When Bad Meets Worse

Chapter III

Jackson thought... April wasn't going to dump Youngjae for that Mark guy yet, but what is this?! Jackson watches April laughing and talking to Mark, her arm over his shoulders so they almost hug. He stands hesitantly with April's homework, debating whether to go up, when she jogged over to him.
Jackson points at Mark, then at April, and makes a horrified face.
"Whatever, Youngjae's not here." April turns in her dress with a fangirling giggle. "You saw Mark right? Isn't he so damn hot?! And he seems like he like me..."
"Ha... yeah sure." Jackson fake laughs along, "but shouldn't you be a little more careful? There are people watching."
"It's okay. I'll just say no if he asks. Youngjae'll trust me." April winks.
Poor Youngjae, Jackson thought to himself, two months and he's already practically dumped.
※
All the way till the second semester, the school managed to stay relatively calm. Only a few ripples here and there. Youngjae didn't even bother to stay out of trouble. He was forced by the principal to dye his hair back to black five hundred times. So they gave him a little detention. It's a thing here, keeping your hair black at school so you supposedly "focus on school". April is floating between the two men ever so happily. She's always liked something risky. At school, she flirts with Youngjae like there's no effing tomorrow. While secretly, she hangs out with Mark every day after school. Jackson thought, the three of them living together like that forever wouldn't be too bad either. Everyone's happy.
Jackson didn't want to get into April's mess, he's got no time or interest. So Jackson doesn't really know what's actually happening. All he knows is a rough idea of where they might be going.
All seemed peaceful until April announced she broke up with Youngjae.
"So you gonna move on to Mark?" Jackson says stuffing fries into his mouth.
"Yeah... probably." April says sucking on her straw.
"What did you tell Youngjae?" Jackson grabs the last fry and waits for April to answer.
He swears he's not one of those people who gossip. He's just... bored.
"All I said was I don't like him anymore. But I didn't mention Mark." As expected of April, she didn't even seem the slightest bit sad. "But guess what he said?! He cried! He cried while asking me to stay with him. Like it's just a breakup, what's it worth crying for?"
Not everyone's as cold hearted as you are... Jackson shuts his mouth to keep from accidentally speaking his thoughts. There's no point lecturing her anyway, he's tried.
A few days later, just as Jackson thought they'd live happily ever after with April switching boyfriends at the speed of cougars, he sees her sprinting to him with tears in her wide eyes.
"Oh god. What happened?!" Jackson sees April squeezing her phone.
She sinks into the couch mechanically. "Youngjae hacked my phone and screenshotted my texts with Mark... he said he'll show the teacher if I don't apologize..."
"What?!" Jackson grabs April's wrist, now drenched in sweat. They are not really allowed to date at school... so if the teacher hears about April and Mark, they'll both be in so much trouble. "Maybe he's just trying to scare you?"
"No... He sent me the screenshots." April says nervously. "You don't think he'd actually do it... right?"
"It's okay, he's probably just mad you cheated on him. Just. Call him and apologize. Make sure the school doesn't hear about this."
April nods in agreement, a bit more calm now. She picks up her phone and calls his number.
"Put it on speaker." Jackson says over her shoulder.
"Did I not make myself clear enough earlier?" Youngjae says right away when he picks up. His frigid voice shoots through the speaker.
"Youngjae, I'm sorry. I'm sorry; just don't make this bigger. Please?" April begs.
"Huh... Then tell me, why are you sorry?" Youngjae laughs lightly, disparage seeping through.
"I, I shouldn't have cheated on you... and flirted with other boys... I'm sorry... please don't tell anyone?"
"You shouldn't have left when I asked you to stay. But... too late now." Youngjae continues.
April could tell his tone meant he wasn't letting this go. "Choi Youngjae! If you tell the school, you'll get into trouble too!" Jackson almost wants to laugh if it wasn't for the situation. Taken out of context, they sound like kindergartens.
"Does it look like I care?" Youngjae laughs again. "I'm gotten into trouble enough times. But I wanna see you in trouble."
The phone beeps signalling the end of a call. April sighs, looking back up to Jackson as if looking for an answer.
Jackson's a little shocked at how stern Youngjae's words were. It didn't sound like a joke. Everyone knows he's everything but nice. He'd do anything to drag others down with him.
"What did you text Mark?" Jackson wonders.
April just bites her lip and shakes her head in tears.
"Oh god April." Jackson shakes his head, getting a rough idea of what they texted. "Maybe he should show the teacher so you learn a lesson. Then you won't cheat next time." Jackson sits back in the couch, not wanting to deal with April anymore.
※
Jackson held onto the thought that Youngjae was only trying to scare April. So believing that nothing bad was actually going to happen, Jackson let April be for the whole weekend. But he was too simple after all.
Jackson's always the first to arrive at school, so there was pretty much no one around in the school. He's grown used to the hour of precious silence, which he won't be able to enjoy later today.
Jackson sits by the window. Sunshine sprinkles in intermittent rays. He opens his notes and starts to review.
The window is translucent, so all he can see is a showdown when someone passes by.
He catches a glance of a shadow slowly getting fainted. He shrugs it off and goes back to reading.
The moment Jackson turns his head; a loud thud rings, followed by little creaks of shuttered glass. Jackson quickly dodges a piece coming in his direction before it can cut his neck open.
The sound was so loud Jackson feared his ears might explode. He locked his eyes to the shudders on his desk before suddenly jerking his head up in shock. Youngjae's contempt grin stands in place of where the window used to be.
Before Jackson can process Youngjae's expression, he's has already walked inside, and is now approaching Jackson step by step.
He grabs Jackson's shirt collar, their faces so close Jackson could feel Youngjae's cool minty breathes. "Meet me at lunch by the garden."
It's been so long since someone has last said such a thing to Jackson; he'd almost forgotten what it's like o seethe in such anger. His initial thought isn't "What's all this got to do with me?" Instead, some old part of him has woken up. He feels his blood boiling, Youngjae's every move, from gesture to tone angered him. Jackson breathed hard to keep his violent self from taking over. He tries his best to look disinterested.
Jackson stares right into Youngjae's eyes without the slightest hint of fear. "What about the glass?"
Youngjae smiles, something dark flickering in his eyes. "Up to you."
Watching Youngjae vanish from sight, Jackson pulls his tie straight.
Each student entering the classroom has the same shocked face on as they noticed the glass broken in Jackson's desk. When people ask, Jackson just shrugs it off. "It was like that after I got back from the washroom. In the end they conclude it was from the heat.
April is he only one who knows what happened, after a glance from Jackson of course.
Unease swarms over him, that Youngjae guy's for real.
Although Jackson still had no idea why he got dragged into this mess, he went with April to the school garden regardless. By the time they got there, two girls are already there crying. They are April's closest friends at school, other than Jackson of course. Youngjae really isn't scared of anything; looks like he's already beaten up the girls. The area is surrounded by Youngjae's friends so they had nowhere to run.
"Ya Choi Youngjae! Why did you hurt them? They had nothing to do with this! Hit me if you dare." April yells when the girls come into sight. She might be a constant cheater, but she cares a lot for her friends. Seeing them shake in fear made her regret everything in the past couple of months.
Youngjae turns around at her words, his fist landing on her cheek without emotions. "Oh of course I'll hit you. How many guys did you f*cking cheat with?!"
Jackson leaps instinctively at Youngjae, but two people from Youngjae's class grabbed his arms and the pinned them on his back.
"Yeah I cheated, but it was just with Mark!" April doesn't care who's watching now, she screams in Youngjae's face.
"Then what about him?" Youngjae laughs dryly as he points towards Jackson.
April turns around to see Jackson pinned by two guys. Damn it. She shouldn't have been so close to him at school, now he was getting dragged in with her.
"Don't hurt him! We are just friends!" April runs in front of Jackson, her arms outstretched to protect him.
Oh god. Jackson says at April's kind stupidity. They are screwed.
"You are talking for him now?!"
Jackson was right, they are screwed. Youngjae stares at the two in boiling anger, his hair pushed up, making him look even deadlier. He grabs April by the hair and slams her onto the ground.
"Why did you f*cking cheat?! Huh?" He shoves her hard into a wall; April squeezes her eyes closed in pain.
April just stands day, too tired to find the strength to talk.
Youngjae watches April's blank expression, another swarm of anger washes over him. He punches her again in the face.
"Apologize." Youngjae whispers, his voice eerily soothing and warm.
April stares into his eyes, unafraid.
"I said apologize!" Youngjae yells, his eyes wide.
April shakes at the sudden anger, tears finally falling uncontrollably. "Please, I'm -- I'm sorry... please."
Youngjae seems to calm down a little at her words. He sings his arm back in disparage. April's head hits the wall and more blood flows down her forehead.
Youngjae walks slowly towards Jackson, as if saying "your turn".
Jackson glances at Youngjae's pale hands; threatening red blood stains his fingers. Oh, and he just noticed, Mark lying in the grass nearby, his face covered in blood.
Jackson swallows hard, and yells to the emptiness behind Youngjae. "Oh Hi teacher-nim!"
Though Youngjae didn't seem the slightest bit startled by Jackson's fake call, his friends weren't so daring. The two holding onto Jackson's arms look up in alarm. Jackson breaks free of their arms at that moment and sprint away.
He was scared. He feared of being in a fight, but what he feared more, was the person he would become in a fight.