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| January 22nd, Friday, 2021 |

If there's one thing Annie is able to do it's impress people with her looks when she wants to.

From the moment she arrived at the company until now, Annie had been complimented by at least eight people, within them were company workers, bandmates and male friends.

And why was she dressed up? Three words.

One month anniversary.

It felt like yesterday that she believed death was coming to get her in a very miserable way, at the gym.

 Annie wasn't a fan of romances. She didn't hate them, but they were just not her cup of tea, most of them were predictable and failed to make her excited. But now? Either dramas failed to portray a relationship the best way or she had found the perfect boyfriend – and we all believe it's the second option.

 Despite all of that, the couple was unable to have an anniversary date because of group and individual schedules. Well, at least now they didn't have to pretend to hate each other in front of their teammates.

"Oh, look who's here already!"

Remi commented with a big smile as she and Hyunjin entered the practice room.

"Hey."

Annie waved shyly since she was caught glued to her boyfriend.

"Shouldn't we leave them alone?"

The blonde asked quietly, but the couple still heard it.

"No, no! It's nearly practice time, why would you leave?"

"Should we ditch practice today?"

Minho suggested, only to get smacked on the head.

"How can you say that being the performance leader?!"

"Ouch! I just wanted to spend some time with my girlfriend on our anniversary! Don't tell me you didn't have second thoughts when you dressed up all nicely?"

He tilted his head, staring at what felt like her soul.

"You think I did this for you?! I don't dress up for men!"

Minho let out a chuckle before whispering.

"I'm not 'men', I'm your man."

Annie stood still for two seconds before literally rolling away from him.

"Oh my God!! Why are you being like this?!"

The other two, who were watching everything from afar, exchanged glances.

"Are you sure they're dating?"

"Honestly? Not really."

Shaking her head in disappointment, Remi walked over her friend to get a glass of water.

"Good afterno– Oh my, are you okay?"

Bangchan was the next to arrive, being met with the sight of a girl laying on the ground.

It's not like Annie was still affected by Minho's words, she simply was too lazy to get up.

"I am, but please tell your friend right there to stop being cheesy."

His head turned to a very innocent-looking Minho.

"Him? Why? I'd do everything to get Minho to be cheesy with me."

Annie's whole face twisted in a mix of confusion and disbelief.

"You date him, then."

The leader smiled before running to his teammate.

"Minho~ Annie told me to date you."

Said boy looked at her incredulously, and she only replied making fun of him with facial expressions.

Chan and Minho proceeded to talk with each other about who knows what, while Annie stayed on her phone, waiting for the others to arrive.

"Hey, can you come out for a second?"

The girl looked up.

"Oh, Hannie! What's up?"

She followed him outside.

"I thought a lot about what to get you, and then I figured you can't go wrong with food so..."

Han handed her a pink box.

"Huh? Thanks but...why?"

"I heard it's your one month anniversary with Lino."

"Ah."

I thought he liked me?

Is he over already?

Or is he forcing himself to?

"...you didn't have to do this..."

"I told you I was happy my friends were getting along!"

Annie smiled sadly.

"Thanks, Hannie! Do I really need to share it with him, though?"

"Not really."

The two laughed together.

"Should we put this in the fridge?"

He nodded and they walked to the artists' kitchen.

"So...what are your plans for today?"

"Uhm...we may spend some time together after group practice, but I'm not sure."

Soon enough, they were back inside the practice room, which was now filled with the missing members.

"You're late."

Jaein 'welcomed' her.

"No, no. I got here earlier with Minho, I just left for a minute with Hannie."

"Hm. How's the choreography going?"

The elder briefly glanced at her before turning to Remi.

"Uh...me and Hyune spent the past days working on it, so there's just the dance break left, but we agreed Felix, Annie and Minho would be in charge of that."

"Do you have time for that?"

"Yeah?"

Annie replied, slightly confused.

Was she trying to start a fight in front of everyone? Or just shame her for dating? Implying she was too busy dating and couldn't do her work properly?

A little hypocritical, considering Annie had just sent Jaein a track the past week.

"So! Should we get to practise?"

Chan exclaimed to brighten the mood.

"Yes! The earlier we start, the earlier we go home."

● ● ● ● ●

The two groups finished their practice around 9 p.m and each member left to do their thing, whether it was practice individually, work on songs, study, or simply go home to sleep.

Of course, there were two people who weren't doing any of that.

"I still think we should've gone to your dorm."

Minho commented when they reached the girl's studio.

"Absolutely not, I'm not making my friends third wheel. Besides, don't you want some privacy for whatever we'll be doing?"

As soon as Annie finished her sentence, a smirk appeared on her boyfriend's face.

"Stop having dirty thoughts!"

"I didn't say anything this time."

He shrugged before sitting on the couch, tapping the place next to him.

"You may not have said anything, but you clearly showed it."

"Of course I showed it, how else would you know I want you?"

"What?"

Annie's heartbeats instantly became faster, a tint of red filling her cheeks.

"You know exactly what I mean. But I'm not the type of guy who dates only for that, so..."

He reached for a small bag beside the couch.

"...I totally get it if you decide not to wear it to avoid rumours, but I really wanted to give you something for our anniversary, and I figured this would suit you."

"Oh my..."

She opened the box, discovering a silver necklace from the brand Poundcat. It had one cat laying down on one side and a little paw on the other one.

"This is so cute!! Thank you, Min. I'll use it well."

With a pout, Annie wrapped her arms around his body, giving the male a suffocating hug.

"I'm glad you like it."

He returned the hug, smiling from ear to ear.

"Hold on."

Annie pulled away and jogged to her drawer, taking out something in a purple wrapping paper.

"You didn't have to!"

"I believe I got something that won't bring any suspicion."

She laughed while he opened the package.

"Oh, Mahagrid!"

It was a pink long sleeve shirt with black writings in it.

"I love it. I'm wearing it everywhere now."

"Same with the necklace."

The two spent almost a full minute just staring at each other with smiles on their faces.

"I think I love you."

He said it first.

"I think I love you too."

She answered before leaning in for a kiss.

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author's note

♡ I'm so so sorry for the delayed chapter T-T

♡ Classes just started and I have *a lot* to do since I'm trying to be a model student lol

♡ I may go back to posting on Mondays only, but I promise I'll try my best to keep this pace (Mon & Fri)!