Falling for Jackson Wang | MARKSON

Chapter 12 | Game on

"Guys, we have a problem!" Jackson shouted, running into the backyard.
"What's wrong?" Jaebum asked, floating on the pool surface.
"He nearly heard us," He panted, his hands on his knees. "He's at home."
"He nearly found out about the bet?" Youngjae asked, louder than he should have.

Bet?

"Shut up Youngjae!" Jackson hissed, Jackson's eyes scanning his neighbours bottom floor.

Jokes on you Jackson, I'm upstairs.

"Sorry..." He apologised, sitting on the pool ledge.
"Look... as long as I get him to stay with me for another month, I'll win." Jackson thought, sitting next to Youngjae.
"Good luck with that." Bambam laughed, swimming away from his boyfriend, Yugyeom. "I don't really want to pay you, so I hope things go bad."
"There is no way he's going to break up with me," Jackson chuckled, observing his friends. "I've got him where I want him."

We'll see about that...

-----
The next day, I decided to converse with my most trusted contacts.

"Are you sure it's a bet?" Minhyuk asked, seated on his boyfriends lap.
Shownu, I.M, Kihyun, Wonho and Jooheon were gathered on a couch with Minhyuk and Hyungwon. I.M was playing with Shownu's hair, Shownu was on his phone, Wonho and Kihyun were on the floor in front of the others and Hyungwon' laptop was set up on the coffee table. Skyping these losers was the highlight of my week.

"I know it's a bet. He needs to stay with me for 6 months, 6 months only... and he wins."  I explained, my cheeks stained from hours of crying.
"Oh Mark..." Kihyun started, before Jooheon interrupted him.
"So this whole time, it was a game?" The red-headed male asked, his eyes never leaving the screen.
"It was a stupid game, and I lost. I fell for it guys, I fell for him." I sobbed, a horrible tightening occuring in my throat.

Saying I felt betrayed was an understatement. I felt stupid.

I told myself to ignore him. I knew he was a monster. I knew he would break my heart.
But I fell.
Fast.

I have been hurt, many times in my life.
But this is a hurt I have never experienced...

I had once befriended a small bird in America, long before I met MONSTA X, I named it 'Hope'. Hope sat outside my window to keep me company. In return, I would feed her worms I found in the backyard. I would talk to her, tell her everything.
My secrets, my truths and my lies.
She would always listen.
Every single morning she would sing a beautiful tune to me, and I would wake up and watch... her dull, yet gorgeous colours will forever mesmerize me.
Until one day, the singing stopped.
At first I thought she was just busy, maybe she had some bird business to get to.
Three days had passed and I had woken up to silence, each day I began to forget her colours, I began to forget her tune, I began to forget Hope.
It wasn't until the fourth day, when I decided to search for her, I realised her fate.
Bird feathers were scattered across my back lawn, and a small clump was evident in the back corner.
My heart sank, Hope was my best friend and now I had lost her.
I had lost Hope.

There was another time, when Jimin used to bully me. It was a rainy day and I was outside, under cover... savouring my favourite book.

A book I had kept from my childhood in Korea, it was about a man, who had everything he wanted in the world. If he asked for it, he would get it, all he had to do was click his fingers and he had anything he wanted. He was cold and unreasonable, there wasn't one thing in the world he couldn't have...that was until he met her.