A/N: I , I know. I've completely given up hope for timely updates. I understand if you unsubscribe.

English, Thai, Korean

Minhyuk grins, on to something. "That pile of mats looks like it's about to fall over. Let me come fix it for you," he offers, coming over.

Oh oh oh , you think, and curl into an even tighter ball.

As the sound of footsteps fades down the hallway, the feeling of imminent discovery grows. Suddenly, there's light. You look up to see Minhyuk's smirk and the sheepish smiles of Yoseob and Gikwang.

"Found you~" Minhyuk crows. "But don't tell Donggeunie. It's good for the kids to run around a bit, warm up before we practice."

"Arasoyo," you laugh, stretching.

Half an hour later, the BTOB boys (sans Minhyuk) regroup in their practice room, only to find BEAST plus Minhyuk sitting around snacking and watching you throw punches at your reflection. True, Kris said no Muay Thai, but beating the air senseless won't do your hands any harm.

"Oh hey, Penny," you greet Peniel, not even breathing hard. "What took you so long?"

"Yah!" he exclaims irritably, charging towards you.

Laughing, you dance out of the way. "Like a bull, you find it hard to change direction once you get going, hm?"

Guffaws fill the room, coming from the BTOB and BEAST audience.

Peniel lets out an annoyed snort and gives up on tackling you. He plops down on the ground as you execute a reverse roundhouse kick, propping his head on his hand and watching everyone else's reactions.

Yoseob drops his chips and stares. Gikwang starts clapping in awe, followed by the others. Sungjae fumbles for his phone.

Unnerved, you stop and look at them, then sink to the ground, wilted. "I'm not performing on stage, for goodness sakes, will you stop applauding me?" you demand exasperatedly.

They take no heed of your discomfiture and continue nodding and clapping appreciatively. You groan and swipe Yoseob’s abandoned bag of crisps, peeved. Scooting over to Peniel’s side, you lie down with your head in his lap, leisurely munching as you wait for the unnecessary ruckus to die down. Penny shakes his head at you even as he shifts to make you more comfortable and sticks his hand in the chip bag, retrieving a handful to tide him over as he contemplates how he should broach the subject of Mark. Idly, he your hair with his other hand, earning the faint ire of Yoseob and Gikwang.

“Do you guys get lunch breaks?” You ask Peniel. “I could only eat soup last night. I’ll probably need something more substantial soon.”

“You’re lucky then. We usually order in because we don’t have enough time to leave for lunch, but recently we’re not practicing anything new so we’re allowed to head out to eat,” he replies.

“Sounds depressing to me,” you answer bluntly. That should be another one of the terms in my contracts– I get to leave for food whenever I want.

“It’s just necessary,” Pen shrugs. He’s always been more amenable to the demands of higher authority.

“Dunno, Pen, you know I don’t respond well to strict rules like that,” you shrug (or twitch... hard to shrug in this position), then hike your shoulders up, stretching. Recognizing your tic, Peniel leans back as you bring your arms up, fists swinging through the space that had previously been occupied by his head.

“We’re pretty free too,” Yoseob volunteers, watching you. Gikwang nods in agreement.

Junhyung stifles a chuckle, amused.

“Are we now?” Doojoon asks, straight-faced.

Yoseob flushes and Gikwang looks sheepish. “Aren’t we?”

Oblivious to the leader’s teasing of the vocal and dancer, Hyunseung shoots a hand up. “I vote we go for Thai!” Dongwoon nods.

Peniel groans internally even as he nods. . What did I think would happen? We’d go to lunch, just me and Jewel? What do I do about hyung then?

You don’t miss the turmoil on your best friend’s face. Reaching up, you smack him lightly upside the chin. “What’s up, Penny?”

His brows smooth out. “Oh, nothing.”

It’s your turn to frown as he evades your query, but you leave it be. You’ve had too much experience with invasive questioning to commit the crime of it yourself.

“If we go for Thai, I want to invite Wiwat,” you declare. “He’s been craving his food, plus I’ve abandoned him for far too long and he’s been threatening to beat you guys up for detaining me.”

The rest of BTOB looks nonplussed.

“The Thai guy in the dressing room?” Eunkwang asks.

“Can he not ask for our autographs this time?” Hyunsik suggests.

“I think he’s pretty cool,” Minhyuk volunteers cheerfully. You shoot him a grateful look.

“He’s just easily excitable,” you defend. “I’ll tell him to be less... uh, him, this time.”

Ilhoon shrugs. “Should be fine,” he pronounces, and Sungjae nods vigorously. It seems to be the final verdict, since Changsub is just humming quietly.

BEAST have gotten up during the discussion and moved to the middle of the floor again, apparently ready for practice.

“BEAST oppa-deul,” you call out, swinging around to sit up. “Lunch, 11:30, Thai place of my choosing?”

Doojoon considers it for a second, then agrees. “Sure, just come get us from this room.”

“I’ll tell Wiwat then.” You pull out your phone as BTOB get up, preparing to practice in their own room, then remember something. “Ah, right!” you exclaim, as Peniel pulls you up lightly from the ground.

He frowns at you. “What?”

“There’s that one Thai kid in GOT7, BamBam. He must miss speaking to Thai people. Why don’t you invite them too?” you suggest brightly.

“Uh-” This is the perfect excuse to get Mark to come. “-sure, I’ll invite them.”

To: Mark hyung

Lunch, 11:30, Thai? We’ll be coming with BEAST, you should bring everyone. Location TBC.

Peniel winces as he hits send and sets his phone down, starting to warm up. Lying by omission is still lying, it seems, and he feels massively guilty. He needs to start over with her... right? Am I doing the right thing?

***

Mark frowns when he checks his phone during a break. Bring everyone? What aren’t you telling me, Pen?

“Something wrong?” Jackson inquires, leaning over.

“No, nothing.” Mark shakes his head and shows him the text. “Pen just invited us all to lunch with BTOB and BEAST sunbae-deul.”

JB overhears the exchange and calls out: “Say yes! Did they tell you where?”

“Thai, but still TBC.”

BamBam wonders aloud: “Will it be any good?”

To: Peniel

Sure. We’ll come. Text me where when you decide.

***

Peniel’s phone buzzes beside you as BTOB practice and you glance at it reflexively. Mark? Ah, the strange guy by the couch when I woke up.

On a whim, you decide that you should better acquaint yourself with them before you meet them (properly, this time). You type “GOT7” into the search bar, hit enter, and click into one of the links that appear, first looking to recognize their faces.

Your heart inexplicably stutters a beat when the first photo loads. It’s Mark. Seeing his face sets off something unknown inside you, making you feel weird the same way you had before, and the scar on your side twinges near imperceptibly. It’s almost like... you’re missing something.

Why would I be in their dressing room? It’s not like they knew that I knew Pen... Suddenly apprehensive, you look up the recent articles relating to Inkigayo, looking for something specific.

GOT7 members leap off stage to help unwell fan, an article headline reads. You almost scroll past. What the ? Below is a video. Breath hitching, you press play. Your eyes are drawn immediately to the spot of neon in the front row. I look sick, you think faintly. The spot falters, and you gasp when the distinctive redhead flies off the stage and into the audience, catching you before you hit the ground. Stabbing a finger at the screen, you pause the video. Holy ing ... I don’t even know the kid!

But even as you’re thinking this, you remember the strange circumstances in which you met. Mark knew you speak English. He also knew about the claustrophobia. He’s close friends with Peniel...

The music stops and Peniel bounds over to check his phone. “Jewel, I’ll need the name of the Thai restaurant right quick,” he prods, slightly concerned when he sees your stiff posture. Before he can lean over to see what you’re looking at, though, you hit the home button and swipe into KakaoTalk instead.

“Yeah, just gimme a sec.”

From: Wiwi

Fine, I promise I won’t fanboy! There’s a good Thai place near my studio, run by two Thai immigrants. That poor kid, BamBam- I bet he hasn’t had time to find a decent restaurant. See you 11:30~

Below is the address of the restaurant. You forward it to Peniel, then resume your introspection as he rejoins the rest of the group.

I don’t know Mark, you think, then falter. “I don’t know a Mark,” you whisper.

But should I?