They were in the dressing room, waiting for their turn to appear. Jiyong was reviewing the lyrics for the song they were about to perform just moments from that time. It was more of just refreshing his memories than anything - he did after all listen to it a lot back then.

“I still don’t get why you chose this song, Ji,” Youngbae commented while adjusting his mask.

“It’s a classic. Come on, we sang this song a lot back then… don’t we?” Jiyong answered. “Just try not to sing it in your real voice” - to which Youngbae nodded.

“Okay, let’s go!”

They were the last musicians to perform. They slowly made their entrance on stage. Excitement was in the air.

Jieun frowned. ‘Who are they?’ she thought to herself. All the members of the staff were making assumptions about who the duo was. Probably Dynamic Duo. Maybe Norazo. Or perhaps, Yukgaksu themselves. Youngbae and GD slowly took their places on that very stage preparing to perform. Not long after, an ancient kind of music began to play.

‘What a coincidence,’ Jieun thought to herself. It’s the same song Kiha performed in this show last time. But who are they?

As the performance progressed, she slowly began to form a suspicion that one of them was most likely to be Youngbae. It was that smooth dancing and glimpse of his smooth soulful voice that gave it away. There was almost no doubt to contest her suspicions - those were the two things that turned her into a huge fan age ago. But that other one - that shorter one out of the two… it was a bit harder for her to decipher. Since that one person might be Youngbae, could that person be…? No. It couldn’t be. But could it be…?

When they did take off their masks and turned back to face them, she could feel her heart dropped. It was indeed him. Million thoughts ran through her mind. She wasn’t going crazy, wasn’t she? She tried to calm herself down. This was just some adjustment she needed to get through, right? It’s not like it was common for her to bump into him - she only met him once or twice before the year before. Her reaction was completely normal, right? She got this, right? But still… her heart kept racing fast. And it kept doing so as Jiyong was grimacing shyly in front of the audience.

391522. the cameras turned off and everyone stood up to greet everyone, Jieun remained there frozen, not knowing what to do next. She could sensed someone approaching her from behind, so she turned around.

“Hi,” Jiyong said. “Long time no see.” He just stood there, hands in his pockets, smirking with that grin of his… that grin she fell for once upon a time. It was impossible not to smile back.

“O raen maniya,”she greeted, her hands shaking behind her back.

“It´s good to see you.”

Awkward silence filled the space between them, not for so long though for soon Jiyong was surrounded by all the staff, trying to catch his attention. So Jieun took that chance to run outside to breathe and calm down.

Her manager came looking for her. “There you are! Is everything fine?” He asked worriedly, noticing her pale face like she just saw a ghost.

“Yeah, Oppa, I´m fine.” At least, that’s what she tried to tell herself.

It was not just her manager who noticed the dark clouds over her head, her make- up artist too looked at her worriedly when she was in the dressing room before filming for the next episode moments after.

“What is wrong, Jieunie? “She asked while applying shades of rosy pink on her cheeks.

“Ah? Nothing eonnie, its just that I´m a little tired.” She tried to smile weakly but somehow, it looked obvious that such smile was forced.

“Well, you better cheer yourself up. I heard there´s still another episode to record.”

Jieun sighed, she couldn’t stop thinking about the whole matter. It was true she didn’t have to spend so much time alone with Jiyong, but his sole presence made her shiver and that bothered her so much because she felt that she was already cheating on her boyfriend. She was feeling a strange mix of feelings: excitement, fear, and uneasiness. The truth was she did want to be around Jiyong, but it just did not feel… right.

They were called to resume the filming at the main stage. Jieun was sitting still, trying to not look at her left side where Jiyong and Youngbae were sitting.

Jieun kept her eyes fixed at the stage where each of the IC performers was performing, she laughed so hard at their performances, she was having fun, but from time to time, even when she couldn’t look at Big Bang members, she could feel Jiyong stealing glances at her.

When it was her turn, she seated in the chair closing her eyes waiting for the guys to choose her. Jiyong watched at her intently, studying her movements and enjoying her beautiful back.

She was trembling but tried to look cool and not to think he was so close watching at her. Finally, all the teams were matched up, and she finally sighed relieved when the filming was done.

When she arrived home that night, she couldn’t stop revisiting the events of the day in her head. She tossed and turned, that she eventually saw the sun rise without getting any sleep. It was like she had gone back to that day when she spent that night with Jiyong at that party, just chatting. The night she found out a new feeling growing inside her, the night she started to love that Kwon Jiyong.

She knew this wasn’t right. She had gone through so much to overstep that relationship and find another man she loved and respected. So why was she feeling like this? This couldn’t happen. It shouldn’t happen. Maybe she was just surprised and confounded. Yeah, it was probably just that. She stood up and went to the bathroom taking a long shower to clear up her thoughts.

Over the next few days, she came to work with Myungsoo sunbae. He was more headstrong than she had imagined, but she just took a deep breath and tried to do her best.

At her studio, she worked hard to compose new songs, keeping Myungsoo sunbaenim’s ideas in mind, but she was continually distracted by thoughts about Jiyong.

Jiyong and Youngbae for their side were having fun with Kwanghee, even when the guy was annoying sometimes, they found him easy to get along and enjoyed their time together.

Next day, they were summoned for an emergency meeting, Jieun especially was having a hard time with Myungsoo sunbae. As much as he was polite and sweet to her, he still wasn’t the easiest person to get along with when it comes to the musical aspect. It almost felt like he refused to compromise with what she had in mind.

Jae Suk read the letters they wrote one by one. The first one was from Jieun, she didn’t hold back her annoyance about Myungsoo sunbae for trying to make her song more ‘kkang kkang’ by adding EDM into the mix.

It was in the middle of the discussions that Jiyong raised his voice to defend her. Wow! It was just… She was speechless. She wasn’t expecting from him to take her side in that way. And not only his support, but he remained by her side until the end. She really felt touched.

After the meeting, everyone took a short break, so she went outside to take some fresh air.

“Hi Jieunie.” A familiar voice distracted her from her deep thoughts. It was him.

“Hi.” She lowered her gaze quickly. Why couldn’t she look at him in the eye?

“Are you alright?” He asked holding a cup of coffee and reaching another one to her

“Yeah… Oh, thanks Oppa,”she said while taking the cup of coffee from his hands, her fingers accidentally touching his. She felt a jolt of electricity running through her spine.

“You’re having a hard time with Myungsoo sunbaenim, aren’t you?” He asked knowing the answer beforehand.

“Well, he is…” She paused herself trying not to sound rude - “He is… special,” she finally replied. “But I´m having a hard time trying to understand his point of view.”

“Don´t listen to him too much. Just let him talk and do what you think its better,” Jiyong encouraged her. “Your music is too good to be spoiled by him.”

“Do you really think it is?” She was taken aback by his comment.

“Of course, Jieun. Your music... it´s exceptional. You are exceptional.” He lowered his voice a little at the last sentence, trying to not let his feelings seeped out. Jieun looked at him in disbelief.

“Anyways, thank you for helping me earlier,” she said sincerely.

“You have nothing to thank me for. I´m serious when I say you´re good.”

A warm wave suddenly invaded her chest. That smile from years ago was plastered on her face. It was almost a reflex for Jiyong to smile back before he sipped his coffee with delight.