Mark was up early to make it to his morning class, entering the lab room just in time. He really wasn't looking forward to the next semester of biology, but for him to complete his distribution credits, it was mandatory for him to take some sort of science. It had absolutely nothing to do with being an English major, which is why he had to prepare himself over the past few days of free time he had for the boring few months ahead.
His eyes gazed over the mixed crowd of familiar and unfamiliar faces scattered about the lecture hall, stopping when they met another pair of brown orbs staring back at him, his breath catching in his throat.
Seriously? He was here too?
Jackson had spent the past few days with Jinyoung, touring the school with him, hanging out, getting to know him more; doing whatever they did together. He'd leave the dorm fairly early and came back late, even around almost midnight on some days. Mark got increasingly more frustrated with the amount of time he was gone; why the hell was Jinyoung all of a sudden so special that he just drops everything to hang around with him? Mark was so used to Jackson's constant pining over him that seeing him suddenly shift gears to someone else was just odd.
He didn't care much though. Mark just didn't like Jinyoung, that's all. He preferred Jackson staying away from him, and didn't want to interact with the new kid at all. Which would've been way easier to do if they didn't just so happen to share the same science class.
Mark put in the utmost effort to get away from him, his gaze immediately dropping to the floor as he tried to quickly find an empty seat.
"Hey! Mark!" Jinyoung called out, approaching him fast.
'Damn' he cussed in his head. Mark tried to act like he hadn't just been actively trying to avoid the younger, turning with a half-assed smile on his face. "H-Hi Jinyoung..."
"I'm so glad to see a familiar face, starting a new school is so scary and stressful." Jinyoung exclaimed, his bright eyes and pure white smile annoying the hell out of Mark.
"Yeah, I bet it is..." Mark mumbled out.
"I have an empty seat next to me, come on." Jinyoung said, excitedly pointing out where he had been sitting and urging Mark to follow him. The elder begrudgingly did so to avoid causing a scene or hurting any feelings, taking a seat in the empty chair next to Jinyoung who seemed to talk just as much as Jackson did. "Thank goodness Jackson introduced us, I wouldn't have anyone to talk to. Didn't know you were taking biology too, I would've asked you to show me to the science building the other day instead of Jackson."
"Yeah well... I was busy..." Mark stated with a shrug, of course not mentioning that he'd rather stay in and snooze than have anything to do with him. He dug into his bag and pulled out a notebook and a pen, resting his head in his palms as he waited for the professor to arrive. "I heard you two kicked it off well though..."
"Oh, well Jackson's great, he's funny and kind and really thoughtful. He paid for my meal the other day, I felt awful I forgot my wallet in my dorm. He was so sweet about it though." Jinyoung gushed.
Mark looked over at him, the new information taking him by surprise. "He p-paid for you too?"
"Yeah, crazy nice right? I owe him one. Maybe I'll take him out as repayment." Jinyoung suggested with a smile and distant look in his eyes as if he were daydreaming.
Mark didn't like the idea of Jackson and Jinyoung alone together. The thought just... irked him. And for some reason, the tiny inkling of romantic feelings between the two really set him off. He didn't know why, and he really shouldn't care. Yet, he needed to know exactly how the two felt about one another. "Like... on a date?"
"No just to hang out! We don't know one another well enough for dating yet." Jinyoung chuckled out, though Mark didn't overlook the blush that spread quickly across his cheeks at the mention of it. And he definitely didn't mishear the use of the word 'yet', leaving the potential of Jinyoung and Jackson possibly dating open.
Mark cleared his throat through grit teeth, turning away to focus on the professor who just walked into class. "Right, right yeah, sorry."
Jinyoung leaned over, his voice dropping to just above a whisper as the class began. "He talks about you a lot though. Says you're a good friend and that he wanted me to meet you. I'm glad I did."
Mark's brows rose. So Jackson still thought about him even when hanging out with Jinyoung. The revelation calmed him, even if only just a bit, he felt better that he wasn't totally forgotten. He surely didn't care much if he were forgotten but, it's always a nice feeling to be remembered.
"Oh well, he said equally nice things about you too. I hope you enjoy your time here." Mark didn't mean it. He didn't necessarily wish that Jinyoung would have a bad time at his new school, but he definitely didn't like his presence. Still couldn't put a finger on why, but he just didn't.
"So far I am, you guys are making it easy to settle in, I appreciate it." Jinyoung stated, patting Mark on the shoulder.
Mark refused to feel bad for hating the kid despite the way his chest tightened after such a nice comment. "So um... did Jackson mention anything else about me? Like, our relationship status or something?"
"He just said you're a good friend. That's all really." Jinyoung replied.
Mark looked down at his notebook, not even paying much attention to the fact that he'd drawn a heart in the margins with the pen he'd been fiddling with between his fingers. "Oh I see. Yeah okay."
Of course, they were just friends. That's what Mark wanted them to be, probably less if possible, since Jackson was so annoying.
He quickly scribbled out the heart he had drawn in his notebook and focused on his work.
