red (got7 // jaebum)

•three•

I wasnt sure how, but I could sense something was up before i even entered. I practically dropped everything as I stood at the doorway to the practice room. "What did you guys do?"

The boys, who were all muttering to themselves, were crowded around something. A few of them jumped upon hearing my voice. I heard a sigh or two as the mini crowd began to part, revealing a pale Jackson.

"What happened?", I asked.

"Do you really want to know?", he countered.

I sighed. "Honestly, no. But I need to know anyways."

It was Jackson's turn to sigh as he pulled off his black snapback, revealing his contrasting platinum blond hair.

I closed my eyes for a second, hoping I could somehow erase the sight I just saw. "How...how did that happen?" I asked slowly.

"Look, it was--", started Bambam. He shut up immediately once Jackson cut him off.

"Someone thought it would be a cool idea to chew gum during dance practice.", continued Jackson, glaring at him.

"Well, I don't know why your head was so close to my mouth anyway.", stated Bambam, arms crossed.

"Who chews gum during any type of physical activity?"

The two of them continued to bicker amongst themselves, but Jinyoung ignored them and spoke. "The point is, our stylist will probably quit if she sees this."

"We tried to help him get it out.", admitted Youngjae sheepishly. "But...I'm not sure we helped him too much."

An amused laugh sounded from none other than Jaebum, who was lounging on a chair, slightly distancing himself from the chaos. He seemed all too used to situations like this, like a father of five who had grown accustomed to dealing with their shenanigans in his own way. "What if they save your head bald."

Jackson immediately shut up and panicked as he ran his hands through the few loose strands of hair he had left. His eyes grew wide. "You don't think they'd really do that, do you?"

"I don't know." Jaebum shrugged, obviously getting a kick out of this. "It seems like a lot that they'd have to cut off."

Jackson turned back to me. "You don't think they'd really do that?" He repeated.

I got a little closer to scope out the damage. I sighed. "Not if I can help it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I may be able to help."

Jackson's other hand flew to his head too. "You won't cut it, will you?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. But what I will need are some gloves, baby oil and a comb."

* * *

I felt like a surgeon doing open heart surgery. The room was almost dead silent and the boys were all crowded around me and Jackson, excluding Jaebum, who hadn't seemed to break his imaginary restraining order yet.

"Ow", yelped Jackson as I pulled at a particularly nasty area.

"Sorry.", I told him, though it didnt stop me from pulling at it. "If it was one piece of gum, how did this even get that bad?" I pulled out another piece.

No one said anything but a few of them suddenly seemed like the found the ground more interesting at the moment.

I was at it for a good ten minutes, painstakingly pulling the bright pink a way from the blond, before finally, Jackson's hair was free.

"There.", I said triumphantly, turning him to the practice room mirror, followed by a few ooh's and aah's from the rest of the group.

Jackson stared at his head in amazement. "Wow, its really gone. Thank you so much!"
I waved a hand as if to dismiss it. "It's an old trick I learned. I grew up with two brothers. This sort of thing happened a lot. Just go wash the oil out and you'll be fine."

"Seriously, thank you though. Management is really serious about our image. You probably saved us from a ton of trouble.", said Mark.

"Really, its nothing." I told him. "It my job anyway."

"I don't know how we even functioned without you before.", added Jinyoung.

I smiled gratefully. It was good to know others thought I was doing a good job.

"Now, we have some mediating to do.", he looked over at Bambam and Jackson who seemed to be giving each other the silent treatment. He went to go handle things with Mark following close behind.

"Hey. Red." said a voice trying to catch my attention.

I turned only to be face to face with Jaebum. His little nickname for me had stuck and he even got the rest of the guys to call me that. "What?" My tone had the slight beginnings of an attitude. Ever since the spring water fiasco it was almost natural for me.

"Don't you ever get tired?"

I crossed my arms. "Tired of what?"

"You're like our personal baby sitter. There's no way you could enjoy that."

"Last time I checked, you were the leader.", I retorted. "So none of this would be happening if you, you know, led them. Besides, I'm fine with it. I actually enjoy my time with y-...them." I didn't want to include him in the statement.

He smiled. It wasn't one of those good natured smiles that made you go "oh, look at him. he looks so friendly and approachable." I knew I was on thin ice, but I honestly didn't care. "You really like this job don't you?", he said.

"Is that not what I just said?"

"The other ones didn't even last this long. I'm just surprised."

"The others?" I was mad at myself for being so curious. I had only been here a little over a month.

He nodded. "We've had a lot of people come in and out before you started here."

"I could think of a few reasons why they'd leave.", I mumbled, still loud enough for him to hear though.

He seemed amused. "You mean me?" He laughed. "Maybe. If you're anything like the rest you'll see." He got a little closer, scrutinizing me again. His gaze burned. "But then again, I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it out."

"Figure what out?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, Red. You worry about your children." He ruffled my hair a a bit and it took every ounce of willpower I had for me not to punch him in the face.

This was probably our longest and least hostile conversation we had yet and I was still unsatisfied. Jaebum made no sense at all. The rest of the guys always spoke highly of him. He seemed hardworking enough. So what was it about these "others" that drove them away so quickly?

I watched as he went to join the rest of his group and it was almost like he was a completely different person. Well, not completely different. He wore the same smug, and slightly judgemental expression as always, but he just seemed more...or less cold.

So that made me wonder. Was it because of me? What did I do to get on his bad side? But then again it wasn't like I cared.

Okay, well, I did care. Just a little. It just bothered me that I had only gained approval from six out of seven members of Got7. I wanted to do my job thouroughly, and that included getting along with everyone, so I decided to suck it up. I decided I would kill him with kindness.

But I didn't anticipate it would be this hard.
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