jackson and mark have known each other for quite a while, through mutual friends and lessons, but the extent of their friendship never breached that until one science lesson. jackson understood that his friend jaebum was going through puberty but he was so greasy that he might've outgreased nam woohyun. 

 

"man this youngjae kid is pretty cute, huh?" jaebum whispers to an indifferent jackson.

"he's quite cute, yeah" jackson sometimes wishes he never befriended this casanova, "but please stop leaving a trail of broken hearts, remember that these are actual human beings you're affecting, you know, ones who have actual feelings?" 

jaebum just hummed in reply, too young and naive to think that people are unbreakable.

 

jackson wanted to relocate himself to avoid his best friend's immoral ways and maybe get an above average grade in this class (just to get his mum off his back). looking around the room, he had two choices: to sit near the front with youngjae's abandoned bestfriend or next to one of his homeboys, song mino. unfortunately, song mino has recently developed a crush on a quiet spectacled kid with droopy eyebrows and 5:5 parted hair (and minho was so very keen, bordering desperate, on getting acquianted with the other by sitting him near). 

 

mark tuan barely reacted to jackson's presence, tilting his head in confusion for approximately 7 seconds (nothing more, nothing less). 

 

all it took was one lesson spent sharing earphones and discovering one anothers personality through their most played and favourite songs. jackson probably should've questioned why his heart beats much quicker when mark laughs or smiles in his direction.

their friendship progressed - inside jokes were created, hours on the phone talking about nothing but somehow felt like everything, woes shared and long walks on winter nights where an abundance of opportunities of turning almost into reallty. all jackson wanted to do was maybe mold himself onto the other to keep them both warm or to interlock their fingers or to feel the lips that he was always caught longing for. 

the first time jackson had taken mark to his favourite place, the stars were iridescent against the dark night. mark was wearing a knitted hat, a bobble intact (& a smile that made jackson realise why love poems exist) and he turns to jackson and says "i'm so happy" - jackson would pinpoint it to this exact moment.

 

but jaebum often asked about jackson's relationship title regarding mark. mingling with the popular crowd came with terms and conditions, heroic acts of going against the status quo only happens in fiction after all. mark was too full of radiance, beauty, goodness to mix with the popular crowd (who played to their audiences whimsical needs). 

"you know how it is, how can you date someone like him?" jaebum warns.

jackson wants to scream at jaebum's words connotations, that mark is someone he'd be proud to call his other half, that he didn't care about his social status, that mark is the epitome of an angel on earth. jackson wished upon a star that he had the courage to say these things but alas, his wishes [are not granted] are wished upons stars that no longer exist, too.

 

soon, phone calls go unanswered, plans are cancelled and conversations, forced. jackson wang broke mark tuan.

 

mark tried. mark tried so hard. he convinced himself that jackson was telling the truth, he was just busy. 

 

it took more than a year for mark to stop believing in his own lies. for he met someone called park jinyoung. the latter wasn't perfect by any means, but he never denied mark of the love he deserved and let mark love him too.