“So do you think it’s that girl over there?”

“No,” Irene deadpans. She rolls her eyes to oblivion and back, taking the liberty to lower Joy’s extended arm, gingerly curling down the taller girl’s pointer finger. “And would you stop with the pointing? You’re scaring the customers away— look at that poor girl! She was just trying to study in her little corner and there you go, off with the pointing.”

“That girl’s got no spine,” Joy remarks, resuming her activities behind the register and punching a few buttons. The machine dings, and Joy snaps it shut; she’s just trying to look busy at this rate. “She doesn’t deserve someone like you anyways. Plus, she’s wearing a blazer, which means that she’s probably a history buff who has no time for something as mundane and time-consuming as dating.”

Irene wonders if it’s possible for her eyes to pop out from all that eye-rolling.

“Did you stretch properly before making that reach?” The fourth year student asks the younger girl dryly, wincing a moment later when Joy makes the obvious motion of twisting her arms around, her joints popping with a crack quite audibly. “Why are all my shifts scheduled at the same time as yours, and why did I agree to take them?”

“Because as we found out last year, during my freshman year,” Joy singsongs, and it reminds Irene of a crow trying to imitate a songbird (which is ironic, because Joy actually has a rather sweet voice, Irene must admit), “The two of us make a rather good team, unnie. Remember? The manager said so.”

“First of all, never call me that again,” Irene says in as sugar sweet a voice as she can muster. “Second, we both know that’s not the whole truth, Park Sooyoung.”

“Well, I’m sorry for showing interest in the mystery person who’s showing interest in you,” Joy says, suddenly on the defense and holding her hands up in surrender. “But honestly, Irene, if it weren’t for me being present, you never would have even bothered looking for the person who described you!”

Joy’s admission makes Irene sigh, because the second year girl unfortunately has a point, and that really , because she should never have to relent to something like Joy being even relatively correct in anything, ever.

Wordlessly, Irene looks over the cash register to make sure there’s no customers approaching before doing another quick check to make sure that their manager is nowhere to be seen. She pulls her phone out of her apron pocket, setting it down behind the espresso machine and tapping her passcode in. With a swipe of the screen, she opens the Twitter app, swiftly navigating to the tweet of latest interest.

@SMU_Crushes: #430 to the girl who worked the afternoon shift at the coffee shop on monday with the high ponytail and watermelon hair clip, you're so incredibly beautiful and i noticed that you're wearing a red velvet t-shirt, so you've got good taste in music too. date me?

@solarist: @SMU_Crushes hey doesn’t @baerene work the Monday afternoon shift at the coffee shop?

@baerene: @SMU_Crushes @solarist yeah but @parksootan does too, and I’m pretty sure she also wears a ponytail

@parksootan: @SMU_Crushes @solarist @baerene omg don’t even start with me, bae joohyun im not the one wearing a watermelon hair clip

That had only been the start of it though. Not even ten minutes after the anonymous confession had been posted, Joy had called Irene up, declaring that she’d changed her shift schedule at SM University’s coffee shop, The Bean, so that she got the same hours as Irene.

“We’re going to find your number 430!” Joy had declared over the phone call, ever so enthusiastic, and at such an ungodly hour in the morning, Irene had been less than thrilled.

She had groaned. “What are you talking about, Joy? Number 430 does not belong to me in the slightest. Now go to sleep! It’s 3 AM, so get some rest or something.” She’d scrunched her nose at the whining noises coming from the other end of the line, muttering under her breath, “Because god knows that you need it.”

(Joy didn’t end up going to sleep, and it had been a long and interesting night for Irene.)

“Hey, but did you see?” Joy now asks, peering over Irene’s shoulder. She reaches around the smaller girl with ease, plucks her phone off the counter – Irene makes a weak noise of protest – and aptly refreshes the SMU_Crushes Twitter page. “Number 430 is back with another update on how they like you so much.”

@SMU_Crushes: #430 here again haha i didn’t get coffee today, but i saw you walking over from class with your friends (who are all very beautiful too) and the rabbit keychain on your bag fell off D: i tied it to the handle of the coffee shop door, hope u find it!

“Huh?” Irene’s eyes flash towards the door as a new customer walks in, the bell above the entrance jingling, and she catches sight of her little rabbit keychain glinting in the afternoon sun. “Oh my—”

“Wow, this person really likes you,” Joy comments, and Irene raises an eyebrow.

“I’m still skeptical,” she says, heading over to retrieve her keychain.

“How?!” Joy demands, flinging her arms up in frustration.

“I don’t have any ‘beautiful friends,’” Irene states with a smirk, winking, and Joy has the decency to look reasonably offended.

“Excuse you?!”

--

It’s during the slower part of the afternoon when the bell jingles for the first time in an hour or so. Joy’s busy cleaning out the smoothie blender, so Irene quickly shoves her Legal Business and Economics textbook beneath the outcrop of a cabinet and turns around to greet the latest customer.

Still in her drowsy, law-based stupor, she’s definitely not ready for the beautiful, upturned pair of almond eyes that greets her. And suddenly, all sleepiness evades her, and she inhales sharply before asking a strained, “Can I help you?”

What the hell has gotten into her? You’re too gay, Irene. She shakes her head and hopes the pretty customer in front of her doesn’t notice anything. Tone it down.

“Hmm…” The girl muses, tilting her head as she reads the menu. Irene takes the time to look over her— definitely another student, given how this is the university’s coffee shop, after all, but with her stunning appearance, Irene figures that this girl could be majoring in just about anything topic she wanted. And it makes her curious, Irene can’t deny.

After another brief second, she turns to Irene and shrugs, an adorably sheepish smile perking on her lips, and oh, when did Irene’s heart get so weak?

“I’m not going to lie, I haven’t really tried out much coffee. Um… surprise me?” The girl’s tone is hopeful, and Irene can’t stop a grin from breaking out.

“I can do that,” she tells the new customer, who visibly relaxes at Irene’s compliance. Without looking, Irene reaches for a pen, deftly twirling it with one hand. “Can I have a name for your order? Oh, and this one’s on the house, don’t worry about a thing.”

“Seulgi,” her customer – Seulgi – replies, her eyes disappearing into perfect crescent moons. “Thank you so much for this!”

“Seulgi…” Irene says breathlessly. A pretty name for a pretty girl. “I’m Irene, by the way.”

“It’s on your nametag,” Seulgi points out with a giggle.

“Right!” Oh god, she’s going to go crazy and she hasn’t even reached midterms yet. “And no problem, just give me a sec, kay?”

A few minutes later, and Irene sets down her completed drink on the counter, pulling out a coffee cup sleeve and writing Seulgi’s name on it in her best handwriting. She finally finishes dotting the ‘i’ when she pauses, shooting the cardboard sleeve a contemplative frown.

See, back when she started working in The Bean during her freshman year, Irene had vowed to never write her number on any order— not one. There’s no way she would ever allow herself to stoop down to that level of desperation, despite having seen all of her friends do it on multiple occasions. Perhaps it’s because Irene has to begrudgingly admit that she’s never had any problems with getting other people to ask her out, but like, really, what kind of cliché romcom did her friends think they were living in?

So it’s the first time in a little over three years that she’s suddenly having second thoughts, and she swears that it’s not because she wants to date Seulgi per say, but more like the other girl seems to have an aura that exudes let’s be friends!

“Hey, you good?” Joy bumps into her, nudging her with an elbow, spying the unusually stern look Irene had been giving the defenseless cup. “Irene…?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m good!” The older says, snapping out of her daze and capping the Sharpie marker. She picks up the cup, placing a cover on it and making her way out from behind the counter; personal delivery, then. Maybe next time I’ll write down more than her name, if there is a next time.

She couldn’t be more satisfied with the way Seulgi simply lights up after the first sip.

“This is amazing!” Seulgi exclaims. “What’s in it?”

“It’s a hot two-pump chai— pumpkin spice, cinnamon dolce soy, no-water chai,” Irene explains proudly. She stands a little straighter. It’s a personal favorite concoction of her own; a secret recipe, though probably a bit less ‘secret’ now that she’d just spilled it to a stranger. But whatever— good coffee is good coffee, much like how good company is good company. “It’s more of a tea than coffee, but it’s basically autumn in a cup, and since it’s still the beginning of the school year, I thought it was appropriate.”

“Oh, definitely!” Seulgi enthuses, looking like Irene had just told her that it was her birthday a whole six months early. “It tastes so good! Very savory, with the spice and cinnamon. I think I’ll probably come back for it again— and you’re going to have to let me pay for it next time.”

Irene can’t find the words to say much, so she just continues to smile that dumb grin that’s been tacked onto her face from the moment Seulgi first appeared in front of the cash register.

She finds herself dreading the time that Seulgi has to leave, excusing herself by saying that she’s already been assigned a project she actually needs to start (she’s a procrastinator too. Irene thinks that Seulgi can’t get any more perfect). She promises she’ll visit Irene and The Bean again just as Irene smacks herself mentally, wishing she had snuck the other girl her number, because now all she can do is hope and pray that Seulgi keeps her word and comes back— so that they can become friends, of course.

--

“So,” Joy drawls, draping an arm over Irene’s shoulder as they watch Seulgi leave. “Do you think—”

“Don’t say it, Park Sooyoung,” Irene says threateningly, flicking Joy’s arm away and moving to get a milk carton from the walk-in refrigerator, but her words are dismissed with a sly, toothy smirk by the one and only Joy herself.

“Do you think she’s Number 430?”

Irene groans, fighting the urge to bash her head into the refrigerator’s large metal door.

“I swear, Sooyoung, one of these days, you’re going to enter this fridge to try and get an ice tray, and the door will close and you won’t be able to get out because I’ve locked you in. You’re going to have to beg to get out.”

“Ooh,” Joy oogles, wriggles her eyebrows all over the place while holding up a bundle of stirrers like a mustache and biting her lip. “.”

“Okay that’s it. I’m going to kill you by shoving those stirrers down your— on second thought, I’m not going to finish that sentence. Because there’s just no winning with you.”

All Irene gets in reply is that infuriating Cheshire smirk, and a kiss is blown her way.

“You know it, babe!”

(When Joy disappears to the storage room to resupply the pastries in the front, Irene casually Googles ‘how to get away with murder,’ only to be disappointed when all the search results are for the TV show of the same name. Damn it. Time to think up another plan.)

--

@SMU_Crushes: #430 i kinda wanna go get coffee from The Bean today, but idk if i can risk getting recognized by her :/// maybe i should just send my friend to get me some coffee instead…

@solarist: @SMU_Crushes what kind of kdrama am I watching play out here

@jichuchu: @SMU_Crushes @solarist the kind that takes the main couple an eternity to meet

@parksootan: @SMU_Crushes OMG PLS COME EVEN IF WE CAN’T RECOGNIZE YOU @baerene AND I CAN AT LEAST SPECULATE

Irene rolls her eyes at her dumb friends and their antics, hitting send and tweeting out her response with a sense of finality, with the underlying meaning of please shut up for now.

@baerene: @SMU_Crushes @parksootan @solarist @jichuchu NONE OF YOU ARE HELPING AT ALL, YOU IDIOTS

From where she’s simultaneously scrolling through Instagram as well as “practicing her latte art,” Joy makes a strangled noise of protest.

“Miss Bae, I am trying to persuade your little admirer to come to the café today!” Joy exclaims in a rather loud voice, garnering the attention of a few customers, although most are regulars from previous years who have gotten much too used to hearing Joy’s booming voice emitting throughout the premises.

“Joy, I honestly think you’re just making things worse with how—” Irene’s a second away from schooling the younger girl when the bell above the entrance rings and a group of girls walk in, chattering animatedly amongst themselves.

“I just think that it would be totally cool to make a robot that could climb on walls like Spiderman!” Seulgi is saying to her two friends flanking her as they make their way over to the counter. The moment she sees Irene behind the cash register, she flashes the older girl a bright smile. “Hi, Irene! How are you today?”

Irene returns the smile in kind, glad that Seulgi had returned to the café so soon, and easily replies that she’s been doing well, although university life has been finally picking up.

“So true,” The shorter friend pipes up, looking at Irene with eyes as warm and a voice as sweet as The Bean’s sweetest Caramel Macchiato. “You must be Irene-sunbaenim, right? Hello there, I’m Wendy, nice to meet you! And this is Jennie,” Wendy motions to the third figure of the group, standing quietly by Seulgi’s other shoulder. “Seulgi told us about you.”

“Hi,” Jennie says quietly, although not unkindly. From her few years working as a barista at The Bean, Irene has found that she’s become rather good at reading people. If Wendy is a Caramel Macchiato, with its sweet syrup, shot of espresso, and oh-so-sweet caramel drizzle, then Jennie is an Iced Green Tea Latte— smooth, creamy, and served a bit on the cooler side, though sweet nonetheless.

“It’s lovely to meet you both,” Irene says enthusiastically, and she takes out her pad of paper to write down their orders. “Now, what can I get you all?”

Ten minutes pass, and Irene’s setting Seulgi’s drink, which she’s aptly named Fall-in-a-Cup, down in front of her.

“You really liked my concoction from a few days ago, huh?” She giggles, observing how Wendy and Jennie express their satisfaction over their own drinks, and Seulgi’s eye twinkles happily. “I didn’t expect you to come back so soon.”

“What can I say?” Seulgi says cheekily, picking up a red plastic stirrer and swirling her drink dramatically in circles. “I’m a er for sweet things. But while I do think that this pumpkin spice drink is as sweet as can be, I’d go as far as to say that you’re the sweetest thing here, Irene.”

“I—” Irene is stunned into silence as Seulgi bursts into ringing laughter at her dumbstruck expression. Irene flushes, hitting Seulgi’s arm with the wad of napkins she carries around in her apron. “That was so bad! Are you always this greasy, Miss Kang?”

“She is!” Wendy answers for her friend as Jennie eagerly nods her head in agreement. “She’s awful, Irene! I’d get away as soon as possible.”

“Hey!” Seulgi protests, acting reasonably betrayed. “Okay, I’m not nearly that bad! Not as bad as Moonbyul-unnie!”

Irene laughs. “You’re friends with Moonbyul? As in Solar’s girlfriend? Oh, Seulgi, I think we might need to reconsider this new friendship of ours.”

Wendy, Jennie, and Irene all share hi-fives as Seulgi whines, steals Jennie’s straw, and proceeds to poke Irene’s arm with it insistently until Irene forfeits and decides to stay friends.

--

It goes down like this.

It’s a random Wednesday night, and Irene finds herself staying up late, ruffling through notes, sifting through endless textbook pages, and toiling through downloaded PowerPoints. She has a quiz on corporate social responsibility and business ethics, and while it sounds like common sense that “good ethics lead to good business,” it’s all the little details in between that she knows that her professor will hound on— she might as well just memorize everything.

She drops her head onto her textbook with a resounding thud, groaning. The sound echoes through her empty student apartment – she’s opted out of the dorms ever since being traumatized by all the weird rooming traditions that her RA’s would insist on doing – and she drums her fingers mindlessly over the smooth pages lined with marks from her highlighter. She can already feel her eyelids drooping with exhaustion. Not good.

I’m in desperate need of a pick-me-up.

With another grunt, she shoves herself up and drags her weary body to the kitchen, turning on the coffee brewer, but merely heating water. She puffs a cheek out, watching the water dribble into the glass pot for a fleeting moment before her gaze wanders elsewhere.

It lands on balcony, and the next thing she knows, she’s pushing the clear doors open and inviting the crisp outdoor air into her apartment, closing her eyes and letting the soothing chill of the outdoors awake her senses as she languidly leans against the doorposts.

And that’s when it happens.

“Irene?”

Her eyes shoot open at the familiar voice.

There it is— that beautiful almond-eyed smile and wide upturn of lips that had caught Irene’s attention right from the start, standing on the balcony from the building directly next to hers. She waves at Irene, her face illuminated from the light of their apartments.

“Seulgi?”

“That’s me,” Seulgi chirps with a grin, leaning on the balcony banister, leisurely crossing her arms. She tilts her head. “What are you doing up on your balcony at 2AM?”

“Business law quiz,” Irene replies, trying not to let her sudden uptake of nerves get the best of her.

Seulgi winces. “Ouch. That sounds rough.”

Irene shrugs. “I’m basically memorizing the material. It’s doable, just tedious.”

The other clicks her tongue, whistling. “Still, that’s super impressive!”

“I think otherwise, but thank you anyways,” the older girl laughs. “So what are you doing up?”

“I’m working on my robotics project,” Seulgi chuckles, rubbing the back of her head. “My professor assigns us frequent projects, and this one’s due tomorrow. I’m still working out the problems with my program though…” She stifles a yawn, and Irene stifles a giggle. Cute. “Ah, sorry, I guess I’m feeling a bit sleepy. I really do need to get this project done though.”

“Wanna take a break and come over?” Irene proposes. She motions vaguely to her kitchen, where the water continues to drip drop into the clear glass pot, just waiting to be used. “I’m heating some water for some hot drinks. There’s more than enough for two people.”

Seulgi bites her lip at Irene’s offer, suddenly looking adorably bashful, and she looks across the gap between their apartments at Irene through a curtain of hair that falls across her face, rocking on her heels.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to disturb your studying—”

“Don’t mention it,” Irene smiles, and for a moment, it doesn’t actually feel like it’s 2AM and she’s dying of exhaustion like the struggling college student that she really is. “I was due for a break anyway.”

--

Irene unlocks her front door and ushers Seulgi inside with an energy that she hasn’t felt since summer break rolled around at the end of the last school year.

“Any specific drink you want?” She asks as Seulgi follows her into the kitchen and Irene makes herself at least look busy as she shuffles through her cabinets, gesturing to the copious amount of coffee, tea, and cocoa packets she has stored. “Working at The Bean has its perks— I get an unfortunate amount of free drinks, as you can see, and I have literally nothing to do with them. Most of the coffee goes untouched; I ended up bringing all the unground beans I’d stocked up home with me at the start of summer.”

“Oh?” Seulgi laughs, navigating her way around the table to scan over her cabinet’s contents. “Why don’t you drink the coffee?”

“I mean, I like drinking a little something in the beginning of the day, like the chai tea I’d prepared for you a few days ago, but,” Irene wrinkles her nose. Just the thought of all the over-caffeinated drinks she stirs in one day makes her stomach lurch. Yeah, too much sucrose, too much syrup. You can really only take so much of that stuff. Irene likes to equate being a barista to being a pool cleaner— after cleaning pools and knowing what’s in there, do you really want to go swimming in one of those dirty things? Precisely. “Once you see the unhealthy amounts of caffeine and sugar that some people request for in their drinks, by the end of the day, you sorta want anything but coffee. I was going to go for hot chocolate myself.”

“That’s understandable,” Seulgi chuckles. “In that case…” She reaches up to the second shelf of the cabinet with ease, grabbing two packets of hot chocolate and handing them to Irene (no, but really, how on earth did she do that? Like, Irene swears that Seulgi isn’t that much taller than her… it’s crazy how much an inch or two can make a difference). “I’ll take some sugar as well, if that’s okay with you!”

Irene beams at her – listen, it’s 2AM and she might as well have gone crazy by now – taking the packets and pulling out two ceramic mugs (they’d been gifts from her manager from the past two Christmases) for the both of them.

“That’s perfect.”

--

“Do you mind if I ask you something, Irene? I think it might help me better concentrate on my programming.”

“Not at all. What’s on your mind?”

“Is your real name ‘Irene,’ or…?”

A laugh. “No, it’s a nickname I received back in high school, back when I was on debate team.”

“Debate team? But isn’t Eirene the Greek goddess of peace?”

“And? What’s your point, Seul?”

“Nothing!” A quick backtrack. “But if Irene isn’t your real name, what is?”

“My real name is Bae Joohyun, silly.” A giggle.

“Joohyun…” It’s like she’s tasting the name on her lips. “Joohyun... Hyun!”

“Hm?”

“You called me Seul just now, so I’m going to call you Hyun.”

Another laugh. “Now it’s my turn to ask you a question, Miss Kang: how on earth will this new information help you with programming?”

She gasps like it’s something completely obvious.

“Why, it’s because you’ve been on my mind non-stop, of course, Miss Bae! And now that my questions have been answered, I can rest easy for now!”

Irene flushes, hurriedly trying to hide her quickly reddening face behind her large ceramic mug as she inhales and takes a large sip, the warmth of the hot chocolate (and maybe from the compliment too) pooling in her belly and spreading throughout her body.

--

The next day, Irene aces her quiz on corporate social responsibility and business ethics, whizzing through each question and answering with ease. And she’s not saying that she did so well because of a certain ray of sunshine who managed to grace her otherwise dark night, but that’s exactly what she’s saying.

Solar snorts indignantly as Irene waves her 97 out of 100 in her best friend’s face as they walk across the campus after class, a full ten points higher than her own 87. The blonde-haired girl smacks Irene on the head with her test paper, threatening to shove her into the university fountain as they make their way past. Regardless, ten minutes later, Solar’s begging for her secret, to which Irene only allows a mysterious smile to cross her features.

“The secret is getting distracted at 2AM in the morning.”

(Solar looks at her like she’s grown three heads, and her friend tells her just that. Irene replies that Solar’s not that much better, casually bringing up that one time Solar had forced her girlfriend, Moonbyul, to rap her economics notes to her in an attempt to “memorize better.”)

Or maybe she’s just trying to find more excuses to see Seulgi more often.

But then again, since when did she need an excuse? Especially when the universe seems to steer them towards each other throughout their separate lives.

That’s right, Irene’s been noticing, and she almost feels like Someone Up There is playing some big practical joke on her, shoving her into all sorts of situations to catch her off guard.

“Fancy seeing you here,” a cheeky voice says on a non-distinct Saturday afternoon, cutting through the chatter of the crowd surrounding them, and a weight drops onto the other end of the couch Irene sits on, jostling the book in her lap.

“Why am I not surprised to see you?” Irene laughs, closing her textbook shut with a snap and shoving it into her bag— Seulgi’s more than a worthy distraction. “Are any of your friends in an acappella group? Or did you come for the amazing riffs?”

“Would you believe me if I said both?” Seulgi grins, a shrug rolling off one shoulder. “Wendy joined this year after we ended up attending another one of the lounge concerts towards the end of last semester. The music really is amazing. You?”

“Same here, actually,” Irene says. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices her friends setting up the mics on the student lounge’s stage, and she shifts slightly to wave at them. Jisoo waves back excitedly, while Solar sends a mock salute her way.

“Solar, Joy, and my cousin, Jisoo are all involved. I’ve really got no choice but to show my support,” she jokes, raising her voice on the last sentence so that it gets heard over the volume of lax college students, chilling in the lounge before the show. “So I’m kind of a regular at these events— they might as well be holding me hostage.”

Jisoo grabs a mic and gasps audibly into the sound system, the noise emanating above the heads of the onlookers, focusing the attention on the across-the-room exchange. Meanwhile, Solar remains unbothered, simply fixing the mic stand while flipping Irene off with her free hand.

Irene does her best to control her expression into one of complete neutrality, but it’s slightly hard when she’s got a greatly amused Seulgi right next to her, holding back laughter of her own.

Everyone loses it when Joy abruptly dashes onto the stage, silently demanding the mic from Jisoo, who hands it over with a wicked grin.

“Hey, Bae Irene!” Joy shouts, and Irene immediately steels her complexion. “You keep showing up at our shows! Are you our willing hostage? That seems kinda—”

“Don’t say it, Park Sooyoung!” Irene shouts, abruptly rising to her feet.

“—,” Joy finishes, complete with her signature wink and sly smirk. Irene lets out a loud groan and plops back down onto the couch as the crowd roars in laughter around her, Seulgi included. She watches Joy receive hi-fives from Jisoo and Solar, meets eyes with them, and rolls her eyes playfully, a smile blossoming across her own face.

She really needs to get new friends. (She wouldn’t trade them for the world).

--

“Wow, what just happened?” Jennie asks, having made her way over to where Irene and Seulgi sit on the couches. The look on her face is one of utter confusion, and Irene can’t help but notice how Jennie looks like a lost kitten amidst the festivities. “I just got in and everyone was screaming…?”

Irene lets out the softest of meeps before shaking her head and wordlessly returning to tapping on her phone.

“Irene’s friends just made a scene,” Seulgi smirks lazily, pokes the older girl, who suddenly looks like she just aged ten years in ten seconds. Irene makes a vague noise of protest, and she lightly slaps Seulgi’s arm in return. “And she got dragged into the heart of it all.”

From somewhere in the distance, someone yells, “She was the one who started it!” Irene scrunches her nose and blows a raspberry in the general direction. Seulgi just chuckles but shakes her head, scooching over, closer to Irene (who hopes that Seulgi can’t recognize the way that her breath hitches ever-so-slightly, prays that it’s drowned out amongst all the talk) to make room for Jennie.

“What are you looking at, anyways, Hyun?” Seulgi questions, and Irene naturally shifts so that the younger girl can look over her shoulder with ease, not minding the closeness in the slightest. She sees Jennie look at them in curiosity, although the other girl doesn’t comment. “You’ve been tapping on your screen like a madwoman for a while now.”

“Not entirely false,” Irene quips, “for I am a woman, and I am mad.”

“Aw, but you’re not really mad, right?” Seulgi blinks. Her touch against Irene’s bare arm is feather light, genuine in its motion. “At least, not at me, right?”

It makes Irene’s heart want to melt like a popsicle on a hot summer day— she’s sure that she’d make a wonderful rainbow puddle on the ground.

“No, Seul,” she says softly, “Not at you, and no, I’m not really mad. I’m just playing around!” She pauses. “But I do have a headache that comes and goes.”

“Oh no,” Jennie says, honest worry coating her features as Seulgi furrows her brow and frowns. “Are you okay, Irene-sunbaenim?”

“Oh, I’m fine, Jennie,” Irene grins. “The headache isn’t present right now. As I said, it comes and goes—”

“Bae Joohyun!” Joy shrill voice shouts as she and Jisoo walk over to their couch. “You better not be giving a bad impression of your best friends!”

“—And speaking of my headache, she’s coming this way right now!” Irene beams. Seulgi bursts out into a fit of laughter as Joy pretends to sky uppercut the senior, but Jennie fixates her gaze on the girl accompanying Joy.

“I’m not a headache, right, unnie?” Jisoo pouts. Irene pinches her cousin’s cheek in a similar fashion as one would a baby.

“No, Jichu,” she cooes. “You aren’t the headache, it’s only Joy. So what do you want anyways, you giant? Don’t you have a setlist to sing or something?”

“Jokes on you, we’re the last act,” Joy shoots back, smirking victoriously. “Saving the best for the end and all. You’re gonna have to deal with me for a few more minutes, Rene. But, I have come to deliver more good news!”

“Oh?” Irene raises a skeptical eyebrow. “What now?”

“Just check Twitter, you antisocialite. I tagged you.”

Well, that explains it.

@SMU_Crushes: #430 returning here! i saw you between classes again today! you were leaving the library with your friends, and i think you got angry at them or something, but regardless, it was pretty hot, and ur beautiful like always <3

@parksootan: @SMU_Crushes @baerene apparently, me getting bullied is pretty hot

Irene clicks her tongue at Joy’s response.

@baerene: @SMU_Crushes @parksootan yes, cuz you you fan the flames of my fury

“It’s been a few weeks since this person started leaving these confessions, right, unnie?” Jisoo notes. She touches her lip with her index finger in contemplation. “And they still haven’t shown up?” At the shrug that leaves Irene’s shoulder, Jisoo tilts her head. “They haven’t come to the coffee shop or anything?”

“We’re not entirely sure,” Joy pipes up, talking on Irene’s behalf, more than knowing Irene’s bashfulness when it comes to topics like crushes and dating. “There’s a lot of attractive people who walk into the shop. The candidates are, like, everyone, since everyone who walks through the front door is a student. I mean, for all we know, it could Jennie or Seul—”

“Performers, please report back to your respective groups!” Solar’s voice booms through the mic, and Joy winces, her previous thoughts being disrupted by the loud sound.

“And there’s your cue to leave,” Irene teases, shooing off her friend and cousin off. They wave to the girls on the couch once more before finally rejoining their acapella group.

“You’re staring at Jisoo awfully hard, Jen,” Seulgi comments cheekily to her friend, who hadn’t stopped looking at Jisoo’s retreating form. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to sear a hole into her.”

“That’s not it at all!” Jennie complains in protest. She punches Seulgi’s arm. “I just swear that I’ve seen Jisoo around before. She wasn’t with Irene-sunbaenim when we first met Joy and Solar-sunbaenim, but she looks really familiar for some reason.”

“She’s in junior year with you two,” Irene points out. “Maybe you’ve taken a class together before?”

“We are, actually,” Seulgi interjects, lightly shoving Jennie in return. Jennie’s eyes go wide, mouth ajar, and she squeaks out a weak we are? just as Irene barks out a laugh of amusement and disbelief. “She’s in our required English Literature class, Jen! You’re just always asleep so you never notice her, you night owl! Jisoo sits towards the front, and we’re more towards the back.”

Jennie’s lips form a perfect ‘O’ shape. “That makes a lot of sense then. I’m sorry…?”

“Don’t worry, Jennie,” Irene laughs, resting an arm on Seulgi’s shoulder and reaching over her lap to pat Jennie’s shoulder – missing the way the New Zealander freezes for a brief moment at her touch. “Eighty-five percent of the class doesn’t pay attention during the Lit seminars either.”

“Hey, I do! And I’m a programming major!”

“Yeah, well, Seul, you’re just the exception. What a special snowflake.”

“I could’ve heard that sarcasm from the other side of the world.”

“Thank you, it’s a skill of mine.”

--

It continues like this.

A week later, Irene finds herself up at 2AM again, studying for her Economics course this time – her upcoming quiz is about Game Theory and Nash Equilibriums, which has something to do with Prisoner’s Dilemma and a game called Chicken – and by that hour, her muddled brain needs some stimuli.

She’s in the kitchen, rummaging through her cabinets when there’s a dull thunk on her window. Raising a suspicious eyebrow, she looks through the glass and sees a random crumpled paper ball lying on the balcony. Following the supposed path it took, she finds its origins at a beaming Kang Seulgi, waving at her from the opposite balcony.

“Good morning to you, too,” Irene jokes, pushing through the doors and leaning against the railing. A gust of wind blows by, and Irene momentarily finds herself pondering how far the gap between their balconies is. Two feet? Two-and-a-half? Nothing more than three feet, that’s for sure. “Pulling another all-nighter?”

“Yup,” Seulgi chirps, sounding terribly upbeat for such an unholy hour. “It’s another robotics project— they seem to line up pretty nicely with your assessments.”

“At least I know I’m not suffering in the silence alone,” the older girl laughs.

“Are you taking a break?” Seulgi asks, not meeting Irene’s gaze but instead looking up at the sky above them. It’s a clear night; so clear, that even in their city-based campus, the stars are bright enough to be seen.

Irene nods before remember that Seulgi probably can’t see her in the dim light provided, and she says a quiet, “Yeah, I am. Why?”

Seulgi gulps, and Irene pretends not to notice.

“Wanna come over to my apartment this time? I can show you the robot I’ve been working on… it’s pretty cool, I think. I programmed it to be able to climb walls with these suction cup feet, and I’m trying to get it to learn how to judge distances in order to jump over gaps, and I don’t really know why I’m so nervous right now, so I’m just rambling on, but if you don’t want to, that’s totally cool too—”

“Seulgi?”

“…Yeah?”

“I’d love to,” Irene says with a smile that she hopes can maybe light up Seulgi’s night in the same way the younger girl’s has managed to light up hers. Because maybe it’s about time for her to really acknowledge this little something they’ve been harboring over the past few weeks— way to start off senior year with a bang. “Shall I bring us drinks?”

“Uh, that would be great,” Seulgi stammers, toeing the ground with a slipper-covered foot and cracking her knuckles nervously. Irene kind of wants to jump across the gap— three feet isn’t too far, right? Ah, but she can’t predict how high a fall would be. Maybe next time, then, at some time other than 2AM. “Actually, I went out and bought myself a brewer the other day, so I can get the water heated? And maybe you could bring the hot chocolate packets?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Irene beams.

--

“Hi there, Seul!” Irene greets one afternoon as Seulgi strolls in on her usual time, during the slower hours, and there’s a strained, hilariously forced smile on Irene’s face. “How are you doing today? Because I’m just dandy!”

Seulgi chokes on a laugh, hides it behind the guise of a cough. “I’m fine, but I think I should be asking you that question, Hyun. What’s got you so wound up?”

If possible, Irene’s smile manages to become even more strained.

“Oh, nothing much, just—”

“Hi, I’m Yeri!”

Seulgi watches in amusement as Irene nearly jumps out of her skin from her spot manning the register as a young girl pops out behind her, seemingly out of nowhere. The older girl can practically see her heart leap out of her chest and run tantalizing, taunting circles around her body as her soul transcends to the other world—

Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic. But she swears she could’ve gotten a heart attack.

“Are you Seulgi?” The short-haired girl asks curiously, blinking up at Seulgi with innocence sparkling in her gaze. Irene eyes Yeri warily, and unfortunately judging by the look on Seulgi’s face, the junior was already falling for her younger sister. Not good.

“Yes, I am,” Seulgi replies, being the Good Samaritan she always is and humoring the younger girl. “You said your name was Yeri? How’d you find out about me?”

“That’s me,” Yeri sings, and Irene sighs. “Sooyoung-unnie told me about you, since you’re friends with Joohyun-unnie! Unnie is my older sister, and I can’t trust her to give me updates on her own daily life because she’s allergic to basically all forms of technology, so Sooyoung-unnie texts me updates instead!”

“Allergic to technology?” Seulgi laughs, meeting Irene’s desperate eyes. “Interesting.”

“That’s my girl,” Joy chuckles, joining the conversation. She drapes an arm over Yeri’s shoulders, not missing the way the younger girl blushes, and Irene wants nothing but to drop her head on the granite counter yet again. Her baby sister has a crush on her devil of a best friend. Oh, wonderful. “How long are you staying, Yerim?”

“I—” She checks her phone, and the light in Yeri’s eyes seems to vanish just like that. It’s noticeable. Seulgi’s smile drops into a concerned frown, and Joy looks considerably less joyful. And Irene feels her heart plummet into her stomach because as much as she pretends to be annoyed, as much as she plays around, she’s been missing her baby sister.

“I have to go now, actually,” Yeri says, taking a deep breath and plastering on another smile, this one not nearly as bright as the first. “I was only here on a campus tour, since I’m applying here for college next year. My group had some time to roam around, and I came here to spend time with Joohyun-unnie, but my time’s up. If I don’t go now, I’ll miss the bus home.”

Irene swallows a lump in as she pulls Yeri in for a hug. “Have a safe trip home, Yerim. Call me when you get there, yeah? No matter how late, I promise I’ll answer.”

“I will, unnie, I promise.”

“Joy?” The taller girl immediately stands straighter. Irene fights down a watery laugh. “Will you walk Yerim to the meeting place with the rest of her group? I can’t leave because our manager assigned me to overlook the place.” And because I know that Yeri wants more time with you, so… just be careful with her heart, alright?

“Of course,” Joy says immediately, and Irene somehow gets the feeling that despite all of Joy’s teasing, she somehow heard Irene’s unspoken question. (There’s also a good portion of Irene’s intuition that perhaps Yeri’s little crush isn’t as unrequited as her younger sister suspects). “Don’t worry, Irene, I’ve got her.”

It’s a swift goodbye, and Irene fights back tears pricking at the corner of her eyes as she watches Joy take Yeri’s hand while they walk out of the store, watches Yeri brighten ever-so-slightly, and she sighs, this time out of contentment, knowing that her little sister is in good hands.

“You two are close, aren’t you?” Seulgi comments after a few minutes pass and Irene has started to make the usual Fall-in-a-Cup for her. “You and Yeri, I mean. She really looks up to you, I can see it.”

“Yeah,” Irene says softly. “Our parents were always busy at work, so I practically raised her. We were always together back at home, so it was really strange to come here, to university, and have basically no one.”

“Are you lonely?” Seulgi questions, brow furrowing.

“Maybe a bit? Not right now, not when I’m with you,” Irene gulps. Too heavy, too soon. “Or the rest of our friends. I guess it kind of seeps in when I’m alone in my apartment.”

“I can understand that,” Seulgi says, pursing her lips. “I grew up with my older brother, and I was pretty lonely when he went to college too. So my parents gave me a pet to keep me company. He was a dog named Hercules,” Seulgi chuckles. “Have you ever thought of getting a pet, Hyun?”

Irene nods with a small eung just barely leaving her lips (Seulgi looks like she wants to catch that little eung and keep it in her pocket, but that might just be Irene making things up at this point.)

“I did, way back last year, but then I read the rule book, and we’re not allowed to bring animals into the student apartments,” Irene laments in disappointment.

“Hm…” Seulgi stares into her drink in contemplation, as though if she looked hard enough, the answer would come to her in its depths. “I see…”

“What are you thinking of now, Seul?” Irene asks, genuinely inquiring. It’s the first time she’s seen Seulgi so focused; yet another facet of this girl that Irene’s more than eager to explore.

“Just you wait,” is all Seulgi says, a grin blossoming across her features. She pulls out a pen from her pocket, spins it over her fingers as she asks Irene for a pile of napkins.

Irene watches Seulgi sit in the corner of the café, drawing on napkin after napkin, until closing time, when they walk back to their apartments together and Irene purposely bumps Seulgi off the sidewalk, onto the campus’ grassy lawns. Seulgi only laughs and still refuses to let her in on the secret.

--

“Hyun!”

Three days later, Irene’s in the library with her project groupmates in her marketing law course about manning what her professor had called, a “think company.” She’s explaining to Hani, Solar, and Chorong the brief outline of her when Seulgi rushes up to their table, bouncing on the balls of her feet in complete excitement.

“Seul?” A smile breaks out on Irene’s face. An excited Seulgi reminds her funnily of a bear about to perform a circus act, with the way the older girl rocks back and forth on her heels. “What’s up?”

“Can you meet me on your balcony at around 8PM?”

“Sure thing,” Irene responds at the speed of light. 8PM is usually when her favorite drama airs, but Seulgi doesn’t need to know that. Seulgi is worth ten times more than knowing Shi Hyun and Tae Hee actually get together anyway.

“Great!” For a heartbeat, Seulgi actually looks shocked, as if she’s shocked that Irene would actually agree. “That’s really great! Thank you, Hyun! Ah, sorry for disturbing you,” Seulgi quickly apologizes to Irene’s groupmates with a bow, and Irene wants to tell her to take it back; she knows her friends are just as amused, if not more. “I’ll be going now! See you later tonight, Hyun!”

And then she’s gone as fast as she appeared. Irene kind of wants to pout; she’d rather be talking with Seulgi than working on this project, stuck with her groupmates in the library.

Speaking of her groupmates, Irene turns back around only to be met with three very, very large smirks.

She laughs nervously. “Why the hell do the three of you look like you just got away with murder?” And if you did, wanna give me some pointers? Joy’s been on my hitlist for too long for comfort.

Hani’s white teeth glint under the yellow library lights.

“Has the infallible Irene finally been beaten?” Hani jokes, jabbing at Irene’s leg with the tip of her shoe under the table.

“Ow!” Irene yelps, and from somewhere in the library, a hiss of “shhh!” is let loose, which Irene promptly ignores, though she does control her volume a bit more. “That hurt! And what on earth do you mean, ‘infallible?’ I’m just socially awkward.”

“I mean, you rejected like, nine people last year,” Chorong points out. “That’s apparently a new record for female students. Your name, and by extension, your reputation, is still hanging up on the bulletin board in the girl’s dorms. You realize that among underclassman, you’re an actual goddess, right?”

“I knew there was a reason I fled from the dorm rooms back in sophomore year.” Irene scrunches her nose in distaste. She still remembers the awkward encounters unfortunately vividly, remembers how she thought and this is why I like girls. “That’s just plain ridiculous too. Like, six of them shouldn’t even count ‘cause they were guys, and I am very much gay.”

Solar cackles at that, hi-fiving Irene. “Aren’t we all? And didn’t three of them claim that they could ‘change’ you? Whatever that means?”

“Precisely.”

Chorong barks out a laugh. “That’s basically begging for a rejection!”

Irene reclines in her seat, crossing her legs, the corner of her lips quirking up.

“Exactly.”

“But that Seulgi,” Solar whistles appreciatively. “Just, wow. Did you know she’s one of the sought-out girls in our university, Rene? Moonbyul’s close friends with her, and they work out together and whatnot. Apparently, there’s always a crowd of people looking in through the gym windows.” Solar chuckles.

“Oh?” Sure, Irene’s always been aware that Seulgi’s figure is one of the best she’s ever seen, but she has to admit that she can help but be curious about the other facets of the younger girl, other than the girl who loves her Fall-in-a-Cup and spends her nights programming computers and robots.

Just the mere idea of spending that time, of learning all there is to know about Kang Seulgi-- it makes Irene’s stomach fill with something stronger than butterflies. Hummingbirds, perhaps.

Yeah, hummingbirds sound just about right.

--

“You wanted to see me, Miss Kang?” Irene teases as she brings herself to lean against her balcony railing. It’s another one of those clear nights, when the stars are out and sparkling against a deep dark blue backdrop above the city. In the background, she can vaguely hear the sound of her favorite drama’s theme song playing, but she pays no mind to it; her attention committing fully to the girl on the opposite balcony.

“8 o’clock on the dot,” Seulgi praises lightheartedly. “I’m impressed, Hyun!”

“You should be,” Irene jokes. “I could be watching my favorite drama right now! What did you want to see me for, Seul? And what’s under the blanket?” She points at the soft, pink bundle nestled securely in her arms.

“This is your surprise!” Seulgi grins, lifting the pink blanket with a flair.

“Oh my—” Irene gasps at the little robotic rabbit nestled in Seulgi’s arms, no bigger than the average stuffed toy. Its silver body shines under the moonlight, curled up in a ball, presumably sleeping. “Seulgi, did you make that?”

“I did!” Seulgi grins. She makes a show of petting the little robot between the ears, and just like that, the bionic bunny whirrs to life. A pair of digital, pink eyes blink on, and Irene gasps in wonder as it sits up on its hind legs, its digital nose twitching as though sniffing the air. “What do you think?”

“I— she’s amazing! And so incredibly cute!” Irene exclaims in wonder, leaning forward. Eyes suddenly widening, Irene looks at Seulgi with ajar. “You can’t possibly be telling me that she’s—”

“She’s all yours,” Seulgi says, beaming. And at her words, the little rabbit robot lets out a series of beeps before abruptly jumping across the gap between their balconies without a second thought.

Irene squeaks in surprise, somehow managing to catch the robot in her arms. It blinks up at her adorably, and the senior can practically feel herself become soft in the face of the endearing robot as it nuzzles up to the palm of her hand, much like a real rabbit would.

“So cute,” Irene whispers, the robot’s long ears. “I— Seul, how did you do this…? I can’t even imagine…”

“Ah, it was a bit easier than you think,” Seulgi says sheepishly. She twiddles her fingers, tapping her index against her thumb. “Remember the robot I had shown you before, during the last all-nighter? A few days ago, you were talking about how you’d looked into getting a pet and couldn’t, so I redesigned that robot into that little cutie there. She’s lightweight, looks like a rabbit, and even acts like a rabbit – okay, she’s actually much smarter than the average rabbit – but without the mess of one, y’know? Plus, she can walk on walls and jump over large gaps— remnants of my first project.”

“She’s perfect,” the older girl whispers, carried on the winds of change. She smiles a 100 megawatt smile at her friend. “She’s perfect, Seul!”

“I’m so glad you like her,” Seulgi says in relief. “And I was serious when I said she’s yours. The only catch is that she’s also… kind of my long-term project for my entire junior year? I chose machine learning as my topic, so I programmed her in a way where she’s able to take in new information. By staying in your apartment, she’ll be learning about her environment, and also be learning about you.” She lets out a breath, blowing a few strands of hair up. “Ideally, she’ll learn to read your emotions and surroundings to act accordingly— you’ll hear her go beep boop a lot too.”

“That’s absolutely adorable.”

“I know,” Seulgi says proudly. “I spent the last two days testing her out in my place, and everything should be working, but don’t hesitate to tell me if you think she’s malfunctioning or something. Oh, and I’ll also need to bring her to my professor once a month, since I kind of need her for a grade.”

Irene giggles. “No problem, Seulgi. Thank you so much for this, again!”

“It was my pleasure, Hyun.”

--

“Let me get this straight. You named your robot rabbit, Vivi because whenever she would go beep beep, it sounded like she was saying vee vee?”

It’s the next day, and Irene’s eating lunch on one of SM University’s many grassy lawns with her friends after morning classes. She’d brought Vivi along with her just to see what would happen (she doesn’t have very much to lose anymore) and to her greatest delight, the little bionic bunny had stayed peacefully curled up beside her seat the entire time, silently sleeping.

At the sound of her name, Vivi perks up on Irene’s lap, ears twitching. Irene giggles, her back to calm her down before shooting a glare at Joy.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Watching the dispute from the sidelines with their lunches in their laps, Solar, Jisoo, and Moonbyul snicker.

“I’m just saying!” Joy raises her hands up in defense, her words muffled behind the spoon of yoghurt sticking out of . She pulls it out with a pop. “I thought you’d be a bit more creative in the naming department— more ‘college senior receiving a highly intelligent robot’ and less ‘six-year-old getting their first pet.’”

“Well, she is my first pet,” Irene pouts, sticking her tongue out and hugging Vivi’s light, metallic body close to her, the hum of the gizmos within her surprisingly soothing to the ear. “I’m sorry if I’m a bit excited, you killjoy.”

Vivi whirrs eagerly, a stream of beep boops leaving the small machine’s body, and she hops out of Irene’s arms to run in circles around the group of friends, lightly butting into Joy’s side playfully as she runs by.

Moonbyul lets out a laugh at the little creature. She reaches a hand out, Vivi coming close in order to observe it, pink digital eyes blinking as it scans it. “Seulgi really did a good job with designing this one. What a prodigy, honestly— a total whiz kid. A lot of heart probably went into making her.”

“That’s probably why Irene-unnie likes Vivi so much,” Jisoo teases, leaning over to pet the robot as well, Solar already cooing at her. “I mean, besides the whole cute factor, that is. She’s a special little robot.”

Irene says nothing, simply picking Vivi back up and cradling her in her arms with a smile.

Special indeed.

--

It’s crazy how much can happen in such a short period of time, Irene thinks, as she and Solar make their way across campus one Friday late afternoon, over to Joy’s place for a birthday dinner that the sophomore student had been holding off for an entire month-and-a-half due to a busy first portion of the semester— between classes, homework, and working at The Bean, Joy had a lot on her plate during the entire month of September.

They run into Wendy and another girl who Irene vaguely recognizes along the way – though it appears that Solar recognizes the unfamiliar girl, Eunji, and Irene’s friend greets her – both heading over to Joy’s suite (believe it or not, Joy’s surprisingly loading, and for a while, Irene used to wonder why the younger girl even wanted to work at The Bean— she had no reason to. She later came to the conclusion that it was Joy’s method of “fitting in,” and it works, in all honesty. The only thing different about Joy was that she lived in one of the suites.)

“Joy and I got pretty close during our acapella practices,” Wendy explains during the elevator ride upstairs. “She and Solar really made me feel really welcome, and it was like I had been a part of the group for years. Joy’s a great kid, and she introduced me to this one here,” she jokes, pointing her thumb at Eunji, her current girlfriend.

Eunji laughs, and even her laugh alone sounds musical to Irene’s ears— a lot like Solar’s. “Chorong’s in my hall in the dorms,” she tells Irene. “She likes to tell stories about how you, her, and Solar roomed together in freshman year, and how your RA’s were crazy.”

“They were insane!” Irene and Solar exclaim at once, and they look at each other in grave seriousness.

“You remember the whole thing about the Listerine mouthwash drinking competition?” Irene asks Solar as the four of them step out of the elevator.

“Of course I remember! I remember how the three of us ditched to Taeyeon-sunbaenim’s apartment as soon as our RA looked away.”

“Irene-unnie would always tell me stories about the weird traditions when she came home from break,” a new voice interrupts, and everyone turns to see Jisoo and Jennie stepping out of a different suite from down the hall.

“Jennie!” Wendy greets at the same time Irene and Solar ask, “Do you also live here?”

Jennie chuckles, locking the front door to her suite and pocketing the key. “Yup. It’s what I get for being born to parents who worked abroad. ”

And then much to everyone’s surprise, Jisoo swiftly links their arms in plain sight. If Irene could whistle, she would, because she knew that her little cousin was smooth, just not that smooth.

Thankfully, Wendy can whistle, and she does it on behalf of everyone as she smirks at Jennie, who coughs into her other arm, doing her best to hide her red face as Jisoo clutches on tight to the normal calm and collected girl (literally, Jennie looks anything but).

“So you finally did it, huh? Took you long enough.”

(Irene can’t help but agree— long enough indeed. She’s been on the receiving end of Jisoo’s rants of “I swear she wants to talk to me, but she just won’t do it! Unnie, can you please tell Seulgi to do something?!” a few too many times over the past week.)

And before Jennie can even mutter a word to somewhat defend herself, Jisoo grins.

“She finally sat next to me in class! We’re basically married.”

--

Irene’s not surprised in the slightest to see Seulgi already in Joy’s suite, the Nintendo Switch plugged into the TV, playing Splatoon with Yeri. And somehow, she’s not surprised at all to see Joy’s body draped over her little sister’s, enveloped in a loose hug.

(Joy had called up Irene the night before, warning her in advance that she’d be taking a day trip to Daegu to pick up Yeri, and that Irene’s little sister would be staying with her for the whole weekend. Irene hadn’t minded. “Just no alcohol,” she’d warned Joy. “Scout’s honor,” Joy had replied.)

Joy greets her guests, telling them to help themselves to the food on the table, but doesn’t move from her positions for reasons that they all understand. Irene settles for jokingly letting out a scoff and setting down her present in the corner of the living room. Yeri doesn’t notice, too engrossed in match against Seulgi, but Joy blows a raspberry her way.

Irene rolls her eyes and sits on Seulgi’s side of the couch, just as the junior groans in frustration and flops back onto the couch. Meanwhile, Yeri rejoices on the other end and hugs Joy tight.

Seulgi pouts, dropping her head onto Irene’s shoulder. “I let her win ‘cause she’s your sister, by the way.”

Irene giggles. “I’m sure you did.”

--

The rest of the night goes well, and Irene has fun simply really relaxing with her friends for the first time in a long time. Or at least, for the most part, all the way up until the end, when Joy points out the obvious, and yet Irene hadn’t even realized.

They’d been taking a group picture to put on their numerous social media accounts, when a lightbulb suddenly had flicked on in Joy’s head.

“Oh, that reminds me!” She looks at Irene, inherent inquisitiveness displayed in her brown orbs. “Speaking of social media, we haven’t heard from Number 430 in quite a while now.”

“Wait,” Irene frowns, cocking her head in turn. Weird, the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind in weeks. “That’s true, actually. I’d been so busy that I hadn’t even realized.”

“Maybe they got tired of you, Irene,” Solar jokes, nudging Irene. She laughs but doesn’t take the words to heart. Well, that makes sense.

“Um, about that…” All eyes turn to Jennie. With all the attention on her, she shifts awkwardly in place, fidgeting in her seat. She takes a stab at the cheesecake on her plate in front of her before Jisoo puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she relaxes. “I kinda have something to confess.”

--

“So Number 430 had been Jennie all along,” Irene says distractedly, mostly to herself, as though Seulgi isn’t walking back to their apartments right next to her. She looks up at the overcast night sky, wondering if it would rain tomorrow. “I wonder how I missed it?” Another question directed to herself.

Irene’s mind is full of a lot of things; she’s got a lot on her mind, with perhaps the most prominent emotion being disappointment. But of what? What was she so disappointed about? It wasn’t about Jennie being no longer available, that was for sure.

“It was a funny reveal though, don’t you think?” Seulgi laughs with difficulty. It sounds forced, raw, like nails on a chalkboard, reminds Irene of pricking your finger on a splintered board of wood. Hurts.

“Yeah.”

Irene doesn’t say much else the entire walk back, just a simple, “Goodnight,” that Seulgi returns with a “‘night” and a pair of sad-looking eyes.

--

They don’t talk for the next few days, and Irene doesn’t know why, can’t put her finger on it.

Irene hates it.

She feels empty, going through a cycle for the first time in over a month. With Seulgi, her life had been anything but cyclical, but for some reason, now it is.

Wake up, pet Vivi, go to class, come home, change for work, go to work, come home, do homework, sleep. Rinse and repeat, no special cleaning formula or anything.

Irene hates it.

Seulgi doesn’t come to The Bean anymore.

Seulgi doesn’t even say hi when they pass each other on campus anymore, won’t make eye contact with her; nothing.

Irene hates it.

Seulgi is avoiding her, and Irene doesn’t know why. And yet for some reason, she gets the feeling that it’s on the both of them.

She wants to ask, wants to reach out, maybe even jump over that two-and-a-half foot gap between their balconies and bang on the glass door (because she hasn’t even seen Seulgi through the glass recently, and it’s killing her). She wants to ask why.

If only Seulgi would talk to her.

But then again, it’s probably Irene’s fault too, for brushing Seulgi off on that fateful night.

(“Yeah,” she had said. Is that it, Bae Joohyun?! Is that all you can say?! Her brain screams at her for being so stupid. One word. One stupid word, and everything had been ruined. Everything. If only she had spoken her mind that night. Perhaps things wouldn’t have been so broken.)

There’s no special Band-Aid out there that could possibly fix this one.

(She deletes Twitter, jabbing at the mini- ‘x’ that appears with a vigor before powering down her phone and leaving it on the kitchen counter, not looking at it for the rest of the day. Vivi’s ears droop, her whirring sounds slower and deeper now, as if she’s sad for Irene).

(She hides away the pumpkin spice and cinnamon during her hours at the coffee shop too, and if a customer asks for a drink with those ingredients, she makes Joy take the order instead. The taller girl only shoots Irene a concerned glance before complying without complaint.)

Irene hates it. Hates herself, her stupidity. But not Seulgi. No, never Seulgi.

--

She breaks down eight days after That Night, grabbing her phone and hastily dialling the number of the one person who had been there from the very start.

“Hello?”

“Can I come over?” Her voice cracks as she speaks, the hand gripping her phone trembling. At her feet, Vivi whirs, picking up on Irene’s mood and letting out a series of worried beeps. Irene smiles sadly at the little rabbit robot, whose mechanical ears droop down at its owner’s sorrow. “I need— I need advice, and I need to talk to someone in person.”

“Of course,” the voice over the phone says immediately. “Come over as soon as you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” Irene manages to croak out. She pulls the sleeve of her oversized sweater over the fist of one hand, swiping at the tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.

“Anytime, unnie.”

--

“What’s wrong, Irene?” Joy asks softly. She places a warm mug of hot chocolate on the coffee table in front of her friend before sitting down next to the older girl and wrapping a comforting arm around her. She’s never seen Irene like this before; she’s never seen such strong and steady presence break down before.

"I don’t know what to think, Sooyoung,” Irene sighs, and Joy straightens her back in her seat, because whenever Irene uses her full name, it means business. "Seulgi’s been avoiding me these past few days, I’ve been lacking sleep, lacking patience, and it all just leads back to me thinking about how I was disappointed. I was so, so disappointed that Number 430 wasn't Seulgi. I don't know when it started, but somehow, I just really, really wanted it to be her."

She clenches her hands into fists. Tight, sweaty, painful. They start shaking, and her muscles tense; it's something she deserves, she supposes. She doesn't know what exactly she did to Seulgi; just knows that whatever it was, Seulgi didn't deserve it.

"I was in love, Joy! But what was I in love with? The idea that someone had been loving me from afar? Oh, but she's so amazing, Joy! Seulgi isn't like anyone I've ever met before." Irene sighs, biting her bottom lip. "She's just so good. So very, inherently good. And it's not that I don't like Jennie, because I do, but I didn't really acknowledge how desperately I had wanted it to be Seulgi until now."

There's silence. And then—

"Unnie," Joy says slowly. She places a comforting hand on Irene's arm. "Doesn't this mean that even if you never found out who Number 430 was, you would've somehow ended up with Seulgi anyways? Irene, I've seen the way you look at her, and I've seen the way she looks at you, and I really, truly believe that even without Number 430, you would've came home to Seulgi. Had you not been given a face to the label, you would’ve ended up with Seulgi, right? You were not in love with Jennie— not before, and not after. When you were around Seulgi, what was really on your mind?"

"I—" Irene inhales sharply, shaking her head. "There was never anything else on my mind other than Seulgi. When I'm with her, everything was so simple... And now that she's avoiding me..."

"You feel like you've lost that simplicity?" Joy's words are quiet, but they grow in volume, even after a fleeting glance at her phone, when she looks at the older girl with even more conviction than before. "Oh, unnie, but it's not lost! Seulgi hasn't gone anywhere, she's still right across the balcony from you. You can talk to her, you know you can. She's Seulgi, and she will always listen to you. And when you think about it, what does it matter if Seulgi isn’t Number 430? She’s your Seulgi, unnie," Her eyes are soft, and Joy leans over to pick up her cup of hot chocolate, stirring it with a metal spoon. Taking a sip, she closes her eyes. "And she’s not going anywhere."

"What would happen if I just let this die down?" Irene wonders out loud, hating the way the words taste on her tongue. Coward, they jeer. “Do you think it would even be possible?”

"Is that what you want?" Joy asks.

Irene stares past Joy, past the taller girl's head, over to the picture resting on the top of a nearby drawer. It's the photograph of all of their friends at Joy's birthday party, taken right before the moment that had changed it all, that Joy had apparently gotten framed— oh, how they've grown in size. Her circle has definitely expanded in such a short period of time.

And she thinks over Joy's inquiry— it's a weighted question, that's for sure. There's a lot of things Irene wants; she wants to graduate, wants to travel with her friends, wants to ace that business quiz next week. Maybe even wants a real rabbit, just to keep Vivi company, because there's no way she's ever getting rid of Vivi.

She wants to be with Seulgi.

And she says so, out loud.

"Even if we're just going to be friends," she says, and there’s no special Band-aid but, "I can't lose her. I… I want to try."

Joy smiles.

"Good. Because Seulgi just texted me, saying that she saw you run out of your apartment building earlier, and she wanted to know if you were alright. I think you know what to do."

--

Seulgi wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of scratching. Grunting, she pushes herself off the couch, vaguely noticing that the TV was still to Netflix, and she sighs and turns it off. What a sad life she lives.

Meanwhile, the scratching sound from outside persists. With a frown, she makes her way to the kitchen, only to find a pair of blinking, pink digital eyes staring at her through her balcony window, and a little rabbit robot paws persistently at the glass.

“Vivi?” Seulgi quickly lets the robot in, hastily scanning her to make sure nothing had been broken. Vivi does a little bunny hop, much as she does during Seulgi’s check-ins with her, before whirring insistently. “What are you doing here? Oh—” She inhales shakily, finally laying eyes on the note taped to Vivi’s back.

I’m coming over. We need to talk. - Hyun

Not even a minute later, her doorbell rings and Seulgi squeezes her eyes shut. Time to face the music.

--

“I’m sorry that it’s almost midnight,” Irene pants, having run up the fire escape stairs. She’s been restless ever since her talk with Joy earlier that night, and she’d made the split-second decision to run up the stairs in a last attempt to burn off some energy. “But my mind hasn’t been as clear in days.”

“I’m sorry,” is all Seulgi says genuinely, more than knowing that she’s been a part of the problem too. She cracks her knuckles yet again, out of nervous habit, only for her to be stopped by a soft hand covering up her own.

Irene presses her thumb into the back of Seulgi’s hand.

“Seul?” She asks softly.

“Yeah, Hyun?” Seulgi replies, and for a moment, it’s like everything is back for normal.

Except Irene doesn’t want normal.

“Seul, how do you feel about me?”

Seulgi laughs, resisting the urge to pull Irene in closer for a hug. “I think you know pretty well.”

“Yeah, but I want to hear you say it,” Irene says insistently.

“I think we both know that I’m a little bit in love with you, Miss Bae,” Seulgi says, relenting willingly. And to Irene, it feels good to hear the words; like running her cold hands under a stream of warm water, like sinking her tired body into a heated bath. It’s autumn, so it’s been getting a little chilly, after all.

“Good,” Irene says satisfactorily, pushing closer to stand in Seulgi’s space, a place where she’s always been welcome; where Seulgi still welcomes her even now, not even hesitating. And it feels right.

“Listen,” Seulgi sighs, “About what Jennie said, about Number 430—”

“You don’t have to be Number 430 for me to have feelings for you,” Irene says quietly, and her words, though spoken softly, successfully end whatever it was that Seulgi had been about to say. And she can see the tears well up in Seulgi’s eyes. She stands on her tiptoes, throws her arms around Seulgi’s shoulders. “Because I do. I’ve fallen for you, Kang Seulgi.”

“Are you sure?” Seulgi asks urgently, her own arms coming around to circle Irene’s waist. “I- oh god, Irene, you don’t know how long I’ve been aching to hear those words, so if you don’t mean it, then—”

“I’ve never been more sure of myself in my life,” Irene whispers, bringing their foreheads to together. It feels right; she’s come home.

“So what if I told you…” Seulgi trails off, pursing her lips and looking conflicted. She chews on her bottom lip, and Irene momentarily pushes aside all ideas of taking that same bottom lip between her own two teeth in order to focus on the manner at hand.

“Told me what, Seul?” Irene’s brow creases in concern, and she absentmindedly smooths the wrinkles on the collar of Seulgi’s flannel. “You can tell me anything.”

The younger girl takes a deep breath, gently taking Irene’s hand and rubbing circles onto the back of it.

“What if I told you that I was actually Number 430 all along?”

“What?!” Irene gapes, eyes going wide with shock. “You— but Jennie said it was—”

“Ah, that whole reveal was supposed to be a joke,” Seulgi winces, rubbing the back of her head with her free hand. “Honest, it was. The plan was to have Jennie say that she was Number 430, and that she later moved on after meeting Jisoo, and then I was supposed to jump in and say, ‘no, I’m Number 430, and here’s why,’ and then we’d make you guess who was the right one. Here, look,” she pulls out her phone from her pocket, and taps open her Twitter Direct Messages.

Irene’s mouth drops, bearing witness to the numerous DMs Seulgi had sent the SMU_Crushes administrator. It’s right there in front of her, tangible, real evidence. It had been Seulgi from the beginning. Seulgi, even at the very start.

“So Number 430 really was you…” Irene whispers, touching the phone screen lightly.

“I’m sorry, Irene,” Seulgi hangs her head. “The initial plan had been to joke around, but after Jennie had said her part, I saw that disappointment flash in your eyes. I thought… I thought that you’d been disappointed that Jennie had moved on. I could never even imagine that you were disappointed that it wasn’t me! So Jennie and I… we silently agreed to just let things die there— Jisoo had been in on it too, by the way, so she understands everything that went on. Jennie is too good a friend for me…” Seulgi trails off helplessly, and she looks away, beyond Irene. “And so are you. I understand if you’re mad… You’re too good for me, Irene— ah!”

“Stop calling me Irene,” the older girl mumbles, hiding her face in Seulgi’s shirt. “I’m your Hyun, remember?” She looks up at Seulgi, nothing but tenderness and understanding in her eyes. Irene cups the taller girl’s cheek. “Seulgi, please don’t worry, I’m not mad! In fact, I’m actually relieved that this happened; that I didn’t know it was you at first. I got to sort through my feelings and make sure that what I felt for you wasn’t caused because I was flattered by someone I couldn’t see. I got to see that my feelings for you were genuine, and I’m so, so glad that I got that opportunity, Seul, really.”

Seulgi sighs in contentment, relaxing into Irene’s embrace. She drums patterns with her fingertips into the older girl’s back, matching the rhythm of their heartbeats as Irene tangles her hands into the hem of Seulgi’s wool sweater.

“I missed you,” Irene admits, mumbling into fabric of Seulgi’s shirt. “I really missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Seulgi replies, hiding her face in Irene’s hair. “So very, very much.”

“Seul, you don’t understand. I just went over to Joy’s place and poured my heart out to that demonic child.”

Seulgi chuckles, and, feeling the need to make up for it, says, “If it makes you feel better, I Googled ‘how to get over heartbreak.’”

Irene laughs, loud and clear, the sound leaving the walls and soaring up, up, up, right before Seulgi captures her laughter with , searing her love on Irene’s lips.

--

“We wasted a lot of time,” Seulgi comments ten minutes later, cuddling with Irene on her bed. “Like, a whole week’s worth of time.”

“I mean, we could start making it up,” Irene replies. Her head rests on Seulgi’s chest as they watch Vivi pad around in circles before heading out of the bedroom and into the living room, curling up into a ball and falling sound asleep, whirring noises dying down to a low hum. “What day is it today?”

“Sunday morning,” Seulgi says. “I’ve got nothing to do.”

“Perfect.”

Seulgi’s mouth is warm and inviting against her own, pulling Irene in, numbing the senses as Seulgi presses her deeper into the mattress, molding around her lithe frame. She catches Seulgi’s bottom lip between her open mouth; the frame creaks as Seulgi holds herself up on her elbows, leans down to bump their noses against each other.

“Love you,” Irene whispers, trembling fingers finding their way through Seulgi’s unkempt hair. Seulgi shivers, diving in to burn apologies against Irene’s collarbone, making her way up.

“Love you,” Seulgi echoes, branding the words onto the column of Irene’s throat, fingers dancing on the molten skin of Irene’s stomach.

And Irene feels it: the happiness that just bubbles up at merely hearing the words in return. She meets Seulgi’s eyes, pulls her up by the base of her neck, and it’s too much for her lungs to contain, so she laughs as she folds her lips over Seulgi’s sweet smile.

This is clarity.

--

It restarts like this.

It’s already 12:30 in the afternoon when Irene hauls herself up from bed, despite Seulgi’s insistence for her to just stay.

“Why do you have to go to work on a Sunday?” Seulgi moans, draping herself over Irene’s arm, trying to pull her back down into the bed. “You don’t usually work on Sundays! Why is this one different?”

“Because the person who usually covers the Sunday afternoon shift has an anniversary date today,” Irene says, just barely finding the willpower to pry Seulgi from her body and detach herself from the tangle of blanket. “Plus, Rosé is a good kid, and her girlfriend Lisa always gives us ample tips, so I feel like I owe them both something for being better-than-average human beings.”

“Fair,” Seulgi grumbles, sitting up and crossing her arms. “Rosé better cover for us on our one month anniversary. And you bet I’ll be counting.”

Irene can feel the Universe expanding in her chest as Seulgi reaches out and runs a hand across her cheek with the utmost care.

“Do well today, Hyun,” she says.

“Visit your girlfriend today during her shift?” Irene asks hopefully, and Seulgi chuckles.

“I’ll be there during my usual hours.”

“Great!” Irene beams, stealing a peck on the lips that leaves Seulgi with a dorky grin on her face, even while watching her girlfriend hustle out of her apartment. “I’ll see you later then!”

--

“I can’t believe you actually signed up for the Sunday shift with me,” Irene deadpans as she turns on the coffee grinder and yells over the volume of the machine. “Park Sooyoung, do you have a death wish?”

“No,” Joy chortles, dumping a few fruits into a blender, “I just wish to know what good thing happened between you and Miss Kang Seulgi last night that’s got you in such a good mood today.”

“Oh wouldn’t you like to know,” Irene shoots back. She punches the button to turn the grinder off, scrunches up her nose, and sticks her tongue out. “Mehrong.”

“Hey, don’t you think you owe me for all that wonderful advice?!” Joy protests. She crosses her arms. “It’s only because of me that you two even—”

“Hyun!”

“Hi, Seul!”

Joy rolls her eyes, not even bothering to finish her sentence as Irene moves to chat excitedly with her new girlfriend over the counter. With a small smile on her face, Joy excuses herself to the break room in the back, picking up her phone, the most satisfied of expressions on her face.

(“Yeri? Yeah, guess who finally got laid! Maybe your sister will be less grouchy from now on, and Seulgi can get her to answer calls more often. Who knows? Maybe Seulgi can even cure Irene’s allergy to technology!”)

“So I’m assuming it’s the usual?” Irene giggles when her prediction proves to be correct. Seulgi shrugs her shoulders. “Fall-in-a-Cup it is. You know, I should make a winter drink for when that season hits too.”

“I’ll drink anything you give me, Hyun,” Seulgi laughs. “You know how clueless I am when it comes to teas and coffees.”

“Oh, do I know,” the older girl chuckles, thinking back to all of the cups of hot chocolate they’ve shared, her heart warming at the thought of how many more there are to come. “Wait right here, I’ll be back with your order.”

It takes her longer than usual to finish brewing the drink; she spends her time making sure that the amounts are even more precise than what she’s used to. Not to mention, she gives the paper coffee cup sleeve a good, long look as she uncaps the Sharpie marker with her teeth.

Soon enough, she passes the drink to Seulgi over the counter with a smile that holds something a bit more than happiness; there’s anticipation there too. Anticipation as Seulgi thanks her for always doing her best, anticipation as Seulgi spins the cup around to admire the way Irene’s written her name as usual, anticipation for Seulgi’s reaction when she sees what’s written directly underneath her name.

“Oh my god?!” Seulgi gapes, eyes bugging out as she scrutinizes the phone number written in small, neat handwriting beneath the ‘Kang Seulgi’ in Sharpie ink. She snaps her gaze up to Irene in shock. “We’ve known each other for so long— we’ve slept together— I just— you’re my girlfriend, and we’ve never taken the time to do something as simple as hand each other our numbers?”

“We’ve always been a little bit odd about things like this,” Irene shrugs, exploding into laughter at the incredulous look Seulgi fixes her with. “Think about it, Seul. Our first child is a robotic rabbit. We would communicate at 2AM in the morning by talking across our balconies. You used to confess to me via anonymous confession on Twitter.”

“Speaking of which,” Seulgi taps her phone screen, “Have you checked your Twitter recently?”

“No, I just redownloaded it an hour ago after I’d deleted in a self-depressed rage. Why?”

Seulgi smirks. “I just think that you should check it out.”

“Oh, Kang Seulgi, what did you do?”

“Just check your timeline, Bae Joohyun!”

@SMU_Crushes #430 back here, after a long hiatus! here’s an update, since the admin has told me that people were wondering what had happened to me and my little crush: we’re happy. we’re so, so happy, and Bae, i’m so proud to call you mine.

 

Fin.