It was almost 2am and everyone was sleeping... Except for Jackson and Kang Joon. Jackson played songs off his ipod and danced while Kang Joon, exhausted from his day- long schedule just laid on his bed.

“Bro! Come on!” Jackson invited him to dance along.

“Haha! It’s okay man. The bed is just too nice” Kang Joon declined. He was too tired to move and preferred to just watch him.

After 2 hours of dancing, Jackson’s energy finally drained.

“Hyung! Do you know any shop that’s open now?” Jackson asked Kang Joon.

“At 4 in the morning?!” Kang Joon’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Yeah, I’m hungry. I thought I’d dance myself to sleep but now, I can’t. I’m too hungry.” Jackson pouted and rubbed his tummy, trying to gain sympathy from Kang Joon.

Kang Joon was lying on the bed, tired and ready to sleep. He got up and sat against the wall. Kang Joon crossed his arms, turned to Jackson and looked at him straight in the eye. He knew Jackson was bothered over something but was uncomfortable expressing it. He knew the real reason why Jackson danced was not because it helps him to relax but it was because to avoid the cameras from capturing his disgruntled facial expression.

“I don’t know him well enough to ask” Kang Joon mumbled to himself.  He wanted to ask Jackson why he was acting that way but he decided not to. He was afraid that the question would cross the line of their newly found friendship; or nothing was actually bothering him and he just wanted to dance.

“We can go out and look. I’m not so sure if there is any but we can walk around and check”

“Alright!! Let’s go!” Jackson held his hand out for a high five. He helped Kang Joon off his bed and grabbed his hat.

“For a second, I thought you were mad at me. Haha! The way you crossed your arm and looked at me all serious, I was kinda startled. Haha” Jackson said jokingly but Kang Joon noticed his tone sounded nervous.

“Hahah! I wasn’t mad, I was thinking of a place we could go.” Kang Joon gave a small pat on Jackson’s back.

“Hyung!! You’re the best!” Jackson hugged Kang Joon.  

“Hahah! So trust hyung! I know we’ve just met, but you can tell me anything” Kang Joon hugged Jackson back. Jackson nodded and released himself from the hug. They both continued their search for an open restaurant.

-At the Restaurant-

“Ok Cut!!” cameraman said as he put the camera away. Jackson and Kang Joon looked at him.

“You got everything that you need?” Kang Joon asked.

“Yup! It’s a wrap for toni-“ the cameraman looked at his watch “More like morning! Hahah! My shift had ended hours ago but I didn’t expect you guys would go out at this hour”

“Ohh! It’s my fault, sir! Please, join us!” Jackson invited the cameraman. He politely declined and went home. Jackson and Kang Joon continued to eat and chatted.

“Hyung! Do you have a girl?” Jackson randomly asked Kang Joon. He was drinking water at the time and almost spilled his drink upon hearing Jackson’s question.

“Uhh… Why?” Kang Joon stuttered, nervous by Jackson’s random question. Jackson noticed and playfully gave Kang Joon the’ I-Know-The-Truth’ look.  

“Okay! Since there’s no proof of this conversation ever took place, I’ll tell you.”

Jackson gasped. He pretended as if his lips were sealed, as he zipped up the imaginary zipper on his mouth, and throwing away the key.

“Yes, I do and we’ve been together for 6 months now …” Kang Joon told Jackson everthing. He listened attentively and when he was done,

“So how about you? Are you seeing someone?” Kang Joon asked him.

“No, I don’t and I can’t. At least not anytime soon… Our CEO doesn’t even allow us to have cellphones”

“Well, you can always exchange letters. A lot of idols do that”

Jackson who was leaning on his chair, immediately sat straight and mouth slightly ajar. Kang Joon suddenly became suspicious.

“You have a girl on your mind??”

Jackson fixed his hat and laughed at his question “ No, hyung! I don’t! It’s just tha-“

“Who is she?”

“Nobody hyung!” Jackson raised his right hand to convince Kang Joon that he was telling the truth.

“Alright. I trust you. What kind of girls do you like?”

“Hmm… I have never really thought about that… Probably someone who I can get along really well with?” Jackson took a sip of his drink.

“Definitely someone who’s athletic. I mean, I grew up being an athlete so… I don’t think I can be with someone who is unhealthy, you know?”

 Kang Joon nodded in agreement. Jackson then continued

“Looks don’t really matter… Just as long as she’s not taller than me”

Both of them laughed. That morning, they both became more comfortable with each other. Eventhough it was only a few hours ago that they had their first meeting, Kang Joon’s warm personality and Jackson’s outgoing attitude brought them closer.

***************************************

30 minutes after they got home, Jackson had to leave for work. He took a short nap and head out. He went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water in fridge before leaving. On his way to the door, he saw someone walking downstairs. It was Youngji.

Youngji had her head down, and had her hoodies up to hide her face. She did not have any make up on and did not want the cameras to catch her without make up.

“Good morning!” Jackson greeted her. Youngji looked up surprised to see Jackson standing by the door.

“Omma-!!” Youngji let a short scream. “Good morning… “ Youngji quickly looked down again, trying to cover her face.

“You are scheduled to leave this early?” Jackson asked as he opened the door for her.

“Uhh.. Yeah.. Well not really. I need to go workout.” Youngji replied. “Thank you” said Youngji as stepped out.

“My pleasure” Jackson tipped his hat. Youngji saw what he did and let out a small chuckle.

They both walked towards the entrance gate.

“So you don’t have anything today?” He asked.

“I do… Just one event. Then that’s it.” She replied, looking away from Jackson’s direction.  When they went outside the gate, both of their cars had not arrived yet.

Y: Crap~! I don’t want him to see me like this!

J: Is she still upset over yesterday?

“Look, I’m sorry for last night… I just-“

Youngji turned to Jackson. “Wha- What? What for?” Youngji startled.

“Because you’re still mad. You wouldn’t look at me at all and kept doing this“ Jackson covered his face with his hands, like how Youngji did.

“Hahah! No no! You’ve got me wrong. I did that because….” she realized Jackson saw her bare face. She quickly turned away, covering her face again.

Y: Oh Crap!~ hope he didn’t notice it!!

“Just. Just because. Don’t worry about last night. I got over it”

“Really? Okay! Don’t change your mind. They’ve got it all!” Jackson joked as he pointed to the camera.

“Yah! Hahah!!” Youngji laughed and jokingly punch his arm.

Seconds later, Jackson’s car arrived.

“Bye! I’ll see you tonight!” Jackson waved.

“Bye! See you!” Youngji waved back.

In the car,

“Ahjussi, can we wait for a bit?” Jackson asked the driver.

“Okay, but aren’t you late?”

“No, I still have some time. Let’s wait until her car is here” Jackson looked at Youngji from his window.

***************************************

-At JYP Building-

Jackson was the last one to arrive at the practice room. The members all ran to Jackson immediately when he stepped into the practice room.

“Sorry guys for being late. Traffic was bad. I’ll leave earlier next time” Jackson bowed apologetically to s.

“No, don’t worry about it man. So how was your night there?” Mark asked.

“Did you really sleep under the same roof as Sunny sunbaenim?” Bam Bam asked.

“And Nana sunbaenim??” JB asked.

“Whoa whoa whoa…guys!! Calm down! Did you wait long?” Jackson stepped back a bit, overwhelmed by their questions.

“No, and we don’t really care” Mark replied. “So who do you room with?” Mark asked.

“Seo Kang Joon. He’s a hyung by one year. Pretty cool guy.” Jackson put his bag down and began to stretch.

“Maaann~ you’re wack!“ JB joked and nudged Jackson’s shoulder

“Hahaha! Because he’s not Nana?” Jackson laughed.

“Hahaha! Yes, but I would probably want to share with the new girl from KARA”

“Ohhh she’s pretty cute!” Mark nodded in agreement.

“Wait, how do you know her? I only found out KARA has a new member last night. I thought she’s a senior at first” Jackson looked around, confused.

“You’ve never seen any of ‘Baby KARA Project’??” JR asked.

“No, what’s that?” Jackson stopped stretching. JR took his ipad out and showed him a clip of Youngji on youtube.

It was a clip of Youngji danced to Beyonce’s – Naughty Girl. Jackson’s jaw dropped and he started to blush. The members noticed and .

“Guys! Guys! No no! It’s just her aura is different!” Jackson exclaimed.

The members laughed at his response. They continued to more.

“No no! Listen! She’s different in person…”

“Whoaa! Guys! He knew her well enough already!” Bam Bam joked.

“NO! I meant to say that, she’s not usually like this-“

“y?” Mark cut him.

“WHOAA HAHAHH!”  They laughed and some even teared a little.

Jackson laughed too and shook his head. “Dude! Stop putting words in my mouth!””

***************************************

That night, the roommate hosted a surprise party for Nana. Jackson wasn’t home from his schedule so he missed out the entire event. After the party, everyone played together. Jong Ok was the first to go to bed. Everyone soon followed suit, except for Joon Hyung and Guk Joo.

Jackson came home later that night. He went straight to the kitchen to look for something to eat. He bumped into Joon Hyung who was leaning against the counter, texting.

“Oooh! Who you’re texting with?”

“Oh! You’re home!” Joon Hyung startled. “No, I’m looking at my schedule for tomorrow, are you hungry?”

“Yeah, are there any leftovers?”

Meanwhile in Room 1, “Ahh Jackson must be home!” said Guk Joo to her hand-held camera.

She went down to hang out with them. She was brought along her camera.

“Welcome home, Jackson!” Guk Joo greeted Jackson. “So, tell me about your day!” Guk Joo held the camera up face level to record Jackson  

“Noona! Aren’t you holding the camera a little too close to your face?” Jackson pulled the camera down.

Guk Joo was trying to hide her bare face with the camera. “No! Don’t!” Guk Joo covered the side of her face with her hands.

“Why?” Jackson asked innocently.

“Noona is not wearing make up Jackson-ah” Guk Joo explained.

J: Ohhh…was that what Youngji was doing?

***************************************

-9 am at Roommate House-

The roommates went out or a picnic as suggested by Jong Ok. They played games, ate and chatted with each other.

“Should we play another game?” Jackson asked them. He lost 2 games consecutively and tired of chasing the ball (his punishment).

“I’ve always wanted to learn martial arts” said Se Ho. Jackson stood up and volunteered to be the coach. He did a backflip.

“Let’s try and do that” Jackson gave brief instructions and Se Ho listened. He tried copy and applied what Jackson did and said but failed, causing laughter to everyone.

Jackson then proceeded to teach another martial trick. Youngji could no longer sit still and watch. As she was about to put on her shoes, Sunny stopped her.

“Yah! Don’t go. You’re an idol, Youngji- ah… You need to take care of your image!” Sunny pointed at the guys. They were failing miserably and looked very silly.

“It’s okay! It’s good to learn new tricks” Jong Ok said.

“Okay then, go ahead Youngji! Show us what you’ve got!” Sunny clapped and gestured ‘hwaiting’.

Youngji joined them. They were doing a ‘flip-kick’. Youngji stood at a corner and observed. As she was about to attempt, Jackson stopped her.

“No, it’s too hard. Just do a cartwheel”

“No, I can do it” Youngji refused.

Youngji attempted but failed. She fell down on her . Jackson helped her to stand.

J: Wow! Her grip is pretty strong!

Youngji tried another trick and failed, she fell on her again.

“Yah! Stop it. At this rate, you’re going to get hurt” Jackson said as he helped her up.

“No, let me try another one!”

Jackson was still holding on to her hand, pulled her closer and pleaded with his eyes, “Just stop. I don’t want to see you get hurt”

“Al-  ... Al-..  Alright”

Y: I didn’t know he can be this thoughtful.

J: How can a person be this clumsy?

***************************************

Dong Wook, Ryohei, Youngji and Jackson volunteered to go to the store to buy groceries for dinner. The rest went home and rest. Dong Wook was driving and Ryohei sitting in the passenger side, both Jackson and Youngji sat at the back.

“Ohh sisters.! You guys look alike!” Jackson looked at the sticker on Youngji’s phone.

“Of course! We’re sisters! What are you talking about?”

“Why are you still using a flip phone” Jackson flipped open Youngji’s phone.

“You don’t even have internet!” Jackson showed her phone menu to the camera. Youngji snatched her phone from Jackson’s hand.

“Yah!! None smartphones help me stay focus!”

“Whoaa! Impressive! That’s some discipline you got there, Youngji-ah!” Ryohei praised Youngji.

“Thanks oppa!”

"Jackson, what kind of phone are you using?" Dong Wook asked him.

"I don't have any. Not allowed to but y-"

"Yah!!" Youngji cut him. "You don't even have a cell phone and you complained about mine??" 

“Well if I have a phone, it would be the one with internet!”

“How do people reach you?” asked Youngji

“Through my manager” Jackson replied.

“Your parents have to go through him too?” Youngji looked at him. Jackson nodded.

J: How painful must it be for his parents? Calling their son but only to have someone else picks up.

“Everybody  except for you has his (manager’s) number already. Jackson, give it to her. Just in case if she needs to reach you in the future”

“Oh! Okay!” Youngji passed her phone to Jackson. Jackson saved his info and flipped her phone closed.

“Ohh! Someone’s calling you Youngji!” Jackson gave the phone back to Youngji. Youngji flipped her phone open, “Hello?”

“This is the national history museum of Korea. We need your phone back for our display!” Jackson said with a different voice.

“YAH!! It’s still better than not having any phone!!” Youngji retorted.

“Stop fighting you two!” Dong Wook chimed in, trying to stop them from fighting.

“I don’t have anyone else to fight with” Jackson laughed and smiled. He turned to Youngji and said “Let’s fight often!” 

To be continued....