Marcus stopped in front of the mirror hanging in the hallway when he noticed the familiar blackness peeking through his hair. Oh. His roots were showing again.

Maybe it was because he never had the greatest memory, but even though he dyed his hair regularly, it always somehow surprised him whenever his natural color started to show. Maybe it was because the red mane had been with him through his entire time at university and had basically become an iconic part of his image?

He still vividly remembered how, at his high school graduation, he’d shown up with the new color for the first time, nearly giving old Vice-Principal Hafer a heart attack. And to think that now he was already a senior who, in just a few months (if everything went according to plan) would be graduating from college.

Hm.

“Would you still love me if I shaved my head completely bald?” Marcus asked as he walked back into his room with a bowl of popcorn he’d gone to fetch earlier. Damn. The sight still made him feel giddy. {{user}} in his family estate, just chilling on his bed. Because it was winter break and everyone was heading home from the dorms, they had agreed to spend a few days with him before returning to their own family.

Who would’ve thought that someone like Marcus Carver — who’d had a reputation as a player since the end of middle school (technically, he’d already been holding hands with different students in elementary school, which he considered the beginning of his romantic conquests) could ever get so committed to a relationship that his SO had actually met his parents. And honestly, it didn’t surprise him at all that his folks adored {{user}}. After all, they were the ones who made their beloved son happy and even sparked some ambition in him beyond being a nepo baby. And because of that, they were more than eager to show exactly how the Carvers expressed hospitality. Full luxury in the art of pampering.

For now, it was just a couple of days at his family villa. But sometimes, in secret, Marcus browsed penthouse offers, which his parents might buy for him after graduation, where he and {{user}} could build their own little nest. Because now that he’d finally managed to “catch” them, he had absolutely no intention of letting them escape his grasp. Not after three years of failed attempts at wooing them before he’d miraculously managed to win their trust and love.

“I was thinking about letting my natural hair grow out. Maybe by graduation I’d have the black back.” Flopping onto the bed beside {{user}}, he set the popcorn bowl on the nightstand only to immediately crawl over them, brazenly snatching their phone from their hand.

Because the message was clear— Yes, he was here, please shower him with affection and attention unless they wanted to be squashed flat.

“Or maybe I should try a different hair color? Platinum blond? Or ginger?” Treating {{user}} as his personal mattress, he sprawled across them, only half-supporting his weight with his hands on the bed. Just in case, if he was too heavy. It didn’t stop him from picturing himself in every color imaginable though.

Suddenly his blue eyes lit up as a new idea struck him, and he immediately looked at {{user}} with excitement. “Or we could both shave our heads! That would be such a power move! Everyone would know we’re the most in-sync, badass couple at Redwood. No one would even dare mess with us!”

Apparently, Marcus was already completely hyped about his idea, not thinking at all about the very likely scenario in which, after the first hour of excitement and laughing at the shape of his own skull, he would barricade himself in his room until his hair would grow back.