The car ride back to the Bae residence was filled with chatters coming from the two newly reunited sisters. Seulgi was in her own little world in the back seat, mumbling to herself as she rehearsed what she would say to greet Irene’s parents later. Jisoo peeked from the rear view mirror and nudged at her sister, sending her a look. Irene smiled in return.

She’s adorable.

I know.

Seulgi continued with her little rehearsal, unaware that she was being watched. She was getting increasingly nervous as the drive continued. With every turn Jisoo took, she knew they were arriving soon and she, at that point, was a jumpy bundle of nerves.

Okay..you can do this. You can do this. You ca-

“Seulgi-ah, we’re here.”

“Huh?”

She jumped in her seat and hit her head on the car’s ceiling, effectively snapping her out of her inner monologue. She took a look around and saw that they were parked in what Seulgi assumed to be the garage and both the Bae sibling were already unloading their luggage from the car’s trunk. She quickly gathered herself and went to help. Irene stopped Seulgi in her tracks and took hold of her shoulders, giving her a shake.

“Better?”

“Y-yes. Thank you, Hyun-ah.”

“My god you’re letting her call you that? You’re a lost cause, Juhyun.” Jisoo tsked and Irene sent her her best glare but didn’t affect Jisoo at all. The said girl stuck her tongue out at her sister and entered the house.

“What did she mean by that?”

“Hmm? She probably said that because none of my exes ever got to called me that.”

Seulgi grinned at the bit of new information. Sure, she was aware of Irene’s exes, she told her from the get go. But she didn’t know about privilege that was being able to call her by that pet name. It happened by accident, really. They were out and about on what was their third or fourth date when Seulgi unconsciously shortened Irene’s name. There was a pause, Irene looked surprised at first and Seulgi thought she had overstepped. She was ready to apologise when Irene’s eyes lit up and she grinned. Seulgi took it as permission granted and Irene never protested ever since.

“Oh...so I’m special, yes?”

“Yes, Seulgi. You’re special.”

Irene gave her a quick kiss before pulling her into the house, not wanting to keep her family waiting.

Seulgi stiffly bowed to Mr Bae during the introductions when they arrived at the Bae’s residence. The Bae sisters joined their mother and watched in amusement as Seulgi remained bowing for quite a while. Seulgi hesitantly raised her head to take a peak at him and straightened her posture when she saw Mr Bae was giving her the same amused look that Irene usually wore. Awkwardly rummaging through her backpack, she dug out the gift she had prepared for him.

“Merlot.” Mr Bae nodded approvingly when he inspected the bottle. “Thank you, Seulgi. Did Juhyun tell you about my wine collection?”

“Y-yes. It’s..uhm..for Christmas and..uhm..also to thank you, f-for letting me stay here for the holidays. Oh! Mrs Bae.” Seulgi almost jumped when she saw Irene’s mother standing by the kitchen counter with her daughters, observing the two of them. Seulgi bowed again and brought out another package from her bag. “Very nice to meet you, Mrs Bae. I have something for you, too.” She walked over to pass it to her.

“My my, how thoughtful. Thank you, Seulgi. I’ll use it well. Let me put this away before I forget.” Irene’s mother placed the cashmere scarf back into its wrapper and disappeared up the stairs.

“Don’t I get anything?” Jisoo asked cheekily and earned herself a shove from Irene and their father shot her a look.

“Jisoo..” he warned.

“I’m just kidding. Goodness, lighten up a bit please people. It’s the holidays.”

“Actually, I do have something for you.” Seulgi rummaged her bag and produced a slim rectangular package. “Juhyun said not to get you anything though.”

“She usually listens to me well. I don’t know what happened.”

Jisoo accepted the gift in delight and got excited when she saw the familiar blue plastic cover after tearing off the wrapper. Her eyes widened as she saw the bold letters and illustrations printed on the it.

“No way! How did you find this? It’s out of stock everywhere here, I was going to get it when I get back to campus! Oh my god thank you, Seulgi! I’m going to play it right now!” Jisoo made a beeline for the console and plopped down on the couch with the console’s controller, bouncing with excitement as the game booted.

---

“I can’t believe you bribed everybody.”

“Those weren’t bribes!”

---

Seulgi was sprawled on the guest bed, arms wide open as she sighed in relief. Introductions went well and they didn’t seem hostile. Perhaps Irene was right, there was nothing to worry about. They seem to like her enough to not oppose to their relationship and truthfully, that was enough for her - she considered it mission accomplished.

She closed her eyes for a few moments before reopening them when she felt the mattress dip, remembering that Irene was still in the room with her. Irene sat on the bed beside her, looking as amused as always.

“That went well. I expected you to stutter more.”

“Thanks, I thought I was going to faint from the nerves.”

“Well, you didn’t and I’m very proud of you.” Irene patted her thigh and Seulgi smiled to herself, feeling accomplished.

Seulgi yawned and rubbed her eyes. The bed was really comfortable after bracing the cold outside and Irene’s family. She gave Irene a sleepy smile and patted at the space beside her. Irene lied down on the bed, pillowed by Seulgi’s arm.

“Sleepy?”

Irene bopped Seulgi’s nose.

“Kinda..I think I was running on adrenaline up until now.”

Another yawn.

“You barely slept last night, didn’t you? I felt you tossing and turning for quite a bit.”

“Oh...sorry…”

Seulgi’s eyes were threatening to close as she fought to contain another yawn.

“Take a nap. I’ll wake you up later for lunch.”

“Okay…”

And Seulgi dozed off. Irene slowly got up and tiptoed her way out of the room.

***

Their first day back in Irene’s hometown passed rather uneventfully. Her parents went out to visit Mr Bae’s boss for the holidays so the three girls were left at home. Seulgi spent the afternoon playing video games with Jisoo while Irene read her book and occasionally glanced at the two as they duked it out. It was a one-on-one combat game and Irene had severely underestimated its entertainment value because by the time it was an hour into the game, Seulgi and Jisoo were going all out, using all sorts of combos and even mildly swearing at each other.

“Language!”

“Sorry, Hyun.”

“Well I’m not.” Jisoo turned towards Irene and made a face. She regretted it instantly when she heard the game telling Seulgi to finish off her character. She quickly turned her attention back to the screen, only to see that Seulgi’s character was half way performing a finisher move and effectively ending the match. “Yah, Seulgi that’s not fair I wasn’t paying attention!”

“All is fair in love and war.” Seulgi put down her controller and stretched, Irene grimaced when her elbow joints made a sound. “That was fun.”

Jisoo rolled her eyes, clearly wasn’t used to losing when it came to video games. She suggested they changed games, to something that she was more confident in. Seulgi agreed, not wanting to seem like a wuss. When Jisoo settled on a familiar blue race car icon, Seulgi was initially quite confident since she had the same game back home. But Jisoo proved her wrong as she tore pass Seulgi’s defences and scored goal after goal, leaving Seulgi behind in the dust playing catch up.

It went on for a few rounds before Irene told Seulgi to let her play instead.

“You’re playing?”

Wow even their confused face is the same.

“Yes, I’m playing. I’m not going to sit here while you bully my girlfriend.”

“What is this level of double standards? Seulgi had me beat just now and you didn’t even say a single word. And you dont even play games!”

“Hush.” Irene held out a hand at Jisoo. “Are you game or not, little sister?”

“Oh I’m so game. You’re on!”

Seulgi gulped at the two competitive Baes. It would not end well.

Irene destroyed Jisoo thoroughly, leaving the poor girl to sulk in a corner after losing 10 rounds in a row.

“Hyun-ah, I think you got a bit carried away.”

Seulgi whispered to Irene while pointing at the sulking Jisoo.

“‘All is fair in love and war’” Irene quoted smugly.

Note to self: don’t challenge Hyun to Rocket League. Ever.

Mr and Mrs Bae returned home to find their oldest cheering and their youngest yelled for what seemed to be another rematch while Seulgi sat in the middle of the crossfire, trying to calm both parties down. Her efforts were futile as the siblings launched another match, both determined to win. Their parents watched in amusement as their oldest was never one for video games but was currently giving their youngest a run for her money. Seulgi got up from her seat and went to greet them.

“What do we have here?” Mr Bae nudged his head towards his daughters.

“I sort of introduced Juhyun to some games and she’s quite good at them, especially this one.”

“Well it’s nice to see Jisoo having a hard time with games. She has gotten a bit of an ego after beating her cousins.”

“Even Taeyeon?!”

Seulgi was shocked. From what she knew, Taeyeon played regularly and was quite good at video games. She had the reflexes needed and was able to grasp the situation quickly. Strategising was one of her strongest points, something Taeyeon thanked her job for. Years of overseeing teams and making sure that they were able to stick to their work schedules trained her to be a good strategist.

“Even Taeyeon.” Mr Bae nodded in confirmation as he took a seat at the dining table, joining his wife as they watched their two daughters, very much amused by how Irene was actually playing a video game and actually winning against Jisoo.

“Wow..”

“I take it as you know Jessica, too?”

“Yes, we’re all colleagues.”

Seulgi took a seat at the dining table with Irene’s parents and they chatted about Seulgi’s work and anything else that came to mind. Seulgi was able to hold a conversation better compared to when they first arrived. The initial nerves seemed to have been shaken off and soon she was able to speak smoothly without stuttering. It reminded her of the first day she met Irene, how her nerves settled after a while and she rambled on and on about Beyonce.

They continued chatting for a while before Mrs Bae excused herself to prepare dinner. Seulgi, having missed out on lunch preparations, offered to help and was delighted when Mrs Bae said okay. She had previously turned down Seulgi’s offer to clean up after their meal earlier and told the girl to rest instead.

---

“You didn’t burn the kitchen down, did you?”

“Listen. It was that one time.”

---

“What did you guys talk about while we were playing?”

Irene asked her mother while they were doing the dishes after dinner.

“Oh you know..the weather, politics, the economy. Boring stuff.”

“Is that so?”

“Worried?”

“Mom..”

“She’s a very lovable girl, Hyun-ah. Your father likes her a lot as far as I can tell.”

Before Irene could answer, Seulgi came over and asked if there was anything she could help with, again. Mrs Bae had chased her out of the kitchen earlier when she volunteered to do the dishes, citing that she was their guest and she had already helped out enough but Seulgi didn’t want to lounge around and look like a freeloader.

“Tell you what, Seulgi. Why don’t you two go grocery shopping tomorrow? I have a list of things I need to get. It’s on the fridge. Ask Jisoo if she wants to go along.”

“And be the third wheel? No thanks, mom.” Jisoo yelled from the living room.

Seulgi beamed and went to fetch the list, reading them outloud as she went through it. Mrs Bae smiled and shook her head, Seulgi definitely was a very lovable person.

***

They were about to leave the house when Seulgi’s phone rang and she panicked for a moment when she saw who was calling. It was Jessica. Seulgi quickly ransacked her brain for any possible work matters that she might have unknowingly screwed up before remembering that she were on vacation too and was also in town for the reunion dinner that night. Irene’s gaze shifted from the phone to her face, asking if she was going to answer it. Seulgi answered the phone while nodding.

“Hello?”

“Seulgi, are you guys at home? Taeyeon and I are coming over for a visit.”

“No, we’re about to go to the store, getting some stuff for Juhyun’s mom.”

There was some noise from Jessica’s end and Taeyeon’s voice came through.

“Going to the store?” Taeyeon sounded excited for some reason. “We’ll give you a ride and go with you guys. Reaching in about 5 minutes.”

Irene took hold of Seulgi’s wrist and brought the phone towards her.

“We’ll meet you out front. I’ll let my parents know about it. See you!”

Seulgi had never exactly seen Irene and Taeyeon talk so seriously before while they were in the city. They were currently on their way to the local supermarket and the two cousins were in a deep discussion about the shopping list Mrs Bae made. They were actually strategising on how to efficiently gather all the items on the list, which of the aisles to go to first and how it would eventually lead to them making their way around the store without having to go back and forth to retrieve things. Jessica merely shook her head and told Seulgi that she would get used to it soon enough.

They divided into two teams when they reached the store. Jessica and Seulgi would hit the wet market section while the other two handled everything else. As soon as the two cousins turned to leave, Seulgi pushed the cart towards their destination but Jessica held her back.

“Seulgi, come on I want to show you something.” Jessica tugged on Seulgi’s arm, very determined to pull the younger girl towards where Taeyeon and Irene had gone to a few moments prior.

“Uhm..sure?”

Seulgi allowed herself to be pulled and they were hot on the two cousins’ trail. They soon arrived at the end of one of the aisle. Seulgi looked around, confused, because there was nobody in that aisle. Jessica signalled to her to be quiet and to follow her as she peeped at the aisle next to theirs where the laundry supplies were.

“And here we have Taeyeon and Irene in their natural habitat.” Jessica said, sounding like a narrator in a nature documentary, as they popped their heads out and peeked at the two cousins who seemed to be engaged in another deep discussion on which fabric softener and laundry detergent they should buy. Taeyeon and Irene were both talking animatedly while pointing to the brands available on the shelf. Seulgi looked at them, confused because Mrs Bae had specifically written which brand and type they ought to get. Jessica waved the thought away, saying that it was how they usually were and they continued their observation.

From what they could hear, the pair were comparing which one had a better scent and showing each other the brands that they normally used back home in the city, laughing and clapping whenever they agreed on something. They were even talking about different types and brands of irons, and were comparing the latest steam iron closets in the market.

“I can’t believe I married that idiot.” Jessica mumbled but Seulgi could see the amount of love Jessica had in her eyes while she was looking at Taeyeon.

“I’ve never seen them like this before..” She mumbled as she turned her attention back to the cousins.

“You haven’t?”

“I mean, I’ve never been grocery shopping with both of them present before so yea. Juhyun does get excited whenever one of us have to shop for new fabric softener but now it’s like her excitement totally levelled up around Taeyeon.”

“They’ve always been like that since they were kids so there’s no need for you to get jealous, Seulgi.” Jessica lightly patted her head. “Come on, let’s go get what we came here to get and meet up with them later.” Jessica nudged her head in the opposite direction and they left the pair in their own little world of fabric softeners and laundry detergents.

They met up at the cashier about half an hour later, each of their carts filled with the items they were instructed to get. Taeyeon did a final check of the items before they queued to check out, an occupational disease apparently from always having to double check everything during work. Irene nudged Seulgi with her elbow and teased that that would be her in a couple of years. Seulgi rolled her eyes comically and refuted that Irene was the one who was going to have to put up with that habit so it didn’t matter to her.

***