Jackson got off work pretty early, his roommate Mark asked him what's wrong because of his frowning face, but he just didn't feel like telling him at that moment. So he decided to go back out. He entered a convenience store nearby searching for his favorite chocolate bar, but he couldn't find any. So he decided to ask the cashier if there's one somewhere hiding in the store. Sadly, they were all sold out and that made Jackson's day even more depressing.

 

Jackson walked a couple of what seemed like miles but in reality, 3 blocks that took him to the small park close by, Kids running in the playground, people walking their dogs here and there, one bench two benches three benches fou- CHOCOLATE BAR! , he started walking fast he almost ran from excitement. He stopped in front of a man sitting on a bench eating that chocolate bar.

 

" can I have it? " Jackson asked, but snatched the chocolate bar right from him before even hearing an answer. And sat next to the surprised man. The man couldn't really say anything but just kept staring at him. Jackson started munching and ranting about him getting fired and how his boss is going to regret firing him. suddenly, he bursts sobbing because he really loved his job and got mad again wiping his tears aggressively causing his eyes to turn even redder than they already are. All he got was a pat on the back and a chocolate bar he rudely took from the man sitting next to him.

 

Jackson finally decided to shut up, more like actually done with his ranting and left without saying anything else to the man that was listening to his uninteresting story.

Jackson got back to his apartment and finally told Mark about him getting fired, but this time he was a bit calmer, it might've surprised Mark a little not seeing him getting worked up as he's telling the story, but Mark was too distracted processing what Jackson just told him. He never expected Jackson getting fired, his roommate started asking stupid questions like " why did he do that ?" " how dare he ?". Jackson didn't really know why too because he didn't get an answer when he asked his boss about it.

 

Jackson’s day ended with him getting drunk and sleeping on the couch soundly. Unfortunately, his morning wasn’t as good. Waking up vomiting all of last night’s worries into the toilet isn’t making anything better. He took the longest morning shower and wore his most comfortable sweats and a tank top. Making coffee felt just right at that moment, but he didn’t wanna enjoy his coffee in his apartment that reminded him of yesterday’s events. He walked outside after wearing his snapback, sipping out of his hot cup of coffee heading to the park. He sat on the bench from yesterday, looking up at the clear sky he sighs.

 

“Oh, hey there “ A man startles Jackson and sits beside him, He looks at him and realizes it’s the man from yesterday, Jackson quickly gets up

 

“ ah aaa, I’m really sorry for what I did yesterday, I was out of line “ He bows.

 

The man smiles at him “ it’s okay, you actually made me forget that I was having a bad day, and please have a seat “ He pats the empty space next to him, Jackson sat down and offered the man a handshake that was accepted and introduced himself.

 

“ nice to meet you Wang-ssi, name’s Park Jinyoung “

 

“ call me Jackson “

 

Jinyoung nodded, Jackson took a sip of his coffee and looked at the sky mouthing Jinyoung’s name and looked back at him.

 

“ so do you live here in this neighborhood? “

 

“actually, no. But I love coming here because I grew up in this neighborhood “

 

"Ohh, that's nice "

 

" and you obviously live here ..! "

 

" yep "

 

He took another sip out of his drink, and looked at Jinyoung again but then looked down to look at his cup of coffee. People might call the silence awkward, but between them, it was oddly comfortable as strangers, and they're not complaining. Jinyoung spoke up :

 

" I wish the weather stays like this forever if it’s possible "

 

" and I wish I can get over this hangover to enjoy it as much as you do "

 

"well, I’m hungover too, and still enjoying it "

 

" wait .. You said I made you forget that you were having a bad day, was that it? "

 

" yeaah... "

 

" tell me about it "

 

" someone broke into my apartment yesterday, and they stole my collection of watches, the problem is, one of them was a gift from my mom. The police are still investigating, but I don't really believe that they will be able to catch the thief "

 

" Damn man, this is really bad! Don’t lose hope, I think they're going to catch the thief "

 

" I want to believe that too "

 

“Hey, it’s going to be alright, don’t worry about it “

 

Jinyoung nodded and tapped Jackson’s lap for reassuring him and offering sympathy. He got up fixing the collar of his shirt and brushing off the dust on his pants.

 

“ well then, Jackson. I should get going now, take care of yourself “

 

Jackson stood up, eyes glued to the man walking away, he bows, and Jinyoung looks back at him and waves. Jackson thought of that “ take care of yourself “ a bit and suddenly shouted :

 

“ see you around! “

 

Jinyoung stopped in his tracks to look at him and smiled, shouting back with “ yeah ! you too !“. Jackson loved making new friends, and the man seemed pretty interesting is what Jackson thought while heading back to his apartment. As soon as Jackson entered the apartment, Mark got a hold of Jackson and told him to look for a new job, cause he is not willing to pay the rent on his own. Jackson started surfing the internet searching for a job suitable for his taste when it’s not the time to look for something like that . 2 hours have passed and he could not find a job good enough for him, he got sick of searching and decided he’ll just call it a day.

 

On the next day, Jackson woke up to a complaining Mark.

 

“I don’t want to see your sleepy face in the morning, get out and find a job already “

 

“ the ? shut up and get to work already, you’re so annoying “

 

Jackson lays back down burying his head in his pillow, but then an image of Jinyoung appears in his head. He gets up immediately and pulls mark before he enters the bathroom and claims it as his own.

 

“ you ! I was gonna first, get out !! “ Mark screamed banging on the door, Jackson

finished his business and got up to wear something. As soon as he finished, he got out running to the park. He notices Jinyoung from a distance, he slows his pace just to look like he wasn’t really running but his heavy breathing might expose him if he doesn’t control it.

 

“ Jinyoung !! “ he waves. Jinyoung waves back at him. He walks towards him and sits by his side on their bench.

 

“ looks like you just woke up “ Jinyoung smiles.

 

“Aaah, I guess I failed at hiding it “ He smiles back while rubbing his eyes.

 

“ I got something you would like instead of the coffee that you forgot “

 

Jinyoung takes a chocolate bar out of his pocket and hands it to Jackson, Jackson was shocked that he almost asked him how did he know about him liking this chocolate bar, but remembered the other day , so he just thanked him, squeezed Jinyoung’s hand a bit to show sincerity, he wasn’t trying to look creepy though . He took a bite of it carefully enjoying it.

 

“I’d like to apologize again for that day “

 

“ don’t mention it “ He shushed Jackson with two fingers almost touching his lips

 

“ Hey ! at least let me explain why I did that back then “

 

“Okay, okay “

 

“ once upon a time in my life... “

 

Jinyoung chuckled at how he started off telling the story, but Jackson didn’t really appreciate it.

 

“Hey, don’t laugh. it’s not funny “

 

“ sorry “ Jinyoung apologized, almost laughing again at how serious Jackson looked, It didn’t really suit him, he thought.

 

“ I was crying under that slide when I was a kid, then a mysterious kid suddenly approached me, he offered me the same Chocolate bar as this one, and he told me that everything is going to be okay if I ate it. Ever since then, I’ve been eating them whenever I felt down “

 

Jinyoung grabbed Jackson’s shoulder, it startled him. Jinyoung kept staring at Jackson’s face. Jackson felt embarrassed and asked him if there's chocolate on his face or something, and Jinyoung finally opened his mouth to speak :

 

“ oh my god, that's you !! the slide kiddo! “

 

“w-what? slide kiddo? “

 

“ That mysterious kid of yours is me “

 

“wait, what? “

 

“I’m just as shocked as you are !! what kind of coincidence is this “

 

“ oh my god wait .. oh my god “

 

They both try not to freak out as they’re staring at each other with shock in their eyes, Jackson takes a bite of the chocolate bar, Jinyoung holds Jackson’s hand and takes a bite of the chocolate bar too.

 

“ can we stop this staring contest, please “

 

“ alright “

 

Jackson slowly looks at the rest of the chocolate bar, he munches down the whole thing in his mouth and then takes a stand, he looks at the playground and sits back down. Both of them took quite some time trying to keep up with what’s happening in their brains.

 

“ I somehow feel happy that we’re not complete strangers, and maybe we’re connected in some kinda way “

 

“Yeah, I feel the same way too “

 

“ I need to leave, I’ve got a lot on my mind “ Jackson sighed heavily and left without looking back, Jinyoung didn’t really think that was weird of him because he felt like he needed sometime at that moment too.

 

Since that day, they both felt like they had to hang out even more and they already did . 2 weeks have passed, and they still met in the same park. They got used to each other rather quickly. Jinyoung knocks on Jackson’s apartment door, he gets in after Mark welcomed him. He sees Jackson rushing out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, Jinyoung giggles, and sits down on the sofa waiting for Jackson. Jackson took longer than usual to dress up, he gets out of his room and looks at Jinyoung waiting for his approval, and Jinyoung gets up immediately to try and hide his laugh.

 

“ you’re a mess, come here “ Jinyoung walks towards Jackson and looks down holding onto his tie to fix it.

 

“Okay, stop laughing, I’m nervous! “ Jackson rolls his eyes, Jinyoung nods and fixes a baby hair that's sticking out, and actually starts fixing Jackson’s tie. Jackson looks at his tie and then lifts his gaze to Jinyoung, he suddenly wished that Jinyoung is untying his necktie instead of tying it. That was certainly a bad thought that provoked his mind.

 

Jinyoung grabs Jackson’s shoulder “ good luck with the interview “

 

“ I hope I don’t up “

 

“ stop doubting yourself, you won't “

 

“Okay, let’s go “

 

Jinyoung escorts Jackson to the subway station and wishes him good luck once more cause he needs it.They both wave at each other and as soon as the train’s doors shut, Jinyoung receives a phone call, he answers it, and it’s the police. Informing him about the incident that occurred 2 weeks ago . His face lights up he searches for Jackson , but the train had already left the station. He ran trying to catch up and failed for sure. Jackson seated himself and kept replaying Jinyoung’s encouraging words in his head.

Jinyoung thought he’ll just call Jackson to tell him about the good news he heard, but he realized that they never exchanged numbers! He went to his house, and they still didn’t exchange numbers, they found each other easily that they forgot about it. Jinyoung sighed and left to pick his watches from the police station, and waited at their usual spot for Jackson to return afterward.

 

An hour has passed and Jinyoung dozed off on the bench still waiting. Jackson struts his way back home, he passes by the small park and suddenly stops to turn around to see Jinyoung sitting there. He walks towards him and notices that he’s sleeping. Jackson was about to Jinyoung’s head but he tapped his shoulder instead.

 

“yo, Jinyoung! “

 

Jinyoung flinches looking up at Jackson, He gets up quickly but falls back down on the bench because he bumped into the standing Jackson. Jackson smiled “ what are you doing ? “ and sat next to him. Jinyoung looks at Jackson, He raises his arm to show off his recently reclaimed watch.

 

“Owwh, sick watch! “

 

Jinyoung rolls his eyes, “ I got my watches back, you idiot “ Jackson got up looking excited, he jumps here and there squealing but suddenly stopped “ look I told you not to lose hope “ Jinyoung tries not to smile and holds Jackson’s arm pulling him down forcefully making him sit.

 

“so, how did it go? “ Jinyoung stared at Jackson with interest in his eyes, Jackson cleared his throat and averted his eyes, when he looked back, Jinyoung still had the same expression.

 

“ it went really well, but can you stop looking at me like that? “

 

“what, why? “

 

“ I’ve had enough now, stop smiling, you’re killing me “

 

Jackson gets up from the bench, walking away. Jinyoung follows him immediately “ whats wrong ? “ Jinyoung grabbed Jackson by the hand putting him at a halt, Jackson looks at him “ you’re just making me feel weird things in here “ he placed Jinyoung’s hand on his chest. Jinyoung covered his mouth and took a step back. Many questions running through his mind, they were left unanswered. What could possibly Jackson mean by saying that ? could he be feeling the same way too? Jinyoung would certainly never let this chance slip out of his hands. Jackson leaned in to land on Jinyoung’s lips. Jinyoung, was hesitant at first but slowly leaned back in and returned the kiss. Jackson pulled away and stared for a second before kissing Jinyoung again, The kiss was rugged, not slow. But also not unpleasant. Jinyoung stopped him after a couple of seconds because he’s falling harder than ever.

 

“ oh my god, Jackson “ He looks down, somehow trying to cover his red face “ I’m feeling uncomfortable out here “

 

Jackson’s eyes widen as he squeals from excitement and grabs Jinyoung’s hand, running to his apartment. They get to the apartment and they’re already all over each other, now Mark’s mission is to disturb them. And he did.

 

“ get out, mark “ Jackson screams at him.

 

“no, stop this and explain what’s going on “ Mark leans on the wall arching his brow.

 

“ you clearly can see what’s going on “

 

Jinyoung gets off Jackson’s lap “ it’s fine, I’m leaving I was planning on stopping you at some point anyway “

 

“ what ?! “ Jackson gets up following Jinyoung to the door, Jinyoung holds the doorknob and looks at Jackson “ I’m not an easy bait as you might think I am “ He flicks Jackson’s nose lightly grinning at him. Jackson grabbed Jinyoung’s chin, kissed him and bit his lip to erase that nasty smile on Jinyoung’s face. He pushes Jinyoung outside “ go home, “ Jackson slams the door. Jinyoung covers his mouth laughing and leaves.

 

 

 

And once again, they forgot to exchange numbers.