Jaein’s POV:

I woke up the next morning to find Dahye’s spot beside me in the bed empty, and all of her clothes were already packed up, ready to leave for Gwangju.

“Unni?” I heard Dahye whisper when my body stirred from the bed. I mumbled out a response to let her know that I was awake. “Andy’s here to drive me to school and I didn’t want to wake you,” she blinked innocently, “I don’t want to keep him waiting any longer so I’m going to have to leave right now.”

I sat up straight on my bed, “Don’t leave me Dahye…” I wailed childishly, grasping onto her wrist and begging her to stay.

Dahye cracked a smile and sat back on the bed with me, enveloping me in one of her warm hugs. “I’ll be back on Saturday, and we can go rant about boys, eat ice cream until our tongues freeze off and watch a bunch of sappy romantic comedies,” she promised.

I chuckled, “You better come back! Or I swear I’ll die of awkwardness just by being in the same house as Jongin.” I was half joking, but I knew that Dahye had sensed my seriousness.

Dahye held out her pinky, making me link mine onto hers, “I promise.” Just as I was about to lie back down in bed, Dahye whispered, “promise me that you won’t get into another fight with him until I come back…”

“I don’t think I can pro-“

Dahye had already closed the bedroom door shut, leaving me with an unfinished sentence. I shook my head at her, grinning at her childishness before lying back in bed to get at least a couple more minutes of sleep.

I wonder if I’ll actually be able to keep that promise…As long as I avoid Jongin and work my off at my part time jobs, I’ll be out of his sight in no time. I shook away the thoughts and closed my eyes in hopes of trying to fall back asleep.

Ringggggg ringgggg ringgggg

My eyes immediately popped open at the sound of my alarm that had been going off for a couple of minutes now. I quickly glanced at my clock, doing a double take at the time that was displayed on the screen.

“1:30?! , I’M SO LATE!” I exclaimed, jumping out of my bed and rushing to find any piece of clothing that would be wearable. As soon as I found a presentable outfit that consisted of a button up shirt and some leather leggings, I ran out the door without a second thought. Sunggyu’s gonna kill me. L is gonna kill me. Why did I have to wake up so la-

“AHHH!” I squealed, as my foot slipped on a patch of ice that was half way down the driveway. I braced myself for the impact until I felt a pair of arms steady me to stand up straight once again. I opened my eyes to find Jongin’s face closer than it needs to be, our noses basically touching, and the smoke of his breath puffing into my face. He blinked back at me, with concerned eyes before backing up and letting go of my body.

He ran his fingers through his hair, “Can you at least try not to create danger wherever you go?” His voice sounded annoyed but worried at the same time.

I looked away from him and turned my body so that my back was facing him, “Thanks,” I managed to mumble before speed walking down the rest of the driveway.

“Do you need a ride?” He called after me, but I waved my hand at him, showing that I didn’t need a ride if it was from him.

“FINALLY!” Sunggyu screamed as soon as I step foot inside the INB building.

I winced and gave him an apologetic look before running into the makeup and hair room where L was patiently sitting on one of the chairs. He sat up straight at my arrival and I could tell that he was wondering why I was so late.

“I slept in,” I explained sheepishly, sitting in the chair beside him, “I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you, I know we were supposed to practice but-“

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” L said in a calm voice, “And I didn’t ask why you were late,” his eyes crinkled while he smiled.

I grabbed a random makeup palette and began applying it on my face, “I know, but I knew you were wondering.”

L didn’t respond to me for a while before he took the makeup palette from my hands and set it down on the table. He drew his hand back slightly from the contact of my hand, to which I gave him a confused look.

“You’re freezing Jay…” L muttered, staring at my hands that were red from the wind that had picked up even more when I missed the bus and had to run to the studio.

“Yeah, but being warm isn’t going to help us to do well,” I shrugged, rubbing my own hands together to create friction.

L sighed, “Come here,” he pulled at my hands and cupped them between his, instantly melting them from his body heat. “My mom told me that the warmth of a girl’s hands represents the warmth of the girl’s heart,” he said slowly, “Looks like you have quite a cold heart.”

“My hands are usually warm!” I snapped at him jokingly, making us both burst out into laughter.

He glanced down at his watch before letting go of my hands, and for some reason, I felt empty without the heat of his hands warming mine. “You’re all warmed up now! And there’s about five minutes until we air, so we better get out there,” he stood up, sticking out his hand to help me up as well.

Jongin’s POV:

“Look! Look! It’s Jay!”

My head turned towards my members who were jumping up and down at the sight of Jay on the TV screen inside the dance practice room. Ever since last night, I felt guilty for lashing out at her again when I know that Dahye probably asked her to leave her in the first place. After the fight, I could sense that Jay was avoiding me, and I didn’t like it.

“Shut up Chen Chen, I can’t hear her talk!” Tao snapped, making fun of Jongdae’s new stage name that Chairman Lee had been assigned to him ever since last week.

“Last week on Entertainment News at INB, we discussed the debuts of rookie group that will take over the KPop industry,” L’s face appeared on the screen, and instantly, I felt my mood drop. They’re sitting so close, you guys are co-anchors, not lovers, I cursed mentally in my head, watching Jay peer over at L every so often.

“The rookie group that’s making their debut next week and is bound to change the styles of KPop is SM’s newest group, Exo,” I stared intently at the TV screen when the name of my group had come out of . She seemed uncomfortable with even saying the name, but why?

“We also established that member, Kai is currently in a happy relationship with his girlfriend, also of the same company, F(x)’s Krystal,” Jay continued without a hitch in her voice.

“That’s right, but you guys thought you knew it all? Well guess again,” L took over, but when it was his turn to speak again, he froze in his spot. L glanced over at Jay worriedly, staring at the monitor blankly.

“What’s that guy doing?” Xiumin hyung asked, shaking his head. I was wondering the exact same thing before we heard him clear his throat and begin to speak.

“It turns out that not only are Kaistal boyfriend and girlfriend, but they have gotten engaged over the past week,” L spoke hesitantly with every word, “Congratulations to the happy couple!”

My jaw dropped at the words that came out of his mouth, and I watched the other members stare at me with the same expression. “What. The. Hell. Did he just say?” I gritted my teeth. More importantly however, my eyes stayed locked on the screen, as I watched Jay’s face fall instantly at L’s words.

“You’re engaged? Congrats Jongin!” Lay hyung cheered, “Although I thought you would tell us first…”

I stood up from the floor, pushing the other members away from me and exiting the dance room, I need to settle this, now.

“Oh Jongin! It’s nice to see you visit me for once,” Chairman Lee chuckled, but I was in no mood for laughing when I had barged through his door. “Take a seat son, make yourself comfortable,” he pointed at the chair in front of his desk.

I ignored his request and began to shout, “How could you do this! I agreed to being a fake boyfriend to Krystal, but now you want me to fake this engagement as well?”

His smile turned into a frown, “Now, now, Jongin, you know I treasure you as one of my favourite trainees but there’s no need to yell.”