“Seulgi-ah?” Irene called from the living room while Seulgi was doing the dishes after their dinner one weekend.

“Yea?”

“How many days can you take off for Christmas?”

Seulgi put away the last of the dishes and wiped her hands dry. Untying and putting away the apron, she fetched the calendar that sat by the tv and joined Irene on the couch. Seulgi pulled out her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her memos for the one that contained her work schedule. Her schedule was getting increasingly busy ever since she got promoted to be a team leader the previous month, she could no longer keep up with her schedules without writing them down somewhere.

Irene was happy for her, yes, but she also missed the days where Seulgi had more free time for them to go on dates or even a short weekend trip. Seulgi seemed to be too tired to do anything lately and Irene had been trying her best not to be too disappointed whenever Seulgi asked if they could just stay home or take a rain check because she wanted to nap.

“Hmm..okay so the last of my fieldworks for this year ends on the 16th. I’ll probably need a few days to sort out the working papers and draft the report..and the next fieldwork doesn’t start until after new years so I guess I’ll be free from the 21st onwards. What’s up?”

The smile on Irene’s face told Seulgi that her girlfriend definitely had something planned for the two of them for the coming holidays.

“Seulgi-ah..”

Irene cooed a bit too sweetly and Seulgi was slightly scared. The previous time that happened was when Seulgi had defeated her in a video game. She had introduced the silly video game to Irene in hopes of getting her technologically challenged girlfriend to try her hand at gaming and she was so bad at it. It was basically a soccer game but instead of controlling little human players, they controlled race cars and Irene would miss the ball every single time she approached it, as though there was an invisible forcefield around the ball pushing her away.

Seulgi had cheered a bit too enthusiastically when she won the first time and froze when she saw Irene was smiling at her, the same sweet smile she was giving Seulgi at the moment. She shuddered at the thought of what had happened next and gave herself a shake. Turning to a confused Irene, she replied meekly.

“Y-yes?”

“What do you say about going home with me for the holidays? We’re having a family reunion, Taeyeon and Jessica are going to be there too!”

Oh. Meeting the parents AND the extended family.

“S-sure..why not? It’s about time I met your family, isn’t it? I mean, you’ve already met mine.”

Okay. You can do this.

“You sure?”

“Yea. No problem at all, no worries.”

You can do this.

Irene’s met the Kangs a few weeks ago when Seulgi went back home to celebrate her parents’ wedding anniversary. Seulgi had sheepishly told her mother that she would be bringing somebody home with her during a video call and briefly introduced Irene to her after having told her mom so many stories of her girlfriend. Needless to say, Irene charmed her mother on the spot and the rest of the family followed. They had only talked for a few minutes but Mrs Kang spent the next few days asking Seulgi all sorts of questions about Irene to prepare for their visit.

‘What kind of food does she like?’

‘Can she handle spicy food well? ‘

‘How about alcohol?’

‘How did you find somebody so pretty?’

And the last one, Seulgi was pretty sure her brother sent it instead.

‘Did you beg her to save your single for this trip home? ‘

Seulgi very promptly ignored it and took a screenshot of the conversation.

‘Juhyun-ah, my mom loves you already. How did you even do that?’ Seulgi sent the picture to Irene.

‘Because I am awesome.’

Well, Seulgi couldn’t argue with that.

When Seulgi told the office team, they surprisingly did not about it. In fact, they were quite supportive - giving her tips on how to behave, how to handle in-laws. Seulgi promptly went red at the mention of in-laws and they laughed. Yoona and Taeyeon gave each other high fives and fist pumped, apparently they successfully guessed what Seulgi’s reaction would be.

Should’ve known better than to trust these dumb dumbs to not make fun of me.

Seulgi rolled her eyes but made mental notes during the entire thing. They might be dumb dumbs but Seulgi had learnt in the past year working with them that that was how they usually gave advice - by teasing her. She listened intently, especially to whatever Taeyeon said since she knew the Bae family the best out of the lot. Jessica was seated at her desk, listening to the entire thing and Seulgi could see her nodding from time to time, agreeing with whatever ‘advice’ they gave.

The advice must be useful for Jessica to agree, Seulgi thought.

The gang was hovering around Seungwan’s desk during the entire commotion, munching on some cookies she baked for them the day before. Unknowing to her, they were getting glares from Joy the whole time because they were hogging Seungwan’s cookies. Seungwan signalled to Joy towards her bag and Joy ped it eagerly. She dug out another pack of cookies labelled “Sooyoung” and held it protectively away from all the vultures that were their friends, determined to save the entire packet for herself.

***

Seulgi was back in Irene’s apartment that night, having to discuss the details and logistics of the trip. After coordinating their schedules, they decided to take an entire week off between Christmas and New Years and visit Irene’s family for about four or five days. Since Irene’s sister would be coming home to spend her winter break, Seulgi figured they would probably end up spending most of their days off there to let the two siblings catch up with each other.

Irene had initially wanted to drive all the way back but Seulgi was against the idea, so were her parents when she called them. Irene argued, pacing around her house, that she was a seasoned driver and had driven home during winter countless of times before but her parents were not having it. There had been too many accident news lately and they were worried in their own right, even one of their country’s favourite celebrity got caught in an accident as of late due to slippery roads.

Mr Bae firmly rejected Irene’s idea to drive and told them to take the train instead. He already sent the online tickets to Irene’s email address while they were on the phone and ended the call. Irene let out a frustrated groan and frowned. Seulgi quickly led her to the couch and her favourite movie before she worked her way into a sulk for the entire night. Grabbing a blanket from the bedroom, Seulgi settled on the couch next to Irene. Irene was still on the opposite end of the couch, still frowning and pouting. Seulgi sighed and shook her head.

What a child.

“Juhyun-ah..”

Irene turned her attention away from the opening credits towards Seulgi, eyes softening at the sight of her smile. Seulgi patted the spot right next to her and held out her hand.

“C’mere.”

Irene didn’t need to be told twice.

***

The weather had been terribly cold on the day of their departure, a thick blanket of snow covered the city as snow fell for the majority of the night till day break. Irene and Seulgi were both bundled up and huddled together while they waited for their train by the tracks. The station was packed with others just like them who were their way home, be it to celebrate the festivities or just to spend time with their families.

“It’s so cold today!” Irene whined and grimaced, screwing her eyes shut when an incoming train from the neighbouring track brought about a gust of cold wind. She quickly hid behind Seulgi until the train came to complete stop, hugging Seulgi’s back and leaning fully onto the younger girl.

“You’re such a whiny baby sometimes, Hyun.”

“I don’t want to hear that coming from you, pro-whiner.”

Seulgi put both hands in the air and surrendered, getting the hint that Irene was not in the mood for jokes that morning. Sensing that the grip on her waist was loosening, she turned around and gave Irene a proper hug to warm her up a bit.

“Ya know, sometimes I forget how small you are. You’re always wearing some kind of heels.”

“You’re just really tall.” Irene mumbled.

They stayed like that for a little while longer before the signboard signalled that their train was approaching. As the train rolled in sight, they gathered their things and boarded the train while Irene continued to cling onto Seulgi’s form, the cold being her perfect excuse.

---

“Wait. How long have you two been dating again? You two are really clingy.”

“About..seven..eight months maybe? Give and take.”

---

Seulgi was noticeably quiet during the train ride. She kept fidgeting with the zippers of her jacket, mumbling words that Irene couldn’t catch. Seulgi stopped when Irene took hold of her hands.

“Seulgi, are you nervous?”

“N-no…”

Irene raised a brow. Seulgi looked away and a soft ‘yes’ could be heard.

“Don’t be. They’re very laid back people. Didn’t Taeyeon already tell you everything before I could?”

“Yes but….”

“Hmm? Come again? I can’t hear you.” Irene leaned closer to Seulgi to catch what she was mumbling.

“I really want their approval. What if they think I’m not good enough for you?”

The look on Irene’s face told Seulgi that her girlfriend could not believe what she was saying.

“What? It’s true! I mean..look at you. Look at me.” Seulgi gestured back and forth between the two of them.

Irene sighed and shifted in her seat, elbows resting on the armrest as she leaned closer towards Seulgi, just like she did on their first not-date lunch date. Seulgi, to her credit, neither moved nor flinched. Irene had her serious face on, Seulgi daren’t move to be honest.

“Do you know what I see?”

Seulgi shook her head.

“I see a hardworking 24-year old who is always trying her best in whatever she does. I see somebody who doesn’t give up, whines a lot, but never gave up..”

“I don’t whine that much!” Seulgi protested but quieted when Irene raised a brow.

“Seulgi, you are smart, strong and astonishing. How many more times am I going to have to tell you for you to accept it?!”

Seulgi starred at Irene, blinking. She didn’t expect such an outburst from her usually calm girlfriend. A few moments passed before Irene spoke again.

“Please have more confidence in yourself, Seulgi-ah. You can do anything! You can rock the world! You’re gonna paint the world with your colours!”

“Oh! Like how I painted your back that one time?”

Seulgi asked innocently, completely missing the point. Whatever Irene wanted to say next died in and she blushed. Leaning closer, she rested her forehead on Seulgi’s shoulder in defeat, shaking her head at her clueless girlfriend.

“Not exactly but close enough.”

“Okay. I’m still worried though, of what they might think.”

“They’re going to love you, trust me.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Irene lifted her head and looked Seulgi in the eyes.

“Because I already do.”

***

They spent the remainder of the ride looking out of the window with Irene resting her head on Seulgi’s shoulder, occasionally fishing out her phone to take some photographs of the passing landscape. Most of the photos ended up as blurry shots but she seemed satisfied with them. Seulgi rolled her eyes and snorted when Irene complained that the train’s windows needed to be cleaned because the camera would sometimes focus on the window’s stains instead of the landscape. Irene glared at her and Seulgi looked away, acting innocent as she pretended to scroll through her social media apps.

“I’m on to you, Kang.” Irene narrowed her eyes at her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Just as Irene was about to say something, her phone rang. She gave Seulgi a shove and answered the phone.

“Hey, brat! You’re picking us up later? Okay. We still have another half an hour to go so you can probably get ready to head out now. Alright, see you later.”

It was her sister who apparently was going to pick them up at the station later instead of Irene’s father, which Seulgi was silently grateful for. Irene’s pep talk might have calmed her down considerably but she was still slightly nervous about meeting her parents. She didn’t know how they felt about their daughter being with somebody younger and without a clear idea of what her future might be yet. She was still figuring things out as she went after all.

With Irene’s sister picking them up later, Seulgi would have a few more minutes to collect herself before meeting the parents, or her future in-laws, as Taeyeon had cheekily put it.

Seulgi was quite familiar with Irene’s sister. She had heard countless of stories about her and they even chatted via video call a few times. From what Seulgi observed, they were quite alike. In fact, they looked so alike it was as if Irene had the front camera on her phone . It was as if she was looking at her reflection.

Both of them also seem to share the same odd sense of humour, laughing at the most random things. It was quite amusing watching their video call, they would just burst laughing before they finished their sentences, one hand holding their phones and the other slapping the nearest surface which, in Irene’s case, would be Seulgi most of the time.

As they walked towards the station’s exit, they could see a girl coming at them at full speed, waving excitedly. Irene quickly passed her luggage to Seulgi and soon, squeals of joy could be heard as the two sisters happily greeted each other and were literally bouncing with excitement. Passers by watched the endearing sight and went on their way while Seulgi secretly recorded their adorable interactions. She put away her phone as soon as their excitement had died down a little in fear of getting caught.

“Now I finally get to officially introduce you two!” Irene clapped with excitement. “Brat, this is my girlfriend, Kang Seulgi. Seulgi, this is my bratty baby sister, Jisoo.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Seulgi.”

“Same here. You two look even more alike in the flesh.”

“I’m the prettier one but don’t let her know.” Jisoo whispered not-so-softly to Seulgi.

“Yah! I’m right here I can hear you!”

Jisoo made a run for it and Irene went after her.

This is going to be one very interesting trip, Seulgi thought as she watch the two siblings chase each other around the station.

***