It wasn't until the next day that Jackson would see the red haired student.

‘I should just call him Red,’ Jackson thought as he left his final class for the day.

He didn't share his final class with any of his closest friends, so he was able to break away from the crowd. He really didn't like going back to the dorms yet, preferring to mill around and organize his thoughts. He began thinking about yesterday's events; it seemed to be the only thing in his mind.  From the competition to that boy, his head was swimming. He ended up walking towards the library. He turned into the hall before stopping in shock. Opening the door to the library was Red. Jackson squawked, flapping his arms like a surprised bird, and duck back behind the corner where the two halls connected.  He dropped down to the floor and poked his head around the corner.

“Agent Wang to mission control - target in sight. I repeat. The target is in sight,” Jackson whispered into his wrist as he watched Red close the library door behind him, “The target is moving. I will follow. Wang out.”

Jackson jumped up and sprinted over to the library door. He crouched down and peeked over the bottom edge of the door window before deeming it safe to “infiltrate.” Once he was in the library he immediately scanned the floor. Most of it was filled with tables and chairs for students to sit at and read or work. There was a large, dark oak librarian desk on the wall perpendicular to the entrance.  The librarian's office poked out from the wall and met the desk from behind. On the wall opposite to the door was a single row of long shelves that went from one corner to the next. On the wall perpendicular on the right was a staircase that led to the upper level of the library, which was filled with row upon row of shelves and computers. Not seeing red amongst the few students seated at the tables, Jackson decided that he'd look amongst the first floor shelves. He toiled through the shelves as if he were browsing for books, slowing to peek around corners when he changed shelves.

At one point when Jackson changed shelves, he heard footsteps behind him. Jackson quickly grabbed a random book off the shelf and held it in front of his face, not bothering to open it. He peered over the top of the book to see a level 1, Sidekick student (indicated by the single yellow stripe on her jacket cuff). The girl gave him a weird look before holding out her hand to Jackson with an expectant look on her face. Jackson quirked an eyebrow at the girl before realization struck.

“Ooh...here,” Jackson handed the book to the girl who snatched it from his hand with a huff before stalking away.

Jackson frowned slightly, a little scared of the girl’s reaction. He shook his head and let out a breath. He had a task to do. He continued walking in between the shelves until he came upon the second to last shelf. He heard slight shuffling from the other side and decided that it had to be Red. He carefully took a book off the bottom shelf and laid down to look through the shelf. Luckily, the book be removed did not have another being it, so he could see through to the other side.

‘When snooping, never do it at eye level. They never expect it to come from below,’ Jackson advised himself in his head.

He could see the student’s feet: slightly worn black converse. When he pressed his cheek to the floor and strained his eyes, he saw that it was indeed Red. He was nestled in the corner, sitting on the window sill with books piled beside him. His face was turned down from reading a book. Jackson gaze roamed over the new territory. Red was absolutely breathtaking. His chocolate brown, almond shaped eyes scanned across the page he was reading, slightly pointed teeth chewing on his pink lower lip. Jackson was stuck. No, really. He was stuck. Jackson jerked his head back, shaking the shelf slightly as he pulled his face free from the crevice.

He stood and rubbed his cheekbones soothingly, ‘Oww…’

Jackson quietly placed the book in its slot before walking down the aisle a few steps before removing another book, this time higher up. Unfortunately, there was another book behind it.

‘Whhhyyyyyyy….?’ Jackson thought as he put it back with a frown.

He groaned and hit his head on the shelf in front of him a few times, before cursing and jumpy back.

‘I must not give away my position! Stupid!’ Jackson face palmed with both hands, the dragged them slowly down his face, ‘No time to lose! I must find a new spot! ‘He ended up walking to the end of the bookshelf. Jackson crouched down to get a “better” view. However, when he bent down, his knee hit the side of the wooden shelf, causing a loud noise to ring about the room. Jackson froze. He made sure that no part of his body was visible from the other side of the shelf. All was quiet for a few seconds before he heard the dull thud of a heavy book closing. Jackson panicked and rocked back, doing a backwards roll into a standing position. He sprinted to the other end of the shelf and jumped behind the next one. He flattened himself on the floor and peeked around the edge. He heard Red stand up and walk to the side where Jackson was sitting only moments ago. Presumably finding nothing, Jackson heard Red go back to his place and put a few books on the shelf. Jackson watched as his black converse came into view from around the last shelf. He, once again, jumped up and sprinted down the rows of bookshelves.

Red exited the shelves and walked to the librarian’s desk with a few books in his hands. Jackson watched from behind a shelf as the librarian greeted him and took the books from the boy. Curious to hear the boy’s voice, Jackson crawled away from the shelves and hid behind a table. Luckily, he arrived just in time to hear the librarian say Red’s real name.

“Alright, Mark. Here are your books. They’re due back here in two weeks.”

“Mark,” Jackson whispered aloud, testing the name on his tongue.

Jackson nodded to himself, deciding that the name suited the boy. However, he was so busy snooping on the other student that he didn’t notice that the table he was using as a cover was occupied. He heard someone clear their voice above him and looked up.

“Thank god, you’re a boy,” Jackson grimaced, “Otherwise this would have been so much more awkward.”

The student gave him an indignant look.

Jackson simply looked up at him and held a finger to the boy’s lips, “Shhhh…”

He then crawled to another table.

Mark, by now, had already taken his books from the librarian. He turned his head from one side to another with a skeptical expression on his face. Deeming noting suspicious aspiring around him, Mark turned and walk out of the library. Jackson waited until he had completely vanished from the door before standing up and following the boy, as if he hadn’t just crawled across the library on his hands and knees. He entered the hallway and looked to his left then right, just catching Mark’s red hair exiting the hallway through a door leading to the courtyard.  Jackson waited for Mark to close the door behind himself before following.

----------

Jackson ended up following Mark to the Puissant Building, a dorm for power students and only power students. Mark walked up the steps to the building and disappeared inside, but Jackson knew that he would not be let in. So instead, Jackson camped out in the landscaping in hopes that Mark would come back out. Jackson found himself a spot in the mulch behind a large shrub.

‘I’ll just have to wait him out,’ Jackson thought as he squatted down in the shade.

Twenty minutes later Jackson realized how bad of an idea this was. The mulch was starting to feel prickly and his feet were going numb. The heat was starting to get to him and his black uniform sure wasn’t helping. Not to mention he was bored out of his mind. Mark was never going to come out, and if he did, Jackson would die before he saw “Red” again (ok so maybe he was being just a little dramatic). He was so bored though.  So bored that he started counting leaves on the bush.

“UUUGGGHH.” Jackson groaned and flopped down on his , “What time is it?”

“Almost 4:30,” a voice spoke over the bushes. It had a rather cold and apathetic sound to it.

Jackson looked up to find none other than Park Jinyoung staring down at him from the stairs of the dorm. The black haired boy had an unimpressed look about his face. He seemed tired and unsurprised, as if he was expecting to find Jackson sitting under a bush if front of his dorm.

“Should I ask why you're sitting there, or should I pretend that I never saw you?” Jinyoung asked as if it pained him to do so.

“Uh…” Jackson blinked up at the boy, not sure what to say.

“Ok, well now you've gotten me curious,” Jinyoung smirked and gracefully swooped down to sit on the edge of the top step.

“I'm...waiting? For someone…” Jackson responded.

“Well are you or are you not? You don't sound too sure,” Jinyoung teased.

“No, I mean - I am waiting for someone-”

“-Behind a bush,” Jinyoung interrupted.

“Well yeah, he's not really supposed to know-” Jackson tried to defend himself.

“If this is some sort of romantic ‘ambush’ thing for your boyfriend or something, I’m sorry to tell you, but it looks pretty creepy,” Jinyoung interrupted once again.

“Look, you don't have to be here,” Jackson glared at the Ice Quirk, who was clearly amused by the situation.

“Oh, but if it ruins your plans I do,” Jinyoung smiled.

“Wow and here I thought you were a cold hearted jerk who couldn't hold a conversation with anyone but his boyfriend...or smile, “Jackson replied sarcastically.

Jinyoung’s face hardened into a frown, “Whatever squirt, who are you even waiting for?”

“Uh,” Jackson looked avoided eye contact with the boy.  He still wouldn't put freezing him to the ground past the other’s agenda, “His name is Mark…”

“Mark?” Jinyoung repeated, “Hmm, doesn't ring a bell.”

“Uh, red hair?” Jackson supplied, “Kinda dumped food on Jaebum In the cafeteria yesterday.”

Jinyoung’s eyes lit up at the information, “OH! That kid! Yeah, he left the dorm like an hour ago…”

“An hour!?” Jackson shot up from his hiding spot.

“Yup, I was a little curious about him myself. Seems he went off to run or something.  He was wearing athletic clothes when I saw him leave.” Jinyoung shrugged before standing up and dusting off his pants, “Well this really hasn't been fun, and I don't really ever want to see you again...so...Bye.”

Jinyoung swiftly turned around and entered the dorm. Jackson stood in the bushes for a moment before sinking back down and groaning.

‘An hour. A freaking hour ago. He could be anywhere!’ Jackson whined in his head.

Jackson stood again, frowning. There was no point in waiting any longer. Jackson growled and kicked the bush in front of him.  However, his foot got caught and he ended up tripping over the shrub.

‘Well, so much for that…’