Irene had just wanted an enchilada. That’s it. Just a simple, cheesy enchilada. She hadn’t asked for any of this.

Across the lounge of the Mexican restaurant, Wendy, Eunae, and Moonbyul were drunkenly singing What’s Going On by 4 Non Blondes on the karaoke stage, while Seulgi and Joy looked on from the bar, unaware of their boss’s presence. She should leave before they saw her, but there was something morbidly fascinating about watching her team interact outside of the cafe setting that kept her seated at her tiny corner table…

“Remind me why we’re here again?” Joy leaned in and asked Seulgi wryly.

“You’re the designated driver,” Seulgi answered in a similar tone. “But why am I here?” she asked half to herself, watching Eunae singing enthusiastically.

“...And I said HEEEEY-EEEEY-EEEEY-!”

Seulgi laughed a little as all three of the baristas on stage threw back their heads and shouted the chorus to the entire restaurant. The last place Seulgi expected to see Eunae again after that moment in Heechul’s store was here.

Moonbyul stood in between the two other baristas, her arms thrown over their shoulders as all three of them leaned in towards the mic stand to continue the cacophony. “I said HEY! WHAT’S GOING ON!” the bar shouted with the girls in unison. After the final chorus, the two baristas from Heechul’s store collapsed into a fit of giggles, leaving Wendy to dramatically sing the final refrain by herself. And damn, that girl could sing when she wanted to.

Seulgi and Joy mockingly applauded as all three of the girls unevenly left the stage to join them at the bar. Joy stood up and gestured for Wendy to sit. The injured, and inebriated, barista gratefully obliged and took her place next to Seulgi.

“Let me see your face,” Seulgi quietly ordered, gently brushing Wendy’s bangs out of her face. The bruise across the bridge of her nose was already starting to show, and Seulgi shot a glare at Moonbyul for injuring her friend.

From the other side of Wendy, Moonbyul gave an apologetic smile. “I didn’t mean to!" she iterated for the umpteenth time. "We took good care of her after…” she said bracingly, clapping Wendy on the shoulder as stood. “Here, Eunae take my seat, I’m going to go make a call.”

These baristas knew nothing of weekends, so when Moonbyul had offered to take them out, it hadn’t quite registered that it was a Saturday night and that everything would be busy. Their party of five had only managed to grab three stools at the bar, leaving two of them to stand while they all crowded around with their drinks and appetizers.

Eunae slid into Moonbyul’s vacated seat quietly and sipped on her margarita, coming down from the excitement of their karaoke collaboration. She too hadn’t anticipated seeing Seulgi in a setting quite like this and wondered which one the ‘Legendary Barista’s’ coworkers had thought it’d be a good idea to invite her along. She briefly caught Seulgi’s eye as she finished with her examination of Wendy and Eunae dropped her gaze quickly, taking another long draught of her drink.

This day was getting stranger and stranger.

Meanwhile, Moonbyul was already pulling up a certain pink-haired barista’s contact information on her phone as she walked right past Irene’s table. She paused almost comically and did a double-take.  “Ire-?!”

But Irene put a finger to her lips in a hushing motion, indicating the pack of girls at the bar with a nod.

Moonbyul followed Irene’s gaze to her party, then she looked back at Irene and winked. She continued on with a sly smile, heading out into the parking lot to make her call.

Irene watched the remaining four girls at the bar. She saw how attentive Seulgi was with the other girls: how even though Joy was standing, she would still turn to include her in the conversation; how she was keeping a close watch on Wendy; but it was almost because of how much attention she was paying to Joy and Wendy that Irene noticed how Seulgi seemed to barely have a word to say to Eunae. Suddenly she saw Seulgi get up and head towards the bathroom, and Eunae’s eyes followed her.

Was it shyness? A crush, maybe? Irene narrowed her eyes. It was a good thing company store remodels were quick.

With Seulgi gone, Joy quickly slid into the empty seat, idly picking at their plate of salsa and chips. With an eye on Joy, Wendy leaned towards Eunae. “I’m sorry,” she began in a whisper. “I didn’t know Joy was going to ask Seulgi to come, too.” Since Moonbyul had invited them out for drinks, Wendy thought it had been an inspired idea to invite the minor to serve as their ride home. Seeing Seulgi in Joy's car when the taller girl had come to pick them up, however, had made her instantly regret it.

Eunae looked up from her drink and smiled. “It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize to me.” Seulgi may have been tight-lipped with her all evening, but at least her expressions were cordial any time their eyes met. She looked into Wendy’s face, assessing her injury. “How are you feeling?” she asked, changing the subject.

Wendy let her have a turn examining the damage, but couldn’t quite find the courage to meet her gaze. “I’m alright. It barely hurts,” she lied. The constant, if dull, pain spiked with every laugh and facial expression, which was killing Wendy and her over-reactive nature.

Moonbyul came up and threw her arms around the two of them again. “Hey kids. Didya miss me?” She looked between them with a smirk. “Or am I interrupting?”

Eunae shrugged her arm off and Wendy rolled her eyes. “Is 'neither' an option?” she asked dryly.

Moonbyul put a hand to her chest with a pained expression. “Wendy, you wound me.”

“Who wounded whom?”

“Touche.”

Wendy was eyeing the karaoke stage again. “Did you want to have another go?” she asked the party.

Joy shook her head. “Ask me again in a year when I can drink, too."

Moonbyul laughed. “Yeah I think I’m good.”

Eunae just raised her hands in a distressed gesture and shook her head.

Wendy laughed. “Well, I’m not going to let any of you spoil my fun,” she said, taking one last sip of her drink before pushing away from the bar.

“Do you want help picking something out?” Joy offered, but Wendy waved her off.

“No thanks, I know what I'm looking for.” Wendy gave them all a wink and stepped up onto the stage.

Seulgi came back to sit in Wendy’s seat just as she started hearing a few hoots and hollers from the crowd thinking there was about to be more drunken revelry. She was about to join the jeering, but when a vaguely familiar piano line came in, her laughter died away.

“Closing time. Open all the doors and let you out into the world,” Wendy began soberly. “Closing time. Turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl.”

Seulgi smiled down at her drink nostalgically. Talk about a throwback.

“Closing time, one last call for alcohol,” Wendy continued, smiling shyly as she closed her eyes, “so finish your whiskey or beer. Closing time, you don’t have to go home but you can’t. Stay. Here.”

“I know who I want to take me home!” Joy shouted from beside Seulgi, pumping her fist in the air.

“I know who I want to take me home!” Seulgi laughed, raising her glass.

“I know who I want to take me home…” Irene whispered in her corner.

Wendy laughed and pointed at her party during the instrumental interlude. All four of the baristas pointed back at her and cheered.

“She’s good,” Seulgi said aloud.

“She really is,” Eunae agreed.

Startled, they exchanged a look. How long had they been sitting next to each other?

Eunae dropped her gaze. Perhaps that margarita was hitting her a little harder than she realized. When she dared to glance back up at Seulgi again, the ‘Legendary Barista’ gave her a kind smile and raised her glass. Eunae returned the smile with a small one of her own, and clicked their drinks together. A truce? They weren’t exactly fighting, but it felt like the appropriate word all the same. How much of all this awkwardness was just been in her own head? She supposed those would be the thoughts that would keep her company during tomorrow’s hangover.

Seulgi turned in her seat, about to say something to Moonbyul, when suddenly she saw a familiar girl sitting at a corner table talking to a waiter.

“... Irene?”

Moonbyul looked down at Seulgi in surprise, then followed the barista’s gaze to where Irene was sitting. She smiled knowingly. “Well, would you look at that.”

Seulgi looked up at the blue-haired barista, then nervously turned back around to stare into her drink. Moonbyul laughed and clapped Seulgi on the back. Seulgi winced but kept her head low. How long had Irene been sitting there? Had she seen them all? She supposed there was no missing Wendy up there on the stage.

“So gather up your jackets, and move it to the exits,” Wendy’s melodic voice carried through the lounge. “I hope you have found a friend,” she sang with a wink, pointing at Eunae.

Eunae pointed at herself questioningly and blushed.

Moonbyul threw her head back and laughed. Kids. They were lucky none of them would probably remember this in the morning. She leaned on Seulgi’s shoulder and said low in her ear, “I’ll cover for you if you want to go talk to her.”

Seulgi’s face burned. There was no way that would be a good idea this late into a night of drinking, though she chanced another glance at their boss. Irene was talking to the waiter again.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…” Wendy finished softly with a small, curious smile. There was sporadic clapping and cheers from the bar. She hopped off the stage and weaved her way back through the crowd to her friends.

Seulgi looked Moonbyul in the eye and they gave each other a nod. “That’s the spirit,” Moonbyul quietly encouraged. She gave Seulgi’s hair a light ruffle as the ‘Legendary Barista’ gathered herself. Just as she turned to walk over to Irene’s table, however, she noticed their boss was no longer there. Shocked, Seulgi tugged at Moonbyul’s sleeve. The older girl followed her gaze to the empty table and quickly scanned the rest of the lounge. “She’s probably still around- maybe in the parking lot. Go, go!” She gave Seulgi a push, and the barista stumbled into the crowd.

What was she doing? There was no way Irene could have missed that they were all sitting at the bar. Why hadn’t she joined them? Was it inappropriate? Kyuhyun had come out with them sometimes, but Seulgi supposed it had always been a little awkward, drinking with the ‘boss’. She pushed her way outside into the parking lot, and the sudden quiet overwhelmed her senses. She glanced around, trying to remember what Irene’s car looked like, but to no avail. She was just about to give up and go back inside when she turned and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Irene was leaning up against the front of the restaurant watching her, hiding a laugh behind her hand. Seeing Seulgi come rushing out of the restaurant looking for her had charmed her immensely. This girl was very dangerous.

“Hi,” Seulgi said breathlessly.

“Hi,” Irene returned.

Back at the bar, Moonbyul flagged down the bartender. “I think we’re through, here. What’s the damage?” she asked.

“Oh, your bill’s been paid, miss.”

“What- the whole thing?!” Moonbyul choked. She had been expecting to sink nearly half a paycheck to make up for breaking Wendy’s nose, especially with the way these girls drank. The bartender nodded and gestured through the restaurant’s windows out into the parking lot, where Moonbyul could see Seulgi giving Irene that dopey smile of hers. “Oh. Cool.”

“I… I didn’t know you were here,” Seulgi said shyly, staring at the asphalt between them. “You could have joined us.”

Irene smirked. “I didn’t want to interrupt,” she said quietly.

Seulgi raised her eyes. “You?” she laughed. “You wouldn’t have been interrupting,” she said, matching Irene’s tone.

Irene took a breath. How was it Seulgi that could switch between being shy and serious so quickly? No, that wasn’t right. Seulgi was usually serious. It was just that sometimes her shyness seemed to fall away unexpectedly, and it always caught Irene off guard.

Seulgi took a step closer. “You should come with us next time.” It was Irene’s turn to drop her gaze now. How she wished it were still winter for how warm it suddenly was. “O-or you know, if you wanted to just go… together some time...”

“Kang Seulgi. Are you asking me on a date?” Irene asked, the mischievous look in her eyes at odds with the brilliant blush on her cheeks.

“No!” Seulgi practically shouted. “I mean… maybe? I mean that depends! I mean-”

Irene kissed her cheek. “You’re cute when you’re drunk.”

Seulgi watched her walk away in stunned silence. It wasn’t until Irene had already driven out of the parking lot that Seulgi finally regained her senses.

“So… is that a yes?”