Sweat was stinging the corners of his eyes by the time Kyungsoo was about to suggest they take a break rather than just collapse right there in the middle of the practice studio (like Chanyeol was) at the exact moment when the door to the studio opened and two cameramen and the director of “We Got Married” walked in. 

“Ah!” Baekhyun’s face split into a mischievous grin, knowing exactly who they were here for, as the group had been informed earlier that day that the crew from WGM would be in to collect Kyungsoo for the filming of the second episode, “BOOMBAYAH! DAHN-DA-DA-DAHN DA-DA-DAHN-DAHN-DAHH-DA-DA-DAHN! Yeah-yeah-BOOMBAYAH!”

The studio then erupted into chaos as the other members leapt at the opportunity to tease their quietest member. Chanyeol and Jongdae joined Baekhyun in unison, singing the chorus at the top of their lungs, making sure to scream “Oppa!” right at Kyungsoo in high definition surround sound while  Kyungsoo buried his heated face in his hands, trying to get his growing embarrassment under control. Sehun was on the ground laughing uncontrollably as Jongin and Minseok were dancing in the background, way too focused on getting the choreography just right, rather than rag on the main vocalist. Suho tried to bring some semblance of decorum to the room but realizing it was a losing battle, he simply shook his head and went to crouch next to Kyungsoo. The guardian of EXO placed a supportive arm around the younger member’s shoulders, reassuring him that the guys were just being idiots and not to take their teasing seriously. 

By the time, the “Beagle Line” got to the second round of the chorus, Kyungsoo had had quite enough of all of this nonsense and attacked the closest member to him. As it so happens to be Baekyun, who was trying to hair-flip his short locks right into Kyungsoo’s face, he got the full force of the fellow vocalist’s fist in his solar plexus. Kyungsoo sighed in satisfaction at the look of the older man doubled over on the ground, groaning in pain. He stepped over his fallen member and properly greeted the director before he was handed a new brown envelope with that day’s challenge. 

He read it to himself first before he was prompted to read it aloud. The other members listened intently for the reveal of the challenge but Kyungsoo simply tucked the thick paper back into the envelope and suggested to the crew, “Shall we get going?”

As expected, all the members started to whine and heckle at him as he walked over to retrieve his backpack and half empty water bottle. “Come on, man!” Chanyeol cajoled. “Just read the prompt out loud, like you’re supposed to!” A chorus of approval from the other members echoed across the dance studio. 

“No,” Kyungsoo said firmly as he walked towards the door, “Just watch it when it airs, like everybody else.” 

As the rest of them shook their heads in disappointment, Chanyeol turned his back to the door and scoffed over his shoulder, “He’s just wants to quickly run off to see his wife. That’s why he’s in such a ru-OOF!”

The rapper never saw the water bottle fly at him before it made contact with the back of his head. 

“Can I see it again?” 

Lisa rolled her eyes but still smiled shyly and placed her hand into Rosé’s outstretched palms. She squealed in delight and ogled at the pretty ring, to heck with her dignity! Lisa was sure it would have been like this anyway, even if the cameras weren’t there at the salon. She had arrived there with the girls in-tow straight from morning workout and was currently getting her hair done for the wedding photo shoot before the ceremony later that night. Just the thought of it made Lisa’s palms start to sweat and her heart race in her chest. 

She had regaled the first meeting with the girls in excruciating details over french fries and soju that first night, complete with squeals over the ring and reveal of who had been cast to be her “husband”. 

Lisa looked over at Jennie and then Rosé the moment she said his name. Jennie’s poker face was on a little too tightly as she poured herself another shot. Lisa tried not to read too much into it when Rosé gave her a strange look. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” the other maknae asked. 

Lisa blinked, “Well, aren’t you close to his band mate?”

Rosé tilted her head questioningly, “Who? Chanyeol?” She gave a cackle, “What are you implying? We did one collaboration together, nearly 5 years ago, and he was nothing but polite and professional.”

Jisoo started to laugh, “Why so defensive? She’s just asking if you were close because of the collab.”

“Um, excuse you! You seem to be leaving out the crucial detail that there were two other artists there too! It wasn’t just Park Chanyeol and myself.” Rosé rebutted. 

“You mean, no matter how much you had wished it was?” Lisa said cheekily, with a suggestive wag of her eyebrows. 

The action garnered her a Rilakkuma pillow to the face. 

“Ow! I was just joking.” Lisa muttered in a cute baby voice, rubbing her offended nose. 

“So, what was he like?” Jennie asked as she finished her shot in one go. “Was he ‘award-winning-actor’-like?”

“I’m not sure what means but… hmm…” Lisa chewed thoughtfully on a limp french fry before saying, “He’s quiet… but also rather easy-going. I can tell that he’s very kind… a bit… reserved… and very respectful. He opened every door for me and walked on the street side when we were going to the jewelry shop.”

The girls were the perfect audience members, “aww”-ing and “yah”-ing at all the right moments. It made her less nervous when the episode actually aired that Saturday night and they watched it together over fried chicken. 

They were all commenting how good Lisa and Kyungsoo looked together when the camera shot them walking side by side. It was right when she was mentally scolding herself for not paying attention to him that he had simultaneously asked whether she was listening. Experiencing that moment again from another perspective felt odd, like an out of body experience. The woman on the TV screen that had Lisa’s face was laughing in a charming manner, even grabbing onto his arm while she begged him to repeat himself. Lisa didn’t even remember doing that. She had been so nervous trying not to offend him, she completely went into “adorable defense mode”! 

She watched as Kyungsoo became flustered and couldn’t help it when her heart fluttered at the bashful look on his face. 

“Oh my gosh!” Rosé exclaimed in English, “He’s adorable! And you were there in person? How are your retinas even functioning from all that cute?” 

The other two girls chimed in agreement, teasing her mercilessly when she started to cover her face in embarrassment. 

“Don’t look now, but it seems a celebrity has entered the building.” Jisoo’s stage whisper brought Lisa back to the present and she couldn’t help but look in her periphery at the man who was walking in the door of the salon. 

His cap was low on his face so she couldn’t see his eyes but she could have picked his lips out of a line-up. Plump and perfectly shaped, she watched in rapture as his tongue peeked out to wet those lips and she couldn’t help but mirror the action.  

Oh, how was she supposed to make it through this day with him looking like that! 

The other members of Blackpink cheered and welcomed him warmly, bowing in respect and introducing themselves one at a time. 

“Good afternoon,” Kyungsoo greeted the other members, “It’s nice to formally meet you all.”

Jisoo touched his arm in compassion as she said, “Oppa, as the oldest member, I feel the need to apologize on behalf of Blackpink for our sister’s spaztic tendencies.”

“UNNIE!” Lisa protested with a pout from the makeup chair. 

Ignoring her whining, Jennie nodded, “She’s is a spaztic princess, but she’s our spaztic princess.” She then stepped into his personal space and pointed a finger at him, his eyes crossed trying to follow it’s tip. “So please continue to look after her.” Her blessing seemed to be laced with an undertone of a threat and they watched as a soft smile stretched across his handsome features. 

“There is no need for apologies,” Kyungsoo insisted. He looked up at Lisa then, their eyes locked as he continued just loud enough for her to hear, “I like her just the way she is.”

“Oooohhh!” The girls’ approval rang across the salon, Jisoo even turned around and gave a thumbs up at Lisa. The youngest member acknowledged the praise with a smug look, wagging her eyebrows as though she had any decision in the matter. 

Kyungsoo strode up to Lisa’s makeup chair and greeted her properly. “Good afternoon, princess.”

Her shoulders shook slightly from her repressed giggles, as she was getting her lip color applied at the moment. She greeted him in return with a muffled “an nyeong” while cutely waving both of her hands. 

He returned her double handed wave before asking the dreaded question. “How are you feeling?”

Lisa began to nervously laugh and held up her hand, which was shaking slightly. Kyungsoo chuckled and took her hand in both of his. “Why are you so nervous?”

“Aren’t you? I would take a debut stage 100x over this any day!” Lisa whined, doing everything in her power to focus on her words rather than the soothing way his thumb was rubbing light circles into the top of her hand. His hands were warm and she scowled her heart as it twinged at how right this felt. As if them touching each other came second nature to the both of them. 

“Do you know if they’ll be served drinks at this thing?” Lisa asked abruptly. He burst out laughing, the sound rumbling from deep in his chest as she turned to the film crew asking if there will be soju served at the ceremony. “It’s a party right? There should be drinks!” she insisted.

Kyungsoo shook his head and patted her hand supportively, “Don’t worry. I’ll be right there beside you.” 

“Says the man in the same sinking boat as me.” Lisa muttered dejectedly, retreating her hand back into her lap.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened slightly. “You don’t know if this boat is going to sink. We haven’t even left the dock yet!”

It was Lisa’s turn to laugh and this time she caught herself grabbing his arm. He laid his hand atop hers as he reassured her that it was going to be ‘just fine’ before he leaned in. She felt her breath catch in as he whispered, “I’ll run to the store and pick up some champagne for us.” 

Lisa truly felt bad for her makeup artist since it was taking twice as long to do her makeup - she couldn’t help it though. She pushed him away to cover her growing blush, blaming Kyungsoo for making her laugh so much and ordered for him to go get prepped for his hair and makeup.

Even though Kyungsoo got there after Lisa, he finished hair, makeup, and “costume” before her and was sitting patiently in the waiting area. He was so sure that it would be uncomfortable meeting up again after last week’s episode aired. Kyungsoo had cringed watching himself awkwardly navigate through the episode while she made the whole affair look so effortless. He told himself that this time around, he would relax more and give himself over to the role. It would be just like any other acting job and, if in the process, he got the opportunity to work with a beautiful and sweet woman in the process, well then it’ll be like icing on a cake. 

So far, it wasn’t bad at all. He had managed to carry a short conversation, even made her laugh and found an excuse to hold her hand (twice!). That was huge for him. He credited it to the fact that she had made it feel as though he wasn’t pressured to be anything but himself. And though most of the time, he was a nervous wreck of a man, Kyungsoo blocked out every anxious thought in his head and allowed himself the skinship he knew will bring in viewers. 

He was sure she could hear his heart beating wildly in his chest especially when he leaned in to whisper in her ear. He wanted to act as natural as possible - as though he was with his group members. But the moment he breathed in that faint fresh strawberry scent, his heart began pounding against his ribs. Kyungsoo was glad when she pushed him away - it gave him the opportunity to save himself from doing something reprehensible… like lean in to nuzzle behind her ear, just to see if she would smell just as good up close. 

A squeal brought him out of his revelry. Kyungsoo stood up as the other girls walked out excitedly towards him. “Wow! You look so handsome!” 

He shyly smiled and waved off their compliments. “Is she coming out right now?”

Jennie wore a dangerous smirk. “Oh! Someone is anxious to see the blushing bride!”

“Wait! Have you seen the dress she’s going to be wearing?” Rosé asked. 

Kyungsoo shook his head which prompted a chorus of squeals. 

“She looks soooo pretty!” Rosé dreamily sighed.

Jisoo nodded, “You are going to be shocked.”

“She looks like an actual modern day princess!” Rosé exclaimed. Jennie and Jisoo nodded vigorously in agreement. 

“Unnie ~ Don’t get his expectations hyped up over nothing!” protested the woman in question, her voice filtering out from behind the curtain. Kyungsoo thought he might have caught a slight tremble in her voice and made a mental note to work harder at making sure she felt comfortable with him. 

The moment the plush velvet fabric was pulled back, all thoughts completely flew out of Kyungsoo’s mind as he stood there forgetting how to breathe. 

He would never consider himself a man of fashion but he could not have imagined a more fitting dress for her. She walked out like an ethereal goddess, the pearl white silk hugging her lithe form like a glove, designed so it would accentuate her figure in a tempting silhouette. The opaque rhinestones and milky grey crystals in the intricate patterns along her waist sparkled and winked with every sway of her hips as she strutted out of the changing room. Her look was even complete with a simple crystal tiara, tiny rose gold leaves woven into the metal headband atop her expertly curled hair. She was truly a sight to behold. 

Lisa stopped just in front of him and took him in with a slight tinge of a blush on her perfectly made up cheeks. She must have been wearing heels because he noticed that she was the same height as him. He thanked the heavens that the rest of EXO weren’t going to be there at the ceremony or else he would never hear the end of it. 

“Yah, oppa! You’re gonna catch flies if your mouth stays open any longer!” Jisoo teased. 

Kyungsoo burst out in an embarrassed laugh, covering his heated face as the rest of the girls giggled. Once he got his nerves under control, Kyungsoo boldly met Lisa’s gaze and said the first thing that came into his mind, “You’re right, noona, she does look like a princess.”

Lisa look away and smiled shyly. Kyungsoo leaned in then, his heart stuttering once again as his senses tingled at the scent of her sweet perfume. “And just for the record, my expectations were far from met.”

She looked up at him then and watched as he smiled coyly, “They were exceeded - in every sense of the word.”

Soon after, the pair were rushed off to the location where they were going to take the “wedding photos” and, even as they were saying their goodbyes, Lisa had hoped that the rest of the girls would accompany them to the photo shoot. The moment she entered the large SUV and was  once again alone with Kyungsoo, she felt her nerves return with a vengeance. The drive to the site wasn’t long but it felt like a lifetime as they sat there silently, both of them too nervous to actually make small talk. 

Finally remembering the advice one of her seniors at YG had said about needing to talk a lot on variety shows, she figured this was not the greatest content for the viewer to have her just nervously sitting there so she decided to say something to fill the void. 
 

“You look really nice too, by the way,” she offered. Kyungsoo turned to her with his large, round eyes and blinked at her sudden proclamation. She tucked a stray curl behind her ear, taking extra care to not loosen the bobby pins that held down her headband in place, before continuing, “I didn’t get the opportunity to say that you look very nice as well back there.”
 

His eyes soften. “I could be wearing a hot pink suit made from rice sacks and yellow rain boots and no one would notice me.”

Lisa snorted at that image and then offered, “I’m not sure hot pink is really your color. I would think a... mint green suit with like a bright orange tie and orange loafers would be better.”

“Mm. And a top hat that lights up.” He added casually.

“Oh! And one of those obnoxiously big diamond encrusted necklaces with a huge dollar sign on it.”  

“And a cane made of gold and jade.” 

They were both still laughing at the ridiculousness of the ensemble they had conjured up for him when the SUV pulled into a visitor parking spot and the side door opened. Kyungsoo climbed out of vehicle first and turned around to offer his hand to her. She took it graciously and carefully stepped down, her heels hitting the pavement with two small clicks.

As she stood up straight, Lisa was very conscious of the fact that he had yet to let go of her hand. Kyungsoo must have noticed her look down to where their hands were still linked and simply said, “The asphalt in this parking lot is a bit uneven. I just want to make sure you make it there in one piece.”

She bit the inside of her cheek to make sure she wouldn’t swoon out loud at how gentlemanly he was acting when her heart began to squeeze uncomfortably. 

‘Fool. Have you forgotten that this isn’t real? Get yourself together.’ Lisa thought bitterly before she quickly shook her head and said nonchalantly to him, “I wasn’t complaining,” and gave his hand a squeeze. 

He smiled, satisfied with her answer before he turned away with a nod. “Good. Let’s get this show on the road.”

They walked hand in hand for a few minutes, the site was some kind of park with cobblestone pathways, not ideal for strolling in heels, but Kyungsoo made sure she didn’t lose her balance even once. Eventually, they came to a nicely groomed wall completely made of deep green ivy from top to bottom. They were directed to stand in front of the wall of greenery and Lisa looked down nervously at the wood chips that filled the entire area in front of the wall. She wished there were sandles for her to wear because she was sure the fancy little heels were going to sink into the ground with every step she took. 

As if sensing her disquiet, Kyungsoo squeezed her hand to get her attention. When she finally looked up at him, his eyes were filled with quiet determination. “We’ll take it slowly. Just lean on me, okay?”

Lisa was sure her heart could only take so much more of this type of abuse before it simply gave up in protest. How did he always know what she was thinking? How could he make it look so easy to be so considerate? She decided that it would be safer not to dwell on that thought for too long as she simply nodded and gave a shaky “okay” as they took their first step towards the ivy-covered wall. 

She would take a step and then pause, trying to get her balance as Kyungsoo patiently stood by her, never complaining, even when she gripped his arm like a vice. He softly muttered words of encouragement as they approached the wall and Lisa felt herself become hypnotized by the deep timbre of his voice that they ended up arriving at their destination before she even noticed. 

They both let out a giggle of relief as they positioned themselves for the photo shoot. Lisa was handed a bouquet of white peonies and grey berries to hold. She brought them to her nose and was disappointed that they smelled mostly of dust and plastic as they were silk flowers but the craftsmanship on the details were so intricate, she could have sworn they were real.

She then brought the bouquet up for Kyungsoo to smell and his blank expression when he sniffed it made her chuckle. Lisa could see the gears whirling in his head and burst out into an all out laugh when he pulled the bouquet back for another sniff. 

“They aren’t real, right? Or is that how this flower normally smells like?” Kyungsoo asked just to make sure he wasn’t mistaken and she shook her head, confirming that he had not been. 

“Aish…” he softly scoffed under his breath before he very playfully poked her side. She yelped in surprise and nearly tipped over on the uneven ground. Kyungsoo’s arm shot out and pulled her flush against him, taking most her weight so she wouldn’t fall. They both began to laugh nervously, as they stiffly tried to get their balance back. 

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered breathlessly between chuckles, “I shouldn’t have done that. Are you okay?”

His voice came out even but Lisa could tell that he must have been nervous too. Even under the three piece suit he was wearing, she could feel his heart thump wildly under her palm that had landed on his chest. It made her feel better knowing that she wasn’t the only one affected by all of this. 

“I’m fine now… just keep your fingers to yourself, mister.” she said cheekily. 

Kyungsoo chuckled, “Deal,” and she thought the sound was slowly becoming her new favorite thing to listen to.