Each city gives off a different vibe depending on the time of the day. Some cities were alive during the day, while some only wake up at night and some cities- doesn't really sleep at all.

And Seoul was one of them.

From the hustling and loud streets that brought by the daily nightlife where hundreds and even thousands of people come in and out of different clubs or restaurants, to people coming out of their homes to get into their daily jobs. The streets of this city never seem to fail to be filled with lots of people. Whether the sky might be in shades of white and blue or in deep black, there's always a restaurant open to fill in your unsatisfied appetite, from sunrise to sunset a person will always bump another, ruining their day or completely turn that person's life upside down.

People in Seoul are always busy, they don't have time to be left on idle or to wait. The longer you wait, the more time you waste and in a city that never sleeps, time is almost similar to a precious jewel... Yet out of all the people in Gangnam- one girl sat by the building's entrance, waiting for someone to come home.

It was already five o'clock in the morning and yet still there was no sign of a girl named Kim Jisoo around the area. Jennie had already fallen asleep a lot of times already, trying her best to keep her eyes open- wishing she will be able to catch a glimpse of her friend.

But her eyes were also desperate for sleep and her body was in need of a proper sleeping position. She had been staying outside for far too long, her body temperature was dropping and her need for something warm was undeniable however she refuses to leave her stance until her nose smells the familiar Kiwi scent and meets the eyes of a heart-shaped lips girl.

Covering her face, she releases out a sigh for an umpteenth time ever since Jisoo left her. Her determination to seeing Jisoo was dying down, and her mind was continuously telling her that her friend had already spent the night at someone else's place and her waiting for her here to arrive was complete idiocy.

Just as she was about to surrender, she hears a car approaching the driveway and a matte-red sports car appears on the driveway and though it was brief glance towards the vehicle, she knew well enough who owns that car, because even though there's hundreds of red sports car in Seoul, there's only one person who has a personalized plate named 'Jooya' in front.

And that woman is no other than Hong Soojoo.

She has met Jisoo's friend on a few occasions and out of all those events that they met, Jennie finds herself not really being fond of the woman with thick eyebrows. It was pretty weird since she has met Jisoo's other friends and they were all lovely for Jennie and they even bonded once or twice even without Jisoo but whenever it comes to the model, Jennie was really distant.

The car door opens and she could hear Jisoo's voice. "Thank you for driving me home."

"I wouldn't have driven you home."

"Joo..."

"I'm serious, why don't you stay with me for a while? My apartment's too big for me anyway."

"Who told you to get a big apartment anyway."

"Who ditched me for apartment searching to audition for this shitty company?"

"Silly." She hears Jisoo chuckle. "I just wanted to seize the moment."

"Are you sure that you are going to be okay?" Jennie rolled her eyes hearing that from the latter. "Really though you know you can-"

"I'm sure Soojoo."

"Well, I'm not."

Jennie was getting irritated with all this convincing so she stands up, gaining Soojoo's attention. She looks at the thick-eyebrow woman with an unexplainable stare to which Soojoo really didn't back down to. "I'll be fine Joo I promise. If I am not comfortable, then I will call you."

"Okay." She shifts her stare at Jisoo as she cups the cheeks of her best friend. "I'll hold onto your word for that."

Jisoo smiles at her and pulls her in for a tight hug. "Thank you, really... I wouldn't know what I'd do if you hadn't picked up. I don't think I would survive without you."

"And you wouldn't have to worry about it because that will never happen." Pulling away, Soojoo leans in to give her best friend a hug. "Now, cheer up okay?"

The girl just nods in response and waited until Soojoo was out of the driveway. Exhaling a short sigh, she turns around and was quite surprised to see Jennie standing a few feet away from her and honestly, this wasn't how Jisoo planned to see the latter.

She thought that Jennie may have left early because she had a music video to shoot today so she'd probably be out the time she comes home. A few hours apart from one another would have given her time to take a nap, a decent bath and put on a decent makeup before heading to the place where'd they have the shooting and buy everyone some snacks with her saved up allowance and then talk to Jennie.

But she guessed that this is the universe's way of telling her that the sooner they talk; the better.

So in believing those words, she took the first step and decided to be the bigger person and walk towards Jennie. "Hey."

"Chu."

"Wanna go somewhere with me?" She asks, catching Jennie off guard. "I want to show you something."

__________________________________

"Wow," Jennie says as soon as they arrived at the building's rooftop.

"You like it?" And all her friend could do was a nod. "Well, wait for the big part."

Jisoo extends her hand to guide Jennie over to the east side of the building with careful steps. Jennie was looking at their dark surroundings, wondering what's there to see on this side of the establishment so she turns to look at Jisoo, who was looking at the clock which said- 5:35 in the morning. As if on cue, in front of her eyes, a million miles away was the sun slowly rising up, giving the city a different vibe.

"The first time I went here was when I was helping the landlady with her laundry." Jisoo breaks the silence between them. "She said to me that if I help her with the clothes, I can gain free access here."

"She must've really liked you."

"I think she just wants some load off of her shoulders." She chuckles. "Whenever I go here whether, during sunrise or sunset, I see almost all of Seoul... It made me realize that even though I think that Seoul is a big city, it's just a city of cities and just how really big the Earth is." Jisoo exhales. "And it scares me."

"It scares me because I don't know if this world is where I am meant to be. It scares me, because every day I wake up, wondering if all of this is temporary and think if all of my efforts are put to waste." She says. "But even though I have these doubts in my head, you want to know why I'm still pushing my dream?"

"Why?"

"Because I have you." Jisoo blurts out in the open.

Jennie blinks in surprise. "W-w-what did you just say?"

"I have you."

"But why? I'm just me Jisoo."

"Because you are enough for me." The heart-shaped lips girl turns to Jennie who still doesn't understand a single thing. "Even if it's just you Jendeuk, it's enough for me to believe that I belong here..." Putting her hand above the other, Jisoo gives it a tight squeeze before giving the girl a smile. "Here, with you."

"That's why I really hate it whenever we have a fight or a misunderstanding. I don't like sleeping beside you knowing we still have unsettled matters." She licks her dry lips, controlling her emotions. "I'm sorry for the way I acted last night, you didn't deserve any of it and I should've just stayed and talked things-"

"No, no Jisoo, it was my fault. I insisted on what I want on you. I should've let you walk away."

"I'm willing to put it all behind me Jendeuk." Jisoo says and holds both of Jennie's hands. "I don't want to lose the only person who believes in me."

Just hearing how sad Jisoo was over their fight made Jennie's anger towards Soojoo disappear and helped her smile brightly that it could make the sun nervous. "You won't lose me Chu; I don't want to be away from you anyway." Now both of them smiling, Jennie initiates the hug and pulls the older girl closer. "I miss you Chu..."

"I miss you as well Jendeuk..."

"Let's not fight that way again okay? I don't want to fight with my friend like that." And while Jennie bites her lips as she smiles, Jisoo bites her lip to help stop the tears from falling. "Yeah, friends don't fight like that anyways."

After the talk I had with Jennie, I tried to clear out the air between the two of us. Of course, the first one I approached was the witness of that fight- Lisa. I made her favorite meal and the talk we had ended on good terms as she promised to pretend that fight never happened and she was actually relieved that Jennie and I made up quick because she didn't know how to deal with the tension. Like I promised, I decided to put what happened at the back of my head and try to go back to where things were. We joked around, went back to our usual dynamics. Everything was going back to its way except for me.

Ever since that night that I just cried in Soojoo's arms, I was never the same Jisoo.

If I was, I wouldn't be staying out late playing games or hanging out in the living room until I fall asleep just so I could avoid sleeping beside Jennie. If I was the same old Jisoo, I wouldn't latch away from her hold or I wouldn't be faking the flu so we couldn't drink or food. If I was the same Jisoo, I wouldn't try so hard to be away from her, fighting this heart-clenching need to be near Jennie.

But isn't that what we usually do? Whenever we feel something for the very first time, the very first thing to do is to run away?

Because we don't understand how we're feeling so we deny it.

Because it's all that we could think about so we pretend that it doesn't bother us.

Because it scares us, so we build up walls to protect ourselves.

And that's why when Ae unnie asked if I wanted to feature in a music video- I didn't hesitate to say yes.

I need to run away while I can.

"So your role here is to be the girlfriend who's already seen the end of your relationship because you notice the changes from your boyfriend and no matter how you try to fix things, you can no longer do that because you were too busy accepting the future rather than fixing the present." One of the staff looked at me as she guides me through the busy set. "Think you can handle the role?"

"Yes." I answer with a quick nod. "I can."

"Good, because even if you can't you have no choice but to suck it up." She says as she hands me the script. "Come with me, I'll let you meet your co-star."

She pushes through the hectic backstage while I try to keep up with her rushed steps, trying to skimmer out of everything. We arrived on the far back portion of the set, where two doors were labeled with 'Epik High' and the other one was labeled with 'models'. She gives the doorknob a turn where the first person I saw was a man getting his make-up done.

Seeing the member of the staffs he immediately turns to us and gives the older woman a formal bow. "Kibum, meet your co-star Kim Jisoo."

"Hello there nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too Kibum-sshi."

"Well then, since the meet-and-greet is done, I'm going to leave the two of you alone to get to know one another, get the chemistry flowing between you two okay?" She gives us a small hwaiting sign before closing the door.

"Is this your first time acting?"

"I did a few CF's but I don't know if that's called acting."

"Definitely." He chuckles. "I can call that acting."

Furrowing my eyebrows I stare back at him slightly offended with how she reacted. "You're not being sarcastic are you?"

"No, no, no!" He says while raising both of his arms in defense. "It's just that this is my first time acting so I was hoping to receive some advice from you- I'm sorry!"

"Oh my God!" I gasped out loud since he accidentally slammed his head against the high wooden table, causing some of the staff to turn our way and they, too surprised to see him in that position. "Are you okay?!"

"Ah... I think?" He chuckles once more as he stands up.

I looked around and grabbed some ice cubes and wrapped them around a thick face towel, putting it on his forehead. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Kibum smiles at me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or something; it's just my first time acting so I am pretty nervous."

"I can tell." I replied. "Don't worry though, it'll get better."

"I'll depend on you Jisoo-sshi."

"No need to be formal with me. If we're going to depend on each other we need to be comfortable and relax right?" I smiled at him. "So, why don't we try that again?"

Now this time he meets me in the eyes and smiles at me. "I'll depend on you Jisoo."

It didn't take me long to adjust to Kibum. He's a very nice guy, easy to converse with and a true gentleman added to the fact that he's really fun to be with and weird enough to get me and my sudden randomness. The members have met him too when they all visited the set to cheer me on. Miyeon suddenly headed over heels in love with him, Lisa liked him as an older brother, and they get along quite well too since the three of us go to arcade sometimes. And Jennie, well, I guess she's still trying to like him. Take note- trying.

"I still don't trust that guy. He's too nice for my liking."

That is what I don't get from her. Kibum has been everything but a man that could make her doubt like that. He even treated the five of us dinner one time since Lisa and Miyeon wouldn't shut up about being hungry and guilt-tripping me for letting them wait long. He was very polite to the girls, cracked jokes and even treated us dessert.

So why in the world did Jennie still feel indifferent about him?

"Alright that's it for today you guys, let's resume on Wednesday." The director bid farewell as all of us stood up and left the meeting area.

"Hey Jisoo." Kibum comes up to me. "We're still up for tonight right?"

I gave him a smirk. "Of course, I'm still motivated to beat your ass."

"Cool, let's go." We were already heading outside when Kibum grabs my wrist. "You forgot something." I let my furrowed eyebrows do the talking. "You gamepad, it's one of those paper bags right?"

"Oh yeah! Let me go-"

"No, it's okay, I got it." He smiles at me. "But I have an advantage later on okay?" I stick my tongue out at him before watching him go back on his way to the set.

"Chu."

"Jennie?" I surprisingly asked her as I turned around. "What are you doing here?"

"You texted me earlier that you were finishing early today so I just dropped by to pick you up." She grins, showing off her perfect white teeth and cheeky face. "There's this movie that I have been dying to see and as your friend, I have decided to let you tag along."

"Um... Jennie, you see-" I take a brief pause as I rub the back of my neck. "I can't come today."

"What do you mean you can't?" She asks and then connected the dots. "You're going out with him are you?"

"If I knew you were coming, I wouldn't have said yes."

"You always hang out with him Jisoo."

"That's not true."

"Really? What about ditching Lisa for movie night because you accidentally said yes to him when he asked you to watch a baseball game?"

"That was one time, and you know how my dad raised me in baseball games. Lisa said it wasn't a big deal."

"So what about the time when Miyeon asked for your advice on a personal note but you weren't able to answer because you were watching a musical with him?"

"His brother booked two tickets and he only asked me because he couldn't ask any of the staff."

"Bullshit." Jennie snaps. "What? While on this job he suddenly doesn't have friends to invite except you?"

"All of his friends bailed him because musicals are boring. Hold on- what's going on here? Why does it annoy you that I spend time with him?"

"I don't mind if you spend time with him Jisoo, what I mind is how you spend every free time with him. I already told you, I don't like this guy."

Before I could react, Kibum cuts into the scene. "Here's your legendary gamepad your highness- hi there Jennie." Jennie greets him with a brief smile. "Is she tagging along too?"

"She actually wanted to watch a movie with me."

"Oh." He responds. "Well, we could play some other time then."

"No, it's alright." Jennie cuts him off. "You were first to ask her out anyway."

"Are you sure? Because it's really okay with me if you guys go and hang-out first."

"It's fine, seems like she wanted to be with you anyways." Placing her hands inside her pockets, she stares at me with blank eyes. "I'll see you at the dorm."

As soon as her figure was no longer visible, I released out a long sigh along with a brief rolling of my eyes. "Did something happen?"

"Jendeuk happened." I clicked my tongue out of annoyance.

"Hey, is something bothering you?" He taps me on the shoulder. "You know if you want to tell me something I am always willing to listen." I looked at him in the eyes, wondering if I could tell him what's really bothering me. A part of me was willing to be fully open to him, yet a part of him was wondering if he could understand me. "You know what? Why don't we ditch game night? I know a rooftop bar nearby."

"W-w-hy?"

"Well, I haven't told you a story yet."

"Are you telling me a story just so I could tell you what's been bothering me?"

"No." He instantly replies. "I just wanted someone to listen."

"To listen?"

"It's a story that's very familiar to the people who really know me from the very beginning. A story that ended up with a common reaction." He says. "So? Are you ready to hear that story?"

And out of all the reasons why I like Kibum, it was because he was a very good form of distraction. He keeps my mind off things that have been repetitively running through my mind, things that I couldn't understand, and things- that I wasn't sure if I was ready to confront them yet.

"Okay." I answer to him with a smile and a small nod. "To the rooftop bar it is."

__________________________________

"Unnie!" A high-pitched Lisa was running down the hallway to meet me by the door. "Unnie!!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? Are you high on sugar again?" Shaking her head like a poodle I look at her weirdly. "Then what's wrong?"

"I saw her unnie! I saw her!"

"Who?"

"The most beautiful person I have ever seen."

"Well, it's about time you realize that."

"No! I wasn't talking about you unnie! I'm talking about the other girl!"

"Did I hear you correctly Lalisa?" I removed my coat and placed my hands on my waist. "You said, girl?"

Lisa chuckles nervously. "Unnie, it's just a girl crush, you don't have to worry I still like boys."

"Girl crush?" I tilt my head to the side. "What does girl crush mean?"

"It's still someone you admire, but like in a platonic way." She answers. "Like she's your role-model or someone who inspires you to be a better individual."

So it is possible to like someone in a platonic way. Hmm, maybe that's what I feel right now? I mean, it's not really far from possible. Jennie's a perfect example to all the newbies and aspiring trainees out there, she's very professional, a role model and she has always been my go-to person whenever I need pieces of advice in everything related to this training program.

Maybe this isn't what I fear this to be, maybe this is just a harmless girl crush.

I hummed in response while nodding my head, still trying to get a better grasp of this 'girl-crush' concept. "So who is this girl-crush are we talking about? Is she a staff? Trainee?"

Lisa's face instantly glowed as soon as I mention the anonymous girl. "I met her inside an elevator."

"An elevator?"

She nodded once again. "I was heading down to my Korean class earlier so I got inside the elevator minding my usual business, mentally memorizing my notes and then the elevator comes to a halt, and then she comes in." Lisa narrated dramatically. "She was wearing a blue fitted shirt, skinny jeans, and Vans sneakers. She even had her guitar hung on her shoulders and gosh unnie- she was so pretty."

"And does this pretty girl have a name?"

"I wasn't able to get her name because she left two floors ahead of me." She pouts. "But not to worry, news travels fast so I'll know her name soon."

I eyed Lisa up and down and analyzed her actions. "You know for a girl crush, you seem too eager to know her name."

"W-w-unnie, why were you out late again?"

"We had to shoot some late shots."

"Really..." Lisa says in a skeptical manner. "And is that the only reason why you went home late tonight?"

"Kibum also wanted to try this 24-hour restaurant and it was around the neighborhood."

"Just the two of you?"

"Yeah, everyone else was dead tired and I was the only one hungry. Plus, it was his treat so yeah."

"You two seem to be really close."

"That's because we work together?" I state in a matter of fact.

"No, like the other type of closeness, you even bond after shoots and some of your free days."

"Lisa, we're just friends."

"Well everyone's got to start somewhere right?" I shot her a glare and she quickly raises her hands in defense. "Sorry! It's just that I am still not used to seeing you and Jennie unnie hanging out with different people let alone with boys, but I guess that's understandable-"

"Wait, wait, wait, what did you just say?"

"Uh, I guess I'm just not used to-"

"No, no, no- the latter part."

"You and Jennie unnie hanging out with different people let alone boys?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "She's hanging out with who?"

"Forgot to tell you unnie. You see, while you were busy neglecting to do your best friend's duties to her because you were busying yourself with Kibum, I took her under my wing one day and introduced her to new faces. You know Jaewon right?" I nodded my head in response. "I've been hanging out with him for a while and so he introduced me to Hanbin and Bobby. In return, I introduced them to Jennie."

"IKON's Bobby and Hanbin?"

"Yes."

"Jennie's been hanging out with them?"

"Not without me of course, but Jennie unnie just texted me earlier and told me she's in a Ski resort with Chaehee unnie and she happens to meet Hanbin there with his family."

"Oh."

On cue, the door opens and Jennie was the person to appear behind it. "Hi, Jennie unnie! How was skiing?"

"It was good."

"How was Hanbin's family? Did you make the cut for being their daughter-in-law?"

Jennie, who still haven't notice my existence chuckle at Lisa's comment. "You and your shipping agenda Lisa."

"What? I just think that you two can make a good couple."

"That's just your assumption."

"I'm dead serious! Jisoo unnie don't you think Hanbin and Jennie unnie make a good couple?" Jennie and I shared eye contact, the first time after that awkward incident last week and with just one look at her orbs, I could easily tell that there was something that she wasn't telling me. "Hello? Earth to Jisoo unnie!"

"Yeah." I answer as I swallowed another invincible lump on my throat. "They make a good couple." As I told those words, I start to wonder.

Does having a girl crush include this bitter feeling inside my tongue whenever I hear Jennie and Hanbin's name in one sentence?

Ever since I had knowledge about Jennie's sudden form of friendship with Hanbin was the only time that I realized that there was something different from our friendship. Something off and the most annoying thing possible is the fact that I couldn't detect what was wrong with us.

She seems to like to act cold these days, on other days she's very distant there's literally no in between, and every time I try to ask her if there was something wrong, she'd brush it off with a brief smile and leave me hanging thinking if what she said was true.

Knowing Jennie, all it takes is for her to come around is if I just spend time with her. So I decided to cancel all of my plans on my free day and try to reach out for her but every time I free my schedule and invite her, she always pull away, telling me that she had a prior commitment or that she has to accompany her mom and possibly every reason there is to exist just so she could deny my invitation.

But whenever Hanbin invites her to do something, her response comes quicker than lightning and she always says yes to him. It's totally confusing really, why can she say no to me but say yes to him? Why is it whenever Hanbin has involved Jennie smiles and gets really involved but whenever I strike a conversation with her, she always seems to reply in one-liners or cuts the conversation off? Could Jennie prefer Hanbin's company over mine? But why? Does she-

"Hey, guys." Jennie breaks my train of thoughts and the silence of our dinner. "I got a message from Hanbin, he asked if it was alright for him to join us."

"I thought this day is only about the four of us."

"His members ganged up on him and left him all alone in the dorms." She says. "He's bored."

"Well, he could do something else all alone or with his other friends."

"It's alright for me." Miyeon cuts the argument between Jennie and Lisa. "He's a nice man."

"No, it's not alright for me." Lisa continues to argue. "This night is for girls only."

"It can still be the same vibe Lisa come on... as Jennie unnie's members, we need to support her."

"Support her with what?"

"With her and Hanbin duh?" Miyeon turns to the girl beside me. "I support you and Hanbin unnie."

"They're not a couple."

"And they won't be if you're going to be a cock-blocker."

"Fine, the score's 1-1 and just like what we always agree on, the majority wins." Lisa suddenly turns to me. "Unnie."

"Huh?"

"Is it okay for you that Hanbin will join us tonight?"

Is it?

If Hanbin's not around, then I'll probably suggest a horror movie to watch for tonight. That would mean Jennie and I get to be seatmates where she would probably hold onto me later for dear life. I get to tease her, and maybe after the movie, we'll let the girls leave early and I get to ask her to go to our favorite convenience store, and just be open about what I feel about the sudden spur of changes in our friendship. She'll probably understand where I am coming from, and then maybe she'll apologize too and we can go back to the way things used to be, and that will definitely make me happy.

I will be happy, but- will Jennie feel the same?

"Unnie! You're taking too long, enough with the teasing." Lisa whines. "What's your choice?"

"I think... it will be alright if Hanbin can join us."

Lisa groaned while Miyeon did a happy dance in her seat. "Jisoo, I thought we were in this together!"

"Silly! You were the one who introduced them together right? And besides-" I looked at Jennie who was not paying any attention to our conversation. "Jendeuk will be happy if Hanbin is with us."

__________________________________

"Good job guys! Let's take a fifteen-minute break and resume immediately."

After the instructor announced a short break, I immediately walked over to where my bag was, hoping that Jennie had replied to my text invitation of going grocery shopping later so that we could make some tanghulu. I bit my lips in anticipation, hoping Jennie hasn't drained the battery of my phone because of her flooded messages, however when I opened my phone I was completely washed over with disappointment as I only saw a single text message from her, and it was even a positive reply.

Hanbin already invited me to meet the rest of his members together with Chaehee. Sorry I couldn't come.

I decided to type a quick 'ok' message and sent my friends a group message, asking them if anyone was free today but all of them responded negatively.

"Okay, what am I going to do now?" I sighed as I shove the phone back to my bag.

"Um, excuse me?" I turned around and met a beautiful stranger's face.

"Yes?"

"Sorry, I probably scared you." The pretty stranger shyly tells.

"No, it's alright."

"It's just that I was watching you from afar and I want to drop by to say that you have amazing krumping skills."

I instantly blushed at the compliment. "No, I am a below-average dancer."

"You slayed this choreograph though." She smiles at me. "I'm sorry I'm just new around here and I was hoping to make some friends. I mean, I already have but there's no harm in adding a new one today right?"

"I get how you feel, don't worry everyone's been there in your position." I smile back at her. "Do you have anything else to do today?"

"Right after this practice?" I nodded my head. "Nothing actually."

"Would you like to go somewhere with me?"

"Where?"

"I was originally planning to go and make Tanghulu with my member but unfortunately she had some other plans."

"Sure! I love cooking!" She beams adorably. "Well actually I love eating more, but it's still the same right?"

I chuckled at her odd statement. "Sure, that's the same... I'm Jisoo by the way."

This pretty stranger smiles again, showing her beautiful plump cheeks. "I'm Chaeyoung." She extends her hand and I gladly met them half-way. "Park Chaeyoung."

Like Kibum, it actually didn't take long for me to fully adjust to Chaeyoung. She's a total sweetheart and also a talkative person, in a non-annoying way. A very nice person to be with and she's really, really adorable. The girl makes me laugh and happy almost every minute that I could feel my cheeks getting hard and my stomach hurts from all the giggles she's been making me do so.

But with all those repetitive failures, I think I am starting to get upset.

"I give up."

Chaeyoung whines and rushes to my side. "Why? Is it because we keep on failing?"

"That and I don't think any of my members would like to come home and smell burnt sugar everywhere." I sigh out loud. "This is a failed experiment so what's the point."

"No unnie, let's give it one more try."

"So we could fail again?"

"Maybe we'll get it right this time."

"We could also fail this time."

"We won't know if we won't try."

"Why are you so optimistic?"

"Is there a reason not to be?" Chaeyoung smiles and repeated everything from the very beginning. "My dad always tells me that it doesn't matter if plan A doesn't work because we still have the rest of the alphabet to figure everything out."

"And what if plan Z doesn't work?"

"Then we sing the song again." She remains focused as she makes minor changes in the measurements of the needed ingredients. "Now, why don't try again?"

Following the last steps of making Tanghulu, I waited for the final results and grabbed a taste of it. "I did it!" I shrieked out of happiness. "This is it! This is the tanghulu I've wanted to make!"

"See? Told you, it'll work this time."

"Thank you!" I pull Chaeyoung to a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, and thank you!"

"No need to thank me unnie, this is all on you." Pulling away, she lets out a cheeky grin as she sways our hands together. "But yeah, congratulations to us."

As the kitchen area was surrounded with happy glees and chirps alongside with skipping feet, two doors opened at the same time. One, coming from the main entrance of the apartment and one from the first door in the living room. Those two people eventually saw one another in the living room and both of them connected their eyebrows, confused as to why their house smelled like a roast house factory.

Jennie and Lisa heard the happy melody from the kitchen and it was a no-brainer that one of the voices belonged to the oldest member of the group which was Jisoo but the other voice came from a total stranger who even Jennie, the longest trainee couldn't familiarize. She has never heard this laughter before and she doesn't have the slightest idea even when the girl spoke.

"Here unnie try this." Unnie? Jennie thinks to herself.

Unable to hide her curiosity, Lisa marches her way to the kitchen to get her answers right away. "Hey, Jisoo unnie what are you-"

And when Lisa stops halfway through her question, Jennie decides to enter the kitchen as well meeting Jisoo's eyes first. "Uh, hi guys."

While Lisa stood there seemingly completely stunned, Jennie looked over to the girl standing right beside her best friend. The girl was obviously a lot taller than her and maybe the tallest in the room. She had premium jet black hair, an oversized shirt, faded jeans and her old pair of sneakers. The latter looked like one of those bad-ass street gang members but her face who's barely covered in make-up make her look like a carebear.

Jennie could already tell that she's a bubbly and friendly person, judging by her fluffy and well-rounded cheeks look like as she smiles to both her and Lisa. Unlike Lisa who seemed like entice, and despite the fact that this girl was probably harmless and a walking ray of sunshine, she still couldn't bring herself into fully liking this girl, especially the way how she stood near- so near beside her friend Jisoo.

She kind of gives the Soojoo vibe. And Jennie, if she was being honest, doesn't like Soojoo even one bit.

"Meet my members, Lisa and Jennie." Jisoo awkwardly breaks the silence between them. "Lisa, Jennie, meet Chaeyoung. YG's newest trainee and my good friend."

"Hello, nice to meet you." She bows down to both of them and gives her a natural signature smile.

Jennie doesn't respond to her in a verbal way rather with a small nod which Chaeyoung acknowledged. She turns to Lisa, who was oddly staring at her. "Are you alright?" Now, both Jennie and Jisoo were looking at Lisa who was looking at Chaeyoung in a very uncomfortable manner. "Lisa?"

Since Lisa wasn't responding, Jennie took the liberty and nudged the person beside her, causing the latter to jerk up and say- "TANGHULU!" She looked at the rest of the girls who looked at her with utter confusion. "T-that's what you guys are making right?"

"Oh yeah! This one is definitely Tanghulu while the other ones are..." She adorably giggles. "Let's just say these were victims of a scientific experiment."

"Cute." Lisa accidentally blurts out, surprising everyone else. "I mean, it's cute that you guys made Tanghulu like a celebration of your friendship."

Chaeyoung beams as if there was a bolt of light bulb lightning above her head. "She's right unnie! This is like our celebration for our new-found friendship." She smiles. "We can make this from time to time with different fruits that'll be fun right?"

Jennie's eyebrow rose in amusement while Jisoo just chuckled dryly. "We- we can do that."

"Great!" Chaeyoung takes a good look at the room until she spots the wall clock. "Oh shoot! I'm running late!" She turns to Jisoo with puppy dog eyes. "Jisoo unnie is it alright if-"

"Don't worry, I'll clean up here. I'll see you on Thursday?"

The girl envelopes Jisoo once again in a very tight bear hug. "I'll see you on Thursday unnie!"

The girl said farewell to the other members as well before rushing out of the apartment. As soon as Chaeyoung was no longer inside, Jennie looks at the mess inside the kitchen and decides not to be a part of it so she exits and settles herself in the entertainment brought by their television while Lisa stayed there, eyeing Jisoo moving back and forth as she starts to clean up.

"Unnie."

"What."

"You're being unfair."

Jisoo halts for a second. "Why am I being unfair?"

"Unnie!"

"What?!"

"You really don't know!?"

"How would I know if you won't tell me?"

"You never told me you know her!"

"Who's who? Chaeyoung?" Jisoo asks. "Why were you looking at her like that? It was so weird! You looked like you were some kind of sasaeng."

"Even her name sounds beautiful already." That comment earned a smack from Jisoo. "What was that for!?"

"You're being weird!"

"Unnie, remember days ago I told you about my girl crush?"

"Yeah what about it?"

"That's her unnie... Chaeyoung is my girl crush."

"Oh." Jisoo initially responds but then after a few seconds, her brain was able to catch up. "OH!"

"YES OH!"

"OH MY GOD! Are you serious?!"

"Yes!"

"Wow... what a small world huh."

"I know!" She excitingly beams. "But before that, I wanna know everything okay? How did the two of you meet?"

"I attended krumping lessons to just buy some free time since everyone was busy." Jisoo shares as she spares the girl watching in the living room a spare glance. "It was break time and she just walked right up to me and complimented my krumping skills."

"Your krumping skills?" Jisoo nods her head. "Wow, you must've been really angry."

"I just wanted to let off some steam..." She then remembers that all she could think about during that lesson was how close Hanbin and Jennie were getting closer than usual. "But I guess you can say that..."

"Unnie, why are you two meeting this Thursday huh? What else do you know about her? Tell me please, I'll do whatever you ask me to do."

Jisoo pondered about the offer before looking at the latter. "Whatever I ask you to do huh..."

"Yes."

"Promise me that you'll clean up here?"

"I promise. If I don't do it, feed me to Dalgom."

"Well then, come here."

The girl with the bangs scoots closer to her ear, excitement filling her entire system. "Say it unnie."

"Keep on dreaming." Jisoo pulls away with a devilish smile.

"Unnie."

"Remember how I like it clean around here Lisa! Sparkling!" Jisoo says as she leaves towards the bathroom.

"JISOO UNNIE!"

"Lisa, can you please shut up? I'm trying to watch a movie here."

"You're not watching because if you are, you would've screamed the life out of you. That's horror you're watching." Lisa rolls her eyes. "Plus, this is Chaeyoung we're talking about. She's-"

"The girl you met inside the elevator I know."

"You know? How?"

"Who wouldn't? Your voices were so loud I bet even the landlady heard your gushes about a girl."

"Hey, slow down why are you so annoyed?"

"We barely know the girl!" Jennie tries to reason out. "You met her inside the elevator and Jisoo met her in a krumping lesson. It was just one meeting and then all of a sudden she lets that stranger inside our dorm."

"But she's a trainee Jen."

"Still, I don't trust the people who I meet for the first time."

"But you invited Jisoo over to go to a public bath where you saw each other's naked bodies when you met for the first time..."

"Jisoo is different okay? Don't compare her to that new girl." She crosses her arms. "Who makes Tanghulu in celebration of their friendship?"

"Ooh... Okay, now I see it." Lisa nods knowingly. "I guess someone's jealous because Jisoo unnie made Tanghulu with someone else..."

"I am not jealous!"

"I'm not saying it's you though, but yeah, okay." Lisa shrugs. "But I think it's alright that she made Tanghulu with Chaeyoung instead of you."

"Enlighten me, Lisa, how is it okay for Jisoo to make Tanghulu with that new girl when clearly, making Tanghulu is our thing?"

"Um, well... When it was you and Jisoo unnie, you two never really got the mixture right but with Chaeyoung, unnie was able to do it successfully." Lisa looks at Jennie who looked at her like she was so close in causing Lisa's death. "I mean, she's probably good in baking kinds of stuff and with her Jisoo seems to enjoy-"

"If you value your life, you'd shut up." Jennie gives her one last glare before turning around and walking towards her room.

"You're not going to wait for Jisoo unnie?"

"Why don't you wait for her and then maybe you two can stay up all night gushing over you girl crush Chaesong-"

"Her name's Chaeyoung-"

"Guess what? I don't give a damn." Jennie slams the door shut, leaving Lisa totally confused.

"Now what was that all about?"

__________________________________

Ever since that Tanghulu night, there seems to be an unspoken rivalry between Jennie and Jisoo. Whenever Jennie was hanging out with Hanbin, Jisoo, and Chaeyoung could also be seen together. If Jisoo was laughing to something Chaeyoung had said while they were in the cafeteria, Jennie and Hanbin would be having a wonderful conversation about music in a coffee shop on the upper side of the Gangnam neighborhood. Whenever Jennie and Hanbin are found having a jam in the recording studio, Jisoo and Chaeyoung are enjoying karaoke. And whenever the four of them were found in the same venue, things can really pretty awkward that even a stranger, without absolute knowledge of what was going on, can tell.

It's not the only thing that has changed; even their sleeping positions have already been altered. Unlike before where they could be found snuggling up against one another, looking at each other's sleeping faces or laugh at anything until sunrise, the only thing that was facing right now was their backs, as they try and sleep through the cold and silent nights.

Everything that has happened between them was kind of pissing Jisoo in some sort of way. It was not like she didn't try reaching out to Jennie immediately after that night because she did, multiple times in fact but it was Jennie who kept pushing her away. Added to the fact that she was still having a hard time understanding what she really feels towards her friend and harder time understanding why she was feeling this way made things pretty difficult for her.

But even though she was already feeling a lot of negative things, Jisoo decides to swallow them down her throat, hoping that one day, everything would be alright and that one day would not take long.

"Great practice today guys, nicely done."

"Thanks."

"Alright, I'll see you girls tomorrow okay?"

As soon as the dance instructor leaves, each of them went to their bags either grabbed a towel or a water bottle. "This practice is really testing my patience..." Lisa sighs as she lets herself cool down after a swig from the bottle. "Hey." Lisa turns to Jennie, who looked pissed at Jisoo smiling as she taps on her phone. "Hey, Jennie."

"What."

Lisa sighs. "You know, just because you're looking at the problem doesn't mean it's going to magically solve itself alright?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Seriously, you're just going to deny the fact that there's something going on with you and Jisoo unnie?"

"There's nothing going on between Jisoo and me."

"Oh, so you two are just what, two individuals who got so close then eventually drifted apart is that it?" Lisa decides to be stern this time and make Jennie look at her. "Listen, you two can play this stubborn game that you both play in all day long but I know you second best next to Jisoo..." She says. "Okay, maybe not second best but third best because there's Chaehee and maybe not third because there's your mom, plus your dad but- the point is, I know you long enough to know when something is bothering you." Soothing Jennie's shoulders, Lisa decides to break through the latter even more. "You can play the tough girl act in front of everyone else, but not in front of the people who actually know you're a good person."

Jennie remains silent for a while before letting out a sigh. "What if she's texting Chaeyoung right now? What if I talk to her a little too late that she prefers a company of an Australian rather than a Kiwi? I mean- I'm not even from New Zealand I just went there to study for a while who am I compared to someone who grew all her life in-"

"This is Jisoo we're talking about... If this bothers you, well I'm sure as hell that it's been bothering her as well."

"You... you really think so?" Lisa nods affirmatively. "You're right, I should stop being immature and just go talk to her."

"That's the best thing I ever heard besides Chaeyoung's name." She smiles. "Now, off you go. Go get your friend back."

With a determined face, Jennie turns around and runs outside, hoping that she would still catch up to Jisoo who left just a few seconds ago. Running past through the hallway, she finally sees her friend walking towards the elevator and she decides to not waste any more time and rushes for it.

But then her delighted feeling was crushed, the moment that she hears Jisoo's laughter and a name that she really doesn't want to hear.

"Calm down Chae, I am on my way." From a distance, she sees Jisoo smiles as she waits for the elevator to come down. "Yes, I am also very excited. Happy?"

Chaeyoung, Chaeyoung, Chaeyoung. It's always been about Chaeyoung!

Jennie may have gotten the Soojoo vibes off of Chaeyoung but she was wrong, totally wrong. Chaeyoung vibes were worse than Soojoo because this vibe is the kind of vibe that she has to witness every single day. It was annoying, disturbing and not to mention infuriating the fact that one, Jisoo preferred Chaeyoung's company over hers and the fact that she continuously prefers Chaeyoung's company over hers.

It was immature of her, she knows that. She also knows that this was ironic coming from her because she knows she prefers Hanbin's company over Jisoo's as well and she knows that she could've made amends when Jisoo was reaching out but a big part of her which was named 'ego' for short decided to become determined and wait until Jisoo is the first to come to her and apologize for everything.

But maybe this is where she draws the line.

"Jisoo!" Voices out for Jennie, making the latter turnaround and was surprised to see Jennie just a few feet away from her.

"Ae unnie." The heart-shaped lips girl responds.

"Are you on your way out?"

"Um..." Jisoo looks back and forth between her superior and her member before nodding her head reluctantly. "I was about to meet a friend."

"Well cancel it; you girls are to go to the seventh floor."

Now it was Jennie's turn to look at Ae unnie with nervous eyes. "W-w-why are we needed at the seventh floor?"

"Yang wants to speak to you girls."

__________________________________

Legend says, and this legend is only according to their seniors and some employees that there are certain floors that you wouldn't want to find yourself inside the entertainment building. The first one is the basement parking area; They say it's the home of the sasaengs and media, waiting for something bad to happen, take a photo of it and then post it online, in hopes, it would be enough to pay for their penthouse rentals, luxury cars, and expensive mistresses. Almost everyone knew about the joke that the basement was no longer parking for cars rather for a tent filled with nasty people with nasty desires.

The second level you would want to avoid is on the third floor which is also their pantry, it's the first level of nightmare since almost every intern of every department is there, hastily making coffee for all of their bosses, hoping that by kissing their asses, they'd land a permanent job here once the internship is over.

And the third part of the building is the fourteenth floor. It's the rooftop and nobody goes there except for the utility personnel and other employees who want to smoke a puff or just take a small sip of booze just to cool off the stress. They say you can either die out of second-hand smoke or out of cold since it was pretty high and they close the door pretty early too for safety reasons.

Yet there are some floors that even just by hearing it from a colleague or just seeing it inside the elevator, you'd get the chills in a very eerie way. It's that one place where just the mere announcement that your presence is required makes your knees go weak and your mind restless, thinking of reasons where and when did you fuck things up because that could the only be the reason why you were called to appear on that floor in the first place. That floor- is none other than the seventh floor, where Yang's office was located and that- is where you'd find Lisa, Jennie, and Jisoo sitting outside, waiting anxiously as they try to find the reason why they were called for in the first place.

"Where the hell is Miyeon, why isn't she answering any of our phone calls!?"

"Lisa, could you stop acting like a lunatic? And can you please stop tapping your foot? You're freaking me out."

"You guys being calm are freaking me out!" She whisper-shouted. "Do you have any idea where we guys are?! We're on the freakin' seventh floor! Do you guys know what that means?!"

"I know what that perfectly means! But you acting like some kind of whacko isn't going to help our situation."

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" Lisa snaps her head at the two older girls. "Do you think that-" Looking around, she was trying to see if there was someone paying attention to their conversation. "Do you think they know about me having a crush on Chaeyoung?"

"I thought it was just a girl crush." Jisoo butts in.

"What?" Jennie gives Lisa a scolding look. "A girl crush? Really I-"

"Girls?" Ae unnie appears from Yang's office.

"Ae unnie are we in big trouble?" Lisa asks worriedly. "Unnie if this is about-"

"Lisa, you will be meeting Hong oppa. He's waiting for you in meeting room C." She says. "Jennie, you'll be coming with me. Let's have a chat in meeting room B."

"What about Jisoo unnie?"

Ae turns to Jisoo. With her blank stare, she instructs the latter- "You'll be meeting with Yang. He's waiting for you."

As Jennie and Lisa left in different directions, Jisoo swallows the lump in her throat. With careful steps, she enters her CEO's office and the first thing that her nose notices were the constant smell of oak wood and another thing that reminds her of being inside a forest. She carefully strides herself towards the main part of the office where she sees her boss looking blank and monotone as ever.

"Jisoo, take a seat." He instructs his artist. "How have you been?"

"I've been good Sajangnim," Jisoo replies as soon as she takes a comfortable position on the chair.

"And how's your training?"

"I am working hard too. All the classes have been really helpful."

He nods his head. "How long have you been training here?"

"Nearing four years sir."

"Four years... wow, time does travel fast." He chuckles. "I remember you being this timid girl during auditions but you really could sing and goddamn you can act as perfect as someone like Eugene or something..." She responds in a dry chuckle, still worried for the reason why she was chosen to meet with the head of the agency tonight. "Listen Jisoo, I will be frank with you from this moment forward okay?"

"O-o-okay."

"I know I promised you guys that you are going to debut soon and everything is already in order just like how Ae oriented you guys but- I'm afraid there's been an unforeseen event."

"W-what kind of event are we-"

"Miyeon is romantically involved with someone inside the company. An employee of ours. One of your managers to be exact." Jisoo covers her mouth as she's unable to hold back her gasp. "We've tried warning them, gave them all these indirect warnings but they still went on with their relationship."

"That is why, even though I hate to be a bearer of bad news, I'm afraid that I must terminate her contract."

"But-"

"I support all kinds of dating around in my agency Jisoo. Whether you date an idol, non-showbiz or in a different kind of craft in the entertainment industry I don't give a damn. As long as you let me know, so we can possibly avoid scandals- just like Miyeon had." He explains. "There were a bunch of pictures of them going out in day time and some even noticed the huge difference in their age. They have received a lot of negative responses Jisoo, and that kind of energy isn't allowed in my company."

"But what I cannot allow as well is to debut a group that isn't ready to debut." He further explains. "Miyeon may be a liability now, but if only she used her brain rather than her heart, she would've figured out just how much money she would be able to help her family. She was one of our greatest trainees, and with her age that young- who knows where her capabilities would've taken her." Yang shakes his head. "I'm telling you another bad news." He sighs but then looks at Jisoo with a nonchalant look. "I can't debut you guys as a trio, it just won't work."

"I am going to separate you guys from now on," Yang instructs. "Lisa will be joining Chaeyoung. They're going to debut as duo performers soon. Jennie, on the other hand, will be my solo rapper artist. She's going to debut in a few months, and I know that she'll just hit the charts and the media by storm. With her charisma on stage and her talent in music, she's going to places only I could dream all of my artists could go..." He smiles.

"What about me," Jisoo says in her small, polite voice. "When will I get to debut?"

"I admire your courage to ask Jisoo. Not everyone knows what they want but you do... and that's why you're under my wing. Because unlike the others, you know what you want." Yang then releases a short sigh. "But that doesn't mean this is what you need."

"I don't think I understand."

"Jisoo..."

"You're not going to debut as an idol."