"Oh, my god." Wendy slapped her friend. "Did you guys—because I swear to god if you did—that’s our shared bathroom, Seul! How could yo—"

"No! Of course not!" Seulgi interjected. "Now, calm down, will you?"

"Okay." Wendy let out an exhale of relief. "Okay. Then what happened?"

"Then you knocked on the door shortly after that." Seulgi snorted.

"Oops." Wendy put a hand to . "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Seulgi smiled. "I'm actually glad you were always there to intervene. It always brought us back down to earth, like some sort of a reminder that we shouldn't take things too far."

"So, now that you confessed your feelings and made out.." Wendy frowned. "Why are you still avoiding each other then? Are you not, like, a couple now or something?"

"No." Seulgi's cheeky smile slowly turned to a sad one. "You know that's not an option."

The two were immersed in their conversation so when the door burst open to reveal Irene and Yeri, the 94-liners jumped in surprise.

"Omo, you scared the crap out of me!" Wendy gasped.

"Seulgi-unnie!" Yeri exclaimed. "You're back!"

"Yeah, I'm back." Seulgi smiled as Yeri went over to give her a hug.

"You're back for good?" Irene asked hesitantly.

Seulgi looked at her and she stared back. The brief moment in which they held each other's gaze felt like a quiet conversation.

Time seemed to stop as Irene and Seulgi locked eyes.

I miss you. Irene thought.

I haven't stopped thinking about us. Seulgi said in her head.

Then the moment was over.

"I-I hope so." Seulgi timidly answered.

“Where’s Sooyoung?” Wendy asked.

“She’s not here?” Yeri leapt on to the couch and settled comfortably.

“Joohyun-unnie, can I talk to you for a second?” Seulgi said quietly.

The three looked at her in surprise.

“Sure.” Irene nodded.

“In private?” Seulgi added.

Yeri looked between her two unnies suspiciously.

“Yerim-ah, Let’s watch a movie.” Wendy felt around the couch for the remote.

“No, thank you. I’m busy.” Yeri answered determinedly.

“Let’s go to my room.” Irene said and Seulgi nodded. The two older girls walked away from the living room and they both felt Yeri staring daggers at the back of their heads.

Irene closed the door quietly behind her as Seulgi sat down on the chair to put as much space between her and the leader. Irene sat down on the bed and they both shifted uncomfortably, neither girl knowing where to start.

“So..” Irene finally said after a long, awkward pause. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Uhm..” Seulgi hesitated.

A million questions buzzed around Seulgi’s head, and they were all along these lines:

How have you been?

Did you miss me?

Are you still thinking about us?

“I think we should tell Yerim and Sooyoung.” Seulgi finished.

Irene just stared at her.

Because the older girl was clenching her fists to keep her from running to Seulgi’s arms. Her mind was consumed with thoughts she’d never say out loud.

I’ve been so miserable without you.

I miss you so much.

I think about you every day.

“Okay.” Irene managed to say after a beat. “About what happened between us?”

“Yes.” Seulgi answered. “Seungwan said we owe it to them, and I agree. Apparently, they were the ones who got us to talk to each other.”

Irene nodded. “I see. Okay. Let’s talk to them after dinner.”

“So..” Seulgi chewed on her lip. “You doing okay?”

“Yes.” Irene simply responded. Seulgi didn’t need to know how much her pillow gets soaked with tears at night. “And you?”

Seulgi took a deep breath. “I’m good.” There’s really no need to bother Irene with her feelings because apparently, the other girl is handling it well.

“Actually,” Irene sunk back to her bed and lied down. “I’m not okay.”

“What?”

“Come here for a minute.” Irene beckoned Seulgi then she rolled her eyes when Seulgi hesitated. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna do anything.”

“I wasn’t thinking that.” Seulgi muttered as she trudged to Irene’s bed. She lied down next to Irene and the latter placed a pillow between them. “Come on, unnie. A pillow? Is this really necessary?”

“It is.” Irene stared at her ceiling. Seulgi did the same. “Seulgi-yah..”

“Yes, unnie?”

“I miss you.”

Seulgi exhaled loudly. “Thank god. Because I miss you too. So much.”

“But don’t get me wrong. It’s not in a way that I—” Irene started to say.

“I know. I feel the same way.” Seulgi interrupted her. “I get it.”

“Okay.” Irene closed her eyes. “I just wanted to tell you that. I’m tired of keeping my feelings inside.”

“You think we’ll ever go back to the way we were?” Seulgi wondered.

“I truly hope so.” Irene replied. “I don’t know what I’d do without you..”

“Don’t say that.” Seulgi’s voice wavered. “You’re gonna make me cry.”

“Haven’t we had enough crying?” Irene chuckled. “Can we try going back to being friends now, Seulgi?”

“Yes, please.” Seulgi whined then she sat up. "Friends."

“Okay.” Irene sat up too. “Let’s hug it out?”

Irene spread her arms and Seulgi snuggled closer. They hugged tightly for several minutes.

“We should get back to the girls.” Seulgi murmured as she took in the smell of Irene’s hair.

“Yeah, we probably should.” Irene replied but then she wrapped her hands around Seulgi tighter.

They slowly pulled apart and as they caught each other’s stares, the two moved their faces closer to each other.

“Okay, maybe let’s not hug.. for a while.” Irene whispered as her eyes dropped down to Seulgi’s lips.

“Yes, that’s probably a good idea..” Seulgi trailed off because she was doing the same.

“Seulgi,” Irene breathed. Their lips are almost touching now. “We shouldn’t..”

“We’re not doing anything.” Seulgi murmured. Then she slowly grabbed Irene by the back of her neck. “It’s innocent. This is what friends do.”

Their lips brushed against each other for a full second before Irene let out a snort.

“What’s happening?” Seulgi looked confused as Irene pulled away and leaned back to her bed, still cackling. “Why are you laughing?”

“Why the heck would you say that, ‘This is what friends do’?” Irene snickered. “You ruined the moment!”

“No, unnie, you ruined the moment when you laughed so loudly.” Seulgi grumbled. 

The air seemed lighter around them and Irene felt like they may finally be able to get over this hump. 

Irene stood up. “Come on, Seulgi. I’m hungry. Let’s eat dinner.”

Seulgi stomped after her.