LA LA LOVE YOU | LIZKOOK

iv. duet or duel?

A few weeks had passed since the end of year awards but it was still chilly in all parts of Seoul. Snowfall was even expected soon, per the weather forecast, so the air felt crisp and fresh.
Lisa was out with Jisoo, bundled in thick coats and a scarf wrapped around their necks and lower face to try and mask their appearances. Lisa had also donned a beanie to cover her freshly dyed red hair, ready for their comeback.
They had just eaten dinner out, as Jisoo had been craving a warming bowl of kimchi jiggae, and were walking arm-in-arm back to the dorms.
They were currently walking through the park by the Han river, opting to take the long, scenic route back to get some much needed fresh air that they had lacked being cooped up in the practice rooms and studio.
"Ahh, I'm so excited for the snow," Lisa said, blowing out a trail of cloud from her breath.
"You've lived here for almost 6 years and snow is still a novelty? Must be nice to be you," replied Jisoo.
Lisa unlinked her arm to spin around with her arms outstretched to embrace the cold air.
"You look really crazy right now, Lalice," Jisoo called apathetically.
"I'm moving to keep warm, unnie!" she shouted back as she started showing off some of her crazy dance moves that she had seen on social media.
"She's right, you really do look crazy, Lalisa."
A new voice joined them but thankfully it was one she recognised straight away.
"Bambam?" she said, uncertain it was him under the facemask and all the layers.
Bambam bowed his head to Jisoo. "What are you doing out here, it's sooo cold," he complained, jogging on the spot and rubbing his gloveless hands together.
"We were just heading back to our dorms. What are you doing?" Lisa asked.
"I'm on my way to meet some buddies at karaoke. Hey, do you two want to join?"
Lisa looked expectantly at Jisoo to make the decision. Jisoo simply shrugged and nodded, "Why not? Karaoke is great in this weather."
Lisa broke out into a satisfied grin and tugged both Jisoo and Bambam to her, one on each side of her as they headed towards the karaoke bar.
"Hey, unnie, I'm almost 20 in a few weeks..."
Jisoo knew exactly where Lisa's train of thought was going and shook her head sternly.
"No, no, no, you have to wait until you're actually 20 before you drink."
"Unnie," Lisa whined.
"But maybe I'll sneak you some," Jisoo whispered conspiratorially. "Just a little though." She pinched her fingers to show just how much, but Lisa still hugged her tighter to her.
"Unnie's the best!"
"What about me, noona?"
"I'm not responsible for you, Bambam. Ask your hyungs!"
"Oh no fair," he pouted. "It's only going to be '97 liners there."
"Eh? Then why did you invite me!?" Jisoo said with wide eyes.
"You can be an honorary '97 liner tonight," Bambam winked to which Jisoo's smile grew again. "... As long as you buy our beers."
Jisoo's short-lasting smile slid from her face again and her eyes narrowed. "Ya!! You cheeky...!" She chased Bambam through the park, to which Lisa could only watch and laugh. 

-&-

Due to Jisoo and Bambam's bickering, they arrived late and the rest of the party had already settled down in a karaoke room. When they entered, NCT's Jaehyun was belting out the chorus to Cheer Up by Twice in as high a register as he could.
Everyone else immediately burst out laughing when Lisa, Bambam and Jisoo opened the door and was startled by Jaehyun's vocals.
"Bambam, you're late!" Mingyu said, pointing an accusatory finger.
"I picked up two strays on the way here," he said, to which Jisoo punched his arm for calling her a stray. "Ouch... If any of you object, you can take it up with the scary noona." He pointed towards Jisoo who was still scowling at Bambam.
He didn't wait to listen to the '97 liners approvals of more company, before he grabbed the spare microphone and joined in with Jaehyun.
Lisa and Jisoo introduced themselves to everyone else there. Lisa was pleased to see some familiar faces, like Jungkook and Yugyeom, whom she had met during the street dance stage at Gayo Daejun.
Jisoo chose the next song to sing with Mingyu, and chose G Dragon's Crooked. Their light hearted attempt, their crazy dancing and the return of rapper Jisoo, aka. Jisoo Minaj, instantly broke the ice and had everyone clutching their stomachs in mirth.
When they had finished their duet, Jisoo handed the microphone over to Lisa and Mingyu did the same to Jungkook, determining the next pairing.
"What are you singing, kids?" Bambam asked, grabbing the controller up from the table.
"Do Ending Scene for Lisa," Jisoo shouted out.
"Ah, Jungkook also loves that song," Jaehyun said, with a disgusted look. "Who sings ballads at karaoke?"
Lisa guffawed, ready to defend ballads with her life, but Jungkook got there first.
"Don't insult IU in front of me, bro! Ballads are the best at karaoke."
Lisa was shocked that he shared her opinion and smacked his arm lightly. "Yah, ballads really are superior, aren't they!"
This was a point of contention between Jisoo and her, so she was glad that someone was finally taking her side.
Lisa started off the first verse, her voice slightly shaky to begin with. She had never been a confident singer but she soon got so into the song that she forgot that she was singing in front of people.
She had even closed her eyes without realising while singing her verse and opened them to find Jungkook staring at her, his eyes a little glazed and his mouth slightly open.
"What?" she asked at him into the microphone, the blunt question echoing around the room.
No one else seemed to notice his strange behaviour, but Yugyeom reached out a foot to kick Jungkook behind the knee. "Yo, Jeon Jungkook, pay attention. You're missing your verse!"
Jungkook snapped back to reality and started singing, his voice as clear and smooth as how it sounded on his records. When she had first heard BTS, she had fallen in love with his voice and that's how she had become such a huge fan of both the band and of Jungkook.
They sang the chorus together, Lisa confidently providing harmony for Jungkook's mesmerising vocals. Everyone else was also getting involved and swaying their arms along to the slow beat, Bambam jokingly wiping a tear away from his eyes.
Lisa and Jungkook ended the song facing each other theatrically, gazing into each other's eyes, like those corny stage duets.
The others whooped and cheered for them.
"Thank you, thank you," Lisa and Jungkook both said, bowing and curtseying along with the act.
"Okay," Jisoo said clapping her hands, "now we need a song to bring everyone's mood back up. A dance song!"
They each shamelessly picked their own group's songs in the next rounds and sang and danced along even if they didn't have a microphone.
Jisoo, wanting to cement herself as the coolest noona, bought everyone underaged there a beer, but limited them to having just one.
"Oh, I love this song so much," Lisa said as BTS's Blood, Sweat and Tears came on. Bambam and Yugyeom both had the microphones and were butchering the song to Jungkook's vast amusement. At the chorus, she jumped up from her seat before doing the iconic body roll on the floor that was part of the choreography. When she got back up, seeing everyone's silent stunned faces made her burst out in laughter.
They continued to sing and dance, and on the second chorus, all the guys got up to do the body roll too, with Jungkook leading the pack. Jisoo wisely did a standing body roll to avoid exposing herself in her skirt.
When they had all finally calmed down again, Jungkook sat down beside Lisa, regaining his breath.
"Ah, it's so hot now," Jungkook said, as he pulled his black hooded sweatshirt over his head. His black t-shirt underneath rode up slightly and Lisa gulped as she saw a slice of pale, toned skin. He shook his hair out when he got his sweatshirt over his head and Lisa's mouth turned dry.
She mentally shook herself out of it and plucked at the sleeve of his t-shirt. "Do you always look like you're heading to a funeral?"
"My favourite colour is black," was his only explanation.
"Do you own anything that isn't black?"
He thought for a second, and then shook his head. "I don't think so."
She rolled her eyes but smiled to say she was just teasing him. She didn't really care about judging his choices. "Okay, goth boy. I get it, you're really edgy."
"What about you? Is your favourite colour red?" He was referring to her new hair colour and let her know it by sliding a finger through a tendril tucked behind her ear. She almost shivered at the contact, but he pulled his hand away in the next second.
"I'm not that simple minded." She stuck out her tongue and winked at him after her insult. "My favourite colour is yellow. It makes me feel happy whenever I see it."
He simply raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "That sounds simple-minded to me."
"Oh shut it," she said back in retaliation.
"I'm just kidding. It's actually very cute," he admitted, watching her as he managed to make her blush... yet again.
The room suddenly felt a lot hotter and Lisa had to discretely adjust the scarf she hadn't yet taken off. 
"We're out of ice!" Bambam shouted from across the room. It was like a signal from heaven for Lisa, who shot out of her seat and raised her hand like an eager student.
"I'll go!" she grabbed the ice bucket and hastily made her way to exit the room. However, she wasn't in the clear yet when Jungkook also rose and casually announced that he would go too. 
He caught up to her quickly in the corridor and snatched the metal ice bucket from her arms in one smooth motion, an act of quiet chivalry that surprised Lisa.
"Aren't you hot in that?" Jungkook asked, gesturing to the beige scarf knotted around her neck.
She startled a little at the sudden diversion but turned her head to face him in her reply. "I'm still not used to the cold of winter in Korea."
"Is Thailand hot all year round?"
"Yeah, pretty much. The coldest it ever gets is around 27 degrees..."
"Oh, I'm jealous!" he exclaimed with a grin. "I hate cold winters."
"Right?! I never want to get out of bed when it's this cold."
"You must miss your home a lot." 
"I do, but Korea has become a home for me too," she said wistfully. "I just wish my family was closer. Although my mom would hate this weather too. What about you? Do you get to see your family a lot?"
"They're back in Busan, but they're always supporting me at our concerts." He grinned in reminiscence. "Seeing my dad waving our light stick around and shouting out the fan chants at the top of his lungs is a sight that I never thought I would see."
"Is your dad strict?"
"Well, he's... hard to impress to put it lightly."
"Mine too, he can be so stoic-faced," she laughed with him. "But your dad must be so proud of his son. Papa Jeon, turns out your son can be a gentleman when he wants to be," she added quietly, referring to the ice bucket he had opted to carry. 
Before Jungkook could get over his pleasant shock at Lisa's admission, Lisa ran up ahead to the lobby, completely by-passing the ice machine they had come for. 
"A claw machine!" she squealed, looking through the glass pane to see the prizes. They were key chains with little kitten plushies attached to them. "Oh my god, these are so cute!" Her voice had reached to an octave higher that made Jungkook smirk amusedly as he strolled over. 
Lisa didn't hesitate to reach into her pocket for a coin to play. She took the joy stick control confidently and manoeuvred the claw over a cat that had large animated eyes, a soft, felt tongue sticking out of its mouth and holding an ice cream cone between its paws. She slammed on the button eagerly to lower the claw, and it seemed to grab onto its target. Lisa waited with bated breath as the claw rose with the kitten in its grip. However, half-way up the kitten jostled out of the grip and fell back down into the pool of other kitties.
"Arghh," she cried out frustratedly. She dug into her pocket for more coins to have another go, only to fail spectacularly on the second round too. 
She was going to go for a third round, but her pockets didn't produce any more money. "I'm all out," she harrumphed with a disappointed pout on her face. She suddenly remembered the boy standing next to her and mischievously looked up at him with her best impression of puppy eyes. 
"Jungkook-ah~" she sang sweetly. "Do you happen to have any money on you?"
Jungkook stared down at her, unimpressed. "You want this key chain so badly?" 
"Of course! It's a kitten, who wouldn't?" she quickly replied with fire burning in her eyes.
He sighed and eventually his hands dug into his pant pockets to fetch out a coin. However, he didn't place the coin into her awaiting hands, and instead slotted it into the machine himself. With the ice bucket tucked under his arm, he got to work on the joy stick, moving the claw above the ice cream kitten that Lisa had originally picked out. With an ease that would take even professional gamers years to master, his control of the claw swooped up the kitten and deposited it neatly into the output area. 
Lisa could only stand and silently admire Jungkook's skills, and even when he bent to pick up the prize, she still couldn't lift her jaw from the floor. "Whoa, you must be like Jennie-unnie when you keep winning games!" 
He shrugged nonchalantly, as if he was used to being this lucky in life all the time. "That was easier than I expected. You must suck at games if I managed to win on the first go."
She wanted to object strongly but she kept her lips sealed when he dangled the toy in front of her face - he had after all won it for her and it wouldn't do to seem so ungrateful. 
"And this is for you-"
Lisa held her palms out longingly, as if she was acting out a scene from Oliver. However, when she expected the plushie to be deposited into her awaiting hands, Jungkook instead dumped the empty ice bucket into them.
She stared in disbelief at it, unable to move even as he started to saunter away. He called behind his shoulder, "Come on, fill that up and we can get back to everyone." To add insult to injury, she could even see him tossing the little keychain kitty high up into the air carelessly and catching it in one hand.
She couldn't believe that only moments before she had called him a gentleman! She would definitely have to get him back for that one!