In-ah’s POV

“I will gladly prove you wrong…..” Jackson slowly brought his face to mine. Why couldn’t I stop him? Why were my hands and body not working? Just then my mind went blank. My body itself turned into a statue. I might as well die now. Here we are, with my idol’s lips against mine. I knew he wanted to help me get over my pain. Honestly, he was the first guy to ever want to help which filled me with a warm fuzzy feeling.

This kiss had a different feeling than my first one way back when. Back then the joy of the relationship only lasted a month, not very long lasting.

I could feel the sparks and passion blasting out. My heart was pounding so fast that it could jump out. Butterflies in my stomach were swarming around creating an indescribable emotion. Unknowingly, my arms worked on their own, wrapping around his wide muscular backs. I clutched the back of his shirt for stability. In a moment’s notice, soft muscular hands gripped my back and waist. He teased my lips open as I melted into his embrace. I could taste the aftermath of red wine and chocolate. As our kiss got deeper and physically closer, my senses picked up a swift of his aftershave. I tried gasping for air in between, but the kiss was tight as his embrace. The sparks of our kiss made me crave for more. Seriously what was wrong with me?

How long did the kiss last? I couldn’t even count time. It felt as if the whole world was on pause for us. We released ourselves from the overwhelming kiss as Jackson kept his face close to mine. He gave a small peck on tip of my nose. Somehow, I began to trust Jackson, believing his words of promise. His soft fingers caressed my tear stained cheek as my cheeks started to flush. My face was on fire because of him

“In-ah, wǒ xǐhuān nǐ.” Jackson said softly. “What does that mean?” I looked at him with a softened smile.

“It means, ‘I like you’ in Mandarin. I thought it would be more romantic, since you already know Korean.” He let out a small chuckle as he brought me closer. My arms encircled his broad shoulders as I rested my head on his chest. I could feel his heartbeat beating so fast. Was it because of me? The warmth of his body comforted me as we stood there hugging each other.

“Jackson, that was sweet, however give me some time to respond please. I don’t want to rush into this.” I felt his hand gently my hair. “Alright beautiful, at least now I know you will accept it soon.” I was back to facing him as a gentle kiss was placed on my forehead

“Come on, let’s get back upstairs, the members really want to hang out with you. They will kill me if they don’t get to talk to you.” We exited my place and walked upstairs hand in hand. I haven’t even officially said yes to his proposal, and yet I’m doing this.

“Noona there you are!” The younger ones gave me a hug as soon as we came back upstairs. No way were they finding out about the kiss. Even though given their maturity level, I knew the teasing would never end. It was best to keep it under wraps for now

We all started playing games while gobbling up on dinner. Between pauses I gave Jackson small, lighthearted smiles. It was only for us to see. However I caught peeks of Mark and Jin-young observing our interaction. Could they have figured it out?! Best not make any more sudden looks.

Once dinner was up, we all relaxed on the couch as conversations were passed around. It felt nice to hang out with them as friends than celebrities.

                                                *******

Jackson’s POV

After dinner, In-ah left for her place as she had to get up for work the next day.

“So Jackson, I didn’t want to ask this in front of In-ah because she would be embarrassed. How was the talk?" Jin-young asked curiously.  All the members focused their attention on me as they waited for an answer.

“W-Well….. Ummm…we...uhh talked. I apologized and she accepted my help taking care of her.” I was not about to tell them the sparkling passionate kiss we shared. Yes, they are mature enough and would support me. However, I knew they would tease me for years to come. Plus, I wanted to keep that feeling all to myself.

“Alright, but why were you guys sneaking flirtatious smiles during dinner?”  Mark-hyung was like a hawk watching over us, quick to observe. An unnoticeable shadow due to his quiet personality.

“What? Really? I didn’t see!” The younger members looked at me intent. Jae-beom’s mouth fell open. “What is going on?”

“We just talked, nothing happened. Also it was not flirtatious. She was smiling at me because of the previous conversation we had.” I shrugged as I told a bold faced lie. “Ok, fine we will see about that.” Jin-young and Mark-hyung gave me a stare-down as if I was being interrogated. I had a feeling that they would find out sooner or later. But I would handle that when the time came.

The members all left one by one for their respective places since we had to be at the company for another meeting in the morning. I cleaned up around the kitchen and went to my room to rest. However, when I got my bed, sleep wouldn't come to me. My mind was on the kiss we shared. She tasted tasted like red wine and cherries. I remember how she took time as we melted into each other's embrace. The pain she had, the fears she had, I wanted to protect and shield her. I looked at her picture that I took years ago when we first met. I forced myself to sleep as I wanted to dream about her. Wow, I'm behaving like a teenager, I realized.