#6: What’s there left to save us, marriage?

“Jackie, I'm sorry. I forgotten my phone in my room and Youngmi couldn't make it because she got sick last night when I checked on her. I'm so sorry.." Jinyoung apologized, the moment he step into Jackson's room as he clearly feel responsible about what happened last night.

“No, Jinyoungie. It’s my fault, you were just trying to be a good friend and followed through that whole crazy plan.” Jackson sighed, ruffling his hair as he look down in distressed when he heard a gasp coming from the door direction.

“What did you guys do?” Bambam asked, standing there in front of his open room door which Jinyoung clearly forgotten to close earlier.

The duo shared a look with each other, obviously didn’t expect their youngest to overheard anything but it was too late, Bambam were already approaching with a serious look.

“It was meant to be a prank, just for fun alright? “ Jackson confessed, knowing there’s no use at hiding the truth from the other.

“Fun? How is it fun? You even got yourself into a mess now.” Bambam asked in disbelief as he who where just pitying the older a few minutes ago turned instantly mad before shoving his phone screen to Jackson’s face.

Jinyoung who also took a peek of the screen gasped at the picture with Jackson who's clearly had a mental breakdown as he reads the online article with the picture of them in bed together as the main.

Rivals in Love? CEO of Tuan and Wang revealed to be lovebirds?

“The picture has been going around online since last night, apparently. I just saw the article this morning.” Bambam added, sighing as he looked at Jackson who quickly passed the device back as he couldn’t bare to read anymore of the article.

“You really crossed the line this time round, hyung. I know you hate him but…” Bambam tried to talked some sense into Jackson but Jinyoung cut him, scolding him.

“Bam, you don’t know anything. Don’t go around acting like you know everything, give it a rest already.” Jinyoung hissed which of course hurt Bambam because no matter what Jackson always favour Jinyoung more than him and it for him being the latest addition to the circle.

“Of course, I don’t know anything, hyung. I’m not you but at least I know what’s right or wrong. I might not be you who understand Jackson hyung the best but it didn’t make him any less important to me.” Bambam said calmly, looking at his best friends once more before walking out of the room with his luggage.

Jackson felt like crying, he really don’t need this right now but who else could he blame except for himself, thanks to his stupid plan due to his stupid anger.

“Let’s just go.” Jackson exclaimed after managing to put himself back together as he when ahead to put on his jacket and grabbed his luggage.

As he exited his room with Jinyoung in tow, he caught the sight of Mark exiting a few doors away and their eyes met but the older quickly pull away before walking pass him after locking the door.

Noticing the bandage wrapped around his right hand knuckle area, Jackson grabbed his wrist to stop him which succeeded but Mark didn’t turn, he just continue looking forward.

“What happened?” Jackson asked as he tried touching the bandage area but Mark flinched upon the touch, causing him to immediately pulled his hand away.

The older didn’t say anything, he just ignored the question before continuing his track while Jackson could only question himself at what happened after he left last night.

Jinyoung patted his best friend on the shoulder before they continue their way to the lobby where everyone is probably gathered by now.

When they arrived Bambam where chatting with the other staffs including Mark’s while Mark is seated at one of the couch with Yugyeom before Youngjae come running from the other side with his luggage and a tablet in his hand.

Jackson couldn’t help but to notice the murmuring and stare towards him and Mark increased as the staffs chatted more among themselves.

“What’s wrong with you, hyung? You look like you saw a ghost.” Yugyeom questioned, shaking his head as Youngjae finally plopped down beside their oldest

“Don’t freak out.” Youngjae warned before showing the tablet screen to the duo who immediately shared a look of disbelief as they see the picture and read the article.

“The photo have been going around the net since last night, someone might had snap a picture before we asked them to leave.” Youngjae explained causing Yugyeom to sighed, feeling guilty for letting the others in with them.

“Who were the ones with you guys last night?” Mark asked calmly, there was no used freaking out over this when it already happened even though he didn’t like what he see nor read.

“I don’t really remember, it’s a mix of ours and theirs.” Youngjae replied while Yugyeom nodded, looking down in guilt.

“Don’t worry, we will figure this out. Let’s just pray hard my parents don’t come across this.” Mark assured them, patting their back reassuringly which caused Youngjae to noticed the bandage.

“What happened to your hand, hyung?” Youngjae asked which Mark replied with ‘it’s a cut’, the same answered he gave Yugyeom earlier causing the two to share look, clearly wasn’t buying his answer but just nodded nevertheless.

“The van is here, which side is going first?” Mr Park appeared, asking which caused Mark to instantly raised his hand and stand up, not even sparing a look at Jackson who's staring at him.

“Mr Tuan, seven people in total, right?” Mr Park smiled, reconfirming the number of staffs before he noticed another hand raised up, surprising everyone especially Jinyoung and Jackson.
 

“Can I join you guys for the trip back?” Bambam asked as he approached Mark, surprising the trio even but seeing there’s no harm in the other joining so he nodded.

“That will be eight people, Mr Park.” Mark informed, earning a nod from the elder before he asked them to follow him to the van waiting for them.

At this point, Jackson knows that he messed up bad which to the point where he might lose his own best friend.

####

“Where is Yug, hyung?” Youngjae asked, reappearing with new piles of files they are going through before he took a seat at the opposite of Mark who's busy going through his latest file.

“I told him to get us lunch since we will be stuck here.” Mark answered, eyes still on the file while Youngjae just nodded even though he knows the older aren’t watching.

Three days had passed since their return from Jeju, things return back to their normal busy lives in the office but just with him being the talk of the office.

It seems like the whole company had come across either that picture or article that makes him the latest gossip around which has been stressing him out but he prayed hard that this will be over soon once they forgot about the picture.

“Hyung!” Yugyeom barged into his office, panting like crazy which obviously scared the two oldest as they stares at the youngest trying to catch his breath.

“What’s wrong with you, Yug?” Youngjae asked, getting curious after seeing the panicky younger who only passed him the newspaper in his hold.

Forbidden love? It’s the love affair of two rivals, Mark Tuan & Jackson Wang.

The newspaper instantly dropped out of Youngjae’s hold the moment he read the headline news that’s accompanied with that super familiar picture on the front page.

Mark who could sense the bad news, slowly get up from his seat and when to retrieve the paper from the floor before he instantly frown at what he read.

He quickly searched the page where the article is on before reading all the speculation and lies that’s written about them which clearly would hurt his parent’s feelings.

Sighing in frustration, Mark threw the newspaper aside before looking at his two best friends who's clearly just as worried as him in this situation.

The tense silence was disturbed by his phone ringing which he quickly pick up when he saw the number flashing on his screen.

“Yes, Ma..” Mark croaked out nervously, getting the vibe that his parents had clearly saw the newspaper and things gonna get complicated.

“Yi En, we want you home now.” Mrs Tuan said firmly before ending the call causing Mark to ruffled his hair in distress before excusing himself from his best friends.

Meanwhile over at a cafe, Jackson was having lunch with Jinyoung when suddenly Bambam appeared out of nowhere, staring at the duo who he hasn’t talked with for the past three days.

“Bam, have a sit.” Jackson invited, hoping that the younger had finally cooled down and who accept his offer to join them like usual.

Bambam didn’t say anything, he just put the newspaper down on the table before walking off, leaving Jackson to call out for him for a few times.

Jinyoung who had notice the newspaper immediately feel nervous before trying to hide it but Jackson pick it up before he could do anything.

The moment his eyes caught on the headline and picture, Jackson feel like his whole world just crashed and burn down because he didn’t see this coming at all.

Of course he was the latest gossip at his company due to the online article but he didn’t expect that the media would blow this up to the newspapers.

Before he couldn’t even read the article, his phone beeped signalling an incoming text which caused him to quickly checked it.

From: Mommy
Ka Yee, come back home now. Urgent!

Upon reading the text, Jackson knows that his parents had seen this absurdity and things gonna be hell especially with that picture of them in bed used as cover picture.

Jackson quickly excused himself from Jinyoung and told him that he will update him with anything later once he is done dealing with the situation.

By the time he parked his car at their driveway, he noticed a familiar car already parked there other that than his father’s car.

Sensing that chaos is heading his way, Jackson took a deep breath before unlocking the door and entered where he was greeted by the sight of his parents and the Tuan family seated in the living room.

“Ka Yee, come here son.” Mrs Wang called out upon noticing her nervous son standing at the entrance, staring at them.

He slowly calm himself down as he head towards the living room, amazed by the fact that the Tuan family is in his living room right now which something he never dream about after that fight.

Mark watches has the clearly nervous younger took a seat beside his mother, opposite of him while avoiding meeting his eyes.

“Since both of you are here now, care to explain what is this?” Mr Wang asked as he puts the newspaper on top of the coffee table where everyone could see.

They exchanged looks and Mark obviously could see that Jackson is struggling to answer because it’s clearly his fault that they are in this mess.

Mark wanted to shout out and complain to their parents at how Jackson’s stupid prank got them into this mess but he didn’t want to upset his Mommy and Daddy who clearly never taught their son to be such a jerk.

“The truth is we been dating for a while now.” Mark lied, knowing it’s best to just let that stupid incident be a secret between them.

“WHAT!” The parents exclaimed in shock while Jackson could only stare at the older like as if he just said some weird alien language.

“Is that true, Ka Yee?” Mr Wang asked, being the first one to recover from the shock as he look at his son who were struggling, how is he gonna answer his father.

“W..e...we..” Jackson tried to say something but end up cutting his own words because he was speechless causing the parents to share a look.

“If you can’t say anything than I assume Yi En is lying.” Mr Wang pressed on, knowing that his son is probably scared to admit because of the so called families feud between them.

Jackson looked at Mark before slowly nodding, he had no choice because he created this mess so he needs to help clean it up.

“Are you angry at us?” Mark asked, helping the younger to clear up the guilt in him since Jackson obviously was scared of being killed by the fathers if he admitted to that.

“If you guys really love each other, there is nothing much we can do especially with the whole nation knowing it.” Mr Tuan said as he looked at the two boys while Jackson just stare in shock, never expecting this kind of response.

“Yes, we might had a bad past together but it isn’t fair to stop you guys from loving each other because of that.” Mr Wang added, earning nods from Mrs Wang and the Tuan pair which cause Jackson’s jaws to dropped even more.

Before Jackson could gaps hold at what’s going on, they suddenly heard a lot of noise coming from outside which cause Mrs Wang to quickly got up and peek from the window.

“Oh, dear...there is a lot of reporters outside. What are we going to do?” Mrs Wang exclaimed worriedly as she return back to the others.

“How did they got here so fast?” Mr Wang sighed while Mark look at the younger who clearly look like he is having a mental breakdown.

“This picture is scandalous, they gonna used it to bring down both of our reputations if we don’t clear this up properly.” Mr Tuan said, knowing that enemies are waiting for a chance to use this situation to bring them down.

Upon hearing his father’s words, an idea pops up in mind as Mark got up and approached Jackson who's looking up at him lost.

“Let’s clear up this matter once and for all.” Mark said, giving the other a reassuring nod while their parents watched them.

“What are we going to say?” Jackson asked, feeling really nervous at the thought of facing the reporters outside.

“Let’s say we are getting married, it should be able to close this scandal permanently.” Mark said without hesitating because they need to save their parents face at least.

“What! This is crazy..” Jackson exclaimed in disbelief, forgetting that the elders are watching them as he got up and stare at Mark like as if he was crazy.

“What’s so wrong, aren’t we together?” Mark asked, emphasizing the last word as he signalled with his eyes to the elders whose watching them with curious eyes.

Jackson who immediately got the message, turned to look at those eyes before sighing inwardly because there’s no way he can run from this now.

“Fine, let’s go and tell them.” Jackson exclaimed, knowing there’s no turning back on this but at least he was glad that Mark kept what happened that night a secret if not his parents would be disappointed in him for even trying to cause harm to someone.

The pair slowly made their way out and open the front gate which immediately caught the reporters and cameras attention.

“Mark shii, Jackson shii is true that you guys are together?” 

“Yes, we have been dating for a while.” Jackson answered, repeating Mark’s words from earlier before he turned to give the elder a force smile.

“Seeing your families are in rivalry, were the families against your relationship that’s why you hide it from everyone?”

“No, we are just uncomfortable about revealing our relationship to the public.” Mark answered calmly with a small smile, knowing that the cameras are probably recording everything that they are saying.

“Your relationship definitely got revealed in such an uncomfortable way, what do you have to say about that?”

“It’s unfortunate that it got revealed this way but we are glad that we can take this opportunity to share a good news.” Jackson said, almost smirking to the reporter that somehow annoyed him for asking something like that, such a prick.

“We are getting married soon, I hope you guys would anticipate it.” Mark added, getting the cue from the younger before they look at each other, grinning in victory when they noticed the shocked look on that annoying prick.

As the reporters discussed it among themselves at the big news, the prick who had recovered from his shock smirked before a question pops up in his head.

“Is this just an act to save your family's reputation from this scandal?”

Jackson feel like just poking that prick’s eyes with a fork for asking that while Mark could only smirked at this guy boldness to ask that question.

“It’s up for everyone to judge but for us, the feelings is mutual and we are very much in love, right?” Mark exclaimed, entangling his hand with Jackson’s which caused the younger to nod happily after seeing the prick frowned at the older’s words.

A few of the female reporters there can’t help but to squeal at the sweetness and cuteness of the couple in front them.

“Please watch upon us lovingly and anticipate more details on our wedding. Thank you.” Jackson said, cutting the so called interview short before he walked back inside hand in hand with Mark.

“That Im Jaebum is so freaking annoying.” Jackson grumbled, remembering the name clearly written on the pass while Mark nodded, agreeing with the younger.

He had never faced with a reporter that offending before, it’s like he had a personal grudge against them.

“Well, things are finally clear up. How about having dinner together, tonight? After all, we are going to be a family.” Mrs Wang said happily, relief that things are going great for them especially with the announcement for her two baby being together.

Honestly Jackson were shocked at how his parents seems fine being around the Tuan family, more than he did but he guess their friendship were too strong to keep them in the past while him, still stayed in the past.

With Mrs Wang suggestion, the Tuans agreed to stay for dinner and just like that after twelves years the Tuan and Wang are having dinner again on one table.

Mark stare at the night sky as he seated himself on the swing he had missed in the Wang’s backyard where he always chilled and chatted with Jackson before.

“Hey.” Jackson greeted, taking a seat at the swing beside Mark’s before he also stare at the night sky while enjoying the stars that shining brightly tonight.

“Hey, you are done with the dishes?” Mark asked as he turned to look at the younger who nodded as a respond to that question.

Mark smiles before he turned back to admire the stars while enjoying the cooling breeze on his face, making him feel free.

“Thank you for not telling them.” Jackson thanked softly, breaking the peaceful silent surrounding them as he turn to look at Mark.

“But you have to get married to me though?” Mark exclaimed, ignoring those eyes on him as he was scared to see regret or disappointment in Jackson’s eyes.

“It’s fine, I created the mess so I should take the responsibility to clean it up.” Jackson said, knowing it’s fault without realizing the smile on the older’s face dropped.

It was all about responsibility and trying to save himself at the end, if not why would he even agreed to this crazy idea in the first place.

“Why did you do that, that night? Did I offend you in any way?” Mark asked, deciding that maybe he should listen to what Jackson had to say that night when he cutted him of due to anger.

“I was just angry when I overheard you said that I mean nothing to you to your friends, it just drive me nuts just thinking about it.” Jackson confessed, knowing that Mark deserved the reason to why that crazy prank happened in the first place.

“You do know that there’s no statues in our relationship, we neither friends nor enemies. What am I supposed to say to them?” Mark pointed out, finally looking at Jackson who nodded slowly as he look to the ground in guilt.

“I...know...what we are, it has never been clear to start off with that even I don’t know what are we.” Jackson sighed, who was he to expect something when he clearly had no say in it.

“Neither do I, Jackson. It’s frustrating.” Mark exclaimed, staring at the other before he notice his mother standing by the balcony door.

“Yi En, we are going now.” Mrs Tuan announced, smiling to her son who quickly got up, taking another glance at Jackson.

“Coming, Ma..” Mark answered before he whispered a soft bye and walked off but Jackson knows he needs to say something before he regrets it.

“I’m sorry Yi En, I’m really am.” Jackson said out, surprising the older as he turn to look at the younger who by now was up from the swing, staring at him.

“A sorry won’t change anything, Jackson. I’m still hurting and so are you.” Mark said with a bitter smile before walking away, it was the truth because as long as they never find peace between them then they won’t stop hurting.

####

He stares at the faces on the television screen, wondering to himself if he was dreaming because he didn’t fall asleep.

There was no way he had fall asleep so why is he dreaming about Jackson getting married to Mark or was this a reality.

“What the hell is this?” The voice that he hated most boomed throughout the villa before the newspaper come flying to his face.

“This headline isn’t enough, now they are getting married? What have you been doing, huh?” The male barked at him which only caused him to stare at the paper that’s now sitting on his lap while his left hand unknowingly turn into a fist.

“I only gave you one job to do, Park Jinyoung. You still can do it? How useless!” Mr Park mocked before walking away from the living room but not before reminding his son.

“You better fix this, pronto or you are just a plain trash.” Mr Park warned, leaving Jinyoung fuming in anger before he throws the remote in his hold towards the television screen, cracking the image of the pair that still playing on the screen.

“When are you going to be out of my way, Mark Tuan?” Jinyoung hissed to himself as he glare at the happy smiles presented by the pair.

He don’t care how but he will get rid of that pest and have Jackson to himself, he vowed to himself that.

A/N: Hi! Did you guys expected the marriage or evil Jinyoung? Well, I can be obvious with my choice sometime but it's just Jinyoung suited the dual face character well so there you go. How will thing turn out in the next update, see you then :)
And Merry Chirstmas to all my readers who celebrate or not ~
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InfinitelyCassie <3