After their first date, Jongkook had been the perfect gentleman, just as she had expected. They reached her building at dawn, and he went down to open the car door for her. On their walk back to her apartment, he kept his hands behind his back for most of the time, save for when they entered the elevator, and he made way for Jihyo to get in first and unconsciously put his hand on her back to guide her. Jihyo was used to Jongkook doing things like this, but they had been on a date, and so she was on edge and couldn’t stop herself from being sensitive to the slightest indications of physical intimacy. She felt like a teenager all over again.

When they had gotten to her floor and she was about to punch in her passcode, she looked back at him with questioning eyes. “Oppa, do you want to get breakfast?” she asked. 

“Can’t get enough of me huh, Sooyeon-ah?” he smirked while asking her.

Jihyo laughed. “Ah Oppa, so this is what you meant when you said you loved to tease girls!” she said, smacking him on the shoulder.

“Not just any girl. Only the ones I like,” he said crossing his arms.

She looked down and blushed, and he smiled at the sight. He knew he was being quite bold, but after the confrontation they just had, he felt empowered to be more open about his feelings. It made him immensely happy that these newfound feelings are being met, not with rejection, but with a warm smile. Suddenly, they heard a beeping sound from next door.

“Someone’s on their way out,” Jihyo gasped, as she realized that given the time of the day, neither she nor Jongkook had taken the precaution of wearing a mask and cap and were thus vulnerable to being seen by any one of her neighbors. She could reason with the building management in case someone comes after footage of her and Jongkook being there together, but she cannot do anything about her fellow residents.

She heard her neighbor’s door quickly being opened, the locks undoubtedly being pulled out of their sockets. So, without thinking, she grabbed Jongkook by the arm, and pulled him towards her, her back towards her front door. To balance himself, Jongkook had put a steady arm above Jihyo’s shoulder, and he lowered his head, while Jihyo tried to hide her face in the shadows of Jongkook’s figure.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw a woman’s figure pass by, and she heard her gasp, perhaps from seeing them. They stood in what definitely looked like a compromising position, and the woman scampered off, likely from the secondhand embarrassment of witnessing whatever she thought they were doing.

When the woman was gone, Jihyo realized that her face was only inches away from that of Jongkook’s, and, if she just moved a little, undoubtedly, her lips would catch his. In this position, she felt him breathing. She felt the air that escaped his mouth, felt him heaving from the pressure of carrying his weight so as not to crush her, and, it may have been her imagination, but she could swear she heard his heartbeat. She lifted her eyes, and she wasn’t able to stop herself from being surprised at how intensely Jongkook looked at her.

Jongkook blinked twice, that unmistakable blink that he did when he knew he had to take a grip on himself. He moved back to put his weight back on his feet, giving Jihyo room to breathe more freely. He steadied himself, diligently putting his hands behind his back, and then proceeded to clear his throat, “Now about that breakfast…”

Jihyo looked up at him. In the heat of the moment, she forgot about her question, but nonetheless quickly found herself eager to find out his answer.

“I would love to, but I have something this morning,” he timidly said, scratching the back of his head.

“Oh,” was the only response Jihyo could muster. She couldn’t say she was disappointed, but she couldn’t say she was happy either. Truthfully, she had wanted to spend more time with him, as this entire thing - this date - felt exciting and rebellious. But, at the same time, she didn’t know how to act like her normal self after what just happened. She needed the room to breathe and to recollect herself.

“But…” Jongkook immediately followed up upon seeing a myriad of emotions cross her face. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but, after what he considered to be a successful night, he had decided to just follow whatever he felt for now. At the very least, she told him that she was willing to try dating him, she had asked him if he wanted to get breakfast, and whatever it was that happened in the last few minutes had happened. All of these have emboldened him to take the next steps, but he wanted to do it correctly. Jihyo deserved that much.

“When are you free to go on our next date?” he asked her, smiling. Her eyes lit up at the question.

Jihyo rushed back to her car, after that week’s filming of Runningman. It had been a little bit under a month since their first date, and, while she was apprehensive at first, she had quickly fallen into a rhythm with Jongkook. She can’t say things have been entirely different; they still pretty much kept the same topics of conversation, but they had texted and called more frequently, and flirted over conversations.

Things have been quite busy though, with Jongkook taping for his variety shows and Jihyo doing promotions for her newest movie and drama. They had managed to squeeze in a handful of dates, which included a few of their weekly bicycle dates, late-night conversations in a secluded cafe, a walk around the Olympic Village in the best disguise they could conjure together, and a trip to Jihyo’s favorite jjampong restaurant on the rest day they aligned. 

She quickly found that he had not been kidding when he said he loved to tease someone he likes. While a part of her still cringed at some of his astonishingly tacky attempts at flirting, she mostly found it cute, which is an adjective she never thought she’d use to describe anything that Jongkook does. It was a new territory of conversation for them, but it was a welcome addition to their budding relationship.

Her phone beeped. “Sooyeon-ah, eodiya?” read the text from Jongkook.

Instead of texting him back, she dialed his number. He picked up right after the first ring, “Oppa, I’m on my way back to the car. Wae?”

“Do you have somewhere to be after this?”

“Ani. It’s just…” she drawled out. Truthfully, she didn’t remember why she was in a hurry to leave. Everybody just started rushing back to their cars after the shoot, even the crew, and she had just followed everyone else. “Just… it would take almost an hour to get back to Seoul, Oppa.”

“I asked Bopil, and he said the slopes are closed from the public today. There wouldn’t be a lot of people, and there’s a pretty open field near the terraces. Want to stay here for a little bit longer?”

She looked around the parking lot. Cars were passing by, and Kwangsoo and Somin had rolled down the windows of their cars to wave her goodbye. She responded to them with a smile. More