A few days have passed and still, Irene and Seulgi refused to talk to one another. 

It's gotten so far out of hand to the point that one day, when the girls were having dinner, a small incident happened.

Yeri asked Seulgi if she could get a glass of water and Seulgi wordlessly nodded. She got up and was unaware that Irene was blocking the way. Then the two swerved hard to avoid each other, causing Seulgi to stumble over and drop the glass she was holding. The small cup shattered and shards flew everywhere. Flustered, Seulgi bent down quickly to pick up the broken glass, her members' protests falling on deaf ears. Unsurprisingly, Seulgi cut her hand on the sharp edges and they all screamed as the blood gushed out.

"All right, that's it!" Joy bellowed at the top of her lungs. "You guys need to talk already, seriously!"

The girls were taken aback by Joy's sudden outburst. Even Wendy, who was firmly wrapping Seulgi's hand with a cloth, stopped to stare at the tall girl.

After dinner, Seulgi was inspecting her heavily bandaged hand as the girls lounged in front of the living room to watch a scary movie. 

"I really think you put too much bandage on, Yerim-ah." Seulgi said. "It wasn't even that big of a cut."

"That's okay," Yeri made a punching gesture. "You look cool, unnie. Like a boxer."

"Don't open it up!" Wendy warned as Seulgi tried to peel off the bandages. "Don't even think about it."

Irene just looked on but she couldn't hide the concern that was etched on her face.

"Popcorn's ready." Joy said in a singsong voice as she squeezed between Yeri and Wendy. Seulgi followed suit but Joy put a hand up.

"No, you can't sit here." Joy said sternly then she pointed to where Irene was sitting alone, on the farthest side of the couch. "Go sit next to Joohyun-unnie."

"Come on," Seulgi groaned. "Is that really necessary?"

Yeri spread her legs out. "There's just no space left, unnie. Sorry."

Seulgi turned to Wendy who just shrugged. "You heard our maknaes."

Seulgi grumbled as she settled next to Irene, and the space between them was large enough that Yeri could sqeeze in if she wanted to.

"Let's go!" The three cheered as Irene and Seulgi just sulked.

"Can you at least pass the popcorn this way?" Seulgi huffed.

Wendy gave her a small bowl. "You can share this with Joohyun-unnie. Yerim-ah, kill the lights! Let's start watching."

---

Irene really doesn't like horror movies. But it's Halloween and watching horror movies with the members is a tradition. In the past, Irene just squeezed between her dongsaengs and cowered behind them whenever there were jumpscares. However, right now, Irene can't really cling on to the person next to her since Seulgi was about three feet away but even if they were huddled close, Irene doubted she could even bring herself to touch Seulgi's arm.

It also didn't help that Joy, Yeri, and Wendy grabbed all the pillows and blankets, and the only comforter left was being used by Seulgi. 

So she just resorted to braving her fears and getting hopelessly scared whenever something jumped out. 

It didn't go unnoticed by Seulgi, who usually assumed the role of Irene's personal wall of protection. She rolled her eyes at the three younger members, speculating that maybe this was part of their plan to get Irene and Seulgi to talk. 

Still, Seulgi moved closer, inch by inch, gauging how Irene would react. 

Irene was grateful that Seulgi was gradually closing the distance but still, her face gave nothing away. 

This went on agonizingly slowly but neither girl was brave enough make a bold move.

The distance between them were practically non-existent now and Irene let out a heavy sigh of relief. Seulgi heard it and she couldn't supress the snort that came out of . Irene blushed as she covered her face with both hands. 

A particularly scary part suddenly came on the screen and the girls screamed collectively. Irene instinctively grabbed Seulgi's arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Irene quickly let go. 

"It's fine." Seulgi replied.

As the movie reached the , the jumpscares appeared more often and Irene kept accidentally grabbing Seulgi's arm and letting go instantly. 

Seulgi took a deep breath and just clutched Irene's hand. "Is that better?" 

Irene sighed and she intertwined their fingers together. "Is this okay?"

Seulgi just nodded, ignoring the way her heart thumped loudly. 

Wendy, Joy, and Yeri were messily entagled together and Wendy removed her tight hold on the two to peek at Irene and Seulgi.

She smiled as she saw Seulgi throwing the blanket over Irene. 

"Unnie, you're not even watching anymore." Seulgi observed as Irene hid behind her shoulders. Their hands were still intertwined.

"I am watching!"

They both giggled and for a moment, everything seemed fine.

"I'm sorry about your hand." Irene said after a while. They weren't paying attention to the movie anymore, ever since Irene continuously rubbed her thumb over Seulgi's hand. They were both looking for the right timing to apologize to each other.

"It's fine, it wasn't your fault." Seulgi answered. 

"But if I wasn't in your way.."

"And if I was only more careful.."

They smiled at each other tentatively.

"Joohyun-unnie.." Seulgi started. "I wanted so say that I'm really sorry for---"

The lights suddenly and they immediately let go of each other. Irene moved away from Seulgi.

"Dang, that was scary as heck." Yeri stretched. "Wanna watch another one?"

"Wendy-unnie," Joy called. "Can you accompany me to the bathroom, please?"

"Sooyoung-ah," Wendy shook her head. "I can't stand you doing aegyo."

"Because it works everytime." Joy smirked as she dragged Wendy.

"I'm gonna grab a drink," Yeri stood up. "Unnies, you need anything?"

"Hold on," Irene stood up and hurriedly walked over to Yeri. "I'll come with you."

They walked arm in arm as Seulgi watched them go.

"So?" Wendy and Joy were back. "Did you guys make up?"

"No." Seulgi shook her head. "I didn't even get to tell her that I was sorry properly."

"What did you guys even fight about?" Joy raised her eyebrows. "I've never seen Joohyun-unnie be that upset."

"Joy-ah, don't pry." Wendy scolded.

Back at the kitchen, Yeri was asking the same thing.

"I've never seen you be that upset, unnie." Yeri's eyes widened. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry about that." Irene smiled lopsidedly.

"So was it Seulgi-unnie's fault?" Yeri pressed on. "I could punch her for you."

"No, we were both at fault." Irene replied.

"Did you make up?"

Irene stole a glance at Seulgi and their eyes accidentally met. Seulgi lowered her eyes immediately, looking beaten up.

"I don't think we'll make up anytime soon."