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Jackson Wang's Misadventures in Love“Jackson, I’m pretty sure what you’re doing is illegal.” Mark stated and Jackson heard him sigh through the phone. “Stop staring at her window and go home!”
“Excuse me, I happen to live in this neighborhood too!” Jackson exclaimed. “Just because the most beautiful creature to ever grace the earth moves into the house 15 streets down from mine doesn’t mean I’m going to stop taking my walks.” He huffed and pulled his binoculars out of his backpack.
“You don’t even like walking. Besides, standing outside of her house is not walking!”
“I’m not even near her house anymore Mark, my gosh!”
“Really?” Mark asked suspiciously.
“Yes, really.” Jackson scoffed as he looked through his binoculars. He could make out Suzy Bae’s outline as she moved around the room.
“What’s she doing?”
“Nothing right now, I think she’s getting ready for bed.” Jackson told him absentmindedly.
“I knew it!” Mark yelled. “I’m picking you up Jackson Wang and you better not do this again!”
The line went dead and Jackson sighed.
Mark would never understand love.
~
“Just look at her Mark,” Jackson sighed dreamily and leaned next to Mark’s locker. “She’s perfection.”
Mark rolled his eyes. “That’s what you used to say about Krystal.”
Jackson groaned. “Please stop bringing up my ex.”
“Jackson, Krystal is not your ex. Just because you claim she kissed you doesn’t mean it actually happened.” Mark spoke slowly, as he usually did when talking to Jackson.
“I don’t care if you don’t believe me. Krystal Jung kissed me right here,” he pointed to his cheek, “and it was so obvious she wanted me.” Jackson gave Mark a smug smile. “Too bad for her I’ve moved on to bigger and better things.”
“So I’ve heard.” An amused feminine voice stated causing Jackson to yelp and cling to Mark.
“Dude,” Mark pushed him away. “Get off me.”
Jackson pouted and looked up to see whose voice had startled him.
“Oh, hey Krystal.” He greeted nonchalantly and she smiled. There was cough and Jackson turned to look at her companion. His eyes widened slightly and he stood up straighter. “K-Kai,” Jackson stuttered and managed to give him a nod. Kai just grinned and wrapped an arm around Krystal’s shoulders.
“So,” Mark interrupted. “What brings you two over here?”
Krystal smiled at him and handed each a post it note.
“The last football game of the season is this Friday and as a celebration we’re throwing a party. I thought I would invite you guys since, well, you know. Anyways, my address is on there,” she pointed to the sticky yellow piece of paper. “I hope both of you can make it.”
Mark nodded and stuck the post it onto his notebook. Jackson stared at his for a second before offering it back to Krystal. She glanced at his hand and then back at him with a confused look.
“Thanks for the invite, but I know what you’re trying to do.” Jackson stated and she raised her eyebrows.
“Do you?” she asked, holding back her laugh. Since meeting him, Jackson Wang never failed to amuse her. Sometimes she wondered if there was something wrong with him or if he just genuinely did not know how ridiculous he was. Either way, Krystal felt the need to befriend him just to make sure he didn’t make a fool of himself again. But it seems that Jackson was a fool to begin with.
“I do,” he said sympathetically. “And it’s too late Krystal, I’m in love with Suzy now.” He looked at her apologetically, taking her hand and placing the post it inside. “However, I am very much open to making out with you.”
“Dude,” Kai put a hand on Jackson’s shoulder and Jackson’s fear returned. Kai still scared the hell out of him. “What is wrong with you?”
Krystal laughed and pulled Kai’s hand off of Jackson.
“Don’t worry Jackson, I promise I won’t try to get in the middle of you and Suzy. Actually,” she looked down the hall, her eyes finding the girl in question. “Suzy!” she yelled and waved her over. Krystal looked at Jackson and smiled. “I’m friends with her, I could introduce you two.”
“Actually,” Mark warned. “I don’t think that would be such a great ide-”
“Hey Krystal,” Suzy Bae said cheerfully as she came to stand next to her.
“Why does no one listen to me?” Mark mumbled. “I’m the only person in this entire school that has any sense.”
“So, Suzy, you know about the party tonight right?” Krystal asked, ignoring Mark who was pulling out tissues from his locker to hand to Jackson.
“Yeah,” Suzy slowly responded. Jackson’s drool was distracting her.
“Don’t mind them,” Kai said and moved to block Jackson and Mark from Suzy’s gaze but Krystal stopped him.
“I just invited my friend Jackson and since you’re new I asked him if he would take you to my house tonight.” Krystal grabbed Jackson’s arm and pulled him to her side. “He’s a super nice guy and I promise you’ll have tons of fun with him!” she exclaimed. Jackson kept drooling and Suzy was frozen.
An awkward silence surrounded them.
Krystal was embarrassed by Jackson’s behavior but kept the encouraging smile on her face as Suzy’s eyes traveled from Jackson to her.
Mark was asking himself why he was even friends with a creature like Jackson.
Kai couldn’t care less, but Krystal had a calculus test in 20 minutes and she needed to go over the review packet one more time.
So Kai elbowed Mark.
“Ow,” Mark yelped and rubbed his upper arm.
“Do something about Jackson, would you?” Kai muttered and Mark glared at him.
“Fine,” Mark grumbled. “But next time you hit me, remember that you’re an athletic god, dude, and I’m just a small high school student.”
“Noted. Now come on,” Kai pushed Mark in Jackson’s direction. “Wake your friend up, we don’t have all day.”
“Hey Suzy,” Mark interrupted the silent trio and Suzy turned to look at him. “I’m Mark, Jackson’s friend, I’ll be the one driving you to Krystal’s party since I’m the one with a car.”
“Oh,” Suzy let out a sigh of relief.
“You’ll find that I’m less awkward than Jackson. Anyway,” Mark put his arms on Jackson’s shoulders and started pushing him away. “I’ll get your address from Krystal, we’ll see you later!”
“Bye guys!” Krystal waved happily and Kai rested his arm on her shoulder once again.
“Krys, we gotta go.”
Krystal smiled at Suzy. “I promise you won’t regret going with them!”
Suzy watched them walk away.
She was already starting to regret it.
~
“Jackson Wang,” Krystal yelled and grabbed his arm, making sure to dig her nails into him as she dragged him through the crowds of teenagers towards a quieter space. “Suzy just told me that you didn’t even talk to her on the car ride over here.” She explained when they were inside the kitchen. Krystal glared at him and Jackson was trying to pry her fingers off of him. “Care to explain why I wasted my time setting you two up when you aren’t even going to try to talk to her?” Krystal asked, as she pressed harder into his skin.
“Ow, Krystal, stop, please stop,” Jackson cried and Krystal took pity on him. She let go and crossed her arms, staring at him pointedly. He caressed his arm for a second and then wiped his tears. “I just get nervous around her.”
“Yeah, well that won’t help you get her to go on a date with you!” Krystal exclaimed, throwing her arms up. “She’s dancing with Minho right now, Jackson, and I don’t think I need to tell you what a charmer he is.”
“Minho?!” Jackson exclaimed and Krystal nodded.
“I suggest you go and actually talk to her. I bet if she saw that you were somewhat normal she’d give you a chance.” Krystal encouraged.
Jackson shook his head. “I have a better idea! You think Yonghwa would mind if I borrowed the microphone for a second?” he asked, but ran off before Krystal had a chance to protest.
“NO JACKSON!” Krystal screamed and ran after him.
~
“Hey, man, have you seen Krystal?” Kai asked when he saw Mark.
“Nope, I’m actually trying to find Jackson.”
Kai raised his eyebrows. “He probably shouldn’t be left alone.”
“That’s why I’m looking for him.” Mark sighed.
“KAI!” Kai jumped when he heard Krystal’s shriek and turned to see her pushing through the crowd towards him. “STOP HIM!” She yelled and pointed somewhere behind Kai.
“Holy .” Mark slapped Kai’s arm. “I found Jackson.”
Kai turned around and groaned before handing Mark his drink. “Wait for Krystal, I’m getting Jackson off that stage.”
With that, Kai made his way towards Jackson.
~
Jackson woke up Monday morning to the same amount of texts, phone calls, and social media notifications as he had the past two days. Much like the time he had posted his confession to Krystal onto YouTube, people had wanted to let him know how 'stupid' he was, how much of a '' he was (that came, once again, from his brother), and how 'golden' he still is. Several people had recorded his serenade to Suzy Bae at Krystal’s party and had posted the videos on to YouTube, Instagram, and (his personal favorite) Tumblr. His little stunt had even made it onto Buzzfeed!
But that didn’t even make him that happy. Jackson threw clothes on quickly grabbing his backpack and a poptart on his way out. As he sat on his porch waiting for Mark he went through his phone and deleted all the pictures of Suzy he had. She hadn’t been wowed by his performance; Jackson blames it on Kai. If Jackson hadn’t been trying to run away from Kai on stage while he sang, he would’ve hit all the notes and Suzy would be his right now. There was a honk and Jackson looked up to see Mark’s car.
“And how is my idiotic friend this lovely Monday morning?” Mark asked as Jackson got inside the car. Jackson ignored him and looked out the window. “Wipe that pitiful look off your face Jackson. What happened was all your doing.”
“Whatever,” Jackson mumbled. “If you had stopped Kai from chasing me off the stage everything would have gone smoothly and I would have been flawless. Suzy was going to love it; Kai freaked her out.”
“Kai was doing you a favor!” Mark exclaimed. “Dude, you embarrassed her.”
“Well of course I embarrassed her! Again, Kai was chasing me and I couldn’t sing properly!”
Mark shook his head. “How many times do I have to tell you that you can’t sing Jackson?! You sang her a very cheesy song, badly, and added her name at the end of every line. Everyone has been texting her, 'I can be your hero, Suzy,' and she thinks you were purposely making fun of her.”
“What?! Who told you that?”
“Kai. Krystal went to go see Suzy yesterday and it’s a good thing too. Krystal’s the only other person who knows what it’s like being ridiculed by something you did.”
Jackson scoffed. “Please, Krystal Jung has never been made fun of.”
“What makes you say that?”
“She’s Krystal Jung.”
“Yeah, well Krystal Jung had to keep her hair in a bun for a week after your video so people wouldn’t shove their faces into it and comment on how it’s 'softer than feathers'. She laughed it off, but Suzy isn’t Krystal. It probably won’t go away that easily since she’s only been here for a few weeks.”
Jackson frowned. “I didn’t know about the Krystal thing.”
They rode the rest of the way to school in silence.
~
People crowded Jackson and Mark again when they walked into school. Like before, teens were mocking, admiring, and questioning Jackson. Unlike before, they all stopped when Krystal walked through the doors dragging a very humiliated Suzy with her, Kai following behind both girls.
“You need to apologize.” Krystal hissed when she stopped in front of Jackson, pulling Suzy next to her. “Preferably right now so we can all put this behind us.” Krystal took a step back to stand beside Kai and Mark nudged Jackson.
“Uhm, hey Suzy,” Jackson said sheepishly and Suzy looked up to glare at him. “Look, I’ve just recently been made aware of how embarrassing my actions were for you. And even though I fully stick by my claim that if Kai hadn’t been running after me I would have sung that song perfectly and everyone would have been able to see how deep my feelings for you truly are, I am sorry that people are mocking you.”
“Stop pretending that you like me, okay. I get it; it’s this funny joke to play on the new kid. Ha, ha, it’s hilarious. Are you happy now?” Suzy asked, a hurtful look on her eyes and Jackson gasped.
“What?! How can you think that I, Jackson Wang, would ever do something like that? I love you Suzy, I would rather die than have you think my feelings aren’t sincere! I thought you would see my performance as romantic and touching. Obviously you didn’t.”
“Dude!” Mark punched his arm. “Stop, she doesn’t know how you are, just apologize.”
“Fine.” Jackson glared at her. “I’m sorry that I ever confessed my love for her Suzy Bae. If you can’t see how real my feelings for you are, then you aren’t worthy of my awesome self.”
Jackson turned and walked through the students that surrounded them.
~
Jackson leaned against Mark’s car as he waited for Mark to get out of the building. He was kicking a rock around when he saw a pair of sandaled feet stop in front of him.
“Hey Jackson,” he looked up to see Suzy. “Krystal showed me the video you made for her.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Look, I’m sorry for not knowing that your serenade was sincere. I just hope you know that it also affected me.”
Jackson glanced behind her to see Krystal mouthing ‘apologize’ and Kai motioning for him to hurry up. He sighed.
“No, look I’m sincerely sorry for what happened. I know it’s not going so great for you right now because of me. At least now you know how I feel about you.” Suzy smiled.
“I do.” She nodded. “But, I don’t reciprocate those feelings. I’ve kind of liked Minho since my first week of school. You do seem like a really funny guy and now that I’ve been told what you’re like, I hope we can be friends.”
“You’re making a big mistake, I’m still better than Minho.” Jackson scoffed and Suzy frowned. “But,” he sighed. “I would like to be friends with you, so I’ll respect your bad decision.”
Suzy laughed and shook her head.
“Okay, I’m glad we cleared this up.” She smiled. “I gotta go, but I’ll see you around.” Suzy leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Bye Jackson.”
Jackson froze as he watched her walk away, then slowly brought his hand up to his cheek.
“What’s your deal?” Mark asked when he reached the car.
“Suzy Bae just kissed my cheek.”
Mark groaned. “Jackson I thought we talked about your lying.”
“He’s not lying.” Krystal sang as she and Kai walked over. “We saw it!”
Kai gave Jackson a pat on the back and smiled. “Jackson is getting more action than you ever will, Mark.”
“Whatever,” Mark muttered.
“Okay, now that we've settled that, we’re getting ice cream.” Krystal announced.
~
Mark ran into Jackson as they entered the ice cream shop. “Dude, why’d you stop?” he asked, pushing past him.
“Who is she?” Jackson asked as he stared dreamily at the girl behind the counter.
Mark, Krystal, and Kai all turned to look at her.
“Hi, I’m Naeun, how can I help you guys today?” the girl asked brightly.
“She’s an angel sent from heaven.” Jackson sighed and clutched his heart.
The other three groaned.
Here they go again.
~
72 hours ago
“Hey Yonghwa, do you mind if I borrow the microphone for a second? Thanks.” Jackson quickly grabbed the mic from the guitarist’s hand and took a deep breath. He had to show Suzy how much he loved her before Minho stole her away. “Do you guys know how to play Hero by Enrique Iglesias?” Yonghwa just stared at him like Jackson had grown another head. “I’m taking that as a no then. It’s cool; it’s a hard song. Okay,” Jackson sighed. “I guess I’m going a cappella.” He tapped the microphone a couple of times. “Testing, testing, oh good, it works. Hello everybody,” he waved. “Uh, could Suzy Bae please raise her hand so I can see her?”
“She’s over here buddy,” a voice shouted and Jackson turned in that direction. Sure enough, there was the love of his life, in the arms of Minho Lee.
“Okay, Suzy, if you could please step away from the very tall teen.” Suzy stared at him and slowly took a step back. “Thanks, I’m dedicating this song to you Suzy Bae.” Jackson pointed at her and gave her a smile before clearing his throat. “There will be no music since the members of Yonghwa’s band are still amateurs and don’t know the hit I’m about to sing. So, here goes nothing.” Jackson placed a hand on his chest. “Would you dance if I asked you to dance, Suzy? Would you run and never look back, Suzy? Would you cry, if you saw me crying, Suzy? Would you save my soul tonight, Suzy?”
Jackson paused and saw the speechless look on Suzy’s face. She was so going to be his. “Would you tremble if I touched your lips, Suzy?”
“Jackson,” he turned to his right and saw Kai standing there, inching slowly towards him. “Give me the microphone.”
“Would you laugh, Suzy?” Jackson sang, his voice trembling as he moved away from Kai. “Oh, please tell me this, Suzy.”
“Jackson,” Kai growled, getting closer. Jackson was so frightened he just mumbled the rest of that stanza. Then Kai lunged at him and Jackson took off running.
“I can be your hero, Suzy!” he screeched as Kai ran after him. “I can kiss away the pain!”
“JACKSON!” Kai yelled and Jackson screamed as he hid behind Minhyuk, the drummer. “Just give me the microphone, man.” Kai pleaded and Jackson improvised some ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’.
“I will stand by you forever, Suzy!” He was able to sing before Kai shoved Minhyuk off the seat and finally tackled Jackson.
“Give me the goddamn microphone, Jackson!” Kai said while struggling to keep Jackson down.
“You can take my breath away, Suzy!” Jackson yelled as he literally ran out of breath before Kai finally managed to grapple the microphone out of his grasp.
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