Yoona, who had joined them as soon as Seohyun updated her about Seulgi and Irene’s development, had a field day with Joy during dinner, acting out every possible conversation while the rest had a good laugh. Seulgi was too busy making mental notes and was quite serious throughout the entire thing, much to their amusement. She had never done something like that before - calling a girl and potentially asking her out on a date so any form of pointers was greatly appreciated, even if they were from their company’s resident dumb dumbs.

“Sometimes you gotta be bold, Seulgi! If you want to ask her out just take a deep breath and say it! I mean, it worked fine when I did it. Right, Seungwan?” Joy wiggled her brows at Seungwan and the latter blushed, shoving Joy who laughed it off.

“Yea! The same goes if when you want to hold her hand. Just do it. Grab it and go!”

“Yoona, you’re making it sound like I’m going to mug her.”

“It’s the same concept.” Joy quipped.

“No, it’s not. My goodness. Seulgi, please don’t listen to them about that last part.” Seohyun interjected, aghast by the advice they were giving.

“Just try to be subtle but bold at the same time!”

“Seungwan, what you just said make no sense at all but somehow it does make some sense.”

That night Seulgi tossed and turned in bed for the majority of the night, trying to think of what to say for when she finally gathered up enough courage to give Irene a call. She gave up on sleep sometime around four and opt to replay her favourite video game instead. There was something very calming about having the character run around in the snow collecting items and completing missions. Sure, there were a few troublesome animals that stood in the way, nothing a few poison arrows couldn't fix. Gunning down the enemies’ army of soldiers was very enjoyable as well.

“Hah! Take that, you idiots!” Seulgi cheered triumphantly, console’s controller held high in the air as she fist pumped, watching as the character used a shotgun finisher on the last of them. “That oughta teach you not to mess with me!” She did a quick sweep of the area for collectibles and moved onto the next.

She eventually passed out on the couch in the living room after a couple of hours.

Seulgi later spent a good part of the morning pacing around her tiny apartment and she was sure she had already chewed off most of her thumb’s fingernails. Staring at her phone on the table, she hesitantly picked it up together with the business card that sat beside it. Seulgi glanced at the clock to see if it was an appropriate time to call. It was already ten, she should have woken up by now, Seulgi thought. Gulping, she carefully dialled the number printed on the card, silently praying that the person would not pick up.

Please don’t pick up. Please don’t pick up. Please don’t pic-

“Hello?”

“Oh! Hello.”

“Yes?”

“Uhm..is this Irene Bae?”

“Seulgi? Wow you called earlier than expected!”

“You’re beginning to sound like my friends.”

“I’m sorry, Seulgi-ah. You make it so easy it’s hard to resist!”

Irene apologised for teasing Seulgi so much when they barely knew each other but Seulgi sensed that the older girl was definitely not sorry at all, like that phrase she often saw on social media, not that Seulgi minded. As they chatted on, Seulgi found herself lost in her thoughts, trying to think of a way to ease into the topic of asking Irene to hang out together, or so she thought.

“Seulgi? Are you still there?”

“Huh? Yes. Sorry I spaced out a bit. You were saying?”

“I was asking if you would want to hang out later in the afternoon. We can grab lunch and window shop or something?”

Eh???

“S-sure! I’d love to.”

“Great! It’s a date! I’ll text you the details. See you later, Seulgi-ah.”

“Okay!” Seulgi flinched at herself for sounding so eager. “See you later!”

Seulgi put the phone away only after she was sure that Irene had ended the call. Staring blankly at the wall in front of her, she started laughing in disbelief.

Well that just happened.

---

“Oh? I thought you were going to ask her out?”

“...she said getting me to make the first call was already a great feat so she decided not to push her luck further.”

---

Picking out an outfit should not be this difficult.

Seulgi sat crossed legged on the bed in front of her opened wardrobe, eyes scanning every item of clothing and her brain trying to pair them up to make some kind of outfit work. What do people wear for occasions like such anyway? Her guess was as good as anybody else's’. She eventually settled for a stripe button down shirt with a pair of blue jeans.

Can’t go wrong with blue jeans.

She took one last look in the mirror to appraise herself. Words of encouragement from her friends from the night before echoed in mind and she looked her reflection dead in the eyes and nodded with conviction.

“You can do this, Kang Seulgi!”

Another nod and Kang Seulgi was out the door, headed for the shopping district near Sunny and Sooyoung’s taco truck, praying that she would reach there before Irene did. She wanted to make a good impression, it was their first meeting outside of work after all. And from what Yoona had told her yesterday, first impressions were important.

So there she was, the first to arrive at their meeting point. Seulgi smiled triumphantly to herself and fished out her phone to send a text to Irene. She scanned the vicinity when Irene replied that she was almost there while rocking on the balls of her feet, restlessness apparent.

Seulgi’s eyes widened when she spotted Irene walking towards her a few minutes later. She was dressed almost similarly to Seulgi that day. Coincidence? It had to be one right? It was a very mysterious mystery because there she was, dressed in an off-shoulder striped blouse with blue jeans, and Seulgi was definitely not staring at her shoulders. Anybody who was observing them wouldn’t have second guessed that they were dating. Couple outfits was a common trend after all. Seulgi pocketed her phone and waved at her, Irene beaming in return.

Alright, you can do this.

“Seulgi! Sorry I’m late. Have you been waiting long?”

“No, I just got here. Y-you look nice.”

“Thanks, are you indirectly complimenting yourself?”

“Eh?”

Irene gestured to their clothing and Seulgi got the message.

“Oh. No no. I mean y-you look nice.”

“You are too adorable sometimes, Seulgi-ah”

Irene gave Seulgi a bop on the nose and naturally looped an arm over Seulgi’s and Seulgi froze, causing Irene to release her grip on the girl.

“I’m sorry..I have a habit of linking arms. Are you okay with it?”

“Huh? Oh yes I’m okay with it. No worries. I was just a bit shocked.”

Irene eyed Seulgi, looking confused.

“I mean, you’re just so pretty!”

Seulgi wanted to facepalm then and there.

Really, Kang Seulgi? Really?? That’s the best you can do?

“Flattery will get you anywhere, Seulgi.” Irene said smugly while relinking their arms, pulling Seulgi towards an alley. “Let’s go!”

---

“Nice save.”

“Thanks. That eye roll was not necessary by the way.”

---

Lunch was a quaint little cafe located in one of the alleyways of the shopping district, quite easily missed for those who weren’t paying attention - the exterior of the shop was not particularly eye catching. It was a one of those vintage-themed places where the walls were lined with shelves of old books and was filled with mostly antique wooden furniture to give it that rustic feel. Irene seemed to be a regular there because the owners greeted her with much familiarity.

The food was great but Seulgi barely paid attention to it. She was too busy chatting to even notice that their food was served, let alone realise that she had cleaned her plate, Irene was a distraction regardless of it being during work or not. The two of them chatted for hours after they had finished their meal. The conversations didn’t feel forced, they just rolled on from one topic to another like two old friends catching up with each other, laughing and having a good time.

Seulgi learned that Irene was the oldest among her siblings, her only other sibling being her younger sister around Seulgi’s age who was studying overseas. She also learned that Irene’s favourite household chore was doing the laundry, ironing included, because she loved how fresh the clothes smelled after a wash and that sense of satisfaction when she ironed out all the wrinkles in a piece of clothing. It was apparently a running joke in her family that her sister would gift her a bottle of fabric softener for her birthday each year of varying brands, accompanied by the real present afterwards.

Irene was apparently an overachiever as a student - straight A student, student body president and even the drum major of the school’s marching band. Seulgi was more surprised at the last bit of information than she was at Irene being a model student.

“What?”

“I mean, you’re so tiny. How did the ones at the back of the marching block see you?”

“They could see my mace and that was more than enough, thank you very much. What? Why are you laughing?”

“Wasthemacetallerthanyou?” Seulgi blurted, a laugh bubbling free.

“Yah! Kang Seulgi!”

They got along so well that it was hard to believe it was only their third meeting, even the shop owners had asked Irene how long they had been dating. Seulgi suddenly found her shoes to be very interesting, didn’t dare meet Irene’s gaze because she was sure that she was blushing.

“No, we’re not dating...yet.” the last word came out barely a whisper but Seulgi caught it and she swore she almost screamed.

Yet!!!

“Well, could’ve fooled me! You two are dressed for it that’s for sure.” The owner laughed. Irene smiled and he went about clearing the table next to theirs.

By the time they emerged from the cafe, it was already almost sundown. The shopping district was slowly coming to life with all the lights that were being lit as they walked by. A crowd was also starting to form since it was the weekend and it was cooler to walk around at night. Locals and tourists alike flocked to the area. It was getting difficult to walk properly as they bumped into others left and right. Seulgi had lost count the number of apologies she had given and received in that short amount of time.

“Sometimes, you gotta be bold!” Joy’s voice echoed in her mind.

Seulgi very hesitantly took hold of Irene’s hand and kept her close. She didn’t dare meet Irene’s curious gaze and kept looking straight ahead, she could already feel Irene raising a brow. What she didn’t know was that Irene was smiling shyly beside her, her free hand covering half her face.

“Uhm..it would be bad if we got separated, ya know?” Seulgi tried to play it cool, eyes looking everywhere but at Irene.

“Can’t argue with that.” Irene replied in a singsong manner.

They spent the next couple of hours wandering the streets and the world underneath it all, checking out any store whose display caught their attention. Irene had occasionally tried out an outfit or two and paraded them to Seulgi who was trying to resist from taking photos, unsure of how Irene might feel about it. They were still getting to know each other after all. It was when they were at a shop selling hats did Seulgi caved and fished out her phone. She tried her best but Irene was right there, looking absolutely adorable and stunning even as she tried on a red beret and was checking her appearance in the mirror.

Irene had saw Seulgi from the mirror and turned, catching the younger girl red handed. Seulgi froze for what seemed to be the hundredth time since their outing started and laughed awkwardly at an amused Irene.

“Seulgi-ah..”

“Y-yes?”

This conversation can only go two ways.

“Can you take a picture of me?”

Oh

The grin that formed was threatening to split Seulgi’s face in half, not that she cared. With a surprisingly steady voice, she replied, “I thought you’d never ask.”

A few shots later and Seulgi thought to herself, yea, she could get used to this.

And she even ended up buying the beret for Irene, though the latter did protested.

--

“Wow you were already so whipped back then!”

“Hey, it’s not my fault. I mean, have you seen her?”

---

As they walked further, Seulgi’s eyes widened at the sight of an awfully familiar pink truck and she halted, causing Irene to stop short as their hands were still connected.

“Is something wrong?”

“No..uhm..let’s not go that way, Irene. At least not today.”

“Oh? Why not? There’s lots of good food that way.” Seulgi was confusing Irene for the nth time that day.

“I’ll explain to you another day. But for now, can we go somewhere else?”

Irene was about to nod when they heard somebody shout.

“KANG SEULGI WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?! HOW DARE YOU WALK AWAY BEFORE COMING TO SAY HI!!”

“Let her be, Sooyoung-ah. She probably already forgotten about us now that she found herself a GIRLFRIEND.”

Seulgi groaned and facepalmed at the emphasis Sunny had placed on the last word.

Dear god what have I done to deserve this?

Irene was equally confused and amused by the whole situation. Who were those two who shouted and why was Seulgi so reluctant to go near them?

“Looks like we’re going that way after all, Irene.” Seulgi smiled apologetically at her and they started walking towards the pink food truck. “There are a couple of people I’d like to introduce to you. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Lead the way, Seulgi-ah.”