AN: OH MY GOSH I'm so sorry for the horrible late update, I just really sort of struggled because in my planning, this was the last chapter (acutally, it was supposed to be a oneshot, then a twoshot, and I don't even know anymore. THANKS TO ALL YOU LOVELIES WHO COMMENTED (I know, my puns are a delight), ALSO THOSE WHO VOTED AND SUBSCRIBED, ILY! I pray you like this chapter, because I can't be too sure if I do. Enjoy. 

Jinyoung wasn’t able to come to school for the rest of that week after walking home in the rain had given him a cold. Missing out of classes in high school was never fun, as the amount of make up work was deathly, so Junior wasn’t able to enjoy his three days off as much as he wanted to. Another factor was probably also that he wasn’t able to see Mark until the next week, which he actually also dreaded as he did not want to go back to school after his failure at (seducing) beginning a proper conversation with Mark (and being teased by Yugyeom and Jaebum for it). 

Saturday came and even though Jinyoung was feeling much better, he refused to step out of his house, instead opting to stay inside and watch romantic comedies all day long. Or at least, that was what he planned to do, until his mother decided that she didn’t need a lazy son, and sent him out to “receive some daylight and fresh air, and get some exercise in for the day.” Parents. ~sigh~

“Don’t forget to take Jackie out with you, she’s been quite restless all week, you know how she gets when it rains,” his mother called up the stairs to where Junior was changing. 

“Alright, mother,” Junior grumbled as he pulled on his sneakers. “Come on, Jackie. Time for your walk,” he called, gathering her leash. He chuckled as he scratched her behind the ears, “Who’s a good girl? Are you ready to go out? Yes?” Junior was able to feel a bit better emotionally as he led Jackie down the steps of their porch, as he had always been able to cheer up when playing with his dog. 

“Leggo!” he shouted as they broke off into a run. When they got to a park, he unclipped her leash and pulled out a toy from his pockets to throw for her. They were playing for a while, when suddenly, she ran off. “Aish, no Jackie! Come back, it’s dangerous!” he called as he ran after her. This wasn’t the first time that Jackie had tried to run off, but Junior had been able to quickly catch up to the dog all the other times. As his dog disappeared out of his line of sight, Junior became very worried. 

“Jackie! Where are you Jackie! Come back here!” he frantically shouted, running in the general direction that the dog had run off too. “Oh my god, oh my god, where are you?!” he began to panic, pessimistic thoughts crossing his mind. What if she’s been dognapped? What if she’s attacking someone?! What is she’s been hit by a car, no, no, please no, Jackie, I’m so sorry, please come back. Junior was in complete panic mode, running all over the place. Finally, he spotted his dog across the park “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright,” Junior was able to finally relax as he found his dog. “Jackie! Come here! Hey, where are you going?” Instead of running back to her owner’s side as Junior expected, Jackie ran in the other direction, jumping on a random stranger passing by. “No! Jackie, get off of him!” Jinyoung ran over to his dog and pulled her off, apologizing to the stranger. “I am so sorry, Jackie, get off of him! She isn’t normally like this, I think she’s hyper because she accidentally got into our pantry and- No Jackie! Down, girl! and then she might have eaten a donut, so I’m really sorry- Stop it Jackie!” Junior was rambling, trying to apologize while at the same time calming his dog down. He had his head down, leaning over to both control Jackie and bow in apology to the stranger. That was why he was so shocked when he recognized the voice that spoke to him. 

“Oh, no, it’s perfectly fine, I really like dogs! But you really need to be more careful from now on, what if she had run into the road, or fallen off a cliff, or something worse! If you’re privileged enough to have a dog, you need to take care of her.”

Junior could only look on in shock as the receiver of his infatuation scolded him while petting his dog. “I… I’m sorry, yes, of course you’re right,” he mumbled, unsure how to react. 

“Oh, gosh, actually, I guess I should be apologizing, I probably shouldn’t have yelled at you. She is your dog after all,” Mark said, looking up. “Oh, hey, you’re in my class, aren’t you? I didn’t know you lived in this neighborhood.”

“Oh, I, uh, well,” Junior stuttered out, before looking around. “I, um, I actually don’t live in this neighborhood. I just kind of… ended up here.”

“Was it because you were running after your dog?” Mark teased, giggling. “She’s really cute though. How old is she?”

“She’s, ah, she’s four next month,” Jinyoung answered. He began to look around, as he realized he couldn't recognize his surroundings. "Uh, hey, Mark?" he questioned. Noticing that Mark hadn't heard him because he was too busy playing with Jackie, Pay attention to meee, Junior cleared his throat and tried again, louder. "Hey Mark." 

"Yeah?" Mark answered absent-mindedly. 

"I'm sorry but, I don't think I really know where I am right now... I think I might've gotten a little, uh, lost," Junior timidly asked. 

"Oh! Well, where do you live, I can take you home." Mark said with a smile on his face. 

"Oh, really? Thanks! But uh, are you sure you would be okay with that? I mean, if you were doing something else, I uh, I could probably find my way," Junior said hesitantly, feeling very shy now that he was actually talking to his crush.

"Oh, no, it's fine! Mark replied. "Anyways, it gives me more time to play with Jackie here. Right? Yes, you're such a good girl!" he cooed at the dog. 

"Oh, okay then, thanks," Jinyoung smiled gratefully at Mark. "Do you know the bakery? My house is down the street a couple blocks from there," Junior began to describe where his house was. 

"Yeah, that's the neighborhood my friend Bambam lives in! I think I know where you're talking about," Mark said. "Come on!" 

As Junior and Mark walked along, an awkward silence settled over them.

"You know-" 

"So-" 

They both began speaking at the same time. "Oh, go ahead," Junior quickly covered. 

"Oh, well, I wasn't going to say much, just that I've always wanted a dog, and I think your dog is really cute," Mark said, grinning as he reached down to pat Jackie on the head. 

"Yeah, I can see that. Jackie also really likes you too, I think," Junior answered, smiling at Mark. Or rather, the back of his head. Why won't you look at me so I can see your beautiful face? "Why haven't you ever had one before?" 

"I can't have one because my sisters are allergic, and also my mom hates messes," Mark sighed. 

"Well, you could always visit, and, um, play with my dog if you wanted," Junior offered, praying that Mark would agree.  

"Really?! I would love to, oh my gosh, I really love dogs so much!"  

"Haha, yeah, they're cute I guess, but it takes a lot of effort to take care of them," Junior said. 

"Well, I guess that's why I can just visit your dog instead," Mark laughed, giddy at the thought of more dog. 

Soon enough they were able to keep a conversation more or less flowing, now that they had reached a topic of common interest.  

"So, what were you going to ask me before?" Mark asked as they began to near Junior's house. 

"Ah, that. Well, I just wondered how you knew Bambam, I actually think he uh, mentioned you before?" Junior cautiously brought up the topic, praying that Bambam hadn't gone and told Mark anything about his (huge) crush.  

"Oh, Bambam? We're in the same Korean class. Him, me and Jackson, we're the AmeriThaiKong group, haha. You know, because I'm from LA, Bambam's from Thailand and Jackson's from Hong Kong. You know Bambam, apparently, and Jackson's the one that ran into you in the hallway the other day, I think. That was you, right?" 

Oh gosh, he remembers "Yeah, that was me... Oops," Junior chuckled, trying to laugh off the new wave of embarrassment.

"So, how did you say you knew Bambam?" Mark asked, before realizing they must have reached their destination. "Oh, I guess this is where you live? I'll, ah, see you around then. Bye, Jackie," Mark murmured, a little upset that he had to leave the dog. But why aren't you upset at the thought of leaving me?

"Oh, yeah," Junior answered absent-mindedly, looking at Mark's fair hands is dog. "You know, you could probably come over tomorrow if you're not doing anything, because, I'm not doing anything. Like, I have friends, but I don't have plans tomorrow. I’m usually really popular, though, and I’m like, busy, but it just happens that, tomorrow, I don’t have anything to do. Not that, you know, I’m just using you to get rid of my boredom. Yeah," Junior hastily spoke before his courage disappeared. He could feel it seeping away at the moment, as he looked down at his feet in embarrassment from imagining how dorky and rude he must have sounded. 

"Oh, really?" Mark replied, a little bit surprised by the sudden (oddly-worded) invitation. 

"I mean, you know, to play with, uh Jackie! To play with Jackie, because you said that you really like dogs," Junior stuttered out, worried that he had been too forward in his invitation. I can't believe I'm being one-upped by a dog, what humiliation is this?

"Oh, haha, sure, why not! I've got nothing better to do than... Play with your dog?" Mark answered, giggling to himself. "How about I come around tomorrow at, say, eleven-ish, and we can go to the park, yeah?" he prompted as Junior seemed to be too ecstatic to speak at the moment. Jinyoung could only nod and shake Mark's hand in glee (what a nerd) before running up his porch steps, only to have to turn back when Mark called, "Hey Junior, you forgot your dog. No wonder you let her run away; you're so careless!" Mark teased.

"Well, uh, maybe I was trying to give her to you as a gift, seeing as how you love her so much?" Junior said in a (pitiful) attempt at a joke, before closing his mouth and running back, this time with his dog.

"Hm. Cute," Mark said before he turned back and made his way home. 

To: Mommy Jinyoungie!

Are you still angry about the other day? -_- Please get better soon! :(

Btw, I have a joke for you! >.< What do you call a seagull that flies over a bay? 

A bagel! kekeke! Isn’t that a really good one?! :D:D

~Your baby, Yugyeomie <3<3

PS But you have to admit, that was probably the dumbest thing to say to your crush. O.o

Jinyoung wasn’t even bothered by the horrible pun, or the insult tacked to the end, even the overuse of emoji’s because he officially had a date with the boy he had a crush on for ages. Or well, his dog did.