smile

Jackson's POV

I never knew a smile could be so captivating.

This is the first time I've ever seen Mark smile.

It's

It's wonderful.

"J-Jackson? Are you okay?" Mark's face is filled with worry. "Is my smile that unappealing?" He puts his head down.

"No Mark. Your smile is mesmerizing. It's not unappealing at all." He lifts his head back up.

"Really?" Mark's eyes light up.

"Yea. You should smile more. You look cute when you smile."

His eyes widen and his pale face slowly turns red.

"C-cute?" He squeaks.

Awwww he's like a little bunny.

Mark's eyes are locked to the floor.

I feel someone walk behind me.

Someone's right by my ear.

"Who the hell are you?" It's Jongin.

"What?" I turn to look at Jongin.

He leans back to my ear.

"Are you Houdini or some shit? How did you just make him stop like that? You even got him to smile! What the hell?" He pulls away from my ear.

I shrug.

"I don't know how I did it."

I really don't know how I did it. I just did what I felt was right.

Mom gives me a huge hug.

We stare into each other's eyes and her eyes say "I'm so proud of you."

I nod at her.

I'm proud of myself too mom.

Chanyeol gives me a high five.

"Good job Jackson."

"Thanks Chanyeol."

Jaebum comes up to me. He looks down at Mark who's eyes haven't left the floor yet.

"Great job. I didn't expect you to hug him. I thought you'd be afraid."

"Afraid? Afraid of what?"

"We've told you about how Mark attacks people. I thought you would've been scared of touching him."

"Weren't you the one who told me to let him use my shoulder to cry on?"

Jaebum nods.

"Yes I did. You see that Jongin. I am great at my job!" Jaebum points a finger into Jongin's face.

Jongin slaps it away.

"Bullshit. This is probably the only good thing you've done besides getting Youngjae to open up more."

Chanyeol and Mom nod and they both say "agreed" in unison.

I laugh.

I find it funny how these adults are so childish.

Mark snaps his head up.

Guess my laugh got him out of his trance.

"Hey Mark. You good?" I sit down beside him.

He nods.

He gives me a weak smile.

He looks exhausted.

"Hey guys? When was the last time Mark slept?"

"Umm like 6-5 days ago." Chanyeol responds.

What!

"Why hasn't he slept?"

"He has nightmares and insomnia. Sleep is pretty difficult for him to get." Jongin explains.

"Maybe he can't sleep in these surroundings." This place is pretty bright.

All this damn white.

"True, that probably contributes." Jaebum shrugged.

What if he goes back home? So he can rest. And feel more comfortable.

"Mark."

"Yes?" He looks into my eyes.

"Do you want to go back home?"

He looks at me like I just asked him if he wanted me to shoot his foot or his leg.

"No."

"No?"

"No. I don't want to go back home."

"Why not?"

"She's there."

"Who is she?"

"Mother."

His mom?

Does he not like her?

I look up to Jaebum and the others. They're motioning for me to continue.

Right...

I'm supposed to get Mark to talk.

Let's do this Jackson.

"You don't want to see your mom?"

"No." Mark's voice gets more aggressive the more he talks about his mother.

"Do you hate her?"

"No." He shakes his head and pulls his hair. "I don't know. She's evil."

"How is she evil?"

"She just is. Why do you care Jackson?"

Chanyeol was right.

Mark is getting suspicious.

He has to trust me.

That's the only way we can help him.

So I should just tell him the truth.

He doesn't trust liars so I shouldn't be one.

"Because I want to help you Mark. I don't want you to be stuck in Platnium your whole life. Your doctors told me all about your sicknesses and your obsession over me."

I can see the anger boil into Mark's eyes.

"You're working with the liars too? That's why your here? Just to help the liars? I thought you were here because you loved me?" Anger and disappointment fill his brown irises.

"I don't love you Mark."

Someone gasps behind me.

Mark starts to cry.

"Mark, how can I love someone I barely know? You barely even know me! I don't get how you can love me."

"You do love me. You've always loved me! The only person you'll love is me!"

Holy shit. They weren't kidding. He literally thinks I'm his.

"No. I don't love you at all Mark." Mark lets out a pained shout and brings his knees to his chest.

His sobs fill the room.

I look down at Mark.

His body shakes with every sob. He's literally going hysterical.

"What the hell Jackson!" Jongin grabs my jacket and he's inches from my face.

"Why the fuck did you just say all of that?" He growled.

"Its the truth isn't it?" I growl right back at him.

I push him off.

"You said that he needs to trust me. He's not gonna trust me if I lie to him. One day he would've found out that I was feeding you guys information. Judging from his past, me breaking his trust is gonna get me or someone I love hurt or even killed." I look at mom.

"I can't let that happen."

"Okay I get it. But did you really have to tell him that you don't love him?" Jaebum sounds frustrated.

"I don't love him." Mark screams hearing my words.

He falls to the floor and continues to sob.

He's crying so hard.

Mom and Youngjae rush over to him.

When Youngjae puts his hand on Mark's shoulder Mark screams again and moves away from him.

"Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Don't touch me don't touch me don't touch me don't touch me!" He screams and kicks.

He pulls his hair.

His crying becomes more erratic.

"Damn. Chanyeol go get his medicine and mask." Jongin looks at me then back to Chanyeol. "Guess we got our hopes up for nothing. Why did we even bother to ask for help from a highschooler."

Damn.

That hurts.

I didn't know that this would cause Mark to freak out so bad.

I did this so I need to fix it.

I touch Mark's shoulder.

"Mark." My voice is firm.

He screams louder.

He tries to move away

But I grab him. I hold him in a way where one of my arms holds down both of his down.

"No! Let go!" His voice cracks. He tries to break free of my grip.

"I'm not letting go." I grunt. Damn he sure puts up a fight.

"Let go! You don't love me! You never will love me! I'm disgusting! I'm ugly! I'm fucking insane!  I'm a worthless piece of sh-"

"Mark! Shut the hell up!" I yell from the top of my lungs. Mark jumps and looks at me with fright in his eyes. "You're not any of those things! Stop saying that shit about yourself."

"But they're true!" He tries to break free again.

My grip on him tightens.

"No they're not Mark! Just because I said I don't love you doesn't mean you can call yourself such horrible things. We all have flaws. Nobody is perfect. You should be proud of who you are!"

"I'm proud that I'm a fuck up to the world! If I weren't here then Jinyoung could've been happy. Dad and Mom could have still been together! If I didn't exist it woul-"

"Be horrible." I finished his sentence.

"What?" He looks at me.

"It would be horrible if you didn't exist. Everyone is born for a reason. If you didn't exist than Jinyoung would've never known what heartbreak feels like. Your parents separating doesn't mean that it's your fault. When you were born I'm sure they thought you were the best thing God could've given them." I never break eye contact.

I'm serious about this. He shouldn't beat his self down like that.

"But but-"

I put my finger on his lips.

"Hush Mark. Listen to me. I said I don't love you. I didn't think it would become this serious. But it's true. I don't love you."

Mark puts his head down and his body starts to shake.

I'm tired of him crying.

I don't know why but seeing him like this hurts my heart.

I grab his chin and I force him to look at me.

"What did I promise to you earlier?"

"Your n-n-never going t-to l-leave me."

"Exactly. Do you know what's better than having a romantic relationship?"

"No. How can something be b-better than that?"

"A friendship is 100 percent better."

"A Friendship?"

"Yes a friendship. You make connections with a person and become their friend. You go through thick and thin together. You laugh. You're happy. You feel loved."

"F-feel loved?"

"Yes in a friendship you feel loved. You have someone that you trust and care for."

"Isn't it the same as marriage?"

"Friendship is like marriage. But it's something that doesn't have to be written on paper to be official."

Mark nods and goes silent.

"Mark?"

"Yes?" I take Mark's hand in mine.

"Let's be friends."

"W-what? Be friends? You want to be f-friends?"

"Best friends."

"Best friends?" Mark is beet red.

"Best friends." I smile at him and squeeze his hand.

We stare at each other.

There's a little glimmer in his eyes.

I wonder what he's thinking.

"You're really going to be my friend?" He finally speaks.

I nod.

"Yes Mark I am. I can't love you the way you want me to love you but I can love you as a friend." I smile at him.

He smiles back.

"So you'll love me just in a different way?"

"Uhhh yea. Pretty much."

His smile gets brighter.

"Yes. We can be friends. As long as you love me."

Wow

Mark smiles as he looks at the ground. What's so interesting on the ground?

I'll ask him another time.

"Good." I pat his head.

His hair is hard.

What the hell?

I turn to where I hear silent crying.

It's mom.

I go over to hug her.

"Its okay mom. You don't have to cry." I rub circles into her back.

Mark's head shoots up again.

"Yes Mark, your therapist is my mother."

He looks dumbfounded.

"I'm okay. That was a touching moment. I just..started to cry. But I'm fine seriously."Mom says while wiping her eyes carefully.

She walks over to Mark. They start talking about God knows what.

I smile.

I walk over to the 4 men.

Well 3 men and Youngjae. He's not really the manly type.

"I have a question before you guys tell me how great I am."

"Go ahead and say it." Jaebum is probably  annoyed by all the questions.

"When was the last time Mark showered?

"He showered the day he collapsed. Actually the day before he collapsed." Jaebum scratches his neck nervously.

"6 days! Gross! How could you do that to Mark!" I yell in disbelief.

Jaebum shrugged.

I can't believe they haven't given him a shower or a bath in 6 fucking days.

"Its not me not making him shower. He chooses not to shower."

"Where is he supposed to shower?" I look around the room and see no sign of a bathroom.

"In the shower room." Chanyeol chimes in.

Shower room?

"With other people?"

"Yes other males."

I give Chanyeol a look.

"What's wrong Jackson?"

"I wouldn't shower here either. If I drop the soap I'll lose my pride."

"Really? Do you really think Mark thinks like that? I'm pretty sure he doesn't like being around a lot of people. The shower has a lot of people which can make him nervous." Chanyeol says matter of factly.

"And the shower room has a bunch of hanging dicks which can make him terrified."

Jongin bursts out laughing.

"He said hanging-" he can't even finish. His laughter envelops him.

"What's a dick Dr. Im?" Youngjae looks up to a frozen Jaebum.

Jongin laughs even harder.

"Jackson's right." Mark's small voice is barely audible with Jongin laughing.

"See Chanyeol! What did I tell you!"

Chanyeol rolls his eyes. "Yeah whatever."

I walk back over to Mark.

He's playing with his fingers.

"So," he looks up at me. I can see the exhaustion all on his face.

The crying.

The fighting.

Everything he's going through is taking a huge toll out of him.

"So, you don't want to go home?"

"No."

"Not even to bath."

"No. We don't have hot water."

What?

My goodness.

"Oh that's not good. Why don't you have hot water?"

"Mother says it's too expensive."

His mom is financially struggling. I understand.

"Would you go home to sleep?"

"No. I don't like my house. I'll never go back."

Woah.

"Never?"

"Not until mom stops being evil."

"Well..." I scratch my head.

"Come to my house."

"Huh?" Another expression of surprise litters Mark's face.

"Come to my house. So you can bath, eat, and sleep."

He tries to say something but I don't let him.

"Shhh. You're going to come over and that's final."

He nods.

I give him a cheeky grin.

He gives me a cute little smile.

I ask mom if he can come and she says yes obviously.

Now everyone is in the lobby of Platnium.

Mark is staring out the windows.

"You ready to get out of here?" He turns to me and nods.

"Yes. Get out and never come back."

I chuckle.

"You guys ready?" Mom comes up from behind.

"Yeah." Mark and I respond at the same time.

"Aw.  You two already are connecting."

"Then let's go." Jaebum says while jiggling his keys in his hands.

We say our goodbyes to Chanyeol, Jongin, and Youngjae.

Mark hugs a crying Youngjae.

"I'm gonna miss you hyung."

"I'm gonna miss you too Youngjae. Don't worry I'll bring you back a treat."

"Yay hyung!"

They hug one last time.

"Bye guys! See ya soon!" Jongin waves.

"Bye. Be safe!" Chanyeol waves.

Youngjae doesn't say anything he just waves.

We're at the car.

I open the door for Mark.

"Thank you." Before he can sit down I grab his arm.

I pull him towards me so that his neck is under my nose.

I inhale his scent again.

He shivers.

"Strawberries."

"What?" Mark steps back.

"You didn't bath in 6 days but you smell like strawberries." I'm confused.

"Yo Jackson." It's Jaebum.

"What?"

"That's his natural body scent."

"Really?"

"Yes it is. Now come on! It's late as hell."

Mark gets into the car and I follow suit.

"Phone. Off." Jaebum says from the driver seat.

I groan. I check the time then I turn it off.

2:46 am.

Damn. Been here all day.

I look at Mark he's staring out the window.

His ears are red.

"Are you hot Mark?"

"No." He doesn't even turn to look at me.

"Your ears are red."

"Tell me something I don't know." He's still looking out the window.

Mark Tuan is being sarcastic?

"You got flustered when I sniffed your neck." I smirk.

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"Nuh uh."

"Yea uh."

He groans and slouches in his seat. He puffs his cheeks.

I laugh. He looks like a mad bunny.

He looks at me.

"Shut up." He sounds like a 5 year old.

My hyena laugh erupts in the car.

Mark starts to laugh too.

"Stop laughing. You're making me laugh."

I stop and we just look at each other.

We both burst out laughing.

I don't know what's funny but my laughter won't stop.

Neither does Mark's.

His laugh makes me laugh harder.

I've never heard him laugh.

His laugh is so funny.

Jaebum and Mom look at us.

I hear them talking.

I don't know what they said though.

Mark and I were too entranced by our laughter.

Hay! An update! Sorry I haven't updated in a while! School sucks. Anyways...Jackson and Mark are friends now! Will Jackson ever get Mark to talk about his past? Will their friendship last?Thanks for reading!1k reads!! Aww thank y'all so much! You guys are the best!Baaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiieeeee