Respiration

14

Jackson had brought them to a park. Jinyoung wasn't expecting to be taken there, but he didn't complain. They'd just never been to a park together, so it was sort of a new experience for them.

"Why are we here?" Jinyoung asked as they walked down a path through some greenery.

Jackson shrugged, glancing over at him. "Why not? Don't like parks?"

"No I like parks..." Jinyoung replied. Though he didn't like the allergies that came with it. Thank goodness he took his allergy meds that morning.

"Will your asthma kick in?" Jackson asked.

Jinyoung looked around. Luckily not a lot of people were in the park, and it wasn't pollen season, so he was pretty sure he'd be fine. "Depends..."

"I see... well, luckily I'm here in case anything happens." Jackson stated, shifting closer to Jinyoung just enough so their arms brushed against one another.

Jinyoung shook his head at Jackson's statement. He absolutely hated Jackson burdening himself unnecessarily, especially when it comes to 'helping' him. "Jackson I don't need-"

"Don't tell me you don't need me." Jackson snapped with a surprising amount of firmness that Jinyoung hadn't heard in his voice before. It definitely caught him off guard, making him shut up and listen. "I get it. You're independent and you can take care of yourself and you don't need me to step in and save you all the time. But Jinyoung, I can't sit here and watch you gasp for air when I can easily help you out. So when I feel like I need to help you, I will."

"It... it doesn't even happen often... not bad attacks anyway..." Jinyoung stuttered out, though Jackson's determination to help him when needed was quite touching. It sort of made Jinyoung feel bad for arguing.

"Sure, but I still wanna be there for you when you do have a bad attack. Or when you're out of breath and need me to hold your bag while you rest. Or when you need a ride to school to avoid the hassle of public transportation. Just to make it easier on you in any way I can, I wanna be here for you." And just as Jackson said that, he reached out and lifted a low tree branch that Jinyoung would have definitely run into (since he was partially swooning over Jackson's words and too distracted by his face all at the same time) if it weren't for him paying attention.

Jinyoung walked under the tree branch, his cheeks covered a light pink as they passed a woman who smiled at the two as if they were a young couple enjoying newfound love. As nice as that sounded, that wasn't exactly the case since they were only friends. Though as friends, Jinyoung was very appreciative of all that Jackson had done and was willing to do for him despite how much they quarreled about it. "Th-That's nice of you, but-"

"No buts. The party was the last straw for me. I hope you took it as a lesson to never leave your asthma pump home, and if you do to let me know so we don't have to go through that again. And I hope that asshole learned a lesson or two on common courtesy..." Jackson stated, almost snarling in disgust at that last part about the random stranger at the party.

Jinyoung found the statement weird, his brows furrowing together as he wondered what Jackson was referring to. "What do you mean?"

Jackson looked over at him, his eyes darting around before he shook his head. "What? Nothing."

"Hey." Jinyoung stopped walking, gripping Jackson's arm and pulling the latter to face him. "Jackson what do you mean? What happened to him?"

Jackson refused to make eye contact, his gaze on the cement under them. "I dunno who you're talking about..."

Jinyoung scoffed, rolling his eyes. What was Jackson hiding? "Don't play dumb with me. The guy at the party. What 'lesson' should he have learned?"

Jackson was quiet for a moment, still staring at the ground before he let out a heavy sigh. "Nothing... I just... talked to him a bit yesterday..."

Jinyoung's heart dropped. He glanced down at Jackson's busted hand and examined the multiple bruises and scars dressing his face. "No, Jackson come on... don't tell me that-..."

"He was an asshole! And he nearly killed you being one." Jackson stated, folding his arms over his chest to hide his bandaged hand.

"So what, you think getting into a fight with him was some fucking revenge for me or something? Look at you, you're fucked up Jackson..." Jinyoung's hand instinctively rose to touch Jackson's cheek, his thumb brushing over the bruised skin.

Jackson shrugged, his eyes again dropping to the ground. "I just... I couldn't stand that I took my eyes off of you for so long and let something bad happen... I feel really bad about it..."

Jinyoung's chest tightened as he felt solely responsible for Jackson's rash actions and now healing wounds. He didn't know Jackson felt that responsible for what happened that he literally got beat up over it. Jinyoung originally didn't want Jackson to worry about him so he wouldn't be treated like a sick child, but he never expected that Jackson would take matters into his own hands to protect him. It was flattering to say the least. Dumb as hell, but it made his heart flutter.

Jinyoung's thumb on Jackson's cheek dropped down to his lip, sliding over to small wound that was healing. "Jackson you said it yourself, it was just another thing that happened at a party, it wasn't a big deal. I'm past it now, I'm okay. You didn't have to go do that..."

"Well I didn't kill him or anything... I knew him, and I knew where he usually hung out, so I paid him a little visit and well... we got into it. But we both pretty much left with the same amount of injuries." Jackson explained, seeming proud of himself for fighting for Jinyoung.

Jinyoung sighed, unable to move past the fact that Jackson had gotten himself hurt for his sake. "But... are you okay?"

Jackson must've saw the worry lining Jinyoung's face, immediately smiling and jumping into a more energetic mood while gently pushing Jinyoung's hands away from his face. "Me? I'm fine! See? I'm always fine, don't worry."

Jinyoung grabbed Jackson's hand, staring down at the bandages. They were a bit dirty and peeling off a little with some prickles of blood seeping through it. Jinyoung ran his thumb over Jackson's dressed knuckles, feeling the latter flinch from the touch. "Does it hurt?"

"A little, but it's really okay. I'm good." Jackson assured, that damn smile refusing to leave his face.

Jinyoung let out a little huff of breath, spinning on his heels with Jackson's hand still in his own as he walked back in the direction of the car. "Come on."

"W-Where are we going?" Jackson asked, stumbling after Jinyoung who tugged him along.

"You're taking me home." Jinyoung stated firmly.

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(*all i can say is... cute.*)