{ chapter t h r e e }

“YOU JUST RUINED MY CAREER, YOU IDIOT!” Jackson had been shouting at Youngji inside STORM’s company van. The two of them were sitting side by side while Mark was in front of them. If anyone told Youngji that there will come a day that she would be sitting inside her favorite rap duo’s band, she would have called them nuts. At the moment though, she wasn’t so sure.

“Well, YOU JUST TOOK MY FIRST KISS, ERT!” She screamed back. On normal circumstances, she would be on her best behavior and just quietly gush because of Mark, but there was nothing normal in her life anymore since thirty minutes ago– when she and STORM’s Jackson Wang accidentally kissed.

Jackson turned to her, obviously irritated. His jaw was hanging low in disbelief at her words. “ME?! So it’s my fault, now?! Who was the stupid girl who blocked my way?! WAS IT ME?!” He exclaimed. “Damn it!”

Youngji bit her lip in lack of a comeback. She does admit that it was her fault. If only she listened to what the two were saying earlier, she would have figured out that they were already bidding goodbye to the fans. She wouldn’t have insisted on using the back door as a means of escape and she wouldn’t have collided with Jackson. Besides, all Jackson did was try to save her and she ended up dragging him. However, everything was already said and done. Even she was afraid of what’s going to come next. Between the two of them, Jackson had a lot more to lose because of what happened. Not only that, even Mark will surely be affected since he was the other half of STORM.

She heaved a deep breath before speaking. “I’m sorry, Jackson-ssi,” she apologized. Jackson turned his head to face her, quietly looking at her in the eyes. She quickly bowed her head. “I admit it’s my fault.” She then moved to face Mark who was only observing them intently. “Mark-ssi, I’m sorry to you, too. I swear I didn’t plan on any of this happening.”

“As long as you know,” Jackson brashly responded before going back to his own bubble.

The van turned dead silent after Jackson’s words. She was fuming but she didn’t have the guts to face either of the two. No one spoke as they continued to breeze through the streets of Gangnam– driving around in hopes to lose the media following them. Suddenly, her ringtone blared and the screen registered her mother’s number. Her eyes instantly widened upon seeing it.

She gingerly swiped the Answer button before quietly speaking. “Yeoboseyo, omma?”

“HEO YOUNGJI! Where do you think you are at this time of the night?! We’re all so worried!” Her mother’s voice blasted from the phone. She embarrassedly looked at Mark who was smiling at her and at Jackson who was still turned away from her.

“Omma, I’ll be home soon. Didn’t Hara unnie tell you?” She baited. To be honest, she doesn’t know what Hara told her mother, and she’s afraid that she’ll jeopardize the two of them if she furthered her lie.

Her mother huffed on the other line. “Hara told me that you’re in your classmate’s house! You didn’t even call me to let me know!”

“I’m sorry, omma! Promise, I’ll just finish this and I’ll be home soon.”

“Arasso. Take care, Youngji-yah, see you later.” Her mother last said before ending the call.

Youngji loudly exclaimed after the call, momentarily forgetting who she was with. Mark harrumphed and her eyes widened when she realized that she was with Mark Tuan– her all-time ultimate bias– in one car and she was acting like a lunatic! She instantaneously bowed her head to apologize, but she ended up bumping her head to the seat in front of her. Jackson huffed next to her before whispering “idiot” under his breath.

She only shot him a dirty look before turning her attention back to Mark. This Jackson Wang, aish! I was right to not make him my bias! He’s annoying and cocky! I already apologized and he was still being a huge ?! Bastard!

“Uhm, I’m sorry but I don’t think you’ve mentioned your name yet?” Mark good-naturedly asked her with a small smile. “We’ve been here in the van for almost thirty minutes already and we still don’t know your name.”

“Ah, mianhaeyo! I’m Heo Youngji!” She introduced before bowing.

Mark nodded slowly. “Youngji-ssi, I’m Mark Tuan.” He stated before sending her another smile. If only circumstances were different, she was sure that she would have combusted to flames already because of her bias’ godly smile.

“By the way, are you hurt somewhere?” He questioned again. “You seem to wince whenever you put weight on your right hip.”

“A–ah, it’s nothing!” She denied. “Just… something happened earlier so it got like this. You don’t need to worry about it!”

“Idiot, why would Mark worry about you.” Jackson’s sharp tongue chastised as he glared at her. “If anything, we should first worry about our careers!”

“Jackson.” Mark flatly called out. The younger boy only huffed once more before pushing his burly frame to the farthest he could from Youngji; sulking quietly by himself.

Mark turned to their manager who was seated on the passenger seat. “Hyung, can we take Youngji-ssi first to the hospital before we go straight to the company?” He asked. It seemed like the manager wanted to deny his request– his phone line was already burning with calls not only from the media but also from the great Park Jinyoung himself– but he relented. “Drive to the nearest hospital,” he instructed the driver before going back to his phone.

“Omo, Mark-ssi, please– I– there’s really no need to–” Youngji began but Mark waved her off. “It’s okay, Youngji-ssi. We haven’t even began our war and you’re already wounded?” He chuckled. “Rest first. We’ll get to the hospital soon.” He last said before adjusting his position on his own seat.

Youngji inaudibly sighed to herself. She was being a huge burden not only to STORM, but also to their staff. She knocked herself on the head. “Heo Youngji, you’re an idiot,” she whispered under her breath.

To her surprise, Jackson spoke once more. “As long as you know.”