“You know what would make your lives easier?“ Kwangsoo slurred. 

After the film, Jihyo woke up to Jongkook and Kwangsoo opening a bottle of soju and mixing it with beer. Naturally, she joined in on the fun, and after consuming multiple bottles and cans because he kept losing to his noona and hyung, Kwangsoo was drunk. 

“Our lives?” Jongkook laughed while taking a swig of his beer. “What do I have to do with this? It’s just Jihyo who needs to get married soon.”

Kwangsoo scoffed, “Sure, let’s pretend eomoni isn’t pressuring you to get married too hyung.”

Jongkook simply chuckled in return and shook his head. For her part, Jihyo was just confused, “What does this have to do with my problem anyway?”

“Well, if you give it a really good think, noona, your main problem is that you’re finding it difficult to find a guy you can tolerate or like enough to spend a lot of time with. I mean that’s what you do when you get married. You spend a ton of time with the other person. And well, you like spending time with Jongkook-hyung so that checks.”

“Under that logic though, Kwangsoo-yah, I’d also be okay marrying you or Donghoon-oppa. Or any of my other single guy friends,” Jihyo retorted. 

“But that’s the catch — Donghoon-hyung and I aren’t single. You’re too old for Sechan. Woobin’s taken. Dongwook-hyung and Insung-hyung aren’t as interested as you are in dating…” Kwangsoo rattled off.

Jongkook was the one who intercepted him, “Okay arasseo! What do I have to do with this?”

“Well… if you think about it hyung, you’re the only one within Jihyo-noona’s radar who actually has intentions to get married but can’t find a girl. Well, you like noona, and she likes you too! It’s like this was meant to be!”

“Yah!” Both Jihyo and Jongkook exclaimed, but as they simultaneously chastised Kwangsoo, they ended up looking at each other and felt quite a bit awkward. Jihyo fiddled with her fingers, while Jongkook diverted his attention back to Kwangsoo.

“You’re right we both want to get married, but that doesn’t mean we should…” he started, but as Jihyo started to look up from her hands to hear him out, he felt sheepish at his vehement denial. It wasn’t like he was completely repulsed by the idea of marrying Jihyo. She was beautiful, and she was one of his closest friends, but he didn’t want her to think that he would take advantage of her urgent desire to get married.

Still, Jihyo was looking at him. “I mean… Jihyo and I are friends… Right? Jihyo-yah? We’re friends… I mean… yes we are close… but marriage? I mean… come on…” he trailed on, trying to read her expression, but she simply looked at him with a blank stare, her eyebrows slowly knitting together. Jongkook helplessly asked, “I mean… Jihyo-yah, help me out here.”

The request seemed to take Jihyo out oher trance. “Oppa’s right, Kwangsoo-yah. You’re being weird. Jongkook-oppa and I… we’re friends. We don’t see each other that way. I mean sure we can spend time together, and sure he’s okay… but marriage? Not in our cards,” she finally supplemented.

Jongkook breathed a sigh of relief, “See? There, Jihyo said it perfectly. Stop pushing it.”

Then, there was an awkward silence, and Jongkook couldn’t look Jihyo in the eyes, while she simply stared back down at the floor. Kwangsoo simply stared at both of them, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a slight smile, but he chose to keep his silence. 

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally relented, and said, “Alright, hyung, noona. Whatever floats your boat. I was just suggesting it since you both want to get out of your problems, and noona has a deadline. You’re not getting younger either, hyung.” When it seemed like Jongkook was going to answer again, Kwangsoo urgently added, “But you’re friends. So I won’t push it.” He stood up, and started bringing back their food bowls and mugs back to the kitchen.

When Kwangsoo was at quite a reasonable distance, Jongkook looked at Jihyo, and whispered, “I’m really sorry about that Jihyo-yah. I don’t know what came over Kwangsoo. You have to know…”

“I know, oppa. I’m sure you had nothing to do with this. Kwangsoo was just being his usual self,” Jihyo immediately said. Then, she giggled, “You and me though. That’s a crazy idea, so I’m sure you didn’t put Kwangsoo up to that.”

Jongkook put on a smile of relief, but that one got completely wiped off when Jihyo continued, “Unless… he knows something that I don’t? Oppa, since when have you liked me?” She nudged his shoulder playfully.

This was not a new joke; in fact, ever since rumors about them dating or getting married started coming out of the news every once in a while, it became an occasional thing for them to tease each other about a supposed secret crush. The playful banter helped them get over the stress of having to deal with added scrutiny from paparazzi and the prying eyes of coworkers and friends who keep alluding that they secretly liked each other. 

Jongkook nudged her back, “I think it began a few months after you fell for me.”

They both broke off into laughter, just as Kwangsoo was coming back to the room, looking at them suspiciously. “And both of you wonder why people think you two have something going on? Look at yourselves! It’s a miracle you’ve been able to date other people while maintaining this friendship. If Sunbin had a male friend like this, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

That successfully stopped Jihyo and Jongkook from laughing; after all, their friendship did become an issue in their past relationships. It was, in fact, one of the biggest triggers in Jongkook’s latest breakup, and Jihyo knew that much. But this was a secret they kept between the two of them, knowing how their friends could overreact.

Jongkook tried to divert the conversation, “So, what’s your gameplan now, Jihyo-yah?”

“Diversify my pool of eligible men, I guess. On the way here, I called up a friend and she recommended a matchmaking agency. I’ll schedule something with them. Hopefully, they’ll find someone who’ll suit me,” Jihyo explained.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Jongkook said, leaning back. “Be careful though. I know these are blind dates, but at the end of the day, these are still strangers. Make sure you…”

“Meet them in public yet exclusive places,” Jihyo supplied. This was Jongkook’s advice ever since she started her quest, and while the nagging did get repetitive, she knew it came from a place of care. “Don’t worry, oppa. I know which places to go, and yes, I’ve taken your suggesti