[Nobody’s POV]

“Jackson?”

Mark and Youngjae averted their faces at the same time toward that stranger, they both were pretty surprised to hear Jackson’s name instead of Mark's.

“Hey, still remember me?”

Mark hesitated to answer since he didn’t have a clue at all who this person was. But the stranger only chuckled seeing Mark's reaction to their unexpected encounter.

“You don’t seem so sure. Honestly, I’m a bit sad.” The guy said, pretending to get offended. “It’s me. Minhyuk.”

“Ah right, Minhyuk. Yeah yeah… Sorry, I just… You… look different.” Mark decided to play along with this Jackson’s . He can’t say that he’s Mark though.

“Really? Oh maybe because of the hair? I just dyed it a couple of days ago.” Minhyuk picked a few strands of his hair. Mark still didn’t know how to respond to that, so he just nodded his head and agreed to the statement. “By the way, you look handsome as always.” The flirty smirk showed up on Minhyuk’s face while his hand Mark’s shoulder. While Youngjae still kept quiet in his seat, he clearly could see how awkward it was.

“Uum… thanks.” Mark started to feel uncomfortable with the situation. He looked at Youngjae searching for help and Youngjae knew right away the signal. He immediately raised his hand and asked for a handshake.

“Hi, I’m Youngjae!” Minhyuk was startled a little by Youngjae’s loud voice. He returned the handshake, acting cool. “So, who is this, Jackson?” Minhyuk asked as he didn’t move a dagger on his gaze from Youngjae one bit.

“Oh, he’s m-“

“I am his boyfriend.” Youngjae is no less strong in the gazing battle between them.

“Ah… I see.”

Minhyuk let go of his shake from Youngjae’s and this time he turned his gaze towards Mark. “So that’s why you never replied to my message after what happened at the club.”

“WAIT! What do you mean? What happened?” Mark literally shocked this time like he just discovered something so scandalous about him.

“Wow, you forgot about that too?! Now I literally feel offended.” Minhyuk laughed at Mark’s shocking face but both Mark and Youngjae knew that this guy was really upset with Mark’s obliviousness.

“Anyway, I don’t want to disturb your date. It’s nice to see you today… and your boyfriend.” He glanced for a second at Youngjae when he emphasized the ‘boyfriend’ but after that, he just smiled back to Mark, “Well, I gotta go. Hope we can have fun again as we used to, Jackson.” He took a step back and finally turned his back and went from their place. Mark and Youngjae were still looking at him until Minhyuk was out of their sight.

“Okay, what the hell was that?!” Youngjae was the one who threw the obvious question. “It should be me who is asking that, Youngjae.” Mark feels hopeless with that unwanted interaction from stranger.

“But we know for sure that Jackson knows him.” The younger stated the fact. “I don’t know what happened between them, but you need to confront him, Hyung.”

“Yeah, for sure.” Mark just wanted to murder Jackson right now. He doesn’t need any more trouble. “But what’s with the boyfriend thing?”

“I just tried to save you from that guy. I told you he's creepy! If I didn’t say that I was your boyfriend, maybe he would hawk you mercilessly by now.”

“Right. I don’t know how Jackson met him and what kind of relationship they had. He never told me anything about Minhyuk either.”

Youngjae just shrugged his shoulders and took one fries from the plate. “But, didn’t you guys make an agreement to always use your name to avoid confusion from other people?”

The older sighed and massaged his forehead hoping that the Minhyuk guy wouldn't cause unnecessary problems for him. Youngjae felt sorry for his Hyung and they stayed silent for a while, drowning in their own mind.

“Hyung don’t overthink it too much. I’m sure that guy won’t do anything to harm you. Maybe he’s just a random guy that had a crush on you at the club and unfortunately, Jackson played him.” The younger was worried that Mark would get stressed because he always overthinks something that didn’t need to worry about. “Okay? Nothing bad will happen to you, because you got me~” Youngjae tried to cheer his Hyung with his aegyo.

Mark couldn’t hold his smile looking at his brother doing a cute act like that. The trick was successful. At least distracted him from unimportant thoughts. Youngjae laughed together with him as the younger still tried to do another aegyo.

******

The weather was nice, unlike yesterday considering it was a rainy season. They walked through the city after their stomach was full of burgers and french fries. Youngjae said he needed to go out for some fresh air because he felt stuffed. They walked circling the city while joking and telling each other’s stories. When Mark turned his eyes to the front he was looking at the familiar figure walking past among the crowd.

That black straight hair…

That face…

Without Mark realizing he walked following the said man. Youngjae was confused by his brother’s sudden act, so he grabbed Mark’s arm before he got too far, “Hyung, where are you going?”

Mark can’t wait any longer; he can't lose him again. “Youngjae, I need to go. I’m sorry. Can you go home by yourself?” Without waiting for Youngjae’s reply, Mark was already gone. He ran towards the man he was waiting for all day. But when he hadn’t reached him yet, Jaebeom appeared on his head and begged him.

Mark, I’m sorry but could you give me the chance to talk to him this time?

Why??

I can’t tell you right now. I just need to fix something. But I promise you; if everything has been cleared I’ll let you know every little details.

What do you mean? What is it that you need to fix? Should I know about this?

Mark was getting anxious when he heard something was wrong. He knew something was not right after Jackson and Jaebeom didn’t want to tell him what happened yesterday.

I’m sorry I can’t tell you, Mark. All I could say is yes, there’s a misunderstanding between that man and you, and I just want to help to clear everything up. But if you insist, go ask Jackson. It’s because of his stupidity after all.

Dude… why did you suddenly bring my name?

Because it happened because of you. Anyway, since you still don’t have a clue about it, I think it would be best if I talk to him for now, Mark. You know very well that I won’t do anything to hurt you, right?

Mark was silent for a while. He was uncertain of what he should do now. Should he be stubborn and handle everything on his own and maybe regret it later or give Jaebeom his trust to handle whatever that happened for now.

Mark, I was the one who interacted with him and I admit there was a misunderstanding between that man and us. But I think it'll be better if I talk to him. He knew me, not Jaebeom. And I want to pay for my wrongs.

Mark became more confused because he was on the blind side, he couldn’t decide what was best to choose if he didn’t know the root of the problem.

Mark, believe me, I do what I have to do. Do you trust Jackson or me?

It took a lot of thinking and trust to let go of this chance. But Mark thought maybe it was wise for now to not talk to him. Maybe he would just make everything worse and end up regretting it later. The problem is which one he could trust more? Jaebeom or Jackson?

So, how is it?

Mark?

I… I think it’s best for Jaebeom to talk to him. I trust you.

Good call.

But you owe me an explanation. You have to tell me everything after this.

Sure.

And that’s it, they switched and Jaebeom took control of Mark’s body. He had thought about this and the best decision for him was to let go of his feelings for Jinyoung and help Mark to get closer to him. That’s why he volunteered to clear up Jackson’s mess, so Mark could start with a clean slate. Jaebeom ran to the said man while hoping that he wouldn't lose his heart when he talked later with Jinyoung. He had already made his decision.

He promised Mark.

He won’t lie; his heart was thumping faster every time he walked closer and now he was exactly behind Jinyoung.

Okay… 

This is it…

Jaebeom… be cool.

“Jinyoung-ssi.”

 The younger turned around his head and was pretty surprised by what he saw in front of him. 

"Jackson? What are you doing here?"

"Just walk around here when I see you pass by."

Jinyoung was so happy to see the blonde that he couldn't take his eyes off of him. Moreover seeing him in a casual outfit, with his big size sweater and worn-out jeans made him look even better than when in his waiter uniform.
 

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, I'm going to the library. I need to return this and borrow another book." He showed one book in his hand.

"By yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Do you mind if I come with you?”

“E-eh, are you sure?” Jinyoung was flustered with that sudden question. “I mean, don’t you have anything to do? I mean it’s quite boring there.”

"I don't see why not unless I’m bothering you.”

“No, no, no, absolutely not.” Jinyoung quickly protested.

"Okay then. Shall we?" Jaebeom smiled and moved to Jinyoung’s side so they could walk together.

******

The library was quiet and almost empty that day. Maybe less than ten people are reading or seriously doing their work there. Jinyoung walked in front of Jaebeom to the specific area. The smell of old books filled the room and Jaebeom could see the dust fly up in the air in sunlight that entered from the window. 

“So you like reading, huh?”

"I love it. At first, I only read books so I can learn how to build an interesting story and enrich my vocabulary for my writings. But as time goes by, it becomes my hobby. I was really drowned by every story I read. And without me realizing, I already read so many kinds of books and it's just weird now not to bring one in my bag."

"You must be a great writer, Jinyoung-ssi."

"You're blushing me, but no. I'm still far from that." Jinyoung smiled shyly but he was kinda confused with the way this man acted today.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

“Hm?”

“Why are you addressing me formally? Jinyoung-ssi?”

“Ah… that’s… I think it’s more… polite?”

“Really? All of a sudden?” Jinyoung laughed. “I thought you don't care about that stuff.” Jaebeom followed by laughing awkwardly, forgetting that he had to act extra like Jackson usually was.

“Just drop the formality. I prefer we’re talking like friends.” Jinyoung smiled and continued walking. Jaebeom sighed thinking it would be tiring to pretend to be Jackson for a whole day.

"How about you?" Jinyoung suddenly asked the older.

“What about me?”

“What do you like?”

"Me? Uhm... Let's see..." Jaebeom took a little time to think about what proper answer he could give him.

"I like to paint."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes. Also, I really love music. I have many records and CDs in my house."

"Really? What do you listen to?"

"All genres, basically. But I'm more int