He joined them as he sighed a heavy sigh and took his choco-mint frappé out of the tray. There were so many sweets and pastries in front of him that he thought he could catch the diabetes just by watching them.

I never understood girls so why would I now? 

He smiled bitterly.

"What is funny?" Soojung who obviously didn't notice his sorrow asked as a smile grew on her face.

"Nothing," Jongin answered after a few seconds as if he was thinking of what to say with a joyful smile.

"Why? Is it something we shouldn't know?" Soojung continued.

"I was just thinking of Monggu playing with his new toy," Jongin lied. "He's been acting like a mad dog ever since I gave it to him after our concert in Japan."

"So he liked it?!" exclaimed Soojung. "I thought Sehun was crazy to give a mouse shaped stuffed toy to a dog."

Jongin laughed.

"Every time I take it from him, he barks at me," Jongin ranted with a sour expression. "He never did that before. I bet it's Sehun's influence."

"What are you talking about," Soojung laughed. "Monggu is probably going through puberty."

"What kind of nonsense is this?"

They both laughed again, leaving Seulgi completely puzzled at the side.

It would be a lie to say that she wasn't feeling left out of the conversation and at most, uncomfortable but she knew that by coming to this late gathering, she was exposing herself to awkward situations like this one. She just had to ignore Soojung and Jongin even though they were the only people near her, it couldn't be that hard.

"You got yourself a new bracelet?" Soojung asked with curiosity while pointing at the blue ornament on Jongin's left wrist.

"The hospital gave it to me after my donation for the sick children," Jongin answered proudly.

Whatever.

"It's really pretty," Soojung added with a pout. "Do you think I can find one like this somewhere else?"

"It's easier to donate, you know," Jongin mocked.

"I'm not that rich," Soojung admitted with a subtle eye roll. "In fact, I’m broke. Guess why you had to pay for this."

He laughed for the nth time at her comment.

Who cares.

Seulgi sipped on her beverage as she looked by the window. What a wonderful night, she thought.

She tried to distract herself by thinking of something pleasant as this was not going as well as she thought. Yeah, she expected it to be uncomfortable to sit at the same table as Jongin, but annoying? Not so much. She wanted to think of something pleasant like Monggu. Thoughts of the poodle automatically made her smile.

Back then, she didn't realize that distancing herself from Jongin also meant distancing herself from the lovely poodle.

She used to spend a lot of time playing with the dog and took plenty of walks with it after practicing with Jongin in their early days of puberty. Seulgi was so used to the poodle that she was the one who took care of it when Jongin couldn't or was too busy practicing for his debut. She even brought Monggu home once or twice with the approval of her mother. Everyone loved the dog, even her usually disinterested older brother.

Seulgi smiled again when she remembered how the dog always jumped excitedly when they met after a long time.

"I have a necklace from Italy similar to your bracelet in pink," Soojung explained with disgust. "Jessica unnie gave it to me not so long ago."

"She knows you don't like pink, doesn't she?" Jongin asked with the hint of a smile.

"Of course, but she still bought it," Soojung continued. "I bet she did it on purpose."

Seulgi was obviously not paying attention to their conversation and Jongin noticed it long ago. She was so immersed in her own thoughts that she did not realize that Jongin had been staring at her for quite a long time now.

He had counted. She smiled unknowingly thrice. And his heart also beat faster thrice.

When he took the time to think about it, Seulgi did change a bit. Yes she still had those sparkly almond-shaped eyes that showed how much passion she put in everything, that bear-like smile that could make the coldest heart on Earth melt in front of its innocence and those cute ears she always tried to hide under countless hats until Jongin spent a whole hour to show her how much she didn't need them. But puberty did affect her. In a good way, unfortunately for Jongin. 

Her soft and naturally red lips made her look charming and elegant while her round and pink cheeks added a touch of cuteness to her face. With puberty, her childish traits turned into something a lot more delicate. She also looked feminine and fragile, something that would have never crossed Jongin's mind to describe her when they were training because of her tomboy-ish attitude and outfits. Being also a practice maniac, Jongin always saw her in sweatpants, gym shorts, baseball t-shirts and hoodies. He was even sure that the SOPA uniform was the closest thing she had to a skirt back then. He had never seen her wear a dress. Until her debut that is.

Because he only focused on practice back in his trainee days, he never realized how pretty she was. Nor how fit her body was. Seulgi had indeed the slim and gracious body of a ballerina but also the muscles to support her when she danced hip-hop and other difficult choreographies. She had the best of both worlds.

The fact that she put makeup was also something new to Jongin. Her old self would have simply laughed awkwardly when asked to use makeup and shrugged it off by changing topics but now she was mature enough to apply it perfectly.

"…so I'll be leaving," Soojung said as she finally got her two friends' attention. "Thanks for the bread, Jongin."

"Wait, what?" Jongin asked, taken aback while turning his head in Soojung's direction.

"You weren't listening, were you?" Soojung sighed.

Jongin took a guilty expression before side-eyeing Seulgi who was quietly listening to Soojung's rant.

"I said that I have a photoshoot in the morning so I should get going," Soojung repeated impatiently as she put on her cap.

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