been you | mt+ijb ✓

03

They meet Jinyoung and Jackson at the local park when they're twelve. The two boys are only a year younger than them, and Jackson and Mark instantly form a bond that apparently comes from being both foreigners.

Jaebum figures that it has to do with how Jackson knows it feels to be homesick and alone, and he has to grudgingly accept that he doesn't. He was born and raised in Korea; he isn't planning on going on anywhere and therefore ever having to know how Mark feels, being in a home away from home.

Almost out of spite, he befriends the other native Korean. Jinyoung is kind and caring, if a bit manipulative for someone who's barely eleven, and he turns out to be surprisingly maternal for being the youngest of the four. It makes him mature and easy to talk to; Jaebum likes that.

If Mark notices Jaebum spending more and more time with Jinyoung, he doesn't say anything. He doesn't seem to mind, anyway, since he and Jackson are just as close.

But unlike Mark, Jaebum is bothered.

He doesn't like the way Jackson clings to Mark like a koala to a tree; he hates how it's Jackson that Mark goes to when he's upset over missing home. He misses being inseparable, being the best of friends, and really, he just wants Mark back.

His chance to make that happen comes in the form of Jackson leaving to visit China for the summer. Jinyoung, who rarely goes anywhere without Jackson, decides to spend the break with his family, and Mark ends up at Jaebum's house most days, lounging on his bed.

They're not quite the same as they used to be, before Jinyoung and Jackson got involved, but most days they can ignore it.

It's on one of those days that homesickness washes over Mark, unforeseen and worse than it usually does. He's especially quiet that day, barely responding when Jaebum talks to him, and while the younger boy notices that something's off he's not sure if he should acknowledge it.

It's only when Mark silences entirely that Jaebum offers an uncertain, "Are you okay?"

Mark tries to answer that, yes, he's fine, but instead he breaks, turning away and burying his face in one of Jaebum's pillows. Sobs wrack his body, relentless, and Jaebum thinks that if homesickness comes in waves then Mark must be drowning.

He panics, naturally, because it's now usually Jackson who consoles Mark when he's upset and Jaebum has no idea how to.

He gets up and sits down beside the older boy, pulling him into a warm hug as incoherent reassurances spill from his lips. Mark doesn't stop crying, though, and he hears himself ask, "Do you – do you want me to call Jackson?"

The suggestion is hesitant, reluctant, and it's out of desperation that Jaebum gives it. He can hardly believe that he's accepted the loss of his best friend to someone else, but this is about Mark and not Jaebum, and what matters now is making Mark okay again.

For the most part, anyway.

To his surprise, Mark shakes his head immediately, burying his face in Jaebum's shoulder. "No."

Jaebum's heart breaks when he feels tears seep through his shirt.

"What can I do for you?" he asks, hating that he even has to. "How can I help you, Mark?"

Mark sniffles and pulls him closer. "Just stay with me," he says, and it's then that Jaebum realizes that he hasn't lost his best friend at all.