BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 30: sleepless nights

<OST: I Wanna Say To You - Suzy>

"Nice work today, partner."

Chungha laughed as she glanced up at Hoseok. "You too, partner."

It was their first time going home together since their cold war and no matter how hard the both of them tried to hide it, their excitement was evident as they walked to the bus stop together, under the dim street lighting.

"Wow, 12am today-" Hoseok gasped as he looked down at his watch. "It's been a while, huh."

"Yeah," Chungha agreed. "The last time was JK and Jennie Kim's dating scandal... and today is also Jennie Kim again, with V instead... It's interesting, huh."

"If not for Hyejin-ssi and Minhyun-ssi, we could possibly have misinterpreted the information we had-" Hoseok said after some time, as they took a seat at the bus stop. "They really deserve the praise they got from bujang-nim today."

"They sure do." Chungha nodded slowly. "Especially Hyejin-ssi, to be honest. She's only six months in and has already done so much, I'm actually pretty impressed."

"She joined around the same time as Jieun-ssi, didn't she?" Hoseok thought for a while. "It's hard not to compare the two..."

"Jieun-ssi is extremely hardworking..." Chungha said with a sigh. "But I feel like... sometimes she thinks too much about the outcome rather than the process itself. She has been rushing to get on TV, that's why we gave her the advice to come up with a plan to get a big scoop and impress bujang-nim."

"You're right-" Hoseok nodded. "She has been so engrossed in that she barely comes to work nowadays. Meanwhile, Hyejin-ssi seems to be so focused on the moment. She has been doing pretty much the same thing as Jieun-ssi since they joined us, but I've never seen someone as focused as her - other than you, of course. Her work may be mundane, but she always seizes every opportunity that crosses her path. We saw it once when we went out on the field experience trip, and again today. She's pretty remarkable, don't you think?"

"She is," Chungha agreed. "She's resourceful, persuasive, quick-witted and observant. I like her a lot."

"More than Jieun-ssi?" Hoseok tested her with a smug grin. "Ever since Hyejin-ssi and Jieun-ssi joined us, you can't deny that you have been helping Jieun-ssi more than you have been helping Hyejin-ssi."

"Speak for yourself, Jung Hoseok-" Chungha laughed as she punched Hoseok in the arm. "You're the one that always says 'Jieun-ssi this, Jieun-ssi that' all day - do you, by any chance, like her?"

"Come on, you know who I like-" Hoseok laughed. "Don't act like you don't. The reason why I seem to help Jieun-ssi more is simply because... she needs it."

Chungha stared at Hoseok for a few seconds, before they both burst into laughter.

"You're right, though-" Chungha laughed. "Jieun-ssi has her strengths too, but-"

"Name one strength of hers."

"Um, well-" Chungha fidgeted uncomfortably. "You know, she has many, I don't have to name one."

Hoseok grinned. "For example...?"

"Okay, fine-" Chungha laughed as she pushed Hoseok away. "I don't know, okay? I don't know, I mean-"

"She's good at connecting dots," Hoseok suggested, recalling the paper he saw on Jieun's desk that day. "But awful at being stealthy at investigating things."

"Right, right-" Chungha nodded profusely. "She's awful at it - based on what I've heard from her, she's gonna be found out by JK-ssi before she even get her hands or anything. She's that awful."