Bold - Sound
Italics - English dialogue

Knock!
Knock!
Knock!

Jiyoung looked in the direction of the door to the practice room when she heard the knocks. She found it strange because, with the exception of the other Stray Kids members, no one usually came to see Dance Racha during a Dance Racha rehearsal.

"That's odd," Felix stated. "None of the members usually knock when they walk in the room."

Hyunjin looked at the sub-unit's maknae. "Unless it's not one of the members."

"Do you want me to get the door, noona?" Minho asked.

The eldest of the quartet shook her head. "It's okay, Minho. I'll answer the door."

Jiyoung made her way across the room, her eyes widening slightly when she opened the door. It was clear to the other three boys that Jiyoung wasn't expecting to see their surprise visitor. Minho's posture stiffened a bit, crossing his arms over his chest while glancing at the person standing in front of Jiyoung.

"Moonbin sunbaenim." Jiyoung greeted with a bow towards the ASTRO member. Even though the male was younger than her by a year, he debuted before her, thus becoming her senior.

"Aish, noona, please don't address me like that." Moonbin said with his signature eye smile. "Just call me Moonbin, please."

"Of course, Moonbin," Jiyoung stated with a shy smile on her face. "Not that I don't enjoy a good surprise visit every now and then... but may I please ask why you're here? You don't usually come out to the company building."

The younger male continued to smile at Jiyoung. "I know; I just came from your dorm, actually. Chan hyung said you'd be here." Moonbin then turned his attention to the other members in the room.

"If it's okay with you three, I'd like to talk to Jiyoung noona about something in private. I won't keep her too long — I know how busy you must be."

Minho, Hyunjin, and Felix looked at each other for a few moments, before turning their attention back to their noona and sunbae with a nod of their heads.

"We don't mind, sunbaenim. We'll just review some of the choreography we've already done while you two talk." Hyunjin spoke up.

Jiyoung looked at her dongsaengs. "Are you sure, boys?"

Minho sent her a small smile, even though his heart was undoubtedly breaking inside. "Of course we're sure, noona. It sounds like whatever Moonbin sunbaenim has to tell you is pretty important to him."

Jiyoung let her gaze linger on Minho for a brief second before turning around to face Moonbin again.

"Shall we step outside?"

Moonbin beamed as he held the door open. "After you, m'lady."

After Jiyoung stepped out of the room, Moonbin closed the door behind him and exhaled deeply. He ran a hand through his hair, attempting to keep his nerves at bay.

Jiyoung could sense that the younger was nervous, and she began to grow worried for him. "Are you okay, Moonbin-ah? Is something wrong?"

Moonbin chuckled softly, meeting her eyes. They were dark, but also warm and soft. Looking into her eyes made him relax a bit.

"I'm okay, noona. There's nothing wrong with me. I just have something I'd like to ask you."

"You can ask me anything, Moonbin. Surely, you know that," Jiyoung told him.

"Believe me, noona, I know." Moonbin said with a breathy laugh.

"Over the last few weeks, I've been trying to muster up the courage to tell you something, and I've always chickened out at the last minute. But not this time."

Jiyoung reached over to grab Moonbin's hand, squeezing it gently. She was ready to listen to whatever he had to say.

"Jiyoung noona, I really, really, really like you — and I like you in a way that's more than friends. I've liked you for a few years now, and I know that you weren't allowed to have any relationships for the past few years due to the dating ban that your company has in place. But I told myself that I would wait until the moment was right, and I just knew that right now is my moment. You don't know how long I've been waiting for this, and now I finally get to ask you the question that I've been dying to ask you for years. Park Jiyoung... will you please go on a date with me?"

To say the least, Jiyoung was shocked by the younger's words. Moonbin had been waiting for Stray Kids' dating ban to be lifted so he could ask her on a date? And he'd been crushing on her for years?

She felt her heart skip a few beats and her cheeks turned pink with blush.

Moonbin's hopeful look started to disappear, afraid that he had ruined his chance of getting a date with his crush. He let go of Jiyoung's hand and hung his head down, prepared for the rejection and heartbreak he had expected to follow his confession.

What he didn't expect was for Jiyoung's hands to cup his face, forcing him to stare into the pair of eyes he adored so much.

Jiyoung had a bright smile on her face, rubbing her thumbs along Moonbin's cheeks.

"Moon Bin... I would love to go on a date with you."

In that moment, Moonbin felt his heart swell with joy and happiness. He broke out into the biggest smile, his eyes turning into crescents.

Feeling overwhelmed with excitement, Moonbin held onto Jiyoung's waist and hoisted her up a few inches off the floor, spinning her around in his arms. His heart fluttered when Jiyoung let out a melodious giggle.

"Bin!" She squealed.

When she was set down on her feet, Jiyoung was going to say something, but she was cut off when something crashed onto her lips.

Moonbin's lips.

It took her a second to realize that Moonbin was kissing her.

Moon Bin was giving Park Jiyoung her very first kiss.

It was full of excitement, but it was also very gentle; almost as if Moonbin was afraid that Jiyoung would break at the slightest touch.

When the kiss ended, both Moonbin and Jiyoung were blushing a dark shade of red.

"I'll, um, I'll text you about the details for the date soon?" Moonbin asked, bringing Jiyoung out of her thoughts.

Gazing into his eyes, Jiyoung gave Moonbin a nod. "Sounds great."

Moonbin gave her a hug, signifying that he was about to leave. After they pulled apart from their hug, he gave Jiyoung a wink.

"I'll see you later."

"Yeah. S-See you later." Jiyoung stuttered out with a shy wave as Moonbin walked away.

It wasn't until after Moonbin had disappeared from her line of sight that Jiyoung realized something very important.

"Moon Bin was my first kiss."

Published: 6/04/2023

1135 words