Something fishy is going on. And I can smell it. No I’m not referring to the fish I’m frying. I’m referring to Jackson and Mark. I can tell something is going on between them but I’m not entirely sure what. Or should I say how far they’ve gone. I’d like to say no more than a kiss. I mean come on. Sure Mark’s attractive and all but Jackson’s so much better than him in so many ways. But Jackson isn’t one to put that between himself and anyone. He doesn’t realize these things. So they could have gone much further. Heck they could be dating and I wouldn’t know. I stare at him as he lies on the couch watching cartoons. I wonder if I ask will he tell me? I finish up and put all the food on plates.
“Jackson food’s ready,” I tell him. He gets up and comes over.
“Thank you,” he tells me. I ruffle his hair.
“Anytime babe,” I respond. He picks up his chopsticks and starts eating. “I won’t be able to see you after tomorrow,” I tell him. He looks up at me. He doesn’t ask why or say he’ll miss me. He just stares. I’ve gotten used to Jackson and his aloofness over the time I’ve known him. He’s never said he loves me back or even that he likes me. He just accepts my kisses, my gifts, my love and gives me nothing in return. I don’t mind it. You can say I’m aloof to his aloofness. But I can only take it for so long.
“Jackson,” I say his name again and he gives me a serious face.
“Yes hyung?” he answers.
“Tell me you love me.”

Mark

I pass by a UPS truck on my way up and a guy carries an assortment of things in his hands. I don’t pay him much attention. I have work to get to. Well not really. I called the director of Jackson’s new drama as promised three days ago. The director was so happy he said we can skip auditions. And now I have to wait until they’re done casting which should soon since they’ve had auditions for all parts for over a month now. I get to JB’s office and I open the door to see boxes everywhere.
“Are you moving?” I ask. I can’t even see JB but I assume he’s hidden in here somewhere. He emerges from a stack of boxes.
“No, these my friends, are gifts,” he answers. I only notice Yugyeom because he tripped over a box. I shake my head at him. A complete klutz. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate hate him or anything he’s actually pretty cute in a kid way. It’s just I can’t believe I’m being replaced by a kid. I’m sure JB will still use my help and this guy will get paid for it.
“Gifts for. . . ?” I ask trailing off so he can continue.
“Jackson. Congrats on your debut type of stuff.”
‘What? But that movie was only revealed to the public three days ago,” I tell him.
“Some are from just watching commercials. Others are from all the people who went opening night. Tickets were sold out pretty much all across Korea,” JB says.
“You’re kidding,” I tell him dumbfounded.
“Nope. It works like this Mark. Fans have friends and they invite these friends to watch the movie with them. They fall in love tell their friends to watch it too next day they watch it and it multiples. Then there are the people who watched the movie for other reasons. Like the concept was interesting, or their favorite actor or actress is in it. Or maybe they’re a fan of the director. Whatever the reason they watch it and fall in love with Jackson’s hilarious personality, amazing acting, and charming looks and bam! He’s famous from just one movie,” he says.
“Jackson hyung is the best,” Yugyeom says lifting two thumbs.
“Ah take Yugyeom for instance. How many friends did you take to the movies yesterday?”
“Five.”
“See six people and that’s just one group. Are any of these gifts yours Yugyeom?”
“About three of them,” he says. He looks around as if looking for his gift.
“And then we have the givers who just can’t stop giving,” JB shakes his head. There’s a knock on the door and Yugyeom gets it. He’s handed multiple items from the guy I saw earlier.
“So that UPS truck outside?”
“They’ve been unloading Jackson’s gifts they’ve been at it all morning.”
“How are we going to get these to Jackson?” I ask.
“Uh we’re not?” he asks.
“So we’re just going to leave these in your office.”
“I don’t know Mark. He’s your boyfriend you decide what you want to do with them.” Yugyeom drops a box.
“Y-y-you’re dating Jackson?” he asks. I hate reactions like that. To me they mean you’re dating someone that’s amazing? But how? And that’s exactly why I can’t have him.
“Jackson and I aren’t dating,” I growl at JB. He shrugs at me.
“Didn’t look like that at four days ago.”
“Oh? How did we look?” I ask.
“Let’s see when you two were here it was like ‘babe leave the kid alone’ then ‘oh I don’t know which one to pick look at them with me’. And right after that ‘ooo I wanna kiss you so bad ugh like really bad’. And at the premiere I bet that’s exactly what you two did when you disappeared.”
“You noticed?” I ask. He opens his arms wide.
“Everyone noticed! Girls cried Mark!. They were like ‘where’s Jackson? I don’t see him’ and that’s when I noticed.”
“He had to use the bathroom,” I tell him.
“Unless you’re a bathroom I don’t believe you.”
“Jaebum!” I yell out of frustration. I kick a tower of boxes and let them fall on the floor. “When do I get my own office so I can stop coming in here?” I ask angrily.
“And now you’re mad. I don’t know if you know this Mark. But you don’t get mad. Frustrated yes. Stressed heck yeah. But mad? And you show it? No. Just bang him again and you’ll feel better.” I glare at him.
“Excuse me?” I ask. “Jackson’s dating Mino! I can’t go around banging him.”
“Didn’t stop you before.” I hear a thud. Yugyeom just fainted. I pant loudly. I’m really angry at Jaebum so angry that I leave the office and help Bambam with his job.

Jackson

Mino’s gone. He left a day or two ago. I honestly don’t know the time or what day it is. I haven’t left home since he left and I’ve been in my bed since. I hug oo tightly. I feel so lonely. And this is just perfect timing. My fridge is empty. It took over three weeks to finally be empty. Since I’m starving I just head to the corner store and get myself some ramen. I remember Mino’s words in the back of my head. As he hugged me goodbye he whispered in my ear ‘Don’t you ever think leaving me would be easy Jackson. I’m going to make it the hardest thing in your life.’
The words scared me. Especially the fact that he can kiss me after saying them.  Does he know about me and Mark? Probably Mino may be absent but he’s not stupid. I wonder if it makes him mad. I just hope he doesn’t do anything to Mark now that he knows.
After all it’s not like I agreed to start dating him. And it’s not like I like him that way either. I’ve always seen him as a friend. But I guess I’m still a bad guy for accepting his kisses instead of saying no to them. I’ve never kissed him back never said I love you. Never thought of us that way. Where as all I can do is think about dating Mark. But besides the fact that Mark doesn’t like me back there’s Mino who will make things really hard. I pick up my phone wanting to call Mark as I head back home but decide not to and dump it back into my pocket. I have ramen to make.

Mark

I reach for my phone and then slap my hand away from it. Don’t call him. You have no reason to call him. Besides he’s probably with Mino. I tell myself over and over. He’s your client keep it classy keep it business related.
It’s not working none of it. I reach for my phone and give him a call.
“Hello,” he answers the phone. He sounds slightly happy.
“Hey. Um how are you?” I ask him.
“Good. And you?”
“Kind of ty,” I tell him. I move my phone into my other hand and close my eyes. “Okay not ty I take that back.” I tell him.
“You okay Mark?” he asks.
“Yeah I’m fine. I just kind of need to talk someone right now and I thought of you.” He’s quiet on his end for a second.
“My fridge is empty,” he tells me.
“What?”
“And I kind of owe you well no I want to repay you for buying my groceries. Would you like to go grocery shopping together?” he asks. I smile. My entire mood brightens up. I knew calling Jackson would make me feel better. 
“Are you asking me out right now?” I ask him.
“Only if you want me to,” he replies.
“I don’t.”
“Oh,” he says. I can almost see him pouting right now. “But is that a yes or a no to grocery shopping today?” he asks.
“Yes, definitely yes.
“Ah and there you go again Mark Tuan.”
“With what?”
“With confusing me. All you had to do was say yes.”
“Tell me Mr. Wang. What would you do if I liked you?”
“Probably walk all the way to your house and ask you out.”
“You don’t even know how to get here.”
“GPS.”
“You don’t know my address.”
“Yellow Pages.”
“I never changed my address in that thing.”
“If there’s a will there’s a way Mark. And when it comes to you will is all I have.” I swallow. Is he flirting right now? By George he’s flirting. And it’s working. I smile from cheek to cheek and hug my knees really tight.
“You know I was actually going to call you today,” he says.
“Why didn’t you?” I ask.
“I assumed you were at work and didn’t want to be bothered.”
“You know what Jackson?”
“What?”
“When it comes to you I don’t mind being bothered.” I clear my throat. “I mean that in a manager to client way. Since you’re my responsibility.”
“But of course. See you in an hour?” he asks.
“Yeah.” Okay it’s official I’m in love with Jackson Wang. I’ve liked him for so long and now that things are actually happening between us I love him. Which is bad very bad. Jackson and I can’t be a thing. We just can’t. I’ll have to do something about this. But not so soon. Eventually like when I get another couple hundred kisses from him I’ll start pushing away. I’ll simply back out before I get in too deep. And that’s obviously easier said than done.

Seeing Jackson takes my breath away as usual. I just want to pull him real close and kiss him every time I see him.
“Hey,” I tell him. He leans against the door and stares at me. A fork in his mouth. He puts it in his hand.
“Why do you always knock when you have a key?” he asks.
“Because I don’t know if your boyfriend is here or not. And I kinda don’t want to see what you and your boyfriend do when you’re together.”
“Watch movies?” Jackson suggests
“More than that,” I tell him. 
“Kiss.”
“More. Well that too” Jackson seems to think about it and claps his hands together.
“Ah Mino and I never did that,” he says. “So you don’t have to worry.”
“Uh what?” I ask.
“You’re my first Mark Tuan.” He winks at me and goes back inside. I follow him in. He slips his jacket on and he still has that fork.
“Put that down,” I tell him. I take it away from him and put it in his kitchen sink.
“Mark,” Jackson calls to me. I go back into the living room and he’s leaning against the wall.
“You called?” I ask.
“Will you stay over for a while?” he asks.
“What do you have planned today?” I ask him. He points at his X-box.
“Video games.”
“Fine.” 

Jackson allows me to pick the things up just like last time for the both of us. He sneaks around every now and then and puts junk food in the cart. And since he’s paying I buy a few things I’ve always wanted to try but would completely forget about due to the prices.
“Mark shi!” he says. I look at him. I love it when he calls my name. “Can you buy me cabbage?” 
“Oh now you want cabbage.”
‘Apparently it’s like a must around here,” he says. I assume he got that from Mino.
“And is it not in China?” I ask.
“We prefer leeks.” I nod. And pick those up too.
“Then I guess I’m trying leeks tonight.”
“Dinner at my place?”
“Um I don’t know.”
“Mino’s gone for like another week or month,” he says.
“Tempting,” I tell him. I move along and he follows. When we get the the cashier I wince at the price. It’s a lot more than what I paid for the two of us.
“Do you know where’s a good place for some cooked chicken?” Jackson asks. The cashier tells him and Jackson pays without even batting an eye. “Let’s go get chicken,” he tells me. I can only nod. 

We get to his place and Jackson sets a cake on my lap. He holds two forks and smiles at me.
“And this is for?” I ask him. He removes the lid and dips a fork inside.
“Nothing,” he tells me. He feeds me a bite.
“You just randomly went out and bought a cake?” I ask after swallowing.
“How was it?” he asks.
“Good.” I take a fork from his hand and feed him a bite. He smiles around the fork and stares at me. We go on eating the cake until it’s done. After an hour I realize we’re just laying around. Me on the couch and Jackson on the floor.
“Mark?” he calls to me.
“Hmm?”
“Where are we going with this?” he asks. I know exactly what he means and it hurts to hear the question out loud.
“No where,” I tell him. Because that’s the truth.

Jackson

 At times I really hate how hard Mark made liking him. At times I’d throw a ball and he’s throw rocks at me. Then other times he’d throw balls at me when I least expect them. It confuses me and messes with my heart big time.
But I’m used to this or at least I expect it. Mark’s been a boring business guy from the get go. And I knew that. But seeing him every day and talking to him and getting close to him changed my view on him. Especially the day he brought me to his house for lunch. That’s when the feelings started to flood in from really out of no where. If only he didn’t take me to his house.
A hand droops down from the couch and gets my attention.
“Hey,” he says. I look up at him. He looks amazing right now. He’s probably the most good looking guy I’ve seen in my life. Okay I take that back. I’m glad he took me to his house. I like liking Mark. 
“Hi,” I tell him. Without thinking about it I hold his hand and he let’s me.
“Want me to cook you breakfast?” he asks.
“Have anything in the car that will melt?” I ask. Just because the thought came to me. He thinks about it and holds my hand tighter.
“I brought it up already. Just remind me to take it with me.”
“Thanks for sleeping over,” I tell him.
“Thanks for taking the floor.” I laugh.
“Yeah that was totally on purpose,” I mutter.
“Wasn’t it?” His hand slips out of mine as he sits up. “Come on Jackson. Tell me what you want to eat.”
“You promised me leeks last night. I didn’t get leeks.”
“We had cake and we fell asleep,” he reminds me. I sit up. “What do you usually eat leeks with?”
“Noodles and fried eggs.” He nods his head. He steps over me and goes into the kitchen. Did he just volunteer to cook? In my house? Does he really not like me? Or is there some other reason for us not to date? Is it in my contract? I head to my bedroom and go through the stacks hoping Mino left the copies here.Bingo! I pick them up and read the whole stack that sold my soul.

Mark

 I notice Jackson walk into his room. I frown. I kind of wanted him to come in here and bug me, touch me, be with me. Last night was already a let down since I didn’t get to exactly sleep next to him. I let it go. This is all a good thing. In some weird twisted way since I can’t have Jackson. I don’t know how Mino holds up leaving Jackson for more than an hour and Jackson’s his. If Jackson were mine I wouldn’t keep him off my radar for a second. I’m almost done when Jackson steps in. He wraps his arms around me and kisses my neck. I can feel my stomach contract. What did he just do? My legs feel like they’ve melted into pudding.
“Mark hyung~,” he says in my ear. Okay my whole body melted into pudding. I try to move but end up tripping over my own feet. Jackson helps keep me balanced. And then lets go.
“Jackson’s what up with you?” I ask him. He looks angry at me. “What?”
“It’s not in the contract. I know because I read it . . .  just now.”
“What?” I repeat.
“It doesn’t say you can’t date me,” he tells me. “Nothing there about the manager not being in my personal life.”
“So?”
“So I thought you were holding back because you can’t. But you can. So what gives Mark?” 
“What gives? WHAT GIVES?” I ask. I shove his bowl of noodles and leeks into his chest. “How about the fact you’ve been dating someone else for a year? Or the fact I’m too busy for a relationship? And there’s the fact that Jackson not everyone you meet is in love with you.”
“But you are. Aren’t you?”
“. . .no.”
“You hesitated,” he comments.
“Does it matter? I don’t like you!” I tell him.
“As always you confuse me,” he says. He leans over me and opens the draw of chopsticks he leaves it open for me to take mine. “Fine. Keep at it. I’m not stopping you,” he says.
“Are you saying it’s okay for me to keep playing with your heart?” I ask him.
“I’m saying it’s okay as long as it’s you.”

New chapter for you lovely people. Comments are welcomed. *Cough cough neeede cough*.