Krystal Jung Soojung sighs in contentment as she buries her head in her beloved fluffy meat-shaped plushy.

Today marks the seventh day of summer holiday, meaning it has been exactly one week since her killer teacher dismissed the students from her hellish class, exactly one week since she experienced joy and freedom (because let’s face it, school is so B.O.R.I.N.G it feels like a prison), and exactly one week since she first met Sulli Choi Jinri.

The younger Jung closes her eyes slowly, imagining Jinri’s flawless face, y curves, smooth and silky long hair, bright smile…

Ah, Jinri’s smile. Soojung’s most favorite features of her mock girlfriend, one that never fails to brighten her mood no matter how dark of how bleak it is, one that never fails to bring smiles into the Jung’s face as well.

The way her beautiful eyes disappear into crescents, the way her perfect set of pearly white teeth shines, the way her luscious red lips curve upwards in a grin that doesn’t look like it’s going to split her face apart, yet still looks wide enough that it makes the tall girl seems like a ten years old trapped in an eighteen years old body…

Wait, Soojung suddenly thinks, why is it suddenly so hot in here?

She sits upright almost immediately and faces the mirror on her wall, and the sight catches her off guard so badly she tumbles down the bed, face first.

Because there, in the mirror, she sees a very disheveled looking girl with her hair sticking out everywhere possible, her pajamas slightly ed, a streak of drools visible on the right side of her lips, and more importantly…

Her bright red face that looks as though she has a fever, a very bad fever, even though the only reason why it’s like that is because of Jinri.

Jinri…

Jinri…

Jinri.

“Wow…” she breathes out in awe, “I look like a complete mess…”

*knock knock*

Two soft knocks on her door startles the brunette as she struggles to clean herself, at least to make her look presentable enough. No matter what, she’s still the sister of Jessica Jung, she ought to not ridicule herself.

“Who’s there?” she calls out, her hand busying themselves with her bed hairs.

“A thief. Like, seriously? You know who I am. I heard something fell, was that you? Are you okay?” Jessica’s voice seeps through the wooden door and Soojung face palms. Did she really fell that hard? If so, it should have hurt, but it doesn’t really. Maybe her sister just have a super hearing sense.

“I’m okay!” the younger answers a bit loudly, struggling to button up her pajama again, “wait a moment!”

She runs to the door and opens it lightly, revealing her model sister clad in a white blouse, black cardigan, and a skirt, all the while staring at her like she’s a hobo.

“What?” Soojung can’t help but ask suspiciously, “why are you looking at me like that? It’s unnerving.”

Jessica doesn’t say anything, though. Instead, she put her index finger on her cheek, just at the corner of her right lips, before tracing it down, all the while wearing a blank, expressionless look on her face (although the younger sister manages to catch the sight of her sister’s lips twitching a bit as she does that).

The brunette gets the hint immediately and quickly wipes her drools with her pajama’s sleeve, “Gee, thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she snorts, “I can’t believe people always call me a lazy bum when my sister wakes up at half past eleven.”

“Hey, it’s Sunday! I know you’re usually not up that early either, right?! Admit it!” Soojung protests, annoyed at the thought of being called lazy by her sister, the laziest person in the world according to her (and her parents, and Victoria, and Amber, and Luna, and SUMMER CHOI. Basically everyone she knows).

“What the ever,” Jessica shrugs, “hey, I just remember something. Victoria called this morning asking if you’re awake yet. She said you must call her when you’re up and ready to go. I don’t know the details, but it sounds like Amber and Luna are there as well, judging from the background noises.”

“Vic-umma?” the younger Jung’s ears perk up at the mention of her friends, “eh, what are they up to this time? Seriously… can’t this poor soul catch a break here?”

“Well, tough luck kid, but you really should get going,” the older girl chuckles as she pats the taller girl on the head. Weird, what is she—

“Breakfast is on the table. Oh, I must go now! I won’t be home until late, so you don’t have to wait for me, Krys,” Jessica smiles at her sister, “have fun today and see you tomorrow!”

“O-Oh, well… have fun and see you too, Jessica-unnie!” Soojung answers belatedly, stunned at her sister’s unusual behavior. Well yes, Jessica Jung Sooyeon suddenly being sweet and nice to her younger sister is certainly an out-of-ordinary occurrence, almost as rare as UFO sightings.

… Okay, maybe not that rare, but it’s still very unusual.

“The heck did she eat this morning?” the brunette wonders in confusion, but quickly decides not to bother with it. As she walks to the bathroom, her nose catches a certain sweet smell.

This smell, could it be…!

The girl half-run to the dining room, where her eyes land on the only plate sitting on the table.

On top of it sits a pair of pancakes, beside it a piece of paper. Soojung swallows down the urge to devour the breakfast right that instant and instead reads the content of the note.

To: Soojung :D

Hey, this is Summer Choi :) Oops, don’t think about weird things of my name suddenly being here! I was just picking your sister to go to our workplace, but found out that she hadn’t eaten yet because you hadn’t woke up. I figured I should make breakfast for her and you as well :D BTW your friend called Sica and it seems like you’re going out with your friends? Well have fun then baby Jung, eat these pancakes first tho! Breakfast is always important ;)

From: You-know-who B-)

…

…

…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH~

So that’s why Jessica is suddenly up so early on a freaking Sunday morning and prepares her breakfast when she can’t even cook to save her life~

Urgh, but seriously, why isn’t her sister dating Summer Choi already?!

Like, isn’t Summer Choi the perfect girlfriend material?!

Before the brunette can rant more about her ultimate OTP and eat her perfect-looking breakfast, a mini creature that looks like her with white robes, a pair of white wings, and a glowing halo suddenly appears.

‘No, wait, Soojung, that’s not your main objective right now! You should totally take a goddamn shower and get ready for whatever it is those three are scheming right now! You have no time for this!’

But, the breakfast!

‘Duuuuude, breakfast can wait! You’re late! Can’t you feel Vic-umma’s worries from miles away stabbing you in the back already?!’

But, but, but…

‘…’

…

‘…’

…

‘Argh, okay! But be quick, we must not make Vic-umma worry!’

YAAAAY! YOU’RE THE BEST, MINI-ME!

The angel sighs before disappearing into oblivion as Soojung wolves down on her sweet, delicious pancakes.

Sulli Choi Jinri blinks.

Blinks.

Blinks.

And blinks again.

Because there, at the corner of the café, are her three friends who look as suspicious as humans can possibly be.

Like Amber, who weirdly doesn’t sit at her and Soojung’s usual table (and seems to do that on purpose?), and is wearing a very suspicious looking black trench coat, black leather pants, black beanie, black sunglasses, and a black mask. On a blazingly hot summer midday, no less.

Or Luna, who looks weirdly suspicious… as usual (need I remind you that she’s already weird to begin with that Amber’s weirdness is nowhere near her level?), and is wearing neon pink jacket with maroon t-shirt underneath, denim short tanks, black yet transparent stockings, and is equipping herself with a leotard-framed sunglasses.

Or Victoria, who is the most normal looking of the trio (and the most normal in literal sense of them all), and yet is that swirly glasses, fake big nose, fake moustache, and excessive blush-on she’s wearing?

What in the world is going on?

“Jinri!” her co-worker, Sunny, calls out, “what are you doing, staring at the corner—wait, who are those suspicious looking group of people?”

Jinri opens to answer, but quickly closes them back before opting for a shrug. Why does she not answer truthfully? Well… because Luna glares at her (or at least it seems so, her eyes are obscured by the sunglasses, remember?) as if telling her to shut up and keep the whole thing a secret from the passersby.

The shorter girl narrows her eyes at her friend, who looks away while humming a happy tune innocently. “They still look shady,” Sunny sighs, “Hey, Jinri, take their orders. I’m too afraid to get close to them…”

“I don’t think they’re that suspicious, Soonkyu-unnie.”

“Ugh, don’t call me by that name… and I still think they’re up to no good. My gut feeling is never wrong.”

“Well… if you say so. Then, I’ll be taking my notes, and please excuse me…” the Choi giggles awkwardly, strutting to the trio’s seat while ignoring Sunny’s scrutinizing stares.

“Excuse me, what would the three of you like to order?” the tall girl begins, holding both her notes and her pen up. All three girls immediately looks up at her.

“…. *ahem* I’d like a glass of Americano… oh wait, make that three, thank you,” ‘Amber’ speaks up in a gruff, unusually deep voice. Jinri almost cackles at the sound of it, but tries her best to hold it in.

“Alright, please wait for a bit,” she politely says, “but before that, care to explain what you three are doing here, Amber?”

Luna chokes on practically nothing while Victoria is mumbling incoherent sentences that sounds a bit like ‘I told you it won’t work’. Amber, on the other hand, still maintains her composed expression, even though her feet have begun fidgeting madly under the table.

“… *ahem* you must have mistaken the three of us for your friend. We’re just your normal everyday customers, here for our daily dose of coffees,” she answers intelligently.

“Hmm…” Jinri taps her chin with her index finger, “well, alright. But you see, my boss has been feeling suspicious of you three. I don’t want to do this as you three are our customers, but may I see your ID?”

(Meanwhile, Mr. Boss is having the vacation of his life in Busan.)

Amber starts sweating profusely in fear, “u-uh, w-well… We, we kinda… left ours at home?”

“Oh, too bad then, I’m afraid you must leave. It seems like you’re causing discomfort to other customers as well.”

(There’s actually no other customers… however, Tzuyu and Sana, two of the café’s waitresses, can be seen sitting on one of the table while looking at the suspicious three, apparently taking a break.)

“… Aargh, alright! Why are you doing this to us, Sulli?” Amber wails, hands up in desperation before she removes her sunglasses. The other two girls immediately follow suit.

“I told you this won’t work, Amber…” Victoria weakly murmurs.

“Ssul, you must have a strong detective instincts!” Luna chirps, “How about you be our Sherlock and I be your Watson?”

“Hey!” the tomboyish one in the group interjects suddenly, “you can’t be the Watson! I thought we’d all be the Baker Street Boys?!”

“Then who’d play Watson?!”

“Isn’t it obvious?” the Chinese girl steps in, “it should be Krystal, right?”

“Oh, right,” the two girls deadpans.

“W-What are you three even talking about…?” Jinri staggers, apparently failing to understand her three friends. She has to give it to them, they’re all so lost in their own crazy world.

And she has to applaud Soojung, because to actually keep up with the trio on a daily basis… that must have required strong patience and willpower. Or equal amounts of craziness, but Jinri doesn’t want to consider that an option.

“By the way, Sulli-ah…” Victoria whispers, “Can you please keep this a secret from Krystal?”

To this, the Choi raises an eyebrow, “and why is that? Speaking of which, where’s Jungie?”

Amber turns back towards the café’s door carefully, seemingly checking on something before turning back to her confused friend, “Actually, we’re planning on stalking Krystal.”

“What?!” Jinri jumps back in surprise. She really cannot anymore with these three anymore, “are you all nuts?! Why would the three of you stalks her?”

“SSSSHHHH! Not so loud, Sulli-ah!” Luna covers the taller girl’s mouth with her palm, “well we just thought it would be fun to stalk her since she’s so oblivious to her surroundings sometimes. We’re bored, you know?”

“…”

“Luna, you’re not making this any better,” Amber sighs, “how about this? Why don’t you protect Krys from our stalking?”

“What? How am I supposed to do that?”

“Well, you can simply accompany her for the whole day today!” the tomboy grins, “If you’re always beside her for the whole day, we won’t be able to stalk her peacefully since you know what we’re scheming at, right?”

Jinri ponders about it for a while, “I don’t know… I sound like cheating on her by hiding this kind of thing from her…”

“Either that,” Luna chimes in, “or you can stalk her with us!”

“No thank you,” the tall girl answers without missing a beat (that one doesn’t need pondering alright). Luna huffs and slumps on her chair.

After thinking for some more time, Jinri finally nods, “it feels weird having to protect her from you guys when there’s barely any need to.”

“Trust us, it’s for the greater good,” Amber smirks, “have fun with her today!”

“Wait, can I ask you a question first?” the black haired girl suddenly says, “What’s stopping me from telling her that her three best friends are stalking her?”

The trio immediately stiffens… and starts giving Jinri their best puppies’ eyes.

A sigh escapes the Choi’s mouth, “for this fanfiction’s sake, I won’t tell her anything.”

Spontaneously, all three girls hug the poor girl, “THANK YOU SO MUCH, SULLI-YAAAAA!!!”

“Okay, okay, get off me please…” Jinri smiles, “so, where’s she?”

“She should be here soon, though…” Amber looks back towards the door once again and shrieks, “There she is! Spy mode: ON!”

Amber quickly but lightly shoves Jinri to prevent them from being seen with her by the supposedly stalked girl. The tall girl gets on her actions quickly and goes to the kitchen to meets Sunny, who’s talking with her friend, Hyomin.

“Sunny-unnie, can I go home early?”

“What?” the redhead furrows her eyebrows, “when? Right now? Why? Did those three suspicious customers do something to you?!”

“Err… no. My roommate texted me and said that she’s sick,” the girl lies smoothly. She doesn’t like to lie to her friends, especially Sunny-unnie, and especially if the object of her lies is Suzy, because she feels like she’s being untrue to her name. But hey, this is for Soojung’s sake.

The shorter girl scans her co-worker’s face for any sign of lies (but Jinri is really skilled in this kind of things so she can fool anyone without fail) before sighing, “Fine, you may go. But don’t expect boss to pay you in full.”

“Sure, thank you very much, Sunny-unnie!” Jinri hugs her friend tightly before going straight to her locker.

Hyomin stares at the retreating figure of the black-haired girl before turning to face her friend, “are you sure it’s okay? I mean, I don’t think she’s telling the truth…”

The redhead sighs, “I don’t think she’s being honest either, but she’s always been working so hard, I don’t think I can deny her this one. I’ll try to talk to uncle later,” she then smiles at her girl-friend, “so, where was I? Ah, right. That Jiyeon should have confessed to—”

“You really should take a break for at least a whole day, Ssul,” Soojung scolds her fake girlfriend, “I mean, seriously? Of all things, you are working on freaking Sunday?!”

“I’m sorry, Jungie… I’m taking a break right now, right? Please don’t get mad at me anymore…”

Soojung pouts, “That’s not what I mean. Do you really need money that badly? Working so many part time jobs like this, it’s not healthy for you, Ssul…”

The tall girl sighs, “You’re right… Once again, I’m truly sorry…”

The Jung stares at the girl besides her, the girl that is hers yet not hers at the same time. She stares at Jinri’s eye bags that turns blacker each time she sees them. She stares at Jinri’s shoulders that seem to sag lower with tiredness. She stares at Jinri’s lips that no longer tugs into even the slightest smile, as the owner has no strength left in her body to do such a simple action.

And yet how dare she claims to be perfectly fine and healthy?!

“Sulli Choi Jinri, look at me,” the slightly younger girl says softly. The moment the Choi’s head turns to her, she holds both cheeks with her hands, “I didn’t mean to get angry at you, okay? I’m just worried, you know. Seeing you this tired and thin… I’m afraid your body can’t take it anymore. But you’re not in any ways wrong, you know. You don’t have to apologize at all… So stop looking at me with such a sad expression. I don’t like seeing you this sad… Sorry, I rambled way too much.”

The brunette slowly lets go of her summer lover, “So, we need to do something about you. Care to let me handle everything?”

Jinri stares at her, confused. “Something?”

Soojung grins, “We’ll have a girl’s day out, just for the two of us. Let’s go!”

Soojung has a lot of friends and relations, courtesy of her part-time modelling hobby and being the sister of one of South Korea’s most wanted model. Apparently, not only are these acquaintances of her friendly, they’re also skilled in some areas of expertise.

Though normally she doesn’t want to mingle with them often out of shyness and the need to be as independent as possible, the brunette decides that today, she’ll use all her connections to her utmost advantages, for the sake of this tall girl sitting on her passenger’s seat looking at the driver (which is Soojung, of course. Yoongi was fired after the whole ordeal last night) with her cute, confused expression.

“Where are we going to, Jungie?” the jet black haired girl asks, sounding like a lost puppy. Damn, the slightly younger girl thinks, don’t do that, I need to focus on the road!

“To some friends of mine,” she decides to answer as simply as she could. She doesn’t think she can trust at times like this.

“Are your friends… nice?”

“Of course they are,” Soojung chuckles, “they’re my friends. I’m rather selective when it comes to friendship, just so you know.”

“Well…” Jinri smiles in amusement, “I can see that with Victoria-ssi and Amber, but Luna is rather unique, hm?”

“Urgh, don’t remind me of her,” the Jung shudders, “I didn’t pick her as my friend, she basically latches herself onto me.”

The small, brief laugh that the tall girl emits after that sounds so melodious in Soojung’s ears, she feels the need to do anything just to hear it again.

“But do you regret it?” Jinri asks after her laugh subsides, “being friends with Luna, I mean.”

“Hmm… I wonder… maybe? Maybe not?”

“Hey, don’t be like that. I think she is actually a sweet person!” the Choi smiles.

A groan. “Well, if she could learn to not prank me all the time then maybe I’ll reconsider.”

Jinri chuckles again, “true.”

Silence overtakes the atmosphere again, but to the both of them it feels very comfortable. It’s as if they have been doing this for years, being all friendly with each other, when in fact it has only been a week since they first meet.

Soojung takes the time to wonder. What would it feels like if she had never met Jinri? What would it be like if Amber never introduced her to this tall, hardworking girl next to her? Would it make any difference to her daily lives than what she has been feeling now? Or would things stay the same way as it had always been?

Jinri must have been thinking about the same thing, because then she asks, “What about me?”

The Jung looks to her left, “what about you?”

“Do you,” a pause.

“Do you think you made the right choice… by being friends with me?”

“Here we are!” Soojung exclaims as she parks her car in front of a certain modern-looking building. It looks so unlike her, in a sense that since the Jung usually has a rather antique taste that seems like something out of 70’s blockbusters movie, something this modern isn’t usually associated with her. What with the way it exudes a very city-like impression and the way it emphasizes its transparency by the amount of tall windows it has.

However, the brunette seems like she comes here often, because as soon as the two girls enter the building, all heads turn towards them and they greet the Jung with a bow, “Welcome, Krystal-ssi. How may we help you?”

“Hello, everyone. Is Seulgi here?” Soojung asks politely, however it appears that she’s rather uncomfortable with the amount of stares she’s getting.

“Seulgi’s upstairs calling her fiancée in the locker room. Do you want us to fetch her or—”

“Oh no, there’s no need to, I’ll just meet her by myself with my friend over here,” she answers while hugging Jinri’s arm towards her, “if you’ll excuse us.”

The employees bow their head again, but the Jung pays no heed to it as she drags her summer lover up the stairs rather quickly.

“Whoa, slow down Jungie! You’re too fast!” Jinri pants desperately.

Soojung gives the taller girl an apologetic look, “Sorry, I just don’t like being around them for too long.”

“Why?” the Choi feels like asking, “they seems okay…”

“No, they’re fake pretenders who just want me and my sister to notice them.”

“Uh… pardon?”

The brunette tiredly massages her forehead, “they’re acting all nice because they’re trying to get me to like them more. That way they’ll gain more fame and can appeal more in the industry.”

Jinri gasps in disbelief, “for real? That’s… that’s just unbelievable.”

Soojung smiles weakly, “sadly that’s the dark truth. Fashion industries intertwines with the entertainment ones a lot, so if you’re like them and is lucky enough to be friends with famous entertainers, you’re secured for life.”

“I have no idea…” the Choi mumbles, processing everything in.

“It’s a secret well hidden, but I guess most people already knows,” the other girl shrugs. She suddenly stops in front of one of the doors that read ‘locker room’, “hey, we’re here already. Seulgi! Open up!”

The door creaks open soon after, revealing a girl clad in a black shirt and black trousers covered in black apron, basically all black. She’s shorter than the two of them, has auburn hair which is tied in a ponytail, and to Jinri, she looks like an adorable, huggable bear.

“Oh, hi Krys!” the girl greets happily before pulling the Jung into a hug, “I haven’t seen you for so long! Where’ve you been, sneaky girl?”

“You know me. I’m a very busy person,” Soojung retorts while flipping her hair sassily.

“Touché. Hm, who’s this girl beside you?”

“Oh, let me introduce you. This is my friend, Sulli Choi Jinri. Ssul, this is Kang Seulgi,” the brunette introduces.

“Hello, Sulli, nice to meet you. I’m Seulgi, the best hairdresser in this joint. Consider yourself lucky to be acquainted with the like of me and Krystal,” Seulgi sassily says with a confident smile, “please don’t think of me with ill will and let’s get along well from now on, okay?”

“Sure! Nice to meet you” Jinri smiles. However, the other girl rolls her eyes playfully.

“You know that kind of introduction is the reason why the other employees don’t like you.”

“Why do I have to bother about them and their shallow opinions?” the Kang grins cheekily, “enough about me. So, are you here just to greet me or do you have some other ulterior motives, Krys?”

“Phew, you do know me too well, it’s actually scaring me sometimes,” Soojung smiles, “So you see, Ssul here will do a total makeover,” Jinri stares at her in surprise but she ignores her, “so I was thinking of changing her hairstyle, since you’re the best hairdresser in this joint as you say.”

“Right… ‘The best makeover starts from the hair’. That’s what my master, the ‘Grand Master of Fashions’, taught me back when I was still a promising trainee. Come with me, youngling, as I shall change you from the gorgeous mortal that you are right now into something akin to a higher entity… Something, like a ‘goddess’.”

As the hairdresser walks away with a sass, Jinri turns towards her pretend girlfriend, “I have so many things to ask you, but one thing first: Has Seulgi always been this… dorky?”

“Did I forget to mention that she was almost admitted to a mental hospital the first day she worked here?” Soojung sighs.

“Oh my…”

“But don’t worry. When she said she’s the best hairdresser in this joint, she wasn’t kidding,” the Jung assures, “let’s go then!”

“I hope the results turn out okay…”

“Ssul, for the love of— stop playing with your hair while sulking like that.”

Jinri stops twirling her new deep red, shoulder-length, wavy hair and looks at me with a cute frown, “Doesn’t this look weird on me…?”

“God, you look gorgeous, Ssul! That hairstyle fits your lovely features very well!” Soojung reassures the sulking girl. However, as soon as she realizes what she did she almost screams but keeps her calm expression—OH MY GOD I JUST CALLED HER GORGEOUS AND LOVELY WHAT THE HELL SOOJUNG WHAT THE HEELLLLL—and almost does a double take before thinking of burying her whole body in shame.

“W-Well…” the tall girl herself looks as surprised as the brunette and looks away, her cheeks a light shade of pink, “t-thank you.”

“U-Uhm…” the Jung scrambles to diverts the topics and finally says, after some agonizing silence, “W-What do you think… of my friend?”

“S-Seulgi? She’s… nice, I guess,” Jinri answers, albeit still shocked by what just happened, “She’s—how do you call it—somewhat dorky, but I can see that her heart is in the right place.”

“Gotta agree with you on that one, except…” Soojung giggles, “She isn’t ‘somewhat dorky’, she’s crazy as hell! I think the only other person that matches her in the ‘craziness’ department is Luna, and even then they’re competing tightly for ‘The Craziest Girl on Earth’ award. That’s how insane Seulgi is.”

The Choi laughs harder than usual, her eyes disappearing into crescents, “that’s so funny!”

“You know what’s even funnier?” the brunette snickers, “her fiancée is pretty much one of the most normal girl I’ve ever meet. I can’t even believe my ears when Seulgi told me they’re engaged. I really thought she had lost it.”

“Ahahaha… w-wait, what did you say?”

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, I mean… Seulgi’s fiancée is a girl?”

Soojung’s mouth turns into an ‘o’ shape before she nods slowly, “yeah… they got engaged in London. Her fiancée’s name is Irene. Irene Bae.”

“Irene… Irene Bae…?”

“You know her?”

Jinri shakes her head, “I don’t know… it sounds familiar but I can’t remember… must be my head messing with me,” she beams the Jung another eyesmile, “but wow, I’m so happy for the two of them, to be engaged at such a young age!”

“I know, right?” Soojung smiles, but soon it fades as she thought of something totally unlike her which makes her blush without control,

I wish we could do the same—WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT SOOJUNG?!

“By the way, where are we going to this time?” the now-redhead asks, curiosity latching her questions.

“T-To a-another friend of mine… But she’s more like a sister to me, though,” the Jung answers, though she doesn’t understand why she feels the need to stammer.

I must be going crazy… I just hope I won’t end up like Luna or Seulgi…

Seeing one of her most precious friend after so long, Soojung can’t help but let out a squeal of happiness.

“Tiffany-unnie! Long time no see!”

A certain black haired woman turns her head to the girl who has just called her name and beams her trademark eyesmile, “Hey there, Baby Jung! How have you been?!” she asks, a bit loudly for comfort.

“I’ve been good,” the brunette smiles sweetly, “hey, let me introduce you to a friend of mine. Ssul, come here!” she calls out. Jinri struts awkwardly to her mock girlfriend’s side, a bit too shy around strangers it seems.

“Tiffany-unnie, this is Sulli, my new friend,” Soojung smiles, “and Ssul, this here is Tiffany Hwang, South Korea’s best make-up artist.”

“Hush, Krys! I’m not that good,” the Hwang lightly slaps her friend’s arm, “I’m sure there’re better make-up artists out there.”

The brunette only rolls her eyes playfully in response.

“Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Sulli!” the woman offers a handshake with the Choi, which the latter takes with an eyesmile on her face, “Oh look at that! You have a pretty eyesmile!”

“You do too, Tiffany-ssi,” Jinri says politely, but Tiffany shakes her head.

“Please don’t call me so formally. ‘Tiffany-ssi’ makes me seem old.”

“Well, you are old,” Soojung snickers before wincing in pain as Tiffany jokingly slaps her arm, “Oh my God, Tiffany-unnie! I was just joking,” she wails.

“Woes on you. So, how may I help the two of you?”

Soojung looks at her summer lover, trying to confirm that Jinri is okay with another round of makeover or not. When the redhead smiles in an actually-not-so-convincing-but-Soojung-doesn’t-care look, the Jung smiles at the waiting Hwang, “you see, Tiffany-unnie…”

“Why did you force me to get prettied up as well…” the slightly younger girl pouts while the tall passenger simply giggles as her mock girlfriend’s misery.

Apparently, while she was having her makeup done by Tiffany, Jinri suddenly feels the need to repay Soojung (in a good way, of course) and asks the makeup artist to do the Jung as well. The Hwang actually agrees with the idea and as soon as she was done with Jinri, she pulled the surprised girl for a makeup session.

“Why not? You look pretty, Jungie,” the Choi smiles brilliantly, “so unlike me…” she says immediately afterwards, sulking along with her own words.

“Are you kidding?” Soojung groans. Just how little can her pretend girlfriend’s self-confidence be? “You look absolutely stunning, Ssul. Now I’m scared your ‘neighbors’ will do some bad things to you if you’re this beautiful.”

The Jung isn’t kidding when she says that. Jinri, who has always has that natural beauty in her, becomes even prettier with her very light blush on, thin eyeliner that accentuates the shape of her gorgeous eyes, and lipstick colors that compliments her new hair color. For Soojung, this girl besides her is now the very definition of universe’s most beautiful woman.

However, the Choi seems keen on disagreeing with her, “I don’t think I can compare to you, though. It runs in the genes, I guess.”

“What runs in the genes?” the Jung tilts her head in confusion, while still being focused on the road ahead.

“Your beauty.”

BOOM! Soojung can feels herself exploding with embarrassment (or is it happiness she’s feeling?), as if all bloods in her body have somehow gather in her head, giving her face a bright hues of red.

“Jungie? Are you okay? Your face is red…” Jinri asks in concern, but the brunette quickly shakes her head to will the embarrassment away.

“I-I’m okay!” she half-shouts. Yes, she’s okay. She’s really okay—NO I’M NOT OKAY HER WORDS MAKE ME FEEL WEIRD THINGS HOW CAN I BE OKAY LIKE THIS FOCUS ON THE ROAD SOOJUNG GODDAMNIT!!!—yup, she’s definitely okay.

The Choi, surprised by the girl’s outburst, backs out immediately, “O-Okay! I’m sorry!”

“N-No! I-I’m the one who should be s-sorry!”

“A-Alright, sorr—I mean, okay…” the tall girl quickly retracts her apology when Soojung glares at her.

“A-Ahem! W-Well… the next place we go to will be the last one for today,” the driving girl says to ease the awkward atmosphere, but her voice sound somewhat disappointed at the thought of the day ending sooner than she wants it to, “now that you’ve gotten yourself a nice, total makeover, it’s only right to record this day nicely!

“R-Record?” Jinri looks like she doesn’t want to hear that word, “W-Where are we going to, Jungie…”

Soojung senses the fear in her summer lover’s voice and tries to calm her, “it’s nothing like a recording studio or anything! We’re just meeting this friend of mine. She’s a street painter.”

“O-Oh…” the relief in the Choi’s tone can’t be more obvious, “I… you have so many friends, Jungie… all with different talents and professions, too.”

The brunette is so, so glad that the redhead seems calmer now, “I thank my sister for helping me build my connections. But I need to remind you that most of my friends aren’t my friends because of my sister.”

“I get it, I get it.”

“Nice! Oh, and here we are!”

“So, Ssul, this is Yura Kim, a very well-known street painter in Seoul.”

Yura smiles sweetly at Jinri, “hey there, Sulli.”

“H-Hello,” Jinri smiles back and even adds an eyesmile. This seems to pique the Kim’s interest.

“Wow, that’s one of the best eyesmile I’ve ever seen,” she grins, “but my girlfriend’s eyesmile is better, though. Sorry if this offends you.”

The Choi shakes her head, “not at all!”

“Yura, where’s Minah?” Soojung looks around. It’s rare seeing the painter without her girlfriend around.

Yura shakes her head, “I don’t know, but she’s probably busy training her voice again. I just hope she won’t train so hard her voice strains.”

“Pfft, must be trying to compete with Luna, again,” the Jung snickers, “she’s hands down the most stubborn girl I’ve ever seen.”

Jinri looks as confused as ever, “who’s this Minah you two are talking about, if I may ask?”

Soojung looks at her summer lover and chuckles, “she’s a schoolmate of mine. Apparently she’s really proud of her singing skills, but is always overshadowed by Luna at school. It’s funny how she’s always challenging Luna to a singing face-off when she’s always losing and that crazy girl doesn’t even care.”

The painter laughs, “You’re lucky she’s not here or else you’ll have another catfight with her again.”

“Yeah, I’m so lucky,” Soojung shrugs but the her brain short-circuits again when she randomly thinks,

I’m lucky because I got to meet Ssul.

…

…

…

OH GOD KRYSTAL JUNG SOOJUNG WHAT THE HEEEECKKKK??!!!

Okay, this is getting waaaaaaay too creepy, Soojung. You should stop this, OMG YOU REALLY SHOULD!

“Soojung?”

“I’M OKAY!” the Jung abruptly screams, face flustered and mind blank.

She manages to regain some of her senses back when she sees Yura and Jinri giggling.

“I-Is there something wrong?”

The Kim can’t hold it in anymore and laughs, “I asked you who is going to be my object and the answer I get is ‘I’M OKAY!’.”

“O-Oh…” she awkwardly stares at Jinri who’s looking at her with an amused look on her face, “I-I mean to say that…” she scratches her head in complete embarrassment, like she’s ready to exiles herself into a very isolated, secluded cave.

The Choi, still giggling, answers in the poor brunette’s stead, but it isn’t really the answer she wants to give, “both of us will be the muses.”

Yura looks so pleasantly and amusedly surprised by Jinri’s statement, “wow, really? Is today my lucky day? You both are so pretty, I’m honestly not expecting this to happen!”

“Why not? I mean, your drawing is really beautiful,” the redhead says in wonder as she looks at some of the Kim’s works, “so how long does it takes for you to draw us?”

The painter smiles as she prepares the necessary tools, “It usually takes no more than one hour, but it depends on the object really. If you’re good at staying still then it can be done faster than you can even imagine.”

Soojung decides that she must join in on the conversation now lest she will look as dumb as she had been just now, “so, which one of us do you want to draw first, Yura?”

The girl in question hums thoughtfully before pointing at Jinri, “You. I want you—I mean, I want to draw you.”

The Choi points to herself unsurely, “me?”

“From what I can see, it seems like you just had a total makeover… or maybe it’s just the hair and your makeup?”

“… How do you know that? I haven’t told you anything, have I?” the Jung asks, surprised.

Yura smiles knowingly, “the way Sulli twirls her hair carefully and how her lips quiver as if she wants to bite them but cannot because the lipstick is getting in the way are the signs for me. I see it as her trying to get used to her new hairdo and that she rarely use lipsticks.”

Jinri herself looks like a deer caught in the headlights, “I’ve never felt so easily readable until now… Am I really that obvious?”

“I have a friend who happened to study psychology and learned a thing or two from her. Understanding these kind of things makes it easier for me to determine what is it that the customers exactly want. Poses, expressions, it all comes with one’s personality and knowing how one thinks really helps,” the painter explains.

“That’s really cool!” the two girls exclaims at the same time.

The Kim chuckles again, “so, shall we begin painting, Sulli? Your turn will be after this, Krystal-ah.”

“Sure, I’m cool with it,” Soojung shrugs.

“Right… Why don’t you sit there, Sulli-ah? That’s right. First, move a bit to the right…”

“I’m home—oh, Jessica-unnie’s not here yet,” Soojung says to herself while locking the door.

She lazily trudges towards her bedroom while bringing a certain painting on her person all the way in there. As she plops herself onto the comfortable bed, she stretches both of her hands upward while still holding the painting.

“Where should I put this painting…?” the brunette mumbles, looking around the room. Her gaze flickers all over the place before landing at a certain spot, a spot that is special to her.

Special in that there, at that very spot on the wall, are pictures and paintings of her and people dearest to her. Pictures of Victoria, Amber, and Luna, as well as a painting of her with her family decorates the otherwise plain maroon wall.

Jumping off the bed, Soojung makes her way lightly to the pictures and stares for a while, deep in thought. After a while, she takes out the pictures and puts it more towards the opposite sides of the painting, making a rather big space in the middle. After a quick work, she takes a few steps back and smiles.

In the middle of that spot is now a picture frame filled with two paintings; one of her side-hugging Jinri happily,

And the other of Jinri smiling so gorgeously and so mesmerizingly.

Meanwhile, on the urban section of Seoul…

Jinri stares at the picture that now hangs proudly on the wall just above her desk. She has no idea why she decides to put it there, or why she even bothers to hang it in the first place. But maybe she does, just that she doesn’t know if it’s okay to be thinking about such things.

As she looks at the pictures with an intense stare, her phone buzzes wildly, demanding to be given special attention. The Choi groans but manages to divert her attention from the painting nonetheless.

She sees that it is a message, from someone who she has actually forget about due to how all-over-the-place she has been today.

From: Amber-hyung

Hey, Sulli! How’s your date? You didn’t tell Krystal about us, right? Please tell me you didn’t T_T BTW we did follow you two but we swear we didn’t do anything scandalous! Besides, you two didn’t notice us at all, now did you? ;)

Jinri smiles gently at the message and immediately sends in her reply.

To: Amber-hyung

Hi, hyung! No, I didn’t ‘cause I’m always true to my words B-) how long did you three follow us? Don’t tell me you did it all day :O and tbh I kinda forget about you three hehe sorry :(

The reply comes as soon as the redhead can type in her answer.

From: Amber-hyung

Well, you’re just as truthful as your name :p that’s a secret! ;) how could you forget T_T anyway aren’t you tired? You should sleep, it’s like 12 a.m. and I’m sure you’re tired as hell. Gnight. ;D

Jinri doesn’t reply anymore and stows her phone away. She takes one last glance at the painting before deciding it’s time for her to sleep.

As she closes her eyes, all she can think about is the picture, and she looked once again.

At the picture of her side-hugging Soojung, and a picture of Soojung, looking as stunning as always.

“By the way, why did Vic-umma, Amber, and Luna suddenly disappear today?”