The café was small and practically vacant, exactly as Nayeon had hoped. She situated herself at a table nestled in a dim corner at the back of the place, making herself comfortable while she waited. As much as she hated to admit it, she was nervous. It was obvious in the slight tremble of her hands as she reached for her mug, taking a sip of her steaming hot coffee. And she was worried too. She was supposed to meet someone here, but what if they didn’t show? What if she was stood up? She didn’t have much time to ponder, however, because a sharp voice yanked her out of her thoughts.

“I’m here,” the girl said, drawing Nayeon’s gaze. “What do you want, Nayeon? It better be good.”

“Tsk. Don’t you have any respect for you elders anymore, Jennie?” Nayeon teased, an involuntary smirk pulling up the corners of her lips. Jennie rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t agree to meet you this late at night for you to patronize me.” Jennie was obviously annoyed, more so than usual, and she turned as if to leave. Nayeon quickly jumped out of her seat, reaching for Jennie’s wrist.

“Jen, wait!” Jennie stopped, looking down at where Nayeon was holding her. The older girl quickly let go, her cheeks flushing. She was uncharacteristically unnerved all of a sudden, and she found herself stuttering as she said, “Um, c-can I at least buy you something to d-drink?”

***

“So what is this about?” Jennie asked after the waitress set down a mug of hot chocolate and a sugar cookie, both of which Nayeon had agreed to pay for.

“What is what about?” Nayeon asked. Her mind wasn’t functioning properly and it was taking her an awful amount of effort to not make a complete fool of herself at the moment. She was apparently still doing a terrible job though because Jennie was currently glaring at her again.

“I told you I’m not in the mood to play games, Nayeon. Why did you ask me to meet you here, and at night no less?”

“I didn’t want a lot of people around.”

“Is that why you asked me to come alone? Do you know how hard it was to do that by the way? Jisoo has been wanting to hang out with you. She is going to kill me if she finds out I came to meet you without her. And the other girls too. They’ve been dying to meet you.”

“They’ll have to wait. I only wanted to see you tonight.”

“You still haven’t told me why.”

“Because I missed you.” At that, Jennie nearly choked on her cookie. She had to take several sips of her drink before she could breathe properly.

“Yah! Why do you always have to say such weird things to me?” Jennie demanded.

“What’s so weird about that?” Nayeon bit back, her cheeks bright pink. “It’s the truth anyway. I have missed you. Ever since we debuted, we’ve barely been able to speak, much less hang out. I only ever get to see you at award shows these days.”

“Well, yeah. I’ve missed you too. But why did you have to invite me out in the middle of the night to tell me that? And why did I have to keep it from Jisoo? She could have come too. Don’t you miss her as well?”

“Of course I do. It’s just… nevermind,” Nayeon sighed. She ran a hand through her hair, wanting to salvage the conversation but not having the confidence to continue. She simply motioned to Jennie’s empty plate and mug. “Are you done? Do you want anything else?”

“Uh, no. I’m fine, thank you,” Jennie replied, noting the shift in her friend’s mood. Nayeon wordlessly nodded, pulling out a few crumpled bills from her purse and setting them down on the table before getting to her feet.

“Come on. I’ll walk you back to your dorm.”

***

“Nayeon, are you alright? You’ve been oddly quiet since we left the café,” Jennie said, breaking the silence that had engulfed the pair. Nayeon didn’t look up, opting instead to continue looking at her shoes.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” the older girl answered quietly. Nothing made sense about Nayeon’s behavior, and Jennie was tired of it. She stopped abruptly, pulling her unnie to a halt too and forcing the older girl to face her.

“Look, I don’t know what’s up with you today, but I’m really tired of being confused by you. I gave up a long time ago trying to understand your weird behavior, so will you please just tell me what’s wrong?” Instead of answering, Nayeon burst into laughter, which only further confused the younger girl. “Why are you laughing?”

“Kim Jennie, you are the most frustratingly oblivious person I have ever met,” Nayeon chuckled.

“What are you talking about?” Jennie demanded, not any less confused.

“I like you, Jennie. As more than a friend. That’s what I wanted to tell you. That’s why I asked you to meet me, alone.”

“Oh…”

“It’s okay that you don’t feel the same way. Let’s just go home, okay?” Nayeon turned away, ready to continue walking, but a hand on her arm pulled her back. Jennie didn’t embrace her or anything of the sort. Instead, she stared deeply into Nayeon’s eyes, only a small amount of space between them.

“I never said I didn’t feel the same way,” Jennie whispered. Her hand moved slowly down Nayeon’s arm until she could lace their fingers together. Nayeon looked down at their entwined hands and a smile lit up her face, forcing Jennie to involuntarily smile in return.

“I hate you,” Nayeon muttered, trying to bite back her smile. Jennie rolled her eyes, still grinning like an idiot for no good reason except that holding Nayeon’s hand made warmth radiate through her body.

“Yeah, I hate you too,” Jennie joked. She tugged on the older girl’s hand and the two resumed their walk, both refusing to let go of the other. They were no longer silent as they walked, both talking animatedly about everything that had been going on recently. It seemed like an eternity had been jammed into a few minutes, yet at the same time it was over way too soon.

“Well, this is your stop,” Nayeon stated, disappointment clear in her voice as the two girls came to a stop in front of Jennie’s dorm building.

“How will you get home?” Jennie asked, remembering the late hour and growing concerned.

“Don’t worry. I already texted Jihyo. She’ll send a driver to come pick me up,” Nayeon explained.

“I’ll wait with you then.” Nayeon smiled at the worry and protectiveness that filled the younger girl’s voice.

“You should go in and rest, Jen. It’s late.”

“Can I ask you something?” Jennie blurted suddenly. Nayeon looked confused but she nodded anyway. “Why did you want to meet so late? I understand why you wanted to see me, and why you wanted me to come alone. But why at this hour?”

“Oh that. I, um… I wanted to reduce the risk of anyone seeing us,” Nayeon admitted, starting to look nervous like she had earlier.

“Why? People already know we’re friends. Why does it matter if we’re seen together?”

“I just… I wasn’t sure how the night would go…” Nayeon was obviously flustered now. It was obvious by the way she dropped her gaze, her cheeks turning pink. Jennie felt herself blushing too as she realized what Nayeon meant.

“Oh,” was all the younger girl could muster to say. Jennie was suddenly nervous as well, but she was supposed to be the collected one here. She took a deep breath before reaching out with her free hand, placing a finger under Nayeon’s chin and lifting the girl’s face gently. Their eyes locked and their rapid exhales mingled in the miniscule space between them. Then Jennie’s eyes flicked down to Nayeon’s lips, and the older girl’s eyes fluttered closed in anticipation. The space between them was closing. They were so close. But then…

“Yah! Im Nayeon! How dare you go on a date with Jennie and not me!” Nayeon and Jennie immediately lurched apart, even letting go of each other’s hands, as their heads snapped up to see the source of the voice that had startled them. Jisoo had her head poked out of one of the windows, and she was looking down at the two girls on the street. Her expression was hard to make out in the darkness, but Jennie was sure she was smirking. “Jennie! How dare you go to see Nayeon and not tell me!”

“Jennie unnie! You promised you’d introduce me to Nayeon sunbaenim!” Lisa whined childishly, joining Jisoo in the window. Jennie was unable to respond, her cheeks burning. She’d definitely kill them for this later. Thankfully, Rosé appeared at that moment, yanking Lisa and Jisoo back into the room.

“Sorry about them,” Rosé apologized. “Please carry on.”

“I’m so sorry about that,” Jennie said after her bandmates were out of sight and the window slid closed.

“Don’t apologize,” Nayeon giggled, her cheeks flushed. “They’re cute. When can I get to know them?”

“Hopefully never. I don’t need them embarrassing me any more.” Jennie took a tentative step closer to Nayeon. “Now, where were we?”

“I believe you were about to kiss me.” Nayeon smiled, much more comfortable now.

“Was I? I don’t recall. Mind jogging my memory?”

“You’re insufferable.” Nayeon said it with a grin on her face, wrapping her arms around Jennie’s neck before closing the distance between their lips.

This was much better in my head... But hopefully it was decent enough? Please let me know your thoughts and opinions on the pairing and the oneshot itself. I really do read all of your comments and they help a lot.

Hope you enjoyed this!

~unsungpoet <3