⥽ 　neighborhood.

@⁰² jeno l. "oh, right—" sheepishly, she scrunches her nose at him before her daintier hand meets his in a soft handshake. his overflow of flirts have her cheeks flushing slightly, the smile she dons for him widening. "i'm jimin, and please, the pleasure is all mine for sure." realizing their hands are still shaking, she abruptly retracts with an embarrassed laugh, planting it right back onto her lap. "are you usually this flirtatious or can i say i'm 'special' in a certain sense?"

@⁰² jimin y. Trying to not appear too excited, Jeno again flashed the tall girl a smile and actually taking some gulp of his water. Once he's done he turned to face the girl as he nodded his head, suddenly loving the idea of having a morning run with a beautiful girl like her. "Yes of course, I'd love to. Oops, where's my manners. I'm sorry. My name is Jeno. Its a pleasure to meet a beautiful lady like yourself." Jeno winked as he held out his hand for handshake.

@⁰² jeno l. she swears odds must be in her favor today, for when jeno comes jogging his way over with that same puppy eyed smile he'd always give her whenever they pass on similar morning routines, she finds relief in her decision to go on her workout for the day—he was exactly the person she wanted to meet. and it seems as if he had the same intentions in mind, asking her if he could be seated beside her for his own water break, and she immediately agrees, scooting slightly to grant him some room. "oh, of course," she can't help but to offer him one of her own eager smiles, perhaps looking too excited for a stranger. as she ponders over her next words, she idly takes a sip from her water bottle, taking sneaked glances at him now that he was up closer than he'd ever been. "... hey, i've seen you around here, right? like, jogging and everything. actually, i've been meaning to introduce myself because, well—" you're really cute, she finishes in thought. "i could use a jogging buddy."

@⁰² jimin y. It's just another day another morning jog for him. It's a part of his habit that he so willingly do although for today he took a different route than where he usually went. Now arriving at the familiar area, Jeno's mind couldn't help but to wonder about that one tall beautiful girl he often saw whenever he did his morning jog. At first he didn't pay any attention to her as she's just another passerby but fate seemed like love to make them crossed path often these days; almost everyday he always see her, be it her was on her drink break or they both are running in the same direction. Jeno made a mental note that if he sees her again today, he'd muster up his courage to strike some conversation with her. And just his luck, there she was, sitting down while drinking her wayer. "Must be my lucky day." he chuckled as he jogged a little faster to the bench and stopped in front of her. "Excuse me." he started "Do you mind if I take a seat here? I dont like drinking while running." Jeno gave the girl his trademark eyesmiles, while hopping the girl wouldn't reject him right away, or ran off.

@⁰² jeno l. with her airpods held snug in her ears and water bottle in her grasp, she spots it—that certain corner of the neighborhood fences that marks her rest stop. relieved, and with leisure steps of her jog, she eventually reaches with the quick rise and fall of her chest, taking a moment to catch her breath before sipping her water. carefully, her eyes do a double take around the vicinity of which she's made her stop at, but as the person she'd been looking for is nowhere to be seen, she can't help but to incredulously laugh at herself. "he's just a cute guy, are you /really/ jogging at ten am in hopes you'd see him?" she mutters beneath her breath, head shaking.

@⁰² jaemin n. @⁰¹ yizhuo n. it's not such a shameful thing to mark that he frequents this karaoke bar often; he likes music, it's pretty widely known, and when his friends aren't around to accompany him, he doesn't mind sitting alone with a drink and meeting some new people. that's what he's doing now, after his friend jaemin had informed him of his prior plans. except now, as he leans back against the bar and scans the boistering bar, he sees his aforementioned friend at a booth with a girl. he should go say hi ... but he shouldn't cause he's on a date, right? well, to be fair, jaemin had clarified that it was just a friendly meeting. alright, mark decides as he rises to his feet and makes his way over, drink in hand. "hey, jaem!"

@⁰² jaemin n. she echoes jaemin’s manners and gives the waitress a polite smile. once they’ve sat down, ning removes her outerwear to sit more comfortably in their booth, her hands cupping her cheeks to warm them from the autumn wind. “me? i like to sing but i don’t know if it’s good enough.” she shakes her head lightly. “do you sing? you look like you could be from a pop boyband.” she asks with a wide smile, before finally giving the menu some attention. “what’s good here?” she asks, with her eyes fixed on the food options, “ooh this looks so pretty!” she lifts the menu to show him a picture of an alcoholic cocktail. “i think i’ll get this.”

@⁰¹ yizhuo n. holding up two fingers to the hostess to signal how many he needed a table for, jaemin then follows the hostess who gives him friendly smile and wave to head on over to their seats. "this way~" he calls to her, taking a hold of the distracted girl's hand and leading the way. arrving at their booth, jaemin lets go of her hand, thanking the hostess as she sets down menus before them. "hmm? oh yeah, probably." he answers, realizing what she had questioned. "i think it's open mic night." he looks at her from across the table, imitating her wide-eyed doe look, out of its adorable nature. "do you sing? are you a good singer? you should sing up there—on stage." jaemin encourages eagerly.

@⁰² jaemin n. “wow…” she looks around in awe when she steps into the bar. it’s not that different from any other bars but it’s the first one she’s been to in korea, without a chaperone, and without a care for who she has to answer to when she returns to her dorm. it’s cozy with it’s dimmed lights and a little stage with a microphone in the middle of it. “will there be a performance?” she turns to jaemin, her eyes wide with curiosity, “i really like music.”

@⁰¹ yizhuo n. "that's awesome!" jaemin exclaims, giving her a double thumbs up. "if your roommate and you ever wanna come to a party or other social events, just let me know. i'll invite you guys as well." he says with a small wink. "i think you're definitely fluent. you've picked it up fast for what seems to be a short time learning it-oh we're here." he notices the outside of the bar through the window as the car rolls to a slow stop. "yeah, i like it. i like getting to see and use new products, and promoting them. the best part i'd say i like is making advertisements though." jaemin then exits the car, waiting for ning to follow. once she does, he walks to the door of the bar, holding it open for her before following her inside.

@⁰² jaemin n. “it’s nice, my roommate is great and i’ve made friends in school. it’s so fun to do everything myself!” she talks animatedly, not minding the buzzing of his phone in the middle of their conversation. “it’s okay.” she gives him a little shake of her head in assurance. “i grew up in shanghai, and my parents sent me for english classes since i was little so i guess you can say it’s my second language. i only learnt korean to come to school here, so i’m not very fluent yet.” she speaks a little slower this time, making sure she got all the right tenses and verbs in her longer speech. “mmm, do you like marketing?”

@⁰¹ yizhuo n. "nice. how are you liking it here so far?" he slides into the vehicle after her, closing the car door. he then confirms the location with the driver before returning to talk to ning. he puts his seatbelt on as well. "i'm in marketing, so i guess business." his phone vibrates again. jaemin reaches into his pocket to take it out. mark had texted him. he quickly sends a reply back before putting it away again. "sorry." jaemin tells her. "you must be good with languages, since you know korean, english and i'm guessing you also speak chinese?"

@⁰² jaemin n. “yeah, i’m new.” she answers him with a bright smile, the excitement of her new life not waning even in her interactions with people. “thank you!” she slides into the cab, silently grateful for the warmth inside the vehicle. she pulls the seatbelt over her, taking a few moments to fumble about with the buckle before clicking it into place. “how about you, what is your major?” she turns her head to give him all her attention, “i’m studying english, by the way.”

@⁰¹ yizhuo n. "sorry, hope i didn't keep you waiting too long." he says, returning her gentle embrace back. "are you a freshman here?" he asks, taking in that the girl looked more mature in person than in her photos from the dating app. she still looked younger than her said age even still, which made him think that she couldn't have been more than a 2nd year student. "no, you're fine, and you're korean is good!" feeling his phone vibrate again, he assumes it's uber letting him know that their ride is just a few meters away. spotting the car they were supposed to get into, he raises a hand to let the driver know. "that's our ride." when the car pulls up, he opens the door for ning. "after you~"

@⁰² jaemin n. she spots him from a distance and waves back enthusiastically, noting how jaemin looked a little taller than what she thought he was from his pictures on his tinder profile. “i’m good, better now that you’re here!” she steps into his arms to give him a gentle squeeze, before stepping away, grinning at him a little sheepishly. “sorry if that came out weird, i’m not very good at korean!”

@⁰¹ yizhuo n. at the buzz of his phone, jaemin looks down at his screen again, the girl he was supposed to meet texting him back that she saw him. putting his phone away, he looked around, spotting the latter in white. he recognizes her face, and he walks over to her with a big wave and grin. "hey, how's it going?" he opens his arms slightly, inviting her in for a hug. "we're gonna uber there if you don't mind."