[READ A/N]

Jackson and Areum sat on the kitchen stools facing Ara as they waited for the elder girl to react. The others had left an hour ago except for Mark who made a random excuse to stay around, loitering in Areum's bedroom.

"So, how long have you two known each other?" Ara asked as she stared at her sister and boyfriend.

Areum winced, "About a month."

"A month and you're already sleeping together?" Ara balked.

"No! We haven't slept together. We just share the same bed sometimes." Areum offered weakly.

Ara's face stiffened, "Do you…like him? Or is he just blackmailing you?"

Areum snorted, making Jackson shoot a glare at her, "No, I actually like him."

"You…actually like him." It came out as a statement, as if Ara was sounding it out for the first time. Her eyes shot at Jackson and she almost did a double take when she saw the boy staring at Areum like she vomited sunshine and rainbows.

"You like him and you have a boyfriend. You have a boyfriend and a female best friend. You have a boyfriend, a female friend and 7 other male friends. You have friends. Jesus, , why am I only learning about this now? You were at my place like a week ago."

"Wait, why are you even back? Don't you have work?" Areum asked in confusion.

Ara ran her fingers through her hair. "I used my vacation days to come down here. You were so upset when you came to visit that I thought I'd drop by and surprise you to check up on you, but you clearly have it all covered."

"Are you staying for the holidays?" Areum asked excitedly.

Ara's face softened for the first time, in guilt "No, I'm leaving tomorrow. I don't get that many days off."

Jackson frowned and glanced up the stairs when he heard a soft growl echo.

Ara sighed before rubbing her face, "Okay, go get ready for school."

"W-Wait, you're okay with this?"

Ara snorted, "Not exactly. Which is why you're going to school and me and your boyfriend here, are going to have a little chat."

"Can't I skip school? You're home for the first time in what might be months, don't make me go back to that horrible place." Areum pouted.

Jackson stared at her, entranced by her protruding lip and puppy dog eyes.

She was going to be the death of him.

Ara sighed before her eyes shifted back and forth, sneakily, "Do you have any tests?"

Areum grinned brightly, knowing that her sister was already going to let her stay. "Nope!"

"Anything due?"

"Double nope!"

There was a pause before Ara skipped over to her sister, jumping up and down. "Okay! Let's have fun!"

Jackson balked at Ara's sudden excited attitude. Not only was it like he personality did a complete 180, but for an older sister, she was oddly cool with her younger sister skipping school.

"Go and get changed. They three of us will go and do something."

"Um…four, actually. A friend of mine will be tagging along." Jackson added in.

The Jo sisters blinked at him before Ara tilted her head, "Is it that Mark boy?"

Jackson nodded slowly, watching as Ara's expression changed, just the slightest before she gave him a quick nod.

"Sure, it'll be us four."

-----

Jackson realized, a second too late, that Ara telling Areum to go get changed meant that he was going to be alone with her sister.

"So…you're the boy that my sister has chosen." Ara said skeptically, with her arms crossed.

Jackson gulped, wondering why he was more afraid of Ara than he was of the panthers.

"Son, what are your intentions with my daughter?" Ara said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.

Jackson couldn't help but chuckle, "I have nothing but the purest intentions for your daughter. I love her."

"You what?" Ara breathed out in surprise.

Jackson faced her with a steady eye, "I love your sister. I'm in love with her."

Ara couldn't help but gape at the boy, "Does she love you back?"

"Not yet. But I'm working on it." He said easily, trying not to show the wince in his face.

Ara nodded slowly, taking in the information, "My sister, has been hurt a lot. She's very harsh on the outside because people have ripped her to shreds over and over again. She has a tough exterior but a warm and kind of awkward interior. So if you hurt her, if you break her heart, I'm not going to come after you. Areum will ruin you on her own.."

Jackson sighed with a laugh, "I think if anyone's heart is going to get broken, it's going to be mine."

"Well, I trust Areum's judgment. Even though she's never had a boyfriend before, she's a smart girl. She won't trust just anyone without being sure of herself and sure of you. So until you up, I approve of you." Ara said lightly. She slapped the boy on the back, mercilessly, using a bit more force than she needed.

"Welcome to the family, son."  

-----

Jackson was starting to see the charm of the Jo sisters.

When the two of them were together, he was pretty sure that they'd set the world on fire. They were breaking hearts left and right with their smiles and fiery eyes.

But what left him the most awestruck  was seeing how bright and happy Areum was when she smiled and laughed. It was loud, honest and beautiful.

, he was so in love with the woman in front of him.

They spent the whole afternoon walking around the town, weaving through vintage stores and small restaurants until the sun started to set.

He got to talk to Ara, now that the tense protective sister pretense was gone, he was able to get to know her better.

She was a lot different than Areum, but he could see the same mannerisms. When they were together, they seemed more similar than different. They had the same light heartedness and found the same things funny.

When Areum starting lagging behind her sister, Jackson took the chance to slip his fingers through hers and tug her back even further so that Mark was in step with Ara. It was strange, seeing the way Mark hovered over Ara, but Jackson couldn't care less.

He wanted to spend time with his mate.

"What are you doing?" Areum asked when Jackson brought her behind Ara and Mark.

He let go of her hand and swung his arm around her neck. "I feel neglected."

Areum blinked up at him before snorting. She wrapped her arm around his back and leaned into his warmth. "You're jealous of my sister?"

Jackson pressed his lips against the side of her head, to hide his smile. "I just missed you."

"I was standing like 5 feet from you. When did you become so obnoxiously clingy?" She quipped lightly.

Jackson smirked, "Probably around the same time that you kicked my door down because you were so worried about me."

Areum shoved him aside, untangling their arms as she stomped away. Jackson couldn't help but laugh out loud as he pulled her back by the elbow.

When she swung to face him, she barely had a chance to gasp before his lips came down on hers. She was going to push him away when she felt him smile through the kiss.

Areum rose on her tippy toes and kissed  him back, feeling a smile of her own, grow.

-----

"Do they always do that?" Ara asked as she stared at her sister and her boyfriend kissing in the middle of the sidewalk.

Mark chuckled, but his eyes were on Ara, "They bicker almost 24/7 but they're attached at the hip."

"Is he a good guy?" She asked as she watched the couple pull away.

"He's rough around the edges, no doubt, but when it comes to her, he treats her like a bratty princess."

Ara softened when she watched Areum poke Jackson in the stomach, chasing him around, laughing. She had never seen her sister happy with someone else.

It was nice and reassuring.

"That's because she is a bratty princess." Ara chuckled.

Mark's eyes flashed brightly as a smile split up his face. She was stunningly perfect when she smiled. It made his heart break through the roof.

"When they're with each other, it's pretty amusing. They're not like your average couple. But they care about each other." Mark said softly, finally pulling his gaze off Ara and to his best friend and Areum.

The couple was bickering when Jackson kept squeezing her nose, but even as Areum slapped his chest, the affection in their eyes was undeniable.

"I think we should give the two of them some privacy." Ara said sneakily.

Blood rushed to Mark's head as he blinked down at the small woman who reminded him so much of a fairy.

"What do mean?"

Ara bit her lip in a way so enticing that he almost kissed her and it didn't help the matter when she laced their fingers together, pulling him away as she picked up her pace.

"Let's play hooky."

-----

"They must've gone off without us." Areum said with a frown as she scanned the slowly emptying streets.

Jackson chortled, "It's probably because you kept making out with your boyfriend in broad daylight."

"That's not funny. I wanted to spend time with Ara." Areum grumbled.

Jackson slipped his arm around her as they kept walking around the streets. "She probably wanted to give us some privacy, but at least Mark's with her."

"Yeah, what is that about, anyways?" She asked curiously. 

Jackson snorted, he had an idea, but he wasn't a 100% sure yet, "Maybe he's just worried since the panthers might still be out." 

"Well I--

"Would you two like to get your cards read?"

Areum blinked when an old woman, dressed in bright silk shawls, called out to them while standing in a booth with the sign 'Tarot Card Reading', hung above her."

"Oh, I don't kn--"

"Oh what's the harm? Let's see what's in your future." The woman said enchantingly.

Jackson tilted his head impassively, letting Areum take the lead. "I mean, why not?" She said with a shrug as they both walked to the booth.

The woman grinned, her eyes lined excessively with kohl, her arms filled with bangles and her fingers adorned with rings.

"Individually or shall I read your fortunes together?"

"Together." Jackson said abruptly as he laced their fingers together.

The woman smiled and shuffled the deck before setting it in front of them. "Would the lovely lady cut the deck?"

Areum careful split the cards down the middle and watched the woman shuffle each deck separately before putting both piles  in front of Jackson.

"Pick one deck."

Jackson chose the right deck and watched the woman shuffle the cards again and split the deck into four section.

"I need each of you to pick two cards each, from any deck."

They followed her instruction, each picking out two cards and set them on the table as she got rid of the remaining cards.

"Let's see what your future holds, shall we?"

She flipped the first card over and chuckled. "This is one seems obvious, huh?"

The Lovers.

"Love will be your greatest, strength and weapon."

She flipped the second card over and her smile faltered a fraction.

"What is the…Hanged Man?" Areum asked while reading the card. The woman jerked her eyes up and smiled slightly, but unevenly.

"This card usually means that you are at a crossroads - one with only two options. You might find yourself wanting to do 'something' but you have no idea how to do it or if it's the right thing to do. Sometimes it means letting go of something so that you are happier. Making a sacrifice or being a martyr and d