Let Me (JayB FF)

CHAPTER 7 - AFTERMATH

"Noona, are you really not coming?" Jackson's voice was immediately heard once she picked up her phone. 

"What happens to 'Hi' or 'Good morning'?" Elle mumbled. 

"You knew it was me from your caller ID," he sounded rather impatient. "So are you really not coming? Whoaaa," he continued. 

"No, I can't this morning. But I'll drop by later at dinner," she tried to be patient even though Jackson made it harder to do. "You guys have fun cutting his hair off," she tried to sound cheerful. 

"Is he okay with that?" he pestered and Elle took a deep breath before replying. 

"I've told him yesterday. But you should ask him yourself whether he's okay with that or not. I'm not him." 

She was partly glad that Jackson wasn't in front of her, or else he would see her face blush and tease her endlessly. She still couldn't get her mind around Jaebeom's confession last night. She unconsciously touched her lips and was blushing again when she remembered what happened last night. She didn't know what she would do when she saw him tonight. She tried to forget it by being busy. Being busy kept her mind occupied with something else.  

[I'll pick you up later. 7 PM okay?] Her phone vibrated and it was Jaebeom texting her.

[Ok.] She quickly replied back. Just a small thought of him made her blushing again. Oh no, she was in trouble. She really should get a grip of herself or she would embarrass herself later.

Jaebeom showed up at her cafe at 7 PM sharp. Which was a bit miraculous considering he was often late. He waited for her to clean up and dropped by at her apartment to check up on Ji-hoon's nanny first before heading to the restaurant. In the car, they kept silent. She was a bit grateful that he didn't bring up anything about last night throughout the drive. Soon, he stopped the car in front of the restaurant and killed the engine. He still hasn't said anything and kept acting like usual so she became a bit relaxed. They got off the car and entered the restaurant and met the other members inside. Soon, they started to eat and chat as usual. Everything felt normal that Elle started to put her guard down. But she wasn't safe from Jackson. Jackson was looking at her quietly, trying to fish something out of her. He watched her and Jaebeom back and forth before grabbing her and dragged her out of the private room to talk to her. 

"There's something going on between you two," Jackson tapped his chin and narrowed his eyes at her. "I can tell.. spill it," he asked with cheerful attitude. 

"Nothing," she stuttered. "There's nothing going on," she shifted her gaze to her feet, trying to avoid Jackson's eyes. But he kept pestering her for another minute or two before Jaebeom showed up. 

"What are you guys doing here?" his eyes darted between Elle and Jackson before settling on Jackson. "Don't you want to eat?" 

Jackson wanted to argue but decided not to at the end and headed back inside. Elle let out a sigh after being saved by Jaebeom. Jaebeom gave her a questioning look but she just shook her head and tilted her head toward the room, signaling him to go back inside with her.  And he did. They resumed eating, drinking and chatting their hearts out until it was time to go. It was a happy moment but also sad at the same time, because they were going to be separated from Jackson and Mark once again. If there weren't any group activities, they probably wouldn't come to Korea until Jinyoung finished his military service. It was sad because she thought the boys were happier when they were together. The members teased Jaebeom and asked him to reenact his old pose from his school day after he cut his hair short. Even though he grunted and resisted at first, at the end Jaebeom gave in and reluctantly posed as requested. Bambam quickly captured it and posted it as an upgraded version of 'student Jaebeom'.

She thought she was off the hook but apparently Jackson was quite persistent. Once again he took her outside the room to interrogate her but she managed to keep her mouth shut. But looking at her, Jackson could guess that something did happen between her and Jaebeom. And he looked satisfied somehow. "You deserve to be happy, noona. Just remember that, okay," he told her before leaving her on her own.

Jaebeom escorted her back home and again, during the trip back home, he kept silent. When they finally arrived in front of her cafe, he parked the car but no one moved even after the car had stopped.

"Look.." he opened his mouth, but at the same time she also started to talk. 

"I... " she immediately stopped when he was talking as well. She let him speak first, so he did. 

"Look," he cleared his throat. "About yesterday....," he paused for a bit, like trying to get his words arranged carefully. "I'm sorry if I surprised you, but don't feel pressured. I just want you to know my feeling. After last night, I started to think that it's a bit unfair for you. I'll be leaving for two years so it's really a bad timing on my end. But again, I wasn't planning on confessing either," he started to talk too fast, which was a sign that he was getting nervous. "So, you can take all the time you need to think about it, noona. Just don't feel pressured."   

"Um, okay," she only managed to say that. His speech made her completely forget what she was going to say before.  

"Okay then," he breathed out, a bit disappointed that her reply was short. But again, he was the one that told her that she shouldn't feel pressured, so he felt inflicted. "I'll walk you home," he decided at the end and quickly opened the door on his side before jogging around the car to open her door. They walked together side by side in silence. Sometimes their hands brushed each other when they were walking, and before she realized it, he was holding her hand. He smiled like a baby when she didn't pull her hands away. 

"Let me get the nanny out first. You might want to hide somewhere in case she recognized you," she reluctantly pulled her hand away when they finally reached her apartment.  

"It's okay. I can put up my mask," Jaebeom pulled out his mask from his pocket and put it on.

"Oh, okay then." She went inside and paid for the nanny and waited for her to leave. "Do you want to come inside?" she automatically invited him as usual, but regretted it the moment she remembered what happened last night.  

"I think I'll pass tonight," Jaebeom gave her a small smile. It was clear that he also remembered the same thing. "I still try to hold myself, so I might not be able to if I decided to come inside," he answered honestly. But as he was about to leave, he held the door open, stepped inside for a bit and gave her a quick kiss. He was smiling naughtily before saying good night and left, leaving her stunned at her doorway.