Back in the shared room, the sight of his cosy bed was so inviting to Mark but Jinyoung's was even more. He went into the bathroom while Jinyoung was already tucking himself in.
"Jinyoung, let's sleep together," Mark said, once he came out into the room again.
"What?" Jinyoung felt his heart skip a trembling beat but he was not going to give in again. He was not going to let that happen again. "Why? The heater's alright as far as I'm concerned."
"You missed me, didn't you?" Mark teased. He came and sat on the edge of Jinyoung's bed. He loved seeing Jinyoung's grimace.
"So?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to confirm. You were cute. I can't stop thinking of how you desperately clung to me, asking me to come back," Mark continued to tease.
Jinyoung hid his face behind his hands. Now that he looked back on what had happened, he felt embarrassed. And Mark reminding him of that did not help at all.
"Shut up. Before I withdraw my words."
"What words?" Mark asked, his eyebrows raised.
"That I ever missed you."
Mark chuckled and abruptly lay down next to Jinyoung, who looked at him with disapproval. He reached for the duvet but his hand was batted away.
"Go sleep on your own bed," Jinyoung said firmly.
"Come on. I know you missed me. Let's sleep together."
Mark forced his way to get under the duvet and tried to hold Jinyoung, who was about to sit up and maybe, kick him out. They tussled, paused, panted and then started again.
"Give up," Mark said, pressing down Jinyoung's legs with his. "Come on. Just tonight."
"No way! You'll just suffocate me and it's uncomfortable. Mark, get off!"
"Nope," Mark climbed onto Jinyoung, "It's not suffocating. It's my way of showing affection, okay?" He sat successfully and proudly on Jinyoung's abdomen and then bent forward...
Jinyoung stared up at Mark, frozen, and found it really hard to keep the eye contact. He was so still while the whole inside of his body was restless. Mark's hold on his wrists loosened and his thumbs slowly caressed them.
Mark's face was lowered and lowered... Oh, shit, what was Mark thinking of? Jinyoung could see, from the corner of his eyes, Mark's hand moving from his wrist to his lips. He shivered and his whole chest would have burst open if it had been able to, when a thumb parted his lips and Mark was inching closer.
But the bubble burst suddenly as Jinyung shoved Mark off and sat up. "What the heck were you doing?" Jinyoung said, trying to sound annoyed, but his voice contradicted his flushed face.
"What do you think I was doing? Argh! Why're you pretending to be so dumb?" Mark said discontently. He sulked. At least, he tried to look like he did. "If you resist so much then." He got up but was held back by Jinyoung.
"Wait, did I upset you again?" Jinyoung looked really concerned, which made Mark want to laugh and feel bad at the same time. "Come. Sleep here. Just don't hug me too tight."
Jinyoung made some more space for Mark to sit down and Mark did. "Are we perhaps gonna sleep with the light on?" Mark said and got out of the bed to turn off the light before slipping back under the duvet. He was having good time embracing Jinyoung like a plushie. It was all nice, except that he was more wide awake than ever.
The kids were happy to see Mark again the next morning. More so because just as young as they were, they could sense that the atmosphere was not so gloomy anymore and see that their babysitter was back to his old usual self.
In the afternoon, Jinyoung distributed snacks among the children while Mark was in charge of feeding Byeol. As soon as he was finished, Jinyoung approached Mark, who was talking and petting Byeol's head.
"You little beast, you almost destroyed me. You were the culprit, huh? You were so good though. Buddy, we could be great partners."
"Stop luring Byeol," Jinyoung crouched down beside Mark. "I'll cover his innocent ears. Seriously, when are you going to stop thinking of doing illegal things?"
"Hey, relax. I was just kidding."
"I know. Of course. But are you really over that crime thing?" Jinyoung asked, holding Mark's gaze. "Does that still turn you on?"
Mark laughed. "You always mention that. Perhaps you're secretly wanting to be the one that turns me on?" he said and narrowly escaped Jinyoung's smack.
"Because that's stupid. What kind of person gets turned on by committing a crime?"
"Being a bad guy feels good," Mark said jokingly. "Anyway, don't worry anymore. I don't have any plan to go back to that life. I'm content now and don't want to risk anything I've."
"Good."
"And you know what," Mark scooted closer to Jinyoung and leaned forward, looking at Jinyoung in the eyes.
These kinds of sudden, abrupt movements were hard for Jinyoung to handle calmly. "Know what?" He slightly shrank back.
"Oh, just that the strong force to make me rethink my life is that," Mark paused, "I've found something or I should say, someone so special to me."
Jinyoung blushed and then coughed, just to look away from Mark and hide his face, which was burning. Mark laughed.
"Are you okay?" Mark asked, with mock concern. "Samchon is a great guy, isn't he? I've always thought yeah, he's so special to me."
"W-What?" Jinyoung asked, flabbergasted.
"Huh? I was just saying samchon's so special to me. Why?"
"N-Nothing." Jinyoung cursed Mark under his breath. Especially because he could see Mark's lips turning into a teasing smile.
