The Mark of the Monster [1/2] [for kimdae]

Jan 07, 2015 11:11

For: kimdae

Title: The Mark of the Monster
Pairing(s)/focus: Mark/Jackson
Rating: PG
Word count: 11,220
Author's notes: Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters/X-Men!AU. I’ve used a lot of different versions of X-Men (comic, tv, and movie) to make this, and changed a couple of things as well. Please forgive the mash-up, I hope you like it anyway! (Also, the title is taken from one of the comics.)
Summary: Jackson turns quickly, face still skywards, and he watches with fascination as Mark takes off. He’s not that high, only enough to feel the wind slide smooth underneath him. Jackson’s not sure he’s ever seen anything more beautiful.

part one | two

Jackson’s grin is wide and easy as he steps up to Mark in the middle of the training room, and despite Mark having to look down just the slightest bit to see into his eyes, he’s nervous. His stomach is twisting itself into knots and all Mark really wants is for this be over. His wings twitch, and Jackson’s grin just turns that much more mischievous.
“Okay,” Chansung yells from the side of the room, even though he doesn’t really need to, “Get ready, when I say ‘go’, it’s time.”
Mark nods, and Jackson gives him a wink, then Chansung’s voice is ringing through the room one more time before Mark stops thinking, and starts moving.

Fighting Jackson is a lot like fighting a hurricane. Mark never trains with him because everything he does is so overwhelming he doesn’t know how to fight back. Jackson is so in the moment, constantly moving in every direction, and it makes Mark’s head spin in all the wrong ways. Now is no different, and it should be, because they’re being graded on how well they do, but Jackson just comes at him with all he has.

So Mark gives it all back. He’s not losing, not this time. Losing means extra time in the training room, and Mark does not want that. When Jackson ends up on his ass, with the wind knocked out of him, he smiles down at him victoriously.

“Not fair!” Jackson whines, struggling to sit back up, looking and sounding every bit the petulant child he is, “You used your wings, that’s cheating! I’ve only got four limbs!”

Mark shrugs, offering a hand down to pull him back up. Chansung is laughing off in the corner, and Mark’s pretty sure he should actually be checking them for any serious injuries.

“Next time?” Mark offers, and Jackson gives him a grin just as wide as when they started.

“Next time.”

---

“So, I heard Mark kicked your ass.” Jaebum throws an arm around Jackson’s shoulder as soon as he catches up to him in the hallway.

“Whatever, I nearly had him,” Jackson groans, pushing at him, “It’s not like every guy you fight has wings anyway.”

Jaebum laughs, shaking Jackson with the arm he has over his shoulders.

"Ah, are you being a sore loser?"

Jackson feels entirely justified in using all of his strength to push Jaebum onto the floor.

“C’mon, man,” Jaebum grumbles, his hands automatically going to make sure his glasses are still intact and secure on his face. He gets back up and immediately slings his arm right back over Jackson’s shoulders. “It’s not that bad is it?”

“It is, now I have to spend my free period training with Chansung.”

“And,” Jaebum leans in close to mock whisper in Jackson’s ear, “the angel boy you have a crush on totally crushed you.”

“That’s not- I don’t-” Jackson’s can feel the heat radiating off his face, and he fans himself harshly, “I do not have any sort of crush on anyone. I am Jackson Wang, if I did I would already have them.”

“Sure, okay.” Jaebum laughs, giving a thumbs up that Jackson thinks is corny and only proves how old he is. “Whatever you say.”

“I’m gonna kick your ass.” Jackson mumbles, shoving Jaebum again.

---

Jackson's next class is basically an excuse for him to nap. Taecyeon is excitedly chattering about something, but Jackson hasn't been paying enough attention to know what it is. Taecyeon doesn't ever bother him, but unfortunately, Jinyoung isn't ever that nice.

"What the hell?" Jackson jumps up out of his seat, staring at where his hand ripped part of the wood off the desk.
Jinyoung has a very carefully blank expression, and he's blinking innocently at Jackson.

"Oh no," he says, "what happened?"

Jackson splutters, waving his hand in front of Jinyoung's face.

"You froze my hand to the desk, you dipshit!"

"Boys," Taecyeon interrupts, fondly exasperated, "please wait until after class to goof off."

"But he froze my hand!" Jackson wails, turning away from Jinyoung to wave it around to the rest of the class. "I could have gotten frost bitten!"

"Could you?" Taecyeon asks, looking mildly intrigued.

"I don't," Jackson pauses, arms crossing over his chest, "I don't know, but that's really not the point."

"Well, both of you can discuss the point with Professor Park after class." With that Taecyeon turns back around, and Jackson flops back into his seat, sending a glare to Jinyoung who only flashes him a wicked smile before turning back to his notes.

---

“I can’t believe you got us in trouble,” Jackson groans, trudging along beside Jinyoung, “wait, actually, I totally can, but I’m still mad.”

“C’mon, man, I did you a favor,” Jinyoung turns to him and winks. Jackson mimes gagging. Jinyoung is so disgusting.

“How did you do me a favor?”

“Pretty angel boy helps Professor Park out around this time, you can woo him with your amazing getting out of trouble skills.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Jackson rolls his eyes, “that’ll really be a great impression. Hi gorgeous, I’m always getting in trouble because of this punk right here, don’t you wanna get with this?”

Jinyoung laughs far too loud for Jackson to keep his temper and he’s about to push him, or whine, or both, but they’re basically outside Professor Park’s office, and he really doesn’t want to deal with getting in even more trouble.

“Whatever, man.” Jackson grumbles, pulling open the door to the office. Jinyoung shrugs, walking in ahead of him.

Jackson had been hoping Jinyoung was joking about Mark, but here he sits, in all his angelic glory. Jackson is so screwed.

“Good afternoon, Jackson, Jinyoung.” Professor Park smiles, and motions for them to sit down. Mark is shuffling through papers in the corner of the room, and Jackson thinks he sees his wings twitch when Professor Park says their names. “What brings you here?”

“Taecyeon asked us to come see you after class, sir.” Jinyoung says, bright and chipper. Jackson really regrets not pushing him when he had the chance.

“Really?” Professor Park’s eyebrows go up, like he’s pretending to be surprised, “And why did he ask you to do that?”

“Well,” Jinyoung starts, and Jackson can visibly see the change in his demeanor, and he already knows Jinyoung’s not actually going to sweet-talk them out of getting into trouble, but he’s going to enjoy watching him embarrassing himself while he tries, “There was just a little accident in class, not a big deal or anything, but Taecyeon thought it would be best if we came and saw you.”

Jackson bites his tongue to stop himself from shouting about how this all Jinyoung’s fault, and he really, really should not be here. He doesn’t think that would impress Mark. Not that he needs to impress him, but he keeps looking at Mark’s expression in his peripheral vision and he can tell that he’s trying to hold back a smile. He’s going to punch Jinyoung as soon as they’re out of here.

“An accident?” Professor Park smiles at them and gestures for Jinyoung to go on.

“Yes,” Jinyoung continues, still smiling brightly, “I didn’t realize what I was doing and froze poor Jackson’s hand to his desk.”

Jackson splutters, whipping around in his seat to stare at Jinyoung. Poor Jackson his ass, Jinyoung definitely knew exactly what he was doing.

“Something you’d like to say, Jackson?” Professor Park asks, looking a little too amused for Jackson’s comfort. He’s about to say that Jinyoung is an ass, who deserves something terrible, before he remembers Mark is sitting in the corner of the room.

“No, Professor,” he mumbles, turning back around in his chair to stare resolutely at the floor. Maybe counting the number of threads in the carpet will distract him from another outburst, and the possibility of actually attempting to punch Jinyoung.

Professor Park’s tilts his head, like he has to think really hard of an appropriate punishment for them. Jackson is nearly positive he doesn’t have to think that hard. It’s not like he and Jinyoung aren’t constantly in and out of his office. “Jackson, I understand you have extra training with Chansung this afternoon. I think Jinyoung will have to join you. Perhaps it can help him with his self-control.”

Jinyoung sinks a little in his seat, barely avoiding groaning out loud. It’s not worth whining around Professor Park. He only gets scary if you push him, but if you do, well, Jinyoung and Jackson have both learned their lesson about that.

“And Jackson,” Professor Park adds, “why don’t you help Mark here? I’m sure he could use a hand.”

Jackson gapes at Professor Park, but before he has a chance to protest, Mark is speaking up from the corner of the room.

“Professor, its not really necessary,” he mumbles, eyes darting between Jackson and the floor.

Professor Park glances at Mark, and then back to Jackson. He gives a little wink, and Jackson feels a little mortified.

“I’m sure that it is. Now, excuse me boys, I have a meeting to get to.”

Professor Park leaves, and all three boys let out a deep exhale. Before Jinyoung interrupts it with a cackle.

“I’m off, since apparently you two have some really serious paperwork to get to.”

He bolts out the door before Jackson gets the chance to hit him. There’s always next time.

“So, uh,” Jackson begins, but Mark is already shaking his head, pointing to Jackson’s chair like he wants him to stay there. Jackson can’t really say he’s surprised when he finds he doesn’t move at all.

“You stay, I got it.” Mark says decisively.

Jackson whines, and wiggles in his chair. “Am I just supposed to sit here and watch you do whatever it is you’re doing?”
“Yes.”

“But that’s so boring, can’t I at least do something?”

“No.”

Jackson whines again, and flops so his arms hang down by side, body slumped down in his chair. He wants to do something, and he can’t possibly just sit here and watch Mark. Well, he thinks, he probably could just sit here and watch Mark, but that doesn’t seem like the brightest idea. Possibly. Mark is beautiful, ridiculously beautiful, if he’s being honest, and Jackson tries his best to be. The windows in Professor Park’s office let in the light perfectly, and Mark looks exactly like a painting of an angel Jackson swears could be in some fancy museum. Mark is fine art. Jackson almost giggles out loud at the thought, and he knows it’s corny, but, well, its true.

Still, he can’t sit here. He’s already squirming around in his chair, and he hates sitting. He could be helping. He’s supposed to be helping.

“Can I please do something?”

Mark turns and glares at him, then sighs, “Fine. Fine, but you can’t ruin it.”

Jackson hops out of his seat, straightening himself quickly. “I won’t ruin anything! Promise. I’m the best.”

Mark ducks his head down, trying to hide his smile, but the glimpse Jackson catches of it is enough to have him grinning twice as wide.

---

“So,” Jinyoung grins, pushing Jackson’s chest, “how was filing with Mark?”

Jackson groans, flailing out and hitting Jinyoung a couple time, but mostly the air.

“He didn’t even want me to help!”

“Big surprise,” Jinyoung snorts, “I wouldn’t let you around important paperwork either.”

“Hey! I’m plenty helpful, and very well organized.”

“Sure, ok,” Jinyoung nods, “more importantly, how’d actually spending time with your angel boy go?”

“Ugh, he’s so beautiful. He’s an actual angel. Do you understand? An actual angel.”

Jinyoung cackles, which Jackson finds highly offensive, because Mark is.

“But did you actually talk to him, or did you just make a fool of yourself?” Jinyoung questions, that rude smirk on his face that Jackson would really love to punch off right now. “I mean, it’s basically the same thing, but-”

“Shut up, Jinyoung. Of course we talked, do you think we filed in silence for an entire hour?”

“Boys,” Chansung calls, “you are actually supposed to be training not gossiping.”

“Yes, sir!” Jinyoung shouts, before kicking Jackson in the leg. He giggles as Jackson yelps, and tries to swat at him.

They can hear Chansung sigh, a muttered “that’s not really what I had in mind”, but he leaves them to it.

---

“Break week!” Jaebum yells, jumping on top of Jackson.

“Get off me,” Jackson shrieks, attempting to wriggle away from underneath him on his bed. “God, you’re so heavy.”

Jaebum rolls off of Jackson so he’s next to him on the small bed, and Jackson gives him one last push for good measure.

“Break week,” he begins with a flourish of his hand, “is next week. There’s going to be a party, and it’s going to be wonderful.”

“Yeah, wonderful.” Jackson mumbles.

“I bet your angel boy will be there, and then you can woo him with your amazing beer pong skills.”

“Are you and Jinyoung in cahoots with this whole wooing thing? Because it’s not working at all. He probably hates me.”

Jaebum snorts, “Yeah, sure, he does.”

“He might!”

“How would you know?”

“I don’t. I mean, he’s started to let me help more when we do paperwork stuff but, god, he’s so perfect. I don’t understand how he got so perfect.”

Jackson sits up abruptly, startling Jaebum out of his eye roll at Jackson’s ridiculousness.

“Jaebum. I want to cook him dinner. I want to kiss his cheek, and tell him how beautiful he is. Jaebum, I’m fucked.”

Jaebum laughs so hard Jackson feels a little worried for him. It’s not that funny, really.

“Talk to him at the party, spend a little time together. Don’t get too drunk and make an ass out of yourself. Or do. I hear boys love that.”

“Shut up.”

---

“So,” Jackson begins, fingers just slightly trembling as he puts folders into the drawers, “break week is next week.”

Mark nods, not really looking at Jackson. They’re standing close to each other, both at a separate filing cabinet with a box of disorganized file folders at their feet. Alphabetizing folders isn’t the worst thing Jackson could be doing on a sunny afternoon.

“Are you going to the party?”

“Probably.” Mark shrugs, and Jackson almost wants to groan at how boring he’s being. Shouldn’t someone this pretty at least be able to string a few sentences together?

“Aren’t you excited about the break?” Jackson asks, exasperated.

“I guess.”

“Mark,” he starts, spinning on his heel to get a better look at him, but his hand catches on the drawer and he ends up yelping in surprise. “Shit. That hurt.”

Mark lets out a surprised laugh, high pitched and, well, if Jackson’s honest a bit hyena like.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry.” Mark says, attempting to keep a straight face.

“No, I’ve been trying to make you laugh for weeks, and the thing that gets to you is me slamming my hand in a metal door?”

Mark laughs again, and Jackson’s mouth opens and closes, before he figures, fuck it. He would like the weird one.

---

Spending so much time with Jackson isn’t unpleasant, really. He’s loud, sort of whiny, and doesn’t ever stop rambling. Mark doesn’t mind it, except the whiny part. He could deal with that stopping.

He’s not bad at helping him either. It’s just that Mark doesn’t really need help, and he enjoys a little quiet time in his day. Helping in Professor Park’s office had been the one time of day where he got to be alone.

His roommate is nice enough, and is almost never home. Mark doesn’t really know what he does when he’s away, since it seems like all he does when he’s home is sleep. Like now, it’s only six at night, but Youngjae is fast asleep in his bed when Mark opens the door to their room.

“Oh, shit, sorry, man.” Mark mumbles, turning the light off and grabbing his phone out of his pocket so he can use it like a flashlight. Youngjae groans a little in his sleep, but seems unaffected.

---

Jackson’s new favorite pastime might be sighing heavily while rolling around in his bed, and daydreaming about Mark. He night dreams about Mark too, actually, but that seems unimportant because he doesn’t have a choice in that.

He could be thinking about other things, like the exam coming up Taecyeon’s class. He’ll probably ace it, if he can stop thinking about Mark long enough to remember what Taecyeon talks about.

Exams are held on the last day before break. Which, to Jackson at least, seems like a bad idea. Nearly everyone is focused on how they’re going to sneak booze into the party, or what they’re going to wear, not at all on school things.

Really, Jackson huffs, what’s the point of being a kick ass mutant if you still have to do all the bullshit normal things people do in school?

---

Jaebum’s got his smug face on when he meets Jackson in the hallway outside of his last practical exam. He nearly turns around and walks right back in. He’d rather deal with Chansung than a smug Jaebum.

“Jackson.” Jaebum says, hugging Jackson way too tightly.

“What are you so happy about?” Jackson groans, but leans in to the hug anyway.

“Oh, you know, getting amazingly good grades, getting amazingly drunk tonight, and amazingly laid.”

Jackson snorts, “Yeah, ok.”

“Sorry I’m not hung up on someone who doesn’t care about my existence.”

“He does too care!” Jackson nearly shouts, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Jaebum.

“Easy there, tiger.” Jaebum holds his hands up in a pacifying gesture.

Jackson sticks his tongue out at him. He is, after all, very mature. Laughing, Jaebum throws an arm around Jackson’s shoulders and steers him towards the exit of the main school building.

“C’mon, be happy. It’s gonna be a good night.”

---

Jackson may spend a good amount of time on getting ready, but really compared to Jinyoung it’s nothing.

“What are you still doing?” he whines from his place on Jaebum’s bed. He and Jaebum have been ready to go for at least forty five minutes, but Jinyoung is still in the bathroom.

“I’ll be out in a second!” Jinyoung yells.

Jackson huffs, and Jaebum shrugs, handing him a glass.

“We’re pre-gaming without you.” Jaebum calls, and it makes Jackson a little happier about the situation when Jinyoung groans.

“Fine,” he hollers, “I’m coming out.”

Jackson doesn’t manage to hold in his laughter when Jinyoung opens the door, and Jaebum doesn’t do much better.

“Oh my god,” he cackles, “what did you do?”

Jinyoung groans, walking over to snatch Jaebum’s drink out of his hand and draining it much faster that he probably should.

“I just thought I’d trim my bangs and it got a little out of control.” He grumbles.

“Here, come here.” Jaebum giggles, pulling Jinyoung closer. “It’s not that bad, put a little more eyeliner on and people will barely notice.”

“I look like a vulcan.” Jinyoung wails.

“I don’t know what that is,” Jackson says, “if that helps.”

Jinyoung whines again, loudly, and Jaebum gets up to crowd him into the bathroom.

“We’ll make your eyes stand out more, people won’t even notice.” Jaebum repeats, putting his hands on Jinyoung’s shoulders comfortingly.

“Hurry up about it, we’re gonna be way too late.”

Jaebum glares at him, and Jackson shrugs back. They are going to be too late.

---

The party is held at the dorms furthest from the main building. They're reserved for the oldest students, since they're far enough away where you can't tell what's going on in them from where the teachers stay.

Most of the teachers know that the party is happening. Its a small school, so its not like the students can really hide anything. They let it happen even though they probably shouldn't. Mutants don't get too much of a break in life. The teachers figure they should at least get a small chance at having a high school experience similar to kids who aren't mutants.

The party is well under way by the time Jackson, Jaebum, and Jinyoung get there. Jinyoung pouts about his hair the entire walk down to the dorms, but the second they set foot on the stairs he shuts up. They're all pleasantly buzzed, just fuzzy enough to feel loose, and Jackson lets out a loud whoop when they get to the front door.

"Ready?" He asks with a grin, and the other two grin back, nodding as they open the door.

Its going to be a good night.

---

Mark isn't the biggest fan of parties. He likes dancing, enjoys the company of a few friends, and sure, he's been known to enjoy a drink or two, but this party is going to be huge. Well, huge by the standards of a school this small. Still, Mark finds himself putting a little effort into his outfit and walking out of the comfort of his own dorm down to where the party is.

Mark's been to enough of these to know exactly what to do when he walks in. A lot of nods and smiles, and gently pushing around people till he gets to the kitchen. He makes himself a drink that's a little on the strong side, and then finds a nice wall to stand against.

"Isn't that uncomfortable?"

Mark turns, and there's a girl standing next to him that he thinks he knows. He can't quite recall her name, but he thinks he recognizes her from somewhere.

"I mean, standing against the wall like that when you've got those giant thing on your back?"

Jimin, Mark remembers, is her name, and he knows her from how often she's in Professor Park's office. She's a good kid, just goofy.

He shrugs in response to her question, and she sticks her tongue out at him.

"Fine, I won't make conversation."

She walks off without another word, quickly finding and clinging to the arm of another girl that looks about her age. Mark really doesn't know her name. That's not too surprising, the new kids are always hard for him to remember. He's been here for a very long time.

A lot of the mutants here can pass as a regular human. They don't have anything that makes them stand out, and as long as they don't act out, there's no reason for them to be out of society.

Mark wasn't so lucky. His wings, well, there's not much he can do about them.

He groans, downing the rest of his drink quickly. It burns a little going down, but its a welcome distraction. This isn't a train of thought he'd like to follow most of the time, and here, at a crowded party, is probably the worst time for it.

---

“Jinyoung,” Jackson whispers, and when Jinyoung doesn’t even look at him he decides it may better to shout, “Jinyoung!”

“What?” Jinyoung snaps, turning around to face him. They’ve been in the kitchen for an excessively long time, Jaebum has already ditched them for something more entertaining.

“He’s coming,” Jackson whispers again, eyes widened as far as they can go. Jinyoung starts giggling, and Jackson pulls a face at him.

“It’s not funny! What do I do? Jinyoung. Jinyoung. I’m drunk.”

They’re both visibly drunk, with glassy eyes and flushed faces. Jinyoung’s a little better off, more because he holds his liquor better than because he’s had less to drink. Jackson has one hand on his shoulder, the other clutching the countertop, and he’s staring Jinyoung dead in the eyes.

“I can’t.”

“Dude.” Jinyoung says, barely managing to hold in his laughter, “You should probably hide.”

“Yes,” Jackson nods, “that is the best idea.”

Jackson releases Jinyoung, and then the countertop, and crouches ever so slowly onto the floor. He starts opening up cupboards one by one, until he finds an empty one with no shelves. He’s about to push himself into it when Mark finally makes it into the kitchen.

“Jackson?”

Jackson stills, and Jinyoung barely suppresses his snort of laughter.

“Mark?” Jackson questions, raising an eyebrow at him. He starts to push himself into cupboard, ass first, bending uncomfortably at the waist. It’s too late to hide from Mark now, he thinks, but he certainly doesn’t want to look like he was trying to hide from him. He has to keep doing what he was doing.

“Jackson, what are you-?” He doesn’t finish his sentence, instead he gestures at Jackson with both of his hands, his face the most puzzled Jackson has ever seen it.

“Oh, just, uh, you know,” Jackson starts, gesturing back like it explains things.

“He was hiding from you.” Jinyoung blurts, helpfully, so helpfully. Jackson is going to throttle him, he really is. He tries to stand up too quickly, but forgets himself and then the cupboard door is shattered and on the floor.

“Shit,” he mutters.

“Well, I’ll be going!” Jinyoung turns and runs out of the kitchen, using Jackson’s moment of distress to his advantage. It doesn’t matter. Jackson will get him later.

“You were hiding from me?” Mark asks, and he doesn’t look angry. He’s got a small smile, just barely there, and, shit, Jackson wants to kiss him. This is exactly why he needed to hide.

“Uh,” Jackson straightens, and pulls one of the bottles on the table closer to him. “Round of shots?”

Mark snorts, and Jackson smiles, nudging him with his shoulder.

“It’ll be fun!” He says, much too enthusiastically, grabbing two clean plastic shot glasses from the counter. “It’s bonding!”

Mark laughs, and Jackson can feel himself melting. He keeps his mouth shut, he doesn’t want to say anything about Mark’s laugh, or his teeth. His teeth are giant. They must be at least twice the size of Jackson’s teeth. He slaps a horrified hand to his mouth, touching his teeth through his lips. No way, his teeth aren’t that small. That would be, weird, or something.

“Jackson?” Mark’s voice cuts through his thoughts, and he nods quickly, twisting the cap off the bottle.

“Shots,” he says, pouring slowly into the empty glasses. Mark gives him a funny look, but grabs his glass all the same when Jackson pushes it over to him.

“To bonding!” Jackson shouts, raising his glass in the air. Mark chuckles, and taps his glass against Jackson’s. The plastic doesn’t clink, but it’s still satisfying. Jackson’s face scrunches up the second he pulls the glass away from his face.

“Too much for you?” Mark asks.

“Never,” Jackson retorts, “and you’re supposed to say the toast out loud too! It’s ruined now.”

“Sorry,” Mark says with a giggle. A giggle. Oh my god, Jackson thinks, taking in a deep breath.

“We have to do it again now.”

Mark shrugs, motioning at Jackson to go for it, so he does. He’s maybe already had just a little too much to drink, but the room isn’t spinning, and he doesn’t feel nauseous, so to hell with it.

---

Jackson stumbles onto the front porch, Mark’s arm around his waist. They’d been fighting with the door for approximately five years, he’s positive of it.

“Mark,” he calls out, dragging out the vowel sound for much too long.

“Jackson.” Mark says back, louder than normal, but still not a match for Jackson’s drunken howling.

“Mark,” he says, seriously, plopping down onto the front step and pulling Mark down with him. They teeter dangerously for a moment at the top of the stairs, before managing to steady themselves. “Mark, I have to tell you something.”

“Hm?” Mark’s eyes are closed, and he’s got his head tilted back, arms laying uselessly at his sides. Jackson fidgets, he wants to kiss him so bad. Even on the cheek, the tip of his nose, god.

Jackson reaches out, and grabs Mark’s hand in his. Mark opens his eyes for that, head lolling to the side so he can open one eye and look easily at where Jackson is at his side.

“Mark, I,” he takes a deep breath in, this is it, “Mark, I really like you.”

Jackson shuffles closer to Mark, and noses at his jawline gently till he gets to the side of his mouth. Their lips are so close to touching, but Mark stiffens, and shit, Jackson thinks, I fucked it up.

“I’m sorry, I just really, really like you. I think about you all the time, and I want to kiss you so much and-”

Mark stands abruptly, and Jackson has to brace himself on the stairs to keep from tumbling down them.

“Mark?”

Mark rushes down the stairs, and Jackson wants to rush after him, but Mark is moving so quickly and before he can really get his body to move Mark is gone.

---

Jackson wakes up the next morning feeling terrible. He tries to move, because his mouth tastes terrible and he needs to brush his teeth, but when he tries it feels like his head is moving faster than his brain and his insides are sloshing around. Nope, he thinks, lying back down slowly, I will stay right here.

He’s not even sure how he got back to his room last night, the last thing he remembers is- shit.

The last thing he remembers is trying to kiss Mark on the front porch.

He groans, rolling onto his face too quickly and it makes him groan again, this time because of how queasy the sudden action made him feel. He can’t believe himself. That was possibly the worst idea he’s ever had.

Scratch feeling terrible, this is the worst he has ever felt in his life. Worse than when he had chickenpox when he was ten, because at least then his mom was there to fix it. Worse than the night this all happened and he ended up in this place without his mom to fix it.

How could he think that a drunken confession was the way to go?

Fuck it, he’ll think about this later. He needs more sleep before he can process this.

---

The next time Jackson wakes up he feels mildly better. He can move without wanting to throw up, but his mouth tastes even more terrible.

He grabs his phone from his bedside table on his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and is surprised by the amount of texts he finds waiting for him. It’s mostly Jaebum, and a few from Jinyoung, wondering where he went last night. There’s a couple winky faces in the ones from Jinyoung, and Jackson grumbles angrily, accidentally squeezing the toothpaste too hard. He’s still going to throttle Jinyoung when he sees him. He texts Jaebum back, ignoring Jinyoung entirely, and asks him to come to his room.

---

Jaebum comes over surprisingly quickly. Jackson’s been laying on his bed staring at the ceiling since he finished brushing his teeth, hoping that maybe his bed would fall into a hole that went straight to the center of the earth.

“What happened?” Jaebum asks, bursting into the door without knocking. Jackson is sure that he locked it, but it doesn’t really matter.

“I fucked up,” Jackson answers hollowly. Jaebum pushes him over so there’s room for both of them on the bed, and Jackson immediately turns to bury himself in Jaebum’s chest. “I really fucked up.”

“Tell me what happened.” Jaebum says again, wrapping his arms gently around Jackson.

“I tried to kiss Mark,” he mutters, “I told him I liked him.”

“Ah,” Jaebum says, running one of his hands soothingly up and down Jackson’s back.

“He just left! He didn’t even say anything, he just left me there.”

Jackson can feel tears start to well up in his eyes, and he sniffles, pushing himself closer to Jaebum.

“I fucked it up so much, he’s never going to talk to me ever again.” Jackson’s voice cracks, and he can’t stop himself from crying in earnest.

Jaebum doesn’t say anything else, just holds Jackson until his breathing finally steadies. It’s a while before Jackson finds his voice again, and he half expects Jaebum to get up and leave before he does. Jaebum is a much better friend than he gives him credit for.

“What am I gonna do?”

“I don’t know,” Jaebum says, quietly.

“I have to be alone with him and file papers, the most boring thing ever, when break is over.” Jackson wails. Jaebum pats his back, and Jackson can’t see his face, but he can tell he’s smiling.

“You’ll figure it out.”

“How?”

“C’mon, who’s the better at awkward situations than you?”

part one | two

pairing: jackson/mark, year: 2015, rating: pg

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