Not a Date

"How-"

"You're not exactly subtle, hyung." Chaeyoung set aside her pen and sketchbook, placing it on the coffee table a few feet away from the couch. She then looked around to check if anyone was around before leaning towards Jeongyeon and added in a low voice, "And I think Momo-unnie might know too."

"Mwo?!" Jeongyeon shouted a little too loud.

"Scream a little louder, hyung. I think they didn't hear you from next door," sarcasm dripped off Chaeyoung's voice.

"Shut it, Chaeng. This is serious. I wasn't even ready for Jihyo to know about my feelings for her yet and now, you two!"

"Daebak, Jihyo-unnie knows too? Looks like you need acting lessons, hyung."

"Am I really that obvious?"

"If even Momo-unnie noticed, then yes."

Jeongyeon groaned in frustration and buried her face in her palms. Chaeyoung patted her back. "Don't worry, I think Nayeon-unnie hasn't realized anything yet. Sure, your reactions towards her have been suspicious as of late but I'm positive we can prevent the situation from escalating. I'll help, of course."

"Can't you just teach me how to move on from her instead?"

Chaeyoung raised a brow. "You really sure you want that?"

Jeongyeon was taken aback and demanded in a somewhat offended tone, "Why not?"

"It's not like I want you suffering being in love with her. Believe me, I've been there, hyung. But sometimes you have to ask yourself, is it worth it?"

Here, Jeongyeon paused. Chaeyoung has a point.

Falling in love with Nayeon wasn't a coincidence, Jeongyeon didn't have to fall for her. Before she fell, she'd always seen Nayeon's beauty, inside and out, she can't deny that even as a friend. No one forced her to fall for Nayeon yet she did. She chose to see Nayeon in a different light which led her to fall for her. And honestly, falling in love with Nayeon wasn't really all bad. If she had to fall for someone, she was glad it was Nayeon.

Satisfied with herself, she smiled at Chaeyoung. "Yes, it's worth it. Nayeon is worth it."

Chaeyoung returned her smile, looking proud at the older girl. "Well, there you have it."

Just then, Jeongyeon's phone rang, causing her to frown. She checked to see who was calling her and scowled.

"Wae? Who is it?" Chaeyoung asked, leaning towards her to take a look at the caller ID.

"Min Kyunghoon"

Chaeyoung sat back and laughed. Jeongyeon shushed her by covering her before answering the call, rolling her eyes. She had him on speaker mode so Chaeyoung could hear their conversation as well. "Yeoboseyo, Kyunghoon-oppa." Chaeyoung removed her hand from her mouth, shoulders shaking from silent laughter. Jeongyeon glowered at her.

A somewhat timid male voice replied, "Y-Yeoboseyo, Jeongyeon-ah."

"Why did you call, oppa?"

Jeongyeon's irritation wasn't hidden that well and Kyunghoon replied in a worried tone. "Am I bothering you? I can call some other time."

Feeling a little guilty, Jeongyeon's voice became softer as she reassured him, "Ani, it's fine, oppa. I was just tired. So what did you need?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to join me for dinner. I already asked your managers for permission and they agreed. But if you're tired, we can do it some other time."

Jeongyeon pursed her lips to hold in a sigh. Ever since the news of Momo and Heechul dating came out, Kyunghoon became more forward with her. It was apparent he wanted to court her, hoping that what happened to Heechul would also happen to him. While Jeongyeon was happy for Momo dating Heechul- who was more than a decade older than her- she wasn't going to follow her example either.

They had all known during their first appearance in the show "Knowing Bros" that Kyunghoon held a certain affection towards her that became more obvious as they appeared two more times on the show. While he also had crushes on other female artists who guested on the show, it looked like he was most interested in Jeongyeon. He never pursued her, however, not until Heechul dated their main dancer.

Jeongyeon liked Kyunghoon too but only because he liked her and treated her well, she'd mentioned that on national television a couple of times. Her fondness for him never went past the boundaries of a platonic or even a fraternal relationship. She thought of him more as an older brother more than a romantic interest. He was a good man and she didn't want to hurt him...

But her heart belonged to someone else.

Now, Jeongyeon regrets giving him her number when he asked for it. He'd taken to texting her at least once a day, usually greeting her every morning. She seldom replies and when she does, he tries to make small talk to her to lengthen the conversation. Jeongyeon has tried to show she was uninterested whenever she texted him but the man was either oblivious or undeterred. Jeongyeon preferred to believe the former.

This was the first time he had called and outright asked her out on a date. She wondered what pushed the usually cowardly man to do so. Her first instinct was to turn him down- Chaeyoung also expressed her displeasure by shaking her head- but he was probably going to ask her again tomorrow. She had no choice but to accept his invitation.

"Arasseo, oppa. Where can we meet up?" Her reply had Chaeyoung gaping at her in shock. Jeongyeon put her finger on her lips before she could say anything.

There was a short pause as the older guy was probably trying to contain his glee at her acceptance. She could hear his happiness in his reply, though. "That's great! I'll pick you up."

"Ani! Just text me the address and I'll have one of my managers drop me there."

"Arasseo. Let's meet up at 7:30. I'll text you the address shortly."

"Wait, oppa! Just to make it clear... this isn't a date, right?"

"Oh, no... of course not. Anyways, I gotta go get ready. See you, Jeongyeon-ah!"

And with that, she ended the call, groaning.

"Are you crazy? What the hell were you thinking, hyung?!" Chaeyoung screeched and hit her arm.

Jeongyeon hissed in pain and pushed her back in retaliation. "I was thinking if I didn't accept, he was still going to ask me another time until I finally agree! At least this way, I can tell him to stop pursuing me."

"That's harsh, hyung. Oppa might be annoying and all but that's only because he likes you. It's only the first date and you're already going to break his heart."

"Ya, it's not a date!"

"Who's going on a date?" a voice came from behind them.

Both turned around to see all their members standing behind them with Jihyo in the middle of the group, crossing her arms. She had a frown on her face, contrary to the mixture of confusion and amusement on the others' faces. Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung smiled sheepishly at them.

"Annyeong, yeorobun!" Chaeyoung greeted with a fake cheery voice. "Um... how long have you been standing there?"

"Fortunately for you, we only heard the last part," Tzuyu said.

"Stop trying to change the subject, Chaeng, now who is going on a date?" Dahyun asked.

Chaeyoung immediately pointed towards Jeongyeon who screeched incredulously, "Chaeng!"

She turned back towards her members, laughed nervously, and bolted. She managed to sidestep Nayeon and Jihyo who were lunging at her, avoid Tzuyu trying to block her way with her long arms, and ran towards her room with Momo and Sana chasing her. Upon reaching her room, she slammed the door closed and locked it. A loud thud was heard through the door followed by a resounding, "Sana!"

Jeongyeon, who was leaning on the door, winced at the sound and vibration the collision caused. "Mianhe, I have to get ready now!"

There was knocking, banging, pleading, and threatening for her to open the door for a few minutes before they finally quieted down. Jeongyeon sighed in relief before walking towards her closet to look for something to wear.

...

It didn't take long for Jeongyeon to choose an outfit. She exited her room, patting down the creases on her black skirt. She wasn't wearing anything special, only opting for the skirt, cycling shorts underneath, ankle high black open-toe boots, and a green Oxford blouse with one button undone and the sleeves rolled up to just under her elbows. She had a pair of silver earrings dangling on her earlobe as her only accessories.

She didn't bother to tie her grey hair and just let the strands flow down over her shoulders. She texted one of her managers to come pick her up as she made her way to the front door. She had also received Kyunghoon's text containing the address of what was probably a restaurant which she forwarded to her manager.

"Unnie!"

She looked up from her phone to see her members gathered around the living room, gaping at her. She noticed them staring at her outfit. "What are you looking at?"

"So... who's the lucky guy?" Mina teased.

Jeongyeon rolled her eyes. "No one."

Tzuyu scoffed. "Oh, please. You wouldn't dress up that nicely if it wasn't anyone special."

"That's actually just a simple outfit and, no, he isn't anyone special," Chaeyoung piped in to defend Jeongyeon.

Jihyo raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Now I'm more interested in who is this 'not special' guy."

Before Jeongyeon could answer, her phone vibrated in her hand. She checked to see what the notification was about and it was her manager saying he had arrived at the dorm, now waiting for her. She grabbed a pair of shades and a face mask she had lying around and turned to address the members.

"I need to go now. If you really want to know who it is, ask Chaeyoung, I give her the permission to talk about it. Yeorobun, don't bother waiting up for me. Annyeong!" She waved at them then went out the door, dashing towards the white van parked in front of their dorm.

...

She half-expected this. It was in the nature of men to try to impress the one they were courting but this was almost too much. She was grateful her outfit was somewhat appropriate for the posh restaurant which probably only had foreign cuisine on the menu. Kyunghoon, on the other hand, wore a formal black tuxedo with a ribbon around the collar. He had probably went to a salon to style his hair, too. He looked like he was going to attend an award show.

He led her to a small private room. He had gone all out in setting it up. The warm lighting from the chandelier hanging over a round table was dimmed. The table had three red candles lit in the middle as well as various types of silverware, champagne flutes, red table napkins, and an ice bucket with champagne. There was a server on standby at the side, his arm bent towards his stomach with a towelette draped over it. A three-man band with a violinist, a cellist, and a saxophonist was playing on an elevated platform near the server, playing a slow, soft melody.

Kyunghoon, being a gentleman, pulled her chair for her, had her sit down, and pushed it towards the table. He then went to sit on his side of the table.

Grinning ear to ear with his dimples showing, Kyunghoon asked, "So... do you like it?"

Jeongyeon forced a smile in reply. "I do, oppa. But... isn't this a bit much?"

"No, not at all. Anything for you." There was an awkward silence as Jeongyeon didn't know what to answer to that. Kyunghoon filled the silence with a stammered, "So, uh... why don't we start eating?"

As if on cue, the server exited through another door Jeongyeon hadn't noticed was there and came back in holding two silver trays with cloche covers with his palms over his head. He set it in front of them and removed the cover of her plate, revealing a variety of meats, some of which Jeongyeon didn't know the name of. He then proceeded to pour champagne into their glasses.

"I know you loved eating meat but I wasn't sure which was your favorite so I decided to pick all of it just for you," Kyunghoon said while Jeongyeon was admiring the amount of meat she had on her plate.

"Kamsahamnida, oppa. Seriously, though, you didn't have to do this for me."

"Gwaenchanha, take it as thanks for accepting my invitation. Dig in."

...

Here was the moment Jeongyeon was dreading. Once the meal had ended, the server came to clear the table and exited the room along with the three-man band to give them privacy. When they disappeared from the door, Kyunghoon grabbed Jeongyeon's hand on the table, imploring her to look into his eyes.

"Jeongyeon-ah..." he started once he had her full attention, his voice surprisingly unwavering. "You know how I feel about you, right?"

Jeongyeon gulped and nodded. "Yes, oppa. I'm aware."

"Then you should know... I would like to officially court you, Yoo Jeongyeon."