Chapter Two:

‘Isn’t that Jimin and Jackson?’  

‘Where are they going?’

‘Why are they leaving together?’

‘Oh my god, they must be close to each other’

All kinds of fans’ speculations arose when witnessing Jimin and Jackson departed JYPE building simultaneously. Upon hearing those comments, Jimin bowed slightly. She gave out friendly smiles before swiftly made her way through the crowd; leaving Jackson behind.

“Hey, wait up girl!” Jackson shouted as he tried to keep up with the girl ahead of him. A girl in vivid neon clothes who stormed her way through the footpath like a tornado was out to get her.

Jimin widened her steps more when she heard Jackson’s loud but husky voice. Being such an obedient girl she was, she chose to ignore his call and kept on marching towards her dorm.

“Yah! Your house isn’t going to disappear, you know! So slow down, will you?” Jackson whined but lengthened his strides.

They soon arrived at the building where Jimin’s dorm was situated. He roughly grabbed a hold onto her arm as they headed to the elevator.

“Geez, woman!” Jackson blew out some air once they boarded.

Jimin was taken aback as she felt his warm touch on her arm. She could feel her face blushing red and her heart skipped a tiny beat. Jimin took a deep inhale to lessen the effects he had on her. She took a small glance at him before attempted to free her arm but only led to Jackson’s much stronger grip.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, puzzled by her reactions.

“Nothing.” Jimin replied. “I just don’t want your fans to misunderstand or have wrong ideas from seeing us leaving the building together.” She let out a little sigh while making heart-rending remarks.

Jackson stood still and gradually loosened his grasp on Jimin’s petite arm upon having heard her solid reason. He gazed deeply into Jimin’s big and gorgeous, hazel brown eyes. Jimin could feel the apologetic look in his eyes as their eyes locked for a little while. Even without words being spoken, she completely understood what he wanted to say.

A puff of cold air gusted in the elevator as they arrived on the 10^th floor where 15&’s dorm was. Jimin led the soul-less Jackson out of the lift and dragged him to the entrance of her house. She entered the passcode and briskly pulled Jackson inside.

Now that they were standing in the middle of the living room, Jimin let her guard down. She was in her own home after all. Therefore, there was no need to be so cautious of her surroundings. As she noticed that the muted ‘Wang Jackson’ had returned, she reached her arm out as she interlocked her fingers with his. She gave it a light squeeze, wanting to comfort him.

“Jackson Oppa,” she called out. Jimin took a long inhale before she carried on, “in the public opinion, even if to say we’re just friends or simply label-mates,” she paused while looking into his eyes. “Since you’re a guy and I’m a girl, not everyone is going to be very understanding about our friendships and like it. Especially, when you’re considered ‘their’ guy too. It’s just the way it is. Some people just don’t think a platonic relationship between a boy and a girl is possible.” Jimin expressed her thoughts.

What Jimin said was partially right, Jackson frowned. He knew that some fans of his could be a bit, actually maybe more than a bit, possessive, obsess and overprotective of him regarding girl issues and what not. But this was Jimin, who he contemplated as one of his best friends and a little sister he cherished. He was aware that Jimin must have been getting some nasty comments over the past years regarding her close relationship with him. But seriously, if he couldn’t even hang out or show affections toward his friends then what else was he supposed to do?

Jackson unconsciously stretched his arm out and placed it on her shoulder out of habits. He pulled her closer.

“What’s wrong with us walking out together?” He was no longer in the mood to joke around. Jackson faced her while asked solemnly. “We are not doing anything wrong. Why should you avoid being seen with me in public? Why should you be getting hate comments when I’m the one to blame, if anything.”

Seeing the boy in front of her stressing out and totally out of his usual bright character, Jimin’s heart became a little heavy.

Jimin took the lad into a comforting hug. “You’re an idol, and you just have to keep remembering that.” She said in a repose tone to lighten up the mood. “The fans love you so much that’s why. I’m a girl so anti-fans are inevitable. It’s pretty normal. I can deal with it so you don’t need to worry about me.” She patted him on the back as if he was a little child. Jimin consoled him and loosened up the tension. “I’m not a weak soul! I’m the Park Jimin, you know.” She claimed and giggled at her own words.

“Yeah, that, I know.” he replied with a much lighter heart.

Jackson noticed how suddenly his body became relaxed. His head felt much clearer and free within a short period of time. Her cuddle was like a ‘warm cup of tea’ that could heal and ease any sort of troubles away. Unknowingly, he was grinning crazily stupid upon her gesture. Jackson returned to his bubbly self and hastily wrapped both his arms around her tiny waist, wiggled from side to side and shaking her around as he enriched her with his embrace.

“Hey! I can’t breathe!” she protested. “Yah~” Jimin yelped in struggle as her face was buried deep into his masculine chest. Her heart was pounding like the bass line in EDM music. She sincerely hoped that he wouldn’t be able to catch on.

Jackson was finally at ease enough now to recall their conversation earlier and realized, “Hey! HEY!” he mimicked her. “Did you just call me ‘Jackson oppa’? ” In delight, Jackson squeezed her in even more before releasing. Knowing this girl, she hardly ever addressed him as ‘oppa’ because she was more comfortable with calling him by his name. Therefore, for her to utter out the word ‘Jackson’ and ‘oppa’ all in one sentence was something that only occurred like once in a full moon. And that was definitely the Jimin’s way of consoling him.

“You’re so adorable, Jimin, Jimin, Jimin. My~ Jimin!” Jackson hummed in glee. He couldn’t help but pinched her cheeks lovingly and her smooth hair that he liked before ruffling it into a ball of mess.

Honestly, Jackson will go all giddy and turned into such an idiot whenever Jimin decided to call him an oppa, this pabo!

Jimin rolled her eyes; she smirked and shook her head. “The adorable part, I would gladly accept. But I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t turn my hair into a bird nest.” She continued. “And if the damn creatures mistaken my hair for a nest and laid their eggs, I’m so going to use my ‘Muay-Thai’ skills on you.” She threatened. “I’ll show you a jab that will send you to a Pluto in less than a light-year.” She ogled.

Jackson played along and acted threaten with what he thought was a super cute yet sassy, cheeky ultimatum she made. Indeed, truly Park Jimin style.

“Anyway, sorry for the mess.” Jimin apologized. “Yerin is back in Daejeon at the moment to visit her aunt. And I have been a little busy lately so I don’t have much time to clean up.”

“All good.” Jackson smiled and walked towards the L-shape brown leather couch.

“I’m gonna go have a quick shower and get myself out of these yucky clothes that smell of sweat.” Jimin sniffed her top, scrunched up her nose and shrugged her shoulders to exaggerate her statement.

“Help yourself to some food and drink in the kitchen. My laptop is on the desk in my room if you want to use it. You know where everything is. Same old, same old so make yourself at home.” Jimin briefed him before headed to the bathroom.

“Okay, be right back!”

“Aye-aye. Roger that.” Jackson teasingly saluted.

The sound of water running could be heard as Jimin was having a shower. Jackson couldn’t recall when his last visit to 15&’s dorm was. He used to drop by every now and then to visit both girls but mostly Jimin. Jackson reminisced back to the days where he would visit with whatever she craved in hands.

Nowadays, he couldn’t really afford to act so carelessly. Just like how Jimin mentioned before, a close friendship between a girl and a guy wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to understand for most people. They were in the world of idols where all eyes were on them. Every move they made will never go unnoticed by the public.

Jackson let out a little sigh. Being an idol surely wasn’t so easy. It definitely required a certain level of sacrifice. Nonetheless, being a part of Got7 was what he cherished the most, despite all the hardships he had to endure. He would be so lost without s and all the wonderful people he had a chance to get to know and meet ever since joining JYPE. 

Jackson and Jimin became good friends right away, as they both were more comfortable conversing in English. On top of that, they also shared similar personalities and preferences. Most people in the company referred to them as the ‘Two bodies, one soul’ duo. There was never a dull moment with these two around.

*bzzzzz..bzzzzzz*

*bzzzzz..bzzzzzz*

A sound of phone buzzing and vibrating on the kitchen table becoming more and more violent had brought Jackson back to reality from his wanderlust thoughts. He stood up and strolled his way towards the source of the noise. Suddenly, the sound of water running halted, implying Jimin probably had finished with her shower. He was about to answer the call for her but didn’t want to intrude her privacy. Jackson looked at the caller ID to see who it was. After he saw the name of the caller, Jackson picked up Jimin’s phone and was on his way to inform her of the call.

“Yo, Jimin.” He yelled out as he positioned himself in front of the bathroom.

“What’s up?” her voice echoed.

“Eric hyung is calling. Your phone has been buzzing like crazy for a little while now. Do you want me to answer it?” He pressed his cheeks against the wall beside the bathroom door while waiting for her answer.

“I’m nearly done. Hang on.” Jimin replied. The phone was still buzzing and vibrating. There was no sign of it stopping anytime soon. Jimin thought that it could be something serious. Because normally Eric would just text message her through a chat application and that was it. He was one that barely texted, let alone to make a phone call.

Jimin had no time to fully dress herself. So she quickly wrapped a towel around herself instead. She was going to just peek her arm out to receive her phone from Jackson. That was her only intention.

“I’ll answer it myself, Jackson.” Jimin unlocked the door and reached her slim arm through a little slit she opened.

At the moment that Jackson was about to successfully pass on the phone into Jimin’s palm, her hand slipped. Jackson strived to save the phone from crashing hard into the wooden floor and ended its life; his fingers accidentally slide onto the video chat mode instead.

Jimin was startled as she felt her phone slipping through her grasp.

She popped out of the bathroom in her towel with wide eyes attempting to catch it. Jimin sighed in relief with the realization that Jackson fortunately rescued her phone from kissing the hard ground. Without knowing, she was grinning eye-to-eye with Jackson in reassurance. Both of them soon registered that they were in an awkward position, where Jackson was reaching his arms into the bathroom and Jimin was lengthening her arms out. It appeared as if the two were cuddling each other.

Their bodies were so close together that they could hear each other’s heartbeats pounding away. Jimin slowly remembered that she wasn’t dress appropriately. Her face felt like it was on fire out of embarrassment. While Jackson on the other hand was struggling hard trying to ignore Jimin’s white, silky and smooth skin she unintentionally exposed. His gaze landed on her collarbone before tracing his way down to her slight revelation of cleavage.  His heart thumped as if he just ran for miles. His adrenaline pumped up to its maximum. The fragrance of her sweet shampoo from her long hair lingered in the air. Jackson felt like his whole body was burning. He alternatively took a long inhale to calm down and blinked his eyes a few times to collect himself up and snapped out of it.

During this little mishap they just had. They almost neglected the caller on the other end who was just in for a full-horror of what he was witnessing from his little screen.

“YAHHH~ WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU GUYS ARE DOING?” a loud 4D’s effect scold filled with anger and shock pierced through the phone’s speaker along with Eric’s face that was at least a shade of crimson.

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING ALONE TOGETHER IN THE DORM?” Fuming by what he saw, Eric was cursing on every single thing he could possibly think of. All kinds of swear words were flooding out from his mouth non-stop like no tomorrow.

“Jackson, YOU! Stop staring and walk away from my sister. RIGHT NOW!” Eric directed his anger towards Jackson as he pointed his index finger into the screen. His lips were shaking, his pupils dilated with rage.

Jackson obediently fled the scene and headed for the living room, far, far away from this scary, spine-chilling, Eric hyung that he had never come across before.

“And you, young lady!” Eric hissed in a petrifying tone. “You go and get yourself dressed. I’m coming over in 20 minutes.” He ordered. “You kids better have a good explanation for this.” He paused to catch his breath before pursued, “and also for that non-sense article that said you two were seen leaving from the hotel together.”

Eric delayed, “For all we know, Jimin. You were hanging out with Kevin, Amber and I on that night until at least 4am before we dropped you home. It couldn’t possibly be you with Jackson. Unless, you possess some kind of supernatural power we are unaware of.” His rant went on and on. “For goodness sake! What are you guys trying to fabricate?” Eric commented in full annoyance.

Jimin was speechless at this point. Her face was blank as was her mind. She was still shocked by the incident and her close contact with Jackson. Her jaws remained dropped and wide opened. She couldn’t seem to pick her sanity up and utter anything out. At that moment speaking really was out of the equation.

Seeing Jimin still stupefied, Eric didn’t want to rebuke her further.

“Anyway, you can close your mouth now.” His voice calmed down slightly. “I know what I saw earlier probably was an accident, right?”

Jimin nodded her head in agreement like a bobble head figure Eric bought her.

As Eric was gradually returning to his normal self, a calm and composed person that he was. He deepened his inhales and exhales to cool off his annoyance.

“Actually, what I’m really interested in and my reason for calling you in the first place was about that news that made no sense what so ever.” He mentioned. “Okay, so see you in 20 minutes, Jimin-ah. Annyeong.” Eric waved to Jimin who was still in the soul-out-of-body experience. He ended the video call without waiting her reply.

Jimin came to her sense and ran into her room to get dressed before Eric got here. She yelled out to Jackson who migrated himself back to the living room per Eric’s demand.

“Jackson, Eric oppa is coming over in 20 minutes. Aish! How the hell did I become tangled up in this mess of yours?” Jimin shook her head and sighed tiringly. “Now, it seems like I won’t be the only one you owed an explanation to about what went on with you and Youngji unnie that night.” Jimin remarked.

Jackson mumbled something back right away but she wasn’t in the mood to listen right now. Jimin headed back into her bedroom to blow dry her hair and tidy up her outfits before Eric arrived.

Oh dear, here comes her super (times infinity) overprotective ‘older brother’ from another mother, Eric oppa.

A/N: Hello my lovely readers!

I’m back with another chapter. Thank you to everyone who subscribed my story. I was seriously going to make this chapter shorter but somehow it ended up being about 10x A4 pages long again haha I hope you guys don’t mind such a long chapter update. I know all of you are curious about the whole Jackson and Youngji situation but Jackson will give out his explanation in the next chapter (promise!) Oh, and here’s a glimpse of Eric Nam for all the ErMin lovers out there. Happy reading, do upvote and subscribe. Lastly, leave some comments to let me know what you think! Until next time.. bye guys

xx mwah!