ALWAYS You: Swan's Shadow [YOONGI] (Book 3)

Chapter 18

A few seconds pause of silence filled the space between them. Eventually, Soo-ji clicked open the door and pulled it ajar just by a tiny gap. 

Jackson was met by Soo-ji's big brown eye peeking through the gap. She was cautious, distrusting and wary. 

Soo-ji was met by Jackson's large grin. The corner of his lips spread from ear to ear, his pearly whites shining back at her. He was overly trusting, like a naive puppy dog eager for playtime. 

She pulled the door open wider. 

"An invite into your room would be nice." Jackson deadpanned, tapping his feet against the floor. 

Soo-ji stepped aside. 

"Thank you," Jackson said in posh voice, doing a courtesy bow to tease her. Behind his back, Soo-ji slid the switch knife into the sleeves of her shirt. 

She watched Jackson from behind, who was looking around the room with curiosity. 

"Nice room, this is the best Yeonjun could find, huh?" He said sarcastically, placing a suspecting box on top of the bed. 

Soo-ji raised an eyebrow at him, watching him crash onto the stained sofa next to the desk. Whether he was teasing her or just trying to make easy conversation in their first meeting, Soo-ji just wasn't in the mood. 

And Jackson picked up exactly why. 

His attention was directed to the laptops on the desk. And as soon as he laid his eyes on the billboard's poster, a scoffing laugh escaped from his lips. 

"So you've caught on?" He asked, nodding his head towards Yoongi and Chung Ha's photo.

"Bit hard not to," Soo-ji muttered, pursing her lips. "It's everywhere in the city like a virus." 

Jackson laughed again, but gradually his chuckle slowed into an echo when Soo-ji didn't join him. 

"So what do you think of it?" He probed. 

Soo-ji pulled the desk chair out, placing herself directly in front of him. She never gave much thought how meeting Jackson Wang for the first time would be. Did she expect some sort of dramatic gang talk where the two leaders would be sitting formally at a poker table, men behind them waiting to take the gang out? Possibly. But certainly not like this with Jackson lying flat on his back on the old sofa, one leg hanging over the back as he twirled her abandoned underwear around his index finger.

Soo-ji sat there quietly with a blank face, watching her undies spin in circles.

"Do you mind? That's unwashed." 

Jackson swings it even faster. "I can tell," he snickered, "still got that lovely fish smell drifting around!" 

And Jackson was in a fit of giggles, clutching his sides like a child as he barked out laugh after laugh. 

Soo-ji rolled her eyes at him. 

"Loosen up, man." He said through choked laughter, "I'm just kidding!" 

Soo-ji wasn't kidding, though. She sat there, still and stationery, with a dead expression on her face. She waited till he was done, which seemed like an eternity when her expressionless face only cracked him up even more. 

"Now... Now I know that poster pissed you off like hell." Jackson snorted. Again, Soo-ji rolled her eyes at his comment. 

She neither denied nor confirmed that statement. But her diversion was all too obvious to Jackson anyway. "So what's that date at the bottom of the poster?" 

"Oh that? That's the upcoming fundraising ball at the Blue House." 

Soo-ji sat up taller in her chair, that revelation having piqued her interest. "Fundraising ball?"