“Pretty please, Chaengie?” Lisa pleaded with her characteristically wide, puppy-dog eyes.

Chaeyoung calmly poured herself a hot, aromatic cup of apple cider, ignoring Lisa just like she had every night for the past week. It had practically become part of Lisa’s bedtime routine to beg Chaeyoung to attend the annual Idols’ Christmas party taking place that evening, the 20th of December. Although Chaeyoung was usually weak to Lisa’s requests, she was surprisingly standing her ground this time.

“For the last time, I am not going to the party,” Chaeyoung stated firmly, walking away from the kitchen of their dorm towards her bedroom. Hearing Lisa’s footsteps following her closely, she sighed in frustration.

Just as Chaeyoung reached for the doorknob of her bedroom, the door opened from the inside, causing her to jump back with a startled squeak, almost dropping her mug in the process.

Jisoo’s smiling face greeted them on the other side of the door, “so did Lisa convince you to come to the party yet?”

Chaeyoung shook her head in exasperation and pushed past Jisoo to enter her room, not surprised to see Jennie leisurely laying on her bed, tapping the keyboard of her iPhone intently. Just another day in the Blackpink residence, where everyone ignored their own rooms to occupy Chaeyoung’s instead.

“Unnie, can you please do something,” Lisa whined to Jisoo as Chaeyoung started getting comfortable on her sofa with a book, “I’ve tried everything but she’s being stubborn.”

Jisoo gave Lisa a disappointed “I-seriously-have-to-do-everything-around-here” look before putting on her best authoritative expression and aggressively walked towards where Chaeyoung was sitting, “Yah! Park Roseanne Chaeyoung, come to the party tonight.”

Chaeyoung sipped her apple cider and didn’t even spare a glance up when she calmly replied, “no, thanks.”

“Okay,” Jisoo shrugged and walked away as Lisa gaped at her in disapproval.

“What?” Jisoo asked when she noticed Lisa’s stare, “I tried.”

At this point, Jennie finally shifted her attention away from her phone, and decided to salvage the situation.

“But, Rosie,” she began with an innocent tone, “BTS is going to be there.”

Finally, something in Chaeyoung cracked and she visibly tensed. Her body remained frozen in place as only her eyes shifted to focus on Jennie for a brief second before she regained her composure.

“All of them?” Chaeyoung asked casually, turning the page of her book even though she hadn’t finished reading it yet.

Jennie, Jisoo, and Lisa exchanged knowing glances as they tried not to smile. They may have finally found the key to coercing Chaeyoung.

“Yes, Chaeyoung, Jungkook will be there,” Lisa confirmed, answering her unasked question that was lingering in the air.

Chaeyoung unintentionally pursed her lips in response, shifting uncomfortably in her seat, while pretending to be engrossed in her book again.  

“I didn’t ask about him,” she muttered with a semi-annoyed tone.

At that, Jennie couldn’t help but roll her eyes, “come on, Rosie, everyone knows you two aren’t over each other.”

“Yes!” Lisa jumped at this opportunity, her hope of convincing Chaeyoung slowly increasing, “literally you and Jungkook are the only ones who can’t see that.”

“But we are over each other,” Chaeyoung replied defensively, placing her book on the table since her groupmates weren’t allowing her to focus on it anyway.

Jisoo scoffed, “that wasn’t very convincing, Chaeng.”

Chaeyoung clenched her jaw and looked away, because a part of her knew Jisoo was right. They’d spent 9 months together and shared so much with each other that he felt like an extension of herself. Even though a year had almost passed since their emotional break-up and even though it was a mutual separation, her heart still ached a little any time someone merely spoke his name. She tried to forget, pretend she didn’t care, and to move on, but she simply couldn’t. This inability to control her heart was annoying, frustrating, and sometimes downright infuriating.

“It’s not like I can do anything about it now,” Chaeyoung replied softly, “we’re always going to choose our careers over each other, anyway.”

Her 3 best-friends looked at her empathetically as they joined her on the sofa to console her.

“You won’t know if that’s true until you try,” Jisoo said, grasping her hand with a warm smile.

Jennie nodded, tucking a strand of Chaeyoung’s hair behind her ear, “a lot can change in a year.”

“But the one thing that hasn’t changed is your feelings for him,” Lisa said, adding the final touch to the therapy session, before squeezing her tightly in a small side-hug.  

Chaeyoung chuckled bitterly, knowing that she’d been defeated, “so, what should I wear?”

<><><>

Three hours later and the four ladies had reached the glamorous venue, their sky-high heels clicking against the sleek, hard floor and their different perfumes mingling into one as they walked towards the entrance.

Chaeyoung was dressed in a tight, off-the-shoulder black dress that cut off at just the right length to flatter her figure and showcase her slender legs. The red heels she wore added significantly to her height, making her look – admittedly – hot. Her chocolate brown hair was curled loosely and draped down her back gracefully. Her members had forced her to go for a “y” look, so her lips were painted red and the shape of her