#the last five minutes when she's in Seol all i could think was

[dumbbullet]

Hey if you’re looking for something to watch on this Friday night might i suggest Colossal starring Anne Hathaway which you can find on Hulu and maybe Netflix? 

[timextoxhajima]

Nevertheless: Pride & Dignity [Alternate Ending] - A Game in the Snow

CHAPTER NAVIGATION [ONGOING]

synopsis: hwang seol eun finds herself stuck between a toxic relationship with lee hyunjae and a heart-fluttering dynamic with lee juyeon

pairing: jujae x [fem] reader, 3rd person pov [read as hwang seol eun]

genre [per chapter]: angst, fluff

word count: 2.3k

taglist: @hyunjaethereal @yyyerum @purrple-winkle @17scheol @ten-gift @louvyves @winterbeartaehyungbestboy @flwrtbz @gyujaehyun @i2gyus @sunwoowuvbot @softforqiankun @givememunjang @peachyho @vousty @bubutaeyongie @sofie296 @deputyjuyeon @changminurheart @from-xero @grassbutneo @sknyuz @pockyandme @itstbz @bluecrane01 @glitteringcoffeefreak

“miss hwang, could i get your help with the coffee?” a colleague calls over the exhibition office.

most of the room were in a slight scram for the daily opening of the exhibition, and it takes seol eun a while to process what she was hearing because it was english spoken in foreign accent.

“coming,” she says, gently laying down the hand sanitizers that she was meant to help the janitors refill around the location.

“do you happen to know where the sugar and the stirrers are?” her colleague lets her handle the cups, pulling them out of the cupholder grooves.

“should be over by the pantry, i’m not sure if there are more,” seol eun plucks out the cups and points to the corner of the office.

“lovely, thank you. will be right back,” she pats seol eun on her shoulder and walks off.

“no problem,” seol eun arranges the coffee according to their types - lattes, americanos, frappucinos - then looks up and yells, “coffee’s here! sugar and stirrers should be on their way.”

and with the announcement, alot of the crew comes swarming to her, greeting her and thanking her for the morning treat.

“took you long enough to make a coffee treat, eh?” one of the local crew members gently nudge her.

“would’ve done it sooner,” she grins and notices her colleague from before coming over with the stirrers and sugar.

later, she makes her rounds in the museum, eyes wide and looking up at the ceilings with renaissance paintings. gold fillings and flakes and beige skin under fiery red hair.

she meets the janitors along the way, helping them with little things like refilling the alcohol wipe dispensers by the toilets and the sanitizer bottles at some stop points. but some halls were quiet - and it was just her and a huge five by six metre canvas.

when she first came to europe, the change in environment had almost completely wiped her memory of whatever back home, for she was given less than a week to settle in the studio apartment that the company was nice enough to give her, and do up documents for final administration plans for the exhibitions.

it would be going to 10 cities in a year, in 7 different countries, speaking a language she doesn’t know better.

daunting, but she would give anything to see the world the way she loves it.

it’s the silence in the exhibition rooms that bring her peace. when it’s just her and an art piece and she’s left alone to think about what it reminded her of, what it made her feel. that’s why she loves this job.

that’s why it’s her only friend when she’s alone.

but the silent peace is abruptly interrupted in the form of a phone call, and she pulls it out of her back pocket to find mi jung’s name on the caller ID.

“yes?” seol eun smiles to herself, eyes still stuck on the canvas.

“so, i have something to tell you.”

“what is it? my exhibitions opening in about…” she looks down at her watch.

9.48am.

“12 minutes.”

“i’m pregnant.”

seol eun’s eyes widen as she turns around, blinking the surprise away. “what?”

“my period went mia last month and i ignored it. but i had cramps today and jacob took me to go see a doc and turns out i’m 7 weeks in.”

“shut. up.”

“that’s what i said to the doctor,” mi jung squeaks from the other end.

“you’re calling me at 1.48am to tell me this?! why not earlier?! oh, my god! congratulations? why do you not sound happy at all? are you worried? how’s jacob doing?”

“bold of you to assume i wasn’t freaking out the entire time since the moment i found out. i JUST calmed down and i wanted to go sleep and call you tomorrow but jacob knew i couldn’t so he told me to. he’s actually here right now.”

“hi, seol eun, how are you?”

“how am i? how are you?” seol eun finally walks to the bench in the viewing room and sits. “oh, my god, you’re gonna be a dad! are you having a wedding soon?”

“i believe we have to tell mi jung’s parents first,” jacob sheepishly drags his words.

“does mi young know?”

“hell, yeah i know!”

“shut up!”

“anyway, mi jung won’t have the wedding without you. she wants to wait until you’re back.”

“but i’m not back for another 3 months, her bump is gonna be obvious by then.”

“she was hoping you’d be able to take a week off work. maybe come back for the wedding then go back to work, but you know she won’t ask for that. she knows your work is important to you.”

“oh, i would take a week off, i know my supervisor would definitely allow it but they lack crew here and one less person really doesn’t help their manpower.”

“don’t worry about it. mi jung will have the baby bump on her wedding day, you know she doesn’t care about it.”

“oh, but the baby bump wouldn’t be too pretty-“

“what do you mean ‘wouldn’t’? are you saying the baby is extra?”

seol eun snorts, reaching up and scratching her forehead. “i mean it’s your wedding. you make the call. whenever you have it, i will try my best to make it back, you know that.”

“you better. anyway, i’m sleepy. hang up.”

“rude,” seol eun stands. “but goodnight. congratulations, you two.”

“thank you. stay safe at work, seol eun.”

“bye, jacob.”

seol eun pulls her phone away from her ear, her palm automatically flying up to her face as she feels her nose sour.

it's not even me, but oh, my god.

she smiles to herself, laughing under her breath and clutching the phone tightly to her chest.

she was lucky her supervisor had instantly agreed to her one-week leave on the account that a friend was getting married, and in the next month, seol eun found herself on the plane back home where mi jung and jacob would be having a quiet, family-and-close-friends-only wedding.

life passed in slow-motion as she runs out of the arrival hall and straight into mi jung's arm, her little baby bump barely even showing. seol eun already knew that mi jung had been crying, though she kept denying it. her puffy eyes gave her away, and furthermore, she kept using the excuse of 'hormonal imbalance' to credit her emotional state.

mi jung and jacob had already moved into an apartment on their own, so seol eun was lucky they had an extra room to spare. the following next few days, the couple spent their days going out to finalise their wedding schedules and the other services they hired, leaving seol eun on her own to shop for a dress and familiarise herself with the place she once called 'home'.

does she still?

but buying a dress didn't take long, no. she had it in the back of the car she rented for the day when she found herself at the doorstep of juyeon's newly opened studio.

she remembers the warmth of his hands over hers as he taught her how to use the pottery wheel. the scent of dried clay and musty canvases have been stuck in her head and heart for as long as she can remember.

juyeon or not, that would've already been part of her life, for she's spent most of her young adulthood in exhibitions and art studios.

her fingers drag across her neck - where a necklace he gifted to her once sat, but since returned to him the day she left. it was a teary goodbye at the airport that she refuses to remember, though she knows she will never forget.

"i'll wait for as long as you want me to," he said.

"don't wait if you find someone who loves you more than i do," she remembers choking through her teeth. "don't wait if she can love you the way you can love her."

seol eun blinks the memory out of her head, inhaling a sharp breath as she sees a familiar silhouette coming towards the entrance.

there he was, bright and sunny like the blue sky above her. and in his hand was a heart that fit perfectly in his hands.

seol eun's had been too big, too selfish, too heavy to carry.

she was almost as bright as him, but just like the moon and stars, they each had their own beauty that complemented one another.

he listened to her.

seol eun gulps the lump in the back of her throat, surprised that her heart isn't breaking. she wants to get out of the car and hug him, tell him she's missed him and she's so happy for him.

but seeing him happy is enough.

she doesn't deserve him.

she waits for them to turn down the street and disappear behind the concrete wall before sighing heavily, pulling the car into drive and making a u-turn.

she visits the restaurant she ate at with juyeon, then goes to the one where she first had a meal with hyunjae, and then subsequently with hyungwon.

the waitress recognised her. she had a dessert on the house.

seol eun almost regrets renting a car, for her dress had been sitting in the backseat the entire time she drove from one place to another, and the last place she expected herself to be in was the condominium she used to live in.

she bought health supplements for the security guard who used to work in the building she stayed in, but he'd retired and gone to live with his children.

the white flakes dribble from the sky like little fluffy soap bubbles, fogging her breath and decorating her hair like little pins and pearls.

her shoes crunch in the thin layer of snow that's covered the basketball court, now overlooking the city where some trees and fencing had been removed.

the amber and white lights from the city made it look like stars had fallen from the sky.

she sucks in a deep breath, inhaling the cold, winter air as she closes her eyes.

"i thought the view was pretty too."

her heart plunges. it shatters into a million butterflies when it hits her stomach as she turns around.

there were little cotton flakes stuck in his hair, like his hands in his jacket's pockets. there was a basketball in the triangle made from his torso and bent arm, and his cheeks were pink from the cold.

a small smile appears on his lips.

"did you know i was here or did god finally decide to give you one nice thing?" she tilts her head and snickers, biting on her bottom lip.

hyunjae parts his lips, sighing. he looks around the area, as if searching for something, his eyes squinted. then he turns back to her, a little cheeky grin on his face.

"i kind of saw you from my window. i freaked out a little and maybe cried a little. kind of slipped on the way down here too, but thank god you didn't hear me."

seol eun chuckles, pulling her hands out of her pocket as she strides over to him. hesitation holds her back for a moment, but eventually, she reaches up to hold his cheek, then the other, and suddenly his eyes are glazed with a layer of tears.

"i missed you."

the words crack her heart into two.

"i missed you too."

hyunjae leans his forehead on hers, pulling her hands from his cheeks and laying them over his shoulders.

"i should've asked this the first time before i did it but..." he looks straight into her eyes. "can i kiss you?"

seol eun holds her breath, then bursts out into an embarrassed chuckle.

she nods.

there is no hesitation on his side as he drops the ball and cups her face, slotting his lips between hers like she was all he thought about the entire time she was gone. was he just waiting for her, even though he was never asked to?

his arms slide around her waist, pulling her in and almost lifting her off the slippery surface of the court. the curves of their noses are like puzzle pieces, her hands cold on the back of his warm neck.

he pulls away first, their hot breath mixing up from two clouds of fog between their faces. he rests his forehead against hers again, and then suddenly picks her up to spin her around like they were in a movie.

seol eun's tears sort of freeze before they could even make it to her chin, and hyunjae kisses her forehead after putting her down.

"i guess waiting paid off," he smiles and kisses her nose, reaching down to hold her hands.

"i'm not done with my term in europe though," she pouts, interlocking her fingers with his.

"what?" he frowns, holding both her hands in one of his with the other reaching up to push her hair out of her face. "how long more do you have?"

"a few months."

hyunjae blinks, thinking.

"take me with you."

"what?" she frowns and shakes her head. "it's just for a few months."

"and i've waited for months," hyunjae shakes his head, holding her chin and stroking her bottom lip with his thumb. "i've lost you once, i won't lose you again."

"i'm just gonna be in europe, you're not gonna-"

"no," he grumpily whines, pulling her into a hug. "can't have you falling in love with someone else again."

she bites on her bottom lip to hide the little smile she has on her lips, sinking her head into his chest.

"i love you," he whispers into her head. "never leave me again."

she shuts her eyes, tightly wrapping her arms around his waist.

"i won't."

her breath is warm when she breathes into his padded jacket, and he holds her head close to his shoulder. she pulls away first, suddenly remembering the basketball that's rolled on the floor.

so, she kind of skids towards the ball near the edge of the court, and with a mischievous smile, she holds it up. "one on one?"

[which-star]

for the spotify ask: 22💜

The thing was, they just kept coming back. Back to each other; back to old haunts and rooftops; back, back, back. And Cindy didn't know what to do about it.

(Make that two times they kissed.)

come on, you know I get confused

She was in Seoul, South Korea and she shouldn't have been. But what were you supposed to do when Luna Snow called you in the middle of the night and told you in hushed tones that Felicia Hardy was there?

Cindy booked the next flight and was out of the country before you could spell out the word irresponsible.

Seol couldn't tell her what the Black Cat was doing in Korea, it being confidential information, but Cindy knew it was nothing good. Twenty hours after the call, she arrived at Incheon Airport with no idea what to do next. Another hour later she was in Atlas headquarters typing away on her laptop about the horrors of fast fashion.

She could barely focus; her eyes were darting to her phone every few minutes for a sign of a text. Would Seol tell Felicia that Cindy was here? Like: oh yeah, by the way, someone flew all the way from New York to here to see you. No big deal, or anything. God, that would be mortifying. Cindy would never hear the end of it.

Especially since Felicia had been incredibly distant lately. More so than usual. She was probably fine, cats always landed on their feet, after all. Still, worry gnawed at the back of Cindy's mind.

Cindy checked her word count. She wasn't even a hundred words past her last check five minutes ago. This was impossible; how did she write for a living again? She shut her laptop and leaned back on her chair, wanting to scream out of frustration and jet lag.

Maybe she should go do some vigilante stuff. Tiger Division was out of commission with whatever they were doing, so Silk could at the very least help out. Screw fast fashion and the environment, Cindy wanted to punch stuff.

She did vaguely remember Seol saying something about the gangs and assault crimes being the big things to look out for in the city. That decided it. She would go punch some bad guys before settling back down to finish writing her article. And if Tiger Division happened to finish whatever they were doing by then. Well, that was good timing.

----

Cindy pulled her mask down, high up on the roof of some building. The surveillance cameras only covered the door and stairway to the roof, not what was outside, making it a perfect spot to chill in. She sat crossed legged with her laptop in her lap, back against the stone railing, finally getting around to finishing up the article she'd been stuck on all day.

It was so late it was morning, yet the flow of traffic below never ended. The absence of colorful buses on the roads was the only sign of how late it was getting. Cindy was wide awake, the jet lag pushing her to keep on writing.

Swinging around Seoul had definitely helped. Cindy felt so much looser now, her head clearer than it had been before. Seriously, what was she thinking? Her hands paused typing at the angry thought. Dropping everything and leaving for some country as soon as she heard Felicia got tangled up there?

It wasn't fair being this attached to someone who, by all rights, didn't need her. The thought shot through her chest like a bullet, but Cindy knew she was right. It was always Cindy who needed Felicia more, even if Felicia was the one crashing into her missions or cutting her hair.

Cindy shook her head. Fast fashion, she was talking about microplastic waste that made its way to the ocean. Her fingers started up their rhythm again.

Her bag vibrated with a sudden fierceness and was exactly what Cindy had been waiting for. Cindy scrambled to find her phone, setting aside her laptop and digging it out of one of the side pockets. Swiping right, she pressed the phone to her ear. "Seol-ah!" She said eagerly in Korean. "How are things?"

"Solved on our end," Seol confirmed back. Her voice was cheerful but a thin layer of exhaustion covered it. "Did you have a good flight?"

"Yeah, it was fine." Cindy kept her tone light. "Ami's not driving you up a wall?"

"As if! Fox, wanna talk with Silk?"

Muffled sounds from the background filtered through the phone as Cindy waited patiently. Soon enough, a new voice could be heard. "Silk, nice to hear of you in Korea."

"Just dropping by."

"Pretty expensive flight to just drop by." The White Fox observed wryly.

Cindy winced. Ami didn't need to tell her twice. "Yeah, it is."

"Your American friend is annoying."

"Who's my American friend?"

"Black Cat." The way Ami was talking made it sound like Felicia was in the room with her. She probably was. There was fumbling on the other end and Ami suddenly sounded like she was further away.

"Oh, Cat?" Cindy immediately pulled her phone away to curse under her breath. That was too familiar for comfort. "She's certainly a character."

Did that come off as too cagey? Too admiring? Cindy hoped it was neither.

"I was hesitant at first, because I remember seeing her on your file." Of course the spy had thoroughly checked everyone's files. "But then I saw your note about her."

"I'm glad the gamble paid off."

"You're on speaker now, by the way," Ami continued, mild amusement in her tone "Luna got nosy."

"It's my phone!"

"Alright." That explained the fumbling. Was Felicia listening in? Cindy couldn't tell, and Felicia couldn't understand Korean anyways. She leaned back on the railing, looking up at the cloudless sky.

"Where are you anyways?" Seol asked.

"Uh..." her face scrunched. "I'm on a rooftop, pretty high up. Lotte Tower is staring right at me."

As mentioned, the almost tapering oblong shape of Lotte Tower rose in front of her, way taller than the building she was on. Its unique curvature was what had drawn Cindy to it in the first place. One of these days she would climb that thing, the tallest building in Seoul.

Unintelligible talking crackled in her ear and Cindy wondered what was going on. There was the distant sound of a door slamming and Seol's voice came through again. "Black Cat just left."

"Really?"

"She's annoying," Ami grumbled. "But competent, I guess."

"There's the White Fox I know and love. I knew you were being too civil before."

"I'm always civil."

"Ami said she came here with two guys," Seol continued, ignoring them. "Do you have any idea why?"

"No clue," Cindy told her honestly. "I haven't spoken to her... in a while."

Seol hummed thoughtfully.

"It's irrelevant to us anyways," Ami interrupted. "But, Silk, I think she's heading your way."

"How would you know?"

"I have a tracker in her."

"Uh..." Cindy frowned. "You know what, I'm not even going to question it."

"You shouldn't."

They talked a bit more after that, the mission they'd been on, the places in Korea Cindy just had to visit before she left again. Cindy promised to hang out with them later before ending the call. She looked around the roof; no sign of Felicia.

It wasn't until Cindy started thinking that she wasn't going to show up when a shadow flew over and a certain Felicia Hardy landed in front of her.

"Cat," Cindy greeted. Her heart jumped into her throat.

The Black Cat's hands were on her hips. "Do you know how vague your directions were?"

"They weren't really meant to be directions."

"Weren't they?" A familiar lift of the brow.

Felicia wasn't in her suit, Cindy realized instead of thinking of an answer, just a plain black shirt and joggers. "What happened to your suit?"

"A lot." Felicia waved her hand and stepped closer. The moonlight glanced off her silver hair and highlighted the wrinkles of the cotton fabric. It hung baggy on her athletic frame, oversized and fashionable in a way Cindy had never seen on her before. In a vain attempt to show her figure, she had tucked the front of the shirt in.

Patting the floor next to her, Cindy averted her eyes from Felicia. "Sit?" She offered.

And then, suddenly, a warm body was next to hers. Cindy fought the urge to lean in, instead tilting her head up and looking at Lotte Tower framed by the sky.

"These clothes aren't mine," Felicia finally said.

A laugh escaped. "I figured. It's too... not your style."

"That's what I told them." An exaggerated huff.

Cindy considered bringing up the mission, she knew from Ami that Felicia had been healed up by Seol, but she still wanted to make sure. She decided against it, not wanting to break the moment.

"I know you want to ask me about the mission," Felicia's eyes bore into her. Cindy could feel it. She stoutly kept her eyes on the top of Lotte Tower. "It was fine."

At that, Cindy tore her eyes away from the sky and met Felicia's gaze. "And you're good?"

"Other than the stupid tracker-slash-bomb-slash-translator chip in my neck? Just peachy."

"The what?" Instinctively, Cindy got on her knees and scooted closer as if to look for the said chip. She froze when she realized just how close she was, her hand almost touching, her eyes roaming exposed skin.

"Whitey's not taking it off till I leave." Felicia sounded grumpy about it, but not mad. That was a good sign, right? "But I can understand Korean now."

"You can understand..." Cindy jerked back before she could touch anything. She furrowed her brows, trying to figure out how that would work. Technology was crazy these days.

"Yeah." Felicia was full blown smirking now. "Apparently there's a note about me?" She teased.

Cindy looked away. She remembered writing that note back when she was doing agent stuff for a while. After the museum heist. "It's nothing."

"Can't be nothing when it influenced Whitey's opinions."

"Just forget about it."

"Oh believe me, I won't."

Rolling her eyes, Cindy pulled her knees up and hugged them. Felicia would probably leave tomorrow, or in the next few days. They wouldn't meet again till Felicia was done with... whatever she was doing. It seemed so inane, this moment, but it would likely be the last time they'd meet in a while. She briefly entertained the idea of telling Felicia that she dropped everything to catch her. Very briefly.

"I love it when the skies can't sleep," she said instead, watching the sky deepen, then lighten. "It's so beautiful."

Felicia was silent, no doubt tired from everything she'd done today. Cindy almost cursed at the realization, Felicia was possibly exhausted. They shouldn't be on a rooftop, talking just to fill the silence; the both of them should be resting.

In what, though, a bed? Her cheeks darkened at the thought and she promptly just refused to go down that line of thinking. She started packing, sliding her laptop into her bag. "You must be tired I-"

"Where are you staying?"

"Uh, Luna's place. Probably."

Felicia's eyes darkened at the name. "Luna Snow? The pop star?"

"The pretty one," Cindy confirmed. "I might be able to finally round out my 4L1T collection this trip."

"What collection?"

"Luna's K-Pop group. Their albums?"

If Cindy didn't know any better, she would've described Felicia's voice as jealous. "You collect their stuff?"

She shrugged. "They're pretty, their songs are amazing, what's not to be a fan of?" So maybe Cindy was spreading it on a bit thick.

"Hm." Felicia sniffed. "Don't they have rules for sleeping with fans?"

"We're friends, Cat." Cindy had to laugh at the innuendo. "She's really nice."

"You could always stay in my private jet."

"I've never been on a private jet before."

"Well now's your chance," Felicia all but purred.

There was a second where Cindy considered the hidden offer. When she flew to Korea, she hadn't been expecting much. She actually hadn't really thought it through much at all. But this, this was much more.

And it was also a deflection. She could see it in her eyes. Felicia wanted a distraction and whether it was for herself or Cindy, it didn't seem like it mattered. But, why?

"Cat," she hesitated. Chose her next words carefully. "Felicia, what's going on?"

Felicia's face shuttered. Her eyelashes fluttered and Cindy could see the light shadows it casted over her cheeks.

"When are things not going on?" Answering a question with a question, a patented Hardy move. And another classic tactic was used in the way she diverted the subject. "Korea isn't just a stopover for you, isn't it."

"Well, yeah, Luna called me." But it hadn't been an invitation. "I got here toda- yesterday, technically."

Felicia was quick to stand. Her tone was forcefully casual. "She seemed nice. Healed me up and everything."

Cindy scrambled to her feet to match her, searching for something to say. They haven't even properly talked. She didn't want this to end, as much as she knew Felicia needed her rest. There was something written in the cracks of their silences, their every moment, but Cindy couldn't read the words. When she had told Seol her location, she hadn't been expecting Felicia to come.

But. Hadn't she? Felicia had come, even back then, at that museum heist. Where they kissed for the first time in... a long time. They hadn't kissed since. She'd always been at the edges of Cindy's vision in every mission she did for SHIELD, the ghost in the shadows. Was it really a surprise Felicia had found her even in an unfamiliar city like Seoul?

Even when Cindy was doing the chasing?

She remembered the metallic snip snip of scissors cutting her hair. She remembered seeing flashes of white and silver and knowing a certain cat was there. Right, it had been Cindy who had seeked Felicia out for reassurance on a haircut.

While scouring for words, Felicia was walking further away. She hadn't looked back even once. Her silver hair reflected the moonlight and the dim lights, a sight Cindy could never get enough of. She hated seeing it swallowed by the shadow of the stairhouse.

"I didn't come to see Luna."

The outline of Felicia went still.

Cindy took a few, uncertain steps in her direction. "I came to see you."

Over in the shadows, Cindy heard Felicia exhale rather than saw her chest moving.

"She called me to tell me about you," Cindy scuffed at the concrete. "And I booked the next flight."

"How irresponsible." Her voice was measured and calm and barely audible.

"That's what I thought too," Cindy laughed nervously. "It didn't hit me until later that I might've missed your stopover. That I wouldn't even see you."

Her shoulders were high and tight again and Cindy took another step forward. Then two steps back.

"But I missed you, right? I didn't mean to let it brew, but I did. So, somehow, trying to catch you was better than just letting the chance slip by. Even if my bank account's crying right now."

Felicia turned to face her, finally. Cindy breathed a sigh of relief and stooped down to grab her bag. She caught up to Felicia, the shadow swallowing her as well.

There wasn't anything she had left to say. She clutched the strap of her bag tighter. "I didn't know what I would say to you. I think a part of me hoped I would miss you because of that."

"Do you know now?" Felicia asked softly.

"No, but I'm glad you found me so quickly." A smile shone through her voice, even if she didn't want it to; she was beaming.

"Hard to miss the tallest building in Seoul."

"It's a sight, isn't it?" Cindy didn't even have to crane her neck to see Lotte Tower behind Felicia. "I want to climb it."

A snort. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Not today, though. I should adjust to the time difference. And you-" Cindy tried side stepping around Felicia. "-should rest too."

Her back was to the wall and Felicia was in front of her. Cindy reached to flick lint off of Felicia's shirt. She didn't want to go.

"Why'd you come, anyway?" She ducked her head. "Exhausting yourself over nothing. Come on, Cat."

"Because it's you." The reply came swift, unbalancing Cindy in an instant. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Exactly because it's me!" The reprimand fell weak and Cindy wanted to bury her head in Felicia's shoulder.

"You're not nothing." Felicia took a menacing step forward and Cindy took an even smaller one back. There was barely any space left between them but Felicia didn't seem to care. "You're the whole reason I decided to overlay in Korea instead of Singapore. You're the only reason I played nice with White Fox."

"What?"

"You're friends with her." A small smile graced her lips. "Maybe I wanted to make a good impression."

It was too bad Ami found everyone annoying.

"And when I first heard Luna Snow say your name during mission prep," Felicia continued lowly. "I couldn't believe my luck, getting to hear about you and how much you helped them."

"It wasn't anything much—"

"It was everything." Cindy couldn't look away from Felicia's narrowing gaze. "And then she called you and you were on speaker, and. I couldn't say anything. You sounded so..." she fell silent. "And suddenly, you were just so close. Silk, you were right there, in the same city as me. Literally just out of reach. I needed to find you."

"... Fel." The nickname felt like home on her tongue. She couldn't help but scoff quietly at the absurdity. "Isn't it a bit pathetic we always find each other?"

"Sort of."

"I won't kiss and tell if you don't." Maybe that distraction was a good call after all.

Felicia surged forward, effectively trapping Cindy against the wall with her arms. Her voice dropped into a purr; her breath ghosted over Cindy's cheeks. "I do have a private jet."

"Are-..." Cindy stumbled over her words. "Aren't your crew on that?"

Her smirk grew wider. "I could kick them out."

"Then what's stopping you?"

Her eyes flicked down to Cindy's bag then to Lotte Tower before flicking back. The answer was obvious: Felicia was giving her a choice.

Cindy's arms wrapped around Felicia's neck and pulled her in for a kiss.

[staytheb]

Like Oh 2.0 - Group Date

Previous Chapter: Date. Lessons. Gym. Word Count: 4,107 Summary: Melanie and Jaebeom first meet through a group date.

Like Oh 2.0 masterlist

here is the third chapter where Jaebeom and Melanie officially meet one another... in a sense. lol so happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

When Melanie arrived at the karaoke place with Dasol and Haeryong the trio were greeted by Seolbi along with the other two that had replaced Jasmine and Jeannie's spot. Upon reaching them, Melanie grew confused on why Dayoon was there as she never hung out with them except for when she was with Melanie and the twins only. Melanie did mentally roll her eyes upon seeing the other girl, Yerim, who was standing close with Dayoon. It was because Melanie wasn't fond of her ever since she came to the first group date with the Anam Tigers several months ago, but never voiced out her opinion as she was Seolbi's friend. The reason Melanie wasn't exactly friends with the girl was because Yerim only hung around whenever Seolbi would invite her when one of them bailed out or whatever. Plus, Yerim gave her bad vibes from the get-go.

"Hey everyone!" Seolbi greeted the others happily. "You all know Yerim, but this is Dayoon. She's a friend of Yerim and it's her first time doing a group date." The two younger women waved at the trio as everyone exchanged pleasantries. "I know I said to meet here, but we're actually going to meet the guys at Taegukgi now." Seolbi explained as she motioned for them all to head back to the subway station. "Why didn't we just meet there in the first place, Bi?" Dasol asked in confusion. "Yeah, Bi. It would have saved us a twenty minutes ride coming here." Haeryong added as Seolbi laughed sheepishly. "Sorry. It's because I sent a message to the Kondae boys to meet at the karaoke place, but one of the guys, Jaehoon, said they couldn't make it in time and opted for our original meet-up place just now to eat first."

"We could have still waited for them to show up and eat somewhere around here though." Melanie reasoned as the group of six boarded the subway train to their next destination. "I know that most of us wouldn't mind." "Yeah, I know, Chaewon unnie, but they're already on their way to Taegukgi and I just thought we'll just convenience them." Seolbi informed them as Melanie rolled her eyes, "Okay," before resting them on Dayoon. "I thought you had to help your cousin with something, Dayoon?" The younger woman slightly jumped upon hearing Melanie's words before answering slowly. "Oh, well, it was short and um, and not as long as I thought it would be. Then Yerim unnie asked me to join her on this outing and I agreed." "I see." Melanie didn't quite believe it as the younger woman seemed suspiciously jumpy unlike her usual self, but didn't voice out her thoughts.

~~~~~~~

Melanie was playing Candy Crush Saga and on the Dreamworld edition on her phone as she and the other five were patiently waiting for the Konkuk University boys to show up. She didn't participate in their discussion or gossiping about whatever they were talking about as she had no real interest with their topics and mostly kept to herself until she felt like interacting. Besides, the owl kept her more entertained compare to talking about people that didn't concern her. "Dammit, Odus. Why do you keep doing this to me, Odus?" Melanie muttered as she would scold the virtual bird in English every time the bird would shift a little too much to one side of the scale that eventually would tip over and Melanie would again fail the level. "Stupid little bird."

"Unnie." Haeryong jabbed Melanie right's side to get her attention as the Kondae boys had just arrived and were all staring at her due to her mini outburst. Melanie gave her friend a dark look before turning her attention to the six males in front of her as her gaze soften. "Oh, hi." She weakly smiled at them with an awkward wave with her right hand while setting her phone in her pocket with the other as the males cast her friendly smiles except for one who Melanie noticed was wearing a mask and couldn't tell. Maybe he's sick, she thought before turning her attention onto Seolbi who began speaking. "Yay, we're all here." She exclaimed excitedly from her seat as she indicated for the males to sit across from the females. "Please, sit."

"Sorry we made you girls wait." Jaehoon apologizes on behalf of himself and his friends. "Oh no, no. The wait was well worth it." Dasol smiled at them before Yerim spoke up next. "We've been highly anticipating for your arrival, honestly." Oh, that we love hearing about." Taesuk commented with a flirty tone to match his smile. "We can say the same thing about you ladies, too." Everyone laughed as Daeil spoke up a few seconds later. "Um, how about we introduce ourselves?" "Great idea!" Haeryong agreed as she looked about the table. "Who wants to go first?" Everyone just looked at one another and so Haeyrong decided to go first as she stood up to do so with Dasol springing up next. Then she was followed by Seolbi.

Distracted by her mobile once again as Melanie returned to playing Candy Crush, she missed her cue to introduced herself next as she was always the fourth one to go after Seolbi. So Seolbi nudged Yerim to go next who introduced herself in a shy manner. Dayoon was sitting next to Yerim and followed after once her friend had sat down and did the same thing. Now everyone turned to face Melanie, but she was still distracted by Odus who was close to following off of the scale again. "Unnie." Haeryong had to nudged her friend again as Melanie let out distractedly, "Hmm?" "It's your turn." Haeyrong whispered as Melanie sighed softly while turning away from her phone and towards the males.

Melanie still wondered why she attended these group hangouts even though she wanted a boyfriend, but doing this for the past two years have surely gotten tiring and repetitive with no results of a boyfriend. I think this will be my last one, Melanie thought as she quickly plastered on a friendly smile while standing up to get it done and over with. "Hello. I'm Lee Chaewon, I'm in my third year at Seouldae, and I like the color blue." She finished it with another smile and sat down. Melanie decided that she would keep it simple and didn't want to go further into details of herself when she knew that she would never see any of them again or attend another group hangout again.

All six of the Konkuk males clapped enthusiastically after the females had introduced themselves in a cheerful manner and thanked them for their introductions before going one by one to introduced themselves next. Jaehoon went first. He was followed by Chulsoo. After him was Daeil. Jaebeom went next. "Hello, I'm Seol Jeffrey. I'm in my third year at KU under the Music and Films departments. I'm sorry for the face mask as I'm unwell and didn't want to get any of you sick, but I really hope that doesn't disrupt our time together though." Jaebeom quickly sat back down as Melanie stared at him a little longer as the words he spoke triggered something in her mind, but she couldn't quite figure out why or what it was exactly that made her think about him a little bit more than the others.

Her thoughts were disrupted by Haeryong nudging her playfully. Melanie turned towards the younger woman and noticed her friend was wriggling her eyebrows up and down with a knowing smirk. Melanie rolled her eyes and nudged Haeryong back just as playfully as they focused their attention onto the last two males. Kyungtae went after Jaebeom, and Taesuk was the last to introduce himself. The girls soon clapped with just as much enthusiasm as the boys had and thanked the boys for introducing themselves as well. As for the seating arrangements, it went like this. Melanie was across from Taesuk. Haeryong was across from Daeil. Dasol was across from Jaebeom. Dayoon was across from Chulsoo. Yerim was across from Kyungtae. And Seolbi was across from Jaehoon.

A minute later a waiter stopped by to take their order as they ordered brisket, short ribs, and pork belly. The group of twelve also opted for alcohol with Melanie already ordering dessert before everyone else as she really wanted to eat something sweet while waiting for the meat to come so they could cook it themselves. While everyone was casually mingling with one another, Melanie kept to herself as she gave up on the Candy Crush game and focused on the Diamond Digger Saga instead. As the female's attention was solely on her phone, she didn't notice that Taesuk was trying to get her attention. "Chaewon-yang, right?" Melanie heard a deep voice say her name and she looked up. "Hmm? Ah, yes."

She smiled at him sheepishly while putting away her phone so she could interact with guy. "Taesuk-goon, yes?" "Yes." He bowed his head towards her with that same smile from earlier. "I don't mean to sound rude, Chaewon-yang, but I couldn't help to notice your accent when you speak." He also eyed her closely. "And that you don't appear Korean either." Melanie just smiled at him. "It's okay. You weren't rude at all. But yes, I'm not Korean and I'm actually from the states." Taesuk's expression turned to one of interest. "Oh, wow. How long have you been here?" "For a little over two years now. It's why my pronunciation is a bit choppy at times and also why the accent pops up, too." Taesuk chuckled softly. "It's okay, Chaewon-yang. Your pronunciation is quite good. Actually, it's a lot better than Chulsoo hyung at times."

"Did I hear my name over there, Taesuk-ah." Chulsoo asked turning to look at his friend as Taesuk denied it. "No, hyung." He then flashed Melanie a mischievous look and Melanie saw how handsome he looked and noticed the dimples. Aww, he has dimples, she thought as she smiled at the male. "So are you from Seoul or another part of South Korea?" "Not from Seoul. I'm actually from Jeju." Melanie's eyes widened upon hearing he was from Jeju Island. "Wow, really? That's so cool. I haven't had the chance to visit there yet even though I've been here for two years." "Hmm, maybe I can show you around when it's holidays?" Taesuk offered in a friendly manner as Melanie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, maybe. That would be fun."

Just then the waiter returned with two bottles of blue raspberry flavored soju, the side dishes, and the macaron ice cream that Melanie had ordered. "Thank you." The female thanked the male waiter as she positioned the dessert in an appealing way while bringing out her phone to take a picture. "On Instagram?" Taesuk asked her curiously as Melanie shook her head with a playful smile. "No. Just to send it to my friends and sister who wanted to come here, but I came first." Just as Taesuk was about to reply back, Seolbi's voice yelled out 'change' and she saw her friends and the Kondae guys switched seats, but remained where she was after putting away her phone when she was done messaging the other three.

Once that was done and over with Melanie frowned when she noticed Yerim was sitting next to her and Dayoon was next to Yerim. Jaebeom was now sitting across from her as Taesuk was all the way down on the other end with Dasol conversing just as freely as he did with her. Melanie returned to her dessert as she picked up the mini plastic spoon with her left hand and took a bite out of her green tea macaron ice cream and loved how it melted in her mouth. Melanie relished in the deliciousness when she heard Jaebeom asking her a question. "Is that good, Chaewon-yang?" She nodded her head as she took another bite. "Yeah. Do you want to try it, Jeffrey?" She offered the dessert towards him while speaking in English.

Jaebum didn't respond as he didn't know what she had actually said because he didn't know English, but judging by how Melanie was holding the treat towards him he assumed what she was trying to do. "Ah, no it's yours. I don't want to impose. Plus, I'm sick, remember?" Jaebeom rejected, but he had answered in Korean as Melanie tilted her head upon him doing that, but dismissed it. "Psh, whatever. It's fine, Jeffrey-goon. I don't mind." She pushed the dessert closer to him while sticking the spoon into it. "Maybe I can miss a few days of school." She grinned at him playfully. "Besides, it's a really big macaron ice cream. I might not even eat it all." Jaebeom relented at Melanie's generosity and he's not one for passing up food either. "Alright, Chaewon-yang. If you insist."

Melanie noticed that Jaebeom had picked up the spoon with his left hand before moving it to his right while slightly bringing down his mask with his left. He tasted the treat and was surprised at its taste. "Oh wow. That is super good." Melanie heard him, but she was more focused about whether he was a lefty or right as she hardly ran into other lefties. "Are you left-handed?" Jaebeom had just finished his second scoop when Melanie spoke about the left-handed part. "Um, yeah." He coughed a bit before regaining his composure. "I'm ambidextrous, but I eat with my right and write with my left. I noticed you're left-handed, too." "Mmhmm, but that's good, right?" Melanie smiled as her shifted to the dessert before them. "Oh, yeah." Jaebeom took another bite of the dessert.

Just as Melanie was asking for her dessert back, Haeryong had to open her big mouth to tease the two upon noticing their interactions with one another. "Look! Indirect kiss!" Everyone at their table turned to see Jaebeom still with the small spoon in his hand and the macaron dessert in mid-motion to be placed into Melanie's hand. "Whaa, so cute, Won unnie!" Dasol cooed from the other end as she blew her friend a kiss. "Haha, you go, girl. You got this." She cheered in English as Melanie rolled her eyes. Then the others started to tease the two for doing such a thing so sneakily. Yerim wasn't pleased with the thing, but she went along with it so that no one would noticed her displeasure.

Chulsoo who was sitting beside Jaebeom clamped a hand onto his left shoulder. "See, hyung, I knew you would be getting all the ladies tonight." Melanie heard that and didn't like the way it sounded and so she dismissed that thought while brushing off all of the teasing and grabbed back her dessert. Jaebeom was going to say something to her to disregard what they were all saying and Jaehoon was about to speak up for another 'change', but the waiter appeared with another waiter to set all their meats onto the table interrupting them. They decided to just stay put to eat and converse more with one another as Melanie asked one of the waiters if he could bring extra dishes of fish cakes for her as she really liked them.

The teasing stop once the food arrived and everyone went back to talking again. Melanie decided to stay quiet and eat to avoid interacting with anyone. A few seconds later, she felt bad for Jaebeom as he ended up staying quiet once the teasing ceased as well. His mask was lowered more so he could eat better, and Melanie figured she could at least be nice just for one more night of this group hangout. "So, uh, Jeffrey-goon," She began slowly in Korean as she was unsure if she should asked him in English since he didn't respond last time when she did speak English. She was also curious to know if he was born in the USA or Australia, or another English-speaking country. "Are you from overseas?"

The male looked up confused after he had finished chewing his pork belly lettuce wrap. "Huh?" Melanie repeated her question as Jaebeom shook his head. "Ah, no, no. I'm not from overseas. I was born and raised in Seoul and have lived nowhere else. "Oh, then did you parents just give you an English name." Jaebeom laughed sheepishly as he shook his head while he smiled at the memory of his name. "No. It's an English name I gave myself." Melanie found his smile familiar, but couldn't put her finger on it. It was the same for his tone of voice as the more she heard it the more she found it familiar as well. She just couldn't figure out from where and so being curious Melanie leaned forward so she could speak for only him to hear.

"For some reason you seem really familiar, but I don't know why." Jaebeom shot her another smile and she noticed his eyes twinkle playfully and just as she was about to comment on it, Haeryong interrupted her. "Omo, look at these two!" Haeryong continued to tease with glee. "They're hitting it off in their own little world and ignoring the rest of us." Dasol joined in on the fun. "Thank the heavens for bestowing a sliver of light upon our Ice Princess' dark and poor soul." Melanie grimaced at her friends' teasing and backed away from Jaebeom to sit up straight while finishing her green tea macaron ice cream. "Whatever. Shut up." "Don't be all shy, Won unnie." Seolbi giggled. "We're just teasing." "Well, stop it, the three of you."

Melanie mused with a dark look, but then it clicked in her head as to why the guy across from her seemed so familiar who was also getting teased by his own friends. "What's with that face, unnie?" Seolbi asked as her face lit up mischievously. "Are you having those major feels now?" She wriggled her eyebrows up and down. "Do you want alone time with Jeffrey-goon?" Melanie snapped out of her trance to shoot her friend a dry look. "No. But nothing's wrong. Don't mind me." Soon enough everything went back to normal as Melanie couldn't contain the smile from appearing on her face as she glanced at Jaebeom one more time while bringing out her phone to message her sister that she was on a group date with her GOT7 bias.

Unknown to Melanie, Jaebeom had caught the grin on Melanie's face and wondered what caused that. Her expression became more excited when she started doing something on her mobile device. Jaebeom wondered if it was because of the whole constant teasing or maybe something else as Melanie had brushed off the teasing from earlier. He figured this must be about something else that could have put that expression on her face. Jaebeom averted his gaze from Melanie and made eye contact with Yerim who smiled wide upon meeting eyes, but he soon directed his gaze to his food instead. Although Melanie's expression was okay, Jaebeom felt more unease by Yerim's constant gaze upon him throughout the group date.

The younger woman only had her eyes on Jaebeom the whole time since he had introduced himself. Others didn't notice, except for Dayoon who Yerim had talked to more than the others, as they were enjoying themselves or were minding their own business. The other males eventually figured out that Yerim was only interested in Jaebeom as she completely ignored Kyungtae in favor of looking at Jaebeom who was conversing with Dasol comfortably from where she sat. Then when the switch up occurred, Yerim ignored Chulsoo like she did Kyungtae and made sure that Dayoon had sat next to her for some reason. So Chulsoo just conversed with the others knowing he wouldn't get a response out of Yerim or Dayoon.

Yerim was envious when Jaebeom sat across from Melanie instead of her and she was ignored by him once again when he spoke with Melanie comfortably. Then again, Yerim didn't speak or initial conversation with the male. She figured with her good looks she didn't have to do or say anything and he would look her way and approach her first. Jaebeom didn't want to approach Yerim as Mark's words from earlier rang in his head still about not bringing home a stalker. Although he was now cautious of Melanie due to that unexpected smile of hers, he figured she was safer from both Yerim and Dayoon who stayed just as quiet as Yerim. But he remained calm and cool for the remainder of the meal just to give them all the benefit of the doubt. 

~~~~~~~

The group of twelve found themselves outside of Taegukgi while trying to figure out what to do next. Kyungtae suggested karaoke and Seolbi suggested there was one a block or two away that was opened twenty-four hours. A majority of them agreed, but Melanie excused herself from the late night activity as she didn't feel like singing tonight. "Hey, I think I'm going to go." Melanie said to no one in particular while lagging behind the others. "What?! No way, Chaewon-ah." Dasol pouted as she pulled on Melanie's hand. "You have to come! We haven't gone to one together in so long!" Melanie pulled her hand away and shook her head. "Nah, I'm not in the mood and I don't want to ruin it for everyone."

Haeryong threw her arms around Melanie's shoulders. "You can't bail on me again, Chaewon!" She faked cried dramatically. "You said the next time you and I would sing that one duet song you wanted to sing." Melanie freed herself while laughing at her friend's dramatic behavior. "This doesn't count, Ryong, but seriously guys, I'll pass. I did have fun with the dinner and all that though." "Fine." Haeryong and Dasol gave up as Seolbi looked at her in concern. "Are you going back to the dorms?" "No, I'm going to my sister's instead." "What?! You can't go there by yourself. It's not good to travel alone, Chaewon." "Bi, I'll be fine. You know I always do this." Melanie reassured her friends. "Besides, it's not that far away. It's in Cheongdam."

"Cheongdam?" Jaebeom let out in surprised as Melanie nodded her head in confirmation. "Yeah, my sister lives there and I stay there from time to time when I'm not at Seouldae." "Jeffrey hyung, why don't you accompany Chaewon noona since you live in Cheongdam, too." Daeil suggested innocently. "Since you're not feeling well and I don't think you want to come sing with us, too, right?" "Yeah, Jeffrey hyung." Jaehoon agreed with a hint of playfulness in his voice. "Why not accompany Chaewon-yang to her sister's place so she doesn't have to go alone." Melanie tried to reject the idea, but her friends and his friends weren't going to let her go alone.

Yerim on the other hand tried to say some things, but her suggestions were overpowered by the other voices who were already bidding their goodbyes to Jaebeom and Melanie. Yerim was about to stay behind with Dayoon when she felt Seolbi grab a firm hold of her and Dayoon's arm and led the duo along with the rest of the group. This left Melanie and Jaebeom to awkwardly stand there in front of Taegukgi as they watched their friends' figures get smaller and smaller. Melanie glanced over at Jaebeom and spoke honestly. "Look, I understand if you have something else to do. You really don't have to accompany me home." She cast him a reassuring look. "I'll be fine by myself. I promise." She held up her left hand in an oath-like post. "Seriously."

"No, no, no, it's fine. Seriously, I don't mind at all, Chaewon-yang. It's not a big deal as we're headed in the same direction, anyways." Jaebeom smiled at the female although his mask blocked the lower part of his face, but Melanie saw that it had reached his eyes and just went with the flow of their situation. "Alright, Jeffrey-goon. If you agree, then I'll agree to the part of keeping each other company on our way home since it's in the same direction." The two smiled at one another as the duo began to walk side by side towards the subway station opposite of where their friends went. "By the way," Melanie said after a few seconds of walking as she was curious to know Jaebeom's reason with his name from earlier, "Why go by Jeffrey when it would have been easier to go as Jaebeom?"

[timextoxhajima]

Love Me A Little Less: Chapter 3 - Her Father’s Daughter

LOVE ME A LITTLE LESS CHAPTER MASTERLIST

Member: (3rd person pov) arranged marriage au with Lee Juyeon

Genre: angsty wangsty

Taglist: @hyunvelies @sunwoowuvbot​​

“You want the luxury of a choice? I’ll give one to you right now, so you better make the right one.” ​

“Now, this just coming in-- The next director of Apple-Korea, Lee Juyeon and Hera’s Princess, Kim Jang Won... have been reportedly dating for almost three years now!”

“No!”

“Yes! And get this: this wedding? It’s been on the planning table for almost 6 months!”

Lee Juyeon peers out the window as the car slows to a halt, hazel brown orbs scanning the traffic outside. Multiple LED screens on the sides of corporate buildings were broadcasting the news. The crinkling of a plastic wrapper ruins the beauty the amount of shock amongst the community was bringing Juyeon, cuing him to turn back and face his fellow passenger. The sight of Kim Jang Won awakens his corporate-thinking brain, processing the gravity of the news she falsely put out just about... five minutes ago.

“Your father just climbed out of his own grave and you wouldn’t give him half a day to busk in the spotlight, huh?”

“Mm,” She hums, gracefully taking a bite out of the fruit-yoghurt bar. “I would’ve given him a lifetime worth of spotlight if he came back as a zombie and there would be some sign of actual death but-- nah, he’s been alive since the day we thought he all dropped dead from that heart attack of his. God knows where he’s been the last two years, hiding and letting me build HERA & ARTEMIS... only to take it away from me?” She shakes her head, smacking her lips and taking another bite. “Not a chance.”

Juyeon laughs through his exhales, unsure whether he’s more in disbelief he’s trapped in this chaos or how poised Jang Won’s uncouthness in handling this situation was. His phone buzzes, and he coyly pulls it out to check the message in the screen amongst all the other stupid headlines. 

Young Jin Seol [12.52pm] : You’ve been schedule for a meeting with The Board at 4pm later, sir. 

He locks the device and slides it back into the inner breast pocket of his blazer. “I assume your brother is taking this better than you?”

“Excuse you, I think I’m taking this much better than most people expected me to. Well, better than I expected myself to,” The wrapper crinkles when she finishes it. The car drives up into the entrance of her mansion, easily dozens of reporters already beginning to pillow the car. 

“I have a meeting with The Board later at 4pm. Will you be present?” Juyeon raises a brow, watching Jang Won slide on her sunglasses. Her blue fingernails glimmer as she carefully folds the wrapper, using her tongue to dig the crevices of her mouth. 

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be, hubby?” She offers a seductive smirk, then unbuckles her seatbelt to lean across to him. Sliding the folded plastic wrapper into his breast pocket, Jang Won presses her cherry lips onto his, earning incessant flashes and shouts from outside the car. 

“Mm, I can still taste the wine and the tad bit of salt you got left from lunch with your Mommy and Daddy.” 

Juyeon frowns, gritting his teeth as she pulls away and exits the car on her side. The shouts and questions directed at her are muffled when she slams the car shut, her bodyguards from the mansion rushing down the steps to create a pathway for her. 

The car finally drives off, and Juyeon can’t help but to sneer in disgust at the cherry shade left on his lips. The grimace on his face nearly earns a snigger from his driver. 

“What? Funny?”

“On the contrary, sir,” He eyes Juyeon through the rear mirror. “I think she’s rather charming.”

Juyeon nearly chokes on his saliva, pulling out a napkin from one of the seat’s back pockets. “‘Charming’ my ass. She’s a dangerous woman and I’m just keeping myself alive.”

BREAKING: LEE JUYEON AND KIM JANG WON TO BE PRESENT AT THE BOARD’S PRESS CONFERENCE AT 4PM LATER THIS AFTERNOON

Mr Ro has the most disapproving look on his face as Jang Won pridefully pushes her way into the entrance hall, heels clacking against the marble and smiling widely at her butler. But of course, her brother shows up from the hallway, clearly dissatisfied.

“What the Hell’s wrong with you? You can’t run off like that and lying to the media!”

“Oh, please. This is nothing. Hey! Can I get my wardrobe and hairstylist down soon? I want to look nothing less of Kylie Jenner at her mother’s funeral at my own press conference!”

“It is exactly because I know you’re just getting started that I think you should stop,” Younghoon quickens his steps, reaching out and grabbing her arm. “You are not only pulling our family into this - you are pulling the Lee family into this.”

“Well, hey! I wasn’t the one who put their son up for sale when the offer came along!”

“But Lee Juyeon didn’t even want to be a part of this! He had no choice because his parents made it for him!”

“And did I?!” Jang Won’s near-shriek echoes through the halls. Mr Ro winces, gently shutting his eyes to regulate the surprise. “You say that of him as if I had a choice. I didn’t want dad to die. I didn’t want to take HERA & ARTEMIS. You think I wanted to spend all those nights and days and shitty bar hangouts with rich people trying to get them to sponsor and invest in HERA & ARTEMIS? Hell, no!”

She tears her wrist out from Younghoon’s grasp, shoving him back by pushing against his left shoulder. “Maybe you don’t know how shitty it feels because all you had to do was wait for HERA & ARTEMIS to become successful enough before you could build your stupid entertainment company. But right now, I’m fighting for what I created; for what I made, and I will tell you right here and right now that I am not stopping until I get what I fucking own so you better... and I really, really, really hope you make the right decision when I say you better pick a side.”

Her brother remains frozen in some kind of resignation as she closes the gap toward him. “Just because we share the same last name, doesn’t mean I will spare you, Kim Younghoon. You want the luxury of a choice? I’ll give one to you right now, so you better make the right one.”

Jang Won turns on her heels and strides past Mr Ro to the stairs, walking up to the second floor where she would spend the next 3 hours getting pampered and fitted for her press conference as the new bride of Lee Juyeon. 

The smile Lee Juyeon has on his face looked like it was programmed; sculpted onto a stone statue; frozen in time. His father almost cannot look at it - even through the television screen, he knows it’s fake. He knows Juyeon hates it. 

But Hera’s Princess couldn’t care less. Why would she? She’s getting what she wanted, or at least, part of it. Now that she’s got Lee Juyeon playing the game by her rules, she’s one step nearer to her goal, and that’s to win back HERA & ARTEMIS from her own father. 

The jewel sitting on her left ring finger shone brightly with every flash a certain camera in the room went off. The Blue Nile Round Diamond 30-carat ring could blind someone if she deliberately shone its reflection into someone’s eyes.

“Today, The Board invites the next director of Apple-Korea and his newly announced fiancé, also known as Hera’s Princess and current owner of HERA & ARTEMIS to our monthly press conference of May. We warmly welcome Lee Juyeon and Kim Jang Won.”

The reporters and journalists provide a rather generous round of applause as Juyeon steps up the platform and takes his seat, Jang Won on his left with the brightest, sweetest smile he’s seen on her in the last six hours. 

“Thank you. We’re absolutely honoured to be here today, my fiancé and I. Today, we announce our upcoming plans up till the end of the year, assuming my father still grants me some kind of authority to HERA & ARTEMIS,” She scoffs the last part of her sentence away, earning some scattered chuckles from the crowd. It irks Juyeon, the way he knows she’s being sarcastic and her words are filled with nothing but the poison of hatred and yet these people can’t hear it for the love of God.

Sympathy, he feels. For a short, fleeting moment, he feels sad for her.

“But otherwise, my father and I have agreed on a major reform of HERA & ARTEMIS.”

Juyeon’s eyes light up, not from enthusiasm, but anxious anticipation.

“Before my father is to take full ownership of HERA & ARTEMIS by June, firstly, we will have our wedding in April,” Coyly grabbing Juyeon’s hands and showing them off to the audience, rings around their fingers. “And secondly, after my fiancé advances to director, Apple-Korea will buy 50% of HERA & ARTEMIS.”

The effort Juyeon was investing into hiding his shock, confusion and frustration in his chest was of immense, ground-breaking magnitude. His grip around her hand tightens, and she tightens her jaw, forcing out a smile when the reporters and journalists break out into murmurs and surprised exchanges.

“My brother, Kim Younghoon, will assume full ownership of Artemis as a separate entertainment company, no longer attached to HERA & ARTEMIS. Artemis will become a collaborator or partner, no longer a subsidiary.”

The panel of officials from The Board looked extremely restless from the corner of Juyeon’s eyes, and he finds trouble in deciding which to offer more attention to: the fact that one single person was intelligent enough to send the entire world of The Board into chaos, or the fact that she was already making use of him even before he assumed the role of director. 

Her fingers are now interlocked with his, resting on the table as the camera flashes go off, illuminating the room every other second. 

THE BOARD’S MAY PRESS CONFERENCE: 

LEE-KIM WEDDING IN APRIL, LEE JUYEON TO ASSUME DIRECTOR OF APPLE-KOREA IN MAY AND BUY 50% OF HERA & ARTEMIS, KIM JO-PIL TO ASSUME OWNERSHIP OF THE OTHER 50% IN JUNE, KIM YOUNGHOON TO ASSUME FULL OWNERSHIP OF ARTEMIS AFTER DETACHMENT, “ARTEMIS TO BECOME PARTNER OR COLLABORATOR”, KIM JANG WON SAYS

Younghoon’s inhales sharply, standing and frowning at the television screen after finally being unable to contain his shock. The reflection off the pool outside his living room paints inconsistent waves on his ceiling, the sound of pool water wading being the only thing he can hear besides the commotion from the broadcasted press conference. 

Scoffing aggressively, he covers his mouth and drags his fingers down to his chin, pulling on his skin and pursing his lips into a thin, white line. 

“Father, you have made the grave mistake of underestimating your daughter,” Younghoon smiles, then grins widely, somehow proud. “Her father’s daughter after all.”

Jang Won’s smile beams throughout the room, and for a split second Juyeon is mesmerized by it. Her eyes have been planted with the horrors of nightmares and terrible myths combined and yet there was something about that smile that made him think ‘Maybe being your fiance wouldn���t be too bad’.

“Before we open up the floor to the invited reporters and journalists, would Mr Lee like to say anything?” One of the officials from The Board finally gets up, hiding his confusion and anxiety behind his polite, service smile. 

Lee Juyeon sits up straight in his seat, thumb gently massaging hers as he resumes the act. Jang Won’s service smile remains coded into her lips, eyes loving as she turns to him. 

The whole world is watching, Juyeon. He thinks. The whole world is watching you put up this act, being in love with Hera’s Princess - arguably the most cunning name tied to The Board. Choose her and she’ll give you what you want. Choose otherwise and who knows what will happen?

“Mr Lee?”

“I think my fiancé has said everything that’s on my mind, haven’t you, love?” Juyeon smiles sweetly, eyes folding into long, thin lines. The curl of her lips are of triumph when she knows he’s bought into what she offered him; what she promised him. She cannot do this without him and he knows this, but what better way than to assert his authority than to pair up with the most powerful female in this shitty world?

Kim Younghoon’s eyes widen, fingers digging deep into the material of the cushion on his sofa as he watches Juyeon remove his hands from Jang Won’s, instead cupping her cheeks and bringing her face to his. 

Mr Ro strides past the first guestroom, hearing the sound of the news playing on the television in the room. He looks through the gap of the door that was left ajar, cautiously watching Kim Jo-Pil nervously swirling a glass of whiskey in his hands as the next director of Apple-Korea tilts his head, on screen.

“Play along, would you?” He whispers, and Jang Won’s pride surges when he presses his lips into hers. The floor of reporters and journalists erupt into questions and cameras go off like Donald Trump had just been shot dead. 

Kim Jo-Pil freezes, watching the whole press conference room light up with fluorescent flashes. But Mr Ro can’t help the jolt when Kim Jo-Pil deliberately flings the glass into the floor, pieces flying across the wooden flooring. 

“She’s her father’s daughter after all, sire.”

[staytheb]

Like Oh 2.0 - Convos

Previous Chapter: English Class Word Count: 4,043 Summary: GOT7 having a conversation among themselves. Some of them having conversations among the other girls. Just talks and discussions here and there.

Like Oh 2.0 masterlist

alright, here’s the fifth chapter. another sort of filler to get to know the characters’ story better and make it more informational. anyways, happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

"Are you sure?" Jackson asked while invading Jeannie's personal space. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure." She gave him a weird look. "Could you, like, back up please?" Jackson realized how close he was to the female and took a step back with an apologetic look. "Sorry." "Thanks." "You're wearing our shirt." BamBam stated casually as Jeannie looked down at the shirt she was wearing and pointed at it. "Oh, this." She looked back up at them with a shy smile. "My friend bought this for me." "You don't have to lie that you're a stalker. We'll understand." Jackson continued with his whole stalker bit and Jeannie gave him a confused look. "But I'm not lying. I'm not a stalker. I'm a fan, but not a stalker."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Jackson grinned wider as Jeannie grew uneasy by his super friendly demeanor all of a sudden. "Um, well, you just called me a stalker and what not, so I didn't really have a way to say it at that time." Jeannie explained just as the elevator dinged to signal that it arrived on the fifth floor. "Oh well, I gotta get going." Jeannie said as she pushed pass Jackson and out of the elevator to hurry to Serena's apartment as she also needed to use the restroom besides tending to her sore elbow and knee. "My dumb five year old blader." She muttered the last bit to herself as she was near apartment 501 and was about to open it when she heard yelling from behind her.

Jeannie turned and noticed Jackson and BamBam were tripping over each other to get out of the elevators. "I can't believe Serena lived in the same building as GOT7 this whole time." She chuckled as she insert the spare key Serena had given her two years ago into the slot. "Noona." Jeannie paused and turned her head. "Hmm?" "Did you not hear me?" "Uh, no. I was probably lost in thought." Jeannie admitted with a small smile. "Sorry about that, BamBam-ssi. Did you want something?" BamBam shook his head with a sheepish smile. "Well, not me, but don't you want our signatures or pictures? Or maybe just mine?" He asked with a sly look as Jeannie shrugged. "I would, but I don't have anything for you to sign." "Well, you can with that." He pointed at her phone with a grin.

"Oh, yeah, but I don't feel like it." Jeannie laughed just as Jackson finally appeared by their sides. "You're weird." He said. "Usually everyone wants to take pictures of us like all the time. With or without our permission." "Well, true, but I only do that during concerts. As of right now, it's just us." Jeannie said indifferently as she looked at them apologetically. "Anyways, I really need to get inside and use the toilet. Sorry and goodbye?" The female said in a questioning tone before successfully opening the apartment door and looking at the duo. "Well, it was nice talking to you guys. buh-bye." Jeannie cast them another small smile as she entered inside the apartment quickly and shut the door against their surprise faces.

"I actually don't think she's an ahgase." BamBam stated with with a doubtful look. "I think she is, but she's just being weird." Jackson reasoned as the two continued to talk outside apartment 501 as its door opened a few seconds later. "Oh, you're still here?" Jeannie commented as she looked at the idols before looking down at their feet. "Ah, there they are." She picked up her earbuds and was about to close the door when a foot prevented her from doing so. "Um, can I help you with something?" Jeannie asked while looking at Jackson who had block the door from shutting with his foot. "Um, yeah. Can I have a drink, please? I'm really thirsty." Jackson asked as he patted his throat. "My throat is really dry from all of this talking."

BamBam whispered for only Jackson to hear. "Hyung, we only live a few doors down. Can't you wait?" "Shut up, BamBam." Jackson whispered back before looking at Jeannie. "Can I have something to drink, please?" "What if she poisons you or something?" BamBam muttered as Jackson dismissed the younger member. "Um, sure. Hold on." Jeannie disappeared as she slightly left the door ajar, but it was enough to give Jackson a peek inside it briefly. "Hyung, what are you doing?" BamBam asked with widened eyes. "Just looking. The door's open and I'm just seeing with my eyes only." The older male responded just as Jeannie returned with both arms full of various drinks. "Um, my friend has a lot and I don't think she'll mind if some were given away." "Wow." Both idols let out in awe to see the variety of them from coffee, juices, water, soda, milk, and energy drinks.

"So you can choose whichever one you want or two." Jeannie smiled at them as BamBam pointed at a white mocha flavored Starbucks bottle. "Um, can I have this one?" "Sure." "Thanks." "You're welcome." The younger male beamed happily as he opened it right then and there and took a swig out of it. "Wow, this is just as good as the one at the store itself." "I'm glad to know that and you know what, you guys can take the rest." Jeannie transferred the bottles and cans over to both of BamBam and Jackson's arms. "Enjoy them because I know I know my friend won't mind." "Wait, your friend won't get mad?" Jackson asked a bit concern. "Nah, she'll be fine. Besides, you can share it with the others." Jeannie smiled at them with a wave afterwardsd. "Alright, well I still need to use the bathroom so take care, and goodbye." Jeannie bid them a goodby while shutting the door again.

"Well, that was really nice of her." BamBam remarked with a smile as he and Jackson made their way back to their own apartment. "I think she does like us after all." Jackson shot his fellow member a look. "Coming from the one that said she would poison us and was the first to actually take a drink." "What?" BamBam feigned innocence. "She had a lot of drinks and I was thirsty too." "Whatever, Bam." Jackson dismissed his friend as he used his elbow to knock on the door due to the drinks within his grasp as Mark opened the door a minute later. "Whoa, where did you guys get those?" He asked them upon setting eyes on the drinks. "Vending machine." Jackson simply answered. "They have options at the new gym." "Can I have o-" Jackson instantly interrupted Mark and rejected him. "No, ask BamBam. These are mine."

Mark just stared after the younger male before BamBam tapped him on the shoulder with a bottle of pink lemonade. "Here." "Thanks." Mark took the offered drink. "Jackson hyung lied. There's no vending machine at the gym. We got it from the neighbor in five-oh-one. We ran into her at the gym and kind of followed her back to the fifth floor." BamBam explained as Mark followed his fellow member to the living room. "Really? Why?" "Because hyung asked for a drink and she just ended up giving us a lot." "Oh." "Yeah, she's nice. She's also knows of us. Not sure if she's a fan of K-Pop in genreral or is an ahgase though." "Why?" "She didn't fangirl over us although she was wearing a GOT7-related shirt." "Hmm, must be something else then." "Probably." BamBam then looked down at the rest of the drinks. "Do you want another one, Mark hyung?" "Yeah, Bam, give me that can of Coke."

~~~~~~~

Jaebeom let out a soft chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck out of nervousness. "Ah, so you know, huh?" Melanie just nodded her head with a shy smile as Jaebeom took a quick glance at the female walking beside him. "How did you find out?" Melanie didn't look at the male and kept her attention ahead of her. "Well, the name Seol Jeffrey reminded me of Jeff and DefSoul to which you had as your social media account name from what my sister informed me about." She chuckled softly before continuing. "Anyways, your hands and your smile. Also when I said 'stop it' in English, it kind of just connected all of the pieces together somehow and it clicked in my head." Melanie then glanced at male idol. "I honestly just thought you were another person and not the leader of GOT7. I was surprised to be honest."

"Well, you didn't seem like it when we talk during dinner." Jaebeom stated as Melanie played with her hands to distract herself. "Well, that's just my face, but I am a fan of GOT7." The two reached the section of the subway station where they could purchase a one way journey ticket. Melanie silently groaned as she had totally forgotten that she gave Dasol her ticket to hold on to for the night. Now she needed to purchase a new one. While messing with the machine to do a pass because she was taking quite a while as she usually had one prepped so she could avoid this whole thing Jaebeom had already finished and handed her a pass. "Here." Melanie frowned. "What's this for?" "It's your ticket pass." He simply answered with a cool expression.

Melanie's frown deepened while using Jaebeom's English name unconsciously. "You didn't have to do that, Jeffrey-goon." "It's okay, Chaewon-yang." Jaebeom smiled as he replied although Melanie could only see his eyes turning into crescents. "I noticed that you were taking quite a while there with the machine and thought I'll just help you out this way." "Well, thank you for that, Jeffrey-goon." "Ah, that's so embarrassing. Hearing that name still sounds weird to me." Jaebeom admitted with a laugh as the two made their way to the trains, boarded one of the carts, and stood side by side. "Well, either way, it's a cute name." Melanie smiled over at him to which caused the male to slightly blush, but thankfully his mask covered his face from the female's gaze. "Thanks." "You're welcome."

Silence fell between them until Jaebeom initiated conversation once the subway took off. "So um, how long have you been in Seoul?" "Um, I think it's been about two years and a half now." Melanie replied as she thought about it. "I've been here since mid to late two-thousand and thirteen." "Cool. Um, earlier you mentioned a sister. Do you live with her, too?" "Yes and no. My sister lives in Cheongdam by herself while I stay in the dorms at Seouldae with two other friends who were supposed to come to the group date, but didn't. Anyways, we stay at my sister's place when we're not at Seouldae or when we all go back home to the states for the holidays and breaks." Jaebeom nodded out of habit. "I see. So where are you exactly from?"

"Somewhere near California. Like a seven or eight hour drive from L.A." Melanie laughed as Jaebum cast her a puzzled look. "Why is that funny?" "Because it's easier to say that than the actual place itself as people know L.A that's why." "Ah, that is quite true. Anyways, what made you decide to come all the way to Seoul?" "Um, the awesome education, the overseas vacation, exploring something new, because of my aunt's connection." Jaebeom laughed upon hearing her answers. "That much?" "Something like that." Melanie shrugged with a wry smile. The two continued to talk throughout the commute until they finally reached their destination and Melanie returned the pass to Jaebeom so he could collect his deposit back. Jaebeom became surprised upon learning that Melanie's sister also lived in the same complex and floor as him and the other members.

"How long has your sister been living here?" Jaebeom asked as they rode the elevator to the fifth floor. "Um, about six years, I think. Maybe seven. I'm not exactly sure and I totally forgot." Melanie answered as she tried to remember. "Something like that." "Wow." Jaebeom  let out in disbelief. "Then for almost three years you've come lived with your sister and we never ran into one another." "I guess so." The younger woman laughed before muttering the last part to herself. "I could have seen Mark up close and personal, but nothing. Wow." "Huh?" Jaebeom asked upon hearing her say something, but didn't quite catch exactly what she had said. "It's nothing, buddy." Melanie replied as she casually patted him on the shoulder without thinking. "Don't worry about it." The elevator dinged and Melanie got off first with Jaebeom closely behind her.

"Anyways, tonight was pretty fun to be honest. It was nice meeting you, Jeffrey-goon." Melanie told him as she stopped in front of apartment 501. "I totally set myself up for that one." Jaebeom laughed while rubbing the back of his neck before noticing they had stopped in front of the first apartment on the fifth floor. "Wow, so it was just right here all along." He pointed at the number plate as Melanie nodded her head. "Yeah, but don't worry. I won't go around stalking you or anything of the sort. I have respect for you guys." "Thank you, Chaewon-yang." "You're welcome." She then glanced at the idol with a soft smile. "Thanks for walking me home and have a good night." "You're very welcome and you have a good night as well. Sweet dreams, Chaewon-yang." "Sweet dreams to you too, Jeffrey-goon."

The two bid one another farewells as Jaebeom made sure Melanie entered her apartment first before heading off to his own place. Once he entered, he saw the other three in the living room watching something on the television. "You guys are still up?" "Yeah, free day. Relaxing." Jackson answered as Mark smiled at the leader. "So how was your 'get-together', Jaebeom?" He air quoted 'get-together' with an amused expression while Jaebeom smiled with a nod of his head. "Surprisingly, it was actually good. I had fun." He went to his room to change as Mark yelled out playfully, "I'm glad you didn't bring home a stalker!" "Shut up, hyung!" Jaebeom yelled back as Mark continued to laugh. "How come I wasn't invited?" BamBam asked with a look as Jackson replied. "Because you're still young and don't go to Konkuk University." "So? I could have still gone." "Yeah, no."

Jaebeom returned to the living room and joined the trio. "Well there was one girl that give me bad vibes all night, but she didn't approach me. She just stared at me." "Because you're oh so handsome, Jaebeom hyung." Jackson cooed as Jaebeom rolled his eyes. "But I did walk home another girl as she lived on the same floor as us." "Did she know who you were?" BamBam asked curiously. "Or did she think you were some other person?" "Well, at first she said she thought I was someone else, but then throughout the night, she figured out who I was." Jaebeom answered coolly. "She was calm about it all." "Was she a fan? Did she say you were her bias?" BamBam asked highly interested now. "I think she did say she was a fan. I don't remember if she mentioned if she had a favorite member though."

The male spotted a bottle of strawberry milk and snatched it right up. "Where did you guys get these?" Jaebeom asked as he happily opened the bottle to take a sip from it. "I thought we ran out?" "Oh, from this girl in five-oh-one a few hours ago." BamBam answered. "She said her friend had a lot." Jaebeom gave BamBam a weird look. "Five-oh-one you say?" "Yeah, why?" "That's where I dropped off the other girl." "Are they the same girl?" Mark asked curiously as Jaebeom shook his head. "I don't think so. She said that she lives with her sister and two other friends." "Are they an idol group, too?" Jackson asked in amusement. "Usually if you're a college student you live with family or near the campus." Jaebeom shrugged. "I don't know. I just know that she and her two friends live in Seouldae, but then come live with her older sister during the holidays and what not."

The quartet continued to talk until one of them noticed the time. "Hey, shouldn't the other three be home by now?" Jackson commented as he saw that it was thirty minutes passed ten o'clock. "What time did their English class end?" "Um, I think Yugyeom said it ended like at eight-forty-five." BamBam answered. "Well, it's only takes like an hour to get home and they do have to wait for hyung to pick them up." Mark reasoned, but then remembered something. "Didn't Seunghoon hyung say he would be at the company? What if he forgot and they're still at the campus?" "If that happened, then they would've called us by now." Jaebeom stated. "Unless they forgot their phones." BamBam deadpanned as they all looked at one another. "Should we just call Manager Seunghoon?"

Their discussion was interrupted as they turned their heads to see the said trio walking in with arms full of drinks and snacks. "Why didn't you guys call that you stop by the convenient store?" Jaebeom asked in stern tone. "We thought you guys were still at school and Seunghoon hyung forgot about you guys." "Oh, sorry." The trio replied as they took off their shoes and joined the quartet in the living room. "We asked our teacher instead." Yugyeom replied, but corrected himself. "Well, she's a teacher's aide." "She's the one that gave us all of these because someone had to blurt out that they haven't had anything to eat all day." Jinyoung added shooting Youngjae a look who just stared back at him. "What? She asked and I said no. I'm quite honest when it comes to food."

"I knew this one looked familiar!" BamBam beamed as he had plucked the white mocha Starbucks bottle from out of Jinyoung's arms. "From apartment five-oh-one, right?" "Yeah. How did you know?" Jinyoung asked placing the drinks and snacks on the floor. "Jackson hyung and I got drinks from there, too." "And Jaebeom hyung dropped a girl off at five-oh-one from his group date with Seouldae, too." Jackson added with a playful look. "Isn't that just too coincidental?" Mark asked curiously while looking at his fellow members. "Or is that just me?" "No, I think so, too, hyung." Jaebeom agreed. "There's no way that we all would run into someone that lived in apartment five-oh-one in one day." "Or see idols from the same group, too" Jinyoung reasoned if they were talking about the same thing, but in reverse. "How about we just go figured it ourselves?" Yugyeom suggested.

And the seven members decided to check out the residents of apartment five-oh-one. Once they were outside their own apartment they noticed one female standing outside apartment 501 and was joined by three more a few seconds later. "There's four of them." BamBam said in surprised from what Jeannie had told him. "Which one's your date, hyung?" Jackson mused as Jaebeom eyed him. "She wasn't my date." "Same difference." "They all look the same from the back so I don't know." "Well, hyung, they all have different hair colors." Yugyeom stated as he pointed to each figure with their specific hair color. "The first one has green hair. The second one has blue. The third one has purple. And that last one is red." "That's actually dark magenta." Mark corrected Yugyeom as the younger member looked at him. "How do you know, hyung?"

"I think she's in my Chinese class." Mark replied slowly as he stared at the back of the fourth female a little longer than the others. "The one from Seouldae has blue hair." Jaebum answered a second later. "The one from the gym had purple hair." BamBam inputted right after Jaebeom. "That leaves the fourth and green-haired one to be the one that none of us have met yet." Jinyoung reasoned once they figured it all out. "Don't they look like Red Velvet to you, just without the fifth member?" Yugyeom asked out of amusement in seeing the quartet's dyed hair. "Maybe they're an idol group that's about to debut soon?" "Happiness!" BamBam sang loudly while doing the dance moves for that particular part to which had caught the attention of the four females.

Both groups just stared at one another not saying anything until Jasmine broke the silence a minute later. "Hey, isn't that GOT7?" "Yeah, it is." The trio chimed as Jasmine grinned at them. "Why not ask for pictures for the fun of it since there just right there?" Serena broke out of her trance first. "Ha, no thanks. I'm gonna get my late night boba." She smiled at the trio before heading towards the elevators, but Jasmine grabbed a hold of the older woman. "Not uh, Serena. You're coming with us, too." "But I don't want to." Serena began to whine as Jasmine began to drag the older woman towards GOT7 as Serena latched onto Jeannie to bring her along too. "You're coming, too!" "Hey, wait, Serena. No." Jeannie cried out as she then used her left hand to grab onto Melanie. "You, too, Melanie." Melanie just rolled her eyes as she let her friends drag her to the seven idols.

"Hi there!" Jasmine greeted GOT7 with a wide smile and more giddy expression compare to the other three. "May we ask if we could get your signatures or pictures, perhaps?" She asked as her grip on Serena loosen who had let go of Jeannie who then released her hold on Melanie. The males couldn't help but greet the ones that they already knew. "Hi, Chaewon-yang." Jaebeom greeted Melanie coolly who waved back with a small smile. "Hi, Jeffrey-goon." "Gym Girl!" Jackson and BamBam exclaimed excitedly. "Yeah, it's Jaehwa. It sounds a lot better than Gym Girl." "Zhōng Lǐ tóng xué. Nǐ hǎo!" Mark greeted Serena as she greeted back indifferently in Chinese. "Hello, classmate Yí Ēn." Jinyoung, Youngjae, and Yugyeom looked at Mark surprised. "You know Miss Serena?" "Who?" "Our English teacher." "Hi, Justin, Elliot, and Chris." Serena greeted her students next in English.

Jasmine looked at her friends, then at GOT7, and back to her friends with a disbelief expression. "Wow, you guys weren't lying about actually meeting them." "Told you." Jeannie nudged her sister with a laugh as Serena then tapped both of their shoulders. "Well, since that's settled, I'ma get my boba. Later!" Serena let out happily as she ran off laughing and took the stairs instead of the elevators to avoid being cornered by her friends again. Then again, she usually prefer to run away from such things when given the chance to do so. "This girl." Melanie muttered with a laugh. "Always running away." Jasmine then returned her attention to the male idols. "Um, we'll take a rain check on the pictures and signatures. We have to catch up with our friend. Bye." She signaled for the other two to follow her lead. "Yeah, see you guys later." Melanie waved goodbye as Jeannie smiled at them. "Yeah, buh-bye."

The trio made it to the elevators as the GOT7 members talk among themselves. "That was weird and awkward." Jinyoung commented as Youngjae agreed. "Usually we get bombarded with questions and requests to take pictures or sign stuff." "Maybe they're just respecting us and treating us like regular people, too." Jaebeom reasoned. "They don't seem like your average fans." "Maybe they aren't fans." Jackson shrugged as Mark disagreed. "No, they're fans just not your typical fans like what JB had said." "Hey, where did the two young ones go?" Jinyoung asked as he looked about their group and noticed that BamBam and Yugyeom weren't with them. "They just got on the elevators with the other three girls." Youngjae confirmed as he motioned with his head towards the elevators. "What?" The older members let out as they stared towards the elevators where the two youngest members were waving at them just as the doors had closed.