"Minjeong..."

Jimin stared at the girl with an expression Minjeong couldn't read. Though she is sure that there's something bothering the latter, thus why she decided to trail after and attempt to at least pump up her spirits regarding the status effect attribute she held.

A few seconds in silence, Jimin snickered and turned her head away to look ahead of her. Arms crossed, she rested them on her curled legs on top of her knees.

"What are you doing here?"

Aware of the cameras positioned around the corners of the room. Minjeong scratched the back of her head inhabit, maintaining her calm expression and speaking carefully.

"...To cheer you up?"

Jimin sighed in disbelief, "Wahhh... aren't you goody two shoes?" she stole a glance before allowing herself to laugh, somewhere in between a scoff and a giggle.

"Ah, not really... I'm not usually like this outside."

"Are you?"

Minjeong nodded her head, "I rarely go outside and spend most of my time home." she leaned the back of her head against the wall. "Plus, we're teammates so it's only natural to help each other."

Not being able to say anything, Jimin merely nodded her head.

"There must be something in your mind and I'm not going to ask about it. Even so... won't you help us with the choreography? We're really in a tight spot right now. Big big big big trouble."

Minjeong snickered as she tried to sound as much sincere as possible which Jimin fell into a smile and rest her head onto her arms, laying on her cheek to look at the latter.

Jimin sighed, "If I do that... I'm not sure if it'll be good. I'm not even sure why I joined this program in the first place, I get nervous a lot and I'm already bringing you guys a lot of trouble— I'm sorry."

Minjeong shook her head rapidly, "It's cool, we all have our hardships." she thought for a second before raising her hand to give the girl a few soft pats on the back. "And hey, don't worry too much. Someday that thought of yours is going to be the end of you, so don't think about it and tell yourself that I can do it! Yeah?"

The taller solely stared at her for a prolonged moment. Eyes blinking blankly, as if there was something stuck onto the latter's face. That Minjeong thought so she wiped her face with her palms.

"Is there something stuck on my face?" The shorter even took out a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe around her face.

This made Jimin raise her head to sit properly and suddenly laugh. Minjeong was only paralyzed at the sight before her, staring with a calm face though internally confused. Seriously, seeing this shy girl's laughter and smile was all too much to take in.

Aphrodite?

Minjeong thought that Jimin became even more beautiful with the smiles she displayed. Her heart was unusually pulsing faster than normal. But that's not the point, she quickly composed her thoughts and was about to speak until an interface popped in front of her eyes.

*DING*

Minjeong was about to widen her eyes and release a huge gasp, only for her to swiftly prevent it by covering as the cameras came into thought.

Affinity what?

She never expected such a window to appear. She only expected idol-like related things engraved with the system, but this? Something so similar to the dating sims she played in high school was really unprecedented.

Haha, there's no way.

She immediately thought that it was probably friendly affection levels regarding the chemistry between teammates. Is it? Well, she couldn't be sure, but it was the most explainable conclusion regarding the situation.

Maybe, the better the affection, the better the teamwork!

Yeah yeah yeah, let's go with that.

With that in mind, Minjeong was determined to work on their mission. Even if Jimin declines or not, she pledged herself to do her very best and grind as much as possible to survive this heck of a task.

But then suddenly, out of nowhere, another window popped up.

*DING*

Seeing the sudden change, Minjeong could've sworn a curse almost escaped from . Luckily, she still had covered with a hand, so was only to whisper it out quietly.

The new profile did really look like one of those interfaces she has seen back in those days she indulged herself in playing dating sims. It felt strange, even more strange the fact that the window is a bit glitchy.

Minjeong couldn't understand what was going on yet couldn't care less at the same time.

It's probably not that important... I hope.

She just hoped that whatever was happening won't affect anything.

"You're silly."

Jimin playfully punched the latter on the shoulder and paused for a moment, biting her lower lip.

"Alright, I'll help with the choreography. You're right, I shouldn't think about it too much, I would've done a lot of things by now."

The taller patted her chest with determination, standing up, then turning around to face Minjeong. She smiled apologetically and subtly bowed her head.

"Thank you... and I'm sorry for troubling you," her head remained lowered.

Slightly flustered by the gesture, Minjeong shook her hand in a denying manner. "There's nothing to be sorry of-"

"I'll tell everyone about it."

Jimin said before hastily making her way out of the studio, leaving Minjeong astonished. She noticed how the taller was a bit fidgety when her head was facing the floor.

What just happened?

✩

It's currently 1 a.m and Minjeong snuck out of their dorm into the studio with comfortable training clothes.