A week passed and Irene did not talk with Suho at all. She could not hide the fact that she had been avoiding him since their last meeting. She also did not hear from Krystal although Jessica had tried to contact her, still she did not talk to her about Krystal. She had acted like nothing was wrong whenever she was with Seulgi and it seemed the latter did the same.

They met by chance out of the campus on Saturday, Irene saw Seulgi from afar and it seemed to her that the latter was rushing somewhere. Still, Irene approached her with a smile on her face.

"Oh, fancy meeting you here." Irene greeted Seulgi jokingly, making the latter stop. "Where are you heading to ?"

"Ah, hi Irene. I'm... I'm about to meet Soojung, actually." Seulgi hesitatingly said. She did not know why she was feeling nervous at the moment, it was not like she was cheating on Irene but something still bothered her.

"Again ?" Irene said, her mood making a 180 flip as she was suddenly getting annoyed.

"Yeah, what's wrong with it ?" Seulgi replied.

"Don't go." Irene sternly said to her with a disapproving look.

"What ?" Seulgi thought she heard the other girl wrong.

"Don't go." Irene repeated.

"Why ?" Seulgi asked, also getting annoyed.

"Just... Just don't go, please." Irene's voice softened, almost pleading Seulgi but the latter did not seem to hear the change in Irene's voice

"Why ? Why can't I go see my friend, huh ? I never prevent you from hanging out with anyone, do I ? If you want to have a date with anyone, I let you go and I don't do anything !" Seulgi exclaimed.

"Because it's a date ?" Irene asked in disbelief.

"No, I already told you I don't like her like that ! But you get the point from what I said !" Seulgi desperately said to her.

"Alright, go meet her ! It's not like I care anyway !" Irene sighed in frustration and began walking away from Seulgi, leaving the latter angered at herself.

Seulgi then fished out her phone and began texting Krystal.

Sorry something happened, nothing to worry about but I won't be able to meet you today. Maybe another time ? :)

 After sending her text, she put her phone back into her pocket without waiting for any kind of response and began running after Irene. Once she finally spotted her, she fastened her pace and grabbed Irene's wrist.

"Let's hang out, okay ? I won't meet Soojung, if it doesn't please you."

"I'm sorry." Irene blurted out. "I don't know what came over me, I shouldn't have acted like that. You can go see her if you want, I won't..." Irene stopped her sentence when she felt Seulgi's hand going from her wrist to her own hand while intertwining their fingers together.

"Let's go." Seulgi said while smiling. "I'm sure you're craving for some hot chocolate."

And Irene smiled back in return, trying to swallow all the butterflies trying to escape out of her stomach. After all, following Seulgi would not hurt as Joy was busy going out with Sungjae and Yeri was wherever Wendy would also be.

"I also want to apologize for the other day." Seulgi told her while they were walking.

"Huh ?" Irene asked with confusion as she did not know what Seulgi did wrong. 

"My battery didn't run out when I called you. I just got scared by your question... And now, to answer it... I do have someone I've got my eyes on." Seulgi admitted.

"Oh, really ?" Irene replied, feeling quite disappointed but she was also secretly hoping she was that someone.

"Yeah, it's..."

Come on, Seulgi. You can do it. Just tell her it's been her all along. It's better to let her know, even if you get reject rather than being stuck in the friend zone... Right ?

"Its..." Seulgi carried on but as she looked up to Irene, she was met with a pair of expecting eyes. "It's not Krystal, no." Seulgi shook vigorously her head. "It's just not Krystal."

"Then, who is it ?" Irene insisted, a sparkle of hope illuminating her eyes.

"You didn't tell me how it went with Suho the other day ?" Seulgi ignored her question as her confidence dropped once again.

"Don't try to change the subject, Seulgi. And if I remember well, you also didn't tell me what happened with Krystal... Not like I'm curious or anything..."

"Well, we danced and talked. Happy ? Now you tell me."

"We talked, in a park. Happy ?" She mimicked her.

"What did you talk about ?"

"Some things." Irene sighed, remembering Suho's behavior towards her the other day.

"What kind of things ?" Seulgi asked her and Irene shot her a look, trying to dissuade her from asking anything more.

"If you really want to know, it was not a date, it was just a casual hang out." 

"Okay, I won't ask... And to satisfy your curiosity, I admit I didn't spend a good time with Soojung... I mean she's really kind and all but... You were going out with Suho and it brought my mood down... I was kind of jealous..."

"You were ?" Irene asked with surprise.

"Yeah..." Seulgi whispered.

"Were you jealous of me ? I mean, since I still talk with Suho and you don't so..."

"What ? No, it's not like that..." Seulgi then heavily breathed in and out. "It's because I don't like it when-"

"Hi Irene !" Someone interrupted them, it was Suho. "Hi, Seulgi." He said, his tone flatter.

Damn, what a timing he always has...

"I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere with me." He said as he looked at Irene.

"No, as you can see I'm hanging out with Seulgi now."

"Oh, come on. You could always hang out later, right Seulgi ?" He then looked coldly at Seulgi before looking back to Irene. "Besides, I'm sure you'll have much more fun with me than with her."

"It's okay, Irene. We could always meet tomorrow and..." Seulgi was feeling uncomfortable being in front of him and wanted to escape as soon as possible.

"No." Irene firmly said. She could not let Seulgi go at the moment, what if she went to Krystal ? There was no way Irene was going to let this happen. "Stop doing that, you said you wouldn't try to do anything. So leave us alone." She then firmly gripped Seulgi's hand and walked away from him, dragging a clueless Seulgi with her.

Irene then led her towards their favorite café - it became Seulgi's favorite just after seeing Irene inside of it - and sat down, still slightly annoyed by what happened more than five minutes ago.

"Are you okay ?" Seulgi asked her, while gently putting her hand on Irene's, making the latter smile.

"Yeah... I think."

"Did Suho bother you the other day ? I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want to but... If he's pestering you or anything like that, just let me know, okay ? You seemed quite annoyed when he showed up earlier..."

"No he's not bothering me or anything... But thank you Seulgi." Irene breathed out. "We just have different thoughts on something and it doesn't please him at all, that's all. Ah, right. Is it really okay for you to be with me ? I mean, what would Krystal say ?"

That's right, I didn't check if she had replied... Well, I'll just look at my phone after. I can't waste any time spent with Irene.

"Don't worry about that. She'll understand. I'm going to order for us. Just stay seated and try to relax, okay ?" Seulgi said softly with a smile, her hand lingering on Irene's a little before standing up and going to the counter.

Seulgi then came back with two hot chocolates and excused herself for she had to bring something else. And Irene's eyes lit up when she saw what it was, it was a carrot cake, her all time favorite cake.

"Here, I thought it could bring your mood up so..." Seulgi shyly said while scratching the back of her head. "Enjoy." She added with a smile.

It was then that Irene's mind went blank and then something suddenly fill it up all over again. It felt like she had the urge to confess at the moment, as if something inside of her was wanting her to do it before it would be too late. Before someone called Krystal or anyone else would snatch her way from her. However, Seulgi said she had someone she was interested in. Should she really take the risk to ruin their friendship ?

"Is it good ?" Seulgi asked her, still smiling broadly.

"Yeah, really good. Do you want some ?" She then held out her fork for Seulgi to eat.

Seulgi seemed to be taken aback but still ate on it like nothing was wrong. Of course nothing was wrong, it was not like sharing their first indirect kiss was a big deal, was it ?

"Is it that good that you have to smile like that ?" Irene asked her.

"Yeah." Seulgi simply replied, her smile widening even more. "Could you give me more ?"

Irene also smiled and nodded while holding her fork back to Seulgi once again.

After all, they could get used to doing this. Being a couple for them seemed so natural but uncertainty was still present for them - for the moment.