“You’re really not going to say anything about it?” Jennie asked, surprised.

 

Aw, is the party over? I wanted to see the aftermath!! What, did Hoseok immediately get stopped by a bunch of his idol friends when he was about to go back to Jisoo, preventing him from seeing her for almost the rest of the night? And the same with Jisoo? Boring!

 

Well, the two did have the chance to, at least, say goodbye. Hoseok apologized to Jisoo for not seeing her but he, like her, got backed up by drunken pals. Jisoo was alright with it; she really needed time to process that kiss. That long, surprisingly great kiss. Jisoo noticed how Hoseok seemed to be back in the awkward stage when they were saying their goodbyes. She doesn’t blame him. Honestly, if she didn’t swig two shots while he was gone, she would’ve been the same.

 

It was the next morning, and only three-fourths of BLACKPINK were awake by 9 a.m. I’m guessing you know which member is currently passed out.

 

Jisoo shrugged, “I mean, I could, but I’m still not completely aware of,”

 

“How definitely into it you were?” Jennie interrupted.

 

Chaeyoung nudged the rapper, “Shhh, don’t be rude!” She then whispered, “Even if it’s true.”

 

“I knew we shouldn’t have followed protocol,” Jisoo crossed her arms in a huff. “I better get my goddamn fried chicken.”

 

“He says just to name when you want them and he’ll send them your way.” Jennie commented.

 

“But unnie, do you mean that you’re still processing it?” Chaeyoung asked kindly.

 

“I suppose,” Jisoo muttered, then sighed, “I thought it would be better since we didn’t see each other the rest of the night, but once I saw him again, I was just as overwhelmed.”

 

“Honestly, it might have been because of the hoopla happening around you.” Jennie said.

 

“Hoopla? How do you know that word?” Chaeyoung asked, distracted.

 

“I watched Spongebob in New Zealand, silly.”

 

“I love that episode.”

 

“Losing focus, girls,” Jisoo brought the two back to reality, “Am I overthinking it?”

 

“Yes.” The two replied in unison.

 

“But you do have a right to be confused,” Jennie explained, “You are in quite the, uh, odd situation. If you were actually with him, your confusion wouldn’t make much sense.”

 

“You know, Hoseok reminded me that the plan was originally to break up after this.” Jisoo said.

 

“And how do you feel about that?” Chaeyoung asked.

 

She shrugged, “Kinda iffy? I think it’s mostly because I wanted to go to one of the prestigious gatherings beforehand.”

 

“He was probably just being polite,” Jennie told the eldest, “I’m sure he wants to go to one of those too. He’s only gone to like… two of them despite being a member of BTS.”

 

“He said he’s always around during the parties.”

 

“Sure, when they’re at the dorm. Which is more common than you think.” Jennie responded, “He did date an idol, remember?”

 

“Who?” Chaeyoung was now straying from the topic yet again.

 

“I’m not saying… with Jisoo here.”

 

Jisoo groaned, “Just tell me! It’s not like it’s a big deal.”

 

“Oh,” Chaeyoung covered , “I remember now.”

 

Jisoo noticed Chaeyoung’s change in tone, her friend seeming quite, “What’s with the sad tone?”

 

Chaeyoung and Jennie exchanged glances, until Jennie said, “He was essentially used by a female idol to get into the parties.”

 

Wait… isn’t that what Jisoo is kind of doing now?

 

“Oh god I’m a terrible person,” Jisoo said under her breath, mortified, “Why am I doing this then?!”

 

“Yah, calm down!” Jennie held her friend by the shoulders, “Your situation and the one with Hyojung are totally different.”

 

“Hyojung? From Oh My Girl?”

 

Chaeyoung hit Jennie’s arm, “Look what you did! You accidentally said it!”

 

“It just came out, I’m sorry!”

 

“I did see her at the party last night,” Jisoo pondered, “And I never saw Hoseok go near the areas any Oh My Girl members were at.”

 

“Look, I only know about the situation because of Lisa. And Lisa knows because of Taehyung. It’s on the big down low.” Jennie said, “It’s not a known thing.”

 

Damn, that ! No wonder Hoseok has had a hard time finding someone… he got cheated by Hyojung (sorry girl I had to use someone). Hoseok doesn’t have great luck with the ladies, it seems. That’s pretty sad, and now Jisoo feels even worse! Maybe she should end it for Hoseok’s sake. She doesn’t want to make him go through with all of this if it’s a constant reminder of what happened.

 

Or she could, like the adult she is, talk to him about it. That doesn’t hurt, right? Anyways, if he is alright with keeping up the act, their talk will help them bond and help with the façade even more! Good thinking, myself. Or… Jisoo? I don’t know who’s thinking this.

 

Jisoo was about to say something, but the conversation was cut once the maknae opened her bedroom door with a loud yawn. “Look who finally decided to wake up.” Jennie joked.

 

“Time?” Lisa asked quietly, her head clearly aching.

 

“Too late for you to be waking up at this time.”

 

Lisa rolled her eyes, “Give me a break, we all had a fun night!”

 

“If you can even remember it,” Chaeyoung mumbled.

 

“What, you’re still embarrassed by that?” Lisa responded, grabbing a glass of water.

 

“By… what?” Jisoo has now entered the conversation.

 

“Lisa teased Yugyeom to the point where he retreated.” Chaeyoung answered, frowning.

 

“Bruhhh,” Jennie groaned, turning to Lisa, “Why you gotta ruin our friend’s new relationship?”

 

The youngest placed her palm on her forehead, eyes closed. Is she alright? Is it the headache? She then sighed, “Look, I don’t remember all of it, but it wasn’t that bad!... I think?”

 

“You asked Yugyeom if he had a ghost writer and made fun of his writing!” Chaeyoung retorted, clearly frustrated.

 

“Owwwieee,” Lisa flinched, then rubbed her temples, “Cool it, Rosie! I was just trying to poke fun at your new boy toy…”

 

“And he straight up left after that?” Jisoo asked, confused. She really missed a lot last night, huh?

 

Rosé crossed her arms, “Sort of. He left for a few moments, came back and apologized. But after he seemed really off. Then he disappeared again and then Jungkook apologized for him and said Yugyeom wasn’t feeling well… I texted Yugyeom this morning and he said he’s feeling better, and at least he wants to make up for it.”

 

“Aw, so I helped!” Lisa joked (which was not a good idea based on the response).

 

“No, you made it worse!”

 

“Alright, let’s calm it down a bit, ladies,” Jennie said, “I think we can all agree last night was a typical messy ISAC Planning Committee. Thankfully the next one will be better.”

 

And it clearly won’t be for at least a month, which gives our fake couple time to prepare!... If they even want to still do it. Jisoo zoned out for the rest of the conversation, thinking about how to contact Hoseok without seeming like a wimp. Now whenever she thinks of him, it’s just their kiss that plays through her mind! Which makes sense since it happened less than twelve hours ago. She hopes that it’ll pass.

 

Hoseok, on the other hand, is really fearing next time they meet. At least Jisoo just feels awkward. Hoseok gets anxious just thinking about how their next meeting will go!

 

After that kiss last night, Hoseok has been… kind of tweaking. He feels bad because he feels like Jisoo just felt obligated to do the kiss, he’s nervous that he ruined the kiss, he’s excited because he liked the kiss, and he’s dying inside because,

 

“You’re coming… next weekend?” Hoseok asked, on the phone.

 

“Yeah! Sangchul and I are excited to meet your new girl, dude! It’s been so long!” Donghyun replied.

 

Hoseok sighed, now worrying about this new (and unplanned) event, “You know she, uh, might be busy, right?”

 

“We were hoping that it worked out since it’s kind of the lull between the year end shows.” Damn it, he’s right. Is the timeline right, though?

 

“Ah, good thinking,” Hoseok rolled his eyes, “I-I can see if she’s free sometime this weekend…” If they’re even keeping up the façade, that is.

 

After a few more minutes, Hoseok said his goodbyes to his childhood friend and hung up with a groan. Just what he wanted: another thing to worry about! He’s going to look like such an idiot if Jisoo decides to stop the fake couple stuff, and he’s going to look like an even bigger idiot if she actually meets them! That’s a whole other level they’d be reaching in whatever their agreement is.

 

He should probably text her, especially because he feels like regarding last night. He didn’t expect his friends to hold him up for the whole night after they kissed! Maybe the kiss was cursed. It was kind of long… and slightly heated. Hoseok grinned by just thinking about it. No, he shouldn’t! It was fake! Alright, now he’s frowning. I think I was too harsh. Sorry, Hoseok. Okay he’s smiling again.

 

While Hoseok is happy that he got to smooch a beauty, he knows it isn’t good. This was not supposed to happen. Well, it was expected that the two would do PDA but… to kiss like that with neither of them trying to stop it? Uh oh! Or maybe Jisoo was trying to stop it but Hoseok kept going! Bigger uh oh!

 

Hoseok, who was currently seated in the main quarters of the BTS dorm, flinched when he heard a door creak open, watching a disheveled female sneak out of Jimin’s room. She seemed to be looking for something in a rush. Checking the watch, Hoseok was surprised at how early she was getting ready to head out.

 

“Your keys are behind the fruit bowl,” Hoseok said, the female freezing at the sound of his voice.

 

She sighed, then turned, “You’re a lifesaver, Hoseok.” Nayeon retrieved her keys, then stated, “I’m surprised you’re up this early.”

 

“I didn’t drink last night nor stayed up late enough to hear the typical after party shenanigans. I appreciate you guys using the unoccupied room this time before sneaking back into the shared one, though.”

 

Nayeon chuckled awkwardly, “Yeah… again, sorry about that…” She glanced at the dorm entrance, then looked at the time. A slight grin appeared on her face, “Got time for a few questions?”

 

“After last night I’m ready for anything.” Hoseok lied.

 

Nayeon leaned against the wall closest to where Hoseok was seated, “How intense is Jisoo?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Girl hasn’t been on a date since Youngjae, and we know that didn’t end well. Jisoo has only had one serious relationship when she was eighteen. I wanna know if she’s as giddy as I expect her to be in a relationship.”

 

Youngjae? That’s the idol Jisoo meant by dating an idol? And based on Nayeon’s words, it didn’t last too long. Hoseok isn’t surprised Jisoo is inexperienced in the dating field but,

 

“I mean, after being told you’re too unattached to hook up with, that’s gotta sting. So I wanna know if she made a complete 180.” Nayeon continued to surprise Hoseok with this new information. Well it looks like the both of them are getting info about their respective love lives… from people that aren’t their fake significant other!

 

Hoseok, who pretended that this information was known to him, replied, “She’s neither too distant nor too clingy, if that’s what you mean. She’s great.”

 

Nayeon nodded with a small “Ahhh…”, clearly slightly disappointed that she doesn’t have funny blackmail against her close friend. “Well, I’m glad she didn’t take that to heart then. Nice!” Looking at the time again, Nayeon groaned, “Bleghhh dance practice in an hour. I gotta make myself look decent. I still have more questions, but I’m sure I’ll see you around, as always.”

 

“Always a pleasure.” Hoseok waved with a smile, and the vocalist exited the dorm. Their conversations are always odd like that, but it makes the lad even more hopeful that Jimin and Nayeon will make things official soon and commit. Ah, whatever. It