Mark wasn't able to chat with Junior after that as the teacher began class. It was a literature class, and they were in the middle of a book Mark hadn't read, so he allowed his mind to wander. He couldn't believe his luck that he was seated next to the windows. He didn't want to make it obvious he wasn't listening, so he kept his face facing forward while his eyes wandered to his left, his chin in his hand.

The whole campus was spread out from his viewpoint. He tried to identify his dorm and other places of interest, quickly figuring out where the rec center was -- it was the only building made almost entirely of glass windows. 

Mark was startled from his thoughts when he felt a sharp tap on his shoulders. "Earth to Mark," a voice chuckled.

Turning to face Jr., Mark said sheepishly, "Sorry. I was zoning out a bit."

"No worries. I just figured you'd like to know that class is over. Where's your next class?" Jr. eagerly took the class schedule Mark handed him. That's when Mark noticed the two guys behind him.

The boy right behind him was good looking in a chic and cool sort of way, with high cheekbones and a piercing stare. He seemed cold, but when he smiled he looked really charming. The boy next to him though -- whoa. Mark's thoughts stuttered for a minute. This boy had a y smolder thing going on. He stared at Mark for a beat before quirking up the end of his mouth into a half smile, running a hand through his hair. Mark swallowed hard.

"Oh." An amused look crossed the face of the second boy at Mark's simple exclamation. Mark blushed, wishing he could shove the word back into his mouth.

"Huh?" Jr. looked up. "Oh yeah, that's JB and Jackson, my roommates," Jr. said, pointing to each. "And my best friends," he added after a pause.

"I'm feeling the love," Jackson muttered, throwing an annoyed look Jr.'s way. "What suite are you in, Mark?"

"Um, seven."

"No way! Your our new roommate!" Jackson exclaimed happily. Mark was shocked at how cute the boy had become, smiling and happy -- all y broodiness gone.

"I was wondering if it was going to be you," JB added. "We've been a trio for so long, I figured we were due to get the new kid."

"FYI, JB likes to keep things tidy, and Jackson is an idiot, but we all get along really well and have a great time."

"Shut up, Jr.! Like you are any better!" Jackson retorted.

"I don't know what you mean, I am a delight."

The two began to bicker, but Mark could tell it was the kind of fighting close friends did. It made him smile. Would he ever be close enough to them to feel comfortable doing that?

"Don't let them bother you," JB said with a smile. "They're both idiots. But they're the best idiots you'll ever meet."

"Jaebum! How could you?" Jr. and Jackson both said, making sad puppy faces at him.

"Oh yeah. Don't let them get united against you either," JB added, laughing. Mark joined him, smiling wide. 

 "You're next class is with me," Jr. said, grabbing Mark's arm. "Come on. See ya later, losers!" He called over his shoulder as he pulled Mark along. Mark could hear Jackson and JB grumbling behind them before Jackson shouted, "Don't let Jr. do anything weird to you, Mark!" followed by hyena-like laughter.

Jr. made a face while Mark just laughed. 

The rest of the morning went by rather quickly. Mark had his class with Jr., followed by a class with all three boys, and then a math class with none of them. Math was his favorite subject, but the lack of his new roommates made the class rather boring in comparison to his other classes. The boredom must've shown on his face while the teacher lectured because the boy sitting next to him whispered, "Are you still alive?"

"What?"

"It's just, I don't think you've even blinked in the last 15 minutes." The sleepy looking boy smiled. "I'm glad you're alive. Dying of math boredom is such a lame way to go."

Mark smiled, struggling to keep his laugh in. "Yeah, so not cool."

"I'm Youngjae."

"Mark."

"Yeah, the new senior. Word has gotten around." Youngjae looked like he wanted to laugh.

"Seriously? Is a new kid that big of a deal?" Mark asked, embarrassed.

"Yeah. It's something new for everyone to to talk about, although your good looks makes it even more of a big deal to the girls, and they gossip the most." Mark quickly covered his face with his hands. It was then that the teacher signaled the time for partner work to practice some challenging problems, so the pair no longer had to whisper.

"You know, being able to be so still like that...you'd make a great model for the art students."

Mark was caught off guard. "Uh, really?"

"Yeah! Only if you wanted to, of course. It would be nice for us to have a new face to sketch -- we don't get a lot of variety in models."

"Maybe."

Youngjae smiled wide. "I can work with maybe! Since we share this class, let me know anytime."

"What dorm are you in?"

"Dorm C."

"C? You're a junior? How are you in this class?" Mark asked, knowing this advanced math class was for seniors.

"I'm really good at math," Youngjae replied, embarrased. Mark sensed a kindred spirit in Youngjae, and had an inkling that there was more to Youngjae than he let on. The pair worked together the rest of the class and Mark was happy to find a new friend -- especially one who had more quiet tendencies like himself.

When Mark left class and parted ways with Youngjae, he heard his name being yelled from down the hall. He turned to find Jr. running towards him, eyes crinkled up in a smile. "Mark! Time for lunch! Let's go eat!"

They met up with JB and Jackson in the cafeteria, and Mark couldn't believe how delicious the food was here. He wasn't used to school food being so good and he ended up stuffing his face. Jr. looked at him slightly in awe and slightly disgusted. JB and Jackson just laughed at his chipmunk cheeks full of food. They left him alone to eat, though, and talked about little things that had happened throughout the day.

In doing so, Mark started to learn more about the boys' personalities. JB seemed mostly serious and sensible, as well as the quiestest of the three. He had fun and goofed off like the rest of them, but if JB spoke up to make a decision, the other boys listened. Jackson, on the other hand, was the energizer bunny. He laughed a lot, joked a lot, but he was also very genuine and affectionate. Jr. was a lot like Jackson, but not quite as exuberant. He loved teasing people, but also took care of them, doing his best to make sure they are happy.

"So what about you, Mark?" Jackson suddenly asked, snapping Mark out of his observations. "What's your story?"

"I don't really have one."

"Bull. Everyone has a story!" Jackson exclaimed.

"Let's start with this -- why did you come to this school? Why did you move to South Korea?" Jr. asked.

"Well, I've been moving around my whole life, thanks to my dad's job. I really wanted to spend my final year of high school in one place, so I demanded that I go here. My family left this morning for Japan, and in a week they'll be somewhere else."

Jackson whistled in awe while JB said, "Wow. That's gotta be really tough."

Mark shrugged. "College next year won't be any different. I was sick of never being able to really make friends or feel settled."

"What made you pick here?"

"Oh, my friend BamBam goes here. He's a couple years younger -- Class E," Mark said.

"BamBam?" JB asked. "Odd name."

"It's a nickname. His real name is hard too pronounce for most people. Oh! There he is," Mark said, noticing BamBam's distinct pink tuft of hair. "BamBam! Over here!"

BamBam looked over and waved excitedly, grabbing a taller boy's hand and pulling him along. "Mark! I was hoping I'd see you here..." BamBam's voice trailed off as he noticed the other three boys. "Ah...um...hello. I'm BamBam."

Mark looked quizzically at the younger boy. BamBam only stuttered when he was nervous, which wasn't often -- a meeting new people was usually something BamBam was good at. Why was he nervous now?

Mark then noticed the tall boy standing next to BamBam. His eyes were darting over to Mark's roommates, but kept coming back to rest on Mark. "Ah, BamBam, these are my roommates, Jackson, JB, and Jr. Who's your friend?"

"Right! This is one of my roommates, Yugyeom. He's my best friend!"

Mark smiled. "Nice to meet you, Yugyeom!"

Yugyeom ducked his head low in a quick bow. "Y-yeah, nice to meet you, too."

Mark smiled even wider. These two kids were too cute. He couldn't believe Yugyeom was younger than him, though. What was that kid eating for breakfast?

"Um, we have to go get food...I'll see you around, Mark. Nice to meet everyone." BamBam said before pulling Yugyeom away quickly.

"Cute kids," JB said with a smirk. "I think we intimidated them."

"Well, what can I say? We are the epitome of awesome. Except for Jackson." That earned Jr. a punch in the arm from Jackson, but Jr. just laughed.

"Shut up, Jr.," Jackson retorted. He slung an arm around Mark, startling the older boy with the sudden skinship. "I'm awesome, aren't I, Mark?"

Jr. suddenly shoved a hamburger into Mark's mouth. "Don't answer that. Lying to him with a yes will only make his ego grow needlessly bigger."

Jackson tried to kick Jr. under the table, and the two boys began to bicker while JB laughed in the background, but Jackson's arm never left Mark's shoulder. Watching his new roommates gave Mark a warm feeling in his chest. 

This. This is what he'd been searching for.

-------------------------------------------

Jackson had spent the whole day watching Mark. He tried so hard not to, but it was like Mark was a magnet. Jackson was affectionate by nature to begin with, so he told himself it was "just what he did" when he found himself pulling Mark close, an arm around his shoulder.

It turned out Mark was practically a saint, too -- not the jerk that Jackson had (sort of) hoped. He was quiet, but he could be funny, and he had a laugh that you couldn't help but join in with.

When they got back to the dorm, Jr. set out to start cooking dinner while Mark began to put away his things once his other suitcases arrived. Jackson had to leave for fencing practice (which earned him a look of admiration from Mark, causing that idiot Jr. to make a comment telling Jackson to stop parading about the dorm like a smug peacock -- he was not, thank you very much) but arrived back in time for dinner. 

"Let's go do something, to celebrate Mark's first night here!" Jackson exclaimed after dinner, the four of them sitting around lazily.

"How do you still have so much energy after fencing practice?" Jr. whined.

"I think we have some leftover fireworks from that party. We should go set those off near the lake," JB offered, and Jackson immediately jumped up, excited.

"JB, you're brilliant!"

"My mom made me some brownies, too, and gave them to me before she left. We can eat those for dessert," Mark said, his excitement growing. Jackson grinned.

"Round 'em up, boys!"

They gathered the needed supplies and headed out toward the lake, Jackson chasing Jr. when he made a teasing comment, but otherwise sticking near Mark. The quiet boy was talking more, clearly more at ease. He loved that the more Mark got to know them, the more comfortable he felt, and the more he came out of his shell. They had learned a lot about each other over dinner, and Jackson knew that Mark would be another great friend. Despite their different personalities, they had a lot in common. He couldn't believe how well Mark fit into their little group so quickly.

It wasn't quite dark yet, so the boys ate brownies and played games -- with Jackson earning the most punishments -- setting off the loud firecrackers once dusk finally fell. Jr. got Mark in a neckhold when Mark teasingly aimed an unlit firework at him, their laughter mingling wonderfully, before ruffling the redhead's hair affectionately. They all had a good laugh when JB accidentally stepped into the lake and a frog jumped onto his face. Jackson's favorite part of the night was after all of that.

Mark flopped down on the ground next to where Jackson was sitting, one leg up and one arm across his stomach, the other arm right on the grass. Jr. was chasing JB around the lake, the latter having snuck up behind Jr. and scaring him so bad he tripped and landed in mud. 

"Don't tell me you're tired!" Jackson teased, poking Mark's arm.

"No. Just wanted to watch the stars."

Jackson looked up at the stars emerging in the dark. He settled himself down so that he was next to Mark, his arm casually coming to a rest right next to the older boy's. He stopped the urge to grab Mark's hand.

He turned his head toward Mark. "You mean it wasn't because you wanted to sit next to me?" he asked flirtatiously.

Mark turned to him and grinned, making Jackson's heart stutter. His face was so close.

"Maybe that too."

Jackson just turned to look up at the sky again, glad that the darkness could hide his heated cheeks. The pair of them lay there, listening to the laughter of their rommates and the sounds of nature, Jackson focused on where their bodies touched.

"I'm really glad I'm here," Mark said softly, so quietly that Jackson thought he wasn't supposed to hear it.

Yes, Jackson thought. I'm really glad you're here, too. Jackson swore to himself that he would make sure Mark would never regret coming here.

Jackson's fingers hesitantly and oh-so-barely entwined with Mark's, and Mark didn't pull away.

Yes.