" unnie you left your wallet " Wendy said as soon as she stepped inside the van and handed Irene's wallet. 

Year-end awardings are nearing and their schedule has become more hectic; they have to practice, do rehearsals, costume fitting, recordings and a lot more to consider. They are getting beat up by their schedules and just wishing that this time of the year would end fast.

" thank you " Irene smiled at Wendy and reached for the said wallet. Irene changed her wallet a while ago so she deliberately left the wallet that Wendy saw but either way, she thanked Wendy.

While waiting for them to arrive at the set, Irene rummaged inside her old wallet and saw some money sitting in there— great, some trash, receipt from different countries and some old polaroids. Irene smiled at herself when she saw the first Polaroid picture of Red Velvet after their first stage; we look so young.

Joy with her green hair tip, Wendy with blue one, Seulgi with orange and herself with pink. It's just unfortunate that Yeri isn't with them that time, it makes Irene wonder— if Yeri debuted with us that time, what color Yeri would have? Violet? Pink?

Another polaroid that brought back a lot of memories in Irene; the first time they won. Joy cannot stop from crying, Yeri with her ridiculously high pig tails showcasing her forehead that she got teased by her unnies, Wendy spacing out like she cannot believe it, Seulgi with her braided hair and looking cute and all. 

" ahhh unnie! " Joy cried a lot more when they reached the backstage " unnies! " she cries as she hugs her unnies, trying hard to fit everyone inside her embrace.

" stop crying " Irene smiled at the young girl as she wipes her tears away.

" Sooyoung-ah! Stop crying, you make me want to cry as well! " Yeri and Seulgi whines.

" then cry! We should cry! " Joy hugged the two and the trio cried like stupid girls out of happiness inside their hearts.

" dumb, dumber, dumbest " Wendy can only shake her head, judging the three with a warm smile on her lips.

" you can cry as well Seungwan, I'm not going to mock you and judge you the way you are judging them right now " Irene teased Wendy and comfortably placed her hand on Wendy's waist.

" I'll cry on our hundredth win " Wendy giggled " how about you unnie? Aren't you going to cry? " Wendy asked.

" I'll cry on our 200th win " Irene jokily said and they both laugh while the trio is still bawling their eyes out.

Irene wanted to cry hard that day as well like Joy as soon as they are announced as the winner, but she prevented herself and instead, looked after the younger members. She is the leader and not a maknae after all.

And the most precious of all the polaroids that Irene has seen is the first picture of her and Seulgi without anyone else, just the two of them. It's when they are practicing for their performance 'Be natural'.

Irene can remember how anxious she was about it, she's so insecure about her dancing skill because compare to Seulgi, she knew she's nothing. Everyone knows how Seulgi can dance gracefully and powerful if needed while her, what does everyone talks about her? Just her beauty.

Irene was worried if she can do the performance with Seulgi or she's just going to ruin it and be a burden but Seulgi made sure to make her unnie feel at ease and boosted Irene's self-confidence.

" Joohyun! " Seulgi brightly called Irene's birth name, they are sitting on the floor as they take a short break from their practice " Joohyun unnie! " Seulgi rested her head on her knees and tilted her head upon Irene's direction to see the girl's face.

" Joohyun unnie " on her third calling, Irene looked at her with a frown— Seulgi smiled happily, eyes disappearing as her lips forms a big smile " Joohyun unnie " Irene swears that out of everyone who calls her that way, her favorite is Seulgi's.

" why? " Irene frowned with a smile.

Seulgi shrugged " just... your name sounds so beautiful so I called it randomly " Seulgi giggled like a kid trying to impress her crush.

Irene looked away from Seulgi, hiding her blushing face " stop it " she said but she knew in herself that she wants to keep hearing Seulgi say her name lovingly.

" Joohyun unnie, you danced well today " Irene blushed even more with Seulgi's genuine compliment, how can somebody sound so sincere? Is that even legal?

" stop lying, I'm getting embarrassed " Irene shyly said. 

" I'm not though " Seulgi pouted, Irene can see Seulgi's expression from the corner of her eyes " you danced well today and you look beautiful with your hair neatly tied up, it's just unfortunate that you'll have your hair down and I'll have mine tied up on the real performance " Seulgi sighed.

" you... you look good when your hair is tied up " Irene shyly compliments Seulgi.

" thank you " Seulgi said.

" can we stop by the nearby cafe before going to our schedule? " Irene got back to the reality and realized that their van has started moving when Yeri asked something from their manager.

" I don't think we can, we're pretty much running late " their manager responded. Yeri looked over Irene, eyes asking for little help to convince their manager but Irene just shrugged.

" Ugh, I hate this stupid family " Yeri sulkily said as she pouts. The child is having her tantrum meaning that this morning isn't going to be easy for everyone.

The holiday break that everyone's been anticipating has come and finally, the vacation that Irene and Seulgi have been planning for long has finally right in front of them. 

Irene has a 5-day vacation and she spent that 3 days with her family and the remaining days with Seulgi. They decided not to go out of the country and just stay at a secluded place which, fortunately, Seulgi's family owns a beautiful rest house away from the city.

Seulgi's grandparents own a rest house in the middle of a forest, the place is remarkably beautiful and peaceful. The view of the mountains and lake, the spacious place that they can stay in and have each other without getting worried about anything for a