Let Me (JayB FF)

CHAPTER 1 - THE REQUEST

"Come on noona, help me, please?" Jaebeom begged her. "You don't need to show your face. The shoot will mostly focus on your hands and body. If there are some shots that might show your face, they will edit it. At least let me tell you about the storyline first, then give me your answer," he kept on going, explaining what she would face with hope that she would grant his request. Elle sighed. She knew that he wouldn't accept 'no' for answer, so she let him. They moved to the sofa, so they could talk comfortably. Luckily there were no one else in the cafe. It was a quiet afternoon, she thought. 

"The idea is to let the man hold the woman's hand since the song title is 'Let Me'. So, each of us will hold someone else's hand at the end of our part. For me, since I've known for my reading hobby, they would shoot me at a book cafe. Drinking some beverages, reading books, then some shots with me and the woman for a bit. At the end, the woman would drop some books and I would be down on my knees to pick up the book, but instead of giving back the book, I'll hold the woman's hand. That's it. Pretty simple right?" he explained to her, looking hopeful that she would say yes after hearing his explanation.

"When you say it that way," she admitted reluctantly. "Yeah.. of course. But everyone else on the set would see me."

"But you've known most of them already. Maybe not the staff crew, but you know Jaebum hyung, you've met my team mates already, and they are the important ones, so why should you worry too much?" He insisted.

"Why don't you just hire a model?" she kept refusing. 

"Have you seen us with a model in our music video? I mean, GOT7's MV, not for our solo," he revised his statement quickly as he remembered he did use one female model for his MV once, and so did some of his members. "Except our trainees fellow back in our old company or little girls, we never use a woman model before, remember? That's why I don't feel comfortable hiring a model. Plus, it would add the cost to the budget. We're not coming back officially. We just would released our official version for the 'Let Me' switch version and a new single, that's all, so the budget is pretty tight. Everyone else agree to take care of their woman model separately, so that's why I'm asking you to help me here. You know how silly I'd look if I did it with someone else," he mumbled at the end, looking embarrassed.

She let out another sigh. She knew better that anyone about how awkward he would be in front of a woman. He might look manly in the MV and pictures, acted cute and so on, but in front of a real woman, he would be super awkward. He did look cute, but he was embarrassed to be seen like that.  

"Okay fine, but I'm not helping you for free," she warned him, trying to look hard on him, while in fact, it was hard for her to refuse his request.

"I'll find a part timer for the cafe while you're not here and pay him from my own pocket," he immediately offered without missing a beat. 

"And..?" she asked for more. 

"And I'll find a nanny to take care of Ji-hoon for the day and pay her too," he added. 

"And..?" she still asked for more. 

"Okay noona, I'm starting to regret this," he said jokingly before raking his brain to find another idea to offer her. "Hmm.. BBQ dinner after the shooting's finished, my treat," he finally added and she seemed satisfy with his offer. 

"Okay, deal," she nodded. They shook hands and he told her he would text her the detail of the shooting day later. He looked at his phone and the clock on his phone screen told him that it was 7 PM already.  

"Have you had dinner yet?" he asked.  

"No," she stood up and started to clean up the place, ready to clock out and closed the cafe. Since it was a quiet afternoon, the place was still tidy, so it didn't take much time. "Ji-hoon is at home, so I'll eat at home." 

"Well, I'm coming with you," he told her. It was more like a statement and he wasn't asking for her permission either. 

She didn't bat a lash either. She continued checking for one last time before locking the cafe and said nothing. It was useless anyway trying to stop him. He would still walk her and join her whether she approved or not. Her home was within walking distance from the cafe so they started to walk together. He put up his hoodie and his mask to cover his face. Thanks to the COVID situation, wearing a face mask is a norm now, so people wouldn't look at him curiously. She punched the passcode of her door and started to call out for her son.

"How's school today?" she asked him when he appeared in the doorway. 

"It's okay, but I have lots of homework today," he said in a sad tone. "Oh hi, uncle Jaebeom!" suddenly he cheered up a bit when he saw the guest standing behind his mother. 

"Hi!" Jaebeom greeted back excitedly as well. "Don't worry, your homework will finish in no time." 

"Are you good at homework?" Ji-hoon asked. 

"Nope. But your mom is," Jaebeom admitted and laughed. Ji-hoon laughed as well. He started to feel a bit relaxed as he knew that there was someone else that's not good at homework as well. Jaebeom accompanied Ji-hoon while they were waiting for Elle. She washed up before joining them back in the dining room. She started to fix up the dinner and they all ate while chatting. Jaebeom offered to do the dishes while Elle helped Ji-hoon with his homework. It was unusual for Elle to see a grown-up male in her house at first, but it had become a normal thing now, seeing Jaebeom wash her dishes. Jaebeom has just finished the dishes when his phone rang. His manager was looking for him and was waiting in front the book cafe. Jaebeom told him to wait there before ending the call.

"I have to go, my manager is in front of the cafe already. Ji-hoon," Jaebeom called out to Jihoon and the latter looked up at him. "Uncle has to go now. We'll play again later, so you'd better listen to your mom and do all your homework, okay?" Ji-hoon nodded obediently and waved him goodbye. 

"It's okay noona, I can walk myself out," he stopped her from getting up. "I'll text you the details soon, bye!" he reminded her of their agreement earlier and went out of the door, locking it securely behind him before leaving.

Elle continued teaching Ji-hoon and then put him to bed. Later that night she spent her times reminiscing the old times. She was a part-timer in a restaurant frequented by the members when she was in college. She was a music major back then. She was also a foreigner at that time so talking to them was a good distraction for her. She didn't have any family in Korea, nor a lot of friends since she had to work to earn money for her college tuition. Half of the members were foreigners as well, so they often shared their homesick stories and cheered up one another. 

They became friends even though she was 3 years older than their oldest one. They were still trainees at that time, so they could talk freely. But then they succeeded and became a hot shot. They became a global idol. They were constantly busy, appearing in lots of shows and having world tour as well. She didn't see them since then until the day she left Korea. After she finished college, she got a gig in other country so she moved. She met her husband there, and funnily he was Korean. They had Ji-hoon and her husband decided to move back to Korea soon after that. They were just settling down when her husband was diagnosed with brain tumor. 

He went through surgeries and all other treatments, but at the end, he lost the battle and left her and Ji-hoon when Ji-hoon was just 2 years old. Being a single mother in a foreign country was tough. She didn't want to live with her in-laws, so she bought a small place and opened a book cafe. She also gave piano lesson in addition to that. She had a part timer to substitute her when she had to give piano lesson. Her in-laws were kindly enough to buy a small apartment for her and Ji-hoon near the book cafe. They often visited them but since they lived outside Seoul, they mostly visited on Ji-hoon's birthday or on public holidays.

Around last year, somehow Jaebeom walked into her book cafe. Of course she recognized him but she didn't expect him to remember her, but apparently he did. They started to become friends in no time. The only foreigner member left in Korea was just Bambam, and he wasn't a bookworm, so he just visited when they were having a secret group meeting. Jinyoung sometimes visited the book cafe by himself, but the others were mostly visited when they were with Jaebeom. Somehow her book cafe became their secret meeting place. In no time, Jaebeom became close to Ji-hoon as well as he often played with Ji-hoon on his off days. She was grateful for that, but got a bit worried as well. What if Jihoon got attached to Jaebeom? She checked Ji-hoon one last time before going to bed herself. She had to cook a new batch for her cafe tomorrow morning, so she should rest now.