Narrator's P.O.V

"yooooo! my friend" Bambam ran to catch up with him.

Jackson just continued walking, ignoring his calls.

"oooiiiiii" Bambam bugged him until he finally looked at him unbothered.

"yes?" Jackson forced a smile upon seeing Bambam's happy smile.

"why are you in such a hurry?" he asked as both friends made their way to the gates.

"Irene is probably waiting for me outside sooo, I have no time to talk" he moved his legs faster after waving his quick goodbye to Bambam.

"but I saw her inside a music class just now" Jackson stopped walking.

"really? was she alone?"

"she was talking with a girl so I didn't get to talk to her" just as he finished the sentence, Jackson was out sight. It was only Bambam and other students walking the same direction he was planning on going through, with his two friends.

---

Jackson ran as fast as he could to the music block for confirmation on what Bambam had said. Hopefully it wasn't one of the girls from before but if it was one of them, he had to be quick before anything bad happened.

The faint voice of two people started to be heard and Jackson could just hope to see Irene as fine as he had left her before they parted ways at the end of lunch.

"Irene!" his loud shout was probably even heard by Bambam.

As he examined the room, two people could be seen standing in the middle of it. His shaking eyes landed on a person peeking from behind the one giving their back to him.

"Jackson?" he immediately walked to her and pulled her by the arm, without even checking on who the person could possibly be as it was clearly clear "what are you doing?...stop!" she took her arm back and faced him with furrowed eyebrows.

"what are you doing with him?" Jackson kept glancing at her and some seconds at the person wearing the red, stripped shirt who was still facing the other side.

"I was just asking him something" she sighed and walked back to the other guy "sorry Hoon Nam but I have to LEAVE now" she said a bit louder taking a quick serious glance at Jackson.

"It's okay" he finally turned around and acted surprised when Jackson raised his lip from the side at him "oh Jackson!" he then walked to him and hugged him, hitting his back hardly but without letting Irene notice.

"let go" Jackson calmly said. Hoon Nam was surprised at this and tsked as it wasn't the reaction he wanted "Irene let's go, we'll be late" he stuck his arm out, opening his hand widely for her to come and hold it, but she simply walked past him and took Hoon Nam's hand instead.

Jackson was petrified as his girlfriend walked away from him, after holding the hand of the guy whom he hated the most.

That same guy kept turning his head back and pulling his tongue out at him as they got farther away. And it hit him. The reason he was trying to keep Irene away from that guy. That one dangerous sentence he had said to him sometime ago.

So Jackson quickly ran to catch up with them and in one move he slapped Hoon Nam's hand away, fast enough to pick her up in his arms and run all the way to the gates.

"Jackson Wang! if you don't put me down in this instant I promise you I will-" Jackson's soft lips stopped her words.

"save it for later" he picked up his head and roamed his eyes around the parking lot as if looking for someone "found you..." his eyes got fixed on a familiar car and he ran to it, fast enough for Hoon Nam to not be able to catch up with them.

Jackson stood next to the peculiar, red car and took a peek inside. A few seconds later the window slowly went down.

"where did you suddenly go?" he then looked at Jackson's arms and found Irene hiding her face with her hands "what's happening here?" he raised his eyebrow but Jackson just opened the door with his foot and put Irene inside, to get in as well.

"sorry about before Bambam but please just do me one favour and drive the car as fast as possible" Jackson leaned forward to give Bambam a smile. He looked at him and smiled back after a while.

"sure, where are you going?" Bambam started the car's engine and Jackson sighed relieved.

"the shopping centre" he leaned back and discretely stole a glance from Irene but they both made eye contact.

"you- are- the- biggest- idiot- on- this- planet" she said, giving him a punch after every word.

"thanks baby" he held her fists down and winked at her, making her groan as she moved away and stared outside the widow. Jackson giggled to himself and decided to leave her alone for her nerves to calm down.

It didn't take long to get there since it wasn't that far.

Jackson's plan was to walk there as they both held hands under the warm sun and to get the ice cream Irene loved from a shop situated on the street they would go through. Filled with flowers and green trees... there couldn't be a better place to have a romantic walk, but obviously Hoon Nam had to come and ruin it all. Or at least, that's what Jackson thought.

"thank's bro, I owe you one" they fist bumped and Jackson went out using his closest door. He looked around the place as he waited for Irene to come out as well but she didn't. After sighing, he made his way to her closest door and opened it "are you coming out?" he bent down and saw Irene looking the other way with her arms crossed.

"can't you see I'm angry at you?" Jackson sighed again and held the door tightly.

"how about we go somewhere else and talk things out?" he suggested calmly. She slowly looked at him and tsked when they made eye contact.

"okay" she simply said and got out the car. Jackson offered his hand to help but she left him hanging and just helped herself holding onto the sides of the door "thanks Bam" she showed a affectionate smile to him as she waved goodbye at the already leaving car.

Without saying anything, she started making her way to the entrance of the shopping centre but Jackson quickly stopped her.

"what?" she turned around and saw him pointing another direction.

"let's go this way" she followed his finger to the tip just to feel her cheeks heating up.

"I-I know" she bumped her shoulder on him and walked the right way with quick feet.

"dumb dumb" he laughed quietly but Irene heard him.

"who are you calling dumb?!" she furrowed her eyebrows and was about to slap his arm but he stopped her in time.

"who is the idiot?" he said referring to before as they deadly glared at each other.

2 minutes into the staring contest, Jackson came back to his senses with the help of pass byers asking themselves what those two were doing "come" he held her wrist and pulled her to walk, waking her up from her competitive side.

They crossed the wide road to the other side and went through a small entrance between the bushes.

"where!-... is this place?" her mouth dropped open at the sight of the hidden garden. Similar to Jackson's described street, but more deep and full.

"do you like it?" Jackson went next to her and stared at her as she was still admired the place.

"yeah..." the place had taken her to another reality and she had forgotten about why she was angry in the first place, but as her body finished the 360° turn, she ended up looking at Jackson again, making her remember "I mean, it's alright..." she cleared her throat, avoiding Jackson's smile.

"follow me" he patted her head and started walking on the visible path created by people walking on the grass, which lead to a mysterious place behind the trees.

Irene hesitated to follow him since she was 'angry' and didn't what to lose the argument but even though the place was beautiful and breath taking, staying there alone for the first time didn't really please her, so she hurried to follow his disappeared figure.

"Jackson?" her voice called out "Jackson, if this is a joke it's not funny" as much as she called, no response could be heard. Her small feet, taking small steps to be ready for any sudden joke attack from him.

Maybe she was too concentrated on the surroundings and at the possible camp set up on the ground about 50 feet away from her, that she hadn't realised the vines on the floor. The closest foot tangled up in between, causing her to lose balance and therefore start the possibly painful fall.

As her body seemed to be falling in slow motion, a pair of arms got into the scene and quickly wrapped her body, preventing it from getting hurt.

Irene slowly opened her eyes and her gaze met with Jackson's.

"hey princess" the smirk plastered on his lips made Irene wonder if he had purposely prepared the fall as one of his many plans.

"where were you?" his hands were secured on her waist while hers were clinged on his neck.

"next to you" he smiled and she looked at him confused.

"how?"

"you paid attention to what's in front but not to what's behind" he pulled her up to stand on her feet.

"oh" she took a step back and fixed her clothes and hair "how could you leave me alone" her pouty lips said as her forehead wrinkled.

"otherwise you wouldn't have come" he held her hand and made her start walking behind him.

"what is this place?" she hurried to walk next to him and looked at him like a lost puppy.

"it's my secret place... well, our secret place now" he looked down at her and smiled "one of the little things I remember about the bracelet girl is that we loved coming here to play" he explained as Irene listened closely "so when I have a chance I come here"

"this is the place you wanted to show me?" he nodded and she nodded too in response "it's nice" she took another glance at the yellow, red and green trees planted on the deep grass "very nice"

"that's why I wanted to share it with you, because I knew you would like it" Irene was happy for the first time since the end of that day's classes. The fact that Jackson showed her one of his most precious places made her very happy, which made Jackson happy since she was happy.

Overall, it was a happy moment.

"and what is this?" as they got closer, the camp Irene had seen from far was becoming clearer to the eyes.

A straw basket placed over a red mat, surrounded with colourful, heart shaped candles and a few petals placed outside the mat which also made a heart shape. It perfectly matched the weather and mood of the moment.

"do you like it?" he held her other hand and smiled somehow making it visible he was very nervous.

"I-I don't know what to say" Irene seemed wholeheartedly in love with it but the amazement wasn't helping with her choice of words "when did you prepare this?"

"in the morning" Jackson scratched his neck embarrassed. And by in the morning, he meant VERY early in the morning. After preparing the food the night before with his aunt's help and buying the mat and candles late at night to have them ready for the morning, he woke up hoping the day would be as nice as the forecast had said.

"why did you bother yourself?" she wondered how she hadn't seen the plasters covering most of his fingers before. They literally shouted 'effort' through them.

Jackson is okay at cooking, but wanting to do something perfect made him nervous the most, so avoiding little cuts was kind of impossible.

"because I love you" Irene's eyes and hands locked with his. She knew she loved Jackson but in that split second before she jumped on his arms, made her fall in love once again.

"I love this" she pressed her chest tightly on him as she buried her face on his neck and he hugged back with the same strength, holding her back firmly and gently as he stroked it "and I love you too" his hand slowly stopped and moved to her cheeks to cup her face.

"are you hungry?" he asked.

"yeah..." she nodded and with that, he quickly pulled her to sit on the mat as he opened the basket.

"sandwiches" he pulled out two and smiled widely.

"wooow, did you make them?" she took one and looked at the toppings inside.

"yes. Well... uncle's wife helped me a bit" his goofy smile made her feel proud.

"it's nice" she said after taking a bite off it.

"I'm glad you like it" he opened the wrapping and started eating it as well "wait, what do you mean it's just nice, IT'S AMAZING!" he looked at it amazed. Irene chuckled at him and continued eating.

"it's actually very nice" she eye smiled.

"hehehe" he rubbed the bottom of his nose proudly and cleared his throat upon seeing Irene smacking her lips as she needed something to drink "there's also iced tea my lady" he fixed his posture, putting one arm behind his back to look more like a butler and handed her a plastic cup "would you like some?" he slightly bowed his head and held up the thermos.

"yes please" she giggled and held her cup firmly as Jackson poured the tea as if it was wine "thank you gentleman" she bowed her head too and took a sip off it "very nice" she said trying to sound posh.

"not as nice as you!" he jumped on her and attacked her with tickles.
Laughter coming from the sweet couple filled up the space and as they both laid down on the mat together, silence filled in once again, only the sound of the birds' tweeting and the trees moving could be heard.

"did you bring snacks?" Irene suddenly said and Jackson broke down into laughter again "what?" she laughed as well.

"I just knew you'd ask for it" he wiped his tears and sat up helping Irene too "I got...THIS!" he pulled out a plain white bag out the basket and turned it around to let the crisps, chocolates and sweets fall all over the mat.

"omg, you got these from that shop right?!" she picked some up and looked at them with nostalgia "I always ate these!!!" she immediately opened a strawberry flavoured bag of sweets and held her cheeks as the taste came back to her.

Jackson looked at her happily from seeing her so amazed at the snacks he knew she would like. Well, he kind of asked Mrs. Bae which ones she liked... but he was glad he did.

And while thinking, the best idea came past his mind.

"can I get one too?" he threw his head on her lap, claiming it as a pillow.

"no" she said joking and looked the other way, holding the bag tightly.

"please, please, pleaseeeeee" he rolled his head all over her lap while whining like a kid.

"okay, okay you big baby" she giggled and placed one over his mouth "open your mouth" she said but he didn't.

"you need the key to open it"

"what key?" she asked.

"this one" he pointed at her lips and smirked.

"oh... what a pity then" she put the sweet back in the bag and closed it.

"what? nooooo" he whined even more kicking his legs on the ground "Irene... please, I deserve this" he said at the edge of crying. Irene looked at him the whole time and sighed once for all.

"okayyyy" all of a sudden his legs stopped moving and his arms moved over to his chest "you really are a baby" she flicked his forehead and used the time he was reacting to leave a kiss on his lips. She made it a bit longer as a reward for setting up the picnic.

He smirked widely, with his eyes closed.

"thank you" he grinned and Irene slapped his arm to make him laugh "can I have the sweet now?" he put his hands together and did a little dance.

"sure" she took a sweet from the bag and placed it inside his mouth once he opened it.

The following moments were time for them to take a rest and enjoy the end of the summer's weather, which was always the best.

With Jackson's head still on Irene's lap, he held one of her hands and contemplated it as he compared it to his, which made him laugh at the big difference.

Irene played with his hair trying different hair styles on it since it was quite stiff.

"I will sleep if you continue doing that to my hair" he rolled back to have his back on the floor and Irene cupped his face, squishing it from both sides to make his lips pout.

"so cute" she smiled at him and he did the same to her.

"so cute too" they both smiled "aren't you a bit tired of sitting?"

"yeah" they looked at each other and without any signal or word they somehow stood at the same time.

"we are so connected" Jackson said and Irene laughed "come on, let's go to the river" he swiftly held her hand.

"there's a river?" she asked surprised and he nodded.

"it's not very big" and with that they started making their way to it holding hands.

"are you sure we can leave the things alone?" she looked back at their stuff.

"no one knows about this place except us and the bracelet girl" he assured her.

"Jackson, do you think the bracelet girl will be upset at you if she finds out you let me know about this place?" her eyes looked down at her feet.

"what would you do if you were in her place?" he said and she looked at him.

"I'm not sure, but maybe I would be a bit upset since it's a special place"

"yeah, so special places are meant to be for special people" he placed his hand on her cheek and smiled "and you are very special to me" Irene's eyes became innocent and a few little tears started to come out "why are you crying now?" he chuckled and ruffled her hair as she wiped the salty tears.

She quickly hugged him to hide her face and he laughed even more.

Maybe now was the time...

"Irene" she moved back without taking off her arms from him and faced him. He looked a bit hesitant to continue with his words "would you..." his shaking eyes tried to keep in contact with hers.

"yes?" the long pause made her wonder what he was trying to say "what is it?" she tilted her head sideways, confused and sniffled her runny nose back from the crying.

Jackson's mind was now fighting between itself on what to do. Say it or not say it?

"nothing, it's fine" he decided not to say it after seeing Irene's eyes.

"are you sure?" he nodded and pulled her back to his chest, resting his head over hers.

"it's better like this"

A silent expression of love that didn't require any words, keeping on without either one having to say anything. Feeling each others warmth which assured their will to protect and trust each other to go through thick and thin together, always.

-----

"Jackson!" both his uncle and aunt came running to the door as soon as keys were heard "did you give it to her?!" one held his right hand and the other held his left hand, dragging him inside.

"no..." he smiled sheepishly at them.

"what? why?!" they said practically at the same time.

"I just don't think it's time" he freed his hand from their hold and walked to the stairs.

"but you said you were ready"

"I changed my mind" he said as he walked up the stairs.

The bright light in his room made him wonder what was happening in it, so he walked a bit faster and found a cake with candles on it and a big banner with 'CONGRATULATIONS' written all over it.

He walked to it and fondly smiled at it as he put it down and placed it inside his desk drawer, along with the small, cubed box that had been in his back pocket during the entire day.

"maybe next time buddy"