somebody for your heart [for jigyum]
For: jigyum
Title: somebody for your heart
Pairing(s)/focus: Jackson/JB, Mark/Jr.
Rating: PG
Word count: 5092
Warnings: None
Author's notes: All your prompts were so interesting, I hope I did this one justice - and sorry I couldn't fit all the details in. I've never actually used an online dating site so please suspend some disbelief.
Summary: Mark's ringtone is way too loud for the library, and when he checks his phone, there are approximately fifteen texts from Jackson, including Hey, do you know what sexyfreeandsingle.co.kr is?
Dating sites are weird. Also, it should not be this hard to stop your roommates from constantly being at each other's throats.
-
The first time Mark's phone goes off in the library, it's only mildly embarrassing. The blare of his ringtone is way too loud for the study area and as he switches it to silent mode, Mark swears he can hear feel the stare of the librarian boring into his back. He's only got two pages of reading material left for today so the message can wait until he's done.
Of course, his phone then starts vibrating almost constantly with an influx of texts, and Mark has to grab it off the desk to prevent the damn thing from falling off the edge.
The librarian is still glaring at him as he scrolls through the messages. In order from most to least recent, there are approximately fifteen texts from Jackson, including the following:
Dude, do you even check your phone?
SERIOUSLY MARK, WHAT IS THIS??!
Dude, did you do this? Why does it say you have a profile too?
DON'T WORRY, ALSO DON'T SEARCH THAT IN PUBLIC
I think it's meant to be a sex thing?
What the hell does "do you catch or pitch" even mean?
I have three messages already?
Why am I signed up to a dating site?
Hey, do you know what sexyfreeandsingle.co.kr is?
Mark takes a moment to compose himself, then starts composing a text to Jackson, all while packing up his bag to head back to their shared apartment. His readings will have to wait.
-
Mark hasn't even opened the door to their apartment and he can already hear some sort of scuffling happening inside. Keying in the code and dumping his shoes and bag in the entranceway, he turns the corner to find Jackson tacking Youngjae, Youngjae holding Jackson's phone out of reach. Yugyeom is standing to the side, eating from a packet of shrimp chips. It's a good vantage point, out of the way of their squabbling roommates, and Mark walks over to grab a handful of chips as well.
"He figured out it wasn't me," observes Mark. Yugyeom nods.
"They've been fighting for nearly half an hour now," he replies around a mouthful of food. "Jackson's trying to delete his account but Youngjae won't tell him the code that's needed to unsubscribe."
There's an almighty shriek and when they look back, Jackson has Youngjae pinned beneath him and the phone back in his grasp.
"Tell. Me. The. Code," Jackson bites out, still breathless from the fight.
Youngjae shakes his head furiously, twisting himself to try and escape Jackson's grasp. "It's for your own good! You were the one who said we need to go out more often!"
"This isn't what I meant!" cries Jackson. He looks a bit ridiculous - at some point, his snapback has fallen off, and his hair is long enough now to be a mess again. Youngjae doesn't look much better, red in the face and out of breath, and Mark figures it's time for him to intervene.
It catches them off guard when Jackson's phone is plucked out of his grasp, Mark pocketing it before either can stop him.
"Seriously?" Jackson asks. "You're meant to be on my side, dude! He made one for you too!"
Mark sighs. "I know, but somehow I'm not fighting Youngjae in our living room while Yugyeom watches."
Jackson huffs and both Youngjae and Yugyeom look amused. That is, until Mark turns to Youngjae.
"I wanted to help us all out?" says Youngjae, half a smile still on his lips.
Another stern look in his direction shuts down Youngjae's smile completely and Mark remembers that sometimes he can sort of fill the "oldest, and therefore in charge/most responsible" role when he tries.
"Look, I'm pretty sure there are laws about not impersonating others," Mark says.
Youngjae breaks eye contact and mutters, "Yugyeom suggested it."
When everyone turns to look at Yugyeom, he's got a mouth stuffed full of chips. His defense is muffled by the food and honestly, Mark's kind of grossed out enough to not care who suggested the idea first.
Yugyeom swallows quickly though, then repeats himself, more clearly this time, "but Youngjae made the accounts. Everyone knows my suggestions shouldn't actually be followed."
Jackson looks like he might jump Yugyeom now, kind of like a terrier puppy trying to take on a fully grown labrador, and Youngjae makes a sound of disbelief (or maybe it's just the sound of still being squished beneath Jackson). There's a moment of silence, a strange sort of calm that settles for a moment before all hell breaks loose: everyone but Mark starts yelling all at once, Jackson leaps up off of Youngjae to lunge at Yugyeom, Yugyeom drops his bag of shrimp chips and Mark watches as they spill all over the floor. Youngjae darts around Jackson, trying to make a run for it but he's cut off by Yugyeom. Mark's more than a bit startled but it's only when Youngjae makes a beeline for him that he truly reacts.
"Guys! Guys, stop! Stop it!"
The sound of his voice at such a high volume makes everyone pause, out of surprise more than anything else.
"Jesus," Mark breathes out. "Everyone just. Can we just all sit down and talk this out like adults?"
The others look at him, then to each other, then back at Mark. A shrimp chip has somehow made its way into Jackson's hair. Yugyeom has Youngjae by the collar of his shirt. The furniture in their living room has been knocked out of place and Mark realises the TV has been running the entire time.
"Well?" Mark asks, "Can we?"
-
In the end, it takes fifteen minutes for Youngjae to eek out an apology and another ten before Jackson has chosen an ugly enough picture for Youngjae's profile, as part of his retribution. Yugyeom apologises of his own accord but neither Jackson nor Mark really have it in them to be mad at him for long anyway.
While Jackson is sifting through the (frankly, too many) photos he has of everyone, Mark takes the chance to actually look at the profile that Youngjae made him. It's not actually that bad.
The website says it's strictly for single people in their city - whether they're looking for something serious or just wanting to hang out with new people for a change, it's A Place for Connections. Skimming through profiles though, it seems most members are actually looking for dates. Mark's profile says he's "kind of tall", interested in "music, martial arts and making my roommates think I'm mad at them because I'm always quiet" and "Looking For: someone who can get a rise out of me". He edits the last one, changing it to "Looking For: anything, really" but leaves the rest, plus a postscript that his roommate wrote the profile.
He figures he should also track down the others' profiles - it's a bit hard when the site only displays first names - and once he has, Mark realizes why Jackson is just a bit more annoyed at Youngjae.
"Swag master extraordinaire," he reads aloud. "Interests include being Wild and Sexy, wearing swag clothing and teaching others how to be Wild and Sexy with swag. Looking For: someone who can appreciate my swag without overwhelming it with their own."
Yugyeom stifles a laugh and Youngjae looks proud of himself but the furrow between Jackson's brows deepens, then he shouts triumphantly. A very real fear crosses Youngjae's face as he sees whatever is on Jackson's laptop screen and Mark switches tabs to Youngjae's profile, waiting to reload the page and witness Jackson's revenge.
The details on Youngjae's profile are minimal and the picture he chose barely shows his appearance - a scarf covering the bottom half of his face and fringe over his forehead. His eyes are the main focus and Mark is pretty sure there's been a filter added to the picture. Listed as "Looking For: new chat friends", his profile is nearly identical to Yugyeom, except that Yugyeom's has his height listed as "unfairly tall". It's sort of true, considering there's only a year or so but also a fair few centimetres between the two of them.
There's a pinging sound and Mark's alerted to the little red marker on his inbox, the number of unread messages rising to four. And the thing is, he's actually sort of curious. At least, Mark's more curious than he thought he'd ever be about people on a dating site, wonders what kind of person would want to message him via a picture and a handful of words.
He opens the inbox in a new tab and then a sad sort of sound from Youngjae reminds him to reload the page. The damage is purely aesthetic, Mark knows. They'd agreed that it'd be hypocritical for Jackson to besmirch Youngjae's image with a false information section but Jackson had insisted that he wouldn't be sullying Youngjae's image if he could choose a picture of Youngjae from his own collection. That he'd have to use as a profile picture for two weeks, minimum.
It's milder than Mark was expecting but Yugyeom has a good laugh when he sees it as well - a classic candid as taken by Jackson, Youngjae with a finger up his nose and expression screwed up as he digs for gold.
Jackson looks satisfied, which is a better outcome than Mark had hoped for, and as he dusts his hands in satisfaction, a devious grin starts to spread on his face.
"So, are we betting chores on who gets the most messages?"
-
By the time he gets to checking his inbox, Mark has six messages. Five of them are boring - welcome bots that do little to make anyone feel welcome, two joke accounts that are probably run by twelve year olds plus one guy who wants to know how tall is tall cuz i only do 185+. The last message actually seems like a decent person - a recent transplant to Korea as well, attending university like Mark, interested in learning martial arts and wondering if they can maybe go out for drinks some time. Alas, the sixth message is actually from Jackson and Mark rolls his eyes once he realises it.
"You can just ask me to hang out like Yugyeom does," Mark says, knowing Jackson will hear him across the room. "Like, in person. Or in a text."
He's not looking but Mark can sense Jackson's smile. "This is faster though," replies Jackson. "You've checked your profile like, seven times already."
(He hasn't. It's more like five times.)
"You're not much better," is all Mark can think to say. "I swear, since Youngjae left to get dinner, you've actually spent the whole time editing your page."
"Ahh, but the results show it."
Mark turns to see Jackson proudly displaying his inbox, eight unread messages and four read ones. As he watches, there's the ping of a new message and Mark would actually be really shocked if he hadn't experienced Jackson's charm first hand.
It's kind of hard to believe, just looking at him, but he's funny enough to get a smile out of anyone and apparently personable enough to convince three people he'd met a week ago to share rent on a property near their university at the start of the year. Half a semester later and Mark still doesn't regret trusting Jackson, Youngjae and Yugyeom not to steal his stuff but he sort of does regret sharing a room with Jackson. Especially now he's gotten another form of messaging service that will be setting off alerts all night.
Mark's sociable enough, just not as much as Jackson, and not enough to bear having a phone that constantly buzzes with replies.
"Okay," Mark says, giving Jackson the reaction he likes. "But I haven't agreed to doing any chores yet."
Jackson smiles and spins his laptop back to him. "Yeah, I know. I'm sending Yugyeom a picture of it now."
-
Mark's pretty sure he'll have to talk to Youngjae about how to properly prank Jackson sometime soon. Even though they've all known each other for the same amount of time, sharing a room lets Mark know what really ticks Jackson off, and Youngjae deserves a bit of leeway now that his little joke has completely backfired on him.
Somehow, it's become a bit of a thing - they'll all ostensibly be studying after dinner and then Jackson will burst out in laughter at a particularly unique tagline (turn down for what, i'm just #lookingforlove is Mark's favourite so far) or Yugyeom will flush at a message sent by a particularly forward older girl. Youngjae goes on his the least but somehow has more messages than Mark and Yugyeom combined, though not quite at Jackson's level yet.
Sure, a lot of them are asking if his profile picture is a joke but Mark's been fielding them for him and there's been at least a handful of mildly serious people who are apparently willing to look past Jackson's picture of Youngjae to search out the real him.
Youngjae's not too keen.
Mark gestures to the seat next to him and Youngjae sinks into the cushions.
"I haven't even finished my essay for this week," he says and Mark pats his knee consolingly while still proofreading his own creative writing submission. "My professor already hates me and I need a tutor and I can't find one this close to exams and there's still three days until I can delete the account."
Mark kind of feels his pain but also is not responsible for the last one - all four of them discovering that they have to keep the profiles for a minimum of two weeks kind of killed the mood early on but it's mostly been okay for Mark, just ignoring the messages he receives.
Youngjae's still adamant he'll delete the account, even though the day he can change his picture and the day he can delete coincide. Jackson's told Mark he's definitely keeping the account (and that he's already been on one date but that's hush hush). Yugyeom is on the fence about the whole thing really.
Mark's saving his edits when Youngjae's phone vibrates again and a groan lets the room know what has happened.
"So is it a nose fetish again?" Yugyeom asks with a snorted laugh and Youngjae glares at him.
"Nah, it's probably just someone else who thinks he's underage," says Jackson.
"That was one time, okay," Youngjae says, offended. "And they messaged you too."
"I still can't believe you have text alerts," Mark says, taking Youngjae's phone to read the screen. "And guys, it's probably just someone he knows."
The face Youngjae makes as he steals back his phone confirms it for Mark and so they all abandon their laptops to watch as Youngjae drags out his own.
hey, youngjae, what's up? is the first line - pretty benign but Youngjae looks pretty hesitant to open up the whole message. The icon is tiny but Jackson nudges Mark aside to look closer.
"Oh, he's cute," Jackson says, reaching over to touch the trackpad. "Click on his profile for me."
"NO!" yelps Youngjae, snapping into action just in time to slam the laptop shut on Jackson's fingers.
The noise Jackson makes is enough to make Mark flinch and he covers his ears as Youngjae spills out some apologies.
"Jesus," Jackson breathes out, shaking his hand. "If you want to keep him to yourself, just say."
"It's uh, not that," Youngjae says, looking genuinely a bit sorry that Jackson is hurt. "Definitely not like that."
Mark puts a hand on Jackson's shoulder, rubs it comfortingly but Jackson's still making pained sounds and Youngjae lets go of his laptop to reach for his hands. Of course, that lets Yugyeom get his hands on the computer and Mark just watches as he continues Jackson's work for him.
"You went to high school with this dude?" Yugyeom asks, surprised.
"Dude, my laptop," complains Youngjae. "Can you not, please?"
Mark keeps his grip on Jackson's shoulder, using it as a brace as he leans forward to read off the screen.
"It's been ages since we last talked! I swear I haven't seen you since Jinyoung's graduation - my old high school dongsaeng, what have you been up to?"
It's followed by a series of smiley faces but Mark's never been a fan of reading those aloud.
"He seems nice," is Mark's conclusion. "Like, surprisingly benign for a dating site."
"It's A Place For Connections," corrects Jackson, looking less hurt now that Youngjae's embarrassed. "Not just dating. But I'd date him. You're not interested?"
"Definitely not," replies Youngjae, slumping down in the couch again. Mark shuffles over so that Jackson doesn't completely crush him and thanks god for small mercies, like the fact that Yugyeom has decided to sit on the arm of the sofa, rather than squishing in like Jackson does.
"Can we not go through his profile?" Youngjae asks but Yugyeom is already doing that. "Seriously, I already have to reply to his message since you opened it."
"But these are some nice photos," Yugyeom says. "He's a good looking guy."
Jackson gives him a look, and Yugyeom passes him the laptop obediently. Mark has a pretty good view of the screen as Jackson scrolls through all the pictures, mostly of him doing sporty stuff, hiking or dancing or the like, and a couple of him singing in cafes.
"He's - we're old friends, he's more of an older brother than anything romantic," Youngjae explains, now peeking at the pictures too. He's curious but anyone would be, given the context. "I haven't actually talked to him in ages."
"I'll do it," says Jackson, a bit too obvious. "I'll talk to him, his profile says he's looking for someone he can chat with..."
Jackson trails off, paused on a picture that has Jaebum in a wet t-shirt, hanging out at the beach with an arm slung around a friend. Mark agrees, this Jaebum dude is kind of hot, but the other guy is more his type.
"Seriously though," Jackson says after Youngjae coughs, having apparently started at his old friend's nipples for long enough, "can I message him?"
-
Exams pass in a strange blur that reminds Mark of high school. Something about having decided to study overseas in advance made him lose focus by senior year and the same assurance of summer holidays after the hard grind makes the zombie-like nature of their shared household bearable.
Jackson really seems like the only one with some pep in his step and Mark's kind of amused that it's because of the dating site. True to his word, Youngjae deleted his account once the time period was over ("and," he told Mark and Yugyeom, "after apologising to Jaebum for what's coming his way"). Mark's left his up but apparently he's almost too typically hot, you know, or so one of his few messages told him. No one knows what Yugyeom is up to - he disappeared into a mountain of textbooks and graph paper three days ago and hasn't really been seen since.
Mark's got a textbook of his own open, though he's barely reading it as he sits in the bedroom, playing games on his phone. When the door opens, a glance confirms it's Jackson and then Mark's back to procrastinating his grades away again.
"You'd never believe what just happened," Jackson says, flopping onto Mark's bed.
Mark pushes him off and watches as his friend lands with a <
thunk, then rolls a couple of more times for drama.
"No," Mark says, not looking his way. "Probably wouldn't."
"I convinced Jaebum to go on a second date!" Jackson says triumphantly and okay, that grabs Mark's attention.
He looks at Jackson and, well, yeah, it's a bit surprising to see how their first date could have gone well enough to warrant another. There's a dark stain on Jackson's black and white shirt that was definitely not there when he left and Mark thinks that Jackson left with a necklace on but there's nothing but sweat glinting on his neck. A smudge of red runs across his cheekbones and Mark takes this all in carefully.
"Coffee or soy sauce?" Mark guesses.
Jackson sits on his bed, peeling off his socks which, Mark now notices, are damp. "Both," replies Jackson. "First coffee on his shoes, so I took him to sushi to make up for it but then he got soy sauce on my shirt."
"What a match."
The smile Jackson throws him is beatific. "He's funny and he has such a gorgeous voice."
Mark snorts, turning to face Jackson fully. He's never really seen Jackson properly infatuated but this is definitely more gone than he's ever been for the few dates that Mark's caught wind of after the fact.
"Gorgeous voice or gorgeous body?"
"Both, really," says Jackson. "And I get to experience it again, thank you Youngjae."
An actual laugh comes from Mark then. "You really do have to thank Youngjae. First he makes you a profile, then he makes sure his friend isn't scared off by you."
"I will," says Jackson. "Especially since Jaebum dished a lot of little stories about our friend - I'm sure we'll have a great talk."
Mark rolls his eyes, reminds himself to get Yugyeom to help him in separating the next little tussle Jackson and Youngjae have. He's turning back to his textbook, phone discarded, when he realises Jackson's still looking at him.
"Okay, no, that's your I need a favour look," says Mark. "You just got a date with the guy of your dreams, what kind of favour could I do for you?"
-
Mark kind of dislikes going on dates in summer because all the main places are packed to the brim with other people. He kind of really dislikes going on dates in summer when he's not actually on a date himself, and Jackson's awfully hard to keep track of in a crowded amusement park.
A stroke of luck means that Mark pretty much could spot Im Jaebum anyway. Enough social networking and he's figured out both the guy's last name and the fact that his hair is currently bright silver. A little conspicuous but it makes Mark's job easier. Another stroke of luck at midday leaves Jaebum and Jackson in a Ferris wheel and Mark eating ice cream on a bench while he waits.
The glare he has on is really to keep the sun out of his eyes, but it doubles as a people deterrent, which is nice in this sort of heat. Still, a shadow comes across Mark's face and he relaxes his gaze a bit to see a guy around his age, standing with an ice cream of his own and waving at the seat next to Mark.
"Can I sit here?" the guy asks and Mark nods.
He looks sort of familiar but Mark can't quite place him. He makes room though because, why not? There are too many young children running around the dude's ankles and Mark figures anyone needs a break in this sort of heat.
"Thanks," the guy says and Mark smiles in reply, before turning back to watch the slow turn of Ferris wheel. It's probably just his imagination but Mark thinks he can see Jackson trying to make a move on Jaebum, kind of cockblocked by the giant teddy bear sitting between them. The fact that he's doing the whole yawning-and-putting-an-arm-around-him schtick is a bit clichŽ but also 100% Jackson.
"Waiting for a friend?" asks a voice and Mark realises that the guy is trying to speak to him. He's still not really used to talking to strangers, especially when he's pretty new to the language, but he knows enough to nod along.
"Yeah. He's on a date," and Mark nods to the Ferris wheel.
"Same," says the guy, laughing. "I'm making sure my friend isn't accidentally murdered by this guy he met online."
It's in joking tones so Mark laughs but he can't help but wonder -
"Is your friend named Jaebum?"
The look of surprise on the guy's face is hilarious and Mark has to clarify. "I think we're waiting for the same people - my friend Jackson is on his second date with Jaebum now. I'm Mark."
He offers his hand to the guy and his grip is strong when they touch.
"Jinyoung," offers Jaebum's friend. "And by the way, I know your friend is harmless. Jaebum said he's more bark than bite."
"Don't let Jackson hear you say that," replies Mark but he laughs at the truth. "It's nice to meet you, Jinyoung."
There's a pause then Mark notices a little old lady shuffling along, looking for a place to sit. Jinyoung follows his gaze and with a look of understanding, they shuffle a bit closer together, closing the gap that Mark normally keeps between him and strangers, so she can fit on the bench.
Jinyoung angles his body towards Mark and it's then that he realises where he'd recognised him from - the picture from the beach that Jackson had lingered for so long on, younger and with a much worse haircut, but definitely him.
"Are you Youngjae's friend from high school too?" Mark asks.
He's sort of curious about it all - Youngjae didn't talk much about Jaebum apart from assuring Jackson that he's not an asshole and that they haven't talked in a while. Where Jackson and Yugyeom are totally open about themselves, Youngjae is a bit more slow to open up, so Mark figures this is a chance to learn about him more.
"Youngjae? Uh," Jinyoung pauses. "I know a guy from my university course but I'm not he's who you mean."
"Dark hair? Freckle beneath his eye?" Mark describes. "Decent singing voice, actually."
"Yoo Youngjae?"
"Choi," Mark says. It's possible that this is the wrong Jinyoung - Mark sort of forgets which names are common here - but he's pretty sure Jaebum had mentioned a Jinyoung.
"Wait, Choi Youngjae?" There's a spark of recognition in Jinyoung's eyes. "From Mokpo?"
"I think so," says Mark. "He's not from this area."
"Does he still pick his nose?" Jinyoung asks and Mark has to stifle a laugh because, yeah, they're definitely talking about the same guy.
"He's my roommate and Jaebum found him on a dating site," Mark says. "Jackson saw Jaebum's picture and, well."
Mark nods at where Jackson and Jaebum are stepping out of the Ferris wheel and headed their way.
"Hey," Jackson's saying. "There's Mark, like I said."
"Jinyoung?" Jaebum is saying and they stand up, Mark dropping his rubbish as they walk over to meet the couple.
"Do you guys know each other?" Jackson says and Jaebum smiles.
"Yeah, he's my best friend. And it seems like he knows Mark?"
Jinyoung looks to Mark and shrugs, and Mark copies him. "Sort of? We just met."
"That's great though," Jackson says, a bit too enthusiastically. "We can make it a double date, you guys should tag along."
Mark has a bad feeling about this - something about the way Jackson is headed towards the water rides sets off his intuition - but then Jinyoung is smiling and Jaebum is bumping shoulders with his friend and he figures, well. It can't hurt.
He walks a bit faster to catch up to the others, brushing against Jinyoung as the crowds press in and he thinks that, maybe, this could be something good.
-
"I found Yugyeom," is the first thing that Youngjae says to them, when Mark and Jackson arrive back home.
"What the hell happened to you guys?" is his second reaction, once he's gotten a good look at them both. Mark is soaked to the skin, dripping slightly all over their shoes in the entranceway, and Jackson is sunburned beyond belief.
"Jackson happened," is Mark's response and he shakes out his hair, making sure to send the water in Jackson's direction. "Jackson and a double date."
"Okay, but you agreed," says Jackson, voice slightly annoyed. "And you had fun."
Mark harrumphs, but says nothing in response, collapsing onto the couch instead. He's soaking through the cushions but he doesn't really care.
"Where's Yugyeom," he asks Youngjae and there's a finger pointed in the direction of the bedroom the two of them share.
"He's been in our room," Youngjae says. "Texting."
"He's got a boyfriend?" asks Jackson. "And he didn't tell us?"
"He's a friend," comes Yugyeom's voice. It's followed by Yugyeom himself, flopping across Mark and Youngjae's laps on the couch, then jumping up when he realises Mark is wet. "Gross."
"You're gross," Youngjae says. "Who gets that absorbed in a conversation with a 'friend'."
Yugyeom pokes out his tongue and puts all his weight on Youngjae in revenge. "Just because you're mad you're the only one who got nothing out of that website."
Mark raises an eyebrow. "You met him online?"
"Yeah," replies Yugyeom with a smile. "His name is Bambam, and he's studying Korean! I'm helping him learn because he's moving here next semester!"
"Cute," comments Jackson. "See, Mark, I said the profiles wouldn't be too bad."
"That's the exact opposite of what you said," cries Youngjae and Mark has to laugh at that.
"Everyone has a love interest now! Or someone to talk to," Jackson continues, ignoring Youngjae. "I was so right in convincing us all to pursue other friendships."
"That's - I can't believe -" Youngjae sputters. "You ass, don't claim this as your own idea. I made these profiles for you guys, I'm the reason you even know who Jaebum is."
Jackson just ignores Youngjae, cooing at Yugyeom as the youngest shows the selfies that Bambam has sent him and Mark extricates himself from the couch. The look he's seen in Youngjae's eyes is warning enough to leave before their next fight occurs, and besides, he did say he'd text Jinyoung once he got home.
By the time he gets to his room, there's the sound of the couch scraping along their floor and the sound of Yugyeom getting his hair pulled. Mark ignores it in favour of checking his phone and smiling at the message notification he already has.
It's from the dating site but Mark doesn't mind. The fact that it comes from a Jinyoung, profile picture smiling at him just like Jinyoung had at the Ferris wheel earlier that day, well. Maybe dating sites are weird, but in the best kind of way.
[readers, don't forget to leave a comment! anonymous is on if you're shy.]
Title: somebody for your heart
Pairing(s)/focus: Jackson/JB, Mark/Jr.
Rating: PG
Word count: 5092
Warnings: None
Author's notes: All your prompts were so interesting, I hope I did this one justice - and sorry I couldn't fit all the details in. I've never actually used an online dating site so please suspend some disbelief.
Summary: Mark's ringtone is way too loud for the library, and when he checks his phone, there are approximately fifteen texts from Jackson, including Hey, do you know what sexyfreeandsingle.co.kr is?
Dating sites are weird. Also, it should not be this hard to stop your roommates from constantly being at each other's throats.
-
The first time Mark's phone goes off in the library, it's only mildly embarrassing. The blare of his ringtone is way too loud for the study area and as he switches it to silent mode, Mark swears he can hear feel the stare of the librarian boring into his back. He's only got two pages of reading material left for today so the message can wait until he's done.
Of course, his phone then starts vibrating almost constantly with an influx of texts, and Mark has to grab it off the desk to prevent the damn thing from falling off the edge.
The librarian is still glaring at him as he scrolls through the messages. In order from most to least recent, there are approximately fifteen texts from Jackson, including the following:
Dude, do you even check your phone?
SERIOUSLY MARK, WHAT IS THIS??!
Dude, did you do this? Why does it say you have a profile too?
DON'T WORRY, ALSO DON'T SEARCH THAT IN PUBLIC
I think it's meant to be a sex thing?
What the hell does "do you catch or pitch" even mean?
I have three messages already?
Why am I signed up to a dating site?
Hey, do you know what sexyfreeandsingle.co.kr is?
Mark takes a moment to compose himself, then starts composing a text to Jackson, all while packing up his bag to head back to their shared apartment. His readings will have to wait.
-
Mark hasn't even opened the door to their apartment and he can already hear some sort of scuffling happening inside. Keying in the code and dumping his shoes and bag in the entranceway, he turns the corner to find Jackson tacking Youngjae, Youngjae holding Jackson's phone out of reach. Yugyeom is standing to the side, eating from a packet of shrimp chips. It's a good vantage point, out of the way of their squabbling roommates, and Mark walks over to grab a handful of chips as well.
"He figured out it wasn't me," observes Mark. Yugyeom nods.
"They've been fighting for nearly half an hour now," he replies around a mouthful of food. "Jackson's trying to delete his account but Youngjae won't tell him the code that's needed to unsubscribe."
There's an almighty shriek and when they look back, Jackson has Youngjae pinned beneath him and the phone back in his grasp.
"Tell. Me. The. Code," Jackson bites out, still breathless from the fight.
Youngjae shakes his head furiously, twisting himself to try and escape Jackson's grasp. "It's for your own good! You were the one who said we need to go out more often!"
"This isn't what I meant!" cries Jackson. He looks a bit ridiculous - at some point, his snapback has fallen off, and his hair is long enough now to be a mess again. Youngjae doesn't look much better, red in the face and out of breath, and Mark figures it's time for him to intervene.
It catches them off guard when Jackson's phone is plucked out of his grasp, Mark pocketing it before either can stop him.
"Seriously?" Jackson asks. "You're meant to be on my side, dude! He made one for you too!"
Mark sighs. "I know, but somehow I'm not fighting Youngjae in our living room while Yugyeom watches."
Jackson huffs and both Youngjae and Yugyeom look amused. That is, until Mark turns to Youngjae.
"I wanted to help us all out?" says Youngjae, half a smile still on his lips.
Another stern look in his direction shuts down Youngjae's smile completely and Mark remembers that sometimes he can sort of fill the "oldest, and therefore in charge/most responsible" role when he tries.
"Look, I'm pretty sure there are laws about not impersonating others," Mark says.
Youngjae breaks eye contact and mutters, "Yugyeom suggested it."
When everyone turns to look at Yugyeom, he's got a mouth stuffed full of chips. His defense is muffled by the food and honestly, Mark's kind of grossed out enough to not care who suggested the idea first.
Yugyeom swallows quickly though, then repeats himself, more clearly this time, "but Youngjae made the accounts. Everyone knows my suggestions shouldn't actually be followed."
Jackson looks like he might jump Yugyeom now, kind of like a terrier puppy trying to take on a fully grown labrador, and Youngjae makes a sound of disbelief (or maybe it's just the sound of still being squished beneath Jackson). There's a moment of silence, a strange sort of calm that settles for a moment before all hell breaks loose: everyone but Mark starts yelling all at once, Jackson leaps up off of Youngjae to lunge at Yugyeom, Yugyeom drops his bag of shrimp chips and Mark watches as they spill all over the floor. Youngjae darts around Jackson, trying to make a run for it but he's cut off by Yugyeom. Mark's more than a bit startled but it's only when Youngjae makes a beeline for him that he truly reacts.
"Guys! Guys, stop! Stop it!"
The sound of his voice at such a high volume makes everyone pause, out of surprise more than anything else.
"Jesus," Mark breathes out. "Everyone just. Can we just all sit down and talk this out like adults?"
The others look at him, then to each other, then back at Mark. A shrimp chip has somehow made its way into Jackson's hair. Yugyeom has Youngjae by the collar of his shirt. The furniture in their living room has been knocked out of place and Mark realises the TV has been running the entire time.
"Well?" Mark asks, "Can we?"
-
In the end, it takes fifteen minutes for Youngjae to eek out an apology and another ten before Jackson has chosen an ugly enough picture for Youngjae's profile, as part of his retribution. Yugyeom apologises of his own accord but neither Jackson nor Mark really have it in them to be mad at him for long anyway.
While Jackson is sifting through the (frankly, too many) photos he has of everyone, Mark takes the chance to actually look at the profile that Youngjae made him. It's not actually that bad.
The website says it's strictly for single people in their city - whether they're looking for something serious or just wanting to hang out with new people for a change, it's A Place for Connections. Skimming through profiles though, it seems most members are actually looking for dates. Mark's profile says he's "kind of tall", interested in "music, martial arts and making my roommates think I'm mad at them because I'm always quiet" and "Looking For: someone who can get a rise out of me". He edits the last one, changing it to "Looking For: anything, really" but leaves the rest, plus a postscript that his roommate wrote the profile.
He figures he should also track down the others' profiles - it's a bit hard when the site only displays first names - and once he has, Mark realizes why Jackson is just a bit more annoyed at Youngjae.
"Swag master extraordinaire," he reads aloud. "Interests include being Wild and Sexy, wearing swag clothing and teaching others how to be Wild and Sexy with swag. Looking For: someone who can appreciate my swag without overwhelming it with their own."
Yugyeom stifles a laugh and Youngjae looks proud of himself but the furrow between Jackson's brows deepens, then he shouts triumphantly. A very real fear crosses Youngjae's face as he sees whatever is on Jackson's laptop screen and Mark switches tabs to Youngjae's profile, waiting to reload the page and witness Jackson's revenge.
The details on Youngjae's profile are minimal and the picture he chose barely shows his appearance - a scarf covering the bottom half of his face and fringe over his forehead. His eyes are the main focus and Mark is pretty sure there's been a filter added to the picture. Listed as "Looking For: new chat friends", his profile is nearly identical to Yugyeom, except that Yugyeom's has his height listed as "unfairly tall". It's sort of true, considering there's only a year or so but also a fair few centimetres between the two of them.
There's a pinging sound and Mark's alerted to the little red marker on his inbox, the number of unread messages rising to four. And the thing is, he's actually sort of curious. At least, Mark's more curious than he thought he'd ever be about people on a dating site, wonders what kind of person would want to message him via a picture and a handful of words.
He opens the inbox in a new tab and then a sad sort of sound from Youngjae reminds him to reload the page. The damage is purely aesthetic, Mark knows. They'd agreed that it'd be hypocritical for Jackson to besmirch Youngjae's image with a false information section but Jackson had insisted that he wouldn't be sullying Youngjae's image if he could choose a picture of Youngjae from his own collection. That he'd have to use as a profile picture for two weeks, minimum.
It's milder than Mark was expecting but Yugyeom has a good laugh when he sees it as well - a classic candid as taken by Jackson, Youngjae with a finger up his nose and expression screwed up as he digs for gold.
Jackson looks satisfied, which is a better outcome than Mark had hoped for, and as he dusts his hands in satisfaction, a devious grin starts to spread on his face.
"So, are we betting chores on who gets the most messages?"
-
By the time he gets to checking his inbox, Mark has six messages. Five of them are boring - welcome bots that do little to make anyone feel welcome, two joke accounts that are probably run by twelve year olds plus one guy who wants to know how tall is tall cuz i only do 185+. The last message actually seems like a decent person - a recent transplant to Korea as well, attending university like Mark, interested in learning martial arts and wondering if they can maybe go out for drinks some time. Alas, the sixth message is actually from Jackson and Mark rolls his eyes once he realises it.
"You can just ask me to hang out like Yugyeom does," Mark says, knowing Jackson will hear him across the room. "Like, in person. Or in a text."
He's not looking but Mark can sense Jackson's smile. "This is faster though," replies Jackson. "You've checked your profile like, seven times already."
(He hasn't. It's more like five times.)
"You're not much better," is all Mark can think to say. "I swear, since Youngjae left to get dinner, you've actually spent the whole time editing your page."
"Ahh, but the results show it."
Mark turns to see Jackson proudly displaying his inbox, eight unread messages and four read ones. As he watches, there's the ping of a new message and Mark would actually be really shocked if he hadn't experienced Jackson's charm first hand.
It's kind of hard to believe, just looking at him, but he's funny enough to get a smile out of anyone and apparently personable enough to convince three people he'd met a week ago to share rent on a property near their university at the start of the year. Half a semester later and Mark still doesn't regret trusting Jackson, Youngjae and Yugyeom not to steal his stuff but he sort of does regret sharing a room with Jackson. Especially now he's gotten another form of messaging service that will be setting off alerts all night.
Mark's sociable enough, just not as much as Jackson, and not enough to bear having a phone that constantly buzzes with replies.
"Okay," Mark says, giving Jackson the reaction he likes. "But I haven't agreed to doing any chores yet."
Jackson smiles and spins his laptop back to him. "Yeah, I know. I'm sending Yugyeom a picture of it now."
-
Mark's pretty sure he'll have to talk to Youngjae about how to properly prank Jackson sometime soon. Even though they've all known each other for the same amount of time, sharing a room lets Mark know what really ticks Jackson off, and Youngjae deserves a bit of leeway now that his little joke has completely backfired on him.
Somehow, it's become a bit of a thing - they'll all ostensibly be studying after dinner and then Jackson will burst out in laughter at a particularly unique tagline (turn down for what, i'm just #lookingforlove is Mark's favourite so far) or Yugyeom will flush at a message sent by a particularly forward older girl. Youngjae goes on his the least but somehow has more messages than Mark and Yugyeom combined, though not quite at Jackson's level yet.
Sure, a lot of them are asking if his profile picture is a joke but Mark's been fielding them for him and there's been at least a handful of mildly serious people who are apparently willing to look past Jackson's picture of Youngjae to search out the real him.
Youngjae's not too keen.
Mark gestures to the seat next to him and Youngjae sinks into the cushions.
"I haven't even finished my essay for this week," he says and Mark pats his knee consolingly while still proofreading his own creative writing submission. "My professor already hates me and I need a tutor and I can't find one this close to exams and there's still three days until I can delete the account."
Mark kind of feels his pain but also is not responsible for the last one - all four of them discovering that they have to keep the profiles for a minimum of two weeks kind of killed the mood early on but it's mostly been okay for Mark, just ignoring the messages he receives.
Youngjae's still adamant he'll delete the account, even though the day he can change his picture and the day he can delete coincide. Jackson's told Mark he's definitely keeping the account (and that he's already been on one date but that's hush hush). Yugyeom is on the fence about the whole thing really.
Mark's saving his edits when Youngjae's phone vibrates again and a groan lets the room know what has happened.
"So is it a nose fetish again?" Yugyeom asks with a snorted laugh and Youngjae glares at him.
"Nah, it's probably just someone else who thinks he's underage," says Jackson.
"That was one time, okay," Youngjae says, offended. "And they messaged you too."
"I still can't believe you have text alerts," Mark says, taking Youngjae's phone to read the screen. "And guys, it's probably just someone he knows."
The face Youngjae makes as he steals back his phone confirms it for Mark and so they all abandon their laptops to watch as Youngjae drags out his own.
hey, youngjae, what's up? is the first line - pretty benign but Youngjae looks pretty hesitant to open up the whole message. The icon is tiny but Jackson nudges Mark aside to look closer.
"Oh, he's cute," Jackson says, reaching over to touch the trackpad. "Click on his profile for me."
"NO!" yelps Youngjae, snapping into action just in time to slam the laptop shut on Jackson's fingers.
The noise Jackson makes is enough to make Mark flinch and he covers his ears as Youngjae spills out some apologies.
"Jesus," Jackson breathes out, shaking his hand. "If you want to keep him to yourself, just say."
"It's uh, not that," Youngjae says, looking genuinely a bit sorry that Jackson is hurt. "Definitely not like that."
Mark puts a hand on Jackson's shoulder, rubs it comfortingly but Jackson's still making pained sounds and Youngjae lets go of his laptop to reach for his hands. Of course, that lets Yugyeom get his hands on the computer and Mark just watches as he continues Jackson's work for him.
"You went to high school with this dude?" Yugyeom asks, surprised.
"Dude, my laptop," complains Youngjae. "Can you not, please?"
Mark keeps his grip on Jackson's shoulder, using it as a brace as he leans forward to read off the screen.
"It's been ages since we last talked! I swear I haven't seen you since Jinyoung's graduation - my old high school dongsaeng, what have you been up to?"
It's followed by a series of smiley faces but Mark's never been a fan of reading those aloud.
"He seems nice," is Mark's conclusion. "Like, surprisingly benign for a dating site."
"It's A Place For Connections," corrects Jackson, looking less hurt now that Youngjae's embarrassed. "Not just dating. But I'd date him. You're not interested?"
"Definitely not," replies Youngjae, slumping down in the couch again. Mark shuffles over so that Jackson doesn't completely crush him and thanks god for small mercies, like the fact that Yugyeom has decided to sit on the arm of the sofa, rather than squishing in like Jackson does.
"Can we not go through his profile?" Youngjae asks but Yugyeom is already doing that. "Seriously, I already have to reply to his message since you opened it."
"But these are some nice photos," Yugyeom says. "He's a good looking guy."
Jackson gives him a look, and Yugyeom passes him the laptop obediently. Mark has a pretty good view of the screen as Jackson scrolls through all the pictures, mostly of him doing sporty stuff, hiking or dancing or the like, and a couple of him singing in cafes.
"He's - we're old friends, he's more of an older brother than anything romantic," Youngjae explains, now peeking at the pictures too. He's curious but anyone would be, given the context. "I haven't actually talked to him in ages."
"I'll do it," says Jackson, a bit too obvious. "I'll talk to him, his profile says he's looking for someone he can chat with..."
Jackson trails off, paused on a picture that has Jaebum in a wet t-shirt, hanging out at the beach with an arm slung around a friend. Mark agrees, this Jaebum dude is kind of hot, but the other guy is more his type.
"Seriously though," Jackson says after Youngjae coughs, having apparently started at his old friend's nipples for long enough, "can I message him?"
-
Exams pass in a strange blur that reminds Mark of high school. Something about having decided to study overseas in advance made him lose focus by senior year and the same assurance of summer holidays after the hard grind makes the zombie-like nature of their shared household bearable.
Jackson really seems like the only one with some pep in his step and Mark's kind of amused that it's because of the dating site. True to his word, Youngjae deleted his account once the time period was over ("and," he told Mark and Yugyeom, "after apologising to Jaebum for what's coming his way"). Mark's left his up but apparently he's almost too typically hot, you know, or so one of his few messages told him. No one knows what Yugyeom is up to - he disappeared into a mountain of textbooks and graph paper three days ago and hasn't really been seen since.
Mark's got a textbook of his own open, though he's barely reading it as he sits in the bedroom, playing games on his phone. When the door opens, a glance confirms it's Jackson and then Mark's back to procrastinating his grades away again.
"You'd never believe what just happened," Jackson says, flopping onto Mark's bed.
Mark pushes him off and watches as his friend lands with a <
thunk, then rolls a couple of more times for drama.
"No," Mark says, not looking his way. "Probably wouldn't."
"I convinced Jaebum to go on a second date!" Jackson says triumphantly and okay, that grabs Mark's attention.
He looks at Jackson and, well, yeah, it's a bit surprising to see how their first date could have gone well enough to warrant another. There's a dark stain on Jackson's black and white shirt that was definitely not there when he left and Mark thinks that Jackson left with a necklace on but there's nothing but sweat glinting on his neck. A smudge of red runs across his cheekbones and Mark takes this all in carefully.
"Coffee or soy sauce?" Mark guesses.
Jackson sits on his bed, peeling off his socks which, Mark now notices, are damp. "Both," replies Jackson. "First coffee on his shoes, so I took him to sushi to make up for it but then he got soy sauce on my shirt."
"What a match."
The smile Jackson throws him is beatific. "He's funny and he has such a gorgeous voice."
Mark snorts, turning to face Jackson fully. He's never really seen Jackson properly infatuated but this is definitely more gone than he's ever been for the few dates that Mark's caught wind of after the fact.
"Gorgeous voice or gorgeous body?"
"Both, really," says Jackson. "And I get to experience it again, thank you Youngjae."
An actual laugh comes from Mark then. "You really do have to thank Youngjae. First he makes you a profile, then he makes sure his friend isn't scared off by you."
"I will," says Jackson. "Especially since Jaebum dished a lot of little stories about our friend - I'm sure we'll have a great talk."
Mark rolls his eyes, reminds himself to get Yugyeom to help him in separating the next little tussle Jackson and Youngjae have. He's turning back to his textbook, phone discarded, when he realises Jackson's still looking at him.
"Okay, no, that's your I need a favour look," says Mark. "You just got a date with the guy of your dreams, what kind of favour could I do for you?"
-
Mark kind of dislikes going on dates in summer because all the main places are packed to the brim with other people. He kind of really dislikes going on dates in summer when he's not actually on a date himself, and Jackson's awfully hard to keep track of in a crowded amusement park.
A stroke of luck means that Mark pretty much could spot Im Jaebum anyway. Enough social networking and he's figured out both the guy's last name and the fact that his hair is currently bright silver. A little conspicuous but it makes Mark's job easier. Another stroke of luck at midday leaves Jaebum and Jackson in a Ferris wheel and Mark eating ice cream on a bench while he waits.
The glare he has on is really to keep the sun out of his eyes, but it doubles as a people deterrent, which is nice in this sort of heat. Still, a shadow comes across Mark's face and he relaxes his gaze a bit to see a guy around his age, standing with an ice cream of his own and waving at the seat next to Mark.
"Can I sit here?" the guy asks and Mark nods.
He looks sort of familiar but Mark can't quite place him. He makes room though because, why not? There are too many young children running around the dude's ankles and Mark figures anyone needs a break in this sort of heat.
"Thanks," the guy says and Mark smiles in reply, before turning back to watch the slow turn of Ferris wheel. It's probably just his imagination but Mark thinks he can see Jackson trying to make a move on Jaebum, kind of cockblocked by the giant teddy bear sitting between them. The fact that he's doing the whole yawning-and-putting-an-arm-around-him schtick is a bit clichŽ but also 100% Jackson.
"Waiting for a friend?" asks a voice and Mark realises that the guy is trying to speak to him. He's still not really used to talking to strangers, especially when he's pretty new to the language, but he knows enough to nod along.
"Yeah. He's on a date," and Mark nods to the Ferris wheel.
"Same," says the guy, laughing. "I'm making sure my friend isn't accidentally murdered by this guy he met online."
It's in joking tones so Mark laughs but he can't help but wonder -
"Is your friend named Jaebum?"
The look of surprise on the guy's face is hilarious and Mark has to clarify. "I think we're waiting for the same people - my friend Jackson is on his second date with Jaebum now. I'm Mark."
He offers his hand to the guy and his grip is strong when they touch.
"Jinyoung," offers Jaebum's friend. "And by the way, I know your friend is harmless. Jaebum said he's more bark than bite."
"Don't let Jackson hear you say that," replies Mark but he laughs at the truth. "It's nice to meet you, Jinyoung."
There's a pause then Mark notices a little old lady shuffling along, looking for a place to sit. Jinyoung follows his gaze and with a look of understanding, they shuffle a bit closer together, closing the gap that Mark normally keeps between him and strangers, so she can fit on the bench.
Jinyoung angles his body towards Mark and it's then that he realises where he'd recognised him from - the picture from the beach that Jackson had lingered for so long on, younger and with a much worse haircut, but definitely him.
"Are you Youngjae's friend from high school too?" Mark asks.
He's sort of curious about it all - Youngjae didn't talk much about Jaebum apart from assuring Jackson that he's not an asshole and that they haven't talked in a while. Where Jackson and Yugyeom are totally open about themselves, Youngjae is a bit more slow to open up, so Mark figures this is a chance to learn about him more.
"Youngjae? Uh," Jinyoung pauses. "I know a guy from my university course but I'm not he's who you mean."
"Dark hair? Freckle beneath his eye?" Mark describes. "Decent singing voice, actually."
"Yoo Youngjae?"
"Choi," Mark says. It's possible that this is the wrong Jinyoung - Mark sort of forgets which names are common here - but he's pretty sure Jaebum had mentioned a Jinyoung.
"Wait, Choi Youngjae?" There's a spark of recognition in Jinyoung's eyes. "From Mokpo?"
"I think so," says Mark. "He's not from this area."
"Does he still pick his nose?" Jinyoung asks and Mark has to stifle a laugh because, yeah, they're definitely talking about the same guy.
"He's my roommate and Jaebum found him on a dating site," Mark says. "Jackson saw Jaebum's picture and, well."
Mark nods at where Jackson and Jaebum are stepping out of the Ferris wheel and headed their way.
"Hey," Jackson's saying. "There's Mark, like I said."
"Jinyoung?" Jaebum is saying and they stand up, Mark dropping his rubbish as they walk over to meet the couple.
"Do you guys know each other?" Jackson says and Jaebum smiles.
"Yeah, he's my best friend. And it seems like he knows Mark?"
Jinyoung looks to Mark and shrugs, and Mark copies him. "Sort of? We just met."
"That's great though," Jackson says, a bit too enthusiastically. "We can make it a double date, you guys should tag along."
Mark has a bad feeling about this - something about the way Jackson is headed towards the water rides sets off his intuition - but then Jinyoung is smiling and Jaebum is bumping shoulders with his friend and he figures, well. It can't hurt.
He walks a bit faster to catch up to the others, brushing against Jinyoung as the crowds press in and he thinks that, maybe, this could be something good.
-
"I found Yugyeom," is the first thing that Youngjae says to them, when Mark and Jackson arrive back home.
"What the hell happened to you guys?" is his second reaction, once he's gotten a good look at them both. Mark is soaked to the skin, dripping slightly all over their shoes in the entranceway, and Jackson is sunburned beyond belief.
"Jackson happened," is Mark's response and he shakes out his hair, making sure to send the water in Jackson's direction. "Jackson and a double date."
"Okay, but you agreed," says Jackson, voice slightly annoyed. "And you had fun."
Mark harrumphs, but says nothing in response, collapsing onto the couch instead. He's soaking through the cushions but he doesn't really care.
"Where's Yugyeom," he asks Youngjae and there's a finger pointed in the direction of the bedroom the two of them share.
"He's been in our room," Youngjae says. "Texting."
"He's got a boyfriend?" asks Jackson. "And he didn't tell us?"
"He's a friend," comes Yugyeom's voice. It's followed by Yugyeom himself, flopping across Mark and Youngjae's laps on the couch, then jumping up when he realises Mark is wet. "Gross."
"You're gross," Youngjae says. "Who gets that absorbed in a conversation with a 'friend'."
Yugyeom pokes out his tongue and puts all his weight on Youngjae in revenge. "Just because you're mad you're the only one who got nothing out of that website."
Mark raises an eyebrow. "You met him online?"
"Yeah," replies Yugyeom with a smile. "His name is Bambam, and he's studying Korean! I'm helping him learn because he's moving here next semester!"
"Cute," comments Jackson. "See, Mark, I said the profiles wouldn't be too bad."
"That's the exact opposite of what you said," cries Youngjae and Mark has to laugh at that.
"Everyone has a love interest now! Or someone to talk to," Jackson continues, ignoring Youngjae. "I was so right in convincing us all to pursue other friendships."
"That's - I can't believe -" Youngjae sputters. "You ass, don't claim this as your own idea. I made these profiles for you guys, I'm the reason you even know who Jaebum is."
Jackson just ignores Youngjae, cooing at Yugyeom as the youngest shows the selfies that Bambam has sent him and Mark extricates himself from the couch. The look he's seen in Youngjae's eyes is warning enough to leave before their next fight occurs, and besides, he did say he'd text Jinyoung once he got home.
By the time he gets to his room, there's the sound of the couch scraping along their floor and the sound of Yugyeom getting his hair pulled. Mark ignores it in favour of checking his phone and smiling at the message notification he already has.
It's from the dating site but Mark doesn't mind. The fact that it comes from a Jinyoung, profile picture smiling at him just like Jinyoung had at the Ferris wheel earlier that day, well. Maybe dating sites are weird, but in the best kind of way.
[readers, don't forget to leave a comment! anonymous is on if you're shy.]