Gift for everyone

Gift from ????

Title: And They Were Roommates

Pairing(s): JJP, Markson

Word Count: 3090

Rating: PG

Warnings: None

Note to giftee: Hi Yugy! I hope you enjoy this gift, I had a lot of fun writing it! Happy Holidays! :)

                                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quiet, intimidating, attractive. If Jinyoung had to describe his new roommate in three words, those would be his choices.

At least, that’s what he tells Jackson over lunch - or no, that’s what he complains to Jackson, because Jinyoung’s main two modes are “complaining” and “gossiping,” and judging by Jinyoung’s tone, this falls in the former category. Luckily, Jackson finds both versions of Jinyoung-talk entertaining, which is probably how they’ve stayed friends for so long.

“Why are you upset about him being attractive?” Jackson latches onto the last word, because it’s the most interesting one. Jinyoung doesn’t often comment on people’s looks, so him mentioning his roommate’s appearance at all is already intriguing. “Free eye candy, right?”

“Because,” Jinyoung huffs impatiently, “did you not hear the first two things I said? He’s quiet, which means I’m terrified of making a single sound in our room, and he’s intimidating, which means I literally don’t know what I would say to him anyway.”

“You,” Jackson says incredulously. “You don’t know what to say. Someone alert the press: Park Jinyoung has finally faced his defeat at the hands of Handsome Mystery Boy.”

“Shut up,” Jinyoung says without any heat in his voice. “You’d think he’s attractive too.”

“Oh no I wouldn’t,” Jackson says immediately, offering Jinyoung a smug smile. “I already have Markie.”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes, the way Jackson knew he would. “You have to know this, but finding another person besides your boyfriend attractive isn’t cheating.”

“I know,” Jackson says with a grin. “But Mark is the best-looking guy around, and I’m including myself in that, too, so...sorry, but your mystery man doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Why do I bother telling you anything,” Jinyoung grumbles, picking at his food moodily.

“Don’t be so down, Jinyoungie,” Jackson says, taking pity on him. “It’s only the first week, you two have plenty of time to get to know each other.”

“I guess so,” Jinyoung says, looking marginally less gloomy, which is a victory in Jackson’s book. “God, Jackson. He’s actually one of the most attractive people I’ve ever seen, and his taste in books is amazing, if the ones he was unpacking are anything to go by. Why is this my life?”

“I think you’re overreacting,” Jackson says, patting Jinyoung’s shoulder. “Just try talking to him. Maybe you’ll end up bonding over those books of yours.”

“Maybe,” Jinyoung echoes with a sigh. “Assuming, of course, that we’re able to establish actual human communication instead of the silent eye signals we’ve been using so far.”

Jackson stares at him for a few moments before muffling a laugh with his hand. “You’re so ing weird sometimes, you know that?”

“Says the guy who took off his shirt in front of his crush and asked if he was impressed by his y body,” Jinyoung says, shaking his head at the memory.

“Okay, but am I or am I not dating him now?” Jackson retorts, his heart swelling with pride. He thinks he deserves to be proud; after all, he did manage to land one of the most coveted guys in the year above them.

“Somehow, you are,” Jinyoung concedes grudgingly. “And I’ll never understand how that happened.” He stands up with his mostly-empty plate and slings his bag over his shoulder. “Anyway, I have class in ten minutes. I’ll see you in the library later?”

“I have dance practice,” Jackson reminds him, picking up his plate too. “I’m probably just going to head back to my room after, but I’ll walk with you to class.” He grins widely. “You can tell me more about your hot new roomie.”

Jinyoung looks at him with exasperation, but Jackson knows him well enough to see the affection hidden in his eyes. “I’m not telling you a damn thing.”

Jackson just laughs and reaches up to ruffle Jinyoung’s hair. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll see.”

***

Reserved, studious, handsome. That’s how Jaebum describes his new roommate to Jackson as they get dressed in the locker room after their dance practice.

“The semester just started and you’re already checking out guys, hyung?” Jackson teases.

“It’s just an observation, smartass,” Jaebum says, shooting Jackson an unimpressed look as he towels his damp hair. “I’m not like, gay or anything. But the guy is really goddamn beautiful.”

“Right,” Jackson says in disbelief. “That’s straight-man talk for sure.”

“Fine,” Jaebum concedes. “Maybe I’m a little gay. But still, I’m not saying I want to date him or anything.”

“I never said you did, either,” Jackson points out smugly. “Funny how your mind went there anyway, though.”

Jaebum throws his towel at him weakly. “You’re so annoying,” he says, shaking his head.

“I’m just trying to be a good friend,” Jackson reasons. “You need to put yourself out there, hyung. Guys have to know you’re interested in them before they agree to date you.”

“And I already said I don’t necessarily want to date him,” Jaebum says. “He’s just...really good-looking. And he seems pretty laid-back. He agreed to go fifty-fifty with me on a bookshelf for our room, which is nice. I guess he’s into reading too.”

“So you’ve talked to him?” Jackson asks excitedly. His mind goes to Jinyoung, who apparently hasn’t talked to his roommate yet; it’s good to know that at least one of his friends has some sense.

“Not that much,” Jaebum says, pulling a shirt over his head. “He doesn’t seem very talkative. Like I said, he seems pretty focused on his work and stuff. I don’t want to disturb him.”

“Awww, already looking out for him?” Jackson coos, fully aware that he’s being needlessly obnoxious. “So sweet of you.”

“Dude,” Jaebum huffs, but Jackson can hear that he’s not really upset. “I barely even know the guy. Like, yeah he has a nice face and sort of seems like a really ideal living mate, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Right,” Jackson says, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. “You keep telling yourself that when you’re still single at the end of this year and complaining to me about how Handsome Roomie is dating someone who isn’t you.”

Jaebum lets out a sound that’s somewhere between an exasperated sigh and an amused snort. “Whatever, man. If that actually happens, then you have my permission to gloat all you want.”

“Awesome,” Jackson says, grinning triumphantly.

“You’re ridiculous,” Jaebum says, his tone affectionate. “Let’s just get going, Mark’s probably wondering what’s taking you so long.”

Jackson’s mood brightens even more at the mention of his boyfriend. “Yeah, let’s go!” As they walk out, he grabs Jaebum’s arm. “But don’t think I’m letting go of this crush of yours.”

Jaebum sighs, looking both amused and resigned. “I wouldn’t expect anything else.”

***

“Ugh,” Jackson says, tugging his bag off his shoulder and collapsing on his and Mark’s bed unceremoniously. “I’m tired of them.”

“What happened?” Mark asks from where he’s folding their laundry. “Who?”

“Jinyoung,” Jackson says, rolling over so he can lean back on his elbows and look at Mark. “And Jaebum-hyung.”

Mark shakes his head fondly at Jackson’s dramatics. “What did they do?”

“They won’t stop whining about their roommates,” Jackson says, whining a bit himself. “Jinyoung’s whipped for a guy who barely even lives in the room, and Jaebum-hyung is so head-over-heels for his roommate that he’s scared to even talk to him, let alone spend time with him. Who knew that random roommate assignments could go so wrong?”

“That’s weird,” Mark says, looking pensive. “Don’t you think Jinyoung and Jaebum seem like they’d get along?”

“Huh,” Jackson says, an idea dawning upon him. “Markie, you’re a genius!”

Mark raises an eyebrow. “I am?”

“We should set them up!” Jackson says, sitting up excitedly. “They’ll hit it off and then they won’t have to worry about their roommate problems or come to me about them anymore because they’ll have each other!”

“Babe,” Mark says slowly, a funny look crossing his face. “You do know that -”

“Just think about it,” Jackson interrupts, becoming more and more determined with every word. “They’re a perfect match. If anyone would be able to stop Jaebum-hyung from losing his temper, it’s Jinyoung, and Jaebum-hyung would definitely be able to handle Jinyoung being a brat.”

“But Jackson,” Mark says softly, “the problem is -”

“They might not agree to do a blind date?” Jackson cuts Mark off again in his enthusiasm. “That’s true, but I’ll find a way to get them to do it. They need to forget about those roommates of theirs, for the sake of their own sanity and mine, too.” Mark still seems unconvinced, so Jackson brings out his puppy eyes, pouting up at his boyfriend. “Come on, babe, my matchmaking is great! I mean, I matched me with you, didn’t I?”

Mark melts into a smile at that and Jackson throws a little celebration in his head. “Okay, all right,” he says, brushing a few strands of hair off Jackson’s forehead affectionately. “Let’s do it.”

***

Jinyoung walks into the restaurant, giving Jackson’s name to the waiter, who leads him to a table. As he draws nearer, Jinyoung realizes that the person at the table they’re walking towards looks very familiar. His heart skips a beat. “Jaebum-hyung?” Jinyoung stops short in front of the table. “W-what are you doing here?”

Jaebum blinks at him. “Jinyoung?” He glances between Jinyoung and the waiter, realization slowly dawning upon him. “I’m...here for a date.”

Jinyoung checks Jackson’s text with the details of the restaurant again before swallowing and looking at Jaebum once more. “Reservation made by Jackson?”

Jaebum nods slowly as Jinyoung carefully sits across from him. They don’t say much to each other as they decide what they want to eat. After the waiter leaves with their orders written down, they finally force themselves to look at each other.

“So, how do you know Jackson?” Jinyoung asks to break the silence.

“We’ve been in the same dance group for the past two years,” Jaebum says. “You?”

“He’s been my best friend since high school,” Jinyoung says, before adding with a slight laugh, “You’d think I’d be used to his antics by now, but he’s still full of surprises, apparently.”

Jaebum lets out a short laugh too before silence settles over them again. “So...” he starts after a few awkward moments. “I guess he, uh, set us up with each other. Do you think he doesn’t know we’re roommates?”

“He has to,” Jinyoung says, partly to himself. “How could he not know? I’ve told him about you so many times.” In the back of his mind, it suddenly strikes him that he might not have ever actually mentioned Jaebum’s name before, but he shakes the thought away.

“You have?” Jaebum looks at him, surprised. He, of course, has spent hours rambling to Jackson about Jinyoung, but he hardly expected to hear that Jinyoung has been doing the same. He’s even more surprised when Jinyoung smiles sheepishly at him.

“Yeah,” Jinyoung admits, his cheeks flushing slightly. “I’ve been really curious about you, hyung.”

“You could have just talked to me,” Jaebum says, acutely aware that he’s being quite hypocritical. “I promise I don’t bite.”

“But you’re almost never in the room,” Jinyoung says, allowing his voice to take on a more teasing tone. “I never have the chance to talk to you.”

Jaebum feels his face heating up, though he offers Jinyoung a shy smile. “Well, maybe I get a little, um, nervous whenever I see you.”

“You do?” Jinyoung asks, his heart speeding up at what Jaebum is implying. He tries his hardest to maintain a straight face. “Why? I promise I don’t bite.”

Jaebum stares at Jinyoung with wonder in his eyes as matching smiles slowly bloom on their faces. “Touché,” he says. “You’re a good-looking guy, Jinyoung. I’m sure you’re aware of that.”

“And I’m sure you know the same about yourself, hyung,” Jinyoung counters, resting his chin on his hand and regarding Jaebum closely. “I might have been a little nervous myself. Maybe.”

“Hmm,” Jaebum hums, mirroring Jinyoung’s position and meeting his eyes. “That’s good to know. For improving our communication in the future, I mean.” Jinyoung lets out a soft laugh, his eyes never leaving Jaebum’s, and feeling emboldened, Jaebum continues. “Speaking of better communication, I noticed you have The Catcher in the Rye on your half of the bookshelf. I’ve been wanting to ask if I can borrow it. I haven’t read it yet, but I want to.”

“Of course,” Jinyoung says without hesitation. “You can borrow any of those books.” Jaebum beams at him, and Jinyoung decides that he’s never seen a better smile in his life. “But only on one condition.”

“And what would that be?” Jaebum asks, genuinely curious.

Jinyoung grins. “You have to tell me what you think of all of them. I need someone to talk to about my books.”

Holy , Jaebum thinks, he’s literally perfect. “I think I can handle that,” he says, trying not to sound as breathless as he feels. “And the same goes for you, by the way. As long as you talk to me about my books too.”

“Then it’s a deal,” Jinyoung says, already looking forward to it.

They’re so engrossed in their conversation that they barely register their food arriving, can hardly focus on eating when they have so much to say to each other now that the awkwardness has lifted.

“I guess Jackson knew what he was doing,” Jaebum says as they walk back to the dorm together after dinner. “Even if he kind of didn’t. He told me that this date would help me get over my roommate, you know.”

Jinyoung stifles a laugh with his hand. “Are you being serious?” he asks. “Because he said the exact same thing to me.”

Jaebum lets out a laugh of his own. He has an inkling that Jinyoung is on the same page as him right now. “We can’t let him off this easily, can we?”

“Absolutely not,” Jinyoung agrees, a mischievous glint growing in his eyes. “He might have been right, but no way are we letting him know that.”

***

Jackson walks out of class expecting to see Mark waiting for him. And Mark is there, as anticipated, but so are Jinyoung with his hands on his hips and Jaebum with his arms crossed, standing next to Mark with twin expressions of annoyance on their faces.

“Hey!” Jackson says cheerfully, but with an air of caution in case they’re angry because their date didn’t go well.

“You have a lot of explaining to do, Jackson Wang,” Jinyoung says sharply.

“What?” Jackson says, hoping his smile doesn’t look too nervous. “Why? Did things, um, not work out?”

“That’s not the point right now,” Jaebum says dismissively.

“Why isn’t that the point?” Jackson asks, confused - it isn’t an outright no, after all, but they do look somewhat disgruntled.

Jinyoung clicks his tongue impatiently. “Think about it, Jackson. If your intention was to get us to forget about our roommates, why the hell would you set us up with each other?”

Jackson gapes at them. “Wait, hold up.” He looks between the two of them, bewildered. “You - you’re roommates? But -” he points at Jinyoung - “you said your roommate was quiet and intimidating! Jaebum-hyung might be attractive - fine, maybe, but he isn’t either of those other things! And you -” he turns to Jaebum indignantly - “you said your roommate was reserved and studious, and yeah, maybe he’s kind of a nerd, but reserved? Jinyoung? No way.”

Jinyoung and Jaebum exchange a look. “Jackson,” Jaebum says. “We’ve both given you a lot more information than that and you know it.”

Jackson is only half paying attention, though, because something else has caught his eye now. Beside them, Jackson notices, Mark is scuffing his heel against the ground, looking a little guilty, and suddenly, realization strikes Jackson. “Mark...” he says slowly. Mark winces, which only confirms Jackson’s suspicions. “You knew, didn’t you?”

Mark sighs and nods. “Yeah, I did.”

“Why didn’t you say anything, babe?” Jackson asks, slightly hurt.

“I did try to,” Mark says, “but you were so excited about your plans that I decided not to say anything.” He turns to Jinyoung and Jaebum. “And to be honest, you two were being stupid, so I’m not sorry about it, either. Now, stop messing around and tell him the truth.”

“Maybe he has a point,” Jinyoung sighs dramatically, looking at Jaebum, who, interestingly, has the most smitten expression Jackson has ever seen on his face as he watches Jinyoung talk.

“Wait,” Jackson says slowly, but they don’t pay him any mind.

“Maybe,” Jaebum agrees, and Jinyoung’s smile is no less dopey than his. “As much as it pains me to admit it.” Jackson watches as they continue gazing at each other, smiles fixed on their faces - he’s still slightly confused, but mostly grossed out.

“The date went fine, Sseunie” Jinyoung finally says. “More than fine, actually. We’re going on another date tomorrow.”

Jackson looks between the two of them in silence. “I hate you,” he says after a few long moments. “You’re so mean, I hate you both!” They just laugh, their faces full of the same affection, and despite the situation, Jackson feels a little proud of at least helping bring them together - they really do match well.

“Anyway, we’ll get out of your hair now,” Jaebum says, and Jackson doesn’t miss the way Jaebum’s hand brushes against Jinyoung’s as they turn to leave. “Sorry about making you worry, Jackson, but you have to admit it was kind of hilarious.” Next to him, Jinyoung looks far too delighted as he tries to hold in his giggles.

“Whatever,” Jackson grumbles, but it’s mostly for show because the truth is, he can’t stay mad at either of them for long.

“Love you!” Jinyoung says brightly, which returns the smile to Jackson’s face against his will - he’s a er for his best friend. “See you guys later!”

“Hey,” Mark murmurs, sidling up beside Jackson and pressing a light kiss to his cheek as they watch Jinyoung and Jaebum walk away. “You did a good job, opening their eyes for them.”

Jackson beams at him and laces their fingers together. “Thanks, Markie. I’m kind of great at this, right?” His eyes light up as a new idea strikes him.

Mark eyes him warily. “What is it now, hm?”

Jackson grins mischievously. “Since I’m on such a roll, I should keep going. You know those two freshmen, Bambam and Yugyeom? I’ve been thinking, they seem like they might need a little guidance...”