September xx, 20xx

The practice room is pitch black as a small female figure creaked the door open, allowing herself to enter the spacious wooden floored room and flicked the lights on. She set her bag aside and plopped down, gazing emptily at the mirror wall across her. It’s been a quite rough week for her. Ah, scratch that. It was a rough week.

Jennie knew the risks of entering an art school instead of a regular school. Sure, she will have more time to indulge herself in dancing—just like how she had wanted all along. She also knew that the rivalry will be much higher, and there are chances she might get to the point where she got sick of dancing she just wanted to stop. She knew them all too well, her seniors at the dance academy told her all that, she saw it with her own eyes, but to be experiencing it first-hand came down on her harder. She really wanted to quit.

Not only that, her parents also had been forcing her to practice harder than they have ever been. She had no idea what had gotten into them. Yes, they had been very supportive since the first time she decided to learn ballet. They were also as supportive when she decided to switch her style into contemporary dance—but they weren’t forcing her into it. She was surprised when her mom suddenly wanted to enrol her into more dancing classes when she came home one night, the week before. The fact that her love life weren’t going well didn’t help her at all that night.

Yes, she have—no, had, a boyfriend. Jennie and Jaebum had gone out for 5 months, before she caught him cheating with a girl who went on a dance competition with him before. Well, it’s not like anyone really knew they were a thing before, anyway. Aside from her best friends and God knows who knew from his side of friends, there wasn’t really anyone. She didn’t mind, though. She thought that he had always been like that when it comes to relationships, but after that incident, she wonders how many girls had he cheated with behind her back, telling them that she didn’t exist in his life. Jennie hadn’t talked with Jaebum since their break up. It is better this way, she thought.

Lost in her train of thoughts, the female didn’t realize her fellow classmates have started to fill up the class. The class, though, was unusually packed.

“Jennie!” a loud call of her name snapped the girl back to reality. A split second later, she could feel a pair of slender arms wrapped around her neck along with some weigh pushing her down on her back. She didn’t even have to turn to know who owned that screech and slender pair of arms.

“Lisa? I thought your class is on the 4th floor?” she questioned, reaching out to poke on the latter’s slim waist, earning her some freedom before she turned around and face the younger female. Lisa shrugged her shoulder and looked around.

“I don’t know. Yoon ssaem asked us to move here,” Lisa mentioned her hip hop class’ teacher. “But maybe we’re switching class? Your teacher didn’t tell you anything?”

Jennie shook her head, lightly swaying her high ponytail. “Honestly I didn’t even realize everyone’s here already,” she grinned sheepishly while fixing her hair up into a bun—while on the other side, Lisa furrowed her eyebrows, pouted.

“Are you still thinking about that jerk? I told you he’s not worth it!” the Thai girl whined, poking her long finger on Jennie’s thigh. “You’ve blocked and deleted his number, right?” she asked, making sure her friend isn’t trying to contact her ex at all.

Jennie let out a light chuckle and nodded, not wanting Lisa to worry. “He’s gone, okay? You can check my phone if you don’t believe me. It’s just, forgetting those five months aren’t as easy as this,” she snapped her fingers, smiling bitterly at the black haired girl. “But don’t worry; I’m trying my best to let everything go,” Jennie said and shrugged her shoulders.

“Is everyone here already?”

The deep male voice made the room fell silent as their attention shift towards the door. The male teacher scanned his orbs across the room, mentally counting the students before nodding his head.

“I guess almost everyone is here. Alright, you guys can sit down while I explain the situation here,” he said as he closed the door before making his way towards the mirror wall. Jennie, unfamiliar with the face, nudged Lisa before whispering on her ear, “Who’s that?”

Before Lisa could form a reply, the male had already answered Jennie’s—or maybe even everyone’s, confusion.

“Let me introduce myself, since I think none of you have ever been taught by me here. You can call me Kwon ssaem, and I taught hip hop classes. Kim ssaem, who teaches contemporary class, were supposed to be here with me today but unfortunately she was called for a meeting which results in my solo appearance here,” he joked, slightly lifting the tense air on the room.

“But anyway, there’s a reason why I gather all of you here today. For the next 3 months—come in!” Kwon ssaem’s words were interrupted by a knock on the glass door, turning almost all heads towards the door as it creaked open, minus Jennie’s.

“Kwon ssaem!” the familiar voice, though, made Jennie froze. It’s Jaebum’s voice. Lisa quickly shift her gaze in annoyance.

Kwon ssaem, on the other hand, smiled widely at the male as he made his way in the room with 6 other boys following his steps and greeted Kwon ssaem with the same excitement, creating a fuss among the rest of the students. “Sorry we’re late. I thought you said 3rd floor, so we went there first,” Jaebum said, excusing him and his team members, the famous GOT7.

The whole school knew who GOT7 is. Jaebum, Mark, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, Bambam, and Yugyeom are practically the ‘royalties’ of their school. Although the group consisted of students from different years, they never failed in bringing back trophies after trophies for the school to brag. Jennie has never met them as a group, though. Jaebum never introduced her to his team. That realization hit her hard. Their relationship has never meant anything to Jaebum.

“Yah, you should use your ears better! Take a seat, I haven’t explained about the competition to the other students yet,” Kwon ssaem instructed before averting his attention once again at the now rather noisy class.

“I assume all of you knew who GOT7 are by how shocked you are by their sudden appearance here. They have something to do with the announcement I’m about to give you so you better listen carefully,” he said, instantly getting a hold of the class.

“So, like I was saying, for the next three months, some of you will not be participating in class as they will have to train for the competition on December. It’s not a regular competition, though, as you will have to make a collaboration which incorporates hip hop and contemporary dance style. Our school will send out 14 students in total who will participate in two categories, which are couple dance category and group dance category,” Kwon ssaem explains, as another fuss erupted from the students.

“So, in order to reach that decision, we will give you one week to prepare your own choreography before the audition next week.  Yoon ssaem and I will be the judges for the hip hop students, while Jang ssaem and Kim ssaem will be the judges for the contemporary dance students. If you are accepted, there are chances you might be collaborating with 7 of my best students here,” he said, which resulted in suppressed gasps and low whispers among the girls.

“And as for GOT7,” the male teacher gazes at his 7 pupils, “You will also have to participate in the auditions. There are still chances you might not get accepted in the competition if you tried to slack off so you better prepare your best,” he warned, getting 7 nodding heads at his view.

“For further information, there will be posters hung up around the school so you could check them out later. If there’s any further question you are allowed to ask any of the judges. You are allowed to use any available classrooms to practice, and you can start now.”

***

It's been 4 days since the sudden announcement, and Jennie had almost given up on the chance if it wasn't for Lisa’s plea. Lisa begged her to join the audition as they might be able to compete together in the group category and she convinced Jennie that Jaebum would almost definitely be picked for the couple dance category, reminding how he snatched a winning trophy for his performance with his current girlfriend, Eunbi.

Jennie let out a sigh and ruffled her already messy locks, blowing some off her face. The memory from that day still haunts her, when Jaebum openly kissed the girl on stage after winning their trophy. Jennie was there, of course, secretly cheering for her boyfriend although he told her not to come—maybe she really shouldn't have come. Maybe she should've just stayed home and waited for the break up text since he had gotten together with the girl of his dreams. Maybe she should've realized earlier that she's only a backup plan for him.

Her chest felt heavy. She decided to stand up as her tears threatened to fall and took her phone, playing the song chosen for her to dance to. Melodies to the intro started to play through the speakers as Jennie tossed her phone to her bag and get into position. She closed her eyes and let her body remember as she started to move along with the song.

(( Zayn ft. Sia - Dusk till Dawn https://youtu.be/7-r5S9LF6Ak ))

Little did she know, a pair of dark brown orbs was following her every little move from the small gap of the door. He knew it's not polite to snoop, but he couldn't resist the urge after catching a glimpse of her heartfelt choreography.

Mark was initially looking for an empty classroom for him to practice. Although he is a member of GOT7, that doesn't mean he could slack off. He wants to be in the competition along with his teammates, which means he needs to work as hard the rest of the students. That will, though, were shortly interrupted by the unknown girl’s choreography.

The male snapped back to reality as he heard a soft sob coming from the room, followed by a low curse as she turned off the song. Mark quickly hid behind the wall, not wanting to get caught, and heard a rustle. She’s wrapping up already? Mark didn’t realize the disappointment he felt as he continued to stand there instead of walking away—until a tap on the shoulder startled him.

”—Jaebum! How many time do I have to tell you-?!” Mark swallowed his words as he remembered the girl’s presence inside the room. He’s definitely getting caught. Jaebum, not understanding the situation, laughed at his friend’s reaction and held both his hands up. “Sorry, dude. I just wanted to ask if you got a class to practice since I didn’t get any,” the taller male asked. Mark was about to answer when the door next to him creaked, revealing the girl who, surprisingly, glared at Jaebum with so much hate and… hurt?

Mark looked at the other male and he could swear, Jaebum’s face fell for a split second as he locked gazes with the female, before quickly switching his attention back at Mark. Not even bothered by the other male’s presence, the female stormed past the two and climbed down the stairs.

Mark refrained himself from asking anything at Jaebum, although he know for sure something had happened between the two.

He just didn't know what.

***

It's audition day. All students had prepared their best for the judges to see, and that also goes for Jennie. She had practiced for hours after hours just to make sure that everything's perfect. Sometimes even Lisa and Rose had to stop her from dancing and took her to Jisoo’s to feed her.

“Lisa I'm scared. What if I failed the audition?” the female shook her hands, jumping up and down while Lisa seemed rather calm. The latter held Jennie’s shoulder and gave them a gentle squeeze, smiling at her dear friend. “Everything's going to be alright. Just breathe, close your eyes, and dance. You can do it.”

Jennie nodded her head and tried to control her breathing--which failed miserably as the judges suddenly called for Jennie’s name and 4 other students to come inside the audition room. Her stomach churn as she hesitantly walked away from Lisa and entered the classroom. Glancing at Lisa for one last time, Jennie gave her an awkward smile while Lisa made the ‘fighting!’ hand gesture with a wide smile across her lips. ‘You can do it!’ she mouthed quietly before the door closed.

Jang ssaem and Kim ssaem looked at each of the students and smiled. “You know the drill, right? We'll give you each 60 seconds, 90 seconds top, we'll score, finish with everyone then you're done. Okay? Now we'll start from Hyemi, Hyeri, Jay, Jennie, then Joohyun. You can start now.”

Each second passing felt like torture for Jennie. The three students before her performed a really great choreographies--which only made her even more nervous than before. Right after Jay finished his choreography with the song ‘Photograph’ by Ed Sheeran, Jang ssaem motioned Jennie to come forward before her song starts. She quickly replaced Jay and let out a deep breath, closing her eyes and started dancing as her song starts.

Time passed really quick as she danced, and before she knew it, it's the end of her choreography. Looking at the judges, Jennie quickly bowed and returned to her position as Joohyun acquired the stage. After watching Joohyun’s performace, the judges finished their scoring then smiled at the 5 students.

“Good job, everyone. The results will be up tomorrow noon on the announcement board. You may leave now,” Kim ssaem instructed, and with that, Jennie and her classmates left the room. After a small talk of ‘you did a great job!’ and ‘you too!’s, Jennie cheerfully walked towards Lisa who's still waiting for her turn.

“Hey!” Jennie stood next to Lisa and smiled widely. Lisa, though, aren't as cheerful as her friend. Looking at Jennie, the female pouted her lips and whined.

“Now I'm the one who got scared!”

“Yah!”

***

Mark waited calmly as Jinyoung stepped forward and performed his choreography to the song Privacy by Chris Brown. Honestly, Mark didn't feel intimidated at all. He knew how good his friends are at dancing watching them get better would only motivate him to do the same.

“And… stop. Thank you, Jinyoung,” Kwon ssaem smiled and gestured Mark to come forward. “Mark, show me what you got.”

With his cheeky smile, Mark stepped forward and get into position and waited for his song to start. His body started to move naturally as the beat starts, and he could feel both Kwon ssaem’s proud smile and his friend’s as well.

(( Chingy - Right Thurr https://youtu.be/DILkwlpUO90 ))

“Stop. As expected from you, Mark. Good job.Youngjae, your turn.” Mark smiled as he heard the compliment, bowing towards the judges then took back his spot next to Jinyoung who waited for him with his fist up. Youngjae finished his performance with another great remark, followed by Yugyeom which ended with a cheer.

“Good job, everyone. The results will be up tomorrow noon so you better check them. You may leave now,” Yoon ssaem smiled at the 7 boys and let them off.

“No wonder Yugyeom didn't let us see him practicing. That was a shock!” Bambam said as they stepped out from the room, followed by a series of laugh from the 6 others.

As they left, Mark looked to his right by instinct and there she is--the contemporary dancer he saw the other day with a girl named Lalisa, if he recalled correctly.

“Chill, Lisa! You're the best dancer I know and you'd definitely kill it! Now breathe. You can do it, okay?” Mark heard her cheer for Lalisa, or Lisa, as she called. “But Jennie-"

Aha.

Mark smiled to himself before following his teammates who are still fussing over Yugyeom’s performance.

Jennie.

So that's her name.

***

There's a big crowd in front of the announcement board. Some are cheering, some are disappointed. On top of the list, there are 7 names that will actually be a surprise if they're not on the list. Jackson high fived his teammates and left, already complaining that he's very hungry and he might be able to eat a whole cow if they didn't eat within 5 minutes.

In that crowd, though, they are missing one member whose eyes were still fixated on the announcement board, looking for one specific name and smiled as he found it. Good job, Jennie, he thought as he his heels and was about to walk away when he bumped into someone, who's apparently standing behind him the whole time.

“Oww…” the voice made Mark's orbs doubled on its size. Looking at the girl who's rubbing on her forehead, Mark furrowed his eyebrows in attempt to get a clear view of the female’s face.

“Jennie! Are you okay? I told you--oh, Mark sunbaenim,” Lisa’s tone changed as she looked around, as if looking for someone but then exhaled in relief—which made Mark raise his right eyebrow in confusion.

Who are they hiding from?

“I'm sorry, my friend is a bit clumsy and a bit too excited for the announcement,” Lisa's words brought Mark back to reality, slightly startling the male.

“Oh, yeah. It's alright. You're Lalisa, right? I think I saw your name up there,” Mark flashes a smile at the girl, fishing out reaction from both girls in front of him, and—bingo. Jennie looked up at her friend in delight while Lisa covers , quickly scanning the names on the announcement board and shrieked as she found not only her name, but Jennie’s name as well.

“Oh my—Jennie! We passed!” Lisa hugged her equally surprised friend and jumped in celebration, completely forgetting Mark’s presence. He didn't mind, though. Although he didn't specifically know these two girls, he was happy for them, especially for Jennie.

“Ah, right—thank you, sunbaenim! Sorry, we got too caught in the moment so, um, yeah. Once again, thank you!” Lisa bowed at the male, followed by Jennie, before the two left, all giggling and stuff. Mark, felt a little dumbfounded, chuckled lightly and shook his head, finally heading towards the cafeteria to find his friends.

After getting his foods, Mark then walked towards his teammate’s table and sit next to Youngjae, right across Jaebum.

“And there he is. Where have you been? I thought you were swallowed by the sea of humans there,” Jaebum joked, which make the whole table laugh. Mark rolled his eyes and stuffed his mouth with food. It's not his fault that he can't gain any weight no matter how much he ate, isn't it?

“Funny, Jaebum. Just accidentally bumped into a girl and her friend,” Mark said shortly after he finished the foods in his mouth, which only receive more interest from the rest of the guys.

“Oh really? Wow, finally someone is making a move on Mark hyung!” Yugyeom teased the elder, which only made him chuckle. “No, I don't think she's that kind of girl,” the male said, unconsciously added gas to the fire.

“Ooh so you're defending her? This is getting interesting. Do you actually know her, hyung?” Bambam wiggled his eyebrows, trying to get more information out from his eldest hyung. It’s a rare occasion for Mark to talk about girls—they’re not his forte, he said.

“What? No, she's not from our class—but her friend is, though. You might know her friend, Bam,” Mark calmly answered, swiftly switching the spotlight at Bambam—who immediately got flustered by the sudden accusation.

“Wait, what? I know the friend?”

“Yeah. Try guessing,” Mark chuckled before getting another spoonful of his rice, enjoying his younger teammate’s reaction.

“But I know—wait a minute. Is it Lisa?”

Mark choked at how fast Bambam could actually recall the girl’s name, which quickly set the attention back at Mark—unaware that Jaebum is turning a little pale as Lisa’s name were mentioned.

“If it's Lisa then it must be either Rose or Jennie! Which one, hyung?” Bambam, knowing that he had hit the bullseye, only got even more excited.

“Hold on! Bambam, are you a thing with this Lisa girl?” Jackson fires back, finding more interest in teasing the younger male rather than his hyung, Mark. The rest of GOT7 member quickly followed Jackson’s cue and bombard Bambam with various questions about this girl Bambam got so excited about--except for Mark and Jaebum, who could only think about one exact thing, for a completely different reasons;

.

***

“I still can’t believe that we actually passed the audition,” Jennie smiled widely, rolling on her stomach on Lisa’s bed. The 4 girls decided to have a sleep over at Lisa’s place to celebrate Lisa and Jennie’s newest achievement. It’s been a while after their last sleep over since each of them was quite busy; Jennie and Lisa with their dance classes, Rose with her singing class, and Jisoo with her acting class.

“I know, right? It really felt like a dream,” Lisa said, munching on her snack before offering the other girls. “I mean, it feels like this type of competition is still out of my league since GOT7 is there—ouch! Sorry…” Lisa pouted, rubbing her abused waist. Jennie chuckled and pulled herself up.

“It’s… okay to mention them. They are indeed a good role model as a dancer, I have to give them that,” Jennie hugged her knees, fixing her gaze at the show playing on the TV. No matter how much he hated Jaebum for what he did, she felt like she still need to appreciate the hard work he had put into dancing, since she knew that it wasn’t easy to get that kind of recognition. Rose, Lisa, and Jisoo looked at each other before quickly tackling Jennie into a group hug, making the girl laugh.

“You guys!” the girl tried to wiggle her way out from the wall of arms before giving up, letting the girls squeeze her. “Thank you for staying by my side. You know I love you girls, right?” she confessed, which only made the girls squeeze her tighter in their arms, making her squeal.

“We love you too, boo!”

***

Kwon ssaem and Kim ssaem stood in front of the class, looking at the 14 chosen students with pride. Although there are some students that are definitely more experienced than the others, they hope it would be rather a help instead of burden.

“Now students, we have a couple other announcements to say so pay attention here,” Kwon ssaem said, succeeding in collecting everyone’s attention. “First of all we would like to congratulate you for passing the audition, but the real thing will begin now. Our school will be sending 1 group to compete on the group dance category, and for this category you are allowed to receive some help from us teachers to pitch in some ideas and form the basic structures but that will be it. Whereas for the couple dance category, there will be 2 teams to participate in this category, but you will not be given any help or you will be disqualified. Are we clear on this term?” Kwon ssaem asked, which are replied by a set of nodding heads.

“If we’re clear, then should we start dividing the teams?” the male teacher looked at Kim ssaem, which made Jennie, froze. “I do think so,” Kim ssaem replied, looking at her students. “We will pick the ones who had the strongest root in their respective categories, and who appear to be good at couple dances, or you might say the less awkward ones. So don’t be disheartened if you’re not chosen, please think of it as an opportunity to practice in bigger groups first before jumping in the couple dances,” the female teacher explained before looking at her colleague and smiled.

“Alright! I’ll call out the students who will be participating in the couple dance category. First, come to the front, Jaebum,” Kwon ssaem called the male out, followed by cheers from his teammates and the other participants, but not Jennie. “Should we announce Jaebum’s partner first?” the teacher teased the female students as Jaebum walked to the front of the class, which resulted in a set of yeses and nos. Lisa nudged Jennie, smiling at the girl and whispered, “See? I told you so.”

“That wouldn’t be much fun, would it? Alright, second guy, Mark! Come here,” Kwon ssaem called, along with a couple of playful sighs which came from Jackson and Yugyeom. “Ssaem! Mark hyung is awkward with girls, though!” Yugyeom protested jokingly, which earned him a smack on the back from Mark.

Kwon ssaem only laughed at the protest and high fived Mark. “Really? If Mark’s a noob then what are you?” the teacher teased the young boy, making the others laugh while Yugyeom whined at his teacher with a pair of red ears.

“Now we’ll call the contemporary dancers, which surprisingly used the same song for their auditions,” Kwon ssaem looked at the contemporary dance teacher, letting her announce the dancers. Jennie, suddenly felt scared, closed her eyes and prayed her heart out.

Please don’t let it be me. Please don’t let it be me. Please don’t let it be me. Please don’t-

“If you use the song Dusk till Dawn for your audition, please step forward,”

And Jennie swore her heart just stopped the moment her song is mentioned.

The girl looked at her friend in terror, furrowing her eyebrows in disbelief. Mark, on the other side, instinctively searched for the female, feeling excited. That excitement, sadly, quickly faded as he saw the girl looking at Lisa—blood was drained from her face. Why would she be like that? Did she hate GOT7? But why? Mark thought.

“Hm? Is Jennie Kim present?”

As Kim ssaem called out her name, right then she felt like she wanted to disappear. Hesitantly, she raised her hand and looked at her teacher—who seemed to don’t realize her hesitant demeanour. Instead, she smiled as she saw the female student and motioned her to come forward. “Come on, now. Don’t be shy. As for the rest, you will be competing together as a group so you can start discussing about the ideas and themes now. Me and Kwon ssaem will join you in a minute,” Kim ssaem demanded.

Jennie let out a sigh before standing up, squeezing Lisa’s hand lightly before walking towards Kim ssaem. “There you are. Now, since all of you are here, we will need to split you into two teams. We were thinking about pairing Mark with-“

“Jennie.”

All heads turned towards Mark, startled. Even Mark was surprised by his own words.

“Oh, wait, I wasn’t-“

“Then Mark will be paired with Jennie!” Kwon ssaem declared, smiling widely at Mark. “Thank you for making this a lot easier. Now go, you still have a lot of things to do,” he patted Mark’s shoulder, mouthing the boy a silent ‘good luck’, making his jaw drop in embarrassment.

“Ah ssaem-!”

***

The room is dead quiet—neither Mark nor Jennie knew what to say to each other first. Jennie, of course, felt relieved though also embarrassed about the male’s sudden outburst. It was probably nothing, though, because judging from his expression, Mark knew nothing about what happened between her and Jaebum.

On the other hand, Mark couldn’t stop cursing at his stupid mouth. Sure, he’s relieved and definitely happy he got paired with Jennie, but the embarrassment! Mark felt like punching himself for being so stupid.

“Thank you…”  Mark looked at the girl, who’s still looking down on the tip of her shoes, feeling even more perplexed. “Um, yes?”

“I’m not comfortable dancing with Jaebum sunbaenim, and I’d like to thank you for saving me from that awkward moment… Though you needed to sacrifice yourself…” the female smiled as she finally looked up at Mark, trying to break the ice wall between them. Listening to the female’s explanation, Mark couldn’t help but smile. Although he sought to ask about her relationship with Jaebum further, he perceived it as improper for the time being.

“Ah, that. I’m glad you didn’t mind pairing up with me, even after the fake rumour Yugyeom said about me,” he joked—which successfully made the girl giggle. “Yeah, about that… I trust our teacher’s judgements, so don’t worry. I mean if you’re actually that bad… I can always ask them to switch you with Yugyeom…” Jennie grinned; her playful side naturally came out of her even before she even realized it.

It’s not like Mark had any objection against it, anyway.

***

Their first practice time were filled mostly with some basic introductions, a little back story about how they started dancing and what would they like to incorporate in their dance for the competition along with what they don’t want. As they got more comfortable with each other, their conversations became longer. Slowly, Jennie began to trust him more.

Days changed into weeks, and weeks changed into months. As time inches closer to the competition date, Kwon ssaem and Kim ssaem, being the teachers in charge for the competing students, increased the intensity of the training from once a week for 2 hours into twice a week, for three hours each. It is tiring, sure, but both Mark and Jennie didn’t mind. They enjoyed each other’s company. Although they can’t see it themselves, others do.

Especially Bambam and Lisa.

“Boo, do you realize you’ve been talking about Mark for 10 minutes straight now?” Lisa gazed at her friend while getting a spoonful of yogurt in . Jennie blinked her eyes, being surprised herself.  “Really? Sorry, I didn’t mean to… It’s just that, you know, because of the competition…” Jennie grinned apologetically. The Thai girl sighed and held both Jennie’s hands.

“You do like him, don’t you?” she asked, catching Jennie off-guard.

”…What?”

“Let’s be honest here. Ever since you knew him, you’ve been a lot livelier than you were before, which is a good thing, of course. The same goes for Mark. Bambam and Yugyeom told me that he’s been unusually happy after you both got paired up, and he’s been as happy now if not more,” she explained while gently patting the back of Jennie’s hand.

Feeling the uneasiness from Jennie, the female sighed and looked at her. “I just want you to be happy, okay? You’ve gone through a lot with that jerk and although you thought you were happy, you’re not,” Lisa shrugged, smiling softly at her friend.

“I mean, if being paired up with Mark for the competition is the only thing that made you happy, so be it. I’m ready to sacrifice my body to practice every day even though Bambam is--“

“Is what? Are you badmouthing me in front of your friend?”

Out of nowhere, Bambam suddenly placed his tray of food and sat next to Lisa, startling both girls. “What—are you insane?! We’re having a talk here!” she nagged at the latter. Not giving up, Bambam furrowed his eyebrows. “But you don’t have to badmouth me though!” he put up a defence, only to get the bickering more intense.

“See, you’re unwanted here!” suddenly Yugyeom appears, placing his tray on Lisa’s left and sat down, only getting the girls even more confused. One by one, each GOT7 members started to show up and fill the rest of the table—until there’s only Mark and Jaebum left. The two are equally surprised about the situation, but Mark quickly composed himself and sat on Jennie’s left, smiling at the girl.

“Hey.”

“Oh, Jaebum hyung! Come here!” Youngjae called out, making the female glance towards the standing Jaebum, who's definitely contemplating on whether should he sit with the rest of his teammates or not. Looking back at the male next to her, Jennie tugged her lips into a smile.

“Hey.”

***

There's only 2 days left before the competition, and it’s getting everyone on their edges. Mark and Jennie aren't any exception. They've been practicing harder than ever, trying to get every moves perfect down to every little detail. Even their practices lasts longer than the group ones.

“And 2 and 3 and 4!” the two held their positions for a couple seconds before plopping down on the floor, catching their breath.

“It's better now, isn't it?” Jennie asked grabbing her half empty water bottle and get a few gulps of it, quenching her thirst after ther nonstop practice session. Mark could only nod--having no energy left to talk. Jennie shifts closer towards the male, handing him the water bottle since he had finished his hours ago. The latter smiled and whispered a ‘thank you’ before taking a big gulp of the water.

“Definitely better,” he said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.  Looking at the reflection of the clock, he sighed as it's already getting late. But I still want to hang around her, he thought.

“Let's wrap it up for today. When will we practice again?” Jennie looked up at Mark, then glanced at her watch. Can't you go slower? She thought. Mark looked up at the ceiling and hummed, measuring the best possibilities.

“Don't you think it's better to take a day off before the competition?” he returned the question, which she replied by raising her eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”

Mark switched his attention at the female and nodded. “Yeah. Me and my team always loosen up the day before the competition to refresh our minds, and look what it did to us,” he grinned cheekily, making Jennie roll her eyes at his attempt of bragging, smiling nonetheless.

“Sure, Mr. Almighty, sure,” she teased the older male and chuckled. “But I'm not sure Bambam, Yugyeom, and the others will be able to do that or not since Lisa said Kwon ssaem and Kim ssaem wanted to see them practice tomorrow,” Jennie recites the thing Lisa told her earlier through text, making Mark shrug. “It makes us two solos, then,” Mark joked and chuckled along with the female.

“Then would you like to hang out with me, tomorrow?” he blurted out, again, just like their first meeting. This time, though, Mark didn't felt stupid, as the girl didn't even think twice before answering him.

“Sure!”

***

Dressed warmly under her jacket, the female stood on her tip toes as she tried to look for a familar head. No, Mark wasn't late--Jennie’s the one who got too excited and ended up arriving too early at the cinema. It seems like bad luck is following her, though, since the one she saw isn't Mark--It's Jaebum, and his girlfriend, Eunbi.

Not wanting to see the couple, she quickly turned around and hid behind the nearest pillar, leaning her back onto the cold surface. She didn't want him back--she just still can't get over the fact that she was just a mere toy for Jaebum. She gazed at the tip of her shoes, blinking her eyes to force the tears back in when another pair of sneakers joined her view. Looking up, there's Mark, smiling at her--until he noticed the pain in her eyes. The same gaze he saw her throwing at Jaebum back then.

“Hey… What’s wrong?” he stepped closer, gently holding her arm. It's the first time he hold her so close outside the choreography. He's happy she didn't push him away, but at the same time he could feel the sadness rushing through her veins. She slowly shook her head and smiled at the male before looking down, in attempt to control herself. Suddenly, from the corner of his eyes, Mark spotted Jaebum, holding his girlfriend close. Jennie’s body subconsciously tensed as she heard the other male’s voice, forgetting the fact that Mark is still there, holding onto her arm.

After the couple walked past them, far enough they couldn't hear, Mark finally asked the one question he had been holding back from asking for the past 3 months.

“Jennie, is there something between you and Jaebum that nobody else knows?”

Startled, Jennie looked up at Mark, eyes wide. She wanted to deny it, but she didn't want to lie to Mark either. As she felt Mark's grasp on her arm loosen, she quickly held onto his jacket.

“Let’s… find another place to talk, and I'll tell you everything.”

***

Mark and Jennie ended up talking at a coffee shop not so far from the cinema. Mark was perplexed,for sure. He never thought that Jaebum would do that to anyone, especially to Jennie. By the end, Mark was enraged.

“Why didn't you tell me sooner? I could've punched the hell out of him for what he did to you,” he said while trying to control his emotions. Jennie shooked her head and smiled, relieved that now she didn't have to act in front of Mark anymore.

“And get you disqualified from the competition? No, I can't let you do that… It was my problem, and it still is. I don't want to get anyone in trouble, at least until the competition ends,” she said, taking a sip of her warm cappuccino. The male let out a deep sigh before gently wrapping his hands on top of hers.

“Then will you let me make it my problem too?” his question surprised the female. “Mark, what-"

“I have to be honest too, here. I've accidentally saw you practicing, for the audition. The day you cried and stormed past me and Jaebum. Call me a creep for that, but I don't regret it,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, “But I think I've liked you since then. That's why I said your name before our teachers could pair me with anyone else. After trying to get to know you for these months, through the competition, I think I've fallen deeper for you. I want to be with you, to be the one you could share your stories with. I want to be there when everything doesn't seem right, I want to be the one who'll comfort you,” he said, gazing right into Jennies clear orbs.

“Will you let me be that?” he gently asked, preparing mentally for any answer she might gave him.

Jennie, on the other hand, are trying to compose herself, calming her heart down as she smiled at the male. All the things that Lisa told her that day was true. She is happier with him, and it's genuine happiness.

“Yes, Mark. You are already all that.”

***

It's competition day.

It was packed at the stadium as each school are allowed to bring their students as support. As the competition for the group category and couple category will be held on the same place, they had to start early. The group category will be presenting first, and Lisa’s group will be presenting the 5th.

“Jennie Jennie Jennie- Jennie!” Lisa called out for her friend, who quickly found the owner of the screech and run towards the female, hugging her.

“You're up next, right?” she asked, replied by Lisa’s nod and nervous whine. “I'm scared! What if I mess up? Oh my God I'm scared!”

Jennie pat the latter’s back softly and smiled. “You can do it! Remember what you said before the audition? Breathe, close your eyes, and dance. You’re my best dancer! You're gonna kill it,” she said with a smile, calming her friend down a little.

“Aww boo, you're the best! But I think you need to update that best dancer part because someone might get jealous,” the younger girl teased, gesturing her friend to look behind her. Jennie’s cheeks turned crimson, giving her friend a good smack on the bum before turning around to face Mark--who's grinning widely at Lisa’s remark.

“Yeah, you might want to revise that part since I got jealous quite easily,” he said, laughing as the girl smacked his arm. Snaking his arm around her waist, he smiled at the girl. “Come on, let's watch their performance before practicing again,” he said, answered by Jennie’s nod as they walked out the back stage towards their school’s supporting crowd.

Soon after, Lisa’s group are called on stage. After getting into position, the intro to Elastic Heart by Sia starts to play throughout the stadium, making the cue as they started their performance. Their moves were both gracious and strong, as expected  by the judges. Time flew quickly as the group’s performance came to an end. Loud cheers could be heard throughout the stadium as the group gave their final bow and walked to the back stage--being Mark and Jennie’s cue to warm up and practice for their performance.

As they practiced, the performances for the group category finally come to an end. After taking a 15 minutes break, the judges are ready for the performances by the couple category. Mark and Jennie will be performing as the 7th, right after Jaebum and Yoobi at the 6th.

Performance after performance, it's finally Jaebum and Yoobi’s turn to take the stage. Jennie could hear the crowd cheering for the pair, couldn't help but to feel a little bit sad as it took her back to that day. Mark, sensing Jennie's change of demeanour, gently wrap an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder, calming her down. “It's alright, I'm here,” Mark said, making the girl smile and nod.

Jaebum get into position and as the song starts, his body started to move along the beat. Yoobi follows after, following the rhythm and danced along with Jaebum. Everyone was absorbed into their performance.

(( Sweater Weather https://youtu.be/MZ_ozBFTyQM ))

Jaebum and Yoobi’s performance ended flawlessly, receiving a loud cheer from the audiences. After giving their final bow, the two went to the backstage, walking past Mark and Jennie. Jaebum didn't even bother looking at his teammate, making Mark scoff in disbelief. He would've turned around and punched him in the face if it wasn't for Jennie who quickly held his hand and smiled at the male.

“Don't bother. Let's beat him through the competition, okay?” she said, calming the male down. Mark exhaled before smiling at the female, nodding his head in agreement.

The pair quickly entered the stage as their number got called, getting into position as the crowd cheers for them. Looking at each other, they flashes a quick smile before the song starts--changing their demeanour completely. Their body remembers every beat, where to go and where to stop, completely bewitching everyone with their dance.

(( Slip https://youtu.be/qk00gbDwGqM ))

The pair dances their heart out down to the last beat. There was silence before the crowd finally cheered for their performance. Mark and Jennie smiled at each other and gave their final bow before coming of stage and celebrated among themselves. Mark wrapped his arms around her slender figure tightly, securing her inside his arms and made the female laugh. They've gave out their all, and now it's up for the judges to score.

***

It's almost 6 pm as the performances for the couple category came to an end. After deliberating for a good hour, the judges are finally back and ready to announce the winners of the competition. After announcing the winners for the group category (in which Lisa’s group, Highlight, won in 1st place), the mc begin to announce the winners of the couple dance category. Jennie held onto Mark’s hands tightly, which he replied by gently squeezing her hand, as if saying that everything's going to be fine.

“In the third place, the winner is…”

Please don’t let it be us. Please don’t let it be us. Please don’t let it be us. Please don’t let-

“Sweater Weather by Im Jaebum and Ahn Yoobi!”

Mark and Jennie instinctively looked at the pair who looked very surprised, assuming they they expected to win at least at the second place if not the first. Jaebum glanced at the other pair and shot them a cold glare before finally walking towards the stage with Yoobi following behind him, accompanied by the cheers of their school’s supporting team.

“In the second place, the winner is…”

Please let it be us. Please let it be us. Please let it be us. Please let it be us. Please-

“Let It Go by Jang Hyunseung and Kim Hyuna!”

Mark and Jennie looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, smiling thinly as they gave up the hope of winning and clapped for the pair who came from Busan. If Jaebum and Yoobi didn't even won the second place, then what are the odds they will come out as the first winner?

“In the first place, winning with almost a perfect score!” the mc said, raising the excitement from the audiences.

“The winner is…… Slip by Mark Tuan and Jennie Kim!”

A loud cheer came from the crowd behind the pair, while the two are still trying to cope with the information. Lisa turned the girl around and hugged her, jumping up and down with her signature loud screech.

“Oh my God- Jennie you won!” Lisa’s voice snapped her back to reality as she jumped along with the girl. Parting away from Lisa, Jennie finally faced Mark, smiling widely as he showed his canine teeth, making her do the same. He took her hand before walking down towards the stage, bowing at the other winners before taking their spot. The two looked at each other still not believing themselves.

After being crowned with medals and received their trophies, the winners are allowed to go back to their respective supporters as the mc closed the ceremony. As they were walking, Jaebum suddenly pulled Mark by the shoulder and landed a punch on Mark’s right cheek, shocking everyone by the usually calm guy’s sudden outburst.

Mark, burned with his suppressed anger, launched at Jaebum and land a good punch across his face. Jennie finally got back on her senses as she screamed Mark’s name, making the enraged guy stop before he could land another punch on his friend’s face. Jennie hurriedly check on the cut on the male’s face, sighed in relieve that it wasn't an open wound.

“Mark, let's just go, okay?” she plead, linking her arm with his but Mark didn't budge. He glared at Jaebum, having too much in his mind. Taking a deep breath, he then realized they're still being the center of attention, and they have a lot in stake if Mark spilled everything Jaebum had done wrong in the eyes of the public.

“You know what,” Mark said, changing his demeanour. “I don't what are you getting so pissed about, but you don't want to do this here. Both of us had a lot to bet on, so let’s finish this just between us,” he said and with that, he walked away with Jennie in his arms, leaving embarrassed Jaebum behind.

***

A week after the incident, Jaebum finally mustered up his courage and called GOT7 up for a meeting, including Jennie. He confessed about what he did to Jennie, acknowledging what he did was wrong and asked for forgiveness. Jennie, being Jennie, said she had forgiven him.

He then turned towards Mark, saying that he was sorry and was also thankful for not getting everything out back then at the competition. He was mad at himself, but Mark was there and the guilt about Jennie was eating him out--seeing the girl with Mark somehow triggers him. He knew that it doesn't justify his actions, and he was ready if Mark wanted him to leave the team.

Mark sighed. A part of him wanted Jaebum to leave, but he was the one who connected the members, now Mark. Kicking him out means risking everything they have built and there's no way he's going to risk that.

“No, you're staying with us. No matter what, you're still a part of our family. Forgiving you might be a little hard, leave alone forgetting what you did to me and Jennie, but let's put all that in the past. I need you to control this kids,” Mark looked at his 5 other friends and smiled, “we all need you. So you're not going anywhere.”

That night ended with all eight of them getting into a dance battle and laughed till they got stomachache, and raided Bambam’s mom’s restaurant. Jennie and Mark left early as Jennie needs to go home before 9 and Mark wanted to take her home. The two walked off, falling into a comfortable silence.

Jennie’s home is surprisingly close to the restaurant, which is quite a bummer for both who secretly wanted to be within an arm’s reach from each other. Standing in front of her house, Jennie turned to face Mark and smiled, which the latter replied with one of his own.

“So… this is your place?” he asked, trying to open up a conversation but ended up sounding stupid, so he laughed instead, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, guess Yugyeom’s word really came true now,” he smiled sheepishly, while Jennie let out a soft giggle.

“Maybe. What a noob,” she teased the male, making him turn slightly crimson. “Anyway I need to thank you, for clearing things up between me and Jaebum. It would've been hard to talk to him if it's not for you,” she said, tugging her lips into a smile.

“Don't hesitate to ask me to do anything, okay? I'm your boyfriend now,” he said nonchalantly, getting his revenge in turning the female red. Mark stepped closer, reducing the distance between the two before placing a soft peck on her cheek, doubling the size of the female’s orbs.

“I'll see you tomorrow?” he asked. After getting a nod from the female, he stepped away with a wide grin plastered across his face, showing his canine teeth. “Go, I'll be on my way after you went inside.”

“Ah,” Jennie blinked, nodding her head and turned to get inside her home--halting right before she enter and rush towards Mark, pulling him by the collar and land a peck on his cheek before actually rushing inside, catching Mark off-guard.

It won't be their last ‘I won’ game, anyway.

-끝-