Neither Jihyo nor Jongkook broached the topic again, even in the succeeding times that they talked on the phone. They may have come to an agreement, but it came after lots of prodding from Haha and shots of soju. Asking each other out on the actual date entailed having an entirely different source of courage - a source that neither she nor he could find within themselves.

It became frustrating though, because, despite their denial of reality, they knew that they already agreed to try dating. And so, they dealt with it the best way they know how - they avoided each other. Just as Jongkook was about to cancel on their scheduled bicycle ride every Friday morning with a flimsy excuse, he received a message from Jihyo saying that she can't make it due to her CF shooting lasting longer than expected - a text that she sent, buried underneath her blanket, before going back to sleep. That Sunday, when Kwangsoo invited him to lunch, Jongkook slyly tricked him into telling him who else he'd invited. "Just you, Donghoon-hyeong, and Jihyo-noona. Wae?" he answered innocently. Jongkook apologized and proceeded to tell him he had plans to spend the day with his family; then, he went to the gym to spend the entire aftermoon working out.

Monday was different though. They could avoid each other for all personal meetings, but they were both too professional to make it slip that something had gone wrong behind the screen. Jihyo resolved to stick with Kwangsoo for the rest of the day, despite knowing the risk that her dongsaeng would inevitably stick to his Jongkook-hyeong's side. Everyone already knew that she either sticks with Kwangsoo or Jongkook; Jaesuk even brought up her closeness to Jongkook a few months back, in an attempt to develop their loveline. It would raise everyone's suspicions if she and Jongkook acted differently. Kwangsoo was her only hope; she just prayed that he wouldn't sidle up next to Jongkook today.

Jihyo also knew she should reach out to Haha. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking that the ruckus he caused a week ago successfully affected her and Jongkook. Haha still didn't know that it had affected them to the point of getting them to agree to try dating - at least, she did not think Jongkook was kind enough to give his dongsaeng that satisfaction. So, she had to act normally around Haha, and pretend that the discussion last Monday did not have any effect on her.

Jihyo entered the waiting room. Today's location was an outdoor performance area, and so they had to wait in a classroom as the production team set everything up outside. There had already been a lot of people when she came in. Jaesuk and Jongkook were in a corner talking to Jessi and the other guests; they were singers, and obviously Jongkook was there to help since Jessi spoke a good mix of English and Korean. Seokjin and Kwangsoo were speaking with Bopil, while Sechan and Haha were laughing about something on their phone.

She considered her options - definitely, she had to say hi to the guests first, but there was no way she would stay there and risk looking awkward with Jongkook. Jaesuk would definitely notice. Moving over to Seokjin and Kwangsoo seemed prudent, but she didn't want to discuss work during her breaks. Seokjin was definitely a professional, and, while he accepted being the center of most jokes, he shared a lot of his ideas behind the scenes. While it was fascinating to see this side of his, Jihyo preferred to really relax during her breaks. Plus, there's a risk of Kwangsoo sidling up to Jongkook later on, specially because Jaesuk was also in the same vicinity. 

Jihyo walked up to the guests, "Annyeonghaseyo!" She said her greetings to the guests, and bowed to Jaesuk and Jongkook. Jaesuk simply nodded his head to return her greeting, while Jongkook acknowledged her but kept a blank face with his arms crossed.

"Aish Oppa, Jihyo unnie really is pretty," Jessi remarked.

Jihyo simply bowed her head in acknowledgement, "Thank you, Jessi-ssi." Before they could even keep her locked in conversation, she already started to move away, "Excuse me, I'll just go ahead and greet everyone else. I'm sure Jaesuk-oppa and Jongkook-oppa will take good care of you all."

She made a quick detour to Seokjin, Kwangsoo, and Bopil, to greet them, then she finally walked towards her destination - Haha and Sechan. She would have to interact with Haha anyway; there was no reason to avoid him any longer. "Annyeong, Sechan-ah, Haha-oppa," she greeted them enthusiastically before taking a seat next to them.

Sechan immediately stood up and respectfully bowed, "Annyeonghaseyo Noona!" He then took his seat again, and showed his phone to Jihyo, "I was just showing Hyeong some pegs I have for our next mukbang!"

"Ah - let me see," Jihyo remarked, stealing a glance at Haha who still had a nonchalant smile on his face. She then looked at the screen, which showed a woman taking portions from five different bowls of noodles that each had different toppings and broth. "You're doing this also, Haha-oppa?" she decided to test the waters and see how Haha will react.

"Ani," Haha answered. "I'm still planning my channel, but I don't think I'll be doing mukbangs anytime soon. That scene's more of Sechan and Sehyeong, and, you know me, it's business. I don't want to go into the type of content I'm not going to be good at, and where there are a lot of people already. I'm still figuring it out."

"Makes a lot of sense, Oppa," Jihyo remarked, but, while she was interested in this life update from Haha, she can't help but be thankful that he didn't take it as an opportunity to bring up anything about her and Jongkook. She breathed in relief, but thankfully neither Haha nor Sechan noticed as they focused again on another video that, this time, Haha shared as his own peg for the content he plans to release. She settled herself in, thanking her lucky stars that this day was not as fearsome as she thought it would be. Maybe she can continue on with life as if that agreement never happened. She continued to watch the video alongside Haha and Sechan comfortably.

Unknown to her, Jongkook had been stealing glances in their direction the entire time.

Before Jongkook knew it, it was alr