There was a madness to Seulgi’s routine.

Or more accurately, there was a madness to the lack of Seulgi’s routine.

It had been over two weeks since the charming choreographer moved in with her, and Irene seriously considered throwing her out of her apartment no matter how badly she needed her help.

Seulgi came barging in through her front door at any hour.

Sometimes she came home at 6 PM and the other times she burst through the door at 11 PM or 2 AM.

Irene was honestly so done with being startled out of her sleep in the wee hours, thinking that her apartment was raided by burglars.

She was a very light sleeper.

And she had a packed work schedule to do in the morning unlike Seulgi who could doze off until noon.

She lost her last bit of patience when Seulgi flung her apartment door open with a loud bang on one peaceful Wednesday night, when she was off to a good sleep.

She kicked her blanket aside and stomped angrily to her living room.

“Can you please open the door like a normal human being and not slam it away like it offended your ancestors?” She barked the second she spotted Seulgi in the kitchenette, appearing to be making a chocolate milkshake with her blender.

Who on earth drinks chocolate milkshake at 1AM?

And to use the blender at this hour too while other poor souls are sleeping!

Irene glared.

“Oh, Christ! I’m so sorry! I forget that there is –” Seulgi stopped explaining and her hand halted midair between them, an awkward laugh escaping her. “Uh, I mean, I forget that you are here too. I’m sorry. I’m so used to living alone.”

She turned off the blender immediately and poured the tasty looking content into her glass with a sheepish grin.

Irene spotted chocolate syrup, vanilla milk, butterscotch chips and diced banana in the mix. Her stomach growled.

“Want some?” Seulgi held it up as a peace offering.

Irene frowned harder. “No, thanks. I don’t eat or drink carbs after six. And this is 1AM.” She put intense pressure on that to make the girl feel sorry.

Instead, Seulgi looked at her as if she was a strange creature.

Irene sighed. “You shouldn’t drink that at this hour. You are going to gain –” Her gaze dropped to Seulgi’s toned abdomen which was exposed by the black cropped top beneath her jacket and she stopped. “Never mind.”

Of course, she was in perfectly good shape too on top of being very attractive.

The world was unfair and Irene’s eyes were traitorous because they lingered on the said body part. She grunted and forcefully peeled the little betrayers away from the tempting sight.

Seulgi only smiled, dropped the dirty dishes in the sink and carried a glass full of milkshake to sit on one of the stools facing the kitchen counter.

Now Irene stared at the dirty dishes left behind her.

“You better wash those or I’m sending you out to sleep on the streets. I’m not kidding.”

Seulgi looked at the mess behind her and laughed. “Tomorrow morning.”

“No.” Irene replied with horror. “Right after you finish that drink. In fact, you should probably wash it before you start drinking. That’s what decent people do.”

“That’s what Bae Irene does.” Seulgi smiled from the rim of her glass and took a sip.

Irene rubbed her face with frustration and pulled at her own hair. “Alright, fine. I’m washing them because you are a horrible person. In fact, I’ve been washing your dishes all these weeks too.”

“I noticed.”

“That statement was intentional to make you feel bad.”

“No bad feeling taken.” Seulgi grinned.

“Unbelievable.” Irene threw her hands up and walked over to the sink to begin washing.

Seulgi watched her tentatively. “Sorry to wake you up from your sleep, really. I forgot that somebody else was in the house. I usually came home to my empty apartment and nobody would startle even though I made noises.”

“That’s okay.” Irene put one of the clean knives into the drawer and Seulgi seemed to notice amusedly that they were arranged in size order. “I suppose it’s understandable that you forget even here. You’re mostly home when I am at work and vice versa.”

Seulgi hummed with agreement.

It was unintentional that Irene’s work hours started from morning to afternoon while Seulgi’s work hours mostly started from afternoon to late night, but Irene secretly thanked heaven for it.

She was still unsure about how she felt having Seulgi under her roof.

Which was why she always tried to sleep before Seulgi arrived home most of the nights.

It was all too strange.

“I bought you some snacks but I guess you won’t be eating them now.” Seulgi pulled her out of her thoughts, making her look up at her.

“Snacks? What snacks?”

“Chocolate bread?”

Irene’s hand halted above the sink and she thought it was lucky that she didn’t drop the plate she was holding. Her fingers curled around the porcelain tightly.

Something in her chest twisted strongly with unpleasant memory as if she was 18 and heartbroken again.

“I don’t eat those anymore.” She said in all honesty and proceeded to wipe the plates clean methodologically.

“You mean after six?”

“No, I mean forever.”

Seulgi blinked slowly. “Oh, I thought you love them –”

“Not anymore.” Irene pushed the dry plate back into its rack with a bit more force than necessary, causing a clattering noise to emanate throughout the room.

Seulgi looked at her with a quiet, crestfallen expression. “I see...”

Irene didn’t know what Seulgi saw but she hoped that it was the subtle message that she had moved on from more than just chocolate bread.

She threw the dishrag away and walked to her room, wondering why on hell she still felt so damn bitter if she had truly moved on.

She also never knew if she disliked chocolate bread because she had outgrown her teenage self or if the memory associated with that thing was just too bitter.

“I’m sorry that I have to live here longer than you expect.” Seulgi said slowly, her dejected face slowly morphing back to her usual calm face. “You are clearly bothered by my less organized lifestyle. Who would have thought that Minho guy frequently flies to Seoul for business and has a spare apartment nearby?”

Irene strained a smile. “Yeah. Who would have thought. Now we are stuck together until this whole deal…is secured.”

Seulgi nodded slowly.

Irene sighed and tried to control her voice so she didn’t sound too mean. Seulgi had been nothing but a great help to her despite their unsavory history. Now, they were both adults who needed to cooperate for their ‘business deal.’

“Don’t worry about the mess, I can deal with it temporarily. Also, I hope you don’t forget that we have brunch with my colleagues tomorrow.”

“Oh, that’s definitely not something to forget. Brunch with a group of psychologists who will psychoanalyze our every movement? Fun stuff.”

“Very fun stuff, indeed.” Irene grimaced. “Good night, Seulgi. Long day to face tomorrow.”

 

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Irene really wished that this brunch wasn’t a real thing.

It wasn’t supposed to happen. Until the news of her meeting BoA somehow spread among her colleagues at their Therapy Centre and suddenly everybody wanted to talk about it. They also asked for her so-called hot fiancée.

Truth to be told, they had been asking about her fiancée since it was still Jennie too.

But somehow, Irene had always managed to dodge their bullets, citing that she was busy or currently out of town. She really didn’t sit well with the idea of parading her love life to her fellow couple therapists.

Whenever they gathered for this kind of events, it always felt like they were trying to one-up each other’s love life.

Look who has the happiest, healthiest relationship and practices what they preach.

“Why do I have to be the one who confessed first?” Seulgi lifted a curious eyebrow from shotgun as Irene drove them to the restaurant in her blue Mercedes.

“Because,” She drawled, “I don’t want them to think that I was the desperate one.”

Seulgi’s eyebrow quirked even higher with amusement. “That’s some toxic pride right there, Miss Therapist. Have you ever told your clients that?”

“I have. Fortunately, we are not in real relationship so I can do that to you.”

“Fine.” Seulgi pretended to sigh but smiled as she looked ahead. “I confessed first, but you were the one who proposed to me.”

“Bull.”

“Whoa, language, Miss Therapist.”

“I’ve said ‘’ since the day we met again but you decide to make a fuss out of ‘bull’?”

Seulgi laughed. “God, you have changed so much from your high school days. Whatever happened to that proper, sweet little girl in the library?”

“She grew up and learned that the world was harsh, so she needed to toughen up.” Irene’s lips curled up into a smile despite herself.

Somehow, bantering about their high school days still felt risky but gradually becoming more tolerable.

“Adulthood is harsh.” Seulgi feigned sympathy. “So, what do you say? I take the proposal and you take the confession?”

“On second thought, yes. Because confession is so much better than proposal.”

“Alright, Miss Therapist. As you please.”

“Will you stop calling me that? My colleagues will think that we are weird.”

“What? They don’t joke around with their significant others?”

“From what I’ve seen, no. They are very…lovey dovey and intimate.”

“Blargh, nauseating and absolutely no fun.”

Irene quirked a satisfied smirk at her reaction. Indeed, they are absolutely no fun.

“So, do we tell them that we met in high school?”

“I guess that will be easier.” Irene switched her gear and parked into the slot on the open parking lot once they arrived. “Drawing from real stories will create less chance to slip-up and to have mismatched statements.”

“True.”

“We really can’t be slipping up in front of these people.” Irene killed her engine, unbuckling her seatbelt. “They are experts at reading body language and all.”

“Body language…” Seulgi looked skyward and rubbed her chin. “So, I guess we have to be uh, touchy?”

Irene froze on the driver seat as if that thought didn’t cross her mind before.

“Oh, damn.” Her eyes widened with panic because it really didn’t. “I think we have to.”

Seulgi laughed. “Thanks for making the idea of touching me looks about as attractive as hugging a cactus.”

Irene’s gaze turned serious and a tiny frown appeared between her eyebrows. “I think I will consider a cactus at this point. Hugging it seems less unpleasant than hugging you.”

“Very flattering.” Seulgi supplied, taking no offense as she stepped down from the car. “Now let’s go inside and look in love, Miss Therapist.”

 

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Being touchy with Seulgi was indeed, not a pleasant thing to do.

Not because it was literally unpleasant, but because it was way too pleasant than it had the rights to be.

Irene forced herself to smile calmly through gritted teeth whenever Seulgi’s arm s around her waist to yank her closer, or whenever her warm hand dropped to caress her thigh while they were sitting side by side.

She felt anything but calm.

In fact, why did her skin have to prickle with such weird electricity whenever those slender fingers grazed her?

“So, Seulgi, we finally meet.” Jihyo, Irene’s fellow couple therapist, leaned forward to rest her chin on her hands with interest as the rest of the table joined. “Irene is a very secretive person. We have always asked her to bring you to our gatherings but she has always found excuses. At some points, we even wondered if she was actually single and was just making things up to save her career life.”

The rest of the table laughed soundly but Irene tensed significantly because boy, that hit way too close to home.

She winced internally and hoped that her expression didn’t appear too sour.

“Yeah, she doesn’t have any picture of you in her office too. We really thought that she was tricking all of us.” Dahyun, the other woman on the table, bantered good naturedly.

Irene wanted to disappear.

“Well, she is pretty possessive.” Seulgi sent Irene her deadliest charming smirk, staring at her with the kind of heavy gaze that made everyone on the table fan themselves. “I guess she doesn’t want to share me with anyone. Do you, sweetheart?”

Irene physically shivered and jerked a bit when Seulgi leaned in towards her and smiled just shy of her ear. The latter’s hand squeezed her thigh tightly under the table to remind her to get her together.

It had the exact opposite effect because Irene tensed up twice harder.

God, she was pathetic.

“So, how did you meet?” Jihyo asked again, resting her head on her husband Daniel’s shoulder as she his bicep slowly. “I met this troublesome one in a group travel to Europe several years ago. It was magical, meeting the love of your life at the top of Eiffel tower when you least expected it.”

Irene resisted the urge to roll her eyes so bad, it physically pained her eyeballs.

Here we go again with the love life race.

“I met Sana in a planetarium in Japan. I came to see the stars but found a whole different star instead.” Dahyun said with light in her eyes as she looked at her lover who went all googly eyes right back at her.

“Geez.” Seulgi laughed, leaning back on her seat and crossing her legs. “I suppose couple therapists don’t meet the love of their lives in bars while bat tipsy and vomiting like us common folks, huh?”

The crowd laughed and even Irene finally felt the corners of her lips tug up.

Seulgi’s hand remained looping around the top of her chair the entire time, making her feel somehow safe and steady.

“We met in high school, actually. Please don’t misunderstand.” She finally spoke, meeting her colleagues’ piqued gaze. “I am not a bar person and I’m never bat tipsy enough to grind on strangers.”

She could see from the corner of her eyes how Seulgi’s lips curved up into a teasing grin. “I specifically remember you to be really tipsy that one night when you beat us all on beer pong, though.”

“Bae Irene played beer pong in her high school days?” Her other colleague mused. “That is something.”

“Oh, it is something.” Seulgi crooked a smirk, clearly enjoying herself. “She should let herself go more often and stop being so uptight. She is so much more fun like that.”

Irene narrowed her eyes into thin slits. “Thanks, but no thanks. Apparently, when I let loose, I allow jerks to come at me.” She put pressure on that intentionally.

“Whoa…I sense something there.” Jihyo interrupted as if she had spotted a prey and she flicked her gaze between the two of them with interest. She was visibly psychoanalyzing them without trying to be subtle. “Did you guys have some kind of fallout in high school?”

.

“No.”

“Yes.”

Irene turned to give Seulgi a wide-eyed look and basically screamed with her eyes, if eyes were capable of such thing.

Seulgi’s eyes went as unnaturally wide as hers too. I thought we agreed to draw from real stories?!

Irene groaned internally as the rest of the table waited for their answer with confusion.

“I mean, yes, there were some fallouts if you would like to call them so, but I never really considered them as one because to me they were just natural arguments.” She tried to save herself.

Jihyo didn’t buy her lame explanation so quickly, already smelling blood.

Irene felt like she had always been eager to catch her tripping somehow.

“Arguments aren’t so good, are they? You are supposed to have a heartfelt, levelheaded discussion and not –”

“Jihyo, we were in high school, okay? I didn’t know back then but I know now what I’m supposed to do in a relationship. You don’t have to teach me.” Irene’s tone came out more clipped than she intended to, making everybody in the room freeze.

Her fist balled under the table as she realized what an unpleasant situation she had led them into.

Suddenly, a warm hand covered hers on top of her thigh and gave it a reassuring, gentle squeeze.

“Most of our fallouts were actually my fault.” Seulgi looked at everyone, giving them a guilty smile that snatched their attention. “I was a wild kid when I was younger. I didn’t really want to be tied down by anyone. I guess it had something to do with my parents who were so unhappy in their marriage.”

Irene’s gaze flew up to look at her with surprise.

“It did a number on me and my view of relationships, I’m not going to lie.” Seulgi squinted an eye bashfully. “But, thankfully I’m past my angsty teenage self and now I’m capable of committing to a healthy relationship. I’m only so grateful that she still wants to accept me after everything I’ve put her through.”

Seulgi turned to look at her again with the softest brown eyes. The fondness in them was so candid and genuine, Irene wondered if this part of conversation was real or pretend.

She snapped out of her daze and looked away from the soulful brown eyes because of course, this was all pretend.

She needed to get a grip.

“That is actually very sweet.” Dahyun clutched her chest, outstretching her arm to give Irene’s hand a squeeze above the table. “You inspire me to not give up during difficult times.”

Irene forced out a small smile. “Thank you.”

She didn’t really manage to hear the make-up jokes that Daniel and Seulgi threw around afterwards, because she was busy staring down at the napkin in her lap and gripping it tightly.

 

------------------------------------------

 

Days passed with Irene wondering to herself if there was more to Seulgi’s past that she didn’t know.

She tried to recall their odd friendship days, failing to remember any memory of the bright school dancer talking about her unpleasant family life.

If anything, Seulgi never shared about her family at all.

All Irene knew from high school was that her dad was a real estate broker and her mom was a college professor.

Anything beyond that, Seulgi never said.

What if there was something to it?

What if her parents really constantly fought each other and gave her a rough childhood?

What if she really had that fear of commitment she was talking about because of it?

And more importantly, why did Irene care?

Irene shook her head strongly and glared at her laptop.

“Uh, does your poor, overheated laptop offend you, ma’am?” Seulgi looked over from where she sat on the carpeted floor with concern, taking a little break from the movie she was watching on TV.

It was one rare weekend where they were both at home.

“No, I’m just…stuck on editing.” Irene mumbled, realizing just then that she was frowning the entire time while sitting on her sofa and typing away at her laptop. She eased her hostile eyebrows. “I’m trying to get a head start on editing so by the time BoA agrees, I can hand her the better, revised version immediately.”

Seulgi whistled and went back to her bowl of popcorn and movie. “Inspiring but incredibly boring.”

“Excuse me?” Irene barked. Her voice lacked its usual snarky edge though, because she could see the way Seulgi’s lips curled up into a smile.

Lately, she hadn’t been feeling very snarky towards the girl anyway.

Especially not after how Seulgi threw herself and her personal story under the bus to save her from her colleagues.

“When was the last time you did stuffs at home unrelated to your work anyway?”

Irene hated that she couldn’t think of an answer to that.

Seulgi’s smug grin was so annoying. “See? You are an absolutely helpless person who doesn’t know how to have fun and needs help.”

“I know how to have fun.” Irene retorted weakly with a small voice.

“How exactly?”

“…By cleaning up the house to head-banging rock songs?”

Seulgi laughed and shook her head. “Alright, we have to change that. Cleaning the house, no matter to what fun songs, should not be your only fun. Drop that laptop and come sit with me. We are going to watch this cheesy movie together.”

Irene frowned. “But…I have to finish this –”

“Honey, BoA isn’t even done reviewing the rest of your manuscript yet. You won’t die if you don’t edit that thing today.”

“Did you just call me honey?”

“You are my honey, aren’t you?” Seulgi winked playfully, and Irene hated how that simple wink sent so much aftereffect down to her stomach.

Stupid stomach.

“Oh, come on.” Seulgi whined, threatening to move from her spot on the floor. “If I have to crawl over there myself, I’m taking that laptop away by tickling you to death.”

“Okay, fine. No tickles!” Irene put her laptop away, walking over to flop on the carpeted floor beside her begrudgingly.

They leaned on the sofa behind them and faced the TV. Seulgi wore a satisfied smirk.

“What is this movie you are watching, anyway? The guy looks funny.”

“Wait until you see the girl. She is so hot.”

“Ooh, she is.” Irene stole several popcorns from the bowl in her lap and plopped them into . She watched the following scenes with interest.

Seulgi chuckled. “Look at you only paying attention when the lead actress is hot.”

“Beautiful women deserve nothing but full attention.”

“I agree.” Seulgi’s voice turned softer somehow and when Irene turned to look at her, she was already staring at her. Seulgi smiled lightly and faced the TV again.

Irene’s cheeks heated up.

She turned to the movie again and they both went quiet as they immersed themselves in the story.

It turned out to be a pretty fun romcom. Cheesy and cliché, but laughable still.

Somewhere along the way, Seulgi’s bowl of popcorn moved to Irene’s lap and Irene now took full control of it.

“I thought you don’t eat carbs after six. Why are you stealing my popcorn?”

“This is low-calorie popcorn.”

“Which is still a bowl of popcorn.”

“Shush, let me watch in peace, you buzzkill.”

Seulgi chortled at the way she had gotten more invested in the movie than she did.

“Oh my god, that guy is so bad at kissing. I feel sorry for the girl.”

“Well, he is playing a nerd.”

“Excuse me, what is that stereotype? Not all nerds are bad at kissing!” Irene stared at her with offended look.

“Oops. Sorry. I forget I am talking to a nerd.”

Irene threw a piece of popcorn at her and earned a hearty laugh in response.

“I will let you know that I’m a totally good kisser.”

Which you would have known if you hadn’t pushed me away that night.

“Sure, Miss Therapist, sure. Of course, you are.”

“Why do you sound disbelieving?” Irene narrowed her eyes.

“I don’t.” Seulgi chuckled some more. When Irene continued to glare at her suspiciously, she gave in. “Alright, fine. It’s just that – it’s hard to imagine you getting all racy. I touched you a little during that brunch with your friends and you went completely rigid. It was a miracle they didn’t think you wanted to divorce me even before we get married.”

Irene’s eyes went wide with worry. “Oh . I thought I was the only one aware of myself being stiff! That’s absolutely not good.”

“Well, relax. I think I managed to charm them enough to make them forget about it.”

“That’s still not good. They were already joking about me faking an engagement. What if other people notice, too?” Irene descended into mini panic.

“Calm down.” Seulgi laughed at her. When she didn’t show any sign of calming down, Seulgi moved and took the empty bowl of popcorn away from her lap. “Okay then. Do you want to practice?”

“Practice what?”

“Kissing me, you slow tiny person.”

“Oh.” Irene’s mouth rounded and she suddenly went as stiff as a block of wood again.

Seulgi chuckled. “See? You are stiffening up again only at the mention of physical contact. And you tell me you are a totally good kisser?”

“I am.” Irene insisted in louder voice and then in smaller voice, “Kinda.”

“So, show me and the world.”

“Fine.” Irene took a deep breath and then hardened her gaze at Seulgi. “But only for the sake of practicing.”

“Of course. What else should it be for?”

Right. Absolutely right.

Why did she even feel the need to restate that? As if there was another sake.

Irene inhaled deeply, closed her eyes to gain her calm and then opened them again to stare at Seulgi who looked anything but nervous.

A part of her felt indignant that she was the only nervous one while Seulgi was completely unbothered.

She would have to change that.

She surged forward, curled her index finger under Seulgi’s chin and pulled her in for a kiss.

Once their lips met, all Irene could feel was impeccable softness that infused herself with warmth.

Seulgi smelled of fresh cotton and clean citrus that was so reminiscent of their past, and it made Irene want to go closer to her.

She did.

Suddenly, she was getting up from the floor to her knees and straddling Seulgi’s lap.

She kissed down on those soft lips harder, hands Seulgi’s shoulders and sliding around her nape to bring her closer.

Seulgi’s own hands slid up to her waist, thumbs caressing the side of her belly slowly.

The result of that intimate gesture was an electric shock blasting down to the base of her stomach and below.

She groaned.

Seulgi’s bottom lip was suddenly caught between her lips as she on it and the other girl groaned too.

And then suddenly, as if cursed, Irene’s phone rang from the sofa where she had left her laptop earlier.

“,” was the first thing that she said, literally feeling angry for being interrupted.

And then her mind cleared up and snapped back to sense.

Why was she feeling angry for being interrupted from on Seulgi’s lips?

Oh my god.

“Hello?” Her voice was unnaturally scratchy, sounding like a teenager who had just been caught making out by her parents as she scrambled for her phone.

It was her mom calling her.

“Why are you taking so long to answer, Bae Irene? I thought you have drowned yourself in your tub!”

“Ugh, mom.” She whined into her phone, looking back to Seulgi who appeared just as red and flustered as she did.

Well, at least she was not alone this time.

“I told you, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not moping over Jennie anymore and I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

“Well, I just want to make sure.” Her mom sounded calmer. “Anyway, I call to remind you that you need to come to your younger sister’s art showing next Saturday. This is her first time getting her work displayed by a big, famous gallery. If you skip this for any of your schedule, you are disowned from the family.”

Irene groaned. “I know, I haven’t forgotten.”

“Good. And bring someone, will you? I heard from Joy that you are seeing someone new now. I don’t care if she is only your rebound, I still want to investigate her.”

“She is not a rebound.” Irene groaned, swearing to herself that she would get back to her prankster friend later. “But okay, I will bring her over if you want.”

Her mother mumbled off satisfaction and then hung up the call.

“Uh…” Seulgi’s voice emanated from behind her, making her turn to look at he