At the Crossroads

Chapter 7

Since he had got to the hotel in the early morning, Jinyoung had been in rooms after rooms to clean them. It was a demotivating morning task. After he had finished in four rooms, he went back downstairs, as the cart had no more space for any more trash bags.

When the reception counter came into view, he saw Fei waving at him and then pointing at someone, eagerly. Mark was leaning against the counter, looking domineering as he always was, and talking to Youngjae, whose hands were clasped at the front and replying to Mark now and then.

Jinyoung was too exhausted to deal with Mark. He shook his head at Fei and was about to continue his way. But Mark turned and saw him. His eyes were demanding Jinyoung to come to him. Jinyoung let out a sigh and slowly made his way to the counter.

"Yesterday was your day off?" Mark asked him. "Youngjae here told me. I thought you were avoiding me yesterday."

"Why would I avoid you, Mr. Tuan?" Jinyoung asked, not caring about how his voice came out bold.

"Because I tease you so much?" Jinyoung wanted to tell him to shut up because this revealed information was embarrassing him in front of Youngjae and Fei. "Yesterday was boring. You need to make up for that. Bring an orange juice and wait for me at the pool."

"At the pool?" Jinyoung had a feeling that this was not going to be good. "Um, I've many more rooms to clean. Youngjae, can you do what he asked? I need to get back upstairs as soon as possible."

Youngjae looked at Mark awkwardly and then at Jinyoung. "That's... that's okay."

"No," Mark interrupted, "Youngjae can continue cleaning those rooms. Give him the cart. You, Jinyoung, do as I told."

"But-"

"Jinyoung hyung, it's okay. Just leave me the cart. I'll check which rooms haven't been cleaned. Just go to the cafe," Youngjae said, taking the cart from Jinyoung's hands and pushing him gently.

Mark was looking at Jinyoung with an expression that clearly said "Now what can you say?".

Jinyoung turned at once and headed for the cafe, muttering under his breath about how Mark never let him alone.

After he had got the orange juice, he went straight to the indoor pool where no sign of human was seen. He sat down on one of the lounge chairs, staring at the still, blue water.

A few minutes later, he heard footsteps behind him and without turning, he knew it was Mark. The footsteps became more distinct.

"You were fast," Mark said, placing his hand on Jinyoung's shoulder and in his other hand was a bag of swimming stuff. Jinyoung subtly shook Mark's hand off and got up to his feet, before handing the glass of orange juice to Mark.

Mark emptied the liquid in one go. "Ah!" He licked his lips and handed the glass back to Jinyoung.

Jinyoung felt a little relieved; he had thought Mark was going to torment him again by taking tiny sips in between his laps and ordering him to wait till he was done.

He turned to leave but Mark stopped him, gripping his wrist. Of course, it would not be Mark Tuan if Jinyoung was easily let go.

"What else do you need?"

"You," Mark said, "Your presence. Sit here and watch me swim."

"Isn't it unnecessary? I don't want to."

"Are you contradicting me?" Mark grabbed Jinyoung by the neck, causing Jinyoung to stumble forward and press his chest against Mark's.

Jinyoung pushed him with his free hand. "I... I'll," he said, in a resigned tone.

Mark looked satisfied and Jinyoung cursed him inwardly. Mark let go of Jinyoung and started to take off his clothes. When he tugged at his pants, Jinyoung turned around quickly. He rubbed his face in embarrassment. Why was he acting like that in front of Mark? Weren't they just guys?

He heard a splash and turned around to find Mark swimming in swim trunks. It was an impressive sight but Jinyoung warned himself that his eyes must not linger on that moving figure. But at times, his eyes wandered back there.

After what seemed like an eternity, he saw Mark getting out of the pool by the pool ladder. Jinyoung fixed his eyes on Mark's face only. Mark shook his head and put his hands on the hips.

"Get into the pool," he ordered.

"What? Please, no. I don't have any spare clothes," Jinyoung reasoned.

"Strip off your clothes then," Mark said, indifferently.

Jinyoung was speechless and Mark continued, "Keep your boxer briefs on. I'll lend you mine when we get to my room."

"I've to really do that?" Jinyoung looked at the water. "I'm just an employee. It means I'll be breaking the rule. If the manager finds out-"

"Leave that to me. I won't let him fire you. Now will you get into the pool by yourself or do I need to drag you?"

Jinyoung found there was no option. He bit his lip as he slowly undid his shirt buttons, got the shirt off and and moved to the pants.

"Unexpected toned muscles, huh?" Mark commented, running his eyes over Jinyoung's body. His eyes then followed Jinyoung's hand, which pulled the pants off his legs.

Jinyoung covered his front lower part, avoiding eye contact with Mark. It was only because he could no longer bear this embarrassing situation that he got into the water quickly and swam away to the other side.

Mark followed him and was obviously trying to catch up with him. Jinyoung swam fast but Mark swam faster, till he was behind Jinyoung and yanked at his legs. Jinyoung lost his balance and Mark made him stand up. The water nearly reached their chests.

"Didn't know you were that eager," Mark kept his hand around Jinyoung, preventing him from moving away.

"It was because I didn't want you to look at me."

Jinyoung kept his hands between their bare chests. "I did as you told. Can I leave now?"

"Leave? You think I'll let you?" Mark pushed Jinyoung's hands away and Jinyoung struggled. They wrestled in the water and continued underwater. They were panting when they surfaced again and Jinyoung's hands were completely in Mark's grips.

It was getting cold and Jinyoung slightly trembled. At last, Mark let him get out of the pool and followed him. He took a towel out of the bag and dried them both.

"Put on your clothes. I won't look at you."

Jinyoung did not believe Mark but when Mark's back turned to him, he also turned around and took off the drenched boxer briefs and put on the pants and then the shirt.

He peeked at Mark and saw that Mark had also finished dressing. He took the glass and the tray and followed Mark back into the hotel.

He thought he looked more messed up and it was a weird feeling to walk around with no boxer briefs underneath. He tried to avoid a lot of questioning eyes on the way to Mark's room.

Inside the room, Mark gave him a dry towel and while Jinyoung was wiping himself, Mark was choosing a comfortable pair of shorts for Jinyoung.

"Here."

They were black. Jinyoung took them and headed for the bathroom.

"Why bothering to go there? You can just do that here!"

It took, for Jinyoung, a lot of mental efforts to restrain himself from slamming the bathroom door.