FIRSTLY!! BEFORE THE STORY STARTS (and i'm like a few days late but whatever) HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
may your 2017 be hella fun and you all stay safe and healthy!
now, back to the story.

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Byulyi sat meekly before two intimidating forces, both of which were glaring at her with disappointment and annoyance. Seulgi broke the silence with a crack of her knuckles and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table and chin on her intertwined fingers. “So, let me get this straight. You dragged Wendy along to a date that you weren’t invited to, she fell sick, and then you wanted to ditch? A date that you invited yourself along to?”

Byulyi nodded awkwardly, and looked at Irene for help. Since she acted as matchmaker to the couple, Irene had been nothing but friendly and supportive, and during practice she and Seulgi would always be visited by the older woman who would bear some snacks and drinks to replenish their energy. However, this time, Irene wasn’t too keen on listening to Byulyi’s point of view. Wendy had come home two nights ago looking drained and had collapsed on their shared bed without washing up. Worst of all, Irene had woken up before dawn to her whimpers as the small girl tossed and turned in bed, and it was very visible that the girl was not feeling good at all.

“Um, is Wendy okay now, though?” Byulyi ventured, and shrank when both girls glared at her. “I’m sorry,” she squeaked, and stared into her cooling cup of coffee to avoid their gazes.

“She’s still slightly sick even now, no thanks to you.” Irene sat up straighter and, though she was technically shorter than Byulyi, managed to look down her nose at the girl like how a fierce principal would glare at their misbehaving student. “How could you drag our Wendy into your petty act of jealousy? Honestly,” she huffed.

Byulyi wisely thought it was best that she keep quiet about Irene’s own acts of jealousy before she and Seulgi became a couple. “But,” she thought aloud, “I’m not, you know, jealous. There’s nothing to be jealous of Yongsun, except that she’s very pretty and sings well and-”

“Oh my gods, Byul-unnie, of course you’re not jealous of Yongsun-unnie.” Seulgi smacked her face with her palm while Irene silently rolled her eyes. Why did she have to be smart in everything except in this area, Seulgi wondered. “You’re jealous of whatever his name is, her boyfriend.”

“I’m jealous of Eric?” Byulyi shouted, causing heads to turn in the café where they were seated in. She nodded her head at the few occupied tables in sheepish apology, then turned back to hiss at the duo. “I don’t understand. Why am I jealous of him?”

Seulgi started to open to explain but stopped midway. Even if she served each obvious point on a silver platter to Byulyi, her dance partner would still not catch on, Seulgi decided. Irene leaned forward then, and asked: “Eric? As in, that sunbae in Business? Wendy’s ex-boyfriend?” She groaned inwardly; why did Wendy have to be so unlucky?

Byulyi’s eyes widened. Ex-boyfriend? She thought of the way Eric and Yongsun acted so happily together, as if they were really in love, and she winced at her unexpected tactlessness. No wonder Wendy didn’t want to, and couldn’t, stay; she would definitely have no desire whatsoever to watch what once was a person close to her turn into a stranger. “Damn,” she massaged her temples, “that was a bad move. Irene-unnie, Seulgi, please tell her I’m sorry.”

The trio sat in silence for the next few minutes while Byulyi contemplated Seulgi’s words. Irene glanced at her phone screen and nudged Seulgi; she had previously agreed to check on Wendy today to make sure that she was recovering from her fever, and left Seulgi to stare blankly at Byulyi until the latter came to her senses.

“But why do you think I’m jealous of Eric-sunbae?” Byulyi asked, rubbing her face with her hands in frustration. “It doesn't make sense. I mean, I like Krystal-sunbae, well… even though she already has Amber-sunbae…”

“Unnie, you’ve already said it yourself. Krystal and Amber-sunbae are already dating, and in a long-term relationship, so it’s about time you stopped crushing on Krystal-sunbae. Besides, remember before Irene-unnie and I started dating, and we were in that park outside? Think of why you thought that she was jealous, and why you thought she liked… no, likes, me.”

So Byulyi recalled why she had said those words. One, Irene was unhappy with Seulgi spending more time together with Byulyi than with her, and two, Irene had turned very angry — and almost violent — at both of them. Then she thought of that night, when she had third-wheeled the double date, and felt a particularly strong surge of anger towards Eric when he held Yongsun’s hand.

Oh, . Maybe I do like her. “Seulgi, what should I do now?” Byulyi asked, frantic. “She already has a boyfriend now, and…”

“Calm down, unnie.” Seulgi took a sip of water as she said so, pleased that this friend of hers wasn’t as slow as she had thought. “Firstly, when did you start seeing Eric-sunbae around Yongsun-unnie?”

“Last week,” Byulyi responded with a sullen pout.

“Yeah, only last week. So this relationship of theirs might just be a fling, right? Besides, when I saw you and Yongsun-unnie together, I could tell that she had a thing for you.” Seulgi was more than convinced that the singer was actually very interested in Byulyi, due to her shyness and her natural tomato-red blush whenever Byulyi was standing close to her.

“Really?” The older woman lit up, her eyes shining hopefully. Seulgi nodded chuckled at her cluelessness; Byulyi was actually just a confused dork hidden behind a layer of charismatic confidence, and it was quite endearing. Then Byulyi furrowed her brows and slumped. “But she’s dating someone now…”

“Byul-unnie, let’s find out whether Yongsun-unnie still likes you.” Seulgi smirked as Byulyi leaned forward eagerly. “You need to attract her attention for us to figure her out.”

“You have a plan?”

“Do I have a plan?” Seulgi leaned back, corners of lips curled up in a grin. “Oh, absolutely.”

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also hi guys i wanted to say a thing
i read two fics like over the last two or so days. one is Sweet & Sassy by hella amazing writer Fengxian, and then, if that couldn't get any better, also very hella amazing writer Fireroasted had to go and write a companion piece called The Ice Prince
and basically what i want to say is: GO READ THOSE FICS! because how dare these people write good AND long- pieces in one night idek
g'night world i hope i wake up a better writer