interlude: in which mark ditches class for jackson

**when you see the italics, just imagine they're speaking in mandarin k? thanks :D

Jackson groaned in bed, nose rubbed red and body aching, It was around that time of the school year where the whole school succumbed to one big mass cold and Jackson wasn’t left unaffected. He sniffed miserably, buried in his blankets.

He couldn’t go to class much less go to practice (Coach would kill him if he got the rest of the team not infected with the seasonal cold, sick) and so he was stuck in his apartment, trying to sweat out the germs by sheer force of will. It wasn’t working very well so far. He fell into a sickly sleep, tossing and turning every so often. He woke up again when he heard his front door open, rubbing his eyes and sitting up slowly.

He squinted at his door when Mark walked in, bags on his shoulders, a plastic bag in his hand. “I’m staying here,” he announced.

Mark placed his backpack and his duffel bag near the nightstand, placing his phone next to Jackson’s on the charging disk. He placed a hand on Jackson’s forehead and frowned, the space between his eyebrows furrowing when he felt how warm Jackson was.

“But how did you get out of class?”

“I told my Professors’ I had to take care of family.”

“And they believed you? Yien, you’re an international student .”

Mark looked at him like he usually did when Jackson wasn’t understanding something obvious. “What?”

Mark shook his head and flicked Jackson on the forehead, ignoring his pained whine. “You’re dumb.”

Mark pulled out a few sports drinks from his bag and placed them on Jackson’s nightstand, collecting any tissues and throwing them in the bin. He stepped out for a second and then returned with a damp face cloth, pushing Jackson down to lay it on his forehead. “Go to sleep, Jackson. You need to rest.”

Jackson grumbled, but let's Mark pull the covers over him, settling down. Mark straightened up to leave once he was satisfied with how Jackson was settled, but was pulled back by the wrist, Jackson’s hand shooting out with a fencer’s speed to catch him.

Jackson pouted at him. “Where’s my kiss goodnight?” 

Mark stared at him, unimpressed. Jackson only pouted harder, turning full on puppy dog eyes at him. Mark sighed and leaned forward to kiss him, on the forehead. Mark smirked at him and grabbed a phone off the nightstand, throwing a playfully, “Kay, go to sleep now, we’ll eat later,” before closed the door to Jackson’s room and made his way to the kitchen.   

He walked to the counter where the groceries he bought on the way here sat. There were more hydrating sports drinks which Mark put in the fridge. He put cans of soup and Jackson’s favorite organic tea in the cupboards and then opened the two containers of samgyetang (Korean chicken soup) he bought already pre-made. He the stove and poured the containers in a pot, placing it on the burner, and placing a wooden spoon on pot holder next to it, stirring the soup occasionally as he tidied up Jackson’s apartment so that they didn’t have a hard time later.

When he was done, he jumped up and sat on the counter, draining a glass of water and watching the soup come to a boil. As he jumped off, the phone started vibrating, it’s screen brightening.

Mark hummed, turning of the stove before he turned around to grab the still vibrating phone. “Hello, what’s up?” He asked the other person on the line, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

He flinched in surprise and fumbled with the phone when a female voice streamed out in rushed Cantonese, sounding angry and worried. Mark flipped the phone over real quick and made a face and swore silently when he saw it wasn’t his phone but Jackson’s.

“ Um, hello ?” He asked tentatively back in Mandarin when there was a break in the woman’s demanding tirade.

“ Hello? Hello? Who are you? Where’s Jiaer? Where’s my son? Who are you? Why do you have my son’s phone -”

Mark paled, oh my God he was so casual with Jackson’s mother. “ Ah...Wang nushi, ninhao …,” he addressed her formally, flinching in on himself.

“ Ah...hello ,” she replied back, a little more composed, calming down a little knowing that at least she would be able to communicate with the person possessing Jackson’s phone.

“ Hello, Wang nushi, Jiaer has a cold so he’s resting now, I must have taken his phone instead of mine on accident, I apologize -”

“ Gaga’s sick? Is he okay? Has he eaten yet? Has he been drinking his fluids ?-”

“ He’s sleeping right now, Wang nushi. He has a slight fever and I put him to bed. He should be waking up soon for dinner and I just warmed up soup for him to eat. I got a few sports drinks and his favorite organic green tea so that stays hydrated, Wang nushi. He’ll be okay -”

“ Ah, thank you! Thank you! I’m so happy that Gaga has such nice friends over there in Seoul. Thank you so much...oh, I am so sorry, what is your name? I am Sophia Wang .”

“ Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Tuan Yien, Wang nushi -”

“ Yien? !”

Mark flinched in surprise, jerking the phone away from his ear when he heard Jackson’s mother shout. At least he knew where Jackson got him volume from.

“ Yien? You’re Yien? Tuan Yien? Gaga’s Yien? The one he posts all over his weibo, Yien? !”

Mark audibly choked. “He does what now?!” He shouted in English.

Mark slapped a hand over his mouth. “ Ah, Wang nushi, that was very informal, I apologize- ”

“ Nonsense, Yien! And don’t call me that, that makes me sound so old! Call me Mama instead! Now tell me about yourself! All Gaga ever talks about is how pretty you are, and while I don’t doubt that you are, I need a little more substance than that about my son’s boyfriend! Now- ”

Mark blushed so hard he thought he was coming down with something. He took a sports drink from the fridge and sat down on the counter again, answering all of Sophia’s questions, relaxing much faster than he thought he would, becoming comfortable with her just as he had with her son in Hong Kong all those months ago, Sophia emitting the same, open kindness and enthusiasm her son did, even over the phone.

Somewhere along the conversation, he dropped formalities completely, answering Sophia as he would his own mother, giggling with her about Jackson’s antics.

“- and then he would run around the house , sometimes still dripping wet if I didn’t trap him in a towel fast enough -”

Mark had laughed so much with Sophia, his stomach hurt. “ Oh, trust me Mama, he still does that now-”

“ Does he really?! I’m not surprised !”

They giggled together for a little while longer, letting their laughter fade out naturally. Mark put the phone down for a second to look at the time and was surprised to see that he and Sophia had been on the phone for just over an hour.

“ Ah! Mama! I forgot to wake Gaga up for dinner! I’m sorry -”

“ Oh, that son of mine can wait Yien, first give me your phone number and other sns, we can chat later -”

And so it wasn’t until fifteen minutes later that Mark finally got off the phone, feeling as warm as if he had just eaten the soup he would have to rewarm. Just as he was in the middle of stirring, strong arms wrapped around his waist and Mark leaned back into Jackson’s sleepy hold.

Mark laid out their dinner as Jackson set the table, getting glasses of water for the both of them. He sat as physically close to Mark as he could without sitting in his lap, sniffling every once in a while. When he was done eating, he turned and slumped into Mark’s side, murmuring thank yous into his neck.

Jackson looked blearily up at him, eyes blinking slowly, still sleep heavy. “I’m sorry you had to miss class. What did you do today? Did you get some work done at least?”

Mark smiled as he sipped his water. “I worked on some stuff, don’t worry.”

Jackson nodded, burying his face in Mark side again.

“Oh, and I talked to your Mother-”

“What?!”