Jaebum and Youngjae, Liev on V-Live
Sunday, March 26th 2017

"Then shall we call Jinyoung?" Jaebum asked Youngjae. They were filming for Liev on V LIVE, idols' favorite live broadcast where they could lay down on a comfortable bed and talk softly, sending listeners to sleep. Since it was Liev, both Jaebum and Youngjae talked more about sentimental stuffs; Jaebum, who was the only child in the family, shared his feeling about having 6 brothers all of the sudden—and also became their leader on top of that, while Youngjae shared a funny story about his fight with Mark that causing the older hyung to break the van's air conditioner.

When they got bored, they decided to do a challenge, which was to call the other members and made them say a certain word. Youngjae called Mark, signaling him to say the words and succeeded. When it was Jaebum's turn to call someone, no one answered, including Jinyoung.

"Last one," Youngjae said, smiling proudly for almost winning the challenge.

"Jinyoung is doing something," Jaebum said while he scrolled Youngjae's phone to find Jinyoung's contact. Youngjae looked up.

"Really?" he asked. Jaebum didn't answer right away, being unsure himself. "Or shall we call now?" Jaebum sighed. "Though I guess Jinyoung is busy."

"Jinjja?"

"Ne," Jaebum answered shortly. From their conversation, you could really tell that both of them were a bit sleepy. "Hang on. May I?"

"Ok," Youngjae mumbled softly.

"Jinyoung-hyung. This one right?" Jaebum asked, showing the phone to his friend. Youngjae gave him a little nod.

"What if JYP-hyung answers?"

"Right, JYP-sajangnim." Youngjae chuckled.

"O, mwohani? What's up? Hyung will answer like that," Jaebum impersonated his boss. He sniffed, remembering the nervous feeling he felt every time he called his boss. He looked back to the phone and pressed call.

"I will wait for 5 seconds. If he doesn't answer, I'll hang up." Jaebum smiled while glancing at Youngjae, amused. "5,4,3,2,1,0. Time's up."

"Out!"

Jaebum smiled sadly, Jinyoung always answered his phone. "I really hope he did answer..."

"He never answered his call. As if his phone never exists in the first place," Youngjae blurted out. "I guess they're avoiding your call."

"I heard he has a gathering of a show that he's the MC."

"Ah~Then how about Jackson?"

~

I still think of you sometimes
Should I call you up?
There were a lot of times I thought that but
Baby, I know it's already over

—You Were Beautiful, Day6

Jinyoung was not ready.

When Doyoung sent a message to Inkigayo group chat about the gathering last Sunday, he didn't really mind it—nothing really crossed his mind. But today was the day, and he suddenly felt unbelievably nervous.

The gathering marked Jinjido's second hangout but the last time he did it, he was in a comfortable term with Jisoo. This time, both of them had officially kept their distance, only meeting and talking during Inkigayo. And it most definitely didn't help his nerve, the fact that he hadn't seen Jisoo for two weeks. He thought there wouldn't be any difference, but now he was scared that they would become awkward with each other during today's Inkigayo broadcast and the get-together later that night.

Yet, what surprised him the most was this feeling he had:

Longing.

He actually missed her.

He knew he had always missed her, he was just too hard-headed to acknowledge it. Since he knew he'd meet her once a week, he never really paid attention to that feeling. Now that he didn't get to meet her for two weeks, he'd finally realized how hard it was to be so far away from her for so long.

Moreover, his conversation with Jackson last week had been bugging his mind for days—worst of all, it had given him a little piece of hope. Jackson was right; a scandal could come out anytime, whether it was valid or false, no matter how cautious he was. The only thing he need to do was to ignore it and let it be, until people realize that they had no proof of whatever happened behind his life. He started to think that maybe there was a chance for him and Jisoo to be happy—to be together.

But he couldn't ever forget about what JYP-sajangnim said to him, that scandals did not only threaten his or Jisoo's career, but also the peaceful connection between two rival companies. It was a huge burden, and he knew that the reason YG went as far as to notify JYP-sajangnim was because YG could feel there was something between him and Jisoo. Jinyoung really might believe it; if the rumor that YG was a psychic suddenly emerged.

So on one hand, his heart kept telling him to risk it. On the other hand, his logic told him that he should reconsider if the risk was worth it. Jinyoung was conflicted, and it wouldn't end anytime soon.

Unless his dilemma was solved, there was nothing he could do. To be or not to be.

"Jinyoung-ah, why do you have to go this early every Sunday? And why do we have to go with you? Manager-nim, can you just drive Jinyoung first and came back a bit later to pick us up?" Jackson whined, his voice was even huskier in the morning. Two days ago, he was discharged from the hospital and now he was back with his energetic self. Since GOT7 had a comeback stage in Inkigayo, the manager told them to tag along with Jinyoung.

"I don't even need to think twice. The answer is no," manager-hyung told Jackson. Jinyoung smirked, checking out the people in the backseat. He saw Jaebum and Bambam were already sound asleep. Youngjae was singing along to Day6's song "You Were Beautiful" played on the radio, Mark were playing with his phone while Jackson and Yugyeom whined and complained.

"This too early. This is bad for my skin," Jackson said, checking his face with his phone's front-camera.

"What are we going to do in the waiting room for God knows how long?" This time it was Yugyeom's turn to complain. His whole face was puffy, and his hair was still messy. Neither of them had done their hair and makeup, they literally woke up and immediately got into the van.

Once they arrived at SBS building, they were escorted to their own waiting room. The studio was so quiet and empty since other idols who were going to perform had yet to come. GOT7 became even more annoyed.

Jinyoung was the only one who got his hair and makeup done while the others were either dozing off or playing with their phone. The clock showed that it was only a little past 7 in the morning, but their live stage would be around 1PM.

"Gyeom-ah, do you want to buy breakfast with me?" Jackson asked Yugyeom, who were doing nothing in particular. Yugyeom nodded and both of them went out, didn't care about his manager who told them to be careful. Jinyoung smirked; although they were whining and complaining, they still came to support him.

"Jinyoung-ah, change into this," the stylist told Jinyoung to change into his MC outfit after the MUA had finished doing his makeup. When everything was done, he walked to the MC waiting room.

As he strolled down the hallway, he met several staffs that he recognized. Almost all of them said See you tonight, Jinyoung-ssi! or You're coming for tonight's get-together right? and they made him even more nervous. His steps to the waiting room got heavier and heavier. He was relieved when he found out that he was the first person to be there. He took today's script on the table and read it.

Jinyoung 박진영: But Jisoo-ssi, aren't you too dolled up today?

Jinyoung sighed. He couldn't count how many times Inkigayo writers made him say some flirty lines to Jisoo. It was just a script, but it flustered him—he was sure his ears were red whenever it happened. Every time he had to say those lines, he wouldn't dare to look straight into Jisoo's eyes, afraid that he'd get even more flustered and start to mess up. 

When he was still reading, someone knocked loudly. By the sound of the knock, he thought it's be Doyoung, but he guessed wrong. The door opened, revealing a beautiful young woman with a cute light green floral dress.

Kim Jisoo.

Jinyoung unconsciously brought himself to stand up and for a while both of them only stared at each other without saying anything, as if time had stopped, like what usually happened in those cheesy Korean dramas.

And Jisoo looked stunning—she had always been, but that day she was exceptionally beautiful. Her hair was styled into Korean soft waves, and the dress suit her really well. Her makeup complemented her look, with soft pink lipstick to enhance her heart-shaped lips that Jinyoung adored so much.

Damn, this is bad. His heart beat even faster as though it would explode anytime.

"Annyeong," Jisoo greeted Jinyoung, smiling shyly.

"Good morning. You're here early." And he almost cursed himself for saying the most ridiculous thing that might offend her. But she laughed instead, "I know right. Usually I'm the last to arrive but today I'm the second winner!"

"Have you eaten? My manager brought extra Inkigayo sandwich," Jinyoung offered one sandwich to Jisoo as she approached him. She stopped right in front of him to take the sandwich.

"Sangwon-unnie bought me a McMorning before I came here, but I will never decline Inkigayo sandwich. The best sandwich ever! Maybe I should ask Jieun-unnie about the secret recipe. Their sandwich is so delicious!" Jisoo cheered, mentioning one of Inkigayo staff that they both knew. Jinyoung wondered how she got that much energy early in the morning.

"Maybe you should," Jinyoung said shortly.

They didn't talk for a good 10 minutes. Both of them were sitting on a sofa, keeping a safe distant between each other. Jinyoung glanced to his right; Jisoo was reading the script while eating her sandwich. He wondered if she had seen the cheesy role-play in the script, where he had to compliment her look. To make it worse, the script was accurate. She was really dolled up today.

Suddenly someone banged the door hard. Is that Doyoung? Jinyoung thought, but again, he thought wrong. As soon as the door opened, Jackson, Bambam, and Yugyeom showed himself behind the door. Jinyoung could literally smell the trouble.

"Jinyoung-ah, we're here to support yo—WAH! Is that the famous Goddess Jisoo-ssi? Annyeonghaseyo!" Jackson exclaimed so loud. Jinyoung immediately ran to Jackson to close his mouth. He looked back to see Jisoo's reaction but she was just laughing along.

"Guys, stop! You're embarrassing me—"

"Hello, Jisoo-noona. My name is Bambam, and this is Yugyeom, GOT7's maknae," Bambam politely introduced himself and Yugyeom and both of them bowed, but while he did that, he eyed Jinyoung repeatedly to . Jisoo bowed slightly, still smiling. "Hello, I'm Kim Jisoo."

"You know me right, Jisoo-ssi?" Jackson asked. Jisoo nodded and laughed, walking towards them. "I know, because Jennie knows you, and...Mark-ssi is Jennie's friend, too."

Jinyoung frowned. "How do you know each other?"

"Back then, when we were trainees. She is a good friend of Nayeon," Jackson simply said. Jinyoung frowned deeper. "How come I didn't know her back then?"

"Because I wasn't an anti-social like you!" Jackson said, but then he shifted his attention to Yugyeom who was really silent the entire time. "Gyeom-ah, why are you so quiet?"

"Ani—, I was just.." But he didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he blushed.

"Yah, Yugyeom, act like your usual self," Bambam noticed his friend became shy, slapped his arm. And unfortunately, Jackson noticed it, too.

"Ah, ara!" Jackson suddenly exclaimed. "Speechless with Jisoo-ssi's beauty? Well, Jisoo-ssi is really beautiful today. Don't you think so, Jinyoung?"

"Wha-"

That sudden question took him aback, and he was too shock to answer. He slowly turned his head to look at Jisoo, only to find her staring back at him with her big-round eyes, looked as shock as he was. She was no longer smiling, instead she pressed her lips together, like she was anticipating the answer.

And as usual, when it came to Jisoo, his mouth spoke faster than his mind could think.

"Yeah. Yeah, she is."

~

Jisoo turned off the V-Live.

After she got back from Inkigayo studio, Sang-won drove her back to YG building so that she could go on V-Live with Lisa. They spent a good 15 minutes to talk with their fans while they ate the Thai food that Lisa ordered, talking about all kinds of things especially the ghost that Lisa saw in their dorm.

"I feel bad I can't be with you tonight, Lisa-ya. Unnie said that the get-together is really important and I have to come," Jisoo pouted, honestly feeling sad to leave the maknae to spend her birthday night alone. Lisa shook her head.

"Unnie, come on! My birthday is not today but tomorrow! It's fine! And we'll celebrate together tomorrow, it doesn't matter," Lisa said.

"Still..."

"Ah, don't think about it. Now, let's go back and dress you up since you're going to meet Jinyoung-oppa later," Lisa took Jisoo's arm and pulled her as they ran to their manager, asking him to drive them back.

"Yah, Lisa, wait—"

Once they were back at dorm, Lisa immediately told Jisoo to take a shower, and Jisoo complied. Since she couldn't celebrate Lisa's birthday tonight, this was the least she could do to make her happy. As the oldest, she should've taken a better care of the maknae, who was far away from her home, who had always spent important dates alone without her family. That was the reason why she always asked Lisa to visit her family during Korean holidays, to make her feel that she had a family here in Korea. However, that night, she had no choice but to go to the gathering. When she asked for an advice from Sangwon-unnie, her manager said that this gathering was important; the PD would be there along with some staffs that had known them pretty well.

"I'll help you dry your hair, unnie. And special for tonight, you have to curl your hair!" Lisa gushed, even more excited than Jisoo as if she was the one who'd go to the gathering. Jisoo scoffed.

"Special? Lisa, you know there's nothing going on between me and Jinyoung, right? Eobseo!" Jisoo said as she prepared her makeup while Lisa dried her hair.

"Bambam texted me this afternoon. He said he got to meet you in the morning and thought that you're really beautiful, unnie. Here let me show you. He said photos on the internet don't do justice to your beauty." Lisa turned off the hairdryer and put it on the dressing table. She took out her phone and showed Jisoo the text that Bambam sent her. "And he said here, Jinyoung was so smitten over you."

"What? It's in Thai, are you sure he wrote that or you're just teasing me?"

"Aniya, unnie. Believe me, for once," Lisa whined. She then used Google Translate to show her unnie that she was telling the truth. "He said Jinyoung called you beautiful. Is that true?"

Jisoo went silent.

Yeah, she is, that was what he said and Jisoo remembered that moment like it was just a few minutes ago. At that moment, she could feel that funny feeling inside, those butterflies that tickled her stomach. Although it was just a simple compliment that probably didn't mean anything, but at that moment, right at that point, she let herself feel a tiny bit of happiness that she'd lost.

"It's a secret," she told Lisa, sticking out her tongue to the maknae.

"Ah, neomu nomuhe. Anyway, unnie, since you've met Bambam, what do you think? He's loud, right?"

"Very. You two make me think that only crazy Thais come to Korea."

"Me? Crazy? Unnie, you should see yourself in the mirror," Lisa suggested, while she continued drying Jisoo's hair.

Jisoo chuckled. "But it was fun. I got to see the other GOT7 members as well. Jackson is always funny, jinjja, he couldn't stop talking. And they look so close to each other. Doyoung and I got to see a different side of Jinyoung, too. When he's with s, he'd laugh so loud. His laugh will sound like Ha Ha Ha."

"I heard! Bambam told me that Jinyoung-oppa laughs without any feeling. Ha Ha Ha," Lisa tried to imitate Jinyoung. "But I can't really imagine him laugh, unnie. When I practiced with him for SBS Gayo Daejun Opening long, long ago, he was always so serious. Like the others would try to get to know each other but he was so...distant."

"When it comes to work, he's really serious. Sometimes Doyoung and I got intimidated by his professionalism," Jisoo said as she put on her foundation. "But he's actually a caring person. He does it instinctively, like the way he just unconsciously fixed Doyoung's makeup or my clothes."

"He's a lot like you, then. Unnie always takes care of us like that, too."

"He is sensitive about others. He really takes care of me and Doyoung." As Jisoo thought about Jinyoung, a smile crept onto her face.

"Oh, yeah, you told us about that time Jinyoung-oppa sent you a text after your first Inkigayo filming. I feel like he's not only sensitive, unnie. He might also have a sixth-sense, a Jisoo-radar, or something," Lisa  unnie.

"Yah, what are you talking about!" Jisoo shouted, throwing her head back to hit Lisa. The younger girl winced, holding her belly. "Unnie! Appayo!"

"I told you there's nothing between me and Jinyoung. Not...anymore," Jisoo solemnly trailed off, turning the atmosphere sour. Lisa sensed the uneasiness she caused, feeling a bit guilty for teasing her unnie too much. She continued fixing Jisoo's hair in silence while Jisoo took care of her makeup.

"Unnie, the more I think about it..," Lisa started but she didn't finish her sentence.

"Hm?"

Lisa still didn't want to continue. She turned the hairdryer off, allowing Jisoo to turn her head to look at her.

"What is it, Lisa-ya?" Jisoo asked.

"Well..umm..I just..don't understand. Even though unnie and Jinyoung-oppa can't be a couple, at least you can still be close friends, or best friends, perhaps. Why should there be a distance?"

Jisoo kept quiet for a while, although she knew the answer right away. "Well, I'm not sure what his reason is. For me, it's.."

"Ne?"

Jisoo sighed, her heart always felt heavier whenever someone else decided to bring up the topic.

"I don't want to fall deeper. He's so mysterious," Jisoo smiled, reminiscing their first meeting, "each time we get closer, I get to unveil unexpected things about him, like the way he pouted, it is seriously the cutest, and he has this 'judging look' whenever Doyoung and I bicker or do something weird out of nowhere...," Jisoo paused as she realized she had been talking non-stop. "The more I know about those different sides of him, the more I like him. So..yeah..you know."

Jisoo could see from the mirror in front of her that Lisa was smiling. "I really think unnie is the happiest when unnie talks about Jinyoung-oppa."

"Aniya, let me correct that. I'm the happiest when I'm with the people I care about. Like you!"

"Well, of course, we'll do anything to make unnie happy. But when you talk about Jinyoung, your aura changes. Unnie becomes more feminine, and sometimes you'll look down and smile at the same time because you're shy. It's so..I don't know how to say it in Korean, like...it's...um.."

"It's what?"

"Fascinating. Soft. Beautiful. Falling in love makes you even more beautiful, unnie. I really want it to continue that way." Lisa giggled, feeling giddy all of the sudden. "Though, I still love the boyish, I-don't-care-what-other-people-think-about-me unnie, and the only person who will join me to do ridiculous thing. And being mean to me! Nomuhe."

"Not mean, it's called savage, Lisa-ya," Jisoo laughed. Lisa nodded as she added, "your level of savagery is over the top," she continued.

Jisoo couldn't help but wonder if she'd had really changed. It was true that she started to prefer wearing dresses and skirts, and buying a lot of berets because fans said beret looked pretty on her. It was true that she started to pay attention to fans' opinion about her clothes and makeup, and her hairstyles. She curled her hair more because of that one time Jinyoung confessed that he liked her soft curls, and got a bit sad when Blackpink's hairstylist cut her hair shorter. Before, she wouldn't mind anything that Blackpink stylist put on her but now she'd voice out her preferences. Crazy how love could change a person.

And back then, when she had this regular phone calls with Jinyoung, she did notice that she didn't have as much burden; whenever she had a bad day, she'd call him and everything became so much better. She really missed that feeling.

"Next, I'll curl your hair!"

"Gomawo." Jisoo said after she finished drawing her eyebrows.

"Pretty unnie~" Lisa sang, taking the curling iron. Jisoo mumbled another gomawo and continued putting on makeup. They didn't talk for a while since both of them were too immersed in doing their work. 10 minutes later, Jisoo's curls were done.

"Yeppeo. Jinjja." Lisa gave Jisoo thumbs-up. "Jinyoung-oppa will surely fall in love with you, too."

Jisoo chuckled. "I wish." She stood up and opened her closet, carefully choosing the outfit she was going to wear to the gathering. The weather was cool, so maybe she still need to wear more layers. She decided to wear a white long-sleeve blouse covered with dark-colored jeans jacket and a pink pencil skirt. She turned to Lisa and asked, "how do I look?"

"Perfect!"

"Do you think the skirt is too short?" Jisoo asked, straightening out her skirt. Lisa shook her head vigorously. "No, unnie. This is perfect, you are perfect."

Lisa's words brought a smile to her face. She walked back to her dressing table to put on the last part of her makeup: lipstick. From behind, Lisa came and delicately fixed Jisoo's hair.

"Unnie, I'll be honest with you. I want to see that pretty and shy smile you have every time you're on the phone with him, every time you tell us about Jinyoung-oppa. Ever since you opened up to Jinyoung-oppa, you've been more confident in anything you do; singing, dancing, and even MC-ing."

While Jisoo listened to what Lisa told her, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"Unnie, why should you forget and let go the precious feeling you have when it had changed you into a better person?"

Jisoo remained silent. She didn't understand why everyone could notice all these things when she couldn't even figure out her mind and her heart. I guess I'm always that obvious, a bad liar.

"Be happy, unnie. Always."

~

From the outside, the bar looked similar to an old house, illuminated by a single street lamp beside it. It was located in a dark, shabby neighborhood—the only bright area around it was a convenience store just a mile away. No one would ever guess that it was a bar in the first place since it was so secluded but once you went inside, it was like entering an alternate universe. The bar only had one room, and one big table; they only served one group of guests everyday. Since the drinking ritual among office workers was a prominent South Korean culture, this bar would always be booked everyday, especially by employees that worked in entertainment industry, hence the secluded location. Actors and the staffs that worked together often came here to celebrate together or to get to know each other. The bar became well-known through word of mouth.

Jinyoung realized he was the first one among Jinjido trio to arrive as he sat down in the middle part of the long table, right in front of the PD. He took off his cap and put it in his manager's bag. He looked around. Inkigayo staffs were all already there, now they were casually chatting about work or personal matter.

For the first 10 minutes, he stayed silent, didn't know what to do. His PD was busy telling the waitress what to prepare, while his manager was already so immersed in his conversation with the staffs. Jinyoung wished Doyoung and Jisoo could come sooner so that he'd have friends to talk with.

But then again, he wouldn't know what to do if Kim Jisoo was here.

Inkigayo filming turned out better than he'd expected, since the three of them were professionals, though it didn't hide the fact that he and Jisoo were slightly awkward with each other. Doyoung had to be in the conversation for them to talk with each other, and if Doyoung wasn't around, they preferred to play with their own phones.

That awkwardness started when Jackson, Bambam, and Yugyeom visited the MC waiting room earlier in the morning. They started to self-introduced themselves and Jackson even went as far as to call Jisoo a Goddess.

And the worst of all: his disobedient mouth just had to keep telling her that she is beautiful.

Not that it was a lie, but still..

Then, after Jinjido wrapped the filming, GOT7 members crashed into MC waiting room and started to make a ruckus. Jackson couldn't stop teasing Jinyoung despite him glaring at the Hong Kong guy, and the other members continuously embarrassed themselves—him included— in front of Jisoo and Doyoung. He was only a little bit relieved when Jisoo and Doyoung's reaction was positive, they laughed along, and Doyoung even joked with them together.

But Jackson still didn't stop teasing him even after Jisoo and Doyoung left. He kept complimenting (and reminding him) that Jisoo was ethereal: beautiful was an understatement. "She has a nice personality, too. It's hard for women to fit your ideal type but if you're really gonna date one, she'd be someone similar like her," Jackson whispered to him on the way to the fan-signing event. "I think our fans will support this relationship. Trust me, they'll like Jisoo."

Sigh. Again with the unnecessary hope. But putting that aside, he had a bigger problem he had to face now. He'd be sitting with his MC partners all night and that meant he had to avoid anything that might lead to awkward situation, especially since it'd involve alcohol. He didn't want to ruin a great night, and that made him really nervous.      

"Sang-won said they would be late, Doyoungie would be late as well so we might as well start without them." The PD said while he took the menu. "Jinyoung-ah, since you're here, why don't you order something to drink?" He asked Jinyoung politely.

"Ah, ye, PD-nim, you can order first."

"When we're here, don't call me PD. We're not in the studio. Just call me hyung! Ah, also, I'll have soju. Yaedeura, order all you want!" The PD exclaimed.

"Ne!" The staffs shouted back.

Jinyoung laughed. He kind of missed this, the last time he had a get-together with the staffs he worked with was when he finished his movie, Nunbal. Though he didn't drink at that time. I guess I'll let myself loose once in a while.

"I'd like a somaek, please." Jinyoung told the waitress calmly.

The PD who sat across to him heard that. "What? Somaek? No, no! Give him a bottle of soju." The PD insisted. Jinyoung was about to politely decline by saying that he wasn't a good drinker, but the waitress had already taken the order and walked away. He mentally reminded himself not to drink too much.

"So, Jinyoung, what do you think about Inkigayo until now? Do you have any suggestions?" The PD poured soju into his shot glass and poured some to Jinyoung's. "You know ever since Jinjido starred as the new MC, Inkigayo hit daebak, our rating increases. That's why I plan this get-together. We have to celebrate this success! Especially since our MCs have been working very hard." PD-nim laughed as he raised his glass. Jinyoung and the other employees raised their glasses, ready to toast.

"Geonbae!" The loud cheer could be heard. Jinyoung, since he sat across the PD, held the glass with both hands and turned his body away from the PD, drinking in one shot. He noticed that the PD was ready to give him another round of soju but thankfully, the waitress came to prepare the grilled samgyeopsal.

Jinyoung put down his glass and talked to the PD, to distract him from pouring another glass of soju for him. "Inkigayo has a really nice concept, and every week there's a different concept. That's why it's popular, since it's not boring. We, the MCs, are just trying our best to execute the concept, that is all." He humbly responded to PD-nim's compliment.

"We really paid a lot of attention in choosing our MCs. But the first time I saw you MC-ing for M-Countdown, I know you're the one. There's something about your voice, you know. So calming. Your future girlfriend or wife will be very lucky to hear that voice everyday." The PD said, then drank another shot of soju.

"Thank you, PD-nim." To avoid the PD from giving him soju, he busied himself by grilling the samgyeopsal and distributed the cooked ones to the staffs.

"I told you, call me hyung. I'm still young, Jinyoung-ah." The PD chuckled, pouring another soju to his glass and gulped it down fast. Jinyoung thought that the PD would be drunk in another 20 or 30 minutes, if he continued to drink like this.

"But it's a bad thing. To have found three perfect MCs." The PD spoke again. Jinyoung shifted his attention from the meat to the PD.

"Bad?"

"Yes, bad. Because we, along with the audience, will have a higher expectation for the next MCs. What if the others are not as good as you three?"

"Then you can hire us for the next 3 years. Until the audience gets really sick of us." Jinyoung winked at the PD, making him laughed so loud that the other staffs turned around to find the source of noise.

"Wah, jinjja. You're always so calm, but I know there is a witty kid hidden inside you. Drink more, Jinyoung! Drink more!" PD-nim shouted, pouring soju into his and Jinyoung's glass. Both of them drank at the same time.

After two shots of soju, Jinyoung pushed himself to drink a lot of water and to stuff himself with grilled pork in order to stay sober. He could feel that he'd started to get a little bit lightheaded. His manager, on the other hand, was already drunkenly enjoying himself too much, flirting and laughing with the other staffs. Jinyoung shook his head, though he smiled, relieved that he had successfully convinced his manager not to drive so that both of them were free to drink. His only mission was to help calling a taxi and make sure that his manager would go home safely.

A few minutes later, when Jinyoung was busy eating, suddenly Doyoung came in. The excited—and already half-drunk, PD-nim pulled Doyoung to sit next to him and quickly gave him a glass of soju. Doyoung took it and drank it as soon as he sat.

"Wah, jinjja. I'm sorry for being late. It's Sunday night, the road was packed with cars." The youngest MC said. He and the PD talked for a while until he noticed that Jinyoung was only busy eating and drinking water. He then ordered a beer.

"Whae? Drink soju with me, Doyoung-ah." The PD whined, making Doyoung laughed.

"I will, I will. But when I eat, I prefer to drink beer." Doyoung said. "I'll still drink soju with you, hyung."

"Arasso, arasso."

But then Doyoung looked at Jinyoung and winked at him. Jinyoung smiled, mouthing a silent thank you to Doyoung for saving him. The maknae knew that Jinyoung wasn't an avid drinker so he ordered a beer that both of them could enjoy.

"Jinyoung-hyung, congratulations for Never Ever wins!" Doyoung gave Jinyoung a glass of beer and both of them made a toast. "I hope you're not drunk already."

"Thanks. I'm fine, but I can't keep drinking." Jinyoung laughed as he drank his beer. Doyoung, on the other hand, gulped down the entire glass.

"You're really a strong drinker. Did you drink even before you were legal to?" Jinyoung asked suspiciously. Doyoung almost choked.

"What? No, hyung! NCT and EXO members just really like to drink." Doyoung argued as he poured another beer into his glass. Jinyoung ordered another bottle of beer because he knew Doyoung wouldn't stop at one bottle.

"Jisoo-noona isn't here, yet?" Doyoung asked Jinyoung. When he wasn't drinking, his hand was busy flipping over the meat and took ones that were cooked, eating it with his rice. Jinyoung watched the entire thing as if he was watching a mukbang show.

"No, her manager told PD-nim that they're going to be late. Apparently, a lot later than you." Jinyoung answered, sneakily eyed the PD whose face was already red while talking to Doyoung's and Jinyoung's managers loudly. This PD really likes to drink, he thought.

"Hyung," Doyoung called Jinyoung, when he noticed that his hyung was paying attention to something else.

"Mwo?"

"After GAON awards last month, I feel like we've become a little bit awkward with Jisoo-noona. Especially you, hyung, it's really obvious."

Jinyoung almost choked his drink. He lowered his voice, "that obvious?"

"Of course. But you're not the only one, I feel a bit awkward, too, knowing that YG is keeping an eye on us when I've never done anything!" Doyoung continued, "I feel bad for Jisoo-noona. We're so obvious in keeping a distance. She must've felt really sad."

"That..." That's true. She must've felt alone.

"Hyung, we shouldn't keep it like this. During this gathering, we have to start acting like we used to, before YG has to come to our asses, threatening us." Doyoung declared as he raised his glass to Jinyoung. "Let's become even closer from now on. And let's become the men who can protect Jisoo-noona."

Jinyoung hesitated for a while but he raised his own beer glass and they made a toast. A man who can protect Jisoo. That's what I'm doing right now, by keeping a distance. That's right.

"Jinjido, jjai," Doyoung said.

"Jinjido jjai."

40 minutes later, there was a sound of a door opening and everyone quickly turned around. Sang-won and Jisoo came in and bowed to everyone, apologizing for being late. The drunk PD and some other drunk staffs responded by screaming. "Our princess has finally come!"

Especially the drunk PD who stood up, trying to welcome Jisoo. "Jisoo-ssi, come here. Sit beside me! We're celebrating for Inkigayo increasing rating because of Jinjido." But he couldn't walk properly anymore and stumbled upon Doyoung.

Jinyoung looked at Jisoo who didn't know what to do, while the PD was still calling her even when he couldn't bring himself to stand up straight. Jinyoung noticed her uneasiness and did one thing—the only thing that his mind could come up with: he pulled Jisoo's hand and made her sit beside him. While he did that, he signaled Doyoung to pull the PD to sit down. At first, Jinyoung and Doyoung were worried that he'd get mad but apparently the PD was too drunk to realize what was happening and let it go.

So much for keeping a distance plan. Now he had to sit beside Jisoo for the whole night.

He turned to Jisoo. "Sorry, the PD has been drinking from the start. Everyone has. So, the situation is a bit uncontrollable."

Sang-won who decided to sit between Jinyoung and his manager, whispered to him. "Thank you for saving her, Jinyoung." He nodded.

As soon as the PD sat down, he took a bottle of soju and tried to pour the liquor to Jisoo's glass. But he was so drunk that he couldn't keep his hand still, spilling the soju everywhere. Jinyoung had to hold PD's hand so that the soju was poured properly. Jisoo could only chuckled awkwardly.

"Can you handle soju, noona?" Doyoung asked Jisoo. Jisoo gave him a quick nod before she turned her body away from the PD and drank it all at once. Doyoung watched her drink and gave her a thumbs up. "Wah, noona, you look so experienced!"

Jisoo giggled. "I'm an average drinker. My limit is 4 shots maximum, or else I'll start doing stupid and random things." She then turned her head towards Jinyoung and whispered to him. "Please stop me when I'm on my third glass."

"Here, you can drink beer if soju is too strong for you." Jinyoung said warily, pouring beer into her glass. Jisoo shyly mumbled a kamsahamnida.

For a while neither of them talked, since Doyoung was in another conversation with the staffs. Jinyoung glanced to his right, finding Jisoo who silently sipped her beer as he studied her face. Even though they had known each other for quite some time, he never really paid attention to her facial features. Now that he sat painfully close next to her, he used the chance to appreciate her beauty. Her side profile was goddess-like—he wondered if she ever had a bad angle. And from the side, he could see her long eyelashes, fluttering slowly and elegantly as she blinked. His eyes then moved to her pink lips and he swallowed hard when she slightly them, the lingering taste of beer on her lips.

She was beautiful, and this was the third time of the day he thought about it.

, Jinyoung mentally cursed himself, realizing that the effect of alcohol had started to kick in. It didn't help when PD-nim asked the complete team of Jinjido to toast with him. He raised his soju-filled glass and took it all in one shot, and there goes my third shot. Jinyoung clenched his eyes shut, trying to control himself.

This is bad, I really am not a good drinker. If I keep doing it like this, I—

"Are you okay, Jinyoung-ssi?"

Suddenly, a small hand touched his arm softly, followed by a worried voice, asking him. Jinyoung had to control himself not to grimace.

"I'm fine. Just a bit light-headed."

Jisoo giggled. "You really have a low alcohol tolerance, Jinyoung-ssi. How many shots have you had?"

"I've had three. Though my limit is 5-6 shots, but I haven't been drinking lately so.."

Doyoung heard that and joined the conversation. "Hyung, 5-6 shots? Isn't it too low? Suho-hyung could drink two bottles of soju in one go." He stopped to sip his beer. "By the way, hyung, do you have any drunk habit?" he asked as he smiled, feeling a bit tipsy himself.

Jinyoung thought about it for a moment, recalling his drunk moments when GOT7 members were having a get-together. He unconsciously smiled remembering those times. "Drunk Jinyoung is the worst. I saw one of the video that my member took, I would do grandpa dance," Jisoo and Doyoung laughed since they were very familiar with Jinyoung's grandpa dance, "and I will blurt out things that come up in my mind. Like I can't really differentiate if I'm saying it out loud or just thinking about it."

"Thinking out loud? That's interesting." Doyoung added.

"Yeah, I'm not very fond of that habit, th—" Jinyoung paused when he suddenly caught a glimpse of Jisoo's short skirt. He looked straight at Jisoo's eyes, who were also looking at him. "Jisoo, isn't your skirt too short?" Jinyoung suddenly scolded her. Jisoo turned to look at Doyoung who had the same shock expression as her, but then he cracked up. Jinyoung, on the other hand, was still unaware of his tipsy self. He took off his black blazer and gave it to Jisoo.

"You know there will be a lot of men here, right? You shouldn't have come here with such a short skirt." Jinyoung frowned as he continued to scold her.

Jisoo was dumbfounded—the way he scolded her was just like a boyfriend who scolded his girlfriend. She felt warmth rushing to her cheeks as she took Jinyoung's blazer and put it carefully on her lap to cover the exposed skin. Across them, Doyoung was having the time of his life, amused by the sight of couple in front of him.

"Wah, hyung, I don't know the effect would be that fast."

She looked away, secretly smiling. Her heart was beating like crazy and she had to take a deep breath to calm herself. What just happened? And on top of it all, Jinyoung was still unaware of what he just did. Is he really drunk? And he said he'd blurt things that he is thinking about so he... Jisoo touched her cheek, feeling the rushing heat was back, spreading to her neck.

The trio went on as they got so immersed in their own conversation, catching up with each other's lives since they didn't get to meet for two weeks. It had only been two months since they became friends but the way they chatted so naturally convinced people around them that they'd known each other for a long time—although alcohol might play a role in this. The entire time, Jisoo's eyes were glued at Jinyoung, whilst the alcohol-induced Jinyoung was unaware that he sat closer and closer to Jisoo, occasionally looking at her with admiration—temporarily forgot that he'd decided to distance himself from her. In front of them, Doyoung was just having fun drinking and eating meat, enjoying the life of a third-wheel.

"If I think of JYPE as a book genre, it'd be a romance novel. JYPE artists are so pretty and handsome, they look like characters from romance story. And I heard from sajangnim, JYP is really a romantic person," Jisoo told Jinyoung and Doyoung, but her eyes were still glued on Jinyoung and her dreamy smile was still plastered on her face.

"What about SM, noona?" Doyoung asked, trying to catch Jisoo's attention.

"SM? Let me think about it," she paused before she gasped, brightened up, "SM is like a fairy-tale storybook, the one we read to the kids. Because SM artists are like princes and princesses, very charming. And SM music is appealing to everyone, almost like the standard of every KPOP music, an important part of K-Pop."

"Well, since I don't read a lot, I can only think of one thing. YG is like a mystery novel. I don't know what is happening there," Doyoung joked. Jisoo sent a death glare, which he, in turn, just laughed it off. "So, hyung, what do you think of YG?" Doyoung asked Jinyoung.

"YG," Jinyoung started, "is like a fiction novel. You have all kinds of amazing people there. Almost magical, you know. Something new and revolutionary always come from YG, mind-blowing. The Harry Potter of K-Pop."

"Harry Potter? I don't know you read Harry Potter?" Jisoo asked him.

"I don't. But I watched all the movies," Jinyoung said, "I love it."

"Me, too! Which one of the series that you like the most?" At this point, both Jisoo tilted her head to fully look at him, feeling the rush of excitement to talk about Harry Potter.

Jinyoung saw her looking and smiling at him, just like usual. That heart-shaped smile reserved only for him, complemented with her soft and dreamy eyes. It always captivated him, and he smiled back at her, unconsciously unaware that he was leaning closer to her.

If only..

"Well, hello, I'm here. Please don't talk about it when I'm still here," Doyoung butted in before the two bookworms started a conversation he wouldn't understand.

They didn't notice that a staff had been observing them, especially Jinyoung and Jisoo, until the bomb was dropped.

"So, how long have you two been dating?"

BOOM.

It took Jisoo and Jinyoung several seconds to process before they answered the question in panic.

"We are not.."

"..not dating," Both Jinyoung and Jisoo answered at the same time.

"Are you sure? There is this between the both of you ever since Jisoo-ssi arrived. During Inkigayo filming as well. I thought, ah this two must be dating. Come on, tell us the truth! We've known some other idol couples, too," the staff said.

"No, we are not," Jinyoung said, trying to stop the other staffs who had started teasing them.

"For real?"

"Just date, already!"

"I know you like each other. And I'll tell you this, my gut feeling is never wrong. And honestly, you guys look so good together," a staff named Byung-hoon said, "or maybe you dated before and then broke up?"

"No, we never date, Byung-hoon-ssi," Jisoo answered, as she faked a smile. She never knew that it'd be really painful to say it. Jinyoung beside her shook his head.

The drunk PD added more fuel to the fire, shouting so loud and pointing his finger at Jisoo and Jinyoung. "Nonsense! We have a couple right here! Now, do the love shot!" Sang-won who heard that quickly shot the PD down but the drunk PD got mad instead.

"PD-nim, they're not dating. They shouldn't be doing it," She said, looking at Jisoo who had a worried look.

"Sang-won-ssi, it's just a love shot. What's wrong with that? LOVE SHOT!"

"Love shot! Love shot! Love shot!" the other drunk or tipsy staffs were now cheering for Jisoo and Jinyoung to do the love shot.

Jinyoung looked at Doyoung who had a worried look on his face. "What should I do?" Jinyoung mouthed the words to Doyoung but the maknae could only shrug. He then turned to Jisoo, who was already blushing madly. "Jinyoung-ssi, is it alright if we do it?" She asked him carefully.

"Are you okay with it?" He whispered, as he looked at her worriedly. And he expected her to look uncomfortable but it was nowhere to be found. Instead, she looked down and smiled shyly—he witnessed how her cheeks gradually flushed.

, Jinyoung mentally cursed himself, why are you so easily affected when it comes to her?

"It's...it's just a love shot."

One of the staffs prepared two glasses of beer and put them in front of Jinyoung and Jisoo, and they took it. Before they did the love shot, they stared at each other, wondering why they could be trapped in this situation.

Both of them entwined their right hands together and drank the beer in one go.

But, dear God, It was not just a love shot.

Their faces were only a few inches apart, and as they emptied the beer, they had to raised their heads and moved closer. Jinyoung swore he could hear his heart beating so loud and he was scared that she could hear it.

Little did he know, she was scared of the same thing.

In the midst of their love shot, both of them opened their eyes at the same time, instantly having a staring contest. She stared back at his sharp gaze that pierced her soul, the mysterious gaze the she had very much adore, though the same mysterious gaze had pained her.

Their close proximity affected him more than he thought. He saw her alluring gaze; she was just like a Goddess who tried to tempt his heart. That soft and kind look on her face had always made him question his determination and left him disoriented countless of times.

Jisoo effect. He really missed her.

Even after they were done, they were still captivated by each other's gaze. At that moment, all Jinyoung could see was her beautiful face, and he couldn't hear the loud cheer coming from the rest of the people—he could only hear Jackson's voice telling him once again, when you love someone, it just happens. The conflicts between his mind and heart emerged, but this time he knew which one had won.

Tell me, Jisoo. What should I do? What should I do now that I've fallen in love with you?

~

"You okay, Doyoung?" Jisoo saw Jinyoung asking Doyoung who had his head rested on the table. His continuous drinking contest with the PD ended and he had come victorious but now he had suffered an intense headache. The PD on the other hand was already lying down, red all over his body. One of the staff who didn't drink was getting ready to the PD home.

"I'm extremely dizzy. Damn, I'll wake up hangover tomorrow morning, this is bad," Doyoung replied, completely able to understand others and reply them despite drinking so much. His self control had amazed all people in the gathering.

"How come you're not drunk, Doyoungie? Our maknae is jinjja daebak," Jisoo giggled, "don't you think so, Jinyoung-ah?" She turned her head to look at Jinyoung but he didn't bother to do the same thing before he answered shortly, "yeah."

Jisoo silently sighed.

Everyone was doing their own businesses—Inkigayo staffs were talking non-stop with each other, taking this gathering as a chance for team-bonding; Jinyoung and Doyoung's respective managers were still having a great time drinking and laughing, completely unaware of their surroundings; Her manager, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found, but apparently she was having an important phone call with someone from the company.

While Jinyoung did nothing but avoiding her.

After their accidental love shot, Jinyoung avoided her for the rest of the night. He just silently drank his beer and ate grilled meat, or occasionally talked with the staffs who started a conversation with him. But never once he turned his head to look at her, or spoke with her, especially since Doyoung was too busy entertaining the PD.

She didn't know that it'd turn out like this. If she knew, she wouldn't do it, even though others forced her to. She never really thought about the love shot as anything, it was only for fun. But the change in Jinyoung's behavior gave the assumption that he didn't like it—that he regretted it.

Jisoo didn't know what to feel. Honestly, GAON was enough of a heartbreak.

"Doyoung, I saw a convenience store around here. I'll buy a cup of milk for you, if you like," she said. She didn't notice that Jinyoung quickly turned his head towards her.

"Ah, noona, if it isn't too troublesome for you, I'd like that very much," he replied, still resting his head on the table.

Jisoo took her purse and was about to stand up when suddenly a hand grabbed her forearm. It was Jinyoung.

"You're going to the convenience store alone?"

That took her by surprise, that boyfriend scolding his girlfriend tone came back.

"Yes," she said as she nodded. Jinyoung frowned deeper.

"No, I'll go with you," but it sounded more like a command. He took his cap from his manager's bag and put it on. When Jinyoung realized that Jisoo was looking at him with puzzled expression, he softened his voice but still firmly said, "it's late and it's dark outside. There are no people on the street. I would never let you go alone."

Jisoo widened her eyes. The entire time she was there, he didn't even want to look at her but now he was acting like he cared. But she didn't complain and gave him his blazer that was used to cover her legs. Both of them walked out of the bar.

~

Cold night air breezed, making her tighten her jeans jacket. She didn't realize that the weather was cooler than she'd expected so now she kind of regretted her choice of outfit. Her legs were cold but she had to endure it as she strolled down the dark neighborhood.

But the weather wasn't the only cold thing around her.

"Hey."

Jinyoung, walking two steps behind her, called her coldly. Jisoo held her breath, trying to calm herself from the disappointment that had been lurking inside her. She had to admit that it made her upset.

She stopped walking and turned around. "Ne?"

"You must be cold. Here, you can take my blazer," he took off his blazer and gave it to her. Jisoo shook her head vigorously but he still insisted.

"It's fine. I'm fine," she raised her voice a little bit, "you should wear that otherwise you'd be cold, too." Jisoo began walking again.

He caught it. "Are you angry?"

"What? No."

The man who was two steps behind her started to walk faster, catching up with her pace.

"I've never heard you talk like this. Did I—" but then Jinyoung paused as if he'd known, "did I do something wrong?"

As soon as she heard that, she stopped walking, pinching her arm so that she wouldn't cry, "Park Jinyoung-ssi, I'm fine. Really. Just don't act like you're actually care. You've been avoiding me ever since we—" she paused to catch her breath, "since we did that love shot. I mean, if you really hate it than you should just refuse to do it at first hand. It's not like I'd be offended or anything."

Jinyoung stood there with his mouth agape and his eyes wide. When Jisoo heard nothing coming from his mouth, she left, continued walking with a heavy heart. She blinked several times to stop tears from falling down. She refused to look vulnerable in front of him.

Both of them walked in silence. A few minutes later, they reached their destination.

Even when they shopped, they still didn't talk to each other. Not until they reached the cashier to pay for the stuffs.

"I'll pay," Jinyoung said softly.

Inside her mind, she wanted to decline but she was too tired to argue so she just let him do it.

"Please give me a plastic bag," he told the cashier, "thank you."

They walked back again in silence. This time they were walking together, just with a wide gap between each other. Jisoo heaved a sigh, feeling bad that she had turned the atmosphere sour. She was about to apologize but—

"I'm sorry," Jinyoung suddenly said, "I didn't mean to avoid or ignore you. I'm sorry."

Jisoo was about to respond but Jinyoung continued, "There is no excuse for ignoring you, I have no excuse, I can't even think of one. The reason I did what I did is not only because of the love shot."

"Then why?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to look at him.

"This whole get-together is the reason. Sitting beside you is the reason. Talking with you all night is the reason," he replied.

"Everything made me realize something that had been there the whole time," he continued. Both of them stopped walking, facing each other.

"I don't understand."

"I've missed everything about it, okay?" he blurted out, "talking to you, sharing everything to you, looking at you. The past two weeks had been hard for me, hell, ever since we stopped contacting each other, it felt like ," he stopped, ruffling his hair in frustration.

"Then why did you stop? Why did you even start the whole avoiding thing?" Jisoo started to get frustrated as well, as she mentioned the start of all the mess: GAON. "Is it a wrong thing for us to be friends?"

Jinyoung let out a deep sigh. "You won't understand." We won't stop at the word 'friends', Jisoo, I won't stop.

"Then make me. I've gotten used to share everything to you and suddenly you're gone. You don't know how it feels like—"

"I do, I know how it feels like."

Jisoo had to bite her trembling lips, and she looked away so that Jinyoung wouldn't see her tears.

"It's lonely. I was really alone. Please come back."

"I'm sorry," he apologized again.

Silence. Both of them took time to calm themselves from the emotion that had been flooding inside their chest.

Jinyoung glanced at her. Jisoo was looking down, and if he wasn't mistaken, he saw a glint of tears in her eyes.

This isn't it, he thought. He had tried hard to keep a distance, to kill the hope that had been blossoming inside their hearts. He did it to protect her, and to protect himself, too, but the proof in front of him showed that it wasn't the case. Instead of protecting her, he'd been hurting her, and that was the last thing he wanted.

You believe in fate, let's see what fate has in store for you two, Jinyoung remembered what Jackson said about him and Jisoo. This time he really had to admit this: just like how they intertwined their hands during their love shot, their fate had crossed. It was sealed. There was no way out, no matter how hard he tried to run away.

Suddenly, he did what his sober self would never dare to do.  it all, he thought. Jinyoung stepped closer to Jisoo and pulled her into his arms. He felt her tense from the shock, but she didn't push him away—her hands gripped his blazer tight, instead.

They stayed like that for a long time. In the middle of the street, in the dark of midnight, they let emotion took control of their logic and it blew their minds how much they had wished to hold each other like this. Just for a few minutes, a short, short five minutes, they wanted to forget about the past and the future, and live in that moment. Forget about the worries, about the burden of being an idol, about scandals and rumors.

After a while, Jinyoung could feel that Jisoo was no longer tense, and gradually leaned into his chest.

"I miss you," he finally said it. "I'm sorry. I miss you, Jisoo."

He knew his drunk self played a role in the entire scene, his sober self wouldn't even try to come close. But he really need to be honest, for once.

"I've told you when I'm drunk, I blurt things out. But everything that comes from my mouth right now is the truth. Even now, I'm only 50% sober and I honestly don't know what I'm talking about. I'm sorry. That's all I can say. I've caused enough trouble, I've—"

"I miss you, too," she stopped him from blabbering any further, still burying her face in his chest. She circled her arms around Jinyoung's waist, leaning closer to him.

What a relief.

~

You waited so long, I'm so sorry
Now I made up my mind, are you ready?
I was lost for such a long time
But don't worry now, I won't ever leave again

The clearer it got (I missed you girl)
I keep thinking about it the way you looked at me
Baby you belong to me

-Never Ever, GOT7

It was almost 3AM in the morning and everyone was worn out. Doyoung was already escorted back home with his manager, before he went home, he had to run to the toilet to throw up. But he came out feeling better.

Jinyoung had to call the taxi, and he had to help his drunk manager home before he could go home.

"Be careful," Jisoo told him before he went inside the taxi. Jinyoung smiled at her reassuringly, "I'll be fine."

"Text me when you get home?" she asked him.

"Okay."

He looked at her for a long time, taking all the time he got to save her face in his brain before not meeting each other for a week. Jisoo's face looked obviously tired but the smile never left her face.

"I'll call you," he finally said before he closed the door.

After Jinyoung left, Jisoo went inside the van. Sang-won was still outside, talking with one of the staffs that she was close with. Jisoo took the time to calm herself, but the memory of him hugging her was still so fresh in her mind and her heart beat even faster.

Ottoke..

It was almost magical. Apologizing to each other had mended the awkward relationship between them. They went back to normal. Once they'd delivered Doyoung's milk, they went outside the bar to talk some more, catching up with all the things that they had missed.

She was so happy. And it was not like he confessed to her or anything; it was just them ending the awkwardness between them. But the feeling she had right now was almost as if she had become his girlfriend.

"Why are you smiling like that? What is happening? Are you drunk?" Jisoo didn't realize that manager-unnie had come inside the car, preparing to go home.

"Nothing, unnie," she said.

"I'm honestly tired. Like I have to quickly send you home because I need to sleep all day," Sang-won mumbled to herself. "But the gathering was fun, minus the revelation of PD's drinking habit. I'm getting tired of witnessing all those PDs getting drunk and all."

"Unnie," Jisoo called her manager.

"Hm?"

"I can't let go this feeling. I really love him."

"Wha—, why so suddenly?"

Jisoo began crying. "Unnie, ottoke? I'm so happy. I really want to be with Jinyoung."

"This is the first time I feel this overwhelming happiness."

Sang-won stole a quick glance at the girl who was crying and smiling at the same time. Her heart melted at the sight of a pure innocence.

"I'm sorry, unnie. I know this is wrong," Jisoo sobbed.

"Aniya, stop crying like a child. What are you saying? Falling in love is never wrong," Sang-won replied. She took Jisoo's hand and squeezed it softly to comfort the crying girl. The girl who rarely cried, was now crying out of happiness.

"I mean, I tried. I tried to keep it to myself. But it made me sad, seeing him being so far away—I can't. I don't want it to happen again."

"I see."

"Unnie, will it be alright? Can I even do this? Am I allowed to feel this happy? What if something came up again, just like the last time?" Jisoo tried hard to wipe the tears that kept falling.

"No, this time it'd be alright," Sang-won made up her mind, "don't worry."

"Is it alright to keep dreaming?"

Sang-won paused to take a deep breath.

"As long as you're happy."

--------

Finally. This long, looong chapter.

I'm sorry for the long update because life happens. My summer holiday ended, and my uni life had started so I won't be able to update often. And I have a part-time job every day, so..by the time I come back home, I'm too tired to even daydream. I can only resume writing during weekend. That's why I write a long chapter, because maybe the next time I update, it'd be next month or next two months..

{EDIT}

For those who wait for my story update, thank you so much! I really like writing—it's my only consolation in the midst of this busy, bitter reality, but sometimes life comes at you in the face. But in the end, I will always come back to writing. I'll definitely finish this story, as a matter of fact, I have made the outlines for the story and I just need to add details here and there. The editing process always takes me longer because I'm such a perfectionist amateur, lol.

By the way, I forgot to tell you this but I've also been distracted by GOT7 lately! Their comeback is superb, and though I can't really support them in any way other than streaming youtube, I'm really happy for the fandom. It's an amazing experience, especially since I just made a twitter account. This is the first time I join the hype! It's amazing!

Again, thank you for the support! I am thinking of writing another story but another part of me want to finish this story first for you guys, and also for my personal achievement!!!

Hope you enjoy my story! As for fun facts, there are so many! Here goes:

1. I wrote this chapter based on Jaebum's words in his and Youngjae's Liev on V-Live. He said that Jinyoung was having a gathering in a program which he was the MC. And at that time of the Liev, it was already 10pm so I set the story in a bar. Also, the conversation I wrote is real, I only added some explanations to their words.

2. If you notice, Jisoo always come on V-Live every Sunday. And she is always in a good mood. I wonder.. Her most cheerful V-Live was on Sunday, April 30th and at that time Heechul replaced Doyoung as a special MC. So she only got to meet Jinyoung on that day. And they exchanged books! Jinyoung went home from Inkigayo with lots of books in his hands!

Before she went to the gathering (perhaps), she really went online on V-Live with Lisa!

3. Suho can really drink 2 bottle of soju in one go, lol. I read an article about it. It's amazing, I think because I've drunk soju before and I really hate how strong it is, and it is so bitter. I think whiskey will taste better.

4. Inkigayo sandwich is really famous, irl. I actually want to try one someday, I heard it'd be sold in convenience store.

5. Both Jisoo and Jinyoung love Harry Potter! But there is no information if they read it, too. All I know, Jinyoung watched all the 8 films, and Jisoo once said that she liked Harry Potter.