"You seem like you're in a particularly good mood today."

"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about," said Jennie, raising a brow at Jisoo who was eyeing her with playful suspicion. They sat in the school's courtyard in their usual spot with several minutes to spare before they had to start classes for the day.

"Yeah, you're more–what's the word–chipper this morning," Lisa grinned, poking Jennie's arm. "Did Taeyong do something to put you in a good mood?"

The girls were not blind to notice how Taeyong always lingered around Jennie; whether it was on their way to school, during lunch when he always glanced in their general direction during a game of soccer, or when everyone was headed home, he was always there with her or in her general vicinity. The girls didn't mention it often, but Jennie had opened up a lot to them since the first day she met them even if it was only a week and a half ago and they were all comfortable with each other. In fact, she was like the missing piece to their four piece puzzle; they just clicked.

Jennie's cheeks turned bright pink, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"We're just messing with you," Jisoo giggled, "But maybe actually he did! Why else would you be blushing?"

"No, he didn't do anything," Jennie rolled her eyes, ignoring Jisoo's comment on her burning cheeks, "If he did anything, it would be annoying me like always. He never leaves me alone whenever he has the chance. It also doesn't help that he lives next door to me."

The girls all looked at her with wide eyes. She must've forgotten to mention it or it just never came up.

"Now that makes sense," said Jisoo thoughtfully. Her face suddenly grew mischievous as she decided to mess with Jennie some more, "We all just thought he was following you. Plus, he waits for you by the gates after school if you aren't already out and we were never sure if he was just being a creep or not."

He waited for her? She just assumed that their timing was good. But then again, Jennie didn't really give it too much thought so she never considered the possibility of him actually going out of his way to wait for her.

"And you guys never showed any concern for me? What if he wanted to hurt me?" Jennie feigned fear on her face. The girls laughed.

"Well, we all know Taeyong pretty well. He's harmless," said Rosé. "He can barely hurt a fly. In fact, I'm sure he's scared of them."

"Yeah, he's essentially just a walking cinnamon roll," Lisa grinned. Everyone turned to look at her strangely, "What? It's true!"

Jennie stifled a small laugh as she imagined Taeyong as a literal walking cinnamon roll. It was definitely a sight to behold.

"Cinnamon roll or not, he's not so bad. We weren't sure if you guys were friends or not, either," said Rosé. "You don't talk about him much."

"Yeah, we're not friends," said Jennie without missing a beat, noticing the suggestive looks on her friends' faces, "And we're nothing more than acquaintances that just so happen to be next door neighbors, so I don't see why I would need to talk about him."

Suddenly, thoughts of the night before flashed through her mind with the dishwashing incident. Acquaintances could share good times with each other, right? She decided not to share this with her friends, knowing that they would just more than they already did. No matter how much Jennie insisted that they could hardly be considered friends, the girls always gave her looks as if they knew something she didn't.

"Speak of the devil," Jisoo grinned as she subtly pointed to a group of boys across the courtyard, snapping Jennie out of her thoughts.

Jennie looked and saw Taeyong amongst his group of friends, all of them laughing and messing around with each other just having a good time. She hadn't even realized that she was staring until she got caught. He met her eyes and smiled cheekily, waving across the courtyard. Some of the guys turned with confusion to see who he was waving to.

Crap, he saw me, Jennie felt her cheeks turn an even brighter pink.

Jennie, who was now a bundle of embarrassment, ducked her head down and ignored the looks the girls gave her. Before they could say anything else, the bell signaling for students to head to class rang and Jennie felt herself physically relax a little.

Whew, saved by the bell, Jennie thought to herself with relief. She never thought she would be so grateful to hear that school bell ring so she could get to class and away from Taeyong. Why was she even thinking about him? It was as if she never interacted with the opposite gender, considering how much time she spent thinking about him. They weren't even friends!

Right?

Bidding the other girls goodbye, Jennie and Rosé walked to class together to begin another long day of studying. However, Jennie could hardly focus. Even Rosé commented during one of their breaks about how Jennie seemed to be deep in other thoughts, which was true; Jennie was deep in thought about a talkative boy who was not worth her time, at least not in her mind. Sure, maybe that was just his personality, but it was so different from hers that he was like a puzzle she couldn't quite figure out.

Perhaps if she was more outgoing or sociable, things w