"Oh, please no." Jia groaned, glancing wearily at the bold red satin dress.

"Why not? It's body hugging, and you'll look sexy in it." Said Mina.

"Okay, first of all, your clothes don't even fit me. Second, I can't pull off stuff like you, Min. I'll just end up embarrassing myself in front of him. Third, I don't want to look 'sexy'. She replied adamantly.

"Nonsense!" Mina said dismissively. "Just go try it on." No amount of persuasion worked on Jia. Exasperated, Mina pulled out a pencil skirt from her wardrobe. "How about this one?"

"NO. ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOT." Said an enraged Jia. Mina slightly jumped at the sudden outburst. "Last thing I want is another ripped skirt incident." She continued crossly.

"Okay, okay, fine! No pencil skirts. Got it." Said Mina, hastily shoving the skirt away and out of Jia's sight.

The two girls sat across from each other on the bed with a pile of clothes between them. They'd been inside Mina's bedroom for the past one hour, trying to come up with an outfit for their evening out. Of course, after the horrible incident at the party, Jia had already made up her mind to wear her own comfortable clothes. But she decided to keep that to herself because she knew there was no point protesting. For now, she decided to stall her friend until she got bored of pulling random clothes from her cupboard. Nevertheless, Jia was in a good mood. She had spent the whole morning at Mina's place, blasting SHINee albums on the speakers and doing weird dances. Later on, they'd ordered in food and had watched random bits of dramas on TV.

As far as she was concerned, the talk with Yoongi had gone really well. Although Jungkook's advice on 'taking things out' had seemed good at the time, when it came to actuality, Jia felt really awkward bringing it up. Burying it all in the past, neither of them had explicitly touched upon the topic of the incident. But to her relief, they'd both agreed that it felt weird to not talk to each other for that long. They had walked to a nearby park and had simply sat on a bench, chatting enough to reassure Jia that things were okay. She had then mustered up enough courage to ask him out for a movie, to which he gladly said yes.

As usual, Mina seemed keener about the date than Jia herself. After a thorough thought process, she had come up with a strategy: "You're gonna look so good that he's going to forget that fight ever happened." Jia had to admit that it was hard to argue with that logic, but she knew herself all too well to know that she wouldn't be able to pull that off. Predictably so, Mina had taken it upon herself to prep Jia for the day. She even offered to subtly accompany them with Namjoon. Jia vehemently disagreed with it but that didn't stop Mina. She argued that she'd never seen them together and just wanted to see them, at least from afar. When Jia pointed out that it sounded creepy, Mina had pretended not to hear it.

"Okay I give up. I can't think of any other outfits." Mina said sullenly.

Smiling smugly to herself, Jia took the opportunity to steer the spotlight away from her. "We've looked enough. Let's find one for you now!" Hastily pulling out the clothes that had been previously discarded, Jia brandished them back like a tele-salesperson. Thankfully enough, Mina bought into it.

***

"Let me see." Mina said, turning Jia to look at her. "Perfect. You look super pretty!"

Jia turned back to the mirror uncertainly. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. In fact, given her constant nagging, Mina seemed to do a pretty good job. Being new to wearing make-up, the eyeshadow seemed like an overkill even though Mina assured her that it was blended in. The sensation of wearing new products on her face other than the usual eyeliner and lipstick felt alien to her as well. But, the more she looked at herself, the more she felt like she could get on board with it.

"Hey loser, your boyfriend is here to pick you up." Quipped Mina's younger brother, standing by the bedroom door.

Mina pretended not to notice his existence and continued to scrutinize Jia for any further adjustments. He lingered by the door, watching them.

"I heard you. You can buzz off now." Mina snapped.

He stuck his tongue out at her and obstinately remained standing. Observing their actions for a while, he cautiously stepped in, looking at Jia through the mirror. "Are you going on a date as well?" He asked, addressing her.

"That's none of your business. If you don't get out of my room, I will kick you." Mina replied, moving away to get her bag. That didn't seem to bother him whatsoever.

"Yeah, sort of." Replied Jia awkwardly.

"You look good." He nodded, walking out before an irritated Mina could shoo him away.

"Aw thanks, Minhyuk." She smiled back warmly, her self-confidence boosting a little at the compliment. "That was so sweet of him." Jia said, shrugging at Mina.

"It's a once-in-a-blue-moon miracle." She grunted.

Being an only child, Jia found their squabbles hilarious. Especially when they fought over the most trivial things. But as far as she was concerned, he was kind to her.

"Your brother still hates me." Said a dismayed Namjoon as they stepped out of the house. She watched as he exhaled, his breath visibly condensing into thin white fog. The city had been swept with the chill of December air and Jia tugged her coat closer to keep herself warm.

"Don't worry, he's just being a bitch. He won't show it, but he secretly thinks you're too cool for him. He's intimidated by you." Mina assured, kissing his cheeks gently.

"How can you know?" he asked unconvinced.

"Because I've lived with him for the past fourteen years." She pointed out dismissively. "Anyway, which movie are we watching, again?"

"Real Steel!" he replied, suddenly enthusiastic.

"Is it any good?" Jia asked, as they boarded the bus to the mall.

"The reviews seemed nice, but most importantly, it has robots!" he smiled cheerfully.

"Oh great, another robot movie." Mina muttered quietly to Jia before turning back to listen to him excitedly rant about robots for the rest of the ride.

By the time they arrived at the multiplex, they were fairly worried about being late. Namjoon rushed to the ticket counter and got four tickets. Yoongi had agreed to meet her by the spot ten minutes before the show, but she couldn't find him anywhere around. Tapping her foot impatiently, she rang him up but there seemed to be no response. She tried a couple more times but they were all left unanswered.

"He's not picking up." Said Jia worriedly.

"He's probably driving." Mina offered.

"We saw the traffic. It was horrible. He probably just got stuck." Namjoon nodded.

"You guys go on in. I don't want you to miss the beginning." Jia urged. "I'll wait for him and join you once he gets back."

"Nonsense!" Mina argued. "We'll wait with you. I'm sure he'll be here in a couple of minutes."

They waited for a while but there was still no sign of Yoongi. Feeling guilty for delaying the others, Jia insisted they go in. The two seemed hesitant and kept exchanging looks, but soon caved in under her push. With her phone in hand, Jia decided to wait for him by a vacant corner. She glanced at her phone from time to time anticipating a text or a call, but it seemed stubbornly silent. The more she waited, the more anxious she became. "What if something bad happened to him?"

Shooing off the negative thoughts, she got herself a warm cup of coffee to calm down. She got frequent texts from Mina, checking to see if he was there yet, but she got none from Yoongi. By the time she finished her drink, she knew it was way beyond the time that they were supposed to meet. The drink was perhaps a bad idea because the caffeine made her more nervous. She checked her watch again and flipped open her phone for the millionth time. Choosing to try her luck, she dialled his number and listened to the repeated ring. Just as she was about to give up hope, he suddenly answered the line.

Surprised at finally being answered, Jia fumbled to speak. "Oh! Wow, yeah. Hi. Phew. Thank goodness."

"Jia? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. Are you okay? Is everything alright?" She asked, concerned.

"Yeah...?" He answered with uncertainty. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Jia furrowed her brows. They were going in circles and she was starting to get confused. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where are you?"

"I uh... I'm Home." He answered. "What's up?"

This made her even more confused. "You're not here yet? You're still at home?"

"Here where?" He asked, confused. But before she could answer, she heard him groan. "Fuck, the movie!"

Jia was unsure of what to say.

"I'm sorry Jia, something came up and I- uh..."

"Oh."

"I don't know what to say. Are you there already?" he asked.

"Yeah..."

"Are you alone? What time is it?"

"I'm with Mina and Namjoon." She replied quickly.

"Oh. That's great! I'm relieved."

She remained silent.

"Uh so..." He continued awkwardly.

"Yeah, it's cool. I understand." Jia said quietly.

"Yeah."

"I have to get going now. I'll talk to you later. Bye." She said and hung up the phone. Her hands were shaking a little and her eyes felt threateningly moist. She took a few deep breaths and texted Mina that she was going to take off. She definitely did not want to watch the movie. Even if she did, she doubted they'd even let her in halfway through. Soon enough, she got a call from Mina.

"What do you mean you're going to take off? Where's Yoongi?" Mina asked, the moment she answered.

"He said he couldn't make it." Jia replied timidly.

"What? Why?!"

"I don't know Min. He didn't...I think he forgot." A tiny sob escaped her lips but she forced herself to regain her composure.

"He what?!" Mina asked in disbelief, her voice competing against the noises in the background. "That's just... that's so... ugh!" She finished. "You're still in the mall, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Stay right there. We'll come out now."

"NO!" Jia refused stubbornly. "I won't have you drop the movie mid-way for me. Namjoon was way too excited about it and I don't want to be the reason he misses out on it." She answered sternly. The last thing she wanted was to be an inconvenience.

"Don't be stupid, Jia. We're coming."

"Mina, I swear to god. If you come out right now, I will end my friendship with you. You hear me? I really really don't want you to do that, okay? I can go home by myself. I am not a child. I can take care of myself. I'm telling you, do NOT come out. If I see you, it is over between us-"

"Jia, calm down. We don't mind-"

"No, you listen to me!" Jia raised her voice out in frustration. "I feel terrible as it is. If you come out now, I'll feel much more horrible and I really don't want to go through that. Mina, please." The pain in her throat from suppressing the sob worsened with the yelling.

"Okay. Okay. Relax. I won't come out. Just calm down." Jia heard her say. "Can you wait for a minute? Just one minute. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah okay." Jia replied, suddenly embarrassed at herself. She waited on the line for a couple of minutes and listened to the uncoherent dialogues and music from the movie playing in the background.

"Jia, are you still there?" Mina spoke after a while.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Okay so, Jungkook will come pick you up in about ten minutes." Mina announced. Jia was in disbelief. But before she could protest, Mina cut her in. "Before you say no, hear me out. It's way too late for you to take the bus alone. I just can't let you do that. He's out anyway and was just around the other junction. So, you're not technically troubling him, okay? He said he'd call you now."

"But Mina, I can-" she began.

"No. It's either this, or we come out. You choose." Mina cut in adamantly.

Seeing that she didn't have much choice, she kept quiet. Seconds after she hung up, Jia immediately received a call from Jungkook. She tried protesting with him but he seemed not to hear any of it. By the time she got tired of appealing to him, he pointed out that he was already in the parking lot.

"Which floor are you on?" he asked her.

"Third. By the movies, but just give me a second, I'll come down." She said, making her way towards the elevators.

"Nope, head over to the Adidas store on the second instead. I'll be there in a minute."

The crowd by the elevator seemed high and she absentmindedly waited for her turn. Her mind was inevitably replaying the conversation with Yoongi. There was no denying that she felt sad. She had looked forward to it, especially since she was eager to patch up the little gap between them. The part that confused her the most was how nonchalant he seemed. It wasn't like they'd set the date and never talked about it. They'd even talked about it that afternoon when she confirmed the movie timings. Then how was it that he forgot in only a matter of a few hours? Was she that unimportant? She took in the possibility of an emergency. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but no matter how much she thought through, he did not sound like someone in the middle of an unexpected crisis. If he did, he'd let her know that he had a genuine reason for cancelling on her. She wasn't asking for details but the fact that he seemed so aloof naturally got her thinking the worst. What if he cancelled on purpose? "What if he's still mad at me about last time?" The growing realisation that it was her own fault that got her here vexed her. Not to mention, it got her thinking about their relationship as a whole. What if they break-up over this? All because she seemed too scared to commit.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't even realise that she'd passed the store. Unwillingly getting back into reality, she looked back to see how far she'd come. Sure enough, some considerable distance away, Jungkook stood by the store, watching her. Swearing to herself, she retraced her steps.

"Hey." She said, trying to play it cool.

"Hi." He replied, clearly still observing her.

"Jungkook, I really appreciate you coming all the way here when you didn't have to. I'm really sorry they made you do this." She said apologetically.

"Actually," he said, turning around and entering the store. "I was already on my way here. My track shoes are crap and I wanted new ones." He walked towards the section specifically designed for sports. "So, you're welcome. But I'm not actually here for you. You're just an additional errand."

"Ouch. Thanks man, that helps." She showed a thumbs up but he was already too distracted by the display of colourful shoes.

"Whoa, that one's a real beauty." He said, his eyes glued to a pair of neon-green shoes. He took it off the stand and analysed every inch of it closely. Seeing that he was interested, an employee came over to them and talked about its different features and showed them over several other variants.

They spent the next half hour, trying to pick the perfect shoe for him. Jia felt like a topsy-turvy version of Prince Charming, picking out shoes and anticipating to see if it was the one.

"Okay, so this one's really light." He said taking a shoe off. "But this one's lighter and more comfortable." He said pointing to a blue one.

"We have a winner?" Jia asked wearily.

"But its way more expensive." He pointed out.

"He said there's a 15% discount today." Jia counter-argued. "And you need to get whichever one that'll help you win that race."

"Hmm you're right. But I don't know." He said, looking at it longingly.

"Yes, you do! This is the perfect one! You need this. You deserve this." Jia said, mustering up enough energy to give him the validation that he desperately needed. Thankfully for her, it worked and they walked out the store with the brand-new pair in hand.

"Do you have more errands?" Jia folded her hands and looked down at her pretty slippers. She had been excited about dressing up to meet Yoongi, but without him to appreciate it, it somehow felt redundant.

"Yeah, but before that. What exactly happened today?" He asked her cautiously.

Jia considered lying but she figured he'd hear it from the others anyway. She reckoned it would be less embarrassing to get it over with than have others narrate the story from their perspective. "The four of us were supposed to watch a movie together but Yoongi forgot to show up. They were already in, so I told them not to get out mid-way."

Jungkook gasped audibly. "Yoongi forgot?!"

"Yeah yeah, you told me so, you don't trust him, he's horrible blah blah blah. I'm really not in the mood for your lecture right now, so can we get over with your errands and go home please?" She sighed.

He remained quiet, walking side by side. "Are you sad?" he asked her quietly.

"What kind of a question is that?" Jia scoffed. She kept her eyes trained on the floor and apologised quietly for snapping at him. "Of course, I'm sad. I even put on make-up. And for what?" She sighed again. "Look, Jungkook. I really appreciate you checking up on me but I really don't want to talk about this right now." She was fighting to hold back tears again. "Can we just go home now?"

"I'm really hungry. You wanna grab a bite?" He said, ignoring her. "There's this fancy Italian restaurant upstairs. Come on, let's give it a go."

The thought of good food did seem more appealing than sulking around hungry at home, and the moment she had a bite of their famed pasta, she knew she made the right choice. Although over-priced, the ambiance of the restaurant vastly improved Jia's mood. The pretty fairy lights, the wall paintings and pretending to be all fancy kept her well-distracted. They took pictures of the food and of each other. Having a skilled photographer for a friend proved useful and Jia admired Jungkook's skills despite his insistence that he could've done better if it weren't for the phone's shabby camera.

They left the restaurant with plenty of room left for dessert. They mulled over their best choices and decided to each get different flavours of ice cream so as to try out both. As she nibbled on her dessert, Jia gazed around the entirety of the mall which was covered in shiny Christmas decors of red, green and gold. The holiday being right around the corner, the atmosphere was bright with festive cheer. High on the dessert sugar, they practically skipped towards the arcade and tried out a bunch of games. A few games in, Jia gave up after she realised that she would never be able to beat him.

"Jungkook, if we don't go now, my mom will skin me alive." She said, impatiently tugging at his sleeves.

"Just one more round and I'm sure I can beat the high score." He replied, not taking his eyes off of the basketball hoop.

"We'll come back again some other day; I promise. But we need to leave now." She begged.

"Fine." He muttered and walked away disappointed. "Man, I really wish I could just climb up that thing and dunk the stupid ball through it."

'Beating the high score would have been a piece of cake for Yoongi.' She thought to herself as they rolled out of the parking lot in Jungkook's car. For a second, she almost cursed herself for thinking about him, bracing herself for the torrent of piled up thoughts. But for some reason, it didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. In fact, by the time they neared her neighborhood, Jia couldn't even remember why she was so upset in the first place.

"Don't forget to mail me the pictures." She said as Jungkook stopped the vehicle a few feet away from her house.

"Will do." He did a thumbs up. She thanked him for the ride and stepped away from the cosy warmth of the car and into the sharp chilliness of the winter wind.

"Oh, and one more thing." He said, rolling down the windows. "I know it's tempting, but don't bother losing sleep over stupid thoughts tonight, okay? We have physics for the first hour and you have to listen to the class so that I can sleep in peace." He said matter-of-factly.

"Got it." She smiled. She remained outside and waved at the car until it blended in with the other vehicles. Snow crunched under her feet as she walked into her house with an emotion she had least expected to feel that night: pity.

Jia pitied Yoongi for missing out on a fun night.