𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮 - 𝒋𝒆𝒏𝒌𝒂𝒊.

with happy laughter,

[Proof-readed by Tsusupany. Thank you! <3]

Just like what they had expected, after the episode of variety show (where Jongin paired up with Soojung) had aired, the people went into a frenzy and began to speculate more about their relationship. Connecting the dots with the photos from their dinner with his family, the public was sure that they really were getting back together.

The rumor even became a worldwide trending topic on social media platforms, putting the two of them right under the spotlight. This also included their recent activities, which in Jongin's case, it's EXO's upcoming album. The exposure effect that Mr. Park had hoped for.

Scrolling through his phone, Jongin shook his head in disbelief. These people even caught Soojung entering his car when he came to her apartment two days ago— something he did not expect since he had doubled his effort by borrowing a friend's car and not using his usual car.

That was the day when they decided to take a try on this relationship.

"What is it?" Soojung's voice pulled him out of his reverie. "Are you reading the articles again?"

Jongin locked his phone and put it beside his plate. They were currently having a small dinner at her apartment— didn't want to take the risk of being followed by paparazzi by eating outside.

"There are photos of you getting into my car two days ago," he told her. "We really have no privacy."

"You just realized that?" she snorted, saying, "Good thing that most of the fans are grown up adults now. They don't have that much time to throw hate on me like they used to."

Jongin watched her play with her food, seemingly losing her appetite. He too remembered how badly the fans took the news of their relationship back in 2016. She ended up as the one who suffered the most from the hate. He realized that whenever two idols were caught dating, most of the time it was the female who became the target of hate. Soojung was a victim of it during their relationship back in the day.

One of the reason why he tried so hard to keep his next relationship on the low. He didn't want to be that careless and ended up putting her at risk, especially because they came from different agencies.

Who were rivals.

Jongin closed his eyes, recalling how he had done so much to protect her, only to have her leave him with no explanation in the end.

"Who's that?"

"Huh?"

"The little girl on your wallpaper," Soojung pointed her chopsticks to his phone. The screen lit up because there was a message, showing the wallpaper.

"She's not your niece, isn't she?" Soojung asked again.

A smile cracked on his face involuntarily upon seeing Jinri on his phone screen. Her eyes were closed, seemingly focused on the cotton candy on her hand. Her cheeks became even chubbier as she was munching the sugary treat.

"No, she's not," he answered her, tapping on the message notification from Sehun. "Her name is Jinri. She's the niece of my friend at work."

"She's a cutie," she smiled. "Are you close to her?"

Jongin's focus was shifted from reading Sehun's message because of her question.

Is he close to her?

It's strange when he realized that it was only four days ago when they met each other for the first time. It truly felt like he knew her even better than the back of his hand.