It was almost time for their PE class. Youngji was already seated in the bleachers, clenching onto Jackson's bag, still lamenting over what happened a few hours ago. She has decided not to forgive Jackson Wang for what he did.

"I hate him! Just wait until this month's over," Youngji thought to herself, as she watched the other students roam around the quadrangle as they waited for their instructor.

"Youngji, hey," Hara called out as she sat beside Youngji, "I was waiting for you in the shower room! When did you change clothes?" Hara asked. Usually, she and Youngji would wait for each other to change into their PE uniforms. But at that time, Youngji went first.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Youngji forced a smile, "I just had to go first because--"

"What did that jerk do to you?" Hara interrupted. Just by looking at her friend's face, she already knew something was not right. Youngji only responded with a sigh, which alarmed Hara for a bit, "Tell me, Ji! What did he do to you?"

"It's nothing," Youngji bit her lip, trying to stop her tears from falling, but in the end, she was not able to contain her thoughts anymore.

"Hara, am I ugly?" Youngji asked, and after saying those words, tears slowly trickled down her face.

"No, Youngji! You're very pretty!" Hara beamed as she hugged her friend tightly, "Did Jackson say you're ugly?! Is he blind?!"

"But--but," Youngji stammered, "Why am I still single until now?"

Hara pursed her lips as she wiped Youngji's tears using her hand, "Come on, Ji. Just because you're single doesn't mean you're ugly. Look at me! I'm still single, but definitely not ugly," she smiled.

Youngji chuckled, "Thanks, Hara," she was a bit relieved after hearing her friend's words.

"You're welcome."

But even before Hara could completely wipe Youngji's tears, Youngji's face already turned into a scowl after catching a glimpse of Jackson entering the bleachers' section, along with his friends.

Youngji slowly clenched her fists as she watched Jackson Wang and his group occupy the front row. In her head, she was already chopping him into pieces using a chainsaw. Jackson, on the other hand, knew that Youngji was seated behind him. And he was tempted to look at her... but his mind said no.

Just in time, their PE instructor walked in, "Everyone in the bleachers, get down here!" he called out, to which the students quickly heeded to. As Jackson stood up, he took the chance to glance at Youngji, and saw that she still seemed to be in a bad mood.

"You know, just staring at her won't solve anything," Jackson heard Youngjae spoke.

"I know," he sighed.

"All the ladies, here in front!" the instructor called out again.

Youngji gulped; now she has to walk past Jackson just to go in front, unless she turns right and walks the other way around.

"Ji, let's go," Hara held Youngji by the arm even before she could do her plan. And it seemed like Hara was pulling her towards the direction of Jackson.

"Hara, not here," Youngji whispered.

"Why? Because of Jackson Wang?" Hara creased her forehead, "Ji, you're not the one who should feel bad or embarrassed! It's his fault!" Hara remarked, before holding Youngji tighter and walking towards Jackson's direction.

And every step seemed difficult for Youngji.

"Don't look at him," she whispered to herself as they were about to walk past Jackson. Youngji lowered her head and closed her eyes shut as she walked.

"Hey."

Youngji and Hara turned to look, and saw Jackson already holding onto Youngji's arm.

Jackson took a deep breath, "Hey, um..." he was already at lost for words.

Youngji wore a dumbfounded look as she watched Jackson Wang get tongue-tied with either guilt or nervousness. Was he going to apologize?

"I..." Jackson averted his eyes from Youngji, "I..."

"You what?" Youngji asked.

"I... need my bag," Jackson smiled nervously, which definitely irritated Youngji. Jackson Wang was only thinking of himself, she thought to herself. So, with an annoyed face, Youngji angrily dropped his bag on the floor.

"There! Have your bag!" she seethed before walking away.

Jackson couldn't help but slap his forehead because of what he did. It seemed like he only made everything worse.

-

"We'll be doing long distance runs for today," their PE instructor explained while the students were arranging themselves in lines, "All of you must run around the whole track and field oval, while I time you. I'll be keeping a record of your speed."

Youngji let out a deep breath after hearing their instructor. She just heard things; it became hard for her to listen attentively mainly because of her pent-up anger with Jackson. Also, she was still feeling lightheaded at that time, and adding to it was the thought of Jackson standing just right behind her.

"We'll do this with six students at a time!" the instructor added.

Jackson still had his thoughts about apologizing to Youngji. He was taking quick glances at her who was only a few inches away from him, while waiting for the opportunity to talk to her.

"I need six volunteers to go first!"

"Me!" Youngji quickly raised her hand after hearing the instructor call out.

"Okay, Miss Heo. Who else?" the instructor roamed with his eyes among the students.

Jackson watched Youngji as she went to the starting line of the field, and thought that it was his chance to talk to her. He quickly ran towards the instructor, "Mr. Yoon, I'll go first too."

"Sure, Mr. Wang," Mr. Yoon nodded, "Go to the starting line," he added before turning to look at the other students, "I need four more people!"

Jackson could already feel his heart beating faster as he approached Youngji. She had a straight face on, and he knew he was the cause of it.

"Hey," he called out.

Youngji turned to look... but then she quickly averted her eyes away from him as if she heard nothing.

"Are you still mad at me?" Jackson asked as he stood beside her in the starting line.

"What do you think?" Youngji pursed her lips in annoyance, and answered without even looking at him.

Jackson rubbed his chin; he has no idea about the proper way of apologizing since he had never done such thing before. Admitting mistakes was too difficult for him.

"Youngji," he spoke softly. It was also his first time calling her by her first name.

"What?" Youngji responded with an irritated voice.

"I--"

"...Miss Lee will be the sixth! Okay, everyone! Get ready to run!" Mr. Yoon exclaimed, interrupting Jackson's chance. Poor Jackson had no choice but to go back to his line, and hope that he would still have the chance to talk to her after they run. He knew it; he should have spoken immediately. He couldn't help but take a quick look at Youngji again: she looked unaffected by everything, though her breathing seemed faster than usual.

Jackson creased his forehead, "Is she okay?"

"Ready!" Mr. Yoon called out.

Jackson observed Youngji closely: she seemed like she was chasing her breath. Panting, to be exact. She was already panting even before she could start running.

"Get set!"

Youngji held her nape with a bothered look on her face.

"Go!"

The six of them started to run. Jackson was already leading, but as he ran, he couldn't help but think of Youngji, who didn't seem to be herself a few seconds ago. Was she just mad at him? Or was there something else bothering her?

Jackson kept running without looking back. He has to finish first so that he can quickly approach Youngji afterwards. He knew that if Youngji finishes first, she would leave immediately.

He was already a few meters away from the finish line, when...

"Youngji!"

"Someone help Heo Youngji!"

Loud screams were heard behind him. Jackson stopped, and quickly turned to look behind him. The other students were already running towards Youngji, who was already lying unconscious on the tracks.

"Youngji, what happened?!" Jackson heard Hara crying as she ran towards her friend.

Mr. Yoon was already trying to calm the students down; almost everyone was already panicking because of what happened to Youngji, "Someone call Doctor Kim! Or better yet, someone should bring Miss Heo to the infirmary!"

Jackson quickly ran back to where Youngji lied, and there were already some students who were trying to carry Youngji.

"Don't touch her!" Jackson scowled, "I'll be the one to bring her to the infirmary," he turned to look at Mr. Yoon, "Excuse us, sir," he bowed before carrying Youngji over his shoulder.

But Hara quickly blocked Jackson's way, "Put Youngji down!"

"Look, Goo Hara, she needs to see the school doctor. Now, will you please move out of the way?" Jackson furrowed his eyebrows before walking away.

Hara bit her lip in annoyance, "That's not the right way of carrying a lady!" she called out.

-

"Apparently, Miss Heo has low blood pressure," Doctor Kim, the school physician, spoke to Jackson, "It can be attributed to too much stress, or lack of sleep, or inadequate food."

Jackson let out a deep sigh before turning to look at Youngji, who was sleeping soundly in bed. He remembered, Youngji had said that she only had five hours of sleep. And also, she might have stressed herself too much because of the exams last week.

"Miss Heo should rest more, eat more, and stop abusing herself with stress," Doctor Kim smiled, "I need to see your PE instructor. Please watch over her while I'm away."

"Yes, ma'am."

Doctor Kim went out of the room, leaving Jackson and Youngji alone in the infirmary. Jackson went and took a seat on the edge of the bed, just beside Youngji.

"Heo Youngji, stop being a nuisance," Jackson creased his forehead, "You made me worry too much!"

Well, of course, Youngji didn't respond. She was still asleep, looking peaceful and at ease.

"Heo Youngji," Jackson mumbled, before reaching his hand to hold hers, "Why don't you take good care of yourself more?" he said before caressing her hand. Jackson had to admit, he had genuine concern for Youngji after seeing her faint in the middle of the tracks. And he never had such feeling for another person before, aside from his parents.

A few more minutes passed, and Jackson noticed her fingers move. He quickly pulled his hand away from Youngji, "Are--are you awake?" he asked.

"Huh? Mom?" Youngji muttered, before slowly getting up and sitting up straight, "Wait, where am I?"

"You're in the infirmary," Jackson spoke as he watched Youngji rub her eyes and look around. He was secretly hoping that she didn't hear the things he said a few minutes ago.

"What? Why am I here?" Youngji creased her forehead, "And why are you here?"

"You should be thanking me for bringing you here!" Jackson retorted, "You fainted during PE class!" he furrowed his eyebrows, trying to act cool and unaffected.

Youngji lowered her head, feeling a bit embarrassed about what happened, "I'm--I'm sorry."

Jackson's eyes widened, "No! You shouldn't be the one saying that. I should be the one to... to apologize," he spoke calmly, with an apologetic look on his face.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry for being a jerk to you this morning," Jackson sighed, "I didn't mean those words, I swear."

"You're kidding, right?" Youngji tilted her head in confusion; it was her first time seeing Jackson Wang looking so humble and kind.

"N--no! It's true; I don't mean the words I told you this morning. You're not 'nothing special'," Jackson pursed his lips, "Um, I think you're really cute."

Youngji gulped; she was already doubting if she was already awake or not. She could still remember that before PE class started, she promised herself not to forgive Jackson Wang. But it seemed that she had to break her own promise, especially with how Jackson apologized to her. Youngji averted her eyes, purposely avoiding eye contact with him.

"Hey, you're not saying anything?" Jackson lowered his head to catch Youngji's sight, but she only averted her eyes towards the other side. Jackson furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, "Hey, Heo Youngji, I made an effort to say sorry. Why can't you give me a proper response, like a 'thank you' at least," he quickly cupped Youngji's face with his hands to make her face him.

Youngji felt her heart skip a beat with Jackson's sudden gesture. His face was too close, his hands were preventing her from moving away. Much worse, he was looking straight at her.

"I'm waiting," Jackson said.

"Um," Youngji gulped, "Thanks..."

"You're welcome," Jackson smirked before planting a kiss on her forehead.

Youngji's eyes widened with what Jackson did. And that moment was enough to make her scream internally with horror. Too much horror. Youngji stayed stiffly in her position, her mind was already blank, her limbs and arms were already feeling numb.

A few seconds had passed before the kiss ended. Jackson seemed calmer than before, "Please take good care of yourself, peasant," he said softly, which was enough to send chills all over Youngji, who had a stupefied look on her face. And yes, she was still doubting if she was already awake or not.

Just in time, Doctor Kim came back, "Mr. Wang? Miss Heo?" she called out as she opened the door.

Jackson quickly removed his hands from Youngji's face even before the doctor could see the two of them. Doctor Kim greeted them with a smile, "Hello, Miss Heo. Are you feeling better now?"

Youngji nodded with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Are you sure?" Doctor Kim was puzzled.

Jackson quickly stood up, "Ah, Doctor Kim, I should be going now," he smiled before walking towards the door.

"Thanks, Mr. Wang," Doctor Kim smiled back as she watched Jackson walk out of the door. She then turned to look at Youngji, "Now, Miss Heo, how are you feeling?"

Youngji was staring blankly into space and it was obvious that her thoughts were stuck somewhere.

"Am I already awake?"

___

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Hello guys, I'm really sorry if the fourth chapter took pretty long to be posted here. Anyways, I am really thankful for the 80+ subs after two days; I still couldn't believe that lots of people would enjoy and ship Jackji this much. ♥ And I was also surprised by the number of upvotes this fic has been receiving! Thanks to So-eunly, diahwn_, asdfghjklovexo, sakulette, niksama, Kat2601, and kimraewoo! To everyone who still keeps on reading, commenting, and upvoting this fic: thank you very much and saranghae! ♥ I'm looking forward to know whatyou guys think of the fourth chapter. Happy reading~