"Like this?" Seulgi asked the director.

They were in the middle of shooting the music video for Monster and they're finally done with the dance part. The only thing left to do was shoot the individual and close up scenes. 

Right now, Irene's hand was on Seulgi's waist as the camera panned to both of their faces. The director instructed them to get a little bit closer so they could get a better shot. 

Seulgi was supposed to push Irene into the wall and she was having trouble trying to get the angle right. 

Meanwhile, Irene was having trouble trying to get her breathing to come down to a normal level. 

Seulgi raised her hand and let it hover over Irene's shoulder. "So, just like this?" She asked again. 

The director nodded and Seulgi pushed Irene. The space between them and the wall was a little too wider than Seulgi anticipated and they both stumbled backwards as Irene lost her balance. 

Seulgi pulled Irene upright almost immediately, laughing.

"I'm sorry," Seulgi chuckled. "I'll adjust. Let's do this again."

Irene couldn't wait for this day to be over. 

The last thing they needed to do was a close up of their faces. They got a couple of shots in but the director was still unsatisfied with the results. 

"One more time, please." The director instructed. 

The girls asked for a little break as the staff got ready to retouch their make up. 

"Are you feeling uncomfortable?" Seulgi said in a concerned voice when they were both alone in the dressing room.

Seulgi sensed some tension from the smaller girl when they were doing the shots and she wondered if maybe that was why they couldn't get the scene right.

"I'm not. It's just.." Irene hesitated. Then she laughed. "I thought this was supposed to be a 'twin' concept, but this scene kind of looks like we're about to kiss, right?" 

Seulgi laughed as well. "I know! But if you don't feel comfortable with this scene, we can always tell them."

Irene shook her head.

Even if she was feeling a little uncomfortable, it was because of her own conflicting feelings about the girl next to her, and that's not Seulgi's fault.

Irene didn't want to deal with that just yet and she certainly didn't want to have to explain to Seulgi that the reason why they still couldn't wrap up for the day was because she couldn't control her heartbeat whenever Seulgi was close enough that Irene can count her eyelashes. 

"It's fine." Irene reassured her. "I'm fine." 

"Try closing your eyes." Seulgi shrugged as the staff came in to reapply their lipstick. "Maybe that would help."

Five minutes later, Irene and Seulgi were back to shooting. 

"Okay, let's try this again." The director nodded. "Whenever you're ready, Irene-ssi, Seulgi-ssi."

"It's just you and me," Seulgi whispered to Irene. "Okay?" 

"Okay."

Once again, Seulgi started to move closer and Irene did the same. And like clockwork, Irene's heart pounded erratically. She focused on getting her breathing evenly but it was hard. Irene decided to just close her eyes and let Seulgi take the lead. 

Irene expected to hear 'We got it' or 'Let's try again'. 

What she didn't expect was Seulgi's soft lips brushing against her own for a tiny second.

Her eyes snapped open and they both instinctively pulled away, blushing hard.  

​​​​​"What the heck," Seulgi laughed. "Why didn't you stop?" 

Irene couldn't help but laugh too since everyone else was doing the same. "Why didn't you? I had my eyes closed!" 

"That's enough for today." The director gave them a thumbs up. "We'll try again tomorrow." 

​

Irene and Seulgi, being their typical selves, did not talk about it again. 

But as soon as they were alone in their own rooms, Irene took a deep breath as she recalled what happened earlier. 

"Why did I close my eyes?" She whispered. 

Irene brought a hand up to , remembering how Seulgi's lips still felt so soft and warm, even if Irene felt them for just a very brief moment. 

​​​

Little did she know, Seulgi was in her own room, thinking the very same thing as she stared at the ceiling. 

---

"What do you mean, 'what phone call'?" Irene said in a strained voice. "Don't you remember?" 

Seulgi bit her lip. 

Because she remembered everything. 

​

"I think I'm in love with you."

​​​​

Yes, she was drunk; yes, she was sleepy. But when she heard Irene say those seven words in her soft and little voice.. 

There were no words to describe exactly how Seulgi felt. 

Immediately after, Irene dropped the call and it took all of Seulgi's resolve not to get up and run to her room. 

Besides, they were in no position to talk since they were both pretty faded. 

When the news about Irene blew up, Seulgi's only focus was to make their leader feel better; they can talk whenever she's ready. 

So Seulgi really wanted to kick herself when she asked Irene about what happened that night. 

Seulgi couldn't seem to bring herself to talk about Irene's seven little words so she just focused on the other (smaller) bomb Irene dropped. She figured they'd eventually get there so she'd just take as much time she could. 

But then their leader just laughed at her and she just seemed so relieved that Seulgi didn't mention the most beautiful seven words to come out of Irene's mouth. Then the next seven words Irene said made Seulgi's heart sink. 

"I think I could live with that."

Which to Seulgi meant one thing:

"I didn't really mean it when I said 'I think I'm in love with you'." 

Everything Irene said after sounded warbled to Seulgi. It took just a split second but to her, it felt like eternity. 

Seulgi was embarrassed because she actually thought Irene was falling for her.

So stupid.

Irene made it clear, from the very first time they kissed all those years ago, that what they did was a mistake that should never happen again. 

She did it again, when Seulgi confessed to her a few months ago. Irene made it clear that they will never be anything more than what they are now. Because it was a mistake. Irene just didn't feel the same way about her. She never did. 

Irene has been saying it again and again. The problem was with Seulgi because she hasn't been listening. 

But now Seulgi heard her. Loud and clear. 

And this time, she's finally ready to accept that this is all they're ever going to be.

"What phone call?" Seulgi said before she could stop herself. 

Because playing dumb was better than saying these seven words:

I think I'll finally let you go. 

​​​