“Jackson, what are you doing?”

Jackson jumped from his hiding spot behind a potted plant next to the Lunch Yard door. He grabbed the boy behind him, throwing a hand over his mouth.

“Shh!” Jackson looked out into the lunch yard and frowned.

Mark wasn't there anymore.

“Ok. I'm starting to think you need some serious help,” BamBam asserted after he took Jackson’s hand off his mouth, “What have you even been doing for the past week? Ever since Mrs.Kwon announced the tournament you've been off on your own doing who knows what and when I do see you, you're completely distracted by someone else!”

“I've...uh...been busy?” Jackson smiled innocently.

“Go. Sit. Down.” the younger student glared and growled at Jackson, pointing to the cafeteria doors.

Jackson dropped his head and pouted, obediently following BamBam's order. He walked like that the entire way to his table with BamBam at his side gloating.

“Oh, there he his.”

Jackson looked up at the sound of Youngjae’s voice, surprised to hear the words weren't directed at him. He really shouldn't have looked up, though. Standing next to Youngjae’s chair was Mark, arms crossed and an unreadable expression on his face.

‘Abort. AbORT.ABORT!’ Jackson’s mind shouted louder than it had when he was caught by the principal.

“You,” Mark spoke, pointing a long finger at Jackson, “Come with me.”

Jackson gulped, fear in his eyes. Mark took that as a yes and walked past the boy. Jackson gave his friend one last look that spoke ‘If I'm Not Back In An Hour, Send HELP.’

--------

Mark led him silently to the lunch yard.  Each step they took caused the tension to rise exponentially. Mark eventually stopped at the tree where Jackson had first seen him eat his lunch through the cafeteria windows. The red haired student leaned back against the tree and crossed his arms over his chest. The look he was giving Jackson screamed murder. Jackson smiled cutely at the boy to try attend dispel his displeasure, to no avail.

“Why have you been following me around?” Mark asked, getting straight to the point.

“You saw that, huh?” Jackson replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, “Since when?”

“Last Wednesday.” Mark frowned, “You really didn't think I wouldn't have seen you at least once on the past week?”

“Well, I had hoped you wouldn't,” Jackson explained.

“Well, whatever you thought doesn't really matter. Why were you following me?” Mark’s eyebrows furrowed cutely (to Jackson at least, Red was probably just angry).

“You're different,” Jackson answered as if it were obvious.

“Different.  You followed me...because I'm...different?” Mark repeated slowly, trying to grasp the meaning of Jackson's words, “What do you mean?”

“You bumped into Jaebum last week in the cafeteria and just walked off. That's pretty different to me,” Jackson answered and sat down on the grass, no longer feeling threatened by the pretty boy in front of him.

“So? I didn't want to make it any worse, so I walked,” Mark explained, dropping his disgruntled front.

“You could have taken him,” Jackson added almost nonchalantly.

“What.” Mark froze, eyes trained on the other.

“Don't bother putting up your guards now,” Jackson smirked, “I already ‘rated’ you last time. You're a level ten, Mark. Why do you hide it?”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Mark grit out as he pushed off the tree, “And how do you know my name?”

“You're still suppressing my quirk.” Jackson winked, avoiding Red’s question.

Mark gasped, eyes wide, “How the hell do you do that?”

“Well, I would think that most people would realize when their quirk wasn't working. Though if you're referring to how I know about your quirks, that's a longer story.” Jackson smiled along stood, finally feeling had the upper hand, “You can suppress and copy other quirks can't you?”

Mark chewed on his lower lip before sighing, shoulders sagging and his chin tilted down, “Yeah.”

“Hey-hey. Why the long face? That's pretty cool,” Jackson stepped forward and place a hand on the other's shoulder.

“It’s not as cool as you'd think.” Mark pushed his hand away and stepped back, “Just...stop following me around, ok?”

Jackson frowned, like hell he was going to stay away from Mark now, “No way man.”

Mark looked up and gave Jackson a hardened expression, “You don't get that option.”

“Nah, I don't think so,” Jackson shook his head with an infectious smile, “You'll definitely be seeing more of me. After all, don’t we have joint classes tomorrow?”

Mark’s face fell at the mention of the joint class. He took a breath and opened his mouth to say something but then closed it, biting his lip slightly, “Whatever, just don't stalk me.”

With that Mark walked past Jackson, ending the conversation, or so he thought.

“See you tomorrow, Little Red!”