Primary song: Sam Smith- Lay Me Down

Genre: Angst

Characters: Jackson/ Female OC (Alex or Alexa)/ Mark

The ring of my cellphone disrupts the quiet atmosphere of my room, and I look away from my homework for a second to refuse the call. I don't even have to look at the caller ID to know who is calling. I had set up a special ringtone just for my dear brother who I didn't want to talk to at least for the next decade or so.

But he’s persistent and keeps calling. When I continue to ignore his calls, he stops calling my cellphone but begins calling the home phone.    

"Alex! It's your brother!" My father shouts in Chinese.

"I'm busy! Tell him to call back another time!" I holler back.

There’s a pause before my father shouts again, "He's already called so many times before,  so please just talk to him. You know he doesn't have a lot of free time, but when he does, he uses it to call you. How do you think he feels when you keep pushing him away?"

I sigh, feeling slightly guilty. "I'll call him," I grumble.

Taking my phone, I dial my brother's number. In seconds, he picks up.

"Alex! You picked up," he expresses his surprise and relief. After hearing his voice, I become angry at him again and don't respond.

"Alex?" My brother worries.

"I'm here," I say quietly.

As my older brother, he always knows when I am upset or when something is up in general. "Alex, are you still mad at me?" he asks tentatively.

"Yes, I am," I don't deny my anger.

He sighs. "I'm sorry Alex, but it was for the best."

My fury bubbles and rises. "How do you know that? Who are you to say what is the best for me or not? Are you my parent? No, you're my brother, and you have no right to make my decisions," I snap.

For a while, neither of us say anything. All we can hear is my angry breathing. I finally calm down enough to mutter, "I'm sorry I lashed out at you."

"It's okay," my brother says quietly.

"I-I'm going to go finish my homework now," I attempt to hang up, but he doesn't let me.

"Wait, Alexa," he uses my full name which meant he is really serious. "I'm really, really sorry I sent you back to California." He takes a pause before continuing, "But I hope you know why I did it."

"Mark," I sigh and blankly focus at my computer screen. "I can't say I do. And I don't think I will anytime soon," I softly admit.

He stays quiet before saying, "One day you will, Alex. I did it to protect you."

From what? I decide not to argue.

"I gotta go, but I love you little sis. I'll try to talk to you again another time, okay?"

I nod before remembering he can’t see me. "Yeah, okay."

He hangs up, making me feel lonelier than ever. Suddenly, the door to my room opens, revealing my father.

"Hey Dad," I glumly greet him.

"Hey there princess, I heard your conversation with Mark. Are you okay?" He worries.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lie.

He snorts, "Don't lie. I know you're not okay."

"Then why'd you ask?" I grumble.

He wisely chooses to ignore my snarky remark. "Is there something going on between you two that your mother and I don't know about?"

My parents don't know the real reason why I had suddenly come back to the US when I was supposed to be visiting my brother in Korea. My brother told them that I was homesick; I neither denied nor accepted it. And as much as I hated what my brother did, I didn't want him getting in trouble. Although I doubt my parents could do anything to my superstar brother. "No, of course not," I lie, "Why do you ask?"

My father doesn't seem convinced. "Didn't sound like your conversation was nothing. But if you want to keep it a secret, I understand. If there's anything that's bothering you though, tell me. I'll go beat him up for you," he promises, even getting into a fighting position and throwing air punches. I almost chuckle at that. My father is so playful.

"Thanks Dad," I manage to give a genuine smile, and he smiles back.

As soon as he leaves, I quickly close the door, just wanting to be alone. I look at my homework and realize I now wouldn't be able to get it done. I’m too bothered by my brother's phone call.

My brother. My dear overprotective older brother. Did I mention he's a superstar? Well, he is. Member of widely known GOT7. Bias and fantasy boyfriend of many girls. He's got the talent and the looks and a nice personality. Who wouldn't like Mark Tuan?

Me. That's who. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother. But sometimes, like right now, and many other times, I wish he wasn't my brother.

Even when we were younger, Mark was always the favorite of everyone. People loved him. At school, the other students would know me only as “Mark’s sister”. Heck, most of them didn’t even know me as that either. I was just another wallflower like them. But my brother was popular, adored by the student body. I didn’t mind at all. Even now, when my own friends fangirled about him, I don’t mind. (It can get awkward, but I usually don’t mind.)

But I do mind when he decides to play the role of the stereotypical, overprotective older brother. My parents didn’t care when I liked someone in high school, but my brother did. I never knew until recently that he was the reason why no guy asked me out.

If Mark wasn’t my brother, I could have dated Jackson in peace. But then again, without my brother, I wouldn't have been able to meet Jackson.

Jackson Wang. Funny. Talented. Good looking. He’s the whole package. Automatically, my lips lift upwards at the thought of him, my boyfriend of 16 days before my brother caught us.

I lie down on my bed which is next to the window, so I just stare out of it. Even though I didn't want to, my mind began wandering back to the earlier days of summer. Back to when I went to go visit my brother and his group mates. Back to when Jackson and I were happily dating.

I patiently waited for my boyfriend as I stared out the window of the quaint cafe we agreed to meet at. It was only 2:50, and we had agreed to meet at 3. He had some time until I considered to be late.

As I waited, I began to think about what a sweet boyfriend Jackson was. Despite his seemingly playboy attitude at times with his infamous smirk, he was actually a really caring person to the people he loved. And I was lucky enough to be one of them.

I reminisced all the previous dates he’s taken me on. He had been able to take me on only two before, but he made sure to make time for me whether it be to actually talk face to face or text or chat. And although I didn’t have much experience in dating, the past two dates with Jackson were amazing. He had taken care of me the entire time, and treated me like a princess.

A minute before my watch read 3:00, a man came rushing into the cafe, panting heavily. He was dressed casually but wore a mouth mask, sunglasses, and cap. If that doesn’t scream suspicious, then I don’t know what does. It had to be Jackson.

And I was right because he walked to my table and sat in the seat across me. “Excuse me, but that chair is reserved for my boyfriend,” I smirked, totally just messing around. The man took off his mouth mask and scoffed, “Well, looks like I’ll be your boyfriend for today then.”

"I wouldn't mind that," I smiled broadly, and we both chuckled.  

"You didn't wait long right?" Jackson checked, and I shook my head, much to his relief. "I'll go order," he offered. "What do you want?"

"I'll have a strawberry bubble tea," I said the drink that I had been eyeing for a while.

Jackson smiled and got up to go order. I returned to looking out the window and observing the busy street the cafe was located on.

The reason why we agreed on this cafe was because it was close enough to the JYP building where Jackson came from, but far away enough for no one to suspect us.

Just as Jackson returned with our drinks, I jumped from my seat. "Jackson," I said in horror. "We have to go."

"Why?" He was baffled.

I kept my eyes on a group of people outside, slowly but steadily approaching the cafe. "They found us," I swallowed.

It didn't take long for him to understand. He whipped his head around and immediately saw the problem. He let out a soft curse word before looking back at me. "What do we do now?"

I could almost hear the worry and panic in his voice. "We'll go to a part of the cafe where they can't see us from the windows, and pray they don't see us," I decided.

Jackson nodded, and we retreated to a table in a corner near the bathrooms. We bowed our heads and focused our eyes downward so that people outside passing the windows wouldn't see us.

"Are they gone?" Jackson hissed through his mouth. Because I was the one facing the door, I bravely dared to peek at it.

"Not sure," I muttered right before the group of people we were avoiding came into view. I ducked my head down. "Crap, they're here. Just don't look up, but don't seem suspicious about it."

Jackson snorted but didn't say anything. We just sat silently and sipped our drinks, desperately hoping that my brother and the other GOT7 members didn't catch sight of us.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw the boys leave, and I released a breath of relief. "Okay, all clear," I told Jackson, and we both straightened our necks that were aching from looking down for so long.

"I hate having to date in secret," Jackson muttered angrily.

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