"You haven't been sleeping at your place for like 5 nights straight." Areum mumbled when Jackson's arm slipped under her shirt and wrapped around her waist.

He preferred the direct heat of her skin.

He hummed and shifted in bed, his eyes still shut tight even with the sun that was bleeding through her curtains.

"The others are probably worried about you." She said while running her palms up his arms.

Jackson didn't answer and just hugged her closer to him, moving his body so that his chest was properly moulded to her back.

"I'm being serious."

Jackson adjusted their bodies so that their legs were perfectly tangled and there wasn't a slip of air between their bodies.

"Why would they be worried? They know I'm with you. What? You think they're worried that you'll jump me?" He snickered while pressing his nose to her neck.

She made a face that he couldn't see before trying to wiggle out of his grip, but he wasn't letting go, "What are you doing?" He grumbled in displeasure.

"I have school, today. I need to get dressed." She said, but he was, of course, 10 times stronger than her.

"No." He growled, wrapping his arms and legs around her body.

She cuddled closer to him for a second. They had left the window open over night so her room was chilly except for the both of them under the blanket.

But as much as she wanted to, she couldn't stay. "Jackson, come on, I'm going to be late."

"You've been kidnapped by a werewolf." He grumbled in her neck.

Areum snorted, "Oh, I'm sooooo scared."

Her whole body jolted with a yelp when his teeth dug into the skin of her neck. "You sound pretty scared." He chuckled.

She hissed and started wiggling her body obnoxiously until he sighed in annoyance.

"Are you coming over to my place after?" He muttered.

Areum turned around in his arms and started leaving kisses along his chin. Jackson sighed and sunk deeper into the mattress as she started moved along his jaw with a mission.

Jackson closed his eyes with a soft moan and leaned his head to the side as she kissed down his neck, letting her tongue poke out curiously to his skin.

Her lips were so soft and soothing as she took some of his skin between her teeth. It was making him sleepy, lazy and incredibly comfortable.

She was a goddamn vixen.

His breath stuttered under her as she climbed over him. He was immobile as his senses were rushed with everything that was Areum as her lips moved back up the side of his face. He weakly rested his arms around her back but his body was too boneless under her.

Her lips left a heated path until they lingered over his ear, "I have work tonight, so I won't be back till late. I can't come by until we close up."

Jackson groaned and pushed her away, "I knew you were doing that to divert my attention."

Areum bounced next to him and smiled, "I'm glad you know me well enough."

Jackson's cheeks were still red from her ministrations when he turned his head to glare at her, the white blankets and pillows framing his face.

Areum winked as him and stood up. She grabbed her clothes to shower and change. When she finished, Jackson was still curled up in her bed.

"Are you just going to stay in bed all day?" She asked while drying her hair.

Jackson watched her hang her towel up before shuffling around in her makeup bag. "Probably, but I'll drop by the bookstore and walk you back to my cabin. I need to stay around you."

"You're being needy." She mumbled while pulling out her usual products.

Jackson didn't look amused, "They're not giving up which means that you're still not safe when you're alone. They're just waiting for the right time to strike."

Areum stiffened, knowing exactly who they were. Mino's face flashed in her mind and the way his features contorted into a look of anger when he saw her ring.

It sent shivers down her spine and not the pleasurable ones that Jackson normally gave her.

"You're going to monitor the shop?" She asked, glancing at him through the reflection in the mirror, before picking up a tube of eyeliner.

Jackson stretched his arms out and put them behind his head, "I'm not dumb enough to ask you to stop working there, so yeah, I'll be keeping an eye on it and I'll be there when you get off your shift."  

She pursed her lips and nodded before stepping away and picking up her bag and jacket. Jackson's eyes flickered a bright purple when she walked towards the bed to grab her phone.

"What?" She asked when she saw the colour change.

Jackson shook his head and grabbed her hand, tugging on her wrist so that she could dip her head down to meet his, but before he kissed her, he just examined her face.

"You're so beautiful, my head hurts." He whispered.

Areum's eyes widened, "What's gotten into you?"

Jackson gulped and gave her a small smile, "I just want you to know how much you affect me. There's no one I'll ever need other than you. I love you so much."

Areum's frowned, "Are you okay?"

"Can't I just tell my girl that I love her?" He asked cheekily.

Areum squinted and scanned his eyes, not believing his cavalier tone. Jackson tried not to falter at her gaze with a lump in his throat. She noticed that ever since she came back from the panther's house, Jackson would have these random bursts of emotion.

He would catch her off guard and surprise her with his words and anxious touches.

She'd be doing homework or reading a book and he'd just say something painfully romantic with this look of sadness and longing in his eyes. It unsettled her.  

And when he'd randomly grab her, pin her down on a flat surface and kiss her senseless with desperation clinging to his breath, it unnerved her.

It felt like he was hiding something from her.

She cupped one side of his face and brushed her thumb against his lips before pressing a soft kiss, "I love you too. I'll see you tonight."

 Jackson bumped their noses together and watched as she walked out the door. She walked straight out into the living room and crossed over to the front door.

Just as she turned the knob, Jackson called out from her room. "Oh and I called you some backup."

She creased her brows and swung the door open, only to see Jinyoung and Youngjae grinning at her with backpacks on their shoulders.  

-----

"This break ."

Areum looked up at Yang as he and Yoomi took a seat across from her in the library. Jinyoung and Youngjae were seated a few feet away at their own table with their eyes on her, just in case any of the panthers came.

The two boys told her that Jackson had asked them to accompany her to her classes knowing that the panthers were probably still enrolled.  

Apparently, Jackson couldn't come himself since staff and students would recognize him since he didn't take the job offer.

The pair stayed away from her, playing it off like they didn't know each other, but they'd still shoot her smiles or make stupid faces whenever their eyes met. They'd sit a few rows in front or behind her in lectures and always walked a few steps behind her down the hall.

Yoomi and Yang were excited to see them, but Jinyoung and Youngjae stayed away from the three of them and just watched from afar.

They were like her own secret service agents.

"Why?" She asked while flipping a page in her textbook.

"We were supposed to hang out but then Mark called us and said something came up and we never saw each other at all." Yang whined.

Yoomi rolled her eyes, "You're being dramatic."

"You're only saying that because we got to see each other every single day. Areum wasn't as lucky." Yang teased, slapping a wet kiss on Yoomi's reddening cheek.

"Ugh, don't be gross." Areum said scrunching her nose up.

"Don't be jealous." Yoomi shot back with a wink, making Yang snicker.

Areum made a face at the two and lifted a hand to brush her hair back.

"Holy ."

Yoomi's eyes were huge as she stared at Areum with her jaw dropped open.

"Wh-"

"Are you engaged?" Yoomi boomed.

The librarian shushed them with a frown and a few other people looked over in their direction but that didn't change the look of disbelief in her eyes. Yang gasped and yanked Areum's hand forward to stare at the glittering jewellery on her finger.

"That is ing humungous." He breathed out while eyeing the diamond. "Jackson must make serious bank as a teacher."

Areum winced and wiggled her hand out before glancing nervously at Yoomi who was glaring her down, "He proposed to you? He's known you for like 2 months. Who the hell gets engaged that quickly?"

Areum could tell that Yoomi was already imagining a bunch of bad scenarios where Jackson was going to sell her body parts in the black market or was going to trick her into marrying him so that he could get a green card or something.

Areum looked over at Jinyoung and Youngjae who were staring at her with wide eyes, probably only now learning that Jackson asked her to marry him.

Which meant they were about to find out what her response was.

"He proposed but I said no." She said softly while staring at the pretty ring.

 Yoomi's tensed face softened when she saw the way Areum looked at the ring, "Why?"

"I…I don't know. I guess I thought it was too soon. I always had to grow up too quick and do things faster than normal kids. I never got to enjoy the small things in life." Yang's lip started to quiver when he saw Areum's eyes watered.

"I never had parents to fuss over me or a normal relationship with my sister. My sister became my mom and we had days where we had to decide if we wanted electricity or water more because we couldn't have both. I guess--I don't know, maybe I was being too dramatic, but I wanted to enjoy what it felt like to have a boyfriend for a little longer. I'm only 21, I don't need to be married yet, not to mention that marriage is for life and I'm only 21." She said while taking a deep breath.

Areum felt a kick in her heart when she thought about Jackson. She loved him and there was no doubt in her mind, but marriage scared her.

She looked up and met eyes with Yoomi who was looking away with a clenched jaw. "Yoomi…are you crying?"

The girl rolled her watery eyes with a scoff, "No."

Yang grinned and slipped an arm around her, pulling her closer to him.   "Awwww, she's touched."

"Whatever." Yoomi grumbled while looking away.

Yang tilted his head when he looked back at Areum, "But wait, if you said no, then why are you wearing the ring? That's pretty misleading."

Areum stretched her fingers out and stared at it, "I don't know…I-I have no idea."

"Are you going to pawn it?"

"Oh my god." Yoomi groaned, elbowing her boyfriend in his stomach. "You're such an idiot.

Areum's face stayed blank as she stared at the ring, bringing a sigh out of the other girl.

"You guys are still together though, right?"

Areum nodded and Yoomi shot her with a bright smile.  "Maybe you want to say yes, just not now."

Areum jerked her head up, breaking out of her train of thought and looked at her two friends, "Yeah…maybe."

-----

"I feel so bad for you humans." Youngjae groaned when him, Jinyoung and Areum all walked towards the bookstore to drop her off.

"Why?" She asked, unamused but curious about the wolf boys' first day in school.

"I don't understand why you would pay money to put yourselves through that torture."

Jinyoung shrugged, "It wasn't that bad. You learn a lot."

Youngjae made a face, "Yeah but for 5 days a week for 8 months? I'd rather do laps around the forest with weights around my ankles."

"Aww, don't be such a baby." Areum said, slapping his harshly on the back.

Youngjae whined while tripping over his feet from the impact.

"So…marriage, huh?" Jinyoung asked quietly as silence settled over the them.

"Yeah." Areum mumbled, looking down at her feet. She really didn't want to h