Jackson stood in the doorway of the kitchen, seeing Jaebum sitting next to Hoshi and listening to the video that they were watching while Hoshi held a cup of hot chocolate in front of him. The blonde boy knew all too well what Hoshi was pulling.
He only ever made hot chocolate when someone was in need of comfort.
"Jaebum," Jackson called and the elder looked up, swallowing and thanking Hoshi as he stood up.
"I think that I owe you an apology, a thank you, and a free punch-Jackson-in-the-face coupon," the blonde boy said, pulling out of his pocket the $10 bill that he scribbled on. These were Jackson's coupons, conveniently made on money so that they could accidentally be sold and never redeemed.
Jaebum smiled and took the coupon, Jackson grabbing his arm and pulling him in for a hug. He mumbled an apology and then thanked Hoshi, the boy already resubmerged in his video with both earbuds in.
Hoshi knew that he was going to be used as a safe house for Jackson and Jinyoung but that didn't mean he cared about the plan that was going on. Yes, they were his best customers (his best-paying customers) but they weren't really friends. The only reason anyone in that group knew Hoshi was because he and Bambam had gone to high school together.
To be truthful, he hadn't really become a close friend of the group of boys and when someone (any of his friends, really) called him up to ask him for a favor, he would blindly oblige until it came to money.
Jackson and Jaebum left Hoshi alone and returned back to the cafe, finding that Youngjae was filling glasses of iced tea for everyone, a $50 bill bit in between his lips. They looked at each other, said nothing, and continued back to the table.
Mark was looking at his phone in confusion, seeing that his father was calling him but had texted him to only pick up when Jackson was in the room. As Jackson returned to his seat with Jaebum, he slid the green button across the screen and put the phone on speaker.
"Jackson Wang?"
"Mr. Tuan? Uh...how can I help you?" Jackson asked, confused. Mark's parents loved Mark's friends a lot but they were often out of the country and didn't call for Mark's friends when they had cell phone service.
"Jackson, listen to me. I'm sure Jaebum and Jinyoung have filled you in that your father wants you dead. He's prepared to cut me a deal that if I can get you out of the country long enough for him to talk to Jinyoung, he'll call off whatever hit that he's planning."
The group suddenly got very interested and Youngjae finished up the drink and returned to the table quickly.
"You can't be serious," Jackson said, looking at Jinyoung, "You know that he'll try to take Jinyoung away from me, right? Please tell me that you didn't agree, that you haven't signed anything yet."
"Not yet but Jackson, you need to seriously consider this possibility. You're no good to any of us dead."
"I'm no good to anyone living in Los Angeles a thousand miles away from Jinyoung and that cock-shining bastard of a bitch!"
"Jackson, calm down," Jinyoung soothed, rubbing his arm and lacing his hands through Jackson's hair. The boy slowly calmed down and Mark thanked his father before hanging up.
"It's a plan B," Jaebum said, breaking the silence, "Mr. Wang won't go against Mark's dad, no matter what. The Tuan family has more influence than his, he won't stand a chance. If we can't protect you, Jackson, we will have to fall back on that plan, okay?"
Jackson hated the idea of leaving the country, of leaving Jinyoung here for Mr. Wang to manipulate.
"Just...remember that it's only a Plan B at the moment, okay? Something to fall back on."
