Mark smiled halfheartedly, shaking his head a bit. "A-actually, that's just a rumor. We're not actually dating."

 

"Oh pshhh I hear the hesitation in your voice! It must still be on the down-low, am I right? Anyways-" the interviewer immediately moved on to a new topic, leaving Mark no possible way to clear up the situation.

 

The blonde sighed softly, then stole a glance across the members at Jinyoung. The younger was looking down, but when he caught Mark's eye, he smiled reassuringly.

 

The scandal had only gotten more attention in the past few days. Mark had gone to Jinyoung first thing to tell him it was a rumor and avoid any misunderstandings, but the vocalist hardly seemed to care about it. He knew why the two of them had held hands before, anyway. Mark was grateful Jinyoung didn't misunderstand the situation and hoped the scandal would fade out soon. 

 

Each interview after that proved his hopes useless. Everyone kept asking about his supposed girlfriend and how their relationship was going. It was annoying, to say the least, but Mark was also worried about Jinyoung. He didn't want what everyone was saying to hurt the younger. But Jinyoung kept giving him that reassuring smile, making Mark believe that everything was ok.

 

---

 

"Ok Mark, for this scene I need you to be really upset. It would be great if you could start to cry; imagine your girlfriend leaving you all of the sudden."

 

Mark sighed, nodding to his director. "I'll try..."

 

Filming didn't go so well. Mark couldn't get the right emotions out and the director kept yelling "Cut!" They went on, take after take, until the director finally gave up. "Let's call it a day. We'll try this scene again next time, Mark. When we do it again, try to find true emotions within yourself to put across." The director patted the blonde's back, then headed over to chat briefly with the cameramen.

 

"Ah, Mark?" The rapper turned to find his acting partner slowly approaching him. She probably just finished filming a running scene, because she seemed a little out of breath. "Uh, about the scandal-"

 

"Oh, don't worry about that. Hopefully it'll fade out soon, then it won't bother you." Mark smiled slightly, heading over to pack up his bag.

 

"I wouldn't say it bothered me..." Mark turned to face her, a little confused. "It's kinda nice rumored to be dating you. I-I mean, the publicity is good!" She quickly saved herself, a light pink coloring her face that Mark wasn't sure was from the running or from what she'd just said.

 

"But aren't you getting a lot of hate from some of my female fans?"

 

"I mean, ​a little but-"

 

"I'm sorry to hear that. Let's just hope the rumor dies out soon." Mark said before slinging his bag over his shoulder.

 

His acting partner looked almost crestfallen, but she quickly smiled and nodded. "Y-yeah."

 

---

 

Jinyoung needed a breather.

 

Mark's scandal was getting way too much attention; it was making the younger a little uncomfortable-not to mention self-conscious. Every schedule they had was interrupted with questions about 'Mark's new girlfriend,' and Jinyoung just wanted it to stop. He knew it wasn't Mark's fault, so it wasn't like he was going to act upset around him or anything, but the dark-haired boy still felt hurt a bit when the topic was brought up.

 

Wanting to clear his head, Jinyoung decided to take a little walk. It was chilly, and the vocalist silently cursed himself for not bringing a hat or scarf, but it was still refreshing nonetheless. That is, until he saw a familiar face come around the corner holding a plastic shopping bag.

 

"Ah, Jinyoung!" Mark's acting partner smiled, dipping to bow politely.

 

"Oh, uh-"

 

"So Eun." She smiled, bowing again. "It's nice to finally formally meet you."

 

"Y-yeah." Jinyoung smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. Why was it that the very thing he wanted to clear his mind of was standing right in front of him?

 

"I've always supported Got7, even before I started working with Mark. But even more so, now."

 

"Ah, is that so?" Jinyoung nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Thank you."

 

"Do you want to maybe go some place warm? I'd love to talk a bit." So Eun seemed to notice the vocalist shivering and was concerned for his health as an idol.

 

"Oh, sure." Jinyoung felt a little reluctant, but agreed anyway. The actress seemed very nice, how could he just turn her down? He also might have been just a bit curious as to what she wanted to talk about.

 

They found themselves in a small little coffee shop a couple blocks away from Got7's dorm. So Eun ordered two coffees and brought them to a small table in the corner of the shop where Jinyoung had been waiting. She smiled as she placed Jinyoung's coffee on the table and sat down, taking a sip of her own.

 

"So, I take it you've heard about the scandal?"

 

Jinyoung nearly choked on his coffee. He knew this was coming, but it still surprised him. "Y-yeah I have. Mark hyung denies it."

 

"He does, doesn't he... I mean, we really aren't dating after all..." The tone So Eun had made Jinyoung a little antsy and he nervously took another sip of his coffee. "Has he..said anything else about me?"

 

The hopeful look in the actress' eyes made Jinyoung's stomach churn. "Not really...why do you ask?"

 

"No reason, really. It's just that.." She paused for a second, looking down in embarrassment with a soft blush gracing her cheeks. "I kinda have this crush on him, you know? A-and I was just hoping the scandal might open his eyes to the possibility-"

 

Jinyoung hadn't even realized he slammed his cup down on the table until he saw So Eun jump in her seat, startled. "S-sorry, I was just a little surprised..." The vocalist gave an awkward laugh despite his pulse speeding up slightly. He knew she liked him, so why was he suddenly getting so jealous?

 

"Well you see," she went on as if nothing had happened, "Mark and I have actually been...going out a bit."

 

"You've been what!?" Jinyoung flushed when he realized how loud his voice had gotten. Since when had he become so protective?

 

"Well, kind of..we don't really label them as 'dates' or anything. Since we live nearby each other we've been meeting here for coffee before we go to film recently. This place is kinda unknown so we haven't had to deal with any more scandals or anything. I don't know if he likes me back yet, but he's always been really nice to me and I like to think there's some progress being made." The actress smiled to herself, a light blush coloring her cheeks. The sight made Jinyoung sick.

 

"There isn't." The boy found himself muttering before he could stop himself. Thankfully, So Eun didn't seem to hear correctly.

 

"What was that?"

 

"N-nothing. Why have you two been meeting?" Jinyoung tried to keep his tone nonchalant, but inwardly he was a mess of emotions.

 

"We've just been going over lines and stuff together. His skills have developed so much compared to our first day of filming!"

 

Jinyoung couldn't look at the girl's giddy face any longer. Instead, he focused on his forgotten cup of coffee; he was feeling too sick to drink anymore. He's been going over lines with her? Doesn't he usually do that with me? And of course I know about his skills growing. I'm the one who guided him this whole way!

 

Feeling a sudden urge to get out of the situation, Jinyoung stood abruptly. "Sorry, I have to go now." He left his coffee and headed quickly toward the exit. He had gone out to clear his head, but now it was only filled with more confusion and stress.

 

When he made it back to the dorm, he headed straight for his room and closed the door. He heard a few concerned voices on his way in but ignored them, not feeling in the mood to respond to any of them.

 

 

He laid on his bed and closed his eyes, trying to calm his beating heart. He stayed like that until he heard a quiet knock on the door and a familiar voice calling to ask if he could come in. Jinyoung didn't respond. He wished he'd locked the door, but it was too late now; Mark was already letting himself in.

 

The blonde crept toward the younger and sat by the edge of the bed, leaning over to get a better look at Jinyoung's face. "Jinyoungie, is something wrong?"

 

He didn't answer yet again and pretended to be asleep. This, however, was futile based on the fact the vocalist had just returned to the dorm minutes ago.

 

Mark was impatient.

 

"Jinyoooouniiee" he poked the ravenette's arm incessantly, hoping to get a response out of him. When that didn't work, the rapper tried something else. Mark laid down beside Jinyoung, wrapping his arms around him and leaning in to kiss the younger's cheek. Before his lips could make contact, however, Jinyoung pulled away from him.

 

"I'm not in the mood, hyung."

 

Mark froze, Jinyoung's cold tone stopping him from insisting further. Instead, he sat up again, awkwardly muttering a "sorry."

 

A long silence followed. Mark didn't know what to say or do; he didn't know what was causing Jinyoung to act this way. He wanted to help, but didn't know how.

 

"Why have you been meeting with her?" Jinyoung finally said, still laying down with his eyes closed.

 

It took Mark a moment to understand what the younger was talking about, but when he did, he felt his stomach drop. "We've only been going over scenes-"

 

"What about me?" Jinyoung was sitting up now, looking at the blonde. "You're supposed to come to me when you want to work on scenes."

 

The younger sounded hurt, making Mark's heart clench with pain. "I-I didn't want to come to you for help-"

 

"Why is that? You'd rather go to her? Have you developed feelings for her instead of me?" His voice had begun to rise, the pain hidden behind it clearly evident now.

 

"No! Jinyoung, I didn't want to come to you for help because I didn't want you to think about me doing all these lovey-dovey scenes with her!" Mark's voice had risen a bit too.

 

"So instead you secretly went and met her? Don't you realize I'm more hurt now than I would have been if you'd just come to me!?" 

 

"You think I wasn't thinking about your feelings this whole time!?" Mark stood, his fists clenching.

 

"She's really fallen for you. Maybe you should just give her a chance. Maybe that way you'd both be happier." Jinyoung turned his gaze away from the blonde, instead letting it rest on the bookshelf across the room.

 

"J-Jinyoung, don't say that-"

 

"Just leave, please. I want to be alone." Jinyoung's voice wavered a bit, but he held his tears back so that he wouldn't cry in front of Mark.

 

The older was silent for a moment, and Jinyoung could see his fists unclenching and clenching again out of the corner of his eyes. "Okay." Mark finally said, his voice quiet as he turned and left the room, being sure to close the door behind him on his way out.

 

Jinyoung couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He was feeling so many emotions at once, he finally just let them all out into his pillow. He knew he was overreacting, that he was being to hard on Mark, but for some reason he couldn't hold in his jealousy any longer. He had been hearing about the scandal far too long to do that, and now meeting with So Eun just topped it all off.

 

---

 

Mark's mind was clouded with memories of what had happened the night before as he arrived at the filming location the next day. Jinyoung was hurt, it was all Mark's fault, and now he didn't know what to do to fix it all.

 

"Hey, are you ok? You look a little distracted this morning." So Eun asked, her tone a little concerned.

 

"I'm fine." He stated simply, then turned when he heard the director call him over to work on a scene.

 

"Alright, Mark. We're gonna go back to that scene from last time, okay? Try to really get into the mindset of someone who had just been left by their girlfriend." The director nodded encouragingly, giving the blonde a thumbs up before heading back behind the cameras.

 

As they began filming, Mark discovered that tears came much easier than last time.

 

---

 

A/n: omg I'm sorry for the angst-I don't like it either. Alas, it's necessary to keep the story interesting. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!