Respiration

3

Jinyoung found himself thinking about that man quite a lot throughout the day. No matter what he was focused on (or supposed to be focused on), for some reason his thoughts wandered back to Jackson, and his classwork suffered a bit from his distracted mind.

He was frustrated by the time it got to his last class, since his professor suddenly announced a test the next day that Jinyoung was totally not prepared for. It was because he kept thinking about the stranger he met literally just a few hours before, and now he had to spend his night cramming in information about variables and formulas that he knew he would forget almost immediately after the test.

He walked out of class into the afternoon sun, glad that he was finally able to head home. He'd been looking down at some review notes as he walked, and he nearly stumbled over his own two feet when he looked up and saw a familiar man leaning on his familiar red convertible.

Jackson was looking down at his phone, and of course as soon as Jinyoung saw him he looked up, their eyes locking. Jackson waved with the biggest smile, gesturing for Jinyoung to approach.

"Hey..." Jinyoung mumbled as he approached, forgetting throughout the day that they had made the plans to meet up after his last class.

"Hi! I was just about to text you, actually." Jackson stated, quickly putting his phone away to focus his full attention on Jinyoung.

"Oh? Why?" Jinyoung asked, though it was kind of a dumb question.

"Just to tell you where I am." Jackson replied with a shrug.

Jinyoung tugged on his backpack, awkwardly shifting his weight. It was so weird to try and be casual with someone he just met.

"I already knew where you were. You told me where to meet you this morning, remember?" He asked, as if he himself hadn't forgotten the plans to meet at all.

"Right, yeah, I forgot..." Jackson stated in honesty, letting out a light chuckle as he stood from the hood of his car. "Uh, anyway, how was your day?"

"Same as always. Long, boring classes." Jinyoung responded, taking a step back to keep a respectable distance between them. Jinyoung could already tell that Jackson was the type to ignore the need for personal space, and he had no idea how he was supposed to deal with a naturally clingy person.

Jackson laughed, nodding his head. "Mine too. The highlight of my day was honestly saving you."

"Saving me?" Jinyoung repeated, finding the choice of words a bit weird.

"Um, yeah, this morning. From your asthma attack." Jackson reminded him, his tone confused as to why Jinyoung seemed to disagree.

"Well, you didn't really save me but, I guess that was the most interesting part of the day." Jinyoung stated, looking away as he unintentionally invalidated Jackson's leap to action earlier. He didn't want to give Jackson so much credit, since all the latter really did was help find his inhaler, it wasn't that big of a deal. Nothing Jinyoung couldn't have handled himself at least.

"Oh, was that too much? I'm sorry, I felt like I was saving you but, I guess you could've gotten your inhaler on your own..." Jackson quickly mumbled out, an apologetic look masking his features, instantly making Jinyoung feel terrible for what he just said.

"No don't feel bad! You did help me. A lot. I just... um... nevermind. Wanna get going?" Jinyoung asked, pointing back at Jackson's car in hopes of changing the subject. He was already doing terribly with the casual conversation, so why the hell he still allowed Jackson to drive him home was beyond him, Jinyoung honestly baffled himself with the situations he puts himself in.

"Sure." Jackson relaxed a bit, turning with his car keys in hand to unlock the door. "So um... I'm kinda hungry, do you mind if we stop somewhere to eat?"

"T-Together?" Jinyoung asked while getting in, a bit caught off guard by the suggestion.

Jackson shrugged, settling into the driver side as he started it up. "Yeah... only if you want to though? Like, I was thinking that you might be hungry too, so maybe we can grab some takeout, or stop at a cafe or..."

Jinyoung thought it over for a minute, questioning if he really wanted to allow Jackson to take him somewhere to eat or if he should just ask to be taken home. So far he's found himself more curious about Jackson than uninterested, and though it was unlike him to accept such offers, Jinyoung sort of just wanted to see where the day would lead if he agreed. "I don't mind. We can grab something to eat."

Jackson's eyes widened with excitement, his lips curling up into a small smile."Really? Um, then I know a little place we can go to!"

Jinyoung gazed out the window as Jackson pulled out of the parking lot, truly going along with the ride as he had no idea where he was going with this man he just met a few hours before. All he knew was that Jackson was interested in lengthening their time together, and Jinyoung could only wait and see what happens as the day goes on.

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(*Hi I'm tired... Hi tired, I'm Dad :D *)