Work Text:
Jaemin is watching over his simmering pot of kimchi jiggae when he hears the beep of his apartment door opening. He puts the fire on low heat and welcomes the visitor intruding his apartment. Mark Lee wastes no time marching towards Jaemin to cup his face and press a hard, bruising kiss on his lips. Surprised, Jaemin just slides the drawing tube he's still carrying off his arm, all while reciprocating the intensity of Mark's kisses--a hand on his hair, pulling out strands and another one roaming his chest. As they stop for air, their foreheads touch, their eyes close, and the world is in chaos but they're in their bubble.
The pot threatening to spill breaks them out of their trance, and Jaemin taps Mark's cheeks signing to let him go. Mark instead grabs his hand and turns off the heat, dragging them to Jaemin's couch to make out a little more, kimchi jiggae forgotten, and his bag on the floor.
It felt like hours of just long kisses and soft smiles and sweet glances. In the silence of the apartment, it's them, Jaemin sitting on Mark's lap, face flushed tinged with red, hands on his back inside his shirt, dragging nails across. Mark looks as flustered as he is, eyes glossy and lips swollen. "Hi," he starts, thumbing the side of Mark's lips, smiling to himself. "You’re not busy? Are you done with uni stuff?"
Mark lets out a groan, and rests his head on the couch. "Yes, finally. Just the final exams by next week, and that one paper I've been stressing about but I choose to not worry for now."
Jaemin hums and then gets off Mark's lap. "Hungry? I was cooking kimchi jiggae before you barged in," he teases. He checks in on the dish, no longer hot to touch so he turns on the fire again to heat it. The rice cooker is full so they're good for dinner, but warm hands hug him from behind and Mark perches his face on his shoulder.
"Jaemin-ah, we can eat dinner and then … movies?"
Jaemin stirs the pot and turns off the heat. "Sure, hyung. Just let me set the table, and you settle on the chair."
Mark still hasn't released him. "Nope. You sit on the chair and I set the table." Jaemin giggles and steals a kiss to Mark's cheeks. "Okay, cutie."
They eat in a comfortable silence, with occasional affectionate kicks under the table, and they clear the dishes soon. "Go and set-up the movie, Nana. I'll wash these quickly."
Jaemin retrieves the laptop in his bag and settles in the middle of his bed. He's scrolling on Netflix for choices when suddenly a text comes in.
renjun that i hate 💘:
jaem there's this reference
i got
im dropping by
Na Jaemin :
alr finished my part
im with markie
laters jun
renjun that i hate 💘:
jaemin-ah
Na Jaemin :
later junnie
Mark enters his room as he sends the last text, and he's changed to something more comfortable from Jaemin's closet. "Babe, you okay?" he asks as he moves next to Jaemin. "Yep, that's Junnie. He got a reference for our paper but I've finished my part so," Jaemin beams at him, "do you want something sappy or thriller or action?"
"Birdbox? I still haven't watched that one." Mark notices the same movie on the Continue Watching list, so Jaemin must've watched it before. "Oh, no. Whatever you want." Jaemin giggles. "Ah, hyung. You're so cute, you're so kind. It's fine we can watch it," he says and he clicks on the movie. Mark leans on the headboard and Jaemin adjusts to lay on Mark's chest as he places the laptop on the bed. Mark just runs his fingers through Jaemin's hair, lightly massaging his scalp while watching.
Jaemin has seen the movie before so he's not missing out on a lot as he chooses to just stare and map Mark's face--from his high cheekbones and curious eyes, the eyebrows he likes to trace with his fingers and the slope of his nose. His lips, so smooth and soft, all committed to his memory.
Mark must've noticed the staring, so he pauses the movie and turns to Jaemin, boops his nose and kisses his forehead. "What's up, babe? Is this boring you? Should we watch another one?"
Jaemin kisses the finger that booped him, pretends to bite it. "Told you we're good. I just really like staring at your pretty, pretty face."
Mark gives him a knowing look, smile still decorating his face, "But you're prettier. Lovelier. Kinder. Nicer. Way better than me. You have precious eyes that hold the universe." A kiss on his eye. "A boopable nose so cute." A kiss on his nose. "Lips so soft I always want to kiss." A long, sweet kiss on the lips. "Your cheeks are so plump I kinda want to eat." It’s as if Mark always knows what to say, what to do. Every single time.
They just stare at each other for moments until Jaemin just thinks, fuck it. He's chasing after Mark's lips and tangling his fingers on his hair, heart so full for him. His hands are wandering, finding something to ground him, and the ever slight arch of Mark's hips makes him moan, and he's grinding back. It's all hot, messy and urgent, shirts taken off haphazardly and the movie forgotten.
Jaemin thinks, as he lies in Mark's arms, staring at him basking in the afterglow, that if love's like this then he's praying to someone out there, for the universe to conspire. Make this time last.
It’s the insistent pings from Mark’s phone by the bedside table that wakes Jaemin up. Mark is deep asleep, their limbs tangled under the covers. Jaemin is not one to snoop around, and it’s an ungodly hour so he assumes that the flurry of texts is an emergency.
Pause. He’s expected this, honestly. But that doesn’t mean it hurts less. He puts back the phone to where it was earlier, the glaring light from the screen still burning at the back of his eyes. He shifts a little, and Mark unconsciously tightens his hold around Jaemin's waist. Jaemin fixes his stare somewhere on a corner in his room, and hopes for sleep to take him and ease the alarms in his mind. It doesn't.
hyuckie:
i know we're not really the best terms rn
but i hope you can rest well after your exams
i still love you
i hope we can talk soon
it's just a break, mark
please don't forget me
Morning finds Jaemin with a Mark-shaped indentation on his bed, left to tend to his heart alone. Just like it was before. Mark knows how to waltz in and out of his life, unprompted, yet Jaemin welcomes him with open arms. Jaemin is a scar barely healed, and Mark picks on the scabs, letting blood flow.
And he’d do it again.