To be fair, Seulgi would have introduced Irene to Sunny and Sooyoung sooner or later, preferably later and preferably when they had actually started dating. Had she noticed sooner that they were walking towards the food truck strip of the shopping district, Seulgi would have suggested that they go to another area instead - the one with street food vendors lining up the entire strip. But, as always, she was too preoccupied with talking to Irene to realise where they were going and it led to the current..situation she was in.

Irene was throwing her head back with laughter, with one hand covering and the other slapping Seulgi who was seated beside her, as she listened to the stories of Seulgi’s younger days in school as told by Sooyoung while Sunny manned the truck with the rest of the crew. Seulgi merely smiled and went along with them because, well, she liked it when Irene laughed, even if it was at her expense. Plus, it was a good way to break the ice, she should be grateful that they were getting along so well.

Sooyoung retold the story of that one time Seulgi fell asleep in class and the lecturer told everybody to keep quiet and slowly approached her seat, only to drop a book on her desk. The sound of it made Seulgi jump and she stood up straight, head hitting the lecturer’s in her haste. Seulgi fell to her chair, cradling her head and looked up to find that she had broken the lecturer’s glasses right down the middle. The entire class had a good laugh that day and was dismissed early because Seulgi’s headbutt had given their lecturer a headache. Irene looked like she was wheezing at that point, trying to catch her breath as she wiped away her tears.

Needless to say, Seulgi had many regrets that night in her choice of confidant but Irene was having fun so she didn’t mind it that much. Not the way she imagined ending their..date but close enough. She made a mental note to be more careful with the stories she would share with the two entrepreneurs in the future. Seulgi never really thought that they would be used against her in such a situation, but then again, nobody told her life was going to go in such a way.

Sunny joined them a little while later when the crowd had become more manageable for their crew to handle it without their bosses’ help. She sat down beside Sooyoung and began picking at whatever leftover fries there was on their plate, asking if they wanted a second helping. Irene politely declined.

“You know, I’ve seen you two when I walked by this truck a couple of times before and even then I knew you weren’t regular crew members.” Irene remarked offhandedly while sipping her drink.

“Of course we’re not.” Sooyoung responded without a second thought. “If I were caught on camera, all the pageant queen contestants will get ignored.” Sunny nodded in agreement.

“You’re right.” Irene agreed, not missing a beat and Seulgi gaped at her.

“Seulgi, I like this one. She’s a definitely a keeper!”

“You would do well to keep this one, little bear. She clearly has good taste. And anybody who listened to you talk about Beyonce for hours is worth keeping.”

At that point, Seulgi was already at a loss for words as the three ladies had their eyes on her. She tittered nervously and took a sip, only to choke and spit it out a few moments later when Irene asked “This one? Has there been more than one, Seulgi-ah?”

Seulgi heard them share a three-way high five as she coughed, the drink having entered her nose, heard Sunny congratulate Irene on a job well done and welcomed her to the club. What club was she talking about? Seulgi didn’t know but she had a feeling her days ahead would be spent being under the bus should a gathering like such happen again.

Dear lord please forgive me for whatever wrongdoings I’ve done to deserve this.

***

“Today was really fun, Seulgi-ah. Thank you.”

They were walking towards the subway station entrance, Seulgi had insisted on seeing Irene off. She figured it should suffice since to ride all the way back with her would be stepping over some kind of boundaries. So there they stood, awkwardly side by side, still holding hands, unsure of what to do.

“Yea? I’m glad then. I was afraid you would get bored. My friends seem to think I’m the no.1 no-fun person in the office.”

“You were not bad. Though I must say, I wasn’t expecting to meet some of your friends so soon. I’m sorry for teasing you so much today, Seulgi.”

“It’s alright. I’m a big girl, I can handle it.”

“Great. So..I’ll be going now? Catch you later, Seulgi.”

“Okay.”

Irene turned to leave, only to be tugged back because Seulgi hadn’t, more like wouldn’t, release her hand.

“Seulgi?”

Irene looked at the younger girl, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck, face flushed. It seemed like she wanted to say something, but at the same time, she didn’t know how to.

Be bold!

“I uhm..I was wondering if you’d like to do this again sometime? Hang out like this. Together.”

“Together?”

“Uhm..yea. Together. Like together together.”

Seulgi went a shade redder and Irene found it very endearing. Taking a step closer, Irene entered Seulgi’s personal space.

“Together together? Kang Seulgi, are you asking me to go steady? After one date?”

Seulgi didn’t think her heart could take it anymore, not with Irene looking up at her with those doe eyes, not quite mischievous yet somewhat adoring at the same time, smiling expectantly at her. She was pretty sure she would have screamed had Irene raised a brow at her then.

Get a grip. Be bold!

“Y-yes. I’m asking you to go steady. T-to be my girlfriend. Uh..what other ways are there to put it?”

Irene’s gaze soften at the sight in front of her as Seulgi ransacked her brain for any other possible terms, brows furrowed while trying to think of something else to say. She decided to stop teasing the poor girl for once and put her out of her misery.

“Yes.”

“Huh? Yes?”

Irene couldn’t handle it anymore and burst laughing for the nth time that day. Seulgi was just too adorable for her own good.

“Yes, Seulgi. I would love to.”

Everything happened so fast. It ended before Seulgi even realised what was happening. One moment Irene was standing there, the next moment she was leaning up slightly on her toes and then Seulgi was left in a daze.

She heard Irene’s laugh, that melodious laughter she had been hearing a lot that day and had come to love, heard Irene said goodbye and see you later. She felt herself waving back, heard herself saying goodbye but was it really happening? It was when Irene had disappeared from sight did Seulgi recovered.

Holy .

Irene had given her a peck on the cheek.

And Seulgi did her victory dance and fist pumped all the way back home.

---

“You got game!”

“Barely. But thank you. I appreciate that.”

---

The Super Rookies trio were benched in their office on Monday while Seohyun and Jessica went back to CCSJ to tie up some loose ends for their fieldwork, much to Seulgi’s disappointment. She was hoping to be able to have lunch with Irene since her endless string of meetings were over. Seulgi gulped as she stood outside her office, fully aware of what would happen the moment she crossed the threshold.

And things played out exactly like what she had imagined.

Yoona and Joy practically clung onto her, questions firing away, not giving Seulgi a chance to even settle down and put her things away. Even Taeyeon joined in the fun when she arrived a few moments later, sure she had heard everything from Irene over the weekend but she wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to have some fun terrorizing their rookie. Seungwan could only watch as her poor friend was crowded by their friends, like paparazzis hounding an idol.

“We want to know all the details! Don’t leave anything out because I would know.” Taeyeon told Seulgi, using that tone of voice only reserved for when she was being serious. Seulgi looked at Taeyeon in horror, thinking of how badly Irene must have been grilled by her older cousin after their date over the weekend.

“W-what has Irene told you?”

“Oooooooh! Irene! No more ‘Ms Bae’, Seulgi?” Joy teased and Seulgi went red.

Seungwan, I’m sorry but I will murder your giant later or so help me.

“Worried about her girlfriend already. My my aren’t you sweet, Seulgi-ah.” Taeyeon crossed her arms and shook her head. “Now spill! I might know but they don’t and I’m sure everybody is dying to know.”

Seulgi caught the glint in Taeyeon’s eyes and whimpered, proceeding to tell most of the details of their outin-date on Saturday.

***

While the “be bold” mantra helped Seulgi gained a girlfriend a few months ago, it wasn’t very helpful when it came to work related tasks. Confidence was something Seulgi would say she neither possessed nor had gained since starting work. Jessica would tell her over and over to believe in her own abilities.

According to Jessica, Seulgi had the potential to be a great consultant, she was able to think like one and had the common sense needed but she lacked in self confidence. Taking instructions was not a problem for Seulgi, she could do anything as told with great efficiency. But when it came down to taking charge, she could not step up to the plate and Jessica vowed she would break Seulgi of that bad habit she had. Seulgi had worked a full year and it was time for her to shoulder bigger responsibilities.

“Seulgi, come over for a while. Bring your notebook please.”

“Okay?” Seulgi took a seat on one of the chairs in front of Jessica’s desk.

“You’ll be coming with me in three weeks to CCSJ for a special fieldwork. It’s quite simple and small so don’t worry. You will be your own team and before you go further into your panic, I will be accompanying you the entire fieldwork so please calm down.” Jessica paused to study her expression, Seulgi was never good at hiding how she felt. It always showed on her face. “I’ve emailed you the details but I’m going to go over them with you once now.”

To her credit, Seulgi remained relatively calm throughout the entire briefing. She took notes diligently, asked the appropriate questions and seemed to have understood their work scope well. Their briefing ended in just under an hour, by far the shortest fieldwork briefing Seulgi had participated in. Jessica was impressed by how composed she was throughout, having expected Seulgi’s composure to crack half way through it.

All of that was just a front, of course. While Seulgi had let the idea that she would be fully in-charge of a fieldwork sink in as the day passed, it didn’t stop her from whining to Irene later when she went over to the latter’s place for dinner.

Irene typically finished work earlier than Seulgi did and very often would Seulgi find herself having dinner at Irene’s studio apartment. It had become a routine for them for when Seulgi was benched in the office, after a long day of work Seulgi would stop by once or twice a week for dinner and wash up before heading home.

“I’m not matured enough for this.” Seulgi was sprawled on the couch after she was done with the dishes, her limbs dangling off the couch as she made no effort to seem presentable.

“You always say that.” Irene appeared a few moments later, placing a plate of freshly cut fruits on the coffee table in front of the couch. “Seulgi, scoot.” Seulgi tilted her head backwards to look at her girlfriend and sat up only to lie back down, resting her head on Irene’s lap, when the latter was seated. “Look on the bright side. You’ll be around for a week, yes? We can have lunch sometime, if Jessica doesn’t mind.”

“I’m sure she’ll be ok with it. It’s not like we’re reviewing your department again anyway.” Seulgi waved her off and reached over towards the plate on the table. “Hyun, say ‘aah’”. Seulgi held a piece of apple up at Irene who gladly accepted. “Which it’s a good thing..I think? I’d probably be too distracted to work properly if we were reviewing your department again.”

“Jessica would have your head if that were to happen, of course. Seulgi, ‘aah’.”

“Ddaeng kyu” Seulgi said with her mouthful and Irene gave her a look. She swallowed and smiled sheepishly at the latter.

“But you know Seulgi, you’ve grown a lot since the first time we met.”

“Yea?” Seulgi got up from her comfy spot and sat cross-legged on the couch, facing Irene.

“Yes. You’re no longer a child, that I can see clearly.” Irene shifted to face Seulgi as well. “You’ve matured, Seulgi-ah. And I’m so proud of you. When I first saw you a year ago, you were a jumpy little secretary, taking notes of whatever we said and you always seem to look like you were looking for the nearest exit out of the room. And now look at you! About to be taking charge of your own fieldwork. Isn’t that like, a full circle for you guys? Like you’ve made it, you’re in-charge now.”

“Oh…”

“Yea, ‘oh’, you silly bear. You should give yourself more credit, Seulgi. Didn’t you do a good job in that fieldwork with just the three of you last month? Even your boss commented on it, didn’t she?”

“Oh yea. That happened.” Realisation struck Seulgi late.

Jessica had put the Super Rookies trio on a fieldwork by themselves without any of their seniors present to guide them. Their only source of guidance was Jessica herself and they had been very hesitant in asking questions, quite often pushing Seulgi to ask since she was more familiar with Jessica. That fieldwork was a test to see if they were ready to lead their own teams and it had gone well. Their boss was impressed and Joy and Seungwan were promoted to team leaders soon after. Seulgi, having joined a few months later than the two, was left to wait for her big break while Jessica thought of ways to improve her confidence level.

“Yes, that happened.” Irene took Seulgi’s face in her hands, gently squeezing her cheeks. “You are doing so well, Seulgi-ah. And I know you’re absolutely going to crush this next fieldwork. And I’m not just saying that because we’re dating.”

Seulgi simply stared at Irene in awe as she made her little speech, visibly calmer and more relaxed. She had that effect on her, Seulgi realised. Irene was able to calm her down easily, always knew the right things to say - she did have quite the way with words, Seulgi sometimes wondered why had she not become a writer instead.

“I don’t deserve you, Hyun.”

“Well, I’m not too sure about that.”

Irene smiled softly at her and leaned in for a kiss. And it turned into kisses. And pretty soon they had forgotten about the unfinished plate of fruits on the coffee table.