Mark woke up early the next morning as usual for class, a bit relieved when he looked over and spotted Jackson still fast asleep in his bed. He was glad the younger was sound asleep in the dorm and not out with Jinyoung again, as it seemed like no matter what time of day it was Jackson and Jinyoung always found time to see one another. It had to get tiresome at some point.
Mark was tired of it, at least.
Though, he also felt silly feeling so possessive over Jackson since the elder didn't seem to express the same amount of enthusiasm about him as he used to. Jackson had never before called Mark 'nothing special', in fact the younger went far out of his way to tell Mark just how special he was.
But Mark couldn't get hung up on that; so what if Jackson was slowly losing interest? This little crush phase will end soon and then he could go back to caring nothing about the younger; he just had to forcibly focus on other things.
Like class for example. He had a lecture early in the morning, something that he should be focusing on way more than Jackson. He got himself ready and headed for class with the intention of not thinking once about Jackson, only for him to walk into the room and spot Jinyoung sitting right in the seat next to his.
Right, he forgot they shared a class.
Well there went his plan of not thinking about Jackson.
Though, no matter how much he tried to dislike Jinyoung and ignore him as much as possible, Mark had to admit that the younger's advice in the library did him good. Him and Jackson got back to acting like they normally did with one another, even if it were just for a brief moment, it made Mark's entire night.
He wanted to be angry about it, but he just couldn't.
"Hey." Mark greeted as he approached his seat beside Jinyoung, deciding to try and be slightly nicer that day, though his hatred for the younger still lingered.
Jinyoung, surprised to be even being greeted by Mark, looked over at the elder with those wide brown eyes. "Oh... hi Mark."
The atmosphere was a bit awkward, (1) because Jinyoung and Mark just had an awkward relationship, but mostly (2) because last time the two saw one another, Mark was unnecessarily snapping at him.
The elder pulled out his book and set them on the desk, a few moments of silence passing between them before Mark finally broke it.
"...I told him."
Jinyoung looked over at him, brows knitting together. "Huh?"
"I told Jackson I didn't hate him." Mark clarified as his fingers tapped on the table in front of him.
Jinyoung blinked, his bewildered expression slowly turning into a cheerful one. "Oh. That must be why he came over yesterday grinning from ear to ear."
Mark rose a brow. "Really? He was?"
"Yeah. I asked him why he was smiling so wide and he said 'Mark is so cute', so I assumed you two were just joking around before that or something."
A light blush settled itself onto Mark's face as the elder tried to hide the smile growing on his lips. His heart shouldn't have fluttered at being called cute, but he couldn't control it.
"Oh, no... I told him just before he left." He mumbled bashfully.
Jinyoung hummed, seeming genuinely happy to hear it. "Well, I'm sure he'll use that as encouragement to pass his test."
Mark frowned. "It's today?"
"Yeah. He wanted to cram last night. Though I don't think he needs it, I'm sure he'll pass."
"Hopefully he will. He said you've been a great help." Mark replied. So that's why Jackson had stayed over Jinyoung's dorm so long last night. Mark had no idea, and didn't even think to wish him luck before his test. Maybe he should try and catch the younger before his class starts to do so.
"Aw, he makes me blush." Jinyoung giggled.
Mark looked over at the younger, sure enough seeing his big ears color themselves a rosy red. Mark wasn't exactly fond of Jinyoung blushing over his roommate; if there was no secret relationship going on between the two, then why did Jinyoung react like a guy with a crush?
It always ate away at Mark how close the two were, and Mark couldn't put a finger on why they enjoyed being together so often, but he felt his curiosity about the two's feelings for one another scratching away at his brain. He couldn't help but wonder if the two really genuinely viewed one another as just friends or if there was something more.
"Jinyoung, can I ask you something now?" Mark blurted out, his mouth working faster than his brain.
The younger nodded, looking over at him curiously. "What is it?"
Mark chewed his lip as he thought of the best way to ask the question. There was really no other method than to just be upfront about it. "Do you like Jackson?"
"Of course I do, he's a really cool guy." The other male replied.
The elder cleared his throat. "I mean... not just in a friendly way but like... y'know... do you like like him?"
Jinyoung's jaw fell open slightly just as soon as he understood what Mark was asking, obviously not expecting such a personal question from the elder, especially since they weren't even that close. "Oh... um... I haven't thought about it really..."
"Oh, I see..." Mark mumbled. The answer should have made him feel better, yet he still had some uneasiness about Jinyoung and Jackson's relationship. If Jinyoung hadn't thought about it before, will he start thinking about it now? Mark may have just planted the idea that he hated so much right into Jinyoung's head.
"Why are you asking?" The younger questioned, pulling Mark out of his thoughts.
Mark shifted awkwardly, waving away the question. "No just um, curiosity is all."
"Do you like him?" Jinyoung asked, the tables suddenly turning.
Mark panicked, having never been asked about having any romantic feelings toward Jackson before; he's never had to admit them aloud to anyone and quite frankly didn't want to. It was a habit to deflect questions he didn't want to answer, and though it wasn't always beneficial, Mark was too used to running away from situations he didn't know how to handle rather than face them head on. "D-Didn't you ask me that already? I told you in the library that I don't hate him--"
"You know what I mean, Mark." Jinyoung stared at him, expecting the same honesty in Mark's answer that he provided in his own earlier.
Mark gulped, his eyes falling to the table. He knew Jinyoung was asking if he liked Jackson in a romantic context, not just in general; and that was just something Mark couldn't answer. Or rather, he didn't want to answer, not with the truth at least.
And the truth was; Mark knew his feelings for Jackson were more than that of just friends or roommates, but he was too scared to acknowledge them. He hoped that ignoring the feelings would make them disappear, but so far it's had the opposite effect; now all he could think about was Jackson, and all he craved was his roommates attention.
But all of that was too embarrassing to admit. Even though ignoring what he felt hadn't worked, that was the only thing Mark felt he could do. He's ignored Jackson all this time, ignored Jinyoung as much as possible, ignored the butterflies in his stomach and the fast beating of his heart wherever he was around his roommate-- that was the only thing he was good at.
He couldn't bring himself to be honest, he was way too scared of the consequences.
"...No. No, I don't like him. He's just a friend. Just roommates." Mark finally answered while tugging at the collar of his shirt.
Jinyoung rose a brow, looking as if he were about to say something, but deciding against it.
"Oh, okay." he replied, the conversation ending there as their professor arrived and started class.
