The rest of the time Jinyoung is alone with Bomi isn’t long. They’ve both gone over the script enough times to be able to say their lines once prompted, with a fair bit of improvisation to spice things up. Jinyoung wishes he could say the same about his conversation skills with Bomi.

When he’s around her, he gets caught up in his thoughts. He has to play his words over and over again in his head to make sure they’re adequate before he can brave saying them to her. Too many times, this results in an awkward silence. He’s afraid he’s putting her off. 

“So, how do you like your Inkigayo gig?” Bomi asks, raising her brows inquisitively. It’s a small movement, but Jinyoung finds it adorable and he gets tongue-tied again. Bomi laughs at his attempt, and he laughs along, nervously. Out of nowhere, she puts a friendly hand on his arm. He feels like he might combust at this very moment.

“Hey,” she says in a friendly tone. “Stop being so nervous! You’re a regular MC on this show, if you’re nervous, then there’s no hope for me, the guest!” 

“Sorry,” Jinyoung says. “It’s not usually like this. I guess I’ve been absent too many times, I’m starting to lose my touch.”

“You’re probably used to doing things a certain way,” Bomi says. “I’m sure you, Jisoo, and Doyoung have fallen in some kind of routine, developed great chemistry.”

Jinyoung smiled. “We have,” he says. It’s the first thing he can say confidently in front of her. This doesn’t escape Bomi’s notice, and she’s intrigued. She sits up on the couch and latches onto the first topic Jinyoung actually seems comfortable discussing with her.

“So, tell me,” she says cheerfully. “Between the three of you, who’s the best MC? I won’t tell them your answer, I promise!”

Jinyoung sits up. “The best MC?” he says. “Wow. Okay. Umm, let’s see… personally, I feel like we each have our strengths and weaknesses. Me, I look a typical MC, I’m in charge of being the reliable anchor, keeping things going smoothly, sticking to the script. Doyoung’s a funny kid, he’s good at improvising gags and doing cute things. Jisoo is…”

He pauses for a second. Bomi leans in.

“Sorry, what?” she says. Jinyoung thinks about Jisoo, probably still lingering alone in the hallway, and he feels terrible. But he thinks about what she said to him, how she told him—with a smile on her face—to go back into the room and talk to Bomi. Casual. Cheerful, even.

“Jisoo’s the mood maker,” Jinyoung says, looking up at Bomi. “When she walks into a room, she lights it up. She knows everyone by name, and she greets them all. When she talks to you, you know she’s really talking to you and not just at you. She comes here every Sunday and makes us all feel like a family.”

Jinyoung is still staring at Bomi, but she has a feeling that he isn’t really seeing her. 

“She’s a strong believer in people,” Jinyoung says. “She has this amazing aura, she just draws you in, makes you feel special. Safe. Important.”

Bomi wonders if he can hear himself, the way he talks about Jisoo. He suddenly laughs to himself.

“Actually, she can also get a little out of hand,” he says. “She has a lot of energy, it can take a while for us to get down to business and start going over scripts if she starts talking. She can be naive at times. And whatever you do, do not get her started on manga. Or dogs. Or food. Not unless you want her to talk for 3 hours straight without breathing.”

He laughs again. His eyes scrunch up when he laughs genuinely. 

“Sometimes, though,” he says, his voice slowing down. “Sometimes, she walks in and she isn’t so cheerful and bright. I mean, she’s always polite, of course, and she still says hello to everyone, and she still does her job. But sometimes you can see that she’s not always happy. But it’s alright, I don’t expect her to be happy all the time.”

Jinyoung swallows and he looks down at his hands. “I saw her look sad once,” he says. “In the costume department after the recording. She had already changed out and went to return the clothes. She was alone in there, or she thought she was. She was standing by the mirror, but she was looking down. She isn’t the type to show her emotions to people, especially not in public, so she hides when she does. But I saw her. I passed by the room and saw her reflection.”

He furrows his brows, calling back the memory. He had wanted to go inside and talk to her then, but he knew that if he did, she’d just put on another smile and try to act strong in front of him. That wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted her to know that she could have these moments alone to be sad if she wanted. He had stood against the wall, not quite in the doorway, looking at her crestfallen face in the mirror and stopping himself from running in there. 

It was… strange. To see her frowning instead of smiling. It was the first time he had ever seen this iridescent, fearless, dazzling, Amazonian warrior-princess of a girl look vulnerable, human. She was beautiful.

And then she looked up and saw him looking at her in the mirror. Their eyes met. Jinyoung expected her to turn around and chase him away or call him a ert for spying on her or toss her sadness away and pretend that she was just practicing sad faces in the mirror.

But she didn’t. She didn’t say a word or move or anything, she only stood there and let him see her. Suddenly, Jinyoung had felt… honored? Privileged? Grateful? All of those things. Honored, privileged, grateful that she was letting him see a side of her that she never showed to anyone else. Even if it was just a peek through a half-open doorway and a reflection in a mirror. She had let him into her world a little bit.

That was why it hurt so much that she had put on that smile in the hallway. Pretended, again, that she was okay even though he knows that she’s hiding something hurtful. She was pushing him out again, closing the door in his face. 

Jinyoung doesn’t even realize that he’s fallen silent. Only this time, it isn’t awkward. Bomi smiles fondly at him, touched by the sincerity of his words. When he realizes that he’s said too much, his cheeks color. He wishes he could disappear again. He’s said way too much in front of Bomi, thinks that she doesn’t need hear or know. 

“Anyway,” he says, laughing nervously. “The directors will be giving us our cue soon. Should we start heading over to the stage?”

During filming, Jinyoung can feel himself gravitating toward Jisoo, and he has to remind himself to stay centered between the two girls. He doesn’t want to make Bomi feel awkward. But he doesn’t want Jisoo to feel like he’s neglecting her, either. He watches himself, tries to make sure that he balances out the amount of interaction he has with both his co-MC’s. 

Even though he still wishes Jisoo hadn’t left him in the room with Bomi, it did help him a bit. Once on stage, he’s no longer intimidated by her beauty or caught off guard by the sweetness of her smile. He thinks that their conversation has brought them somewhat closer, though he’s embarrassed at having revealed so much of his thoughts. 

Jisoo, however, is unreadable. Through filming, she acts like her normal self. She’s using her bright, cheerful, Inkigayo voice, and she’s sticking to the script, making it impossible for Jinyoung to know exactly what she’s thinking. It confuses him. He could have sworn he’d heard something wrong in her voice when she excused herself. But she’s hiding again. Hiding behind her Inkigayo voice and the illusion of being fine.

Does he care because there is something in the lingering looks and the accidental touches? Or is it because… he’s a friend, and friends care about these things. He tries to tell himself that it’s the latter.

In a few hours, the episode is over. Jinyoung smiles, but on the inside, he feels let down. He looks over at her several times during filming, but she doesn’t meet his eyes even once. She doesn’t let him see her this time.

When filming is over, Jinyoung changes into his normal clothes and lets his coordinator wipe the makeup from his face. Across the room, Bomi has already changed into her clothing as well and her manager is reminding her of another schedule she has later in the week. Jinyoung straightens in his chair as he regards Bomi again.

A few years ago, he said in an interview that he thought she looked pretty when she smiled. She looked pure and cute and happy and friendly, and Jinyoung was reduced to a babbling mush overtime he encountered her in a dressing room. As always, he feels his heart speeding up again at the sight of her. 

But this time, he thinks he’s ridiculous. He’s had enough of being a silly boy with a huge, embarrassing crush. Time to get this over with. 

When her manager walks off to get the car ready, Bomi starts putting her things into her purse. Jinyoung takes this as his cue to approach her. When she sees him coming, she smiles just like she’s been smiling all day.

“How’d I do?” Bomi asks. Jinyoung nods.

“You almost sounded like an MC,” he says and she laughs.

“Well, I couldn’t have done it without yours and Jisoo’s support,” Bomi says. “I was going to tell her 'thank you,' but she’s disappeared again. Can you let her know I tried looking for her? I have to get going.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jinyoung says. She’s about to turn and head for the exit, and Jinyoung speaks up before she can go. “Bomi!” he says, a little too loud. She’s startled.

Just ask her out.

“Do you…” he begins, heart pounding. Bomi looks at him expectantly. “I know you said you’re a hurry tonight, but… if you aren’t doing anything tomorrow evening… would you like to get dinner… with me?”

She looks confused. Jinyoung gets worried. He’s asked girls out before, but not idols, and not Bomi from Apink. What if she said no? What was the even like? He was about to find out. Bomi’s smile starts to fade, and she tucks a hair behind her ear. 

“Jinyoung,” she says gently. “I… I’m incredibly flattered.”

Jinyoung’s heart sinks a little. That’s what girls always say right before they say no. He lets out a slow breath, needs a minute to let the rejection waft over him.

“I used to be your ideal girl, right?” Bomi says. Jinyoung looks at her, horrified. He opens his mouth but he just stutters.

“I… ,” he says and his throat feels like it’s going dry. He supposes there’s no point in denying it at this point. “How did you know?”

She laughs a little. “I saw your interview,” she says. “You said ‘Bomi looks pretty when she smiles. How can I say hello without feeling embarrassed in the waiting room?’ I thought it was sweet.”

Jinyoung facepalms and then rubs the back of his neck. He can’t believe Bomi saw that. 

“I did say that, I remember,” Jinyoung says, embarrassed again. When he looks at her, she still has a smile on her face. Oddly, now that he knows that she knows, the pressure to impress her is suddenly gone. 

“You do look pretty when you smile,” Jinyoung says. He takes a deep breath once more. “Bomi, I really like you.”

There. He’s said it now. He waits for something to happen, waits for himself to feel something. In moments like these, the confessor usually feels something, right? He sees it happen in dramas and in books all the time when the protagonist makes a groundbreaking confession. Yet there’s only quiet. Bomi looks expectant.

“But?” she says. Jinyoung is confused.

“What?”

“It sounded like you were going to say ‘but,’” she says. Jinyoung blinks.

“I… wasn’t.” 

Bomi’s expression looks somewhat disappointed. 

“You really like me, but…” she says. “You like Jisoo more now, right?”

Jinyoung’s face pales. “What? No.”

“No?”

“No, you misunderstand, Jisoo is… she’s… we just…”

Bomi gives him a skeptical look, raised one eyebrow at him as if daring him to tell her that it wasn’t true. It wasn’t true. He says it to himself again and again. It’s not true. There’s nothing. He feels… nothing. It’s… not… true… right? 

He meets Bomi’s eyes, and she is smirking.

“How did you know?” Jinyoung asks.

Bomi laughs.

“I think the first giveaway was the look on your face when she walked into the room,” Bomi said. “You had this look of pure admiration and relief, like your own personal angel just walked through the door.”

He had?

“Also, the second time we were left alone in that room,” Bomi says. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone talk about anything the way you talk about Jisoo. You’re voice changes. I mean, you have your normal voice when you’re talking to me, and you’ve got your Inkigayo voice, but when you’re talking about her, you sound different. You sound… comfortable.”

Jinyoung, trying to maintain some semblance of dignity, shrugs. “I’m comfortable around her,” he says simply. “If that’s what you mean.”

“That probably feels much better than being embarrassed, right?” Bomi says. Jinyoung looks up and catches her gaze. Bomi smiles.

“You should ask her out,” Bomi says. “I think she likes you, too.”

A/N: Final chapter coming up next! Thank you for reading and subscribing. Please comment!