Lani dressed up in her new white skirt and blue top, courtesy of the Teen Top boys who had bought the gifts at L.Joe's request. She slipped on the shoes that caused a huge commotion and looked at herself in Chunji's full length mirror -only boys as conceited as Chunji would have a full length mirror positioned next to his bed. She smiled in content as her long hair fell over her shoulders; hair that showed almost no traces of being bleached and dyed in the -somewhat- recent past. The top was a plain royal blue tank top, almost the exact colour of her shoes, which fit almost perfectly on her slim body. The high-waisted skirt snuggly hugged her body and flowed down to just above her knees. She threw on a grey cardigan to cover her shoulders and carefully clasped the necklace L.Joe had given her months ago around her neck.

There was a light knock at the door and Lani called out to let them in. The door opened a crack and Ricky poked his head in.

“Wah, noona, you look beautiful,” Ricky complimented as he entered the room.

“Thank you,” she blushed, flattered by the compliment.

Ricky walked across the room and took a seat on the bed, swinging his legs as he looked up at Lani admirably.

“Stop staring at me,” Lani playfully complained. She sat next to Ricky and smiled at him, “thanks for the new clothes.”

“It was L.Joe’s idea; we just paid for it,” Ricky said. The room become quiet with neither of them speaking, until Ricky broke the silence. “I really missed you…” his voice became quiet and he was no longer swinging his legs.

“I missed you guys too, all of you” she cheerfully smiled.

“No,” Ricky’s tone was serious. “Lani, there’s something I want to-”

“Lani! Come on, we’re going to be late for the movie!” L.Joe called as he barged into the room.

“We’ll finish this later,” Lani exclaimed as she ruffled Ricky’s hair and dashed out the door behind L.Joe.

Ricky sat alone in the room, staring down at his hands as he fidgeted with his fingers. So much was going through his mind. He had missed Lani so much during the past couple of months; being so far away from her had the opposite affect than what anyone expected. His thoughts were interrupted when Changjo walked into the room.

“Yah, what are you doing in my room?” he called out.

“Oh… sorry…” Ricky replied, completely out of it. He mindlessly got up and started towards the door.

“Hey,” Changjo grabbed Ricky’s shoulder and turned him around. “I was just kidding, what’s going on?”

“It’s nothing…” Ricky’s voice was quiet. He shrugged Changjo’s hand off of his shoulder but remained still.

“Is this about Lani?” Changjo questioned as he plopped down on the chair by the desk. Ricky didn’t respond, but he returned to his seat on the bed. “Did you tell her…?” Changjo continued.

“I didn’t get the chance… Hyung came in before I could,” Ricky stated.

“Maybe it’s better this way… What do you think is going to happen if she knew?”

“I- I don’t know,” Ricky slightly stuttered.

-

L.Joe's manager dropped them as close to the doors as possible, letting Lani out first to pick up the tickets before L.Joe joined her in the theatre lobby. He wore a mask across the bottom of his face, covering his nose and mouth, and a cap pulled down low only showing his eyes. She chuckled at how ridiculous he must look to other people and how pathetic his disguise was. Anyone in this world who was a kpop fan would recognize him as an idol. People could no longer recognize Lani with her drop from stardom, she no longer wore the extravagant clothes or the layers of expensive make up.

There were a few questioning stares, but because of it being the middle of the day, there were no high schoolers roaming the cinema who would recognize L.Joe. The two sat comfortably in the theatre watching a romantic comedy at Lani’s request sharing popcorn and snacks.

“Oppa waegurae?” the lead on the screen cutely chimed as she tugged the arm of her fellow actor.

L.Joe suddenly turned to Lani with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Hm?” Lani asked as she met his gaze.

“Why don’t you try it?”

“Try what?” Lani asked with confusion.

L.Joe just simply pointed towards the screen where the main character clung onto her boyfriend pouting with aegyo.

“You want me to do aegyo!?” Lani exclaimed staring at him.

L.Joe gave her a taste of his own aegyo as he pouted with puppy eyes.

“Aniyo, you know I don’t do all that cute stuff.”

“Just say ‘oppaaaaa’,” he urged.

Lani shook her head and returned to watching the movie.

“But you never call me oppa!” he exclaimed. “You say Chunji oppa and CAP oppa and Woohyun oppa, you even used to call your manager oppa! Why not me too!?”

Lani turned back towards him with a smile lingering on her lips, “is this jealousy I hear?”

“What? No! Why would I be jealous?” L.Joe defended. He turned back towards the screen, crossing his arms and mumbling something under his breath. Lani chuckled at the typical reaction and held on tightly to his arm, resting her head on his shoulder.  

Once the movie was done, L.Joe’s manager returned to take the two to a restaurant L.Joe had made reservations for.

“Instead of eating out, do you think it’s possible to pick up the food and go somewhere more private?” Lani suggested.

“Where were you thinking?” he questioned.

“Well, we haven’t been up on the rooftop in a while,” she stated.

“Ok, call!” he cheerfully agreed.

He made the call to cancel the reservation and requested pick up instead, of course the restaurant obliged and L.Joe and Lani made their way back to the company building once they had gotten their food. Little did Lani know that L.Joe had made another phone call in preparation for their rooftop date.

wow, it's been awhile hasnt it? its been a rough couple months for me and i never find time or the motivation to write anymore. 

i hope i didnt keep you guise waiting too long.

enjoy the chapter and thank you for reading and not abandoning me in my time away! i'll try my best to continue regular updates!

:3 <3