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Jackson wonders if it’s romantic (or desperate and pathetic) to throw all these parties just hoping she’ll show up.
“I feel like that dude from the Great Gatsby, y’know?” he tells Jooheon as they’re surfing the web for a new punch bowl. (Jooheon had accidentally broken the last one at Jackson’s last party when he tripped and fell into the table because Changkyun smiled at him.)
“You mean... Gatsby?” Jooheon says, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. “Did you actually read the book?”
“No, I watched the movie.” Jackson says and receives an even more confused look in return. In his defence he had watched it the last time Bambam came over to get stoned with him and Mark and as they were all high on edibles some of the finer details are a little fuzzy.
“Anyway…” Jooheon continues, “Are you doing the laundry today? ‘Cause those jeans that make my ass look great are dirty and I wanna wear them tomorrow when I meet with Changkyun.”
“On it,” Jackson calls as he grabs the laundry bag; he considers knocking on Mark’s door but thinks better of it when he remembers Mark’s words when he’d got home from his nightshift earlier (“Anyone that wakes me up in the next twenty-four hours is getting their kneecaps broken.” Jackson doubts Mark would actually break anyone’s kneecaps but he is liable to do something less violent but equally as petty.) “Later!” Jooheon just grunts distractedly and Jackson huffs a laugh as he drags the laundry bag out the door.
*
“You’ve been doing your own laundry for fucking years and you still managed to fuck up this bad?” Jimin is almost howling with laughter from her place on top of the washing machine. Jackson’s pretty sure you’re not supposed to sit on those but the laundromat owners adore Jimin so they never call her on it.
“Hey! I’ve never claimed to be smart!”
“Last week you said you were ‘the smartest motherfucker at this school,’” Jimin manages through her fit of laughter, her legs swinging cutely where they hang off the edge of the machine.
“Well,” Jackson throws his head back, hands flying to his hips as he adopts the most overdramatic stance he can, “I guess I was wrong!” Jimin laughs so hard she snorts.
People are always telling Jackson he’s a pretty charming guy but he’s always tried a little harder to be just a little less embarrassing to impress girls anyway. With Jimin though, the need to be cool and suave to impress her is always overridden by how good it feels to make her laugh- no matter how much he has to humiliate himself to do so.
“I mean, don’t mix your whites and your reds is like, laundry one-oh-one, the basics.”
“Let’s look on the bright side, none of them are mine!” Jackson grins even as he rifles through the heap of Mark’s work shirts and Jooheon’s socks and underwear that he’s turned pink. Jimin kicks at him and he grabs her foot, tugging playfully.
“That makes it worse!” She shrieks as she bats at his hands. They continue to play-fight until one of the employees takes their earbud out and gives them both a look. With Jimin distracted by the employee Jackson finally manages to pull her off the washing machine and she lands against him heavily. They sway backwards then sideways but thankfully Jackson’s strong enough to keep them both standing.
Things are always like this when they’re together: fun, easy. They’ve been friends for a while (since freshman year, when Jimin enlisted Jackson and Jooheon to help her hand out flyers for a free show she was singing in,) but over the past year especially they’ve gotten closer. Always going out to dinner, movies, long nights of studying and hanging out all just with the two of them. Jackson doesn’t want to read deeper into it though, he’s close with a lot of his girl friends and he’s scared to jeopardise their friendship by jumping the gun.
“Hey, you coming to the party next week?”
“Maybe,” she shoves him jokingly before moving to throw Mark’s ruined shirts in the dryer.
“Y’know, Jooheon probably won’t even care about his shit being pink and… maybe I could bleach Mark’s shirts…”
“Or,” Jimin pulls back from his arms so she can fix him with her patented you’re-a-fucking-moron look, “you could just buy him some new work shirts and beg for forgiveness?”
“I could buy him some new shirts,” he smacks his forehead obnoxiously. “God, Jimin, what would I ever do without your powerful words of wisdom-“
“Fuck you,” she cackles and flicks his forehead.
“You wanna come shirt-shopping with me when we’re done here?” Jackson asks hopefully, bumping their shoulders together.
“Hmmm, I dunno... I’m a pretty busy lady...” she teases, pretending to be deep in thought.
“So busy that you were able to meet me at a moment’s notice?”
“Hey!” Jimin smacks his arm. “I could have plans!”
“Would you still have plans if I promised to buy you dinner?”
“Suddenly my schedule is crystal clear!” She grins at him and sticks her tongue out when he flips her off. She’s such a little shit. God, Jackson likes her so much.
*
Jackson isn’t really sure how he knows Jae. They don’t have any of the same classes and none of their mutual friends will take responsibility for introducing them. He thinks Jae might have just shown up to one of his parties in freshman year and decided to come to every one since. Not that Jackson is complaining though, Jae is one of the coolest motherfuckers he’s ever met (not that he’d tell him that. Jimin would probably kill him if he did) and always brings his own beer which is excellent for Jackson’s wallet. On top of all that Jae is one of Jimin’s best friends- another thing she’d kill Jackson for ever saying out loud- and offers information on her with absolutely no prompting. This is how Jackson finds himself in the dollar store with Jae at his side, discussing whether Jimin will show up to his party.
“I dunno, man, why wouldn’t she?” Jae says, carefully eyeing the selection of paper plates. Jackson used to be fooled by Jae’s goofy exterior but now he’s pretty sure Jae is like, actually a genius and also definitely knows how he feels about Jimin but is either too polite or too devious to say anything. “Doesn’t she always?”
“Yeah but like, she hasn’t answered any of my texts in a week,” Jackson says, cringing at how kicked-puppy he sounds. He is confident. He is strong. He definitely did not cry over the radio silence from Jimin and if Jooheon says otherwise he’s lying.
Jae’s eyebrows shoot up as if this is news to him, which Jackson kind of doubts because he knows Jimin tells Jae absolutely everything but… that also means if Jae really didn’t know then that’s probably (definitely) a bad sign.
“Well,” Jae puts down the stack of red paper plates he was inspecting and picks up a blue one, “that’s kinda weird. Did you do something?”
Jackson flails his arms dramatically in a way he hopes conveys ‘I have no idea.’ It seems to do the trick because suddenly Jae is laying a hand on his shoulder and giving him a frown that he’s sure is supposed to be sympathetic.
“Don’t stress about it, man, you know how she is.” Jae says, hand shifting from Jackson’s shoulder back to the plates he’s still assessing with more detail than Jackson thinks they need. That statement would be more reassuring if Jackson actually knew Jimin as well as Jae does. Which he wants to (God does he want to) but he doesn’t. Yet.
“Oh fuck yeah polka dots- hey Jackson, come look at these!”
Jackson feels a smile creep onto his face because, well, his deep self-pity is no match against the sight of a grown-ass, six foot man losing his shit over some spotty paper plates.
*
“-And I haven’t used Craigslist since!” Dahyun finishes with a bright smile. Jackson thinks he may never be clean again after hearing that story.
“Ah...ahaha that’s... that was really interesting, Dahyun. I have to go... check on the snacks...” Jackson ducks past someone to get to the snacks table. The party started a few hours ago so it’s already in full swing, way more people than there probably should be are packed into the apartment. Jackson would love to take all the credit for that but honestly Hyungwon’s reputation as a DJ on campus and Bambam’s promotional skills (seriously, dude, should get a job as a club promoter) always bring in a huge crowd.
Under the erratic disco lights (purchased last minute thanks to Jae’s excellent find at the dollar store) Jackson can see a shadowed figure darting from one end of the table to the other. As he approaches the strobing lights fall on the confusing figure, illuminating them to reveal... Tzuyu? Oh. Yeah. That’s definitely just Tzuyu stealing his food. Wait- what the fuck?
“Are you stealing my fucking snacks?”
“These snacks are for the guests right?” Tzuyu says, not looking up from where she’s shovelling handfuls of cocktail weenies into a ziploc bag in her backpack.
“Well, yeah, but-“
“Well,” she says, lowering her voice in an insulting mimic, “I’m a guest and it’s a free country so...”
At this moment Mark appears (seriously it’s like he just materialises next to them out of nowhere) with a full plate.
“Hey, Tzuyu,” he says affably, the hand not holding the plate is clutching his blanket-cape to keep it from falling. “Hey, bro,” he nudges Jackson.
With that he’s gone again, probably back to his room where he will inevitably hole himself up until the party ends.
“Y’know you two are s-“ Jackson begins but as he turns he sees Tzuyu is already gone. “Dicks. You guys are such dicks.”
“Hey!” Jackson jumps, hand flying to his chest as Jooheon rushes up beside him, speaking way too quickly for him to understand.
“Hey, hey, slow down you’re not rapping right now.”
“-so I’m sorry- oh! Sorry. Right, well I was just saying err...” Now that his mouths not moving a mile per minute Jooheon actually looks sheepish. “I’mgoinghomewithChangkyun.”
“You’re what?”
“I’m going home with Changkyun!” Jooheon finally spits out, at least having the decency to look guilty.
“Jooheon-“
“I know!” Jooheon throws his hands up like a shield. “I know I said I’d help clean up this time but I’m pretty sure he wants to bang and you know how much I like him and I’ve liked him for so long and I can’t just pass up this opportunity I mean have you seen his ass? And I swear- I SWEAR- if you let me off the hook this time I’ll-“
“Man, just go.” Jackson says, resigned. He really does know how much Jooheon likes Changkyun (and if he doesn’t let Jooheon make a defined offer then he has a favour to call in any time) and who is he to stand in the way of young love?
“For real?”
“Yeah, man.” Jackson says cheerfully. With a firm hand he pushes Jooheon in the direction of the door where he can see Changkyun is already standing, shifting from foot to foot nervously. “But you owe me. Big time.”
He watches Jooheon scramble through the throng of party-goers, out their front door and into the night, Changkyun hot on his heels.
The room is so hot with all the sweaty, dancing bodies packed in tight and Jackson suddenly needs air. He weaves his way through the crowd and to the balcony where he slides the door open only to be sucker-punched by the strong smell of weed.
“No. No. Absolutely not. Not fucking possible.” Brian’s voice is the next thing to hit Jackson; his irritated-bordering-on-furious tone one that Jackson’s only ever heard him take with Jae. (Part of Jackson’s Jae-is-a-genius conspiracy includes the theory that Jae purposely says stupid things to rile Brian up. Brian and Jimin prefer to think he’s just that stupid but Jackson is seriously convinced Jae could be the next Einstein and just chooses to use his powers for evil.)
“You say that but how do you know?” Jae is clearly holding back a laugh. He takes a drag of the joint passed to him before passing it on to Nayeon who, Jackson notes with only a small amount of surprise, is sprawled across Jeongyeon’s lap. “Oh! Hey, buddy!” He says happily as he spots Jackson sliding the door closed and stepping onto the balcony.
“Yo!” Jackson greets them when his eyes move to the spot next to Jae. Fuck. Oh fuck. There she is, looking all cute and pretty and definitely a little buzzed because she’s swaying in her seat but it’s totally endearing. “Hey, Jimin.”
“Hey,” Jimin’s smile is small and sly but something in her eyes seems soft as she looks over Jackson appraisingly, paying extra attention to his arms. Thank God he decided to wear a sleeveless shirt. “How’s it hangin’?”
“Good! Good... Haven’t heard from you in a while…” He tries not to sound too much like a kicked puppy. It‘s bad enough Jae and Jooheon (and Bambam... and Mark... and really anyone who would listen) have heard him whine pathetically over the plight of his love life. He definitely doesn’t want Jimin to hear it too.
“Oh! You didn’t hear?” She says, surprised and seemingly confused.
“Hear what?”
“My-“ just as Jimin is about to finally enlighten Jackson as to why he hasn’t heard from her in an eternity a loud crash sounds from inside.
“What the fuck?” Brian yelps, snapped out of his bickering with Jae. Even Nayeon, who’s been silently keeping the joint to herself (not that anyone one would ever call her out for hogging the weed considering she’s the one who supplies them all with it) and is clearly stoned out of her mind jolts up from her cosy spot pressed against Jeongyeon.
“No fucking clue- I should probably go check-“ Jackson says, already rushing through the door. Throwing a regretful glance back at Jimin he finds her watching him as he goes. Just his fucking luck that the first time he gets to speak to her in a week he’s torn away immediately.
“HEEEEYYYY, MAN! What’s good?” A loud, friendly voice carries over the crowd and of course: it’s Bambam. As always he has arrived fashionably late, wearing an oversized fur jacket and blinged out with designer sunglasses indoors and enough jewellery to put Mr. T to shame.
As annoyed as Jackson is at the abrupt interruption of his Jimin-time he can’t help grinning as his flamboyantly dressed friend dances over to him to wrap him in a combination full-frontal-slash-bro-hug.
“Nice of you to finally show up!” Jackson yells over the music as he pulls back, Bambam’s hand still resting on his shoulder. “What the fuck was that crash?”
“Oh! Yukhei broke a plate.” Bambam removes his designer sunglasses, tucking them into his coat pocket.
“Fuck-”
“Don’t worry,” Bambam laughs, “he and Yuqi ran out to get a new one!”
Even in his frustration Jackson smiles. They’re sweet kids really- sweet and a little stupid- that’s probably why he gets along with them so well.
“Was it really just a plate? It sounded way too loud.”
“Well he tripped and fell onto the plate... and a few of your guests... It was really funn- hey!”
“What?” Jackson whips his head around to follow Bambam’s line of vision.
“Is that Yugyeom?” Bambam sounds pissed which, if you ask Jackson, is kind of a weird reaction to seeing your best friend.
“Yeah, he got here a couple hours ago. Why?”
“That motherfucker said he’d cat-sit for me tonight!”
Cat-sit? “Dude, it’s just one night I’m pretty sure your cats will be fine-“ but Bambam is already pushing past him and into the crowd. He doesn’t stop until he’s in front of Yugyeom and Jackson watches from afar as a small crowd around them watches Bambam yell and gesticulate wildly as Yugyeom looks at the floor, ashamed. Jackson is vividly reminded of this viral video he once saw of someone yelling at their cheating husband. He’ll tell Yugyeom that later when he’s not getting publicly chewed out- he’ll probably get a kick out of it.
Jackson has to hold back a laugh as he watches Bambam storm out, Yugyeom following close behind. Jackson loves animals as much as the next guy but he doesn’t think he’ll ever understand Bambam’s fierce overprotectiveness of his cats.
(Jackson had once walked into Bambam’s apartment to find him carrying one of his cats in one of those baby slings. Which, Hell, not even Jaebum does kinda thing and Jaebum talks about his cats the way most people talk about their kids.)
Jackson turns to make his way back to the balcony but is stopped in his tracks by the sight in front of him. He’s always been pretty sure there was something going on with them but seeing Momo, Sana and Dahyun all making out with each other on one of his beanbag chairs is not something he ever expected to see. He checks to make sure no one is leering at them (he likes to think of himself as a pacifist but if any perverts decided to creep on his friends he’d have to throw a punch or two) but people seem to be more focused on dancing than on the- err- throuple in front of them.
Honestly, Jackson isn’t entirely sure what their relationship dynamic is but he’s always known it wasn’t quite platonic. He’s a total romantic at heart and there’s something about seeing some of his best friends so happy together that warms his heart.
Jackson is snapped out of his reverie by the sound of retching. He turns to see Chaeyoung... dry heaving into abandoned DJ equipment. (The abandoned equipment is quickly explained when he scans the room and realises Hyungwon is passed out on the couch, which, not a surprise considering Hyungwon slept through a literal earthquake once in their freshman year.) At break-neck speed he scoops her up, praying she won’t vomit all over his shirt, and rushes her to the bathroom. Thank fucking God it’s empty.
Once he’s set her down in front of the toilet Chaeyoung immediately begins ferociously throwing up.
“Jesus, kid,” Jackson sighs as he holds back her hair. “How much did you drink?” He really doesn’t want to go to the emergency room tonight.
“I,” Chaeyoung starts as she wipes the back of her mouth with a shaking hand. Gross. “Have been at this party-“ a belch followed by a sniffle- “for. TWO HOURS. And I still,” she sobs once. Then twice. “Haven’t got any p-p-pussy-“ she interrupts herself by bursting into soulful, mourning tears.
“That’s tough, kid,” Jackson says as he moves one hand from her hair to rub her back, peppering in what he hopes to be soothing ‘there, there’s.’ She stops crying briefly but Jackson can’t bask in his own glowing comforting skills as she begins vomiting again.
The door jolts open suddenly and Tzuyu is there; her eyes go wide with surprise when she sees Jackson.
“Oh. What are you doing here?” She asks.
“It’s my bathroom? What are you still doing here? I thought you came to steal all my food and leave.”
“No.” Tzuyu snaps defensively. Her angry expression drops when she can tell he’s not buying it. “I came to steal soaps too.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
It’s at this point Chaeyoung looks up at Tzuyu and decides to chime in, “You’re so-“ a hiccup- “fucking hot.”
“You’re vomiting.”
“S-so pretty,” Chaeyoung starts weeping again.
“Y’know what,” Jackson starts and Tzuyu’s eyes snap from Chaeyoung back to him, “if you take Chaeyoung here home and make sure she doesn’t die I’ll buy you a free gift basket of your choosing.”
“Make it two.”
“One large. Muffins and toiletries.”
“Deal.” With that, Tzuyu hauls the still emotional Chaeyoung off the floor and ushers her out the door without sparing Jackson a second glance.
After some light cleaning (having surveyed the destruction Chaeyoung left in her wake Jackson knew couldn’t just leave it like that) he leaves the bathroom again. Right as he exits he bumps into Jimin whose expression turns from irritation to surprise to a blinding smile in the span of a second.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Jimin’s soft yet playful tone is just loud enough for him to hear as she sidles up beside him.
“Hey stranger,” Jackson says as he throws an arm around her shoulder, bumping her hip with his and laughing when she bumps back. They lean on each other for a moment, Jimin warm and soft tucked against his side, and Jackson feels at peace for the first time in a week. Her delicate hand smooths over his back and Jackson rests his cheek atop her head.
“Y’know,” Jimin starts and he pulls back to look down at her, “I never got to tell you earlier! I haven’t texted you back becau-“
“JACKSON!” A clearly drunk Sana screeches at them as she breaks from the crowd. “DAHYUN’S DANCING ON THE TABLE AGAIN!”
“Shit!” Jackson is torn away from Jimin once again, this time by Sana’s insistent hands and the terrifying prospect of another table broken under Dahyun’s dancing feet. (She had broken their first one at a party last year and Mark had threatened to move out if he ever had to work that many extra shifts to pay for another one ever again.)
Once he’s managed to get Dahyun down from the table with only a small amount of fuss and no apparent damage to the table he decides it may be time to shut things down. After watching Sana and Momo escort Dahyun out the door (followed by Jeongyeon carrying a snoring Nayeon bridal style) the other guests seem to be in agreement and begin a steady stream out of the apartment door. Most of them throwing some sort of ‘thanks!’ or ‘bye’s over their shoulder, Jae hugs him tightly and then high-five him as he traipses after Brian (who’s threatening to leave him there if he doesn’t hurry up.)
“Hey,” Hyunwoo’s soothing voice calls out as he rounds the kitchen doorway, “you want some help cleaning up?”
Jackson can’t even manage words, just a relieved groan which Hyunwoo laughs at and they begin the hellish task of cleaning (fuck a favour. Jackson might actually kill Jooheon for ditching him this time.) They’ve just finished cleaning the kitchen when Yukhei and Yuqi burst through the apartment door.
“Sorry kids, party’s over.” Jackson tells them as he leans against his broom.
“Plates!” Yukhei yells triumphantly as Yuqi raises the box of plates like Simba. Hyungwon stirs at the loud noise and rolls over on the couch but still doesn’t wake up.
“Oh!” He’d completely forgotten about that. “Right, yeah, thanks. Just put ‘em in the kitchen.”
“Do you- oh hey Hyunwoo- do you guys want some help cleaning up?” Yuqi says as she swings back around the kitchen doorway, bright eyes blinking up at Jackson. God, he wishes he still had that youthful energy.
“Oh, you don’t have t-” Jackson starts before realising hey, idiot, free help being offered here. “Actually yeah that’d be great.”
With three extra pairs of hands they manage to get the front room and the balcony cleaned up in record time. Jackson only mourns all the potential Jimin-time he missed a little… okay, a lot. Okay, he thinks about it the whole time they’re cleaning but he thinks lying to himself might make it just a bit less pathetic.
“Thanks for the party, man, I’m gonna head out.” Hyunwoo asks as he throws a still passed out Hyungwon over his shoulder “You guys want a ride home?” he asks Yukhei and Yuqi, who accept his offer with enthusiasm and after giving Jackson a crushing hug they bound out after him.
“Fuck,” Jackson sighs to himself as he collapses onto the couch. He’s just gonna have to put this one down as a failure. Thanks to Tzuyu’s thieving hands he doesn’t even have any snacks left- maybe the Chinese takeout down the street will still be open this late. Jackson is reaching for his phone (ready to swallow down his disappointment with some greasy takeout) when the door to his room opens.
“Hey dumbass, I’ve been waiting for you.” Like a mirage in the desert Jimin emerges from his room looking so, incredibly pretty even in her disheveled post-party state.
A confused, “Wha?” Is all Jackson can manage, too distracted by her mere presence. She starts crossing the room towards him and he stands up to meet her halfway.
“I’ve been in there waiting for you, stupid. I’ve been trying to tell you all night- my phone is broken.”
“Yeah I- wait- what?”
“My phone is broken! That’s why I haven’t texted you back all week. I thought Mark would’ve told you, I asked him to.”
Jackson’s mind flashes back to the stack of pink shirts and the three crumpled twenty dollar bills he’d handed Mark last week. “Yeah... It must have slipped his mind.”
They stand there for a moment just looking at each other and smiling. Jackson decides now is the time to be brave.
“Y’know... I wanted to use this party as an opportunity to ask you out.” He tries to be casual, taking steadying breaths as he waits for an answer.
“Oh... Haven’t we been dating for like, a year?” Jimin’s expression seems sincerely confused.
“We have?” Jackson’s heart is pounding- this is most definitely not a rejection.
“Yeah, or, I mean, I thought we were.” They’re silent for a moment before they both move closer; taking careful steps until there’s no space left between them. The kiss is gentle, but something about the soft click their lips make as they part makes Jackson’s body hot all over.
“Wow,” he whispers without even meaning to.
“Yeah, wow…” Jimin’s smile is cheeky but her eyes sparkle with something tender and genuine. “So… you wanna take me back to the bedroom?”
“Hell yeah,” Jackson says. Not wanting to waste another moment he hoists her over his shoulder obnoxiously, as she screeches with laughter.
This party fuckin’ ruled, Jackson thinks as he laughs with her, rushing to the bedroom and shutting the door behind them.