A/N: 19 pages and 5,600 words of what the heck did I just write??

To those of you who didn't manage to catch the live revelation of Got7's dorm on Starcast's official LINE account on Saturday, I'll summarise it for you in two words: MarkSon Heaven. I won't even link any pictures here to make you more depressed than you already are, but pray hard that Starcast would release the full hour-long video because I do want to watch it again. Oh and also a little reminder, Starcast would also be releasing the Behind The Scenes video footage of the dorm revelation tomorrow so don't miss out on that too LOLOL (I sound like a newscaster why am I telling you all this)

 

Oh well whatever.

I'll go back to working on my MarkSon fic soon.

Enjoy!

 

- - - - - - -

 

“Let's go on a road trip after graduation.” Jackson declared to the rest of his gang as he plopped down on his seat at his group's usual lunch spot in the middle of the bustling cafeteria. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

 

“Road trip?” Jae Bum echoed as though he thought he’d heard wrongly while others groaned and dropped their heads to the table, knowing full well that the Hong Kong native was in rambling mode again, his brain going at a thousand revolutions a second probably from one too many espressos in the morning.

 

“Alright, confess up. Who was the one who gave their coffee to him this time round?”

 

"Yeah,” Jackson ignored the quip from Young Jae and nodded eagerly, his bubbly excitement not one bit tempered down by the lack of enthusiasm from his peers. He reached over to Mark’s plate and snagged a fry, popping it into his mouth and chewing loudly. “I've been thinking. Since we'll be graduating in less than three weeks, I really want to do something fun before we part ways because who knows where life will take us after this.”

 

“Don't say things like that.” Jin Young chided at once as he eyed the youngest two who were still lost in their own world, chatting animatedly amongst themselves. “You know Yugyeom is particularly sensitive about this.”

 

Jackson turned to his best friend for approval, only to get a nonchalant shrug from the redhead. The brunette harrumphed. “That doesn't change the fact that university's going to be the sole deciding factor to what happens to us – all of us. I might be returning to Hong Kong, Mark to America... Who knows? I just want to enjoy whatever limited time we have left as seven.”

 

Jin Young’s brows furrowed, features scrunched together in a frown. He knew the other was right – they really didn’t have much time left together – but he wasn’t going to consent just yet. “Even if we want to, what about the kids? They still have classes since summer break hasn't begun. We can't possibly have them miss school.”

 

“Oh come on, I know you're the umma of the group and all but don't be such a wet blanket.” Jackson reached over to steal another scrap of food from Mark, only to have his hand smacked away sternly. He snatched his injured hand back from the elder and pouted, his button nose scrunching up in distaste. “It'll just be one or two days, three tops. They won’t fail all their subjects and not be able to graduate. I'm sure their parents won't mind writing a sick letter for them.”

 

“Actually, I have to agree with Jackson on this,” Jae Bum put in as he munched on his sandwich thoughtfully. “It would be one of the last times we can have crazy fun together in high school and I’m sure Young Jae and the kids would love to come along. If samchon and imo agree, I don't see why not.”

 

“Alright,” Jin Young conceded slowly, because this time even the leader has spoken. “So, suppose that I agree to this, which I am not saying that I am because I still don't, and all the technicalities are settled, where are we headed? How are we going to get there in the first place?”

 

“Gangwon-do!” Jackson declared with wide sweeps of his arms, causing Mark and Jin Young to duck out of the way, his grandiose gestures catching the attention of the maknae duo as they halted their conversation to listen to his. “I saw it on some travel programme on TV the other day while I was lazing around at home, and Masang beach is absolutely gorgeous in the summer. Mark and I both have driving licenses. We can rent a jeep or borrow one of our parents' cars and drive our way down and back. We'll shout at the top of our lungs on the mountains and crash in the backseat along deserted highways under the starlit night sky and set up camp in empty meadows and chase each other down the shore and throw someone into the freezing seawater and set off fireworks on the beach at midnight. We'll never feel more alive.”

 

Young Jae blinked owlishly. “That is some surprisingly poetic imagery coming from you, Jackson hyung. I never knew you had it in you to be a literary kind of person.”

 

“Yeah,” Jae Bum was quick to agree with his boyfriend. “And it sounds like fun. I think I'm in. What about you guys? You up for it?”

 

“Well, I can’t say going on a road trip isn’t one of the things on my bucket list…” Mark reasoned with a nod. “I'm cool.”

 

“Me too.” Young Jae sing-songed, “If you can find some way to talk my parents into it.”

 

“Same here.” Yugyeom drummed his fingers on the table before turning to his petite best friend beside him. “What about you, Bam Bam?”

 

Bam Bam shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, considering I don't have any family or relatives with me here in Korea, I am kind of my own guardian so I say why not? It’ll be fun to do something with just us seven.”

 

“Alright!” Jackson pumped his fist in the air at their signs of agreement. “It's settled then! Gangwon, here we come!”

 

“Woah, woah, hold up right there, mister.” Jin Young cut in before the Hong Kong native could get too carried away. “We still need to get permission for the maknaes to come with us.”

 

“I'll do it.” Jackson offered quickly, barely containing his excitement that was about to bubble over.

 

Jae Bum rolled his eyes dramatically. “Jackson, we're supposed to convince their parents to entrust their beloved sons to us for a few days, not dissuade them. With your terrible command of the Korean language you'll get them grounded till their graduation instead. I'll do it.”

 

~~~

 

Mark ended up being unilaterally voted as the designated driver, everyone (both them and their parents) voicing out their concerns over the boys’ safety as well as the wellbeing of the car – it was a six-seater open-top land rover that Jae Bum’s dad had very kindly offered to lend them – if the Hong Kong native were to take the wheel. It took Jackson a mere five minutes of sulking before he got over it and declared the passenger seat as his, thus landing himself the title of official navigator for the trip. No one else had bothered to fight with the enthused boy over riding shotgun (It was seven thirty in the morning. No one had the energy and mental capacity to) and merely packed themselves into the back of the four-wheel drive.

 

The redhead stood by the door on the driver’s side and tapped away at his mobile phone, trying to get the built in GPS to work while the others groggily loaded their belongings onto the back of the jeep at a snail’s pace. You couldn’t blame them though. With Jackson’s hyper disposition you’d think it was almost noon, not barely dawn break that they’re gathered on Jae Bum’s front yard.

 

“Uhm, guys…” Jin Young began unsurely as he warily observed the six boys before him squeeze onto the open top vehicle. “I’m having second thoughts about this. How are we going to fit seven boys and all their camping supplies into a car meant for six?”

 

“Like this,” Jackson gave Bam Bam a leg up and heaved him into the car boot, the younger settling down happily on top of the empty ice box. “Look, I know all our backpacks and sleeping bags are taking up two seats and Jae Bum and Young Jae conveniently decided to take up the last two so that they can probably give each other secret s on the journey but Yugyeom has scooted over to the side with the portable stove and kitchen utensils, so you actually have all the space on top of the foldable tent. Come on, you can even prop your feet up on Bam Bam’s lap if you like.”

 

Jin Young shook his head in disapproval but climbed on anyway. As he settled himself in and made himself comfortable – well, as comfortable as he could in a mere square metre area – a blunt shape prodded him in the side sharply and he shot up from his seat, hand flying to grasp the offending object and pull it out from its hiding spot. It was a plastic toy shovel. “What even…”

 

The umma of the group whined. “Guys, is this even necessary? We’re only going for a two-day one-night trip, yet we look like we brought along all our possessions instead.”

 

“What do you mean ‘is this even necessary’?” Jackson repeated incredulously, eyes widening to the size of saucers at the accusation as he packed on the last of their camping supplies in the cramped space. “Of course it is! We’re bringing two kids along with us on the trip; we have to cater to their needs too! How can you be so insensitive to our maknaes?”

 

“Hey!” That statement incited indignant protests from the youngest pair who turned to frown at their elder. “Hyung! We’re not kids! We’re only a year younger than Young Jae! If we’re kids, then why isn’t he one too?”

 

“Because he’s already been corrupted by Jae Bum,” Jackson sniffed. “You two, though, we have to keep as pure and innocent for as long as possible. Therefore, you are kids.”

 

“Says the whole lot of us who have not even turned twenty, much less reached legal age,” Mark quipped, finally looking up from his mobile device, lopsided grin present on his face. “Let’s face it, guys. The rest of us all have equal chance of using that stupid sandcastle building set as Yugyeom and Bam Bam. Don’t even deny it. We’re all kids.”

 

“This conversation is also over,” Mark concluded with finality as he hopped into his drivers’ seat. “Because we need to get going if we’re sticking with our plan. Jackson, get in the jeep or I’m leaving you behind.”

 

You’d think it was ridiculous and absolutely insane to have the two foreigner members guide their way cross country across South Korea, but it wasn’t until three wrong turns provided by Google Maps – technically, it was mainly Jackson’s fault for making so many spelling errors while keying in the address of their destination – and one too frequent pit stop at a rest station later did the rest of them realise their grave mistake. It was inevitable that Mark had to be behind the wheel, but Jackson should have never been let near the passenger seat. But by then, the Hong Kong native was too hyped up to pay any heed to their pleaded requests of changing their direction navigator.

 

“Oh yeah, road trip!”

 

~~~

 

They ended up arriving in Gangwon two hours later than planned. Unperturbed, Jackson hopped off the vehicle and shuffled his feet along the tarmac. Mark reached his arms up above his head, stretching out the kinks that had begun to settle in from being seated for too long.

 

Jae Bum, always having had the streak of leadership in him, alighted and began throwing out instructions to get started setting up camp for the night. “Young Jae, Yugyeom and Bam Bam, unload all our belongings from the jeep and start setting up. Jackson, grab the tent from the back of the car and put it up with Mark. Find a spot on the beach that’s not too close to the water; I don’t want to wake up floating in the sea the next morning.”

 

The boy whipped out a list of groceries to be bought. “In the mean time, Jin Young and I will do some shopping for tonight’s dinner supplies. I wrote this out on the ride here. It should contain everything that we need, but Jin Young can do some reviewing on our walk to the store. Come on guys, we don’t have all day. Let’s get moving!”

 

Jae Bum and Jin Young returned tottering three plastic bags full of miscellaneous paraphernalia twenty minutes later to find everything all set up, the tent as instructed located on a grassy patch of beach sufficiently far away from the coastline and the jeep manoeuvred onto the grass and the parked ten feet away from the campsite. The youngest three were mulling around, looking over the shoulders of the older two as they attempted to start a fire in the middle of a simple log circle.

 

The elder placed the items in his hands onto the foldable table and nodded in satisfaction, clapping to catch the attention of the five. “Alright, here’s the sleeping arrangement for tonight: Yugyeom, Bam Bam, Young Jae and I will take the tent. The remaining three of you can camp in the back of the jeep. A night spent under the stars; it’ll be very romantic.”

 

“And have the maknaes bear witness to your lovey dovey actions? God knows they’ll be scarred for life because we all know that you two can’t keep your hands off each other. Over. My. Dead Body.” Jin Young huffed as he too, unloaded the groceries in his arms. “Mark and Jackson will join the maknaes in the tent. I’ll sacrifice myself and be the er. You, Young Jae and I are taking the jeep, and I’m sleeping in between you two as an added precaution.”

 

~~~

 

It was dusk, the golden sun all but set beyond the horizon when they gathered on the beach around the blazing campfire. The seven boys formed a rough circle and began spinning around, shouting and spouting incoherent things. Arms tightly slung over each other’s shoulders and waists, Mark scanned his eyes over every single one of them, joy and carefree youthfulness reflected on their merrily laughing faces, and he felt his heart swell with pride. This was his family, his friends, his peers whom he’d grown up with. He’d spent his happiest moments, shed his most sorrowful tears, and forged the most precious of memories with them. They were his life; the sole reason for his existence. It may sound childish and incredibly naive for him to say so but hey, they were wild and young and reckless, weren’t they?

 

Teenagehood was the age for error and experimentation and nights of wild, unbridled fun. Now was their time to shine.

 

“Hey.” Jackson settled down on the log next to Mark and returned a grateful smile to the elder who unwrapped the futon from his shoulders and offered him half of it. The brunette tilted his head towards the rowdy bunch of youngsters who were frolicking near the water’s edge, tossing handfuls of damp sand at each other while dodging onslaughts. “It’s barely midnight. Why are you so glum by yourself when everyone else is going crazy? What's up?”

 

“Nothing much, really.” Mark broke his gaze from the ground and looked back to the campfire at the centre of their log circle, shrugging nonchalantly. “It's just...”

 

“You can't believe we really graduated?” Jackson offered as he too, observed the hypnotising flickers of the flame in front of him.

 

“Yeah,” Mark breathed, his heavy sigh reflecting the internal battle he’d been putting himself through over the past week. “I mean, four years just passed like that. Can you believe it? It's been four years since you bounded up to me after our first homeroom class together and re-introduced yourself, insisting that we become friends because we're both from overseas, three since meeting Jin Young and Jae Bum in the same math class and two since Jae Bum brought Young Jae to our lunch table, who conveniently decided to tow Yugyeom and Bam Bam along for moral support “because it was intimidating to sit with the seniors”. Thinking back at these memories now, wouldn’t you agree that the past four years really were too short?”

 

“Soon we'll be receiving our results and separating to different universities and who knows when we'll be able to gather together again just to have mindless fun like now.” The Californian exhaled weightily. “Things are going way too fast for my liking. I feel like time's slipping by me and I can’t stop it. I mean, have you ever thought about your future? Considered what you want to be when you grow up? We've just been living in the present all this time.”

 

"Wow. We'll that's quite a handful of words to throw at someone who's barely sat down for three minutes." Jackson quipped, the same bittersweet memories running through his own mind as he thought back of the past four years he’d spent with these six other teenage boys. "But to be honest, no I have not. Have you?"

 

"Me neither." Mark snorted cynically. "Look at how prepared for adulthood we are."

 

“We have to grow old, but who says we ever have to grow up? I'll bet you fifty bucks that I'll still be this reckless and crazy thirty years from now. Heck, we all still will be.”

 

“That is one bet I know I'll lose for sure so no thank you.” Mark chuckled. His gaze lifted from the ground and into the clear ebony sky that was void of clouds tonight. The stars were shining exceptionally brightly tonight. Did they know of the inner turmoil these carefree youngsters were going through? “I'll miss your wild and y when you're gone.”

 

“Who said I'll be going anywhere?” Mark’s wide eyes snapped towards the younger to find him with his trademark -eating grin, the corners of his eyes crinkled upwards and his mouth stretched wide to showcase a full set of sparkling white teeth. “I'll be sure to stick by your side always until you're absolutely sick of seeing this face and even then you’re not getting rid of me. You have me for life whether you like it or not.”

 

It was unlike Jackson to say something this serious.

 

Mark s his arm across his best friend’s shoulders and gave him a one-arm hug. “Thank you, Jacks. I know I don’t express this often but I really appreciate the fact that you came into my life and changed it for the better.”

 

“Right back at you, Mark,” Jackson smile turned soft as he leaned over to the elder and bumped shoulders playfully. He placed his hand over Mark’s and tugged him up from the ground, towing him towards the pile of miscellaneous paraphernalia the group bought from the convenience store earlier on. “Come on, let’s ignore those idiots and set off some fireworks.”

 

Jackson rummaged through the plastic bags and pulled out two sparklers, scampering over to the campfire to light them up before handing one to Mark, his youthful face alit with childlike mirth.

 

In the soft hues of pale silvery moonlight Jackson’s olive tan skin appeared whiter than usual, the warm orange glow from the fire casting shadows that danced across his angular face, sharpening his chiselled features and the bright twinkle in his dark brown orbs. How could anyone be this ridiculously handsome? Mark’s heart thumped wildly in his chest.

 

Little did he know, Jackson was thinking the same of the redhead.

 

~~~

 

Mark awoke with a shudder as an exceptionally strong gust of biting sea wind washed over him. He peeled his eyes open with great difficulty and observed his surroundings. Finally it clicked that he was still on the beach, now seated on the sand with his back against the log. A quick check on his mobile phone registered the time to be ten minutes past three in the morning. The campfire had all but died down, reduced to mere glowing embers, and in the dim lighting he saw the youngest two huddled in a corner under one shared blanket, desperately trying to keep out the cold.

 

The redhead looked to his left and found Jackson sound asleep with his head rested on his shoulder. The younger’s cheek was pressed up against the material of his varsity jacket, long eyelashes brushing his face with every twitch of his closed eyelids and light snores emitting from his parted lips. It was a stark contrast to the younger’s usual rambunctious nature, and Mark thought he had never seen anything more angelic than Jackson’s sleeping features. As much as he wanted to keep ogling, though, the elder knew they were going to have to move indoors to prevent catching a cold.

 

He nudged the younger awake gently, endearing smile spreading across his face when Jackson glanced around blearily with the adorable look of a lost puppy. “Hey Jacks, get up. Let’s go inside then continue sleeping, yeah?”

 

Jackson clambered to his feet unsteadily and was about to trail after Mark when he was stopped. “I’m just going to wake the kids up. You look pretty sleepy. You can head back to the tent first if you want.”

 

The younger nodded absentmindedly before trotting off. Mark turned back to the sleeping forms of the maknaes tangled up in the blanket and sighed, not knowing where to begin unravelling the mess of limbs and fabric. “They’re wrapped up tighter than kimbap. How am I even going to do this?”

 

“I wonder where Jae Bum and Young Jae are… And that little called Park Jin Young, too.”

 

Half a minute later, while the redhead was still trying to figure out the lumpy mass that was Yugyeom and Bam Bam, Jackson returned looking fully awake and a lot paler than before. Mark dropped the handful of futon he clutched in his hand and rushed to the younger immediately. “Jacks, what’s up? Why are you so white? What happened?”

 

“I…” The younger didn’t say anything else, couldn’t say anything else, and merely pointed in the direction of the communal tent they were all supposed to share.

 

“What?”

 

“M-Mark… Don’t…”

 

Eyebrow raised, Mark was about to approach the tent when a low but audible moan erupted from the other side of the thin, partially translucent canvas. “What was that!?”

 

On cue, the sound echoed by again except at a louder and much clearer volume. There was no mistaking what it was this time. “Oh God. Please let that be a pair of hippies who decided to have an impromptu adventurous romp in a stranger’s tent. Please don’t tell me it’s–”

 

“Young Jae!” The cry of the name was followed by a hoarse grunt.

 

“Ah, hyung!”

 

“You have to be ing kidding me.” Mark groaned and dragged his palm down the front of his face. “Yeah, it’s them alright. Looks like none of us would be going anywhere near that tent tonight, much less be using it. You wanna go for a walk instead?”

 

Mark picked up their discarded blanket and draped it over the youngest two, careful not to wake them up before leading Jackson to the water’s edge. That was where they found Jin Young lying spread eagle on the beach, having almost tripped over his prone form in the near darkness.

 

Jackson hissed and prodded the younger with his foot. “What the actual , Park Jin Young? Of all ing places to sleep why are you camped out here?”

 

Jin Young sat up and rubbed his sore side with a pout. “Well, if you were the only one left awake to observe Jae Bum and Young Jae trying to feel each other up you would make your escape too! You have no idea what I bore witness to! I’m scarred for life!”

 

Mark rolled his eyes at Jin Young’s dramatisation of events as he extended a hand to help pull the youngest off the ground. “Oh please, I heard them and groaning names while ing each other up. And while I was at it, I, rather unfortunately, also heard some very distinct squelching noises.”

 

“I ventured too close to the ped flap of the tent and saw a cheek which I believe is Jae Bum’s.” Jackson added helpfully. “It seemed a little taut for Young Jae’s, anyway. His is a tad flabby, you know. So, what were you saying about being scarred, again?”

 

~~~

 

“Mark… Hey, Mark, wake up.”

 

“Wha–?” Mark roused groggily and peered around in the near darkness, trying to trace the source of the voice that was softly calling out his name. It took Mark a full three seconds to register his unfamiliar surroundings. Right, he was on a road trip in Gangwon-do with his mates, he’s crashing in the back of Jae Bum’s father’s jeep with his best friend sandwiched between Jin Young and him and currently said best friend was shaking him with the intensity of a mini earthquake, trying to wake him up.

 

“Jackson? Is that you, man?”

 

“Yeah it’s me,” came the whispered reply next to his ear.

 

“What time is it?”

 

“It’s… 5.14AM currently.”

 

“Oh my ing God. You’ve got to be kidding me, Jackson Wang.” Mark groaned, voice thick with sleep, and his side to face away from the younger. “Why are you awake at this God forbidden time and why are you dragging me down your damn rabbit hole with you? I’m going back to sleep. Go mess with someone else or I’ll punch you in the .”

 

“Yah, leave my instrument out of this! Get up! There’s something I want to do, just with the two of us. Let’s go before the others wake up.” Jackson placed his palm on the elder’s chest and shook him continuously to keep the latter from dozing off again. He was always persistent when he wanted something bad enough, Mark had to admit, and he knew there was no way he was winning the Hong Kong native. “Come on, Mark.”

 

It was all quiet as Mark blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to kick start his brain to work. “Are you still sleepy?”

 

Mark rolled his eyes. He simply couldn’t resist a sarcastic reply. “What do you think, Jackson? Dude, we got back to the campsite at ing 4 in the morning, after washing up and I’ve barely caught one hour of shuteye. Why wouldn’t I be tired?”

 

Silence.

 

Had he hurt the younger’s feelings?

 

He couldn’t have, could he?

 

The moment stretched on longer and the redhead was about to open his mouth to apologise before the other spoke up again, his voice much quieter than before. “No need to be snarky about this, Mark. I just want to bring you somewhere.”

 

“Alright, alright, I’m up.” Mark rubbed his face, brushing messy fringe out of his eyes, and sat up in defeat. He turned to glare at the shrouded figure crouched by his feet. “What now?”

 

“Let’s go.”

 

It took them nearly two hours of leisure hiking through a forested trail to reach their destination on top of one of the mountains in the Korean peninsula. Majestic wind turbines stood tall in the distance, and right ahead of them, the Eastern Sea. Cool, crisp air of the morning whipped across their faces and tousled their hair as they stood shoulders astride, looking at the remnants of a sunrise out in the horizon.

 

“Uhm, Jackson, why are we here?”

 

The aforementioned boy shrugged, the tip of his pink tongue sticking out playfully to wet his chapped lips. “You said you were feeling troubled because of the uncertain future, so I wanted to show you this.”

 

“We are in another province, standing on the edge of a mountain top with nothing but clear sky above our heads and endless miles of deep blue ocean in front of us and no one around to judge. Whatever you have been keeping on your chest, there’s no time and place better than letting it all out right here, right now. Shout it out now; scream it out at the top of your lungs and you’ll realise there’s no better feeling of unadulterated freedom than this.”

 

Sensing Mark’s hesitation, the younger grinned wide and dropped his grip on the redhead’s wrist. “Here, I’ll show you.”

 

Jackson turned away from Mark, ignoring the frantic calls of his name from the elder and bolted in the opposite direction towards the cliff. He hopped on the lone boulder perching precariously on the edge and braced his hands on his knees for support. “Mark Tuan Yi-En! I’m only going to say this once so you better listen up carefully! I love you! You may think that I’ve gone absolutely nuts but I’m not! I don’t know how and I don’t know why, and I definitely don’t know when it started, but I’m seriously, crazily in love with you!”

 

The younger threw a playful glance over to make sure the Californian was listening and yes, the redhead had clung onto every single one of his heartfelt words and was grinning wider than a child on Christmas morning. “I don’t care what life decides to throw at us, whether fate will land us in the same school again or in places oceans apart, but I still want to be with you!”

 

Mark marched right up to Jackson and stood shoulder to shoulder with the younger, his heart beating erratically in his ribcage and his swelled chest bursting with love for the other. He drew in a lengthy breath to ready himself and cupped his hands over his mouth. “Jackson Wang Jia Er! I too will only say this once so you better pay close attention! I, Mark Tuan Yi En, have been in love with you for the longest of times.”

 

The elder paused for breath (and dramatic effect) before continuing in the same volume. “I don’t even know if what you said counts as a confession but it, I’m going to reply you anyway! Yes, I want to be with you!”

 

His shoulders heaved with effort as though he’d just run a marathon but Jackson was right. This feeling was absolutely liberating. In this adrenaline-induced high with excitement coursing through his veins like a drug, Mark reached over and took Jackson’s slightly calloused hand in his own, weaving their fingers together in an unbroken bond.

 

~~~

 

The look on Young Jae’s face could only be described as smug as his eyes lingered on the approaching couple’s linked hands and he punched his beau in the shoulder.  “Finally, guys. It took the both of you long enough to confess to each other. We’ve been waiting for so long we’ve given up on holding our breaths. And you, Im Jae Bum, owe me twenty dollars because I told you Jackson would cave first.”

 

Jackson and Mark shared a look no one else could decipher before blinking owlishly, looking from one person to the other for answers. “Wait, how did you know?”

 

Bam Bam shrugged unhelpfully and Yugyeom mirrored his best friend’s actions. Jae Bum scratched the side of his face sheepishly, while Jin Young merely crossed his arms across his chest with a knowing smirk on his face.

 

“Well… Considering how you kind of confessed your love by screaming off the edge of a cliff for the whole world to hear, how can we not know?” Young Jae guffawed. “It was very Korean drama style and very romantic, by the way. Thumbs up to you, hyung. I’ve always wished for someone to do something like that for me, but my boyfriend’s such an unromantic staid, oh what to do.”

 

“But you’ve always laughed at those male leads when they confess dramatically to their crushes!” Jae Bum blubbered, clinging onto the arm of his boyfriend like a little child. “You called them cheesy and unoriginal!”

 

“When a girl, or in this case, a gay man snipes at a drama plot, especially one of a romantic scene, it most likely means that he wishes for the same to happen to him, but doesn’t want to express it out directly because it might seem embarrassing.” Jin Young bit back snidely, unfolding his arms and planting them on either side of his hips. “I thought you would’ve figured that out by now, hyung.”

 

“You shut up, Park Jin Young. It’s gold for this to be coming from the biggest prude on the planet.”

 

“I’d rather be a prude than an exhibitionist.” Jin Young folded his arms across his chest again, cockily this time, knowing he held the triumph card in his hand. “At least I don’t do it in public in a tent where everyone else can see and hear. I won’t go into the details, because you two know very well the unspeakable things you did last night.”

 

“Guys… That’s enough now…” Mark warned wearily, only to have his words fall on deaf ears. He clucked his tongue in annoyance as the pair of best friends continued to bicker loudly, shooting insults and snarky comments back and forth like they have been all their high school life. “Jin Young, Jae Bum, the maknaes don’t have to hear this…”

 

Seeing the elder’s frustration, Jackson slinked over to the redhead and s an arm around his waist, his smile bright and soothing like the warmest of the sun’s rays.

 

“Hey, you okay?” Jackson enquired in a breathy manner, warm air from his soft exhale tickling the sensitive skin on the side of the redhead’s neck. “They’re just being idiots as usual. Don’t get upset.”

 

“How can I be, when you’re right here right now, right next to me?” Mark sighed in blissful contentment and leaned into the other’s comfortable embrace, planting a chaste kiss on top of Jackson’s head.

 

On second thought, maybe it wasn’t so bad to graduate after all.