Five
An Inevitable Longing"Jinyoung, do you mind coming with us when we film tomorrow? We could use some help figuring out the equipment."
"Sure." Mark and Jinyoung sat in their room. Jackson had left only about 30 minutes ago, leaving his ever present aroma behind. His room constantly smelled like Jackson. His pillows, his blankets, even some of his clothes. It was a distinct citrus smell that made Jinyoung think of the fruit of an island mixed with some kind of spice.
"We're going to a temple in Gyeonggi-do."
"Yeah, I heard you guys talking about it."
"We leave at 9."
"Alright."
They go about their usual night routines. Mark playing games on his Xbox, Jinyoung finishing some homework and listening to music. They both go to sleep relatively early in preparation for the long day ahead of them.
Someone banged on the door around 3 am. Jinyoung awoke groggily, dragging his feet to answer the door. He found Jackson slumped against the door frame, the smell of alcohol covering him.
"Heeeeeey, Jinyounggie. How are youuuuu?" He slurred this, the sour smell of alcohol on his breath.
"Jackson, what are you doing here?" Jinyoung whispered furiously, stepping outside to leave the door slightly cracked so as not to wake Mark up.
"I missed you, Jinyounggiee. Thought I should come by to see your face."
"Well you've seen it. Now go back to your room. Did you forget we have to leave in 6 hours to go start filming your project?" Jackson pouted at him.
"But whyyyyy?" He moved closer to Jinyoung making him press his back against the wall. "I really missed you."
"You s-saw me earlier today," Jinyoung complained, not feeling comfortable with being this close to Jackson. "We'll see each other in a few hours."
"Jinyoung." Jinyoung looked up at Jackson with the sudden change in his voice. He saw that Jackson didn't look as unsteady as he had just a few seconds ago. Was this a joke? "Why do you avoid me?"
"W-what?"
“You think I haven't noticed?" Jackson gave him a look that said Jinyoung wasn't as good at hiding his emotions as he thought he was. "You never want to stay in the room when I'm there. You always go to the library. You never want to eat with Mark when I'm with him. You even avoid me when I see you going to class. Did I do something wrong?" Jackson's voice was pleading.
"T-there's nothing wrong. You didn't do a-anything," Jinyoung said uncertainly.
"Then why? Why do you ignore me?"
"I d-don't mean to," Jinyoung whispered.
"Then what is it? Why won't you tell me if I'm doing something that makes you uncomfortable? I'll stop! I never wanted to push you away. Just tell me."
"You can't change it!" Jackson looked at him in surprise.
"W-what?"
"You can't change the way I act around you...it's pointless. There's no way that I can. But..." Jinyoung looked at Jackson and then down at his feet.
"But what?" Jackson prodded, putting his hands on Jinyoung's shoulders.
"But I...I should go to sleep." Jinyoung turned his head away as Jackson stared at him.
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