Minju’s first music show had gone well. The performance went amazing, and she was happy with her vocal condition. As for the taping, there were a few mistakes and some embarrassing lines to act through, but at the end of it all, the show was successful. She was really thankful towards Chani and Hyunjin for having her back and cheering her on during their off-camera moments.

When the show was over, she was really surprised that the staff wanted to take her out to celebrate her first show.

“Come on Minju!” Chani had urged her. “Everyone here is like family, so don’t feel bad if we want to celebrate your first show.”

“Especially since the PD offered to pay too!” Hyunjin added excitedly.

And that is how Minju had ended up at a restaurant next to Hyunjin and surrounded by the staff. Chani originally stayed for a bit and ate some beef with them, but had to leave early due to his schedule. He felt bad and promised to buy her a treat some other time and Minju assured him that it was okay and she was just glad he was able to come even for a little.

Minju still had some time before she had to leave for her schedule and she was glad that Hyunjin could stay a bit with her. Although, the stylists were making things hard.

“Minju you have the prettiest hair to style! I think I could do just about anything with it.” One of them gushed.

“And you look just like a doll. Anything would look great on you!” Another added.

“But same with Hyunjin! I love dressing him up every week!” Said a third.

“His proportions are amazing! And his face is just so handsome!” Replied the first.

“I can literally put them in anything! I will start thinking of more couple outfits for them and Chani!” They continued giggling and continued to gush about them.

Minju felt quite embarrassed by this, but Hyunjin seemed use to it. He leaned over to her and whispered. “This is their job, so they get so happy thinking of looks.”

Minju smiled and replied into his ear. “They’re just so kind and straightforward when it comes to complimenting people. I wish I had their confidence.” She laughed.

“I don’t see why. You have everything to be confident about.” Hyunjin continued without thinking. “You’re nice and easy to talk to. You’re talented and pret—."

“Oh Hyunjin!” One of the stylists said, breaking their moment. “Didn’t you tell me you were going to dye your hair?”

“You’re changing your hair!?!” Minju asked, surprised. She completely forgot about what Hyunjin was saying. His words and close proximity made her heart pound, so she was finally pulled back into reality.

All focus shifted to his hair. She liked his nice brownish hair and couldn’t really remember him in many different hair colors that weren’t brown or black.

“Oh yeah!” Hyunjin replied. “Stray Kids are having a comeback soon. The concept is a bit different, so I’m looking to go blonde and continue growing out my hair to fit it.”

“Okay, I need to coordinate your hair to your outfits, so thanks for telling me in advance.” Replied the stylist, now on her phone. “Just have your manager send me a picture of how it turns out once it’s done.”

“Of course!” Hyunjin said obediently, nodding his head like an understanding child.

Minju was really interested in his hair. “What exact blonde are you going for? Will it be more warm or a cooler shade?”

“Um… I think it will be light, but not white…or…uhh.” Hyunjin was clearly confused.

“You know what? I’ll just send you a picture when I get my hair done!” Hyunjin said. “I don’t really know how to explain it, so a picture will probably answer you more than I could right now.”

“Okay!” Minju replied. “I’m looking forward to seeing your drastic change.”

The next day, Minju had finished dance practice late. Once she was all washed up and in bed, she noticed that she had a new message.

It was from Hyunjin.

He had actually sent her a selfie of himself with his new hair. In the picture, he winked with one eye closed and pointed his finger into his cheek, clearly intending to be in a cute pose. He also sported new, longer blonde hair!

Minju couldn’t help but burry herself in her pillows. He had actually messaged her first! She felt herself blushing. She looked at her phone and noticed that he had sent the picture and a message a few hours ago.

Hwang Hyunjin: So, did it turn out okay?

Minju sat up and debated what to reply back.

Kim Minju: Sorry for the late response, I was at dance practice. But your hair looks really nice. You look good as a blonde.

Minju questioned whether to send such a lengthy response. But settled with it after she told herself he would most likely just message her back with “thank you” or not even reply at all.

A few minutes later Hyunjin messaged her.

Hwang Hyunjin: Thank you :)

Minju was ready to put her phone away for the night when her phone vibrated again.

Hwang Hyunjin: You were practicing? What for? I had dance practice earlier too!

Kim Minju: Izone is having a comeback soon! So I was going over the choreography with my members!

Hwang Hyunjin: When is your comeback? Mine is June 17^th!

Kim Minju: Mine is June 15^th!

Hwang Hyunjin: That means we’ll be promoting at the same time!

And that is how Minju and Hyunjin’s friendship progressed. It started off as simple texting here and there. That then progressed to sending selfies and choreography videos or Tik Toks.

One particular time when Minju had a break from a photoshoot, she was sending him a congratulatory message for his “God’s Menu” comeback. He had sent her one for her comeback and felt it was only right to send him one.

In the middle of sending her message, she was intercepted by her members.

“You know, you’ve been messaging Hyunjin a lot recently,” Yena mentioned casually.

“Yeah…” Chaewon creeped up behind her, “its almost as if you guys are an item.”

At this Minju fumbled and almost dropped her phone. “It’s not like that… I mean I message him a lot more than I message anyone else but-“

“Exactly! Do you know how hard it is to get a response back from you?” Yujin joined the conversation.

“And here you are messaging Hyunjin ever single free moment you have.” Wonyoung interjected with a knowing smile.

“He also seems to message you a lot for someone who’s so busy as well.” Chaeyeon added.

Hyewon finally cut to the chase. “So what’s going on between you guys?”

Minju found herself frozen. The truth was that she had no idea where she and Hyunjin stood. Yeah they messaged and gamed a lot. But maybe it all meant nothing. Minju wanted her “relationship” with Hyunjin to be special. She liked him and was confused with all this behavior. Did he like her too? Would a guy waste all this time and energy to talk and message a girl that he didn’t like? She had no idea how he felt.

Hyunjin had a crush on minju.

It didn’t take long for him to realize. With how much he liked talking to her, he took every free chance he had to message and hear from her. He found himself looking forward and waiting for her messages every time he had a break from dancing, recording, or filming.

However, she had stopped responding to him earlier that day. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed. His group’s new song had just dropped and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t expecting to hear from her.

He wanted to know her opinion. He wanted to know if she liked the song, and the dance. He wanted to know if she thought he looked cool. Yes, she is just as busy as he is, but he just liked hearing from her. Tonight of all nights would have been a nice time to talk to her since he was already getting pretty bored.

He was required to attend a company party this evening. This was, after all, a party to honor JYP’s founding 23 years ago.

JYP entertainment was founded in April of 1997. But for many reasons, the party got pushed back to the summer and with heavy restrictions. The guest list was extremely small. It only included active and former JYP artists, staff, and notable chairman and investors. The whole event was taking place in the ballroom of a fancy hotel.

As he waited to get his hair done and for s to finish getting ready. He was bored and he had a lot of time to kill. The last he had heard from her was earlier that morning. She had told him that she had a photoshoot that day, but he had expected it to be over as it approached evening.

He was debating whether to message her again. Would that look too desperate on his part? For all he knew maybe he was starting to annoy her. Maybe she wanted space. He began to think of the last time he saw her. They had recorded Music core just a few days ago and everything seemed fine with her. She still giggled at his jokes. She leaned towards him when they were on camera ever so slightly. She didn’t seem to be avoiding him then. If anything she was just as welcoming as always.

He was battling himself daily. He was torn between acting on his feelings and leaving them be. If he had a normal life, he would have asked her out already. He would have tried everything to make her his. He would call her every day and go see her. He would do his best to make her smile and keep her happy.

But he did not have a normal life, and he was still new in this industry, and she was even newer. She was younger. She was innocent. Was he making a mistake in wanting her?

As he continued to reflect, Jisung came and sat by him. “What are you deep thinking about?”

This ripped Hyunjin away from his thoughts. “It’s nothing…well actually… you know how I’ve been talking a lot to Minju recently?”

“Of course,” replied Jisung, “it’s like she’s all you talk about. You’re always like, Minju did this, and Minju said that, and Minju is so pretty I just want to squeeze her cheeks and marry her.” Jisung said exaggerating his expressions and impersonating Hyunjin badly.

“Hey!” Hyunjin snapped. “I don’t talk about her that much! And I never said I wanted to marry her! Or squeeze her cheeks!” He was blushing now and about to get away.

Jisung grabbed him before he could go, “Okay, okay, sorry! I exaggerated a little, but yes I know you talk to her a lot, so what’s this about?”

Sitting down, Hyunjin sighed. “I don’t want to sound weird.” Looking at Jisung and assured that he was done messing around he continued. “It’s just that I want to hear her voice all the time and I want to see her so bad.”

Hyunjin looked over at Jisung, waiting to be told off for being clingy or weird. However, he was surprised at Jisung’s straight face.

“You know… I know you want to hear from her, and it’s hard that you can’t just drop everything and see her like I know you want to, or call her like I know you want to.” He put his arm around his back and continued. “I’m sorry there’s nothing I can really do for you, other than comfort you.”

“No, I understand.” Hyunjin sincerely replied. “Thanks for being here in my moment of weakness.”

“Do you like Minju?” Jisung asked carefully.

Hyunjin waited a moment and replied. “Yes.”

Just as he said that, Jisung’s name was called from one of the staff. He was next to get his hair done. As he got up, he turned to Hyunjin.

“You know it’s hard to like a girl when we’re in this industry. Please be careful for your sake and hers.” With that, he left.

Hyunjin was left alone to think. 

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait! School has been hectic, and I had to step back to be able to focus. To be honest, when I first started this story, I really didn’t expect anyone to read this. I was so happy and surprised to see that people are actually liking this story and want me to continue. With that said, I am so thankful to those of you reading. I know I’m far from a good writer and I make many mistakes, but thank you for sticking with me. With the holidays approaching, I’ll be able to update more frequently, so please look forward to it! Once again, I’m sorry for any mistakes and thank you for your patience!