Lilly   

    With the huge amount of time that had passed by without Got7, rather than phone calls or texts, the "scandal" going around like a month ago had also died down quite a bit. I doubt that anyone rather than passionate fangirls or haters would remember that something like that happened anyway. 

It was a petty issue anyway, but this one act of foolish hate, which was completely false in every aspect, was enough to land Eva, Maria and I a "sentence" of sorts from meeting or hanging out with our friends in Got7.

Now, we all did actually successfully carry on normally for the past month. And surely nobody believes that I'm an idiot because quite a few things were becoming very obvious around our apartment. 

For one thing, Maria and Jackson were already going through a lot of tension before our ban, and the scandal and wait actually seemed to escalate it to an unnatural level and I bet all my riches that they were an item now. Of course, I could be completely wrong as well. Putting that aside, I had a hit as well as an utter miss in mind too. The miss being Eva... an as of late very unreadable girl, letting nobody know anything. 

As for the hit, my little "controllable" crush on Youngjae had now turned into something incredibly uncontrollable and... stupid. The little amount of time I got to spend with him, locked inside a dark room as part of a scheme a month ago only helped in making certain repressive feelings completely irrepressible now. Every single text I got from him now, I had my heart racing and eyes lighting up like a middle schooler in love. Of course, my mind was also an utter mess now.

Moving on though, an amazing turn of events took place when I got my next assignment for a photography session with Got7, as part of my job. I had frequently been getting lots if assignments lately, and they were all variable but had me trying hard and getting good results, enough to convince my superiors to actually let me handle this one. 

Apparently it was a photography session regarding the Part 2 of "It's Skin" done earlier in the year by the group. I was actually so ecstatic at hearing this that I grabbed my things and went back home as quick as possible; I wasn't disappointed seeing Maria and Eva's faces light up at another chance to see the guys again, especially after a while like this. Without even a moment's hesitation, they asked if they could tag along too. 

I laughed, shaking my head at their excitement, even though I wasn't too far off either, "Of course you can, we better be on time though. It's tomorrow at five."

Tomorrow came sooner than I thought it would, and the rest of the day passed by in a blur. By the end of it, I was standing in my room, ready to go, fixing small things on my outfit and thinking to myself.

Again, I avoided any fancy stuff since this was an assignment, and not recreation of any sort. With my jeans and red flannel shirt, I felt plain but really energetic. That actually raised my spirits a bit more, as I tightened my camera kit around my waist and looked myself in the eye, repeating a couple hundred times to not mess up in front on anyone, least of all Youngjae. 

Maria and Eva were prepped up to go and in a mere ten minutes, we found ourselves being ushered into the studio premises, and we collectively peeled our eyes to spot the boys that we hadn't seen and missed for over a month. 

After about a minute of roaming around and checking every room, we finally found them when their manager spotted us and pushed us quickly into a dressing room, and there they all were. Got7, all busy and looking bored but ready for the photoshoot. 

The moment they saw us walk in though, their faces brightened and everyone began cheering loudly, and soon all three of us were engulfed in tight one-armed hugs and questions and exclamations being thrown at us. 

Then something interesting happened. I'm not even sure how and why, but Youngjae had his head down as he just walked up to me before anyone else could, and suddenly just pulled me to him and hugged me tightly. 

In front of everyone. Really tightly. 

The worst part was that everyone grew silent and just watched us as I stood still, not knowing to do, and he just held me there, a hand on my back and one in my hair. 

The situation processed to me in a flash. I could feel my face growing redder and warmer and my heart, which was beating a mile a minute was making me feel so overwhelmed that I began to stutter and broke away from Youngjae's sudden embrace, head spinning. 

I barely registered the boys, except for Youngjae, as they began to laugh when Maria and Eva explained something like how I was super flustered and awkward anyway, before I stumbled backward, stuttering, "I- I'll be back... just a mo- moment!"

And then I made the stupidest decision of my life and ran out the door, sprinting toward a closed space to soak in for a bit, and to get rid of the sudden embarrassment. 

I found an empty room which was lit duller than the rest of the rooms and it didn't even seem to be an important room anyway, so I went and plopped onto the black one seater sofa, holding my cheeks and trying to calm my racing heart. 

Honestly though, what even happened? What was that anyway? I admit I missed him a lot too, but he just upped and hugged me, without even saying anything first! A warning is sincerely needed in these predicaments! 

Before I could actually fall into another deep train of thought regarding why Youngjae would even do what he just did, I heard the shuffling of feet in the room. 

Now, I was alone and I was sure nobody actually tried following me here, of all things. But regardless, there he stood, leaning against the door frame, and we were alone together once more. 

Is this life's way of bullying me and teaching me a lesson for my dumb and stubborn ways? It sure seems like it. 

Youngjae walked forward and sat next to me the moment our eyes met. 

I quickly looked back down, trying to avoid eye contact with him, since it was the main cause of my heated face and spinning head. I tried my best to think about anything but him at the moment, but then he decided to speak. 

"So I realise how uncomfortable I made you feel, Lilly," Hearing that, my head shot up and I met his now uneasy, and somehow even guilty, expression as he scratched his neck shyly, "Honestly, I don't even know what came over me back there. We hadn't seen each other in a while rather than texts and it just felt like something just... pushed me to you and before I even knew it..."

Youngjae looked me straight in the eye as he said, "So, I'm sorry for--" 

I interrupted him instinctively, "Wait, don't say that!" 

It actually made me feel so relieved, hearing Youngjae's side of the story. And the fault actually lay with me, I realised, for acting so stupidly, "Youngjae, it wasn't your fault. It's just me, okay? I swear, even if a boyfriend, among others, would suddenly up and hug me like that, I'd act the same. I'm just not used to this close contact or anything!!" I felt my face heat up and my heart beat faster as I began to explain the actual situation to him. 

Now I just feel bad that I'm always this awkward. 

Youngjae's response was actually a really happy one; I watched as his face broke out into a big grin and he sighed in relief, "Thank goodness, I swear I thought you'd hold it against me forever." 

"I probably would, but that would've worked better if you weren't as genuine a person as you are," I smiled at him, beginning to get comfortable.

Youngjae scratched his cheek and a few moments in silence passed by. Youngjae broke it, beginning to speak out, "We knew how harmless the scandal really was, but the ban kind of made it worse. It made some kind of weird depth fill in about our relationship with you guys. Lilly, don't get me wrong, okay? I feel so happy to be friends like this with you. But during the ban, it felt really strange. I don't know, but it felt like I missed you a bit more than I actually should have. Every morning, I woke up with the thought of wanting to see you and hang out with you, play video games and such, but then the members reminded me about the ban and I felt sad about it. When I saw you just now, I felt like my heart burst or something, and I--" 

"Youngjae," I interrupted, and he looked up. I saw his face contort into an expression of shock before his face literally began to turn pink and then he just stared. 

My face had reddened so strongly that I could feel it radiating heat. Hearing Youngjae suddenly be so much more vocal than usual about his feelings made my heart skip several beats and I didn't want to hear more. So I just interrupted him before he could say anything he'd regret and here I was, blushing like a fool and staring at him, while he did the same. 

Where was he even going with that conversation? He said that he actually felt his heart burst... that in itself was enough for me to become an optimistic idiot and raise my expectations of something that might never even happen. I might have a crush on Youngjae, but that really doesn't mean that he might have one on me. That's just unnatural.

It's wishful thinking. And I'd rather avoid it. 

I gained composure and began to sort priorities, "Let's go. Everyone's waiting for us. I am your photographer today, after all," I chuckled, looking down. 

"Yeah," Youngjae was quick to agree, "After you," he smiled at me, seeming to forget about the predicament just now. He stood up and opened the door, motioned for me to lead the way out.

"Thanks," I laughed, and the comfort between us was back. 

When Youngjae and I located the rest of Got7, they were already standing on the set for their photoshoot. 

The minute they saw me walk up to them, with Youngjae quickly jogging ahead, they made their way over and started bombarding me with all kinds of questions and yells.

JB asked if I was doing okay, while Bambam and Jackson were more concerned with why I acted so stupid earlier. Mark and Junior collectively asked what took me so long, while Yugyeom was teasing Youngjae and trying to get out what really happened between the two of us. Up to false assumptions as always, these guys.

The group were put out of this mindset when their manager asked them to behave and get ready for the photoshoot. 

I was so caught up in today's "events" that I didn't even register the color scheme and design of the photoshoot. They were wearing the same articles of clothing that they did for the very first "It's Skin" photoshoot. But this time, subtle differences were added, like pastel colors rather than pure white, and they were wearing a more accessories. They all looked so graceful today, and it was almost like the set was radiating in happiness, like they themselves were. 

"Nice working with you! We're Got7," they collectively bowed and I found myself gently nudging away their politeness meant for me, yet again. 

The photography session began, and a major chunk of it was extremely similar to the very first "It's Skin". They were made to sit and show a variety of expressions, portraying different sentiments like sensibility, passivity, happiness and pensive thinking, among others. It was so relaxing, photographing them as they went and it was over without a single hitch. 

I was looking over the pictures I had taken to be sure they had come out well when Maria and Eva jumped on me, hugging all the life out.  

I did make them super worried too, regarding my sudden change in attitude earlier. But these two were actually taking it lightest, almost as if it were regular things. 

"But you know," started Maria sneakily, poking my cheek, "I was the one who told Youngjae to go after you. He was hesitating quite a bit."

"So what exactly happened? Please start your report now," Eva continued evilly, "I'd like to know."

"What happened where? And when?" I dodged the sneaky questions, but with a bright smile plastered over my face, "Geez, I wonder what you're even talking about." 

I was too happy for my own godforsaken good. 

I could swear I heard Maria and Eva whisper something about how something good must have happened with me and Youngjae as I walked away to give the pictures to Got7's manager. Their pictures were going to be issued in a popular magazine, with special reservation of five pages straight. 

We were getting ready to leave when Bambam asked the three of us to come to the dressing room for a bit. They all sat there, and collectively readied themselves for what JB was going to announce.

"Jackson," JB sighed, "Moreso than the others, doesn't want to break off our ties friends with you guys." 

Mark added sneakily, "I'm ready to tell you the number of times he began to yell and cry when JB said otherwise," Making Jackson retort and we all laughed, before JB continued.

"So let's keep hanging out on our free days and meeting, but by doing so, we all need to pick the security factor up a notch," With this, he gave a look to all the members and they laughed nervously, "So just... let's be more careful from now on. Is that okay?"

They all nodded, and with that promise made and kept in mind, Eva, Maria and I stepped out for home, now content and happy since we could actually go about our days without the never-ending boredom and annoyance that last month gave us.