Jongin 7:53 pm

Come find me.

Jennie furrowed her brow at the simple message. It was hard to tell if it was meant to be as demanding as it sounded, but Jennie knew better than to question such an out of character action from her boyfriend. Throughout their months of dating, she knew he was not the most demanding guy. A bit clingy, yes. But pushy or aggressive was out of his vocabulary. She locked her phone, proceeding to slide off the leather couch in her Music Core dressing room.

“I’m going to wander a bit,” Jennie announced to the staff in the room.

Her stylist raised her eyebrow. “Where are you off to?”

Jennie gave her a knowing look. “I need to take care of something before I go back to the dorm.”

Her stylist gave a small smile. She knew. Her makeup artist knew. Her manager knew. Everyone knew. Jennie wasn’t good at keeping secrets and she had felt bad about lying to her loyal staff. Most of them had been with her since her trainee days and it felt like she was misleading her own family.

“Okay. I’ll keep your manager stalled.” Her stylist promised her, patting the tiny brunette shoulder.

Jennie gave an appreciative smile before disappearing out of the room. The halls were a bit busy with mostly rookie idols scampering around, greeting one another. Jennie admired them, flashing back to her own debut days. The stress of trying the make a name for not only yourself but your group accompanied by the anxiety of not being good enough. It’s a stressful time, but it was also a simpler time.

Her phone buzzed in her hand.

Jongin 7:59 pm

Are you coming? I really want to see you.

Jennie tapped out her response.

Jennie 7:59 pm

Where?

Jongin 8:00 pm

Room 4 on the west hallway

She slipped her phone into the pocket of the hoodie she had put on earlier. She walked in the direction that Jongin told her to, pausing to politely bow to idols along the way. Making eye contact with seniors, she wondered if they knew what she was up to. All idols have had their fair share of secretive love affairs. She was by no means special in that area, but she still felt self-conscious.

In a corner, she noticed one brave idol couple holding hands, their faces close as they whispered amongst themselves. She caught herself gawking at them, blinded by their fearlessness. It wasn’t that the backstage of music shows weren't a safe space for idols or their personal lives, it was just rare that two of them would be so bold. What if staff from another company got brave and exposed them? Even though most staff members and idols swore to unspoken secrecy, there is always one rotten apple amongst the bunch.

Luckily, both her and Jongin had the same opinion on PDA. Jongin was always too touchy to be affectionate in public. He would get bashful if there were people around.

One time, while at her dorm, she had given him a back hug in the Blackpink kitchen. He chuckled at her clinginess, a product of her being tired.

“Why don’t we take a nap?” He suggested, glancing back at her. The microwave beeped, signaling that the popcorn was ready.

“I thought we were going to watch a movie?” Jennie grumbled into his back. He always smelt so good.