About 24 minutes. Jisoo stared at the approximate journey time that Naver maps was giving her to get from the GOT7 dorm to the Blackpink dorm, and it wasn’t giving her any reassurance at all. Twenty-four minutes was not much time at all. Not nearly enough time to make up an excuse to give to the girls to explain why she was trying to sneak past them and into the building elevator lobby, and not nearly enough time to choose an outfit that was simultaneously cute and casual enough to make it look like she didn’t spend twenty minutes choosing it. And not nearly enough time to do something about her face, which was bare and in dire need of moisture. Achieving a makeup a look that looked simultaneously elegant and natural actually did take quite a bit of time. 

Jisoo checked the clock on the wall, her heart fluttering the entire time. She was sick with anticipation. 

What would he say? God, what should she say? All these questions running through her head were making her dizzy. She pressed the heels of her palms to her forehead and tried to calm herself down. 

“Stop, stop it,” she whispered to herself. “Calm down, it’s just Jinyoung. You two have talked face to face lots of times before, it’s nothing different.”

Except it is different, her brain said. All those other times they talked had been as friends. But where were they now on the spectrum of human relationship? Somewhere between friends and more, straddling that line, perhaps. 

There wasn’t enough time to do much. In the end, Jisoo had opted to just change out of her shorts and throw on some pants but kept her shirt. Her hair had been curled for Inkigayo that day, but after washing and drying, it was as straight as uncooked spaghetti, but at least it was clean. As for her face, BB cream and lip balm would have to do, but she pinched her cheeks to add a bit of color.

All that was left now was to get down to the elevator lobby without the girls noticing. Which would be tricky, since they had already yelled for her twice to hurry up and join them since she had already missed half of Johnny Depp’s scenes. 

“Unni!” Lisa shouted from the living room. “Hurry up! You’re missing the whole thing, we’re not gonna rewind it for you!”

“I’m on the phone with my parents!” Jisoo shouted. “It’s fine, I’ll just watch it on my own later.”

“Aww, but that’s no fun!” Rosé whined. “The whole reason we even put it on was so we could have team bonding time.”

Jisoo stuck her head out the door and looked down the hallway. She could just make out Lisa and Jennie’s backs, which were turned toward her as they focused on the screen of Rosé’s laptop. Distracted. Jisoo chewed on her bottom lip and then eyed their front door. It was a short walk, but that also meant having to cross the living room area. She checked the time and saw that she had about four minutes.

She stepped out carefully in her socks. Mindful of the creaking floors, Jisoo stepped lightly down the hall, tiptoeing past the living room slowly. The girls were still watching Chocolat, they didn’t seem to notice their unni sneaking past them behind their backs. Jisoo reached the front door safely and slipped on her shoes. She was halfway out the door when her cellphone chimed. She heard the girls shuffling in the common room. Panicking, Jisoo slammed the door shut and ran toward the elevator.

In the living room, the remains members of Blackpink exchanged looks of confusion.

Once safely in the elevator, Jisoo checked her phone. Just as she suspected, it was a text from Jinyoung.

“I’m outside,” it said. 

, Jisoo said. He was early. The elevator ticked as it passed each floor and then a bell rang when it reached the ground. Jisoo stepped out carefully, checking her reflection in the mirror inside the lift before she walked out.

Once in the ground floor elevator lobby, Jisoo saw Jinoyung’s silhouette in the opaque glass doors. She felt like her soul was fighting to get out of her body through as she walked over. Waving a key card in front of the sensor, she opened the door.

Jinyoung turned around to face her. 

He looked much as he did earlier that day, before the makeup and the styling. Fresh-faced, soft hair, normal, sensible clothing, but there was a tenseness in his shoulders. Jisoo took a deep breath and silently moved aside to let him into the building. His shoulder brushed hers as he stepped in.

Jisoo closed the door behind him and fidgeted with her hands as she faced him. Jinyoung, too, played with the heath strap of his watch, but he kept his eyes on Jisoo while she looked down at the floor. The silence was becoming awkward, so they both looked up and tried to say something, only to wind up talking at the same time. They stopped, laughed a bit and then Jinyoung said:

“Sorry. You go first.”

Jisoo shook her head.

“No, you go,” she said, quietly. Jinyoung nodded and then took another deep breath. The elevator lobby was silent except the sound of bells whenever the lift stopped at a certain floor. Jisoo was telling herself to look up at him, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at his eyes. She stared at his neck instead. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed before speaking.

“So, then,” Jinyoung began carefully. “It was me you were talking about the other night.”

Jisoo closed her eyes and sighed. No point trying to skirt around the subject now. 

“Yes,” she said. “It was.”

Jinyoung suddenly felt weightless. Jisoo looked up at him and saw him trying and failing to repress a smile.

“Why didn’t you just say so, then?” he said, his voice soft.

“Because… Because you’re so… you know, and I’m so… you know,” Jisoo said with a shaky voice. She was so nervous, and her feelings for him were so close to the surface now, she was fighting to keep them from swelling up and overwhelming her. But here he was and she had liked him for so long. She crossed her arms.

“And anyway, I was scared that you didn’t feel the same way,” she said, looking aside. “And I knew that if you didn’t, I’d feel hurt and that it might make things awkward between us, and then it would just ruin everything, including our professional partnership. I was scared that if you didn’t feel the same way, you’d distance yourself from me—”

“I wouldn’t have,” Jinyoung said, his voice rising and taking as top toward her. “You should be more confident in me, I’d have respected your feelings if you told me.”

It had been months now that they hosted the music show together. During that time, he and Jisoo had become especially close. When he first heard that she’d be on of his co-MC’s, he was afraid that she would be cold and chic, but it didn’t take long at all for him to realize that that was just an image she projected when promoting Blackpink. The real Jisoo had an open heart, a genuine personality, and the brightest, most beautiful smile he’d ever seen on a girl, and it was her openness that had drawn him in and captured his heart. That she had hidden something like this from him for so long saddened him. 

“And anyhow,” he said softly. “I do feel the same way.”

Jisoo finally looked up at him. Her eyes were wide, hopeful.

“You do?” she said. Jinyoung couldn’t help smiling.

“When you said all those things in your message the other night and I thought they were about me, I went a little crazy,” he said. 

“I wanted to come over here that night and tell you everything right then,” he said. “But then you said it wasn’t about me or anyone, so I crammed my feelings down again. But then at Inkigayo, while we were recording that performance and we were singing that song, I was looking at you and listening to the lyrics and I realized that these feelings weren’t going to go away, but at any moment, one of us might.”

He took another step forward, not letting go on her gaze. Jisoo’s heart was pounding, but she couldn’t move. Jinyoung pressed his lips into a tight line and exhaled slowly before confessing:

“I like you, Jisoo.”

Time seemed to stand still in that moment. Jisoo’s eyes, shaking in their sockets, suddenly lit up. Her lip quivered as she tried to speak.

“You…You do?”

Jinyoung’s eyes crinkled a bit as he smiled.

“Yes,” he answered confidently. “I have for a while now. Maybe since we met, but nowadays, I like you so much I can’t keep it anymore. I think you’re beautiful and sweet and spirited and a generally wonderful person.”

Jisoo was so happy she could cry. So happy, she was practically glowing. She was searching and searching for the right thing to say at a time like this, thinking about whether or not there was a right thing to say at a time like this. She was choking on all the wrong answers and finally she worked up all her courage and said:

“I like you, too. I think… I think you’re perfect.”

Jinyoung’s smile got brighter, if that was even possible. Jisoo laughed gently and pressed her palms against her cheek, feeling how warm they were. 

“God, that just felt so good to say aloud,” Jisoo said, laughing. Jinyoung had gotten closer to her, close enough reach out and touch her arm softly.

“And this isn’t just another crazy idea for an Inkigayo special stage, right?”

Jisoo laughed again.

“Of course not,” she said. Jinyoung’s hands reached out and touched hers. 

“If it were, I’d have been way more creative with the delivery,” she said. She looked up again and saw him, close enough that she could feel his breath against her brow. All her nerves were gone now. All she cold feel was the gentle burn of complete and utter happiness. She smiled at Jinyoung. 

“What happens now?” she whispered. “What should we do?”

Jisoo looked up at Jinyoung. His face was so close to hers that she could see the emotion in his eyes going from thoughtful to tender and they never once wandered away from her face. He held her gaze with a soft look, and Jisoo almost didn’t even register that he was leaning into her. Jisoo closed her eyes, closed the remaining gap between their faces, and relished the soft touch of his lips on her own. She felt her spirit blooming at the moment of the kiss and like her skin were the only thing keeping her from going everywhere all at once. She held onto the front of his shirt. His hands rested at her waist, his fingers gently pressed against her body, holding her still. However Jisoo imagined a perfect kiss, this was better. 

Another few seconds into the kiss, and the passion was just beginning to heighten. His mouth started moving, and Jisoo tilted her face to give him more access and her body fit against his so nicely. But just as things were starting, there was knock against the glass doors behind them. Jinyoung pulled away first and looked past Jisoo at the silhouette in the opaque glass. He couldn’t make out much except that the person was wearing a helmet, a red polo shirt, and was carrying what could only be a box of fried chicken.

“I guess someone ordered chicken for delivery?” he said. Jisoo’s eyes widened. She whipped around to open the door, but at that very moment, the elevator opened and out came Lisa.

Lisa strolled out of the elevator casually with some cash in hand. But once in the lobby, were eyes found Jisoo.

“Oh. Unni. What are you doing—?” Lisa said and then her eyes spotted the boy standing next to her. “Sunbaenim?”

Jisoo and Jinyoung both flushed. Jisoo stuttered as she tried to explain, saying nothing that was intelligible. Lisa eyed them both, teasing as she walked over to the door and paid for their order of chicken. Jinyoung kept his hands in his pockets and looked anywhere but directly at Lisa or Jisoo. Jisoo fidgeted with her hair. 

Lisa punched the call button for an elevator. The few seconds she spent waiting for it to arrive was hell for Jisoo. She cleared and tried to make conversation.

“Did you finish the movie?” Jisoo asked.

“Not yet,” Lisa said, but she kept looking at Jinyoung. “Sunbaenim, you can come up to the dorm if you two want to talk in there.”

“Thank you,” Jinyoung said, breathlessly. “But maybe another time, I should get going soon.”

“Yes, he’s quite busy,” Jisoo said, sounding so stiff and formal all of a sudden.

Lisa smirked. “Alright, then,” she said as the elevator finally arrived. She stepped into it with a teasing smile still on her face. 

Once Lisa was gone, Jisoo let out the breath she was holding and turned back to Jinyoung. He laughed. 

“Great,” Jisoo said. “I’ll get it once I get back up there. I can already hear them talking about us.”

“She’ll probably tell Bambam, too,” Jinyoung said. “That should be fun.”

Jisoo laughed. She turned serious once again and looked at Jinyoung with a smirk. “So, I guess this means you’re my boyfriend now?”

Jinyoung shrugged and then smiled. “Are you my girlfriend?”

Jisoo answered him with a content smile. Finding a bench in the lobby, they sat down for a bit and talked some more, working out the logistics of their new relationship. When they finally noticed time passing, Jisoo dubbed it safe to return to her dorm. She walked Jinyoung as far as the front door. Before turning and leaving, Jinyoung leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Jisoo felt abuzz with sheer happiness once again. Jinyoung smiled as he backed away and started toward the sidewalk.

“Goodnight,” he said. Once he was gone, Jisoo rode the elevator back up. The long ride to her floor felt considerably less empty than when she rode it down before. Her heart was too full. Still... she wondered what was next for her and Jinyoung now that they'd crossed that threshold and were journeying together into uncharted territory. What now?

Once back on the floor, she realized again that she'd have to face the girls. No doubt, they had already forgotten all about Chocolat and were now discussing her love life. She stood outside the door for a minute, deciding what she should do about her entrance. That was when she suddenly received a text again. Her heart fluttered seeing that it was from Jinyoung, again. Her boyfriend , Jinyoung, she thought. 

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked. Jisoo smiled. What a common question, she thought. But she supposed this was what's next: one text at a time, one date at a time. On and on into the future. She replied:

"Nothing. Why do you ask? Do you have plans for us?"

After a few second Jinyoung replied: "Maybe, haha. Just... nevermind. Goodnight."

{the end}

A/N: Yay! Finished! Again, thank you guys so much for all the enthusiasm and support! Please continue leaving nice comments below, and I'm excited for more JinJi action on tonight's Inkigayo, hehehe. And let me just say again, wow, I am so touched by the great response this story got. I was only expecting to get maybe like 10 subscribers, so I am totally floored that this has 70 subscribers and counting. Thank you so much for reading! Not to get anyone's expectations up, but I do have some very beginning-stage plans for another JinJi fic (because I cannot get enough of these two, seriously) so please stay tuned for an announcement about that in a few weeks.