"Jennie-unnie," Lisa whispered, creeping into the sleeping girl's room. She left the door open behind her as she tip-toed across the wooden floorboards. When she reached the edge of Jennie's bed, she jumped into the air and fell right on top of Jennie.
"Good morning, unnie!"
Jennie groaned underneath her and tried to push Lisa off the bed. "Go away, I'm tired."
Lisa didn't let it deter her and instead burrowed her way under the duvet to spoon Jennie.
Lisa had also just woken up. It had been a long time since she had woken Jennie up like this and it wasn't that often when they were all sleeping at the dorms.
"Did you get back late again last night?" Lisa asked slyly with a knowing smirk.
Jennie hummed, which Lisa took as a yes.
"Was it because you were seeing him?"
At the question, Jennie got shy and buried her head under the duvet, to which Lisa snickered.
"It's been, what, three months now right? Has he asked you to be his girlfriend yet?"
"Not yet," Jennie said, her voice muffled by the duvet.
"Who would have thought Kai-ssi would be the type of guy to drag his feet?"
"Oh, he's enthusiastic alright. I just like making them a little desperate before I give in," Jennie snickered conspiratorially.
Lisa's mouth formed an 'o' shape listening to the words of one more experienced then her in the dating field. Her only real experience had been Jungkook, not counting her elementary school boyfriend from Thailand.
"But make sure you're careful, okay? I know I'm the younger one, but you don't want your dating life exposed like mine almost was..."
Jennie turned to face Lisa and gently swept Lisa's hair behind her ear. "I'll try to be careful, Lalisa, thanks for worrying about me."

-&-

A few days later and the Pinks had decided to celebrate New Year's together. They celebrated at the dorms with a few bottles of wine and a Korean BBQ set up in their living room.
They had the Sydney New Year's Eve broadcast from two hours ago of their fireworks display on the TV, as Seoul didn't have any fireworks on, and they wanted to experience how Rosé celebrated New Year's as a child.
As the countdown began to ring in 2019, the four girls clasped hands and chanted along with the crowd. All four of them were a little bit tipsy but were in high spirits.
"3... 2... 1... Happy new year!"
They hummed along to Auld Lang Syne as it was being broadcasted out from Sydney.
"Cheers, girls! 2018 has been our most successful year as a band, but hopefully 2019 can completely top it!" Rosé toasted, raising her wine glass.
"Cheers! the other three girls mimicked.
Jisoo messaged her family and also wished them a happy new year. They normally celebrated the Lunar New Year more zealously in her household, so her parents had probably already fallen asleep, but she thought it couldn't hurt.
"Omo..." Jisoo said quietly. However her members immediately picked up on the sound of distress from their oldest member.
"What is it, unnie?" Lisa asked.
Jisoo was still arrested by what she had read on her phone and didn't react right away. However, when she raised her head, her eyes were wide and the blood had rushed from her face.
"This is not good..." She held up her phone so the other three girls could see.
It was a news article with a picture of Jennie and... Exo's Kai?
"You're Dispatch's New Year's couple..."
Jennie's mouth dropped open and she froze. She had also gone deathly pale.
"What?!" Lisa cried, grabbing Jisoo's phone from her so she could read the article. Rosé leaned over Lisa's shoulder too to get a look.
"They even have a picture of you getting into his car, unnie," Lisa said quietly, having scrolled down a little to see the papparazzi-shot photograph.
"I feel sick," was all Jennie had managed to get out. Before any of them could react, Jennie shot up and headed straight to their shared bathroom.
They heard her retching into the toilet bowl, throwing up all the wine they had drunk and the hearty dinner they had just eaten. Jisoo went to go help Jennie and hold her hair back.
When they both came back into the living room a few minutes later, Jennie still looked miserable and pale. Lisa offered her a glass of water and wrapped a blanket around her as they all ushered her to the couch.
"Are you okay?" Rosé asked worriedly, before slapping her palm onto her forehead. "That was a stupid question! Sorry, of course you're not okay."
Jennie groaned and buried her head into her hands. "What do I do?! Was I really stupid enough to get caught by Dispatch?!"
"You can't blame yourself," Jisoo advised. "It's Dispatch we're talking about. They'd rummage through the whole building's rubbish bins, or hide amongst your dirty laundry to get an exclusive. They have no morals when it comes to making news."
"Didn't they let you know that they were going to post this beforehand?" Lisa asked perplexed.
Jennie shook her head. "Of course not. You and Jungkook only got the forewarning because you were lucky enough to be going out with one seventh of Korea's national treasures." Her tone was acerbic and bitter, but given the situation, all the members empathised with Jennie. She continued to explain, "If Dispatch had exposed a BTS member's dating life, it would probably backfire in their faces with the amount of fans they have. President Moon is even a fan. Exo are big but not that big... And they clearly don't care about us, Blackpink, either..."
Lisa felt sorry for her member - she had been close to being in the same boat but it clearly didn't compare to actually experiencing it. Jennie was already a private person, but to have something so personal exposed on top of that must have felt so degrading.
"What are you going to do?" Rosé asked tentatively.
"What can I do? I guess I'll lay low for a while... I bet Sajangnim is going to call any moment now," she said with a large sigh, already dreading the inevitable scolding from their CEO for not being careful enough.
"Maybe you should talk to Kai-ssi too and see how he's doing too?" Jisoo suggested.
"Right now I'm too annoyed," Jennie huffed. "It's as much his fault as it is mine! He was even the one who suggested we should meet in that public car park that day." Jennie crossed her arms stubbornly and pouted, her cheeks blown out. "I can't believe how stupid I am. And I've jeopardised the group over a stupid guy!"
The other three shook their heads and offered Jennie comfort, reassuring her that they would always be a four and they didn't blame her in the slightest. All of them had dated to varying degrees of success, so they had all taken the risk before. But it just had to be Jennie who had gotten caught.
"What makes me even more angry is that Jongin-oppa will hardly be affected by this. Him and EXO will bounce back from this in a week like it didn't even happen. Whereas for me, I'm always going to be known as the member with a dating scandal - the one who once dated an EXO member, or the slut who sleeps around..." She rolled her eyes but tears had started to well up. "It's ridiculous," she finished weakly, her voice soft and trembling.
Jisoo rubbed comforting circles on her back. "Yeah, we all know the double standards in this industry are effed up," Rosé agreed.
Jennie's phone began buzzing next to her.
"It's Sajangnim," Jennie said in a defeated tone. She went into her bedroom to take the call, while the other three girls stayed out in the living room, the atmosphere a lot different to how it had been a couple minutes ago. This definitely wasn't the great start to the New Year that they had imagined...

-&-

"Have you spoken to Jungkook since... you know..." Rosé asked her in the car as they were on their way to the Golden Disk Award's red carpet. She was of course referring to the Gayo Daejun incident, when Jungkook had accused her of being disloyal to him and cheating with Kim Hanbin.
Lisa shook her head - she was still angry and felt betrayed that he would have thought so lowly of her.
"I'm just going to try and avoid him tonight at all costs. I still can't believe he would accuse me!"
"Men," Rosé agreed with an exasperated sigh. At the prompt, they all cautiously looked over at Jennie, who had been especially quiet while getting ready for tonight's event.
It would be the first public event since her dating scandal had been exposed by Dispatch.
"Are you going to be alright tonight, Jennie?" Rosé asked, lightly touching Jennie's thigh to get her attention.
Jennie jumped slightly at the contact, her mind having been off somewhere else.
"Yeah, totally, I'll be fine," she lied.
The other girls didn't believe her but let the subject drop for now. They would just have to make sure to distract her and keep her spirits high during the awards ceremony tonight.

-&-

"JK, what are you doing? Come on, we have to make our way to our seats. Stop sulking and get a move on." Namjoon pushed Jungkook's legs off from where they were resting outstretched on the table.
Jungkook was sat on the couch with a pillow on top of his face and his arms crossed over it, hoping that he could suffocate himself before having to sit through an entire awards ceremony with performances. He mumbled something unintelligible into the pillow.
"He said he doesn't want to," Taehyung supplied helpfully.
"Well the baby doesn't get a choice," their leader said forcefully. "It's your fault for being so stupid."
Jungkook again mumbled something that sounded a little more impassioned.
"He said it wasn't stupid," Taehyung again translated.
Namjoon sighed and shook his head. Before he could say anything in retort, Jin walked over munching on a small bowl of trail mix.
"What's going on? Why is the maknae sulking again?"
"He's still upset over stupidly accusing Lisa of cheating on him," Namjoon said, not bothering to keep his voice low.
"Ah that... I'm guessing she's pretty mad at you right now then, bud," Jin said sympathetically.
Jungkook mumbled something again, to which Taehyung sighed spiritlessly and translated, "He said she's been ignoring all his texts and calls and he doesn't see why she's making a big deal out of it."
J-Hope had joined them too and had heard Taehyung's succinct translation. "I mean I can understand why she's mad... she's a good girl, JK, you know she would never cheat on you or break your promise." 
At that, Jungkook finally took the pillow off his face, much to Taehyung's relief. He looked downcast and defeated as he rubbed his hands through his disheveled hair. "I know that..." he said quietly, finally admitting he was wrong. "I feel foolish now for confronting her about it."
"Well be a man about it, dude. Face your fear - talk to her and apologise. She'll come around, trust me." J-Hope flashed him a wink and a thumbs up.
His optimism was contagious and Jungkook reluctantly couldn't help but smile a little in return.
"There he is!" J-Hope sang cheerfully, lifting up Jungkook by his armpits and getting him moving. "Seriously, dude, get your hair sorted out and then we need to get out there!"
Jungkook did as he was told, and when his hair was in a better state, the BTS members walked out into the hallway to make their way to their seats in the arena above them. As they were walking down the long corridor, Jungkook saw Lisa and her members also exiting their dressing room. 
In his mind, J-Hope's words sprang to life again - 'Face your fear' and 'be a man'. Jungkook took a large, steadying breath in and was about to charge over to Lisa to apologise to her and make her forgive him. He was ready to get down on his knees and beg her forgiveness. She must have seen him too, as she made eye contact with him. Her eyes widened and she quickly looked away, engaging in a conversation with her manager all of a sudden in what looked like a forced discussion. Jungkook frowned and his urge to stalk over and demand that she talk to him was intensified, but a strong hand on his shoulder had him rethinking his decision. 
"JK, not now... bad timing, man," Namjoon said with a shake of his head. 
Jungkook's brows furrowed in frustration - if not now, when was he ever going to find the chance to talk to Lisa? He reluctantly nodded and continued walking with his members down the hallway.
Out in the arena, they took their seats. Him and his members waved to fans, who were screaming at their entrance, waving their army bombs and holding their phones out to try and take as many pictures as they could. 
When Blackpink made their entrance a couple of minutes after, J-Hope got out of his seat and tugged on Jungkook's sleeve. 
"Yo, JK, swap seats with me! Blackpink are sitting directly behind me, dude!"
Jungkook swatted him away with a laugh. "What are you going on about, hyung? Go back to your seat!"
"You can be closer to Lisa though," J-Hope said with a joking grin. "Isn't that what you wanted?"
Jungkook shook his head, but his smile stayed on his face. "Not what I meant. Go back to your seat, hyung."
J-Hope's joke had done what it had intended though, and Jungkook felt a little lighter throughout the rest of the show. 
However, when he saw Blackpink leaving their seats to get ready for their performance, Jungkook's internal state warred with itself once again. He took a hasty sip of water and by the time he slammed the bottle back down, he had decided that now was the right time. He got up from his seat, jumped down the steps and tried to look casual as he also made his way backstage. He waved to his fans to make his departure seem more natural, as if he was just going to use the restroom, but he knew that if he didn't take his chance now, he might not have another face-to-face chance with Lisa, as this would be the last award show of the season with both Blackpink and BTS in attendance. 
Their leader had spotted the maknae getting up to go backstage, just after Blackpink had also left and knew something was up. 
"Jimin, go follow the maknae and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble," Namjoon whispered into Jimin's ear, pointing at the departing figure of Jungkook.
Jimin left without question, knowing the reason why Namjoon was so worried. Jungkook had always liked to jump into things head first and if he set his mind on something, then he was going to do it at all costs.
Jimin followed Jungkook backstage but couldn't catch up quick enough. When he finally saw Jungkook in sight again, Jimin ran faster to get to him, but it wasn't quite quick enough.
"Lisa, we need to talk!" Jungkook shouted, catching the attention of Blackpink and their managers. The silence that followed in the hallway was deafening but Jungkook was insistent to get to Lisa. He charged straight ahead, apparently having tunnel vision for Lisa only. She looked shocked, her eyes widening and mouth falling open. What she was going to do at seeing Jungkook so suddenly - whether it be yell at him, run to him, or plain ignore him - remained unknown to all present, as two of her managers were pulling the girls away, ushering them away from the scene, while one manager stayed behind.
The manager looked familiar - Jungkook believed he was Lisa's personal manager. Jungkook wanted to dodge around him to get to Lisa but the manager's hand planted itself firmly on his chest.
"Lisa!" he again shouted fruitlessly, trying to arch his neck around the manager who was blocking his way.
Jimin finally caught up and pulled Jungkook back from the YG staff's hostile touch.
Jungkook looked at the offending staffs form from head to toe - he was a bit on the chubbier side and shorter than him. Jungkook thought he could easily take him.
"Whoa, whoa," Jimin intercepted, pulling Jungkook further away. Jimin bowed 90 degrees to the staff. "He doesn't mean any harm. Sorry for the misunderstanding," Jimin placated.
The manager frowned. "Jeon Jungkook-ssi, Park Jimin-ssi, it would be wise to not create a scene here. There are already a lot of venue staff that probably saw that. You guys are famous too, so make sure you protect your own reputation." He turned his back to walk away, but as an afterthought added, "And stay away from Lisa and the girls from now on. I know you guys were a thing before but it seems like that's all over. You don't want to drag Lisa into any scandals, right? Her place here is a lot more fragile than yours. Stay away to protect her."
He did walk away for real after that, to Jimin's huge relief. 
"Tch, who does he think he is," Jungkook defended, ready to rip himself out of Jimin's grip to go back to the manager and give him a piece of his mind.
Jimin just gripped his shirt front harder. "What were you thinking, dummy!" Jimin scolded. "It's a good thing Namjoon-hyung told me to follow you or who knows what could have happened."
"I just wanted to talk to her."
"Obviously you can't do it in front of her managers! And he's right, you know."
Jungkook looked betrayed that Jimin was siding against him, but Jimin quickly explained.
"You need to be more careful of exposing your relationship in public, dude. You should know this already, but if there's any fallout, Lisa-ssi will get the worse end of the deal! For one, she's Thai and doesn't have as much support in South Korea."
Jungkook opened his mouth to protest, not seeing the relevance of her ethnicity in this argument, but Jimin continued.
"Secondly, saesang fans will be out for her blood - we both know you have a lot of those. And thirdly, well, she's a girl and the media are bound to make it all her fault unfortunately. You've seen how they've made out Jennie-ssi after her dating scandal with Kai."
"Ah..." Jungkook replied monotonously, silently conceding that maybe Jimin did have a point. He was just so concerned that he had ruined things beyond repair with Lisa that he had rushed in without thinking things through, as he was wont to do. All he wanted to say to her was sorry though, and explain how he had been a jerk and pray that she forgave him.
"It doesn't mean you can't talk to her, just make sure you're always careful." Jimin wrapped an arm around Jungkook's shoulder and led them back out to their seats.