There was no proof that Mark's taunt really persuaded Jackson nor is there proof that Jackson went after her willingly, but like clockwork the prince of wolves was leaned up against the bookstore just as Areum walked to the doors.

She wasn't sure which came first, the burning in her chest or physically seeing Jackson watching her intensely, but either way, she froze a few steps away. She had gone through her whole day on auto pilot, numbing everything around her out. She couldn't hear the mean whispers or rumours normally swirling around her.

She couldn't focus on Yoomi's face when she spat something mean at her in front of the whole cafeteria nor could she grip anything that came out of the professor's mouth. All she could think about was Jackson and how mean she was.

But this wasn't the first time she was mean to someone, but it was the first time that it have bothered her this much. Sure, she was a little thrown off about the almost kiss, but she wasn't all that mad about it. In fact the only reason she snapped at him was because she didn't want him to get close enough to hear what people said about her and how they treated her.

It seemed like he didn't go to her school so it meant that he didn’t have any knowledge about her rumours. Honestly, she shouldn't have cared if he did or not, but she figured that there was no need to volunteer that information to him when she could just keep him in the dark.

Just because she didn't care about Jackson didn't mean that she should allow the false rumours about her to spread past the school. And judging by the way Jackson had been treating her thus far, she knew he'd have a field day if he knew she was getting bullied or that people were talking .

He'd probably join in.

It'd be her personal hell, following her out of school. But when she saw him standing by the book store she could only remember feeling guilty.

She could only remember the confusion on his face when she spun away from him.

"Why are you here?" Her voice wasn't demanding nor was it angry, but genuinely curious. She was sure that her mean tone from before would've shoo-ed him off for good.

Jackson shrugged, "I felt like it."

He waited for her to spout something harsh at him but she just stayed silent before nodding slowly at him, accepting his response. He watched, curious to why she seemed to be acting differently.

He could smell her from their distance apart and picked up hints of nervousness. She swayed unsurely on her feet while staring at her feet.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jackson inquired, sincerely wanting to know why she was acting so weird. She was quiet for too long and it was creeping him out.

"Sorry about earlier." Her words rushed out quickly as she kept her eyes pinned to the ground.

Jackson had heard the words clearly but he still looked at her as if she grew another head. He was positive that he was going to receive a verbal beating for almost kissing her.

"I'm sorry that I snapped at you and thank you for walking me to school." She mumbled, embarrassed. She hated apologizing. Her ego wasn't used to it since apologizing meant admitting that you made a mistake.

Jackson grinned. It was definitely worth it. He was glad that he forced himself come to her work place if it meant that he could see her act submissive to him.

It was endearing but in the way a lion sees a wounded deer trying to run away.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I didn't quite catch the last bit." He said, crossing in arms.

Areum shot her eyes at him before they turned into a glare. Her lips pursed in annoyance before she lifted her head up and rolled her shoulders back, storming past him.

"I know you heard me, jackass. I'm not going to repeat it."

Jackson chuckled as he pushed off the wall and following her into the store. "Are you sick, Areum? You're acting really weird. Should I take you to the hospital?"

"You're the one that's going to need to visit the hospital if you keep running your mouth." She hissed while tucking her jacket and bag under the counter. She tied the small waist-apron around her hips and clipped her name tag on before pushing the large trolley filled with books towards  the shelves.

She needed to restock all of the books that were found misplaced or returned. Jackson didn't miss a beat and followed her with a snicker.

She actually thought she could hurt him enough to send him to the hospital.

How cute.

He could destroy her with a flick of his wrist.

"Don't you have a life? Because you seem to really like barging into mine." Areum said while stopping in between a row of shelves.

Yeah I do and unfortunately you're supposed to be a large part of it.

Jackson hummed non-committedly and watched her slip the books carefully into their rightful places as if they were made of glass.

"Do you work here every day?" He asked casually as she continued her task.

Areum didn't break her stride and continued to methodically stack the books, "Not really, I come in whenever I get called in. I don't have a permanent schedule but I'm here so much that I still come in even when I don't have work. Just to be around the books."

She didn't know why she offered him so much information, but she just liked talking about books. She didn't really look like someone who would spend her free time there, especially since the last rumour she heard was that she was a member of a gang.

But this was her hobby, her solace.

She liked diving into a world that didn't involve her real life problems.

"What’s so great about books?” He muttered out loud while following behind her. His eyes flickered over the spine of the countless novels. He was amazed at how quickly Areum worked as she nimbly slid the books into their respective slot without hesitating for so much as a second.

He wanted to know why she liked them so much. Why she was paying more attention to these inanimate objects than she was to her handsome mate standing a few feet away from her.

According to Mark, this was the first time he had ever seen Areum work here, but it seemed like she already knew the place inside out.

Areum glanced over her shoulder with a raised brow. "Have you even read a book before in your life?"

Sarcasm was dripping from her tone as she focused her attention back down the aisles, putting the misplaced novels back in their proper slots.

His nose crinkled in distaste at her spiteful insult. “Of course I have. I'm not illiterate, you snobby little brat. What do you take me for?” 

“An idiot.” She muttered under her breath as she turned a  corner into another aisle without sparing him a glance.

Jackson stood there, dumbfounded for a moment before stomping after her in a huff. "I'm not an idiot."

Areum turned and shot him a sweet smile that threw him off, even if he knew it was a fake one, he felt his breath catch at the way her eye lit up in amusement and her lips curl kittenishly.

"Well, if you're not an idiot, how about doing something useful other than following me around and help me put these misplaced books away."

Jackson just stared at her with his jaw open as she shoved a stack of books into his arms and pushed the trolley forward, silently commanding him to follow her. She left no room for argument so all Jackson could do was snarl and trail closely by.

Jackson was royalty. He had regal blood running through his veins, Before he was officially inducted into his pack, he had people waiting on his every need. It was ridiculous how the prince of wolves was doing a task as mundane as stacking books just to try to 'court' his mate. He was above this but there he was, working like a stupid human.

Oh God, is this what humans have to do to woo someone? They have to do them favours like this? This isn't courting, this is slave-labour.

He grumbled but just went along the shelves shoving the books in their alphabetical slot while muttering curses under his breath.

Areum looked over at him and bit back a smile when she saw the scowl on his face. It was quite a sight to see him correctly fulfilling the task all while having that furious look on his face. It was pretty entertaining, she had to admit. He looked like a kid throwing a temper tantrum, having to do chores before being let out to play.

In her defence, she was at work, she couldn't be seen just chatting with someone instead of doing the job she was paid to do. She might as well put him to good use since it didn't look like he was going to leave her alone any time soon.

She turned back to the books and the two of them worked in a comfortable silence. After a while, Jackson started really focusing on the columns in front of him. He was starting to see how someone could find the repetitive task vaguely calming.

When he finished the stack in his hands he turned to her to get more but stopped moving when he caught sight of her.

She was walking down the aisle away for him with a small, self serving smile curled up her lips as her eyes scanned all the titles. Her head was tilted up to the higher shelves, her long hair falling over her shoulder to expose her arched neck. Her eyes were turned up into slight crescents and her nose sloped elegantly as she continued walking,