It was the day after Halloween when Joy suddenly dragged Irene and Seulgi into the bathroom and locked the door from the outside using several  loaded suitcases stacked on top of each other.

“PARK SOOYOUNG!” Irene bellowed at the top of her lungs. “Let us out of here, now!”

“No!” Joy shouted back. “Not until you idiots talk.”

“Yah!” Seulgi protested. “Is that how you talk to your unnies?!”

“I really think you should just talk, you know.” Yeri's voice sounded strained, like she was rearranging the suitcases.

“Seungwan!” Seulgi called. “Help us!”

“This is me helping you, Seul.” Wendy replied. “If it makes you feel any better, I cleaned the bathroom and I even added a new box of tissues.. just in case.”

“Now, shut up and talk to each other already.” Joy said adamantly.

“Yeah, the sooner you do, the sooner you can get out.” Yeri added.

“Good luck.” Seulgi guessed that Wendy was dragging Yeri and Joy out of the hallway because she could hear them protesting. “We’ll give you some privacy.”

“I just wanna know what they fought about!” was the last thing Seulgi heard and then it was complete silence.

She looked at Irene, who was sitting at the edge of the bathtub, clutching a bottle of shampoo. If her looks could kill, the bottle would’ve disintegrated in a minute.

Seulgi gulped. Irene was mad. And when she was mad, she was unnervingly quiet. And when she was unnervingly quiet, she was absolutely terrifying.

For lack of a better thing to do, Seulgi tried to push through the door one more time.

Then she heard Irene sigh. Seulgi turned around slowly and she let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding when she saw that Irene’s features were a lot softer compared to several minutes ago.

“Let’s just do this stupid talk so we can get the hell out of here.” Irene grumbled.

“O-okay.”

Seulgi stood awkwardly next to the sink. “I—uhh.. I—”

Her voice cracked and suddenly it’s like she forgot how to speak.

Irene sighed again. “I’m sorry, Seulgi.”

“No, no.” Seulgi shook her head fiercely. “I’m the one who should be sorry, unnie.”

Seulgi moved closer and she sat down on top of the toilet with the seat cover down.

“I said some hurtful things and you didn’t deserve it—not after what you’ve been through. I just—”

“Seulgi.” Irene put a hand up and Seulgi immediately fell silent.

“I’m sorry.” Irene repeated. This time, Seulgi let her talk.

“I’ve been selfish.” Irene took a deep breath and looked into Seulgi’s eyes. “I.. I've made everything complicated, Seulgi. You told me you had feelings for me and I shot you down. And then I told you I was in love with you. Then I pushed you away and then I flirted with you.. Then I avoided you.. And I’ve been clingy.. but then I said all those harsh words when we fought. I’ve just been so confused about my feelings for you. And I wanted to apologize for hurting you and making things even more complicated when I kissed you.”

Irene finished and looked up at the main source of light to prevent the tears from falling.

“I know I put us in a bad place when I did that. I’m really sorry.”

Seulgi didn’t even realize that she was already crying.

“Joohyun-unnie..” She reached out and grabbed her arm. “I—”

“You don’t have to say anything.” Irene said in a quiet voice. “I just.. I wanted to apologize. That’s all I want.”

“I’m sorry too.” Seulgi let go and stared at the floor. “I’m sorry for all the hurtful things I said. I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s okay if you did.” Irene replied. “I wouldn’t want to love me either.”

“No.” Seulgi shook her head. “Please don’t say that. I didn’t mean that. I was just upset. And.. you didn’t, Joohyun-unnie.”

“Didn’t what?” Joohyun’s brows furrowed.

“Didn’t put us in a bad place.” Seulgi said in a small voice. “When you.. when you kissed me.”

Irene’s mouth twitched upward for a brief second. How Seulgi managed to make her heart leap when it’s almost close to breaking by looking so excruciatingly adorable, she will never know.

“I—I kissed you back, you know.” Seulgi mumbled nervously. “Before Seungwan so rudely interrupted us.”

“Yes,” Irene chuckled. “Yes, you did.”

“Joohyun-unnie.” Seulgi looked determinedly at the tiles. “I really don’t know what to do.”

“We’ve said our apologies, haven’t we?” Irene tilted her head. “Then we should be fine. Let’s just both accept it so we can make up and then we can finally get out of here.”

“But..” Seulgi looked up. “Whether we fight or make up, I’m still in love with you. What am I supposed to do about that?”

Irene closed her eyes. “Seulgi, you’re not—”

“Are we seriously going to keep having this conversation?” Seulgi cut her off. “Aren’t you sick of this game?”

“I—” Irene started to say but Seulgi looked at her intensely.

"No more going in circles, unnie." Seulgi said seriously. "You said it yourself—you made things complicated. It will always be complicated if we keep pushing everything down. So for now, while we're in this bathroom, let's just cut the bull."

Seulgi looked so dead serious that Irene couldn't even reprimand her for cursing.

"Fine." Irene huffed. "Let's cut the bull." 

"I'm gonna ask you some questions and you'll answer them, straight to the point." Seulgi exhaled. 

"Okay."

"Did you regret it when you kissed me?" Seulgi asked.

"Which time?" Irene replied.

"The first time. All those years ago." Seulgi bit the corner of her lip.

"No." Irene answered. "Did you?"

"Of course not." Seulgi said immediately. "In fact, I wanted to do it again as soon as we got home."

Irene fought the smile that was creeping up on her face. "Okay. The second time, during Monster. Was that on purpose?"

"Of course not!" Seulgi looked surprised. "Why the heck did you close your eyes, anyway?"

"Because I get too nervous when you're close to me." Irene replied. "Funny how that made it to the music video, by the way."

"Yeah, every time I watch it, your lips are all I could think about." Seulgi chuckled. Irene blushed. 

"Were you flirting with me during promotions?" Irene asked.

"Yes." Seulgi raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you?"

"I.. I don't know."

Seulgi looked at her questioningly. "The cuddling?"

"Fine!" Irene blinked rapidly. "Maybe I was."

"Were you jealous of Naeun?" Seulgi was smiling. She was enjoying this. 

"Yes." Irene rolled her eyes. "Did you really like her? Or was she a distraction so you could get over your feelings for me?"

"I really liked her." Seulgi said sincerely.

"Oh. Okay." Irene would be lying if she said it didn't sting. "Why did you break up with her then?"

"Because I realized I didn't get over you." Seulgi shrugged. 

"Oh. Okay." Irene felt slightly elated.

"Why are you smiling?" Seulgi narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not." She pursed her lips. 

"What did you really mean," Seulgi continued. "When you said you would've tried to make it work?"

Irene shrugged. "Exactly what it meant."

"Okay." Seulgi nodded slowly. "Why did you kiss me?"

"Because.." Irene sighed. "I couldn't take it anymore."

"Was it good?" Seulgi smirked.

"YAH!" Irene slapped her arm. "You're such an idiot."

"Well?"

Irene stared at her expectant eyes.

"Yes." Irene smiled despite herself.

"Okay." Seulgi smiled widely. "I have one last question."

Irene bit her lip.

“Are you in love with me, Joohyun?” Seulgi moved closer.

Irene’s lashes fluttered. Seulgi’s eyes were piercing right through her walls.

“Yes. I’m in love with you, Seulgi.” Irene whispered.

“Okay.” Seulgi said breathlessly. “See? That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

“So..” Irene suddenly noticed how close they were. “Now what?”

“Well..” Seulgi said softly. They stared at each other for a full minute.

Then Seulgi pulled Irene into a kiss.