As the fieldwork progressed, the stress was starting to get to everybody on the team. They seldom joked while they worked, but instead were all quiet and serious, each focused on their portion and determined to finish it in time. Even the usually cheerful Taeyeon had become too quiet, often found frowning as she worked through reviewing all the working papers the team sent her. Everybody was getting anxious as the clock kept ticking and their work felt never ending.

In the beginning, the fieldwork had seem manageable because most of the client’s personnels were rather cooperative. But as the days passed they slowly became disinterested in helping the team of consultants who were constantly bugging them for answers and documents and resorted to sending them around the company to look for the wrong people just for kicks. One would push the responsibility to the other and the ball kept getting tossed around until eventually, nobody would know who was actually in charged of that particular process. It frustrated them to no end.

Seulgi became easily stressed as she was always anxious of not being able to finish her work and was constantly going through her mental checklist of things she had yet to do. Her daily checklist included things like what documents did the clients still owed her and who had she not spoken to for the working paper that she needed to do. It also didn’t help that the client’s personnels were being difficult and uncooperative, effectively putting a big dent in their schedule as the days rolled by.

She was constantly buried in her work, even on weekends. They were working late on most nights and even if they were able to go home early, Seulgi would end up collapsing on the bed without bothering about washing up sometimes because she was too tired. Seulgi had even asked Irene if it was okay to postpone their first anniversary celebration because things were getting too much for her to handle. Irene, being her ever understanding self, agreed.

“It’s alright, Seulgi. I understand. We’ll celebrate once everything is over. There’s no point to it if you’re stressed out and cannot enjoy it anyway..”

Seulgi knew Irene was worried about her, about them. Unlike the first time where it simply slipped her mind, Seulgi had been intentionally avoiding her like a plague in the last couple of weeks. She was always either stressed or tired and it was affecting her mood, making her grumpy and cranky. Everything seemed to tick her off easily. Seulgi was aware of it but she couldn’t help it. The fieldwork was stressing her out and it made her miserable. And it was because of that that she didn't dare have Irene anywhere near her in case she snapped at her and they end up quarreling over something trivial and stupid.

Seulgi just wanted everything to go away and to be left alone until the fieldwork was over. But Irene was not going to let her go that easily.

“Seulgi..”

“No..don’t. Ju-just leave me alone please. I don’t want to sna-”

“Seulgi, I miss you. Let me make you dinner, please? A good meal will help.”

Seulgi sighed and agreed, too tired to deny Irene of anything. Irene came over to her apartment in record speed after they hung up the phone and pulled her into a tight hug the moment Seulgi opened the door for her. Seulgi melted into the embrace, finally feeling a bit of comfort after a string of stressful days and not seeing the one she loved.

“I missed you..” Seulgi mumbled as she buried her face in the crook of Irene’s neck.

“I know. Lets take a look at you.” Irene pulled back a little to inspect Seulgi and her heart ached looking at her lethargic girlfriend. Gone was the cheerful girl from before and in her stead, replaced by a languishing figure with bloodshot eyes and dark circles from lack of sleep, she even looked like she lost a bit of weight. “My poor baby..” Irene brushed Seulgi’s unkempt hair out of her face and pulled her in for a long kiss, their first in weeks.

“Let me take care of you, Seulgi. Please don’t push me away.”

***

Irene was appalled at the number of instant noodle wrappers that were in the trash bin while she was preparing dinner and raised a brow, shooting a look at the younger girl. Seulgi had smiled sheepishly at her, giving her excuses like they were easier to cook and she didn’t have the time or energy to whip up anything elaborate so instant noodles would have to do. That was all it took for Irene to look Seulgi in the eyes and announced that she would be staying with her until the behemoth fieldwork ended. If Seulgi would not or could not feed herself with proper food then Irene supposed it would be up to her to do it.

She agreed warily, unsure of how her stress levels and occasionally foul mood would affect Irene but at the same time, she was thrilled by the thought of being able to see Irene everyday for the next few weeks - being able to come home to her seemed like a dream.

Seulgi was banned from touching her laptop and work documents for the rest of the evening as they spent it cuddling on the couch while an a rerun of an old comedy was airing on tv but neither of them were paying attention to it. Irene was lazily running her fingers through Seulgi’s hair as they lay on the couch. Her attention was fixated on the girl curled up at her side, who in return was staring up at her, too.

“Yes?”

Irene bopped Seulgi’s nose.

“Nothing..have I told you that you have very beautiful eyes?”

“A few times..How about telling me something I don’t already know? Hmm?”

Irene replied while raising a brow and Seulgi took it as a challenge. Seulgi adjusted her position and propped herself up with her elbows.

“Hmm..”

“Got nothing?” Irene challenged.

“No, I just need to find my inspiration.”

“Really? Where did it go?”

“It didn’t go anywhere, I just got lost in your eyes.” Seulgi finished and wiggled her brows.

“Oh my god, Kang Seulgi!” Irene grabbed the nearest throw pillow and shoved it into Seulgi’s face before bursting into fits of giggles. “That was terrible! Did you learn that from Taeyeon?”

---

“...that...really was terrible.”

“Hey, this is a no judging zone.”

---

Seulgi was woken up sometime into the night by notifications sounds from her phone. Squinting her eyes to adjust to the brightness of the room, she realised that they had fallen asleep on the couch. Slowly, she untangled herself from Irene to turn off the lights and the tv. She contemplated continuing to spend the night on the couch but saw that Irene’s head was rested on the armrest at a very awkward position.

Her neck is going to be so stiff tomorrow if she sleeps here some more..

But she didn’t want to wake her up either. Awkward position or not, Irene was sound asleep and Seulgi didn’t have the heart to wake her up. A light bulb went off in her head a little while later and Seulgi silently cheered at her own brilliance.

You can do this.. She’s pretty light.

She slowly lifted Irene and carried her to the bedroom and tucked her in, thanking the gods that Irene didn’t stir from her slumber.

While work was still stressful, Seulgi found that her mood had improved along with her motivation to work when the new week started. No longer did she dread going to work each morning, reluctantly dragging her body out of bed to get ready to face the new day. Instead, she basically bounced out of bed feeling excited to head out for work. She started treating it like a daily quest from one of her games - to go out and do her best. Her reward? To come home to Irene each day, to have dinner with her, to kiss her goodnight and to wake up with Irene in her arms. It was such a simple thing but it made Seulgi so happy. Nothing could sour her mood, not even difficult clients.

Well..guess I was worried over nothing! I’m such a dumb dumb.

And she could almost hear Irene’s voice in her head.

“That’s right, you idiot.”

If the team saw any improvements in Seulgi’s mood, they didn’t comment on it right away. Seulgi seemed brighter and was more motivated to work because she wanted to go home to Irene as soon as possible. She worked at a faster pace and the quality of her work had also improved, allowing her to spend less time in amended existing working papers and enabling her to move on to starting new ones, thus burning through her portion of the fieldwork with commendable speed and accuracy.

Taeyeon was impressed with the improvement because she knew what was the driving force behind the once miserable little bear, Irene had told her of their living arrangements just so her cousin knew about her whereabouts. The power of love, she thought to herself before guffawing at her own cheesy thoughts. Taeyeon then let it slip one day while they were having lunch and it didn’t take the team long at all to start teasing Seulgi about it. Seulgi happily sat through it all, knowing full well that the light moment was a welcome relief to her friends who were just as stressed as she was. The conversations at their table were a mess as usual.

“So, Kang Seulgi..how does it feel to go home to your wife?”

“W-wife?! Wh-what wife?!”

"Your wife."

"I have a wife?"

"You have a wife."

"I do not have a wife."

"Guys...."

“Hey, Seulgi. Do you guys kiss each other goodbye before going to work in the morning? Wait, hold that thought. Do you and Jessica still do that, Taeyeon?”

“No, we work in the same place. There really is no point.”

“Must be awesome going home and dinner is already set on the table, huh Seulgi?”

“Ugh that sounds so nice. I want it, too! Seungwan-ah, let’s move in together after this is over.”

Seungwan choked on her food at the unexpected question and coughed while Seohyun gently patted her back. Joy handed her her drink and waited for Seungwan to settle down.

“I mean it.” Joy continued, Seungwan had stopped coughing and was blushing like mad. The others watched the couple silently. “Let’s find a place and move in together.”

Seungwan blinked a few times before shyly agreeing and everybody cheered, causing the other patrons of the shop to stare at them - not that they cared. They even gave a toast to the two of them, as though Joy had just proposed. Joy hooked her arm around Seungwan’s shoulders and pulled her closer, Seungwan burying her face into Joy’s neck instantly to hide her blush. Using her free arm, Joy lifted her drink and joined the toast.

***

However difficult the fieldwork was, it eventually passed after what seemed like an eternity and the team could be seen slouching at a table in a corner of a restaurant where Jessica had arrived earlier to secure. The restaurant apparently didn’t accept reservations on Friday nights. They were celebrating the end of the nightmarish fieldwork. All of them were just laughing in disbelief that the longest two months in their lives had finally passed. They just sat there staring into space, unbothered about looking at the menu laid in front of them. It wasn’t until Taeyeon complained about being hungry did they reluctantly sat upright and picked the booklet up.

Seulgi didn’t think that they would make it out in one piece but there they were, very much in one piece but also exhausted beyond belief. The team received an email from their boss earlier, stating that they had been granted a day off the coming Monday, to thank them for their efforts and for pushing themselves to the limits in ensuring that the job for their most important client to date was done up to par and was completed on time.

“Ms Song does have a heart! Bless. And here we thought she was just a money minded businesswoman.” Joy complained, not caring that their manager and supervisor were with them. It was after hours and she was tired so she was going to say whatever she wanted to and not be bothered.

“Joy, don’t say that. You’ve known her long enough, she’s not that bad.”

“True..but sometimes it really does feel like she doesn’t care about us, with all these new jobs coming in and us being understaffed and all..”

“It’s a thing that happens in most companies our size..don’t hold a grudge against our boss. She’s nice.” Seohyun tried to convince the younger girl that their boss was not as cold hearted as she might have seemed in the last few months.

“Sure she is…” Joy was already disinterested in the topic. She rested her cheek on Seungwan’s shoulder and leaned on her, grumbling about being hungry and not knowing what to order. Seungwan patted her head and decided for them.

Irene had joined their celebratory dinner that day, too. The team yelled ‘Ms Bae’ and waved excitedly when Irene walked in and the said girl blushed because literally everybody in the restaurant was staring at her. She quickly made her way to their table and was seated beside Seulgi, giving her a shove because she yelled, too. Seulgi merely laughed it off.

“Wow you’re like some celebrity, Juhyun-ah!” Taeyeon teased and Irene sent a glare her way, not that it affected Taeyeon either because she stuck her tongue out at her cousin.

Family members must be immune to her glare.

Seulgi shrugged and turn her attention back to the menu she was sharing with Irene. Jessica rolled her eyes at the her wife and called the waiter over to place their orders, fearing that they might never get to eat when everybody was getting distracted so easily - their ability to focus and to pay attention had clearly been used up by the fieldwork.

---

“You guys sure eat a lot..”

“It’s a good to relieve stress just so you know.”

---