scented

four

you make my heart beat entirely too fast

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as his fingers brushed against the jars on the shelf labelled passion, mark picked a baby blue candle to match the ticket jinyoung had given him. he tied a royal blue ribbon to the neck of the jar and placed it into the brown paper bag that mark had always thought was extremely simple yet aesthetic.

mark bid the part-timer, youngjae, a goodbye before clocking out from his shift. he stood by the roadside, hailing a taxi successfully.

"to myeongdong art theatre, please." mark gave the ticket another once-over, making sure of the venue.

+

as he stepped out of the taxi, mark marvelled at the art theatre, his eyes drinking in the intricate details and the magnificence of the architecture. glancing at his wristwatch, mark realised that it was almost time to be seated. he stepped into the theatre lobby, searching for the sign that would point to the hall mark had to go to.

ante meridiem, the title of the dance recital, was printed in large print on a banner pointing towards one of the larger halls. he took quick footsteps towards the hall, handing his ticket to the receptionist seated outside the double doors so that she could tear the perforated part off, signalling that the ticket had already been used.

the ticket jinyoung had given mark held the seat number of j22 and mark made his way to his seat quietly just as the lights went out. a single spotlight shone on the emcee of the night.

"welcome to ante meridian, a dance recital brought to you by the dance students of the school of performing arts! these students have spent a lot of time practising, so we hope that you'll have a great time. do sit back and enjoy the performance!"

mark was absolutely mesmerised by the beauty of the dance, and the dancer, jinyoung himself. jinyoung moved with grace, and mark found himself unable to tear his eyes away, even forgetting to blink at times in fear of missing any part of his performance.

the performance had soon come to an end, and mark had clapped his hands till they were red and cheered jinyoung on till his voice was slightly hoarse.

"dear audience, we thank you so much, all of you, for coming today and for supporting our dancers. there will be a table of refreshments outside, so please do help yourselves."

as soon as the emcee finished reading off her script, mark got up and left the theatre hall, clutching the brown paper bag containing the candle and the small bouquet of baby breaths he had gotten earlier in the morning before jinyoung's performance.

he was standing outside the hall by himself when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist from the back.

"hi, thank you so much for coming, mark. i really appreciate it," jinyoung whispered into mark's ear, causing mark to shiver involuntarily.

fighting the blush that was threatening to paint his cheeks and colour his ears, mark turned around and almost jumped back at their close proximity. calmly taking a step back, mark pushed the paper bag and the bouquet into jinyoung's arms gently, a shy smile playing on his lips as he struggled to maintain eye contact with jinyoung.

jinyoung peeked into the paper bag, a large, dimpled smile breaking out on his face when he realised that mark had given him a baby blue candle, titled fighting spirit, and baby breaths, his favourite type of flowers. jinyoung put the gifts mark had given into his bag with the utmost care, before attacking mark in a warm hug, kissing his cheek on impulse. shocked, mark's eyes widened considerably and he placed his hands on jinyoung's shoulders, pushing him away.

mark turned and ran, his heart beating at a pace too fast for his liking as jinyoung ran after him, calling out his name and turning heads in the process.

"wait mark, i'm sorry i didn't mean to scare you off like that," jinyoung caught up with mark, grabbing onto mark's arm, stopping him from running, "i was just too happy. i'm sorry."

"i-it's okay, i just got a shock. i overreacted," mark replied, his eyes shifting to his feet and his shyness making an appearance once again, "but i just want to say that you did amazing and i would agree to attend any of your dance recitals in a heartbeat anytime."

jinyoung felt his heart swell at mark's words, grinning when he felt mark's erratic heartbeat against his own fast one as he pulled the latter into yet another hug.