Work Text:
Jackson's mouth dropped open as he and Jinyoung entered the school courtyard on the first day of a new school year.
“Is...that a new teacher?” he asked, stopping in his tracks.
Jinyoung followed his gaze and landed on the most beautiful person Jackson had ever seen. He was walking next to Jaebum, his head turned just enough for Jackson to see his side profile. He smiled at something Jaebum said. Jackson felt his breath leave him.
Jinyoung tapped his chin. “Close your mouth...it's the new school nurse.”
“Significant improvement over the old one,” Jackson breathed, watching him enter the school.
Rolling his eyes, Jinyoung pushed him forward and they continued walking.
“You just didn’t like him because he was more popular than you,” he said, pushing open the doors. “And taller...significantly.”
“What do you think his name is?” he asked, ignoring Jinyoung’s attempt to goad him into a bickering match.
“Mark,” came the somewhat uninterested reply. When Jackson looked at him in disbelief, he added, “It was in our start of year packets.”
Jackson decided not to comment on the fact Jinyoung actually read the thick folder of mostly useless information they received before the start of each school year. Instead he focused on the name — Mark. Foreign. American, maybe. Or British. Or Australian. Just imagining his accent made his skin prickle excitedly.
Once they reached the teachers’ room, he grabbed Jinyoung’s arm dragged him away from the entrance.
“What—?”
“Ssh!” he plastered himself against the wall, forcing Jinyoung behind him.
“Yah—”
“Ssshh!” he repeated, more urgently this time, planting his hand over Jinyoung’s mouth for good measure.
Annoyed, Jinyoung slapped his hand away. “What are you doing?” he hissed.
Jackson peered around the doorframe, into the teachers' room, trying to get a glimpse of Mark. He was sitting next to Jaebum at his new desk, flipping through what looked like the start-of-year packet, nodding along with whatever Jaebum saying. He was already wearing his white lab coat and goddamn it looked good. Jackson couldn't take his eyes off him. He used the precious few moments Jinyoung was tolerating his spying mission to memorize everything he saw — Mark’s skinny, lanky frame, his simply styled dark brown hair Jackson knew would feel soft if he ran his fingers through it…
He quickly ducked behind the doorframe when Mark glanced up. Ignoring Jinyoung, who was grumbling about him acting like a teenager, and actual teenagers staring at him as they passed by on the way to their classrooms, he peeked around the door again. Mark was smiling at something Jaebum said. It was shy and unsure, and it brightened entire world around him. Jackson was mesmerized.
Finally fed up, Jinyoung shoved him. He stumbled ungracefully through the door with a startled shout, drawing both Jaebum and Mark’s attention to him.
“Morning,” Jinyoung muttered, brushing past him and dropping his bag on his desk across from Jaebum, who hummed back.
Jackson straightened, hyper-aware Mark was still watching him curiously as he walked to his desk next to Jinyoung and across from Mark.
"You’re…” he trailed off before the word beautiful escaped. “...the new nurse.” His heart lodged itself in his throat when Mark’s surprised expression melted into a smile.
“Yeah,” he replied in English. Jackson’s stomach flipped several times. American.
“Ah…” Jaebum cut in lazily, gesturing towards Jackson. “Jackson’s our health and gym teacher,” he nodded his head at Jinyoung. “Jinyoung teaches Korean Literature.”
“Nice to meet you,” Mark replied politely.
Instead of the customary “you too” Jackson replied in hurried English, “Yes-I-speak-English.”
Jaebum raised an eyebrow at him as Jinyoung snorted and rolled his eyes. Mark blinked. Jackson could see the amusement in his eyes behind his confusion.
“I mean—” he amended hurriedly. “Hi.”
Mark’s smile widened. “Hi.”
If love at first sight was a thing, Mark was definitely it.