Anchorage › Bae Jinyoung

s e v e n

Jinyoung patiently stood behind a broad tree on the other side of the road, keeping his eyes on the entrance gate of the Weojang School for Girls. Some students were already leaving, laughing and chatting about their day or the homework they had to do for the next class. Other students rode their bikes to finally leave school and then there was this one girl that rushed out of the school gates, her books clenched to her chest and her ponytail messy.

Jinyoung smiled carefully when he recognised the girl as Park Jiho.

Jiho stopped running when she was a bit further away from the entrance and finally stuffed her books in her already chunky backpack. Once again, she didn't have time to put her unnecessary belongings away as another horde of Jihoon-fans tried to grab her attention due to her brothers appearance in an Innisfree ad they had seen on television. Of course she had to save herself from that mess before being caught in like zombies going after fresh brains.

Jiho puffed out as she sat down on a bench closeby, trying to catch her breath when something caught her eye. She almost cursed when she saw the black-clothed boy that was hidden behind the near oak tree. "Is he serious?" She asked herself and sighed, but caught herself standing up and walking over to him, poking his shoulder.

"What the-" He yelped but sighed when he realised it was only Jiho.

"Did Oppa send you?" She asked first and Jinyoung quickly shook his head.

"I swear he didn't. He doesn't even know I have nothing to do today." Jinyoung explained, before taking off his face mask and beaming a smile at Jiho.

"Good afternoon, Jiho-yah." He smiled and the lass chuckled. He was so awkward. Even if she was mad at him for doing what Jihoon wanted, she thought it was cute of him for visiting her. Jiho had to admit she was curious as to why he was visiting her so often if it wasn't for Jihoon.

"How was school?" Jinyoung then asked.

Jiho cocked her eyebrows in slight surprise. "Why do you want to know?"

Jinyoung threw his arms in the air, clearly defensive over the accusatory tone in her voice. "I don't have any ulterior moves. I swear!" He promised, earning a chuckling Jiho when she saw his perplexed face.

In her eyes, the young idol before shouldn't have any other sneaky reasons to visit her other than her brother's persistence. Oddly enough, she was more lenient to what he had to reply with. "Okay, okay. I believe you." She smiled and wiped a strand of hair out of her face.

Jinyoung watched her carefully tightening her ponytail before looking away. He didn't want to stare at her for too long or else she might get angry at him. If she was just a tiny bit like Jihoon, she could explode at any time. The call she had with her brother last night promised Jinyoung too well what a reversed character the cute girl actually could be. It wasn't necessary to raise to that level of anger ever again.

"So why are you here?"

Jiho's question caught Jinyoung off guard and he started coughing on plain air. "Oh my!" She gaped as she patted his back until he had calmed down. Once he seemed to be breathing normally and his face had returned to its natural color after the coughing fit, she continued, "I didn't mean to surprise you like that? But if it's not for Jihoon, why would you want to visit me?" She was truly confused. Someone with a reputation like him shouldn't be roaming around aimlessly, visiting people like her... definitely not people like her.

"Well I just wanted to stop by as there is a convenience store close to your school I always go to. They have fantastic ice cream there. And since I was on my way there, I thought why not stop by and see how you are?" He rambled and Jiho nodded to his explanation. It was a plausible reason. Why wouldn't Jinyoung be a little nice to one of his member's siblings out of just the kindness of his heart? He would be the type to do so, any of the Wanna One boys would if they had the same chance.

"I think I know what convenience store you mean. The yoghurt ice cream is fantastic!" Jiho beamed and fixed the straps on her way too heavy backpack.

Jinyoung watched her. A wave of concern as she nearly stumbled over with the impact of the weight. "Should I take that bag? It looks heavy?" He asked and stretched his arms towards Jiho.

Awestruck, the girl stopped moving and glimpsed up at Jinyoung. The boy didn't look any stronger than she was and she wasn't sure if he would break under the weight of her bag. "No, no-" She started but Jinyoung shook his head.

"I insist on it." He interjected and swiftly took the bag off Jiho's back and put it on himself.

Jiho looked at him in shock. "That... that was smooth," She admitted and flexed her back. She had to admit that the lack of tension on her muscles was already pleasant. Okay, so she was a little grateful that the boy had done such a gentlemanly act that it may have given flutters to her stomach. But Jiho decided to push that to the back of her mind as Jinyoung said something.

"The yoghurt ice cream." Jinyoung then commented and Jiho looked at him expectantly. "That's my favourite flavour as well." He stuttered a bit and pointed towards another road. "Shall... Shall we grab some?" He asked and blushed slightly when Jiho agreed.

Jiho felt awkwardly comfortable in Jinyoung's presence now. He wasn't doing this on her brother's behalf, he really came to visit her. Bae Jinyoung came to visit Park Jiho. For himself. And that very thought alone got a small smile grazing her lips as they strolled side by side, further away from the hell she called school.

Choi Dahee, who was hiding nearby almost choked while listening to the two teenagers exchanging cheesy comments and rolled her eyes. "Jongsuk-sshi will pay for making me watch this," She sighed out. "Since when did teenagers become so smooth and cringey?" She then continued walking behind Jinyoung and Jiho, who were immersed into talking to each other.

Dahee was surprised how empty the neighborhood they walked into was at this time. Maybe it was because of the hot weather? But normally people would leave their house because of the warm sun. Dahee was happy though, with an empty neighborhood, no one could recognise Jinyoung.

"At least the boy is a bit safe." Dahee spoke and sat down on a bench near to the convenience store that Jinyoung and Jiho had just entered.

The two teenagers quickly paid their ice cream and went outside to sit at the few tables outside the table. Jinyoung handed Jiho her backpack before unpacking his ice cream and nibbling on it, Jiho doing the same. "I haven't had this ice cream in so long." She smiled and sent an eye-smile towards Jinyoung, who once again started to choke on nothing and coughed loudly.

Jiho quickly handed him a napkin and the Idol cleaned his mouth. He couldn't believe how embarrassing he was acting in front of Jiho. But her smile surprised him. She had such a soft and lovely smile. A smile that reached her eyes and that matched her cute face perfectly. His heart skipped a beat at the beautiful sight.

Jinyoung took a deep breath and returned the grin. "You look nice when you smile." He quickly whispered, which sent Jiho in her own coughing fit.

Dahee that was watching the two of them rolled her eyes and face palmed herself. "I really need a pay raise after this," She sighed as she felt her whole body stiffen at the cringy scene before her. She was still not very keen on Jiho herself but seeing Jinyoung happy and smiling calmed her worries a little bit.

And after all, she knew who Park Jiho was, since her brother never stopped talking about her.

Dahee looked at her watch. It was almost half past four so Jinyoung soon had to walk back home, but Dahee didn't wanted to ruin the little "date" of Jiho and Jinyoung and decided to let him be.

"It's going to get hard enough when he debuts." Dahee said, remembering the words Jongsuk had told her before she left Wanna One's apartment. She hated the fact that she had to agree with the older man this one time. She fished her phone out of her bag texting the boy's manager telling him that Jinyoung would come a little bit too late.