Jackson walked into the dorm, startling Mark with his return. The elder, who was laid back on his bed, looked over at Jackson's desk where he put the younger's phone, hoping that he hadn't forgotten any evidence that could get him caught.
He deleted all of the recent messages of his and Jinyoung's conversation, so even if Jackson were to take a look at his chat log, it would look the same as when he left it. He should be in the clear.
"Mark." Jackson called as he entered the room, the younger staring dead at him with an emotionless expression.
The elder sat up, his eyes darting between Jackson and a random area in the room; Jackson's cold tone sent a chill down his spine. "Y-Yeah?"
The younger stared at him for a few moments longer before sighing. "You're so fucking cute, it's ridiculous."
Mark had never been more relieved to hear one of Jackson's compliments than in that moment. "You scared me, I thought something was wrong!"
"You're cuteness is wrong, it's illegal." Jackson giggled, amused by the short lived fear he'd struck in Mark. "I should arrest you, you into cuffs?"
"No." Mark groaned in response.
"Suit yourself, I'll get you under me one day." Jackson retorted, his eyes drifting over to his desk where his phone sat. He seemed to have forgotten that he didn't have it with him, which made him gain the urge to check it. Mark watched as he grabbed his phone, discreetly keeping an eye on the younger who's face morphed from happy to a weird mixture of concerned and confused. "Hey, did Jinyoung try and call me?"
Mark glanced up at him, pretending that he hadn't heard Jackson's phone buzzing a ton and completely ignored it while the latter was gone. "Hm? Did he?"
"Yeah, it says 5 missed calls."
"Oh... weird. Must've tried to call while your phone was updating."
"Probably. Let me call him back."
"Wait!" Jackson looked up from his phone at Mark, brows furrowing together at his strange reaction. Mark had to think quickly about what to do; he couldn't have Jackson call Jinyoung and find out about his hoax. "Um, I think I know what he was calling for."
Jackson set down the phone, his attention fully drawn to Mark. "Why?"
"He came over, looking for you. You had just left for class so he was too late." Mark explained, which technically wasn't a lie.
Jackson walked across the room toward his bed, still confused. "Why did he want me?"
"He um..." At this point Mark had to tell a lie, it was the only way for him to keep Jackson and Jinyoung apart without them knowing that he was the one shoving the wedge in their friendship. He felt his chest tighten a little, as he always felt bad lying to Jackson, but this was for his own good. "...he wanted to say that he couldn't tutor you anymore. Nor could you two hang out anymore."
Jackson seemed to freeze up like ice, completely taken aback by the extremely sudden statement. He stumbled backwards, dropping himself onto his bed. "What the fuck? Why? So suddenly?"
Mark shrugged in return. "Yeah, it was weird. He came over and told me to tell you that. He said he's found other people to tutor and he's gotten pretty busy, so he can't pay as much attention to you."
"Well why can't we at least hang out? Did he explain any of that?"
"Yeah, a little. He didn't want his schoolwork to be interrupted by friends, he wants to focus solely on studying during his first year here. So he told me he wants us to back off."
The younger ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head at the unbelievable news. "Are you kidding? Why would he change like that? It makes no sense."
Seeing Jackson distressed tore at Mark's heart, but now that he'd set a division between him and Jinyoung, he could be the one by Jackson's side to comfort him. Jinyoung won't be in the way this time; it would be only him and his roommate, as it should be. "I know, I was confused too. I think the best thing to do right now is to just give him space."
Jackson's face dimmed as he felt worse by the second. "But... I really like him, I wanna be friends..."
"You can't." Mark snapped. He cringed at how sharp his tone was, realizing that he needed to rephrase and dial back his emotions. He was supposed to be an innocent bystander to this failing friendship; he needed to act like one. "I mean, um, I guess he doesn't want to. It's strange but... yeah..."
Jackson was quiet for a long while; his head hanging down, the hair that hung in his face hiding his dull features. He eventually let out a long sigh, flopping himself back on his bed so he could stare at the ceiling rather than the floor; as if it made a difference. "That sucks."
"I know. You were doing so well in math too." Mark mumbled. He felt worse about making Jackson sad than about ruining the friendship, but now he could be the one to cheer the younger up, which would make him want to hang around Mark more. Since Jinyoung tried to replace him, Mark just had to do the opposite and replace Jinyoung. "Maybe... I could just tutor you from now on?"
Jackson glanced over at him, flashing a sad, low effort smile. "Yeah, I guess that's how it'll have to be." Then the smile quickly died as a groan came out of him. "None of it makes any sense though. Does he really not want me to contact him? Not even a call?"
"I honestly suggest you don't. Sometimes people need alone time." Mark glanced over at Jackson's phone, silently praying that the younger wouldn't decide to try calling him anyway. That would lead to a lot of trouble. "Just-- don't think about it Jackson, you should rest before you totally stress yourself out."
Jackson hesitated, also glancing in the direction of his phone, before turning away and nodding obediently. "Yeah, you're right. I guess he just needs time; for what, I don't know, but I'll respect him. I'll probably get some dinner and go to sleep. Hopefully I'll feel better about this in the morning."
Mark let out a small breath, nodding in approval. "Okay..."
His heart hurt to see Jackson so upset, but he didn't stress too much about it since soon he'll be the one making Jackson happy. He'll just have to keep him and Jinyoung apart for a bit longer, and it will all work out fine... he hoped.
