Seulgi woke up to find that Irene was no longer by her side. She grabbed her phone to check the time. It was almost midnight. She searched for Irene's contact and texted. 

Where are you? 

Irene texted back. 

Balcony

Seulgi padded out of her room and felt her way around the darkness. When she reached Irene's door, she slowly opened it and peeked inside. 

"Joohyun-unnie?"

Seulgi walked inside the room and stared at the balcony. When they first saw their leader's room, the girls always were riddled with envy because it was the master bedroom, which meant that it had its own bathroom and balcony. But soon they figured that Irene deserved this room and more for always taking care of her rowdy members.

Seulgi noticed that Irene was leaning on the railing with her back to Seulgi. Being careful not to surprise her, she texted first.

I'm here. 

Irene turned around as soon as she saw the text and her eyes lit up.

"You didn't have dinner." She casually leaned with her elbows on the railing.

"Yeah, I was out cold." Seulgi walked over to the door.

"We had vegetables."

"It's a good thing I skipped dinner then."

Seulgi stepped out to the balcony. 

"It's cold out here." Seulgi hugged herself as she looked up to the sky.

"It's fine." Irene did the same.

"So.." Seulgi started.

"So.." Irene repeated.

They both stared at the stars.

Then Seulgi looked at the girl in front of her.

"Unnie.."

"Do you know anything about constellations, Seulgi?"

"No."

Irene turned around and faced the view. "Me neither. But sometimes, I look up and I search for answers in the stars."

Seulgi closed the distance and she wrapped her arms around Irene's waist. She placed her chin on Irene's right shoulder and stared up at the night sky.

"And what kind of questions do you ask them?"

Irene took a deep breath.

“That’s between me and the stars.” Irene smiled.

“Can I ask a question then?”

Irene nodded.

“I know we shouldn’t..” Seulgi whispered. “But why does this feel so right?”

“Are you asking me or the stars?” Irene whispered back.

Seulgi smiled. “Why, do you have an answer?”

Irene shook her head.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” Seulgi asked.

“Later.”

They stood like that for several more minutes.

“We have practice tomorrow,” Irene said. “It’s late. Let’s go sleep.”

“Okay.”

“Good night.” Irene made a move go back to her room but Seulgi grabbed her hand and pulled her close. They kissed under the warm glow of the moonlight. Then Seulgi let go. 

“Good night.” Seulgi said as she walked away.

---

After dance practice, the girls had lunch at their favorite restaurant. Afterwards, they decided to leave in separate cars because Yeri opted to go home for the weekend and Irene wanted to shop for new bedsheets. Yeri stayed behind because her parents sent someone to pick her up, leaving Joy, Wendy, and Seulgi on one car while Irene took the other. Seulgi kept shooting furtive looks towards Irene’s direction just before they got inside the car and Wendy had just about enough.

“Unnie,” She called their leader. “Can Seulgi and I come with you? We need some stuff too.”

“Sure.” She smiled.

Seulgi looked at Wendy quizzically. “Just shut up and thank me later.”

Just when they were about to get inside the car, Wendy suddenly smacked her head.

“Oh, I forgot!” Wendy frowned. “I promised Joy I’d help her with—with uh..”

Irene and Seulgi gaped at her.

“With uhh..” Wendy continued as she backed away slowly.

“With.. uhh..” She was grasping at the air for something.

Irene’s expression was a mixture of amusement and confusion. Seulgi was just staring at Wendy with open.

“With…” Wendy was almost at the other car. “Uh..”

Then she turned around. “Yes, Joy? Yup. I’m coming. See you guys back at the dorm.”

Then she slammed the door shut.

So 15 minutes later, Irene and Seulgi walked side by side as they checked out rows upon rows of bed sheets, duvet covers, pillow cases, and blankets.

“How about this one?” Seulgi held up a thick blanket. ”It’s flannel.”

“No,” Irene shook her head. “That’s too hard to wash.”

Seulgi put it down and picked up another. “How about this? It’s supposed to have a higher thread count, whatever that means.”

“A higher thread count means the fabric is smoother and stronger.” Irene patiently explained.

“Wow, is there anything you don’t know, unnie?” Seulgi stared in amazement.

Irene just smiled. “How about this one? I like the color.”

“Let me see.” Seulgi walked over and ran her fingers across the fabric. “It’s too thin.”

“Ooh, I like this one!” Seulgi pulled Irene into another aisle. “Silk!”

“Silk?” Irene looked at her questioningly. “No.”

“Come on, just come feel how smooth it is.” Seulgi rubbed her face on the silk sheets.

“It’s hard to wash!” Irene moved on. “I think I’ll just go with cotton.”

“No, that’s too boring!” Seulgi whined. “We need something soft and warm.”

“We?” Irene raised her eyebrows.

“What, am I not allowed on your bed, anymore?” Seulgi pouted. 

“Fine, you big baby.” Irene rolled her eyes. “You better choose something soft.”

They decided on bamboo sheets (“I think it’s what pandas would choose!” Seulgi said excitedly as Irene shook her head.) in light shades of purple. The two bought snacks and drinks for the other members and soon they were back in the car and on the way home.

“What you got there?” Joy craned her neck as she peeped at the bags Seulgi was holding. She paused the movie she was watching while Wendy slept peacefully on her lap. 

“Bed sheets for unnie.” Seulgi smiled proudly while Irene went to the kitchen to fix the food and beverages. “I picked them out myself.”

“Oh?” Joy smiled mischievously. “Should I ask Wendy-unnie to sleep in my room in case you guys get too loud tonight?”

Seulgi picked up the bags to hurl it at Joy but they didn't want to wake Wendy, the older one settled on whisper-shouting while Joy just laughed silently.

“Better bring your A-game, unnie.” Joy winked.

Seulgi flicked Joy’s forehead and she let out a shrill “Yah!”, causing Wendy to jolt awake.

Seulgi and Joy pointed at each other accusingly as Wendy looked sleepily between the two of them.

"We watching a movie?" Irene settled on the couch after setting the food and drinks down.

All throughout the movie, Wendy and Joy kept giggling and speaking in hushed voices. Since Irene was sitting far away, Seulgi could only sulk because she wanted to giggle with her and whisper things to her too. Also, Seulgi had a faint suspicion that the two younger ones were talking about them.

Dinner was more of the same. Joy and Wendy shooting knowing looks at each other while Seulgi grumbled silently in front of them.

"Don't mind them." Irene patiently whipered. 

"I feel like they're conniving against us." Seulgi huffed.

"Let them."