Chapter Text
There's an old saying that goes, "high school happens in a blink of an eye."
It's cliché and unoriginal, but what they really mean is that it’s all too easy to get swept up in the drama of raging hormones and impending adulthood. The deeper message is that you shouldn't rush into growing up; that it’s totally fine to take the time to do anything and everything without so much of a good reason to.
Jaebeom likes to think he’s done his part well. He’s enjoyed his time navigating through the tumultuous turns and waves of teenagerhood. But regardless of all the old sayings and advice he’d gotten from older friends and cousins about how high school is a pivotal time in his life, Jaebeom is utterly astounded by how no one seemed to point out the big elephant in the room: high school and dating.
High school works fast, but puppy love works faster and it’s not long before Mark and Jaebeom fall into a routine.
They’ve come up with a consistent schedule of walking home together every other day and Jaebeom driving them home on the days that they don’t. They say their goodbyes at the stoop of Mark’s house— “surrounded by a cloud of romantic tension” Jackson once commented— only to text each other less than 10 minutes later, chatting through the night until the early morning comes. Then, like clockwork, do it all over again the next day.
It’s sweet; being seventeen and infatuated. Jaebeom is still the little anxious fluff-ball he’s always been but Mark seems to take it in stride. While Jaebeom stutters, Mark giggles, and when Jaebeom’s palms are too sweaty to properly hold Mark’s hand, Mark likes to link their pinky fingers together until Jaebeom feels confident enough.
(It usually takes Jaebeom about 3 minutes and a soft nudge to his elbow, but once he finally musters up the courage to hold Mark’s hand, he is almost always reluctant to let go.)
In the times when Jaebeom feels unsure, Mark is always there, offering him the silent consolation that he’s doing well and that his feelings are reciprocated.
Or rather, he reciprocates as many feelings as Jaebeom lets on.
They haven’t actually discussed anything.
They hold hands and link arms sometimes… Hug sometimes too. Mark loves to laugh at Jaebeom’s lame dad jokes and finds them absolutely hilarious, and Jaebeom is often found holding Mark’s books when they walk through school, quizzing the older on some vocabulary he might need to know for a pop quiz. It’s very… domestic. Boyfriend-y.
But Jaebeom swears they’re not dating yet, contrary to what the student body already thinks.
But maybe they’re approaching something?
It’s definitely a thought that’s popped into Jaebeom’s head, but how to approach it, he isn’t sure. He thought once to ask Jinyoung about it, but he figured he’d rather die than ask Jinyoung about it and have the conversation become another “I love Youngjae” fest.
Jackson has also been someone he’s thought about talking to, but with the way that Jackson smirks at him whenever Mark meets him at his locker, Jaebeom is sure that Mark’s already told the younger his spiel— adding Jaebeom’s own to the mix would only make Jackson more powerful than he already is— he doesn’t need more tea.
Sigh.
Whatever him and Mark is or will be, Jaebeom is definitely in for it.
But even though it feels the two of them are on the same page, every now and then it feels like Mark’s stalling. Almost as if he has half a foot on the brakes in case something happens.
It shows up in the way he leans his head on Jaebeom’s shoulder on a Monday, just to stop himself from doing the same thing on a Tuesday. Or when he takes back his books and tells him that he can walk to class and study on his own, despite telling Jaebeom the night before that he likes it when Jaebeom is around.
Jaebeom hasn’t been able to figure out why, but he doesn’t press Mark about it. Perhaps, he’s trying to be cautious and Jaebeom can’t argue with that. Doesn’t want to argue with that. He likes where they are and if Mark wants to take it slow, then he wants to take it slow too.
As long as they can stay like this, enjoying each other’s presence, Jaebeom doesn’t mind it. And why would he? At any given hour, Mark is there with him to talk about everything and nothing at all. It’s fun; comfortable. Jaebeom likes it. A lot. Maybe even too much. But the company is nothing less than desired. They’ve learned a lot about each other in the past two weeks, and Jaebeom finds himself discovering more and more each day.
For example—
“What?” Jaebeom asks, killing the engine of his car. His voice lilts and he has to clear his throat to get his tone back to normal.
They’re parked outside Mark’s house, just in front of his stoop as golden hour dims in the world around them. It’s a lot later in the day than Jaebeom usually takes Mark home but it was only because they stopped for some boba— a staple that’s become indicative of their time together.
Mark sips nervously at his drink, the milk tea barely touching his lips before he pulls the straw away from himself. He looks like someone has doused him in ice cold water, terribly embarrassed. He licks at his lips nervously before nipping at them. It’s a nervous habit that Jaebeom has come to recognize.
Something is definitely amiss, but Jaebeom’s tiny pea brain wires itself to follow the trail of Mark’s tongue, blatantly staring at Mark’s lips.
“Shit,” Mark curses with a grimace, making Jaebeom blink out of his reverie. “I thought you knew.”
“Clearly not.” Jaebeom snorts after a beat, sounding more incredulous than demeaning. The words swirl in his head, linking one and two together until the information is just too wild to process. He’s surprised.
How could he not have known?
“Jackson never told me he had a thing for Youngjae.” He says, reaching for his drink in the console.
If they were of age, Jaebeom is sure he’d be reaching for a shot of whiskey— or whatever dumb adults do when they’re stressed— but wintermelon milk tea will have to do for now.
”Well—” Mark begins. “Okay, look—”
He shifts in his seat, growing more visibly uncomfortable. Mark’s entire body scrambles around, his hands petting at the air like he’s trying to pick up at the pieces, as if it’s his mess to clean up.
“Jackson hasn’t told me anything in a couple of months—”
“A couple of months?” Jaebeom repeats, freezing mid-sip. An unattractive clump of brown sugar syrup falls down onto his chin, but that doesn’t stop him from looking all bug-eyed at the older.
His voice lifts, “You’re telling me this is recent?!”
“Wait!” Mark huffs, grumbling a little high in his throat.
It almost turns into a flat out whine as his eyes reflect Jaebeom’s, peaking on the edge of sensory overload. There’s too many things happening at once. He quickly grabs a napkin, dabbing on Jaebeom’s face to clean him up and urging for some semblance of calm.
“If you just let me expla—”
But Jaebeom, in true pea-brain fashion, just continues on like a broken record.
“Oh my God?” Jaebeom sputters. In the recesses of his mind, he can recognize that Mark is caring and cooing after him so adorably, but that’s not the point right now. The point right now is— “Oh my God.”
This might not be the best time for Jaebeom to show Mark how much of an idiot he is, but what Jaebeom doesn’t know— slash, doesn’t realize— won’t hurt him and if Jaebeom took one second to chill from his panic, he might see how incredibly endeared Mark is by this scene alone.
“Beommie, if you can let me explain—” Mark squeezes at Jaebeom’s shoulder, a tinny whine piercing through loud and clear; a distress signal to get Jaebeom to shut the hell up.
“I’ll just tell you the last thing I heard, okay?” He says.
Jaebeom nods slowly, letting Mark’s little whine fade out in his ears for a terribly inappropriate thought later.
Mark breathes, “I don’t know if Jackson is still in love with him, but—”
“Jackson’s in love with him?!” Jaebeom shrieks.
And hell hath no fury like a man repeatedly interrupted, but Jaebeom nearly explodes at the onslaught of information, almost fatally choking on the tapioca pearls that’s travelling down his throat. In true Mark fashion, however, he still takes Jaebeom’s incredulousness in stride, simply pinching his nose bridge to will his very short temper away.
The car fills up with nervous, but excited energy as Mark tries desperately for some damage control. Mark wants to die, ugh, he could rip his hair out from how badly he’s fumbling like this and Jaebeom is !!! Jaebeom is freaking out!!!
“Wait!” Mark pleads again, exasperated. His hand slides down to clutch Jaebeom’s bicep, squeezing him again like a reprimand. Don’t interrupt me this time, please.
“Babe, please let me talk.” He begs.
The record scratches loud and proud in Jaebeom’s head, cutting every single one of his thoughts off. He effectively shuts up then, eyes blown to saucers as his lips smush together in a tight line. Shut up, he can and shut up, he will.
But nothing can stop the small smile that twinges on the corners of his mouth.
Did Mark just…?
He stares back at Mark, finally surrendering, and lifts his hand up to gesture to the older to continue. Instead, however, the silence grows; a little heavier now, offering room for thought. It takes a half a second for Mark to realize what he’s just said, and once he finally does, his face scrunches up into yet another grimace.
“Oh God.” Mark whispers to no one else but himself. He calmly puts down his drink, worming in his seat so that he’s no longer facing Jaebeom.
The tips of Mark’s ears are flaming red and it curls around the nape of his neck to bloom at his collarbone. Jaebeom is no better, but he’s lucky that his nervousness can be easily concealed.
He’ll just get a cramp later from how hard he’s straining himself to not shake out of his seat.
Babe. Babe. The petname travels around them, sinking into their ears and their minds. Mark tries to take the awkwardness away by shutting his eyes and Jaebeom just… doesn’t know where to look. Babe. Babe.
There’s nothing new about that endearment alone. In fact, it might be the most overused one on the planet, let alone with silly little teenagers. But neither Mark and Jaebeom have much on their track record to assume such… experience with it. Definitely not Jaebeom. But it almost seems fitting. The affection in that term alone reads their intentions, finally putting a title on what they’ve been doing together and what they’re trying to become.
It’s the first time he’s heard it, but Jaebeom finds that it sings beautifully in his ear.
After a lull, Jaebeom breaks the ice; his voice somewhat raspy in awe, “You called me babe.”
Mark whines again— and Jesus— he needs to stop doing that because boy, does it makes Jaebeom feel something.
“I’m sorry.” Mark apologizes. “It kind of just slipped out...” He moves his head to look at Jaebeom, but looks away again swiftly once their eyes meet.
Mark is shy. Terribly shy right now and so different from how he usually is when they’re together. Jaebeom just wants to— No. Instead, he just shakes his head quickly, reaching out to nudge Mark on the shoulder.
“Don’t be.” He says, feigning cool with a little Travolta. He squeezes the leather of the driving wheel to quell his excitement, sniffing nonchalance. “I didn’t— I don’t mind it.”
Another lull passes over their heads and Jaebeom over their heads but neither of them make the move to fix it. The streetlights outside Mark's house begin to flicker on, their dull crinkling outside of the car playing softly on their ears. But Mark still won’t look at him. It worries Jaebeom, unsure if Mark even meant it.
“Did you—" Jaebeom softens his voice, releasing his grip from the steering wheel. "Did you not want to call me that?” He asks.
To his relief, Mark responds, albeit non verbally at first. The older shakes his head, jutting out his bottom lip.
“No, quite the opposite, really— I—” Mark stutters and it fills Jaebeom up with butterflies. “I’ve been wanting to call you that for a while.” Mark says.
Oh.
Oh.
Okay then, Jaebeom thinks. This is… This is fine. This is good. Really good.
Mark twiddles his fingers, bringing his digits up to his mouth to bite at them; another nervous habit. It’s both endearing and makes Jaebeom’s heart ache. He doesn’t have to be so nervous, so Jaebeom thinks it’s his turn to offer some silent reassurance. He leans over the center console, pressing into the edge of Mark’s space and reaches out for Mark’s hand.
When they touch, it’s soft. Comforting. It makes Mark finally look back in Jaebeom’s direction and Jaebeom beams. The scene makes Mark absolutely melt, causing him to whine again, his gaze shifting from Jaebeom’s eyes, to his lips, then back to his eyes.
Jaebeom squeezes his hand. “I’m sorry, baby,” He says, with a confidence he didn’t know he had. The petname should feel foreign but oddly, it doesn’t. “Continue?”
Mark blooms pink, breaking their gaze to look down at their joined hands instead. Stumbling, he manages on.
"I… I don't know if Jackson still likes him, but he’s liked Youngjae for a really long time. He talked about him everyday and to be honest, I felt like I knew Youngjae long before I even met him." Mark says, chuckling.
"But…” He hesitates, growing subdued; sadder, like he's remembering an awful memory. “Jackson hasn’t said much to me since him and Jinyoung started dating."
Mark looks up at Jaebeom, giving him a crooked smile. A little hurt, like the remnants of Jackson's broken heart was still with him.
"He just... Called me up one night saying Jinyoung beat him to it."
Sigh.
Jaebeom remembers that night.
It was the night of the last show of the winter musical last December. Jinyoung and Youngjae had been cast as the two main male leads and they were closing up what was a successful weekend-long run.
Jaebeom remembers how it happened backstage. He was still in the tail-end of the motions of getting over— moving on— from Jinyoung. In the in between of being in love with his best friend and giving up. His foot out the door but still standing on the precipice of hopeful. He had a beautiful bouquet in his hands ready to give to Jinyoung and offer up all his praises, when Jinyoung asked Youngjae out for all the cast to hear. Seeing it happen in real time tore Jaebeom apart, giving him the final push to close that chapter and leave it behind.
Jinyoung and Youngjae burned so bright that night that it was a miracle it never left Jaebeom too scorned.
In the depths of his memory, Jaebeom remembers seeing Jackson that night too. They weren't close yet— friendly teammates at best— but Jaebeom thinks that if he had known Jackson was just as torn up about it as he was, maybe they would’ve found their friendship sooner.
--
The next day, the topic of Homecoming comes back into Jaebeom's life in the form of obnoxious neon-fluorescent fliers and a large, overhanging banner above his and Jackson's lockers. Much to Jaebeom’s dismay, Homecoming chatter floats through the school hallways and into Jinyoung and Jackson's brains again. From the math building to the language arts building, it’s nonstop talk of what the theme is, how much the committee spent, and the million dollar question: What are you going to wear?
Now, Jaebeom’s no ignoramus, but he kind of honestly thought that those questions were mostly for the girls. As far as he knew, guys didn’t really have to try too much. High school boys weren’t really held to the standards of fashion as teenage girls were, no? Most guys could get away with just a tie, some slacks and that's it. Hell, the hypebeast culture made it a point to be able to rock sneakers with the most formal of get-ups. In Jaebeom’s opinion, finding an outfit shouldn't be too hard for Jinyoung and Jackson.
But apparently, he’s wrong. So very, very wrong, according to Jackson. There is some argument. But he’s not too invested in this topic of conversation unlike his two best friends.
Jackson shrieks, “But you would look so good in green, Nyeong!”
“Psh, no way!” Jinyoung huffs, closing Jackson’s locker for him with a slam. He walks away, the other two flittering after him.
“Why would I wear green?” He asks, doubtful. “Just to look like some Slytherin/ Draco Malfoy wannabe?”
Jackson rolls his eyes. Jaebeom snickers, finding the whole argument dumb. He kind of agrees though, Jinyoung would look nice in a dark green suit.
“Ugh, it wouldn’t even be that bad!” Jackson says. Then, under his breath he adds, “Plus, Draco was hot.”
Ever dramatic, the statement makes Jinyoung stop them in the middle of the hallway, inciting a few groans from behind them from students who are trying to pass through.
Jinyoung doesn't care, however, slowly tilting his head back to Jackson and pressing a finger into Jackson's chest.
“So that would make me hot?”
The question catches Jackson off guard, his doe eyes blinking back at Jinyoung before he realizes the implication of his comment. And... Hm. That’s true, Jaebeom thinks. Is Jackson insinuating that—?
Jinyoung smirks, giving a look to Jaebeom to play along. Jaebeom gulps down a laugh and figures, why not, he’s bored anyway.
“Yeah, Jackson.” Jaebeom teases, resting an arm around Jinyoung’s shoulders. “Do you think Jinyoung’s hot?”
The two of them smile at Jackson, torturing him with their too-kind smiles like a pair of siamese twins. It’s the smile they give when they’re being fake as hell (definition by Youngjae) and when they try to get people to admit something (mostly Jackson, as defined by Youngjae).
Jackson stutters, blinking back and forth between them. “Now wait, this isn’t fair.”
“It’s a simple question, Jackson.” Jinyoung sing-songs, folding his arms together.
He puffs his chest out in the way he knows it makes him look big, showing off the dip of his pecs through the button-up of his uniform.
Jaebeom literally sees Jackson zone his eyes in on the younger's chest, clicking his tongue to hold himself from pealing back in laughter. At the sound, Jackson looks like he's been caught red-handed, blubbering up his words until he can say something coherent.
Huh. That’s… peculiar.
“Y-You’re both hot.” Jackson hmphs. “You know this.”
“Nuh uh uh—” Jinyoung teases, following after Jaebeom and clicking his own tongue. Jackson fixates at the sound, like he's one of Pavlov's dogs.
“That wasn’t the question." Jinyoung says, with another poke to Jackson’s chest. He trails it up his sternum, patting his chin when his eyes flutter downwards.
It's a little flirtatious, but not too out of the park for Jinyoung and Jackson's usual banter. It shouldn’t affect Jackson so much. However, Jaebeom can admit, he can tell something feels a little more charged here.
Jinyoung holds Jackson’s chin so he can look straight back at him. "Jaebeom asked if you think I’m hot.” He smiles as his little whiskers tickle the corners of his eyes.
“I-I—” Jackson gulps, eyes shifting around Jinyoung’s face.
Jinyoung just waits patiently though, looking back at Jackson expectantly with a kind smile. Again, a little flirtatious— and a little nauseating because Lord, Jinyoung is handsome— but nothing without precedence. Jackson barely gathers up the strength to remove Jinyoung’s light touch away from his chin, but when he does, he blinks quickly, as if to recalibrate himself. Jaebeom and Jinyoung look on, watching as Jackson settles in a fat pout.
Now, the boys know that face— knows it means Jackson’s ready to throw one of his little tantrums, but this time it seems a little…
Is Jackson blushing?
After a moment, Jackson relents. “Yes,” He says indignantly. “I think you’re hot.”
“Who’s hot?” Someone pipes up from behind them. With good timing too, since it distracts Jinyoung from seeing how Jackson is as red as a cherry. To Jaebeom's delight, it’s Mark.
He sweeps around to Jaebeom’s side and Jaebeom can’t help the dumb smile on his face when he sees him, unfurling his arm from Jinyoung to put over Mark’s shoulders instead. Mark accepts his hold graciously, wrapping his own arms around Jaebeom’s waist in a side hug as they continue to talk.
Surprisingly, Jinyoung and Jackson do not bat an eyelid once to their closeness. Instead, they share a look, smirking to themselves like they’ve eavesdropped in on a secret. Whatever. Jaebeom would much rather have them bug him about it later than now. The blatant coupling should be embarrassing, but somehow it’s not.
Even though it’s the most PDA they’ve ever done— nonetheless in public and at school, of all places— it’s like all their other moments together; natural, comfortable. Jaebeom nor Mark seem to mind it.
“他现在是你的男朋友吗?” Jackson asks all of a sudden, cocking an eyebrow.
It’s not the first time Jackson’s ever code switched to Mandarin in front of them, but it’s definitely the first time he’s done it purposefully. Now that he has his besterestest friend at school to understand him, Jinyoung and Jaebeom know for a fact that Jackson’s doing this to trade confidential information in broad daylight.
“还没, 还没.” Mark replies with a bashful smile.
Jaebeom feels him squeeze his side and lean his head on Jaebeom’s shoulder, his head fitting nicely on the curve of his collarbone. He laughs at Jackson while Jackson sticks his tongue out at him, his eyes flickering down to where Mark’s hands are clasped at Jaebeom’s waist.
“我待会再问他~” Mark drawls on, giggling.
Jackson rolls his eyes, chuckling under his breath. “Anyways.”
Jinyoung laughs, moreso at Jackson’s reactions than anything else, and moves to stand next to him instead.
“Anyways,” he copies Jackson, encouraging them to walk again. “Back to the topic of Homecoming, who do you plan on asking, Jackson?”
Mark and Jaebeom release from each other, holding hands as they walk down the hallway with the other two.
Jaebeom tries his best not to pay attention to all the pointed stares, but after a while, it’s a little too obvious, making him nervous and fumble. Jaebeom can feel his palms getting sweaty and he has half the mind to pull away from Mark’s touch completely, that is, until the older gives him this soft, reassuring squeeze, smiling up at Jaebeom.
The sight alone makes him relax, and Mark nudges his head into his shoulder again briefly.
Jaebeom comes back to the conversation in time to hear Jackson’s response.
“I don’t know,” Jackson shrugs. “I think I might be going stag this year.”
“Eh?” Jinyoung quips, confused. “No way… But you love Homecoming proposals!”
Jackson nods his head in agreement but sighs. He knows how out of character it sounds for him to not want a date to the dance, but it’s true.
“Yeah, I know.” He says. “But I’d just rather not get rejected.”
“Rejected?” Jinyoung asks, confusedly. He stares at the side of Jackson’s face, waiting for him to continue, but Jackson continues to walk.
Mark cuts in then, squeezing Jaebeom’s hand to give him a knowing look.
“Uh, how about you Jinyoung?” Mark pipes up, leaning over in front so he can steal Jinyoung’s eye contact away. “Are you and Youngjae going to Homecoming?”
The older’s plan works perfectly as Jinyoung stops boring holes into Jackson’s profile to look back at Mark and talk to him directly.
“Yeah!” He says excitedly. “Our 9 months is on Thursday, so I’ll be asking him then.”
On the superficial, Mark coos, smiling up at Jinyoung to reflect his enthusiasm. But Jaebeom can see the flicker of pity in his eyes, reminiscent of when he was recounting the winter musical story the other day, and the way it flickers just to the right of Jinyoung, at Jackson.
Jinyoung never notices though. Once he’s done saying his part, he whips his head back to Jackson.
“But what did you mean about getting rejected, Sseun-ah?”
Noticing that he can’t get away from it, Jackson seems to force himself out of his inattention, clearing his throat and smiling away a soft, bittersweet tone.
“It’s nothing.” He explains. “I just… I had someone in mind, but I figured they were gonna go with someone else, and I was right.”
“Oh,” Jinyoung responds with a frown. He claps a hand on Jackson’s shoulder, thumbing at his uniform in comfort. “That’s a bummer.”
“Yeah,” Jackson says, an awkward smile squished into his cheeks. “Bummer.”
--
Soon enough, passing period comes to an end and the three boys drop Mark off at English, or rather, Jinyoung and Jackson play the audience to Jaebeom dropping Mark off at his class.
They stop just to the right of the doorway, making sure they’re far enough so that they won’t be reprimanded by teachers or teased for their… thing. It’s really of no use though, since everybody talks and has already been talking, but they still try to keep some air of mystery about their pairing.
To make matters worse, Jackson and Jinyoung turn around to give Mark and Jaebeom a sense of “privacy.” In reality, they don’t so much step away as they do but just literally turn their backs to them, still completely in an eavesdropping vicinity. Mark laughs, prettily and true, finding the two hilarious, but he happily ignores them so he can give Jaebeom his undivided attention.
“I’ll see you after school?” Mark asks, giving his hand another squeeze before he lets him go.
Jaebeom hums, squishing his lips side to side, contemplative and a little eager. “You’re busy at lunch?” He offers, hoping Mark will say no.
Mark smiles, incredibly fond. A thought comes into his head, something along the lines of how he’ll die if Jaebeom doesn’t figure out how cute he is, but it’s a thought Jaebeom will never know. Not yet, at least.
“Clinging to me already, Lim?” He giggles. “Sheesh, take a boy out on a date first.”
Jaebeom snickers, playing along. He leans against the doorway, looking at Mark with a newfound bravado that seems to only ever come out whenever he flirts with him. It makes Mark warm in the cheeks.
“Mm… Technically, I already have, so—”
“Oh my God.” Jackson snorts from behind them.
“Shut up, Jackson!” Jinyoung hisses, elbowing Jackson in the stomach, to which the former recoils with a howl.
Jaebeom side eyes their unnecessary commentary with a terse jaw, but Mark gives him a featherlight touch to calm him down. The older has clearly heard them too, but is more amused than annoyed, biting his lips to soften his chuckling.
Mark sighs, rolling his eyes at the two with no bite.
“I’ll see you at lunch then, Beommie.” He says with a twinkle in his eye.
Jaebeom nods, watching him walk into class without another word.
“You’re gonna be late, Beommie~” Jackson teases, lilting up his voice to sound as ethereal as Mark. Jinyoung laughs, practically tugging Jaebeom along with them down the hallway lest he be late for class.
“So... When are you asking Mark out, Casanova?” Jinyoung razzes.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Jaebeom scoffs, shrugging Jinyoung off so he can walk faster.
“Sure, you don’t~” Jackson singsongs.
“Shut up.”
“Wow, Beommie—”
“Don’t call me that.”
“I’m impressed,” Jinyoung continues, with a shit-eating grin. “I’ve never seen you so whipped.”
Him and Jackson laugh together, shoving at Jaebeom in typical teenage-boy camaraderie. Jaebeom laughs a little under his breath, but his mind takes him in for another trip, just for a moment. It’s true, they’ve never seen him so sprung, but the comment also slightly tugs at Jaebeom’s heartstrings to hear it come from Jinyoung of all people.
If only you knew, he thinks. You’d know that—
He shakes himself out of it, not wanting to delve into that part of his memory right now. Those moments— those feelings— are no longer here, nor are they there and he doesn’t focus on it like he would’ve, say, a year ago.
“Awww, our Jaebeommie is in love!” Jackson says, rushing up to Jaebeom’s side to pinch him on the cheek.
Jaebeom shoves him away, locking his jaw and pretending to be disgusted by his touch.
“Shut up!” He huffs, but comes off more like a grumpy cat than anything malicious. “Quit it, or I’ll tell Coach I changed my mind and make you go to practice.”
The two stop their teasing immediately, but not before the lightbulbs go off in their heads.
“Wait, change your mind?” Jackson asks, encroaching in on Jaebeom’s space yet again. Jaebeom can literally see his elation radiate off of him in waves.
“Does this mean you really cancelled Homecoming practice this year?”
Jinyoung, though just as excited, keeps his cool. With a hand on his hip, he looks at Jaebeom scrutinizing.
“Does it have anything to do with you possibly having a reason to go to Homecoming now?”
Jackson catches on, wriggling his eyebrows. “Or someone you possibly wanna go with?”
They’re so... Annoying, Jaebeom surmises in his head. The way they look at him all too knowingly makes him want to hurl rocks at them both. Jaebeom simply grumbles and walks away, defeated from not knowing who to attack first.
“I’m going to class!” He yells.
He stomps away as loud as he can but as the guffaws of their laughter get further and further away, Jaebeom finds himself with a smile that threatens to split his face in two.
--
Just before he’s about to round the corner to head into his class, Jaebeom is knocked off-kilter by a harsh budge onto his shoulder.
The impact is hard and Jaebeom rubs at his shoulder, easing the slight sting it brings. Jaebeom isn’t the violent type, but he has half the mind to knock this person’s lights out for invading his personal space and killing his vibe. However, when he comes to, he looks up to find…
Kim Taehyung?
Kim Taehyung, in all of his dickhead glory, backs up with a smug, acting as if he didn’t clearly bump into Jaebeom with intention.
Now, Jaebeom and Taehyung aren’t friends. But they also aren’t enemies.
They rarely run in the same circles and the last they had, with the admittance of Sana cheating on Jackson for him, didn’t really leave them on friendly terms. They just… don’t run in the same circles. They’re both well-known by the little maggots at their school but Jaebeom’s never felt the need to get to know Taehyung.
Taehyung is like the covergirl for WASP central.
“I heard you’ve been running circles with Mark.” Taehyung says, without so much as a hello. “Is that true?”
Jaebeom furrows his eyebrows, his eyes turning to slits as he registers what Taehyung has just said. He leans back, cocking his chin up at him.
“What’s it to you?” Jaebeom asks.
Taehyung laughs, but Jaebeom can hear that it’s insincere. He’s condescending, walking around the perimeter of Jaebeom’s bubble like he’s sizing him up.
“Oh nothing, just wanted to see what the hype was about...” He stops behind Jaebeom, forcing him to turn around.
“Just thought I should give you a heads up.” He says, leaning in with a soft knock to his chin. It makes Jaebeom seethe. “You’ve got a live one on your hands, Lim.”
Taehyung cackles, finally walking away with a finger twiddled up in the air.
“Hope you don’t mind sloppy seconds!” He shouts, looking back at Jaebeom with a wink.
God.
What a dick.