the camera turns on and hyunseol's eyes comes into view, a huge smile forming on her lips while waving at the camera. "helloo. good morning, everyone~"

her manager, yongsun giggles at the sight of the idol. txt's oldest member looks like a kid being at an aquarium for the first time, eager to look at the fishes swimming inside.

"ready for your first date?"

hyunseol nods as she tears her eyes away from the camera to look at her manager, unable to keep a smile off her face. "yeah, i'm ready and excited. i just hope i won't get clumsy in front of her. my heart won't be able to move on if i did mess up in front of a beautiful woman."

caption: the bane of seol's existence: women

"i'm sure you won't mess up." yongsun steps on the brake in front of the stoplights flashing red and turns to the idol while removing her hand from the steering wheel. she then holds the idol's face in her hand and smiles at hyunseol like a mother reassuring her child. "besides, you can just rizz her up so you won't feel embarrassed."

caption: manager yongsun is aware of seol's rizz 🫣

hyunseol chuckles and moves away from yongsun's hand, playfully grimacing. "i don't think i can even use something such as my rizz to her, unnie."

"why?"

"just... no, i won't. oh, look, we arrived." once the car stopped, hyunseol immediately hops out of the vehicle without letting her manager say anything, knowing the latter will continue to tease her.

a cameraman immediately catches her arrival and the idol subtly nods at the staff as a greeting. she then walks in the café, the agreed place for the date and the bells by the door announces her arrival inside.

meanwhile, karina snaps out of her thoughts the same time she heard the bells going off and looks up from her fingers, her heart jumping into her throat. the tall idol stops walking as their eyes meet for a few minutes before they share a warm smile with karina's shoulders relaxing and hyunseol chuckling as her eyes disappear from her cheeks.

caption: they? are? so? cute? is it bad if i call them my parents? 🥹🥹

once hyunseol arrives in front of the booth karina is seated, she immediately smiles at karina with undeniable shyness present in her voice. "hi."

"hello." karina then snaps out of her trance and licks her lips, looking up at hyunseol with an infectious smile. "please take a seat."

"i hope i didn't make you wait." hyunseol gulps as she sits across the sm idol and hangs her head low.

karina immediately shakes her head, her thighs accidentally moving the table that startled both of them before she blushed and placed her hands on the surface, taking a mental note not to move the table. "n-no, you actually didn't make me wait. i just arrived after you, so there's no need to apologize."

"oh... okay." the idols look away as they both blush with awkwardness rising in the air.

caption: they're so awkward with one another and it makes me smile for some reason

the idols keep looking around the café, hyper aware of the uncomfortable silence in both of them. they have no idea how to start a conversation, falling to their thoughts until a voice snaps them back to reality.

hyunseol blinks as she then turns and sees a man in a white polo with a name tag in front of their table. bobby, the nametag reads.

caption: they're so gay, your honor.

"oh, uhm, h-hi. sorry, what did you say?" hyunseol looks up at the waiter with a apologetic look.

"it's okay, miss." the waiter smiles. "may i ask what you two will have from the menu?"

suddenly, the producer comes into view and talks to the waiter before the clip goes fast forward, showing hyunseol shaking her head disapprovingly and clicking her tongue while karina shakes her head with a sigh.

caption: what's happened?? who made my parents upset?

hyunseol then watches the producer walk away, the latter heading to the manager office before she leans closer to karina and lowers her voice into a whisper, her eyes on the lookout for the producer.

"hey."

"hey, what's up?", karina whispers back as she also looks around, her heartbeat going to overdrive at hyunseol's sudden action.

"i think this date will not go well." hyunseol sighs. "what do you think?"

"i have no hopes for this, to be honest. unless..." the 5'11 foot idol turns her attention to the sm idol, waiting for the latter to finish her sentence before karina meets hyunseol's awaiting eyes and blushes while looking away when a devilish thought flashes in her mind.

karina moves away and the bighit idol looks at her with curiosity before clearing her throat. "as i was saying, i have no hopes for this date, unless we go out and do a real date ourselves."

hyunseol raises a brow as she smirks, looking over karina. "perhaps are you suggesting that we ditch the production team here and film our own date?

"because if you did", the txt member whispers, still smirking at the sm idol. "then i'm totally on-board with the idea, you rebel."

karina shrugs while pouting. "but i don't know how we would pull that off. i'm only the thinker, not the doer in these types of mischief. normally, i would just chicken out of this."

hyunseol smirks even wider, chuckling in a low voice. "good thing i'm your date, then. we're the perfect pair since you're the thinker and i'm the doer. we're gonna be like bonnie and clyde, but the less evil version."

"how are we less evil than those two when we're planning to ditch them here?" karina looks at the bighit idol with a raised brow with a hint of teasing in her voice.

hyunseol holds up two fingers while saying, "first of all, we aren't committing any kind of robbery anywhere as far as i know. second, we're a good team... although i admit now that i did pick a bad duo."

the tall idol scratches her nape and looks away, awkwardly chuckling. "okay, fine. that was—"

"that was kinda cute", karina interrupts the bighit idol and smiles at hyunseol who looked at her in disbelief. "you know, thinking of a duo name for us doing some mischief although you did choose a bad name."

hyunseol grows silent while trying not to smile and hangs her low to hide the smile she couldn't seem to resist doing from the camera.

caption: is— is she smiling? and blushing? from karina?! i mean, i would too if karina called me cute, but still?!

karina giggles at the reaction she received while looking away and feels blood rushing to her cheeks, knowing she just made the oh hyunseol of txt speechless. the legendary smooth talker among 4th gen idols.

caption: kudos for the production team in getting these two together. they just made me feel more single than ever, sigh.

hyunseol clears her throat and looks to the manager's office, noticing that the producer hasn't come back yet before turning her attention on karina. "should we do it now? gong pd-nim might come back sooner or later."

karina points to the camera strapped into a small tripod, looking at the taller idol. "we only have one camera. do you think it will be enough to film our date?"

hyunseol shakes her head, frowning. "no, we need one more and—" her eyes then widen in realization and looks at karina with a knowing smile. "wait, i think i saw one when i came in the café earlier. hang on, wait for me here."

karina nods and watches as hyunseol immediately looks around the place before she hops out of their booth and dashes to the front door. the sm idol offers herself to be the lookout while hyunseol gets herself busy on untangling the camera that somehow gets itself on the mess with the decoration vines of the establishment.

the sm idol doesn't know why but being the lookout while hyunseol does the dirty work (it's only fair to call whatever the bighit idol is bad considering they will ditch the production team) gets her so excited and jumpy. being an artist under sm entertainment restricts her to have fun, but starring in various reality shows like this makes her feel alive.

it makes her feel human again; having emotions, feeling that adrenaline rush, that feeling when your cheeks start to hurt from smiling so much, etc. it's been a while since she felt that and feeling those feelings again with hyunseol makes it more fun, exciting, and intimate considering they are on a date.

thump-thump, thump-thump

but despite them ditching the whole production, karina will look forward to their own date and to the day ahead of them (she feels herself blushing once she realized that she will be left alone with hyunseol, the girl she somehow feels happy to be with).

"hey, are you ready?" karina snaps out of her trance and meets the bighit idol's eyes nervously. hyunseol then tilts her head when she noticed something about the latter that she couldn't quite identify. "are you okay? is this too extreme? we could stop this whole ordeal if—"

"no!" karina immediately covers her mouth with her hand when she realized she slightly raises her voice. "i-i mean, there's no need for that. it's okay and we need this time for ourselves.

"we need to do our own date without anyone else, just... us", the sm idol mutters as her hand finds the taller idol's arm, her fingers absentmindedly trailing down hyunseol's skin. the bighit idol can feel goosebumps rising on her arm and slowly feels it getting warm. their eyes meet one another as neither from the pair dares to move, silence ensuing between them for a moment.

thump-thump, thump-thump

caption: why... why am i smiling?

hyunseol blinks and clears her throat, moving away as the warmth from karina's hand leaves her arm while karina snaps out of her bubble and removes her hand after realizing what she was doing to the latter. "o-okay, w-we need to go, come on. we're all set."

once the pair gets ahold of their plan and hyunseol made sure the coast is clear with no production staffs in sight, the bighit idol signals the sm idol to follow her. the pair is running to the front door when the manager's office door opens and the producer catches them in the act, screaming while pointing at them, "hey, stop right there!"

hyunseol and karina meets each other's eyes with the biggest smirks ever known to mankind over their faces before the taller idol offers her hand to the the sm idol and the latter doesn't hesitate to hold hyunseol's hand, both of them bursting out of the café.

the cameras they're holding catches the smiles on their faces as they run out of the establishment with the cameraman and the producer on their heels. they could hear the "hey, stop!" from behind, but they ignore it as the wind meets their faces. the adrenaline rush flowing in their veins and bodies keeps them running away while not bothering to look back.

hyunseol keeps a tight grip on karina's hand and shouts through the wind as she throws the latter a look, "hey, do you trust me?!"

"i thought that was already given the moment i hold your hand and run away with you!", karina answers as she clutches the camera in her other hand, still smiling so wide.

the txt member then smiles wider and tightens her hold on her camera while shouting back, "just making sure! now, come on, follow me! i know how we can lose them!"

hyunseol turns her attention forward and karina looks at the 5'11 foot idol, her eyes focused on the huge smile plastered on the taller idol's face. the sm idol tears her eyes away from the bighit idol and looks forward, letting the latter lead her somewhere. somewhere with hyunseol.

caption: i don't know who's more happy: hyunseol or karina but what i'm sure of? they're so gay, you can see it in their eyes

the clip then gets cut to the next scene, showing the pair in an alley as they try to catch their breaths, leaning against the concrete wall.

hyunseol manages to ask with her eyes closed as she gasps for air, "are... you okay?"

"... yeah", is the only word karina to say between her breaths before turning to the tall idol. she then grabs a handkerchief from her pocket and grabs a fistful of hyunseol's clothes, gently dragging her down to her height.

"woah!"

"i'm sorry, but you have something on your face. let me just...", karina apologizes and wipes the sweat trailing down the txt member's face. hyunseol becomes stiff and remains unmoving, her eyes falling on the aespa member's face. she could swear feel the 5'6 foot idol's breath against her lips and manage to push all the accumulating thoughts out of her mind.

"there, all good."

karina then notices silence from the tall idol and tilts her head, whispering with her face subconsciously leaning closer to the latter. "are you okay?"

"y-yeah, e-everything's good."

caption: liar, everything's not exactly okay. karina just made you blush for the nth time, seol.

hyunseol clears her throat and steers her head away, more blood rushing to her cheeks as she grows aware the lacking distance between their faces. karina blinks and looks down at her hand to find it still gripping the 5'11 foot idol's mint green sweater vest before she looks up at hyunseol to see the color red decorating latter's face and ears.

the aespa member immediately lets the fabric go and steps backward, looking away flustered.

caption: them being awkward? check. gay? 10000% check.

after a few minutes of regaining their composure, hyunseol clears her throat and straightens her sweater vest while speaking up, "now that we lost them, let's start this date. shall we?"

"where should we go?"

"well, let's eat lunch first. we haven't eaten anything ever since we left the café", the txt member suggests while looking at karina. "what do you want to eat in this moment?"

"could it be anything?", the sm idol looks up at hyunseol who flashed her a smile and a wink, placing a hand on karina's shoulder.

"oh, it could be anything, princess. tteokbokki, bibimbap, kimchi, anything you want." hyunseol's smile fades for a moment and realizes something. "wait, hey."

"hm?"

"i just want to ask if you're... okay with me calling you petnames?" hyunseol waits for karina's reaction before she adds with a hint of stutter in her voice, "because i could stop using petnames to you if you are not okay with it and just settle on calling you by your name—"

"no." a pause ensues before the sm idol pushes hyunseol against the concrete wall, startling the latter. karina grabs hyunseol's chin as she looks right into the latter's widened eyes her action taking the txt member by surprise. "don't, just... just keep using the pet names. it's more than okay for you to use them. okay, baby?"

caption: baby? baby? baby?!

hyunseol hangs her head low as her heartbeats overtake her sense of hearing and if she wasn't a tomato earlier, she is now sure she's one by how she's blushing right now.

caption: hyunseol.exe just stopped working. recalibration needed.

"o-okay." karina smiles and kisses hyunseol's cheek, earning a small shriek from the tall idol. the latter's reaction makes karina's smile grow bigger before she lets the txt member's face go and intertwines her hand with the bighit idol's slightly bigger hand, the hand feeling warm in her hold.

karina looks down at their hands and tilts her head before she shakes her head and throws hyunseol a look, flashing the latter a smile. "ready to go, babe?"

hyunseol decides to nod, not trusting her voice at the moment while she avoids looking at karina with her ears still looking red.

caption: yoo jimin, the only woman who can rizz seol back

"anyways!", the bighit idol exclaims as she turns away from the sm idol, her camera unknowingly catching her taking a deep breath while fighting off a smile on her lips. "come on, let's borrow a friend's car or something to go to my friend's resto. i don't want to keep you starving, that will be the not-so-seol of me if i did."

"perhaps do you know someone we can borrow their car?"

hyunseol chuckles. "oh, baby, you're forgetting you're talking to the nation's best friend. i can borrow a car for us to use, just say anything and i'll do it blindly."

karina looks up at hyunseol with a tilt of her head, a smirk playing over her lips. "anything?"

the taller idol looks down and sees the glint present in the other idol's eyes, raising a brow at the latter. "and with that look of yours, what are you insinuating, miss yu?"

"hm...", karina hums as she leans closer to hyunseol, standing on her tiptoes to get on the taller idol's level with her arms on the latter's shoulders. the bighit idol keeps her ground while smirking as she decides not to move away, keeping her eyes trained right into the shorter idol's.

the 5'6 foot idol then turns away and moves her arms away, the sm idol's camera catching their interaction. "it's nothing, now come on, miss oh. we better get lunch."

----

"you knew her?!"

hyunseol laughs at karina's reaction upon meeting her said friend. the sm idol has her jaws hanging wide open as she blinks, her mind cannot wrap her head around the fact that taller idol has one of the the famous restaurant owners in korea for a friend.

for. a. friend.

"how?!"

caption: and what do we expect for the nation's best friend??

"i just lent her some money and her business surprisingly became successful. i don't know how, but it did." hyunseol sets her camera on the table towards her, giving her a full view of herself before helping karina with the latter's camera.

"yes, and now, seol here is the co-owner of this establishment."

the bighit idol whines and pouts as she shakes her head, looking up at her friend. "no, no, i'm not! don't say something like that! this resto has only one owner and it's you—"

"don't listen to her, karina-ssi. she is the restaurant's co-owner, but she only agreed under one condition. it is a good thing it's an easy request because i would really like to show my gratitude for her help."

unbeknownst to the camera, hyunseol sends her friend a pointed panicked look and a small shake of her head before recomposing herself when karina looked at her.

"but anyways!" the owner claps with a smile and pulls out a notepad and a pen from her back pockets. "what will you guys have for lunch?"

hyunseol then grabs the menu board from her friend's hand and examines the contents while karina leans closer to the taller idol, looking at the foods displayed that might spark her interest.

"hm...", the bighit idol hums and throws karina a look. "what food should we order?"

the sm idol turns her head and meets hyunseol's eyes before her gaze goes back to the menu board. "i don't know..."

"well, we could pick separate cuisines like i'll take the bibimbap and you'll take whatever dish you like best or something along those lines. or maybe we could share one?? i don't really know what you prefer, so i need your opinions on this." the taller idol gazes upon the board and trails a finger on the surface, making karina look at it and follow its movement before blinking when she realized what she was doing.

"what's your best-selling foods in the menu?", karina asks as she looks at the owner, laying her chin on hyunseol's shoulder.

"most of our regular customers order tteokbokki, bulgogi, japchae, and jajangmyeon."

the two idols look at one another and turn their attention back to the owner with matching smiles. "could we get all of that please?"

caption: oh, i know they are gonna eat well in this ep.

"okay, please wait for your orders." the owner immediately excuses herself while the pair bows to her before she leaves the couple alone in their table.

karina moves away and playfully smacks the bighit idol's arm. "i still cannot believe you personally know her. did you know that it took me and my group days to get a reservation here while it took you seconds?"

hyunseol shrugs while smirking. "perks of being the first investor of this place, i guess. besides, i gave her a call that we'll drop by. that's why it took me seconds to enter this place."

karina nods and turns her attention around the place before something catches her eye. hyunseol looks at the sm idol after a few minutes of silence and follows her line of sight to see the shorter idol looking at the unique design of their booth's interior that she couldn't help but to admit now holds so much memory.

"do you like the design?"

"yeah, i don't know how to describe it, but it looks good." after a few minutes without a reply, karina then looks at the taller idol to see her drawing on the table with her finger and leans closer to the latter, tucking her chin on hyunseol's shoulder. "what are you doing?"

the latter doesn't respond and continues, making karina focus on whatever hyunseol is doing to pass time. after a few seconds, she realizes that the taller idol is writing something and starts smiling after she finally understand what the bighit idol was writing before she looks at the camera and looks back at the table, her smile getting impossibly wider.

caption: what are they doing that got karina smiling??

you're so pretty, hyunseol writes on the surface as she smiles, not bothering to look at karina to know the latter's reaction. you're the prettiest girl i've ever seen.

caption: ayo, let us on the fun too. i wanna know what you guys are smiling for :((

karina finally looks up from the table, her cheeks flushed a warm pink. she stares at hyunseol's side profile for a moment before looking away. "you shouldn't say such things," she mutters softly.

hyunseol grins and reaches out to take the shorter idol's hand in her own. "i can't help it," she says softly, her voice full of admiration for the ever-so-beautiful woman. "you're just too beautiful." she brings karina's hand up to her lips and presses a gentle kiss against it.

karina blushes even more deeply, but she can't help the small smile that appears on her face. she looks into hyunseol's eyes and squeezes the latter's hand tight in hers.

"i'd tell the whole world about your beauty," the taller idol murmurs as she tucks a loose hair strand back into karina's ear with her other hand, "but i have a feeling they already knew about it."

caption: now i can see the vision why seol is part of the rizz gods of txt, but i'm still upset on what seol is writing on the table

karina's gaze lingers on hyunseol's features, taking in each one with admiration. her voice softens as she speaks her next words, “you’re not too bad yourself, you know. in fact, i think you might be the most beautiful person i’ve ever met.” she watches for the taller idol's reaction, feeling suddenly embarrassed but unable to look away.

hyunseol's jaw slightly drops and her cheeks flush pink as the compliment echoes in her ears. she opens her mouth, a faint whisper escaping from her lips, "really?" her heart races and butterflies fill her stomach while a warmth spreads through her chest.

karina nods, her eyes shining with sincerity. "really," she confirms, and leans forward to press a soft kiss to hyunseol's cheek, making the latter blush at the sudden action. "but it's not just your physical beauty, you know. it's your heart, too. the way you care for others and the passion you put into everything you do like what you did for the owner of this restaurant. that's what makes you truly beautiful."

hyunseol feels her face flush as she listens to the smaller idol's heartfelt words. her heart races in her chest and her breathing becomes shallow, as if the intensity of the moment had stolen the air from her lungs. she opens her mouth to speak but no sound comes out; it took a few moments before she could force any syllables out.

finally, she manages to whisper as her mind goes back to several memories from the past, “you’re too kind. i’m not sure i deserve all of that.”

caption: nooo, you deserve those kind and appreciative words, seol. please don't think otherwise :((

karina's face softens, and her eyes glistens with emotion as she lifts her hand to hyunseol's cheek, her fingers trailing the soft skin. her thumb slowly caresses a gentle line along the latter's cheekbone. "you deserve all of it and more," she says quietly. a wistful smile lights up her features as she looks at the taller idol who became silent. "you're an amazing person, hyunseol, and i'm so grateful that i've met you."

caption: my cheeks are hurting so much from smiling, but i'll happily go through this pain for them no matter how it already hurts

the waiter glides through the restaurant, the clinking of plates and cutlery coming from the kitchen following him like a symphony. his heart feels heavy as he approaches the couple, deeply engrossed in their conversation. he could tell they were in the midst of an intimate exchange; the look in their eyes – a deep, passionate gaze – tells him this. he pauses for a moment, regretting that he had to interrupt them before he clears his throat, making his presence known. the couple looks up, embarrassed. they know what was coming, but they didn't care. not a little bit.

the waiter smiles, but he could not help but feel a little guilty. he had seen the couple’s orders come through the kitchen window and he knew he had to deliver it. he puts on a brave face and announces, “your orders are ready.”

caption: aww, even the waiter can see their chemistry

the couple shares a look, a slight smile of understanding, before the waiter places the dishes on the table. the aroma of the food fills the air and brings the couple back to reality.

"thank you." the waiter bows and takes the trays with him before giving the couple the privacy they need.

"let's eat!" the couple then grabs the two chopsticks and both split it before they start eating, ready to satiate their hunger. a comfortable silence ensues between them as they all look at each dish on their table, their mouths filled with food.

while chewing, hyunseol throws karina a look and immediately puts her chopsticks down before she leans closer to the latter and gently cradles the sm idol's face in her other hand, karina's cheeks filled with food.

the shorter idol slightly flinches and blinks in surprise before meeting hyunseol's eyes. the latter smiles apologetically. "eyes on me, princess. you have something on your cheek. let me get it for you, hang on."

hyunseol wipes the stain which was the soybean paste from the jajangmyeon with her thumb and smiles at the other idol. "there all good." she then leans away as she licks the stain off her finger, oblivious to the stare karina is throwing before the latter snaps out of her reverie and goes back to eating with flushed cheeks.

caption: seol will never let karina breathe, i fear

----

"thanks for stopping by the resto." the couple nods as the bighit idol smiles at her friend, patting the latter three times on the back.

"you're always welcome, i'm happy to drop by, but sadly, karina and i need to go."

"of course, and oh, here is my car key." hyunseol's friend hands out a car key belonging to a car the bighit idol is familiar with and they meet each other's eyes for a moment with smiles on their faces.

"i promised to bring your car back without a scratch."

the restaurant owner nods, although she already knows that hyunseol is a great driver. "you two better stay safe, okay?"

the 5'11 foot idol salutes and playfully winks. "will do, madam! thanks for lending me your car!"

"you're welcome, and i just want to say before you go, you guys look good together." karina and hyunseol immediately throw each other a glance before looking back at the bighit idol's friend, one with a shy look and the other with a smirk. "but i bet you guys already know it. anyways, i need to go. see you guys soon again, bye!"

caption: seol's friend really said gay rights !!

"anddd... that's my friend. what do you think?"

"she's so sweet. now i know why you're friends with her." hyunseol nods and opens the passenger seat door out for karina.

"yeah, she's sweet. no wonder her business became successful. she deserved that success."

"come on in, princess", the bighit idol smirks and slightly leans against the door. "we are going to the spend the rest of the day on something. i'm not sure what it is, but i'm sure we'll figure it out."

as soon as karina enters the car, hyunseol shuts the door and rushes to the driver's seat before she hops in, her camera in hand. "are we going to use my camera or yours in the car?"

"let's use yours." after a few minutes of setting her camera up, hyunseol nods and realizes something as she turns to karina and they meet each other's eyes, receiving a raised brow from the sm idol. "yes?"

"let me just..." the bighit idol reaches for the karina's seatbelt, leaning closer to the latter. the shorter idol's camera catches the lack of distance between their faces as their eyes meet, hyunseol wiggling her eyebrows teasingly. "oh, hi there."

caption: and if i wish i was there to make them kiss, then what?

once hyunseol finally fastened the sm idol's seatbelt, she turns away with a smirk after seeing the color pink invade the latter's face and inserts the car key in the key hole, revving the engine. karina then turns her camera off as she then places the device on her lap, blushing.

"let's go."

the camera catches karina sighing in relief as she places a hand over her chest, leaning her head against the window. she looks outside the car as they pass several tall buildings and other cars in the road.

"hey."

"hm?"

"is there a place you want to go?", hyunseol asks.

several seconds in the silence before an idea stumbles in karina's mind as her body instinctively shoots up while shouting, "oh, i know where we could go!" that surprised hyunseol who lost her attention on driving being worried for the woman beside her.

the car slightly swerves on the road before hyunseol immediately gains focus in her surroundings as her hands grow a tight grip on the steering wheel and her feet expertly step on the clutch and brake to avoid having a collision with the other cars. quietness rises between the pair as they try their best not to break it knowing they almost ended up in an accident while maintaining their gaze to the road ahead of them.

"i'm sorry...", karina finally mutters under her breath after several minutes of an excruciating silence and hyunseol notices guilt laced in the shorter idol's voice. "i didn't mean to surprise you, i'm sorry."

"hey, it's okay—"

karina whines. "no, it's not. stop saying things like that. we could've died, and—!"

"but we didn't. we're still alive and breathing. that's what matters, right?", hyunseol cuts karina off with a warm tone as she keeps her eyes on the road.

the txt member is aware that it is indeed karina's fault, but the latter doesn't need to know that. she will never admit something like that to the woman beside her. no, never, over her dead body. she won't do no such thing, especially now that she sees the sm idol is beating herself up with that fact.

"but—!"

"but nothing. admit it, there's nothing to be sorry for. something like that happens, okay?"

the sm idol looks at the taller idol with narrowed eyes, crossing her arms. "you're not going to let me win this argument, are you?"

"depends", the bighit idols responds as she glances at karina with a smirk before she looks back on the road. "are you going to keep arguing with me?"

"i don't know if it'll be just a waste of time or not."

"oh, princess", hyunseol remarks with a teasing tone. "it is indeed a waste of time. when you're in a relationship with me, don't waste your time worrying about such trivial things especially when you know it's not needed. you only need to waste your loving me because you got me, i got you, and we got each other, always."

the taller idol then throws karina a look and sees the latter in a state of spacing out before turning her gaze back to the road as a hint of fear starts accumulating in her chest. "are you okay?? did i say too much? i can take everything i said back if—"

"no, it's okay. i'm fine."

"... are you sure? i didn't go overboard with my teasing, right?" karina senses a hint of guilt laced in hyunseol's voice. she doesn't know how to feel about that fact because she is doubting herself if she either sensed it or just assumed that the bighit idol is feeling guilty.

"yes, i'm sure and thank you." pause. "i'm just worried that we could've died if you weren't skilled enough for us to avoid getting into an accident. if only i didn't surprise you, then..."

karina hangs her head low as she plays with her fingers and falls to her thoughts, a pout forming on her lips.

hyunseol immediately pulls over to the side of the road and karina turns to the former, both surprised and confused about the stunt the taller idol pulled.

"what? what's wrong?"

caption: i'm asking the same thing, girl

"hey— wait, can i have consent to hold your hand first?"

caption: baby bear, you didn't ask her consent earlier, so why now? but still, when she asks for consent 😍 >>>

"uhm, sure."

"okay, thank you." hyunseol envelops her slightly bigger hands around karina's smaller one and meets the latter's eyes, hers filling up with warmth the shorter idol couldn't identify. "please stop blaming yourself about what happened. we were both unaware of what's going to happen, that's why it happened."

"but..."

"okay, let's put it like this." the txt member takes a deep breath and drops the most outrageous statement known to the aespa member that had the latter looking at her as if she had committed the dumbest thing in the world (which hyunseol did for karina). "it's my fault, not yours. my mind wasn't on alert when you—"

"but you're the one driving the car... so why should it be your fault?"

"just because." hyunseol then reaches out to tuck a loose strand over karina's ear, careful not to linger a touch on the latter's skin, particularly her face. "so if you keep blaming yourself for what happened, then might as well blame myself too."

"but it's not your fault..."

"whatever you're feeling right now is what i'm feeling whenever you say it's your fault when i told you it's okay. we could just put this situation behind us so we could move on from this and—"

knock, knock, knock

the couple jumps, startled and turns to the hyunseol's side of the car where the sound came from to see a female police officer waiting outside.

caption: uh-oh??

the pair immediately shares a look and gulps before the txt member rolls down the window and flashes the police officer a smile.

"hello there! may i ask what seems the problem we have, officer?" hyunseol's eyes slightly widen at the familiar policewoman and immediately recomposes herself, remembering that the camera in the car is recording.

the officer tilts her head and raises a brow once she saw hyunseol, but immediately goes back to professional mode when she noticed karina beside the bighit idol and a camera where a dash cam should be.

"miss oh, is there a problem here? you're aware that pulling over to the side means something's wrong, right?"

hyunseol nods, feeling a bit embarrassed. "um, yes. yes, you're right."

"but may i ask what it is?"

"uh—"

karina immediately speaks up with a nervous smile over her face as the policewoman and hyunseol turn to look at her. "sorry, ma'am, but it's my fault. i was feeling nervous about going on a date with hyunseol here, and uhm, i kind of panicked. she noticed me panicking, so she pulled over and helped me calm down. sorry if we got you worried."

the sm idol bows her head. "rest assured that i-it won't happen again."

hyunseol and the police officer share a quick look as if the idol told the latter using her eyes before they both look away. hyunseol holds karina's hand to ease the sm idol's nerves as she moves her hands on her lap and signs something without the camera catching her unusual action and raising any suspicion from karina, making the policewoman's attention fall on the moving hand.

the police officer then looks away and states, "it's okay, miss yu. thank you for telling me what had happened, i understand it now. don't worry, both of you aren't in trouble. i'll be going now, and also, miss yu."

karina nervously looks up and meets the policewoman's eyes. "y-yes?"

"you're a lucky girl to have hyunseol."

caption: it takes a matchz supporter to know another one

"uhm... t-thank you."

"you're welcome, i'll go now. good luck on your date." the bighit idol and the cop share a look with a small nod before the latter walks away as the sm idol sighs in relief, leaning against the passenger seat with her hand over her chest.

hyunseol immediately throws karina a look and turns her whole body, facing the sm idol with a worried expression over her face. "are you okay? that officer didn't scare you too much, right?"

caption: when she's worried for her future gf first than herself>>>

"n-no, but she just surprised me." the txt member sighs in relief and nods, smiling at karina who met the taller idol's eyes. "but what about you?"

hyunseol tilts her head, confused. "what about me, princess?"

"are you okay?"

the bighit idol's smile becomes wider, a bit genuine than flirty. "just seeing you okay makes me feel okay, so yes. i'm okay, rina. you don't need to ask, but i still appreciate your effort doing so. thank you."

the taller idol then boops the shorter idol's nose with her finger and gently pats the latter's head, still having a wide smile over her lips. hyunseol is moving her hand away when karina got ahold of her wrist and halted her movements. surprised, the bighit idol looks at karina and blinks in stunned silence before she asks, "yes?"

"hold my hand."

caption: when she's becoming to be bold from her future gf>>>

hyunseol jerks her head back in, clearly taken aback before a smile breaks out on her lips and her shoulders relax as she chuckles. "okay, you scared me for a bit there."

"sorry..."

"it's okay, princess, but hang on." hyunseol then revs the engine and turns to karina expectantly with a shit-eating grin on her face, holding her right hand out. "and your hand, madam."

the sm idol playfully rolls her eyes and holds the taller idol's hand, intertwining their hands together while the bighit idol's grin grows wider. "there you go, it wasn't so hard, right?"

karina shrugs as she tries not to smile. hyunseol then asks, "so where do you want to go?"

----

"hey. hey, are you okay?"

"y-yeah i-i'm good", hyunseol stutters as she tries to give karina a thumbs up and her hand trembles while her other hand has a tight grip on the metal pole, trying not to look down past the cable car.

"i don't think so. your face is getting paler than earlier", the aespa member comments as she cradles the taller idol's face in her hands, her fingers caressing the latter's cheeks. she then sees the panic in the bighit idol's eyes and grows worried. "hey, hey. deep breaths. take deep breaths for me, seol."

"b-but—"

karina holds hyunseol's face in place when the latter tried to look outside of the cable car and softly talks, "eyes on me, baby. eyes on me, don't you dare look away. are you afraid of heights?"

"y-yes, i-i'm sorry. i'm not usually like this, so a-afraid." the txt member hangs her head low.

the aespa member then lifts hyunseol's chin and looks at the latter in the eye with a warm smile tugging her lips. "hey, it's okay. no need to be ashamed of having a phobia. don't worry, okay? just hang on, we'll be at the top soon."

the bighit idol frowns and karina apologetically smiles at the former. "i'm sorry for mentioning it, but i'm here. you can lean on me for the mean time, okay?"

caption: i'd want nothing more than to see my independent girl rina caring for her gf

ding!

"okay, we're here. i got you, baby."

caption: there's already so much b bombs dropping even when they're still not together, but i'm not even complaining

"when you said you want to go here, i never expected my phobia kicking in and got myself holding onto you."

karina giggles. "there's nothing to be afraid of holding onto me, but i can see why you're so into treating me good. it makes me feel satisfied."

"of course, why do you think my love language is acts of service?"

suddenly, a bird flies by while chirping and karina immediately moves her head, burying her face against hyunseol's arm. alerted, the txt member miraculously gains strength in her body and protectively wraps an arm around the aespa member's figure as she looks around.

she then looks down to the sm idol as she whispers, her camera catching the interaction between the idols. "hey, what's wrong?"

"... birds." hyunseol then looks around and finds several birds around which makes her gulp before looking back down. "are they everywhere?"

"yeah, kinda."

"why did they just decide to come bothering us right now?", karina mutters with a hint of disdain and hyunseol hears it, but she doesn't know if the mics attached in their clothes had caught the sm idol's mumble.

the txt member worriedly asks, "do you want to get away?"

karina looks up and meets hyunseol's eyes. "but what about the entrance fee we paid for? isn't it a waste for us to pay for it and just leave without even several minutes us being on the top?"

"if you're worried about our money, i can just pay you back—"

"do you not want to be here with me? is that what you're aiming for?"

"what— no. why are you even thinking like that?"

"i have a feeling you're hinting you want to leave...", karina mumbles as she looks away with a pout.

caption: i don't know what's the drama here, but i'm curious on what seol's approach will be here

hyunseol bites her lips and sighs before answering. "look, i'm sorry if i talked as if i don't want to be here with you. that wasn't my intention and it's not also your fault for thinking that way, but please, don't force yourself to be here with me when you know you'll just be uncomfortable.

"i just don't want to end this date with you being uncomfortable. i rather waste my money than be a bad date to anyone, especially when i know and can feel you're getting uncomfortable right now."

...

..

.

karina looks up and their eyes meet while the aespa member has a small smirk over her lips. "are you always this smooth of a talker with everyone you meet?"

hyunseol jerks her head back, blinking and throws the camera a quick look, her eyes slightly widening before she looks back at karina with a nervous smile. "... kinda, why?"

the aespa member tilts her head, raising a brow. "so i'm not the only one you've charmed, huh?"

caption: oohhh, karina calling out seol's player side out 👀

"are... are you accusing me of being a player?"

"maybe."

the tall idol playfully rolls her eyes and lays her head as she slightly tightens her arm around the latter's waist, towering over karina. "don't worry about the other girls, princess. i only use this smoothness around you because believe me, you're the only one for me."

"oh, really?"

"yep, you're the only one who could take my breath and make my heart race." hyunseol winks. "now, come on. let me treat you to some ice cream."

----

"thank you for today. being with you for almost one day has been fun."

"you're welcome, always here to bring you nothing but the best, my princess. you deserved this kind of date and several good things more."

the pair had stopped in front of a few blocks away from the aespa's dorm and decided to just go on foot on the rest of to not leak the girl group's dorm address while having their hands intertwined. they are talking about the various wild activities they did (although they didn't do much) to fill the silence between them.

"although we didn't get to spend much time together", hyunseol states as she pouts. "crazy birds... and heights have to ruin our namsan tower date."

karina giggles as she sees the growing pout over the taller idol's lips and shakes her head while she looks away. "yeah, but today's date still wasn't so bad. i mean, i'm with you, so any date with you is basically a great date."

caption: *jaws drops*

hyunseol automatically halts and karina looks back with a tilt of her head as the former narrows her eyes at the latter, a small smirk over her lips. "what? why are you looking like that? is there something on my face?"

"no, just beauty. and what was that?"

"what was what?" karina furrows her eyebrows together and sends her camera a look, hoping to make her confusion known before she looks back at hyunseol.

caption: don't look at me like that, madam. i'm sorry, but you are on your own here

"'i mean, i'm with you, so any date with you is basically a great date.' really? why are we switching sides?" a quick flash of realization passes over the aespa member's face before she laughs out loud while a smile appears on the txt member's face, her eyes trained on the sm idol. "i can't believe you, yu jimin. are you learning to be a smooth talker? 'cause let me say, you're one quick learner."

"i mean...", karina trails off as she leans closer and meets the taller idol's eyes, her fingers of her free hand slowly trailing the latter's arm with a smirk. "for you? i would. i mean, i'd rather want to be a top performing student in the smooth talking department than letting you get the upper hand every time we had a date. i'm ready to learn new things if it means surprising you."

caption: i don't know if i want to be seol or karina at this moment

hyunseol chuckles as she hangs her head low. "okay, okay. stand down, lover girl. stand down. no need to be so close—"

"aw, is your heart beating up so fast right now?" karina leans her face closer to hyunseol's face who instinctively looked away, her ears going red. "aw, why are you so shy now? you weren't like this earlier, baby."

the bighit idol chokes on her saliva and pulls her hand back away from karina's, covering her face with her now freed hand as she adjusts her hold on the camera who was catching the moment of the txt's reaction.

caption: ayo, karina successfully making seol blush?!

hyunseol removes her hand from her face and the camera catches the growing scarlet color in the taller idol's face.

"hey, come back~!" karina loops her arm with the bighit idol and looks up to see the latter's face and ears in the color red. "is this what you have to see whenever you charmed other girls?"

"stop..."

"aww, but you're so cute while blushing." karina pouts and smirks wider before kissing hyunseol's cheek that earned herself a small yelp from the latter. "okay, i'll stop now."

the sm idol looks around and halts her steps, stopping the bighit idol too. "okay, this is my stop."

hyunseol nods, still recovering from the short idol's bold actions and the sm idol pouts at the silent response. "baby, please. no goodbye kiss—?"

the txt member cuts karina off by kissing the shorter idol's forehead and both cheeks in one swift motion, leaving the aespa member's mind to short circuit.

the taller idol smirks and pulls her arm away to caress karina's cheek. "you may be learning to take me off guard, but always remember that i am still and will always be the original smooth talker between us. you're not going to take my job so easily, jagiya."

caption: seol proving that no one can outrizz her

the sm idol blinks and looks up at the taller idol only to receive a wink from the latter. karina immediately looks away as her eyes look everywhere but not hyunseol's eyes, making the bighit idol chuckle. "aw, she's shy now, but okay, fine i'll stop."

hyunseol let out one chuckle before she moves her hand away and kisses the top of karina's head. "this marks as the end of our first date. it's pretty eventful although we didn't exactly have a time to enjoy the impromptu namsan tower date, but after that small competition we had a few minutes ago, ditching the whole production is worth it. right?"

karina only nods, still not over the fact that hyunseol threw her off by doing the surprising actions of giving her forehead and cheek kisses before she manages to mutter in an audible whisper. "yeah, everything was fun even though i don't know if we could count it as a full date."

"a date is date as long as we enjoyed ourselves. did you enjoy it, though?"

karina looks at hyunseol in her peripheral view before looking away immediately while trying not to remember the wordless compliments she received back in the restaurant. "if the huge smiles i gave you earlier weren't obvious, then yes. i did enjoy being with you."

"okay—"

"i enjoy it so much i want a second date."

hyunseol smirks. "oh really? if i agree to have a second date—"

karina jerks her head back and raises a brow. "agree? baby, you have nothing to say about this. we are going on a second date no matter what you say"

caption: i love me some leader-type of women 😍💞

the txt member smirks wider. "oh, not even going to let me say anything?"

"never. we are going to that second date. end of discussion."

the taller idol immediately hangs her hands up in surrender and backsteps when karina takes a few steps toward her. "okay, ma'am. we are going to that second date, i hear you."

"be careful on your way home, okay?"

hyunseol sarcastically says as she fakes gasps and a mocking tone can be heard in her voice, "when she's so sweet— ack!"

the txt member throws karina an accusatory look while trying not to laugh. "why did you pinch me?"

"you were mocking me."

hyunseol immediately pulls the sm idol into an embrace and gently places her chin on karina's head, softly humming for a few minutes before she speaks up, "okay, i'm sorry. that was not cool of me, so i'll never do that again, but yes, i'll be careful driving back to my friend's and on my way home."

"see you on the next date, okay?"

the bighit idol then nods with a smile. "rest assured that i'll be there."

"okay...", karina trails off she swiftly pulls hyunseol down by her sweater vest and lands a kiss on the latter's cheek before she runs off, hurry present in her heels.

the txt member blinks as she watches the aespa member walk away before she looks at the camera as if her eyes were asking, did you guys see that shit?

"wow." hyunseol gulps before she chuckles and stuffs her hands inside the pockets of her pants. "she really got the guts, i must say."

confusion overtakes her face when she felt something in her pocket before she gently pulls it out and sees a small piece of paper in her hand, showing it to the camera. she then unfolds it and reads what was written in it before she slowly starts smiling.

caption: why are you smiling for??? karina isn't here anymore, seol

hyunseol then looks at the camera and covers her mouth with her hand, trying not to cheer loudly. "ayo, she gave me her number!! we're going home successfully, let's go!"

hyunseol then looks at the camera with the biggest grin and bids goodbye, "i'll go home now, everyone. look out for the next episode! bye, bye!" she then proceeds to cover the camera lens as she winks.

----

a/n: this is so long, smh bcs the last time i checked, this is over 9.2k words and counting and the ending is kinda rushed, so yeah 😬😬 also, no proofread

----

taglist (open!!): @curly-fr13s , @neuftaeng , @mightymyo , @yoontoonwhs , @nasyu-kookies , @awkwardtoafault , @osakis-gf , @dream-chasers-things , @woonie57 , @juhyunsthirdwife , @sewiouslyz , @yerevies , @asp-no

----

the camera turns on and shows karina immediately leaning forward. her eyebrows wiggle as she has a smile forming over her lips before she giggles and waves at the camera. "helloo, helloo, everyone~"

her manager, wheein throws the idol a quick look and focuses back on the road while she smiles at the sight of the idol. "rina-yah, i didn't get to ask this the last time, but how was your first date with hyunseol?"

the sm idol leans against her seat and throws her manager a look before she falls in her thoughts as several moments of her and hyunseol flash in her mind. a smile then appears over her face and her eyes meet the camera before she looks away and looks at her manager, still smiling.

caption: i'd say it was good date, manager unnie. if karina's smile wasn't obvious enough

"it was good, unnie. i had so much fun with her, so i'm really looking forward to this second date."

"good." the manager nods and steps on the brake before turning to the idol with a smile. "here we are, good luck on your date."

caption: i'm surprised manager wheein didn't tease karina like manager yongsun did to hyunseol in the 1st ep

karina nods and bids her manager goodbye with a hug before she hops out of the car and waves the latter off as wheein drives away. she then turns to the huge establishment behind her.

a cameraman then catches her arrival and karina winks at the camera that shakes after, making the sm idol giggle. the idol then looks around and spots hyunseol's tall figure amidst the huge crowd that formed around her and the production team.

the aespa member immediately makes a beeline towards them and when the txt member spots her, she receives a wide smile from the taller idol before she sees the bighit idol approaching her while announcing, "please make way for my girlfriend, thank you very much."

caption: seol already making her claim on karina and it's making me swoon

"why are you telling them i'm your girlfriend? you haven't popped the question to me yet." karina tilts her head as she looks up to hyunseol with a raised brow while the latter looks down at her with the most teasing smirk the sm idol has ever seen. "wipe that smirk off your face, your charms will not work for me."

hyunseol gently bumps into karina and playfully rolls her eyes while not even trying to fight off a smile. "bold of you to assume i'm using my charms to you right now."

"aren't your name oh hyunseol?"

the bighit idol throws the sm idol a look, blinking. "yeah, what about it, princess?"

"then you wouldn't be oh hyunseol without your famous charm." the crowd around the couple let out out a bunch of "oh's" and their synced reaction make hyunseol laugh. "see? even the crowd knows."

"okay, my bad, princess, but you should know that this so-called charm of mine is only for you."

"matchz for life!"

the couple looks where the shout came from and sees someone holding a huge sign that contains an edited picture of karina and hyunseol in a mirror selca. if anyone will look at the picture, they will think that the picture is real because like the bighit idol, she blinks several times and thinks if she already took a selca with karina or not.

hyunseol squints and examines the picture before smirking and pointing at the sign. "you guys are insane for editing me and karina together, but i must say, that picture looks good. you almost had me fool, man."

the crowd cheers, the couple basking in the attention before karina wraps an arm around the taller idol and looks up at the latter as she surprises hyunseol by saying, "why can we just give them a picture together so they don't have to break a sweat editing us together?"

the bighit idol looks down and smiles as she gently boops karina's nose. "sure. i'm a-okay with anything you want, babe."

the crowd squeals and hyunseol's eyes widen at the sudden loudness before she laughs it off and wraps an arm around karina's shoulders that earned louder squeals from earlier. the sm idol knows what the former is doing and immediately lays her head on the taller idol's arm, gaining another wave of screams from the audience.

the couple looks at one another and laughs while looking away before hyunseol wipes a tear away with a big smile and gently lays her head against karina. "you guys are so down bad for us interacting, huh?"

immediately, they receive a loud "yes" and the taller idol nods as she kisses the crown of karina's head, another cue for screams before she faces the crowd. "we will drop some pictures, but it will probably be posted after the matchmaker ends. can you guys still hold onto some edited pics of me and karina?"

"hell yeah!" "we're willing to wait for the pictures!"

hyunseol throws the camera a quick look with slightly widened eyes due to the fans' profanity before smiling it off. "alright, thank you for being a good sport, everyone!"

[some explanations will be provided in the behind-the-scenes (which will not be posted until every matchmaker ep is finished)]

hyunseol and karina share a look before turning to the producer with a matching nervous smile. the bighit idol starts the conversation while scratching her nape. "heyyy, gong pd-nim."

"what's up?", karina continues while nervously chuckling.

"everything that has happened is my fault, pd-nim, and... and—", hyunseol immediately starts off, giving karina no time to think about the words she needs to say.

the sm idol whips her head at the taller idol in disbelief and says, "what— no! it's my fault!" before she turns the producer and approaches him while pointing at herself. "i suggested the idea, so it's should be my fault, not hyunseol's. it's mine."

hyunseol looks down at karina with a shake of her head. "but i'm the one who urged you to do it, so it is—"

caption: karina and hyunseol are both really going head-to-head on who's more greenflag than the other

"settle down, you two. whatever you guys did on the first day is excused, so now it's okay. we're okay." the producer waves his hands dismissively with a smile. "all of you guys caught great footages, although i don't highly advise you two on ditching us again. next time, just tell me if you guys want to be left alone. i'm sure the production team and i can improvise if you just told us, you know?"

caption: gong pd-nim really said matchz privileges ‼️

"... really?", karina asks. hyunseol throws sm idol a look and smiles at the camera before raising her eyebrows in a brief manner.

caption: why are you looking at us like that, hyunseol?? are you planning something again that we are totally on-board??

"yes, now let's start today's date, shall we?" the two idols nod as their hands immediately find each other and they look around the area, seeing different rides to go to and games to play.

"so where should we go first?", the couple asks in unison as they look at one another and realizes their unintentional synchronization, making both of them giggle.

caption: they're so in sync with one another their brains are thinking of the same things

"okay, okay, you first. what ride or game should we try first? i'm down with anything." karina starts to look around as she falls in deep thoughts, weighing her options before she looks at hyunseol and the latter's smile widens even more. "yes, princess?"

"i want to try that one." hyunseol squints to the direction where the aespa member last looked and sees the milk bottle pyramid booth before looking back at karina with a nod while smiling.

"sure thing, princess. lead the way." the crowd around them gives them a way and the couple bows, thanking the people as the audience surrounds them but still gives the space the idols need.

"come in, everyone! knock them all over and win a prize your heart desires!", the barker exclaims with the wide smile on his lips before he notices karina and hyunseol approaching and motions them to his booth. "would you like to try?"

karina immediately steps forward as hyunseol follows behind, eyeing the milk bottles in silence. the sm idol pays for five softballs and the bighit idol immediately steps forward with a smile while saying, "hey, let me carry those balls so you can concentrate on winning, princess."

the aespa member gives the balls to hyunseol without hesitation, not thinking too much about the request since the word gentlewoman always has been the txt member's middle name. the camera pans to karina holding one softball and hyunseol steps away a bit to examine the balls in her hold.

the bighit idol casually holds three balls with one arm while she weighs one softball in her other hand, looking very deep in thoughts. she then blinks, shakes her head slightly, and looks away as she subtly glares at the barker behind the camera.

the bighit idol steps forward and stands beside karina who turned to her and grabbed another softball, throwing it but failed to reach the stacked bottles. the sm idol pouts and grabs another ball before throwing it and hitting a bottle but none of them fall as hyunseol's stare on the bottles hardens.

in frustration, karina grabs the remaining balls and starts to throw it without a care as hyunseol averts her eyes to look at the shorter idol, seeing the frown forming over the latter's face. the bighit idol immediately wraps an arm around karina's waist and successfully catches the latter's attention, seeing a pout on the aespa's lips.

hyunseol smiles as she gently pokes the 5'6 foot idol's cheek, tilting her head. "aw, my baby is frustrated?"

karina's pout deepens as she nods and the txt member smiles wider, softly squishing the shorter idol's cheeks while baby-talking to the former. "aww, do you want me to win you a prize?"

caption: an amusement park date isn't complete if one doesn't try to win their gf a stuffed toy

"yes, please." the txt member nods and turns to the barker, handing him money with a clenched jaw and a small glare.

"one game, please." the taller idol sees the barker gulp and smirks slightly as she removes her arm from karina's waist and grabs the balls from the man. in one swift motion, she throws the softballs with the bottles getting hit with each throw as a scowl starts to form on the aespa member's face, getting suspicious with each second passing by.

"hey, those bottles should be downed by now since hyunseol always hit them, but why are they still standing?"

"it's because the game is rigged." the sm idol throws her partner a look and sees the latter's eyes trained on the barker. "it's either the softball is too light to throw or the bottles are filled with lead or something along those lines, so no matter hard someone tries to throw the balls or hit the bottles, no win is guaranteed."

"h-how did you—"

hyunseol immediately cuts the man off with a sharp glare. "it's not my first time playing your milk bottle pyramid game, mister. and also, this isn't the first time you get called out for it. some former customers of yours did this years ago and you got humiliated that your booth remained vacant, so i'm surprised to see you here again."

karina starts off, "it's still unfair to treat your customers like this, you know—"

the barker glares at karina and snarls. "don't talk to me as if—"

"maybe that's why fate hasn't been so kind to you. you have been treating people with unfairly and unkindly, so you received the same treatment. also, don't disrespect my girl right here. she's just pointing out the wrong things you've done since you decided to neglect it", hyunseol states as she keeps a small staring contest with the barker.

caption: people fr be needing to change because what is this behavior, sir??

hyunseol then turns to karina with a soft smile and offers her arm to the latter. "come on, babe. let's just find another game to play."

the couple immediately walks away with matching shakes of their heads and before any of the pair could say anything, hyunseol feels a strong force coming their way with her guts warning her and immediately grabs ahold of karina's elbow before accidentally pulling the latter and making the aespa member fall in her arms.

the txt member plays it off by smiling down at karina and winking, maintaining her cool. "sorry for that, princess. i thought i saw a bug in your hair, but it seems like i'm wrong, so i'm sorry."

"it's okay—"

"ack!" both idols turn to look and let out a gasp, seeing one of the two cameraman being hit by the glass from the broken camera lens. hyunseol assesses the situation as she asks in worry, "what's happened?"

dong pd-nim states with a grim expression, "a tennis ball hit the camera lens and they shattered. we lost one camera to use, but that's the least of our problems now. our cameraman needs medical attention quickly." he then takes the broken camera away from the cameraman and hyunseol immediately crouches in front of the staff, closely examining his face and his hands that were both bleeding out from the small lenses. "how is he, hyunseol?"

"he needs to get rushed to the hospital immediately. i'm not sure if there are still broken lenses on his face, or worse, his eyes." hyunseol then meets the producer's eyes with a nod and throws her manager a look. "call an ambulance, unnie. let's not take a chance when it comes to his well-being."

the txt member then looks around the area and meets several concerned passersby looking over the injured staff before her eyes catch a man smirking at her and immediately turn away when she caught a camera towards her, fear and worry both accumulating her chest. she clenches her hand into a fist, trying not to show the worry on her face but she didn't know if she succeeded.

an ambulance immediately arrives and takes the injured staff before the clip gets cut to hyunseol looking at the area where the cameraman once stood with a clenched jaw. the bighit idol looks away and looks over the shorter idol, seeing the unreadable expression over the latter's face.

"i hope he's okay...", karina mutters in a whisper, still shocked at the quick turn of the events. the bighit idol looks away and looks over the shorter idol and sees the unreadable expression over the latter's face. hyunseol notices her behavior, approaching the short idol before the aespa member then senses the taller idol's presence beside her and looks up at the latter. "yes, seol?"

"he's going to be fine, okay? he's in the hospital now, let's just offer a prayer and support for his recovery." karina nods, her eyes spotting a small spot of blood on the concrete and she doesn't know if hyunseol also spots the dried ichor on the ground or not. "penny for your thoughts?"

karina suddenly looks up at hyunseol who jerked her head back, getting surprised by the former and tilts her head at the latter. "wait... a tennis ball shattered the camera lens, right?"

"yeah?", the txt member answers, her eyes darting between her and the camera without any thought in her mind.

"and that cameraman was filming me, right?" hyunseol nods and sees karina's eyes meeting hers in realization with the former still pretending not to know for the sake of her past to remain six feet under the ground, where it should be. "then... that tennis ball was for me, but the cameraman got hit instead because you pulled me away from where i was standing."

caption: whoever throw that ball needs to get arrested asap because what do you have against my precious rina??

"what?", hyunseol asks in disbelief while chuckling as she shoots the producer a quick look, her eyes lowkey asking for help from the latter before immediately looking back to karina like nothing happened. "i was just missing your warmth against my arms, but i didn't think something like this will happen. it must be some kind of accident, you know. i just saw—"

"then how can—"

gong pd-nim immediately separates the couple with his hands on their shoulders, tension hanging in the air between the two. "settle down, lovebirds. i'm sure it's an accident, because if it isn't, then i'll sue whoever did it. i just lost one of my best cameramen and an expensive equipment. i won't let that slide, but since there'll be no one who will admit who did it, then i have no choice but to just forgive and move forward."

"okay, maybe you're right", karina says in defeat as she pouts. hyunseol sees a forming frown on the woman's face as guilt starts to shape inside her chest and immediately looks around for anything that could cheer the sm idol up before spotting something and running away. karina's pouts deepens at the taller idol's sudden absence and out of nowhere, she hears the bighit idol shout, "hey, rina-yah!"

the aespa member turns her head to see hyunseol walking up to her with the biggest smile on her face while holding up two cotton candies, one is color blue and the other is pink. "what do you want?"

"but what about you?", karina asks, perplexed.

hyunseol stands firm, holding out the cotton candies. "but you choose first."

"but—"

"pretty please?", hyunseol asks while pouting and using her infamous puppy eyes along with her baby voice which she usually uses to huening kai but desperate times call for desperate measures (she isn't the type of person to be desperate but at this moment? she's ready to pull any string she has to console and comfort and distract karina). "could you pretty please pick first, my gorgeous wonderful beautiful pretty princess?"

caption: seol really using everything at her disposal to make karina cave in

"fine. hm... i can't choose", karina states with a small pout and meets hyunseol's eyes, looking up at her innocently. "maybe i can just choose your lips over these two, right? bet your lips taste better than these cotton candies."

the bighit idol smirks with a shake of her head and immediately holds the cotton candies away from her face with a snicker. "i mean, if you'd like to, i can just let you taste my lips to prove your hypothesis, because the question is..."

she leans closer to the sm idol with her height towering over the latter, her warm breath ghosting over the aespa member's lips. "do you think you can handle the taste of my lips against your own?"

caption: ayo, i think it's our time to go and hit that fast forward button because who am i to deny our parents who are in need of some alone time, am i right? 😉😏

they then both throw the camera knowing looks with matching smirks plastered over their faces before they look back at one another, their eyes staring right each other. karina immediately lands a kiss on hyunseol's cheek before the latter could even step away and the taller idol freezes, her mind malfunctioning for a moment. the bighit idol turns her head away with a blush adorning her face as she uses the cotton candies to hide the forming smile on her lips, her eyes darting everywhere but never meeting karina's.

the aespa member giggles and takes the pink cotton candy from the txt member, taking a small bite of the sweet treat. hanging her head low, hyunseol takes a small bite of her blue cotton candy as she tries not to look at the camera and the shorter idol, thinking that her heart might not be able to handle the bubbling emotion settling in the pit of her stomach.

"let me have a taste, baby", karina whispers as she pouts when hyunseol decided it's safe to look at the sm idol before the latter looked away in panic, the color red starting to paint her ears and her cheeks.

caption: what's going on?! why is seol getting flustered instead of karina??

"pretty please?" with a blank expression (trying to contain her raging heartbeats inside her chest), hyunseol takes a small pinch of her cotton candy and holds the sweet treat out to karina's lips, her eyes trained on the latter. the aespa member takes the cotton candy in her mouth and meets her eyes, flashing the latter a mischievous smirk. before the taller idol could take her hand away, she feels something damp against her fingers and her eyes widen, instinctively taking several steps away from the sm idol while throwing her a bewildered look.

the txt member feels her face grow warmer, warmer than her whole body. she now wonders if she has more blood on her face than flowing to the rest of her body considering her feet and arms feel a bit numb now. hyunseol catches the camera focused on her and immediately hangs her head low, trying not to look back at it. karina keeps her eyes trained on the bighit idol and giggles, approaching the latter.

"i'm sorry, i'm sorry. i was just trying to see if you're going to be flustered by that, but now i have my answer", karina apologizes. "i'm sorry, baby. you can do it to me too if you want. i won't be mad at you."

hyunseol throws karina a questioning look, her voice cracking a bit. "what do you mean you want to see if i'm going to be flustered by that?! you're a woman, karina and you should know what a woman can do to me!"

karina blinks, muttering, "what?"

"what do you mean what? have you been looking at yourself in front of the mirror lately? because don't tell me you aren't aware of the effect pretty and wonderful girls like you on me. i can forgive you for being devious but for being oblivious? girl, there's no cure for that." the bighit idol then stops talking as she observes the aespa member to see a blush forming on her face before she smirks at the latter. "aw, is karina getting flustered because i called her pretty?"

"s-shut up."

"make me." suddenly, karina smacks her partially-eaten cotton candy against hyunseol's lips and the latter flinches in surprise. they meet each other's eyes with silence reigning between them for a moment before they burst out in laughter as they turn away from one another, their loud laughs filling up the previous silence. the aespa member lays her hands against her cheeks, feeling the warmth radiating from the soft skin. "i-i'm sorry, i don't know what came over me and it wasn't my intention to do that to you. i'm sorry, i'm sorry."

caption: if i had friends like this two, i feel like there'll be no dull times with them around

the taller idol gently pats the other idol's head. "it's okay, rina. it's okay. it was funny, don't worry. if i only knew that you're so fun to be around beforehand, i'd talk to you sooner than we did."

karina could feel her heart melt a little. "really?"

"yeah, funny, outgoing, has a sense of humor that i can get along with, and many more. i hope you can see that you're all of those things. only fools would not notice things like that and i'm glad i'm not a fool because it's a shame not to know someone like you."

karina smiles, ignoring how hard her heart pounds against her chest. "thank you, i never realized i was all of those things until now."

hyunseol smiles back and looks around, noticing several people watching them with phones directed at them. "well, i'm glad i made you realize some things because anyone is fortunate to have someone considerate and attentive like you. always remember that, okay?"

karina nods as she smiles wider and looks down to see the txt member interlocking the latter's fingers with hers before she looks up to meet the taller idol's warm gaze and feels her face grow warm. "come on, rina. let's continue our date."

caption: matchz, the mother ship of every kpop ship ever to exist

"okay, let's go." the aespa member then spots a shooting game and gently drags the bighit idol to the booth. hyunseol gulps at the sight of the booth when the camera moves away from her face with her hand subconsciously squeezing karina's soft one.

the sm idol throws the the txt member a look to see the underlying panic in the latter's eyes with her face getting pale and worriedly asks, "are you okay?"

"y-yeah, just a bit."

"do you not like the shooting game?"

"well, it's... complicated. it's not the game. it's more like the guns themselves. i don't find those things likeable, even it's just a toy. i'll stop now, sorry about that", the taller idol mutters as she looks away and bites her lip.

"no." hyunseol whips her head toward the shorter idol and finds the latter looking at her with such warmth she wonders how she's not melting in the concrete ground right now. "it's okay, seol. i'm glad that you told me about that. let's just find another game to play, okay?"

"are you—"

"sure?" the bighit idol nods and karina smiles, pressing her palm against the taller idol's soft cheek. "i'm sure of everything when it comes to you. it's a game, so choosing between you and that game, i'll choose you because i got nothing to lose from that game, but...

"on the other hand, everything about you matters. i will always choose you over silly amusement park games. you matter most to me out of the people or games around us. do you understand, seol?" the bighit idol nods again, but this time, she's smiling so wide she could feel her cheeks starting to hurt doing so. "i need words, baby.

the txt member giggles with a nod, "i understand, princess."

"good, keep that up. i'm princess only to you. not rina, karina, or jimin. just princess."

"all right, princess. i'll never do that mistake again, pardon me." hyunseol gives their intertwined hands a squeeze before she lets karina drag her to the basketball booth, her eyes falling on their hands. soon they arrive in front of the booth as the taller idol scrutinizes the six balls and basketball ring that has been nailed on the wall taller than her.

"one game, please." hyunseol snaps out of her observation and looks at karina the same the latter looks at her, making both of then wince in surprise before they share a small smile. the aespa member then grabs a ball and holds it out to the bighit idol with a slightly wider smile. "win me a plushie, please baby?"

the txt member gently grabs the ball from karina and says, "sure thing, princess." the taller idol shoots the ball into the hoop, a small smirk forming over her face when she heard the aespa member gasp and mutter, "that's so cool." she grabs one ball to another, each throw winning a point with no time to waste until she had none left. the booth handler then claps the bighit idol and grabs two matching penguin plushies hanging from the ceiling of his booth before giving it to them.

"uhm..." karina and hyunseol share a look before their eyes avert to the plushies, uncertainty laced in their voices. both of them couldn't gain the courage to tell the man since the moral and child in them are fighting what to say.

the barker notices and flashes them a smile with a small shake of his head. "it's okay, you can have two plushies. it's my way to say to say you guys look together. also, you two remind me of my wife and i, two different persons yet there's so much similarities between us."

"if you don't mind me asking, how long have you guys been together?", hyunseol politely asks and she grabs the plushies from the man with a bow, giving one to karina who started petting her plushie on the head. the couple keeps their attention on the man talk, seeing the expression over his face.

the man answers with the smile, "18 years and we're still happy, just like the first time we fell in love with one another. we're aware that everything takes time, and of course, the fights. those aren't inevitable when it comes to relationships."

"another question, what advice can you give us if there's a fight between a couple?", karina asks, still brushing her fingers against her plushie's soft fabric.

"well...", the man trails off as his gaze falls on hyunseol before averting to karina with his smile growing wider as if he knows something the couple doesn't, but the taller idol shrugs it off as she adjusts her hold on her plushie. "there will be always an argument no matter how long you have been together, so learning how to communicate is a must between the two parties. it may sound simple to others, but some find it hard to tell their feelings to their partner and that's where the problem grows bigger. you don't need to use big words to convey your emotions; you just need to be honest."

caption: he knows what's up with matchz, HE SEES WHAT WE SEE

hyunseol nods while karina throws the former a glance before looking back at the man to see him smiling at her. the sm idol gulps and the man bows while saying. "i need to tend the other customers now, but i hope you guys have fun with whatever the amusement park can offer to you.

"of course, of course. thank you for the plushies." the couple bows in exact ninety-degree.

the man waves his hand dismissively. "no, don't thank me. you two deserve those plushies."

"okay, bye-bye, mister!", hyunseol exclaims as she uses her penguin plushie's hand to wave and karina copies the gesture, a big smile on her lips before the man waves back, matching their smiles. "he's such a cool man, right?"

"yeah", is the aespa member's only response as she feels her heart race, remembering that the man saw something between her and the txt member. she then starts to look around the place to distract herself before she feels an arm snake around her waist and turns to the side, meeting hyunseol's eyes.

"let's ride the ferris wheel."

karina immediately grows worried. "are you sure—"

"yes, now come on, princess. i want to see the view from the top."

----

"how come you aren't as pale as you were from our namsan tower date?"

hyunseol plays with her plushie as she answers, "i'm not entirely afraid of the heights. what i'm afraid of is the sudden urges of me jumping from a high place. i might not be able to contain myself and jump, but in this, i'm not afraid since we're inside a passenger pod."

"that makes sense." karina then throws the taller idol the same time the latter looks at her, making the aespa member look away with pink dusting her cheeks. hyunseol keeps her eyes on the shorter idol and giggles at the reaction.

"do you need something, princess?"

"w-well...", the sm idol's voice weakens as her fingers find her plushie's arms to play with, refusing to make any eye-contact with the taller idol. "i just want to ask what you think of the man and what he said earlier."

"what he said about couple fight, right?" karina nods. "well, first of all, he reminds me of my grandfather. they're so chill and unbothered, but you can see that he cares for his family, especially the way his face looks when he said that they've been married for 18 years. if you ask me, i want to have that kind of future with someone."

karina's ears perk at hyunseol's last statement and looks at the latter', seeing a smile on the bighit idol's lips. "really?"

"yeah, it might be a long time for me to settle down, but i look forward to that kind of life for my older version of myself because i witnessed the life my grandfather has with his wife, so it made me imagine myself living that kind of life."

"do..." hyunseol averts her eyes from the view outside of the passenger cabin to karina who has still her eyes focused on playing with the plushie on the latter's lap. "do you already have someone in your mind to spend your life with?"

the txt member opens her mouth but no words come out and slowly closing them, her eyes darting away from karina's figure before throwing the camera a quick look and looking back to the shorter idol.

caption: why did air turn so serious all of a sudden?

"well, at this moment, maybe. it's still uncertain, but maybe soon i can confirm my feelings. for now, my answer is maybe. sorry if i can't give you a precise answer."

karina nods and responds, "that's okay, i understand. i'm sorry i asked you something so absurd and invasive."

the txt member looks down and reaches out to karina's hand, intertwining her hand with the latter as she sees the latter's fingers twitch in surprise before they relax as they curl against her hand, making a small smile appear on hyunseol's lips.

"it's okay, princess. it's water under the bridge. don't worry, your question made me think in a good way. i just... didn't worry about getting in a relationship immediately because i'm too focused on living my life, you know. i mean, i can see myself getting together with someone, but not right away."

caption: you better ask karina out, seol or i will

the txt member then raises their intertwined hands and places a kiss on the back of karina's hand, the latter blushing at the taller idol's soft lips. "w-what was that for?"

"nothing, i just wanted to do that since this morning and well, i only got the courage to do so." hyunseol meets the shorter idol's eyes and softly smiles, seeing the red hue decorate the latter's face. "sorry being so random at times, but i just want to let you know that i'm grateful that i get to spend time with you out of all people. i'll try my best to be fun and enjoyable to be with for you."

karina harshly shakes her head as she places their intertwined hands against her chest, disregarding the hard and rigorous beating of her heart with a hope that the taller idol doesn't feel her heartbeat. "you don't need to do that, i will always enjoy your presence no matter what. you don't even need to do any effort. just you being you is enough for me, seol."

hyunseol lets out a small giggle and looks down, still smiling. "thanks, you have no idea what you just said mean to me. i'm happy that you're enjoying yourself in this date and i appreciate your effort of telling me."

"you're welcome, you deserve to know that you're not the only one who's thankful in this situation. you're worth of everything, seol. i hope you can see that."

"i can see what you mean, thank you."

"uhm..." the couple stops for a moment and turns to see the ferris wheel operator looking at them knowingly with a smirk on his lips before the pair blushes and immediately lets each other's hands go, looking away at the same time. "i didn't want to pop your bubble, but it's time to go, lovebirds."

"a-ah, y-yes, of course." hyunseol motions the exit to karina, her face and her ears still feeling warm. "you first, princess."

the aespa member then stands and hops out of the compartment, hanging her head low to hide her flustered face before the txt member follows suit, not even trying not hide the big smile on her face. hyunseol looks around and immediately stands beside karina once she spotted the strange man earlier several meters away from them.

despite the lack of space between them, karina doesn't turn her head and instinctively reaches out to hold the txt member's hand as the latter gently tightens her hold when they both noticed the forming crowd heading their way.

"please give us space, everyone", hyunseol announces, sounding her voice as stern as possible while discreetly keeping an eye for the strange man. "thank you for the ones who are listening."

"ahhhh, you guys look so good together!"

"yes, yes we are. thank you for noticing." the txt member regards the fan with a nod, making the latter squeal in excitement before the audience follows when karina landed a kiss on the taller idol's cheek. "looks like my princess right here also agrees."

"of course, i agree. i'm pretty and you're gorgeous. only blind people wouldn't see our chemistry", karina states as she reaches out and trails her fingers along hyunseol's face before they stop to the latter's jaw, gently pulling the taller idol closer to her. "you're so pretty it makes me stare."

the txt member then leans a bit closer, the tip of their noses touching as hyunseol smiles, noticing how the karina remains her gaze glued to the taller idol's eyes. "not even a reaction, really?"

karina tilts her head and hyunseol follows, making the former slightly raise a brow. "well, you're oh hyunseol. that's expected coming from you, if i say so myself."

the bighit idol then playfully rolls her eyes still smiling. "of course, it's expected. it seems like i already made a name for myself."

"hm... i think...", karina mumbles and throws the camera a look before she looks back at hyunseol as she moves her eyes, motioning her to look at the camera.

the txt member obeys and winks the camera with a smirk before pulling karina close to her using her free hand. "i think it's time to end this. do you think so, princess?"

"hm... yeah, it's time..."

the taller idol motions for the cameraman to move forward and announces, "this is the end, guys. bye, stay tuned for the next episode—"

karina thinks of an idea and pulls hyunseol by her shirt down to her face, but before their lips could ever get closer, the bighit idol covers the camera lens with her hand.

----

a/n: i feel like this is a downgrade from the 1st ep, but anyways, ep. 3 is next 😍💞💕

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