one day

thirty-four

jaebeom looks down at the address listed on his phone, and compares it to where he is. he's at the correct location, but now he just has to find the right room. it doesn't take long thankfully, and he knocks on the door and waits. when it opens, seulgi waves happily before moving aside to allow his entry. "welcome to my studio space."

"it's nice... kind of vibes with mine."

"i did buy some led lights to change the color... but i need your help hanging my movie posters."

"you invited me here for manual labor?"

"yes and to hang out..." she laughs, "the last time i saw you... you had long hair. now you have choppy bangs... and a mullet." she runs her hands through his hair.

"yeah... i told the fans that the next time they see me i'll have a shaved head or extremely short hair."

"is that you hinting at enlistment?"

"kind of..." he shrugs, "you know that's something we haven't really talked about."

"because it's hard to talk about..."

"but is it? we've gone months without seeing each other before."

"but you weren't enlisted in the military... you were just working." seulgi complains as she watches jaebeom hang up some of the posters a bit higher than she can reach herself. "i know there's nothing that i can do about it, but it won't make me miss you any less."

"i understand that... and you're going to hate me, but whenever i do enlist, for your safety and your group's image, i don't think you should send me off."

"why? i can't say goodbye?"

"i'll still say goodbye, and we can go on a final date, but i want just my parents to drop me off." he explains, "nothing against you, in a perfect world, you would be there... but we're idols. i already know fans will probably try to sneak in... and there's the other enlisters to think about... it'll just be better for both of us if you're not there."

"fine..." seulgi pouts, and jaebeom sighs, pulling her into a hug.

"don't be mad... like i said, it's not ideal, but it's how things will have to be. i'm doing this for your safety, it's not because i don't want you there."

"it's just... this year has already been hard with the pandemic, in retrospect, we barely spend time together, and now you're talking about enlistment..."

"i'm not going to postpone this... i'd rather go when i need to than keep pushing it off. my fans will wait... this has been a shit year for got7 anyway... we've barely had three weeks of promotion. and rv... aside from the subunit, you guys have been snubbed from so many awards and basically inactive. i understand sm wants wendy to fully recover, but you all could have easily promoted a ballad, or even a christmas special, anything to get your name out there once again. the last time your group was in the news, was a scandal and rumors spread about irene."

"yeah... but it can't be helped."

"it can... our companies just don't care.... seul, come sit with me." he points over to the limited seating she has in her space and takes a seat, pulling her into his lap and hugging her tight. "i see this as a great opportunity to work on ourselves. it'll suck... because we'll miss each other, but that just means whatever time we get to spend together will be more special. in fact... jyp is finally getting bubble... maybe you can teach me how to use it so i can speak to my fans more?"

"yeah... i can." she agrees, looping her arms around his shoulders and snuggling up to him. jaebeom just sits there, sharing body heat and holding her.