December 2015

As soon as they set foot on set, BamBam is already taking selfies and pictures, with everyone and of everything. Jackson bows respectfully to some SBS staff he has met when he filmed for Roommates, and then sends YuGeom to go seek their fellow Thai member.

He looks around but he doesn’t see her anywhere, so he takes his phone out and dials her number. But she yells as soon as she spots him, and when he turns around to see her, arms wide for a hug, he can’t help the idiotic smile tugging at his lips. She hikes up her hanbok and runs to him. He staggers a bit when she collides into his chest and he casually puts his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

 “Someone is super hyper at 3 a.m.”

“Caffeine. Lots and lots of it.” She answers, pointing to a nearby coffee machine.

When he finally checks her out, he erupts into laughter, hands clutching his stomach and all that. She taps her foot impatiently, rolling her eyes at how unprofessional he was being.

She’s filming a historical drama, playing a secondary role as the young king’s sister, which has earned her the nickname ‘the nation’s princess’ due to her good acting and ability to move hearts with her devastatingly heartbreaking story line. But still seeing her wearing Korea’s traditional garments with worn-out converse and very stylish and trendy earmuffs and gloves, is enough to make Jackson snap about 5 pictures of her, looking mildly annoyed, from different extreme angles.

“YAH! Are you laughing at Korean history and culture?” she accuses.

He makes a face at her and messes up her perfectly coiffed hair, but before she could erupt in a screaming fit, Heo YoungJi gests whisked far away to the side by a an unknown force. He tenses up for a second instinctively thinking that a crazy fan has crashed into the set and is attacking YoungJi, which was partially true, because now BamBam has an arm draped over her shoulders and he’s guiding both of them back to where Jackson and YuGeom were standing, walking weirdly and laughing at god knows what.

“Be careful of your nuna.” He says smacking BamBam’s head. “You don’t want to see her transform into YoungZilla.”

She hits his arm hard, and he pretends to wince and get hurt, because for some unknown (at least to him) reason he likes seeing her victorious smile.

They all laugh and tease each other, they talk about comebacks, rookie artists, and schedules however this blissful moment shared between friends is cut short when What’s His Face suddenly appears.

What’s his Face actually had a name and a reason to stand next to YoungJi.

According to newspapers ‘he’s the handsome rookie actor playing as the king’s guard that has a love line with the princess, aka kARA’s Heo YoungJi. Even though he’s one year younger than the idol, these two are known to have sizziling chemistry on cam and off cam, as we can see in the selcas they take together.’

He had seen these said selcas on the internet, and he thought any idiot with two eyes could see she’s uncomfortable and forcibly smiling in almost half of them. While he, on the other side, is way too close and touchy with her. But apparently fans don’t think so, because they are now naming them YoungJu.

Wang Jackson watches Lee SongJu closely. He’s sickeningly perfect that Jackson almost gags. Again according to newspapers he has ‘Perfectly tamed hair, perfectly tall and lean figure, perfectly warm and gentle eyes.’

“Nuna you did great on that last take.” He complements her.

“Thank you.” She says a bit taken back by his sudden appearance and then gestures to the three members of GOT7. “You must have heard of GOT7 right? Let me introduce you to them properly.”

Introductions were exchanged and everyone was greeted warmly by him, but when YuGeom finally persuades YoungJi to tell him about a few plot twists, Jackson can feel someone burning a hole through the side of his head. He turns and his eyes lock with the Korean actor that had been looking Jackson up and down. But when caught, the idiot goes and unexpectedly unties the strings on YoungJi Hanbok to retie them again, because “ YoungJi nuna you’re always clumsy with these.”

Everyone freezes due to the sudden action and looks at Jackson, except the preoccupied actor. BamBam pauses in the middle of taking a selfie, YuGeom looks on too, afraid as if his hyung might do something rash, but Jackson is biting the inside of his cheek to shut himself up, and the flat look on his face is directed only at SongJu.

He glances once at YoungJi. She is a bit flustered, but she holds his gaze intently. And he can’t read what she’s conveying. Her eyes are wide, and she looks at him as if she’s expecting something from him, but also pleading for him not to do a thing.except now the actor is leaning close to her neck, albeit to straighten her the back of collar, but from Jackson’s point of view it looks as if he’s about to kiss her neck, and before he knows it, Jackson’s stepping forward hand outstretched and he’s –

But YoungJi moves faster than him and puts a hand on his chest to stop him. “Jackson didn’t you say you wanted to see the horses we use for filming. Right? Let’s go then.” She drags him quickly by the arm before he could say anything back.

They walk in silence. YoungJi is expecting him to say something, but Jackson is silent, clearly pissed off. And then he stops and explodes at her.

“How can you let him do that to you?”

She’s surprised by how angry he is, and the fact that he’s directing it at her.“What?”

“You clearly look uncomfortable with him, but you won’t say a word to him. Like if you don’t want him to touch you just go to him and tell him to back the hell off.”

“You know I can’t do that Jackson. If I go up to him about it, he’ll say he looks at me as an older sister and he’ll be looking at me as if I’m the weird one for bringing it up and having my brains in a gutter, and then it will be awkward on set and I really hate that. And then we’ll have to -”

“But he’ a jerk who wants to get famous by using you. Your YoungJu fans are growing and everyone wants to know who is the lucky man you have such good chemistry with. Oh! But I’m sensing you like that huh? Getting all the attention from a handsome actor. Because YoungJi if that’s the case then I will gladly –“

“You’re an idiot Wang Jackson.” She says calmly, glaring at him.

He looks at her, how hurt and betrayed she looks, and immediately regrets what he has said in a fit of anger, but before he could apologize, she turns and walks away. He curses under his breath.

Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Lee SongJu heading to the toilets, and Jackson smirks slightly. At least she’ll thank me later on, he tells himself.

The public restroom is (fortunately) empty, but Jackson goes and unbuckles his pants, standing next to him. The actor looks at him a bit surprised, but does not say anything.

“You really shouldn’t get close to YoungJi like that in public, you know?” he advices him in a brotherly manner, breaking the silence.

“What? Oh. But I and YoungJi nuna are really close. You know like our personalities match so well. We can’t help but stay close to each other whenever we meet.” The kid says as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

Jackson almost laughs at him because their personalities were on each end of the spectrum really. “Ah. You know SongJae -”

“it’s SongJu.”

“Because I like you I’ll let you in on a little secret. Even YoungJi promised me not to say this, but you look like a good kid. And aish I really shouldn’t do this.”

But the tone with which Jackson is speaking is considerably low, and the naïve actor actually prompts the idol to spill the secret, leaning close to hear.

“Okay, okay.” Jackson resumes. “Do you know Choi JaeYoung?”

After a negative shake of the head, the Hong Kong idol continues. “Of course you wouldn’t. It happened this year or maybe before? That doesn’t matter. What matters right now is that no one knows him because no one was able to find him. See, he was a staff at DSP and during one of KARA’s fan sighing event, he was talking to YoungJi the most and then when they we all leaving he went to fetch her coat, and actually put it on her. It was absolutely normal right?” (An affirmative shake of the head). “DSP staffs are friends with their artists, besides he was taking care of her like an older brother would right?”

“Of course.”

“Well according to someone, he wasn’t. The next day the poor guy went missing.”

“What? Come on! Really though?” he says incredulous.

“Ah I am telling you a secret I had to swear not to spill and you’re questioning your hyung’s words.”

“Sorry, please continue.”

I could get an Oscar for this, he thinks. “the day after an anonymous letter arrives to Heo YoungJi telling her literary this : ‘you don’t need to worry about anyone getting near you in the future for I am you number one fan, and I will always look after you, dear Heo YoungJi.’ The police looked into it a little bit, but dropped the case when no evidence was found. Yeah Yeah YoungJi has a few of these crazy fans.”

A frozen Lee SongJu is looking at Jackson intensely. His eyes wide and mouth dropping, it’s a look of someone that has been caught by the bait.

“I was as afraid as you once, because you know me and YoungJi, right? But I think people don't really care about us anymore, because we’re really just friends, and that’s why I’m telling you this. I want you to be careful”

He finishes off the dramatic story with a sigh and a clap on the actor's back. “But don’t worry too much, a few days ago, I think someone recognized him. Apparently he’s selling tobacco on the streets. In Brazil.” 

Jackson sits far away on the side between GOT7’s two maknaes watching YoungJi acting out another scene. They’re waiting for her to finish so they could say good night and head to their dorm.

Half an hour later, they see her approaching and Jackson can’t help but smirking.

“Why is he smiling like that?” she asks, eyes narrowed and hands crossed over her chest.

“It’s really creepy right? He’s been like that ever since he got back from the restrooms. He wouldn’t say anything though.” YuGeom answers irritated.

The man in question stands up and ignores the looks the 3 pairs of eyes are giving him. “It’s getting late. Go on kids say your goodnight and let’s head home. Your leader has been texting me profanities for the past 10 minutes.”

After the exchange of ‘goodbyes’, ‘goodnight’ and ‘see you soon’, BamBam unsubtly drags YuGeom to the van, leaving them alone.YoungJi stands in front of Jackson preventing him from leaving.

“What did you do to the poor kid?” she asks annoyed, but clearly curious.

“I have no Idea what you’re talking about.” He tells her smiling and sideways her to continue walking.

But his best friend is Heo YoungJi and Heo YoungJi doesn’t take no for an answer.“Stop bluffing. What did you tell him? He’s been really nice and respectful towards me after filming ended and I think he’s avoiding me too.”

“I didn't do much really. He did 80% of the whole thing. He was much more naïve than I expected.”When she narrows her eyes, he laughs. “Just act a bit mysterious and change the subject whenever he bring up Choi JaeYoung.”

His laughter is contagious and YoungJi finds herself laughing too, shaking her pretty head in amazement. “You know what? I give up. I don’t even what to know what you did.”

When they stop laughing, a semi-awkward silence settles between them. They both get quiet. They look at each other, and smile warmly.

Jackson hears his name being called and he looks over to the van (BamBam is practically hanging from the window calling him back), and YoungJi holds his shoulder and tip toes, just so she can give him a fleeting clumsy kiss on the cheek.

His head turns so quick, and he thanks god his neck has not snapped. He looks at her dumbfounded. He can feel the heat rising in his body, and the place where she has kissed starts to tingle. He unconsciously looks at her lips and then her eyes and he can feel his ears burning red. But that doesn’t matter because her face actually looks like a tomato.

She backs away from him hands tugging at her ear nervously. “thank you for today Jackson. Really. For coming with your members and cheering me on to whatever you did with Lee SongJu.” She says sincerely, but he still hasn’t woken up from his dazed state.

“Good night Wang Jackson. See you around. Bye.” She rushes, waving franticly, and then running in the opposite direction. It takes Jackson a second to move and think, eyes blinking repeatedly.

He takes a seat in the back of the van, purposely behind YuGeom and BamBam. They both look at him in awe. But it’s BamBam who reacts first. “Jackson got a kiss. Jackson got a kiss from YoungJi. Jackson got a kiss from YoungJi in public.” a beat. “JB will kill Jackson.”

Jackson launches forward attacking BamBam’s neck. “Try telling JB what happened and I swear you’ll become a solo artist.”

But his Thai friend is unfazed by his empty threats, and now starts singing in a surprisingly good accent. “Jackson and YoungJi sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

Their manager is looking at him through the rearview mirror, slightly amused. “Can I ask what that was all about?”

“No. you don’t have to, because that was absolutely nothing.” He says annoyed. He childishly hits BamBam on the head once before taking his snapback and putting it on his face, acting as if he was about to go to sleep.

Now that his face is covered and his friends start talking about something that doesn’t involve him, he closes his eyes and a picture of her lips swiftly flash before him. He sighs helplessly, sensing his heart rate increasing rapidly.

It’s absolutely not nothing, he tells himself.