Joy was a huge dork, Irene was learning.

There was no way she wasn’t when she was talking to Seulgi with the same dorky grin Seulgi wore when she got excited. There was also the fact that Seulgi and Joy were discussing the best shapes for chicken nuggets. Seulgi was arguing for dinosaurs while Joy was insisting star-shaped nuggets were the way to go.

“If Joy catches you looking at her like that, she won’t be happy.”

Then there was Seulgi’s failed date, Wendy. Irene already knew Wendy was a dork, always making puns and doing bad impersonations. What surprised Irene was that Wendy was also very perceptive, noticing enough that she could rival Irene herself.

“I didn’t realize Joy was this lame,” Irene joked.

Wendy smiled in Joy’s direction, and poor Seulgi never stood a chance with the way Wendy looked at Joy like she held the stars.

“Joy likes to act tough,” Wendy explained, “but she’s actually just a big softie, kind of how Seulgi is inside and out.”

Overhearing them talking, Joy pouted and said, “Stop calling me a softie, Wendy. You’re ruining my reputation.”

“Your preference for star-shaped chicken nuggets ruins your reputation,” Seulgi teased.

Joy scoffed, “I’m telling you, each point on the star is a perfect bite-sized piece.”

“Chicken nuggets aside,” Irene cut in before the two could go off on another tangent, “it’s nice to be able to see you outside of the hospital, Joy. Sometimes, I think we all just live there.”

“Kind of like how you think teachers live at school when you’re younger,” Wendy nodded with a strangely relatable comparison. “I’ll admit, Irene, I definitely had you pegged as a lightweight, but now I think you could give Joy a run for her money.”

Irene blushed while Seulgi grinned and said, “Man, this is nothing. You should’ve seen her in her residency years. That was the best. There’s a bar somewhere around here with her picture, denoting her as winner of a chugging competition. She beat like thirty guys in chugging five beers straight.”

“Seulgi!” Irene exclaimed, hitting her shoulder. She knew Wendy and Joy wouldn’t gossip about her, but they were still in a bar that many hospital workers frequented. “Shut up.”

Meanwhile, Wendy was looking at her with eyes wide in admiration. “No way, Bae! You’re so cool.”

“That is pretty impressive,” Joy conceded with an amused smile. “It’s always the quiet ones.”

“Well, what about you?” Irene said, trying to steer the conversation away from her dubious past. “You’re the supposed bad girl, Joy. You must’ve done some wild things too.”

Wendy snorted into her wine and said, “The wildest thing Joy has done is eat too many donuts in one sitting.”

Irene and Seulgi looked at each other in surprise before bursting into laughter. Seulgi couldn’t handle it and had to lay her head on the table while Irene clutched at her stomach, trying to stop her giggles. They laughed longer than they probably should’ve because by the time they stopped Wendy looked amused and Joy was glaring.

“Who are you and what have you done with the bad girl of Seoul Grace?” Seulgi asked teasingly. “Aren’t you supposed to, like, wear leather and ride motorcycles and other edgy, cool things?”

“You have a bit of a harsh resting face and suddenly you’re a b*tch,” Joy shrugged helplessly. “I don’t even act that mean at the hospital. All I really do is yell at people a bit, but that’s part of the job.”

“So, Joy isn’t as much of a bad girl and Irene isn’t as much of a good girl,” Wendy summed up with a smile. “I’m really glad you agreed to go out for drinks now, Seulgi.”

“It’s like learning a whole new world,” Seulgi nodded, cheering her glass with Wendy’s. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you and Joy become friends? No offense, but you’re like complete opposites from an outsider’s point of view.”

“We met back when I was a resident,” Wendy explained with an affectionate smile toward Joy. “A nurse was giving me a hard time because I turned her down when she asked me out. Joy happened to be walking by when it was happening and asked what was going on. The nurse tried to make some excuse, but Joy saw right through her. Practically threatened to report and fire the girl if she didn’t scram. Obviously, the nurse ran away, and Joy helped me out with what I needed. We just sort of clicked and went out for drinks after our shifts. The rest is history.”

“I’m don’t even act that mean at the hospital?” Irene repeated Joy’s words incredulously.

On the other hand, Seulgi leaned in eagerly and asked, “Did she cry?”

Joy rolled her eyes and threw a crumpled straw wrapper at Seulgi. “She did not cry,” Joy said, “and I did say I yell at people.”

“Threatening to report and fire someone is a little different from yelling,” Irene argued.

“I could’ve threatened while yelling,” Joy replied smugly. “But now that you know about us, how did you and tweedledum meet?”

“Why am I tweedledum?” Seulgi whined.

“We also met when we were residents,” Irene answered, pretending Seulgi hadn’t spoken. She couldn’t help but smile at Seulgi though who was sulking over being ignored, drawing shapes in the condensation on her glass. She chuckled and continued, “We’re different specialties and hadn’t known each other before we declared our specialties, so we saw each other around but didn’t really know each other. Then one day, this creep decides to hit on me.”

“He was super creepy,” Seulgi cut in, nose wrinkling in distaste. “Irene was getting lunch when he approached her. I was having lunch with Yerin when I noticed. I knew it wasn’t my business, but I kept my eye on them anyways. Irene kept shaking her head, but the guy kept following her. When she tried to walk away, the guy grabbed her arm, and I was out of my seat without really thinking.”

“She thinks she’s my white knight or something,” Irene said with exasperation but also fondness. “Seulgi walked up to us and asked if everything was okay. The creep was also a jerk and told her to mind her own business, so Seulgi tells him I am her business considering we were dating.” She shook her head and laughed. “You should’ve seen his face. He couldn’t get away fast enough.”

“I consider that one of my finer moments,” Seulgi grinned.

“So, you guys are dating?” Joy asked.

"I was lying," Seulgi explained quickly.

Joy eyed them curiously and asked, "Are you sure?"

Irene’s smile disappeared. It wasn’t the first time she and Seulgi had been mistaken as a couple, but this was the first time it’d happened since Irene had gotten jealous over Seulgi meeting Wendy for drinks and Seulgi telling her she liked being with her. Irene had decided to come tonight to see if Seulgi needed her support. At least that was what she told herself. Another part of her knew she came because she hadn’t wanted Seulgi with the very pretty Wendy alone. After seeing the date in shambles and Wendy with Joy, Irene had tucked away her confusion to address at a later date. Now, she was confronted with it once again.

“Come on,” Seulgi answered for them with a weak smile, “shouldn’t I be asking if you and Wendy are dating?”

Joy reddened but stubbornly said, “I asked first.”

“We’re all just friends, right?” Wendy said hastily, sensing the rising tension in the air. As soon as the words were out there, everyone relaxed visibly. Wendy smiled nervously and said, “We’re all just friends having drinks together because we like hanging out with each other.”

To avoid the elephant in the room, Seulgi picked another chicken nugget fight with Joy. Wendy took over as their mediator while Irene sat there dumbly. Were they just friends?

A/N: Heads up: I won't be updating for about a week to a week and a half. My school workload has drastically increased recently, so I have to focus on that. Hopefully I'll be back in two weeks at the latest!