2 weeks ago – Friday

It was midnight when Mark and BamBam left the newlyweds home. That night they were playing poker and Jackson was pissed. He lost all of his money to Mark, his bracelet to Bam and his favorite snapback to Youngji.  They divided the winnings right in front of him, just so they can irk him further off.

“You’re upset” Youngji smirked at him as they closed the door after the two thugs, that Jackson could not believe he until now called brothers.

“No I’m not”  

“You really can’t lie, you know?”

“I can to.” “I gave you a compliment, pabo! But you seriously should never play poker again. You can’t lie even if your life depended on it…”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you can’t keep eye contact, you begin to sweat and stutter. You bite the inside of your lips. I thought you do that when you’re angry, but then BamBam told me that you do that when you are nervous.”

Jackson was now properly angry “What?! So you did gang up on me!”

“Come on, don’t be mad” she said while locking her arm under his and giving a very cute and convincing puss in boots impersonation.   Hmm, that is not going to work on me, Youngji…Ahh who am I kidding? I can’t stay mad at her when she has that look in her eyes. But suddenly there was a glint of mischief in her eyes as she added “besides the hat looks waaaay better on me anyway.” The little fox winked at him and then went to kitchen to clean up.

“Yah!” Jackson followed with full intention to start another fight, but Youngji suddenly turned around to him and with a serious face asked: “Why does not Mark smile more?” Jackson was still in a bickering mood and wanted to tell her that that’s not any of her business but something in her voice stopped him. A concerned tone in the question maybe?

“Why do you ask?”

“It’s just…” she looked at her hands and played with her fingers. She was nervous how to phrase the question  “…he is always cautious and cold with people, like he distrusts them, but with you – JYP family, he’s the nicest person ever…Why the duality?” She didn’t look at Jackson, she was afraid that the question somehow offended him.  An awkward silence descended between them, as Jackson thought of what to say.

“He smiles and talks a lot with people that he feels comfortable with, that he trusts and likes them.  You do know you are one of them right? “

“I know. I know…I just… If it is a secret, you don’t have to tell me…”

Jackson was quiet for a while looking at her as she resume cleaning. “Ok, you are a friend of ours, I’ll tell you. It’ seems fair. You know about our family, right? I mean the fact, that us kids are-“

“Adopted?” Youngji interrupted, now giving him her full attention “Yeah, it’s common knowledge.”

“Well our circumstances are quite different. BamBam was an orphan, I still have living family - my brother Henry in Canada and Mark he… he…” Jacksons voice started to crack, so Youngji hold his hand trying to encourage him. It felt natural and Jackson felt comforted by her touch, so he looked at her and smiled gratefully. Then he continued:  “Mark was in the foster system for a while and...his foster parents were…horrible people. They-“

“No, I don’t need to know anything more. Not from you. He should tell me, if he wants to.” Youngji interrupted. Jackson nodded in agreement.

“I see now… It is interesting doe...”

“What is?”

“You know that in our family there are 3 daughters, right?” Jackson nodded again and looked interested at what she is trying to say.

“Well, Gyuri unnie and I are biological children, but Hara unnie is adopted.  She also had a similar experience, but she did not react like Mark - keeping people at a distance.”

“Really? How did she react then?”

“Violently” after hearing her response Jackson raised his eyebrows.

Youngji continued: “when she came to our home she was also very distrusting, she swore like a sailor, got in fights on daily basis… A real troublemaker. But once she realized we mean no harm and that we really love her, she reveled herself to be the sweetest person ever. There is just one problem… She became very protective of us. She said that she already lost one loving family, she will not allow that to happen again.”

“That’s kind of funny. Mark has the same attitude.”

“Yeah, but trust me – Hara in on a whole another level.”

“How so?”

“Well for instance: when I was in high school there was a class bully that kept teasing me and grabbing my and stuff like that…” Jackson clenched his fist. The guy did what?! “… I was horrified to go to school so I confided in Hara unnie. She said she will help me. The next day she was expelled from our high school. She broke his jaw and both of his arms.” Jackson nodded, he would do the sa