It was still early in Daejeon, so when they arrived at each location, they were fortunate that there weren’t many visitors yet. Jinyoung and Jisoo’s respective managers did their part by keeping passersby out of the frame and redirecting them along different routes. The GOT7 member and the Blackpink member each got a touch-up on their makeup and took their places in front of the camera. 

Their dance routine to “Uptown Funk” was thrown together pretty haphazardly. The choreography wasn’t especially inspired. They were both able to get it down within a day’s worth of practice. 

The first time through at the first location, Jisoo and Jinyoung were paragons of professionalism. The second time around, they were able to keep some of their focus. But by the fifth or sixth time they had to dance it through, it was getting harder not to break out into laughs in the middle of filming.

This was such a ridiculous dance.

“Jinyoung,” said PD-nim as they were loading up the van again to go to their last location. “Do you mind if you and Jisoo actually sit in the back? The videographer and I want to monitor the footage and it’s easier if we can put our equipment down in the middle.”

Neither saw the harm in it, so they agreed. But as they squeezed into the back row of the car, a problem arose. 

They were sitting very close. Almost too close. Close enough to touch. 

It wasn’t a problem when he and Jisoo sat in the middle row of the van. There were only two seats, one for each of them to lean back in and sit with their legs splayed or tucked without fear of accidentally nudging the other and causing accidental, unwanted skinship.

She was sitting in the middle seat. Jinyoung sat to her right and the stylist sat to her left. It was more cramped in the back of the van than Jinyoung thought it would be. He sat with his knees pressed together, trying not to squish her, trying not to let their legs touch. 

The vehicle suddenly took a sharp right turn. Jinyoung’s body lurched left, and all his weight was thrown against Jisoo’s side.

He tried to grab the seat in front of him for support, to keep from crushing her, but his reach missed and, to his horror, his hand landed on Jisoo’s thigh. He snatched his hand away immediately. 

“Sorry,” Jinyoung said. His ears were burning up, but Jisoo was gracious about the mishap.

“You okay?” Jisoo asked as soon as the car was steady again. She laughed. “Your manager’s driving is crazy. I’m impressed you’re still alive.”

He laughed nervously. “His driving skills are kind of extreme,” he said. “Though, technically, not unsafe. Personally, I think I’m worse at it.”

“At least you can drive,” Jisoo said. “I’m contractually forbidden from getting behind the wheel.”

Jinyoung laughed gently along, but he noticed that his hand left a pinkish imprint on the skin of her thigh, and he was reminded of his screwup. He blushed anew. He pressed his knees back together and went back to trying to maintain at least two inches of space between him and her. It was the proper thing to do, the gentlemanly thing to do. Su