“I think we should let them out now.” Sooyoung got up from the living room and walked towards the bathroom.

“Yeah, I kinda need to pee, actually.” Yeri followed suit.

“Hold on.” Seungwan held up two hands. “I’ll go check on them first, just to make sure you nosy brats won’t try to listen to what they’re talking about.”

“Relax,” Sooyoung waved a hand. “We’re not gonna listen in.”

“Really?” Seungwan looked at them skeptically.

The two looked innocently back.

Seungwan raised her eyebrows.

Yeri rolled her eyes. “Fine!”

Then she and Sooyoung put down the tall glasses they’ve been hiding behind their backs.

Seungwan looked at them triumphantly. “Now, behave. I’ll go see what they’re up to.”

“Seulgi, no.” Irene took a deep breath. “Not here.”

“Okay.” Seulgi simply replied.

Irene shook her head. “I mean—no! We can’t do this.”

“Yes, I know.” Seulgi ran her hands through her hair. “I’m sorry. I got carried away.”

Irene stood up and smoothed out her shirt. “That can’t—”

“Happen again, I know.” Seulgi gritted her teeth. “I’m sorry. Alright?”

“Yes.” Irene went to the sink and put both her hands on the edge of the porcelain, eyes closed, her head hanging low. “I know. I’m sorry too.”

Seulgi stood up. “Okay.”

“Hey guys.” Seungwan called and they both jumped. “You okay?”

“We’re—we’re fine!” Irene stuttered.

“You guys made up?” Seungwan asked.

Irene and Seulgi stared at each other. “Yes, we did.” They both said uncertainly.

“Okay, I’m going to let you out now, okay?” Seungwan said.

"Wait, Wan!" Seulgi called.

"What?"

"Just.. five more minutes." Irene looked at Seulgi quizzically.

"Okay then." 

Seulgi started pacing and Irene sat back down on the toilet.

"Seulgi." Irene had her hands on her forehead. 

"Unnie." Seulgi said urgently. "What if.. what if we tried?" 

"Tried what?" 

"To make this work!" Seulgi had her hands on her hips as she paced. 

Irene scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious!" Seulgi stopped pacing. She took one look at the smaller girl then she held both of Irene's hands and pulled her up. 

"Yah!" Irene said but Seulgi locked both of their hands together. 

"Let's be together." Seulgi smiled earnestly. "Let's try to make it work."

Irene could only smile sadly. "You know we can't."

"Why not, though?" Seulgi pressed on. "We can make it work! We'd be so happy. I'll make you happy." 

"You already make me happy, Seulgi." Irene rubbed the back of Seulgi's hands with her thumbs. "Isn't that enough?" 

"But we could be so much happier." Seulgi said in a pleading voice.

"I know." Irene sighed. "But this is it for us."

Irene let go. "This is the last time we'll talk about this, Seulgi. After we leave this bathroom, we can't ever let things get out of hand again. For the sake of our careers. For Seungwan. For Sooyoung. For Yerim."

Seulgi closed her eyes and she took a deep breath." Okay."

"I'm glad we did this." Irene nodded slowly, as if convincing herself. "We needed the closure."

"I just," Seulgi said slowly. "I wish everything was different. I wish we were in a different universe, living a normal life. Then I would've tried to win you over. I would've made a complete fool of myself just to make you smile."

"You already do that, though." Irene smiled as she closed her eyes too. 

"I didn't think it would ever be possible to feel this way. I've been with several people in the past, but no one really compared to you. You were it for me, Joohyun-unnie. I really think you're the one. And I just want to show you just how much you make my knees weak with just a smile. I want to let you know how you make my heart thump whenever you pull me close. I want to make you feel how much you affect me. I wish we lived in a world where I could hold you and kiss you without having to live with the repercussions of our actions. I wish I could take you out on fancy dates or walks in the park without having to ask for permission. I wish I could make the world stop, so we could do whatever we wanted without having to worry. "

Seulgi sighed as she pulled Irene into a hug." But I know that this is what we've wanted all our lives. We worked too hard for this and I don't want to ruin that."

"I know." Irene wrapped her arms around Seulgi's waist. 

"Seulgi, you've been with me for about a decade now. You've seen it all. We've been through a lot. All the hardships, the wins, the failures.. you've been by my side at all times. I never would've made it through without you. You were the first one to look past the shy and intimidating vibe that I give off and I really couldn't have asked for more. We met when we were kids, wide-eyed and full of hope. We swore we'd make our dreams come true. Now look at where we are. We made it, Seulgi-yah. And I'll always be grateful to you because you were my rock."

Then Irene breathed in. "And that's why it's been so hard for me because I had to bottle up everything that I ever felt about you. Ever since we first kissed all those years ago, I felt like we had something special, but we were young and stupid and just confused so I pushed my feelings down. I had to. I had a lot of responsibilities which meant that I had to make hard choices. We're not kids anymore. We have to make the right choices. And most of the time, the right choices are the most difficult ones to make. Letting you go might just be the most difficult choice I'll ever make."

"Still, I'll always love you and I'll always cherish everything that happened, even if we hurt each other, even if we said things we didn't mean, even if every tear we ever shed was for nothing. Because you're worth it. You really are. And yes, in another life, we would've been together. We would've been endgame in every alternate universe. No matter what. We would've been together in every lifetime. But sadly, just not in this lifetime."

"I'm really sorry." Seulgi hugged her tighter.

"I'm sorry too." Irene did the same.

"Now.. with everything that's happened, I don't know how we could get past this." Seulgi whispered.

​​​

“It’s okay.” Irene removed herself from Seulgi's hold and she regarded the taller one. “Yah. Kang Seulgi. Look at me.”

Seulgi peeked at Irene who was smiling at her reassuringly. “Everything will be okay.”

“How do you know that?” Seulgi asked.

“Because,” Irene took Seulgi’s hand. “We’ve been through hell. And look where we’re at. There’s nothing we can’t overcome if we’re together.”

“But we’re not together, are we?” Seulgi asked in a low voice.

“No, we’re not.” Irene slowly shook her head.

“And we won’t ever be together, right?” Seulgi looked at the floor again.

Irene let go of her hand. “No. We won’t ever be together, Seulgi.”

Seulgi nodded. “Because that’s just the way it goes.”

“Because that’s just the way it goes.”