"Your mother told me you'd be here." A voice said behind Irene who was sitting on one of the swing at the playground.

However, and to her disappointment, the voice did not belong to Seulgi since it was a male voice. She shivered a little and wondered if she should run away from whoever was standing behind her. After all, it was getting late and weird people could be coming here too.

The man then sat down on the swing next to hers but Irene did not try to run away as she had previously thought. She turned towards the figure and was met with the sight of Bogum. She then forced a smile in return after seeing his already smiling face. She was relieved it was him and not some weird guy who was sitting beside her but somehow she was quite disappointed after realizing Seulgi was not here and would surely not be.

She slightly shook her head, she should stop thinking about the said girl. After all, she left without waiting for her. She should take it as a sign of rejection. Rejection ? What kind of rejection was she talking about ? There was no rejection. She clearly was tired and did not know what she was thinking.

"Hey, you're spacing out." He waved his hand in front of Irene's face before looking at her with a worried face. "What's with the disappointment on your face? Were you expecting someone else?" He chuckled. "Even though I'm the only one who come to see you out of school..." He then muttered under his breath.

Irene was surprised. Was she imagining things or he was really bitter tonight?

Bogum noticed the surprised look on her face and cleared his throat. He knew she might have misunderstood him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that. It's just... you know I'm tired with school and exams..."

"It's okay." Irene weakly replied. Of course she understood him, she was also tired. Tired of a lot of things.

Irene then looked in front of her, sighing internally. She guessed Seulgi did not want to see her again after all. When the girl said they could meet again, maybe it was a little bit too early to do so. Or she maybe did not want to be as close as Irene wished they would be. After all, they were not even considered friends. How could she be so affected by it?

She then turned her head once more towards Bogum, who had been silent for the past minutes. Then something clicked in her mind. Maybe she should just stick to him. Maybe she did not need anyone else. He was the one who would always try to cheer her up. She would enjoy his company when she was feeling down and she knew her mother also did. She was not so sure about her sister but well, they would hopefully get used to him.

"Irene." He said and stood up, facing her.

"Hmm?" She lifted up her head, watching him smiling at her. She could barely make out his face since the night was pretty dark and only the street lamps were lighting up them.

"I know what you need right now." He said. "A big and warm hug!" He then smiled brightly while spreading his arms, ready to engulf her in a hug.

She watched him and thought a little before standing up as well, welcoming his embrace. As he took her in his arms, she remembered how he was always there for her whenever she needed someone. Unless Seulgi...

I really should stop thinking about her... It hasn't even been 24 hours since I've last seen her and I already miss her... What's wrong with me? 

"Are you cold? Here, you can take my jacket." He interrupted her thoughts. She did not have enough time to comprehend his words when she felt something covering her shoulders. "Let me take you back home."

Seulgi came to the playground in the evening and saw from afar what seemed to be the figure of someone standing in the middle of the playground. She then approached the figure as quietly as she could and recognized the back of Irene. However, as she was getting closer, she noticed another figure who had their arms around the girl.

She guessed after all, maybe Wendy was right and Irene was after her and Bogum's money. Why else would she be hugging him like that? Jealousy took over her and it seemed impossible for her to think clearly at the moment.

She then decided not to come back after that. Maybe it was stupid of her not to come again. But after all, coming back was also a stupid decision, right? She should not be feeling like that, Irene was just someone she had met the day before. It should not bother her that much.

What's wrong with me? It's not like I'm jealous or something... Right?

After all, Irene was just a girl she had met the day before. Well, it was not their first meeting exactly but it was their first real encounter, face to face. Irene even brought her home! Did it not mean something special between the two girls?

Maybe she was just over thinking, since Irene was the second person to offer her something like that and to make her feel at ease, like it was natural. Wendy was her only friend and she had thought Irene would become one too, a special friend.

She saw him covering her with his jacket. She then agreed with whatever he was saying before they began walking towards. She quickly hid herself and waited a little before going out of her hiding place. She then slumped her shoulders while she walked back to her house. Wondering why she had to come all the way here to witness such a thing. 

When Seulgi came back to school on Monday, she felt as if nothing had changed after all, She was still The Kang Seulgi. The spoiled brat nearly everyone feared, nobody dared to talk to her, except Wendy. She knew nothing would have changed when she would go back to school. After all, apart from her meeting with Irene, nothing major really happened to her.

It was funny how she had never seen Irene before, how she had never really pay that much attention to her before and now it seemed like she could not walk around without seeing her everywhere. In the morning, during recess time, during lunch, when her classes were finished... It seemed Irene was everywhere around her. Was Irene doing it on purpose? Or was it Seulgi who was constantly searching for the other girl? She was not sure and even if she had a hunch about it, she would not admit it. Being infatuated with Irene clearly was not on her to-do list.

So she did what she was the best at : she watched her from afar, everyday, and whenever she would see Irene turning her head towards her, she would do as if nothing happened. When evening would come, she would come to the playground and watch as Irene was sitting on a swing. She wanted to go there and talk to her, really. But she did not know if she would be welcomed by the other figure. After all, Irene had not tried to talk to her.

Still, making the first steps had never been Seulgi's forte.

When she had approached Irene a few days ago, her despair made her do things she would not do usually : speaking to someone she did not know, going with them to their house and sleeping there.

So, finding a way to comfortably talk to her was really hard for Seulgi. Even if Irene would be in front of her, she did not know if she could make one word come out of . That is, without sounding like an idiot.

Irene was even more disappointed in Seulgi. The other girl never acknowledged her. Even though she would see her a lot of times during the week, the bear-like girl never once looked back at her. It seemed the latter had completely forgotten about her or maybe she was avoiding her. It was like nothing had happened between them. She did not really know why but it did not take a genius to know she was getting annoyed by the bear-like girl's behavior.

She would foolishly wait for Seulgi at the playground. Even if she knew the latter would not come to her, she would still wait. When her mother or her sisters would ask her who she would meet, she would answer it by saying it was Bogum. Leaving her sisters disappointed as they wanted to see again their new found friend named Seulgi.

It was already Friday, the week passed by without Seulgi noticing. She just wanted it to end so she could peacefully rest or maybe go out with Wendy. She could not stand being in school nor in her house in the first place. All she needed was change, and change she would finally get.

She was making her way inside the cafeteria, where she knew Wendy would be waiting patiently for her. Wendy never bought food from and always brought her own lunch box. That was why  Seulgi took more time buying her food and often left Wendy alone for a while. However, she could not go as she wanted as someone shouted, which created a commotion inside the cafeteria.

"You, little... Ugh!" Someone, a girl, let out.

Seulgi recognized whose nasal voice it belonged to. Hyuna. A girl a year above who everybody knew she was nothing but trouble.

She rolled her eyes and was about to ignore what was happening when she heard a second voice, shivering and more fragile. A voice she clearly knew and which made her weak.

"I-I'm sorry..." Irene pleaded. "It was an accident..."

Irene tried to clean Hyuna's clothes which were stained from the collision between the two. Irene was not really looking not was Hyuna when they ran into each other. Leaving Hyuna fuming in anger as some sauce from Irene's plate could be seen on her.

"Yeah, right. You're sorry." Hyuna sarcastically said. "Well, I'm sorry too. It was an accident." She said mockingly before pouring her glass of soda on the poor girl, earning a gasp from the latter as she was drenched and her clothes were getting stained.

Hush sounds could be heard among the crowd who stood there, watching them without interfering. It was safe to say most of them were intimidated by Hyuna.

Seulgi scoffed. She could not stand the sight in front of her. Hyuna was clearly bullying Irene and it made her blood boil. Terribly. She felt her hands shaking in anger. How could Hyuna treat her like that when it clearly seemed to be an accident?

She could not take it. She knew she had to do something. Quickly.

Bogum was waiting for Irene. They had been quietly eating together when she had to reheat her plate since it was not hot enough for her. Once she was gone, he heard someone shouting and quickly looked around. He found Hyuna, seemingly pissed off, in front of a girl who kept apologizing. He widened his eyes when he recognized Irene who was bowing at the latter, seemingly apologizing. He stood up and rapidly made his way towards the commotion, seriously worrying about Irene being bullied. Besides, he knew Hyuna would not harm him, she would not dare to.

He was about to interfere but got interrupted by a strict and stern voice.

"Why is it so noisy here?"

Everyone widened their eyes, including Hyuna and Irene, although the latter did not look up. They clearly knew whose voice it belonged to and everyone could feel themselves getting goose bumps. The Kang Seulgi was interfering and it was a really unusual sight for them. Why would she interfere when Hyuna would always bully someone everyday? Why would she interfere when she would not even bat an eyelash at whatever usually happened?

"Oh, Seulgi." She walked towards Seulgi and grabbed her arm, pulling her with her. "Look..." Hyuna pouted and whined while pointing at her shirt.

"Go away!" She snatched her arm away and passed through her, finding herself next to Irene and more murmurs could be hear among the crowd surrounding them. She then took a look at the shivering girl in front of her who kept her head down. Seulgi's eyes soften a little and she gently tapped the girl's shoulder. Still, Irene did not dare look up so she took the girl's hand in hers, trying to comfort her.

"Seulgi! What are you doing? Are you siding with her? Can't you see what she did?" Hyuna pouted again, trying to get her attention but Seulgi completely ignored her.

"Stop it." She sternly said, not even bothering to look at Hyuna.

"Move!" She exclaimed while making her way towards the nearest washroom. Everyone let Seulgi - and Irene - pass, as they feared the infamous Kang Seulgi.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Seulgi asked her while she was whipping the girl's clothes and hair. She tried her best to be careful as she did not want to make the other girl feel uncomfortable.

Irene's hair was getting sticky and she somehow got conscientious about it. She had been silent ever since Seulgi interfered earlier.

"What do you want me to say?" Irene finally talked and Seulgi stopped her movements. Her voice was still shaking and it broke Seulgi's heart.

"I don't know... Maybe a simple 'thank you'? No?" She wanted to lighten up the mood but it did not seem to do so. Irene did not reply this time and stood still. She was back to being silent.

Seulgi sighed before continuing whipping Irene's clothes. Needless to say, it was getting really awkward between the two.

It was suffocating for Seulgi, the lack of communication between them was. She did not like how the girl would not open up to her, why the older girl would not talk to her. It seemed they really went back to being strangers to each other.

"Why didn't you come back?"

"What?" Seulgi was surprised by the sudden question. She was not sure what Irene was talking about but the latter seemed really shaken by the situation.

"At the playground. I was waiting for you, you know. I was there every night, expecting you to be there too..."

Seulgi felt her heart tightening and she stopped once more her cleaning. Had the girl really been waiting and expecting her? It felt strange for Seulgi to encounter such a situation. She felt as if she had missed something big, something indecipherable.

"I came once but..." Seulgi softly said, the words coming out of painfully, as if they burned.

"But what?" Irene asked expecting her answer. She surely did not know the latter had already come again to see her.

"But it seemed you already had someone else to keep you company and to comfort you. I didn't want to be a third wheel, or even a unwanted incomer."

"Someone else? You mean... Bogum?"

"Of course, who else... Are you two perhaps... dating?" She hesitantly asked. Even though she had an idea about the answer, she could not deny she was fearing it.

Irene was about to reply, already taking in a deep breath when someone outside called out for her, someone who had a bad habit of cutting short their enchanting interlude, of breaking whatever moment they had.

"Irene! Are you in there?"

At that moment, Seulgi knew it was the cue for her to leave.

So she did, ignoring the despairing look sent by Irene.