Aeri was nervous.

She looked at the growing pile of paperwork on her desk and then glanced at the time on her computer screen. It was still early in the day, but the stack was starting to look mighty scary. Working for Arirang had been her dream for years, and when it finally came true, she was hell bent on proving every single day that she belonged there. Even if it meant working overtime or running random errands for her superiors, even taking on the unfinished piles of work that her co-workers left behind. 

Her colleagues were impressed. Even by the standards of Korean work ethic, Aeri was especially intense. In no time at all, she had learned all the ropes and became a valued member of the team. But being known as the hardest worker in the room also had its downfalls.

Lazy sunbae co-workers looking to take advantage of a hoobae’s position and goodwill, for example, was one of those downfalls. 

They used to be much nicer about it. They used to come prepared with elaborate excuses as to why they couldn’t finish their own work. Nowadays, they’d dump it on her desk as soon as she walked in with a curt “By six o’clock, please” and then they’d check out like seniors finishing their final exams.

That was where the current pile of paperwork on her desk came from. Folders and folders of unfinished paperwork and transcripts that needed translating and documents that needed proofing and storyboards that needed archiving. 

Aeri leaned back in her chair for a minute and stared at the giant pile. She began crunching numbers in her head, about how long it would take her to complete each task and then trying to figure out about what time she’d be free to run to the nearest grocery store. 

At the thought of grocery shopping, she looked over to the photographs on her desk. There were three: one of her family, including her dog, Brooklyn; one of her with her friends; and one with Jackson.

A smile spread across her face, as it always did when she thought about him. 

They met at a particularly awkward taping of After School Club. Aeri had just arrived at Arirang, and her high energy and buoyant personality got the directors thinking about letting her MC an episode. They were looking for new hosts, anyway. GOT7 happened to be the guinea pigs that day, the guests Aeri would have to practice her MC skills on. She’d hidden her love for the group from her managers, hoping it’d make her seem less like a fangirl and more like a serious job candidate. 

The episode was a disaster full of technological difficulties and awkward fan encounters online. The only good thing that came out of the ordeal was that Jackson had later approached her. 

“You’re new, right?” he asked. At that point, Aeri was already half-dead from the terrible recording session and suddenly being confronted by Jackson Wang of GOT7 was not doing wonders for her state of mind at that moment. So all she could say in response was:

“My new right?” 

Jackson had looked confused. Aeri then realized her mistake.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I’m new. I’m Aeri. I’m so sorry about the episode, it was so awkward. Partially my fault, but—”

“No,” Jackson said. “Actually, I just came over to say ‘good job’. I mean, yeah, it was awkward as hell, but I could tell you were trying. Hard.”

Their conversation and their friendship evolved from that point. In fact, Aeri was a bit surprised at how quick and easy it was to become friends with Jackson, and then she was surprised at quick and easy it was for that friendship to turn into something more. But then, again, she also wasn’t surprised at all: Jackson was nothing if not 100% genuine. He had never been anything but his true self around Aeri, and he never expected anything from her but her true self, too. All it took was a bit of honesty, and the rest just followed.

Aeri’s phone suddenly began vibrating. She woke up from her brief stupor, and she looked over at her device. It was a video call. From Jackson.

“What the?” she whispered. She accepted the call, but she hunched over on the desk and tried to cover the phone with her palm.

“Hey, baby!” Jackson said on the video call. 

Oh, he’s so cute, Aeri thought, but her face remained expressionless.

“Jackson, I said no video calls at work,” Aeri whispered. She scrambled to find a pair of earphones. “I’m not supposed to take personal calls.”

“Relax,” he said. He tipped the phone downwards to let Aeri see his outfit and then he spun around to show her where he was. A red brick backdrop, some props and potted plants, lighting and a man with a camera. A photoshoot.

“I’m at work, too,” he said. “A men’s magazine, working with this really great photographer. I think he’s sort new, but knows his stuff. Look what I’m wearing. Nice, right?”

Now that he pointed it out, Aeri looked over his outfit and had to stop herself from laughing.

“What are you wearing?” she asked, pretending to cough to cover up the fit of giggles that threatened. Jackson pouted and then scanned his outfit with his phone again. He was wearing a brown flannel with patches of denim over the shoulders; the ed front showed off a thin shirt that was nearly the same color as his skin; and the top portion of his outfit was tucked into a pair stiff, tight-fitting denim trousers with ripped knees. Completing the ensemble was a pair of cowboy boots, complete with attached spurs. 

“Wait for it!” Jackson said. From behind his back, he produced a stiff, white cowboy hat and put it on his head. His gigantic smile showed off his white teeth, and he let out a squeal of delight. “It’s Wild West themed! I’m a cowboy!”

“Your shirt is practically the same color as your skin,” Aeri said. “It looks like they cut random shapes out of a pair of jeans and stuck them onto your body!”

“That’s called fashion, babe,” Jackson said, tipping his cowboy hat. “I’m an idol, I need to stay ahead of the curve. This is fashion from the future.”

“It looks like an outfit someone made for John Wayne, and then they got fired for even suggesting it to him,” Aeri said. 

Jackson narrowed his eyes and from behind his back, he produced a riding crop and his playful expression suddenly turned seductive. “If you don’t like it now, I’ll make you like it later,” he said, flicking the tip of the riding crop at the camera. Aeri face-palmed. Whatever Jackson did next, she didn’t see, but she suddenly heard him yell “YEE-HAW!” on the video call. 

The sound of his shouting over the phone caught the attention of her co-worker. Aeri grabbed her phone and ducked out of her cubicle and to the nearest restroom. Once inside, she looked at her phone screen again, and Jackson was still smiling at the camera. 

“Woah, change in scenery,” he said.

“You have to hang up now,” Aeri said. “I seriously am not supposed to be taking personal calls—,”

“Ok, ok,” he said, pouting again. “I just miss you, that’s all.”

Aeri’s heart softened. “Me, too,” she said. She thought again about how much time there would be left between finishing up work and getting to Jackson’s dorm, and whether it would be enough for her to run to the grocery store and buy the ingredients she needed for the surprise she had planned.

“Oh, but, uh,” Jackson said, suddenly turning serious. “I actually did call with a serious reason. I know you said to be home by seven, but, um… it’s not my fault, but my manager actually scheduled something for me really last minute, and this photo shoot—,”

“What?” Aeri asked, concerned. “Well, how long are we talking about here?”

“Not long,” Jackson said. “Maybe another hour? But not one second more, I promise.”

“An hour?” Aeri processed this information in her head. It was perfect. She had at least another hour to prepare. “That’s fine! I’ll find some other way to be busy, you take your time.”

Jackson raised his brows. “Really?” he asked. “You’re being oddly amenable today.”

“That’s a big word,” Aeri said, laughing. The conversation was cut short when a co-worker walked into the restroom, and Aeri suddenly became conscious that if this new plan was going to happen, she needed to get back to work right now. So after saying goodbye to her boyfriend, she hung up and ran back to her desk. When she got back to her seat, she gasped, seeing that the pile on her desk had grown since she took Jackson’s video call.

It was getting late. Jackson was trying his best to keep smiling and following the photographer’s directions as best he could, but he was distracted by the clock on the far wall of the studio. It’s digital face was showing the numbers 6:44 PM, and the photography team was showing no signs of slowing down. 

“Okay, now turn a little bit the right, we want a side shot,” the photographer called out. Jackson half-heartedly followed his directions only to have his posture corrected at least four more times, the photographer never quite convinced that his feet were in the correct position for the best shot. If he kept this up, Jackson thought, he may not make it in time.

It was Valentine’s Day and he’d planned something special for his girl. Aeri was always cooking for him. It just made sense since her schedule was more regular than his. She consistently clocked out of work at six in the evening and went to his dorm or invited him over to his place so he could have dinner whenever his schedule finished. But today of all days, he wanted to do something different. For a change, he wanted to be the one behind their romantic dinner. 

“Mmm. It’s still not right,” the photographer said, frowning at the preview on his camera. “But never mind. Jackson, you alright? You mind changing into the next outfit?”

“Uh,” Jackson said, staring at the clock. Normally, photoshoots were no big deal. He’d done his fair share of them, he was used to the process. But this one was becoming particularly tedious.

At least he’d had the chance to video call Aeri earlier. He wished the his breaks were a bit longer, so maybe he could annoy her a bit more. She was always adamant about her “no video calls at work” rule, but he could never help himself and she was too nice not to indulge him. 

It had become a bit problematic, actually. Yes, they wanted to spend as much time as they could together but his responsibilities to GOT7 and her work at Arirang TV often kept them separated. But that was why he was so anxious about today. His manager had promised him some time at the end of the day to spend with Aeri. Jackson had gone to the trouble of even threatening to quit if he wasn’t allowed to see her.

He thought about her an awful lot during this photoshoot. He imagined Aeri dressed as a cowgirl and posing in front of the camera next to him. He would probably grab the lasso prop and pretend to be trying to lasso her and pull her towards him, and she would look annoyed and amused and cute all at once. 

Or maybe they’d dress her in something more feminine, to offset the masculinity of his cowboy persona. He imagined her dressed as a Southern belle. She would be either extremely into the idea or adamantly opposed to it. 

He wondered what she was doing now. He hoped she didn’t get off work early and was stuck waiting for him at the dorms. Though he supposed she never objected to spending some time with his team. They always treated her well. 

Still. She was his girl. He wanted to be the one to treat her well. 

“Just a couple more shots,” the photographer said. Jackson smiled to keep from frowning, and the clock on the wall continued to count down the seconds. 

As soon as the photo shoot was over and he was finally off the hook, Jackson ran out of the building. It was almost 9 o’clock, and he hadn’t even taken the time to change out of his cowboy outfit when he got to his manager’s car. 

“Hyung, can I borrow this?” he asked, sticking his hand out and asking for the keys. His manager put up a bit of a fight at first, but in the end Jackson won him over. He slid into the driver’s side and took off as fast as he safely could. 

Aeri rushed out the double glass doors of the Arirang building and speed-walked over to the closest station. It was not too busy, which was encouraging, but a delay somewhere on the line made her wait a bit longer than usual for her train, and once she was on, the delay made the journey much slower. Finally making up her mind, Aeri hopped off the train about two stations away from where she usually got off to get to Jackson’s dorm. It would be quicker to walk.

Outside, the streets were full of couples, young and old, walking arm-in-arm to restaurants and movie theaters and parks and festivals. The tranquility of the scene was disturbed only by Jackson, who was honking his horn impatiently at the pile-up of cars that seemed to have no intention of moving.

“Come on! Come on!” Jackson shouted, writhing with frustration in the driver’s seat. He couldn’t tell what the hold up was about. All he knew was that he was inexcusably late to his Valentine’s date. Finally fed up with the traffic, he pulled into an empty parking spot at the side of the road. The dorm wasn’t far now. It might be faster if he just ran.

Taking care not to run into people, he used one hand to keep the very expensive cowboy hat on his head and used the other to text BamBam and make sure he’d remembered to take the chicken out of the freezer to defrost. 

Aeri was furiously scrolling through her phone as she dodged couples on the street. She knew the recipe for the dinner she had planned, but why couldn’t she remember if the recipe called for baking powder or baking soda? 

Did she remember to bring some with her? Would the GOT7 boys happen to have some in their cupboards? Should she run into a store right now and grab some? Should she text Jackson to let him know she was on her way and just had to stop by a—

No. Because then it’d ruin the surprise. Aeri looked down at the time on her phone. It was nearly nine. Ha. The surprise is probably ruined already anyway. Aeri knew there was a grocery store across the bridge coming up. She could go there to grab last minute provisions.

The two of them kept running down the sidewalk, each getting closer and closer to the river. After some time, they both came to a bridge. Aeri was crossing it to get to the grocery store while Jackson was crossing it to get to the dormitory. By the time they both arrived at this bridge, it was well into the 9 o’clock hour and the sky was dark. 

Aeri and Jackson pushed through the small crowd of people to cross the bridge even faster. Around them, irritated passersby wondered what these two were running for, some cowboy and this foreigner girl. Jackson kept his hand on his hat, jumped up to see over the crowd. It’d been a while since he’d been on this bridge on foot, he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to turn left or right after crossing. But as he jumped, he caught sight of Aeri, bundled up in an army green jacket and clutching a briefcase. 

The sight of her sent his heart into a frenzy. Was she just leaving the dorm? Did she get tired of waiting for him?

“Aeri!” he shouted.

At the sound of her name, Aeri looked up and saw the white cowboy hat first, and then Jackson’s face. She froze.

Oh no, she thought. Was she too late? 

Jackson was rushing towards her, so Aeri took a few tentative steps and met him at the center of the bridge. Jackson slowed down to catch his breath and Aeri fidgeted. 

“Why are you still dressed like a cowboy?” she asked.

“I am so damn sorry!” Jackson said when he finally caught his breath. “The photo shoot went really long, and there was an endless amount of outfit changes, and… Did you have to wait long?”

“Uh,” Aeri said, eyeing the grocery store behind him. “No, I was just…”

She sighed, deciding that it was far too late to prepare her surprise anyway. 

“I was just on my way from work,” Aeri said. “I ended up having to stay overtime, too, so much paperwork to do. They really are sort of helpless without me over there.”

“Oh,” Jackson said. “Well, did you forget where the dorm was?”

“Umm, well,” she said, and then started laughing. “Alright, well I guess it’s way too late for a huge dinner, anyway, and you’ve already found me. I was on my way to that grocery store right there.”

Jackson turned to look at the store she was talking about. 

“The store?” Jackson asked. “Did you need groceries for home? Don’t worry about it, I’ll get some for you.”

“Well, actually,” Aeri said. “I was… going to make you a special Valentine’s Day dinner. It’s Valentine’s Day, you know?”

“You were going to make me a romantic Valentine dinner?” Jackson asked, laughing. “I invited you over to the dorm because I was going to make you one.”

Jackson laughed again, amused at the idea. They were a couple, indeed. But a sudden ache in his neck made him stop laughing, reach behind with his hand, and rub against the pressure point until the pain subsided. Aeri looked concerned.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “How was work today?”

“It was fine,” Jackson said, smiling to make her worry less. “Photo shoots, you know. Lots of standing and posing in weird poses. It’ll be gone in the morning, I can sleep it off.”

Aeri smiled and sighed in relief. Jackson was a hard worker, but no matter what anyone told him, he was always convinced that he could have done better. She looked down at her watch and noticed the time again, and her heart sunk a little.

“It’s getting sort of late, Jackson,” she said. “What if we just did our Valentine’s Day thing tomorrow? We’ve both got an early morning tomorrow so--”

“Hell, no!” Jackson said. “Do you have any idea what I went through to convince management to let me have the end of today? I threatened to drop GOT7 and burn down JYP.”

Aeri scoffed. “As if,” she said. “You love GOT7, you’d never.”

“Yeah, but it’s the principle of the thing!” Jackson said. “We have to do this, I already put it in my iPhone calendar, it’s iPhone-calender-official!” 

Aeri laughed. 

“We never get to spend any time together anymore,” Jackson said, his voice getting softer. “You’re always working, and I’m always practicing or doing TV appearances and photo shoots, and when we do have time to spend together, we’re both worn out. I wanted today to be special because it’s Valentine’s Day.”

“Jackson,” Aeri said, sighing and shaking her head softly. “Valentine’s Day is just one day. Everyday with you is special. It’s fine, we can do this tomorrow or the day after. I know you love your job and you want to do it well. It’s late, if we do something now, we’ll only have like an hour together before you’ve got to go back and rest up for the next day.”

“Well,” Jackson said, thinking hard. “Then let’s use the hour wisely.”

Aeri blinked.

“An hour?” she asked. “What can we do in an hour? It takes that long to line up and get seated at any restaurant tonight.”

Jackson laughed and then pointed again at the grocery convenience across the bridge. “It only takes five minutes at Le Déppaneur.”

A normal girl would have been confused and dropped Jackson in a heartbeat if he was the boyfriend who suggested eating convenience store food on a bridge on Valentine’s Day. But Jackson was endlessly glad that his girl, Aeri, always understood his heart. With Jackson, it was the sincerity with which he did little things that made everyday with him special.

One hour was plenty for a couple like Aeri and Jackson. 

While they stood there on the bridge eating triangle kimbap and instant ramen with extra cheese, Jackson suddenly thought about an old folktale he once heard in school, about a lonely cowherd who fell in love with a celestial weaver maid. All year long, the lovers were separated by a vindictive mother and their celestial duties. But one night a year, the magpies formed a bridge across the sky to unite the young couple for a single night. 

He turned and looked at Aeri silently for a moment. She was in the middle of trying to bite through a stretchy thread of melted cheese, and the way she stuck her chin out to fight the cheese made him smile. 

One hour would be plenty to carry him through the next day. She would always be enough.

A/N: Originally written as a Valentine's Day gift for my Jackson-biased friend, Elane!