Mira and Jackson walked into a small convenience store next to the small hotel late at night. They were in desperate need for food and nothing else was open.

Jackson grabbed a basket and Mira trailed lazily behind him as they both tossed different things in the basket. She found herself looking at him more and more, it was strangely addicting to see him in this setting where he looked so warm. His hood was pulled over his head as he stared at shelves of chips, deciding what to buy.

He was handsome.

Ridiculously so.

She was more than aware of that and seeing him tower over her while picking up a pack of jerky had her analyzing his features. If it wasn't for his sometimes ty personality, she could see herself really having a thing for him. "Do you want anything?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I'll be back." She said before walking to an aisle and staring at the shelf.

She spent some time looking and picking some snacks until she caught movement in her peripheral. Mira looked up from the shelf and felt her heart stop when she saw Jackson standing on the other side. He stared at her with the same searing sharp look that had enticed her too many times before. She gulped before looking away and turning to go to the drinks.

Jackson frowned to himself and stared at bag in his hands. Extra cheese. He remembered she ordered extra cheese on her omelette.

"What am I doing?" He muttered to himself while putting the bag back. He didn't need to do her any favours. Shaking his head, he walked down the rows, aimlessly waiting for Mira to finish up until something caught his eyes.

Jackson looked up at the wall where a bulletin board was hung up with different flyers. He paused when he saw a couple of wanted and missing child posters mixed with other notices. He hadn't realized such a small town would still have so much crime.

"Reasoning is what differentiates us from animals but it doesn't mean our choices are any better."

Jackson looked over at Mira who was standing next to him while holding a bottle of soda, "The world is chaos, it always has been, we just notice it more the older we get. Even in small places like this."

"That's a little ed up, isn't it?" He said while staring at the unfamiliar faces scowling back at him.

He waited for her to spin a breathless string of beautiful words that were laced together with deep philosophical sentiments. Instead, he got something so more simple and raw.

"Yeah…yeah it is."

He looked over at her, a moment of surprise crossing over his features, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

He stared at her and the way her bangs curled over her eyes before aimlessly reaching out and brushing it out of her gaze. She jerked back and stared at him with wide eyes but he just cleared his throat before taking the soda from her.

"Let's go."

-----

"Hi there, how can I help you tonight?"

Jackson shifted behind Mira, with their duffle bags slung over their shoulders while holding the bag of snacks. The hotel was small and looked rather empty but it was the only one in the area that didn't involve them driving for hours.

"We'd like a room…for two." She said slowly, her voice faltering as the words came out of . It sounded a lot more scandalous saying it out loud to a stranger who knew nothing about them.

The boy behind the front desk, not older than 19, did not flinch and just typed into the computer, "Can I get your names?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith."

Silence filled the lobby as the boy lifted his head to stare Mira dead in the eye while she felt herself shrink in mortification.

"Right…" The boy typed their names in and pressed enter before handing them a key. "Have a nice stay…Smiths."

Mira's face burned red as she took the key from him and hurried away. "Smiths, huh? Smooth." Jackson snorted as he fell into step with her. "I personally would've personally gone with Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, but I'm not nearly as quick on my feet as you are."

"Stop." She hissed while shoving him aside but he laughed, relieved to see her finally looking a bit thrown off.

He slipped the key out of her hand when they reached their room and unlocked the door before staring at the interior.

He stared at the single bed and scratched the back of his neck, suddenly feeling his skin squeezing too tight around his body, " So…um…sleeping is uh…"

Her eyes glinted mischievously as she strode into the room, dropping the bag on the floor. "Just take one side of the bed and I'll take the other. Stop making this such a big deal. Have you really never slept in the same bed with a woman without having ? Are your intimacy issues that bad?"

"I'm the one with the intimacy issues?" He snorted as she took a seat on the corner of the bed. He closed the door and tossed his own bag aside before climbing on the bed and crossing his legs. "You're the one with her walls up so high that no one can see over it."

She just smiled to humour him and took the bag of snacks from him before opening a pack of candies. He snatched up a bag of his own before leaning his back against the pillows and opening the chips. "So, why aren't you spending the break  with your parents? Shouldn't join them on their sabbatical?"

"I like the peace of mind." She answered simply while shifting closer to him while unwrapping a piece of candy. "I love my parents but I'm so busy during the school year I like time to decompress. Plus, they're visiting relatives and I don't really get along with them."

She tilted her head and nudged her knee against his, "What about you?"

"Same more or less. Thought it would be a good time to get in some extra practice. I was going to visit her near the end of the break." He said while tossing a chip into his mouth.

"You want to go to compete in the Olympics one day?" She asked while moving right next to him.

He rolled his head over to look at her, "Maybe, but I doubt it. I haven't really been training hard enough for the Olympics. I kinda swim for fun and it's something I'm good at. That's why I'm minoring in Philosophy."

Her eyes widened, "No . I didn't know you were a minor. Is that why you were so smooth with the pickup line?"

"Nah." He said jokingly, "If you checked my phone, you would see all my searches for philosophical quotes about ."

She laughed and bit into another piece of candy, "I have to admit, you sold me with that line."

"Yeah?" He said with a light chuckle. "I'll keep that in mind."

It was like she could see him unwinding in front of her, "But if you use it on another girl I might get jealous."

"Can you imagine? What an honor, that I, humble Jackson Wang, could get the magnificent Kang Mira to feel jealous." He teased.

And that's how the night went.

"I swear Mrs. Kim hated me. She'd just glare at me in lecture and one time she read my essay out loud just to tear it to shreds."

"One time a TA asked me out and I had to pretend that I had a rule where I would only date the man I was going to marry just so I didn't have to reject him and fail me."

"There was this girl who literally stalked me for two months after we hooked up. She would come to all my classes and wait outside my residence building."

"I wrote an exam hungover and I aced it even though I don't remember writing any of it."

"I wrote an exam drenching wet and smelling like chlorine because I had to run from a competition to an exam."

"It's true, I kicked the kid in the balls but he ended up being kinda nice and nervous so I felt bad and drove him to the ER."

"I accidentally said the wrong girl's name in bed."

Mira gasped and shoved at Jackson's chest, their snacks long abandoned. 'You did not!"

"I felt so ing bad." He said while covering his face in embarrassment. "I think she pretended not to hear but she left my place so fast I knew she heard. I really felt like a piece of . She wouldn't make eye contact with me whenever we ran into each other."

Her head was pressed against his head while laughing so hard that tears were pricking in the back of her eyes. "Oh god. How could you?"

"I don't know!" The end of his sentence broke off into a laugh. "I don't even know what name I said. I was just really tired and out of it."

"You're awful." She said between laughs, her head stilled tucked into his shoulder.

He shook his head, "I swear I never made a mistake like that ever again. I even bought her coffee because I felt so bad but she told me she didn't want to see me again."

"It keeps getting worse!" She squealed.

He rolled his eyes jokingly as Mira pulled away from him. "At least you tried to make it up to her."

"Your optimism is astounding." He snorted before checking the time, "Oh . It's almost 3. I'm going to shower. We need to sleep."

She nodded and moved away as he stood up and winced while stretching his arms over his head. He pulled his phone out of his pocket