’re not that much younger than me,” he says and there’s a pause when Mark hears some shifting in the background, then Johnny grunting. “Just uh—hang on.”
He hangs on, of course, but the line cuts off a bit and for a sec, he thinks maybe Johnny hung up? But then it cuts back in and Mark can hear shifting again before the sound of Johnny gasping once comes back.
“Sorry, my… there was a cat. Anyway,” Johnny clears his throat before Mark can ask about it, “I wasn’t sure you’d be interested in meeting Ten. Like, obviously he’s been wanting to hang out, but—”
There’s another pause and he can picture Johnny shrugging because he’s already shaking his head even though Johnny can’t see him doing it. “No way, I for sure wanna meet Ten! I mean… yeah, I’m super down to meet him. Y’know, it’s so funny because like, the reason why I wanted to be your friend so bad was because you said you have a boyfriend!”
This time, the pause is longer than a beat. Suddenly in the silence, Mark’s afraid he might have offended Johnny (and possibly Ten? Before they even got to meet? Oh no!) so he stutters a bit trying to come up with an explanation.
“W-What I mean is, like—um, well, so you know, it’s like, uh… how do I say this…”
But then Johnny, he always knows what to say, laughs on the other end. “Okay I’m not sure what you mean, but hey, listen.”
Mark nods, then remembers they’re on the phone. “Yeah?”
“We can hang out Friday night or something, the three of us. You can meet Ten, then run away and never text me again if you figure he’s totally weird—ow! Babe!”
Mark laughs and then winces because damn, that sounded like it hurt. “No way, I’m totally excited. I’ll definitely come after my last class if that works for you guys? Like, around 4ish?”
He hears Johnny still hissing in breaths and is about to tell him to just text but then a new voice comes on and wow, it had to be Ten but even though Mark had no idea what he was expecting Johnny’s boyfriend to sound like, his insides were bubbling.
“We can do 4ish! Johnny’ll text you the details!” and then the line went dead with a short bloop! Mark didn’t even realize he had his hand over his stomach until he pulled his phone away to make sure he didn’t imagine that.
Nah, Mark couldn’t have. He wasn’t good with voices. But that was Ten! Ten’s voice for the first time and not a text of what he said from Johnny! He’s wondering if he should bring a gift or something, maybe just to say “Wow, it’s so cool to finally meet my friend’s boyfriend who I thought wanted absolutely nothing to do with me but you do wanna get to know me! Thanks!”
Was a gift the right thing to go with to express that?
“Jungwoo hyung!”
A resounding groan echoes from the hall but like lightning, he appears at Mark’s doorway with one side of his hair sticking too far up. Was it that late?
Mark checks his phone. Oh wow, he’d been on the phone with Johnny for… over an hour. Wow. It’s like, almost 3AM. Wow.
Well, whatever.
Jungwoo snaps his fingers to get Mark’s attention, which works. “What did you wake me up for? Is someone dying? Has your mom given you up for adoption by me?”
“First off, ouch but she’d never do that.” That manages to get a little smirk out of Jungwoo. Jerk. “Secondly, I’m meeting Ten for the first time on Friday!”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“Johnny’s boyfriend! Ten? It’s Ten!” Mark doesn’t know how saying it twice is going to help him remember, but he’s hoping it does. “He said Johnny’s gonna text me! I heard his voice!”
Jungwoo tilts his head at that, eyes narrowed. His scheming face. Or his deep thinking face. Sometimes both. He rubs his chin with one hand, leaning his side into the doorway and Mark leans closer expectantly.
“Well? That’s good, right?”
But Jungwoo’s not making his yes-Mark-totally-right-but-I’m-not-gonna-say-it face. He still looks deep in thought and that’s worrisome because he’s usually thinking some complicated thoughts. Mark doesn’t want him and his new friends to be the complicated thoughts being thunk.
“Just be yourself, Mark Lee,” he finally says and wow, that’s it? “I’m going to bed. Keep me updated on… whatever this ends up being.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” He asks Jungwoo’s retreating back. “So I shouldn’t get a gift? Is that weird? Jungwoo hyung?”
Meeting Ten Lee’s goes on the very top of Mark’s Grand Series of Strange Events that he finds himself in only because he was left even more confused by the enigma that is Johnny’s boyfriend afterwards.
D-Day aka Friday arrived and Mark ended up at the record store where they said they’d meet up, then grab dinner together. He’d actually only ever been to this part of the city to buy a nice gift for his mom, but it was close to school and closer to where Johnny and Ten lived. Johnny was always picking him up from school or work to go someplace together, so it’s the least Mark could do. Ten had cooed over the phone at that when Mark called Johnny to confirm and whew, he was red as a tomato. He only hoped he could stay cool when he finally met Ten IRL.
He was loitering around the store just waiting for Johnny to come get him, quickly texting that he was browsing through some Eurovision DVDs and jokingly promising him to buy the box set when he bumped into someone. Curse his terrible attention span and boyish clumsiness that’s following him into his 20s.
“Sorry about that,” he bowed his head quickly, blinking when he saw the shoes. Were those Dior Homme slippers? Huh. Johnny sent a pic of them Monday when they finally arrived. Ten had been complaining about the delays for a while too so—
“Don’t be sorry.”
Huh.
Mark pulled himself up (a little too) straight and had to stop his insides from bubbling again. No, that was not the word. His bowels were totally fine. His insides were—
“Had your eyes glued to your phone huh?” Was it possible for a man to be so pretty? Girls are pretty. Seo Ye-Ji is pretty. His mom is pretty, the prettiest woman ever. But this guy… this man was just wow.
“I-I—”
His eyes were literally shaped like that viral cat’s, the one with the natural eyeliner, and his mouth was curved like one too, a cat’s. And-and glossy? His lips looked so pink and shiny. And his hair was so black, styled up and away from his face, Mark couldn’t believe that dudes could even look like this with a face like that wearing a loose t-shirt and washed out jeans that he himself could afford. But this guy wore them like he jumped out of the magazines, looking all leggy. He wasn’t even that much taller than Mark! How the fuck?
“You’re so cute,” the guy says and it takes everything for Mark not to jump out of his own skin, oh my god, why is this guy so sexy? “Why don’t I know you?”
Fluttering! His insides were fluttering! Just like when he first heard—
“Ten? Hey, I thought that was you.”
Mark let go of the breath he didn't realize he’d been holding until he heard Johnny’s voice behind him. But he didn’t actually turn around until Ten (oh my god it is Ten) glanced over, but Johnny was already stepping past him to stand beside his boyfriend and wow, they—make sense.
The height difference, the way Ten folded himself into the arm Johnny wrapped around his (small) waist and smiled so hard, his eyes almost narrowed into slits. So cat-like.
Mark looks back on that day with nothing but the heated embarrassment of a thousand suns because Ten had been messing with him the whole time and it was totally his fault. He never even bothered to ask Johnny what Ten looked like or even a picture! Idiot!
Ten had pouted up at Johnny and hit him on the chest with his small tiny first, grumbling about how Johnny made him wait so long to meet Mark. He said sorry for teasing Mark, of course, though Mark was sure he only half meant it with how playful he was being. How embarrassing that all Mark could do was nod and bow several times while saying sorry too but the fluttering didn’t go away even after Ten sneakily paid for dinner on the way to the bathroom. Four hours of just non-stop fluttering all the way home but could anyone actually blame him?
Because to make things worse (better!) Ten asked for his kakao ID when they dropped him off at the subway station! The whole night, Ten kept giggling at everything he and Johnny said! Like, pretty much everything! And Mark knows he isn’t that funny. He’s pretty funny, totally, and Johnny is kind of a comedy legend in his own right, but he’s more sure that the two of them weren’t even trying to be funny!
At first, Mark thought maybe Ten was just being nice since he and Johnny are friends so Ten wanted to be a nice boyfriend about it. It made total sense, though Jungwoo only absently agreed while making his deep thoughts face when Mark regaled the grand tale. Such a bad sign, he really wishes Jungwoo’s face would just. Not. Do that.
Because even though Ten made him all fluttery like he was walking on clouds the whole time, Ten was also actually so nice to him. The second time they all hung out, they met him on campus and Ten brought Mark an iced hot cocoa and a slice of cake from his bistro that the chef came up with and it was so good. He even wiped away the bit of cream on the corner of Mark’s mouth without calling him messy, just cooed and licked the rest from his thumb. Ten was nice and not wasteful at all, what more could Mark ask for in a friend?
They hung out a few more times for movies and even went on a museum trip together! Johnny couldn’t really make it because he had to grade midterms and Mark was done with his, but Ten could only do that day. He was kind of worried that Johnny might not like it since that seemed like a couple thing that maybe they should do together, but Ten said Johnny was cool with it.
The immense relief and then all too sudden happiness of getting to hang out with Ten doing something Ten would enjoy flooded through Mark all day. They usually saw a movie that he let Mark or Johnny choose so it was cool to know that Ten wanted to do something he himself liked with Mark. For Mark, it really seemed like Ten wasn’t just his friend’s boyfriend, he was Mark’s friend too!
That day, he brought a home-cooked lunch for them to have in the museum courtyard and took cute selfies to send Johnny while he was miserably grading snot-nosed master’s brats (Ten’s words, not his!), then helped Mark take some candid shots in front of the spring blossom trees. He didn’t seem to mind that Mark didn’t really know much about art, then stage-whispered about how he himself didn’t know much about it either.
“I just like pretty things.” Then Ten did that thing that only Ten ever did and brought his hand up to Mark’s face, making like he was going for his cheek. But he only pinched Mark’s chin between his thumb and index finger. Even though it was really gentle, Mark couldn’t stop thinking about it. He remembers telling Jungwoo that he might never be able.
Sometimes during lectures that dragged or long, dead shifts, Mark would rub the spot on his chin and feel his cheeks flush. But then he’d get a text from Johnny or Ten in their group chat (that Ten made the night they met) and it’d be a mirror selfie or tastefully artsy but super expensive dish that Ten wanted their opinion on and promised to let them taste at some point but would most certainly make them pay extra. Just because.
It’s funny, Mark thought his chill days with Johnny wouldn’t be the same now that the three of them hung out together, but he didn’t have anything to worry about at all. They never made him feel like the third wheel. But then, he never really—got jealous?
Sure, Ten and Johnny were affectionate with each other. When they were out together, Ten would tuck himself into Johnny, head in the crook of Johnny’s neck or under his chin. Johnny would put his hand on the nape of Ten’s neck and they’d have the same smiles or share a look. Mark doesn’t know why, but seeing them together made him feel so warm. Not the embarrassed kind, he wasn’t some celibate dweeb who blushed at the sight of PDA.
But it was just so nice. Like the two of them being affectionate together just—made sense. They really loved each other. Johnny would roll his eyes when Ten said something raunchy but then make the mushiest eyes at him when Ten would laugh or say something scathing and coy to Mark. And no matter how many times Ten insists that he hates Johnny, absolutely detests him, says that Mark is his new favorite and crushes Mark in his arms, Mark knows Ten loves Johnny more than sharks love blood.
“Are you with them?”
Mark blinks once, then twice. Then three more times. Yeah, he heard that right. But he says, “What?” anyway.
Jungwoo winces. “Don’t play dumb, Mark. You’re with them. Right?”
It’s been months, had to be at least three since he met Johnny. Most likely two-ish since he met Ten. It shouldn’t feel like a lot longer, but it does. And that doesn’t make sense either because when he’s with them, it feels like there’s never enough time to hang out. He always wishes he can stay out longer. Or just another hour or two.
“I’m—they’re both my friends, so… I mean, they’re the ones who are together. And that’s. Pretty much it, that’s kind of all there is to it.” He tries to play it off like a shrug, but… but it’s just that—
“It sounds like you’re with them.” But it’s just that he already knows he likes Johnny and Ten. So much. And Jungwoo’s voice just sounds so far away. “I mean, you go out with them like, three times a week. They never let you pay for food or-or like, literally anything. You guys are always texting. And you said they’re always touching your hand or hugging you, you’ve literally gotten a fever once talking about how sexy Ten is.”
“I was already getting sick,” he tries to defend half-heartedly even though that’s true, he was already coming down with something from fatigue but that’s not important.
“And then they ordered soup to be delivered to the apartment because you were too sick to go out but you kept saying how contagious you were? Come on, Mark Lee.”
He let out something between a whine and a grunt. “Just bros being bros, you know?”
Jungwoo’s brows rose and disappeared underneath his fringe. His mouth opens but Mark’s phone goes off and he snatches it out of his, unlocking it with ease because man, Mark does not care who knows his passcode when touch ID is so bad. He bites the inside of his cheek as Jungwoo checks the message, then looks at him somehow with disbelief in his totally deadpan expression.
“Mark, they’re literally trying to thirst trap you right now.”
Once again, Jungwoo’s habit of shoving his phone right between his eyes was not making any points but out of love for his homie, Mark leans back to look for himself and oh hey, Johnny is not wearing a shirt in this selfie. Wow. And oh, look at that, Ten’s right next to him in the mirror also not wearing a shirt. They must have just gotten back from the gym, their hair was kinda wet and sticking to their forehead. Also their chests were. Glistening. Alright. Well.
“That could mean anything,” he managed to say, mouth feeling the driest it has ever felt. So he got a shirtless mirror selfie, big deal! It’ll motivate him to work out too and hey, Johnny did say they both had a guest pass to give him so this could just be an invitation for that. Silly Jungwoo, tricks are for kids.
Silly Jungwoo looks ready to throw his phone across the room and commit a crime, but then Mark’s phone goes off again and damn it, Jungwoo, if you’re so mad, why are you still going through the group chat? That was between himself, Johnny, and Ten!
But then Jungwoo rolls his eyes so hard, Mark worries he may have to perform an exorcism. “Seriously?”
“What?”
Scoffing, he holds up the phone to Mark’s face again but this time at a much friendlier distance and oh okay, he can understand how Jungwoo would misunderstand.
They’re still shirtless, but this time Johnny was laying down on his side with a lazy smile. Not really smiling, but uh, maybe it’s a little alluring the way he’s not really frowning either. He’s the one who took the picture, so his arm is folded and his bicep is—is it? Yeah, most definitely flexing.
Just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse and more easily misunderstood, Ten’s still shirtless too and has his chin hooked over Johnny’s (broad, so broad) shoulder. His face is turned slightly, definitely has his cheek resting in the crook of Johnny’s neck and actually, Ten’s the only one showing his whole face in this one. The only visible part of Johnny’s face is his mouth (oh it’s slightly open) and it is very close to Ten’s cheek, which draws attention to Ten’s super long eyelashes that still have a few water droplets still clinging to them. He’s not even looking at the camera, but. He looks. Hot. Wow. That’s crazy.
“The caption says ‘just got outta the shower’, Mark Lee.”
“I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, you full-naming me is not doing what you think it is,” Mark blurts out, determined to get some water as soon as this interrogation is over. He’s had a long day of being a broke ass college student checking out ready-to-eat meals, if Jungwoo wasn’t gonna come visit his island well then he should just say that!
Mark’s about to tell Jungwoo so himself but then his phone goes off again and holy shit, he might not survive this long enough to ever play Animal Crossing again. It’s another picture and this time, Mark can barely make out Jungwoo’s victorious grin from the corner of his eye because he cannot look away. He simply can’t. He has lost the ability to be able to look at anything else.
There are thighs on a chest and they are Ten’s thighs on Johnny’s chest which means Ten is sitting on Johnny’s stomach because that’s Johnny’s face with one eye closed and his mouth open like he’s trying to say something and hello? Ten’s legs? Look so smooth? Johnny’s nipples are the same dark shade as his lips. Like, the exact same. And Mark can – physically, totally can but mentally?! – count the veins in his neck. There are droplets of water in the hollow of his clavicle, Ten’s knees look tight around his ribcage and Johnny’s palms are open, one of them is in his hair and Mark’s never been so thirsty in his life, he’s never felt his stomach go so tight like this while feeling the blood literally drain from his brain and okay. Okay.
Today, he learned what thirst traps are.
The worst part of all this is that Kim Jungwoo was right. Again.
Unforgivable.
Mark has been wrong about so many things in his life. Like that one time he met Jungwoo’s friend Dongyoung and Dongyoung told him that penguins are reptilian so Mark asked him to explain how only for him to say, “I literally just lied.”
There was another time when he was so sure that the final jeopardy answer was Benedict Arnold, but it turned out to be George Washington. American history? A scam. But his mom got the answer right and she’s always right so that was fine.
Point is, Mark has lived his short life being so unsure about so many things but rushing headfirst into them believing he was right anyway. Not because he was dumb, but because he didn’t stop and try to understand how he can be wrong.
But he doesn’t want to make things weird with Johnny and Ten. He doesn’t want to be wrong and laugh it off because they might not think it’s funny. They may think it isn’t funny at all and then decide they don’t really want to see him anymore. And then delete the group chat. He sent them so many godtier memes. He’s received so many good morning’s and good night’s and a whole bunch of have a good day’s, so many jokes from Johnny that Ten pretends to hate but actually truly hates because it’s Johnny he loves.
Instead of panicking, though, he did the responsible thing and panicked twenty-four hours before asking them in the group chat if they could meet and hang out, he just wants to talk to them about something. He wouldn’t have been so nervous if he hadn’t done the equivalent of shooting himself in the foot by saving not one, not two, but all three of the pictures they sent. For reasons. Between himself and god.
Johnny answered yes, which kept things simple and calmed him down some, but then Ten asked him to come over and that just threw his brain for a loop because Mark hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Ten sitting on Johnny’s stomach since he saw it. And now every time he closes his eyes, if he doesn’t see Ten sitting on Johnny’s stomach behind them, he’s looking at the picture he saved. It’s all very overwhelming.
But he (barely) manages to get through the week and over to Johnny and Ten’s place without any problems, the bear-shaped cakes in his hand from the cafe Johnny first took him to since Ten was slaving over the stove. He’s shuffling his weight between his feet, hoping they weren’t weirded out that he didn’t want them to get him from school and come back together.
But finals ended and Johnny was definitely too tired to do much else. Since the holidays were coming up, Ten was also busier and complaining about having to do the yucky work with Kun, but happy to put together a menu for the Christmas party. Mark couldn’t possibly make them come get him. Besides, this gave him time to figure out how to face them.
The door opens not even two seconds after Mark sends his customary ‘ I’m here ’ text and it’s Ten in an off-white sweater that looks tastefully too big on him. As one would expect, he looks super hot as always but softer. His hair’s gotten pretty long pretty fast since Mark first met him. It was down past his ears now at the sides, the back covering the nape of his neck. He’s smiling which always makes Mark smile back and feel warm, not just because their apartment’s always warm.
“Well don’t just stand there, come inside,” and of course, Mark does. “And you brought sweets? For lil ol’ me?”
“And Johnny,” he adds quickly, still smiling in spite of how nervous he is, smiling wider when Ten wrinkles his nose all put out and not meaning any of it. “I remember him saying you’d like the cakes at Growl Parlour. No fruit!”
“Even though I totally hate the name and the cakes at Arc En Ciel are way better because, well, I’m me.” Ten does take the cake so Mark can shed his coat and put his shoes away on the rack by the door. “Make yourself at home, I’ll put these in the fridge. Johnny’s watching something mediocre.”
Johnny’s blond again in front of the tv, which shouldn’t be the first thing Mark notices but it is. He looks very at home too on their sectional which stretched from one end of the room and bent in the middle to stretch up like a big L.
Very fitting for how he might end up feeling by the end of the night, actually.
But he sucks it up and plops onto the seat next to Johnny because Mark Lee is no quitter. He was gonna see this through even if it does blow up in his face.
“Hey, look who’s done with his finals!” Johnny puts his arm around him in a tight hug, grinning big and toothy and proud, so Mark doesn’t mind how rough he’s being. (He never does.) “Congrats, you did it!”
“Same to you, congrats,” Mark breathes out and manages to wriggle out of his grasp. “You’re wearing plaid.”
It’s red and sort of festive, but it makes his blonde hair seem more bright. No extensions like on his Tinder profile, though it was close in length to Ten’s right now. Johnny looks handsome. He always looks handsome, but maybe more so now because of how he’s looking at Mark or because Mark’s seeing him in his home and that makes his insides really flutter.
“Well, the semester’s over so I’m back to my hoodies and loose shirts. Casual-casual, no more business-casual. Besides, I’ve tricked Ten into thinking lumberjacks are sexy.” He flips his hair dramatically before running a hand through it and doing what seems to be an attempt at a smolder. It may or may not be working, Mark’s having a hard time not thinking about how he now knows what Johnny looks like without a shirt on. “A major accomplishment.”
“Ha, yeah. Achievement unlocked,” and oh god, why did he just say that, that was totally not cool.
Johnny laughs though, because he’s such a good sport and a really nice guy, as always. Has Mark always thought that about him? Probably, Jungwoo’s been rolling his eyes since he and Johnny hit the two-week texting milestone. Though that probably had more to do with Mark also making the achievement unlocked joke to his (un)supportive roommate.
“I missed you,” Johnny says suddenly and Mark almost forgets how nervous he is. Almost. Johnny’s looking at him still, one of those stares that reminded Mark of how he can look pretty intense sometimes and others, just really gentle. He really doesn’t want to not be able to be on the receiving end of those looks anymore. But he also really doesn’t understand how he can be wrong about this.
“Me too,” Mark blurts out, then coughs and smooths his hands hard over his thighs (like rug burn, fuck). “I mean, not I missed me too. I meant that I also missed you—too.”
Johnny blinks at him, then lets out a breath of laughter. “I got that, but it’s nice to hear you say it too. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Ten. You know how he gets.”
“I heard my naaaaaaaaame,” the devil himself says as he all but glides into the room from behind them. But instead of coming around to sit, Ten cocks his hip on the back of the couch and looks down at them indignantly. “Talking about me behind my back? Why are you so obsessed with me?”
“Because I just want you to notice me.” He winks quickly at Mark, then pouts up at Ten. “What do I have to do?”
“Grovel, beg, and whine.”
Mark’s pretty sure his eyes have never been blown this wide and he quickly looks away when Ten’s blank face breaks into one of those dangerous smirks. There’s a game playing on tv, but he can hear the sound of their lips moving against each other, soft and… wet, maybe. He swallows thickly.
This game is shit, he can’t even tell what sport it is based on the jerseys and his eyes can’t even spot a ball or bat or anything. But he’s afraid that if he closes his eyes while they’re still kissing and humming into each other’s mouths, he’s gonna see Ten’s knees bracketing Johnny’s rib cage then remember that Johnny’s nipples are the same color as his lips and Ten’s legs are longer than Mark’s own despite being the same height.
Televised sports is a scam!
Ten is the one who breaks away first because, of course, he is. He leans over the couch to look Mark right in the face, up close and personal. “So, you hungry yet? I made all your favorites since you aced all your finals.”
“Hey, what about me?” Johnny asked from over Ten’s bent waist. “I’m done with finals too.”
“You want a feast just because you graded papers? I should reward you for doing your job?”
Mark laughs at that and Ten smiles back, bright but impish then impossibly tender. He reaches his hand out to pinch Mark’s chin again and the pad of his thumb digs in a little firmer than usual but Mark is really okay with that.
“You’re different, Mark. You deserve a reward.”
He’s just not sure if it’s because he can feel Johnny watching them.
Then Ten’s eyes fall to his mouth and stays there, which should make him extra nervous because Johnny is still watching them . It dawns on him how vulnerable he suddenly feels, how pinned they both manage to make him feel for completely different reasons.
Ten because he’s Ten, god, did that even need to be explained? Everything Ten does overwhelms him: the way he moves, his voice when it drops several octaves to say good night over the phone, the way he says Johnny’s name and it means he wants something or that he just wants and it doesn’t matter if Mark picks up on it.
And Johnny traps him in a way that makes him think this is where he’s always wanted to be all along. On the couch, at a bar, a coffee shop, a record store, some place with a sick view where Mark is standing between them. The two of them standing together folded into each other and fitting together, filling in each other’s empty spaces. But then one of them, almost always Johnny will step away to Mark’s side and share a look over his shoulder with Ten. Makes Mark think that there’s room somewhere for him too. Some space for him only he could fill.
“I like you,” he blurts out, blinking once, then rapidly a couple of more times. There are stars behind his eyes. “Both of you. I-I like you both a lot and I know that maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like you both might like me too. And if you don’t, I still… I still really like you guys. A lot. And I’m sor—mmf!”
Even after months, Ten is still an enigma and nothing could have ever prepared Mark for it but he had an inkling of a feeling that Ten would be good at things like this. Kissing. Being hot and making Mark feel like he was on fire but in a really good way. It’s the first time Mark’s right about something when it comes to him.
Ten’s thumb had moved from taking his chin to cradle his cheek, very gentle and sweet until Mark lets out a sound that he can’t name but knows is just so needy because Ten’s eyes meet his and Mark sees something that tells him Ten knows . Knows very well what needy looks like, knows that he likes how it looks on him.
He lets out another noise before he can take it back and Ten breathes out a little laugh against his mouth before he hovers closer, the slow slide of his tongue between Mark’s lips sending jolts straight through him. He can’t help but wonder if this is how Ten kisses Johnny. He wants to know if he’s allowed to ask, then finds himself trying not to squirm because he’s already thinking about what Ten would let him do.
It alarms Mark how much that excites him knowing that Ten must have learned the effect he has on Mark because it’s the same effect he has on Johnny. And knowing that Ten knows Johnny’s need means Mark may get to see it. It’s a great relief that Mark feels no jealousy about that, overwhelmed with curiosity and also horniness. Like, a lot of horniness. He’s at least half hard.
When Ten pulls away, it’s with a wet smack of their lips that Mark’s not going to be able to stop thinking about. He watches Ten stand up expecting to find Johnny only to look around and see him on the floor in front of the couch.
“Does your tummy hurt?”
It was Johnny who asked, but Ten who Mark turns to because really, it was Ten’s fault if indeed he’s holding his stomach. He looks down. Yes, he is.
“I—” Mark shivers but not because he’s cold. Ten looks satisfied like he’d just eaten the whole meal he cooked. The way cats look when they’ve caught a mouse. “Ten is—I get like, you know, sometimes when he—my stomach sort of just… flutters.”
Johnny nods like he totally gets it and Mark’s willing to bet all 5,000 won in his wallet that Johnny definitely does but he’s gone way further than kiss Ten. He regularly has gone all the way with Ten. Mark swallows.
“We can talk about it,” Johnny says with all the understanding in the world despite the dazed look in his eyes. His tongue darts out to lick his lips and Mark can’t help but follow. It’s all Ten’s fault, he cast some sexy horny spell on both of them. “If you want, I mean, we don’t want to do anything. We really just wanted to see you and hang out. None of this was planned. At all.”
Ten hops over and plops himself onto the couch with a resounding thud, arms crossing over his shoulders. He still looks very much proud of himself, but he’s looking down at Johnny. That’s probably a regular thing for them. That’s so sexy of them.
“I like that you like me,” Ten says and the way he smirks goes straight to Mark’s dick. “I like that you have a big fat crush on Johnny because he’s been angsting over it for days when he’s not playing dumb, which I’m sure is exactly what you’ve been doing. So you’re in luck.”
Johnny at least has the decency to blush and look away but even that is incredibly flattering and sweet, Mark really could melt into this couch if he wasn’t still hung up on how Ten’s tongue felt in his mouth. How Ten kissed him like he was something yummy to eat.
“What Ten means, if that wasn’t already obvious,” Johnny cuts in, “Is that it’s not one-sided because we like you back. So you’re right. I like you. And I want you.”
“And so do I,” Ten quips, lips curled and still slightly slick. He scoots closer to Mark, reaching out to do that Ten thing to his chin again except this time, his thumb strokes over his cheekbone. It’s tender and sweet again even as Ten’s eyes trace his lips pointedly. “But I wanted to kiss you first. It’s just not fair Johnny kept you all to himself for so long. Just cos he thought you were so shy. He didn’t want to scare you away.”
Mark turns his head, bewildered for so many reasons he cannot pinpoint right now.
“But you’re not scared, are you?” Ten’s voice is right in his ear, making him shiver again. “Don’t you want to kiss him too?”
His brain to body filter must still be working well enough to nod despite Ten’s hot breath at his jaw because Johnny gets up if only to hover over him, arms bracketing Mark’s legs on the cushion. He registers Ten pulling away, but still incredibly close, his knees against Mark’s thigh and letting Mark stare up at Johnny.
Johnny’s height was always something that made him feel safe and it still does, but it’s a little different now when his face is moving so close. Mark can feel his back sinking into the couch and tries not to jump when Johnny’s hands move from the edge of the seat to the dip between the cushions. It’s eating him up that Johnny isn’t touching him. He hopes it’s eating Johnny up how badly Mark wants to kiss him.
Fuck, Mark wants to kiss him.
Fuck, I’m gonna kiss Johnny and Mark pulls him in by the neck of his lumberjack shirt, warm and needy, but vulnerable too, needing him too. He can feel Johnny gasp against him so he tries what Ten did, that slow and sensual slide of his tongue into Johnny’s mouth until Johnny’s chest (his broad, wide chest that Mark’s saved pictures of) is pressing against his and his own legs come up to let Johnny rest in between them.
This is the most breathless non-contact sport related thing he’s ever done and had something done to him. It makes him so lightheaded, Mark’s head falls back but Johnny’s mouth is insistently following his, teeth catching his bottom lip and pulling that noise out of him again. He tries to shift a little on the couch only to gasp, “Hyung, please,” when he feels it press into his stomach after that. Johnny’s cock, definitely hard and big, holy shit rubbed up against his.
Was he not wearing underwear?
Mark’s mind is spinning in too many directions and his head feels heavy with this heady, almost terrifying desire but he doesn’t want to stop just yet. Not when Johnny’s hands were sneaking under the pink sweater he knew Ten liked on him, fingertips firm but not painful over his rib cage and stomach. He thinks maybe he could die like this, rutting against Johnny, thinking about how satisfying it would be to have something so thick and fucking hard inside him. Just from kissing.
“Don’t stop on Mark’s account,” he vaguely hears Ten murmur beside him and before he can even form a coherent thought, Johnny’s turning to him. It has to be instinctive, automatic from being together for so long the way Ten fists Johnny’s delicate blonde hair in his hand and kisses him, tongues languid and Ten’s smile just fucking feral as he pulls away if only for Johnny to chase and take take take .
He doesn’t feel like a pervert watching, but his hips buck up and makes Johnny hiss, Ten pulling away to laugh at his expense only to turn to him.
“We really,” Ten stops to exhale but god, it wasn’t fair how beautiful he looked even slightly out of breath like this. “Really don’t have to do anything. This is a lot for you to process. And a lot for us to talk about that you’re gonna want to think about.”
Mark nods, not realizing how tightly his knees were squeezing around Johnny’s waist until Johnny tries standing straight up. He’s not even sure when he’d done that, but his voice is hard to find right now. Can’t he just plead the fifth? Ten was turning him into a horny speechless goblin.
Johnny looks torn for a moment, eyes flitting between him and Ten before he settles on sitting behind Ten. His arm comes around Ten’s waist and Mark doesn’t miss the way Ten shifts to sit squarely on Johnny’s lap. This is the sixth time that Mark’s swallowed his spit and still felt parched, at least the sixth .
“So are we, um,” he purses his lips to think, break through the haze of his arousal and think full thoughts. “You know, like, are we… a thing?”
“Aren’t we already?” Ten asks at the same time Johnny asks, “Do you want to be?”
Mark blanks on that. But then he laughs. He laughs again, unable to stop until Johnny reaches over with the hand not holding Ten’s hip. He lets Johnny squeeze it, lets himself feel comforted by it, let the realization dawn on him again even though they’ve already said it.
“I don’t know if I want to do anything more tonight,” he admits bashfully, cheeks heating up on cue. “I’m just—really happy you guys like me too.”
“Please don’t be a cheese and say how grateful you are to Tinder.” Ten wrinkles his nose despite how fondly he’s looking back at Mark. “I might have to dump you for that.”
To which Johnny retaliates by biting his shoulder, making him yelp and reach back to thump his fist on Johnny’s side. “After all the pining and planning you did just to kiss him? You’re evil, Ten.”
“And it worked. You love it,” Ten preens before turning his attention back to Mark. “And so do you.”
He feels pinned again by him, by both of them. Ten’s expectant, quiet but snarky confidence and Johnny’s warmth, remembering how desperately he’d kissed Ten and Ten returned it and then some, knowing what Johnny needed and knowing it was him. Knowing he could learn what Mark needed too.
So Mark leans forward to put his arms around them, head in the crook of Ten’s neck and Johnny’s hand still in his, gentle but sure. “Would you believe me if I said I downloaded Tinder to make friends?”
He leans into Ten’s fingers cradling his cheek, eyes closing even as Ten sighs out, “Yes. Absolutely.”