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“Is it okay if I touch you like this?”There was a pause before Mark swallowed, the noise loud in the dark room. Parting and licking his lips (a nervous tick of his), the blonde nodded. But then he realized that Youngjae couldn’t exactly see his gesture of approval in the dim light, and followed up instead with a weak “Yeah”. Once he had given the younger permission, Mark felt Youngjae’s left arm gently move across his waist, his hand pressing against the curve of his ribs on his right side. When Jackson, Jaebum, Youngjae and Mark had all decided it was time for a change and switched room partners, Mark moved into Youngjae’s. It only made sense-- Coco lived in that room (hence part of the decision to move) and Jaebum prefered Mark’s top bunk. Youngjae had always preferred the right side of the bed, closer to the window, and so now the American found himself on the left side of the mattress, in the space their leader once slept. Mark knew that Youngjae and Jaebum had always slept in the same bed, and he hadn’t expected for Youngjae to change that habit just for him; even if he never voiced his desire, he actually preferred that they share it. However, one thing the eldest was not predicting, was Youngjae’s need for contact in order to fall asleep. More specifically, his need to be cuddled. The blonde snapped back to reality when he suddenly felt the other draw closer still, and his warm breath on his upper arm as he yawned. Even though he couldn’t see his expression right now, Mark could imagine it in his head-- and he liked what he saw. They way that Youngjae squeezed his eyes shut and his eyelashes brushed his cheeks when he yawned was adorable, and a sight previously committed to memory.“Mark-hyung?” The vocalist murmured in the dark, his tone hesitant and inquisitive. “Yeah?”“Can I put my head on your chest?”Another one of Mark’s infamously long pauses. Realizing that Youngjae had begun to pull his arm away in response to the lack of an answer, Mark quickly piped up and placed his hand on Youngjae’s wrist, pulling it back into place over his body.“Yeah--! I mean… Yeah, yeah, that’s fine.” Now it was Youngjae’s turn to pause, but after a moment he seemed to come to a silent conclusion, and placed his cheek against the left side of Mark’s chest, over his heart. Almost immediately, as if on cue, the blonde’s heart began to beat faster than it normally did. It wasn’t as though he disliked physical contact or intimacy-- in fact, he rather craved it. Oddly enough, he craved it from Youngjae specifically… But why was his heart racing in his chest? Why did his hands suddenly feel clammy, and his cheeks hot? This whole ‘cuddling’ thing was more stressful than their last performance. And when Mark learned Korean, and how to rap in it efficiently, he thought he could do anything; because holy shit, was that a long and hard process.“...Did you and Jackson-hyung cuddle?” The brunette asked suddenly. Mark blinked in surprise, looking up at the black of the ceiling. Upon realizing that Youngjae was trying to make small talk until they fell asleep, his body eased and sunk back into place among the blankets and pillows. Youngjae had a lot of them. “Not really. We didn’t share a bed.” He pointed out, and Youngjae nodded against the fabric of his sleeping shirt. He laughed a little, presumably at himself, for forgetting about that little detail. The younger pressed his hand flat against the curve of Mark’s waist again, and thus made him realize that he was still holding onto Youngjae’s wrist. He loosened his grip on the other, but left his hand in place, resting atop his arm.“But you and Jaebum did?” He didn’t mean for it to happen, but Mark’s tone had an edge to it. It was obviously a rhetorical question. But the older found himself upset about it, for some reason-- imagining Jaebum getting to lay here and have Youngjae against his chest. Jaebum, getting to see his yawning face. Jaebum, who was the one that got to hold him close. No. Now it was Mark. And he deserved it.The American realized soon that he had been tensing his jaw and glaring pointedly at nothing. Taking a breath and attempting to relax, he realized that Youngjae had giggled a ‘well, yeah’ in response, and he had barely heard it. He was too wrapped up in… Whatever emotion this was. Nodding once again in the dark, he cleared his throat and Youngjae could hear his heartbeat picking up in his chest. It seemed as though the brunette had quieted down, and was beginning to draw away. Mark’s body language was not communicating ‘I want to cuddle’ right now, and in the dark, there wasn’t much else for Youngjae to go off of. Realizing that he was beginning to move his head away, the older slid his arm out from between their bodies and placed it up on his pillow, wrapping it around his shoulders and pulling him back into place with a firm hand. “...I’m glad that we are now, though.” Came after a long pause, in a voice barely above a whisper. Youngjae had mumbled into the fabric on Mark’s chest, and turned his head inwards to make it even harder to hear. He was responding well to the new contact, and how the older had pulled him in closer and held him protectively. Taking a moment to process these words, he held his breath before speaking.“Yeah. Yeah, me too.” Mark agreed, eyes wide as he stared up at the dark ceiling. Not much more was said between the two of them; they were both happy with their silent resolution. Even though words were absent as they fell asleep, the way Mark rest his chin on top of Youngjae’s head, and how Youngjae brought a leg forward to wrap around Mark’s was enough to communicate that they were both grateful for the other’s company. Even though this is exactly what had been making his heart beat so hard before, the intimacy was now having an opposite effect on Mark, and lulling him to sleep. He was beginning to understand how Youngjae could get so addicted to cuddling, that he couldn’t even sleep without it.At some point, Mark had shifted his position a bit and let his lips press softly against the top of the younger’s head, taking a breath and appreciating how comforting Youngjae smelt. It just felt natural to kiss him like that. And it felt even more natural that would be how Mark ended his day-- and hopefully how he would start his next one.