A/N: Got a request for some more Jackson on here, so I finally finished this story I started about 3 years ago!
Jackson had had a long day and you knew this. It wasn't a surprise to you that after a quick hello and a kiss he headed straight to the bedroom. What was a surprise was entering it later and finding him still awake.
"What's up baby?" you asked him. "Can't sleep?"
You sat beside him and ran your hand through his hair soothingly.
He shook his head. "I want sex."
You were taken aback by his blunt words.
"You look like you want sleep."
"Ride me?" he asked, giving a pout and his irresistible puppy eyes.
"Really?"
He honestly looked to you like he'd fall asleep before either of you climaxed.
"I've missed you. It feels like so long since we were together and I kept getting distracted thinking about you today."
"I can lay with you and cuddle while you fall asleep?" you offered.
Jackson just looked up at you with a pout and his puppy eyes you loved so much. He ran a hand up and down your thigh.
"Please?" he asked again, his hand wandering slowly higher and higher.
"You are far too persuasive, Jackson Wang," you sighed, causing a bright smile to appear on your boyfriends face.
He swiftly pulled you so were straddling him and brought your lips together. You couldn't help but giggle into the kiss at how eager Jackson was despite his sleepy state.
"Baby," you mumbled against his lips and he just hummed in response. "I'm wearing far too many clothes for this," you finished, pulling back slightly.
It was Jackson's turn to let out a laugh this time, releasing his grip on you so that you could shed your clothes. He lazily threw back the covers so that you could join him under them. That was when you noticed that he was already naked and semi hard.
"You really are keen, aren't you?" you teased before climbing back on top of him.
He just grinned up at you, before pulling you back down to connect your lips once more. One of his hands threaded through your hair while the other splayed out against your back, keeping you as close as possible.
As your lips were engaged with Jackson's, you slowly began grinding down against him.
"Baby," he moaned, "Feels so good already."
You smiled before kissing him again, continuing your movements to make sure you were both ready before going further.
As you finally slid down onto him, he let out a low moan, his eyes fluttering shut.
You smiled, letting out a happy hum yourself. "Is this what you needed, baby?"
He hummed in confirmation. "Love you," he mumbled out in his half sleepy, half blissed state.
"Love you too," you smiled, capturing his lips in yours and rolling your hips.
Jacksons breath hitched at your movement, so you continued.
"Let me know when you're close, yeah?"
The only reply you got was a nod as he gripped your hips tightly to keep you moving against him. You allowed your hands to roam from his chest around his body, your hips still grinding against him.
Despite his tired state, Jackson was still rocking his hips in time with yours, his hold on your hips so tight it was as though he was worried you may vanish.
"Close, baby," he muttered, screwing his eyes shut.
You leant forward to kiss his lips. "Good," you whispered in his ear, "Let go for me, baby."
The closeness of your body against his, your soft breath against his ear and the continued movement of you hips timed with his was exactly what he needed to reach his high.
With a grunt as his movements stuttered as you kept circling your hips, riding out his high and chasing your own. After finishing yourself, you pushed yourself up again, looking down at your boyfriend. His eyes were still closed as you softly brushed his hair away from his forehead.
"Is that what you needed?"
He nodded and hummed, the only response he had energy to give you.
"I'm just going to clean up and I'll be back to snuggle you," you said as you got up to head to the bathroom.
Upon your return you pulled on the first of Jackson's tshirts you found and were very unsurprised to see his fast asleep in almost the exact position you left him in.
With a small smile, you pressed a kiss to his cheeks before snuggling into him to drift off yourself.
30 minute love affair, all in the blink of an eye
There you were standing there, I heard an angel cry
Runaway lover, I soon discovered
It was best when we left it, I'll never forget it
Our 30 minute love affair~
There was nothing that could cure you from the weight of such a heavy, daunting week like a visit to the local bar, especially on this particular Thursday night. Local indie singers performed on the small yet brightly lit stage, a stack of CDs by their feet they were selling for a mere five bucks (in this economy?!), groups of women made their way inside and ordered a string of cocktails without hesitation to take full advantage of the bar’s Ladies Night. The establishment served as one of the few reminders of how vibrant and meaningful life could be, that there was so much more to it than the cycle of eat, sleep, work, and repeat.
As you pushed past the wooden red door, you were greeted by the familiar, lingering smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and sweat. Music was playing through the speakers at a comfortable volume, one waiter was bringing a tray of cocktails for a bachelorette party, while another had a tray of sweet potato fries, onion rings, and loaded nachos for a table of men, who were still in their office clothes, albeit with their shirts slightly unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up their arms.
Tonight, you just wanted to sit by the bar, order a cocktail or two, and maybe strike up a conversation with your favourite bartender but then, someone had caught your eye.
The man was alone at the corner of the bar, nursing what seemed to be a rum and coke in his hands. He stood almost broodingly, with his rose-coloured sunglasses under the dim lights, bleached silver hair, and black leather jacket over a white T-shirt. Even from afar, you could tell he was not a local; he had seamlessly achieved the perfect balance of blending in and standing out. There was something about him that was so magnetic, something that you could not put a finger on.
You snapped yourself out of it and sat down, grabbing the attention of the bartender. You were not the kind of person to walk up to strangers, especially in an alcohol-fuelled environment like the bar. No, you knew better than to cause trouble.
Once you ordered your first drink of the night, you sensed a gaze falling in your direction. It was a gaze of acknowledgement… or maybe even curiosity? It was too distant for you to tell, but as soon as your order was placed on a coaster in front of you, Mr. Mystery Man walked towards the line of stools at the bar, where you sat.
“Sorry to be a bother,” he said, his voice infused with an accent you could not place. “But, can I take a seat here?”
“Hm?” you turned your head, looked up, and there he was standing before you. “Oh, of course you can.”
He sat on the stool beside you, cleared his throat, and… there it was: four seconds of silence, which was enough to make things feel awkward.
“I’m BamBam, by the way,” he spoke up.
He smiled at you, an honest and earnest smile that you have not seen in a while. The effect he had on you was almost instant; without saying another word, you felt more at ease, as if he were not a stranger, but someone special. Was it his presence? Or were you just feeling somewhat lonely lately? Maybe it was a mixture of both? No matter what it was, that initial air of awkwardness was beginning to subside.
You introduced yourself, BamBam said your name was cute, and oh shit… you were blushing and could only hope that he did not notice. “You’re not from here, are you?”
“How can you tell?” BamBam retorted, letting out a little laugh. “Is it my hair?”
“No, it’s that," you said, looking around the bar. “Everyone here is dressed the same, you know? Well, except for that table over there… the rest of us came here still in our work clothes. Maybe you did too, if you were like… some sort of model?”
“Kinda,” he said before taking another sip from his drink. “Not the biggest fan of talking about my job, especially with people like you.”
You raised a curious eyebrow, and saw the immediate panic in his eyes. “I– I didn’t mean it like that.”
“No, I get it,” you reassured him, even though his hesitancy was making you more intrigued. “I don’t like talking to strangers about my job either.”
Therefore, you did not pry any further. The both of you ended up talking about everything under the Sun, laughing your heads off and bonding over the silliest things. All the while BamBam ordered a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for you to share, and even put your drink on his tab, much to your hesitation. There was something about him that made you feel safe, and you wanted more.
Time flew by, and like clockwork, patrons began to make their way out of the bar. The frat boys disguised as white-collar workers left first, then the bachelorette party stumbled their way out the door, and the singer walked out as well, his guitar case in one hand and a bag of unsold CDs in the other.
BamBam was the first to notice that it was just you, him, and the employees left in the bar. “Oh, shit.”
“What?”
“It’s just us now,” he said before taking one final sip of the wine you managed to finish together and calling the bartender over so he could pay the bill. “Should we get going?”
“Where are we gonna go?”
“I was hoping you would tell me,” he chuckled as he signed the bill and got his credit card back. “I’m not from here, remember?”
As if it were instinct, BamBam took your hand in his when you stood up to leave, the gentle grip he had on your hand was unwavering as you walked out together, clueless on where to go next. All the shops had closed, and your city was not known for having the best nightlife on a Thursday night. You and BamBam started walking down the streets that were lit from the lamp posts above your heads, pausing once in a while for you to tell him a bit more about the little things the city had to offer.
You strolled around for God knew how long; your feet were beginning to ache, nose and cheeks turning red from the cold. Looking at the time, your eyes widened, the bus that was on its way to your neighbourhood was making its last stop in the city in a few minutes, and you were doubtful that you could make it there on time.
“Hey, um,” you said, looking up at BamBam. “I need to make a run for the bus, like ASAP, I’m sorry, I–”
“Taking the bus? At this time?”
“Well, yeah,” you said, eyes darting to the bus stop ahead and back to BamBam. “I don’t have much of a choice.”
“With me, you do,” he declared, taking out his phone. “You’re going home by Uber. It’s too dangerous to go home by bus like this.”
“Wait, wait,” you said, covering his screen with your hand. “You really don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
As much as you were grateful for his offer, you huffed, your hand still on his phone. “Alright, alright, you can call me a cab, but,”
“But?”
“But, not now,” you said, sitting down on the closest bench, finally giving your feet the rest they needed. “The night’s not over yet.”
He sat down beside you, just like how he did in the bar, except there was no space between you and no one else was around; it was just the two of you and the night’s cold breeze.
“Something on your mind?” BamBam asked, as he put his arm around your shoulder.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s never nothing,” he said, pulling you closer to him. Damn, was he good at comebacks. “So, tell me now or forever hold your peace.”
You sighed, you were not the type to be this vulnerable around people you just met, but BamBam somehow had allowed you to let your guard down in front of him. “I really don’t want this night to end, BamBam.”
He looked down at you. “I really don’t want it to end either. You’re a whole lotta fun to be around.”
“I have this really weird feeling that we won’t be seeing each other again after tonight,” you confessed, resting your head on his shoulder. “I’m not ready to say goodbye.”
“What’s saying tonight’s goodbye is our last?”
“I don’t know,” you sighed. “Time… circumstance? I can’t describe it. What do you think?”
“I like to think we’d meet each other again,” he said, holding you even tighter. “You see me, I see you, and we continue where we left off. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
For a moment, there was silence, but not the awkward silence at the bar. The silence was comforting and the moment felt frozen in time. You could have stayed there for an hour before BamBam looked at you again. “Whether or not we see each other tomorrow, next month, next year, or possibly never,” he started, taking your hand in his. “I’d like to end the night with this.”
BamBam did not give you time to answer as he closed the little space left between you with his lips. Everything inside you went still, no thoughts, no worries about the uncertainties the future would bring. You melted further into the kiss, eyes closed as BamBam enveloped his arms around you.
You were the first to pull away, smiling as you rested your foreheads against each other. “BamBam?”
“Yes?”
“I think I’m ready to go home now.”
He looked at you and understood what you meant instantly, taking out his phone, asking for your address and ordering an Uber, which arrived ten minutes later, and that meant ten extra minutes to spend with BamBam. He gave you one last kiss on the lips before opening the passenger door for you and sending you off. Once the car had disappeared from his sight, he called another Uber to bring him back to his hotel.
You spent the 25 minutes of your trip back home thinking, “Why?”
What you had with BamBam was just one fleeting moment, not meant to be forever. The story of you and him had come to an end the moment he closed the passenger door. You could accept that, but deep down, you knew there had to be a reason why.
Around a week later, when you saw an advertisement promoting an album called Winter Heptagon by a band named GOT7 plastered on the front page of YouTube, your question had been answered.
Author's note: hello loves, happy Easter! We are back with the next part of our beloved story idiots falling in love. No further ado, please enjoy and drop a comment to let me know your thoughts!! <3
P.S: This song is the main trope of this chapter: Faouzia, Fur Elise.
Word count: ±12.5k
Tropes: friends idiots to lovers || slow burn romance || almost smut || angst / light angst || long series || jackson wang || soulmates || original characters || dorks in love || 3rd POV
“Jackson?” Jo put the wooden clamps on the cutting board and turned her attention to the other end of the room where Jackson was. “What happened? Who was it?”
Jackson put Jo’s phone back on the table, and the latter observed a more distant look in his eye. He chuckled wryly. “I told you it was rude to go through another person’s messages. This Max person says you two are viral in Korea.”
Another short message sound echoed through the speakers in the living room. Jackson did not have to look at the lit-up screen to know it was that same man messaging once more. He noticed the grimace on Jo’s face.
“I did not lie to you when I said I had nothing to hide, Jackson.” Jo took the clean plates from the dining table to transfer the beef from the pan. “Max is my ex-lover. He is the last man I was in a relationship with these past couple of years.”
Jo shifted her position to face Jackson who threw the towel from his head to the adjacent couch. His eyes fixed her, and she could not figure out the expression he was displaying. There was one clear thing in his demeanor; the compassion in his irises evaporated.
“Is he still in your life?”
Jo assumed the stance to meet Jackson’s posture. “No.”
“Does he know?”
Jo blinked at the other’s question. She was prepared to answer a hundred million different questions, prepared to be honest with him and with herself alike. Jackson’s inquiry took her by surprise. He presumably had little to no interest in her past with Max; his question focused on her present and sparked the interest to her future.
“He should.”
Jackson sighed and ran a hand through his damp hair. “That’s not a yes, Jo.”
As Jackson sat down on the couch, Jo felt a macabre sensation knitting in her stomach. She instinctively covered her abdomen, grasping at the suit material. “I left him, Jackson.”
Jackson’s eyes never left her silhouette. That barren visage he was carrying twisted her stomach further. “Why? I don’t know much Spanish, but I can understand mami is an endearing thing.”
“I left him,” Jo repeated. Much to her surprise, the words came out clean, yet vehement. To convince herself of a fact she had already known. “I packed my bags and walked away. We haven’t talked to each other in years, up to a couple of days ago. I deleted his number, and I don’t have it, still.”
Jackson nodded his head, then leaned against the backrest of the couch. “Aren’t you curious to see what he wrote to you?”
“No,” Jo replied, her tone growing stronger, more confident. “I am curious to know what is going through your head right now.”
He closed his hands to hang them at his nape. “Quite a lot of things actually,” Jackson breathed out and shrugged his shoulders. “Was he bad to you? Did he treat you wrong? Why are you here with me now and not with him?”
A short laugh bubbled out of his lungs. “And I’m dying to see what you two became viral for. Even though I don’t want to see my lady do that with no one else.”
Jo’s lips parted slightly in sudden shock of Jackson’s words. How did he look so serene, while also carrying the air of the most troubled man on Earth? Jo had to latch herself to the refuge of the kitchen counter, not to give in to the newfound weakness in her knees.
“Your lady?” she whispered in disbelief.
“Yes, my lady, Jo,” Jackson exhaled and stood up. “Or at least, I thought you would be my lady.” He made a step toward her. “I can’t clear my head of all these thoughts of you, Jo. You’re so alluring in all these right ways. I just can’t keep away from you when you’re near.”
Jo watched him as he inched closer, step after step after step, with fresh determination painting the brown of his eyes, still devoid of the tenderness he had carried in the early hours of the day. Jo could not pretend to know him well enough to read between his lines, to guess his running feelings. Jackson appeared resentful, protective, jealous? A blend of sentiments that could be anything but possessive. A blend of sentiments that revolved around her and her freedom.
Jackson stopped before her, the intensity of his existence capturing Jo’s very essence. His voice sounded urgent, imposing even.
“Say something, Jo. Say something cause I’m losing my mind.”
Jo could feel his warmth fanning against her lips, yet his eyes never left hers. Jackson rested his hands on either side of her body. Jo felt her heart hammering in her chest, swearing that Jackson could hear it too.
“My name is Joanne.” She breathed out. “Joanne who is consumed with thoughts of you, aggravated with the fact that you’re almost always too far away from my fingertips. I am exasperated that I have never met a man like you and I don’t know what to do with these feelings.”
“Joanne,” Jackson murmured, and his features were slowly coloring in softness once more. “Joanne. What a beautiful name.”
Jo looked at the man standing before her, unable to comprehend his reactions. She perceived that her armor was being torn apart piece by piece with such unknown mastery. All that was characteristic of her was washing away. “Please,” Jo pleaded silently, seizing at her chest with one hand. “I need to say these things out loud to you.”
Jackson grabbed her by the hand keeping guard at her soul. “If you stop hiding away from me, I swear I’ll listen to everything you want to say to me.”
She could not counter his request, not with the steadfastness reflected so vividly in his orbs. Jo did not remember the last time she tried to bare herself naked to something else than her mirror. Jackson had that aura about him, to wrap her in safety and take all her bad habits to lay them to rest. Perhaps not all of them were prepared to go, but some were on the verge of breaking apart.
Jo finally spoke, taking him by the hand with a gentle squeeze, “I won’t hide.”
“Good!” Jackson declared and tugged her to the dining table. “Let’s eat now.”
Jo blinked at him. Then cried out. “What the hell do you mean eat?!”
“Didn’t you say that the steak is no good to us cold?” Jackson replied calmly, pulling her chair. “And I heard your stomach rumbling, so I can’t have you being hungry. We’re not going anywhere after this.”
The woman accepted Jackson’s invitation and seated herself at the table. He retrieved the bottle of wine from the living room table and rummaged through a side drawer for the corkscrew. Jo was watching his light movements with an irritation in her throat. He put her through a rollercoaster just moments before, having her on the edge of anguish that he would detach himself from her.
Could those have been the same emotions she put Max through?
Jo confirmed to herself that she was a big contender for the greatest hypocrite on Earth.
Jackson returned to the table to fill the tall glasses with Pinot Noir, mocking the motions of a renowned wine connoisseur, and earned a smile from Jo. He sat in his chair and, in a firm action, pulled Jo’s chair closer to his own.
“What are you sitting so far away for?” he chuckled at the shock on the other’s face.
“That was very sexy.” Jo admitted, moving the cutlery to her.
“It was meant to be sexy,” Jackson boasted, notwithstanding a smirk. “Did it work?”
Jo scoffed at him, failing to conceal her smile. “Yes, it did. Now please see to your steak.”
So, Jackson cut a piece of the steak and brought it to his mouth for a prolonged bite. Jo was nervous initially, thinking that she must have overcooked it; Jackson’s lewd groan, whether intentional or not, confirmed otherwise. “I’m sold.”
“To whom?” Jo joked sheepishly, safely tending to her dish. She appreciated Jackson’s intentions of easing the tense ambience. It gave her a sense of security that he was truly willing to give her the attention.
Jackson’s smirk grew wider. His expression was seductive enough that Jo could not take her eyes off him. Jackson switched the topic. “Did you know that the boys are planning to throw a party for all the September birthdays? Youngjae’s was the first, then Jinyoung’s was just a couple of days ago, and Yugyeom is coming up soon.”
“Oh really?” Jo took another bite of her steak. “Sam didn’t say.”
At that point, Jackson had stuffed his cheeks with food. His close resemblance to a chipmunk was an outrageous shift from his previously delicious features. He continued when he finished chewing. Jo was happy to see him enjoying himself.
“I’m sure Mark didn’t want to put her through organizing everything again. Bam mentioned at some point he felt really bad he had to put so much on her, so he must have understood the message.”
“Nonsense. Sam loves doing these things. She always planned all our birthday parties back in college.”
“She has a knack for that. I had so much fun at Mark’s.” Jackson approved and stopped to reach for his glass. He brought it closer to Jo’s. “Cheers?”
Jo’s fingers wrapped around her glass, meeting Jackson halfway. “Cheers.” Then she sipped from the glass, “Me too. It felt like the old times.”
“You know,” Jackson began, “After we talked about your old squad in Stanford, you know, at the party, I kept thinking how it could have been to have met you back then.”
Jo leaned her chin on the back of her hand, focusing her full attention to Jackson. “I don’t know, maybe we wouldn’t have met at all. I probably would have been a freshman, and you, a senior. Besides, fighting through a swarm of girls would have been tough.”
Jackson motioned with his index in the air, making a quick calculation. “You’re 28 then?”
“Bingo.”
“Ah, shit, sorry,” Jackson rapidly covered his mouth, in a mortified expression. “I didn’t mean to ask.”
“Ah, fuck that,” Jo laughed in response and took another sip of wine. “I don’t mind. Well, I don’t mind if it’s you. I promised you I won’t hide anymore, and my age is part of that. It’s worth knowing I’m younger than you, no?”
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t care.” Jackson replied decisively. “Doesn’t make any difference to me.”
Jo nodded her head, grabbing the fork and knife again. “So, birthday you were saying?”
“Oh yeah. So, we’re doing that Saturday next week. Jaebum wants to do a live stream with all of us for our fans.”
“That’s nice. Always so thoughtful.”
“Right. We need a video editor.”
Jo blinked with curiosity. She did not remember the Got7 members having any social media content edited from their live streamed versions. “Why? You want to do some TikTok content and all that?”
Jackson seemed a tad hesitant to reply. “Well, maybe some short clips with the happy birthday stuff and some photos with the members.”
“If you need any help with ideas and whatnot, maybe I could help,” Jo offered. “You can ask Jaebum to contact me, and we can brainstorm.”
Jackson put his cutlery on the table surface with a loud sigh. “Fuck it, I’m not good at these things,” He looked straight at Jo. “We were wondering if you’d like to edit and post our stuff.”
Ah. So that was the beating around the bush for. “I mean, I’d hate to refuse you but—"
Jackson’s face all but changed into a horribly sad puppy look. “But you will?”
Jo’s shoulders dropped. Something about him made it terribly difficult to refuse virtually anything that came out of his mouth. Jo was developing a weakness for Jackson she had never developed for anyone before. “Jeez, let me finish. I was about to say that it’s no big deal to do it, editing and all that is pretty easy. If I had a camera. Which I don’t.”
Jackson’s face reverted to its cheerful display. “Both Jayb and Jinyoung have cameras.”
“I know they do,” Jo laughed at the other and bumped her foot against his under the table. “Jaebum held a photography expo in 2020 if I’m not mistaken. Very good stuff.”
“You knew that?!” Jackson’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise.
“Of course I do! Who do you take me for? I should have received the biggest Got7 fan badge or something.”
Jackson put his hands in the air in mocked defense. Jo chuckled.
“Why me though?” she asked, dropping her head in the palms of her hands.
“In case it’s not already obvious,” Jackson folded his arms over his torso, “Your art and creativity are beyond extraordinary. And I might have run my mouth to the boys about it, too.”
Jo cocked an eyebrow, a sliver of a smirk tugging at her lips. “Do go on.”
Jackson mirrored her actions. “Right, so I told Jaebum to talk to you himself. But he said that I should do it cause he didn’t have your number or some shit.”
“Mhm, as if my contact is not listed on my company’s website. Doesn’t answer my question though. Aren’t you guys already working with someone on the photo video side?”
“It’s kind of short notice to be honest,” Jackson scratched at his nape. “We didn’t know we would all be free to meet up. And the live thing idea was given on the spot.” Jackson stopped for a brief second to capture Jo’s eyes. “And I wanted you.”
It was no secret Jo’s orbs softened. Jackson picked it up swiftly and took her by the hand.
“So, you wouldn’t have invited me to celebrate with everyone had it not been for my photography mastercraft?”
Both of them burst out in hearty laughter at Jo’s teasing remark. She entwined her fingers through Jackson’s.
“I thought you being there was by default at this point.”
His touch was tender, like the spring’s gentle sunshine. If time could be frozen in a bottle, Jo would have chosen that very moment to imprint in her tapestry of forever: Jackson’s cherished warmth, his velvety smile and that ethereal serenity his eyes wore whenever he looked at her. When he spoke again, his voice descended a semitone.
“Joanne,” he smiled once more. “I’m not used to calling you this.”
A faint trace of a blush flushed her cheeks. “You’d better be, Jackson.”
Jackson sighed; and Jo’s world came tumbling down, in fear of the worst. She respected his uncertain pause.
“Joanne, I like you. Very much. Extremely much.”
Jo held her breath. “But?”
“You’re not ready for this.”
She lowered her eyes, but Jackson guided his other hand to cup her cheek and lead her back to him. He met her with a reassuring smile that had Jo release all the apprehended air in her lungs. “I didn’t say I’m giving up on us.”
Jo’s bottom lip started trembling.
“I don’t want to share any of you, or your mind, or your heart, or your anything with anyone. Neither of us deserves this.”
“I know. You don’t.” Jo’s voice barely survived a whisper, and she tried to look away. Jackson’s thumb caressed her skin.
“Hey, look at me. You promised you won’t hide from me anymore.”
Jo reluctantly tilted her head to look at Jackson. “I’m afraid. My hyper fixation with being the independent eldest daughter who was pushed to being perfect and doing everything perfectly on her own makes me afraid.”
Jackson’s voice dictated patience. As promised. “Of what?”
“That I’ll pack my bags and walk away from you just as I did to Max. That I’ll leave you without a trace because I can’t open up to anyone because I keep on telling myself I don’t need anyone to build my life for me.”
Jo grabbed Jackson by the wrist, trying to hold herself steady. Her fingers were cold and numb. “Max was never bad to me. He treated me well and always did his best to make me happy. When I started building up my career, I convinced myself that he would only hold me back, and sabotage me, and we couldn’t have anything anyway because he was touring the States to lead his musicals.” Each word coming out of her lips caused fissures in her voice, and, unbeknownst to her, a tear bubbled over Jackson’s thumb.
“I don’t want to do this to you, Jackson. You’re doing all these things right, everything you could do, you are doing. You don’t deserve the cup half full.”
Jackson reached over to place a chaste kiss on her temple and pull her into his chest. He curled his fingers through the hair at the base of her neck, his other arm holding her into his proximity.
“Do you trust me?”
Jo retreated to look at him. Jackson encircled both her cheeks, eyes steadily studying her features.
“What?”
“This is not something we can control, Joanne. If you decide to pack up your things one day and walk away, I can’t do anything about it. It’s the same for me.” There were no traces of insecurities in his tone. “I think I told you that I don’t want to fuck this up with you because I did not try. So, I ask you again, do you trust me?”
“Jackson, but—”
His eyes stopped wondering to fixate upon hers. “Do you trust me?”
Where was all his conviction coming from? How could he be so vehement, why would he be? What did he see in her that he was so adamant to have her, faced with the choice that she could leave regardless?
“I do,” Jo spoke, gasping for air. “I trust you.”
“Then I’ll be man enough to make you feel safe with me.”
She shook her head out of instinct. “I don’t understand. I did all these things in the past, and I am so ashamed of them, yet you don’t bat an eye?”
“Fuck the past, Jo. Fuck it, I don’t care.” Jackson cut her off, lowering his hands to capture hers again. “I want to live in the present with you. All I’m asking is you forgive yourself and come to terms with what’s in your heart. Anything else? We’ll figure out together.”
Another tear followed in the avenue of the earlier one, sprinkling over Jackson’s thumb. There was desperation lingering in his eyes as he watched the droplet break against his skin, forehead wrinkled in evident discomfort.
“And look at me,” mumbled Jackson, “I promised you I’d fight for your smiles and happiness, and I’ve already made you cry.”
Jo chuckled in disbelief, fighting against the whirlpool in her orbits. “Shut up. These are happy tears.”
She enveloped Jackson’s hands in her own, to tug them at her lips and plant butterfly kisses on each of his wrists. The crease in his forehead gradually disappeared and got replaced by raw fragility. “When I read your letter the other night, multiple times as I’ve told you, I scribbled a little something of my own in response.”
“Oh?” breathed Jackson and rested his hands against her thighs. His fingers massaging into the clothed skin felt feathery. ”What about?”
“You’ll see. Actually, I think it makes the most sense to give it to you now, since you already stripped me of all my masks anyway.”
Jackson followed Jo curiously with his eyes as she straightened her body to poke through her handbag and pick up a small leather agenda. Jo opened the diary where her handwriting adorned the pages.
“When you released High Alone earlier this year, I admit I hadn’t followed your individual projects for a while, so I was excited to see what you were up to as an artist. Watching that music video, it broke my heart. Then I watched the behind the scenes and all it did was twist the knife into the wound.”
Jo extended her arm to hand the diary to Jackson.
“It truly hit me then that we collectively have no idea what you are going through. And I said to myself that I hope someday you’ll find that person after your own heart. To walk with you through all this darkness.”
Jackson watched her in awe as she spoke. The agenda was light in his hands, yet Jo’s words carried such weight that he found it nigh impossible to break their contact. The woman regarded his silence as means to finish her confession.
“I’ll be selfish now and say that I want to become that person for you. I’ll speak with Max and make all my intentions clear, sure. But I want to let you know that I want us to try. I want us to be together. Will you wait for me just a little longer?”
Jackson hurriedly put the journal on the adjacent table and dashed over to Jo to crash his lips against hers. The familiarity of his touch against her skin caused the air to hitch in her throat and an explosive sensation to blast at her core. Jo spiraled her arms around his neck and conceded into his presence, unquestionably following Jackson’s lead. His hands travelled to the nest of her lower back, and, in the tumult of the rowdy moment, his fingers inadvertently slid under her Balmain blazer. The woman flinched at the unexpected bare contact, which caused her back to arch further into his embrace.
A vulnerable mewl formed in the back of Jo’s neck and, admittedly against her wishes, she broke the kiss in a struggle for breath. “Jackson, I can’t breathe.”
The carnal appetite lasted but a moment on Jackson’s physiognomy. He broke into a grin and stole another sheepish peck from Jo. “I got carried away.”
“Mhm, you sure did, my cielo.” Jo nuzzled her nose against his, lips taunting over the other’s. She was growing impatient to taste that impure hunger Jackson displayed mere milliseconds before. As opposed to the other times she desired him and his physical pleasures, Jo started yearning for him. For a connection to the infinitesimal pieces of his soul.
“My cielo,” Jackson repeated through a nimble lick of his lips. Jo was no psychic, but she could swear the attraction was ripe and no longer one sided. Especially with Jackson’s body drawing closer inch by inch, to keep the ecstasy palpable at an alarming distance. He was entirely aware of his doings. “I like that.”
“I have more where that came from. But I must go shower.”
Jackson whined at her proposition, reluctant to break their contact. “You should. I mean, you don’t smell bad or whatever—”
“I know. I assume you won’t share the bed with me tonight?”
He kissed her lips again as if delivering an apology. “I’ll sleep on the couch. I don’t think it’s the best moment for us to do it. I’ll tug you to sleep, as promised.”
Jo was receptive of Jackson’s growing cravings amidst their voracious shared moment, but her better judgement was still in agreement with Jackson’s. On the brighter side of the coin, she was satisfied with the evidence that he might have desired her at least to a fraction of how much she yearned for him. She laughed briefly before she replied.
“So, no free Willy man tonight?”
Jackson’s eyes reflected earnest terror. “Oh my God, I really did say that in a podcast.”
“I know! I’m sorry to your Willy.”
“Stop it!” he laughed and pulled her into an embrace as Jo threw her head back in triumphant laughter. “He won’t choke for a night or two.”
Jo grabbed at his shoulders tighter as he spun her around in the living room, the sounds of happiness colliding with the once empty walls. Jackson gently placed her back on the ground, and the dazzling smile colored on his face tugged at Jo’s heartstrings.
“You know, I lied a bit when I said I don’t have anything planned for us. Technically it’s not a lie because I forgot, but the Moon Festival is celebrated this weekend, and I want to show you how beautiful this city is.”
For the first time in an arduous long time, Jo looked at the man standing in front of her and decided to give in to him. To accept his lead, to be guided by someone else. To enjoy the buried requests of her inner child and truly wear her soul bare on her sleeve. To bask in her femininity.
“I would love to.”
The following morning, Jo woke up before dawn. All the lights in the apartment were off and no noise was coming from the living room where Jackson was sleeping. Taking advantage of the fact that she was rather energized after a relaxed night and quiet sleep, Jo decided to unpack her gym clothes and go for an early run. She finished her morning routine quickly and went to check on Jackson. He looked peaceful and in deep slumber, still; Jo retrieved his blanket from the floor and covered him.
What caught her attention was the diary wide open on the nearby coffee table, where she had left it open only a few hours prior. The edges of the paper were uneven, a testament to the faithful fingerprints that took their time to master the words. Jo smiled to herself and headed out.
Strip for me—not your clothes, not your body
but the armor you wear when you think no one is looking.
Jo’s brain was still high on the bliss of the previous day’s events, but capable enough to replay each stage at a slower pace. It felt surreal, regardless; Jackson managed to unpeel layer by layer by layer of her carefully built fortress. She would have thought him mad to put his trust in a woman whom he barely came to know. She would have thought him insane to chase her so stubbornly.
Jo picked up the speed.
Take off the version of you
that makes everyone comfortable but you.
Was he, though? Mad, insane? Or was she the one who indoctrinated herself to believe that hiding from people was the best way to protect oneself from damage? Why did it take one man, him, and no one else, to open her damn eyes to the things she refused to see?
Then it hit Jo that Max was never on equal footing with Jackson. Consequently, the attempt to keep herself trapped in the same old patterns proved to be futile. Jackson saw right through her and her games, whereas Max seemingly played along. And the funny part in Jo’s story was that she never prayed for Jackson to walk in her path. Jo sprinted back to the apartment.
Stand there, bare in your fury, naked in your wanting
Let me worship you for it.
Was she falling in love with Jackson?
Jo attempted to open the front door discreetly, only to be met by an inviting smell of freshly cooked breakfast. Jackson was keeping busy in the kitchen, and she noticed that all the dishes from the night before were cleaned. A Chris Brown R&B tune was humming in the background.
Jackson chimed joyfully as Jo shut de door. “Good morning, queen!”
“Queen?” Jo displayed an amused expression. “Good morning to you, king. When did you have time to make all of this? I’ve been gone like…” she checked her smartwatch to discover she unconsciously took an alternate route back. At least she sorted out her thoughts. Allegedly. “An hour, yeah.”
“Least I could do. I realized I was a total asshole and never said thank you for the delicious dinner. I’m not the best chef though, got to admit.”
Jo approached him in the kitchen to inspect his cooking, enjoying the thoughtful surprise. “Ah, come on. That was my pleasure. I love cooking.”
Jackson smiled at her and sneaked a kiss on her lips. Jo blinked curiously in response to his gesture but fought back with a kiss of her own. He analyzed her with the corner of his eye and enveloped her in his embrace to carry her to the couch.
“Jackson what are you doing, I am dirty and sweaty—”
“Don’t start a fight you don’t want to fight!” he placed her gently on the plush material to tower over her and initiate a kissing attack. Jo squirmed back and forth with loud giggles; her cap evaded somewhere on the floor, her ponytail loosened into wild strands, all the while Jackson showered her face with love. A foul smell mixing through the air flooded Jo’s nose.
“The eggs are burning, Jackson.”
“Shit. Fuck,” he laughed clumsily and made haste to the stove, releasing Jo from her imprisonment. “Look, this is not burnt. It’s just crisp.”
He showed the pan to Jo, pointing frantically at the light-brown eggs. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she did not like her scrambled eggs that way. Maybe she would even grow to like the dish simply because Jackson made it. “It’s fine, guapo. Don’t worry.”
Jackson’s free hand immediately spread over his chest upon hearing Jo’s pet name for him and a jubilant smile coated his features.
“I’ll go shower, okay? I won’t take long. Oh, but before that, I need you to tell me where we are going today.”
“No?” Jackson scoffed. “It’s a surprise.”
“I need to know what to wear. I only have heeled boots and sneakers, and my decision highly depends on your answer.”
“Ah, okay. Sneakers should be fine.”
“Perfect! Be right back. I like the music, by the way.”
Jackson took it as incentive to turn the music louder, and Jo gladly received it as great shower setup. Fine China started playing right after she angled the faucet, a singer’s captivating invitation. By virtue of promising Jackson, she would be fast to return to him, she skipped straightening her hair, freeing her mild curls from a soft scrunchie. She only applied a thin layer of BB cream and dressed in a black turtleneck and navy-blue jeans.
When she got out of the bathroom, the kitchen table had already been set. A bowl of freshly cut figs, pears and grapes graced the center, surrounded by toast and butter that Jo never remembered buying. Another set of scrambled eggs filled two plates, and she snickered at the fact that he went out of his way to make another. Her snicker alerted Jackson’s senses to look up from the sink and at Jo, and the look of adoration in his orbs instantly sketched a hue of rose on her cheeks.
“You’re absolutely gorgeous!” he spoke enthusiastically. “Is your hair naturally wavy?”
“Yes, I didn’t have time to straighten it—"
“I love it. Come sit down.”
Jackson pulled her chair which was set in close proximity to his that time around, and Jo promptly complied with his request. “Thank you, kind sir! Where did you get all these goodies?”
He seated himself at the table. “There’s a nice granny who sells fruit and vegetables at her small market downstairs. She says her son has an orchard outside of town, and she always brings seasonal treats. Did you know that figs are actually extremely easy to grow?”
“I think I do!” Jo extended an arm to snag half a fig from the fruit bowl. “My dad has a couple of these trees in his backyard, and he says they can last over Alaskan cold and Saharan heat.”
“Ah, fuck. I can’t surprise you with anything.” Jackson pouted through a chuckle.
“Never give up, please. I’m very eager to find out about everything that goes through your head. For example, where we are going today.”
He shook his head, eyes glued to hers. “My lips are sealed.”
“Mhm. How about I unseal them?” teased Jo.
“Please don’t,” Jackson protested with a smirk. and grabbed a slice of toast. “I really don’t want to tell you.”
“Fine. I’ll stop asking. Make sure to tell granny next time that these figs are amazing!”
He nodded and spread some butter on his slice. “Speaking of which, did Jaebum contact you? I gave him your number to talk about Saturday.”
“Not yet. I have some suggestions of my own to make, perhaps we’ll plan something really nice together. Oh! This reminds me,” Jo skipped away from the table to fetch her phone. “Bam messaged me earlier on Instagram.”
“Bam did?” Jackson approached the other as she showed the phone to him as well.
[bambam1a]: you know Kyle Hanagami AND DANCED WITH HIM????
[bambam1a]: wth girllll you’re so based
“What the hell does based mean?” Jackson asked with a distinctly confused visage.
Jo laughed, both at the texts and at the other’s innocent inquiry. “It means that you express approval or respect to someone else. Oh my God, he literally stalked me, this is a really old post from a couple years ago.”
Jackson blinked, until realization hit him. He abruptly turned to her. “Wait a second, you danced with Kyle Hanagami?”
“Sure did! Which tells me you don’t follow me on Instagram.”
Jo tapped on the Instagram reel Bambam replied to in her dm’s, trying to fight away Jackson’s frozen expression. The snippet of Kyle’s How Long choreography started playing on her phone. “He altered some of the moves to make it more suitable for a duet. I filmed a marketing campaign for him way back when and he was one of the very first people who endorsed my venture of establishing a company. I think Kyle brought in some of my first clients.”
Jackson watched the one-minute video intently, arms crossed over his chest, and head bobbing to the background music. He didn’t say a thing throughout the duration of the clip but started clapping his hands by the end of it. Jackson replayed it right away.
“I’m sorry, I was too focused on you to see whatever Kyle did next to you.”
She rolled her eyes.
“You’re seriously good. Lines are so sharp and so controlled, like what the fuck pardon my French. Is there anything that you cannot do?”
“Thank you.” Jo dipped her head in a bow, to type an answer back to Bambam. “There were so many contemporary styles of choreographies we had to do in college for our plays, I had no choice but to hone the damn lines.”
[jmontgomery]: hahahaha thanks bam
[jmontgomery]: I respect you too homie
[jmontgomery]: I take it you enjoyed the stalking session
“You know,” Jo resumed after putting her phone back on the table. “I learnt the Python choreo, too! I wanted to jump on the TikTok trend back then, but I never had enough time to film it.”
“You know the Python choreo?” Jackson repeated in disbelief. “Let’s film it then!”
“Like what? You and me?”
“Did I stutter?”
Jo’s phone buzzed multiple times. She picked it up with a jolly snort.
[bambam1a]: you know what J
[bambam1a]: at least I had the balls to tell it to your face
[bambam1a]: cause Gyeom chickened out
[bambam1a]: 😎
[bambam1a]: say hi to Jack from me pls
[bambam1a]: ship you two btw
“This brat.” She joked and showed her phone to Jackson once again. He burst out laughing at his brother’s messages.
“They already gave you a nickname, J. Even more reason to shoot the video.”
Jo opted to snatch another fig from the bowl. Jackson made a mental note to buy more of those the next time they would dine at home. J&J was not a bad combination at all.
“Let’s say we shoot the video. Where? I don’t even have appropriate clothes for that.”
Jackson clearly couldn’t take another nonsensical word coming out of Jo’s mouth. “I have a dancing studio at Team Wang. I also have a clothing line at Team Wang. And since I wanted to pick up the guitar anyway, it’s two birds with one stone or whatever.”
Jo lifted her arms up in straightforward surrender. There was no use fighting with Jackson anyway. In fact, the more she thought about it, the better the opportunity to break her new collaboration with Jackson to the world.
But she decided to push his buttons further. “Pick up the guitar? Whatever for?”
Jackson just stared at her, demonstrating an exasperated smile. She suddenly felt giddy.
“Fine, fine. You just had to say it and I would play any song you want me to.”
He tended to the cold eggs in his plate. “It’s good we understand each other.”
The trip to and from Team Wang’s headquarters was short, as was their detour. Jackson was fast to bring her a set of Team Wang t-shirt, pants, and cap, and Jo had to withstand a series of endless (yet extremely well received) compliments of how great she looked in his clothes. Taking into consideration the fact that the building was far from being empty and a considerable amount of people gathered round to watch the two shooting their dance, the episode was finished earlier than Jackson would have liked.
He would have sneaked in a kiss too, but who kept track of all those little trinkets?
And Jo would have slammed him against the wall, but then again, who kept the count going?
“That was surprisingly fast,” Jo commented as they found their way inside Jackson’s car once more and hit the road toward the secret destination. “I expected us to make more mistakes.”
“Are you kidding me? I am the only one who made mistakes.” Jackson countered and raked through his golden locks. “You are flawless.”
“Am not. Muscle memory I guess.”
“Yeah, I should have had that!”
Both laughed earnestly.
“I would have loved it if you kept my clothes on.”
Jo supported her body weight against the inner door, cheek resting into the plush of her palm. Her eyes drifted to the fleeting buildings of the outside world and sighed a tad louder. The car constantly on their tail, with two bulky looking men in charge of Jackson’s security detail, was a painfully obvious reason why Jo chose to revert to her mundane clothes. Even the black mask Jackson had prepared for himself was not a real deflection from the wondering eyes of the public.
Not in his base town, anyway.
When she failed to reply, Jackson did instead.
“I’m sorry.”
“Hey, it’s not your fault. Please don’t ever apologize again.” She turned to look at him and welcomed the invitation of his hand on her knee. “Part of the job, isn’t it? And, as I told you before, I love myself a little limelight.”
Jo put her hand over his, giving It a gentle squeeze. “I’m in this with you, whatever it takes. I’m not a weak woman.”
The corners of Jackson’s lips lifted in a melancholic smile. “I know, Joanne. I know.”
It was past the second part of the day when Jackson and Jo reached the Nanxiang Water Town. Jackson parked his car in a reserved spot, somewhere close to the main entrance of the town, and Jo all but dashed outside the car to marvel at the ancient houses as they came to life from a distant past. Lanterns were prepared to spread their warm light across the intimate pathways, to pierce through the dense crowds.
Jackson matched the opening to speak to his bodyguards to keep a secure distance from the couple and prioritize Jo if something unpleasant were to happen. He placed an evanescent touch to the lower of her back to make her aware of his presence. He leaned down to whisper closer to her ear, visage shielded by the fabric of his mask. “Do you like it?”
Jo clasped her hands together and gave Jackson the brightest grin he had ever seen in his life. “I can’t wait for you to teach me more about your city!”
Jackson snaked his hand in hers, to interlace their fingers together. As Jo tried to pull away, he tightened the clasp. He began walking ahead and gave her the space to settle by his side, guiding her through the narrow openings of the crowds. The strong smells of spice and traditional cuisine rapidly filled Jo’s lungs.
Every time Jackson spoke to her, he approached her smaller frame, to be permanently close to her. “Do you know what xiao long bao is?”
He pointed to a more secluded stall, where an elderly man was cooking the dish. Jo shook her head to answer Jackson’s question.
“It’s a dumpling basically, and it’s traditionally served for breakfast. During the Moon Festival, you share it with your friends and loved ones and it’s said to strengthen your bond.”
Jackson stopped by the stall and acquired a bill from his wallet to buy 4 dumplings. Jo was eagerly listening to the story. “A restaurant owner added gelatin to the pork filling and boiled it. When he realized that the dumpling was filled with soup, and saw how yummy it was, he knew he hit the jackpot. And this is how you eat it.”
He drew the mask from his face to bite the top of the dumpling and steam linings evaded in the air. He slurped the soup from the inside of the dumpling, then stuffed it in his mouth. A sound of amazement tweedled from Jo’s throat and she lost no time to follow Jackson’s example. An identical sound followed as she munched on her dumpling, and her eyes twinkled. The merchant said something in Chinese to Jackson and the only thing she caught was xiè xie.
Jo looked up at Jackson when they resumed walking. “What did he say?”
He chuckled. “Do you want it word by word?”
“I’d appreciate it, yes.”
“He said that my wife is very beautiful and that I should teach her about our traditions.”
She preoccupied herself with the sole dumpling left in a pathetic attempt to disguise the redness of her cheeks. “To which I agree.”
Jo almost dropped the paper container where her serving was. Jackson laughed out loud. “That you’re beautiful of course.”
He did not comment further on the issue, and neither did Jo, so he ultimately let it go. It made Jo wonder if he pulled those words out of his ass but never confirmed her supposition.
“Say Jo, what would you say is an important first milestone in a relationship?”
Jo tapped an index against her chin before replying. “First fart I’d say.”
“Yes, right—Sorry, what?” coughed Jackson and had to confirm she was serious.
“Obviously,” she stressed her answer. “If you feel comfortable enough and safe enough to do that with someone, that must mean you’re in it for the long haul.”
Naturally, he wondered. “So… did you do that?”
“Jackson!”
He laughed again but in a defensive state. “What? Then it means we’re not there yet!”
She swatted his arm playfully and followed with laughter of her own. “You’re impossible.”
“I didn’t say shit, Jo.”
“What’s yours then?”
Jackson considered his answer for a little while. “Introducing her to my parents.”
Jo smiled at him and Jackson debated if her eyes ever turned into those shimmering crescents before. “I’d love to meet your parents someday. I’m sure they are very good people.”
She stopped dead in her tracks at the entrance of a souvenir shop. She could have asked anything of him and Jackson was convinced that anything she would have requested, he would have broken all hell loose to give it to her.
“Maybe they have dumpling key chains here…” Jo wandered through the various objects in the shop until she found the two key chains she was looking for. She swooped four magnets and happily skipped to the cashier’s booth to pay. Jackson chuckled and lightly gestured for her to put her phone aside. Another moment of their day when he wanted to kiss that pout of hers.
“They don’t have POS here, beautiful. It’s a traditional town.”
Jackson took the gift bag and thanked the cashier on their way out. “Besides, I wouldn’t have let you pay anyway, just as disclaimer.”
Jo sighed. “Fine. But one of those two keychains is yours. I thought it would be cute to mark our first official date together through this little something.”
“First date, huh?” he echoed and unconsciously squeezed her hand a little tighter. With no protest that time around. “Would you like to have more?”
“I mean, if you’re asking…” she winked at him. Her smile, as he would later find out, would be the death of him one day. “I would love to, yes.”
As their stroll approached the central point of the town, the splendid water canals spread just beneath their feet. A picturesque pier where various people were boarding gondolas caught Jo’s attention.
“Do you want to hop on one?” Jackson asked, keeping her close by his side to protect her from the swarm of people.
“Are you reading my mind or something?” she giggled and walked with Jackson to the dock. The image of the two bulky security men on a floating gondola amused her to no end. Jackson spoke to an open gondolier and was the first to embark on their canoe. He offered his hand to Jo, assuming a balanced stance. “Come, it’s shaky at first but you’ll get used to it quickly.”
There was no use asking anew if she trusted him; she didn’t bat an eye to his warning and all but jumped inside the raft, earning a raised eyebrow from the gondolier. She settled on the wooden stand and a latent shiver caused her body to tremble.
“Are you cold?” Jackson asked and immediately undressed himself of his jacket. He draped it over her shoulders, which she tried to give back.
“But your shirt fabric is thinner than my turtleneck.”
“Do you think I gained all this muscle for show?”
Jackson strained his bicep with an overly done serious aspect and Jo covered her mouth to suppress a chuckle. “Whatever, Superman. Suit yourself.”
Contrary to her words, she properly put on his jacket. Jackson wrapped an arm around her middle to tug her silhouette into his chest. With dusk fast approaching, the lanterns around town rapidly spread their mild light to paint the river in a scenic shade of yellow. Jackson picked up the habit of playing with her wild strands, curling them back and forth on his fingers.
“I always suspected you to be the romantic type, but I guess you have to see it with your own eyes to believe.”
“Ah me? I’m rusty as hell.”
Jo snuggled closer. Jackson put the mask on his face aside and placed a kiss to the crown of her hair.
“You’re doing just fine.”
The inflexions of the water traversed an invisible line only to surrender to the edges of their shared gondola. The night sky hinted at a full spectacle of the moon.
Jackson broke the otherwise comfortable silence. His voice lowered in an intimate tone, raspier but cozier all the same. “Do you think you’ll be working for long? In the future?”
“I have so many things I have yet to reach, so I think it’s hustle mode for a while. My next objective is to be listed in the Forbes 30 under 30 America. Any useful tips, from someone who’s already been there?”
“I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about it. I worked hard every day, and it just came naturally.”
Jo rolled her eyes. Not that Jackson would see it. “How did I never think about that?”
They laughed. “And what’s after that?”
She hummed. “It’s quite difficult to put into words, actually. I don’t know how you feel about it, but I think there will come a point when I’ll be able to say oh, I’m satisfied with everything I’ve achieved and it’s time for me to build on something beyond this. I’m not saying I want to retire forever necessarily, but at some point, I’ll pass my business down to someone. I don’t know what that is yet.”
Jo felt him hug tighter. She continued.
“I want to grow a farm. I’d love my kids to grow up with their feet in the grass, with three or four dogs to run around, fall and get dirty, get up and climb stuff. I want them to know nature and bask in it. And I want to have an orchard, and grow vegetables—"
“I’ll marry you.”
She paused for a fraction of a moment, then resumed. “Maybe if I have dogs, I’ll also have horses. And some chickens would be nice.”
Jackson’s loud outburst of laughter had her straighten her body to look at him. He caught his cheek in the palm of his hand, cocking an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
Jo had a confused look about her features. “Right, I did. Not the first time I ever heard it though.”
The bold moonlight bathed Jackson’s face in a divine display of sentiments, colors and unspoken emotions, so much so that the tiniest piece of Jo’s soul chased after his proposition. The veil of certainty portrayed over his whole being provoked her heart to pick up the beat.
“Go on, keep underestimating me. Makes me even more motivated to prove you wrong.”
The previous weekend’s events came across as a dream to Jo, who was back in her Seoul home, fighting her most terrifying monsters to keep focused on the actual work she had to complete. She was constantly twitching a pen between her fingers, her only anchor in the mundane of her meetings. Eyes were constantly drifting to her phone, keeping watch of the moment Jackson would write to her. Luckily, the busiest days were Monday and Tuesday only, and by the time she greeted the middle of the week, most of her urgent responsibilities had been taken care of.
She was editing her dance session with Jackson when an unknown number called.
“Hello?”
A familiar voice spoke in Korean on the other line. “Ah, hello, Jo-ssi? It’s Jaebum. Is this a good time?”
With very little time given to grow accustomed to the Korean culture, it still felt strange to use honorifics with Jaebum. In her mind, she grew up with the Got7 members.
“Yes, hello, Jaebum-ssi. Perfectly fine! Jackson mentioned you’d call today. It’s better to speak over the phone anyway.”
“Great then! I’m more old-fashioned that way too.”
Jo chuckled. She was genuinely happy Jackson had such good people in his life.
“Actually, if you are at home and you would be comfortable with it, could we switch to facetiming? I’d rather see the model of your camera and ask you to go through a couple of configurations.”
There was a short pause on Jaebum’s end.
“We don’t have to, and it’s totally fine! I guess it’s a professional defect of mine to see the people I’m talking to.”
“Ah no, no trouble really. Jinyoung is with me, and I asked him to pick up the camera. One moment, I’ll call you again.”
Jo switched to her laptop to pick up the call on her MacBook. Both Jaebum and Jinyoung dipped their heads in polite bows, and she immediately followed suit. The kind smiles on both faces proved they were much more relaxed than Jo expected. She was proud with herself for putting on makeup earlier that morning.
“Much better! Nice to see you too, Jinyoung-ssi.”
“Likewise,” he offered. “Hyung had a lot of things planned and we hoped we could sort them out with you.”
Jo tested the waters with a joke. “I think we can plot all the scripts we want to plot. In the end, most of it is bound to be freestyle.”
It was well received; if Jinyoung smiled, then the initiation was complete.
“We can try.” Jaebum replied with a chuckle. “We know that we are an open book at this point.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
So, the three of them planned a sequence of events around three cakes, the indispensable game of rock-paper-scissors, a free talking segment, and a custom freestyle section dedicated to the fans. They discussed a couple of decorations to bring to the location of the filming site, and subsequently the party, which Youngjae and Bambam agreed to be at the same house where they threw Mark’s birthday celebrations.
Jinyoung appeared satisfied with the outcome. “That should do it then. Let’s see how much of it goes as planned.”
Jaebum grabbed at his chin, as if seriously measuring the chances of success. “I’d say, 75%? 80% maybe. What do you think, Jo-ssi?”
Jo mirrored his actions. “75% is generous, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for it!”
“I told you hyung, you were stressing out too much to plan this. I agree with her.”
“Aish, what should we even do then?”
Jinyoung pointed at the other as he cussed out, and Jaebum covered his mouth with the back of his hand. Jo giggled and waved it away.
“Asia song festival you meant?”
Both were shocked she knew such an old, but very relevant still, meme of theirs. Jo laughed along with their snickers.
Jinyoung had to recognize talent when he saw it. “She’s good, hyung. Really good.”
“Aside from everything else, do you have a tripod and a soft box maybe? Even a ring light could do the trick. I’ll need to set up good lighting because I remember the house coloring was dark.”
“I don’t have a soft box, unfortunately. I think I had a medium sized ring light though, I’ll go search for it. I’ll leave Jinyoung with you to test out the camera settings.”
“Shouldn’t be too expensive to rent one, should it?” Jinyoung questioned as he opened the camera bag. Jo was ecstatic to see Jaebum had a Sony Alpha 7R Mirrorless, and, at a wild guess, it looked to be a 2024 model even.
“Let’s go baby! I like what I’m seeing, we’ll do wonders with this thing.”
Jinyoung laughed and unpacked the lens right after. “I take it you’re a Sony fan, then?”
Jo practically clapped her hands upon noticing the Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II lens. “It’s personal preference, really. My first camera was a Sony and even though the settings menu can be quite a pain to navigate sometimes, I feel like it offers best value for money. I have 6 different lens types I use, based on the context. I have this one, too.”
Jinyoung listened attentively. “I use Canon, personally. I don’t think I ever had trouble shooting the frames I wanted to with it. I do agree it’s gotten more expensive to buy their gear recently.”
“Right, again, I can say I’m biased. I’m familiar with Canon and I shot a good number of events with their gadgets, but I guess I like the depth and the rawness of the pictures I take with the Sony lens, if it makes sense. That lens that Jaebum-ssi has, it’s pretty good for day-to-day activities, wide shots, and it’s marvelous in low light. I would guess this is why he bought it as well.”
“I see. Maybe I’ll give it a try on Saturday. Who knows how I might change my mind about it. But I’m an amateur, really, so I cannot pretend I know that much about the topic as you do.”
Jo chuckled. The prince of Got7 for all the valid reasons. “My sister is an avid Canon lover. We always have debates about which is best and how to compare the models between brands. If you’re interested, I can give you her contact to chat about it. She’s a walking pedia.”
Jinyoung’s eyes widened in curiosity. “You have a sister? I didn’t know.”
“How could you?” smiled Jo. “She’s a senior in Stanford. Her name is Catalina.”
“So, I found it, but it’s not as medium sized as I thought.” Jaebum’s voice echoed through the speakers, and Jinyoung turned to look at him. It was, indeed, a rather smaller sized ring light. The latter’s interest tacitly vanished with the leader’s appearance. “We should really rent a soft box, I guess. How did the setup go?”
“There was no need for this exercise. Jo-ssi knows your equipment inside out.”
“I suggest renting two soft boxes, to make sure the light is symmetrical on both sides. And this ring will be put to good use as well, I need to supplement the camera light anyway. Cables and all that stuff I have, I’ll need to connect the camera to the laptop to edit real-time, so we don’t need those.”
Jaebum took notes on a paper he had in proximity. “Noted. Let us know if you need anything else. I’ll make some calls to see what’s the best place to rent the equipment.”
“Perfect then! I don’t think we need anything else particularly. Now, if you’ll excuse me gentlemen, I have one more meeting to take care of for the day. Oh, and I hope we’ll drop the formalities soon!”
The rest of the day flew by imperceptibly. Jo’s last meeting went as well as it could have and, to keep the momentum going, she finished editing the choreography video she shot with Jackson. They decided together that they would surprise the team, as much as possible, and post it officially on Saturday morning. In the meantime, Samantha had called her to ask if she wanted to join her, Mark, Jonathan and Leena at the Seoul garage bar. Jonathan had discovered on a different occasion that the location hosted karaoke nights once a week, such as the night when Jo and Max sang on stage.
Jo was interested to find out the secret of how three of the most dependable surgeons in SMP managed to sync their off time schedules, and how it could be translated to daily activities in other industries if possible. It couldn’t hurt to investigate if the Universe could be maneuvered to give her and Jackson a well-deserved break at the same time. Preferably somewhere hot, on a beach with clear waters, that funneled the passion to carry other adjoining activities.
Jo packed a makeup bag to bring her necessities over to Samantha’s house in her vicinity, where they elected to get ready like the old girly times. Except Mark unequivocally accepted to be the third wheel, on Samantha’s well known living room couch, and most he could do was call Bambam on the side to help pass the time. Jo chuckled as they met, admiring his resilience.
“Do you need anything, ladies? A refresher, something to eat maybe?” Mark chirped from the living room, and Sam laughed at his inquiry.
“No, babe, we’ll let you know. Thanks!”
“Poor guy,” Jo giggled as she blended her blush. “Good thing Bambam picked up to keep him company.”
Because Mark was facetiming Bam and he was on speaker, the girls could hear his voice from the other room. “That’s no big deal. We take just as much time to get ready to go on stage. You’re used to it, Mark.”
“I’m not worried one bit. I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere. This couch is pretty comfortable.”
Bambam wiggled his eyebrows, but Mark cut him off before he had the chance to comment anything inappropriate. “Be careful with your words.”
“One of these days, you’re bound to hear it anyway. Better hear it when I’m not drunk! Ah, which reminds me,” Bambam cleared his throat to lightly shout. Mark detached the phone from his face just in time. “HEY J!! DID YOU LIKE THE DJ WE HAD FOR MARK’S BIRTHDAY?”
Jo and Samantha looked at one another and burst in giggles.
“He asked me the same thing earlier, but I guess he needs all the validation he can get. It’s his dignity on the line. Also, J? What’s that about?”
Jo walked to the living room, gesturing for Mark to give an explanation. “It’s Jo’s code name.”
“I’m jealous now! Do I have one?”
Jo approached Mark and received his phone. Only one of her cheeks was dyed with the rosy hue of the blush.
Bambam gave a thumbs up. “Ohhh, that’s pretty! Based.”
“Thanks, Bam! Yeah, DJ was cool, I liked his mixes. Why? You want to bring someone else?”
“Not really. I just wanted real opinions not some we don’t really care, you know best bullshit.”
“You know that Jaebum and Jinyoung don’t give a flying fuck about that as long as we have good music.” Mark commented, and Jo returned his phone.
“Pretty hypocritical if you ask me! How am I supposed to know if we have good music if you don’t tell me, you liked it or not!”
Jo wiggled her makeup brush in the air as she walked back to Samantha’s bedroom. “That’s fair.”
“J, huh? What are you now, 007?”
Jo pushed the other playfully with her shoulder. “He and Yugyeom stalked me on Instagram. I can only assume they dissected me in their group chat.”
“Welcome to the club!” Samantha scoffed. “Anyway, how’s Jackson? Is he coming tonight?”
“No, he’s not,” pouted Jo. “He’s not in Korea. I think he’s flying out here tomorrow. We chatted a bit earlier.”
All the sounds coming from the living room came to a suspicious halt. If the women didn’t know any better, they would say the boys were listening in for gossip. Jo carried on.
“I spoke to the Jae boys earlier about Saturday. When we talked about the camera gear setup and all that, a sudden cascade of missing Catalina washed over me.”
“Oh, so cute! How’s the little one doing? It’s been ages since I saw her last!”
“Not so little anymore,” Jo quipped and grabbed her highlighter. “She’s the splitting image of our mother now. I took whatever was American from dad, and she took all the hot Spanish genes from mom.”
“What, you have a sister?” Mark asked and detached the phone from his face again.
Bambam’s voice strained in a scream. “You have a sister, J? What’s her Instagram?”
Jo laughed. “She’s off limits, Bam!”
“Aww, where’s the fun in that? I was just curious, that’s all. At least tell us what’s her name.”
“Heard that one before.” Samantha remarked and applied her transparent lip gloss. “Catalina’s a Gemini, you’re not a good match.”
Mark translated the message from the other room. “Sam said Catalina’s a Gemini and you’re not a good match.”
“If it’s not written in the stars, there’s nothing I can really do about it.”
“What’s a good match with Gemini though?” Mark asked in return.
Samantha started cleaning the makeup stand where a significant assortment of products lay everywhere. Jo only had to do the last touches of her look before the group was ready to leave.
“Hmm, Virgos are the bast match, I think? Am I wrong Jo?”
“Hell if I know. What are we even doing here on behalf of my sister, who very much lives in San Francisco?”
Mark carried his translator duty once more. Whether he would admit it or not, he was invested in the scheme. “Sam says Virgos.”
“Who’s a Virgo in our group? Let’s see.” Bambam inspected the issue at hand on his phone. “So, you are a Virgo. Youngjae hyung is a Virgo…” he made a devilish pause. Not that the girls could notice it. “Jinyoung hyung is a Virgo.”
“Flowers could bloom in winter before we play cupid for Jinyoung.”
“Matches were made for less.”
Jo turned to Samantha, “What the hell are they doing, quoting Bridgerton now?”
“Boys will be boys. They’ll forget it in the morning.” Samantha walked out to the living room. “Hey babe, is Jinyoung coming with us to the bar?”
“Nope. He told me in some eloquent words that he doesn’t want to be the eighth wheel to the car.”
“Can’t really blame him. This is why we must find him a woman.”
Seoul Garage Bar was bustling with people. The bar seemed to be at full capacity, and Jo was glad she insisted Jonathan make a reservation. When the three of them arrived, Jonathan and Leena had been waiting for a short while. They indulged two cocktails as starters, which Jonathan later clarified about his that it was non-alcoholic since he was on call for emergency duty.
“Hello, cuties!” Jo greeted Leena with a kiss on the cheek. “You two are so adorable together.”
Mark shook Jonathan’s hand amicably, and Samantha was visibly delighted the two men were in better graces. Jo sat by Samantha’s side, and the chair to her right remained empty. Once a third wheel, always a third wheel. A waiter appeared at their table soon after to take their orders, and Jo negotiated with Leena to share a pizza.
“So, are you singing anything for us tonight, Jo?” Mark broke the ice, capturing his glass of beer. He complimented Jonathan’s choice.
Jo chuckled, twirling the straw in her Cosmopolitan. “News travels fast around these parts, huh?”
“It’s so funny to me a singing and dancing Jo still comes as a shock for everyone else.” Jonathan clinked his glass against Mark’s. “We were always first row at her plays in college.”
“I had that paperboard painted with #1 fan here! That was so exhausting to hold, really.”
Leena smiled. “You guys promised me you’d show me that Spanish piece that had recruiters banging at her door.”
“That’s a long time ago,” Jo waved her hand in dismissal. “My voice is not even half as good now. We used to do constant vocal coaching back then. I almost got kicked out of a programming exam because I was humming the damn exercises.”
The group vibrated with high spirits. Mark’s phone lit up between the lines, just as the bar’s host invited people to sign up for the ongoing karaoke session. He couldn’t have asked for better synchronization. Mark gestured with his hand to keep Jo’s attention to him. Their table was situated in opposition to the door, so she had no way to spot anyone who would approach.
“Now or never, Jo! I bet they’ll let you open the night with how successful you were the other day.”
“Ah, I don’t know, guys. I’ll think about it.”
“What if I ask nicely?”
Jo abruptly turned at the all-familiar voice that strung at her heart in the most divine accords. She bounced from her chair to circle her arms around his neck and immerse in his warmth. Jackson caught her right away, a secure hand holding her back, with the other knitted over her middle. In her doll pump heels, Jo matched Jackson’s height, and it was toxic to the depths of the soul to deny their reunion kiss. She was the epitome of purity, in her straight dark midi dress, adorned with a dazzling white puff-sleeved shirt, which tied an imposing ribbon at her collarbone. He gathered every miserable ounce of restraint to only kiss her temple, hugging her as closely as humanly possible.
Jackson lingered to whisper in the intimacy of her ear. “You’re absolutely beautiful, princess. I missed you a lot.”
“I missed you too, Jackson. So much.”
The two had to break their embrace prematurely, in an empty satisfaction of stolen fervid glances and suble touches.
“Thank God Jackson,” Samantha complained as she high fived him. “What the fuck reason could I have given her to have her dolled up like this?”
Mark moved forward to hug his brother. “Me and Bam almost fucked up. Don’t plan surprises with us next time.”
“If not you, who can I plan with?” Jackson laughed and extended his arm over the table to shake Jonathan’s. “Nice to see you again, Jonathan.” Then smiling to the man’s darling. “Leena, a pleasure.”
Jackson intended to pull Jo’s chair, but she delicately refused. “You ganged up on me like this, and I think I can call you my friends? Now I have to go sign up for a song. Excuse me.”
“Attagirl.” Jackson brushed his hand over the small of her back. He sat in the formerly empty chair next to Jo’s, jolting his wrist to arrange his accessories around it. A waiter brought his whiskey on the rocks at the table. Jackson followed Jo through the crowd with his eyes until she reached the DJ’s booth.
“So, how’s everyone doing?”
“Stressed out,” Samantha chuckled, then sipped from her Mojito. “I wanted to tell her so badly that you were joining us.”
“Good thing me and Bam plotted Jinyoung’s romance to keep silent about your arrival.”
Jonathan chuckled. “You must chill out, my dudes. We’ll have all of y’all married by the end of next year at this pace.”
Jackson relaxed in his chair, draping an arm over Jo’s chair. “You absolutely have to tell me who we’re pairing Jinyoung with.”
Samantha sipped again from her cocktail, an eyebrow cocked at the question. “Jo’s sister apparently.”
“Shut up.” Jackson’s eyes widened, threatening to escape out of their orbits. He leaned over the table to look at Mark. “How did you come up with this shit, Mark?”
“Keep it in the family quite literally.” Leena snickered and Jonathan facepalmed himself.
“Don’t look at me like that, Jacks,” Mark began his defense. “Bam had this incentive to look up her Instagram, then unfortunately Sam said their star signs don’t match.”
She shrugged her shoulders defensively. “Allegedly.”
Mark continued. “Thanks, babe. And yeah, Virgo apparently matches well with Gemini. And Catalina is a Gemini, you guys do the math.”
“Shut up!” Jackson repeated and took the glass of whiskey in his hand. He looked at the others. “What star sign is Jo?”
Jonathan cackled over the other’s question. “Too late to back down now.”
Samantha glared at Jonathan. Then turned to Jackson. “She’s a July Leo. As it happens, she is your best match by the stars.”
A rambunctious round of applause caused the group to focus their attention on the stage, where Jo was being presented by the bar host. Jackson clapped as loud as he managed, a noble smile decorating his features. He could make eye contact with Jo directly from where he was sitting. She switched to Korean, encouraged by the host to say a few words.
“Good evening, everyone! You might remember me from last week, when I sang APT.”
Jo waited for another round of applause to die down. There were a couple of familiar faces in the crowd, yet all she focused on was Jackson’s encouraging grin. She almost giggled at the heart he boasted with his hands.
“Mr. Kang here allowed me to open the night, so I must apologize because the song I chose to sing is not so upbeat. I was happy to hear that one of the talented members of the band knows how to play it on this piano behind me. This is Für Elise.”
Samantha peeked at Jackson who was already disconnected from the surrounding world, in full focus to the woman who became the center of attention. If there was any blatant love song characteristic of Jo’s style, Für Elise was the obvious love confession choice. Just as her eyes wondered to the door, she caught a glimpse at Max, leaning against the doorframe, in a company of four unknown figures. Samantha kicked Jonathan under the table, whose forehead furrowed.
“What was that for?”
He convinced himself of the fact when he followed Samantha’s gaze to the entrance. Mark leaned closer to his beau. “What’s going on?”
“Max is here.”
The piano’s incipient notes tamed the background noise of the bar until it was nonexistent. A various collection of phones had already been aimed at Jo.
I'll dance / I'll dance like a puppet on your string / I'll sing when you order me to sing—
With each passing tone, a mellow glimmer began rooting in Jackson’s eyes, as much as it began nourishing in his soul.
You're so musical, an artist / You make a lie sound like it's true
You're unusual, creative / Oh, what I'd do to be your muse —
Jo’s eyes locked with her lover’s. “You are.” Jackson murmured under his breath; in fear any louder sound would break the porcelain equilibrium in the bar.
I'll jump / I'll jump, if you ask, I'll say, "How high?"
I'll run like a shiver down your spine / For you, I would give you my own life—
Leena was swift enough to capture a short video of the intimate moment, of Jackson admiring Jo as she poured her heart out to the audience. She remembered Samantha talking to her about the fairytale connection Jo and Max had shared at one point during their lives. Leena thought she was wrong; the connection she shared with Jackson was incomparable, needless of any words.
The last part of the song was arranged in a series of high notes and head-chest voice, that had the gallery holding their breaths. Mark observed Jackson and smirked to himself. Smitten was a shy word.
Won't you play me like / Play me like my name is Für Elise.
As the piano played its last chord, a short moment of absolute silence engulfed the room. Then, the audience erupted in an impassioned round of cheers that took everyone by surprise. Jackson had no reaction initially. How could he, as mere spectator to Jo’s grandeur?
Leena was the first to break the table’s quiet. “There is no way Jo had not practiced in a while. I won’t believe her if she tells me that she wakes up with that voice of hers.”
“To think we’ve heard that before is crazy.” Jonathan doubled up on his girlfriend.
All eyes shifted to the obscure presence at the other end of their table, where Jackson was sitting. The latter noticed Mark’s eyes lifting in a vigilant action, so Jackson pursued his friend’s gaze. A taller figure, with a sly smile tugging at the corners of his lips, was leaning against the wooden surface.
“It’s so hard to pretend to be friends with someone special, when every time you look at that person, all you see is everything want to have.”
Summary: Have a best friend who sticks with you through thick and thin is impossible to find. The moment you met Jackson, you know he was going to be your best friend for life. Jackson always knew how to make sure you were happy and healthy and always seemed to turn a negative situation into a positive one. However, you would be lying to yourself if you were to say you didn’t have any type of feelings for Jackson… But Jackson is just your best friend… You knew best to push those feelings away and just move on.
Previous Parts:
Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // Part 7
Part 8
Masterlist
This is exactly what the doctor ordered. A night out to forget about what's been happening. Lately, it feels like you were suddenly cursed…. Nothing but bad events kept piling up in your life. First, you lose someone you claimed to be your best friend and now you aren't even happy in the relationship you were currently in.
What can possibly be next?
When it comes to your relationship it’s weird… When Yoongi and you are together everything seems to be perfectly fine. The two of you enjoy one another's company and can talk about anything and anything. He shows that he cares about you when it's just you two and he never fails to show that you are special. However, after he leaves and you two aren't around one another, it's like he suddenly forgets he is in a relationship and acts completely different. It’s like he forgets about your existence and seems so distant and cold.
He doesn't check up on you. He always seems to be too busy to respond and he just makes you believe you two aren't in a relationship...
In other words, this whole relationship was rather complicated. You wanted to talk to him about it, but you decided it was best to just suck it up and hope that something will change...
Hopefully... Something will change in this relationship and when you say change you mean for the better...
You already lost someone important to you... Did you really want to lose Yoongi because of your own paranoia?
"Y/N!" That was the first thing you heard as you stepped foot into the bar.
You look to your right and there you see your best friend Nani waiting for you in a chair with a glass in her hands already.
You quickly walked up to her. As soon as you approached her, she got up from her seat and pulled you into a hug.
"It feels so good to reunite like this," Nani says as you two were hugging.
"You have no idea how relieved I am to see you..." You two pulled away and you sat down in the seat that is next to her.
"I can't wait to hear all about it... But before we begin, I think it's important you get you a drink first... You're going to need it first," It wasn't long until Nani called the bartender over and ordered you a drink.
She's right... Right now, a drink sounded very much needed at the moment.
-
Nani's Point of View
After calling Y/N and finding out that her and Jackson were having problems... I knew right away I couldn't just sit back and do nothing about it. From the moment we all became friends I knew there was something different about the two of them.
I always had a gut feeling the two of them would end up together at the end. On top of that from what I recall Jackson did tell me very valuable information that I can’t ever forget.
Flashback
It was 1985 when I first lost my husband...
WHO AM I KIDDING.
One Friday night, it was the day where I decided to hold a goodbye party after being offered a new position to move away from home. I invited all my very close friends and thought it was going to be a good night... Don't get me wrong, it was a good night.
However, it was also a very unforgettable night.
Before I learned the fact that Jackson had a thing for Y/N I remember I had a small crush on him. I mean let’s be fair you can’t blame a girl because he is a good-looking man.
I thought before I left Korea, I had to make it a mission to sleep with him before I left...
But boy did that bite me in the ass. That clearly didn’t work out in my favor.
There was of course alcohol in the party and many people under the influence.
I remember at this party telling Y/N about my intentions of hooking up with Jackson. The thing about the situation is she never agreed or disagreed with my decision which from the start I found that oddly suspicious. But at the time I didn't think much of it. As I said drinks were involved in this party...
I remember that night I was watching Jackson from afar with a red cup in my hand, drinking to get that liquor courage in my system to make a move... After my final sip, I remember setting the cup down and before I knew it, I was suddenly walking in his direction.
Jackson looked at me as I approached him and as soon as I was in front of him, he looked at me confused and quite taken back.
"You me upstairs now," those are the only words that happened to come out of my mouth. He was surprised to hear me say such a thing TO HIM. Yes, I knew I had always been a bold kind of gal.
I grabbed a hold of his hand not giving him much of a choice but to listen to me and pulled him upstairs. I was under the influence of alcohol, but I wasn't drunk, so I was fully aware of the decision I was making at the time.
By the time we got upstairs, it wasn't long until I pulled him into my room and threw him on the bed.
I thought maybe by being aggressive it would turn him on.
As he was lying on the bed, I closed the door behind me and made sure to lock it so no one would interrupt this moment.
While Jackson was lying on the bed, I walked over, and it wasn't long until I was suddenly straddling his waist looking down at him smiling in satisfaction.
I looked at Jackson and noticed how taken aback he was with everything that was happening. I was planning on kissing him, but I suddenly didn't feel right about the situation.
What am I doing...
If Jackson was into this, he wouldn't be looking this confused...
"I'm sorry," I said as I removed myself from Jackson and he slowly sat up.
"No, I'm sorry... I don't know if I ever gave you the impression that I was interested in you... and if I did, I'm sorry...." hearing that come out of Jackson's mouth did sting. I didn't know how to feel...
It's not like he was rude about the situation. I was at fault especially since I just read his body language wrong in the first place.
"No, I'm sorry... I don't know why I even did that... " I was slightly embarrassed, but Jackson got close to me and grabbed my hand.
"Listen I respect you too much as a person to let something like this ruin our friendship," Jackson was always a sweet man.
He was someone who if he truly cared about you, wouldn't let minor situations like this interfere and that's something I admired about him the most. If I were in a situation like this, I probably would have acted awkwardly and completely killed the friendship in a matter of seconds.
"Can I ask you a question?" I asked him and he looked at me.
"Yeah?"
"Who do you like?" Usually after getting rejected like this a normal person wouldn't ask about their interest right after... But as you can tell I am not your normal girl.
For Jackson to react the way he did I knew right away that he was interested in someone. It seemed like he put all his marbles in one jar, and I suddenly became curious to know who it could have been.
"How do you know I like someone?" He asked me and I smiled.
"Because I'm smart." Jackson looked hesitant to even open up about his feelings, but he looked at me.
"Y/N..."
As soon as he said her name I wasn't even surprised. I had a feeling this whole time, but I never said anything because I thought it was all in my head. The way the two acted around one another showed that the two had eyes for one another... Jackson seemed to pick up on the vibe, but I couldn't say the same about Y/N.
She is probably still in denial or still ignoring her true feelings.
"I should have seen it coming," I blurted out and Jackson looked at me confused.
"Do I make it that obvious?" I couldn't help but smile.
"Just a little... But to be honest I'm pretty sure Y/N feels the same way she just doesn't know it yet. " Jackson just looked at me and I got up from the bed.
After that encounter, we never brought that up to anyone and I never asked any further questions about his feelings towards Y/N. I just kept it a secret because I knew that if Jackson wanted it to be known he would have said something a long time ago...
I always hoped that the two of them would have started dating while I was gone... But boy was I wrong... I came back and I found out that the two weren't talking...
Nope, not on my watch.
I love both equally and I know that these two were a match made in heaven. They both just needed an extra push to talk to one another and finally confess how they truly felt.
-
Your Point of View
As soon as you received the drink in your hand, it didn't take long until you began to take a few good sips from it.
"Before I even tell you about my depressing news... What's new with you?" You asked Nani and she smiled.
"No no no we must start with you... I know you probably don't want to talk about it but what the hell happened with Jackson and you?"
Before you decided to open up, you lifted your cup and took a good chug.
"Oh..."
After putting down the drink you looked at Nani.
"That's the thing, I have no idea where it went wrong. We went from being best friends and everything was normal to suddenly Jackson removing himself from my life and not explaining himself. I don't know where everything went wrong. We were so good and before I knew it things went bad so fast." You truly don't understand where things had a turning point.
Did you say something that could have offended him? He would have said something... it's not like the two of you haven't argued in the past or at least had a disagreement.
"Hmm, at what point did you notice Jackson acting up or acting distance?" Nani asked you and you sat there and had to really think about it.
The more you thought about it... You realize he started to act towards you the moment you started to see Yoongi.
"Well... It started after I started to see someone, but I don't feel like that could have been a good enough reason for Jackson to want nothing to do with me?" you looked at Nani and she just smiled.
"Girl... Do I have to spell it out for you?" Was there something you missed here?
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't know if you're acting clueless or if you really are... But I don't know... Maybe Jackson LIKES YOU?" When Nani says those words, your eyes widen.
No way.
That sounded impossible. Jackson... JACKSON WANG YOUR BEST FRIEND liking you?
That doesn't sound right.
"No, he doesn't," you quickly shot the idea down and she just shook her head.
"Okay, what other explanation is there for Jackson to cut you off out of the blue?" Nani seemed very convinced that Jackson had feelings for you, but you never got that impression from the guy.
"I did forget to mention that Jackson has a girlfriend. What if he started to date without telling me anything and his girlfriend wanted him to cut me off? I don't know, I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation," you said, and Nani looked at you like you had 4 heads.
"Wait... Did I hear that right? Jackson has a what?"
Before you can say anything, you are cut off when suddenly by your surprise you look up and there you see Jackson entering the room. Why is he here?
You noticed him the moment he walked right through the front door. Speaking of the devil...
Just seeing Jackson's presence made you suddenly want to drink even more.
You looked over at the bartender and smiled.
"Can I please get another one?"
You had a feeling that Nani must have invited Jackson over here. Talk about making things awkward.
Jackson noticed your presence but suddenly looked away and looked right at Nani. You could feel the unwanted vibe he was giving off with you just being there.
"I'll be back, Ima head to the bathroom," you told Nani, and she nodded her head.
You instantly got up and found the nearest bathroom. Right now, you need a chance to mentally prepare yourself before facing Jackson... After the conversation you two had I felt hard looking at him.
-
Nani's Point of View
I felt someone tap my shoulder. I look up and there I see Jackson right in front of me. Clearly, my presence was needed in a situation like this. Before I left on my trip, I was pretty sure I was going to come back home and find out that Y/N and Jackson were finally together. . . HOWEVER, it looks like the complete opposite happened instead.
"A warning would have been nice," were the first words Jackson blurted out.
"Well, how was I supposed to know that Y/N and you were not on good terms? I leave you guys alone for two seconds and I come to find out that you two hate one another?" I wanted to ask Jackson as many questions as I could before Y/N came back from the bathroom.
"I don't hate her. . ." I knew he didn’t, but I wanted to hear that come out of his mouth. By the way Y/N explained it seemed that way, but I knew that she was exaggerating.
"Well why she is away, care to share why you two stopped being friends? Or would you like to start at the part where you have a new girlfriend,"
Jackson looked over at me and then at the bartender.
"I need a drink,"
I shook my head and looked over at Jackson.
This could take all night.
-
Y/N's Point of View
As you came back you felt much worse. Usually at least back then when you would see Jackson you used to be happy. But now that there was nothing but this awkward tension between the two of you... You wanted to run out of there.
The only way you can manage being around him is if you have enough alcohol in your system.
You raised your hand and called over a bartender.
"Oh, so it's that kind of night?" Nani asked and you looked over at her.
"Oh, you have no idea..." you said as you slightly glanced at Jackson, and he was already looking in your direction but instantly looked away.
You knew that once the alcohol starts to kick in you are going to give Jackson a piece of your mind sooner or later.
-
4 shots in and you were definitely feeling the buzz.
Jackson hasn't said a single word to you, and you couldn't help but feel yourself suddenly getting more and more agitated.
How can this man sit close to you and not want to talk to you? Did your friendship mean nothing to him?
"I need another drink," You were ready to call the bartender over yet again but that's when Nani stopped you.
"Listen Y/N I love you, but you need to slow it down with the drinks..." You knew Nani was looking for your best interest, but it didn't help with the fact that Jackson was inches away from you.
"I wouldn't have needed to drink so much if you didn't bring him here," you said pointing right at Jackson and that's when he finally made eye contact with you.
"If I would have known that you were going to be here, I wouldn't have come," Jackson splats out...
Those words themselves felt like he pulled out a knife and just stabbed you in the chest...
Jackson was so cold to you... Never gave you a full explanation and suddenly it seems like he can be so harsh to you and not feel a single remorse after saying it.
"Wow," you blurted out...
At this point, you don't think you can no longer hold back your tongue.
You were hoping that eventually maybe in the far future, there was a chance you two could have put your differences aside and work something out but suddenly that doesn't seem like that will ever happen.
"Guys..." Nani was trying to interfere but it was far too late for that.
"No... Jackson tells me how you really feel," you said looking Jackson directly in his eyes.
"You know what, let's just drop it," And there he goes trying to leave you in the dust... You were sick and tired of being confused and clueless. You needed answers.
"No... What the hell did I do to you, Jackson? How the hell do we go from being best friends to suddenly me being dead to you? Did my friendship mean nothing to you? Did I mean nothing to you? I would have thought maybe if I ever did something wrong you would come to me and talk to me about it. But clearly, you don't seem to give a single fuck about me since it seems so easy to remove me from your life..." you were about to continue but Nani cuts in.
"Y/N don't say something you will regret," Nani knew how much you valued Jackson as a person... But it was far too late now...
"Stop. If Jackson doesn't give a fuck, why should I? I was stupid enough to think you valued me as a person. I wasted my time hoping that maybe we could put our problems aside and become friends again. But you know what, I don't need you in my life."
"Y/N," Nani tried again but it was no use.
"You're dead to me the same way I am to you... Now we are even," saying those words out loud suddenly made a sharp pain appear in your chest.
You were hoping to hear something come out of Jackson's mouth by now or even explain himself at least but he stood completely silent.
That reaction by itself showed you everything needed to know.
Internally you wanted to reveal how upset this situation had you feeling but you weren't going to allow Jackson to get that satisfaction. Lately, all you have been feeling has been upset and depressed, and instead of anyone showing any sign of concern... You were alone yet again...
You lifted your head and looked at Nani.
"I'm sorry but I have to go... I think it's best if we see each other when this person is not here," you said to Nani.
"Y/N," Nani was trying to stop you from going but it was far too late for that.
You started to grab your belongings.
Just as you were getting ready to leave suddenly that's when everything seemed to happen so quickly...
Just when you thought your night couldn't get any worse... You thought wrong.
"Hey babe," you looked over and your stomach dropped.
When The Boys Tease You After Overhearing You Both ~ Got7 Reaction
Mark:
You looked in surprise as you noticed Jackson curled up fast asleep on the sofa of the studio as you entered just behind Mark after showing up late.
“He’s a bit tired,” Yugyeom explained to the two of you, “he said something about being disturbed quite a bit through the night.”
“How come?” Mark quizzed as he perched down on the arm of the sofa, “we weren’t disturbed by anything through the night.”
At Mark’s comment, Jackson began to stir, not quite as asleep as you thought he was. “That’s because you guys were the disturbance.”
Mark’s eyes widened as he looked to Jackson in disbelief, “I don’t quite know what disturbed you, but you can’t just blame us.”
“Who else would’ve been having sex last night?” Jackson openly asked, stunning the two of you and making you freeze as neither of you quite knew what to say in reply.
“Oh,” Mark mumbled as Jackson expectantly looked back at you both, folding his arms across his chest as he sat himself back up, letting go of a yawn as he did so too.
“I hope you’re happy,” he scolded, “I’m absolutely knackered.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Jay B:
The smile on Jinyoung’s face was wide as you and Jaebeom finally walked downstairs, joining the boys in the living room of the house you were renting.
“Did you guys have a good night?” Jinyoung enquired, looking between the two of you. “Did you get up to anything fun last night?”
“We didn’t do too much,” Jaebeom replied as he sat down, “just watched a few things, had a nice relaxing evening for once in our lives.”
Jinyoung’s head nodded as he listened intently, “it sounds like you were very relaxed, although there’s one thing missing from that list.”
Both you and Jaebeom wore furrowed brows as Jinyoung hinted at the two of you. “What else did we do last night then?”
“You’re allowed to tell us you had sex,” Jinyoung assured the two of you, “I mean we all heard the two of you at it so it’s not exactly a secret between you and us anymore.”
“Y-you heard us?” You stuttered, looking between Jaebeom and Jinyoung. “You told me that there was no way that we would end up disturbing any of the boys last night.”
“He lied,” Jinyoung joked, “I bet secretly who knew exactly what he was doing.”
“I really had no idea.”
Jackson:
A groan came from Youngjae as you and Jackson finally appeared, intimidated by the stare that he looked at the two of you with, following you closely.
“Thanks for making me feel super single last night,” Youngjae told you both, “it’s been a while since I heard some of those noises from you.”
“What are you on about? Making you feel single?” Jackson enquired, his brows knitting together in confusion as to what was going on.
A snigger came from Youngjae as he studied Jackson’s expression, “do you have any idea how loud the two of you were last night?”
Jackson’s head shook innocently, but beside him, you stayed pretty still. “I think maybe we were a little bit louder than usual.”
“A little bit?” Youngjae gasped in surprise back across to you, “it almost felt as if the two of you were in the same room as me with how clear some of those noises I was hearing were.”
“That’s enough,” Jackson panicked, noticing how shy you were next to him. “We’re very sorry that we made you feel single, Youngjae, we promise that it won’t happen again.”
“Don’t mock me,” he laughed, “I’m being serious with you.”
“And we are with you.”
Jinyoung:
You looked to BamBam in confusion as he walked across to you and Jinyoung, handing you a receipt. As you looked through, you noticed what it was for.
“I need these now after last night,” BamBam told you as he brought the ear plugs that he had bought from his pocket to shoe the two of you.
“Why do we need the receipt to know that you’ve brought ear plugs?” Jinyoung quizzed in confusion, “it’s not exactly our problem, is it?”
BamBam’s head shook in reply to Jinyoung’s question, “that’s where you’re wrong. I need them so that I don’t have to listen to you two.
You and Jinyoung met one another with puzzled eyes, looking to BamBam for more explanation. “Why are you listening to us?”
“It was pretty hard not to last night,” he muttered, “you guys can buy me these so that I don’t have to listen to the two of you having sex ever again, I think I’m scarred for life.”
“Stop being so dramatic,” Jinyoung dismissed, pushing against BamBam’s arm. “We weren’t that loud, you just want us to feel sorry for you or something, that’s all.”
“For once,” BamBam admitted, “I’m actually not being dramatic.”
“You’re always dramatic Bam.”
Youngjae:
You wanted the ground to swallow you up as Yugyeom asked you about your evening, able to tell from the look in his eyes what he was hinting at.
“I mean Youngjae is loud at the best of times,” Yugyeom pointed out, still noticing how oblivious Youngjae was to what was going on around him.
“That’s mean,” Youngjae responded, slightly offended. “What would suddenly make you say something like that? What did I do to you?”
Yugyeom’s smile dropped as Youngjae asked the question, “what did you do to me? I spent my night listening to your audio of your nice time.”
Youngjae’s narrowed eyes looked at you as he still didn’t quite understand. “Sex,” you whispered across to him, “Yugyeom heard us.”
“I heard every single sound,” Yugyeom made sure to point out to the two of you. “I’ve heard some noises come out of you Jae, but even some of those were interesting ones.”
“Can we stop talking about this now?” You cried out, feeling your heart race in humiliation. “Maybe we can talk about what we’re going to order in for breakfast again.”
“Why so keen Y/N?” Yugyeom teased, “you weren’t shy last night.”
“Literally, shut up now.”
BamBam:
You rolled away from BamBam, staring up at the ceiling as you tried to catch your breath, feeling his hand interlock with yours with a tight grip on you.
“Finally!” You suddenly heard one of the boys yell from just outside your room, “it can’t be that good to need to make that much noise you know.”
“That’s Mark,” BamBam pointed out to you, biting down on his bottom lip. “You don’t think he actually heard us, do you?” He then asked.
Your head nodded immediately in reply to BamBam’s question, “maybe we were a little bit noisier than we usually are, do you think?”
A loud sigh came from BamBam as he looked up to the ceiling too, “I’m never going to hear the end of this if they really heard us.”
“You should’ve been quiet,” you teased, nudging against his side. “Look at it this way, at least the boys now know that you’re doing a good job in bed, that’s quite important.”
“That does actually make me feel better,” BamBam chuckled in surprise, “I’ve never heard any of the boys, so they can’t be anywhere near as good as me, that feels pretty good.”
“See,” you sniggered, “being noisy has its advantages sometimes.”
“This is definitely one of them.”
Yugyeom:
The sound of Jaebeom yawning made both you and Yugyeom look across to him in confusion, noticing how much more dramatic he was than usual.
“Don’t mind me,” he told the two of you as you sat down across the room from him. “I’ve just not had a very good night of sleep, that’s all.”
“Why?” Yugyeom innocently asked him, hearing several scoffs come from around the room. “Did something keep you awake or anything?”
Jaebeom’s eyebrows raised at Yugyeom’s question, “you could certainly say that someone, or two someones kept me awake last night.”
The look that Jaebeom gave you quickly meant the penny dropped for you. “Gyeom, I think he might’ve been kept up by us.”
“Us?” Yugyeom asked, flustered by what you had told him. He looked across to Jaebeom only to see him nodding his head, struggling to hold back his laughter at your panic.
“Well, this is embarrassing,” you grumbled as once again Jaebeom made sure to let go of a nice, loud noise to get both of your attention. “You can stop doing that as well, idiot.”
“I’m just making sure you know,” he smiled, “my tiredness is your fault.”
Word Count: 6,283 words (wtf the longest fic I've written so far)
Warning(s): pining, kissing, light touching, secret romance, fear of rejection/being separated by parental figures, creepy suitor/bad vibes from unnamed side character
Pairing: Prince!Park Jinyoung (GOT7) x Knight!gn!reader
Requested by: @crzy-devil (sorry this took so long!)
1- Sneak in to Visit
The sun began its slow descent, painting the distant horizon in fire and gold, as though the trees on the mountains had erupted with flames. You watched the colors shift and change as you rested your back against the rough rocks that make up the walls of the castle you’ve sworn to protect.
The metal armor adorning your body kept you warm from the chilling breeze that stirs the trees, making them dance alone within the field below you. The grounds of the castle roll gently downhill into a field and garden away from the balcony you currently rest under. You were always envious of his view, despite the fact you sneak in and are able to enjoy it yourself very often. Thinking of your secret path, you glance one last time at the horizon, deciding that the lowering sun had dimmed enough to allow you to steal away up the side of the wall.
You stand, double-checking that all of your armor and weapons are properly secured to your body before turning to face the wall. The bricks were firmly secured together, but certain bricks were not properly flush or were beginning to chip, giving you perfect foot and handholds to support your travels up its edge. Months of practice had made this climb easier and easier, so now it was no time at all before you were lifting yourself over the balcony railing, slipping down gently onto the marble outcropping that led to the glass doors into the Prince’s room.
Through the doors, you could see a fire gently crackling and flickering within the giant hearth that Jinyoung loved so much. Unsurprisingly, settled deep into one of the chairs encircling the fire, was your prince, his nose pressed into a book, his legs tucked up beneath him as though he could make himself small enough to actually enter the world in which he was engrossed. Just the sight of him brought a bright smile to your face, releasing the tensions of the day full of training and drilling for the protection of the kingdom. Nothing could make all of that pain and stress worth it as much as seeing the man before you.
Slowly, so as not to disturb him, you inch to the door, sliding open the glass doors, and slipping into the room to make your way closer to his gorgeous red and gold armchair that he so favored. Finally, when you placed your hand down on the arm of the chair as though you were making him aware of your presence, he turns his warm brown eyes up to meet your face, a gentle look of surprise parting his pink lips and flushing his detailed cheeks in a way that set your heart aflutter.
“Hello, my prince.” You whisper, leaning down to press a brushing kiss against one rose-tainted cheek. Jinyoung reaches up, fingers snagging behind your head to pull you down for a proper kiss, his lips grazing yours like snow drifting against the wind during the first snow, as though he was teasing you with his presence more than allowing either of you to enjoy it fully.
That was a change that had grown over time; in the beginning, you were both so afraid of not getting time together, not being able to be together, that you would waste no time, pressing together your lips and bodies as close as you could manage, sure you would run out of chances to hold each other that way. However, as time went on, you began to see the ways in which the small, subtle, simple touches and intimacies brought forth sweeter emotions than rushing through and feeling all at once. You were glad now to be able to spend moments like this; barely touching and yet feeling more than anyone else could make you feel, seeing everything the world had to offer and knowing you could take it whenever you wanted, but being secure enough to let it come to you.
You pull away from the man, who tilts his head up as though he’s chasing after you, before he settles back into his chair, lifting the book that he had rested on his lap. He reaches to a nearby table to grab a small bookmark, sliding it between two pages carefully, before setting the book down on the table.
You grab his hands, lifting him from his seat to spin the two of you around and pull him into your lap back into the cushioned chair. He chuckles at your actions, resting a hand against your collarbone as he shifts to find a comfortable position on your armored lap.
“I know these are for keeping you safe and all, but they really could have spent a little extra into making these more comfortable, couldn’t they?” He jokes, flicking the breastplate that separated your bodies from each other.
You laugh along, taking his hand and rubbing your thumb across his knuckles, raising them to press your lips against them as well.
“Well, once you’re king, you have all the power in the world to make that change to our uniform. For now, we must suffer in silence, lest we be found out and whisked apart.” You lean in to whisper the last sentence, letting your breath feather across his ear and neck, sending a shiver down his spine that has him pressing harder against your body.
“I would never let them keep me from you. Come hell or high water, I would never be separated from you – let them try.” This wasn’t the first time he had said similar sentiments, and it brought joy to you hearing it every time. You felt the same way, but to know that your prince would do anything to keep you together – your heart beats wildly at the thought.
You pull Jinyoung down closer to you, though you doubt it’s very possible to do that, and lean your face close to him, your nose brushing his intimately as you look down into his eyes.
“I share your sentiments, Prince. I promise to you, that my oath to you and your family is not only one as a soldier, as a knight, as a guard, but as a lover, as a human, as a simple servant under an idol. My devotion to you will never waver and I will not let anything but death pull me from your side. No matter what else I must give up, no matter who I may have to become or kill, I will be by your side, protecting you and yours, until Lady Death comes to bring me across to the otherworld.”
Jinyoung’s eyes shimmer with tears as he presses his forehead against yours, his hands coming to cup your cheeks.
“And I you, my love.” He whispers, finally press your lips together properly, pulling your bodies as close as possible. He holds you close and you let yourself sink into the sensation of holding the one you swear your life to, letting life carry you where it will.
2- Save Him from Unworthy Suitors
The worst part about being in love with the Prince was that he was destined to be put on dates with others constantly in the hopes of making relations with other kingdoms to keep the country safe from the neighboring lands. Most of the lands got along well enough, so there wasn’t a lot of fighting anyway, but Jinyoung’s parents were always trying to set up the next power couple of the continent.
Many times, you were sent out as a guard for the dates, if they were off castle grounds, which meant that you had to sit and watch while someone tried to woo Jinyoung, only to be met with polite refusal and friendship. Most of those who were on these dates felt the same way and had their own lovers back home in their kingdoms. They played along well as though they enjoyed the date, but it was only out of friendship and political acceptance.
However, on occasion, a date was set up between the young prince and someone who truly wished to catch his fancy. Most were amicable and, while often pushy and intense in trying to prove their worth to Jinyoung, were quick to accept Jinyoung’s refusal at the end of the date.
One day, however, there was a young male suitor who refused to take no for an answer. After one date had gone over without any hassle, Jinyoung had gone to his chambers that night with you and told you that he felt alright about the date, and that nothing would come of it, as per usual. Unfortunately for you both, the young man was infatuated with Jinyoung and had not accepted the refusal after only one shot. He had gone to the Queen after the date and explained in detail how he was sure another date would be enough to win over her son, and the Queen had quickly agreed, growing worried that Jinyoung would end up alone until he became King, which the Queen didn’t want to happen. The Queen wanted only for her son to be happy with a person to cherish him; unaware was she of the person warming her sons bed that very night.
Another date was scheduled and prepared for the two men, and for once, you were not scheduled to chaperon the excursion. That, however, was not going to stop you from riding along with them.
The men were scheduled to ride down a ways through the woods just outside of the castle, to a small lake area to have a picnic. Jinyoung told you about the trip, knowing there was no way he could stop you (not that he wanted to) and it would be easier to hide your spying if you didn’t have to track them too closely.
So on the morning of the day, you waiting until just after the other guards had followed after the prince and his suitor before slipping onto a horse of your own and tracing their path. You knew the way to the lake, as it was a common spot for you and the prince to also run off for little getaways together, making you all the more annoyed that the Queen had planned such a personal trip for the prince, despite his assertion that he had no interest in suitors.
Not long down the pathway through the rustling leaves, wandering along the sunlight dappled trail, you spot the edge of the clearing surrounding the lake, so you pull your horse off the path and hobble it to a tree. You sneak up to the edge of the treeline to look out onto the group setting up a picnic beside the water – blanket and food spread out in the attempt at fashion simply seeing cheesy to your untrained eye. You had spent years in the castle, but you didn’t understand the need to always seem to fancy and rich. It was something Jinyoung claimed to love about you; you didn’t let the glitz, glam, and politics of the castle change who you really were at your core.
You decided to rest yourself on a fallen log, knowing that you would likely be here for a while watching.
However, not long after the picnic had been set out and the food had been eaten, the man had waved off the guards, asking them for privacy between the two. The guards had looked at each other, unsure what to do, but eventually shrugged and wandered off into the treeline, barely missing your seated figure.
You watched closely, eyebrows furrowed at the odd behavior of the young man now reaching his hand out to place it against Jinyoung’s arm. You lean forward in your seat, feeling your body heat as you realize that Jinyoung is fidgeting, looking quite uncomfortable at the situation at hand. Nothing had happened yet, but you knew Jinyoung’s moods better than anyone, and could read the emotions on his face even from yards away. Jinyoung was not happy.
Thinking quickly on your feet, you sneaked back to your horse, untying it from the tree, leading it back onto the road. You slip into the saddle, quickly kicking the horse into a canter to round the final bend and reach the lake on which the men were sitting.
The men both startled, turning to face you as they hear you call out for the Prince, reining your horse in just in time to spray sand against the young man who finally pulls away from Jinyoung to wipe his shirt and face.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Your Highness, but I must request that you come with me at once. There is an urgent matter back at the castle that requires your immediate attention, and I was instructed to come collect you quickly without any delay. If I might entreat you to climb upon my horse, I can get us back to the castle quickly.” You reach a hand down, doing your best to keep your face straight and serious as Jinyoung looks up at you with bewilderment, which fades quickly into barely hidden amusement.
“Of course, my Champion.” He raises to his feet, moving to take your hand, when he’s grabbed by the man still seated directly behind him, looking at him with confusion and annoyance.
“Why don’t you wait, Your Highness? I will come back with you as soon as we collect the guards and our things.” The young suitor gives a harsh look at you over Jinyoungs shoulder, before tugging on Jinyoung’s arm.
Jinyoung tugs his arm away, a feigned smile resting upon his lips as he steps ever closer to your patiently waiting horse. “No, I’m afraid this sounds much too urgent to wait even an extra moment. I shall see you back within the castle.” He turns without a second of hesitation, taking your arm and using the momentum of your assistance to pull himself onto the horse behind you, as he has done a million times.
He wraps his arms around your waist, burying his face into your back as you canter back the way you came, heading for the castle as though your errand was real. About halfway back to the castle, Jinyoung whispers out a soft “thank you” that you can barely make out against the wind and you relax, letting a hand rest against his fists balled against your stomach.
“Any time, my love.”
3- Flex your Strengths
The only time that you find joy other than being beside Jinyoung is when you’re in the training field. The guards all spent at least a handful of hours a day working in the field, ensuring that they keep their skills sharp and their muscles hard. You worked as a guide to the youth whenever possible; young pupils hoping to be guards and warriors were always trying to prove themselves in the field, but they always need a mentor to help them learn the tricks of the blade.
On warm summer days when there is nothing exciting happening in the castle, you often toil away your hours with a new pupil, a practice sword, and a sparing partner. Today was no exception.
You wiped away a layer of sweat threatening to drip into your eyes and blind you, as you roll out your sword arm. You had just bested yet another guard in a sparing match – you weren’t the most skilled warrior, but you had enough knowledge and skill to make you one of the top guards, tasked with protecting the royal family.
A new challenger steps up to the ring, groups of young and experienced fighters watching excitedly as the new man makes a show of stretching and swinging his sword, as though he could intimidate you into backing down or losing. Instead of bothering to “worry” about his theatrics, you continue shaking and stretching out your body, glancing over the crowd as you do so. You stutter in your stance for only a second as you spot a familiar face a few paces back from the edge of the crowd, a guard you’ve met several times standing beside them with a hand on their sword.
Jinyoung had come to see you practice. He didn’t often do this – he was the anxious one in whatever this was, always afraid of being spotted and questioned by someone who has no business in his. However, you were completely the opposite, ready to speak up about your love the moment he opens himself up to the idea. But here he was, standing with his arms crossed, a beautiful blue top tucked into tight dark trousers, his hair lightly ruffled by the soft wind blowing through the training field. He smiles softly, ducking his head slightly, almost impossible to see, if you weren’t in tune with every small movement of his body.
You smiled back, quickly turning back to your opponent as you both get into a fighting stance, preparing to spar. Both of you were wearing the standard armor and carrying wooden practice swords, but you could tell simply from the way he held himself that your opponent thought he had already won, simply from looking at you.
Obviously a newbie, then.
Someone to the side of the ring calls out the beginning of the match and the two of you begin circling each other, watching the way the other moves.
Seemingly on a whim, the man lunges forward, striking out with his sword. You step back, dodging the attack and sliding to the side, trying to pull the man off balance. He simply backs up, eyeing you and smirking, like he knows something that you don’t. You doubt it, most men who give you that look simply think that you’re afraid and running. No, you’re only bidding your time, looking for your chance to strike.
You circle the man again, watching for that telltale flinch of muscles before he lunges that you noticed last time. Finally you see it, only a millisecond before the man lunches again, this time attempting to rain down strike after strike. Instead, you block and dodge to barrage of blows, twisting and sliding your blade along his, redirecting him away from you every time. You see the beginnings of anger rising in the man; his face twisting slowly into a snarl, his hands tightening around the wooden hilt of the practice sword, his arms trembling from withheld rage. As his anger wells to a final explosion of aggression, he pulled his sword back, feinting a withdrawal before swinging his sword as hard as he could, aiming for your head.
You see this coming, however, and step to the side calmly, raising your sword with both hands to slash it across the mans side, effectively landing a “killing blow” that has the man grasping his side, dropping his sword in the process. You place your blade against the back of his neck, pulling it across it to simulate effecting a definitely killing blow to ensure your “win” in the fight.
The man growls up at you, moving to stand but you have already stepped away, being swept up by the crowd, who pats you on the back, calling out praise to you.
Another guard approaches, handing you a small letter folded up. You open it, seeing a familiar script dancing across the page with only two words written on it.
Visit later.
You glanced up to look around for the man responsible for your short letter, but he had disappeared.
You smiled and tucked the letter into the chestplate of your armor, beside your heart.
Who were you to say no to his request?
4- Show your Love
When you got off of practice that day, you went down to the market to get a small bouquet of flowers. You got his favorite, pink dahlias, which you thought fit him very well. In your kingdom, dahlia’s represented kindness and grace, something that you felt perfectly encapsulated the prince. He was equal parts of princely charm and empathetic sweetness, caring about all that he comes into contact with.
You take the flowers with you up to his room, sneaking through the corridors of the castle, since climbing the wall would surely crush the sweet petals of the fragrant plant you hold close to your body.
Finally making it to the doorway to his chambers, you look both ways before quickly opening the door and ducking inside. Last thing you needed was some random royal to see you slipping into the prince’s room with a bouquet of flowers and a childish grin on your face. Jinyoung wasn’t ready to go public, so you would keep it quiet for now. As long as you still got to be with him.
As you close the door quietly, you turn to find the prince shirtless, his pants being buttoned up by his chambermaid. You smile at the sudden look of surprise on the woman’s face – Jinyoung hadn’t seen you yet because his back was turned, but the woman could see you clearly.
You lift a finger to your lips, signaling her to keep quiet, and she quickly ducks her head back to securing the princes clothes for the afternoon. As she rises to grab the shirt for Jinyoung, you creep forward, wrapping your arms around his middle as you reach him, twirling him into the air.
He yelps, hands coming down to grab your arms, attempting to twist his body to face you. He knows instantly who it is that’s holding him, due to the flowers, the armor, and your familiar scent that has begun to wrap around him, sending his brain into a frenzy.
You can see he’s blushing, from the way his ears are blazing red under his hair and he’s trying to duck his face away from your gaze.
You drop him back onto the ground, letting your hands graze across his bare skin as you pull away, relishing in the way he shivers at your touch before he’s whipping around to face you.
“You scared the living daylights out of me.” He’s pouting, his eyebrows furrowed and nose scrunched up, but you could see the slight twitch in his lips fighting to smile.
“You really should be more on your toes. I could have been anyone coming in here. You should never let your guard down, my prince. It could put you in danger.” You lean in as you talk, ghosting your nose over his, causing him to tilt his head up, searching your lips. You pull back before he can make contact and now he’s pouting for real.
“If you weren’t such a menace, my chambermaid here would have at least given a scream of warning if it were anyone of danger. Unfortunately, she seems to like you a little more than she likes me.” He rolls his eyes, sending a playful wink back at the chambermaid who has her face half hidden behind her hand, holding the shirt in the other.
“Nonsense, no one could ever be immune to your boyish charms.” You press a kiss to the mans temple before holding out the flowers for him to see. “Even my measly pay gets wasted away on flowers for you, who needs for nothing, simply so that I can see that beautiful smile you grant me.” Said smile is already splitting his face into pure joy at seeing the circular globes of pink sprouting from your fist. He bends down to give the flowers a deep scent, pulling back with eyes closed and face softened with joy.
“No one knows exactly what I need quite like you, my dearest protector.” He jokes, turning back to the chambermaid so she can slip his shirt on, hiding his golden skin and gentle curves with a linen top of off-white cloth that looks insanely soft and comfortable.
After she secures the fabric to his body, she bows, grabs his day-clothes that need washing, and scampers from the room. She wasn’t likely to say anything – she’s the only one in the castle who knows about your relationship and has been aware of it for two years now. She had walked in on you two cuddling after you had accidentally fallen asleep one late night; she had been sworn to secrecy and had proven tight-lipped since.
You hand the flowers over to your lover before grabbing his hands, pulling him lightly over towards his bed, curtains pulled back to allow in the failing light of the evening through the windows to shine across the silken sheets you two had spent many nights entangled in together.
“What has gotten into you today, my love?” Jinyoung asks, following along pliantly, always willing to follow your lead and whims. He so rarely was able to let go, trust another, and go with the flow – only when he was with you was he able to let down his guard and truly feel.
“Nothing in particular, my prince, only my love for you.” You settle onto the edge of the bed, pulling him to stand between your legs, wrapping your arms around his waist to hold him close. He drapes his arms over your shoulders, looking down at where you sit before him with a look like sheer reverence across his features.
“I should continue to fan that fire if it leads to moments like this.” He whispers, leaning forward to press a kiss against your lips. You hold him close, relishing in the feeling of his lips pressed to yours, his tongue flicking against your own, his hands running up and down your shoulders and back, as though he couldn’t get enough of touching you.
“I would not complain.” You whisper back when he finally pulls away, a look of thought and concentration passing behind his eyes. “What is on your mind, my prince? I can see that something is troubling you.”
Jinyoung only shakes his head, smiling down at you with love and care.
“Nothing is troubling me, my love. It is only that, I have recently been thinking about how we keep our love a secret. I know that I have said that I do not wish for them to take you from me, while I still only have the power of a prince. However, the many times in which my mother tries to push me into new courtships is growing, and she has expressed fear that I will not be wed before taking the throne. I know that day is many moons off, but I begin to wonder whether it isn’t time that we finally tell the world about our love.” His face begins to glow with the idea, his voice rising with each word as though breathing life into the idea has sparked a flame that will not flicker, fed a stream that will not stop raging.
You reach a hand up, cradling his cheek as you grin back up at the prince. You had voiced several times your undying love for him, and him back to you, but you had resolved to spend many more days hidden away, sneaking your love, until he was king and no one could stop the two of you.
You had believed that his mother would be understanding – she had tried so many times to find a suitor for her son that you were sure she would be happy with nearly anyone that her son had picked to carry his heart. Jinyoung, on the other hand, was skeptical and afraid, after hearing the many mean things that other royals had said about other royals who had married or paired up “below their rank”.
To finally hear Jinyoung say that he was ready to tell the world, haters be damned, had your heart soaring out of your chest, feeling as though you couldn’t breathe with the happiness coursing through your veins.
You pull Jinyoung down on top of you, peppering his face with kisses, almost definitely crushing the beautiful flowers that you had bought earlier in the day. Nothing else mattered than being close to the prince now, showing him exactly how much his words and feelings meant to you. You knew that some part of him was already aware of your passion for him – you had shared it plenty of times in a number of ways, but you needed to reaffirm it now, in the light of the future of your relationship.
Nothing could stop you two now.
5- Tell the World
Days later, you followed Jinyoung into the throne room where his parents are seated on their respective thrones. You had interacted with both the King and Queen in the past, but not in this capacity and not when you were about to convince them into letting you have their sons hand in marriage.
Jinyoung stops before the dais on which they’re sitting and you stop beside him, kneeling and bowing to them before standing straight. You would show deference, but not weakness.
Jinyoung smiled up at his parents, who both smiled back down at their son. They truly loved him; there wasn’t anything they wouldn’t do for him. You had no doubt that they would grant his wish, if he truly meant what he said.
He takes a deep breath before reaching his hand out to grasp yours. You freeze, waiting for him to explain to his parents why you were both standing before them today.
“Mom, Dad, I know that you’ve both been working very hard to find me a suitor from one of the four kingdoms who is worthy of my heart. I don’t doubt that you have worked tirelessly and did your best work to find people who are really suitable for me and who would make amazing additions to our kingdom, as they would rule beside me. However, unfortunately, the person who won and deserves my heart was in our kingdom this entire time.” He tilts his head to smile at you, his hand gripping yours tightly as if to say he would never let go. “I know that a prince and a guard sounds impossible, and I know many other Kings and Queens would never let their son marry a guard, who many deem as below us. Unlike those men and women, I know that our kingdom values all life, all people, regardless of status and blood. As long as a person is good and kind, is loving and caring, shows strength and courage, defends what they believe in and does not waver in the face of adversity or temptation, that they are worthy of the best that life has to offer. I have met no other who fits those tenants in the way that (y/n) does. They have proven loyal and kind, shown mercy and strength, done all they can to protect their loved ones while never giving up on their own beliefs. They are the only person fit to rule beside me over this kingdom when I one day ascent the throne.”
Your eyes mist over at the heavy praise you’re receiving from the love of your life. Jinyoung was always ready to share with you how much you meant to him, but you had never heard him share such sentiments to anyone else – it was nice to hear when you were alone, but something else entirely when he was telling his parents and the court guards all about his feelings. You could see his mother dab at her eyes, tearing up just as you expected her to; she truly loved and wanted the best for her son.
The one you couldn’t read was the King. He was sitting, looking over the two of you with a neutral face, as though he hadn’t heard anything that the Prince had just said. He leans forward in his seat, resting his elbows against his knees and entwining his fingers together. He hums softly, a low rumble in the otherwise quiet room, as though he’s thinking or warming up his voice for whatever he’s about to say.
The Queen is looking over at the King now, a smile on her face, as though she knows something you don’t which relaxes your shoulders just the slightest bit. If the Queen wasn’t worried, why should you be?
As though your thought sparked something in the King, he looks over at you, reaching a hand out to gesture in your direction as he finally speaks. “So, what do you have to say to all this, my knight?”
You take a deep breath, glancing over at Jinyoung, who is looking at you with those eyes that you had fallen in love with many moons again, and which always seemed to bring you to your knees before him, time and again.
“I have been raised within the walls of this kingdom, under the rule of you both, and under that philosophy and expectations that comes from this society. I have raised through the ranks to prove my worth as a guard to the royal family, to protecting those values and the people of this kingdom with my life. I have spent countless hours training to be the best person I can be, for myself, for my kingdom, for my King, but most importantly, for my Prince, who I have sworn my life to – both out loud and in my heart a million times over. I cannot swear that I have reached the point to claim those same things about myself that Jinyoung sees within me. However, I continue to try everyday to prove him right and to be worthy of him by my side. I don’t presume to be in a place to tell you how to react to our love for each other. I don’t wish to sway you by telling you lies or pressuring you with threats, or any of the things that would instantly lose me the right to stand here before you asking for Jinyoung’s hand. However, I know that you are a fair king. You look to your people to hear their stories and learn their worries, and you care about what will bring true joy back into the kingdom. I stand here today to tell you that nothing would make us happier than to be together, to have each other truly and completely, in the way that we love each other.”
You bow down after finishing your speech, showing that despite all of the things you said, you would respect whatever he ruled in this matter. It would break you to have to turn away from your Prince, but if the King truly believed it would be in his better interest not to wed you, to keep your love a secret, you would continue to spend your days hiding away, stealing glances and touches whenever the chance arose. You would not, however, let him truly be pulled from your grasp.
As you waited to hear the answer of the king, you could feel your heart beating within your chest, pounding against your rib cage as though it wished to fly back to Jinyoung, its true owner. The blood rushed in your ears and you could feel every fiber of your body thrumming with adrenaline and anticipation, knowing your whole world could crash down around you any moment.
Finally the king cleared his throat and you raised your eyes back to the graying man before you, who has a smile creasing his face which has your knees nearly dropping out from under you.
“If my son truly wishes to wed you and he has brought forth the courage to proclaim it before the courts, I see no reason to deny him the joys of love on the basis of something as trivial as status. You have proven strong in mind and body as a royal guard for many years, and the ways in which my son speaks about you shows that you continue to practice these tenets outside of the guard uniform and has me believing that you may be more worthy of the title of the Princes partner than any of the others we have brought here to woo him. I will give you my permission to court each other. Preparations can begin being made to plan the wedding to bind you two together.”
The Queen squeals with joy, leaping from her throne on the dais to raise down to her son, sweeping him into a hug. She presses kisses against his temple, stroking his hair, almost as though he was still a child that she found adorable, rather than a grown man who had just been sworn to wed. She turns to you next, pulling you into an equally strong hug, patting your back and whispering how truly happy she was and how thankful she was to have someone who could show her son the respect and love she knew he deserved.
Tears were shedding down her face, and matching ones traced down the Prince’s as he looked at you over his mother’s shoulder. He mouthed three words to you which had your throat closing up as well, your hands fisting into the queen’s dress as you try to hold back your own emotions.
You had finally won over the Prince, convinced the King and Queen to let you two be together, as you were meant to be. You had been so sure that fate would play out this way, two soulmates finding each other amongst perceived turmoil, but you still couldn’t believe that life had gone so well. You were in love with Prince Jinyoung and you swore to yourself that everyday from this day forward you would do anything to be the guard who deserved to marry the Prince.
you were pacing around the room like crazy, hand on your chin as you stared at the ground. you were actually going insane.
“y/n, relax” jinyoung mumbled and you turned to look at him, only to see all six boys looking at you with so much concern in their eyes.
“i can’t” you whined. “what if he doesn’t like it?” you asked, hands flying everywhere around you out of frustration.
jinyoung rolled his eyes and elbowed jackson, signaling for him to continue the conversation.
“he will like it. jaebeom likes everything that includes you” he reassured. “plus, you did amazing. look around, the place is beautiful and you got him something that he’s been wanting for a very long time”
you did as told and looked around the room that you’ve been standing in. you have to agree, your living room does look amazing with all the balloons and confetti. the table was full of jaebeom’s favourite food that you’ve made yourself.
the birthday boy himself is on his way home, having no clue what is waiting for him, thinking that you’re not home since you told him beforehand that you’ll be working until late.
the boys also helped you prepare but most importantly, they came which will be a huge surprise for jaebeom since he haven’t seen them in a while, especially jackson, who has been in china for most of the time.
you were content, knowing that your boyfriend is surrounded by good people who genuinely love him and even though you are panicking right now, deep down you know that no matter how this is going to turn out, he will be happy.
your eyes widened when you heard the key jiggling on the other side of the door. you quickly hurried everyone to go in their spots and turned off the lights, threatening the people around you to stay quiet.
jaebeom walked in, humming a familiar song and walked into the living room. it took him a few seconds to find the light switch and when he turned on the light, all of you started screaming “surprise” while yugyeom and bambam threw confetti at jaebeom.
he was stunned, eyes wide, mouth open with a peace of confetti stuck to his lip. his eyes locked with yours and then the biggest grin spread on his face.
“baby” he whispered and immediately pulled you into a hug.
you didn’t even notice the tears of joy on his face until he started hugging his members and it made your heart burst. he was happy, and that’s all you wanted.
A/N: The long awaited third part! This was one of my first fics I’ve written of the sevens and I’m so happy that it received so much love. I absolutely adore everything about 100 Ways & Jackson is just so incredibly sexy in the music video. Thank you to everyone who read this three part story, I really appreciate it! <3
The ride home was cold, not a word spoken between the two of us as Jackson kept his eyes firmly on the road in front of him; both hands gripping angrily on the wheel.
Trudging down the hallway towards my apartment door, Jackson ripped the keys out of his jean pockets and quickly unlocked the door, making way for me to pass through before closing and locking the door behind us.
I had my arms crossed firmly over my chest, wanting to crawl under my covers and forget about this entire day, but Jackson wouldn’t let it go that easily.
“What the fuck,” He barked suddenly, making me jump as I was about to enter my bedroom. “What was with you today?”
I stayed put for a moment, not wanting to confront this new side of Jackson. We had gotten into fights before, but he’d never raised his voice at me, and I had no idea what was coming. After a few deep breaths, I turned to face him, but kept my eyes to the ground.
“I could say the same.” I muttered, trying to turn the topic of conversation to his attitude with me last night.
He scoffed, taking a step closer, “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Last night,” I spoke up, gaining a bit of confidence as I accused him, “Why did you suddenly ignore me the rest of the night?”
I looked directly at him now, and his lips were shut tight, unsure of what to say. Surprisingly.
“I turned down your suggestion to join you in the shower and suddenly I deserved the silent treatment?” I took a step closer to him, and I watched his chest rise and fall as his heart rate grew quicker to match his anger. “What the fuck was that all about?”
“I’m sorry I just wanted a relaxing shower fuck with my constantly stressed out girlfriend,” He spat, and the chuckle that followed cut through my words like a knife through butter, “I guess it’s my fault then for trying to find a way to get you to relax.”
“Right, just like how your idea of ‘relaxing’ was having me watch you press yourself up against another woman.” I growled, once again annoyed with his condescending tone.
Jackson chuckled again, running a hand over his mouth and under his chin as his eyes glanced up and away from my gaze. He clearly wasn't buying it.
“It was a fucking music video, Y/n. She is an actress. It was supposed to look romantic.” His eyes grew dark as he mansplained her role to me, which made me furious.
My face was inches from him, and before he could open his mouth to speak I interrupted him. “Don’t fucking talk to me like that. You didn’t see the way she was looking at you— the way she looked at me. She knew exactly what she was doing, and you fed into it.”
His eyes shut for a moment, knuckles turning white as he clenched them into fists, “I didn’t do anything.” His deep voice defended.
“I saw the way you held her,” I said in a meek voice, emotionally exhausted as the scene of the two of them so closely together replayed in my head, “That wasn't acting, Jackson.”
I began to back away, turning once more towards my bedroom. I couldn’t handle his accusatory behavior any longer, and I knew if we continued arguing one of us might say something we’d truly regret. Once again I attempted to continue on with my night, wanting to put this day in the past.
I set my phone down on my nightstand, shrugging my jacket off and tossing it towards my closet. I barely had a chance to compose myself when suddenly two strong hands gripped my arms, Jackson spinning me and pushing me up against the wall. He lowered his lips down towards mine, breathing heavily, “Then tell me… is this acting?” He said in a ghostly whisper before pushing his lips onto mine. We kissed hungrily, all the hateful attacks from moments before slowly being forgotten.
“Jackson…” I moaned, not wanting to let him win so easily. But his lips were too difficult to resist, as he skillfully swirled his tongue into my mouth, and I followed suit.
“Like I say in the song,” Jackson chuckled in between shaky breaths, “I can love you good.” He muttered, using a hand to slightly turn my head to the side and exposing my neck. He still had me pinned to the wall, his mouth now lowered onto my neck as he left soft kisses, but then suddenly his teeth sunk onto a bit of my skin, and I quickly caught on to what he was doing. I hissed at the pain as he continued to suck and swirl his tongue around his chosen spot, giving it a few more desperate bites before finally pulling away to look at what he had done.
“It’s already getting red,” He chuckled, “That's going to leave quite a mark.” He huffed proudly, and I just giggled, rolling my eyes at him.
Jackson proceeded to hook his fingers under my t-shirt, hastily pulling it off as I did the same. I pressed my hands onto his chest, running my hands along the golden brown skin I was obsessed with. He waisted no time in pulling down my jeans, letting his hands teasingly trace along the outer portion of my thighs as he worked his way back up, leaving a small kiss on my hip. Reaching his belt buckle, I hooked my fingers inside his pant lining, pulling him even closer to me.
“Fuck me, Jackson,” I gasped desperately, having had enough of his teasing.
He slowly undid his belt and pulled it off, letting it fall to the floor as he undid his jean button and unzipped his pants, one… second… at a time.
“And let you win so easily?” He smirked, leaning close, lightly pressing his tongue on my chin and licking up past my lips and to the tip of my nose, “I don’t think so.”
In a swift motion Jackson lifted me up, hooking his arms under my legs as he spun us back around. He wasted no time in throwing me down on the bed, positioning his body in between my legs. I locked my ankles and dug my heels into his hips, trying desperately to get his body as close to mine as I could.
“Nuh uh,” he disapproved, shaking his head at me with the smirk still painted on his face, “You don’t get to command me tonight. I’m in charge.”
I bit my lip and leaned my head back, groaning softly at his dominant behavior. His hands were all over my body, lips pressing hard leaving kisses on any exposed area of skin.
“Jackson,” I gasped breathlessly, and he looked back up at me. He crawled back up, wrapping his lips on mine once more. I ran my fingers through his hair, gripping tightly at the small hairs on the back of his neck, causing Jackson to emit a deep moan into my mouth.
“Fuck.” He muttered, dipping his head back onto the side of my neck and continuing to deepen the mark he had begun to leave earlier.
I wrapped my arms around his body now, trailing my nails along his back as I could feel his back muscles flexing and writhing with every slight touch.
Jackson suddenly lifted himself off of me, kneeling in front of my slightly open legs. When the all-too familiar smirk spread across his face, I knew I was in trouble.
“Seeing how jealous you got over the actress today… was kind of hot.” Jackson teased, his hands tortuously tracing my skin as he worked his way from my ankles, up towards my hips.
I bit my lip as his hands landed on my panties, and his fingers traced the lace lining before he gripped hard, ripping suddenly and managing to completely tear them away, tossing them carelessly onto the floor.
“You’re going to pay for that.” I hissed, slightly annoyed he ruined yet another good pair of underwear.
“Oh yeah?” He cocked an eyebrow, his hands on my knees and suddenly he pulled them apart, making himself fully available to me, “So are you for pissing me off.”
“You just wanted me jealous,” I groaned as his head slowly lowered in between my legs.
“Maybe,” He admitted, his eyes now almost a dark black as one hand wrapped around under my leg and pressing onto my lower stomach, the other one keeping my opposite leg spread, “I mean, after all, jealousy is the best flavor.”
Before I could register what he meant my eyes rolled into the back of my head as Jackson’s plump, pink lips wrapped around my clit. Biting my lower lip I tried my best to control my moans, Jackson’s tongue so skillfully doing wonders against the pink bud.
“Fuck, oh my god,” I moaned aloud, interlocking my fingers with Jackson’s brunette locks and squeezing hard as I attempted to push him down even lower. He resisted my advances, somehow having enough self-control to continue the slow torture. He pulled away, running his long finger against the slit of my pussy.
“You’re so wet,” He chuckled darkly, continuing to tease me with his single finger stroking up and down at my entrance. Without a moment’s hesitation his lips were wrapped once again around my sensitive bud, the pulsing nerves sending an electrifying zing through my core and rattling me senseless. He plunged two fingers into my wet entrance, quickly finding a steady rhythm as his hands and tongue worked perfectly in sync.
I gasped loudly, looking down at him as his face was practically buried in between my legs. I let my head fall back down against the mattress, and the steady grip on his hair slowly grew weak as Jackson’s tongue carried me towards climax. The slowly building ache in the pit of my stomach grew, letting me know I was nearly about to burst. Only a few moments away from ecstasy, my breath hitched in my throat as I felt Jackson peel himself away.
“What the hell,” I breathed out, now looking down at my boyfriend who was gleefully wiping away my glistening juices that coated his fingers.
“That was… delicious,” He grinned, running his tongue over his upper lip.
“Now who’s being a fucking tease?” I snipped, crawling over towards him and placing my hands on his shoulders, pushing him down on the mattress and settling myself on top of him, “My turn.”
Jackson was too caught up in the moment to care, gladly accepting my dominant behavior begin to take charge. I trapped his left earlobe in between my teeth, wrapping an arm around his neck and the other over his back, tracing lines with my nails. I rested myself comfortably on one of his thighs, slowly grinding my wet core against his skin.
“Oh—” Jackson moaned, his chin falling weakly against my shoulder. His hands gripped my waist, guiding my thrusts and following my rhythm as I continued to grind deeper. I could feel his boner pressed up hard against my knee, begging to escape the confines of his already tight boxer briefs. My right hand continued to run along his back as I moved my left hand down along his chest and gripped his swollen member. Suddenly his breath hitched in his throat, and he dug his fingertips into my hips.
Halting my sensual moves I pulled my mouth away, giving him soft pecks on his cheeks and on his swollen pink lips as he slowly regained his energy.
“What,” I cooed, continuing to run my hands through his hair, “You liked that?”
He smirked, biting my lower lip and tugging on it, “No more foreplay.”
In a swift movement Jackson’s arms hooked under my knees, flipping me around and landing me on my back as he positioned himself on top of me. I gasped with glee; Jackson knew how much I loved how easily he could pick me up and toss me around. Leaving a few kisses on my collar bone, his left hand palmed my breast, using two fingers to massage the nipple that grew hard simply with his touch.
Pulling back, Jackson was quick to pull his boxer briefs off, using a hand to pump his long shaft as he looked down at me with hunger. I watched his movements desperately, growing nervous and excited as I saw his full, hardened length. Subconsciously I lowered a hand in between my thighs, rubbing at my clit in response to his tease.
“God, you’re so sexy.” He growled, ripping my hand away. Crawling on top of me once more, Jackson took only a moment to position the tip of his cock between my dripping folds, sliding his tip up and down ever so slowly.
“Fucking give it to me, already.” I demanded, exasperated with his ability to slow down time with the simplest of teases.
Another deep groan ripped from Jackson’s throat as he suddenly plunged his full length into me, letting out a deep sigh as he felt my tight walls expand against his cock. I gasped at the sudden invasion, wrapping my arms around my boyfriend’s large shoulders and digging my nails into his back. His hips pounded down into me, creating a loud and steady rhythm. A swirl of moans and skin slapping skin echoed throughout the room, Jackson never once missing a beat.
“You’re so tight.” He grinned, grasping my chin and turning my head as he once again attacked the hickey he was determined on leaving.
Jackson’s skillful rhythm continued, pushing himself down onto my body so expertly. Without warning Jackson lifted both my legs and placed them on his shoulders, lifting me up slightly and sunk himself completely into me. This new angle caused him to groan aloud, shuddering slightly at the new sensation.
“Fuck… yes.” He growled, rolling his hips into mine, slowing his beat just a bit as he took the time to enjoy the new position.
With both hands free, I grabbed his right hand and positioned it over my neck, pressing the fingers lightly. Jackson’s eyes had previously been shut in a euphoric pleasure, but once he felt his hand wrapped around my neck his eyes snapped open, looking at me directly with his dark brown gaze.
“Choke me.” I uttered with a tortured breath, and Jackson hissed joyfully, drawing his hips back and plunging himself forward, picking up the pace. I gasped at his sudden and unforgiving switch in rhythm, feeling his fingers tighten around my neck. He lowered himself slightly, pounding mercilessly into me as I whimpered lovingly, completely giving myself to him in this moment.
A burning heat building up in the pit of my stomach signaled I was getting close to my high. Wrapping my hands around the wrist that held my neck in place, I let out a strangled moan.
“Jackson!” I cried, and his pumps grew ever so faster, “I… I’m going to—”
He peppered my neck with kisses, then bringing his lips down to mine and swirled his tongue against mine warmly before pulling away. “Cum for me, baby.”
His words so sweetly melted into my ears, and only moments after could I feel myself fulling releasing. Jackson sighed in satisfaction, feeling my juices coat his length as he continued to thrust into me. The warmth that enveloped his cock was almost too much for him to bear, as he burrowed his face into my chest, a shameless groan ripping from his throat.
Suddenly his thrusts grew messy, and I felt his cock twitch slightly before he spilled himself into me without warning. An overwhelming heat filled me up, leaking out slightly but is fucked deeper into me as Jackson’s hips continued to roll into mine to carry out his climax. As the last bit of energy leaves him, Jackson’s body collapsed on top of me as he finally let my legs relax from his shoulders.
There’s a quiet moment between the two of us now, only the echo of soft pants filled the room. His big arms wrapped around me, holding me close as I clutched lovingly onto his bicep that was draped on top of me. His breathing steadied, and he lifted his head up to look at me.
“I love you.” He spoke softly, his eyes big and doe-eyed like before. Except this time he was looking at me. “I fucking love you.”
Leaning down, he pressed his plump pink lips against mine, leaving the sweet taste of his words on my lips.
“I love you too.” I smiled, kissing him again, “I’m sorry about before. I didn’t mean to get so overzealous. I just really care about you.”
Jackson propped his head up on his hand, looking at me as we laid together. “I care about you too. Why do you think all the songs I write are about you?”
I was quiet, and he continued, “Baby, nobody’s ever going to change the way I feel about you.”
I kissed him again, leaving a small peck on his nose. He pulled me into him, and I turned around so we ended up comfortably spooning. His big arm wrapped around me and I clung to his forearm with both hands, holding him in place. My body was slightly sore, and I could feel a heavy wave of exhaustion forcing my eyelids shut. Jackson nuzzled his chin into the crook of my neck, and he began to hum the tune of ‘100 Ways’. His soothing baritone rocked me to sleep, and as he sleepily muttered the lyrics, my eyes shut peacefully, falling asleep next to my loving boyfriend.
“There’s a hundred ways to leave a lover… but I’m the only one that you need.”
