“SEUNGWAN-AH!” “WENDY-UNNIE!”

 

Wendy rolled her eyes good-naturedly as she chuckled. “You guys hype me up too much.”

 

It’s Sunday; the girls are currently resting at the comfort of their own homes since it’s still the holidays. They all agreed that they would watch their company's live concert as a group even if they’re far away from each other. It’s a big day for everyone because the members wanted to celebrate Wendy’s return. The others are really good at covering Wendy’s parts but they all agreed that every Pyscho performance just doesn’t feel right without Wendy in it. It’s always best when it’s the five of them.

Right now, they’re all watching their Bad Boy performance through videocall. It’s been 20 minutes and they still haven’t finished watching because the girls kept on pausing the video to point and laugh at something, all thanks to Joy and Yeri’s colorful commentary.

 

 

“My gosh, I look splendid.” Yeri tutted. “This outfit really suits me, right, unnies?”

 

“Yerim-ah, you’re so full of yourself.” Joy rolled her eyes but Wendy enthusiastically nodded. “Yes, Yerimie, you look smoking!”

 

The maknaes continued to bicker until Wendy’s part came in and they all hooted.

 

“Wendy-unnie, you look so cool!” Joy’s eyes became soft like a puppy and there was a look on her face that’s reserved only for Wendy.

 

“I hear the leather outfits squeaking!” Irene suddenly laughed and they all joined in.

 

“Seungwannie!!” Seulgi gushed and Wendy rolled her eyes again.

 

“Is this how you’re all going to react each time the camera pans to me?”

 

“Yes.” They said in unison.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Wait!” Joy suddenly paused the video and they all protested.

 

“Yah, Sooyoung, what the heck?”

 

“Look at Joohyun-unnie’s heart eyes.” Joy snickered as she hit rewind on the video, back to the part where they’re doing their introduction ment.

 

“But it’s too bad that we can only meet our fans through online, not at the concerts,” Seulgi’s voice wafted through the screen. “We miss you guys so much!”

 

Seulgi cringed as she heard herself say those words in her small voice. “Aish, my voice sounds so embarrassing.”

 

Then Joy hit pause and they all saw Irene’s amused face at Seulgi in the next frame. Yeri, Joy, and Wendy burst out laughing while the older girls blushed.

 

“Yah, unnie, you were laughing at me.” Seulgi pouted as she pointed at Irene’s face on the screen that’s frozen mid-laugh.

 

“Silly, it’s because she finds you adorable.” Wendy commented.

 

“Is that really how I look at Seulgi?” Irene shyly asked.

 

“Yes.” They said in unison.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Peek-a-Boo is next!” Seulgi excitedly said when they resumed watching.

 

“Gosh, how long has it been since we last performed this?” Wendy sighed. “I felt so nervous when I was relearning the choreography. I kept thinking I would mess up somehow.”

 

“Don’t worry, Seungwan-ah, you did great.” Irene assured her.

 

“Wendy-unnie, you look so cute!” Yeri giggled when she saw Wendy’s close up. Then she suddenly went quiet as Joy’s part came in. “Unnie, I guess you look good too.” She said quietly, as if she really doesn't want to admit it.

 

“You guess?” Joy asked incredulously. “Did you not forget that I went viral during this era?”

 

They had to pause the video again because they were all laughing.

 

“That’s right, every time I search the words ‘Kpop girl in rainbow dress’, Sooyoung pops out.” Seulgi said in between chuckles.

 

“Unnie, did you know you went viral again on Twitter?” Yeri commented.

 

“Yerim, you spend way too much time on that.” Irene said disapprovingly.

 

“Joohyun-unnie, you should make a secret Twitter account,” Yeri answered. “Trust me, the things I see there every day always crack me up.”

 

Irene shook her head. “I’d rather not. I don’t know how to use that.”

 

“It’s easy,” Yeri shrugged. “You can just tweet anything you like. I do it all the time. With the amount of I sai—”

“Yah.”

 

Yeri huffed and they all resumed watching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“THE OPTICAL ILLUSION!” Wendy and Seulgi suddenly shouted and Irene jumped in her seat.

 

“Omo, you surprised me!” She scolded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, it was time for their last performance.

 

“Anybody else got goosebumps?” Seulgi rubbed her arms. “This is, like, my favorite Psycho performance.”

 

“I feel the same.” Irene nodded. “It just looks right with Seungwan there.”

 

“Joy-ah, you look so pretty.” Wendy smiled. “This outfit really suits you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“URIN CHAM BYEOLLAGO ISANGHAN SAIYA!!” They all sang and Wendy laughed heartily.

 

“Wendy-unnie!” “Seungwan-ah!”

 

“Is it weird that I feel slightly emotional?” Seulgi muttered.

 

“You’re such a crybaby, Seulgi-unnie.” The maknaes rolled their eyes.

“You’re a dork, Seulgi.” But Wendy was trying to hide her grin.

“It’s not weird.” Irene said calmly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Ooh, this formation looks really good when it’s five of us!” Joy pointed and they all “Ooh-“ed together.

 

Irene was smiling the whole time. “Seungwan-ah, you don’t know how happy I felt when we did that move and I saw your face.”

 

“Yeah, I couldn’t contain my smile as well.” Wendy returned her smile. “I’m so glad to be back.”

 

“We’re so glad you’re back!”

 

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Are you sure this is alright?”

 

Seulgi smiled and she patted Irene’s head. “It’s fine. Don’t stress about it too much.”

 

Irene bit her lip. “Wait, I’ll reread it again.”

 

Seulgi nodded. “Go ahead. But you’ve already reread it and rewritten in several times.” She looked at the wall clock on Irene’s room. “You’ve been at it since morning, my Joohyun. It’s fine.”

 

“I just feel like there’s still something lacking.” Irene said in a nervous voice. “Did I say too much? Or perhaps, I haven’t said enough? I just—”

 

Seulgi suddenly engulfed her in a crushing hug. “Let’s just calm down and take a deep breath. Breathe in through your nose, exhale from your mouth.”

 

Irene closed her eyes and she let her girlfriend take the lead as they both took deep, slow breaths.

 

“In. Out.” Seulgi said calmly and already, Irene could feel her anxiety slowly drifting away. “Good.”

 

“I just can’t help but overthink.” Irene said in a small voice before she breathed in Seulgi’s scent. "It's just.."

 

 

 

 

 

Seulgi patiently listened to all of Irene’s worries even though she heard it from their leader about a thousand times before and in a hundred different versions. She thought it best to just let Irene get all her feelings out in the open because Seulgi knew that Irene had the tendency to bottle everything up inside. Now that they’re in a relationship, Seulgi felt that it was her right and responsibility to take care of Irene not just as her member, but also as her partner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“So.. there. Do you think it’s acceptable enough?” Irene took a deep breath before turning her big doe eyes on Seulgi.

 

“Yes, it’s okay.” Seulgi smiled. “What matters is, you’ve said your piece, and everyone who loves you is there to support you. I’m sure our Luvies miss you dearly. And they all love you. We all do. Especially me.”

 

Irene smiled as Seulgi placed a soft kiss on her cheeks. “Okay, thank you, Seulgi-yah.”

 

“You can always count on me, my love.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as Irene hit send, she reread her message again and her eyes widened. “Wait, is it alright if I greet them Happy New Year even though it’s been two weeks since the new year started?”

 

“Of course, unnie.” Seulgi laughed. “Don’t worry, you can say Merry Christmas or Happy Valentine’s Day.. they won’t mind. I’m sure that they only care about your well-being. I’ll make sure to take care of you so they won’t worry too much.”

 

“Okay.” Irene buried her head on Seulgi’s neck. “I’m too nervous, Seulgi-yah. Let’s do something else so I’ll be distracted the whole day.”

 

“All right.” Seulgi smiled widely and she grabbed Irene’s hand. “Hey. Let’s go out on a date!”

 

“Do you have something in mind?” Irene asked.

 

“No, but that’s the beauty of it!” Seulgi answered as she grabbed her coat and sauntered out of the room. “Let’s do something spontaneous. Go wherever we like. Do anything we want.”

 

“Let’s do it.” Irene smiled as she followed Seulgi out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the future, Irene would always look back to this exact moment. 

 

 

In retrospect, she should have stopped Seulgi from walking out the door.

 

She shouldn’t have agreed that they go on a spontaneous date.

 

She should have just kept shut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then maybe things would have been different.