Time stopped. Every ticking second of the clock that sits on the wall seemed thunderous.  Jieqiong looks blankly at Chaeyeon, her brain unable to decipher what she had just said.

“You wha- What” The sudden shriek from Chaeyeon snaps Jieqiong back to earth. Her eyes widen, feels blood rushing up to her face and hears the booming thump in her ears.

. What have you just done. Think of something to say Jieqiong, Think!

 “I mean of course I like you unnie. Who in the right mind would not like you! You are pretty and kind and nice and hardworking and moms us around and OH did I mention that you are sooooo pretty” Jieqiong babbles in one breath. What she sees next- Chaeyeon looking at the ground, smiling all so shyly and adorably, Jieqiong thinks is going to kill her.

.

A few days later, the team decided that Operation Chaekyul was a huge failure and they would rather get back to their own rooms since Doyeon and Yoojung had to squeeze into the noisy room. It seemed like everything went back to as it was for everyone else other than Jieqiong of course. Jieqiong thinks everyone have been acting weird lately but she cannot pinpoint out how so.

Loud, high pitched laughter are a norm for IOI’s day and Jieqiong used to be part of the laughter but now she is always left out of it. But then again, none of the members are ignoring her. They still converse with her like they did before yet something feels different and off, very off.

There is it again.  Somi and gang laughing without her. “What are you guys watching! I wanna watch too!” Jieqiong pouts while approaching the maknae line.

“No way! You are too old to join us” Somi cheekily replies and sticks her tongue out.

“GAHH WHATEVER! Who said I wanted to join your petty gang...” Jieqiong manages flustered, embarrassed by Somi blatant rejection. Looking around, she spots Chungha across the practice room and hopes to find some comfort from her.  

“Did you see that! That kid!” she exclaims loudly to Chungha while flailing her arms around. Chungha blinks and looks at her amusedly “Why bother, she is still a kid”

“But! I am the unnie after all, aren’t I!”

“You know it’s just Somi being Somi. Now, shooo. I need my beauty sleep before our next practice session” Chungha says and lays on the practice room floor. Jieqiong stood there wide eyed, appalled by the fact that her members-who she loves and trust her life with- straight up disregarding (exaggerated) [I think the real Jieqiong might be dramatic like that as well lol] her twice in the span of 5 minutes.

Confused and clearly upset with this situation, she walks to towards her phone that is charging at the corner of the room to try and get her mind off what happened. Just as she was just about to plug her earphones in, she felt a presence beside her, staring intensely. “Excuse me. You are stepping into my personal space” Jieqiong states cold, thinking that it was Somi who has come to apologize. The intruder did not seem happy with that statement at all because she starts poking and pinching Jieqiong’s face. Jieqiong looks up to give this intruder a disapproving glare, but instead of a little devil she is expecting to see, The Angel was there beside her, looking a little puzzled probably due to Jieqiong’s actions before.

“Oh my God. Im so sorry! I thought it was Somi. She was being such a bratt-”

Chaeyeon interrupts, “Stop rambling Geez. Why are you still here alone?”

Jieqiong looks around and notices that the practice room is now empty. All the other members left her alone in the room by herself without telling her. But at this point of time, it doesn’t even matter anymore because Chaeyeon is actually initiating a conversation with her. She feels heart squealing at the very thought of it and hopes that her face is not showing any sign.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t interested in flying to Paris with them” Jieqiong states flatly. Chaeyeon raised her eyebrows, in doubt of what Jieqiong had just told her.

“The members have been ignoring me. Even Chungha unnie! She told me to not disturb so that she could sleep and look! She not even here anymore!”

“Aww, look at you pout” She squeezes the younger’s cheeks and looks at her “I am here now, aren’t I?”

“Aa-ang! You are the only one who isn’t ignor-” Jieqiong suddenly notices their faces were only inches apart. Her mind goes blank from how close Chaeyeon’s face was to hers. Jieqiong looks down, unable to take the intense eye contact anymore. She stammers with each word softer than the previous “Ye- yes is why I’ve always liked you”

“Are you confessing to me right now”

Jieqiong yanks her head up and sees a smile so wide from Chaeyeon, that she thinks, is mocking at her. Realizing that she accidently spilled her feelings again, she froze. Jieqiong opened to defend herself again, but this time, no words came out.

“Don’t try and deny it this time Jieqiong. I know.” Chaeyeon adds as a matter of factly.

A thousand thoughts run through her Jieqiong’s mind, mostly about how Chaeyeon would be disgusted at her. Jieqiong feels are her eyes are starting to well up. She whispers, “I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me”

“Me too” Jieqiong faintly hears Chaeyeon reply. Totally not expecting of that answer nor knowing what is it supposed to mean, her head is starting to spin and her heart, beating faster with every passing second. She holds her breath and prepares her heart for the worst.

“I like you too”

“Wait. What. I am dreaming right now” Jieqiong finally releases the breath that she has been holding in for far too long. Unable to comprehend the situation, she stares blankly and blinks a couple of times “YOU LIKE ME? TELL ME THIS IS NOT A DREAM”

Chaeyeon giggles at her reaction and says “This is not a dream and I do lik-“

Jieqiong does not wait for her to finish the sentence. She holds the older’s face and leans in closer. Closing her eyes, she smashes their lips clumsily together. Chaeyeon jerked up at the sudden contact initially but when she starts kissing her back, it felt so perfect as though they were meant to be. When their lips finally parted, Jieqiong gives a final peck before leaning the back of her head on the wall behind her. She looks over and flashes her smile at Chaeyeon when she sees her doing the same. Jieqiong closes her eyes to take a moment to savour the sensations of their jittery post-kiss feelings.

When she finally feels her heart calming down, everything was starting to make sense. It explains why Chaeyeon was being awkward with her. But one thing she could not get was that Chaeyeon should have returned her feelings in her first accidental confession.

“Why didn’t you tell me the first time I said that”

“I was too surprised and I could not find the right words” Chaeyeon replies now looking embarrassed again.

Oh. Cute. She looks at Chaeyeon as though she is the most precious thing in the world.

“Actually… I told Somi what happened that night” Chaeyeon starts hesitantly. Jieqiong nods her head prompting her to continue.

“I made her promise to not tell anyone what happened but she ended up telling all the members” Chaeyeon face palmed while recalling the thought. Jieqiong pulled a *HAH I TOLD YOU* face. Chaeyeon rolls her eyes and continues “Then she started Operation MakeJieqiongConfessAgain which is why the members are ignoring you”

“You were part of this?! That was so mean! I felt really sad and lonely! I cannot believe you made me go through that!” Jieqiong cries out loud.

“I couldn’t help it! You look too cute when you get flustered. Who would have thought our yakyul blushes so easily” Chaeyeon teases her and chuckles at the sight of a red-faced Jieqiong.

Silence envelopes them as Chaeyeon’s giggles die down. She feels the older pulling closer and wrapping her arms around Jieqiong’s neck. Intuitively, Jieqiong rests her head on Chaeyeon’s chest. They stay unmoving, both finding comfort within the silence that encloses them.

“Stop frowning, pretty” Jieqiong feels Chaeyeon’s thumb tracing above her eyebrows. “A penny for your thoughts?”

It’s now or never, Jieqiong’s heart whispers. She musters all her courage and looks her in the eye

“So what do you say. You, be mine?”

That concludes the first fic ever in my life! Thank you for taking you time to read this! I hope you enjoyed this horribly put together story lol.  Especially those who wrote comments! I was squealing like a little child getting complimented for not pooping her pants the first time. Heheh really am grateful for your nice words and for guiding me through this. OMG i finally understand why do fics nvr get updated. It honestly takes so much time and effort to write a fic. Quickly go thank the authors now! I dont mean me cause compared to theirs, this is such a lameass fic. Once again thank you for reading! Who knows, someday i might get crazy again to write another one