"You're going to ruin your eyes that way."

Jongin looked up from where he lay and saw Soojung leaning by the glass door with her arms crossed, a smug expression on her face. Returning from his previous state, Jongin came face to face with white. No matter how many times he closed his eyes, he could still feel the blaring heat of the ceiling lights, and it was impossible not to compare it from the stage lights he saw daily. He still wasn't used to it.

"Better?" Soojung's voice came from above. He opened his eyes to see her bending over to block the lights, massive hair framing her face, creating a halo around her frame prettily. She grinned at him.

"What are you doing here? It's late."

She squatted down to his level. "I could say the same thing about you."

"Do you want me to accompany you to your dorm?" Jongin started to sit up but Soojung placed a hand on his chest and told him to stay as he was.

"I don't think it's wise. Your loyal fans are flocking the entrance right now and they could beat me to death if they saw us together." She laughed when he groaned. "Plus my manager's here so don't you worry your little pretty head about a thing."

"Don't talk to me that way," he hated it when she cooed him like a baby. "I'm older than you."

"And I am your sunbae."

He rolled his eyes and turned away, making her whine and complain about his tantrums. (He wasn't throwing a tantrum; Soojung was just annoying sometimes.)

"If you continue being a grump, your fans will leave you," she sing-songs and Jongin couldn't help but grunt a solid good as a reply. It was better that way. Less limelight, less attention, less focus on Kai. It was an appealing thought, one Jongin would consider seriously even if it meant ruining the boy-next-door image the company made for him.

"Don't tell me you're fed up already?"

Jongin sighed.

"How long has it been since your debut? Two years? Three?"

"Three... and six years since yours." 

"It gets better on your fourth and fifth year; don't worry. More freedom."

"And on your sixth?"

"On your sixth they don't give a anymore because you're old. On your seventh they leave you for the dead." They laughed and Jongin returned to his original position, facing Soojung with a barely-there smile. He felt that his smiles were becoming more strained and insincere.

"It's going to be okay."

He only managed to hum a reply before he reached for her hand and pulled her down with him.  "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Soojung kissed him once, twice and more than he could count. It's going to be okay with just the two of them.