"Hey, I'm gonna go get breakfast with Jinyoung today." Jackson announced early the next morning.
Mark, who'd only been away for about half an hour, bolted upright from his bed at the sound of their plans. "What? Why?"
"He invited me out, I can't say no." Jackson shrugged, keeping his back turned to Mark as he got himself dressed to go.
Ever since Mark's fake little text exchange with Jaebeom the day before, it felt like Jackson had been giving him the cold shoulder. Of course, not the totally harsh kind where they don't talk for days upon days; but he's been slightly quieter, and joked around less.
It felt weird.
Mark didn't cause this change in behavior, did he? Jackson literally hung out with Jinyoung all the time, he should be happy that Mark was trying to go out and find his own friends. Though, Mark wasn't really in contact with Jaebeom for the sole purpose of 'new friends'.
He wanted to make Jackson feel how he felt. It was petty, Mark knew, but telling Jackson straight up to stop hanging out with Jinyoung hasn't worked, so through his thought process, this was the next best thing. Jackson had no idea how much it irked him to see them together; Mark just wanted to give the younger a taste of his own medicine.
But the difference was, Jackson was genuinely friends with Jinyoung. Not out of spite or malice or revenge, but because they actually clicked. Mark just went and made friends with Jaebeom to get Jackson off his mind and to show him how weird it was for two people to suddenly start hanging out a ton.
Mark hadn't realized that difference though; he thought what he was doing was the same thing Jackson did with Jinyoung. So he couldn't understand why he felt so awful about it.
And now every time he heard a new plan Jackson had to hang out with Jinyoung, that awful feeling inside grew stronger.
"What- like... a date?" He asked; for some reason his mind had jumped to such a conclusion despite there being no concrete evidence of a date.
Jackson immediately shook his head. "I doubt he thinks of it as a date."
"You can't be sure..." Mark mumbled in response. If this seriously was a date, Mark wouldn't know what to do. All this time he'd been holding onto hope that they were just friends and not doing anything else behind closed doors, but if Jinyoung really had romantic interest in Jackson, then Mark was sure that their relationship had to have become more than 'friends'.
Jackson turned toward Mark, wearing a button up and black jeans opposed to his usual hoodie and sweatpants. His brown eyes lit up in the morning light as he gazed across the room. "Do you... think he means it as a date?"
"I dunno..." Mark mumbled. He didn't like the tightness he felt in his chest at all, especially with how bright Jackson looked to be leaving him for Jinyoung yet again. At this point, Mark couldn't tell what Jackson's true feelings were either. "Would you be happy if he did?"
"I would be flattered for sure." Jackson replied, a small smile tugging at his lips. He shot Mark a glance out the corner of his eyes before quickly turning away and grabbing his bag from the floor. "I gotta run, see you."
Mark watched as Jackson rushed out the door, his heart dropping at the speed in which the younger left. "Bye-"
The door slammed shut, leaving Mark all alone. He pressed a hand to his chest, wondering why he felt like crap.
It was because Jackson was on a possible 'date' with Jinyoung, which bothered Mark to no end. They shouldn't be in any sort of dating stage at all. How much worse could this get?
No, he shouldn't be getting so upset over it. So what if he feels some type of way toward Jackson? It was probably just a phase, and Jackson didn't seem to care much about him in return anyway.
He needed to get his mind off the younger. Jackson probably doesn't think much about him when he's with Jinyoung, so why should Mark drive himself crazy thinking about him?
He quickly searched for his phone that was buried in his covers, rapidly tapping in the pass-code once he found it.
He went to his contacts, scrolling through the alphabetically sorted list before finally finding the name he was looking for. Taking in a deep breath, he tapped the contact, opening up a new message.
Mark: hey jaebeom, u free rn?
Mark received a surprisingly fast response.
Jaebeom: yeah
He swung his legs over the side of his bed, reaching down to grab a pair of pants from a bin underneath his bed while texting out a reply with the other hand.
Mark: let's go somewhere, just me and u
