Jackson notices it one morning when the two of them are in front of the bathroom mirror and brushing their teeth; Mark’s wrists are thin and his fingers long, slim and the fingertips slightly pointy. He doesn’t know why, but after that he just can’t help but look at them, at his hands, at the little bone that’s slightly jutting out on his wrists that look thin enough to easily encircle with one hand.

Jackson is aware that even though Mark is the oldest he often doesn’t seem like it, a innocent and childish streak to his personality, the way he would space out and pout often made him appear like one of the youngest. So naturally Jackson had developed a slight sense of protection toward the other. Whenever he would space out or the others would he would feel the need to stand up for the older.

As he took notice of the others delicate looking wrists and hands he couldn’t help but notice other things too; how Mark would often pull his sweater or cardigan sleeves over his wrists in a nervous and jittery habit, how bony his shoulder’s seemed and how very slender his waist was.

Jackson would notice and by noticing that protective streak would get stronger. He would throw his arm around the older boy’s shoulder more often and his hand would often rest against the small of the now brunette’s back. Mark wasn’t an idiot, of course he noticed the change in behaviour, but he didn’t really mind and figured it was a Jackson thing.

It goes on like that for some time and Jackson is very glad that neither the oldest boy nor any of the other’s have said anything. But one day, while they’re all lazing around the dorm after a long day of practice Jaebum decides he absolutely needs to show Mark something and he has to do that by grabbing his wrist and dragging the shorter male to his and Youngjae’s shared room. Mark doesn’t protest, doesn’t even make the slightest indication of being uncomfortable with that yet Jackson gets the feeling that the way their leader is grabbing and pulling the L.A. native is just way too forceful for his tiny wrists. Jaebum has taken just a few steps before the fencer was suddenly there and prying his fingers off the eldest’s wrist.

Both the leader and Mark looked at him with surprise on their faces, clearly confused about what just happened. Jackson’s right hand was still forcefully gripping Jaebum’s wrist, while his left was just cautiously holding Mark’s. Both of them slipped out of the Hong Kong native’s hold after a few seconds of silence. Jackson looked to the floor not sure what to make of his actions or his thoughts, which were all in a jumble swirling around his head.

            “Jackson what the hell was that?” Jaebum asked his dongsaeng with a frown on his face. The second eldest didn’t sound angry, just confused. Now Jackson has prided himself to be a very straightforward person and even though this situation was embarrassing it wasn’t weird for him to care for one of his fellow members.

            “It’s just that-“ Jackson started and finally looked up and at the leader. “Jaebum-hyung you were grabbing Mark’s wrist so tightly it looked painful and I think he’s wrists are too fragile to be gripped that tight.” Jackson turned to look at Mark whose eyebrows had shot up and who was looking at the younger with an unbelieving expression. The oldest let out a short and disbelieving laugh and crossed his arms in a defensive way.

            “Fragile? Jackson I’m a guy and my wrists are perfectly normal. I don’t know what you're imagining but stop it and stop behaving like an overprotective lover.”

After that his two hyungs had gone to Jaebum’s room and even though Jackson was slightly hurt at Mark’s words he also understood where the other was coming from. People often called him delicate and even though he didn’t say anything against it Jackson figured that as a guy that’s not something you want to hear. To him Mark doesn’t seem like the typically macho guy, the older boy was rather shy and sweet, but he was still a guy.

After a few hours the fencer decided he let the thing rest long enough and decided to apologize to Mark who was back in the living room with Jaebum and Bambam.

Jackson approached him slowly and tapped his shoulder, making the older look at him.

            “Can we talk?” he asked softly. Mark nodded and followed him into their shared room. The L.A. native gently closed the door behind himself and turned to face Jackson. “I’m really sorry Mark, it was stupid of me to react like that.” Mark’s wide eyes were fixed on him and they immediately went soft at his apology.

            “It’s alright, I probably overreacted a bit as well.” The older tried to reason.

            “It’s just-“ Jackson started again and took a step closer to Mark, warily taking the others hand into his. He slightly pinched the pointed tips and grazed his thumb over the soft skin between his knuckles. “You often seems so much younger then you actually are and it makes me want to take care of you and stop the others from teasing you. You look cute when you sulk, but I like it was more when you smile.” His eyes went from the hand what was lying in his own, broader one to the other’s face. There was a slight flush over Mark’s cheeks, a tiny smile on his plump lips and he looked shy and sweet again.

            “Jackson, saying something like to a friend and a band member sounds a bit weird, don’t you think?” The older boy’s voice was soft and sent a pleasant shiver down Jackson’s spine. His heartbeat increased when he realized that the other was right and it was indeed quite weird. He thought about how to get out of this humiliating situation and wanted to pull his hand away when suddenly Mark’s grip around his finger’s tightened slightly. “It may be a bit weird, but I don’t really mind.” The older boy whispered and the tiny grin bloomed into a big smile, revealing white teeth and unusually sharp canines.

Jackson bit the inside of his cheek and suppressed a smile. His fingers wandered from the other boy’s hand to gently close around his wrist. The heartbeat he found there matched his.

just something i thought off and just had to write down

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