markson | wandering to you

1.2

bambam and jackson are out eating at a busy fast food restaurant. "i talked to the guy." jackson spills finally, taking a bite off the greasy burger as he grips it with both fingers.

bambam stops scrolling and abruptly puts his smartphone down on the table, turning to stare at his friend. "what? is that why you were acting weird the other day?"

"it's a messy situation." jackson huffs, failing to explain himself. there's cheddar, plus some other crap, smeared onto the corners of his mouth, and his hair's a whole tragedy. it's sticking up every which way, as if he recently stepped out of bed. bambam's going to laugh, but it's not the right time to do that and tick off jackson - not if he wants to actually know what's going on with the guy's crush thing.

bambam still has no idea whatsoever about the so-called crush's identity, and it irks him that it's taking so long for jackson to open up. he knows bambam wouldn't judge him over anything, much less his sexual orientation or the person he jerks off to. bambam is getting more impatient every day. as a friend, he wants to prove helpful. so far, all he knows for sure is that the crush is male, not female. and that it's someone from their school. that should narrow it down to fewer people...

maybe not. the student body is mainly made up of boys, with just a handful of girls for every class. it's hard to tell who jackson favors among their male friends, 'cause he's equally affectionate with all of them. and there's too many attractive students around to figure out who it is right away. it's detective time.

"messy situation, you say. don't tell me it's got to do with past relationships?"

"no. i've made a fool out of myself in front of him." jackson sighs, drained out as though he's told this story a thousand times. he hasn't. this is the second time he talks about it, whereas the first was talking to himself.

"you always play the idiot's part. i don't see the difference with that and... this." bambam comments, completely tactless. he does have a point. he's trying to say that jackson's not the serious type to begin with, so it's not a good idea to go serious only for the purpose of impressing a guy. uh, bambam may suck at getting the point across. he's very intelligent though, he muses.

"i don't want to be the idiot when it comes to him. how is it so hard to understand?" jackson keeps the complaining long and loud, stuffing food into his mouth so often... it's a wonder he's still breathing properly.

"fucking gosh. you are who you are. keeping up a pretense won't get you anywhere." bambam makes sure he's listened to, and, for good measure, adds: "you're great to hang out with, no worries. i'm sure he's not going to ask a deadass boring guy to take him out."

jackson wipes his mouth from the sticky cheese, and promptly bursts into tears.

bambam groans. "come on, what's with the moping? he doesn't even know of your feelings-"

jackson's frown deepens.

"unless...?"

jackson nods. bambam moves over to sit at jackson's side, rubbing his back in a comforting manner; then, in a desperate attempt to gain some extra knowledge, (cause jackson hasn't given him any details yet) he pushes what remains of his fries into jackson's tray. when exactly did it become so complicated to rip info out of his friend?


❁

bambam is now aware of a few more things. first: jackson's crush is incredibly popular, and that in itself is a huge giveaway of who he might be. second, he took part in the official festival events, and third, he's going to graduate this year. processing the information gathered, bambam dwells on the mentioned "friend" of this unnamed crush. jackson was told off, and this friend was the culprit. a simple question pops into bambam's mind.