[ 2015 ]

For the past 2 years, Jackson has been following Kunpimook around everywhere. He walks the Thai boy to class, sits with him during lunch, and walks him home everyday. At first, Kunpimook found it quite weird and creepy that Jackson would follow him home, but the two gradually became the closest friends. And Kunpimook was extremely thankful to have someone like Jackson in his life. 

Kunpimook, or Bambam now, slouched in his seat across from his best friend. He was exhausted from a long day at school. Jackson, on the other hand, was exploding with energy and laughter. Bambam had finished all his assignments, turned in all his projects, and aced all his test. Jackson had slept through half his periods. Despite Bam’s deep desire to go home and sleep, he wanted to spend time with his best friend even more. Every day they met after school to walk at the park, watch a movie, or play video games. Today they decided to grab an ice cream at the parlor by their school. 

“The usual right, Bambam?” Jackson winked at his drowsy friend. 

Jackson got out of his seat and walked to the register to order. He noticed a group of boys from his school sitting in a table to his right. The chairs squeaked and groaned as they laughed and roared in their seats. Their gazes kept shifting to the back of the parlor before they erupted into another burst of snickers and whispers. Jackson turned to face what the boys were looking at and only saw his best friend dozing off in his seat. 

“What a loser!” a boy cried from the table. 

“No wonder he has no friends. He can’t even keep himself from falling asleep,” another added. 

Jackson felt something snap inside him and he stormed towards the group of students. “Hey! You! What do you think you’re doing?” He yelled at the boys. They turned to look at him in shock. The one sitting in the middle smirked before answering. 

“Why do you care? Don’t act like you’ve never made fun of a nerd before. It’s not like anyone likes him anyway.” 

Jackson turned to look at Bambam again and saw him staring back at him wide-eyed; He was no longer sleepy. His innocent best friend probably went through this everyday, and that made Jackson snap again. 

“Don’t talk about him like that ever again! I care and I really like him! If I hear you saying anything like that again, I’ll kill you.” Jackson slapped his hands down on the table and felt everyone in the parlor turn to look at him. The boys weren’t laughing anymore. The leader was about to make a remark but Jackson quickly turned around. He marched towards his best friend and grabbed his arm before storming out of the parlor. 

“Faggots…” an insult trailed out of the store.

“Don’t ever pay attention to anything those idiots say. I like you, Bams.” Jackson kept walking until they turned the street then he faced Kunpimook. His best friend was looking at him with a concerned expression, “Don’t worry, Bambam. I’ll always be there to protect you.” Jackson ruffled the Thai’s hair and wrapped his arm around him. 

Bambam couldn’t respond. He wasn’t worried about being protected; he was shocked about the last thing one of the boys had said. Being called a loner he could handle. It was true. After all he only had one friend. Being called a nerd was right. He took school seriously and spent more time studying than partying. But that last insult, that was wrong. He was normal in that aspect at least; he couldn’t be gay. 

“Sorry about not getting you that ice cream. How about we go on a better date tomorrow?” Jackson joked and squeezed his friend. Bams looked into his best friend’s eyes and felt his breath stop. What about Jackson? He couldn’t be gay either, right?

~~~~~~

The next day Jackson kept his promise. He had taken Kunpimook to his favorite restaurant a few blocks from his house. Jackson couldn't bear the thought of his best friend feeling depressed because a few jerks didn't know how to keep their mouths shut. He cared too much about him. 

Bambam wasn't sad at all though. If anything he felt extremely confused. Before Jackson picked him up for their ‘date’, Jackson gave him a huge hug. He even pecked his cheek and called him cute. 

“You look so cute in that hat!” Jackson had squealed when he saw his best friend. He pulled his hat off, ruffled his hair, and said. “It's so cute I could kiss you!” 

That's exactly what he did. He leaned in and exaggerated a “smooch” when he kissed Bambam’s cheek. The entire walk to the restaurant Jackson praised and complimented his best friend. Jackson wanted to make him feel extra special today because he loved to see him smile. 

Bambam’s smile was the reason Jackson smiled. 

“We’re here!” Jackson presented with a laugh. He took Bambam to their regular table at the end of the restaurant. It wasn't the fanciest place, but they served Bam’s favorite food; hamburgers. That's why Jackson brought him here in the first place. They sat at a red booth decorated with white indents. The table was ebony and curved to fit in the circular booth. The entire set was filled with graffiti and cracks. Despite Bambam’s social status and wealth he loved coming to this fast food place with Jackson. He loved coming when he didn't feel so torn though. 

Bambam couldn't help thinking back to what had happened the day before at the ice cream parlor. Jackson's extra loving antics weren't helping his jumbled thoughts. 

“How are you feeling, Bambam?” Jackson asked through a half full mouth. 

“Great! Thanks for bringing me, Jackson.” Bambam faked a smile. He chewed his food in silence and avoided eye contact. 

Jackson noticed that Bambam wasn't acting like his normal self, but the smiles that his best friend kept throwing at him must've indicated that he was feeling better. The rest of their friendly date was spent with Jackson telling jokes and Bambam forcing a small laugh every 10 minutes. His mind kept wandering off to the same nagging thoughts. Why was Jackson so affectionate towards him? Did Jackson see Bambam as more than a friend? Jackson did peck his cheek today, and it wasn't the first time. He figured it was a perfectly normal thing for friends to do in Korea though.

He forced himself to push these ludicrous ideas to the back of his mind. He tried his best to enjoy the rest of the evening, but deep down he kept dreading going to school tomorrow. 

~~~~~~

Bambam woke up with his head cleared. He didn't care at all what others said about him and Jackson. He knew they were just friends and the fact that they were so close made their relationship so much stronger. 

He quickly got ready for school and checked his phone messages. ‘Good morning! Hope you had a good night's sleep and walk to school safely alright? Love you 😘 ’ read a text from Jackson. Bams grinned and typed out ‘that's cringy asf’ and hit send while throwing on his brown uniform coat. He darted out his front door and through his well-kept front yard. He lived in the biggest house in the neighborhood and could certainly afford a chauffeur to drive him to school, but Bambam always preferred to walk. 

He arrived with plenty of time to spare. Jackson wasn't there yet; he was never early. The main building of SAMA towered with 4 floors of classrooms. Next to it was the recreational building. It held the swimming pool, art studio, theater, and Bambam's favorite, the dance studio. He made his way towards his first class and quietly anticipated meeting his best friend for lunch. 

12:10 Lunch time.

"Bams! I was thinking about you all day. I miss having classes together," Jackson said as he ruffled the younger's hair. "I don't,” Bambam joked. "Shut up, you know you love me."  They both chuckled as they held their trays and made their way to their usual spot in the cafeteria. Today's lunch: mashed potatoes, broccoli, beans, and a carton of milk. 

They sat down across from each other and Jackson began stabbing the pile of disgusting brown with his fork. "Eww, beans. It looks like !" Jackson grimaced. 

Because of the sudden thought of "," Bambam spat out his mashed potatoes. The runny potatoes aimed towards the figure in front of him and landed on Jackson's chest. 

"BAMBAM!!" the Hong Kong native screeched. On the other hand, Bambam was laughing his off. "Why did you talk about yourself when I was chewing?!" he struggled to say in between each laugh.

"Be right back. Gotta go wash this pigeon vomit off my too beautiful to get dirty uniform shirt." Jackson stood up. He ran straight to the restroom, ignoring all his classmates eyeing the white stain on his chest. Meanwhile, Bambam was left alone, still crying and laughing simultaneously. 

Jackson entered the restroom and was welcomed with annoying gossip. "Dude. You should have came with us on Wednesday! Minhyuk was making fun of Kunpimook and Jackson told him off! Then the faggots ran away!" a boy in front of a urinal, Ken, told the boy next to him, Yugyeom. They were facing the urinals as their backs were facing Jackson. "How does such a cool kid like Jackson become best friends with such a loser like Kunpimook?" Ken expressed his thoughts with a confused and disgusted face.

Jackson decided that his dirty shirt was not the most important thing to worry about at the moment. He angrily moved towards the urinating boys; they jumped and turned around as they heard footsteps approaching. Jackson grabbed both of them by the collar. One with his left fist, the other with his right fist. 

"I'm gonna tell you jerks this one more ing time. I like Bambam a LOT. If I hear any you guys say another ing word about him, then I swear to god I will slit your throats and..." Jackson looked down. "I will cut those little off." He let go of them and took a step back. 

Then Jackson crossed his arms over his abdomen, lifted the hem of his shirt, and took the piece of clothing off revealing his thick, well built, evenly tanned abs. He threw the stained shirt on the floor right next to the boys' feet.

 "I don't care who, but one of you guys wash this shirt for me and I better get this back CLEAN on Monday. Have a nice weekend." Jackson smirked and exited the bathroom half .

Jackson almost didn't see Bambam standing outside the boys bathroom when he swaggered out. Bambam had decided to check if his friend needed help removing the stain, but froze at the door when he heard the conversation coming from inside.

"Oh, hey! Do you have an extra shirt I can borrow?" Jackson innocently asked his best friend. Bambam didn't know what to say. Jackson kept surprising him and putting him in an awkward position.

"I know. My body left you speechless, didn't it?" Jackson smirked and ran his hand down his abdomen. Bambam nearly choked and broke into a coughing fit. His best friend was standing in front of him, shirtless, and everyone in the cafeteria was watching. Bambam quickly led his best friend out of the cafeteria and to his locker where he kept his PE shirt. Despite what he had told himself this morning, Bambam was starting to worry. Jackson had said he liked Bambam, again. But what did he mean by 'liked'?