No Strings Attached

three

She managed to muster a smile at him, which came out more as a grimace, when he pulled back. "Thank you. I really needed that." She told him sincerely and he smiled at her.

"Did anyone ever told you that you look beautiful when you smile?" He asked her, causing her to roll her eyes playfully.

"A bunch of times.." She replied.

The only person who had ever told her that was Jongin and that was mostly when he was teasing her. Jennie's gummy smile was one thing she was really insecure about and covering her mouth with her hand when she laughed out loud had become a habit to her. One night while she was laughing at something Jongin told her, he had come to notice her strange habit and confronted her about it leading to her confessing to him about her insecurity. He had then proceeded to tell her that he in fact loved her gummy smile and her teeth reminded him of a baby who was teething which caused her to smack his arm and not speak to him for two whole hours. But she ended up forgiving him, she always did.

Jennie smiled fondly at the memory before springing back to reality where Taeyong was asking her if she was ready to order. She smiled at him once more and nodded her head, causing him to signal the waiter to come over.

Taeyong was actually a fairly easy guy to get along with when you get past his initial awkwardness. He was shy and determined just like Jennie and considered the NCT members like his brothers and wished nothing but the best for them much like Jennie thought of Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé . They were more alike than they had thought and once they had finished eating and Taeyong was done paying, much to a pouting Jennie's dismay as she sat down sulking after he thwarted all her attempts to reach for the bill, he offered to drive her back to the dorm and she agreed.

They exited through the emergency exit of the restaurant and walked down a secluded alley where Taeyong had parked his car, a black Volvo with dark tinted windows to blend in and avoid any unnecessary attention. The car ride to her her dorm was a peaceful one as they both elapsed in comfortable silence with just the sound of Taeyong's playlist surrounding them.

He was just pulling into the basement of her apartment building when she got a text from Jisoo telling her to come up to the rooftop.

That's weird, Jennie thought to herself but then shook the feeling of suspicion off as she leaned into hug Taeyong goodbye after he promised her that he'd hang out with her again. As friends, ofcourse.

Jennie checked the basement for any invasive neighbours or stray cameras before stepping out of the car and waving him goodbye as he drove away. She then got into the elevator and hit the rooftop button curious as to why Jisoo called her there at this time of the night.

The rooftop was a place the residents of the building didn't frequent that often but Jennie found herself there from time to time just to clear her head. It offered a gorgeous view of the Han River and the sprawling buildings surrounding it.

She played with the ends of her hair as the elevator rose to its destination and the ping of the bell alerted Jennie that she had reached.

She stepped out of the elevator and into the cool night breeze of the roof, wrapping her arms around herself, expecting to see Jisoo there but the view her eyes landed on took her breath away.

The usually dark rooftop was now covered in fairy lights, thousands of them glimmering like fireflies against the night sky. There were small arrangements of daisies, her favorite flowers, everywhere and a table in the center of the roof with a large circular cake on it that read in an almost unreadable font 'I'm sorry'.

But that's not what took her breath away. Instead, it was the man who stood with his back to her, not realizing that she had already arrived. Even with his back to her Jennie could easily recognize that raven undercut and those firm shoulders anywhere. He was dressed down in black jeans and a white t-shirt. Just the way she liked him best.