After their impromptu date that fateful night, Irene and Seulgi never had a moment like that again. In fact, they rarely got together since everyone was so busy with their own schedules.

 

Seulgi rarely went home to the dorm and Irene decided to stay in her hometown for a couple of days. When Irene finally came back, she was startled when she saw Seulgi sleeping soundly on the couch.

 

It seemed like they were the only ones at the dorm currently since Wendy was busy with her schedule and the lack of bickering and loud noises indicated that the maknaes were nowhere to be found. Unsure of what to do, Irene decided to tiptoe around the living room as not to disturb Seulgi. However, as soon as Irene passed the sleeping girl, a hand stopped her in her tracks, causing the small girl to shriek in surprise.

 

“YAH! You scared me, I thought you were sleeping!” Irene glared at Seulgi. The latter just grinned cheekily.

 

“I was, but I’m a light sleeper now.”

“You are? Why?”

 

Seulgi shrugged. “There’s no one around to wake me up anymore now that I’m living alone.”

 

“Right.” Irene nodded. “Well, I’m off to bed now.”

 

“Unnie..” Seulgi started, unsure of what to say.

 

“Yeah?”

 

Then Seulgi stared at Irene’s tired but expectant eyes. “Nevermind.”

 

Irene sighed. “All right, good night, Seulgi.”

 

“But it’s the middle of the day.” Seulgi scratched her chin.

 

“I don’t care. Good night.”

“Good night.”

 

 

 

---

 

 

After Wendy’s promotion, the group decided to get together and celebrate. Just like old times, Irene and Wendy were the ones in charge of cooking. Yeri and Seulgi spent most of the night bickering, playing around, and bothering Joy, who was busy preparing for her own solo stint and currently away on a schedule.

 

The status of Irene and Seulgi’s relationship was clear: they were officially over. Still, they remained good friends and are comfortable enough with each other that the other members are now allowed to talk smack about their relationship out in the open.

 

“Unnie—” Yeri paused to retaliate because Seulgi was throwing the pillow violently towards her direction. “Joohyun-unnie, did you know that Seulgi-unnie’s already flirting with other idols?”

 

Seulgi vehemently shook her head in protest but Irene just laughed. “Yes, I saw on Instagram.”

 

“I wasn’t flirting! I was just complimenting my friends.” Seulgi pouted. “And it’s none of your business, you brat.”

 

Yeri just stuck her tongue out at the older girl. Seulgi continued to argue but Irene finally shushed them both. “Yah. It doesn’t matter. We should focus on Seungwan’s successful promotion.”

 

“So you’re not jealous?” Wendy raised her eyebrows. “Not even a little bit?”

 

Irene just smiled. “No, we’re all good. Right, Seulgi-yah?”

 

“Right, unnie.” Seulgi smiled back. “But seriously, I’m not flirting with anyone. Now, enough about this already.” She turned to Wendy. “Congratulations, my best friend! I love you!”

 

“I love you too, Seulgi.” Wendy grinned.

 

“What about Joohyun-unnie, do you still love her?” Yeri piped up.

 

A second later, two sets of pillows came flying to her face.

 

 

---

 

 

 

“You sure you’re really okay?” It was yet another one of Wendy and Irene’s tea time dates. They had some time to kill after they visited Joy’s last day of promotion for Hello so the girls headed to their favorite café.

 

“I’m sure.” Irene shrugged. “I’ve had some time to reflect—and it feels like it’s all I ever do, you know—and now, I’m fine with us being like this.”

 

“Which is what exactly?”

“Best friends. Like before.”

 

Wendy just regarded the other girl through her steaming cup of tea. “Are you really?”

 

“What?” Irene matched her stare.

 

“Just friends.” Wendy raised her eyebrow.

 

“Yes.” Irene said simply.

 

“Unnie..”

 

The two girls held a staring match until Wendy finally caved in. “Ugh. Fine. You win. Don’t tell me. I can’t make you cave.”

 

Irene just laughed. “We’re fine.”

 

 

 

---

 

 

“I’m fine, Seulgi.” Irene smiled. “You don’t have to check up on me every time, you know.”

 

“This isn’t me checking up on you.” Seulgi answered. “I was just hungry.”

 

“And you can’t order for yourself, huh?” Irene raised her brows as she regarded the trays of food lined up on Seulgi’s dining table.

 

“Like I said,” Seulgi said innocently. “I ordered one too many. I keep forgetting I should just order for one, from now on.”

 

“You are such a bad liar.” Irene rolled her eyes. “But this is tteokbokki, so I can’t really refuse.”

 

“I know.” Seulgi stuck her tongue out.

 

“I knew it!” Irene pushed Seulgi and the latter came stumbling back. “Ugh, you tricked me!”

 

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to spend time with you.” Seulgi broke out laughing because Irene looked so cute even when she was fuming.

 

“I’m never eating tteokbokki again.” Irene declared.

 

“Are you sure?” Seulgi said sarcastically as she dangled the juicy piece of rice cake in front of Irene.

 

Irene’s nose scrunched and eventually, she caved in. “All right, after this last plate, I’m definitely not eating tteokbokki again.”

 

Seulgi just stared lovingly as the smaller girl giddily scooped a generous serving on to her plate.

 

 

---

 

 

 

“You know, I just don’t understand why they just can’t be together.” Joy huffed as she watched Irene and Seulgi goofing around during practice. “It’s so frustrating to watch.”

 

“I get it..” Wendy shrugged. “I mean, it’s sad, but I get it.”

 

“Get what?” Yeri chimed in. “Sooyoung-unnie is right, sometimes, it physically pains me that they look so adorable and so right together, but they don’t want to be together.”

 

“Have you talked to them?” Joy and Yeri closed in on their unnie. “Maybe you can convince them to—”

 

“Yah.” Wendy implored. “It’s not our place. Those two dorks are old enough to make decision on their own.”

 

“Are you sure?” Yeri pointed at the corner where Irene was half-screaming, half-laughing because she was carrying Seulgi on her back. The three just watched Seulgi cheering as she clutched Irene tighter.

 

“One more lap!”

“You’re choking me, stupid!”

 

“I want what they have.” Joy whined.

 

“Me too.” Wendy nodded.

 

“Me three.” Yeri sighed.

 

Joy looked at the maknae and grinned mischievously. “Yerim-ah..”

 

“What?”

“Did you know that Ariana Grande is already married?”

 

“ YOU.” Yeri cursed loudly.

 

“Language!” Irene called from across the room.

 

The rest of them just laughed.

 

 

---

 

 

Finally, after what feels like forever, the time came for the announcement of Red Velvet’s comeback. The girls have been waiting for this for the longest time and when the company confirmed it, it was an emotional day for everyone.

 

Red Velvet has been through a lot of hardships and now they can’t wait to show everyone just how much they all have grown and improved. The girls spent the afternoon relishing what felt like the end of their military service. Everyone was at the dorm, a lot of food and beverages were on the dining table, and their mini celebration raged on all day.

 

Everyone was so full from the food and the drinks that they decided to forgo dinner. Once the high from the good news finally started to wear off, the girls decided to just hang around in the living room together.

 

“Hey, Seulgi.” Irene softly tapped Seulgi’s shoulder. “Let’s go for a walk.”

 

“Just the two of us?” Seulgi asked. Irene nodded.

 

“Now?”

“Yes, let’s go to Han River.”

 

Seulgi wordlessly agreed. The other members also didn’t prod much, choosing to let their leader do what she wished since she rarely requested anything these days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“So..” Seulgi finally said when they arrived. “Did you want to talk about something?”

 

“No, no,” Irene shook her head slowly. “I just wanted to go here. I guess knowing that we’re officially making a comeback has made me sentimental.”

 

“Okay.” Seulgi smiled. “Remember when we used to hang out here and talk?”

 

“Yeah.” Irene laughed. “Look how far we’ve come.”

 

They spent several more minutes laughing and reminiscing the hardships they went through in the past.

 

“Who would’ve thought we’d end up here?” Seulgi sighed. “A lot has happened since, unnie. I’m glad you’re still by my side.”

 

“Silly, I’ll always be by your side.” Irene answered.

 

Seulgi stared at Irene for a long time before she took a deep breath. "Hey. I have something to say."

 

"What is it?"

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

 

“For what?” Irene raised her eyebrows.

“For giving up on us.” Seulgi smiled sadly.

 

Irene sighed. “Well, I believe that what you did was for the best, Seulgi. But it still hurt. It still does.”

 

“And I’m hurting too.” Seulgi answered. “I was happy with you—I still am. If only—”

 

“Yeah.” Irene placed her hand on top of Seulgi’s. “It’s okay.”

 

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Seulgi said softly.

 

“I know.” Irene smiled. “You know, we’ve come a long way.. but you went the other way. You don’t have to be sorry for choosing yourself.”

 

“Please understand that I did it for us.” Seulgi ran her free hand through her hair. “You know how harsh the world can be. You heard all the awful things they said to us. You saw how others treat people like us on a daily basis.”

 

“Yes, I know. Especially for people like us..” Irene looked up at the sky. “So, you saw no future for us? That’s why you ended things?”

 

“I just didn’t want to set us up for more heartache.” Seulgi answered.

 

“I understand.” Irene looked at Seulgi. “And it’s okay, Seulgi-yah. I won’t be mad at you. I don’t blame you. You never held it against me when I repeatedly broke your heart in the past. So I won’t hold it against you if you’re not willing to fight for us.”

 

“Joohyun,” Seulgi stared back. “You know that I still love you.. but—”

 

Irene shook her head. “Just telling me you love me is enough. You don’t have to explain. I completely understand. You know I love you too. And that’s enough. We don’t have to take this any further. We’ll be all right.”

 

Seulgi’s eyes welled up with tears. “I’m sorry. I wish it didn’t have to be like this.”

 

“You don’t have to be sorry, my love.” Irene caressed Seulgi’s cheek to wipe away the tears that fell. “I get it now. I didn’t know what I was thinking before, hoping that we could make this work. There’s too much in the way. And Red Velvet comes first.”

 

“So where do we go from here?” Seulgi asked.

 

Irene shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess this time, we need to go back to what we were a year ago. Before everything that happened in our debut.”

 

“By the way, it’s almost our anniversary..”

“Yes, I know. I’ve been counting the days.”

 

“I don’t know if I can forget everything that happened.” Seulgi sighed.

 

“You don’t have to forget everything..” Irene answered. “I don’t know if I can go back to what we were before either, but as long as we still have each other, we’ll be okay.”

 

They shared several moments of silence.

 

“For what it’s worth, we could’ve been together for life.”

“Yes, we would’ve been together forever.”

 

They both sighed again, tears falling silently and neither made no effort to hide it anymore.

 

“This is as far as we’ll get.” Irene finally said.

 

“I understand.” Seulgi nodded. “There’s no moving forward for us anymore.”

 

“Maybe we’d be together in another lifetime.” Seulgi wrapped her arms around Irene.

 

“Maybe.”

 

Irene leaned her head against Seulgi’s shoulder. “For now, I’ll love you from here.”

 

Silence enveloped the both of them once more as they held each other while admiring the tranquil waters of Han River.