The Boy Next Door

Friend After Friend

Mark is the first to arrive at their lunch table the next day, and is trying to stuff his textbook into his overflowing bag when he feels someone sit across from. He looks up, expecting Jackson, and is surprised to see Shownu, a scowl on his handsome face.

"What happened yesterday?"

"Oh we... went somewhere else"

"Yeah, I noticed, how dare you abandon me with them!"

"Sorry, really, we just felt weird about going" Mark offers, genuinely feeling bad for it. He should have thought about how Shownu would feel, especially with how cliquey those guys are.

"Don't sound too apologetic, I'll feel like a bully, its fine, really" Shownu drops his chin onto his hand, and stabs his lunch with a fork. He doesn't take a bite though. "They are cliquey, though, at least Yugyeom is welcoming"

"What about Youngjae?"

"I didn't see him, I think him and BamBam hid in a corner of the house and didn't come out, I think they're dating now? I'm not sure"

"That... doesn't surprise me" Mark had already guessed that, but was waiting for BamBam to tell him.

"And you know what? Yugyeom and Jungkook are practically joined at the hip, I don't think I saw one without the other all day" Shownu isn't exactly venting but he's feeling a little frustrated. He was hoping to finally make some friends, but now hes wondering if joining the soccer team was the right choice.

"I promise not to skip out on you next time, or at least drag you with us" Mark puts his hand over his heart. Shownu scoffs at him, but hes suppressing a smile.

"I don't think I've ever sat on this side of the cafeteria, its so far away" Jinyoung looks across the room, squinting like he can't possibly see the other side from here. "Well, I guess I can think of one time" He casts a meaningful look at Mark before sitting down.

"Well who invited you to?" Mark asks, glaring.

"Don't be silly Mark, we're teammates now, we should get along" He smiles warmly, batting his eyelashes, before turning to Shownu. "Teammates sit together at lunch"

Mark is about to say something but one look at Shownu's smiling face and he can't. Damn his giant heart. Jaebum joins them next, but he doesn't say a word, too caught up in whatever he is reading.

Yugyeom and Jungkook sit next to Shownu and immediately pull him into a conversation about their math teacher, the one with the lisp and the missing eye. Something about how she was late for class, because she had to fight a carjacker? Mark isn't really listening, trying his hardest to find some way to escape.

When he sees Namjoon across the cafeteria, eyeing him curiously, he wants to run to him, but of course Jinyoung chooses that moment to speak to him.

"I wonder where Youngjae is, he is usually here by now, have you heard from Jackson? Don't you two usually sit together"

"We do" Mark doesn't turn, still scanning the cafeteria for Jackson.

"Oh perfect, Jackson!" Jaebum says, forcing Mark to swivel around nearly knocking Jinyoung's tray over. "Sit here, I need to talk to you"

Mark barely manages a second of eye contact with Jackson before hes being pulled onto the bench next to Jaebum. When Mark's eyesight drops from Jackson to Jinyoung, Jinyoung smiles at him, a smile that says, I'm the only one here to talk to, so talk.

"You guys didn't show up yesterday, you missed a good dinner, my mom got meat from the butcher shop so we had fresh meatballs"

"That sounds good"

"There still some leftovers, if you can believe it, you should come try them"

"No thanks, I'm a vegetarian"

"Oh, hey you know our lunch today was chicken nuggets right? And I just watched you eat them, so is there another reason you don't want to come over?"

Mark freezes, put completely on the spot. Looking in Jinyoung's eyes, his mistake suddenly hits him full force. What was he thinking? Joining the soccer team, entering Jinyoung's territory, just what the hell was he thinking. Games, practice, lunches, and what dinners? All being taken over by Jinyoung and his gang of soccer nerds, does that mean he has zero space anymore? Zero freedom, zero air, free of Jinyoung.

"Mark..." Jinyoung says, watching as Mark's skin turns ashen and his eyes roll back in his head. "Mark!"

Jinyoung barely catches him as Mark falls off the bench, protecting Mark's head, even as he hits his shoulder hard on the concrete floor. He winces, but straightens up quickly, cradling Mark's head. He hears Jaebum shouting something, but the words are lost on him as he stares down at Mark.

"What happened?" The nurse suddenly touches Jinyoung's shoulder to get his attention before turning to Mark.

"I don't know, he suddenly got pale and then passed out"

"We should take him to my office"

"I can carry him—"

"No, let me" Jaebum interrupts him, scooping Mark into his arms before Jinyoung can. "Don't be late for class"

Jaebum follows the nurse to the office. He lays Mark down on one of the beds, moving out of the way so the nurse can look at him.

"Hes awake now, but it looks like he may have stress fainted, I'll let him rest here for the next hour or so, why don't you get to class? Thank you for your help" She hands him a lollipop and a late note, then shows him out. "And tell your brother not to worry, I don't need a second patient in here"

She chuckles as she closes the door, sitting behind her desk and pulling out her book.

"Stress fainted, huh?" Jaebum mumbles into the empty hall, slowly walking towards his next class.

He decides not to text Jinyoung, letting him stew a moment, Jinyoung won't faint, he knows that.

Jackson almost falls out of his chair when Jaebum comes in the room though.

"Is he okay? What happened" he grabs Jaebum's shirt, staring up at him nervously.

Jaebum suppresses his laugh, holding Jackson up when he stumbles. The entire room is looking at them, so Jaebum just helps him stand and then gently nudges him away.

"Mark is fine, he just needs to rest, and maybe run? Nurse said it was stress" Jaebum smiles, leading Jackson back to their seats.

"Is everything alright?" Their teacher asks, eyebrows raised, hoping she isn't going to have to deal with this.

"It's fine, we got it" Jaebum smiles, putting an arm around Jackson as he leans into him.

The teacher nods, eager to get back to the lesson, she turns around to the board and continues her lecture. Jaebum gives Jackson's shoulder a little squeeze before moving his arm to get his materials out of his bag.

Jackson naws on his lower lip, he wants to ask about Mark again, just to keep talking but he refrains, desperate to focus on the lesson.

Mark thanks god that it was Jaebum and not Jinyoung that carried him here. He doesn't mourn the loss, happy when the nurse falls silent, captivated by her book and he can sit in peace, calming from his panic.

That was wild... he thinks, he didn't know his brain could trick him into feeling so suffocated. He wishes Jackson were here, just to help him think of anything else, but like a broken record his mind only thinks of Jinyoung calling his name at a distance—at least it had sounded far away, straight from a dream. Or a nightmare.

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, slipping to sleep.