My Muse

10

Night had crept up on the two fast, the darkness driving them to eventually leave the park and head home. Jinyoung eyes continuously admired Mark as they strolled down the sidewalk, taking their sweet time walking close to each other and enjoying the cool night.

"Today was fun." Mark commented, still wearing a smile that seemed to never leave his face.

"Did you really enjoy yourself?" Jinyoung asked, to which Mark vigorously nodded.

"Of course. It's always fun with you."  Mark replied, totally oblivious to the attack on Jinyoung's heart those words did. "Did you get some good shots?"

"I got so many." Jinyoung replied, mentally sifting through the images he took that were probably his favorite. He'd have to actually look at them later and get rid of the useless ones out of the hundreds he took, but most of them were of Mark or has some part of Mark in the shot, so he wouldn't be trashing too many.

Mark called him out on his lack of variety in the subject he chose to photograph just as Jinyoung was thinking about it. "I only saw you take pictures of me though. Did you see anything else inspirational?"

Jinyoung shrugged, trying to act like he hadn't seen anything else interesting to photograph when the truth was he didn't really care about much else that was in the park aside from Mark. His eyes were on Mark a good 90 percent of the time, so a good 90 percent of the pictures he'd taken were of the man himself, Jinyoung's most inspirational subject to date.

Instead of admitting that though, Jinyoung pulled out of his ass some bullshit answer. "Some rare flowers. I'm probably gonna write my post about them, maybe that will satisfy my boss."

"That's a good idea. I'm sure you took gorgeous photos, as always." Mark stated, any lack of confidence in his tone nonexistent.

Jinyoung doesn't really agree with how much credit Mark gives him. Sure it does take some skill to take a nice picture, but the subject itself had to hold its own beauty that's worth photographing. Every picture Jinyoung took of Mark was beautiful in its own way, because Mark was beautiful in general. Those photos were way more gorgeous than some flowers.

That was something Jinyoung wished Mark knew, how breathtaking he was. He admired Mark's ethereal face and perfectly proportioned body, but rarely compliments on it. Not because he doesn't want to, but because he doesn't want to make things weird between them. As a friend, Jinyoung wasn't sure exactly how far he was able to go with compliments. Surely it would be weird to tell Mark how glittery his eyes are and how his tiny waist was perfect to grip with his hands. He tried to keep it to subtle things, but occasionally other more intimate compliments slip out. Once Jinyoung had accidentally spoke his mind on Mark's butt, saying it was 'cute'. Mark laughed, his cheeks rosy from the sudden praise, and of course Jinyoung's cheeks burned red too. That's when he realized that he should be more careful with his compliments or else he'd ruin the mood.

Mark wasn't that careful though, or at least he didn't seem to be. He'd say what's on his mind most of the time, and Jinyoung never knew how to respond to compliments besides reject them. Especially since they were coming from Mark — the most flawless human being in Jinyoung's world— it was hard to accept praise when someone so perfect and better than him in every way were serving them to him.

  "I only hold up a lens and press a button, the picture itself does all the work." Jinyoung mumbled, secretly hoping that he sounded cool while denying the compliment. A waft of some good smelling food then suddenly hit his nose, and Jinyoung's stomach grumbled in response. The thought of taking Mark out on a dinner date intruded his mind, and he had the urge to pull Mark into a fancy restaurant and treat him to anything he wanted. "So um... you hungry? I mean, you didn't eat earlier and the sandwich was more of a snack for me so..."

Mark seemed strangely hesitant to answer, thinking about something for a few moments before nodding his head. "Yeah, I guess I could go for some dinner. Let's order in though, I kinda just wanna chill at your place."

Well there goes the dinner date idea, but the sound of Mark coming back to his place sounded way more cozy and inviting to Jinyoung than staying out and finding a restaurant to eat in. He nodded in agreement, now the thought of curling up with Mark on the couch plaguing his mind as he tugged his phone out of his pocket. "Sure, I'll place the order."

The two got back to Jinyoung's place just minutes before the food arrived, with Jinyoung paying for both of their meals just to do Mark a favor. They ended up sitting on the couch together, not cuddled up like Jinyoung had imagined, but sitting close enough as they ate. Jinyoung was happy to share any moment with Mark, he enjoyed his company even when the two were in complete silence.

"Thanks for hanging out with me. And for tolerating me for this long..." Mark stated, interrupting the quiet with his verbal appreciation.

Jinyoung looked over at him, his brows furrowed together at that last part. Tolerating him. "What do you mean?"

Mark shrugged, playing with his food rather than eating it. "I know I'm always hanging around you and probably getting under your skin. I'm sure you'd rather focus on work more than taking care of me. But... I like the company, and you never complain, so though it feels selfish, I love being around you and taking up your time. Sorry for that, but I appreciate you dealing with me all the time."

Jinyoung shook his head, that literally couldn't be any farther from the truth. "Th-That's... where did you get that idea from?"

Mark sighed, still pushing his food around his tray as he spoke. "I dunno... I guess the fact that you always tell me you're looking for 'inspiration', I feel like I hinder your ability to work when I'm around. And I act like I live here when I have my own place to go back to, I'm sure you're tired of me sleeping over. I always worry about how much of a burden I am..."

Jinyoung turned to Mark, his brows knitted together. Mark was spouting such nonsense, he refused to have the elder believe any of it. "You're not a burden at all. I love having you around, I have no idea what makes you think otherwise. I've gotten so used to you being with me, I sometimes miss you when you're gone."

Jinyoung was going to say more, but he caught on his words after that small confession of missing Mark. He stopped talking immediately, biting his lip to keep anything else from slipping. Maybe he'd went a bit too far.

Mark looked at him with a smile, eyes glittering with amusement. "Really? That's... cute."

"Ah, s-sorry..." Jinyoung stuttered. He scratched the back of his head, awkwardly glancing down at his lap.

"No it's a good thing. I'm glad I'm missed." Mark stated, his hand resting on Jinyoung for just a moment before he pulled away. He closed up his barely eaten food, placing it back in the bag before standing up. "I'm gonna go wash up and get ready for bed. You coming?"

Jinyoung was still stuck on the tingle of Mark's fingers on his skin, blinking up at the elder after registering his question. "Coming? To bed?"

"Yeah? To sleep?" Mark stated as if Jinyoung had forgotten the purpose of a bed.

Jinyoung nodded, trying to keep his thoughts pure despite the fact that the sentence could be perceived in a much naughtier way. "Y-Yeah, you wash up first, I'll be right after you."

Mark nodded, patting Jinyoung's shoulder. "Okay."

He spun on his heels and walked off, letting out a breath while watching Mark go.