Chapter O N E

NingNing looked up as Jimin entered their shared room.

She’d been expecting the older girl for some time—ever since she’d heard Jimin come back from her workout a few minutes ago. Jimin loved a post-workout nap. Almost as much as she loved a post-workout cuddle. So, even though NingNing was watching a video, she didn’t even pause it as she smiled up at her groupmate and leader.

“Sleepy time?”

But, surprisingly, Jimin shook her head. And she stayed at the doorstep, only leaning in to say, “Manager-unnie wants to talk to us.”

NingNing pouted subconsciously. So maybe she’d been looking forward to the post-workout cuddle/nap more than she’d like to admit.

“Yah, put that pout away,” Jimin playfully admonished her. And then she finally entered the room—but she did so with a few quick, then running steps. Then she practically launched herself onto the bed beside Ning. She bounced a few times, coming to rest in a propped-up position on her elbows. She smiled down at the younger girl who was lying on her back, giggling away at her antics. The video playing on her phone was long forgotten at this point. “What did you do all day? Have you just been watching videos like a bum?”

“I had breakfast.”

“Oh yeah? And what time was ‘breakfast’?”

NingNing pouted again, but this time far more intentionally. Jimin loved to . Really, she loved to tease everybody, even their manager, but NingNing liked to think that Jimin picked on her even more.

“It doesn’t matter what time breakfast is, as long it breaks the fast. That’s what it means.”

Jimin narrowed her eyes at her smug response. “You’re always so good at Korean when you’re being a brat.”

“I’m not a brat.” But they both knew that was far from the truth.

Jimin scoffed, but ultimately decided to let it go. She reached a hand over and laid it on Ning’s covered tummy. Then rubbed at it in a way a mother might do to her fussy toddler, or an owner to their beloved dog. An almost reflexive action, full of affection and love. But mostly love, NingNing thought happily.

“Get up and come talk with Manager-unnie. I’ll make you some food after.”

“What kind of food?”

“Good food. Free food.” And when NingNing still looked unconvinced, Jimin pinched at her side in warning. “Don’t be picky, baby.”

Jimin sure did love her nicknames—baby, dear, honey, darling, sweetheart, the list was never-ending. And again, NingNing wasn’t the only recipient of these terms of endearment. But, it sometimes felt like Jimin used them even more towards her. Maybe that was because of her age as the youngest of the group or because she’d been one of the only foreign trainees in their section before Aeri had joined the company. She’d often been told she was cute as well, even by people her age or younger. So maybe it was just Jimin’s weakness for cute things manifesting itself. Whatever the reason though, Ning had no complaints. If it meant Jimin opting to share the only double room with her in the dorm, or Jimin hugging or touching her almost any chance she had, then there were absolutely zero complaints.

“Pull me up,” NingNing insisted with a smirk.

Jimin sighed but pushed herself wearily to her feet and then followed through with the request, yanking the girl up to join her. She even plucked Ning’s forgotten phone from the bed covers, and she handed it over with a patient smile. “All set.”

“Thanks, unnie—hey!”

Jimin landed a playful smack on the younger girl’s , her smile now full of mischief. “Hurry up.”

“I’m going, I’m going. You don’t have to hit me—yah!”

Another smack, and now NingNing found herself blushing at the older girl’s childish humor. She tried to hit back, but Jimin was already slipping away. Out of her reach and out of the room.

“You’re so immature,” NingNing complained without much strength. Because that was just typical Jimin. And the only reason the younger girl had even bothered to protest was just to try and save face. Because deep down… she didn’t mind it.

Actually, she kind of loved it.

“Okay, Ning’s here too, good.” Their manager was sitting at the dining table—their ‘serious discussion’ spot in the dorm. The other girls were already there too. Aeri was sitting beside their manager, scraping up the last of a yogurt cup. Minjeong was seated cross-legged on the dining table itself, picking at the fading polish on her nails. And Jimin chose to stand across from their manager instead of sit down, nosily peering over Minjeong’s shoulder to see what the younger girl was doing. NingNing naturally took her place beside Jimin as well. And their manager smiled once they’d all assembled.

“You’re all here now, good. First off, this isn’t anything serious or bad. It’s just some news that I have to share with you guys so I wanted to tell you all at once.” The four of them gave her their undivided attention now, curious as they all were. “We’ve decided to change your dorm living situation following the end of Spicy promotions. We’ve talked about it a little before, but now it’s official. The international leg of the tour is starting soon and your schedule’s about to get even crazier so... so consider this as a little reward before the hits the fan.” She chuckled as she looked around at them all. “Just don’t do anything crazy now that I’m gone, okay?”

NingNIng’s brows furrowed in confusion. She could usually follow conversations well enough—almost a decade in the country made her near fluent. But still. She felt like she was missing something.

“Wait, are we moving?” Aeri asked, equally as confused.

“No, no, you guys are staying here,” their manager clarified with a wave of her hands. “I’m the one that’s leaving.”

“Wait, what?” Jimin looked more concerned than confused. The leader leaned insistently over the table, ready to interrogate her manager. She knocked into Minjeong with her sudden movement, but the younger girl didn’t seem to mind because she too was suddenly on high alert. “Are you leaving the company, unnie? Where are you going? What’s happening?”

“Oh, Jimin, no—I’m not—”

“Is it because of what’s going on with the acquisition?” Minjeong fired off her own question, quiet but just as worried as the others. And now all NingNing could think about was the chaos and uncertainty that had plagued their last round of promotions. That had nearly derailed their entire album. Hell, they’d even lost their producer who’d been with them since their debut—who’d been at the company since before they’d been born.

“No, I—”

“You said no one else was going to leave.” NingNing didn’t mean to sound accusatory, but that was just her panic getting the best of her. Because unlike a producer—beloved as he was—who they only saw when they had to record music, they saw their manager every single day. They lived together. And now—

“No, I’m not going anywhere! Guys, stop, stop, just listen to me, okay? Just stop for a second.” Their manager tried to wrangle the conversation back from the brink of hysteria. “Let’s take a big breath,” she instructed, even going so far as to do the action herself. “And let’s listen, okay?”

Once the members had all seemingly calmed down, their manager tried again.

“I am not leaving company,” she stated very clearly and very slowly. “But I am leaving the dorm. Okay? That’s all it is. I’m moving out. That’s it.”

NingNing blinked as the words registered in her head.

Oh.

Her heart slowed as her brain finally decided to stop slamming down on her internal panic button. Their manager was just leaving the dorm. That wasn’t too bad. But wait, NingNing’s eyes widened as the implications of having one less person in their dorm started to settle in. That means that…

She glanced at Jimin just to find that the girl was already looking her way. It was hard to tell exactly what the leader thought of the new development. And NingNing was scared she’d betray her own mounting despair, so she swiftly looked away.

“Oh, so you’re moving out,” Aeri eventually summarized with a smile. It was the carefree smile of someone who wouldn’t be affected in any way by the new arrangements, at least that’s what it looked like to NingNing. “Where are you going to live? Do you want us to throw you a farewell party?”

Their manager chuckled good-naturedly, shaking her head. “There won’t be time for any parties. Besides you’ll still see me every day.”

“I know that, but still,” Aeri dismissed with a wave of her hand. She put on her sweetest teacher’s pet smile. “We’re really going to miss you, unnie.”

“I want you on your best behavior, Aeri.”

“Of course!”

“No crazy parties—for me or anyone else.”

“Do you really think we’d do something like that as soon as you leave—”

“Aeri.” She narrowed her eyes at the young girl until Aeri finally gave up on her efforts to curry favor. She went back to her empty yogurt cup, failing to hide the smirk that had blossomed on her face.

“So if you’re leaving the dorm…” Minjeong carefully brought them back to the issue at hand. She glanced around, finally landing on Jimin as she said, “That means there’s an open room.” Jimin returned her gaze wordlessly. She still hadn’t said anything.

“Well, yes,” their manager confirmed with a nod. She gestured towards NingNing and Jimin. “Which means you two won’t have to share anymore. That’s really the only important thing that’s changing.”

“Oh…” NingNing didn’t know what else to say, really. She’d had no problem sharing with Jimin. She actually preferred it. But it made sense that Jimin would want her own room—she was the oldest, after all. And she was the leader. She deserved it. NingNing didn’t want to sound clingy and needy by sharing how she really felt about the room change. So instead, she just nodded her head and folded her arms so she was almost hugging herself. “Okay. Cool.”

“Yeah. So the plan is for me to be fully out of the dorm by the end of the week. Of course, I also know how busy you guys are, so take your time moving your stuff around. But,” she pointed a playful finger at each of them. “This isn’t an excuse to start being super messy. I’ll ask the dorm aunt to check in on you guys.”

“We’re not kids, unnie,” Minjeong complained with a whine that did nothing to prove her point.

“Are you sure? Fine, feel free to prove me wrong.” Their manager then turned to face Jimin who still hadn’t given her input. And that fact hadn’t gone unnoticed. “What do you think Jimin? Excited to have your own room?”

“Yeah.” Jimin smiled, but it didn’t seem to reach her eyes. She glanced back at NingNing but once again, it was almost impossible for the younger girl to place the emotions in her eyes. “But it might feel weird, having so much space to myself.”

Does that mean that she doesn’t want to change rooms? NingNing didn’t want to read too much into her words, but her overactive thoughts left her no choice. If I don’t want to and Jimin doesn’t want to, then maybe we can just stay togeth—

“You’re so clingy,” Minjeong huffed out with a shake of her head. She was back to looking down at her nails. But even though it was clear she was talking to Jimin, NingNing couldn’t help but feel equally as chastised.

“Yeah, maybe you’ll finally learn what personal space is,” Aeri joined in on the teasing. “I don’t know how Ning survived in the same room with you for so long.”

I survived just fine thank you, NingNing wanted to retort, but she didn’t. Instead she was once again watching for Jimin’s reaction. Trying to gauge how she felt in comparison. The leader rolled her eyes, and then playfully swatted Aeri’s yogurt cup out of her hands. Which led to a shocked gasp and then tongues sticking out at each other from across the table.

Their manager sighed as the serious discussion dissolved into pandemonium. She was probably happier than anyone else about moving out. Finally, she decided to throw in the towel, “Alright, meeting’s over. Everyone can go now.” She walked away to her room-for-the-rest-of-the-week, but made sure to call out over her shoulder. “And someone better clean up that yogurt before it stains the floor.”

“Yeah, Jiminie, time to clean up—”

“Maybe if you weren’t so annoying—”

Their manager’s door closed with a resounding slam.

NingNing left the living room shortly after that, retiring back to her and Jimin’s room-for-not-much-longer with a sigh. She flopped down onto their bed, burying her face in her pillow. She was just about to pull out her phone to find another mindless video to watch when she heard the bedroom door close.

She looked up to see Jimin walking towards the bed with a smile.

“What if I don’t want to leave you, Ning Yizhuo?” She said it with the tiniest and cutest inflection that her deep voice could convey. Then she fell down on the bed—practically right on top of NingNing—and she wrapped the younger girl up into one of her patented bear hugs. NingNing was happy that Jimin couldn’t see her face, because she was sure she was blushing up a storm. Still, she wanted to make sure Jimin knew that she reciprocated her affections, so she leaned back into the hug and pulled her arms even tighter around her.

You’re so clingy, NingNing heard Minjeong’s complaint ringing like an alarm in her ears. But she didn’t care to dispute it. Not when it was just the two of them in the room now—just Jimin and NingNing. She didn’t have to pretend for anyone.

“We don’t have to change rooms,” NingNing whispered after a few quiet seconds had passed between them.

“Mhmm…” Jimin hummed behind her.

“But… But if you want to…”

Jimin didn’t say anything. Instead, she hugged NingNing even tighter. And maybe that was answer enough. In the tiny space that they occupied in that bed—pressed so tightly against each other—it certainly felt like enough.

--

“Would you rather…”

NingNing only heard a snippet of the conversation going on in the backseat before the next song on her playlist started blasting in her ears. They were halfway through their hours-long trip to their next schedule, so it was no wonder that someone had started up one of their favorite car games. And honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was Jimin’s voice she’d heard, NingNing wouldn’t have paid the conversation a second thought. But as it was, she was nothing if not curious.

So she quickly turned down the music playing in her AirPods and tried to pretend like she wasn’t eavesdropping.

“How am I supposed to choose?” Minjeong’s voice came next with its usual whine. The girl would probably deny it if asked, but she tended to let her emotions overwhelm her when Jimin . Which was often. Because, as already covered, Jimin loved to tease any and every one literally all the time. But she sure did have her favorites. And NingNing would have to be blind, deaf and stupid to not notice that Minjeong was one of Jimin’s preferred targets. It’s because she has good reactions, NingNing noted, remembering Jimin’s