You said you'd keep me honest
But I won't call you on it

Two brown eyes peered over a magazine, the owner of said eyes would gaze strongly for a few seconds  at a figure huddled in the corner before disappearing behind the paper once more; this action was repeated several times.

“Aren’t you being a little too obvious?” A voice spoke from his left and Jinyoung quickly turned to glare at him. With rough movements he grabbed the nearest magazine and roughly hit it in the smack dab of the other male’s chest. The black haired boy that was the victim only let out a soft groan.

“If anyone is being obvious it’s you Jaebum hyung.” The younger male harshly whispered, glancing back at the person he was looking at to make sure he hadn’t attracted attention. After noticing he was yet again being completely ignored he let out a sigh, turning back to his friend.

“Now hurry up and hide your face before he notices us.”

Jaebum rolled his eyes but complied and grabbed the magazine on his chest before copying Jinyoungs pose and hiding his face with it. Feeling completely stupid for doing so, this isn’t at all how he planned to spend his free time. Hanging out at the library stalking his best friends crush with him, he really needed to reevaluate his life decisions.

“Isn’t the whole point for him to notice you? I don’t see why you don’t just go up to him and start talking instead of stalking him.”  Jaebum muttered from behind the magazine.

This time Jinyoung was the one who rolled his eyes before replying. “Life doesn’t work like that hyung, plus! I can never even get anywhere near him without that guard dog being around.”

“Guard dog?” Jaebum mumbled before glancing at the redhead next to Jinyoung’s object of affection. “Oh, you mean Mark hyung? What the hell Jinyoung, Mark hyung is actually a pretty cool person. Doesn’t talk much but he’s nice.”

“You know him?” Jinyoung replied with distaste, clicking his tongue before muttering whatever and turning away from him only spot the person he had been stalking looking at getting up from his chair, the redhead next to him in toe. Swallowing a lump of sadness as the thought of them leaving, he stayed still with the magazine covering his face until he was sure they had left.

With a sigh the magazine flopped on the table once there was no sign of the two. Just as he was about to rest his head on the wooden surface a high pitched noise sounded loudly to his left.

Quickly turning he was face to face with a bright red Jaebum holding his magazine, Jinyoung glanced down at the cover.

KPOPBOYS SUMMER ISSUE, hottest male idol group’s special.

Jinyoung grinned shyly and winced at the death glare his friend slowly aimed at him. Maybe not even his aegyo would save him from this one.

——

If you were to ask Jinyoung when this crush of his started happening, well, he really didn’t know. He was a normal student, hung out with friends during lunch, slept during math and annoyed his homeroom teacher constantly.

But then everything changed when the fire nation attacked, or in this case, Jackson Wang. When rumor broke of a transfer student from Hong Kong, Jinyoung’s interest was slightly peaked but it wasn’t until the said male walked into his homeroom class that Jinyoung felt his heart speed up, face flush and a light shine on him from heaven because holy hell that boy was just. his. type. The boy was handsome and his accent was so charming when he spoke of doing fencing back in Hong Kong Jinyoung swore his jeans tightened but before he could do anything the previous transfer student Mark Tuan had already dug his claws into Jackson.

Jinyoung had never known much about Mark, since the other was an upperclassmen they rarely saw each other, but occasionally Jinyoung would get glimpses of red hair through the hallways and wondered how the hell the school let him get away with that.

And now, now they were rivals.

—-

It was a normal Wednesday, the sun was out birds where chirping and Jinyoung was watching Jackson eat his lunch from behind a tree as usual. Every bite, to every sneeze and every time he laughed so hard that the food flew out of his mouth. The ideal man.

Jinyoung sighed, and swirled his yogurt slowly, he wondered how many kids Jackson wanted, maybe 7. They would get married in the spring, invite all their friends, JB the best man and the officiator as well. Maybe that one person who gets stuck with paying for everything-

Tap tap

There was a soft pressure on his shoulder, the small circle shape of it indicating it was a finger. Jinyoung sighed; he hates getting interrupted on his Jackson watch. Turning around, he was immediately faced with light from the sun, letting out a squeak he brought a hand up to over his face, squinting harshly. The stranger was too hard to see and only looked like shadow.

“What do you want?” Jinyoung retorted, sparing no harshness to his words. After all he wasn’t the one interrupting someone who was clearly so busy.

“What are you staring at him for?” The voice asked back, clearly unaffected by Jinyoungs tone, he sounded rather bored actually. Maybe a little tired.

“Who? That guy over there?” Normally Jinyoung would make an excuse; that he was spacing out, or was looking behind that guy, but in a bout of courage he decided why even bother to lie. The real answer probably sounded just as dumb anyway. “That’s my future husband.” He spoke proudly, showing his pearly white teeth with an obnoxious smile, a hand still shielding his eyes from the sun.

Jinyoung turned back around to face Jackson, hoping the guy would leave him alone but he never heard footsteps leaving in fact, by the sound of crunching leaves he was getting closer.

Feeling a bit annoyed Jinyoung quickly snapped. “Look I don’t kno-“

Oh

The stranger had walked to Jinyoung’s side and effectively escaped the glare of the sun, making it easy to see a slim body, and striking red hair. Oh it was Mark. Jinyoung felt his insides twirling; he was going to be sick. Scrambling to stand up, he tried to rack his brain for excuses or jokes, there was no way Mark, best friend possibly lover of Jackson could know about his crush, it would ruin him.

“I’ll help you.” Mark said quietly, but it stood out so loudly in the mess of Jinyoungs brain.

Jinyoung stilled, wait what, his mouth fell open, and he was so confused, what was going on?

“I’ll help you get with him.”

——

Turns out however, that Mark helping Jinyoung get with Jackson wasn’t really helping him get with Jackson. It was more like he was joining Jinyoung on his stalking sessions. It did have its perks however because the redhead would drop hints here and there, valuable information like what Jackson’s favorite color was, what cologne he wears, his favorite sock brand.

But if anything, Jinyoung ended up learning way more of Mark than Jackson. Mark was a transfer student from LA, he tried to dye his hair brown for school but he bought the wrong dye and it turned it red. He’s still not comfortable with Korean which is why he’s so quiet all the time, also because he’s shy of his slight stutter. His eye smile is jjang, and he really is much more handsome up close. He met Jackson though mutual friends and hit it off because they both spoke English, and that he noticed Jinyoung’s staring right away.

“Don’t worry though.” Mark calmed him at the time. “Jackson’s as thick as a brick he hasn’t noticed a thing. But if you want him too you have to make the first move, or at least introduce yourself to him.”

Which leads him here; at some dumb teen party Mark had invited him too. Jinyoung of course, couldn’t come alone to something like this, which is why he had his trusty knight in shining armor next to him. Jaebum upon stepping into the somewhat expensive looking house made a bee line towards the red paper cups on the table. “Gonna get turnt.” Was the last thing Jinyoung heard from him as the black haired male waddled out of vision, the swarms of sweaty aimless teen bodies grinding in the middle of the living room obscuring his vision.

With careful steps, Jinyoung tiptoed his way around the mass, aiming for a quiet corner near the staircase. He got about halfway before he felt familiar fingers tapping at his shoulder. With a smile the younger male turned around to face a familiar handsome face, red hair sticking out like a sore thumb, how the hell didn’t Jinyoung spot him earlier.

“You made it!” Mark called out over the blaring music, sounding rather happy about it. Jinyoung just replied with a wave of his hand but before he could say anything a body pushed him from behind into Mark. With a flail of arms Mark caught him before he could do any damage, to himself or anyone. Apparently a party favorite song came on because a swarm of people surrounded them in order to dance, trapping Mark and Jinyoung in the mess of dance crazed teenagers. Jinyoung felt his face heat up when he noticed just how close to Mark he really was, the older had a hand on his waist gripping him securely and Jinyoung had his hands loosely on Mark’s shoulders. No matter how much Jinyoung struggled, he couldn’t manage to get through everyone dancing and shortly gave up after someone almost knocked his eye out.

He felt someone breathing on his neck, with a shiver Jinyoung twisted his head when he realized Mark was whispering something to him. “I know how to get us out just follow my lead.”

With a nod Jinyoung let himself be pulled by Mark, and was surprised when the older male started to dance with him. Not really understanding what was going on but not really minding it either Jinyoung, grabbed the red head and moved his hips to the beat. He was starting to understand all these people now, this was a good song. Gripping Mark tighter, he pressed their bodies closer and felt the older male tighten his hold, and intake of breath stuttering at his ear. Just as Jinyoung was gathering his courage to start grinding Mark detached himself and the younger was surprisingly disappointed but looking around he realized Mark had literally danced their way out of the mess as they appeared safely out of the circle.

Jinyoung let out a laugh, mostly at the ridiculousness of it and half to ease the awkwardness of Mark seeing his wild side. Mark was laughing along with him and Jinyoung realized he hadn’t had this much fun in ages.

“Mark!” A loud voice called out, and both of them stiffened. The unaccented voice could only belong to one person.

“Hey Jackson.” Mark replied calmly, once the HK native had gotten closer, he threw his arm around the redhead the drink in his hand splashing dangerously around the brim. Jinyoung watched with wide eyes, heart speeding up as he came face to face with his crush, not even bothering to pay attention to the twinge of jealousy he felt at two in front of him.

“Who’s this?” Jackson grinned, and reached his other hand with the drink to wrap around Jinyoung. Locking both him and Mark in an awkward huddle.

“J-Jinyoung.” He stuttered, immediately face palming mentally. Jackson just kept grinning and Jinyoung felt something wet hit his shoulder, he grimaced when he noticed Jackson’s drink had spilled on him.

“Well J-Jinyoung, you read to parTAY.” Yelling out that last bit Jackson threw himself off them and went into a crazed dougie, drink spilling everywhere as he danced his way into the horde of drunk teens. Jinyoung watched him go in disbelief.

“Charming, isn’t he.” He heard Mark mumble to his right, and something uncomfortable started to settle in Jinyoung’s gut.

Throughout the rest of the night he had observed Jackson, grinding on various people, spilling his drinks, almost throwing up and then coming to ask Jinyoung to join him. Jinyoung from yesterday would’ve jumped at the first chance he got but something changed and he couldn’t place what it was, although something in the way his heart would start to beat faster every time Mark appeared to give him an encouraging smile could play a big role.

In the end, Jackson was far too drunk and Mark had to drag him home. Jinyoung gave them a small smile and waved the redhead goodbye before going off to find his own possibly drunk friend. He left that night with more confusion that conviction but one thing was for certain.

Jackson was actually kind of irritating.

It’s not like he hadn’t noticed it before either, he would constantly see the other make a fool of himself or do something impossibly immature, Jinyoung had always just never paid it any attention, choosing to only see Jackson as the handsome fencer from Hong Kong, never as that one obnoxious boy who parties too hard and flirts too much.

And as much as he didn’t want to compare them, Jinyoung found himself thinking about Mark. Him and Jackson are practically opposites, Mark is gentle and quiet and Jackson is loud and rough. Mark looks like an angel when smiling and Jackson just looks plain goofy. That night Jinyoung lies awake and curses his heart to be so fickle because suddenly all his thoughts are about Mark and that’s not the way he had his future planned out.

—-

Jackson invited him to join him for lunch and Jinyoung swallows down whatever thoughts he had and agrees, this is what he wanted, this is what he was aiming for. They’re sitting opposite from each other and it only takes Jinyoung thinking about how he wishes it was Mark instead to realize exactly what’s going on. His heart didn’t speed up when Jackson invited him to lunch, not even when he smiled at him. But the mere thought of Mark is making him blush and it really can’t get any clearer than that. He has a ing crush on Mark.

Jinyoung groans and doesn’t even bother to hide it, stuffing his face with a spoonful of rice. Jackson has been surprisingly quiet, and Jinyoung finally noticed the contemplative look on the others face. He sets down his chopsticks.

“I’ve noticed you staring.”

Jinyoung chokes on his white rice and feels his body go cold. No, this can’t be happening right now. He desperately tries to stop Jackson but the rice lodged in his throat prevents him from speaking.

“I wasn’t going to say anything at first…”

Jinyoung is shaking is hand back and forth, but Jackson isn’t paying attention, eyes glazed over as he completely engulfs himself into his own world.

“But I’ve come to a conclusion.”

Jinyoung finally swallows down his rice, gasping for breath as he goes through the aftershock of almost choking to death.

“I’ll help you.” Jackson finally says after a pause, eyes focusing again on Jinyoung completely missing the way the younger male almost died.

“I’ll help you get with Mark.”

Jinyoung doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

—-

They’re stalking Mark this time, Jackson snacking loudly on his left; the crinkling sound of his bag of chips as he takes out a handful is driving the younger male mad. He’s just about had it when Mark gets up from his seat at the library and starts to pack up his books. Jinyoung lets out a sigh of relief, finally the torture ends. They’ve been hiding behind a bookshelf for almost an hour and Jinyoung’s had to hear noises coming out of Jackson’s mouth that no human should ever be making.

Quickly the younger grabs his backpack and slings it over his shoulder. Jackson looks like he’s about to protest and tell him to keep following Mark but the Jinyoung is faster and is already out the door. Leaving the ex-fencer behind with the mess of crumbs, no way Jinyoung is going to take the fall for that.

With a sigh the Korean boy slows down his pace, feet shuffling forward aimlessly as he scrolls though his thoughts. It’s been such a crazy week for him, seriously someone should make a drama about his life.

Turning the corner he comes in contact with a hard body and stumbles back, a hand gripping his wrist to catch him. It’s Mark, of course, and Jinyoung swallows down his heart. Mumbling a small thanks before channeling Houdini in an effort to disappear. Mark’s skinny hand is stronger than it looks because it keeps the younger locked in place, Jinyoung feels Mark’s strong gaze on him.

“I’m nowhere near as dense as Jackson you know.” He mutters in that deep soft voice of his and Jinyoung feels his knees go weak. “You were staring.”

Jinyoung feels any fight leave his body; he was pretty much screwed anyway at this point. He could lie but what’s the point?

“I was staring at my future husband.” He replies, referencing their first meeting and he certainly doesn’t expect the smile that blooms on Mark’s face or the way the hand that was on his wrist moves down to hold his hand.

“Really now?” Mark teases, getting bolder as he entwines their fingers and starts pulling Jinyoung to walk along next to him. “Aren’t you jumping the gun a little? Maybe you should start by taking me on a date.”

Well if that wasn’t an invitation then Jinyoung didn’t know what it was. With a wide smile he tightened his hold on Mark’s hand. Role’s reversing so he was the one pulling the older along.

Subtly, in the background two boys peered from behind a locker. Coming into view once the two love birds were out of sight. Jaebum wiped the dust off his sleeve and grimaced as Jackson let out his signature laugh.

“C’mon, let’s follow them. It’s about time my boy Mark got some action.” Jackson spoke loudly, a proud smile on his face

Jaebum just rolled his eyes, but followed the younger. “I’m just here to look out for my best friend, if Mark even thinks about pulling anything weird on him I’m going for the kill.”

And with that the pair set off, their bickering echoing in the halls.

an. Thank you anon at 7fics for the wonderful prompt, i hope you enjoyed it!

Prompt:  Fluffy MarkJin fic where Jinyoung is crushing on Mark's best friend; Jackson. Plot is basically Jinyoung stalking Jackson, who is always with Mark, but ends up liking Mark instead. Pleaseeee and thank you!