Jackson rested his head on his hands as he stared blankly into space. Everyone inside the club office was busy with their own tasks, meanwhile, there was him, wasting his time doing nothing inside the office. He had thought that he might see Youngji inside since it was already time for the props team to fix the banners. Unfortunately, she was not there.

And he had no choice but to stay anyway, or a furious Gyuri will strangle him for leaving early.

"Hey you!" Gyuri called out, "Help us carry these boxes to the art room!" she added as she pointed out to Jackson, who immediately went to approach her with an uninterested look on his face. He was usually the type who complained while doing things, but Jackson seemed like an obedient child who followed Gyuri's orders without saying a word.

Gyuri noticed Jackson's silence, "Are you okay?" she asked after handing out boxes containing silkscreen printing materials to Jackson.

"Yeah," was the only thing he could utter before leaving the club office to bring the boxes to the art room. He was a bit serious that day, Gyuri thought to herself. Jackson was the loud, boisterous volunteer who would not follow what she asks him to unless he got to whine and complain about how autocratic she could get first. She was not sure, but something was different about him that day.

-

Jackson carried the boxes wholeheartedly as if he was born to do it. He had to admit, he was quite happy to do such thing; at least he had something to do to keep his mind off of Youngji. He knew that worrying about where Youngji could be won't get him anywhere. He didn't expect that he would get severe headaches just because of a girl.

But his brain still got the best of him. Thoughts about Youngji still went back inside his head.

"Hm, I know she should be in the club office by now," Jackson sighed, "Where could she be?"

The last time he saw her was that morning, when she got enraged by him for removing the ribbon on her uniform. And it was the worst way of starting the day. Jackson cringed at the thought of Youngji detesting him just because of the misunderstanding they had that morning.

Jackson was already a few steps away from the art room when he saw familiar figures coming from the other end of the hallway. He had to squint his eyes just to see who they were.

And he was quite surprised by what he saw: Youngji and Bambam together, carrying the art materials Gyuri asked them to buy.

Jackson stood firmly on his spot, still carrying the boxes with him. His eyes were fixed at Youngji and Bambam's direction, watching their every move. Only two things ran inside his head during that time: why Youngji and Bambam were together and how he should separate the two.

"Ah, Jackson Wang," Youngji's eyes widened as she approached Jackson. Bambam just followed her from behind.

"What?" Jackson glared at her. Deep inside his head, he was a bit relieved to see her greet him first, which only meant that she was not angry at him anymore. But another annoying thought entered his head: why was Youngji with Bambam and where did they come from?

Despite noticing the somewhat furious look Jackson had, Youngji still gave him a shy smile and asked, "Is Gyuri unnie still at the club office?"

Jackson suddenly felt his heart skip a beat. He was used to a mean Heo Youngji, a Youngji who would give him a negative reaction and would never let him live in peace. But it was very sudden and surprising for him to receive such response from her: a smile and a polite-sounding query.

And because he was still surprised with Youngji, he just gave a nod as a response.

"Thank you," Youngji responded casually as if he was just her acquaintance. She started walking and Bambam was still trailing from behind. Jackson was just frozen on his spot, and when the two walked past him, his world stopped. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion. He was not trying to be assuming, but he thought that Bambam and Youngji were together all along, which was why Youngji was not around the club office when he came that afternoon. He had no idea where the two went, but it seemed to him that Bambam just overtook him and was making sure that he would get to spend more time alone with her.

"Tch. The nerve of that kid," Jackson thought to himself. He suddenly remembered Yugyeom's words when he once had a pep talk with his younger friend.

"Do you want another guy to confess to her?"

"What if Bambam has already confessed to her?!" Jackson started panicking inside his head. He quickly turned to look at Youngji and Bambam, and without thinking, called out her name.

"Hey Heo Youngji!"

Youngji stopped and turned her head, "Huh? What?"

Bambam also stopped walking to look at Jackson. He was trying to figure out what his senior was thinking that he had to call Youngji.

Jackson gulped. He didn't plan on calling her name, but his mouth just impulsively uttered her name and the least thing he could do is to make an excuse as to why he called her. Too bad his head was in a bit of a mess that moment that he ended up staying silent.

Youngji creased her forehead in curiosity.

While Bambam just let out a deep breath; he had no interest in having his and Youngji's time get wasted by Jackson Wang. The younger boy remarked, "Youngji noona and I need to bring these materials to Gyuri noona. We'll be going now."

"Wa--wait up," Jackson stuttered, "I-- I was asked by Gyuri to have Youngji help me fix these silkscreen printing stuff inside the art room!" he lied. He was never a liar, so when he sputtered such an untruthful statement, he felt his hands become sweaty. He was even worried if he had a straight face on as he said those words; the two might not believe what he said.

Fortunately, his lie was believable.

"Is that so?" Youngji's eyes widened, "Ah I'm sorry," she turned to look at Bambam and gave him the paper bag she was carrying, "Bambam, please bring the materials back to the office."

"But noona--"

Youngji forced a smile, "Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it," she said before walking away. Bambam watched Youngji as she approached Jackson and took a smaller box from him to carry.

Jackson opened the art room's door and the two entered. Bambam couldn't do anything else but to sigh in disbelief.

"It was good while it lasted," Bambam muttered to himself; the opportunity to be with Youngji for almost thirty minutes was still something he was happy about. He smiled to himself before starting to walk.

Bambam was the type who was usually abnegate about things. He was pretty happy with his life doing favors and pleasing other people by being meek and obedient. But things were different now. He had already made up his mind about Youngji. Regardless of the circumstances, he still wanted her. Jackson may always get the upper hand because of seniority, but Bambam had no plans of giving up.

"May the best man win, Jackson hyung," Bambam whispered to himself.

-

The art room was a pretty big room full of student artworks and cabinets containing art materials. Even the room's ambience felt like everyone who entered the room was supposed to become creative and artistic, thanks to the scent of acrylic paint and crayons combined. The Performing Arts club decided to build a T-shirt printing booth inside, as a part of the school festival activities.

Jackson arranged the silkscreen printing materials on the tables, while Youngji roamed around the room and looked at the paintings hanging on the walls.

Neither of them spoke. The whole room was silent, and Jackson must admit, the silence was making him feel uncomfortable. As he arranged the brushes inside the box, he took a really quick glance at Youngji, who was standing a few meters away from him, looking at a painting on the wall. She seemed... fine. She looked like nothing was bothering her at the moment. She also looked like she had already forgotten the squabble they had that morning. Everything seemed okay, but Jackson couldn't help but feel anxious for no apparent reason.

"Ah, Jackson Wang," Youngji finally broke the sience between them.

"Ye--yes?" Jackson was startled that he almost dropped the wood he was holding.

Youngji turned to look at her with a wide, cheery smile on her face while pointing at one of the paintings on the wall, "This is your work, right?"

The painting was basically an image of a girl wearing a white dress, but half of the girl's face was covered by her hat with flowers on top. At the lower right corner was the signature "Wang KY".

Jackson cleared his throat before starting to speak, "Yeah, why are you asking?"

"Ah, it's really pretty," Youngji sighed, still with a smile on her face, as she looked at the painting again, "No wonder you always receive the highest grades when we still had Arts class."

Jackson immediately felt himself blush. He had no idea why Heo Youngji was suddenly praising him, and he did not expect it either. But still, he must hide that emotion of him from her, "Hah!" he exclaimed, "Is it your first time seeing real art?! You always drew stick figures for Arts class. You are barely as talented as my pinky finger!" Jackson scoffed. He was ready to get shouted at by Youngji, but oddly enough, she did not retaliate.

Youngji was still looking at the painting closely. There was already an invisible barrier between him and her, since Youngji seemed unaffected by her surroundings as long as she was staring at the painting.

Jackson sighed. Youngji seemed strange that day. He slowly walked towards her, and they both stared at the painting intently.

"I was thinking of my mom when I painted that," Jackson spoke.

Youngji chuckled, "Really? No wonder the painting became really pretty."

Jackson's eyes shifted from the painting to Youngji. She was still looking at the painting with a contented smile on her face. Her eyes shone in amazement, and for Jackson, it was the most beautiful thing he has seen. No words were needed, he knew Youngji was genuinely happy and satisfied with the painting he made. And her reaction made him happier than the praises he received from his teachers and classmates when he painted it.

"You should give this to your mom as a gift," Youngji mindlessly remarked, "She'll be really happy to see this, don't you think?" she quickly turned to look at him, and saw Jackson Wang staring longingly at her.

Youngji was stunned. She had seen Jackson looking straight at her before, but his way of looking at her that time felt different. She gulped, "Um, you--your mom will like the painting very much," she spoke, before averting her eyes and looking at the painting again. She crossed her arms in front of her and furrowed her eyebrows as if she was thinking of something deeply, "The--the brush , the brush are really smooth eh," she sputtered.

Jackson remained silent.

And Youngji felt even more uneasy, so she decided to change the topic and break the awkward atmosphere between them, "We--we should go back to the office, don't you think?" without looking at him, Youngji took a step back, "Gyuri unnie might be waiting for us."

But even before she could take her second step, Jackson grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close to him. He still had a serious, but gentle, expression on his face, which made Youngji confused, aghast, and nervous all at the same time.

"Wha--" Youngji tried removing his hand from her arm, but Jackson was not letting go.

"Did that sophomore kid tell something to you while you were together?" Jackson asked with a firm tone in his voice.

"What're you even talking about?!"

"That kid likes you," Jackson felt his chest ache after saying those words, "That Bambam likes you and I want to know if he confessed already and how you reacted to it!"

Youngji froze. Her mind went blank. She was having a hard time processing everything that was happening at that moment. She gave Jackson a confused look on her face.

"Why do you want to know?" Youngji asked in a weak voice. She thought everything was going to be fine now that she was already away from Bambam, but there came Jackson trying to make everything more puzzling.

"I want to know because I just want to!"

"That isn't a proper reason. Why are you suddenly worrying about me? About Bambam? Shouldn't you be focusing on yourself?!" Youngji responded with an irritated tone in her voice. She had no time to dilly-dally about what happened between Bambam amd her. As far as she was concerned, Jackson only hated Bambam because the latter was too feisty and steadfast for him to handle. And Youngji was already thinking that the reason why Jackson was asking such thing was because he was going to mock the kid about confessing to a senior student, "I'm not going to tell you anything."

Jackson gave her a glare, "Stop being a brat, you peasant. You still owe me a month, or else I'm gonna let the whole school know that you're a creepy stalker of Mark. Tell me, did Bambam say anything to you?!"

"Why do you care so much?!" Youngji exclaimed in annoyance.

"Because I like you!" Jackson held her shoulders and made her face him directly as he spoke the words, "I like you a lot!"

His expression looked frustrated. Frustrated as hell. Jackson was in his right mind, and since he could not beat Youngji's persistence, he decided to spill everything already. He was looking at Youngji, and the girl seemed shocked to hear his words.

"I like you," he sighed, "Please don't make me explain why or how it happened. But I want you to know that whenever you're with Bambam or Mark, I feel upset," he closed his eyes shut, trying to make himself less tense as he spoke, "I just want to punch those two in the face whenever they get near you. I know that's bad but that's what I really feel."

Youngji, on the other hand, just remained silent. Things were escalating too quickly, and she was indeed mortified to know that her most-hated person has feelings for her. It was the greatest plot twist of her life.

"I am not asking for your response right away," Jackson added, "I just want to let you know what I feel. I am not forcing you to be my girlfriend or something," he removed his hands from Youngji's shoulders to scratch his head. His expression quickly changed from anxious to relaxed; it seemed like he was back to being the normal Jackson Wang, "Wow, I suddenly feel good after confessing that," he grinned.

Youngji watched as Jackson smiled to himself, feeling all successful and triumphant, "What is this jerk even made of?" she thought to herself. When she watched confession scenes in dramas, everything was perfectly romantic. But Jackson's confession to her seemed weird. He was not close to being romantic.

"Ah," Jackson's face lit up, "We should go back to the office now. I heard Gyuri's gonna buy snacks for everyone, so we should be there!" he moved to take Youngji's hand but the latter quickly moved away from him.

"Are you--" Youngji wore a judging look on her face, "Are you even serious about what you said earlier?!"

Jackson nodded, "Of course. Now tell me if that kid also told you the same thing!"

"You're not!" Youngji exclaimed, "You fake!" she pushed Jackson away from her and immediately ran outside.

"I knew it!" she thought to herself, "He's playing with my feelings! That douche bag!"

"Hey, Heo Youngji!" Jackson went out of the room amd called out, "I was serious! Everything is true!" he was quite worried about Youngji's sudden outburst. He was now confused about what he did; was it good or bad? He would not know, now that he made Youngji run away from him, literally.

"Ah, whenever I try to look sincere and serious, no one takes me seriously!" he huffed.

___

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I am back. [Read why I was away for a long time here.] Thank you for your patience and please forgive me. Now that the 20th chapter is up, let me know your thoughts. Again, I am sorry for being away for a looong time + a very late update. :'(