karina imagines

never mind, goodnight (4)

💬 mc partner! yu jimin x m! reader. 2628. when karina accidentally messages y/n something that was meant for giselle

About 24 minutes. Karina stared at the approximate journey time that Naver maps was giving her to get from the GOT7 dorm to the aespa dorm, and it wasn't giving her any reassurance at all. Twenty-four minutes was not much time at all. Not nearly enough time to make up an excuse to give to the girls to explain why she was trying to sneak past them and into the building elevator lobby, and not nearly enough time to choose an outfit that was simultaneously cute and casual enough to make it look like she didn't spend twenty minutes choosing it. And not nearly enough time to do something about her face, which was bare and in dire need of moisture. Achieving a makeup a look that looked simultaneously elegant and natural actually did take quite a bit of time.

Karina checked the clock on the wall, her heart fluttering the entire time. She was sick with anticipation.

What would he say? God, what should she say? All these questions running through her head were making her dizzy. She pressed the heels of her palms to her forehead and tried to calm herself down.

"Stop, stop it," she whispered to herself. "Calm down, it's just Y/N. You two have talked face to face lots of times before, it's nothing different."

Except it is different, her brain said. All those other times they talked had been as friends. But where were they now on the spectrum of human relationship? Somewhere between friends and more, straddling that line, perhaps.

There wasn't enough time to do much. In the end, Karina had opted to just change out of her shorts and throw on some pants but kept her shirt. Her hair had been curled for Inkigayo that day, but after washing and drying, it was as straight as uncooked spaghetti, but at least it was clean. As for her face, BB cream and lip balm would have to do, but she pinched her cheeks to add a bit of color.

All that was left now was to get down to the elevator lobby without the girls noticing. Which would be tricky, since they had already yelled for her twice to hurry up and join them since she had already missed half of Michael B. Jordan's scenes.

"Unni!" Winter shouted from the living room. "Hurry up! You're missing the whole thing, we're not gonna rewind it for you!"

"I'm on the phone with my parents!" Karina shouted. "It's fine, I'll just watch it on my own later."

"Aww, but that's no fun!" Ningning whined. "The whole reason we even put it on was so we could have team bonding time."

Karina stuck her head out the door and looked down the hallway. She could just make out Winter and Giselle's backs, which were turned toward her as they focused on the screen of Ningning's laptop. Distracted. Karina chewed on her bottom lip and then eyed their front door. It was a short walk, but that also meant having to cross the living room area. She checked the time and saw that she had about four minutes.

She stepped out carefully in her socks. Mindful of the creaking floors, Karina stepped lightly down the hall, tiptoeing past the living room slowly. The girls were still watching Creed, they didn't seem to notice their unni sneaking past them behind their backs. Karina reached the front door safely and slipped on her shoes. She was halfway out the door when her cellphone chimed. She heard the girls shuffling in the common room. Panicking, Karina slammed the door shut and ran toward the elevator.

In the living room, the remains members of aespa exchanged looks of confusion.

Once safely in the elevator, Karina checked her phone. Just as she suspected, it was a text from Y/N.

"I'm outside," it said.

Shit, Karina said. He was early. The elevator ticked as it passed each floor and then a bell rang when it reached the ground. Karina stepped out carefully, checking her reflection in the mirror inside the lift before she walked out.