Jinyoung and Jaebum sat outside Hoshi's cafe, the owner sitting inside with a constant text to Eric Nam, who had started texting him when Jackson showed up out of the blue on his doorstep, unlocked the door with the spare key that no one knew where he got it from, scared the hell out of him by grabbing a bag of potato chips and a large bottle of water before crashing in his guest room.
Eric was not happy that the boy had broken into his house with a spare key he didn't know he owned but he wanted to know if there was more to be worried about.
"Jackson cares very much about your relationship with his father," Jaebum said, holding the cup of coffee with both hands, "He's been trying hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for this test, specifically for his father, just to show he's not a failure. He feels like he's being replaced."
Jinyoung sighed and replied, "That's what I figured after what happened earlier."
Jaebum shook his head.
"You misunderstand Jackson's actions. That wasn't the feeling of replacement, that was the betrayal. More than his extremely broken relationship with his father, Jackson didn't want to believe that you were the one that was trying to replace him."
"I'm not trying to replace him."
"See, I know that. And you know that. Mark knows that. Youngjae and Yugyeom and Bambam know that the whole goddamn world seems to know that but Jackson's been ignored and pushed to the side by his father far too much," Jaebum replied, leaning back and looking at Jinyoung.
"Jackson's convinced that anything that he has ever felt for you has been fake," he continued, taking a sip of the coffee, "He's convinced that you've been aiming to get his position as heir and son for years. That all the feelings he holds for you were just you manipulating him."
Jinyoung was silent for a while.
"...Jackson has feelings for me?"
Jaebum closed his mouth, angry that Jinyoung was so dense and angry at himself for spilling a secret that drunk Jackson had told him. He stood up and pulled out his wallet, throwing money on the table to pay for the drinks.
"Hoshi, I'll see you in class."
"Okay, see ya."
"Wait! Wait, Jaebum!"
The elder turned and looked at Jinyoung with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to finish. He looked at a loss for words and then finally swallowed and looked at Jaebum with doe eyes.
"Jackson likes me?"
Jaebum rolled his eyes and sighed, nodding before he turned and left the cafe, hailing a taxi to get home before Youngjae got out of class again.
Jinyoung stood at the entrance to Eric's studio, pacing back and forth while the baggy eyes gave off the impression that he was a homeless man that was waiting for someone to give him money. It was maybe four in the morning and he'd been waiting outside Eric's studio for almost two days.
"Jinyoung? What... are you doing here?"
Eric looked at the boy with confusion as he got out of his car, making sure that no one else had seen him. It was still very much early in the morning so there was no way that someone important had seen him.
Jinyoung looked at him relieved, happy that Eric finally came to his studio, and ran up to him. He stared him in the eyes and said, "I need to talk to Jackson, as soon as possible, please. Where do you live?"
Eric looked at him like he was insane. Maybe he was....just a little bit.
"How...okay, fine, whatever. How do you know where my studio is but not where I live?" he asked, shaking his head at Jinyoung.
Jinyoung sighed and replied quickly, "Both Jimins."
"Damn!" Eric hissed, opening the door of his car and throwing his bag in the backseat, "Get in, I'll give you a ride. I'm going to drive my car into both of their dorms."
Jinyoung slid into the passenger seat and was surprised to find that Eric was driving like a madman. His hands gripped the steering wheel and the music choice of rock n' roll to fit the style of his angry driving.
He was mumbling under his breath when they hit a red light and asked finally, attempting to calm himself down, "Jinyoung, do you want to be the one to explain to me why Jackson has the key to my house?"
Jinyoung swallowed and replied, "I...I don't know, I didn't even know Jackson knew where you lived."
Eric groaned and said, "When you get through that thick head of his, I need you to tell Jackson that he better give me the key and tell me where he got it because this is ridiculous."
Jinyoung nodded and pulled out his phone, leaving himself a reminder to question Jackson about it later.
"I was wondering why I was running out of food so fast."
