It Absolutely Won’t Be You

Summer Lovin’

2015

May

Jackson had a relatively lax ethic when it came to coworker relationships.

“It’s nice to meet you,” He had said on his first day as an MC at Inkigayo. “Feel free to come by my room whenever you want.”

And they took him up on that offer, with Hong JongHyun and even Kim YooJung taking turns just walking right into his waiting room without so much as a knock, which was fine because he usually left the door wide open anyway. This one particular day, though, a staff member had asked JongHyun to pass on a change in their recording times to Jackson, who was last seen sleeping off a late night schedule in his room. So JongHyun didn’t think anything of it when the door that had ‘Jackson Wang’ written on it wasn’t quite closed, barely opened by a crack, that he simply pushed it open, calling out, “Jac-”

JongHyun stopped short.

See, he had known that the KARA girls were coming by to promote their new single, Cupid, but he was a little disconcerted and extremely surprised to see one of them in the room with Jackson…alone.

Heo YoungJi was sitting closely beside his coworker, their heads bent together, alternatively smiling or laughing at whatever they were looking at on Jackson’s phone.  Jackson’s jacket lay across YoungJi’s lap, covering the length of leg that her short skirt failed to cover up. Jackson glanced at her every so often when she wasn’t paying attention, and YoungJi’s hand sat idly on his thigh like it wasn’t a big deal.

JongHyun was aware that they were close (whatever that implied), but he couldn’t help but scoff at the sight because some celebrities (coughcough) went to extreme lengths to hide their relationships, while these two kids were sitting so closely where anyone could see them, knees knocking, her hair partially draped over his shoulder, his coat covering her legs, like they were practically begging to be caught.

He rapped on the doorway because they were so engrossed at what they were looking at that they hadn’t initially noticed him.

“Oh!” YoungJi smiled at him, “Hello!”

“Hey hyung.” Jackson greeted him then glanced at his watch. “Is it time to go out already?”

“…Ah, yeah,” JongHyun said, a little confused as to why they weren’t scrambling to create some distance between them as he’d expected. “They had to adjust the schedule so we’re due on stage in a few minutes.”

YoungJi promptly hopped off her seat, “I’ll let you guys get to work then!”

She handed Jackson his jacket as if this was a regular occurrence and their smiles were innocent, expressions calmly composed and JongHyun idly wondered, much like too many people often did those days, if there was even anything to catch between Jackson Wang and Heo YoungJi in the first place.

(There wasn’t. But that’s okay.)

June

There was absolutely no doubt in his mind about it: Heo YoungJi was a horrible dancer.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong.” Jackson said defensively, “If you give her choreography to a new song, she’d probably kill it within a week. But, if you just leave her on her own…”

Henry Lau squinted and finished, “She almost looks like she’s seizing.”

Jackson just shrugged, resigned.

They were sitting at their designated table, Lee GukJoo’s book by Henry’s water glass and YoungJi’s purse discarded on her chair. On the dance floor, Park JoonHyung and his new bride were at the epicenter of the action, looking fabulous and jubilant as they partied with friends and family. Among them was YoungJi herself, who was looking very much like she was suffering from some neuromuscular spasticity with the way she was ‘dancing’ next to JoonHyung’s nephew.

“The best part is that I’m not entirely sure she knows what she looks like.” Jackson added, wincing because she was actually a little painful to watch.

Henry laughed, “If that’s the best part, what’s the worst?”

“That’s she’s completely sober and moving like that on her own free will.” He deadpanned and Henry laughed a little louder.

Granted, they were all sober at the party. With press just outside the banquet hall and his own CEO jumping around about twenty feet away from him, Jackson figured it was best to not go around chugging bottles and potentially creating a scandal right before Got7’s comeback. YoungJi barely sipped her champagne as well, which was a shame because at least then they might’ve been able to blame her erratic movements on alcohol. Speaking of whom…

“Do you know that you dance as if someone used a taser-gun on you?”

YoungJi spun around and yelped a little when she realized Jackson had managed to sneak up on her on the dance floor. She smacked his arm lightly for startling her,

“What WangKong?” She taunted, smiling, “Do you have a problem with my moves?”

“Those,” He pointed emphatically to Danny Ahn breaking it down with one of the bridesmaids a few feet from them, “Are moves. This,” Jackson gestured vaguely over YoungJi, “Looks like you need medical attention.”

She laughed, unperturbed, “That’s pretty rude coming from someone whose signature move is dry-humping the air.”

“Pssh.” Jackson smirked knowingly. “Don’t pretend like you don’t think it’s y.”

YoungJi rolled her eyes but didn’t bother denying it. She opened give him a retort on the difference between ‘y’ and ‘clothed ography’ when the music suddenly slowed down and the lights dimmed around them. A smoke machine went off somewhere by their feet, the floor slowly turning into a hazy dreamscape. The bodies around them slowed in tandem rhythm as couples began falling together, hands stretching across the dark glow to find their partners.

Jackson and YoungJi stood still together for a moment as the first strums of a ballad came on overhead and, in the soft glow, he caught her eye. She smiled awkwardly and he scratched at the back of his neck idly. They’ve gone out dancing with friends before and he’d even taught her choreography back at the Roommate house. So, it wasn’t a big deal right?

“Hey, do-” “Excuse me.”

The both turned to face the intruder, an Asian guest who stumbled through broken Korean, likely a friend of Joon’s from America who was looking apprehensively, hopefully at YoungJi.

“Would you…like…to dance?”

She glanced back at Jackson then, as if waiting(?) on his response. But he just shrugged and waved her away,

“Go ahead.” He said, warning her new dance partner, “Careful with this one, she’ll stomp all over you.”

YoungJi glared at him for that, and Jackson laughed as she was swept away from him by another man, skirt flaring cyclones of smoke as she twirled into the thin crowd of lazily-swaying couples.

‘Later.’ It was an idle thought randomly passed his mind, ‘Maybe, I’ll ask her to dance l