((a/n If y'all were hoping I had some sort of clue as to what is even happening in this story, prepare to be sorely disappointed.))

Seulgi did have a bit of a reputation - even she would have to admit - but it certainly wasn’t for being the player Moonbyul envisioned her as. To the contrary: Seulgi was known for her casual, but determined rejection of every girl who had ever made an attempt to date her.

And not because she wasn’t into girls, but because she didn’t quite realize that they were into her.

Much to the amusement of her fellow teammates, Seulgi often found herself surrounded by girls whose admiration went right over her head. Always kind and polite, Seulgi would accidentally string them along until they made some bold attempt that she would inevitably - and often thoughtlessly - refuse. No, Seulgi was not a ‘regular d’Artagnan’, but she was every bit the ‘heartbreaker’ Yeri had pegged her as.

On Wednesday, Seulgi located Wendy’s locker and slipped her script inside with an apologetic thank you note. Immediately feeling less guilty about having walked off with it after their Tuesday rehearsal, she hummed one of the play’s songs to herself with a light gait and an easy smile on her face.

This wasn’t missed by passers by in the hall, and the whispering began.

On Thursday, nearly the entire student body had somehow come to the conclusion that Seulgi had confessed to Wendy via love letter and that they were now dating.

This was missed by one resident Dance Team Captain, whose obliviousness allowed the rumors to do laps around the school unchallenged.

On Friday, Seulgi was confronted by Yeri after the lunchtime bell.

“And when exactly were you going to tell me you got yourself a girlfriend? A week ago you didn’t even want to kiss a girl and now you’re dating one?” the blonde berated.

Seulgi watched her with an expression of unadulterated confusion.

“I’m what?”

Yeri put a hand to her ear, indicating that Seulgi should listen. Seulgi obediently put her hands to her ears as well, wondering what exactly Yeri expected her to hear.

“YOU’RE DATING SON WENDY,” Yeri yelled at her.

“WHAT?” Seulgi shouted, matching her decibels and rubbing her ears. The two had effectively gained the attention of the entire cafeteria by this point and a silence fell.

“I am not-” Seulgi began to clarify, but Yeri suddenly threw herself on the taller girl, covering her face with her hands.

“Shh-!” Yeri hissed. “For once in your life think before you speak!” Once she saw Seulgi was going to remain silent, she let the brunette go.

“Will you just try to understand that you have a legion of rabid fangirls? Just… I know you don’t get it, but just pretend, for my sake, that you have some sense of global awareness,” Yeri began in an exhausted voice.

Seulgi wasn’t sure she appreciated the angle her friend was coming from on this, but she decided to wait patiently for Yeri to make her point.

“I don’t know what you did or said to start this, but this rumor about you and Wendy dating is everywhere right now. People are even saying that’s why you auditioned for the play in the first place.”

Seulgi was slightly offended that Yeri thought this was somehow her fault, but again, she waited.

“For now, Wendy’s safe because people think she’s your girlfriend. And I mean come on, even after that one rehearsal I could tell she has a thing for you- no, just let me finish!” Yeri said with a hand on Seulgi’s mouth again, seeing the girl about to protest.

“But think what could happen to someone as innocent as her if you just blurt out that you two aren’t dating. She could be bullied as a potential rival for all of these other girls. Before this stupid rumor, no one probably even noticed her, but now? She’d be such an easy target.”

Yeri pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “You have to date her Seul. You at least have to keep up the charade of this rumor until it blows over.”

Now that Yeri had finished, Seulgi actually had trouble finding a voice for her thoughts. Date Wendy? Because of potential bullying from her fangirls? So little of what Yeri had just said made sense that she couldn’t help but burst out laughing. The whole thing was just too much.

+++

Seulgi had never had a girlfriend before, or any significant other for that matter, so the thought of being assigned one thanks to these rumors was inducing a startling amount of anxiety. Even if it was under the premise of protecting Wendy from potential ridicule or retaliation, she felt a sudden shyness as she glanced across the stage at the smaller girl. Whether this situation was truly her fault or not, she felt the need to take responsibility.

She squared her shoulders and was about to walk over to explain herself to Wendy when suddenly Joy cut across her path.

“Uh oh,” Yoona muttered under her breath as she saw fiery redhead looming over Seulgi up on the stage. “Irene, could you uh… go see what that’s about?” the President indicated with a nod at the two girls.

Irene rolled her eyes but pushed up out of her chair and made her way towards the steps to the stage.

“Uh, hi, Joy,” Seulgi said warily. This girl never seemed to have a good thing to say to her, despite Seulgi’s best attempts at being friendly.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Joy asked in a low voice. If Seulgi were a little quicker on the draw, she might have caught on to that dangerous look in Joy’s eyes. But alas.

“I was just going to talk to Wendy?” Seulgi half-stated, half-asked. She knew Joy and Wendy were pretty close, from what she had been able to gather so far, but this seemed a little overprotective to Seulgi.

Joy gave a scandalized laugh. “So you think you can start some rumor that you two are dating and then come back to our club like it’s nothing?”

And suddenly Seulgi noticed that there did seem to be a slightly tense air in the auditorium - the stage crew in particular seemed awfully quiet today.

“Who’s dating?” Irene asked, coming up to them.

Seulgi paled. “N-no one!” she stammered.

“That’s right no one,” Joy spat, then gestured at Seulgi. “The whole school thinks Wendy and Seulgi are a thing. But they’re not.”

Seulgi wasn’t sure why she felt a certain sting from that summary, but she chalked it up to the tone Joy was taking with her.

Irene squinted up at Seulgi suspiciously. “And why do they think that?” she asked.

Seulgi shrugged. “I have no idea, just… suddenly I came to school today and everyone’s asking me all of these questions… I haven’t even had a chance to talk it through with Wendy yet.”

Irene crossed her arms. “Talk what through with her, exactly?”

“Like I’m going to let you talk to her after you trashed her reputation like this!” Joy scoffed.

Irene raised an eyebrow at Joy. ‘Trashed’ seemed a little harsh, even in her opinion; Seulgi was a star athlete at their school, after all. If she were being perfectly honest with herself, Wendy could do a lot worse. But the Dance Team Captain still hadn’t answered her question.

“What were you going to tell her?” she iterated.

Seulgi looked at the floor between them and scuffed her toe at a stage marker. “I’m not sure. Yeri thinks I should go along with it in case she might get bullied.”

That thought hadn’t occurred to Irene, and she found herself growing as irate as Joy looked. Wendy? Bullied? All because of this dumb jock? She stepped in front of Joy, placing herself squarely in front of Seulgi and poked a finger to her chest.

“If I find out. That Wendy’s been hurt. Because of you,” she growled, punctuating each sentence with another poke, “I will personally-” but Seulgi suddenly snatched her wrist.

“Ow… there’s no need to get physical,” Seulgi pleaded, rubbing at the spot with her free hand.

Irene glared up at her. Oh, Seulgi thought she could fool her with that guilty expression: her captivating eyes downcast, her full lips drawn in that light frown, her hair-

Irene gave herself a mental shake and pulled her hand free from Seulgi’s grip. “Fine, but don’t lie to her,” Irene warned in a voice that didn’t have quite as much punch as she was hoping it would. “Fix this, Seulgi. And Joy?” she directed at the taller girl, “Just… try not to do anything rash.”

“Rash? Rash?!” Joy asked incredulously, her voice rising with every syllable. “I’m not the one starting dating rumors!”

“Oh, are you finally seeing someone?” Wendy asked curiously, coming up to the three girls after noticing the commotion. Irene and Seulgi looked mortified.

“I’m not, but apparently you are,” Joy muttered tactlessly, wondering what Wendy had meant by 'finally'.

Wendy blinked as Irene covered her face with her hands. Seulgi blushed and tugged at her shirt collar.

“I’m… not, though?” Wendy questioned, though she couldn’t help involuntarily glancing at Irene. Did their dinner on Saturday mean a little more than she realized...? “At least, I mean I don’t think…?” If only Irene would meet her gaze, perhaps she could get the dark-haired girl to help her out a little.

But to her surprise, Seulgi meekly raised her hand. “Apparently we’re dating,” the Dance Team Captain mumbled.

Wendy laughed. It was a weird, loud, slightly manic laugh. Irene, Joy, and Seulgi didn’t join in, and Wendy soon recovered.

“Wait, you’re serious?” she asked. “But I never- you would never…” Wendy was still faintly smiling but confusion was slowly overtaking her expression. This had to be some sort of a joke, and a slightly cruel one at that. “According to whom?” she finally asked.

“The entire school,” Joy growled. “Seriously, how could you have missed it?” she asked Wendy, but even as the words left she thought that perhaps Wendy was too well-liked for people to talk about it in front of her. At least for now.

Wendy fought the urge to laugh again in mild distress. “Well, we’re not,” she said simply, and an awkward silence fell between the four of them. “Uh… right?” Was she missing something?

Irene hadn’t missed the way Wendy had begun to put herself on a level somehow lower than Seulgi, and that was what suddenly frustrated her the most about this situation.

“Date her,” the club Arbiter commanded, turning to Seulgi with her hands on her hips.

“Wh-what?” three other voices chimed.

Irene herself was a little surprised, but to hell if Wendy thought she wasn’t good enough for someone like Seulgi. “You come into our play-”

“Wait, but I didn’t-”

“-and you make our Wendy get a crush on you-”

“WHAT? I don’t-”

“-and now suddenly you’re too good for her?”

Joy was about to add her two cents in but now she simply crossed her arms and watched Seulgi, indignant on Wendy’s behalf.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on!” Seulgi pleaded with a hand to her forehead. “Me too good for her?!” she asked, gesturing at Wendy in disbelief. “Wendy!” she practically shouted suddenly, partially to clear her own swirling thoughts, and also to silence anyone else who might try to interrupt.

“Would you… would you be my girlfriend?”

What Seulgi had failed to realize, however, was that her exclamation had also silenced everyone else in the auditorium and all eyes were now on their little group.

Unfortunately, Wendy also took no notice of this, as she stared up at Seulgi in shock.

“No,” she said with a small laugh. “Seulgi, I can’t just… be your girlfriend.” She may be one of Seulgi’s numerous fans, but she did still have her pride.

Out in the audience, Yoona cleared . Loudly. “Oooookay! Let’s cut the chatter and get to work…!” she announced with a pointed stare up at Irene.

And that’s when Wendy, Irene, and Joy finally realized that they had become the center of attention. Joy quickly put an arm around Wendy’s shoulders and whisked the smaller girl away, while Irene smiled down at Yoona as innocent as a lamb and skipped back down into the audience, rather pleased with this turn of events.

They left Seulgi standing there, center stage, in shock at being rejected by the first girl she had ever asked out.