The next day, nothing much happened for Irene and Seulgi during the morning classes. Even though Suho had once again tried to convince Seulgi that he should go to that date. But well, he was not the only one who was quite stubborn.

Since neither Seulgi nor Irene had classes on the afternoon, they did not have to eat altogether during lunch. Much to Suho's dismay, since he wanted to talk to Irene about what happened as he did not have the chance since the "incident". He did not want to ask Seulgi since he thought she would reply to him with the same answers she had used before. He tried to ask Sungjae about it but the latter just shrugged it off, saying he did not know anything about it.

Even the usually gossipy Joy did not say anything although she was dead curious.

Seulgi's preparations were not taken lightly and Wendy had come all the way to Seulgi's apartment.

Since Seulgi did not know what to wear, Wendy had to help her pick up whatever would look good on her.

"Do I look okay wearing this ?" Seulgi shyly asked.

"No, you don't look okay." Seulgi was suprised by her answer and thought something was wrong with her attire. "You look great, Seulgi." Wendy added and Seulgi sighed in relief. "Now come and sit down, I'll do your make-up."

As Wendy was applying the make-up, Seulgi could feel herself getting more and more nervous.

"Do you think I should bring something ? You know, some chocolates or anything like that..." Seulgi was fidgeting.

"You're so helpless." Wendy chuckled at Seulgi who was already blushing.

"Hey ! You're not helping me !" Seulgi was getting flustered.

"I am ! Now stop moving so I can finish." Wendy resumed her 'work' before adding. "Chocolates should be fine, you know. I know some place where they sell the best." She then winked at her.

After buying the said chocolates, Wendy insisted on driving Seulgi to the Red Velvet café.

Just before dropping her off, Wendy turned to Seulgi and tried to reassure her.

"Don't forget, Seulgi. Stay calm, believe in yourself and everything's gonna be alright, got it ?"

Seulgi hastily nodded while humming.

"And stop being so stiff ! You should see yourself ! Breathe ! Relax !" Wendy tried to relax Seulgi by massaging her shoulders. "It's the first time I've seen you like this ! Now go ! Shoo !"

Once Seulgi went out of the car, Wendy rolled the window down and shouted with a silly smile. "Fighting Ddeulgi !" And it was all it took to make Seulgi smile.

Even though they had agreed to meet at 7 pm, Seulgi had been waiting in front the small café since 6:30 pm. She wanted to be sure she would be not be late. Being late would not be convenient, would it ?

However, coming so soon was not so such a good idea. The more Seulgi was waiting, the less she felt confident about all this date. Seulgi could feel every limbs of her body shaking when she checked the time for the nth time. It was already 7:15 pm and Irene still had not show up yet.

She didn't forget, did she ?

Another 5 minutes passed by and Seulgi was getting even more worried.

She didn't have any problems, did she ?

Should I text her ? Seulgi hesitated a little before deciding to wait a little bit longer.

When Seulgi finally saw Irene coming in the distance, she could not deny that she felt her heart doing somersaults in her rib cage. Not only because she was relieved but also since Irene looked even more beautiful than ever. Or was she exaggerating ?

When Irene eventually was in front of her, she could see the latter was running out of breath.

"Hi." She was panting. "Sorry for being late, there was some serious traffic jam. And I couldn't do anything about it."

"It's okay." Seulgi softly smiled. "Here, I got them for you, hope you like them." She then held out the box of chocolate.

"Oh, thanks." Irene was surprised and felt bad since she did not bring anything for Seulgi. "Hmm, again sorry, I didn't bring you anything."

"Oh, it's okay. It's getting cold, let's enter." Seulgi said while opening the café's door.

Irene did not lie. She really got stuck in the traffic jam. However, she could have avoided it if she had gone earlier. But well, Tuesday afternoon meant dance classes and she could not miss them for anything in the world. She was too caught up with dancing that she almost forgot she had to get ready for her rendez-vous with Seulgi.

"You know, it's actually my favorite café here." Irene said once they were both sitting.

Yeah I know. I've seen you coming here many times before that's why I decided to take you here.

"Oh, really ?" Seulgi wanted to act surprised but failed miserably and a smile formed on her face. Fortunately for her, Irene did not seem to have noticed it.

"Yeah, I often come here during the evening. The atmosphere is so relaxed and they serve the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted. You should try it !" Irene said excitedly.

"Okay, I'll try it. I suppose you'll take one too ?" Irene nodded. "I'm going to order." Seulgi stood up, making her way to the counter.

"You look kind of different, you know." Irene spoke up once Seulgi came back.

"Hmm ?" Seulgi was confused.

"I mean, your make-up suits you very well. You should do it more often." Irene said with a smile

And it was all it took to make Seulgi blush. She made a mental note to ask Wendy a step by step tutorial as soon as she would return home.

"Ah, well, thanks, I think." Seulgi did not dare look up. The side of the table seemed at the moment more interesting.

Hopefully for Seulgi, the waitress came with their hot beverages.

"Thank you." They said at the same time, making them giggle.

They talked more, getting to know each other more. They were asking about each other's hobbies and sometimes about topics related to their course.

"Do you need some help with it ? I could help you, I... I can't say I'm good at it, but I hope I can help you." Seulgi asked as soon as Irene mentionned she had some problems with physics.

"That'd be great, thank you. I once tried to ask Joy but she confused me even more. She even said she wouldn't help me anymore when I tolf her she was bad at teaching !" Irene was now laughing. She was glad she had maybe found someone willing to help her.

"Well, are you hungry ? It's already 8:30 pm. Would you like to go somewhere else and eat ?"

"Is this your way of telling me you are hungry ?" Irene said, teasing her and Seulgi slightly blushed

"Well, I've been craving for tteokbokki. So, I was wondering if you'd like to have some with me..." Despite her shyness, Seulgi managed to ask Irene to spend more time wih her.

"All right, I know some good street vendors to go to. Since it's quite far fom here, I'll drive us." Irene said before getting up.

Once they arrived, Irene guided her to her favorite food vendor.

"Ajuhmma ! Hi !" Irene greeted the woman behind the counter.

"Oh, Joohyun ! It's been a long time ! How are you ?" She greeted back with a large beam. "Oh ! You brought someone ? Hello, please take a sit, I'll be right back."

Seulgi was surprised by the warm welcome given.

"You often come here ?" She turned to Irene.

"I used to. When I was in high school, I came nearly every week to eat here. It sure has been a long time since I came." There was a small pause before she added. "By the way, Joohyun's my real name. I mean, my korean name, Bae Joohyun."

"Yeah I know." Seulgi blurted out.

"Oh you already knew ?" Irene was surprised and Seulgi was flustered.

"Once, someone was yelling 'Irene' and then she followed with 'Bae Joohyun', and... something else like 'Beachu' ?" Seulgi admitted.

"Ah, it must be Yeri, that kid won't keep quiet whenever we're in the library." Irene mumbled.

"I also heard you say you were thrown out by the librarian."

"Don't mention it." It was now Irene who was getting flustered. "And Baechu is my nickname, you know, 'cabbage'. Don't you have a nickname ?"

"I do. It's Seulgom, Seulbear. According to Wendy, my friend, I look like a bear, so... Yeah."

Silence engulfed them until the ajhumma came back and took their orders. They then ate with some talking here and there.

"I have to be honest with you." Irene stopped eating for a moment and her tone was getting more serious.

"Hmm ?" Seulgi left her head up to meet Irene's eyes, still full of food. She did not notice the seriousness in her voice.

The truth is... I was supposed to ask Suho out, not you... But, I don't know what came over me, I ended up asking you.

"I..." Irene saw two pure big round eyes looking expectantly at her. She did not want to be the cause of their sadness.

I can't ruin our hang out like that. Seulgi is much friendlier than I thought she was. 

"I'm glad we went out tonight. I mean, I like being friends with you, you know. I don't think we began on good terms but I hope we'll be friends in the future."

"Of course ! We're already friends, aren't we  ?" Seulgi could not get even happier. 

"Well, I'll drive you home." Irene politely offered once they had paid for their meal.

"Oh, no you don't have to." Seulgi did not want to bother Irene.

"Come on, Seulgi, I was late and I didn't bring anything. The least I can do is to drive you home." Irene was not the one to give up.

"Okay, thank you." Seulgi shyly thanked her.

The journey to Seulgi's apartment was pretty short and none of them talked. However, the silence did not feel awkward for them.

"Text me when you get home." Seulgi said.

"Yeah, I will. Good night, Seulgi." Irene replied with a smile.

"Good night, Irene." Seulgi returned the smile before getting out of the car. 

Seulgi waved to Irene before watching the latter driving off.

Well, it was more of a friendly date than a date but it was great nonetheless. At least, talking to her will be easier from now on.