LA LA LOVE YOU | LIZKOOK

ii. on second impressions

The day of the Gayo Daejun award show had finally arrived.
Lisa was about to go on stage to perform the dance collaboration. Her nerves were fraught, as they always were before a performance. She completed her pre-show ritual of closing her eyes and praying to whichever god was listening that everything went smoothly.
"Hey, let's do our best out there. Fighting!" Ten encouraged, placing a warm hand on her shoulder. She nodded and then they were running out onto the stage and '24K Magic' was broadcast out to the packed stadium.
Whenever she danced, all thought would leave her head so she could home in on the beat and the music, letting her body move intuitively. It was the best feeling in the world to her.
The cameras pivoted away from her when the performance was over but a couple of minutes after, they took to the stage again to perform 'In the Name of Love'. She made eye contact before the lights came up with Jimin and he winked at her encouragingly to spur her into doing her best. It worked, and she spent the next few minutes thoroughly enjoying the performance.
The lights went down and plunged the stage into darkness when the song had ended. Ten waited for her to run off the stage together and back to their respective dressing rooms.
"Great work out there, Lalice."
"Thanks, you too, Ten! That was so much fun."
"I know, I could see you smiling when we made eye contact. I almost burst out laughing when we did that."
Lisa giggled and imitated the 'come hither' move she had performed on Ten as part of the choreography.
"Ohh, sexy, sexy," Ten jokingly commentated.
His teasing was overheard by a passing Jungkook, who smirked at the two friends teasing each other.
"You guys were amazing out there. Lisa-ssi, you have some serious swag."
She blushed at the compliment and thanked him with a bow. "Thank you, sunbaenim."
Jungkook smiled at her but was distracted when he saw Jimin out of the corner of his eye coming off the stage.
"Hyung! Hurry up, everyone's waiting," Jungkook called.
He bid farewell to Ten and Lisa and jogged with Jimin back to the BTS dressing rooms.
When Jimin had refreshed himself and gotten changed, they headed out to the idol seating area at the front of the stadium with an optimal view of the the stage and the remaining performances. Before long, Blackpink were taking to the stage and started with Whistle. His hyungs and him jammed to their songs all the time at their dorms and he was admittedly a big fan of anything YG produced. Seeing Lisa on the stage after meeting her in a social setting was also surprising. At the restaurant, she came off as a little shy on first impressions, eventually showing her goofy side when she warmed up a little. But on stage was an entirely different persona. Her confidence radiated off of her like she was born to be on the stage. Jungkook was studying her movements without even realising it, watching enraptured as she engaged with the audience and the camera during her Playing With Fire rap. She was a natural, he concluded when their stage finished and he finally snapped back to reality as if he were in a trance all that time. Wow, she was exceptional, he thought.

-&-

When all the performances of the night had finished, all the idols and performers headed backstage to interact before going their separate ways for the night.
"Jennie, there's Twice, let's go say hi," Jisoo said, dragging Jennie away through the crowded hallway. Rosé also spotted Girl's Day's Hyeri and went to greet her friend.
Lisa was left wandering through the crowd of idols before spotting her childhood friend, Bambam, in the green room.
"Bambam!" she called, as she made her way over to him.
"Lalisa, there you are!"
They hugged and said congratulations for both their successful performances.
"Anyway, how have you been? What's been going on?" Bambam asked. They didn't have much time to see each other since she debuted.
"Well, you know, just busy with being an official idol!" They used to dream of the day when they would both be kpop idols, and now they were greeting each other backstage at one of the most prestigious end of year shows in the kpop world as two famous idols in Big 3 groups.
"Oh! I need to introduce you to someone. He's called Ten, he's from Thailand too!" Lisa gushed, recalling her new friend that she met in dance practice.
"The one from NCT, right, that danced with you? He seems cool. We should start a Thai group chat, with Sorn too!"
"That's a great idea, and then let's go eat some proper Thai food, not just the pad Thai from that canteen," she suggested. It was an ongoing struggle for the two of them to find decent, authentic Thai food in Seoul.
A sudden weight wrapped around both her and Bambam's shoulders.
"Oh? You're going to eat and not inviting me?"
It was Jackson, Bambam's GOT7 group member.
"Ah, hyung, you really do find the most opportune moments to interrupt a conversation."
"Well when I hear food, I come running." He winked at Lisa as if they were in on a joke together. "Hey, Lisa, looking good out there."
"Thanks, Jackson oppa. You weren't too bad yourself."
"Stop flirting in front of me!" Bambam cried exaggeratedly, flinging Jackson's arm off his shoulder so he could take a step back and cover his eyes.
Lisa and Jackson both burst out laughing at their friend's reaction. She knew it wasn't flirting - Jackson just liked to tease everyone.
At Bambam's loud shout, a familiar face popped up from the crowd of people in the hallway.
"Yo, Bambam," Jungkook called, coming over to give his friend a hug and handshake. Namjoon had also seen Jackson and come over too to greet him.
"You two are friends?" Lisa asked, not too surprised, as Bambam seemed to be friends with everyone.
"Yeah, we're bros," Bambam said with a cocky smirk.
"Both '97 liners," Jungkook helped to elaborate. "How do you and Bammie know each other?"
"We're childhood friends. We were in the same dance crew in Thailand," she explained.
"Wow, you guys go way back."
"Now how do you two know each other!?" Bambam said, a suspicious gleam appearing in his eyes.
"Oh we don't really," Lisa quickly explained. "We met at a BBQ restaurant after practice for tonight's dance stage. Jungkook sunbaenim and his members coincidentally chose the same restaurant as us so we all had dinner together."
Bambam scrutinised his friend closely. "Hmm, why didn't you tell me about this?"
Lisa gulped nervously and started twisting her rings unconsciously. "What's there to tell?"
"Well, how about the fact the Lisa I know would have been so excited to meet her ultimate idols, BTS, and even more excited to meet her idol crush-"
Bambam's words were suddenly cut off by a sharp foot inserting itself forcefully into his shin.
"Whoops," Lisa said with a fake abashed smile. "My foot slipped. You all good there, Bambam?"
Bambam, through the waves of pain, managed to get the message to hold his tongue and flashed up an okay sign.
Jungkook raised an amused eyebrow at their antics. From his casual expression, Lisa was sure he couldn't have heard what Bambam had said... At least she hoped so.
"Anyways..." Lisa quickly tried to change the topic. "Well done on your performance. It was seriously mind-blowing."
Jungkook's face lit up at her genuine compliment. "Thanks. You guys were amazing too. Your rap part... Wow."
At the mention of rap, Namjoon joined the conversation again after Jackson had run off to say hi to someone else.
"Oh yeah, Lisa-ssi, you were impressive out there. The part that gets me the most is 'The colour of my heart is black'".
Together, even Jungkook and Bambam shouted "AH!" just like they had done at the restaurant, reciting her iconic line back to her. Just like before, she found it equal parts hilarious and surreal, to hear her line coming out the mouths of her seniors.
Namjoon continued, "I even wanted a replay of your catwalk. We have a lot to learn from you."
Her eyes widened in stunned silence. When she broke out of her stupor from Bambam elbowing her arm, she immediately bowed low and deep, a full ninety degrees. "Thank you, sunbae-nim. Hearing those words means so much to me."
Namjoon scratched the back of his head. "Aha, you're welcome. You can stop bowing now..."
Lisa rose from her position with a full grin.
"Hyung isn't used to receiving so much praise and formality at the same time," Jungkook said, snickering at Namjoon's bashful expression. 
"Really? Seems like you should get used to it more," Bambam said, slapping Namjoon's shoulder a little familiarly. "You're kinda' a big deal right now, and only getting bigger." 
Lisa nodded in agreement but Namjoon was humble in his acceptance of praise and quickly diverted the subject.
"Looks like we'll need to stay on our toes with the newest Monster Rookies on the scene now," he grinned, turning his attention back to Lisa.
In turn, she waved her hands in front of her face in embarrassment and stuttered on trying to get a word out. "No-I-um-what-?!"
"How is this awkward girl the same one with the swag, who was dominating the stage from earlier?" Jungkook asked with a hopeless shake of his head. 
"I've known this girl for like 10 years and I still don't understand," Bambam said, also shaking his head at her like a disappointed father. 
Namjoon laughed along. "I feel a little left-out. You're all the same age, right?"
"Yeah, all born in 1997," Bambam confirmed, swinging his arm around his two best friends' shoulders, one on each side of him.
"Ahh, well I hope the two of you treat our Jungkookie well."
"Yes, sir," Bambam said with a surprising amount of seriousness in his tone and expression. Namjoon excused himself for some leadership duties that were calling him, but as soon as he left, Bambam's expression turned wistful. "Must be nice having caring hyungs that look after their maknae. My hyungs just bully me."
Both Jungkook and Lisa turned puzzling faces to their mutual friend. 
"Your hyungs know you can give as much as you can take," Lisa laughed.
"Exactly, stop with the crocodile tears, Bam, no ones going to believe you around here," Jungkook agreed. 
Bambam released the both of them to hold a protective hand over his chest. "Are my two best friends really ganging up on me right now?!" 
Lisa and Jungkook both looked at each other a little surprised, before they both grinned. "Well this could be a good time to unite on a common cause," Jungkook told Bambam, although his mirthful eyes stayed fixed on Lisa's. "You must have a ton of grievances about your old pal if you've known each other for ten years."
Lisa held his stare and nodded solemnly. "I can definitely think of a few."
"You have an ally in me in that case, Lisa-ssi, as I have quite a few too."
"...An ally? Grievances? A common cause? This does not sound good. Let me guess, you're banding together to torture me?"
Lisa shrugged a little too nonchalantly for all the mischievousness in her eyes, which put Bambam more on edge. "Remember the egg incident when we were 14? And the haircut of '08?"
"And the pants incident just a few months ago?" Jungkook also chimed in. With each word, the two of them seemed to be closing in on Bambam, stepping ever closer to him while all Bambam could do was back away slowly. 
"Guys... no wait, those were all hilarious!" At both Lisa and Jungkook's stony expression, Bambam quickly backtracked. "I mean, hilarious for me and a few other people, but I'm starting to see now why it might not have been so funny to you guys. But don't you each want to know what happened in those incidents? Jungkook, the egg incident will crack you up - pun totally intended! And Lisa, the pants thing will have your sides splitting... literally!" 
Lisa and Jungkook didn't fall for the bait, and continued their slow, deadly hunt on their friend, slash years-long tormentor. Finally they had both found someone willing to exact some long-overdue revenge on Bambam's trickster self. 
Bambam suddenly found the heels of his feet hitting something soft and tripping him to fall back into the soft cushioning of a bean bag. "I should feel honoured that I brought you together like this but I don't think this is going to turn out well for me at all..."
Lisa and Jungkook simply had to turn to each other and nod, understanding the other perfectly. 
They both dove in at the same time, Jungkook attacking his left side and Lisa attacking his right. The tickling attack left Bambam in a heap of pained, writhing laughter. His long legs were kicking out in all directions as he flailed at the feeling of two pairs of unyielding fingers tickling up and down his sides. 
"Sto-Stop, please!" he managed to wheeze out. "Please, I beg you! Have mercy!" His dramatic cries fell on deaf ears as Jungkook and Lisa both continued their assault for a bit longer until Bambam was literally too exhausted to try to even writhe around to evade. 
"That was cruel," Bambam finally gasped, out-of-breath. 
Lisa and Jungkook had also both exerted themselves and were panting lightly but they looked at each other and smiled. "I would call that a success, wouldn't you, sunbae?"
"Definitely a success," Jungkook agreed. "And you can call me Jungkook. We're the same age after all, and allies in the Bambam-torture club." 
"Fine, I won't call you sunbae anymore... but only if you tell me the story behind the pants incident."
He looked surprised at the quick betrayal, but quickly retaliated. "Fine, but only if you tell me the stories of the egg and the haircut," Jungkook said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest. Bambam was left helplessly forgotten, slumped in the beanbag, his eyes darting worriedly between the two of them. 
Lisa guffawed incredulously at the request. "You can't add more conditions onto the ones I've already set out!"
"Why not? You don't call me sunbae and reveal both the egg and the haircut incidents, and in return I shall grace you with the pants story."
"Shall I give you my first-born too while I'm at it?!" 
He looked annoyingly calm as he waved his hand dismissively. "Sure, if you insist."
Lisa gritted her teeth and poked a finger into his chest. It was firm and took him by surprise, enough that he had to take a step back to steady himself again. "As if your stupid pants story is even worth all this effort."
"Oh, I'll have you know it's pretty damn good, isn't it, Bam?"
Despite being unwillingly dragged back into the conversation that he had actually started, Bambam didn't even get a chance to answer, as the two hotheads battled it out and managed to ignore him again completely. 
"I'll be the judge of that," Lisa replied back quickly, keeping her eyes locked fiercely with his. "Sun. Bae. Nim." She added the formality slowly and deliberately, punctuating each syllable with three more pokes to his chest.
Jungkook narrowed his eyes. He had wanted her to drop the formality at first because he felt discomfited about people calling him Senior when they were the same age. And although the title was usually used in polite and respectful contexts, the way she had just said it was dripping with disdain and her attempt to goad him into hating the name more was really working, as much as he was loath to admit it.
"Really? You're going to stoop so low?" he asked dangerously, taking a step closer to look down on her.
"What are you talking about, sunbae-nim?" she asked innocently, her eyes wide and almost convincing from this new angle.
Jungkook's jaw ticked in aggravation. "Stop calling me that." 
"Stop calling you what, sunbae-nim?"
"That!"
And so their petty squabbling continued on for the rest of the night. And all Bambam could do from his position observing on the sidelines was to think hopelessly to himself, 'What monsters did I create putting these two in the same room as each other?!'