BTS were one of the last to arrive at the rooftop bar. Jungkook blamed Namjoon who had to lose his mobile right before they were supposed to leave and it took all seven of them and over an hour to find it in Namjoon's jacket pocket.
Before they had even stepped out of the elevator, they could hear the thumping music already, some electro beats playing over several speakers scattered throughout the bar. The room was lit in dim blue lighting with the panoramic Seoul cityscape and its night lights glimmering in the background.
"Daebak, this place is insane!" J-Hope exclaimed. "And an open bar too!"
"This is way better than I expected," Jimin agreed, taking in all the entertainment that was set up around the room too. There was a karaoke stage in one corner, a large dancefloor that took up the center of the room, buffet tables for snacks and dessert, a balcony with outdoor heaters and fire pits and, as J-Hope mentioned, the bar, which was looking increasingly inviting.
The annual end-of-year award show after-party was an idol-only bonanza where idols could truly let their hair down without worrying what the public, the press or their managers had to say about it. They could interact freely with each other, get drunk, and dance like nobody was watching.
BTS hadn't always been invited though, and the list was pretty exclusive. Only in the last couple of years had they found their way onto the admittance list, and even then, they found the idea a little obnoxious, so hadn't attended. This was their first year after hearing that their friends in other idol groups were also attending.
Speaking of, Jungkook cast his eyes about the room, noticing familiar figures from Twice, GOT7, NCT, EXO and Mamamoo. But there was only one person he was looking out for, and he finally found her mingling on a comfortable set of sofas with a drink in her hand. Her hair was down but her bangs were lightly curled and she was wearing an off-the-shoulder little black dress. He didn't even take note of who she was talking to, as she was the only thing he could keep his focus on.
"JK, stop mooning over your ex and let's go get a drink," Taehyung declared, clapping him on the shoulder and forcefully steering him in the direction of the bar.
"I'm not mooning over her," he sulked stubbornly.
"Yeah, you definitely are. It's nothing to be ashamed of, all the girls here are looking..." He held up his hand with his thumb and pointer fingers touching, adding a little wink too to get his point across that all the ladies were serving their A game.
Jungkook chuckled. "You're not wrong, but you know there's still only one girl for me."
Taehyung rolled his eyes, probably exhausted of hearing about Jungkook's loyalty towards Lisa. The other members teased him a lot about it, especially about how they were now broken up but staying loyal to each other until the right timing came along, but in reality, they all admired him for making such a mature decision, especially as their youngest.
"Well, even though you can't be together tonight, I hope you can still loosen up a bit and have fun. We'll sing a duet on the karaoke!" Taehyung suggested with a large boxy grin.
"Only if it's a ballad!"
"Oh god, you and your ballads!"
They ordered their drinks, a whisky for Taehyung and a beer for Jungkook.
"Dude, look at Jimin!" Taehyung suddenly said as they were sipping their drinks quietly from the bar and looking out into the sea of people. "I'm telling you, there's definitely something going on between them!"
He was referring to the sight of Jimin zoning out on a group conversation with a couple of other people to gawk, starry-eyed, across the room to the karaoke stage, where Rosé from Blackpink was belting into the microphone a rendition of ABBA's 'Dancing Queen'. She was jumping around on stage and not taking herself too seriously, but still serving her killer vocals.
"No way, since when!?" Jungkook almost spat out his beer at the revelation.
"Maybe since last year? I don't know, I think she's the one he's been texting non-stop these days."
"Whoa, shippers would be going wild right now," Jungkook absently said.
Taehyung snorted. "Yeah, between you and Lisa, and Jimin and Rosé, those Bangpink fanatics would be having a field day."
"Don't tell me there's something going on between you and Jennie or Jisoo now?"
He laughed in reply. "Nuh-uh. And plus, the latest gossip is that Jennie is seeing Kai from EXO." He pointed across the room where the two idols in discussion were indeed looking fairly intimidate, locked in a conversation where each of them had their heads bowed to hear each other over the music.
"How do you know all of this?" Jungkook asked surprised.
Taehyung simply tapped his nose. "I have my ways," he replied back mysteriously, to which Jungkook just eye-rolled.
The night wore on with Taehyung and Jungkook doing their promised karaoke duet, a mock rap roast battle between Namjoon, Monsta X's Joohoney and Zico and a marshmallow challenge between members of Twice, Red Velvet and Blackpink.
Jungkook didn't think he would enjoy the night, thinking it would either be too stuffy and formal, or too crazy with idols finally getting a hint of freedom and going off the rails. However, the party wasn't what he had expected and it had turned out the night had been spent meeting new friends, having fun with old ones and feeling more relaxed and stress-free than he had in months.
There was only one thing he regretted - he hadn't spoken to Lisa once tonight. He had managed to take his mind off it thankfully, or he would have been mooning over her for the whole evening as Taehyung had said. Whenever he did chance a look at her, she seemed to be having fun too, hyping up her friends on the karaoke stage, or dancing crazily to a hip-hop song.
He knew he couldn't leave the bar without at least saying hi to her - though they knew what sort of trouble they could get themselves into, he couldn't torture himself any longer. With steely resolution, he took a deep breath and walked over to where she was presently making her way out onto the balcony.

-&-

Lisa stepped out into the chilly night air on the balcony, just as two members from NCT were coming in. She bowed to them as they passed. Their departure left her all alone out there but she needed the air and the reprieve from the thumping music inside. Out here, the music was muted and the cold helped take some of the edge off the buzz she had been feeling after getting a little carried away and drinking three cocktails, which was slightly more than her usual tolerance for alcohol.
She stood at the balcony railing, admiring the nighttime view of Seoul, feeling a little warmth seep through her thin dress from the firepit and the outdoor heaters.
"What are you doing out here? It's freezing."
The sudden new voice behind her made her jump.
She screamed a little as she whipped around. "You scared me! Oh my god, Jeon Jungkook, you punk!"
The unexpected visitor laughed and walked to stand beside her. "You must be a little drunk if you're using language like that."
"I'm at the stage when I should have called you something a lot worse!" she raged, her heartbeat still thumping wildly in her chest, although she wasn't quite sure anymore if it was still the fear or something else...
He chuckled, finding her aggravation amusing, much to her increased annoyance. But he then proceeded to shrug off his blazer and drape it over her shoulders.
"Here, take this. It's really cold out here, but you probably don't feel it as much with how much you've had to drink."
She shyly accepted the jacket and wrapped it a little tighter around herself. He was right, she probably wasn't feeling it as much as she should have been, but all she knew was that it was cold enough that she could see their breath on the air when they spoke. "Thanks..."
They didn't speak for another few minutes, both seeming to just be enjoying the view. But for Lisa, she was acutely aware of Jungkook's closeness, and his body heat radiating off him enough for her to feel it lightly on her side.
"Is there something you wanted to say to me?" she eventually asked. The curiosity had been killing her as to why he had come out onto the balcony too.
"I just wanted to say hi."
She smirked at his earnest answer. "I was starting to wonder when you would grow the balls to talk to me tonight."
"Ah, so you were waiting for me to approach you?" He turned to her with a smug glint in his eye.
She scoffed at the look. "You were the first one to message me the other night, weren't you? Of course I knew you would get desperate."
His jaw went slack. "D-Desperate?" he stuttered incredulously. "That's bullshit!"
She laughed openly and pointed an accusing finger at his chest. "You must be a little drunk too to be using that language."
He held her finger in his hand all of a sudden, absently pulling it closer into his chest. "Yeah, you're right, we're just two drunk people alone out here..."
Her laughter died out when she saw the change in his eyes. He was looking at her with a little challenge in his eyes, and she rarely backed down from a challenge. All she wanted to do in that moment was to give in instantly to the temptation that had been plaguing her and just kiss him.
"Lisa? Oh! Sorry, was I interrupting something?"
A new, unwelcome voice cut into their moment. Lisa quickly stepped away, yanking her hand back out from Jungkook's grip. She turned towards the doors leading back inside to see Hanbin had just opened them and poked his head out to look for her.
"No, you weren't," she lied. She wasn't sure whether to feel annoyed at the interruption or grateful that it came at a time when she was actually going to take things further with Jungkook again.
"Jisoo is looking for you. Rosé's had a bit too much and has started twerking on the tables so you girls probably need to take her home soon..."
"Oh god, it's a bad sign if she's started twerking..." Lisa said with an exasperated sigh.
"And Jungkook-ssi, I think I heard that your members were looking for you too."
Jungkook absently nodded his thanks at Hanbin for passing on the message. Hanbin smiled and turned to head back indoors, leaving the couple alone again.
Lisa was still half-preoccupied with worrying about Rosé's state and was about to follow Hanbin back inside, but a tug at her wrist as she was about to walk away stopped her in her tracks.
She turned expectantly back at Jungkook who was looking all serious again.
"What is it?"
"You look beautiful tonight, Lis."
The sudden genuineness of his complement caught her off guard and she forgot to breathe for a few seconds. When she realised she had been holding her breath, her blood rushed up to her cheeks, making her blush.
She couldn't meet his eyes as she thanked him quietly.
"And can I have my jacket back, please?" he requested politely, but she heard the undeniable humour in his voice, probably laughing at her for both forgetting to return his blazer and for blushing at his honey-soaked words like she had always been susceptible to doing.
"Er, yeah, s-sorry," she shifted awkwardly, handing the jacket back to him. He folded it neatly over his arm before following her back inside.
"Are you girls going to be able to get back okay?" He asked, as they stepped back inside. He was referring to the fact that none of the Blackpink members could drive.
"Yeah, one of the iKon guys is our designated driver tonight. We live in the same dorm, so they don't have to go out their way."
"You do?" he asked surprised.
"Yeah, didn't you know that? All the YG artists live in the same building."
"No..."
Jungkook's tone had turned funny, but Lisa was suddenly pulled away from the conversation when she spotted Jennie and Jisoo across the room, trying to tug Rosé down from atop the bar.
Lisa laughed loudly, slapping Jungkook's arm to get his attention. "Look at Chaeyoung! She's so funny when she's drunk!" Lisa said between laughter. Rosé was effortlessly fighting off her unnies' reaching hands, traipsing along the bar, knocking over glasses as she went. She was singing loudly into her beer bottle and twerking along the way.
Jungkook burst into laughter too at the scene. It had grabbed the attention of a lot of the other idols too, and she even spied Jimin-ssi taking a video on his mobile, probably to use to embarrass her in the morning. 
"I could watch her all night in this state, but alas, we should probably get her home before she enters her chunder stage," Lisa said wistfully with an apologetic shrug at Jungkook. At his questioning eyebrow raise, she quickly responded, "You don't want to know."