School was both more and less painful for different reasons. 

It was less painful in the sense that Mark was no longer left completely alone with his best friend like he had been this morning. He had the rest of their group to distract him from his own thoughts and his wandering eyes - though it still took more effort to do so than it should be. 

However it was more painful because Mark had to witness Jackson being the usual flirt that he was. Currently, he was leaning against the desk of one of their classmates, Youngji. She was an interesting girl. A cute face and a bubbly personality, one that people were naturally attracted to. She had a sense about her that you just wanted to protect. She was a bit strange, though. It was almost as if she had no shame. She did things that normal people would consider embarrassing but she did with a smile on her face. And her laugh. It was quiet but loud at the same time. No sound ever came out. But would open wider than seemed possible. 

Mark didn't want to dislike the girl. She did nothing wrong. She was an innocent girl who was just caught in between his own ed up feelings. But he did dislike her. He hated the attention she got from Jackson without even trying. He hated the way they clicked so easily and how everyone around them thought they would make the cutest couple. 

Lunch was coming to an end when Jackson finally returned to their group. "I think I'm going to ask her out," was what Jackson told the six, a goofy smile on his face. 

"What!?" He couldn't stop the word from leaving his own lips. He regretted it as soon as it was out. He lowered his head a bit in shame, avoiding the slightly confused look he received from his best friend. "I-I mean... ing finally, dude.." he said in a weak attempt to recover himself from his own outburst. 

"Seriously. You've been into her since she transferred. I've never seen you wait this long to ask a girl out before." Jaebum said, which was absolutely true. Jackson usually didn't hesitate. When he liked a girl, he asked her out - whether they liked him back or not. The fact that he was waiting this long before making his move made Mark all the more anxious about their potential relationship.

"I know, I know. I just.. She's different." And the way he looked when he said that.. God. It was enough to make Mark's chest clench. A sickening feeling developed in his stomach, like a rock was weighing him down. He felt nauseous. He felt felt angry. He felt like he was suffocating. He felt so many things that he hated. 

He stood up, throwing his chair back and balancing himself by holding onto his desk for a moment. The six looked at him with raised brows. "You okay?" Jackson asked in English, showing his genuine concern. The simple gesture made Mark feel even worse about himself and the situation. 

"I um... I think the milk was... sour.." he muttered as his maneuvered his way past the group and desks that were being rearranged.

Jaebum watched the younger leave with pursed lips. For the past couple of months, he had a feelings something was wrong with Mark. He had had a hunch, but he thought he was jusrt jumping to conclusions. After all, it would be rather... cliche, wouldn't it? But the more time went by, the more his theory was validated. His eyes darted to Jackson, who was frowning slightly as his best friends actions. It was obvious the concern he felt him. Jackson being as dense as he was probably thought that Mark was telling the truth. He was probably just worried that Mark had a bad stomach ache. 

Jaebum looked down at the desk in front of him, and came to the conclusion that they were both ing dense

"Idiot.." he mumbled to himself with a shake of his head, staring at the unopened carton of milk on the desk where Mark had eaten his lunch. 

"Did you say something?" Jackson asked, to which Jaebum only shook his head again and smiled. 

"Nothing at all." 

Mark lay in the nurse's office, his arm over his eyes and a hand on his chest. The school nurse told him to rest for a while in the office and to go back to class when he was ready. In all honestly, Mark just wanted to be home. He wanted to run away. He was a coward, he knew that. He had come to terms with it by now. But what else could he do? Face his own feelings? Admit them to Jackson? No. He would much rather admit to the fact that he was a coward. That he could swallow. 

He could feel himself calming from the borderline panic attack he had had moments earlier. He thought about going back to class, but opted to wait it out for a bit longer. Besides, it wasn't like he was in any hurry to go to history. 

As he lay there, he heard a knock on the door. 

He sat up, his first assumption as he pulled back the curtains was to see Jackson standing there. 

But it wasn't. 

And he was more than a little surprised to see who it was. 

"H-hi... Are you okay? I saw you run out the classroom earlier and I heard you got sick..." 

Youngji stood in front of him, arms behind her back and shifting slightly from foot to foot. 

All he did was stare. That's all he could do at the moment. He couldn't understand why she was standing there. And he couldn't understand the feelings he was feeling toward her. He wanted to assure her he was fine. He wanted to thank her for going out of her way to see him. But at the same time he wanted to tell her to just off and leave him and Jackson alone. 

So instead of even trying to speak, he held his lips in a firm line. 

She stood in the silence for a moment before breaking it. She took her arms from behind her back and took a step closer to him - now standing directly in front of him. "I have some medicine that help with nausea... I get sick a lot too so I always carry it around. I thought it would help..." 

He almost felt sorry for the girl. Here she was, offering genuine help to Mark. And he couldn't get over his jealousy. His unwarrented hatred toward her. 

As she held out her hand, he just continued to stare; his eyes boring into her. She shifted uncomfortably, her cheeks turning a light pink. 

He didn't know what prompted him to say what he was about to say. Somewhere in the back of his head, he thought it was a good idea. No matter how much he tried to hold the words back, they came out like vomit. 

"Do you want to go out with me?" 

A/N: WOWOW AN UPDATE. 

WOWOW A PLOT TWIST. 

WOWOW WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN. 

i've really been in a funk lately. like a bad one. where i can't really write anything and 

it's been super irritating. but watching markson today kind of inspired me so here ya' 

go.