A Thousand Purple Stars (JinJi)

Sun and Stars

Jisoo grunted in pain the moment her back hit the grass and then again when Jinyoung fell on her, knocking the wind out of her lungs.

"Jisoo?" Jinyoung looked down at her face and, seeing how close they were, their cheeks colored at the same time. He pushed himself off of her and tried to pull Jisoo up, but she insisted on helping herself.

"Is this some kind of Southern Tech welcoming ritual?" Jisoo said, straightening out her dress, which was the color of the night sky. "Do you tackle all your visitors?"

"I didn't see you," Jinyoung said apologetically. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jisoo said, brushing grass off her skirt. There were grass stains on the back of her leg. The dandelion fuzz that got stuck on the crown of her head looked like stars against the black of her hair. What a surprise it was to see Jisoo here.

"What do you want?" he asked, finding the usual curt tone he used when speaking to her. Jisoo looked up.

"Excuse me?"

"I said what do you want?"

She scoffed and crossed her arms.

"How do you even know I'm here to see you?" she said stubbornly. "Maybe I'm here to... talk to a friend, or how do you know I don't have a hot Southern Tech boyfriend that I'm visiting?"

Jinyoung raised an eyebrow and paused for a moment. "Do you?" he asked. Jisoo bit the inside of her cheek.

"No," she said, and Jinyoung scoffed.

"Okay, well, last I checked, it's not football season, so I'm guessing you're not here to steal our mascot," he said. "Did you need something from me?"

"No," Jisoo said, quieter that time. Jinyoung was confused and getting a little impatient.

"Then what are you doing here?"

Jisoo clenched her first and opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to find the best way to broach her topic. This was a very serious situation, and raising it the wrong way might make the whole thing collapse. Jinyoung was still waiting for her to speak. She cleared her throat:

"Did I tell you that I got a job interview last week?" she said.

Jinyoung didn't move and didn't speak, just stared at her.

"You came to tell me you got a job interview?" he said. "Okay. Congratulations. I hope you had a nice trip coming over here, since you kind of wasted it."

He dodged her and started to walk away. Unlike Nawon, however, Jisoo followed him.

"It's at this company," Jisoo said. "A magazine, well actually it's more like a journal. It's called Embrace."

He recognized the title: "You mean that journal you read in high school?"

Jisoo was surprised, and kind of impressed. "You know it? You read it, then?"

"No, I just remembered it. You got a job there? As what?" As much as Jinyoung tried to sound like he wasn't interested, he was a little bit curious. Jisoo kept up with his pace, walking backwards so she could face him as she spoke.

"Editorial Intern," Jisoo answered. "I'd basically be preparing materials for publication and assisting the Associate Managing Editor, her name is Sandara Park, and maybe even get to write some features, and there's a possibility for advancement after one year."

Jinyoung stopped walking for a minute and held Jisoo's gaze.

"You're a writer, then," he said. Jisoo was caught a bit off guard by his tone. He almost sounded... happy? It confused her, so she chose to ignore it.