Chapter Text
Falling into Jackson was easy. Jackson was outgoing and easy adjusted, unlike Mark. The first year of university was riddled with partying and drinking, neither of which Mark partook in. Moving to Korea, the language barrier restricted his interaction, he assured himself. However, the Hong Kong native, Jackson, stole the spotlight everywhere he went and flaunted his kindergarten level Korean to the entire population.
It started as envy - Mark wished he was as outgoing as Jackson, as strong as Jackson, as good looking as Jackson. Jackson was the embodiment of everything Mark wished he had been during high school. He had surrounded himself with friends who were loud, disrespectful, and things he thought reflected what he looked for. He thought those qualities equaled popularity. In highschool, they did. In his senior year, though, Mark realized what they were turning him into. However, he had always had anxiety of being alone so he stayed with his friends. He became putty for them to mold to whatever personality they liked. He wasn’t himself.
Then there was Jackson. He was popular, but not rude. He was handsome, but not condescending. He was a little dumb sometimes and had stupidly adorable puppy eyes. He wasn’t the tallest but he would slap anyone on the arm if they told him as such. The compilation of Jackson’s little traits in Mark’s mind made him eventually realize it wasn’t envy, not even admiration, but instead he was developing a crush.
Back in California, being gay wasn’t a huge deal. Sure it might’ve raised a few eyebrows still but at least it was legal. Here in Korea, Mark couldn’t be so sure about anyone’s opinions on the matter. Even asking about their viewpoints meant the risk of becoming a social outcast. Mark craved attention - he couldn’t be alone again.
So he tried ignoring the inevitable. Even when he found himself taking up invitations to parties and sitting in one of the quads when he knew Jackson would be present with his friends. He told himself it was just to be more social - not to see Jackson. That worked for a bit.
Mark befriended a social butterfly named Taehyung during his new adventures at parties. The younger male was all over Mark, immediately cooing at how shy he was and asking for his number. They stayed in touch and met up at various parties, but their friendship didn’t generally go much more than that.
One day Mark was eating lunch in a cafeteria, scrolling through various social media feeds on his phone while slurping some noodles. He was jolted out of his trance when a loud, deep voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Mark!” Taehyung exclaimed, approaching the elder’s table. “I never see you around really. You got any classes soon?” He shook his head. “Great, hey guys let’s sit here,” Taehyung announced to a small parade of men behind him.
Mark watched them file in - the first to sit down next to Taehyung was a small boy, probably about Jackson’s height, Mark guessed, with pink hair swept across his forehead. He wore a big, welcoming grin and greeted Mark with a squeaky “Hi, I’m Jimin.” Second was an incredibly cute boy with wide eyes and bunny teeth. He sat beside Mark and offered a smile and his name, Jungkook. Last was a very hyper looking guy. He had pink highlights and a giant smile as he shook Mark’s hand heartily, announcing his name to be Hoseok (or Hobi, and he’d “let Mark call him that because he was Tae’s friend”).
Mark was somewhat overwhelmed. Quite honestly, he hadn’t had much interaction with people throughout the year. He shared a dorm with another quiet boy named Kyungsoo. He doesn’t really see much of Kyungsoo and he often doesn’t come back to the dorm at night but he had never offered an explanation so Mark never asked. His year so far has revolved around school work and following Jackson.
“I’m Mark,” he tried, not sure how to continue any conversation. Luckily, the 4 boys were all very chatty. Mark mostly just listened, but they were nice enough to ask him questions and involve him as well. He could get used to this, he thought. It would be nice to have friends again. And from there, he got the other 3’s numbers.
None of them shared majors. Mark was studying psychology while the others took performing arts majors. As he learned more about his new friends, he realized how little he knew about Jackson. So, when Taehyung, who shared so many characteristics from Jackson - or at least what he saw of Jackson - asked him out, who was he to deny the one he knew better? Taehyung tutored Mark in Korean and shared how he had always wanted to be a teacher. Instead, he was pursuing a music career but he still liked teaching. In exchange, Mark taught Taehyung some English. He tried, he really did, and his enthusiasm at saying grammatically incorrect phrases stuck Mark as blatantly similar to Jackson. While he was teaching English, he realized how much he missed California. How much he missed being himself, seeing his family, even just walking down the streets of LA.
Various bouts of homesickness washed over him but Tae was always there to comfort him. He was introduced to more of his now boyfriend’s friend group. He met the grumpy Yoongi, the handsome and comedic Seokjin, and Namjoon, the brains of their goofy friend group. Yoongi and Namjoon often composed music, but Yoongi was the only one studying it. Namjoon was pre-med and was dating a girl who he had yet to meet who shared the same career path as him. He could tell by the way Jin, the culinary student at a school nearby, looked at Namjoon, he wasn’t too pleased with the relationship. Yoongi wrote a lot of their songs for the singers of the friend group, but some of his songs featured his girlfriend who he introduced to them as “Suran”, but none of them knew much about her.
Mark felt welcome in this mismatched group of friends. Especially when Taehyung flaunted his horrible English to Namjoon, who delightfully introduced conversation to Mark in English. Speaking in one of his native tongues was beyond relieving. Minus a few phone calls back to his family and tutoring Taehyung, he had been seriously deprived of English. Being able to have a solid conversation without stuttering over a difficult word or confusing someone with his foreign accent was a nice change, and Namjoon was an interesting person to be able to talk to. Besides Namjoon and Taehyung, he spoke most to Jimin.
Through Jimin, a dance major, he was introduced to more dancers. He was never an excellent dancer, but he could fake it well and add in a flip or too to woo the audience. Taemin and Jongin were great dancers and he was content to watch the way the chemistry flew between them and Jimin as all 3 danced. He later learned that Jongin, who he initially thought to be dating Taemin by how close they were, was actually in a relationship with his roommate, Kyungsoo. To say he was surprised when he saw Kyungsoo walk through the door to the dance studio and greet Jongin with a kiss would be an understatement. They weren’t on bad terms, but moreso just not on terms at all so Mark just nodded in acknowledgement to the smaller boy who returned the gesture before sitting side by side quietly to watch the dancers. Observing their interactions with a new purpose now, Mark concluded that Jimin likely had feelings for Taemin instead. Or possibly both of the dancers, but he had a better chance with Taemin, who was single. Sometimes Taehyung would join them to watch the dancers, but Mark almost preferred when he didn’t. Taehyung would cheer for his friend and break the soothing sound of the beat mixed with pants of the exertion on their bodies.
After so long being immersed with his new group, Jackson hit him like a brick. Namjoon invited them to a small movie night with a couple of his other friends. The rest of their friend group couldn’t attend so him and Tae took the offer and arrived at Namjoon’s small shared apartment at 9 on Friday night. Jackson never spoke much of his roommate, minus the joking around about how annoying and clingy he was. They seemed close, but Namjoon always referred to him by his last name, Wang, to their friend group. It seemed as though the rest of them knew the man, so Mark didn’t want to ask and seem like the outcast, he just smiled along at the fake formality that Namjoon placed on the other’s name. Apparently this “Wang” guy was inviting some of his friends over as well, his friends who were actually able to make it.
So here they were, Namjoon buzzing them in, and climbing up the stairs to the 7th floor because “they needed more exercise and elevators were for wimps,” as said by Taehyung. Mark put on a small smile even though he didn’t find it very funny. He just wanted to please his boyfriend - he didn’t want to be left again.
The door swung open, the two men being greeted by a face full of Jackson, Jackson Wang, apparently. Again, Mark realized how little he knew about the man. He didn’t even know his last name.
“You must be Mark! Namjoon told me all about you!” The sudden Mandarin surprised Mark. Jackson’s voice was nice to his ears, soothing. He had a slight accent on his Mandarin, one that distinguished his Hong Kongese heritage. Mark hesitated. He hadn’t spoken Mandarin since he last spoke to his father and even then it was only a couple words. He needed a second to gather his thoughts. “Do you not speak Mandarin? I assumed you did because Namjoon said you were Chinese. Is English better?” The concern in Jackson’s voice as he switched to English made his heart flutter.
“I can speak Mandarin fine… I just haven’t used it in a while.” Mark chuckled and scratched behind his ears, his burning red ears. He felt a nudge at his side.
“Babe, what are you saying.” Taehyung pouted. “I feel left out.”
Mark quickly moved his hand from his head to grasp Taehyung’s hand. He was always eager to please. “Just talking about languages, don’t worry, Tae,” Mark assured, squeezing his hand softly. Taehyung pouted but nodded and tugged his hand, pulling them through the doorway as Jackson stepped aside. Mark, somehow, got sandwiched between Jackson and Taehyung as he met the other boys who were present. Jackson’s friends consisted of 5 boys of various ages - Yugyeom, Bambam, Jaebum, Youngjae, and Jinyoung. They fit together in a weird clash of personalities and it was nice. Bambam excitedly put on a horror movie and collapsed beside Yugyeom who laughed and slung an arm around the older boy. Youngjae was draped over Jaebum beside them, looking like he was about to fall asleep. On Jaebum’s other side sat Jinyoung, shoulder to shoulder with Jaebum but neither initiating any more movements to touch one another. Namjoon sat on Jackson’s other side and the three of them soon began a quiet conversation in English as the others watched the movie. The conversation consisted more with Namjoon and Jackson’s input than Mark’s, but it didn’t bother him much. He was happy to hear Jackson talk more - to learn more about him. As Taehyung cuddled into his side a bit more, letting out a loud yawn, he remembered he had a boyfriend. He was doting over another guy while his boyfriend sat right next to them.
The worst part was that he didn’t even feel too guilty.