Seulgi was in a daze. She looked at her watch again and noted that it had been an hour since she kissed Irene. All throughout breakfast, as they ate freshly-baked bread that Wendy made, she kept staring off into the distance and replaying the memory over and over in her mind.

“Earth to Slowgi.” Yeri snickered. “Enough with the daydreaming, unnie.”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Seulgi turned to Yeri.

“I was asking if you could pass the jam, like, ages ago.” Yeri rolled her eyes as she generously slathered her bread with strawberry jam.

“Sorry.” Seulgi grinned. “Had a lot on my mind.”

Then she caught Irene’s eye and the two of them blushed slightly. Seulgi knew that the leader was thinking about the same thing.

“So, where do we start?” Wendy asked the group. “You want to divide areas?”

Irene nodded. “Let’s see.. Kitchen, bathroom and laundry room, living room, then we each clean our own rooms. Sound good?”

“Okay.” The four answered.

“I’ll do the kitchen.” Wendy offered. “Since I already made a mess this morning.”

“Okay,” Joy turned to Yeri. “Yerim-ah, help me with the living room.”

“Sure.”

“Unnies, you can do it in the bathroom.” Yeri commented.

“Excuse me?”

“What I mean to say is, you can do the bathroom.” Yeri laughed loudly.

Irene looked as red as the jam on Yeri’s bread.

After breakfast, the members set on to their assigned tasks. Wendy offered to wash the dishes since she’s going to be cleaning the entire kitchen anyway. Joy and Yeri had a small argument about their playlist before they started in the living room. Irene went to her room to change and Seulgi headed off to the bathroom, gloves in hand. She was scrubbing the sink when Irene entered.

“Oh, you already started,” Irene commented. Then she went inside and took off the shower curtain and the other linens.

“I’ll go do the laundry then.” Irene briskly walked out of the room.

Seulgi pouted as she watched her leave. She wanted to do a repeat of what happened in her room or at the very least, a confirmation that they were still okay. So she continued scrubbing the sink with a little more force than usual.

But then the door suddenly burst open and Irene walked in again. “I forgot something.”

“What is it?” Seulgi grumbled. “More stuff to wash?”

“This.” Then Irene closed the door, walked over to Seulgi, and captured her lips in a short kiss.

“Okay. Now I’ll do the laundry for real.” Irene smiled as she gave Seulgi one last peck then she left the bathroom giggling, leaving Seulgi dumbfounded as she stared at herself in front of the mirror.

Seulgi continued scrubbing the sink with force, but this time, her pout changed to a stupid grin. 

While she waited for the laundry, Irene headed to her room to fix the mess she left. She sighed as she wrapped everything up in a large trash bag. The smell was still slightly nauseating and Irene bid a quiet goodbye to her purple sheets as she pulled them off her bed. Then she headed back to their laundry room to place the linen in the dryer.

The others were already starting on their own rooms and Irene huffed as she dragged the heavy trash bag outside. Having a bigger room meant spending more time cleaning. Normally, she usually didn’t mind, but then again, she had other things she’d rather do at the moment.

Irene just finished cleaning her personal bathroom and was on her balcony sweeping when she saw Seulgi entering her room.

“Unnie—" Then Seulgi took a step back. “Ugh. It still smells like paint here.”

“I’m getting used to it.” Irene replied. She leaned on the balcony and took in the beautiful weather. “I’m so tired and sleepy.”

“The others are done and we just ordered lunch. It’s about 30 minutes away.” Seulgi stepped out to the balcony to join her.

“Can I just go sleep instead?” Irene groaned. “Aren’t you tired yet? We haven’t had a decent sleep in days.”

“I’m not.” Seulgi smiled. “I’m bursting with so much energy, I think I can run about a hundred kilometers.”

“I’m so sleepy, I could sleep for a hundred days.”

“Anyway, I came here to ask if I could use your bathroom,” Seulgi said. “Yerim’s taking so long and I stink.”

“Sure.” Then Irene stood up straight. “After I’m done.”

“Aww,” Seulgi whined. “But you take too long! I’ll just be in and out in a minute, I promise.”

But Irene was already running to her bathroom.

During lunch, they all congratulated themselves for a job well done. The dorm looked spotless and everyone else’s rooms except Irene’s smelled heavenly, thanks to Wendy’s newly bought essential oils.

“If I could bottle up the paint smell and put it in our humidifier, I think it would smell really nice.” Yeri commented in between bites. "In fact, I wonder if I could make that my trademark scent."

“Something is seriously wrong with you,” Joy looked at her weirdly.

“So, what’s everyone doing today?” Wendy asked the girls.

“I’m going home to spend time with my dog.” Yeri answered as she cooed at her dog's photo on her phone. “I don’t want my baby to forget my face.”

“I’m going out with some friends.” Joy said.

“Be back before curfew.” Seulgi reminded her. “I’m going for a run. Join me, Seungwan?”

“Pass.” Wendy replied. “I’m binging Start Up.”

Irene and Seulgi briefly looked at each other again and they both tried to hide their smiles.

An hour later, Irene tossed and turned in her bed. She was incredibly tired and sleepy, and yet her overly sensitive sense of smell could still detect the whiff of paint. She stood up and left the room.

Seulgi’s door was ajar and Irene peeked inside. Then she let out a laugh because Seulgi was clad in full running gear but she was snoring softly on her bed.

Irene entered the room and quietly shut the door.

“Seulgi-yah.” Irene poked her member’s cheek. “Seulgi-yaaaah.”

“Huh?” She muttered sleepily, eyes still closed.

“So this is what you meant by running a hundred kilometers.” Irene said teasingly.

“Go away. I’m busy.” Seulgi muttered.

“Were you able to go far?” Irene lied down next to Seulgi and propped herself up on one elbow.

“Hmm.” Was Seulgi’s only response.

“Are you even listening to me?” Irene rolled her eyes.

“Hmm.”

“I’m taller than Yerim, right?” Irene giggled.

“Hmm.”

“If I prepare vegetables for dinner, will you eat all of it?” Irene asked.

“Hmm.”

Then Irene moved closer.

“You want to make out?” She whispered.

Seulgi’s eyes flashed open. “I’m up.”

Irene laughed loudly as she slapped Seulgi on the arm. “You’re such a dork!”

Then the smaller girl turned away from Seulgi. “Now, go run, pabo. I’m sleeping here. My room still stinks.”

Seulgi groaned as she got up while Irene cuddled her pillow.

Irene was on the verge of drifting off to a deep sleep when a couple of arms suddenly swooped in and wrapped around her. Seulgi’s body was warm as she hugged Irene from behind.

“Yah.” Irene muttered sleepily. "Go away."

“I don’t want to run anymore.” Seulgi had her face buried in Irene’s hair.

“Fine. Just don’t bother me.”

“Unnie,” Seulgi said in a muffled voice.

Irene ignored her.

“Yah. Bae Joohyun.” Seulgi nudged the back of her head with her forehead.

Irene grunted in response.

“We’re friends, right?” Seulgi nuzzled Irene’s hair.

“Yes.” Irene said resignedly.

Seulgi planted a kiss on Irene’s neck and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“I told you, this is what friends do.” Seulgi muttered.

Irene couldn’t hold back her laughter. “You are such an idiot.”

The two drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces.