It was another boring awards show after party, this time being hosted by one of the senior SM groups that Jennie had not bothered to remember. They were usually held in private clubs in hotels without any knowledge of the media and were a chance for idols to interact with, or as she called it, hook up with each other. During their first year they seemed to fascinate her a lot since YG had kept them very sheltered but now they were all the same, monotonous and passed by in a blur.

When they had debuted the girls felt very isolated at these kind of events as no one approached them because they had a preconceived notion of them as cold and chic due to their image and the fact that they were from YG. So they just used to sit at a table and sip wine amongst themselves and chat as some of their friends from trainee days stopped by occasionally to say hi.

Jennie was and still is a major victim of that misconception. Her shyness was more often than not mistaken as her being cold and haughty with her being nicknamed as ‘ice princess’ amongst all the YG trainees before she had debuted and things didn’t change that much after debut. She may have not pay much attention to gossip but she could tell what fellow idols thought of her.

People usually tended to avoid her at these kind of events and the only times they came to talk to her was to either fish for information about her company or flirt with her after consuming some liquid courage. She had to politely turn down all advances and prevent herself from doing something rude like rolling her eyes or laughing at their faces seeing how flustered she made people.

If there was one thing that Jennie was aware of, it was her beauty and charisma. She knew about the power she held over both men and women and used it to her advantage when it came to situations like these. Seeing all these male idols being all cool onstage and tripping over their words trying to speak to her backstage amused her greatly.

But she wasn’t interested in anyone, atleast not for the time being. Although their dating ban was not enforced like YG had people think but Jennie felt like she owed it to herself and her members to stay out of trouble. She had debuted after training for 6 years and she’d dare not risk it all for a boy. So as she turned down any potential suitors for herself, her icy glares and intimidating aura also batted away any idols looking at her group members the wrong way.

When they had just debuted a female senior had advised them to be alert of male idols, especially the ones belonging to older groups. And Jennie had witnessed that first hand today.

She had stepped out of the ladies room after fixing her red tube top and smoothed out her black leather skirt. She was just heading back to the table where her members were sat when her path was intercepted by a tall figure, she glanced up and realized that it was an idol from a senior group - Siwon from Super Junior. So to be respectful she bowed at him and when she looked up she could see his eyes wandering around her chest instead of her face, trying to sneak a peek down her top. Men.

She inwardly rolled her eyes and tried to get past him but he intercepted her path once more and as he stepped closer she realized he was reeking of alcohol.

“Excuse me sunbae-nim-” she said gritting her teeth, forcing herself to be polite and respectful as she tried to get past him again.

That’s just the way the industry worked. Seniority over everything and she knew that if she acted recklessly and it came down to picking sides it would always be his word over hers.

“Jennie-ssi, you’re looking extremely gorgeous tonight,” he said, his speech slightly slurred.

“Thank you sunbae-nim but I have to get back to my members, they’re waiting for me.” She pleaded, trying to get past again.

“Oh but what’s the hurry? I was thinking that we could chat for a bit.” It rolled off his tongue lazily and his hand came to rest on her bare shoulder caressing it.

That was it. That was the final straw. Jennie was about to step on his expensive, shiny shoes with the heel of her Saint Laurent knee length boots but a tall figure suddenly appeared in front of her as her savior.

“Oh Jennie-ssi, there you are. I’ve been looking all over the place for you.” He said, gently pushing past Siwon and heading to her side.

Jennie furrowed her eyebrows at the younger male idol, perplexed and pointed to herself with her index finger before saying, “me?”

“Yes, you. Your unnie is looking for you.” He said, cocking his head to the side and that’s when the pieces clicked in her head.

He had seen her distress and swooped in to save her like a knight in shining armor. Jennie bit her bottom lip to stop the smile that was threatening to break on her face.

“Oh hyung, you’re here too.” He turned to an irritated looking Siwon now, finally acknowledging his presence. “Donghae hyung was looking for you at the bar by the way.” The lie rolled off his tongue.

“Oh really?” Siwon asked.

“Yes, now if you’ll excuse us I need to take Jennie-sshi with me.” He held his hand out for her and looked into her eyes silently asking her if she trusted him.

One look at the sincerity in his eyes and that was all it took for her to place her small hand in his much bigger one, his palm warm against her as he entwined their fingers together.

“Have a great night hyung.” He waved to Siwon and dragged Jennie past him and through the club, nearing the exit now.

“Where are we going? Wasn’t Jisoo unnie looking for me?” Jennie asked, but it was more out of curiosity than alarm.

As weird as it was she felt like she could trust him. She felt safe with him.

“She wasn’t, it was a lie and you’ll see.” He answered without looking back at her and led her down a corridor and up a flight of steps before yanking a door open and pulling her inside.

They were on the rooftop.

He finally let her hand go and Jennie felt herself internally whine at the loss of physical contact as she walked up to the railing, with him following behind.

She took in the gorgeous night view infront of her and finally let out the breath she had been holding, inhaling the crisp night air deeply. She felt so trapped and helpless back there, like she couldn’t breathe and to her, he was a breath of fresh air.

“Thank you so much Ka