“And this is the cafeteria!” Jongin exclaimed to Minsuh happily, pointing towards the cafeteria double doors.
“The food is better here than at the schools, right?” she asked tentatively. Jongin let out a chest rattling laugh.
“You’re damn right! I always hated cafeteria food. Disgusting.” he said, sticking out his tongue.
Much better, thought Minsuh.
“Have you seen the recording rooms yet?” Jongin asked her, walking towards the elevators.
“Uh… not yet. Can we go see them?” she asked back.
Jongin flashed her a smile. “Of course.”
The elevator stopped at their floor and opened, and they stepped in. They faced the doors again and stood in silence. Jongin raised his head slightly and shifted his gaze towards Minsuh. He took in her long, black hair and traced the outline of her face with his eyes.
She is pretty cute… he thought to himself. He smiled and looked to his feet. 
Minsuh saw Jongin look down and glanced at him with her peripheral vision. She looked him up and down, admiring his height and then stopped at his face. She carefully examined all the edges and lines on his face.
I mean, he is pretty attractive… she mused. She looked to the other side of the wall.
The ding of the elevator brought them both back to reality and they stepped out and headed towards the hall of recording rooms. 
All of the rooms had lights on and looked occupied.
“Are you sure we’re supposed to be here right now? All these rooms look like they’re busy.” Minsuh asked.
“We’re totally fine, what would they do anyw-” Jongin was cut off by the sound of girls voices floating through the hallway. He quickly grabbed Minsuh’s arm and heaved her against the frame of an indented doorway. He drew his body in close to hers and covered . She looked at him with wide eyes and wiggled; trying to get out of his grip. Jongin put his index finger to his lips, and motioned that there were people passing by, pressing his body closer to her. Minsuh could feel his heartbeat against her chest, making hers stop. What is happening right now? she thought, suddenly feeling her cheeks get hot. Jongin glanced at her and softly chuckled before turning his head to watch the girls who were in the hall get into the elevator. When the doors shut, Jongin removed his hand from and placed it beside her head. He let his head droop before slowly lifting it again and giving Minsuh a crooked smile.
“Uh, maybe we should just go down to the cafe,” he said. Minsuh slowly nodded and looked down, still closely trapped between Jongin and the frame. Jongin observed Minsuh’s slightly uncomfortable yet slightly pink face and removed himself from her body. He started to walk coolly towards the elevator when he noticed that Minsuh wasn’t following him.
“Minsuh? Are you coming?” he said, tilting his head towards her. Minsuh was staring down at the ground, unaware that Jongin had already started leaving.
“Huh?" she said as her head snapped up, "Oh, coming.” She slowly started to trail behind him, still shocked. Jongin turned around again and smirked. 
He’s not on me anymore… So why is my heart still feeling like this? Minsuh asked herself, lightly touching her chest as they stepped into the elevator once more.

"This café is where a lot of the artists come when we're working late- caffeine is basically my best friend, right after Kyungsoo!" exclaimed Jongin happily, walking towards an empty table in the corner of the café. Jongin politely pulled out the chair beside him and gave Minsuh a warm smile. Minsuh blushed and sat down, brushing the stray hairs out of her face. 
"Would you like anything? I'll pay." Jongin asked, slowly turning to walk to the counter.
"I'll just have a mocha, thank you." she said, smiling back at him. 
"Don't wait up!" he said, turning to walk towards the counter. 
Minsuh sat back and relaxed, looking around the café. The café was in the corner of the SM building, where windows made up two entire walls. It was contemporary- furnished with maroon and dark green couches with a soft, low lighting. She assumed the windows were usually enough light. 
Minsuh sat and thought about what just happened- Jongin being so closely pressed against her in the hallway. She could still see all the fine lines on his face- evidence of his hard work and the life that he's lived. You couldn't see these lines if you were even a few feet away; Minsuh wondered how many other people have been that close to admir- erm, examine his face. 
Jongin interrupted her thoughts and suddenly appeared in front of the table holding a mocha in a small, white cup and and frappuccino in his other hand for himself. 
"For you, m'lady." He said, tipping his invisible fedora as he placed the teacup on the table in front of her. 
"Thank you, my good man." Minsuh returned, smiling and giving him a slight nod.
Jongin sat in the chair opposite her and sipped his frappuccino. 
"So, Minsuh. Tell me about yourself," he said, leaning back. 
"Well," she started, "I'm 21. I used to work three jobs before I became a trainee. Lived alone in a small apartment. I auditioned and got in by dancing. There's really not much to me." She said, trying to think of more things to tell about herself. 
"So you're a dancer?" Jongin replied. "How did you get into dancing?"
"I joined the dance team my first year of high school- it was contemporary, but eventually we evolved into hip-hop. My parents absolutely despised me dancing rather than studying business," she paused and sighed. "They made me quit the dance team after about a year. I was absolutely heart broken, dancing had become a meaningful thing for me in such a short period of time." Jongin nodded understandingly. 
"My parents signed me up for tutoring after school at the local library. What they didn't know is that I paid the tutor to not tutor me and let me go off on my own- not telling my parents that I wasn't studying. With the extra time this gave me, I went to use the school's dance room and I choreographed and worked on my dancing. I've been dancing and choreographing since then." Minsuh ended, smiling to herself as she reminisced on fond memories. Jongin continued nodding and smiled at her. 
"That sounds like something out of a drama or something. Kind of. I don't really know." He laughed to himself. 
"And what about you?" Minsuh asked him. 
"What about me?"
"How did you start dancing?" she asked. Jongin leaned in and crossed his arms. He made a low humming sound before he spoke. 
"My family went though some certain things. I didn't really have much to look forward to, and when I started dancing, it became my refuge from the world. So, I continued dancing, and that's also how I became a trainee here," he finished up quickly. He gave Minsuh a gummy smile. 
"I guess you could call us twins, both getting in with our amazing dancing skills." He said. Minsuh giggled and looked at her mocha, but when she looked back up, he was staring at her intently. She then knew she had to ask him something. 
"Have I met you before?" She forwardly asked. 
Jongin furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Something about your stare feels familiar. I can't put my finger on it," she said, racking her brain trying to remember. Jongin chuckled and leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. 
"Actually, I was at your audition," he clarified. "I was behind the judges and came in- sometimes I like to watch the people who audition. Y'know, scope out the ladies," he said with humor, winking at her.
Minsuh suddenly remembered the boy who walked in right before she started dancing. She snapped her fingers. 
"Oh! I remember now! You came in right before I started! You have a pretty intense stare there." She said, laughing. 
"Well, let me ask you this. Did you scope out any lovely ladies while you observed?" Minsuh asked, leaning forward and resting her head on her hands. 
"I certainly did, and she's sitting right in front of me." Jongin said grinning.

(A/N): Hi everyone! I'm sorry for such a long delay in the chapters, I decided to stay a little bit longer in Cali than expected. I've been working on the chapters on my phone for the past few days, so I apologize if the formatting is off. I'll try to make it so that the chapters aren't delayed that long anymore. Thank you for reading, and make sure to leave a comment! ~K