sorryb4e made this poster and I'm so incredibly touched that someone would take the time to make content for my story, just because they were inspired to. Thank you so much :)
 

“Why is your shirt off?”
 

“It sticks to the salve,” Jackson says, jeans low on his hips, skin glistening with the medication that he had rubbed on his scars to make them disappear.

Shira had applied hers before she transformed into her identity of Sonha. They have at least eight hours before Taehyung would join them for dinner, so she sits at her desk, legs crossed and looking away from Jackson’s marred skin. She doesn’t like seeing it. She can see her own skin, but seeing his is painful.

Jackson picks up a slice of pizza, cramming it into his mouth as he watches Shira pick at her own slice. “Nervous?”

She shrugs. “We’ve taken all precautions. We’ve gone over all the scenarios. We’ll be safe.”

Despite her own reassuring words, she feels herself going through the motions. It’s not like she’s nervous or frantic about him coming over, even though she should be. No, she’s only going through all the precautions because she’s supposed to.

Jackson takes her mind off the situation in a way that only Jackson can. They’re laughing and playing Mario Kart, betting on slices of pizza, and wrestling each other for the controller—mainly because Jackson kept trying to cheat.
 

Taehyung knocks on Sonha’s door, a little nervous. Or maybe a lot nervous. He combs his messily parted hair with his fingers, shifting from one foot to the other. Sonha opens the door, and she’s smiling, and it smells amazing—

And Jackson comes up from behind her, waving, and something doesn’t seem right.

Taehyung knew it would be awkward to have dinner with Jackson, but he didn’t expect to feel that awkwardness immediately. But he smiles anyway, tugging at the collar of his shirt and slipping off his shoes. “Am I late?”

“Nope.” Jackson’s wearing a short-sleeve shirt, and he notices Taehyung’s eyes on his scars. He smiles uneasily, trying to adjust the shirt to cover up more of his skin.

“Sorry,” Taehyung murmurs under his breath to Jackson as they sit down at the table.

“It’s fine.”

Sonha turns around with a pot in her hands, setting it on the table and uncovering the japchae before putting it on their plates.

“Why do you never cook for me?”

“Because you’re annoying,” Sonha answers with a flick of her wrist toward Jackson, and Taehyung grins. He regrets ever calling her obedient when they first started working together, because she is anything but obedient.

Even with the slight tension in the room, the three of them eat, swapping stories about their lives and staying very, very far away from the topic of gangs. Jackson tells this story about being chased by Americans on the streets of Seoul years ago, or so he had thought, that leave the three of them in stitches. It feels almost comfortable, and then there’s a frantic knocking at the door.

Jackson frowns, putting down his chopsticks. He unlocks the door, only to be pushed in by Mark, saying, “We need to talk, now.”

Mark then freezes at the setting, and no one says anything for a few seconds. Sonha breaks the tension by getting up and fetching another plate. “Have you eaten yet, Mark? Sit down.”

Sonha knows Mark? Does she know everyone in GOT7? Does she think Mark is just Jackson’s friend?

Mark’s eyes flicker from Jackson, to Sonha, to Taehyung, and then he slowly sits down at the round dining table between Jackson and Taehyung. He serves himself.

The mood at the table is different now, and Jackson tries to bring it back with another funny story about how Sonha accidentally nearly killed his ex-girlfriend by running her over while learning how to drive, to which Sonha protests saying, “She wasn’t obeying traffic signals and was jaywalking!”

“Please, she was after your money anyway,” Mark rolls his eyes, clicking his chopsticks. “She cheated on you.”

“She what?”

Mark takes another bite of his noodles. “Saw proof of it myself.”

“With who?”

Mark’s face suddenly pales. “I’m not sure you want to know.”

“He might not.” Sonha leans forward, “But I sure do. I knew there was a reason I disliked her.” Jackson just nods.

“Lau Henry.”

Jackson freezes. Sonha blinks, chewing. Taehyung stills. And suddenly, they’re at the topic that they’ve trying to avoid all evening. Gangs. Taehyung wouldn’t have known the name himself if Big Bang didn’t cover the opposing gangs before the extraction mission from the ion ring.

“Was he someone from work?” Sonha asks innocently, chewing at her noodles.

“Yeah.” Jackson snaps back to reality, pushing his noodles around.

“I’m going to throw a brick at him if I ever meet him,” She says cheerfully, making Jackson and Mark choke on their noodles and Taehyung bites back a smile. Sonha throwing a brick at a gang member? That was an amusing thought.

Jackson steers the conversation away from anything gang-related, much to Taehyung’s relief. He could do with an evening away, and despite being in such an awkward situation, he’s doing it for Sonha’s sake. The room still carries some tension, but when Taehyung puts down his chopsticks and Sonha tips back a glass of water, Mark looks more antsy than ever.

“Mark, take as long as you want.”

Mark pushes his plate away, having eaten very little. “I’m fine. Do you need help with the dishes?”

Sonha waves him away. “You two go talk outside.”

Jackson shoots Sonha a look that Taehyung can’t decipher before walking out. Mark closes the door behind them.

Taehyung gets up, taking the plate from in front of her and putting it in the sink before lathering up a sponge. “Do you usually eat dinner with Jackson like this?”

“Not really,” she hums, putting the leftovers into the fridge. “Sometimes he’s busy and has a lot of work, but he tries to come over as much as possible.”

Jackson isn’t just her cousin. To her, it seems like he’s an older brother. Jackson is protective, and clearly doesn’t want her in the gang world.

“Hey.” He leans forward, a little closer to her face. “Didn’t you used to have a mark right here?” He points at her cheek.

“Didn’t think you would notice.” She picks up a second sponge. “Jackson got me some makeup that I wanted to try out on my skin. It’s pretty sensitive, so I only try it out on one spot at a time.”

“You don’t need it.” The words slip out of his mouth and he clamps his mouth shut, and he knows there’s pink spreading across his cheeks. “Not that you shouldn’t wear it if it makes you feel good! I think you look good normally—”

Sonha just laughs. “You flirt.”

“Do you dislike it?” Taehyung cheekily grins at her response.

She scrunches up her nose cutely. “What do you think?”

“I think,” Taehyung takes a pile of bubbles in his hands, “that you need a bath.” He wipes the bubbles on her shirt, making her open in shock. But then they’re running around the kitchen, trying to get dish soap bubbles on each other and they’re laughing and he corners her, covered with dish soap to his elbows and she leans up and kisses him, smiling against his lips and it’s amazing because this is the happiest he's seen her in weeks and—

The door opens, and the two of them yank apart from each other. Sonha turns a little red, muttering an excuse but not wiping the bubbles off her face. “I’ll be back. I need to change.”

Taehyung takes a little satisfaction in the fact that half her shirt is wet.

“Sit.” Jackson’s command come off as a little rude, but Taehyung pulls out a chair at the dining table and