translucent [markson]

[Thirty Five] Together

After a month of dating Mark, Jackson could confidently say that he had never felt happier in his life. Mark was a boyfriend and a best friend to him; he knew he could tell Mark anything and that Mark would do the same in return. Simply being around Mark made Jackson giddy. When they were in class together, the quick looks Mark sent could send Jackson over the moon. No one person had ever made him feel the way he did, and he'd be forever grateful for that.

At least once a week, him and Mark would spend the afternoon with Yugyeom and BamBam. Initially, Mark was worried that he would be the odd one out, since everyone else had been friends since elementary school; however, Mark fit right in with them. The four of them did everything from watch movies at four in the morning to sneaking out of the dorms past curfew. But as much as he loved their little group of four, Mark desperately wanted his own friends to officially meet them.

Mark was well aware of how Jaebum and Youngjae thought of Jackson. Neither of them had said anything against his and Jackson's relationship; instead, they avoided the topic at all costs and acted like it didn't exist. Jinyoung and Yugyeom were a whole separate story that involved lots of bickering and unnecessary fighting. Despite all this, Jaebum, Youngjae, and Jinyoung were still important to Mark, and Mark wanted the two important groups of people in his life to get on good terms.

In a great feat of lying and desperate convincing, Mark got everyone together in his dorm. Of course, he told his group of friends to come earlier than Jackson's, otherwise it would be awkward to have to them all trying to get in at once. If that were the case, Youngjae and Jaebum probably would have left the moment they saw Jackson. However, Mark knew to work around it. Now, he had shoved six people into a room together and he had to figure out how to break the ice.

"So, guys," Mark began. "I know you all know of each other already, but I wanted you guys to formally meet."

"Mark, what is this?" Jaebum asked, slowly and carefully.

"You and Youngjae can't act like I'm not dating Jackson. Besides that, I simply wanted my two groups of friends to meet." Mark innocently smiled and roughly dragged Jackson, Yugyeom, and BamBam into the room.

"You lied to us? I just wanted to have a Harry Potter movie marathon," Jinyoung sighed with a frown on his face. "Next time don't get my hopes up this high."

"That's what you're mad about?" Youngjae scolded, lightly hitting Jinyoung's arm.

"They're not that bad," Jinyoung retorted. "Except for Yugyeom. He can rot in hell."

"What did I ever do to you?" Yugyeom exclaimed, throwing his hands up in annoyance.

"All of you hush," Mark cut in. "There's no chance any of you are leaving and I don't want you to be fighting, so just comply. We're all going to talk and get to know each other like civilised people. Got it?"

"But-" Youngjae tried to argue, but Mark gave him a look that quickly shut him up.

"Let's talk about music. I know we all like music." Mark took a seat in the office chair by the desk and pulled Jackson into his lap.

"What does the little lover boy in your lap know about music? He's just a rich kid that's multilingual," Jaebum scoffed. Mark could feel Jackson tense, so he pulled Jackson a little closer to his body.

"He actually plays the piano and sings," BamBam sassed, proud that he was finally standing up for Jackson. "Not like you would know. You're too busy with Youngjae to even care about me or Mark or Jinyoung, nevermind anyone else in this school."

"The whole first half of the year you acted like Jackson was a stranger!" Jaebum shot back.

"At least he learned what he did wrong. You still act like you're above him when you don't know a damn thing," Jinyoung interjected.

"Since when were all of you on his side? I don't understand what I missed." Jaebum suddenly shrunk away at the dirty looks he was given by Mark and Yugyeom.

"Jackson is more than what you assumed he was," Yugyeom spoke, scarily slow and indifferent.

"Look, this isn't worth fighting over," Jackson mumbled. "If they don't change their minds about me, that isn't my problem."

"But it is!" Mark's raised voice caused everyone in the room to flinch. "Everyone here means so much to me, especially you, Jackson. I at least want them to not hate you."

"Mark, we're sorry," Youngjae whispered , ashamed. "It's just hard. It's hard to trust him after everything we hear about him. I mean, you can't deny that it's suspicious how these rumours continuously come up-"

"It's not suspicious, it's just stupid," Mark snapped.

"It really is," Yugyeom agreed. "None of you even give him the chance for him to prove otherwise. He's one of the sweetest and most caring people I have ever met, and I'm sure anyone that's given him a chance would agree."

"Then why don't you explain it specifically? Clearly, we haven't seen anything ourselves. I want to hear it from you guys." Youngjae gave the others a genuine look of curiosity, the annoyance and judgement almost completely gone.

"He's basically taken care of me and BamBam since we met. He always treated us like family, even when things fell astray." Yugyeom and BamBam shared a small look, a smile immediately forming at the memories they shared with Jackson when they were kids.

"And he forgave me when I treated him like shit," Jinyoung added. "Even when I asked him to tutor me with ulterior motives, he put it in the past and continued to help me out with English."

"And he was there for me when everyone treated us like shit. You guys gave me the silent treatment and I even acted rude towards Jackson himself, but he didn't hold anything against me. He stayed on my side and gave me a chance after all I had put him through." Mark's finality in his tone left the room in silence. Neither Jaebum nor Youngjae really knew what to say.

"Thank you," Jackson breathed, hiding his face away from everyone else. Mark simply smiled and gave Jackson a short kiss.

"I have to admit that you two are a really cute couple," Jaebum spoke up. "You seem to be really happy with him, Mark."

"I am," Mark stated firmly.

"Do you really care that we get along this much?" Jaebum waited for Mark to respond, taking his nod as a good enough answer. "And you really, really like him?" Another nod. "Well, I guess we really have no choice then, Youngjae."

"I think you're right," Youngjae admitted. "It was wrong for the two of us to treat you so unfairly. I hope a late chance is better than nothing."

"And I'm sorry I've been such an asshole to you two. It was really out of line the way I treated you guys in English, especially you, Mark. We're friends and I still hurt you over some stupid opinions."

"It's alright. Right, Jackson?" Mark squeezed Jackson's leg as Jackson nodded, a sweet smile on his lips. "We've all learned from our mistakes and we should just get along. Now about that music thing..."

As the other six continued talking, Jackson couldn't help but feel like the luckiest person on the world. He received more than he could ever ask for by having Jaebum and Youngjae give him a chance. He never thought that he'd get to become friends with such a great group of people and he would never be able to thank Mark enough for taking the initiative.

For once, Jackson felt completely content. He had the best boyfriend and the best friends he could ever need. It still didn't matter that other people thought he was a fuckboy, especially now that he had widened his friend group. It didn't matter what people thought as long as he had his friends by his side.

In the end, Mark really was the one that showed everyone who he truly was. Mark made the screen that clouded who Jackson was disappear. There was no need for Jackson to be afraid of rumours or evil stares anymore because Mark would always be there for him. Jackson had someone to protect him and make him realise that the way he was was already perfect.

Sure, that didn't make the gossip disappear or suddenly make Jackson's parents care, but that didn't matter to him. He had the love of his six friends to fill in the gap he was left. He had six lame, nerdy, and annoying dorks to make him smile and laugh. And that was enough.