1.) Dialogue

She must have looked as good as dead because the second she steps into the studio, Jonghyun smiles sympathetically, squeezing her shoulder gently. He is dressed warmly in a denim jacket and beige pants and he chides her lightly for wearing a mere black turtle neck.

“It’s getting cold lately,” he nags.

He takes off his white cap, setting it down on the table carefully before pushing a bottle of water to her. Soojung manages to flash a grateful smile, which she thinks probably looks more like a grimace. She knows Jonghyun understands; she is in her last week of comeback promotions and this radio schedule takes place at midnight. It feels both more and less than a schedule though; more significant and less burdensome.

“It’s not that cold, oppa,” she assures him.

As always, Jonghyun wears an easy smile and she finds herself laughing quietly because of him.

“I had a favour to ask of you since I really like your voice. I was going to ask you to do a narration in a song I wrote,” Jonghyun says.

“Why didn’t you ask me then?” Soojung asks.

“Because it’s not released yet. I will ask you soon.”

Then he laughs.

2.) Symptom

He pushes his hair back before donning his white cap again. The staff tells them to gather for a photo and Soojung automatically runs a hand through her locks in an attempt to tame her hair that gets frazzled when the weather turns cold. Jonghyun approaches her, raising his arms to pat her hair into place.

“It’s all good,” he smiles. “Even if your hair is messed up, you’ll still look pretty.”

“Oppa,” she frowns and scrunches her nose playfully. “You shouldn’t lie.”

He only chuckles.

They pose for the photo, holding similar poses for the camera. Soojung marvels at how much they feel like siblings, so much that dialogue comes naturally to them, that they have established a certain likeness to each other.

When he turns to her, he wraps her in a bear hug and she feels her own arms instinctively wind around him.

“I missed you. Thank you for coming,” he whispers.

The words are only for her to hear and she feels his arms tighten around her—the hug feels tighter than usual. Soojung doesn’t understand why it makes her heart flinch so she ignores it.

“Yah, oppa, promise me that the narration is mine and mine alone.”

This time, she feels rather than hears his laughter, his chest vibrating against her.

3.) Entropy

Jonghyun’s house is neat, for once. Soojung feels slightly unnerved by the cleanliness and she laughs it off.

“Oppa, your floors are finally seeing the light of day.” she jabs.

“Having some order feels nice,” he shrugs before grinning.