002

 

____________________

 

 

Seulgi arrives at class to be greeted by the usual sight. Irene is sitting on her seat with some students surrounding her, though there is no one sitting on Seulgi’s seat now, they leave it empty for Seulgi. Stepping closer, she notices that Irene is writing something on her note, her new math textbook sprawled on her desk. The other students who are surrounding her just stay quiet as they watch Irene struggling over something.

 

Frowning slightly, Seulgi makes her way to the seat and looks down at Irene who quickly perks her head up to look at Seulgi.

 

“Seulgi-ah…” Irene whines sadly, making Seulgi flinches slightly at the unexpected reaction.

 

“W-What’s wrong?” She stammers, brows furrowing in confusion.

 

“The math homework,” Irene says, pointing at the textbook in front of her. “I can’t figure anything out, I don’t understand a thing.” She whines again, looking up to Seulgi with arched brows.

 

“Oh,” Seulgi coos, setting her bag down and sit on her seat before leaning over to look at the question Irene was pointing earlier.

 

It seems like Irene forgets about the math homework and is just reminded about it once she steps into the class. Seulgi herself already finished the homework on the same day that it was given.

 

After finishes reading the problem, Seulgi picks up a pencil from Irene’s pencil case and starts explaining.

 

“You see, this circle over here is connected to this one.” Seulgi starts, moving the tip of the pencil around the picture for better explanation. Irene leans closer to her, listening attentively. Seulgi doesn’t notice that the other students around them are also leaning closer as they listen to her explanation.

 

“So, you need to find out the length of this line, and then put it into the formula.” Seulgi says as she perks up to see Irene blinks for a few times before nodding her head lightly. Her lips curled into a small smile seeing that Irene seems to understand the problem now, and hopefully is able to solve the problem.

 

“Wait, what about this line over here then? We don’t need to count it?”

 

Seulgi perks up when Baekhyun suddenly asks, pointing at one of the lines in the picture. She looks down to the book and shakes her head lightly.

 

“No, it doesn’t have anything to do with the formula.”

 

“Then what about this one? Do we need to solve the length first?”

 

“Seulgi, this one, which formula do we use?”

 

“Can you help me? I don’t really understand how this formula works.”

 

Before Seulgi knows it, bunch of students are surrounding her seat with the math books on their hands, asking her some questions, which she obliges to answer. She has never taught so many people at once, but she finds herself oddly enjoying it despite the crowd around her desk.

 

Whenever she finishes explaining something, the other student will thank her with a smile and somehow, it makes her oddly happy.

 

“Seulgi is really smart! I really want a brain like yours.”

 

“I heard your IQ is 160, is that true?”

 

“Let’s ask the headmaster to replace Mr. Kang with Seulgi instead, she teaches better than him!”

 

Seulgi can’t really respond to all the compliments except smiling, dropping her gaze to her book since she doesn’t know how to receive so much compliments without being shy or awkward.

 

“Yah! You guys are so noisy. Look, Seulgi is unhappy about it.”

 

One of the male students suddenly exclaims and Seulgi quickly snaps her head up with wide-eyes. No, she’s not unhappy about it.

 

“No!” She blurts out, making all the students turn their heads to her and her words instantly stuck in . She opens and closes like a goldfish, trying to let the words out of , but she can’t, not when she’s being stared this much.

 

“She’s shy about it, can’t you see her face is red?”

 

Seulgi quickly turns her head to Irene who’s grinning widely. The students also turn their heads to Irene before looing back at Seulgi, making an oh face when they notice Seulgi’s reddened cheeks. Some of them start to grin or chuckle when Seulgi cups her cheeks with both hands, trying to cover the flush on her face.

 

She didn’t realize anything, but now that she thinks about it, her face indeed feels a little bit hot.

 

They then start to talk how cute Seulgi actually is, making the girl almost melts into a puddle of water on her seat until the teacher steps into the class, making the crowd around her desk dissipates as they go back to their own seat.

 

Seulgi glances over to Irene and finds the girl smiling brightly at her, and Seulgi smiles back.   

 

Since then, Seulgi often finds some students actually greet her in the morning or talk to her between classes. Some of them also come over to her desk when they’re having some difficulties in the subject, and Seulgi is more than glad to help. After the two and half years she spends in high school, for once she feels like she does exist.

 

 

____________________

 

 

 

“Do you have any plan after school?” Wendy asks cheerfully, making all the girls’ heads turn to her.

 

They’re sitting in groups again for Mrs. Lee music class, working on the singing project. Seulgi and Irene sitting next to each other with Wendy, Joy and Yeri who drag the chairs to their seats.

 

“I don’t have any plan.” Yeri hums as she continues to doodle on her Joy’s notebook.

 

“I don’t have any plan too.” Joy replies, smacking Yeri’s hand softly to stop her from doodling on her notebook, earning a pout from the younger.

 

Wendy hums before turning her head to Seulgi and Irene. “What about you two?”

 

“I—“ Seulgi trails, glancing over at the girl beside her. “I don’t really—have a plan…”

 

“I have a plan!” Irene raises her hand as if she’s answering a question from a teacher.

 

“Ahh, I was thinking about trying out a new ice cream café near the mall.” Wendy lets out a small groan before dropping her head against the desk. “Let’s try it next week then?” She suddenly lifts her head up, staring at the girls with pleading eyes.

 

“Next week is good for me.” Irene hums with a nod.

 

“What about the others?” Wendy asks, turning her head to look over the other girls.

 

Yeri and Joy nod at the same time, making Wendy turns her eyes to Seulgi, waiting for her answer. Seulgi darts her eyes around the girl before slowly nodding her head, earning a cheer from Wendy.

 

“Alright then, since we can’t go today, I’ll just have a date with my mom.” Wendy hums cheerfully as she starts to tap on her phone.

 

Seulgi and the other girls laugh at the sight and for a moment, Seulgi catches Irene’s expression for the corner of her eyes. Irene is laughing too, but something is different, her smile is not as bright as usual.

 

 

 

____________________

 

 

 

They end up going home together again, walking down the sidewalk as they listen to the songs from Seulgi’s ipod, sharing the earphones. Irene hums along the melody from the earphone before suddenly stops her step abruptly, making Seulgi glances over to her.

 

Irene is staring at the shops across the street, her eyes scanning over them, searching for something. She tilts her head and taps a finger against her chin, a rather cute gesture if Seulgi may say.

 

“What’s wrong?” She asks, making Irene snaps her eyes back to her.

 

“Um, do you know any cake stores around here?” Irene asks carefully, still tapping a finger on her chin.

 

“Oh, you want to eat cake?” Seulgi raises her brows.

 

“No, I want to buy one, for celebration.” Irene grins widely, eyes sparkling with happiness.

 

Seulgi nods her head, mouth forming an o as she recalls what Irene said about having a plan today. She’s going to celebrate something, probably a birthday or something, but Seulgi doesn’t pry further, she has never been a type of person who’s all nosy about someone’s business after all.

 

“Well, there is a big bakery few blocks from here, you want to take a look?” Seulgi says, vaguely pointing at the buildings.

 

Irene nods happily like a kid, making Seulgi chuckles at the sight before they make their way to the bakery. Both girls end up looking around all the displayed cake, pointing at the cutely decorated ones, laughing at the funny looking ones, and gaping in awe at the beautiful ones.

 

Irene even takes out her phone to take some pictures of the cake until the storekeeper clears his throat, getting the girls’ attentions. They smile sheepishly at the storekeeper before Irene decides to buy a strawberry cream cake, decorated with pink icing and strawberries on top of it.

 

They exit the store with a smile and a box of cake on Irene’s hands, until the sound of thunder grumbles in the sky. Both girls tilt their heads up to see the dark clouds above them that are covering the sun completely. Seulgi quickly reaches inside her bag, rummaging through the books to find the umbrella, if she brings one.

 

“I didn’t bring my umbrella.” She mumbles in defeat.

 

“I didn’t too.” Irene sighs softly before looking up to the sky again. “My home is not that far from here though, you want to drop by and borrow my umbrella instead?”

 

Seulgi turns to her and hesitates for a moment. She’s not really fond of the idea of borrowing something or owes something to people, but right now, she has no other choice. She darts her eyes away for a moment before looking back at Irene and nods her head.

 

Irene smiles at her before continuing to paces down the sidewalk, trying to be as fast as possible before the rain pours down. Though it’s not until a minute later when the rain pours down, hard.

 

The girls let out a yelp of surprise and immediately run, avoiding the rain. Seulgi lifts her school bag above her head to cover herself but Irene is protecting the cake instead, holding it inside her blazer and lets herself getting drenched under the heavy rain.

 

Seulgi notices Irene’s pink bra that’s seen through her wet shirt, and being a good natured person she is, she takes off her own blazer and lifts it up to cover both of them. Irene notably pauses for a second to stare at her, but Seulgi quickly snaps her off.

 

“Run! Let’s find a shelter!”

 

“No!” Irene rejects, making Seulgi furrows her brows in confusion. “Follow me Seulgi! My house!”

 

Seulgi can’t find herself letting out another word as they run to the residential area and eventually ends up in front of Irene’s house after couple of minutes of running under the rain. By the time they arrive, they’re already drenched from head to toe, the blazer obviously doesn’t help at all. Seulgi’s hair, originally tied up in a bun, is now down and wet and extremely messy, she doesn’t need a mirror to make sure about that.

 

Irene however, is still unbelievably attractive with her damp hair and droplets of water on her face, making it seems like sparkling as some of the water drips from her long lashes, and her smile, she keeps on smiling and laughing as they run that Seulgi can’t help but to laugh along.

 

Because Irene’s laugh is somehow contagious.

 

Seulgi notices a cab parked in front of Irene’s house and she briefly wonders if someone in her family called for it. Irene walks over to the front door and stops for a moment to pull out her keys before unlocking the door.

 

Once the door opened, the first thing they see is a middle-aged woman that resembles Irene a lot, she’s wearing a rather decent outfit and beside her is a big suitcase. drops open when she looks at the two drenched girls in front of her.

 

“Omo! Irene, you’re all wet.” She says, cupping her daughter’s cheek before turning to Seulgi. “You’re also wet, come in, come in.”

 

Seulgi nods her head bashfully and starts to take off her shoes but then notices that Irene isn’t moving from her stop, she’s standing with the cake box in her hands, staring at her mother with blank face.

 

“Irene, be quick, you—”

 

“Mom,” Irene cuts off, her voice soft like a whisper. “Are you—going somewhere?”

 

“Oh,” the woman looks over at the suitcase next to her. “I have to see your sister in states, she says she feels lonely these days, her college is stressing her out and I have to be there for her.”

 

“But mom, I—bought cake and…” Irene trails off as she lifts the cake box in her hands.

 

“Oh sweetie, put it in fridge and we can eat it together once I’m back okay? Just a week.”

 

“B-But mom…” Irene stutters softly and Seulgi frowns because never once she saw Irene stutters, as if she’s out of words and Irene is never out of words.

 

“Sorry sweetie, I love you okay, gotta catch the plane.” The woman pecks on the girl’s cheek before grabbing her suitcase. “You’re Irene’s friend right? Sorry, I can’t talk much with you right now, I hope you visit us again!” The woman says with a smile before stepping out of the house with her things, shutting the door closed behind her, leaving the two girls standing in the entrance, creating puddle of water on the spot they’re standing at.

 

Seulgi watches as Irene stares at the closed door, her eyes showing a flash of sadness and Seulgi has never seen Irene sad, not even once. The Irene she’s looking at right now is not the Irene she always sees in school everyday.

 

“Irene?” She calls out softly and Irene, seems to be pulled out from her trance, blinks rapidly before turning her head to Seulgi with a smile.

 

“Oh, sorry. I was just surprised that my mom left so suddenly.” Irene chuckles and Seulgi’s eyes twitch slightly from how dry it sounds. “Oh right, we’re all wet so let’s just—dry up and change our clothes, I’ll lend you mine.” Irene quickly takes off her shoes and skips to the living room, earning a suspicious stare from Seulgi but she decides not to pry.

 

Once Irene puts the cake inside her fridge, she walks to her room to grab some clothes before giving them to Seulgi whilst showing her the guest bathroom. Before she can say anything, Irene already makes her way to the other bathroom.

 

Seulgi has never taken a shower in someone’s house before, she has never even had a sleepover before, no one ever asked her before and she doesn’t find it necessary to sleep on someone’s house unless it’s emergency and she has no other choice.

 

She steps out carefully from the bathroom once she’s finished, turning her head around from behind the door to find the other girl.

 

“Irene?” She calls out, but receive no answer in return.

 

After few seconds of silence, she decides to step out of the bathroom and walks over to the living room, the only place that’s suitable for a guest like her to wait for the owner. Along the way to the living room, she notices how clean and tidy Irene’s house is, but not because it’s being cleaned everyday, it’s more like someone barely lives here.

 

There are only necessary furniture and electronics like couch, tables, chairs, kitchen, small fridge, and everything. But there aren’t any decorations, not even pictures on the wall. It’s all empty, too empty for a family house.

 

“Oh, Seulgi! I’m sorry I was drying my hair!”

 

Seulgi perks up at the voice and finds Irene scurries over to her. Irene’s hair is still not fully dry, but not as damp as earlier, she’s wearing a loose shirt and shorts, same as what Seulgi is wearing too right now. Apparently Irene likes loose clothing and shorts for her home wear, just like Seulgi.

 

“Come to my room to dry your hair.” Irene smiles, gesturing at the other girl to follow her but Seulgi shakes her head.

 

“No need, I never use the dryer, I usually let it dry naturally.” Seulgi says with a thin smile, surprisingly earns a disapproving look from Irene.

 

“No, we can’t have that. You need to dry your hair right now before you catch a cold.”

 

Before Seulgi can reply with anyting, Irene already takes a hold of her wrist and drags her over to the bedroom.

 

The only spot in the house that probably looks like someone actually live here, is Irene’s bedroom. In contrast with the spacious house, her room is full of things, a typical high school girl’s room with plushies on the bed, books on the rack, make ups on the table and a laptop. It’s rather messy compared to Seulgi’s neat bedroom, but not messy enough for Seulgi to cringe or anything.

 

Irene guides her to sit on the bed while she takes the comb and hair dryer. She hands them to Seulgi and walks to her desk, cleaning the messy table.

 

Seulgi blinks at the comb and dryer in her hands, having no idea how to use them properly. Does she need to use both of them at one? Or maybe she should comb first and then dry it? Seulgi doesn’t remember how her mother did it to her when she was too young to take care of herself.

 

Shrugging to herself, Seulgi combs her hair as usual before turning on the dryer and places it on top of her head, letting the hot air blows her root dry, or that’s how she thought it works, until Irene yelps and runs over to the bed.

 

“Don’t do it like that! You will ruin your hair!”

 

Irene snatches the dryer away and starts to dry Seulgi’s hair by her own, running her hand through the locks as she blows them dry. Seulgi stays unmoving, letting the girl dries her hair slowly, it feels extremely awkward yet comfortable.

 

“You have a really nice hair you know, why do you tie it up all the time?” Irene suddenly asks as she combs the other’s hair with her fingers.

 

“Well, it’s—getting in the way of my activities.” Seulgi says, slightly taken aback by the sudden question.

 

“You never think about cutting it shorter?”

 

“My mom likes my hair long.” Seulgi hums and notices how Irene pauses for a split second before continuing in drying her hair.

 

“That’s why you have to take care of it and show your mom how beautiful your hair is.” Irene says playfully and turns off the dryer, leaning back to admire her work on Seulgi’s hair.

 

Seulgi looks down to her own hair and takes a lock in her hand to take a good look of it. She never really pays attention to it, but maybe she does have a pretty hair, straight and shiny is considered as healthy hair, right? She perks up to the other girl and slowly takes a lock of Irene’s hair in her hand, examining it.

 

“Your hair is pretty too…” She hums absently, not noticing how Irene freezes at the action.

 

“T-Thanks!” Irene smiles brightly and stands up from the bed, letting her soft hair slips away from Seulgi’s fingers. “Oh, are you hungry, Seulgi? I made some gimbap last night, you want some?”

 

Seulgi blinks at her before nodding her head. “Sure, thanks.”   

 

Instead of eating it in the dining room, Irene brings a plate full of gimbap in her room, telling Seulgi to eat on the bed but she refuses, saying that bed is a place for sleep and they should eat on the floor instead. Irene laughs at her words but sits down on the floor anyway.

 

“The rain doesn’t seem to stop soon and it’s getting late…” Irene hums before putting a piece of gimbap into .

 

Seulgi glances over at the window to see a flash of lightly and nods her head in agreement. “Guess I’ll go home at midnight then.”

 

“Wha—no.” Irene says with a mouthful before lifting a hand, gesturing for Seulgi to wait as she swallows her food. “Sleep the night here, you can go home in the morning.” She speaks clearly after swallowing.

 

“What?” Seulgi blinks in surprise. “But it’s a bother and I already borrow your clothes and shower—“

 

“No, sleep here for the night.” Irene cuts off, but purses her lips. “But if you’re really against it then…”

 

“No, I’m not against it, just—“ Seulgi frowns, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.

 

“Then it’s okay right? Just think that you’re accompanying my sleep since I’m alone in the house tonight.” Irene smiles brightly and Seugli thinks that it’s brighter than the flash of the lighting outside.

 

Talking about her mom and being alone, Seulgi decides to ask the thought that crosses her mind.

 

“Does your mom often go out like that?”

 

Irene perks up before nodding her head as she picks another piece. “My parents are busy, my dad is living overseas and my mom just fly around from here to there.”

 

“What about your sister?”

 

“My sister is attending a college in states, she got a scholarship, amazing right?” Irene says cheerfully and Seulgi nods, wondering if she can get a scholarship too for her college.

 

They finish the dinner between talks and walk over to the kitchen to wash the dishes, still continuing their talk along.

 

Apparently, Irene has an older brother and older sister, both living overseas. Her brother is in training to inherit her father’s company while her sister is studying hard in college. Her mom is a good housewife who is willing to travel around to take care of her family. From what Irene says, Seulgi thinks that Irene has a great family, a perfect family if she may say.

 

Seulgi tells her about her own family, her little brother who is 3 years younger, her busy parents who always have their hands full, yet very demanding when it comes to school grades and manner. That’s why Seulgi ends up growing into a quiet and uptight girl like now.

 

Irene denies it though, saying that she is not uptight, she is smart and kind, which makes Seulgi blushes lamely at the compliment.

 

“By the way, the cake, what did you buy it for?”

 

Seulgi asks casually and Irene immediately freezes at the question, her expression falters completely and Seulgi wonders if she just asked the question she shouldn’t have asked.

 

“It’s for—birthday…” Irene says softly with a smile, though it looks completely strained in Seulgi’s eyes.

 

“Your mom’s birthday?”

 

“My birthday.”

 

Seulgi almost drops the plate on her hand at the answer, her brain process the words once again. My birthday.

 

So, Irene bought a cake by herself for her own birthday, and her mother just left like that, showing no hint that she remembered about her daughter’s birthday. As much busy as her parents are, they never ever miss the family’s birthdays, not even Seulgi’s and her brother’s, because birthday is supposed to be a special day.

 

“It’s not the first time.” Irene chuckles lightly, taking the plate from Seulgi’s hand to place it on the drying rack.

 

“When is your birthday?”

 

“Today.” Irene answers casually.

 

“Today??” Seulgi gapes. “You didn’t say anything at class.”

 

“What am I supposed to say? Hey today is my birthday! I can’t say that, it feels awkward.” Irene says jokingly and Seulgi honestly can’t understand how she can still laugh in this situation, when it’s obvious that she is hurting at the fact that her mother left her on her birthday.

 

Perhaps noticing the shocked expression on Seulgi’s face, Irene gives her a smile and takes her hand.

 

“It’s really okay, Seulgi. I’m okay, I’ve been growing up like this.” She smiles reassuringly but still, Seulgi can see something broken inside her eyes. She sees a lonely little girl who sleeps alone at night, a lonely little girl who celebrates her birthday alone, a lonely little girl who always smiles to cover everything underneath her facade.

 

Right now, she’s staring at the other side of Irene, her sad and lonely side which she never shows in school, the side which she always covers with her smile and jokes, the side which she always keep hidden. But Seulgi can see it all, and somehow it makes her pissed off.

 

No, she’s not pissed off with Irene. Seulgi is pissed off at her parents, her empty house, her forgotten birthday, and her wide smile that’s trying to cover her sad eyes.

 

Seulgi pulls her hand away from the other’s hold and walks over to the fridge. She ignores Irene’s call as she opens the fridge and takes out the cake carefully.

 

“Seulgi, what are you doing?” Irene asks with furrowed brows, following Seulgi as she walks to the dining table.

 

“Celebrating your birthday.” She answers casually and opens the box to take out the cake and places it in front of a seat. “Sit there, Irene.”

 

Irene, still blinking in surprise, nods her head and sits down in front of the cake, staring at the strawberries on top of it. Seulgi searches inside the box and luckily finds a pack of small candles and some matches. She places all the candles on top of the cake and lights them up one by one, ignoring Irene’s gaping expression.

 

Once she’s done, she takes a seat across Irene and closes her eyes. Irene tilts her head at the action until Seulgi opens her eyes again and claps her hand lightly as she sings quietly.

 

Saeng il chu ka ham ni da 

Saeng il chu ka ham ni da 

Ji gu e seo u ju e seo 

Je il sa rang ham ni da 

Kkot ppo da deo gop kke

 
Byeo bo da deo bal kke 

Sa ja bo da yong gam na ge 

Happy birthday to you 

 

Irene is still gaping once Seulgi finishes singing, so she quickly gestures to the cake and tells her to make a wish and blow it before the candles melt completely. Irene blinks rapidly before shutting her eyes tightly and clasps her hands together like a little kid, making Seulgi smiles at the sight.

 

Once she finishes making a wish, Irene blows out all the candles and Seulgi claps her hands along with it. Though her movement immediately comes into a halt when she notices that instead of smiling, Irene is crying.

 

Now it’s Seulgi’s turn to gape and stares in shock.

 

Irene covers with a hand and starts to sob quietly on her seat. Seulgi quickly stands up from her seat and leans forward, reaching a hand to the other girl but hesitates to touch her since she has no idea what is happening.

 

“Thank you, Seulgi…” Irene whispers hoarsely, finally looking up to her with teary eyes. “Thank you so much. Thank you for doing this for me…”

 

Seulgi gapes at the sight. She never thought that someone as cheerful as Irene would cry over such a small thing, she never thought that someone with such a cheery demeanor holds a very sensitive heart.

 

“I-Irene, it’s okay… Don’t cry…” She mutters, slowly walking over to the crying girl and tries to calm her down by patting her shoulder awkwardly. How to calm someone who’s crying? Seulgi has no idea at all.

 

To her surprise though, Irene stops sobbing and wipes the remaining tears with her hand before looking up to Seulgi, still with teary eyes, but smiles brightly.

 

“Let’s eat the cake now.” Irene smiles widely, her big eyes glistening with tears, making them look like a pair of shining jewel, and Seulgi has never seen something as beautiful as those.

 

Irene keeps on surprising her. At one second, she’s crying, but at another second, she’s smiling widely. At one time, she’s energetic and cheerful, but at other time, she’s sensitive and lonely.

 

Bae Irene, the perfect girl who is actually imperfect, just like anybody else.

 

 

____________________

 

 

 

“I’m a failure you know.”

 

Irene suddenly says after they lay on the bed, looking up to the dark ceiling that is decorated with glow-in-the-dark star stickers. They end up eating half of the cake and watch some movies before finally going to bed when the clock hits 3 am, way too late for Seulgi’s bedtime.

 

Seulgi turns her head at the words, staring at Irene who’s still smiling as she stares at the tiny stars above.

 

“What?”

 

“I am a failure.” Irene hums, turning her head to look at Seulgi.

 

“Who said that?” Seulgi asks, frowning.

 

“Myself.” Irene chuckles dryly and sighs as she looks up to the ceiling again.

 

“Why would you say that about yourself?”

 

Seulgi doesn’t understand how can Irene speaks so lowly about herself like that, when Seulgi wished to become a girl like Irene, when Seulgi was so jealous of her the first time they met, when Irene was the girl she dreamed of becoming.

 

Irene stays quiet for a while, but the smile on her face falters as she blinks.

 

“My brother and sister are amazing.” She says softly but Seulgi can hear it without difficulties since the room is so quiet. “They’re so smart, they can do anything, they’re my parents’ treasure, the children they’re proud of.”

 

“They always got the highest grade in school, they won a lot of competitions, they’re talented and everything I am not.” Irene speaks softly, staring blankly at the ceiling above them and Seulgi unconsciously shifts closer to the girl.

 

“And then I was born. Everybody thought that I’m going to be like my siblings, smart and everything. But I’m not.” Irene glances over to her. “I tried Seulgi, I tried so hard, but I can’t do it, I can’t be like them no matter how hard I try.”   

 

Seulgi gulps, still keeping her eyes on Irene.

 

“My parents seem to give up. They know I can’t be like my brother and sister, so they just—let me do what I want.” Irene sighs softly. “It’s nice though, I could play and do whatever I wanted, but then I realized that they’re no longer looking at me.”

 

“I desperately reach my hand, wanting them to look at me, at Bae Irene, their youngest daughter who has worked so hard.” Irene reaches a hand to the ceiling as if trying to reach the stars above. “But they didn’t look at me. So I tried to find something that can make them look at me, something that I’m better at compared to my siblings.”

 

“And you know what it is?” Irene drops her hand and chuckles lightly, glancing over at Seulgi before looking up again. “It’s my face and my overly friendly personality.”

 

“When we had family occasions or anything, the relatives will start by complimenting my siblings, and then they will look at me and say something like; Omo Irene, you are so beautiful, you look really pretty when you smile.” She chuckles lightly at the memories. “And then I was like, that’s it. That’s the thing I can do, be pretty and smile a lot. At least I can make my family proud with the only good traits that I have.”

 

Seulgi can feel her chest clenches, because how could they do that to Irene? How could Irene think like that about herself? Irene has so much more, not just a mere pretty face and friendly personality.

 

“But it doesn’t work that well though. Sure my parents still call me and talk to me, complimenting me and smile at me whenever I can make their guest happy with my talks.” Irene sighs softly, Seulgi has lost count of how many times does she sigh upon telling the story. “But in the end, when they have to pick between me or my siblings, they still pick them over me.”

 

Seulgi shifts closer and accidentally brushes her hand against Irene’s, but makes no movement to pull away. Irene glances over at her for a while and smiles, taking Seulgi’s hand and holds it under the blanket. It takes a second for Seulgi to wraps her fingers around the other’s soft hand.

 

“But my personality doesn’t always do good, right?” Irene raises her brows and Seulgi blinks.

 

“What do you mean?” Seulgi furrows her brows slightly.

 

“You didn’t like me, Seulgi. You didn’t like me when I just transferred here.”

 

Seulgi’s eyes widen in surprise and she quickly purses her lips, darting her eyes to the other side. Busted.

 

“It’s okay Seulgi, it’s normal for someone to dislike a certain type of people.” Irene laughs, squeezing the hand gently. “But you’re really kind, Seulgi. You didn’t do anything to harm me, you still help me, a lot. Even right now, you still do so many things for me.”

 

“I don’t dislike you now.” Seulgi says. “And your personality is not bad at all, it’s about a person’s type. Just because someone doesn’t like you, it doesn’t mean you’re the bad one. Sometimes it’s about being compatible or not.”

 

Irene turns to her, eyes widen slightly in surprise and Seulgi has to clears awkwardly before continues.

 

“I—I actually don’t get along so well with talkative person, that’s why I don’t think we’ll get along well…” Seulgi says carefully, eyeing at Irene who’s biting her lower lip.

 

“But Irene, you’re just—different. Despite my cold attitude, you still—talk to me, you still help me, stick for me, and everything.” Seulgi darts her eyes and smiles a little. “I guess I was just jealous of you.”

 

“Jealous? You?” Irene blinks incredulously. “Why?”

 

“Because you’re everything that I’m not.” Seulgi darts her eyes back to Irene. “You’re obviously pretty, and you can talk so easily with people, they stick to you immediately. I’m not like that, and I can’t be like that.”

 

Irene stares at her for a while before shaking her head and chuckles. “You’re so much better than I am, Seulgi. You have so many good things, but unaware of them. You think too low about yourself.”

 

“Then I can say the same to you, Irene.” Seulgi purses her lips and raises a brow, earning a laugh from Irene.

 

“Gosh, we’re so lame aren’t we?” Irene giggles as she shifts a little bit closer to Seulgi, their heads almost touching.

 

“Maybe we are.” Seulgi chuckles lightly before closing her eyes and lets out a content sigh.   

 

“Are you sleepy, Seulgi?” Irene asks softly and the voice sounds like a lullaby in Seulgi’s ears.

 

“Mhm…” She hums weakly.

 

“Goodnight, Seulgi.”

 

“Night, Irene...”

 

The room turns into a comfortable silence as Seulgi feels herself drifting off to sleep, barely aware at how her hand is still laced onto Irene’s under the blanket.

 

“Thank you, Seulgi. Thank you so much…”

 

Irene whispers quietly and it goes unnoticed by Seulgi who has already fallen into a deep slumber. Irene stares at her peaceful face for a while before closing her own eyes, shifting a little bit closer and presses their heads together before slowly drifting to sleep.

 

 

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A/N

I'm glad this chapter ends up pretty long just like the previous one phew I hope I can keep a constant length for each chapter! 

I sometimes show my fics to some friends and they always tell me that my girlxgirl stories are always much lighter and fluffier compared to the boyxboy ones, I don't know why though I just write the plot in my mind lol

But don't we all love fluff and cuteness between girls huehuehue ;))))) 

Anyway, please do know that english is not my first language so you might find a lot of grammatical errors and broken english, I am so sorry!

Comments, subscribes and upvotes are much appreciated, thank you so much!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy the story!

♥