Save Me (Got7 Markson) (hiatus, possibly discontinued)

Chapter 3

Mark woke up in a unfamiliar room, the afternoon sun shining through the windows. He sat up and almost immediately fell down again as he remembered all the pain his body had suffered.

His throat was dry too, so he couldn't talk very clearly, but lucky for him, the door opened.

His savior's head popped into sight.

"You're finally up. Thought you'd never come back to reality with how many bruises you had." The rest of his body entered the room, his arms full with a tray of food.

This was the first time Mark had actually seen his savior. He took in the other's tall, lean body, and buff muscles, as well as the handsome face he recalled from earlier.

His savior placed the tray down on a table and handed Mark a glass of water. He downed it quickly, thankful to get some liquid into his system.

He was about to ask the other boy where he was, when he realized—he didn't even know his savior's name.

"What's your name?" he shyly asked, meeting the other's eyes.

"Jackson. Jackson Wang. What's yours?"

"Mark Tuan."

"Oh! I forgot to tell you! I'll be attending your school starting tomorrow." Mark's eyes widened as he processed that last bit of information. He quickly scooted backwards, his back hitting the wall as he tried to get as far away as possible from Jackson.

"I'm sorry I was such a nuisance. I'm sorry I caused such a mess. I'll be leav-" He was interrupted by a very confused Jackson.

"What's wrong? Do I look bad? Why'd you scoot backwards after I told you I'm attending your school?"

Mark looked down and whispered, "You're just gonna bully me at school like everyone else. This is probably just a way for you to make me owe you something so you can hit me later."

Jackson's face dropped as he heard Mark's words. "I would never do that to you, Mark. Honestly, I helped you because those people that were beating you up don't look like good people. I promise I'll never hurt you like everyone else did. I'll protect you, angel."

Mark reddened at those words as Jackson held his pinky up. Slowly, he reached his own pinky out and linked it with the other's. "You'll never hurt me?"

"I'll never hurt you, angel. You're my friend."

"Don't call me angel. I'm too ugly, I don't deserve to be called that."

Jackson sighed at Mark's stubbornness. "Mark, you're the most beautiful, pure, innocent soul I've ever seen. No one has ever taken the time to really get to know you, and that's why they don't like you. You deserve so much more than what you have right now."

Mark stared at the other, a tiny spark of hope and joy lighting up in his eyes, causing a whirl of emotions to run through Jackson. Mark had no idea someone would actually come to care for him.

So this is what friends are like.

For the first time ever, the next day, Mark manage to arrive at school without everyone staring at him. He looked around, curious at what everyone was staring at. His eyes traveled down the hallway to rest on a strangely familiar face.

His eyes widened. That's right. Jackson. What was even worse was the fact that he seemed to be, well, popular.

Connor was strolling towards Jackson, and Mark cringed as he thought of the mean words that would flow out of Connor's mouth. But to his great surprise, Connor smiled at Jackson and clapped him on the shoulder.

"You new here, man? You look pretty cool, come hang out with us."

Mark saw Jackson hesitate before looking up, meeting Mark's eyes. Jackson's widened, but before he could do anything, Mark turned tail and fled.

Jackson was one of them.

Mark ended up on the rooftop, the only safe haven in the school for him. Panting, he relived the past moments over and over in his head.

Would Jackson abandon him for Connor and his friends? Would he become one of Mark's bullies? He couldn't, right? He'd promised Mark he wouldn't.

But Mark had known one too many people who'd broken their promises to him. They had all turned on him in the end, and he had sworn to never trust anyone else again. What was the point? It would just result in him being hurt again.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms hug him. Startled, he looked over to find Jackson snuggling into his side, the other's head resting on his shoulder.

"I bet you were thinking that I was going to ditch you, right?" asked Jackson.

Mark's face flushed, revealing his thoughts. Jackson frowned and pinched the older's cheeks. "I told you I was your friend and I would never hurt you, didn't I? I don't break my promises. I turned Connor's offer down.You should have seen his face, angel. It was hilarious."

Mark's face turned an even brighter shade of red, almost matching his hair color, and the corners of his mouth turned upwards into a small smile. Jackson's eyes twinkled as he laughed at the redhead, excited that he managed to get a smile out of the other.

The two spent the rest of the morning like that, only getting up when the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

"Oh! Do I have any classes with you?" asked Jackson excitedly, pulling out his schedule card. The two boys looked over it carefully, face lighting up when they realized they had 5 out of 8 classes together.

In Mark's opinion, it wasn't enough. But at least he had music class with Jackson. At least he would be able to talk to someone in that class now.

The day passed by relatively quickly, with no action from Connor except for the occasional glare or snicker.

Finally, it was time for the last class of the day. Music.

Mark made his way to the class, conflicted over whether to be happy that Jackson was in his class or sad that he would have to spend another class with the popular crowd.

The second he entered the classroom, his eyes darted to Jackson's muscular form, and he skipped his way over to sit down next to the brunette.

But just as he was about to arrive at his seat, he tripped over a foot belonging to one of Connor's buddies. Mark catapulted forward, and if it weren't for Jackson catching him, he surely would have taken a nasty fall on the floor.

After Jackson set him upright again, Mark saw him start to get up and confront the boy responsible for tripping him. He panicked and grabbed the edge of Jackson's sleeve and pulled him back down.

"Please don't do anything. It's not worth it. He'll just beat me up later."

Mark's pleading eyes struck a chord inside Jackson, and the latter relaxed and sat back down, though he was still frustrated and seething inside.

"Why do you never stand up for yourself, Mark?"

"I'm....I'm not strong enough. It just gets worse if I try."

Jackson sighed and squeezed Mark's hand once before letting go. If only the redhead could truly see how precious and courageous he was, then maybe he would actually fight back one day.

But when Mark wasn't looking, Jackson couldn't fight the urge to shoot a glare at Connor's friend. The other caught it, and leaned forward to whisper something to Connor.

And a few seconds later, Connor turned around in his seat, drew his fingers across his neck, and whispered, "You're dead."