you can skip this

BONUS CHAPTER TWO - INTERLUDE

Seulgi quickened her steps as soon as she passed through the restaurant's door, facing a street much busier than the time she passed by with Wendy. People were coming and going – looking for a place to eat. It was lunchtime after all. Luckily for the bodyguard, she knew where Park Sooyoung was going. Even if she didn't know, the above-average height and the beautiful cherry red hair were like a beacon showing the way among the crowd.

She really thought that. Being cheesy and all, she didn't care. Kang Seulgi loved Sooyoung's height, even though their size difference was not that much. But being tall meant bigger legs, which meant longer strides and Seulgi needed to put in more effort and speed to sew the path through the pedestrians to reach the woman she was going after.

“Park Sooyoung,” she called unsuccessfully. The woman was so close.

Seulgi didn't want to do that; she didn't want to touch her without permission. She didn't want to be invasive or to be rude, and most of all she didn't want to scare Sooyoung with an unexpected hand lightly holding her arm in the middle of the street. But she did it as gently as possible, repeating “Park Sooyoung, wait!”

Sooyoung stopped and turned her body, ready to scream at whomever the ert was putting his hands on her. The look of surprise soon turned into recognition when she saw that Seulgi was the one holding her arm. Seulgi tried to end contact as soon as she was successful in being noticed, the two were now standing face-to-face in the same place, making people move out of the way.

"Let me give you a ride to your work," Seulgi offered with a toothless smile.

Sooyoung narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "I'm not getting in her car."

"Technically, it's the company car," Seulgi insisted, now showing a playful smile.

That smile was capable of disarming any argument Park Sooyoung could have said. She had seen that smile many times in photos over the years, already enchanted through a screen. Seeing it in person was deadly. "Fine!" she said rolling her eyes, soon following Seulgi to where the car was parked.

"I thought you were supposed to stick next to Seungwan," the woman said intrigued as she stopped next to the passenger door.

She watched Seulgi reach over and open the door for her, "I said you're my priority," motioning for Sooyoung to enter.

That made Sooyoung blush, making the woman get into the car without saying anything in return. She would never fail to answer back, Park Sooyoung always liked compliments or anything that made her feel good. She should respond something like, “No one is above me,” with a teasing smile.

Sooyoung craved selfish emotions, the only exception was Seulgi.

With Seulgi, that kind of comment made her feel vulnerable. Not in a bad way! Sooyoung knew and felt that everything that came from Kang Seulgi was different. It's always been different online and it's gotten more intense since they saw each other in person for the first time.

“I'm serious,” Sooyoung waited for Seulgi to buckle up and start the car. “You said you can’t leave her alone.”

“You shouldn’t be alone either,” the woman replied, focused on the cars in front of her. “Plus, she has Joohyun-ssi now. If she can handle you, she can handle any threat.”

Seulgi's speech was supposed to be a joke, something harmless. Sooyoung didn't mind how people saw her as a difficult person to deal with – she actually preferred it that way. What bothered her was how Seulgi always avoided that question. Seulgi always said that she worked nonstop, always at her boss's side. She never told why, keeping it as the most precious secret.

Son Seungwan was a famous person, she understood the need to walk with security guards. Sooyoung just didn't understand why Seulgi didn't talk about it – even before they found out that Seulgi's boss was Sooyoung's ex-friend.

Kang Seulgi was not a perfect person who did not gossip about things that happened on a daily basis during competitions and training sessions. Sooyoung loved it. She grew to love it even more when Seulgi started working for a famous person and spilled the beans about what she saw behind the scenes. Sometimes, she would even say things related to her boss.

Except that.

The reason.

“You never told me why you cried… about your boss,” Sooyoung said feigning indifference, elbow resting on the door, head lolling to the side, and gaze directed at the streets of Seoul.

“I can't tell, you know that.”

Same answer as always.

Sooyoung rolled her eyes. She didn't know why she insisted on the subject. Maybe because she wanted another reason to hate Seungwan, how dare she make Seulgi cry? Even if it was indirectly, no one would make Park Sooyoung's girlfriend – not back then – cry.

“If you asked her, she would tell you.”

A loud and genuine laugh came out of Sooyoung's mouth. Seulgi loved that laugh from the fi