Watching Yujin in the recording booth, singing her heart made Minjoo’s chest swell with pride. The younger girl had improved her voice tenfold, not that it was endearing to hear already, but God her singing had reached a new level. It’s times like this where Minjoo felt happy and content, times where she could look back on her and her members' progress and improvement.

“...love you 3000.”

Minjoo smiled, it’s not every day that one hears Yujin sing a song like this. Well, technically, she was able to hear the other every day but it’s always in the company of other people who sing along with her. Such is the life of a girl group living under one roof. That isn’t to say that she enjoyed the spontaneous jam sessions her group had. If one person so much as hums a song, the rest of them follow along, adding their own little twists and flavor with someone mixing in some outrageous ad-libs. If someone wanted an impromptu party, all they had to do was put on a song or start belting out notes.

Lost in her little world, Minjoo did not notice that Yujin was finished and opened the booth door. The playback of Yujin’s voice over the backing track still echoed through the room, and the visual thought it was still the second maknae recording.

“Unnie!”

Minjoo jumped and clutched her heart, “Sh- don’t scare me like that!”

Yujin shrugged and sat down next to her, “It’s your fault you were in your own little world.” She snuggled up closer to the older, “What were you thinking about anyway?”

“Oh, it’s nothing important.”

“Hm, doesn’t seem like it’s ‘nothing’ if you were spaced out like that,” Yujin clicked her tongue.

Minjoo relented and patted the younger’s head, “Alright, I was just thinking about how far we’ve come and all the growth we’ve had.”

“You’re so sentimental,” Yujin said simply.

“I guess so.”

After a few moments of them sitting in each other’s presence, Yujin spoke up, “So what do you think?”

“Of the song?” Minjoo continued after Yujin nodded, “I think it’s really good. Your voice suits the song and it sounds angelic.”

Yujin laughed but her ears turned red, “Don’t exaggerate, unnie.”

“It’s true though!”

“Really, now?”

Minjoo peeled herself off of Yujin, much to the younger’s dismay, and nodded her head vigorously, “It really did sound angelic. It felt like you were singing that song for me.” Realizing what she had just said, she hung her head to hide the heat rushing to her face.

Yujin pursed her lips, “What if… I was singing it for you?”

It’s been a few days since Yujin had said that to her, and yet it still lay rooted deep in her mind. Despite the busy schedule they had to prepare for their Japanese comeback, Minjoo and Yujin found time in between activities to film the footage for Yujin’s birthday video. From recording in the van, cafes during the day or around the block, or roaming the streets at night examining the windows of shops that are still open or seeing the food stalls serving workers who just got off work. Those things should have distracted Minjoo’s mind enough. Yet here she was, preoccupied as she followed Yujin around with a camera and documenting everything she did.

Whenever Yujin found a spot where she wanted to sing in for her video, she asked Minjoo to play the song for her. It doesn’t help her psyche and her already distressed mind that she has to watch the other girl act like someone’s girlfriend through the camera screen. Her heart can’t take the immense power of Yujin’s charm, and the fact that she’s been doing this for a couple of nights is taking a toll on her.

However, Minjoo did not dislike doing it. As much as it embarrassed her to admit it to herself, she loved every second that she strolled the streets with Yujin.

“Yujin-ssi, please move over here, there’s a motorcycle coming.”

Ah yes, their manager was there. To be completely honest, Minjoo had forgotten that they had their manager there to watch them, and it’s not entirely her fault that she had disregarded the woman’s presence. Their manager opted to stay behind them, watching over them without obstructing their task. But then again, to Minjoo, it felt like it was only the two of them bonding like it was any other free day they had.

Minjoo watched Yujin positioned herself back to her original spot after the vehicle passed and went back to acting, and so she followed suit and resumed recording. She squealed internally and grinned when Yujin looked at the camera. She can’t count the number of times she’s done this in the past few days but whatever, she just couldn’t resist the younger girl’s visuals.

Regarding Yujin’s visuals, her face had definitely matured. She was no longer the same puppy that left Produce 48, her cheeks losing some of its babiness and her jaw getting sharper. In IZ*ONE’s eyes, though, she will still be a baby.

Soon enough, they found themselves at a playground. Yujin asked their manager to take the video this time as she wanted Minjoo in this scene. This wasn’t the first time either, and to be frank, Minjoo doesn’t know what compelled Yujin to ask her specifically to help her film. Not that she was complaining. They messed around for a while, trying to get a decent amount of things for Yujin to work with, their manager sometimes laughing at some random thing they did.

“You know,” their manager started as they walked back to her to check the footage, “you guys look like you’re on a date.”

Minjoo, who had her arm around Yujin’s