Jinhee's head was resting on her arms placed on our shared textbook.

"Jinhee?" I asked, lifting her long hair which was shielding her face. "Jinhee are you okay?"

She lifted her head up and wiped her eyes quickly, "Yeah, I'm fine, sorry."

Her voice sounded sniffly, and although in the time I had been at this school I'd never seen her upset, she definitely looked it now. 

"Are you sure?" I asked unconvinced.

"I said I'm fine, Maya!" Jinhee snapped.

I took the textbook from her and turned to the assigned page. I wondered why she was so mad. Maybe she got into an argument with Daiyu. 

Halfway through the silent lesson, Jinhee turned to me quietly. 

"I'm sorry for snapping at you. It's just, I'm not great at the moment," she sighed.

I'm not great either," I admitted.
"Why aren't you?"

"Jackson," I said quietly. 

"Jackson? What about him?" She asked in a strange tone.

"We...I...I don't know for sure, but I think I like him," I said, biting down on my lip nervously. 

I was right to be uncertain of my friends reaction. Her eyes flashed and she looked at me firmly. 

"Aren't you going to say something?" I prompted. 

"What if I told you we had a thing going on?" Jinhee replied coldly. 

"You and who?" I asked. 

"Me and Jackson! I thought you guys were just friends, what the hell happened to Mark?" She asked raising her voice suddenly. 

My throat felt as if it was about to close up. All this time Jackson was acting weird, it was because he was with Jinhee and probably felt guilty. 

"How long have you and Jackson been seeing each other?" I asked trying to sound calm, but my voice cracked in the process.

"As if that's any of your business! I thought you were my friend, but instead you decided to stab me in the back by making moves on Jackson," she said. 

I looked at her silently for a moment. 

"I'm not a damn mind-reader, Jinhee! If you kept it a secret that you were with Jackson, how was I supposed to know? Was I supposed to read between the lines?" 

Jr and Yugyeom were looking at us from their desks in shock. I assumed neither of them knew about Jinhee and Jackson either. 

She shrugged, "You guys were going to keep your friendship a secret. Probably so poor Mark didn't know you were cheating on him too."

I sat at my desk speechless, with my mouth slightly ajar. Jinhee and I were now drawing quite a bit of attention to ourselves, as some people around us were turning to look our way. 

"We're not dating, Jinhee," I mumbled.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? Well thanks a lot for being a great friend," she said clapping her hands, "why don't you all do us a favour and go back to Britain, instead of breaking friendships and stealing girl's boyfriends over here."

Jinhee stood up in perfect timing, as if she knew I was ready to pounce at her. 

I shot up with my chair scraping behind me before a pair of arms pulled me back. 

"Maya, sit down! You'll be in detention after school tonight," my teacher warned, noting something in her diary.

"Stop provoking her, Jinhee," Yugyeom's voice sounded behind me. 

The girl raked a slender hand through her hair, "I'm not provoking her. She's doing all this herself!"

"Jackson couldn't even call you his girlfriend, so I don't know why you think you're so special Jinhee," I retorted, but she wasn't listening to me. 

"You couldn't wait to get your hands on Jackson. And I bet you've been doing a friends with benefits deal with Mark. What kind of friend are you to me?" She asked accusingly. 

Jr was behind Jinhee and pulling her away to calm her down. 

"I was one of your first friends here, and this is what kind of crap I have to put up with in return. Well I'm done," Jinhee yelled.

"You're delusional," I whispered.

"You know the funny thing is that you will only ever equate to something on the side- for Mark or Jackson, that's probably all you'll ever be for anyone here," Jinhee laughed sadly, turning away to sit at Jr's desk. 

"None of them want you for anything serious. So if you're hoping for a relationship like your cousins, then think again," Jinhee finally said.  

The entire class was staring at me at this point. Jinyoung's eyes latched onto mine and he shrugged at me helplessly. 

I buried my head in my hands and didn't lift my head up until the bell sounded signalling the end of class. 

 

My head was resting on the table in the silent detention room. I'd spent my lunchtime crying on the outside benches and I was now exhausted. 

I heard footsteps in the room, but I couldn't be bothered to lift my head up to see who it was.

The footsteps stopped somewhere by my desk. 

"Where's the teacher?" a voice asked. 

I looked up to see Mark's sullen face looking down at me. 

I rubbed at my eyes before saying, "I don't know, I wasn't paying attention."
"Have you got a cold? It sounds like it," he said looking at me intently. 

I shook my head. He knew well enough that I didn't. He was probably the first on Jr's list to find out about mine and Jinhee's argument. 

"Come to laugh?" I asked.

He looked confused, "No, why?" Maybe he didn't know about it. 

"Why are you here?"

Mark sprawled out on a chair next to mine. "I have detention," he said simply.

"For what?" I asked. 

Mark shrugged, "It's become routine now. I'm here most days, that's if I don't have plans," he smiled winking at me. 

"I never thought I'd see you here," he said honestly. 

"Me neither."

"Why are you here then?" Mark asked. 

I sighed. I could either ignore him completely or tell Mark the truth and the reason why. I decided to do the latter. 

"Me and Jinhee, we got into a bit of a fight. Well almost," I admitted.

Mark eyes widened, "Jinhee's one of your closest friends."

"Not any more, I guess." 

"So why did you get into the fight?" he asked. 

I swallowed, "It was about...Jackson."

Mark's eyes lowered and he nodded in understanding. 

"Did you...did you know about Jinhee and Jackson seeing each other?" I asked quietly. 

"They were seeing each other?" he asked in shock. 

I nodded with a lump forming in my throat, "Want to laugh? Or say I told you so. Because you did, you did warn me about Jackson and I didn't listen to you."

"No actually," he said. I was shocked at Mark's change of attitude. 

He sighed, "Jackson is my best friend. We met in the first year of this school, which was over three years ago. We've never liked the same girl before and never talked about if the situation should happen one day. But I observed him, like you observe Daiyu's habits. I knew he'd end up liking you, and it hurt me...well kind of. I don't want to tell you Jackson is terrible, but if you do fall into the trap, then just be careful and be aware."
I nodded. Mark was being surprisingly reasonable. 

It annoyed me how Mark called falling for Jackson as a 'trap', but with what I found out today, Mark was right to call it that.

"Do you like him, Maya?" Mark asked staring at me directly. 

"You never tell me what you want. Do you want to be my boyfriend or do you just want to continue messing around, because that's not what I want," I admitted.

"I asked about Jackson," he replied. 

"Jackson seemed like he'd take things seriously, hint the past tense," I sighed. 

Mark looked at me sarcastically, "Who's to say I wouldn't?"

"You not answering the question. And anyway, Jackson proved me wrong today."
"They didn't just hide it from you, they hid it from me too...this whole secret relationship. It must have been fairly recent, because Jackson would tell me in the end," Mark observed. 

 

Flashbacks repeated in my mind. The more I thought about it, the more the two of them and their interactions became noticeable. Jackson being 'ill' and leaving Mun's house early with Jinhee. The two of them being so comfortable around each other, laying on the sofa playing games together at the gathering. Both of them arguing just before lunch, and Jinhee leaving the hall crying.

Then it hit me. What I witnessed at lunch must have been Jackson ending it with Jinhee because of what he told me at the park the previous evening. It was my fault.

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but the feeling of guilt wouldn't dissipate.

"Maya?" Mark asked, "Are you okay?"
"Why are you acting so nice Mark? Because this is the perfect opportunity for you to now make a move?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that I might not actually like you?" Mark exclaimed seriously. 

I shook my head honestly, shocked for words.

Mark's eyes lit up as he laughed at his own joke. "Although I do still kind of want you for myself, I didn't warn you about Jackson for the sake of me getting to you. It's because it's the truth."
I sighed and wiped my eyes, "Then what do I do now?"
"Did Jackson ask you out?" Mark said quietly. 

"Sort of. But I haven't given him an answer yet. I haven't spoken to him about this," I said nibbling at the corner of my lip. 

A few moments later, Mark stood up and slung his bag over one of his shoulders. 

"Well ask him. I just don't want you hurt, Maya. You guys were both at the park the other day weren't you?"

I avoided his gaze and looked at my hands in my lap guiltily. "I was at the park, he went home."

"It doesn't matter. I knew already," Mark replied, seeing through the lie. 

"When should I tell Jackson about the argument?" I asked. 

"Oh he's probably found out about it now. News gets around quickly in this school," Mark informed me. 

"Wait..." I said.

"That means Jinhee and Jackson's secret relationship has got out," Mark said simply.

"Jinhee also accused me and you of being friends with benefits," I sighed slumping into my chair and rubbing my head, feeling a headache coming on.

Mark chocked with laughter. "I may have tried it a few times, but that is going to be one funny rumour."

"No it isn't. Once Daiyu hears it, she's going to kill me."

He raised an eyebrow, "We've never actually done anything like that. So what are you worried about?"

I stood up from the desk, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
 

Once we got outside the school was deserted. All traces of day had gone and were now replaced with wintry darkness. 

I heard my phone vibrate, and accepted the call from Daiyu.

"Yeoboseyo," I greeted my cousin. 

"Maya? Bambam told me from Yugyeom that you and Jinhee had a fight. Are you okay?" Daiyu said quickly. 

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm on my way home now," I informed her. 

"Who is it?" Mark asked me.

'Daiyu' I mouthed.

"Who was that?" Daiyu asked through the phone. 

"Mark."

"Why are you with Mark?" my cousin asked in a confused tone. 

"Because he was in detention with me and has helped me today. Which is more than can be said for his friend."

"So the tables have turned yet again. Mark acting like the good guy. But I did warn you about Jackson in the beginning!"

"Shut up, Daiyu, I'm really not in the mood."

"Wait...you haven't seen Jackson yet?" Daiyu questioned. 

I shook my head, almost believing that she could hear my non-vocal reply. 

"He probably doesn't want to show his face," I sighed. 

"Are you going to forgive him?" she asked.

"You mean if I get an apology," I replied. 

"Yes, then what?"

I forgot that Mark was walking beside me. "We'll talk about this when I get home, Daiyu," I said quietly, ending the call. 

Mark looked at me with a sincere expression.

We stopped at the school gates before we headed off in different directions. 

Mark placed his hands softly on both of my arms. I assumed it was his way of comforting me. 

"I want you to hear Jackson out, with a clear head and heart. This isn't about me and you any more, it's about you and Jackson," he said which surprised me completely. 

"It's stupid to assume that I could be with you when I act like we're already together. So I'm sorry for that, and I'm sorry for embarrassing you yesterday about the park situation in front of everyone. I just...there's no point in explaining why I wanted to embarrass you. But finally, I'm sorry that you fell out with Jinhee."

"Whew, so many apologies," Mark joked once he was done. 

I nodded. My eyes were stinging and I wasn't sure why. 

"Thank you, Mark," I croaked. 

"It's fine. Get home, it's cold," he said letting go of my arms. 

I nodded, before giving Mark a final shaky smile and walking away. 

 

---

Hi everyone! So this was quite a not so happy chapter. Jinhee is no longer friends with Maya and Jackson has some explaining to do! Hmm. Thank you for all the subscribers & comments. I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter. Please remember to comment + subscribe. 

Until the next update,