Ep.1 — Who are you?

“Irene…”

The brunette haired woman kept her gaze intensely on her phone. The game she had been playing for days was more important, needing so much effort and causing bullets of drenched sweats to be able to stand on her current ranking. Therefore, there was an imaginary warning of capital NO DISTURB on her forehead, letting her guard down now would only lead her nowhere near her newest milestone, a much awaited high score—that was how competitive she could be. Even as her manager’s stern voice had echoed for the second time in a row, she still paid no attention to him whatsoever. 

“Irene…”

“Wait oppa!” She managed to squeak an answer just to please him, as her fingers didn’t even stop tapping the screen. She felt his eyes burning a hole on her side but no, she had to keep her focus and in doing so, she couldn’t be careless with his petty ranting about her being so rude towards him.           

“Bae Irene………..” 

Another failed attempt of her manager to distract her, she didn’t blink the whole time despite the fact his calling had ensued for numerous times again. “Bae Irene… oh my goodness”

“Hmm…”

Innocently, she hummed back— looking slightly possessed with the thought of winning the game. By the time her manager had been losing his patient thus Irene found herself pocketing her device with a pout forming on after being threatened with no ice cream break. “Oppa!!”

She sat up while crossing her hands. “There goes my chance to get a newest high score!”

“You’re making my blood pressure increase in each day.” He sighed and bent down to sit in front of her. Both of them were sitting inside her agency room after Irene had finished her filming that day. The latest scene was painstakingly done with much effort as the bad weather outside had hindered them from taking the best shots right away. Moreover as Irene wanted it to be done perfectly too, it was natural that the filming took a longer than it usual time. But this woman happened to be such a kid according to her manager, at this very hour.

No haughty Bae Irene like you once saw in her films or dramas, her manager had had enough with her actual behavior in daily life. No more elegant and chic demeanor, she had magically morphed into a whiny kid this time around.

“I should really take a daily check for the sake of my heart’s health.” 

“You are exaggerating.” She barked back, leaning even more on her seat with force. “You’re such a killjoy.”

“You know I am.” Her manager threw a cheeky smile, snubbing her tantrum. “Anyway,” He rummaged through his backpack before pushing a brown map across the table. “Take a look at it.” He said while urging her to open the offered map. Hesitantly, Irene took it with raised brows and upon reading the content inside it, she couldn’t help but feel even more clueless. “What is this?”

“Have you read it?”

“Yes, I am.” Irene commented as her eyes still fixed on the paper. “Is it a new show right? I’ve never heard about it before.” She looked up to see her manager nodding. “I’ll meet random people and you want me to participate in this kind of show?”

She held up the paper with one hand. “Are you serious oppa?”

He nodded again.

“Okay, good.” She responded while placing the paper down. “But I’m not interested. I would rather enjoy my lone time, alone, instead of spending it with the help of a stranger.”

“Why not? It’s good for your image!” He exclaimed. “Besides, you will have your comeback in less than two months. It’s good to make an appearance!” He tried to convince her even more, “To hype your long awaited comeback!”

“Two months, yes. That’s why I should be focused on preparing my new drama.”

“It’s been settled, I assure with you going on this program you will gain more recognition and it won’t disrupt your drama’s preparation. I swear.”

Irene stared at him for the longest time and noted his bright eyes penetrated on her which was a very rare sight. This man was a grumpy person, she had known him her whole life, and surely something was definitely up for making him do this kind of thing, voluntary.

“What’s on your sleeve now, oppa?”

“Whoa… you’re such an ungrateful kid indeed.” He narrowed his eyes at her in disbelief. “I’m getting you a job! You should at the very least thank me! Even at this hour Yeoja Generation’s managers are busy doing preparation for whatever schedules they have while me here…. only babysitting you.”

“Go apply to be their manager then.” Irene scoffed back playfully at the mention of her senior label-mates in a different field. “I’m not so sorry for not being able to sing you a single song…”

She mocked his dejected look.

True enough as one leading actress with successful numbers in every project she had starred in—Irene surely didn’t need to appear on such show to gain recognition because who did not know actress Bae Irene, the Nation’s Sweetheart?

Everyone was already anticipating her comeback once it rumored last month, the news was going rampage as her agency didn’t even confirm it just yet at that time. News relating to her would go around and blow up just as fast. That was how powerful actress Bae Irene could be.

Maintaining her unchanging look, she stared down at the thrown paper again.

She understood that all he wanted her to was to bounce back after her long hiatus in drama and specifically, to have a more social life aside of spending it alone quietly in her apartment when she wasn’t doing any activities aside her filming in general. It was her natural preference to spend all her free time at home by herself when she got any chance—fully realizing that she had spent almost her whole time in filming set ever since she was a kid. Yes, Irene was born to be an entertainer, she was formerly a famous kid actress as well. Yet, her manager thought she had to fix her somehow close to nonexistence social life from now on.

And was his point right, because of her natural reserved personality, despite being an actress for a long run, she didn’t actually close with her fellow artists to the point of building any friendship with the rest of them. She considered them as colleagues with professional and great skills, but that was just it.

Therefore she began to consider taking up the offered job although she didn’t want to let her manager know just yet. She had something in mind for a better gaining.

“This stubborn kid will be the death of me.” He shook his head and gathered these scattered papers on the table. He glanced at her and asked one last time. “Are you sure? You don’t want to reconsider joining this show?”

She put a finger on her chin and pretended to think. “Hmmm… I will if you get me a big bowl of patbingsoo, with a lot of red bean.”

He gave her a baffled look, her love for patbingsoo and red bean had probably escalated to another, higher level— a normal human being couldn’t even relate. “With the amount of consuming it on daily basis, I’m getting a bit worried with your excessive habit. Now, you even want me to get you one in the midnight?”

Irene approved. “Red bean will help me sleep just like cherry does. So, rest assured.”

“That logic doesn’t give any sense to me.” He stood up while bringing his stuff along as he eyed her suspiciously again. “How weird. You’re never agreeing this fast though.”

“Great, only intellect will surely get my logic. So, go get that patbingsoo fast oppa!”

—◙—

“We are so pleased to hear that you've agreed to join our project, Irene-ssi.” He bowed a bit at her and straightened his posture; Irene did the same gracefully while eyeing everyone in the room after done introducing herself earlier. “I’m Park Leeteuk as the director of this show.”

The man in his thirties smiled brightly as soon as he opened their discussion that morning with a cheerful greeting. The broad meeting about the new show her manager had adamantly offered so. “It might a bit hard since you’re currently preparing for your new upcoming drama as well right? But, despite of that condition, you’re still considering to join us.” His smile grew wider. “We are so thankful.”

Being the one who had been praised was eventually making Irene put her head down in embarrassment, she shook her head a little before speaking slowly, “Don’t make it sound like I’m a very busy person, PD-nim.” She noticed everyone in the round table are smiling at her, she beamed back equally wide—grateful for the warm welcome she got. “Trust me, I just made profit through dramas and once it done released I’ll be pretty jobless though. You guys are saving my boring life.” Irene chuckled, making everyone in the room laugh at her joke.

“Your senses of joke are refreshing,” The man commented as he looked at everyone in the room with sparkling eyes. “I have a good feeling about this show!”

Irene wanted to cringe badly at how the team indirectly put the pressure of the show on her shoulder, anticipating highly of her.

“I’m afraid that I couldn’t meet your expectation though.”

She quickly elaborated. “You see, I’m pretty much a boring person. To top it all, I haven’t made any single appearance in any reality show for almost three years in a row? I only hosted as an MC last year though… and it doesn’t count.” She looked around with uncertain look. “Honestly speaking I’m not familiar with reality show nor do I know what to expect later.”

A woman, she assumed as the writer suddenly chimed from her side. “It’s okay Irene-ssi we will help you along the way. As the concept itself is pretty much laidback, you don’t need to pressure yourself.”

A kind smile then displayed though it didn’t lessen a bit of her growing anxiety.

Leeteuk motioned the meeting to continue much later with the bright atmosphere still presented throughout their meeting. They explained about the new concept, their goals, and all in detail.

“As you have seen on the description, this brand new show combines the idea of pairing celebrities up, to see how they develop and articulate the meaning of Soulmate themselves.” Leeteuk enlightened with easy voice, “So, it’d be better if you guys treat those cameras like nothing whenever you’re hanging out together as we would limit the filming staff as well. We aim to get a realistic view though bearing in mind that we’ll be still using some script as the base idea for the flow of the show, right Eunae-ssi?”

The earlier woman agreed. “Yes. We’ll provide the script along the way though you guys don’t have to follow it strictly. Spontaneous acts from both parties will be very much anticipated. You would also take self-individual shots most of the time and also do some interviews just like any reality show.”  

Irene could only nod during the meeting as something important finally caught up. She took a glimpse around the room and suddenly realized, as far as she knew, usually everyone who took part as the casts would be gathered regardless of what shows it was—when they meet for the first time for script reading or something. Or has the pattern changed in a few years?

The brunette thought to herself as she didn’t discover this celebrity person who’d get stuck along with her for at least a month among the people inside the room. Not being able to contain her curiosity any longer, Irene decided to ask the man about this matter.

“PD-nim… but who’s going to be my partner?”

She dreaded when he turned at her with what she thought to be a mischievous smile, “You will know soon enough, Irene-ssi.”

“Shouldn’t I get a heads-up first?” Irene raised her brows in return. She somewhat regretted taking a part of this show.

“That’s the highlight point, as you know nothing about your partner.” He laughed at her shocked expression. “You will eventually know though for now we will be keeping it as a secret.”

“Doesn’t it sound forced? I mean, won’t it come across awkward and messed up?” Irene questioned with creased forehead, “As I don’t have any appropriate preparation to meet him or her? Should I be worried now?”

“You don’t need to.” He chuckled. “Just relax and be yourself, Irene-ssi.”

Ha! Easy for you to say. You’re not the one meeting this stranger and will be temporarily stuck with them for a month or so.

She begrudgingly eyed him though he was oblivious most of the time. The smiley producer then looked at her again, still with that unsettling smile. “We did a polling to decide the guest of our new show. And we took the highest votes into consideration before making a final pair. People are guessing around.” He beamed with a proud smile. “So, I guess everyone would be surprised and delighted to see you and your partner in this show though.”

“Shouldn’t I get any hint?” Irene desperately asked, ignoring his earlier fuss about the show. For now, she would let this producer having his way, though she hoped that anything good would happen in the near future. So that she would not feel any regret for joining the show, entirely.

The man smiled kindly, still with a hint of mischievousness aired on him. “This person is coming from a recent hottest group. An Idol.”

Irene noted and frowned at how limited her clue was. He didn’t even say any gender, what should she expect anyway?

“Are we already filming though?” She asked and checked around whether she got filmed by the staff in the moment. “If so I’d like to say greeting first because I’ll be pretty much muted during our real encounter later. I’m a nervous-wreck.”

“I believe this person can help you around to feel at ease though.”  The man encouraged her, referring to her partner who came from a member of groups. “Moreover as you guys will live together; it’s a mere of time until you’ll open up to each other.”

Irene was about to reach for her drink but stopped midway at the live together part. “What? We live together?”

“Yes, you and your partner.” The sound of this writer made its way to shock her. She sure liked to interrupt in such a time. Irene whipped her head at the latter when she began to add her list of on-going misery. “Wait a minute.” She managed to protest before the writer could even speak, “I know nothing about living together. I don’t find any of sentences mentioning or at least implying us to live under the same roof on the paper either. Would it really necessary?”

The writer nodded. “Though it was a split second of idea, we deem it to be necessary after doing another discussion with our team.”

A split of second idea? Irene would list this writer along with that PD as people she certainly didn’t not fond of.  How professional.

“In order to build the chemistry out of you two, we would like to make a comfortable atmosphere around so what’s better than having a place that feels exactly like your home right?”

What home? She low-key glared at the woman for a moment, hating the idea of sharing a place with someone she didn’t know at all. That’s plainly absurd. They’re crossing my borderline of privacy.

“I don't have to live with them like every day right? I still have my on-going drama.”

“Nope, but most of time you will.” Eunae, the writer emitted a growing smile. “When both of you have free time.”

“Any questions?”

Irene averted her gaze somewhere and shook her head as if in a daze. Her mind was still buzzing with this thrown information.

“That’s for today then… Thanks for your hard work everyone!” Leeteuk said shortly before announcing further, “We’ll start filming on set in the next week, see you very soon.” He then looked at her, smile threatening to burst out. “You might start self-recording your daily activities from now on Irene-ssi.”

She nodded with a small twitched smile.    

One of the staffs came and briefly told her.  “We’ve already handed the camera to your manager, Irene-ssi.”

“Thank you for the hard work everyone! I’ll do my best!”

She smiled in return to the retreating staffs but as soon as the corner of her eyes caught a sight of her manager smiling, she shot him a piercing, burning glare.

“Do you want to tell something to your future partner though?” Leeteuk gestured towards the cameraman at the corner of room, breaking her laser stare she currently aimed at her manager’s smug face. “If you do, go ahead, Irene-ssi.”

Irene heaved a sigh before she turned around in her seat and bowed her head. “Hello, my name is Bae Irene and I know I’m boring as you can see it clearly from this meeting, though I hope you don’t mind getting stuck with me from now on.”

“Let’s just work hard?” She awkwardly smiled while raising her hands half in the air. “Fighting!”

Hours after the meeting was over, she cornered her manager and slapped his shoulder repeatedly with no mercy when she got her chances. She just couldn’t believe what she got herself into.

“YOU. DID. NOT. CERTAINLY. TELL. ME. THAT. I’D. LIVE. WITH. A. STRANGER!” 

With every emphasized word, she rewarded him with a fresh blazing slaps.

“Ouch… yah! Woman is not supposed to be this violent!” He groaned while backing away from her striking palm. “Besides, you don’t have to live with them like every passing day though!”

“Not every day but MOST of the time!” Irene nearly chokeslammed him. “For me, it’s the same! There goes my free time! Oh gosh what should I do?!”

—◙—

 “Unnie! Unnie! Unnie!”

The growing maknae made a dash through their dorm, surprising the hell out of Seulgi who was going in a full silence during her time of cooking their dinner. She looked over her shoulder to see her rushing towards her direction.

“What is it, Yerim?”

Yeri walked straight to Seulgi’s slim figure and stopped beside her. She shrugged off the confusion stares coming from her other unnies who was currently arranging their utensils on the dining table. “I heard you’re going to join a show? Is it true?”

“What kind of show?” Joy quickly chimed from her place. “Are you going to be your-no-jam-self again?”

Wendy who stood beside her nearly dropped her chopstick at the mention of that casual remark. The latter was trying her best to maintain a straight face though Seulgi didn’t find it amusing, indeed, the proof was her darkened expression in each passing second.

After they appeared on a recent show, she got to hear herself being slandered by her own members for not having any jam at all. It had been their inside jokes ever since, though Seulgi did try her best but it just happened that she didn’t have any forte in making people laugh the way her members did.

The girl in bright orange hair merely threw a glare at them.

“I’m funny okay!” She unconsciously pressed the kimchi pancake on the pan quite hard; all the while pointing at the laughing Joy with her other free hand. “Only intellect could find my jokes funny though.”

“See? She’s on it again…” Joy’s laughs echoed, sending Seulgi on the verge of throwing her spatula square in her face.

“Watch out, unnie! It’s our dinner!” Yeri nearly cried at the sight of their burnt out food as Seulgi quickly flipped the pancake, hissing sound was coming from the said food. Thank God their food wasn’t completely damaged like she previously thought that it would. The maknae then turned at her other unnies— especially Joy and glared at her. “Stop distracting her! Our dinner is at stake!” 

“We could always order takeaway though…”

Joy surrendered her arms up when Yeri threw another deadly glare at her for the second time in a row.

“Answer me unnie.” The maknae poked her shoulder, demanding her answer. “Is it true that you’re going to leave us?”

“Whoa! Whoa!” Wendy and Joy abruptly bolted up from their place and joined Yeri in probing an answer.

“How do you know?” Both asked in sync. “And why is she leaving?”

“Sadness unnie told me.” The red haired girl then briefly tossed a Do you think I know everything? look towards both of them. She directed her focus on her oldest unnie again. “Seriously unnie? Are you joining We Should Get Married or something? Just like Sooyoung at that time? Why do you need to leave us though?”

“You’re joining WSGM?” Joy interrogated. “Is he hot?”

“I’m not joining it nor do I leave you, silly.” Seulgi answered while continuing her task warily, fully ignoring Joy’s unnecessary inquiries. “It’s just I need to stay in for some time, not every day though.” 

“It doesn’t change the fact that you’ll leave us though…” Wendy replied with a somber mood. Seulgi looked at her and smiled softly, this passionate kid would of course be the one to openly express her dislike about her upcoming departure. The smaller girl just loved their members too much that even the thought of being separated from one another would be a worst nightmare to ever imagine.

“Hey unnie… I’m asking, is he hot?”

“Don’t mind her unnie. She would probably want to compare your partner with Sungjae oppa…” Yeri casually retorted in which the blonde responded with, “This kid is scary.”

“I told you I’m not joining WSGM.” The oldest commented briefly, giving her attention to the dynamic duo. “It’s a different show.”

“Now, I’m curious.” Joy mumbled with an excited voice. “Are you with a partner? Or groups? Or I don’t know, alone maybe?”

“I’m with a partner that I don’t have any idea who they are.”

That short word elicited the long roars her band mates were capable of making. She shrieked at the bizarre sound. “What the heck are you guys doing?” 

“It sounds like WSGM to me.” Joy concluded to herself while nodding endlessly. She sported a serious look, “Who is the PD?”

“Park Leeteuk…?”

Joy nodded and frowned in a deep thought, leaving the members to look at her with raised brows—half anticipating.

“You know him?”

“Nah, I don’t.” The sheepish response coming from Joy earned herself a smack on the shoulder from their fumed maknae. “Hey… NBC has many PDs! How do you expect that I know every single name of them?”

“Shut up.”  

“Tell us more about it, Seul?” This time around, it was Wendy again who asked as she propped herself on the dining chair. Joy and Yeri pulled another chairs to join her.

Seulgi frowned slightly as she recalled the description of the show. She automatically said in a monotone voice. “It’s a brand new show filled with surprise. It combines the concept of Celebrity needs Bromance and We Should Get Married’s.”

Much later, the older between them queried with unsure tone. “I haven’t watched about Celebrity needs Bromance though. What’s that about?”

“The show is about a pair of male celebrities we don’t even know close to each other, going to chill out together.” Joy replied as she leaned on her seat. “That’s interesting. How do they mix these concepts?” 

“You sure know a lot… Sungjae oppa appeared on that show as well right? You’ve been keeping an eye on him even after your show is over though. Someone is not moving on, huh?”

Joy lifted her fist up in the air and showed it to the youngest girl’s direction before asking Seulgi to give them more details.    

“What’s the title, unnie?”

Seulgi bit her lower lip as she turned off the stove, bracing herself from her members much likely respond. “Soulmate.”

“What?”

She nodded to confirm when they raised an eyebrow simultaneously, even harmonizing in asking her question. “I’m serious. It’s named Soulmate.”

“Gosh… I got goosebumps.” Yeri turned and showed her arms to them. “That is so cringe-worthy!”

The second oldest among them also narrowed her eyes at the title and shook her toes to somehow get a rid of the said words. “They couldn’t even pick a better name. The producer is sure a cheesy person.”

“Sooyoung-ah… aren’t you going to say something about that title?” Wendy asked the blonde when she spotted her staring at the empty plate in front her. 

“I’m just glad that I starred at WSGM first.” She murmured. “I thought WSGM was the worst in terms of naming a show.”

“Is it really bad?” Seulgi asked in a concern. Although it was her individual schedule, the opinions of her members were still matter to her.

The rest of members shook their heads in unison after seeing their leader’s look.

“Don’t get us wrong, Seul. We would like to see you doing your job happily, right guys?” Wendy angled her head to both maknaes and got the nod of their heads. “So, don’t hesitate to pursue your own career. We’ll be here every step you take!”

“I just got another goosebumps.” Yeri muttered to herself and Wendy had to palm her face at the indirect remark.

“Who would iron my uniform then?”

“You could enslave, Sooyoung.” Wendy countered after she recovered from her own cheesy words, getting a loud “WHY ME?!” from the said person. “It’s not like Seulgi unnie is the one who irons your uniform though. It has nothing to do with unnie’s departure!”

“Just let’s do a group hug! It’s been awhile since we last crashed each other ribcages!”

Yeri shouted as she initiated in chocking the hell out of Joy who sat beside her.

Seulgi chuckled and beamed at them, eyes soft at the sight of her happy members gathering around—supporting each other.

“Thanks a lot guys…” 

—◙—

It was still gnawing her. “Who is it…?”

“Who would it be?” Irene sat against her bedpost late at midnight, an open laptop on her laps. She listed the possibility and pondered in a very deep thought. This was surely taking so much of her time. She didn’t even this worried when she decided to join a new project, to be specific, her newest drama, which was her long awaited comeback. “Now… let’s take a look of some possible groups… though.”

She fetched a long tired sigh. “Why do I sound so pathetic?”

Most popular K-POP groups in 2016.

Irene began to type the keywords on Metube’s column search slowly and found the video containing both the hottest boy and girl groups in her country.

“ECHO…?” The clip of nine handsome men performed coolly appeared on her screen and she didn’t even feel fascinated with them. Don't get her wrong, she did like them. Sure, they were insanely handsome and extremely popular and undoubtedly talented and the list went down the floor. But for this one, she didn’t feel like one of this boy group’s members would be assigned to be her partner. “Nah… surely I won’t meet my label-mates right? They are pretty busy these days.”

The video went by to another boy group, looking just as flawless and handsome. She watched in silence when an energetic pop song along with their synchronized moves came off. Their raps were fascinating and she unconsciously bobbed her head while following the current beat.

“This is a jam yo…” 

Irene didn’t actually familiar with any groups outside her company’s as she was rarely checked the television aside of cooking channel—she didn’t even watch her own dramas when they finally aired. Thus she was having a hard time to inspect their face and recalled whether she had met them in NBC’s building that day for the show’s meeting. “So, their name is Behind The Scene?”

She tilted her head, noticing their young looks. “They look pretty young,” She grimaced at her future project she had to do with those idols. “Sure, their female fans would attack me with no mercy.” 

The scene was suddenly changed into a very bright concept of summer from this girl group named,

“Sister?” Irene blinked at the revealing clothes. “Oh… okay. They look so fine with those bikinis.” She enjoyed the song and jammed on it once again,

“Wait! Is that Hyorin unni-?”

She wasn’t able to finish her words when suddenly a familiar face made her way on her screen. The bright orange hair tied in a braid, bringing her attention to the one who was dancing in the middle of group, owning the spot with her charisma. Her already distinct face was being complimented with her bright hair and that unique hairstyle, giving an equally quirky look that exuded with attractiveness.

“Seulgi!!!”

Kang Seulgi, the awkward and bubbly girl she once knew for nearly a year, when both of them were pointed to be the respective MC in a music show last year. She grinned to herself while reminiscing their time. The positivity in her would always amaze Irene to no end. She definitely had a great time together.

“How is she doing now?”

Irene asked to no one and reached for her phone on the bedside table. She stared at it and groaned. “How could you lost your old phone pabo?!”

The woman pitied her own reflection on her current phone’s black surface. Not only was it actually a hassle to deal with a brand new device, she had to lose Seulgi’s number as well, a fellow artist she considered the closest—the person she could ever get comfortable with the most in such a short period of time.

Irene blamed herself for being a dense person when it came to starting any kind of relationship. “Why don’t you ask for her Cacao Talk id?”

She could certainly ask her manager or anyone to get her number. But she was too shy to ask and she regretted for not doing anything just now.

And because the latter was super busy with her filming schedule, same case with the other girl's activities as an idol at that time, it eventually rendered the chance of them to maintain their supposed to be blossoming friendship. She opened her SNS and scrolled on it to see the picture of them together on her prior, one year old post.

“Kang Seulgi, it’s been a long time right?”

—◙—

“Can I eat it?”

Seulgi glanced down to see Yeri’s chopsticks on the edge of touching her sushi. She nodded a bit before bringing her attention back to the playing television above them. She couldn’t be careless about it now that her attention was all directed to the scene before her eyes.

The television was displaying a two minutes trailer of a new fantasy drama starring South Korea A-list casts that everyone considered being one of the best dramas in this second half of year. Its genre which was fantasy alone been already attracting people, and for discovering that the one behind the script was a well-known writer with countless hits under her belt— the building anticipation was in a nation’s scale.  

“Is that Gongyoo sunbaenim?”

The girl with black cap simply nodded again. However, she almost dropped her chopsticks and drowned her rolled sushi into a small bowl of wasabi when her eyes caught a sight of this familiar petite woman appearing on the television. “Unnie?”

“Huh? Who?” Yeri turned around and scanned their quiet surrounding, before she spun back and gave her companion a strange look as she found nothing. “Who’re you talking to?”

“It’s Irene unnie…” She mumbled while pointing her eater utensil at the large screen. “She’s taking a role in that drama.”  

“Wow… that’s pretty cool. No wonder people are pretty hyped with this upcoming drama,” said the younger girl before she shoved another piece of sushi into her own mouth, she munched on it with a happy face.

“Why though?”

“Well, this project is pretty much Gongyoo’s sunbaenim newest project after he took his military duty and also Irene sunbaenim’s comeback after her long hiatus in drama filming. That line up surely is a double combo.”  

Seulgi couldn’t help but smile along when she saw the lady in red scarf smiling through screen. Bae Irene without any doubt had a very contagious, beautiful smile. “Yeah… they will make a great pair.” She muttered before tearing her eyes off screen to dig her own food again. How have you been?

—◙—

“Okay… so now what do I do.” Irene tapped on the camera before her face and studied it under a very close distance. She zoomed at her right eye then to the left over and over again. “Does this thing record anything?” 

“What are you even doing?”

She quickly pulled the camera off her face and saw her manager making a weird face. She turned off her camera and placed it on the coffee table in front her. “Doing that show want me to do.”

“You look dumb.”

“You look dumber.” Irene said as she leaned on the comfy couch, feeling tired suddenly.  She never liked to expose her life to everyone to begin with. 

“Gee…” He retorted as he took a seat across her. “Might bright your gloomy self. This room has enough of your demotivation spirit.” He placed a take away of her favorite patbingsoo in front of her and Irene immediately leaped in joy at the sight.

“I know this day will eventually come! Why don’t you treat me this way from the beginning?”  

“Just shut up and eat that food, Bae Irene.”

The said woman happily reached for the sweet frozen treat, but halted her movement when her manager called for her again. “What?”

“Why don’t you record yourself while eating your food? Just like some sort of mukbang?”

“That’s pretty much good idea!” Irene took the neglected camera and set it for a new recording. Her face appeared on the small screen and she waved at it. “Hello! This is Irene!”

All through her recording, she could hear him snickering and was trying hard to stay unaffected amidst how much she wanted to flinch at what she was going to do. “So, now I’m currently taking a break from my filming session!” She kicked her manager’s foot under the table to gain a livelier backsound. “Yeah…yeah that excited high pitched voice was coming from my manager.” She flipped the camera around to show his pained expression. “Say hi, oppa!”

“H-hi…”

“Don’t mind him; he’s been having constipation ever since this morning.” Irene cheerfully did a monologue as the camera recorded a big plastic bowl filled with patbingsoo on the table this time around. She started to enjoy doing the filming. “How kind of him, oppa actually bought me this!”

She positioned the camera on the table and adjusted its angle to film her right away. She then took the bowl along with a spoon, showing it to the recording device. 

“Let’s eat it out shall we?”

—◙—

D-30

“Seul?”

Seulgi stopped spinning around in place and looked at the figure in the doorframe. “What are you doing?” 

She smiled at the camera before framing the girl on it as well. “Wendy, please say hello!”

The mentioned girl quickly waved at the screen as she strolled inside the room. “Hello!” She then asked Seulgi as both of them currently recorded by it. “You’re doing a self-recording for the show?”

“Yes.” Seulgi replied and grinned at the camera. “How about we turn this self-cam into getting to know Seulgi?” She said with happy tone. “I’ll be the VJ!”

She set the camera to record her member.

“Who is Seulgi to Wendy?”

“My leader. Our biggest pride! It wouldn’t be same Redeu Belbet without Seulgi in it!” The way her member said it out loud had made her inwardly smile, it oozed with proud and admiration. They had come along the way to reach their current place with a lot of hardship and she certainly was grateful to meet them, to be a part of this group she proudly deemed as her second family. “And my messy roommate as well!”

“Stop spreading rumors.”

“It’s true though.”

“Okay, okay. What are Seulgi’s charms?”

“Just like what she would proudly tell in some interview, she does ooze out with charisma when she’s dancing on stage!” Wendy thumbed up. “Actually, Seulgi has a contrary side of her charisma charm which is effortlessly cute in a daily life! So, yeah Seulgi’s charm is looking chic on stage but turns cute the moment she goes off.”

The biggest grin appeared on her face; Wendy was really good with her words.

“What does Seulgi do on her daily basis?”

“Despite being the eldest among us, she is pretty much not a morning person. I’d be the one waking everyone up for morning schedule.” Wendy ignored the other girl’s hitched denial. “She would cook occasionally but please, please, don’t let this woman do chores like washing or ironing. Please don’t make the history repeat itself, Yeri was traumatized enough to come home to her ruined uniforms. So, whoever being the partner of her in that show, please consider this out?” The camera was shaking wildly as soon as Wendy’s confession aired, far in the corner the sound of someone telling Please edit this out! was echoing.

“I have to save my image!” Seulgi swiftly appeared on the screen with a flushed face. “Okay everyone; first of all don’t get any bad idea. I didn’t ruin Yeri’s clothes intentionally. It was all accident! I like taking initiative… to clean everything for example. But I didn’t know how to use a washing machine or washing in general…” Seulgi bit her lips nervously. “So, I ended up mixing Yeri’s white uniforms with my red t-shirt and it came out like a bloody mess.”

“Yeri refused to talk to me for almost three constructive days.”

She recalled that day with a sheepish smile. “But we’re okay now though…”

“Uh… we should stop talking….” Wendy commented as she tried to save her blabbering leader from the possibility of spilling out their buried secrets. “Oh my goodness… We’re a girl group’s members for God’s sake!”

The younger girl took the control of camera and smiled at it. “Until next time, that’s getting to know Seulgi! Bbyong!” She grunted to herself and handed the device at her frozen friend. “Just never…”

“Are they going to edit it out?” Seulgi probed with small voice.

“I honestly don’t know.” Wendy responded in return. She then eyed her up and down. “Are you planning to go out?”

The latter bobbed her head. “Yes, the show will start filming today.”

“Oh?” Wendy scanned around then focused back to Seulgi. “You’re going to move out as well?”

“Nah…” Seulgi shook her head. “The moving out part might start next week? I don’t know, they will announce it later though.”

Wendy acknowledged with a nod of her head.

“I’m nervous…” Seulgi admitted in all honesty. “I don’t even know what am I wearing… or what would I do or say later…or simply everything in general. Please help me?”

“You dressed just fine.” Wendy patted her on the shoulder. “Remember, it’s not like you are going on a real date though so just relax! Be yourself!” She tilted her head curiously. “Have you had any idea about your partner yet?”

“No, but I did get a hint from PD-nim… that I should expect someone who can act which is probably an actor right?”

Wendy raised a brow at the lame description. “Very impressed. Not even their gender?”

Seulgi shook her head before she sighed to ease herself.

“So, it can be an actress too. And not only actor or actress, idols nowadays are capable of acting as well so do expect meeting some fellow idols.” Wendy reasoned out and gave another reassuring squeeze on Seulgi’s shoulder. “You don’t need to think of it too much. You’ll be okay.”

“I just hope that my partner is someone that I know so, I would be less awkward around them…” 

She then looked at the smaller girl who cheered back in return. “Break a leg, Kang Seul!”

They heard the bell ringing and Seulgi groaned silently to face her impending doom.

“I’ll certainly break my own though…”

So, I'll make it into three shots? Idk, just hoping this story will end as soon as possible :")

Happy belated anniversary to our girls 🐰🐻🐹🐥🐢#3yearWithRedVelvet and happy 10th anniversary to our queens #GIRLS6ENERAT10N !!!!!