𝓛𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓮𝔂𝓮𝓼 | • 𝓙𝓪𝔂 𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓴 • |

꧁ ✻ chapter 7 ✻ ꧂

Y/N POV

Jay grabbed my arm and pulled me back into my seat. Contrary to what I expected, his touch wasn't cold. It was scorching, and it burned trough my skin and muscles until I felt its warmth in the  pit of my stomach. I swallowed hard. "What? We're already late, and they're closing soon"

"You can't go out like that" I the tiniest hint of disapproval etched into the corners of his mouth. "Like what?" I asked, confused. I wore jeans and a T-shirt, nothing scandalous. Jay inclined his head towards my shirt. I glamced down and let out a horrified yelp. Because my shirt? White. Wet. A bit transparent. I closed my arms over my chest, my face flaming. "Was it like this the entire time?" "yes" "you could've told me" "I told you just now" Sometimes, I wanted to strangle him. I really did. And I wasn't even a violent person.

I was the same girl who didn't eat gingerbread man cookies for years after watching Shrek because I felt like I was eating Gingy's family members or, worse, Gingy himself, but something about Jay provoked my dark side. I exhaled a sharp breath and dropped my arms by instinct, forgetting about my see-trough shirt until Jay's gaze flicked down to my shirt again.

The flaming cheeks returned, but I was sick of sitting here arguing with him. The bakery closed in ten minutes, and the clock was ticking. Maybe it was the man, the weather, or the hour and a half i'd spent stuck under a bus shelter, but my frustration spilled out before I could stop it. "Instead if being an asshole and staring at my chest, can you lend me your jacket? because I really want to get this cake and send Jungwon, your bestfriend, the cake."

My words hung in the air while I clapped a hand over my mouth horrified. Did I just utter the word chest to Jay Park and accuse him of ogling me? And call him an asshole? Dear god, if you smite me with lightning right now, I won't be mad. Promise

Jay's eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch . It ranked in the top five most emotional responses I'd pulled out of him in eight months, so that was something. "Trust me, I was not staring at your chest" He said, his voice frigid enough to transform the lingering drops of moisture on my skin to icicles.

"You're not my type, even if you weren't Jungwons sister"
Ouch. I wasn't interested in Jay either, but no girl enjoys being dismissed so easily by a member of Enhypen. "Whatever. There's no need to be a jerk about it" I muttered. "Look, the bakery closes in two minutes. Just let me borrow your jacket, and we can get out of here." I'd prepaid online, so all I needed was to grab the cake.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. " I'll get it. You're not leaving the car dressed like that, even wearing my jacket." Jay janked an umbrella out from beneath his seat and exited the car in one fluid motion.

He returned less than five minutes later with the bakery's signature pink-and-mint-green cake box tucked beneath one arm. He dumped it on my lap, snapped his umbrella closed, and reversed out of the parking spot without so much as blinking. "Do you ever smile?" I asked, peeking inside the box to make sure they hadn't messed up the order. Nope.

"Explain why you were out there in the first place." Jay evaded my question and changed subjects so quick I had whiplash. "I had and appointment at the "......". There's a—" "Spare me the details. I don't care." A low growl slipped from my throat. "Why are you here? Didn't figure you for the chauffeur type." "I was in the area, and you're like Jungwons little sister. If you died, he'd be bore to hanger out with" Jay pulled up in front their house, the lights blazed, and I could see people dancing and laughing trough the windows.

"Thank you for the ride." I huffed out the car. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, and I smelled damp earth and the hydrangeas clustered in a pot by three front door. I'd shower, change, then catch the last half of Jungwon's party. Hopefully, he wouldn't give me a shit for getting stranded or being late, because I wasn't in the mood.

I never stay angry for long, but right then, my blood simmered and I wanted to punch Jay in the face.
He was so cold and arrogant... and... him. It was infuriating. Jungwon usually hungout with him in the city.

JAY POV

A silvery laugh pealed trough the air, drawing my eyes toward the source.
Y/N. Of course.
To Jungwon, she was now like his little sister who is sweet and sunshiny all the time, I half expected flowers to sprout on the ground whenever she walked and coterie of singing woodland animals to trail behind her while she traipsed through meadows or whatever girls like her did.

She stood in the corner with her friends, her face bright with animation as she laughed at something one of them said. I wondered if it was a real laugh or fake laugh. Knowing Y/N, her laugh was real.

"Yo" Jungwon appeared beside me, his hair tousled and his mouth stretched into a wide grin. "Thanks for showing up." "I actually wanted to talk about uh. me, being gone," He clarified. "Don't tell me you're getting sentimental on me." I sighed. He laughed. "No. this is about Y/N." My glass paused an inch from my lips before I brought it home and the sweet burn of the drink flowed down my throat. "What about her?" Jungwon and Y/N were close, even if they bickered so much I wanted to duct-tape their mouths sometimes. "Im worried about her." Jungwon rubbed a hand over his jaw, his expression growing serious. "I know she's old enough and can take care of herself— unless she's getting stranded in the middle of nowhere; thanks for picking her up, by the way—but she's never been on her own for so long, and she can be a little too..... trusting." I had an inkling of where Jungwon was going with this, and I didn't like it. At all.

"She won't be alone. She has her friends. And the other members" I inclined my head toward said friends. "You don't need to worry. Bundang's safe, and the crime rate here is close to zero." "Yeah, but I'd feel better if I had someone I trusted looking after her, ya know?" God. The train was heading straight off a cliff, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. "Anyway, if you could keep an eye on her— just to make sure she doesn't get killed or kidnapped or anything? I'd owe you a big." "You already owe me for all those times I saved your ass." I said wryly. "You had fun doing it. You're too uptight sometimes." Jungwon grinned. "So is that a yes?"

I glanced at Y/N again. Took her in. She was seventeen, two years younger than Jungwon and me, and she managed to appear both younger and older than her years. It was the way she carried herself, Like she'd seen it all—the good, the bad, the downright ugly— and still believed in goodness. It was stupid as it was admirable.

She must've felt me staring, because she paused her conversation and looked directly at me, her cheeks tinting pink at my unflinching gaze. She'd changed out of her jeans and T-shirt into a purple dress that swirled around her knees. Too bad. The dress was nice, but my mind flashed back to our car ride, when her damp shirt had clung to her like a second skin-

I yanked myself out of that startling fantasy fast. What was wrong with me? She was to Jungwon a sister. Innocent, doe-eyed, and so sweet I could throw up. Y/N was nothing but feelings, with a hint of sass.

"Jay," Jungwon prompted. "I don't know, man." I dragged my eyes away from Y/N and her purple dress. "I'm not much of a babysitter." "Good thing she's not a baby," He quipped. "But its more than that," Jungwon continued. "You're the only person I trust, period, outside my family and Enhypen." I sighed. "I'll take care of her. Don't worry." I was going to regret this. I knew it, yet here I was, signing my life wat, at least for the next year. I didn't make a lot of promises, but when I did, I kept them. Committed myself to them. Which ment if I promised Jungwon to look after Y/N, I'd really look after her, and I'm not talking about a text check-in every two weeks.

She was under my protection now.

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To be continued......