Mark decided to head to the library and actually do some studying to hopefully get his mind off Jackson. He was being given the real cold shoulder this time, and he absolutely hated it.
He figured maybe surrounding himself with work and books would fill the empty void Jackson left.
Though, the library didn't help at all, as his mind was still totally stuck on Jackson. Studying for his upcoming tests were no help at all; he just wanted things between him and Jackson to go back to normal. The annoying jokes, the constant flirting, the moments where Mark was never left alone because Jackson was always there.
Why was it so hard just to get that one specific guy out of the picture?
Speaking of that guy, the feet of the chair across from Mark at the table he had spread his study materials out on suddenly scraped across the floor. Mark glanced up, locking eyes with the guy who he had despised ever since his arrival.
"Hey Mark, didn't expect to run into you here." Jinyoung greeted, a warm smile gracing his face.
Mark held in the urge to roll his eyes. He came to the library to run from his problems, only to find the main problem following him there. "Aren't you supposed to be in class or something?"
"Class is canceled today so I decided to come here and study." The younger explained as he took the liberty to sit down across from him.
"Oh, I see..."
At the last minute, Jinyoung realized he was intruding in Mark's space just as he was about to set his textbooks on the table. He glanced up at the elder, those coffee brown eyes innocently locking with Mark's. "Do you mind?"
Mark wanted to push him away, but he didn't even have the energy to. He figured maybe if he allowed Jinyoung to sit in his vicinity, the younger would at least have the decency to give him some quiet to study in peace.
"No, knock yourself out." he replied, carelessly gesturing to the seat across from him.
He focused back on his book, hoping that things would stay silent between them for however long the duration of time they were together lasted. Except, he lost his hope of getting peace and quiet, as just minutes after Jinyoung settled into his seat, the younger was already opening his mouth.
"Mark? Can I ask something?" He began, only receiving half of Mark's uninterested attention. He hesitated for a minute before asking, slowly losing Mark's already divided attention. "Do you... dislike me or something?"
The question hooked Mark's full attention, his gaze flashing up at the younger. He blinked a few times, panicking for those brief moments. He knew he didn't exactly hide his distaste for Jinyoung, but was it really that obvious that even the guy himself noticed? "What? W-What makes you say that?"
Jinyoung tapped the pencil he held between his fingers on the table as he let out a long sigh. "You act... weird around me. And it feels like you're just glaring at me sometimes? Maybe you've just had a rough few weeks or something, I don't know, but it just feels like you're against me."
So, it was obvious. Mark hadn't realized he'd been giving off that impression to anyone else but Jackson. Despite how it may seem, Mark actually disliked conflict and wanted to avoid it as much as possible. So dropping subtle hints to Jackson that he should stop hanging out with Jinyoung and having the two quietly drift away from each other was really the main idea Mark had floating around in his head.
Only, he didn't happen to take into account how Jinyoung was affected by it, and apparently Mark's attitude was distinctively bad enough for Jinyoung to pick up on it."No... no, I'm not against you, I just... um, y'know, I've known a lot of people around here for the past few years and it takes time to get used to a new kid. That's all, just getting to know you and stuff."
