Message In A Bottle ↬Markson

Chapter 11

They all walk to a food corner. Jackson and Mark coming down from everything that happened earlier, they walk closely. Hand in hand, Jackson slightly leaning into Mark as they walk behind the other boys.

Arriving at the food corner they order some drinks and something to eat. Jackson, Yugyeom and BamBam get a hotdog and some cola. The others getting a freshly made waffle and also a soft drink.

They sit down at the wooden table with wooden bench attached. They eat silently, there is some kind of tension between all of them. Before, they thought they had settled it and that it was okay now, yet all of them feel uneasy. All of them eye at Mark and Jackson, the two not saying a word. They only have eyes for their food and drinks.

Jinyoung feels the tension in his body rise and he can't handle seeing his friends like this, they are a newly formed group and seeing them act out of their natural behavior is weird for him. He has always been quite emotional, he feels the other's emotions quickly.

Jinyoung knows Yugyeom feels the same way and the two exchange glances, both of their faces worried. They both feel the tension so extremely that it's hard for them to eat. Yugyeom feels overly nervous with all the emotions that he feels boiling inside of him.

Jinyoung on the other hand feels anxious. It's the first time something like this happens and they all don't know what to do. He shares a glance with Jaebum, who also looks back at him with a worried glance on his face. He feels it too, but not as strongly as the other two.

Jinyoung feels tense, his motherly instincts kicking in, he sighs out loud.

"Okay, guys spit it. All of you. Where did our usual behavior go?" he spits.

Everyone is quiet and looks at him, heads hanging low. They all want to answer but they can't bring their feelings into words. Maybe that's a problem that they'll have more often in the future but it had never happened to them before.

Normally they would be jumping around and exchanging stories. But this was not the case now, Jackson looks up and he can't believe he caused something like this. He caused them all to feel this way. Guilt washes over him. Being the vitamin of the group can be great, always lifting the others' moods, but it can be preposterous aswell. He just completely downed their moods, something which he never did to them before. Atleast, that's how he feels.

"I- I'm sorry guys." Jackson mumbles.

Mark looks at him, questioning why the hell he is saying sorry. When they were walking over here, he seemed to have comforted the younger. He shouldn't feel sorry, it wasn't his fault.

"Why are you saying sorry?" Jinyoung asks, as if he could read Mark's thoughts.

"If I hadn't taken that dare, this tension wouldn't have been a thing. It's my fault."

"Listen Jackson, nothing of this is your fault. You couldn't know what that dare was about, neither could I. It happened, I don't hate you and the others don't hate you either. I know you feel like it's your fault but it isn't your fault. We were put in a situation we couldn't escape out of, we did everything we could." Mark says, wrapping his arms around Jackson, who sat next to him.

The other gladly accepts the hug and lets the tears escape his eyes, wetting Mark's jacket. Silent sobs leave his mouth as Mark tightens his grip. Jackson's body moves up and down quickly, letting all his guilt wash over him, while crying out loud. Mark sways them from left to right, shushing the younger, telling him not to cry.

Jinyoung is the first to walk over to the other two from the other side of the table, wanting to comfort his best friend. He rubs Jackson's back and soon the others get close too and a group hug arises, all of them wanting to comfort him.