Seulgi tries not to think about how domestic this all feels, as she watches Wendy bow to her parents as she introduces herself, rushing and stumbling over her words; an indication that she’s nervous. It feels like a bring-your-girlfriend-home kind of meeting, and Seulgi wonders if she’s the only one who feels that way.

“Hi auntie and uncle I’m Wendy, nice to meet you.” The girl greets as she nearly folds herself in half as Seulgi stands beside her, trying not to look too proud as she introduces her friend to her parents. Her parents both return the greeting with a small smile, seeming confused at the English name.

“She’s Seungwan.” Seulgi connects the dots for them and her mother opens in recognition at that name.

“So you are Seungwan? Thank you for thanking care of Seulgi when she got injured, she can be a total klutz at times.” Her mother praises as Wendy rubs her nape as she looks down on the floor. It’s Seungwan’s habit when she’s being praised, like she doesn’t think she deserves it and Seulgi hates that it’s so adorable but also heartbreaking at the same time that Seungwan doesn’t see what she sees.

“More like all the time.” She hears her brother tease as he walks out of the kitchen with an apple in hand, munching on it. She growls at him but he just sticks out his tongue as he heads back into his room.

“But she’s still my pretty princess.” Her father coos as he puts down the newspaper he’s reading and holds out his arms. “Come here and give your daddy a hug my princess!”

“Appa! My friend is here!” Seulgi groans as she hides her face in her palms. Within 1 minute of stepping foot back home, her family has utterly destroyed her image. How is she going to face Seungwan after this?! 

--

They are now tucked in bed (by her father no less, Seulgi wants to die, like right now), and Seulgi realizes it’s the first time they are sharing a bed together. She can hear her own heart pounding so quickly, she hopes Seungwan doesn’t hear it. They are both lying face up, looking at the ceiling when Wendy takes the initiative to lie on her side, facing Seulgi.

“So, princess huh?” Wendy teases and Seulgi groans. They finally have some alone time after being bombarded by their parents and Seulgi was hoping Wendy would forget about it (who was she kidding her father just called her that as he left, like 5 minutes ago), but that did not happen obviously.

She puts her arms over her eyes. “Let it go please.”

Wendy chuckles; her warm and soft laughter hitting all the right notes of Seulgi’s heart. “It’s cute though.”

The girl didn’t say anything else and Seulgi turns, only to see a glassy eye Seungwan looking at her, trying to blink away her tears. She turns to face her, alarmed as Seungwan hides her face in the pillow, embarrassed to let Seulgi see this side of her. “Why why why? What’s wrong?” Seulgi asks, but she has an idea herself. She runs her fingers through Seungwan’s hair gently and waits for the girl to calm down.

“I miss my parents.” Seungwan whispers and Seulgi knows she’s right as she moves closer to engulf the girl in a hug. It’s hard being away from home, Seulgi knows that feeling herself, it gets a little lonely when you stay at the dorms alone, what more in a different country. Seulgi also knows, from her keen observation of Seungwan that she gets really attached to the people she care about, so homesickness is a very big problem she faces all the time.

“Hey, it’s okay. You will be seeing them in a few days, right?” Seulgi coaxes as she runs her hands up and down Seungwan’s back.

She feels the girl nod as she snuggles deeper into her embrace and drapes her arms around Seulgi’s waist. She feels the girl’s breathing slow to a normal pace, before falling into a rhythmic pattern. She feels the arm around her waist go slack, and Seulgi knows Wendy has fallen into slumber land. Seulgi pulls away, looking at the sleeping girl’s face and sees the tear trails on her face. She wipes them off gently, not wanting to wake the girl up and brushes the hair away from her face. This is not okay, she’s not supposed to look at her friend and feel like her chest is going to explode. But she does and Seulgi just accepts this truth as she sighs, partially at herself and partially at the perfection in front of her, in her arms. Just this once, she lets her self-control go. She leans in, pressing her lips against Seungwan’s forehead gently.

I may be my father’s princess, but you are my princess. Sleep tight, my princess.

--

It’s a Kang sibling tradition to have a game of Sudden Attack during summer break, where she is off from school and he is off from the army. But Seulgi’s not sure why they still have it after so many years, because it feels like it sours their relationship more than bond them together. It always starts off well, with her brother being patient and guiding her along the way but Seulgi starts screwing up and her brother loses her patience and they always end up screaming and hollering at each other, like now.

“OH COME ON SEUL YOU ARE SPOILING THE WHOLE GAME!” Her brother screams at her and she just screams back at him. “I’M TRYING MY BEST HERE!”

“WELL, TRY HARDER.”

She shoots an annoyed look at her brother who’s furiously pressing buttons on his keyboard before turning back to focus on her own screen. Within a few seconds, the words “YOU LOST” flashes across their screens and Seulgi groans as she hears her brother banging his head against the table. He almost sounds like he’s sobbing as he says, “How come you don’t even improve one bit after all these years?”

“Hey I survived longer than I did last year!” Seulgi answers and her brother gets up from the table to look at her with a mock gleeful look while clapping his hands, sarcasm dripping. “Great job!!!”

She’s about to throw a pen at him when her phone vibrates and she immediately drops it to pick up her phone.

I have just arrived! :)

Seulgi smiles as she shoots a reply back. That’s good to hear! Have fun with your family and don’t cry because you miss me!

Wendy has gone back to Canada after her stayover with Seulgi, and Seulgi doesn’t want to admit it but she feels a little pang in her chest at the thought of not having Wendy by her side for the next two months. (She might just be the one bursting out in tears because she misses Wendy that much.) She puts down her phone, grin still on her face and looks over to see her brother looking at her with a smug expression on his face as he wiggles his eyebrows at her. This time, she throws the pen at him, but he catches it effortlessly. He rolls the chair over to Seulgi, placing the pen down on her table resolutely.

“Got something to share?” He asks, leaning his elbows on her table while blinking his eyes rapidly at her in a faux flirty way that tells Seulgi he knows. She sweeps his elbows off her table, almost causing him to fall off his chair.

“No, get lost.”

He clicks his tongue as he rolls back to his table, knowing that it’s only a matter of time that Seulgi tells him. They don’t keep secrets between each other, and Seulgi knows that under that annoying brother façade lays a responsible and reliable brother she can trust. She picks up the pen on the table and starts spinning it, thinking about how to start the conversation.

“What do I do?” Seulgi finally asks and she hears how the clicking of the mouse from her brother’s side of the room halt.

“Do what?” Her brother’s chair squeaks, an indication that he has lean back in his seat, and Seulgi can already imagine him with his legs sprawled out, head against the headrest and eyes closed, his default thinking position.

“What do I do with all these… feelings?” She struggles to find the words, because she sincerely doesn’t know what to label them as. Her brother stays silent, but Seulgi knows he’s also thinking just as hard as her.

“Well, you only have two choices. Confess, or live with it forever silently. What do you choose?” He turns to look at Seulgi, and she feels herself shrinking under his gaze. She really doesn't know, but she knows she's the only one who can make this decision.

--

It's been 2 months since Seulgi has seen Wendy and she thinks she has everything under control. She hasn't think about the other girl as much as before, and Seulgi thinks those severe heart palpitations she feels when she does think about the girl got lesser too. She plops down on the chair, readying herself for the first lecture of the new semester. She's looking at her phone, scrolling through Twitter when someone plops down beside her.

“Hi Seulgi!” The girl beside her chimes out brightly, sounding like Seungwan but looking nothing like her. She frowns as she looks at the girl beside her, light make-up accentuating her features, and Seulgi doesn't think she has such a pretty friend (although Sooyoung would beg to differ).

“I'm sorry, but who are you…?” Seulgi asks and the girl hits her on the shoulder.

“Stop joking around Kang Seulgi.” The girl says as she leans over to take out her writing materials. Seulgi must still look very confused because the girl sighs as she looks at her again.

“I thought we were best friends, Seulgi.”

Seulgi’s eyes widen as she recognizes the slight English pronunciation of ‘best friends’ by the girl sitting beside her. She takes a good look at her; gone were the glasses and puffy cheeks, now replaced with colored contact lenses and light make-up. Her usual tee shirt and jeans outfit is gone too, replaced by a long blouse that looks like a dress. “S-Seungwan?”

“Took you long enough, dummy.” Wendy grumbles as she knocks Seulgi on the forehead while the latter just continues to stare at Wendy. Whatever control she thinks she had is just thrown out of the window at this point in time. She can feel her ears and cheeks burning up as she looks at this new, prettier version of Seungwan. Seulgi hops up from her seat. “I- I need the toilet.”

--

Seulgi splashes cold water onto her face, willing her racing heart to calm down. This isn't about controlling her feelings for the other girl anymore; this is about controlling herself from pouncing on Seungwan and kissing her endlessly. She stares at her own reflection, giving herself a mental prep talk.

Control your goddamn hormones Kang Seulgi. You can do this.

She takes a deep breath before patting herself on the cheeks a few times to regain her senses. It’s obviously not happening as she groans while resting her weight against the sink. How is she going to control herself and her feelings from now on? You make things so hard for me, Son Seungwan.