Jackson's POV
I would never get used to this, no matter how many years of training I had gone through. My back was aching a bit after yesterday's rehearsals. It might look like martial arts tricking seemed easy when I performed, but it still hurt sometimes.
We all got a break for the day since tomorrow was the concert and we definitely needed to save all our energy. If I thought about it, rehearsals went really well anyways and I felt relieved that all the hours of practice paid off.
I was relaxing peacefully in bed and thinking about what I wanted to do when Yugyeom,the youngest member barged into the room.
'Jackson bro!! You owe me a treat remember??! And right now is the perfect time! I'm hungry!! I want steak! Steak! Steak! steak!' He started screaming in my ear.
He was so huge for his age but still such a baby. Giant maknae indeed, a title befitting his stature and his personality.
'Alright! Alright already! Stop torturing my poor eardrums! We'll go!' I shouted back and agreed right away just to get him to shut up.
'Yay! Get ready in 5! I'll be waiting downstairs!' And with that he ran out of my room with glee.
I smiled. That kid was so demanding but he knew I would do anything for him. Since I didn't have any siblings myself, Yugyeom was like my own younger brother to me. I got up before he starts yelling again, and changed into my black t- shirt and jeans and headed downstairs.
'Let's go bro! I know a place that makes good steak!'
We got into the car and headed out towards the restaurant. It was a peaceful drive, we had our favourite playlist on and Yugyeom's occasional random outbursts as he screamed the lyrics out loud. I was lost in the rhythm of the beat and enjoying the music when not even halfway there and Yugyeom suddenly banged his fist on the armrest.
'STOP!! STOP!! STOP!!'
I hit on the brakes immediately and the car screeched to a halt.
'What??! What's wrong???!!!' I panicked as I looked at him.
'Tee hee.' He gave me that innocent smile before raising his fingers,
'Claw machine.' He stated and pointed out at one just outside a pet shop, which consisted of various pokemon plushies.
I should have known. He was such a nerd when it comes to the show. I was a fan of it as well though I'd never be caught admitting it.
'Fine. Fine. Let's go.'
We got off the car and went to the claw machine. He inserted a few coins and was solely focusing on the bulbasaur on the extreme left of the machine while I was just leaning on the wall and looking around. As my eyes swept over the windows of the pet shop, I noticed a familiar face huddled in the corner around a box of kittens.
'Riannon!!' I waved excitedly, my heart skipping a beat at the sight of her but I ignored it.
'Over here!' I shouted again till she finally spotted me. She dropped whatever she was doing and was walking outside towards us. She had her mouth mask on as usual and I noticed she was wearing a bright blue shirt with the shop's name printed on it.
'You work here?' I asked her, a bit surprised.
'Yeah. It's my part time job. I love animals a lot so I figured this would be a good way to spend my free time.'
'Since when have you been working here? And don't you have classes today?'
'A few weeks ago. And no, we have two days off from university so I decided to spend the whole day here.'
'Wow. That's cool. Never imagined that Plain robot Riannon would love animals.'
She gave me a long hard stare daring me to say more before hitting me hard on the chest.
I bursted out laughing and tried to dodge her attacks as she tried to hit me again repeatedly but joining in the laughter as well.
'Bro?'
Only when I heard his voice, I was aware of a second company, and realised that I totally forgot about Yugyeom as I turned to him. He was standing there and staring at us with a curious look on his face.
'Oh hey Yug. Meet my friend Riannon. Riannon meet my brother from another mother, Yugyeom.' I announced proudly with a huge grin on my face.
I figured it'd be okay to introduce him to her since I knew that he wouldn't tell anybody.
'Hi! Pleased to meet you!' He greeted her as he bowed respectfully.
'Pleased to meet you as well Yugyeom.' Riannon smiled back.
'Have you captured the bulbasaur you wanted?' I asked him.
'No!! I've tried twice already but I have the worst luck. Either that or these machines are rigged!' He stomped his foot out of frustration.
'I play this game daily so I'm quite used to maneuvering it. I can get it for you if you want.' She offered.
I looked at her, surprised that she was actually talking freely to someone she just met. It was so unlike her usual quiet self but I guess she sort of has changed a bit these past few days since the first day I met her. I smiled at the thought, forgetting that I was staring fondly at her.
'What? I love pokemon. Don't judge.' She said as she saw the look on my face.
I only shrugged and smiled at her.
'Really? You can get that for me? Thanks !!'
He jumps happily.
She laughs at this and went to the machine and on the first try itself, she managed to get the plushie that he wanted.
'Here.' She grabbed the toy and handed it to him.
'Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!' He yelled repeatedly and hugged her out of excitement. She looked so small compared to his large frame. And I had to control myself from bursting out into laughter as she awkwardly patted his back and muttered 'No problem.'
'Hey! Since you're Jackson's friend,do you want to join us for lunch? We're going to the steak house not far away! Can she tag along bro?'
'I was just about to ask her the same. If you're free that is.' I said, looking at her.
'Well my shift has already ended anyways, so yeah sure thing.'
'Yes!'
'Hold on, I'll go change and get my stuff.'
'Okay. We'll be waiting in the car.'
After 5 minutes she was done, and we were on our way again. Yugyeom sat in the back seat and started making conversation with her,being the social little butterfly he was.
He was going on and on about all the pokemon figurines and she seemed just as happy to talk about her own collection.
I guess yugyeom finally found someone who shared the same love for the show.
We finally reached our destination after 10 minutes and I was already so darn hungry. I made a mental note in my head to order an extra large steak as we stepped into the restaurant.
We went and sat in the private cubicles in the back and placed our orders. Yugyeom was already deep in conversation with Riannon again discussing about the new episodes like it was highly classified information and an important business issue. I could only laugh at their seriousness and they both turned towards me.
'Oh come on bro! Don't act you like you don't love it too! You watch it with me almost every night.' Yugyeom snitched.
Riannon snickered at the new piece of information and I knew she would never let that one go.
'Okay okay. I'm guilty.' I raised both my hands up and smiled at her.
The food arrived and we continued talking about endless things. I honestly really liked this. Just being carefree and surrounded by people who made you happy.
'You should try this! It's really good!' I took a spoonful of the chicken broth and extended it out for her to taste it.
'I can feed myself, you know.'
'Oh just drink it already!' I put the spoon near her lips, making baby noises as I did so.
She hesitated for a bit but opened her mouth and drank it.
'It actually is really good.' She agreed.
'See I told you!' I continued to cut out a huge chunk of steak and was just shoving it into my mouth when Yugyeom interrupted.
'Aww you guys make such a cute couple,' he commented.
'Wha--gck??' I couldn't complete my sentence as I struggled to breathe,choking on the piece of meat!
'Jackson!' Riannon immediately got up and went behind me. She gave a few sharp blows on my back and I managed to spit it out.
And all the while, Yugyeom was laughing hysterically.
'I could've died! And no we're not a couple. We're friends you know?' Even though I was saying those words, my heart was beating really fast and I felt myself getting more red by the second.
I looked over at her and she looked just as embarrassed. I couldn't help the thought that passed my mind, at how adorable she looked when she was shy.
He finally calmed down after a while, wiping the tears off his face.
'Of course! Of course bro!' He replied and started eating again like nothing happened but he still had a huge smile on his face.
He was surely gonna get it from me when we reach home.
We all resumed eating again. And as I did, I couldn't help looking over at Riannon. Maybe I didn't really realise it at first and she was not even aware of it either but without any effort, she was slowly filling that emptiness I always felt in my heart. With that in mind, I felt so much more better, maybe, I didn't really have to feel alone anymore.
Your regular dose of got7 gif at the end of the chapter ^^ and please do leave a vote and comment if you like it :)