[Flashback WGM shooting]

“I’m Blackpink’s Jisoo. Nice to meet you my husband,” Jisoo keeps her calm composure and stretches out her hand for a handshake. Jisoo smiles while looking at him straight in the eyes.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Jhope!” Jhope flashes a wide grin and pulls her into his embrace. “I can’t believe I’m finally meeting my wife!”

“Ohhh,” Jisoo is surprised at the sudden hug from him. She immediately backs off but Jhope is not letting go of her. From the corner of her eyes, she sees writer Kim grinning widely at them.

“I prepared something for you, my wife,” Jhope brings the bouquet in front of Jisoo while smiling sweetly at her. She accepts the orange roses with both hands and thanks him for the lovely gift.

“You said on the phone you love spicy chicken, so I chose the best place in Hongdae especially for our first meeting,” Jhope speaks as if he’s advertising the famous restaurant.

“Yes, I just had the most unforgettable spicy chicken a few days ago,” Jisoo mentions as she flips through the menu.

“Oh really,” Jhope mentally slaps himself for not recognizing her voice over the phone.

“I’m sure you’ll be blown away once you try them,” she continues.

“Hmmpf, you think you can play me? We’ll see about that,” Jhope pretends to scan through the menu while devising his next steps. Never in his dreams he would’ve thought getting paired up with the person he deeply despises. Every single meeting between them bounds to end up in disaster. He vividly remembers the first time they were in the elevator together; talk about major ty situation, just a mere thought of that horrible smell is enough to make him nauseous.

“Jhope ssi.. Jhope ssi..” Jisoo’s voice wakes him up from his trance. “What would you like to order?” Jhope looks up and the owner ahjumma is waiting for him to decide.

“What did I tell you about calling each other?” He tilts his head at her cunningly.

“What-would-you-like, my-husband?” Jisoo says in the most awkward way. Jhope just nods triumphantly as if he has the upper hand.

“Omonim, my wife would like to try the spiciest chicken in your menu, and for drinks, we’ll both have coke please,” the old lady nods at him and goes back to prepare the dish.

“You know spicy chicken goes best with coke right? The best combo, just like us,” Jhope jokes back at her. Jisoo just nods while resisting shooting daggers at him.

“Ok cut! Changing tapes! 10 minutes break,” the PD yells and the crews busy themselves with their tasks.

“They did better than expected,” a senior staff whispers to writer Kim. “He’s so natural yet exudes manly aura at the same time. But I think Jisoo ssi needs to relax a little,”

“Don’t worry Sunbaenim, I assure you she’ll get better. She’s quite a character,” Writer Kim whispers back to her senior.

“I have high expectation from this couple, especially after knowing how hard you worked to get them on the show,”

“No Sunbaenim, I’m just doing my job. I’m glad it worked out on time,” writer Kim bows as the senior staff compliments her for job well done.

“We could use your skills and dedication in our team, please work hard.  I’ll discuss with the team about extending your contract”

Writer Kim gasps, “Thank you, thank you so much Sunbaenim!!” she shakes her hands and bows in appreciation.

While the staffs are still busy, Jisoo walks to the bathroom. No one seems to notice her leaving the set. Jhope on the other hand is distracted by the stylist who is fixing his hair.  

“Omonim, omonim…” Jisoo calls out the lady who took her order.

“Yes? Do you need something else? You don’t need to come all the way here,” the old lady is worried that Jisoo’s outfit might get dirty from walking around in the messy kitchen.

“Ah, it’s ok since I’m just on my way to the washroom.” Jisoo assures the old lady. “I’m just curious how spicy is the chicken going to be, since my husband couldn’t handle them. He’s just ordering them for the sake of broadcast,” she explains to the lady.

“I doubt you could handle it. It’s not for the weak stomach, my dear,” she offers a bite and Jisoo accepts it.

“Omonim.. ahhhh!! This is gonna kill him,” Jisoo hisses at the spiciness. She feels her sweat trickles down her forehead. “Please change it, we’ll have the mild one instead,”

“Ok, but I’m still charging you for the ones I’ve prepared,” The old lady takes the plate away and prepares to dispose the unwanted dish.

“Wait, Omonim! I’ll have them. My friend would love those,” Jisoo remembers Lisa.  She hands the lady two 10,000 bills and thanks her.

“Where were you?” Jhope peeps through one eye as Jisoo returns to her seat.

“Washroom,” she answers shortly while checking herself on a small pocket mirror.

“Number two?” he asks again after calculating the time she’s away.

“Ugh,” Jisoo doesn’t even want to respond to him.

“I guess I just need to hold it in for now,” Jhope straightens his position to continue filming; Jisoo rolls her eyes in annoyance. “Whatever,”

“1, 2, 3..” *Clap*

“Tell me something about yourself,” Jhope stares lovingly into her eyes.

“I love dogs, and I love food,” Jisoo shyly answers according to the script. “And love people and music,” she adds.

“You love dogs huh? What about cats?” he asks curiously.

“I love them too. But I don’t think having both cats and dogs is a good idea.” She explains, “I have three puppies at home,”

Jisoo rests her chin on one hand, engaging in the interesting topic. “And you? What are your likes or dislikes?”

“I like you,” he smirks to her. Jisoo is stunned at his bluntness. Even though it’s scripted, her heart still skipped a beat when he said those words to her.

She chuckles and hides her embarrassed face. Jhope gives out his signature donkey shriek and they both laugh out loud.

“Here’s your food,” the old lady interrupts them. “Mmm, thank you Omonim,” Jisoo politely says as her eyes are focused on the chicken.

“Ahh, open up,” he’s looking straight at her with an expectant gaze while holding up a piece of chicken. He did the same thing just two days ago with the same intention but this time her heart fluttered from some unknown reason.

Jisoo gracefully takes a bite but some of the sauce smeared on the corner of . Jhope instinctively grabs the napkin to help her wipe it.

“Thank you Jhope ssi,” she snatches the napkin from him and shyly cleans .

 “How is it?” Jhope is waiting for to burn.

“It’s good, very well-seasoned!” Not the reaction he was expecting. How could she keep it in even when there’s camera rolling? Not a slight hint of suffering, is she some kind of stuntwoman?

“Let me try some,” he braces himself as he hesitantly tries a piece.

*Chomp chomp* “Mmm? Taste fine,” he grabs another piece.

*Chomps* “They’re really good, woahhh!” Now both of them temporarily forgotten they were doing a show, as they gobble up the food without saying anything.

“They eat well…” The staffs whisper among themselves.

“But they aren’t talking,” the assistant PD scratches his head. “I guess we need to edit this part. They look more like they’re on some food show,”

After their meal, both agree to take a stroll around Hongdae. “I’m so happy…” Jhope suddenly blurts out as he stretches both arms up in the air.

“It’s been ages since I’m out on my own, just enjoying the day,” Jisoo catches a hint of sadness from the way he says that. “Why can’t you?” she sincerely asks.

“We’ve been working non-stop for two years since debut to establish ourselves. Even when we don’t have schedules, we’re not allowed to go out,” he confesses.

“Oh,” she slows down her pace so Jhope is able to spend longer time looking around the area. She, on the other hand, frequents Hongdae district since it’s near to YG practice building. 

“But things are getting better this year.  We have more breaks but I prefer to spend my time in the company composing or practicing,” he adds.

“Let’s sit somewhere and have desserts,” Jisoo points towards the dog café she and the girls went to. She skips happily ahead of the film crew and Jhope can only chuckle. He observes Jisoo’s walking is rather funny, then he notices she’s wearing a pair of uncomfortable looking heels.

“Are you hurt?” Jhope asks Jisoo while the film crew busy themselves with the setup in the café.

“I’m hurt?” Jisoo didn’t think he’ll notice. Both feet are killing her and she is sensing blisters developing on both heels.

“You could’ve said something,” Jhope points to her shoes and she hides her feet under the table.

“I’m fine. Besides, it’s your day out after a long time and I don’t wanna ruin it over this small matter,” she waves her hands to change the topic.

“Let’s not walk anymore,” he says to her.

“But we can’t just sit here and do nothing,” Jisoo stubbornly wants to continue filming something outdoor.

“Hmm, either we just sit here and come up with something interesting, or you go change your heels,” Jhope reminds her. It’s still noon and they need to secure enough footage for two episodes today. “C’mon, your call. We still have 6 hours of filming,”

 “Ok, ok! Let’s go to YG building after this, I think l left my sneakers in the practice room,” Jisoo tries to recall if she has clean socks too.

“Jhope ssi, Jisoo ssi, you’ll have an hour in this café and we’ll move on to our next location. Do you have any suggestions?” the PD looks at his watch and back at them.

“We’ll go to YG,” Jhope confidently says.

“Brilliant idea,” the PD nods and immediately contacts Blackpink’s manager for filming permission.

“The PDs and writers are really working hard. I thought everything should be pre-planned,” Jisoo is slowly getting comfortable to share her opinions with him.

“Haha, this is how variety shows work. Only about 20% are scripted, and the rest is up to us,” Jhope suddenly feels superior by explaining the things he experienced before.

“I see, I’ve got much to learn. I’m still amazed how you could act so natural in front of the camera even with so many people looking,” she points to the nearest HD camera directly in front of her.

“Me and the boys have been filming short videos since predebut so we’re not that camera shy anymore to the point that our video editor is going crazy choosing broadcast-fitting content,”

“I can see why. You guys can really be out of control sometimes,” she remembers their previous late night session and shakes her head.

“Besides, I’m not acting in front of the camera, Jisoo ssi,” he adds in a low voice when Jisoo is temporarily distracted by the puppies.

“Ok, shooting will resume, ready?” the PD yells from the corner and both of them have to stop with their small talk.

The strawberry waffles and Americano they ordered don’t seem to taste good today for some particular reason. Perhaps Jisoo is too aware of the filming crews  watching them with hawk eyes. She takes a bite and puts her fork down. She also fumbles around with the ruffles of the table cloth. Jhope on the other hand is on his third serving of waffles, and doesn’t show any sign of slowing down.

“What’s your position in the group?” Jhope attempts to lead the conversation.

“I’m the vocalist,” Jisoo replies.

“How about other members? I barely know your group since you girls just debuted,” Jhope asks further to make her talk more.

“Barely know us? Yea right. You had no problems coming up with nicknames for us: Britney Spears, Charlie Quinn, Blond Barbie and worst of all, dog poop..”

“I’m the oldest, followed be Jennie, Rosé and the maknae Lisa. Jennie is the rapper, Rosé is the main vocalist while Lisa is the main dancer,” Jisoo once again answers without much thought.

Jhope studies her face, “Gosh, she still lacks variety sense,” he thinks to himself. “This is not gonna help bring up ratings, I must do something,”

“Yeaaah, I’d like to see you do the Boombayah dance, I only watched a short part of it on Inkigayo.”

“Huh? Here?” Jisoo is confused at his sudden request.

“No, not here, my wife,” he laughs at her reaction. He knows she is too nervous and might just do anything that is asked for.

“How about we go to our company’s practice room next? You could show me there,” he stands up and grabs her chair excitedly.

“Oh, yea, sure. Let’s go. Our practice building is just around the corner,” Jisoo leads the way. Before leaving, she bids goodbye to Soojoo and her dogs. The puppies all jump up to her and her face while she giggles cutely, making Jhope smile but he quickly hides it.

“Welcome to my second home,” She switches on the light to the practice room of YG.

“Woah, I’ve only seen this in videos of Bigbang sunbaenims dance practice clips,” Jhope is acting like a kid in a candy store.

“Um, let me show you around once I changed my shoes,” Jisoo limps to the changing room behind the large mirrors.

Jhope looks around while waiting for her. Even the filming crews couldn’t hide their amazement being in the infamous YG building.

“I’m back!” Jisoo jumps out like a little kid. “Now as promised, I’ll give you a personal tour of this building. Let’s start with my favorite place…” she grabs Jhope’s hand and pulls him to the cafeteria. He is surprised at her bold move but he lets her be for now.

Unknowing to them, a pair of eyes have been observing everything they did the moment they half-run out of the practice room. His gaze shifts to their connected hands and her cheerful smile towards the guy next to her. What exactly is going on right now? Why are filming crews here? And why is she being so mushy with that idol?  He racks his brain for answers but he grows even more frustrated. He finally grabs his phone to message her directly.

‘Um hey..’

*deletes*

‘I was wondering, what are you’

*deletes*

‘Yo, wassup?’

*deletes*

He contemplates many times on how to text her without being too obvious, finally the best he could come up with is a bunny sticker saying what are you up to. He then hesitantly sends it to Jisoo.

He takes a peek outside of the room he is hiding once he hears them leaving the area. He wants to avoid her but his feet unknowingly lead him back to the practice room where she is right now.

“Congratulations Jisoo, I’ve never thought seeing you smile like that to another guy would hurt so much,” he walks away with a serious face when he sees Jhope getting a little too comfortable with her.

From the end of the corridor, Mino calls out to him with a rather loud voice, “Seunghoon hyung! We’ve been waiting for you for almost 20 minutes, ppali!”

“Yes, I’m coming!” he then rushes up the stairs to the recording studio.

Hearing a familiar voice from outside of the practice room, Jisoo froze at her spot.

“He saw us..” She silently says.