Mark didn't end up in the library. He didn't know how he ended up in front of Jinyoung's dorm room, but he now stood there having a staring contest with the wooden door.
Why the hell was he there?
Jackson said he was going to hang out with Jinyoung, and Mark ended up waiting until the younger left first before heading out himself. But something in him had the desire to see exactly what Jackson and Jinyoung meant by 'hanging out', and now he stood before Jinyoung's room like some weird stalker.
He shouldn't be so concerned about it.
He didn't like feeling so concerned about it.
He was embarrassed to care so much about someone else's relationship.
But part of him just had to know, or else the uncertainty would eat away at him.
Mark took in a breath as he gently raised the sleeve of his oversized sweater to expose his fist, hovering his knuckles just inches away from the wood.
Was he really gonna interrupt whatever they were doing like this?
Suddenly the awful dream from the night before invaded Mark's thoughts. Touching, kissing, moaning; between two people that Mark wanted to stay as far apart as possible.
And if they were doing that behind this door...
Mark let out an annoyed huff as he proceeded to knock.
He waited a few moments, his nerves getting the best of him with each second that passed. If they weren't doing anything suspicious, then Jinyoung would be able to open the door quickly, right? What was taking so long then?
Or maybe Mark was being too irrational; no one moved at the speed of light, he should give them some time to get to the door.
Mark waited a few more seconds.
Suddenly the knob started to turn; Mark's eyes flashed down to the metal mechanism that unlocked. He felt his heart pounding as he tried to quickly think up an explanation as to why he was visiting. He could say he thought he had forgotten something the other night and came over to retrieve it. That was believable enough to fool both Jackson and Jinyoung, right?
Mark fidgeted as the door swung open, his brain still working on his excuse as he looked up at the person who answered the door.
Suddenly, the need for an excuse flew out the window.
"Hey." Jaebeom answered as recognition flashed through his eyes while meeting Mark's gaze.
Jaebeom must've recently returned from his family visit. They do have classes the next day, so of course he'd be back in time to resume his studies. "H-Hi. Uh, is Jinyoung around?"
Jaebum shook his head as he leaned against the door frame. "Nope. He's out with a friend or something."
So they went out somewhere else together. That relaxed him just a bit. He was still curious of course, but Mark at least knew that there was less of a chance of them doing inappropriate activities together if they were out in public.
"Ah I see..." Mark mumbled. Well now he had no reason to be there, he had no clue where Jinyoung and Jackson went, and at this point he'd just look like a weird stalker.
But thinking over it now, Mark realized that he was so hung up on Jackson only because Jackson was hung up on Jinyoung. He'd gotten someone else to pay attention to while Mark only worried about him all day. Why was he wasting his time and energy on Jackson who clearly wanted to waste his time and energy on someone else?
Mark figured his best bet was to find his own 'Jinyoung'. Jackson had been with him since their first year of college together, and this was the first time he's ever paid so much attention to someone other than him, Mark wasn't used to it. But that just meant that he had to find his own new friend so he could stop thinking about Jackson once and for all.
The only problem was, Mark didn't have many friends. He occasionally spoke with classmates that he considered acquaintances, but they were nothing more to him than that.
Mark was so used to Jackson by his side that he hadn't even really paid much attention to anyone else.
Though, right in front of him, stood a familiar face that Mark was sure he shared and English class with or something. Maybe that was a start.
"Did you and me share a class once?" Mark blurted out, the question totally random and unprovoked.
Luckily Jaebeom didn't seem too caught off guard by it. "Maybe. But it also feels like I just met you so, not sure."
"Well... I guess we've just never formally interacted..." Mark mumbled, now second guessing his surety that he's seen Jaebeom somewhere before. He was really no good at initiating or participating in conversations. The only person he was used to talking with was Jackson, and the majority of the time he was shooting down their conversations. But Jackson had Jinyoung now; Mark needed to find someone else he actually enjoyed talking to in order to get his thoughts away from those two. "Hey uh, you wanna hang out sometime?"
That was what caught Jaebeom by surprise, his brows furrowed in confusion and shock. "You... wanna hang out?"
Maybe suggesting it out of the blue like that wasn't the best idea. He seriously had no idea how Jackson was such a social butterfly, it was way more difficult than the younger made it look. "I mean... yeah?"
Jaebeom was quiet for a moment, his eyes wandering as he awkwardly scratched his head. He eventually shrugged, looking back at Mark. "Uh, sure?"
"Okay, cool." Mark replied, a moment of silence passing between them. Seriously, conversations were hard. "So... um, yeah, anytime is fine..."
"You should take my number then." Jaebeom stated as he pulled out his phone.
Mark nodded, forcing a tight lipped smile onto his face. "Right. Thanks."
They exchanged numbers and Mark got the hell out of there. He felt like he'd already embarrassed himself quite a few times, and that little visit made it worse. But, he had Jaebeom's number now. Maybe this was just an awkward start to a new friendship. A new friendship that would hopefully take his mind off of the waning attention he got from Jackson.
