I lounged in a corner of their practice room, waiting for Jungkook as the rest of them practiced. Tae kept messing up, so they sent him to sit with me as a little time-out.

"Say, Jihye." Taehyung played with my hair as I leaned against his shoulder. "Why do you like Jungkook?"

"Hm?" I looked at him, caught a little off-guard by his question. "Why do I like him?"

"Yeah." He slung an arm around my shoulder. "What about him attracted you?"

"Um, well..." I thought back to the first time I saw him, slightly cringing when I realized why he had piqued my interest at all. "He had nice muscles?"

"You like him because he has nice muscles?" Taehyung laughed, and I ducked my head, feeling embarrassed.

"No, I mean, that's what caught my eye first." I said hurriedly. "That's not why I like him, but it's an added bonus."

"Good, you're not a player." Tae hummed. "So why do you like him?"

"It's hard to explain." I sighed.

"Think about it." He smiled. 

I tapped the screen of my phone, trying to think of reasons. A notification my phone suddenly, and one of his selfies greeted me from my lockscreen, making me smile like an idiot.

"He makes me happy." I decided, still staring at my phone. "He's always made me happy."

"That's a very generic reason." Tae pointed out. 

"Ha, yeah." I snorted. "There are a million other things, but this stands out to me the most. He makes me happy, Tae. Really happy."

"I'm glad to hear that." Tae nuzzled his head against mine. "Just so you know, you make him happy too. The kid literally can't stop obsessing over you."

"He obsesses over me?" I pulled away from him, looking at him in surprise. 

"Big time." He giggled. "He's always worrying about what to say to you. Like before sending you a text, he always comes up to one of us and asks us, 'is it ok?' before sending it. And he's always glued to his phone, either waiting for you to text back or taking selfies to send you."

"Holy ." My jaw dropped. "Tell me more."

"Hmm, let's see." Tae looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Oh yeah, he has this little box under his bed filled with his clothes for you. He's been putting in random things in there for like months, and he never lets anyone touch it. So if you find his shirt or something in your house, just know that it was probably him that "accidentally" left it there."

"Wait, but he hates it when I take his clothes." I told him, feeling confused. 

"Nah, that's all a front." Tae chuckled. "I remember this one time you had sent him a snapchat of you wearing his sweatshirt, and I swear, the dude lost it. Like, he started grinning like an idiot and then rushed to go wear the exact same sweatshirt, just so you guys could be matching."

"Wow." I exhaled, trying to process all of this new information. Was this real life? Could it be possible that Jungkook actually liked me?

Jungkook came in just then, his hair looking all fluffy and perfect and amazing due to the blow dryer. He caught me staring at him and smiled. I ducked my head down, blushing.

"Alright, Hoseok, let's go through this one last time." Namjoon announced, and everyone groaned. "We have to work on editing too."

"Come on, guys." Jin got up, clapping his hands. "Let's do it perfect this time."

Tae reluctantly let go of me and got up too, joining the rest of them as they ran through their warm-ups. Jungkook glared at him, before looking at me with a pout. I puckered my lips and blew him a kiss, which seemed to make him happy.

"Places everyone!" Hoseok yelled, and everyone scurried to their respective positions as the music started playing. It was the title song of their new album, and this was the first time I was hearing the full-length version. When I had asked Jungkook for a sneak peak, he only let me listen to his parts, because "they're the best". 

My eyes followed one member after another, as they quickly went through the different moves. Things were running smoothly for the most part, except that Jungkook kept looking in the mirror to wave to me, due to which everyone kept bumping into each other. 

"Jungkook!" Hoseok yelled. "Stop flirting with Jihye and focus! You're messing everyone up!"

I laughed silently as he apologized, rubbing his head sheepishly. Unfortunately his momentary pause in motion resulted in Jimin accidentally running into him, sending him hurtling towards Namjoon, who he toppled over like a bowling pin. 

"Smile!" Tears ran down my cheeks as I took a picture of the two of them.  

"Oh for 's sake." Namjoon groaned as Jungkook got up, apologizing profusely. "Let's just call it a day. I'm way too tired to continue."

Everyone chorused in agreement.

"I'm gonna go edit." Namjoon announced. "We don't really have much else to do, so y'all can chill out."

"I'm going to sleep." Yoongi yawned, and Hoseok followed him, yelling at him for being lazy. 

"Is anyone hungry?" Jin asked, taking out his wallet. "I'm going to get some food to eat."

Tae and Jimin bounded to him, yapping away like a bunch of eager puppies. "Jihye, do you want anything?" 

"Nah, I'm good." I flapped my hand. "See you."

He waved and left, the wonder twins trailing after him happily.

Jungkook came and sat down beside me, handing me a towel. "Can you dry my hair?"

"Can't you do it yourself?" I made a face, trying to get away from his sweaty hair. "How did you get this sweaty already? You like just took a shower."

"I dunno." He shrugged. "Dry my hair out, please. I'm exhausted."

"Fine." I relented, pretending to be annoyed. I actually didn't mind doing this. "But you have to dance for me in exchange."

"Oh?" He sounded surprised. "You like my dancing?"

"No, Jungkook, I despise your dancing, and that's exactly why I'm asking you to dance for me." I rolled my eyes, sarcasm dripping from my voice. 

"Brat." He stuck out his tongue at me. I smacked his head, reprimanding him.

"Why can't you be respectful for once, hm?" I sighed, sounding like a disappointed mother. "Maybe call me 'noona' once in a while?"

"Ew." He scrunched up his nose as I patted his hair dry. "That sounds so weird. It's like you calling me 'oppa' or something."

"'Jungkook oppa." I said it out loud, trying to see if it sounded weird. "Well, It doesn't sound th-"

A sly grin spread across his face as I realized what he had done.

"...Was this your ploy to get me to call you oppa?" I stared at him pointedly. He nodded excitedly.

"Say it again, say it again!" He tugged at my shirt. "Please? It sounds so amazing."

"Not a chance." I huffed. "Voila, your hair is all dry. Now go dance."

"Only if you come dance with me." He grinned. "Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Nope, nope, nope." I shook my head violently. "I can't dance. Not happening. Nope."

"I'll buy you that pencil set which you really want." He wiggled his eyebrows. 

"Hmm." I looked at him carefully, considering his offer. "Throw in one of your sweatshirts and we have a deal."

"Whatever." He scoffed. I chuckled internally, knowing that he was probably really happy I said that. Note to self: buy Tae whatever he wants for sharing such interesting information with me.

He got up, tugging at my hands to pull me up as well. "Do you have a particular song in mind?"

"Well, I was going to suggest you do Jimin's part from 'No More Dream', but that doesn't really matter now." I coughed.

"You want to see me pull up my shirt?" He smirked. "Once wasn't enough, huh?"

"Shut up." I hissed, folding my arms. "Pick a song already, jeez."

He laughed, trotting over to the music player. I tapped my foot nervously as 'Beautiful' started playing.

"Wait, I don't know any of the steps-" I began to protest, but he simply shushed me, taking my hands in his.

"Here, get up on my feet." He pulled me closer to him and I tilted my head in confusion. "Put your feet on mine, and face me."

I obeyed him, gingerly stepping up on his feet. He caught my hands firmly as I wobbled, losing my balance. 

"All good?" He asked, and I nodded. "Alright, just let your hands and legs follow mine."

We started off slow, with him moving carefully so I wouldn't fall. I got the hang of it eventually, and started following his moves like a shadow.

"Go Jihye!" He cheered as the song picked up speed. I leaned my forehead against his, laughing like a kid. "You're like a pro at this already."

"Well, you controlling my moves helps." I giggled as he spun around. "I had no idea you guys had a dance for this song."

"A lot of people don't." He grinned. "But since the music video was just the four of us walking around, we decided to add something more."

"Oh my god, that music video was so cringe-worthy." I snickered. "You couldn't even hold that girl's hand properly! You were like awkwardly trying to hold her wrist or something, it was so ing hilarious."

"I wasn't used to acting, chill." He frowned. "And I was still pretty charming. Would you have picked me if you were that girl?"

"Nah." I said indifferently. "I would've called the police if four random guys started following me like that. But in this case, I would've picked Tae or Hoseok."

"What?" He cried. "Why not me?"

"Tae was patient." I huffed. "And Hoseok would've bought me stuff. Jimin was just straight up shady, like his eyes were screaming 'boy', so I wouldn't have picked him. You were just really awkward and pushy, so I wouldn't have picked you either."

"That's not how I am in real life, right?" He asked me. "You would have picked me in real life?"

"Of course." I kissed his forehead before burying my face in the crook of his neck. "You're such a cute little thing."

"Where is all of this affection coming from?" He chuckled, our dance slowing down to the point where we were just swaying from side-to-side. "You are rarely this nice to me."

"Ah, I think I'm growing a heart." I sighed dramatically. "Or maybe I just feel guilty for teasing you so much. Damn, I used to be so badass and amazing. Now I'm this affectionate, cheesy person. It's all your fault."

He simply grinned. "You're catching feelings for me."

"I caught feelings for you a long time ago." I corrected him. "You were just too oblivious to notice."

"Trust me, I kick myself everyday for that." He laughed. 

"It's ok, though." I smiled against him. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Except maybe if you were Jay Park or Kim Soohyun. I wouldn't mind that either."

"Nice to know where I stand." He mumbled and I looked up at him, giving him a cheeky grin. He stared at me for a few seconds, before suddenly leaning in pressing his lips to mine.

It was strange. I had expected to freeze, my eyes widening as cheesy music played in the background, like in the dramas. Instead, I just smiled as he kissed me, feeling oddly at peace with the world. I made no effort to do anything, mostly because I had no idea what the I would do. So I stood there, basking in the pure bliss of this moment

He pulled away first, leaning his forehead against mine. I coughed, trying to find my voice, since I could barely even seem to breathe. Ok, Jihye. I told myself. Just don't say anything stupid.

"Did you eat garlic chicken for breakfast?"

Good job.

He blinked at me a couple of times, before dissolving into laughter.

"That's what you say after your very first kiss?" He snorted. "Smooth, Jihye. Real smooth."

"I don't really know what to say." I confessed, slightly breathless.

"Tell me if it was a good kiss." He demanded. "I'm not exactly very experienced either."

"I can't really judge if it was a good kiss or not." I bit my lip. "I've never kissed anyone before."

He smiled, before pressing a quick kiss to my lips. "There, now you've been kissed twice. What do you think?"

"It feels weird." I giggled, scrunching up my nose. "Like, what if I accidentally slip and bit off your lip or something? What if I burp?"

"You're gross." He shook his head. "Don't you dare burp when I'm kissing you. I swear, I'll ing fight you if you do that."

"Now I'm absolutely going to burp every time you try to kiss me." I challenged him. "I'll probably beat you up, too."

"Please, baby, I'd let you win." He smirked.

"Don't get too cocky." I raised my eyebrows at him. "And don't 'baby' me. You're like, 12."

"Fiesty." He chuckled. "I like you."

"Yeah?" I hummed. "I believe you."

"Wait really?" His eyes widened. "Are you playing?"

"Maybe." I tweaked his nose, smiling sweetly. "Maybe not."

"Oh it, that's good enough for me." He exhaled, leaning in to kiss me again. Unfortunately, Jin, Tae, and Jimin walked into the room just then, freezing when they saw how intimate the atmosphere was. I immediately pulled away from Jungkook, flushing bright red. I heard him curse at them under his breath, which made me laugh.

"Are we interrupting anything?" Jin scratched the back of his head as Tae and Jimin coughed awkwardly. Jungkook looked at them with his 'I'm going to be extremely disrespectful and forget all honorifics' look, a look that was all too familiar to me.

"Nope." I chimed in before Jungkook went off and ended up being murdered by Jin. "I was just telling Jungkook that I have to leave."

"Wait, you do?" He questioned, turning to me. His voice tugged at my heart. "Why?"

"I have a double-shift at the hospital." I looked at him apologetically. "Didn't I tell you?"

"I wasn't really paying attention to that part." He mumbled, and I fought the urge to kiss him again. 

"Are you doing anything day after?" I asked him quietly. He turned and looked at Jin hopefully, who just shook his head.

"We fly to Japan that day, remember?" Jin answered, giving me a sympathetic look. "And our comeback stage is the week after that, so we're gonna be really busy."

I bit my lip, disappointment washing over me. I forced a smile and squeezed his hand, not wanting him to feel worse than he already did. "Hey, I'll just call you, ok?"

He nodded, his bangs falling over his eyes. I brushed them aside and stood on my tip-toes, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. I wish I could kiss his lips, but I didn't exactly want it to be so public. "Good luck, Jungkookie."

He stared at our intertwined hands, before pulling me to his bag. He took out a jacket and handed it to me, not looking me in the eye.

"Just in case it gets cold."

I muttered a small thank you and wrapped it around my shoulders, before walking out. I heard them talking as the door closed behind me.

"Kookie, you ok?"

"No, hyung." His voice sounded shaky. Was he crying?

"I think I like her too much."