Mark was in pain. The bruises and cuts from yesterday's fight was plastered on his entire body.

Not only that, but his soulmate mark is starting to sting more and more as time progresses. He knows the only way to rid of the sting is to have physical contact with your soulmate but Mark is adamant against touching Jinyoung. I would rather die first than to touch Jinyoung, thank you very much.

Mark wants nothing else but to be home wrapped up in a blanket, reading a book, and resting his very sore body from yesterday. However, he sadly couldn't because of the detention he received yesterday. And it's all Jinyoungs fault.

Mark glared at his seat partner, who was knocked out from this world, taking even breaths. How can he sleep so peacefully without getting bothered by his stinging arm? This further angered Mark, feeling like he was the only one affected by this soulmate bull.

The bell rings before Mark could kill Jinyoung in his sleep, signifying the end of school for everyone except Jinyoung and Mark. He was quietly packing his bag when a loud voice interrupted him.

"Yo Markie boy, you look like today! "Mark turned around to see Jackson running up to him, swinging his arm over Mark's shoulder, earning a glare from Mark.

" Oww! Jacks! Bruise!" Mark pleaded, hoping Jackson understands the pain he's having. 

"Sorry, I forgot. I bet you feel like too. My bad." Jackson apologized. They made their way out of the classroom, along with the other students who is on their way back home.

" Jaebum and I are starting our project today after school. When are you and Jinyoung starting yours?" Jaebum is the quiet kid beside Jackson that never seem to want to talk. Mark finds it interesting how the quiet kid and the loud kid is paired for a project. How will that turn out?

"I don't know Jacks. I don't even want to talk to Jinyoung. I bet you $50 he doesn't want to talk to me either." Mark replied. To this, Jackson chuckled. 

"Getting ready to fail this semester aye!" Jackson said while laughing at Mark's dilemma, to which he received a kick in his shin from Mark.

"Ouch, I'm kidding! Geez man. I think that you can try to talk to him first, since his grade also depends on it." Jackson rubbed his shin to alleviate the pain caused by Mark. That's easier said than done Jacks. Sigh.

"Oh Jacks. I'm starting detention soon, I've gotta go. Tell me how your project goes!" Mark said, sending Jackson on his way. 

"Ok man! Good luck in there with Jinyoung! See you tomorrow!" Jackson bid Mark. 

Mark was miraculously on time for detention.  Walking in the room he quickly realized that only the detention officer was there, no sign of Jinyoung. He recognized the teacher inside from his English module, taking a sigh of relief of having a familiar face around.  

He took a seat at the front row of the classroom, taking out his book to read to pass time. And he doesn't have any decency to be at least on time, what did I expect from a hooligan like him?

20 minutes later, the door slammed open, revealing Jinyoung who walked in without any hint of shame. He made his way to the seat beside Mark, not once glancing at the teacher. The teacher was clearly not amused.

"What did I say about being late, Jinyoung? Your in charge of cleaning the classroom next week." The teacher said. A small 'whatever' came out of Jinyoung's mouth,  straight away folding his arms, getting ready to take a nap.

What a rude ! He didn't even care to apologize.

A loud ringtone echoed throughout the classroom, interrupting his thoughts. The teacher excused himself out the classroom to answer the call, leaving Jinyoung and Mark in classroom.

Quietness filled the the classroom, Mark trying to resume his reading. But his brain somehow can't  stop thinking of Jinyoung, and he doesn't know why. Probably cause he's the tiest person on earth, that's why. 

The teacher walks back into the classroom, making Mark avert his attention to the teacher.

"I need to leave to attend to some matters. I'll be back to check up on you guys, so don't even think about leaving." the teacher warned. Great, now I'm stuck with him, alone.

Being alone with Jinyoung made him more conscious of the stinging of his arm. It has been 20 minutes of being alone with Jinyoung, and the pain is almost unbearable. It doesn't even make sense, Jinyoung is literally sleeping peacefully without a hint of pain on his face. Why can I feel all the pain.

15 minutes passed, and Mark was literally going to do anything to get rid of the pain. The pain was so excruciating that migraines started to come. That's it. I can't take any second of pain anymore. 

"Hey, Jinyoung, wake up!" To this Jinyoung startles awake, throwing a glare at Mark who woke him up from his peaceful sleep. But he quickly realizes that Mark looked so pained, and his glare softened into something Mark thinks is concern. 

This is it. Having no pain is better than losing my dignity.

"This is going to sound so weird, but can you maybe hold my hand until the pain goes away?" Jinyoung didn't even spend a second to think and quickly grabbed Mark's hand.

I think this is what heaven feels like. This is officially the best feeling ever. The pain dissipated almost instantly. Throughout all of this, he spots Jinyoung's face also morphs into peace, but looked like he was trying to hide it.

 Mark doesn't know how long it has been, but as soon as he realizes that he's holding Jinyoung's hand, he immediately lets go and looked away. Stop blushing, Mark, gosh. 

" Are you ok already? You don't seem to be." And Jinyoung grabbed Mark's hand again, looking concerned. Mark shrugged off Jinyoung's hand and uttered a small 'I'm okay'.

But clearly, Jinyoung was not convinced. Dude, stop blushing. I think I would be the same shade as a strawberry right now.

"I know you're not. Just hold it, I won't say anything." Jinyoung reassures Mark. And he finally starts to relax, picking up his book again to try to resume reading. This is so weird, but at least I'm not in pain anymore. 

"Hey, what is your story? You know, what you've experienced throughout your life, your likes and dislikes." Jinyoung asked Mark. What is this? Is he really talking to me?

"Its going to take long, are you sure you want to listen?" Jinyoung nodded and Mark started talking about his story, how he likes meat and burgers, how he likes to get lost in book and how he also likes to skateboard. He talks about how he was bullied back in America, and how he 

"How about you?" Mark asked. He thinks its only right that he gets to ask the same question back.

" Well, let's see." He sees Jinyoung trying to wreck his brain, and can't help but find it cute. Oh my, did I just think he was cute? What's wrong with me?

Mark find out how Jinyoung was the youngest child, and has 2 older sisters. He also knew how to speak fluent English all because he was interested in western songs. He finds out how he doesn't really like to hang out with Minjun and Jinsoo, choosing to hang out with them cause he doesn't really have any friends. He also saw his soulmate mark, bursting in laughter at the embedded sentence of 'Right back at you, hooligan', earning him a small punch on his arm. 

Jinyoung ended up grabbing Mark's arm to examine his soulmate mark, having the same reaction as Mark did. Mark can't help but smile at the interaction.

This feels nice. This feels right.

"Hey we need to start our project soon. You free tomorrow to start on it?" Mark asked. Mark was beyond surprised at Jinyoung for agreeing.

"Maybe I can teach you some Korean, cause you at it." Mark kicking a snickering Jinyoung. 

While Mark and Jinyoung were busy chattering, the teacher took a peek inside the classroom.

"Hey, detention ended 30 minutes ago, you guys can go now." The teacher informed, then went on way.

What the hell, it's been 3 hours? How did time pass by so fast?

Mark was the first to let go, packing his bag, Jinyoung following shortly.

"Hey can I get your number? Y-you know, for our project." Jinyoung asked. Mark sees uncertainty in Jinyoung's eyes, looking almost scared. 

Jinyoung handed his phone over to Mark, punching his number into the phone. God, this day could not have gone any weirder.

As they made their way out of the school, Mark couldn't help but to think Jinyoung was so different from what he knew. He was nice, easy to talk too, and just ended up mixing with the wrong people. 

Mark laid back on his bed that on, staring at his ceiling, trying to take in what happened today. Talking with Jinyoung wasn't as bad as he thought. His phone vibrated, indicating that someone sent him a message.

He opened his messaging app, seeing a message from an unknown number.

"Hey it's Jinyoung, I'll meet you at 3:30 pm for our project tomorrow."

Another message came.

"Goodnight :)" Jinyoung sent.

And Mark never slept so peacefully in his life. Content with everything that was going with his life. Maybe this soulmate stuff isn't so bad at all.