Waking up, I grasp at the empty side of my bed and realize that I am back home in Michigan and Jackson is back in South Korea. I close my eyes again, hoping that a year has gone by already, when a blinding pain shoots through my neck. I brush the side of my neck gently and feel my pulse throb beneath my touch, and walk over to the mirror on the back of my bedroom door. Looking in the mirror, I notice a small reddish- purple bruise, like the skin of a plum, on my neck. Looking closer, I notice 2 pinprick holes inside of it. My breath catches in my throat. I’ve never seen anything like it before. “Am I imagining things?” I ask myself. “It’s probably just a spider bite. Stupid spiders.” I stare for what seems like hours, at my reflection in the mirror, when the silence is interrupted by the shrill ringing of my phone. The name on the caller ID brings a smile to my face. I forget everything as I answer with gusto. “Hey!!!” Jackson laughs at my upbeat voice.“Hello beautiful. Sorry I can’t talk for very long. It has been so crazy since I got back to Seoul. Our comeback is coming up soon, and we are going to be so busy, it might be hard to talk very often. I wanted to sneak away to call you and let you know what was going on and to hear your sweet voice for a little bit before I have to go.” Even though I am a little sad, I still can’t help but smile inside at how sweet he is. “How did you become so absolutely adorable?” I ask him. Jackson laughs sweetly. “Rice. I eat lots and lots of rice. That’s what makes me so amazing.”I try so hard not to drop the phone as I fall back on the bed, laughing. “Are you always going to use that excuse? If that’s the case, then why hasn’t rice done me any good so far?” “Well, I guess you just don’t have the magic touch, Y/N.” I smile for the 1,000th time since the start of the conversation. “I love you, Jackson. You know that, right? Ha. I don’t know what I would do without you to make me laugh. I miss you.” “I love you and miss you too. As you know, that’s what I’m here for. Jackson at your service; on- call 24/7.” For a while we let the silence do the talking; even just hearing each other’s breathing brings happiness to us both. I can’t help but stare at the promise ring as I lay on the bed; the sun catching the light off of the blue, glimmering like the ocean and bouncing off of my mirror. That’s when I am reminded about the odd bruise on my neck that I shrugged off as a spider bite. “Oh, hey, Jackson! I almost forgot to tell you! Something REALLY weird happened to me today. Babe? Babe?” I say as he doesn’t answer me right away. “Oh, sorry, I fell asleep. What is it you wanted to tell me, sweetheart?” He mumbles in a husky, sleep- filled voice. “Oh, that’s okay. I can tell you another time. It’s nothing Important. Go ahead and sleep, handsome. I love you.” I make a kissing sound over the phone. “I love you too, beautiful. I promise I will call you again when I get the chance. Stay on the phone with me until I fall back asleep?” Jack