He first passes by her in the hallway along with the other SR14G members. It’s not as if he has the time to stop and notice her while they’re all rushing to practice. He just vaguely registers that there seems to be a new member in SR14G before being swept up in dance practice. That night, as he lies in bed, he forgets all about it, trying to sleep the muscle aches away.

He sees her again a few more times after, but mostly he sees the other girls like Koeun and Yerim. He doesn’t have the luxury of time to ponder on why he doesn’t see her as often as he likes (he tells himself that the building is pretty big, it’s possible that they missed each other).

When he finally gets the opportunity to get a good look at her, it’s at one of the biggest events he has ever experienced in his life. It’s his first SMTown concert; it’s big, busy, and packed. The boys are being ordered by staff, scrambling around trying to get them on stage in time. He spends more time with the male rookies backstage anyway, so it isn’t anything more than a fleeting glance.

It’s not until they have to record and film for the theme song of Mickey Mouse Club does he actually take note of her (he finally learns her name and can stop calling her ‘the new girl’ in his mind). He notices her cat-like eyes, the way they sparkle when she sings. And also her voice, soft and calming, a completely different quality than Herin’s more powerful tone or Koeun’s clear voice. 

She’s spinning the pen in her left hand and then uses the same hand to write down something the vocal coach is saying. Ah, he realizes then that she must be left-handed.

“Jeno? Earth to Jeno!”

“Wha-?” Jeno replies intelligently.

“It’s our turn in the recording booth, come on.” He hears Donghyuk saying.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he nods and follows the other boys into the recording booth.

“So," Donghyuk starts off without hesitation, it’s just the two of them in the practice room. “What was that all about earlier today?”

“Wha-?” Jeno really needs to start paying more attention.

Donghyuk rolls his eyes and repeats slowly as if Jeno is five and not fifteen. “Who. Were. You. Staring. At. Today.”

Jeno blinks rapidly, he’s not a very good liar and Donghyuk is usually quick at catching on to things. He turns away, hoping to hide his reddening face and begins warming up. “No one, was just thinking about the lyrics.”

He keeps his cool and continues stretching, pretending to be unaffected. Please just let it go, he thinks desperately to himself. Donghyuk is nothing if not persistent, and like a dog with a bone, nothing stops him until he gets what he wants.

He hears Donghyuk scoff, “Yeah right, and Mark hyung doesn’t have the biggest crush on Eunie noona. And Hina isn’t left-handed.”

“But she is,” Jeno mutters absently.

“Hah! I knew it! You were staring at Hina! How else would you know something like that?”

Jeno doesn’t have an answer for that, so he opts for staying silent and hoping that a hole in the earth would open and swallow him up. Anything to get away from Donghyuk.

“I knew it.” Donghyuk says in an annoying singsong voice (which would be amusing since his voice is still cracking, but Jeno is too distracted right now). “You don’t have to say anything, the tips of your ears are turning red yunno.”

He begins moving through the motions of their newest choreography, pointedly ignoring Donghyuk.

“Whatever,” he doesn’t need to turn around to know that there’s a smug smirk on Donghyuk’s face, “you know I’m right.”

Thankfully, Donghyuk leaves it at that. You know he’s right, his traitorous mind unhelpfully supplies.

Jeno can’t help it as he allows himself a small indulgent smile, thinking about the girl in the recording booth.

A/N: Thank you to all who subscribed to my story. I'm sorry I haven't been updating for a long while. This isn't Markoeun, but I hope you'll enjoy it all the same. Thank you once again.