#wang jaier

Jackson grabs the first aid kit and leaves the kitchen after a while.  He goes to the spare room across the hall and finds YN asleep in that bed.  He really isn’t surprised.  He doesn’t know if she moved there because she knew he would try to sleep there or if she moved there to get away from him.  He feels like it’s the former but he’s not sure.

He needs to shower. If he showers in there, he could wake her up and find out for sure why she’s in there.  If he showers in his own room, he has to guess.  He would rather know for sure, so he showers in the spare room. If she didn’t want to be near him, she would probably go back to his room.  

He lets the hot water stream down his body.  It’s just hot enough to sting, again to bring him back to reality.  He leans against the wall for a while before he washes. He tries not to let his mind go blank, he tries not to let the numbness sink back in.  He has to feel.  Even if all he feels is anger and self-hatred.  He can't go out there to YN if he’s numb.  He has to feel.  He has to care.

When he gets out, he inspects his hands again.  They are very swollen and an angry shade of red, but the bleeding stopped.  He disinfects and wraps his left hand.  He disinfects his right hand and pinches the skin of his middle knuckle back together and puts a Band-Aid on it so the skin will hold together.  He then wraps the rest of his hand.  

When he exits the bathroom, YN is sitting up on the bed.  “I knew you’d try to come in here.”

So, she was waiting for him. “I was going to give you space.”

“I don’t want space.” She looks up at him with swollen red eyes.

Jackson takes a deep breath and takes Mark’s advice, “What do you want, YN?”

A simple question and a complicated answer.  She shakes her head, “I don’t know.”  She says quietly.  She feels tears threatening to fall again, “I just want to be safe and I don’t want to be alone anymore.  I’m all alone, Jax.”  Her voice breaks.  “I told you Namjoon got my brother killed, he was all I had left.  My parents died in a fucking plane crash coming here when I was fifteen.”  She rubs her nose and the tears spill down her cheeks, “Yoongi has been dead for two years and I left Namjoon so that meant I left all of them.  I had no one else.  Now I fucking work two shit ass jobs to pay for my shit ass apartment and my shitty ass life and I hate every second of it.”  She bites her lip and rolls her eyes, “Then you show up like a knight in shining fucking armor from some stupid ass fairytale.  There’s no fucking reason for you to worry about me but you do. And today you fucking try to push me away and pretend you don’t care, and I don’t understand, Jackson.”  She shakes her head and buries her face in her hands, “I just want to stop feeling like my whole life is about to explode any second.”  She looks up at him and meets his pretty brown eyes, “I feel better with you.”  Jackson looks down and she moves out of the bed and over to him, “Look at me.”  Her voice is stern as she steps right in front of him and looks up at him.  He continues to avoid her gaze.  She places her hands on either of his cheeks and leans her forehead to his, “You don’t have to let me in, but I don’t want to leave. I want to stay with you.  I don’t have another life that I care enough to go back to.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying.”  His voice is thick from holding back emotions.

She sighs, “I do.  I helped Namjoon and his guys out with a few things.  I’ll do anything you want, Jax.”

He shakes his head. “No.  Go back to being a cranky hardass.  Tell me to fuck off.”

She laughs weakly, “Fuck off and let me stay.”

She wants to stay, and Jackson wants to throw himself out the window.  He wants to give her the world but not this world.  “You’ll always be in danger.”

“I’ll have you to protect me.”  She sniffles.

“What if all I want you to do is sit in a big mansion all day and occasionally speak Spanish for me? I’ll buy you anything you want. Cars, jewels, clothes, shoes, anything. And you just sit around and be safe.” He knows she won’t agree.

She chuckles weakly, “That’s boring.”

He wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her into a hug where he can rest his chin on her shoulder. “I want to keep you safe, you want to be safe, being around me is the opposite of safe.”

“I’d rather be with you anyway,” She whispers.

He pulls away and looks down at her.  She wants this.  She wants him.  “We’ll talk more tomorrow.  Let’s go to bed.”  He bends down and lifts her bridal style and carries her back to his room.  She now notices his hands are wrapped but doesn’t say anything.  She’s so tired.  After the flight and the events of today, it’s a wonder she woke up when she heard Jackson.

He gently places her in the bed, and she falls asleep instantly.  Jackson, on the other hand, stays awake for a few minutes longer to look at her.  He wants her, she wants him.  She’s going to be in a lot of danger being with him.  He guesses he’s going to have to make sure everyone knows, if they try anything with her, they will die.

“Cold.”  YN murmurs in her sleep then turns over and cuddles into Jackson.  “Warm.” She sighs contently.  Jackson can’t help the small chuckle that leaves him. He holds her close then falls asleep.

Jackson hasn’t slept so well in years.  When he awakes it’s three o’clock in the afternoon, YN is still fast asleep. She’s cuddled up against him with one leg around his hips, an arm around his chest, and her face buried in his neck. He could stay like this forever. She’s fucking hot though, Jackson is sweating his ass off.  He throws the blanket off them to try to cool off.  She immediately shivers, clings to him tighter, then reaches for the blanket and pulls it back around her.  Jackson has no idea how the hell she could be cold.

“Jackson warm.”  She murmurs.

Jackson chuckles. She’s so cute.  She talks in her sleep.  He wonders how much… “YN what do you think about Jackson?”

“Nice.”  She cuddles closer again, “Warm.”

Jackson smiles, “Do you want to stay with Jackson?”

She nods, “Mhm. Forever.”

Forever? “Why do you want to stay with Jackson?”

“Want to see him smile. Want to make him happy.”  She mumbles.

This answer takes him by surprise.  He checks to see if she’s really asleep.  It looks like she is but apparently, she’s really good at faking it.  He throws the blanket off of her again and she has the same reaction as before.  He thinks that means she’s asleep, this time he is correct.  He holds her close.  She smells like cherry blossoms.  “I’m going to try to make you happy.”  He whispers. He stays there stroking her hair until she wakes up an hour later.

“Uh… Jax?”  She mumbles.  He pulls back to look at her.  “Why are you hugging me?”  Not that she didn’t like it… but he’s never been very touchy-feely with her before, not like this.

He chuckles, “You started it.”

Her eyes go wide, “Oh, sorry.  I’m kind of a cuddle monster when I sleep.”  She covers her face.  Damnit, she forgot about that.  She hasn’t slept with anyone in so long.

Jackson’s smile grows wider, “Cuddle monster?”  She just groans and turns over to bury her face in the mattress.  “I don’t mind.”  He realizes now that she has only been wearing a sports bra this whole time. He wants to touch her, he wants to stroke her back.  He can't stop himself from acting on this impulse.  He gently brushes his bandage covered fingers along her spine.  “I haven’t slept that well in a very long time.”

She turns her head to look at him, “You don’t sleep well?”  She asks quietly.

“No.”  He replied simply.

YN waits for him to elaborate but he doesn’t.  “Because you’re busy all the time?”  She asks knowing that isn’t the answer.

He looks away from her eyes to his fingers on her back, “Sometimes.”

“Jax.”  He looks into her caring eyes, “You don’t have to keep it all in with me.”

He looks away again, “I need more time.”  He wants to open up to her, but he can’t be too careful.  He saw how she acted with Santos.  She learned all that from Namjoon.  How can he know this isn’t a play for him?  Namjoon might be trying to take him down and using YN to get information from him.  Jackson doesn’t have much that can be held against him, but he can’t be perceived as weak. If he tells her about how he has nightmares sometimes about what he does and Namjoon has that ammunition… no one will see him as strong.  If anyone outside of his people know about his ADHD and that he needs medication to be the cold, calculating boss he pretends to be, everyone will think he’s a fake.  He needs more time to trust her.

She sighs, “Whenever you’re ready.”  She smiles softly at him.  She knows he’s overthinking but she won’t push him.  She shifts so she can brush her fingers through his soft brown hair. She wonders what all goes on in that brain of his.  She knows it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in there.  She hopes some of it is good.  

He didn’t like the worried look in her eyes.  “You talk in your sleep.”  He changes the subject.  

Her eyes go wide again, “I-I do?”  She didn’t know that.

He smiles and brushes his fingers along her shoulder, “It’s cute.”

“What did I say?”  She gives him a worried look to which he only smirks.  She directs her gaze to his hand.  She sits up and takes his bandaged hand in hers.  “You hurt yourself.”  She states as she inspects the gauze.  It’s not in place anymore probably because he moved in his sleep.  She looks down at him, “You should let me change your gauze and make sure it’s clean.”  

She moves to get off the bed, but he catches her and pulls her back down.  Then moves to pin her down against the mattress.  The act is pure impulse.  He needs to take his meds, but right now he just really wants to touch her.  “I want to kiss you.”  He’s quite proud of himself for restraining himself and not just doing it.

YN feels a rush of adrenaline and arousal flow through her veins, “What’s stopping you?”

Paranoia.  “Do you want me to?”

“Please.”  She whispers.

He leans down even closer to her.  “If I kiss you, that makes you mine.  If I kiss you, you’re in this life again.  I do ten times the shit Namjoon does.  You saw what I did last night, I will do that again.”  He looks between her eyes, “So, I ask again, do you want me to?”

She doesn’t need to think about her next words, “I want you.”  She looks at him with conviction.  He doesn’t move.  “Please kiss me.”

He finally kisses her. He kisses her slow, which he hasn’t done since he was a teenager.  Since he became the big boss of Asia, all the kissing he did was fast and sloppy, with nameless, faceless women who he used for a quick fuck.  This kiss means something to him.  This kiss is a caring kiss.  He doesn’t drag it out, because he knows he’ll only become addicted and want more of her soft lips.  He’s not pushing her yet.  

He presses their foreheads together.  “We need to get up.”  He whispers. He remains there for a moment before moving off of her.  He offers her a hand, “You can fix up my hands.”

She’s a little dazed, but she takes his hand and follows him across the hall to the room they were in last night and into the bathroom where he had left the first aid kit last night. Jackson sits on the counter and takes off his bandages.  YN inspects his hands and looks up at him with concerned eyes, “Idiot.”  She says under her breath.  She tries not to look at his drool-worthy body as she takes care of him.  “Why a butterfly?”  She blurts out when she accidentally stares at the black silhouette on his chest.

“It’s a papillon.”  He starts, “Its French for black butterfly.  It symbolizes freedom.”  He looks at her for a moment and decides to tell her this story.  “I didn’t like the way my father ran things before me.  When he died, I was able to change everything. I was free to do what I wanted.  He did things like assassinations and human trafficking and I didn’t like that, so I ended that.”  She looks up at him now that she’s finished wrapping his hands, “I got rid of all his old goons,” He chuckles at the word, but it was accurate.  Then he remembers how that went.  “I had to kill some of them.  The ones who didn’t accept my authority and changes.”  He glances at her and hates himself a little less when he doesn’t see judgment or disgust on her face.  “My father’s tag was a black rose.  Black represents destruction and cruelty and illegality.  In China using black is… it matters.  The rose grows on a thorny stem which is a symbol of unhappiness and pain. Most people wouldn’t get that tattoo because it’s bad luck, but my dad chose it because that was what he wanted to bring to other people.  It was a warning.”  He looks at her again and her face is full of sympathy, “I didn’t want to stand for that. Even though black is still not good, the papillon is different.  Drugs are bad… but it makes people feel better sometimes, makes them feel free. I also run an escort service.”  YN bites her lip now, “All willing participants and they make a lot of money.”  He leans down to her, “Sex is also very freeing.”  She swallows, smirks, and leans back, “We also do the usual stuff, gambling rings, extortion, the works.  We take a lot of money from bad people who don’t deserve it.”

“So, who do you torture and kill?”  The words fall out of her mouth.

He bites his lip, “Not many people anymore.  Santos is the first real casualty in a long time.”  He can't even remember the last time he had anyone tortured until last night. There was never any need after he got rid of all of his dad’s guys.  He sees a small smile on YN’s face.  “Don’t think I’m not a bad man just because I don’t do things as bad as my father. People overdose on my drugs daily. People get divorced and families have split apart after visiting one of my pleasure hotels or they lose all their money at one of my casinos.  My tag is still black like his.”

She gazes at him for a moment, “You don’t scare me, Jackson Wang.”  All this talk about freedom and yet he still isn’t free in his heart, she thinks.

You scare me.  He thinks. “Can I ask you a question?” Jackson asks, ignoring her comment. She nods.  “Did Namjoon make you do stuff like what you did with Santos?”

YN looks away and takes a breath, “Obviously, not quite like that.  You know how he uses Jimin to seduce people?  I did the same thing.”  She pauses for a moment, “I bet you thought Jimin was sent to seduce me that night at the bar.”  She laughs humorlessly, “He was sent because Namjoon thought he would actually be able to convince me to go with him.  We used to work together back then, we were close.”  Jimin was easily her best friend back then.  “That doesn’t matter though when they consider you a traitor.”

“Traitor?”  Jackson’s eyebrows knit together.

“Yeah.”  She laughs humorlessly, “Namjoon decided leaving him was treachery.”  There is a long silence as she bites her lip, thinking about how she should explain. “Yoongi didn’t like what I did. He thought I was selling my body…” She pauses again.  “I wasn’t, not really.  I didn’t sleep with anyone, Namjoon would never allow that.”  Another pause, “He tried to help, Yoongi did.  He started to do more for the gang.”  She stays quiet for a long while.

“Were you close with the rest of them?”  Jackson asks. She clearly doesn’t want to talk about her brother.

She nods, “Yeah, except Jungkook.  But that’s just how he is.”  She laughs humorlessly, “I thought he hated me.”  She shakes her head, “He’s the one who helped me leave.”  Another pause.  Her face scrunches up and she looks like she could cry at any moment.  “After Yoongi died, I didn’t want to be alive anymore either.”  She looks Jackson in the eyes now.  “He was all I had left.”  She bites her lip and tries to hold back tears.  She is unsuccessful.  She sniffles and wipes her cheek, “I swallowed a bunch of pills one night at some stupid party Joon was having like Yoongi didn’t die a week before.”  Anger flashes across her face.  “Jungkook found me passed out on the floor of a bathroom. He shoved his fingers down my throat and made me puke up all the pills.”

His face is soft. He’s been listening intently. He’s worried about her though. “What pills did you take?”  he asks.

She shrugs, “I don’t even know.  I just figured if I took a whole bottle of them…”  She looks away again, “They turned out to be some major downers. Probably anti-anxiety meds of some kind…” It’s a wonder that Jungkook was able to save me at all.  “Jungkook was close with Yoongi.  They were both quiet and grumpy looking.  So, I guess he felt responsible for me after he died.  He cleaned me up and got me out.  He paid the deposit and first couple months’ rent on my apartment.  He had to stop after that to avoid suspicion.” She swallows.  “I don’t think any of them know about that.  Jimin was worried about Namjoon sending Jungkook after me.  You know, he’s known to be ruthless.”  She shakes her head, “He wouldn’t hurt me though.”

Jackson examines her face. Maybe he could trust her.  She opened up to him about this and its some dark shit.  He thinks not many people know about that.  It’s not like he’s ever seen her with friends.  All she had was her brother and Bangtan, and now she didn’t even have them.  Jackson slides off the counter and stands before her.  She has him and his guys now.  He won't let her feel alone again.  He places his hands on YN’s hips, “Let’s get this day started.”  He smiles down at her.

She smiles up at him and nods.

When they landed YN was exhausted.  She had to go through a different line when she arrived which was difficult to get to and keep up the rouse with Jackson.  She told Jackson she had to go to the bathroom and to just go through the line without her.  That took a lot of convincing.  Honestly, it would have taken longer to go through separately and Jackson knew that, but he went with it when she said she was going to be a while and he could go eat. YN went through the citizens’ line with her American passport and it didn’t take long for both of them to get through.  He texted her that he was waiting at McDonald’s for her.  She leisurely strolled there so it would look it took longer for her to go through security.

When she found him, he looked frustrated.  He stood when he saw her, “Hey, sorry, no time for food.  I have to take care of something.”  He took her hand and dragged her out to the terminal.

“What about our luggage?” She asks trying to pull away.

“Mark already got it for us and he’s waiting with our diver.”  He says quickly.

When they find Mark, he looks just as annoyed as Jackson.  The thief was getting bold with Mark.  Spitting on him, trying to escape.  Mark was getting tired of waiting for Jackson to arrive.  Mark was supposed to be kind to their little prisoner, but he was taking advantage and pissing Mark the fuck off.

The car ride was silent and YN was just as on edge as the two gangsters with her.  No one was telling her anything and she didn’t expect them to, but something was happening, and she knew it wasn’t good.

When they arrive at an outrageously large mansion YN gawks.  She is amazed but not surprised.  She looks at Jackson, “Liar.”  He simply smirks.  The driver opens the door for her, and she thanks him in English.  Mark and Jackson both exchange a confused look before looking at YN.  She says nothing and lets them be confused for a moment longer.

As she looks at the front of the mansion in awe, she bumped into someone who ended who being a gardener who spilled soil on her.  He looks up at her in shock starts apologizing profusely in broken English.  She can tell by the accent that he is Hispanic. He looks scared and when Jackson walks over, he looks even more terrified.  YN decides now would be a good time to show off her language skills, “Cálmate, señor.  Estas bien.”  She says with a sweet smile.

Jackson halts.  “You speak Spanish?”  The gardener scurries away.

YN smirks, “And English.” She answers in said language.

He blinks at her. Mark comes up behind him, “Wow, it’s like a sign.”  He singsongs with raised eyebrows.

“No.”  Jackson says harshly.  He knows Mark is insinuating that YN help interrogate the thief in the basement.

YN looks between them as they seem to have a silent conversation.  “You know you’ll have to let me in on what’s going on here eventually. I’m kind of a snoop, I’ll find out myself if I have to.”  She says in English.

Mark raises his eyebrows at Jackson signaling that he thinks using her is an even better idea.

Jackson rolls his eyes, “Any other languages you speak you want to enlighten me to?”  He changes the subject, the irritation evident in his voice.

“Nope, I only speak Korean, Spanish, and English.  My mother was second generation Mexican-American and my dad was Korean.” She shrugs.  The subject change doesn’t go unnoticed.  She bets he thinks she's joking about the snooping, which will work in her favor later.

Jackson stares at her. None of his guys speak Spanish. They always had to speak English or try to translate Spanish.  It made a lot of LA deals more difficult.  It also made dealing with the cartel nearly impossible.  YN could help them, but that would put her in danger. “Let’s get you settled.”  He pushes past her and hopes she will follow.

She stands there confused for a moment.  Mark shrugs and gives her a just-go-with-it smile and gestures for her to follow Jackson. She sighed and followed.  They went up to a lavish master bedroom.  She looks back at Mark with shock on her face, he chuckles and sets her bags down before leaving her alone with Jackson.

“This is where you’ll be staying,”  Jackson informs her.

She raises her eyebrows at him, “Wow if this is my room, I can’t imagine how extravagant your room is.”

Jackson chuckles, “This is my room.”

YN’s eyebrows knit together, she shakes her head in confusion, “You just said I was staying here.” She pointed out.

Jackson turns to look at her now, “I did.”  He doesn’t miss how she looks him over and he can’t help but smirk, “Don’t worry, doll, I’m staying across the hall.”

Now she is even more confused, “That doesn’t make any sense Jackson.  Why wouldn’t you just stay in your own room?”

“Because I want you to stay here.  It’s the best room in the house.”  He explains.

YN closes her eyes for a moment and takes a breath to calm herself.  He’s so fucking weird and stupid and annoying.  “Just stay in your own room.”  She turns to get her bags so she can move them across the hall.

He moves after her, “Oh, no, no, no.”  He takes her bags from her, she turns around and tries to take them back.

“I’m not taking your room, Jackson.”  She says sternly and looks him in the eyes to convey how serious she is.

He leans down closer to her, “You will take whichever room I tell you to.”  He asserts.  He holds her gaze.  He thinks she’ll back down because everyone backs down, but he’s wrong.

She breathes an unamused laugh, “You don’t scare me, Jackson Wang.”

He knows she’s telling the truth.  Her eyes hold no fear.  “You should be scared.”  He says darkly.  He likes how gutsy she is.

“Why?  Are you going to hurt me?”  She continues to hold eye contact.

The question surprises him, and his face and voice soften, “No, I wouldn’t hurt you.”  Not intentionally or in a way she wouldn’t like.

She leans up closer to him now, their noses millimeters apart.  “Then why would I be afraid of you?”

Because he’s a bad man. Because he hurts people.  Because even if he won’t hurt her, she could still get hurt because of him.  Because merely being associated with him puts a target on her back.  Because he knows that big mouth and attitude of hers wouldn’t help if she were with him on business.  Because he’s afraid of how she makes him feel.  Because he wants her but doesn’t want this life for her and he can’t give it up.  He can’t tell her all that, so he tries a different tactic, “You want me to stay in my room?”  She nods and smiles victoriously.  “Okay, we’ll both stay in here.”

She looks momentarily taken aback but crosses her arms and leans back, “Fine.”

This was going to be an interesting time in LA.

After the argument about sleeping arrangements, Jackson and Mark went to deal with the thief while YN went to sleep.  Well, they thought she was asleep.  Jackson checked on her multiple times, going so far as to tickle her nose, to which she scrunched her face, whined, and rolled over.  He was 100% convinced she was not awake.  He was also 100% wrong.

When YN was convinced that he was no longer going to check on her she got up.  She tiptoed out of the room and down to the living room. She heard Mark and Jackson talking.

“I don’t know why you don’t just ask her to help.  He might trust her.  She’s small and cute and speaks Spanish.”  Mark says.

“Yes, and what happens when we let him go?  He’ll have seen her face and know she’s with me.  She’ll be a target.”  Jackson growls at Mark.

“So, what?  She has us to protect her.”

“She’s not going to be around forever.  She’ll leave when Namjoon backs off.”  His voice almost sounds sad.

“You really think she’ll leave?”  Mark sounds unconvinced.  There is a pause.  “Have you even asked her?  Have you even considered that she might want to stay?  Maybe she wants to be one of us…”  There is a pause, “Maybe she wants you.”

YN blushes from where she hides behind a wall.  Mark saw right through her.  The truth is, if Jackson asked her, she would say yes.  Even knowing what he does, she would say yes.  She doesn’t know why, but she feels safe with Jackson.  She’s been in this life before when she was with Namjoon. She never thought she would consider being in it again, not after she lost the only family she had left because of it.  There was something about Jackson though.  Maybe it was the way he tried to keep his distance even though he didn’t seem like he wanted to.  It seems like he wants her to make her to make the first move, like he didn’t want to push anything on her.

“Don’t, Mark.”  Jackson glares at the older man.  “Let’s get this over with.”

YN hears them walking away. She peeks around the wall and sees them walking into the kitchen.  She tiptoes her way there.  She sees them walking down into the basement.  Of course, they’re going into the basement, where else do you do mafia shit? At least they didn’t drive anywhere, that would have made snooping nearly impossible.  She watches them enter the basement, then waits a few minutes to follow.  She presses her ear to the door.  It feels thick and she can’t hear anything through it.  She takes a deep breath and hopes that they aren’t just on the other side of the door.

She turns the handle and the door is also heavy.  She manages to get it open and luckily there is no one in sight near the door, it’s quite dark but not so much that she can't see.  She uses her weight to close the door quietly.  She ventures into the basement.  There is junk everywhere so it’s easy to hide.  Because what are basements for, besides junk and mafia shit? She can hear voices, so she follows them.  She keeps herself hidden as she moves closer.  She finds the end of the junk opens into a large space.  She crouches down.  

What she sees is pretty brutal.  In the middle of the room, there is a man in a chair covered in blood.  His face is swollen and bleeding.  In front of him, Jackson stands in sweats and a tank top with bloody, bruised knuckles.  Mark stands behind the guy in the chair, dressed the same.

“Who did you give my coke to?”  Jackson leans forward with his hands on the armrests of the chair.  Jackson has realized that this wasn’t random.  This guy didn’t take much, five kilos are enough to put the Wangs back a couple hundred thousand dollars but still be easy enough for one person to carry out discretely.  Mark had this guy cutting for them for months before this incident. They figure it must be part of an inhiation for a cartel.  Jackson needs to find out if there is going to be more of a problem later on.  He’s already determined that Santos is the only one who has infiltrated them, but he’s not giving up who he’s trying to get in with.  Jackson knew there would be competition in California for cocaine, which is why they mainly deal in opioids here, but he always has product available for his higher-end clients.  

The guy spits blood on him, “Hijo de puta.”

Jackson rolls his neck, the veins sticking out, as he stands back straight.  He walks over to a toolbox and opens it.  He pulls out a hammer.  “I know you speak English, Santos.  I know you understand what I’m asking.”  He turns back towards Santos holding the hammer.  “Tell me who has my coke and I won’t smash your hands.”

YN swallows.  Jackson looks scary.  She knows he’ll do it if Santos doesn’t talk.  In a brief moment of bravery, YN stands up and walks over asking, “¿Donde esta la cocaína?”

Everyone whips their heads around to look at her.  Jackson blocks her path to Santos.  “What the fuck are you doing here?”  He whispers. She can see the anger all over his face, but she doesn’t miss the fear in his eyes.

“Let me help.”  She holds his gaze for a moment then walks around him, and he lets her.  “Por fa, no quiero que te lastimaran. ¿Donde esta la cocaína?”  She kneels in front of him and places a hand over his.

“Los bebes necesitan su mami.”  He smirks, “Tu eres muy hermosa.  Tu boca se vería bastante alrededor de mi pene.”  He slurs.

YN smirks and strokes his hand, “Tienes los manos muy grandes.  Seria una pena si mi amigo tiene que aplastarlos.”  She looks up at him with a sweet smile but deadly eyes. Jackson has now joined Mark behind Santos.  She looks up and makes eye contact with Jackson.  “¿Quieres tocarme?”  She moves to sit in the man’s lap.  She knows he can’t actually touch her, but she can tease him.  She can also tease Jackson because the action has him seething.

He clicks his tongue, “Ah, quieres un hombre, no un niñito.” He sends a disgusted look towards Jackson and Mark.

She giggles, “Si, papi.”  She reaches down and cups his dick through his pants, “Te quiero…”  She squeezes him hard, “Dime donde esta la cocaína.”  She says through her teeth; her tone is now harsh and demanding.

He hesitates until she squeezes him harder.  “El Lustre!”  Santos screams.

YN looks up at Jackson who looks suspicious.  He wants verification.  He nods so she squeezes harder and asks, “¿Es que la verdad?”  

He screams louder, “Puta estúpida.  ¡Si!  ¡SI! ¡Es verdad!”

She looks at him again and he jerks his head for her to stop and get away from Santos.  She releases him, “Gracias, papi.”  She quips as she moves off of him.

YN walks over to stand next to Mark and Jackson moves back in front of Santos.  Jackson stares at the man for a moment.  Then out of nowhere, pulls out a gun and shoots Santos in the forehead.  YN yelps and jumps so hard she would have fallen over if Mark hadn’t caught her.

Jackson walks over to her, “Why, the fuck, are you down here?  Why would you intervene?  Are you stupid?”  Jackson yells.

YN is so shocked that Jackson is this angry that she can’t move or speak.  She just stares at him.

He steps forward and grabs her by the shoulders, “ANSWER ME!”

Tears well in YN’s eyes and Mark pulls her away from Jackson, “You’re scaring her Jackson.” Even he is surprised by this outburst. He knew Jackson was crushing on YN, but he must have it really bad to act out like this.

“That’s the fucking point, Mark.”  He directs his attention to his right-hand man now.  “She should be scared of me.”  He looks back to her, “This is what I do, YN.  I torture and kill people.  Did you really think I was going to let him live after he saw you?  He would have told them about you.  You would be a target.”

YN knew that.  She knew somewhere deep down that Santos had to die.  What she didn’t know, was that Jackson was going to shoot him point blank right in front of her.  Torture was one thing, but cold-blooded murder was different.  Seeing it made it real. She knew Jackson was a killer, but she never expected to see it.  

“Come on YN,”  Mark says quietly as he escorts her away from Jackson.

As they leave, she can hear Jackson throwing things and screaming.  He didn’t want her to see that.  He didn’t want her to be there.  Shooting Santos like that was pure impulse.  He didn’t think.  He should have thought!  She’s going to hate him!  A part of him wants her to.  He could send her home and she would be safe from him.

Mark gets YN back to Jackson’s room.  YN is too dazed to realize.  She probably would have asked to go to another room is she wasn’t in shock. Mark knows Jackson will want to talk to her… eventually.  “Don’t think badly of him,”  Mark says quietly as he sits her on the bed.  “He was trying to scare you.”  YN knew that. It also worked.  “He cares about you.  He’s scared of getting you hurt.  So, he’s trying to scare you away before that happens.”  Mark moves to kneel in front of her and takes her hands in his.  He tries to meet her eyes when he does, he smiles, “You’re a tough chick YN.  Don’t let him scare you away.”  He stands and kisses the top of her head.  As far as he’s concerned, she’s Jackson’s girl, which makes her family, therefore, she will be treated as such.

When Mark leaves, the floodgates open and YN cries hard.  She cries until she falls asleep.

AN: Okay, so the Spanish is important for the story.  If you are not a half Mexican-American Korean mix, don't worry, neither am I.  It's all for the story.  Also, Spanish is my second language so like... feel free to correct me if it’s wrong.  Feel free to correct my English if it’s wrong.

That annoyed Jackson. He knew this tactic.  Namjoon would send Jimin after women to get them into bed, then Namjoon would show up and do what he wanted with them, “Is it working.”

JB chuckles, “Not even a little bit.”

That made Jackson smile. At least, this girl was a strong, hard-headed one.  “Are you at the ramen shop?”

“Actually, we’re at the bar. Do you want me to intervene?”

“Don’t intervene unless they’re leaving, or he gets physical, which he probably won’t.  I’ll be there soon.”   Jackson dropped everything, rushed to his car, and sped to the bar.

When he arrived, the bouncer let him in without question.  He spotted JB in a corner across from the bar and walked over to him. He looked at the bar as he passed and saw Jimin talking to YN with his bright flirty smile.  YN looks agitated as usual.  Jackson wonders if she ever smiles or if that resting bitch face is permanent.

“Has Jimin noticed you?” Jackson asks JB.

“He didn’t until you walked in.”  JB nods at Jimin who is looking at them now.

Jackson nods in acknowledgment then walks over to Jimin at the bar.  YN is now at the other end dealing with other customers.  “Namjoon sent you?”  Jackson asks blatantly.

Jimin sips his drink before answering, “He did.  She disrespected him.”

“You should go, Jimin,”  Jackson tells him in a friendly tone.

Jimin turns to look at him now, “You know I can’t do that, Jackson.”

“You can if I say so.” Jackson tries to reason.  Namjoon might be Jimin’s superior, the head of their crew, but Jackson is Namjoon’s superior, the Boss.

Jimin sighs, “He won’t be happy.”

Jackson glares at Jimin, “And I won’t be happy if you touch her.”  He says harshly.

“Why do you even care?” Jimin looks confused.

“Why are you here?”  YN’s irritated voice interrupts them.

Jackson turns to her and smiles.  “Buying my friend here another drink.”  He claps his hand on Jimin’s shoulder.

YN huffs as she pours Jimin more whiskey, “And what do you want?”

“The same as him, please.” He eyes her.  She wears a tight black mini skirt and a black vest.  She looks uncomfortable and he assumes that’s due to the stilettoes she’s wearing.  She sets the drinks in front of them.  Jackson catches her wrist, then gently holds her hand between his.  He slips a note into her hand and keeps eye contact with her, “Thank you.”  He kisses her hand and smiles as he releases her.  She looks slightly confused but discretely takes the note and walks away.

The note says: This is one of Namjoon’s guys.  I will take care of it.  The man at the other end of the bar in the jean jacket, white shirt, and black jeans is my guy, his name is JB.  If you need to leave go with him.

YN knows exactly who Jimin is and why he is here.  She didn’t need Jackson to tell her that.  She still walks over to JB and shows him the note.  He nods to let her know he’s the one the note is talking about. “I’ll have a beer.”

She nods and makes him one. “I get off in twenty minutes.” She says quietly.  She doesn’t know why Jackson even gives two shits about her, but she also doesn’t want to potentially be kidnapped and god knows what else by Namjoon’s people.  She knew the guy was following her, but she knew she couldn’t let him know that.  She continued working like normal.

Meanwhile, Jackson tried to get Jimin to back off.  “Listen, Jimin-ah, tell Namjoon to leave YN alone.”

Jimin raises an eyebrow at him, “Is she yours?”  He tilts his head.

“Not yet.”  He holds Jimin’s gaze.   He leans forward, “You should go before this gets ugly.  I don’t want to hurt you Jimin, but I will.”

Jimin doesn’t look threatened, “I just don’t understand why you care if she’s not even yours.”  He squints at Jackson like he’s trying to read his mind to figure it out.

Jimin was stubborn.  He wouldn’t be persuaded or scared to away easily. He had money and Namjoon’s protection. Jackson does know his weakness though, “Tell me Jimin-ah, how’s Shin-won?”  Jackson leans back and sips his drink.

For just a second a hint of panic flashes across Jimin’s face.  The untrained eye would not have noticed but Jackson did, “Who’s that?” Jimin asks nonchalantly.  He’s a good actor but Jackson can see how he’s slightly tenser than before.

“Your son, who lives with your ex back in Busan.”  He holds Jimin’s gaze, “Wouldn’t it be terrible if something were to happen to him.” Jackson doesn’t hurt children and he wouldn’t actually harm Jimin’s son… but Jimin doesn’t know that.

Anger now covers Jimin’s features as he leans closer to Jackson, “Don’t threaten my family.”  He growls.

Jackson knows he’s won, “Then I suggest you leave her alone.”  They have a staring match, but Jimin ultimately surrenders.  Jimin stands to leave, “Tell Namjoon not to try anything else or he’s done.”  Jackson says to him as he walks away.

Jackson takes a deep breath then looks at YN.  She’s still working.  When they make eye contact, he nods his head as a gesture for her to come over.  She lets out an exasperated breath, “What?”

He can’t help but smile at her attitude.  “It’s not safe for you to go home.”  He assumes Jimin will comply but that doesn’t mean Namjoon won’t send someone else. Jungkook has no family or anyone outside of his group that he cares about to threaten.  That’s who Namjoon would send next.

YN scoffs, “Let me guess, you want me to go home with you.”  She gives him a sarcastic sweet smile.

Jackson smirks, “Well I was going to offer to pay for a hotel for you, but if you insist.”

YN glares at him, “Why are you doing this?”

Even Jackson wasn’t completely sure why he was protecting her.  He didn’t know her, but she was attractive, brave, and didn’t seem to be afraid of him but she was smart enough to accept his help.  “Namjoon wants to hurt you even though you did nothing wrong. I’m not going to let him.”

Her eyebrows knit together, and she shakes her head, “Yeah, but why?”

Jackson reaches out and takes her hand, she doesn’t resist, “Because I want to protect you.”

“You don’t know me.” She tries to pull away weakly, but Jackson doesn’t let her, “Why?”

He gives her an intense look, “Because I want to.”

This interrogation of hers was going nowhere.  She just wanted to understand, but it didn’t look like Jackson was going to let her in on his reasons anytime soon.

“YN, you’re good to go when you’re done flirting.”  The girl who works the next shift says from behind her.

She rolls her eyes and pulls away, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

JB sits next to Jackson in the same seat Jimin had previously occupied, “You got her?” Jackson nods.  “Want me to follow Jimin?”  Jackson nods.  “Where are you taking her?”

“That remains to be seen.” Jackson hums.

“Good luck.”  JB claps his hand on his boss’s shoulder then walks away.

Jackson waits for YN. It doesn’t take her long to come back. He drives her to one of his hotels when she adamantly refused to stay with him at his house.  He walks her up to the honeymoon suite.  He was only trying to impress her a little bit.  This didn’t surprise YN, she figured he would do that.

Once in the room, she looks around and sighs, “This is a bit much don’t you think?”

Jackson smiles as he stays back from her, “It’s nothing.”  He shrugs.

“Do you know who I am?” She whips around to look at him. “Well, who I was?”  She corrects sadly.

Jackson tilts his head at her, “Do you want to tell me?”

She eyes him.  He doesn’t seem to know.  “Namjoon and I have history.  That’s why he’s so mad.”

“What kind of history?” Jackson has never seen her before. Although Namjoon is smart, if he cared about her, he wouldn’t have let Jackson know about her.

“A bad one.”  She takes a breath, crosses her arms, and turns to look around the room again, “We dated.”  Jackson stays silent.  “He’s not a very good boyfriend.  He’s violent, you know.  It wasn’t exactly surprising considering he’s a drug-dealing gang banger.  But he was good sometimes…”  She remembers how he always tried to apologize by buying her gifts, how he would kiss her softly and tell her he loved her.  None of that erased the memories of all the bad things he did to her.  She rubs her arms anxiously, “He got my brother killed so I left.  He still hangs around though.”  She turns to look at Jackson now.  “That’s why I know who you are.  He tried very hard to keep me from you because you’re dangerous.”  She looks him over.  “I think he assumed my attitude would piss you off and you would want to hurt me like he always warned me you would.”  She steps towards him, “But you don’t seem very scary to me.”

She’s feisty.  Jackson chuckles, “I have no reason to be right now.”

She steps closer to him again, “Why do you care, Wang Jackson?  You don’t know me.  Why protect me?”

He tilts his head, “I don’t know.  I like this little attitude of yours.”  Likes it in a he-wants-to-fuck-it-out-of-her kind of way but likes it none the less. “Not many people talk to me the way you do, everyone is too scared to.”  There is a hint of disappointment in his words.

“You really are a bad man, aren’t you?”  She asks calmly.  Jackson’s eyebrows twitch, “You hurt people, torture them, kill them.”  It’s not a question.

Jackson feels ashamed because her words are true.  He’s never been ashamed of himself.  He likes what he does, who he is.  But YN is calling him out and he hates himself.  “Yeah.”

“Are you going to hurt me?” Her voice remains even.

He quickly shakes his head and steps back from her, “No.  I wouldn’t hurt you.”

She nods.  A tense silence hangs in the room as they stare at each other.  After a moment, Jackson bows and leaves the room.  He wouldn’t hurt her, but he thinks that she thinks he will.  Jackson puts JB in charge of watching over her. He stays away from her for a while. She brings out a different side of him and he’s not sure he likes it.

After a week he sits in her hotel room and waits for her to come back from work.  He hasn’t been checking in with her personally because of how she made him feel.  He did check in with JB though.  Apparently, she’s been asking JB about Jackson.  Jackson thought that maybe she wasn’t as immune to his charms as she pretended to be.

When she walks in, she jumps and holds her chest.  “What the fuck, creep?”

Jackson can’t help but chuckle, “I didn’t mean to startle you.  I assumed JB would have told you I was here, but I guess he wanted to be funny.”

“Why are you here?” She asks as she enters the bathroom and closes the door.

Jackson moves across the room so he’s leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom.  “Just checking in”

He hears her scoff, “Sure you are.  You haven’t checked-in in a week.”  She sounds slightly sad.  She eyes him for a moment.  “You’re kicking me out, aren’t you?”

“No…”  He drags out the o.  “You can stay here if you want… I was going to offer you a different arrangement.”

She opens the door and looks up at him.  She is now dressed in sweat pants and a tank top, “You still want me to come live with you?”

“The offer is still on the table.”  He offers nonchalantly.  “Either way you still have my protection.”  He just wanted her closer.  He was staying away but he really didn’t want to.

“Which still doesn’t make sense, but I’ll keep rolling with it.”  That’s what she did with Namjoon.  Maybe she’ll keep this arrangement with Jackson until something bad happens.  She moves past him and plops down on the bed.  “Why kick me out now?”

“I’m not kicking you out.” He points at her, “And I need JB.” He explains.

She chuckles, “Vague. You don’t have anyone else who can babysit me?”  She sneers.

“None that I would trust with you are available.”  BamBam and Yugyeom would try to fuck her.  Jinyoung would probably kill her because of her attitude.  Mark or Youngjae are the optimal next choices but they are both otherwise occupied.

“Trust with me?”  She raises an eyebrow.  It looks like he might have caught feelings for me, she thinks.

“My mansion in-”

She interrupts him, “So you do have a mansion?”  She smirks. She ignores the fact that he changed the subject.

He smiles and shrugs “A few.”  He moves to sit at the end of her bed, “I’m going on a trip to Los Angeles.  I was going to offer you the opportunity to come with me.  Which would be like living with me in a way.”

She thinks for a moment, “Why are you going to LA?”

He hesitates before saying, “Business.”

Vague again but she nods in understanding.  Mafia business.  “How long?”

He shrugs, “At least a week.”  Also, a bit vague.

Her eyes go wide, “I can’t take off work that long.  For either job.”

Jackson bites his lip. He doesn’t want her working in the first place.  He could provide her all the money and such that she could possibly need.  “So, quit.”  He knows that she won’t just accept that.

She scoffs, “And then how would I make money?”

“Well, since you are under my protection… I can compensate you.”  He offers, knowing she’ll resist.

“Jax, I can’t just take your money.  I’m already spending enough of it by staying here.”  She sighs.

He raises an eyebrow at her, “Jax?” He smiles brightly.

She rolls her eyes, “Of course that’s all you heard.  Jackson, I’m serious.”

He moves closer to her, “So am I.  Why are you so against taking my money?”

She sighs, “Just because you have it doesn’t mean I want to take advantage.”  That’s why she stayed with Namjoon and look how that turned out.

Jackson gives her a confused look.  No one has ever refused money from him.  No one has cared about taking advantage of him.  He looks at her intently, her eyes are sincere.  He wants to touch her.  He wants to reach out and caress her soft cheek.  He doesn’t.  He wants her to show interest first and so far, she hasn’t, so he won’t overstep.

“You’re overthinking.” She interrupts his thoughts.

He chuckles, “No one has cared so much about taking my money before.”

“That’s kinda sad.” She says quietly.  Jackson was a good person.  Underneath his mob boss façade, underneath all the bad things he does, he was a good man.   She can tell, even if she had said otherwise before.  There is no other explanation for why he would take in a girl he barely knew, who ended up being his friend’s ex, and protecting her.  He looks down.  She has never seen him look so sad, so… vulnerable.  She huffs in defeat, “Fine, I’ll go.”  He looks up at her with a bright smile, “BUT!”  His smile dims but does not disappear as she points at him, “I have two conditions.”  He nods for her to continue, “One: you have to let me do something so that I can pretend that I’m earning the money that you will undoubtedly be spending on me.”

He nods, “What do you want to do?”

She shrugs, “I don’t know. I’m a waitress and a bartender.  It’s not like I have many useful skills.”  She deadpans.

“Yeah, your customer service skills suck.”  Jackson chuckles.  He knows she is more than just a waitress or just a bartender but playing with her is too much fun to pass up.

She leans up on her knees and punches his arm.  “Be nice or I won’t go!”

He chuckles, “Okay, okay. You can make all my drinks.”  Or just be my girl and everything will be so much easier, he thinks.  He can’t say that aloud though because a part of him knows on top of protecting her from Namjoon, he should also be protecting her from himself.

She rolls her eyes, “Yeah I’m going to do more than that.  I can cook and clean-”

“I have maids and I mostly eat out in LA.”  He states.

She stares at him, “I hate you.”  She straight-faced.  Then she grabs his massive bicep and whines, “Let me cook!”

That was new.  Jackson liked hearing her whine.  “Fine.”  He feigns concession.  He doesn’t think she’ll be doing much cooking.

“Thank you.”  She smiles triumphantly.  “My second request is that you try to dress like a normal person when I have to be seen in public with you.”

Jackson is taken aback by this request.  He looks down at his outfit.  He’s wearing a blue paisley button down, black skinny jeans, and black shoes.  His neck and fingers are adorned with gold. “What’s wrong with my outfit?”

YN deadpans, “I can see your fucking belly button!”  She points at his stomach.  “We get it Jax, you’re hot, button up your fucking shirts.”  She says loudly and holds her hands up in a way that shows she’s displeased by his shirt.

He smirks, “You think I’m hot?”  As much as he wants to push her away, she makes it so difficult because it’s so much fun playing with her.

She rolls her eyes, grabs a pillow, and hits him with it, “You,” hit, “are,” hit, “so,” hit, “annoying!” Hit, hit, hit.

He laughs, he likes this side to her.  It’s cute.  He takes the pillow when she stops talking.  When she reaches for another one, he grabs both of her wrists and pulls her toward him.  The action takes her by surprise and she falls into his chest.  Her face heats up.  Jackson uses her wrists as leverage to push her off his chest.  He can see the blush on her face even as she tries not to look at him.  He smirks wider, “You think I’m hot?”  He asks again.  Fuck, she’s so cute when she blushes.  He can’t deny that he wants her.

She hesitates for a moment before rolling her eyes, “I’m not blind or an idiot.  Anyone can see that you’re attractive Jackson.”  She tries to sound like her usual self, but her pitch is higher than normal.

He hums, “Well, try not to fall in love with me.”  He chuckles, and she blushes more, “I’ll try to adhere to your terms, doll.”  He stands and gently releases her.  “Do you need to get stuff from your apartment? We leave tomorrow.”

She nods, “But I’m tired. I worked at the bar from eight to three last night, then I had to go into the restaurant at six and I just got off when I came back here.  I didn’t sleep between shifts because I knew I wouldn’t be able to wake up, so I need a nap.”

Jackson really does not want her to be working at all, let alone working two jobs.  He wonders why she has two jobs in the first place, the rent at her shithole of an apartment can’t be that high.  He nods anyway and resists the urge to offer to nap with her. He was up all night as well, but he was on the phone with Mark who was trying to get information from a thief in LA. Five kilos of coke went missing.  Mark found the guy who took it, but he had sold it. Mark thinks he’s working for one of the cartels in LA but they can’t figure out why he took it.  That is why he’s going to LA, to try to get the information himself.  “Call me when you wake up.”  He says as he walks towards the door.

“Jax-” YN starts but stops herself.  She wants him to stay.  She can tell he’s tired, but that’s too much.  “Thank you.”

His eyebrows knit together for a moment, then he smiles.  “No problem, babydoll.”  He leaves. She really is a good one.