A/N: Hey guys. I may or may not be rushing things but I figured we can pick up the pace now. School starts for me again in one week so I'll try to write as much as I can before I get caught up in academics and what not. So yeah. Hope you enjoy this chapter! - Bluekimchi

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Seulgi has always liked cartoons, especially those shown in television. For a lot of things, really - the artistic flair in drawings and animation, the fun and light theme that's perfect for children, and the morals taught with each episode whether it be friendship, family, or achieving one's dream. 

Another thing she also liked about cartoons is the sound effects. The dubbing is pretty awesome too but ever since she found out that soundtracks and other effects in animated shows, movies and television series, are recorded the same way other songs are, she just had to appreciate sound effects more. Those things run for a little less than a minute but how many times would it take for the sound team to perfect it for the sake of giving a high quality show. Seulgi really appreciates that.

There's this one particular sound effect she likes. She's not sure what to call it but she thinks it's called the flop sound. It isn't anything like a fish flopping on a deck in the harbor but rather, the sound when a character is just about to do some thing big (go big or go home kind of big) but fails miserably with a flop.

The point that she's really trying to get across here is that if her week is a sound effect, it would be the flop.

Before this week, it feels as if she was on her way to getting her happy ending. Her father doesn't hate her. She got her studio back. She has Bomi and Chorong for family. And the best part is, she has Seungwan who is something like her bestfriend. She doesn't even mind that Soojung is taking so long to come back. Seulgi is on her way to happiness except that isn't the case anymore. At least with Seungwan.

For whatever reason unknown to her (it can't be about the kiss, right?), she just stopped talking to her, stopped getting ice cream with her after therapy sessions, and stopped bugging her to go on walks around town so she can stalk Yerim at the orphanage. Everything changed. It's like she backslided. Seungwan's walls are up again. Though she isn't being rude and hurtful but she's been so aloof that Seulgi misses that side of her already. She'd rather she say mean things to her than have her pretend like she doesn't exist.

She doesn't want to dwell too much on the fact that everything else is pretty much the same except for how Seungwan treats her because that just goes to say that she greatly values what Seungwan thinks of her now and that she has become a big part of her life, bigger than she likes to admit. Bomi won't stop teasing her for it. 

Chorong, on the other hand, seems to have a very different outlook on the whole thing.

"Maybe it's time for you to get out there and meet new people, Seulgi." She stresses out the last syllable of her name in a high pitched squeak.

"Meet new people? Like make new friends?" The older girl looks away pointedly.

"You can think of it as that." She mumbles.

"What else is there to think of it as? I'm not going to cheat on Soojung ever." She says, defensive.

"I know that already. I just think you should give it a try. You know how things are with Seungwan-"

"That's not a very nice thing to suggest. I can't give up on Seungwan. She's my friend." Seulgi is honestly so offended. And disappointed. She never thought that Chorong would say something like that. But she doesn't say it out loud because it would probably hurt Chorong's feelings.

"I know! I'm just looking out for you, Seulgi." Chorong says, sighs heavily. "Please say you'll consider it, at least."

"Okay." 

Seulgi thinks it's a bad idea and that 'okay' was just a slip of the tongue. She didn't really agree to anything. She just said it to end the conversation. And it came to her as a surprise that Chorong actually thinks she agreed. Because not more than 48 hours after their conversation, Seulgi finds herself in a coffee shop just across the street from the apartment, sitting in front of a girl whom Chorong has introduced to her, just ten minutes ago.

This pace is too fast for her and it's giving her a headache.

"Seolhyun, is it?" She asks, rubs her temples with her hands.

The girl politely nods. 

She's pretty, Seulgi notices. Almost as pretty as Soojung. If she inclines her head to a certain angle and squints her eyes a little, she kinda does look like her. But Seulgi isn't interested. She should be meeting Seungwan for their routinary walk right now if Seungwan wasn't so busy avoiding her.

"Where do you know Chorong unnie from?" She tries to get the ball rolling, realizes that she should probably make the most out of this meeting (she doesn't want to think of it as a date). Chorong insisted that it would be fun anyway.

"Work." Seolhyun replies.

"Oh. What are you anyway?" Her eyes grow big in terror. She didn't mean to say it that way but she knows it's already too late when she hears the girl scoff.

"Heol. What am I? I happen to play in a really famous pop band. Just because you're a chaebol heiress doesn't mean you can look down on people like that." She throws her pretty nose up in the air, crosses her arms over her chest.

"I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry!" Seulgi puts her hands in front of her, waves them around to deny the girl's claim.

"Are you yelling at me?" She seethes. "I don't need this." She pushes her chair back harshly, glares at Seulgi as she stands up and walks away.

There it is again. The flop.

Seulgi sighs heavily, stares at the untouched drinks on the table and thinks about how she could probably use her bestfriend right now but she remembers that the reason she is doing this, or that Chorong is forcing her to do it, is because of her bestfriend. Frustrated, she ends up drinking two cappucinos instead of one (she didn't want to waste a perfectly good cup of coffee).

--

Chorong eventually finds out that Seulgi's meeting with Seolhyun was a disaster. Which should probably tell her to just give up but she doesn't and she sets up Seulgi for two more meetings with two other girls for the following week.

She met Yura on Sunday. She seems alright. Seulgi was careful to not blurt out things that may sound offensive. She finds that they have a lot in common, she's an artist too and they actually know the same people from college but they never met then because Yura is two years older than her.

She's thinking that she could be a good friend to her. She's funny and says a lot of interesting things. She really seems great until she leans in dangerously close to Seulgi's face just as they're saying their goodbyes and- 

Flop. 

Too sloppy. Seulgi doesn't like people getting touchy when she hasn't known them for a long time.

--

She's meeting the next girl today, Wednesday, after her session with Doctor Choi. 

She isn't really looking forward to it. Especially because she's now sitting across a room full of people she couldn't care less about and wishing so badly that Seungwan would look her way once to ask her how she's been, to tell her the reason why she's being so distant after all the progress that their friendship has traversed, or to ask her to not meet the next girl and just eat ice cream with her after therapy and walk around town for a long time to make up for the missed Tuesdays and Thursdays that they foregone walking.

Unfortunately, that doesn't happen so she sits through therapy, mucks around the questions thrown her way until the time is up. She can tell that Doctor Choi is disappointed and she apologizes to her, promises to make it up for the next session.

She hurries off to the meeting place and arrives pretty early which is good because she needs some time to breathe and to process things, to think.

Naeun. She remembers Chorong telling her that her name is Naeun. Chorong actually had a lot to say about this one. How she's their resident cartoonist in their group of friends. How she was called Son Goddess in high school for being so pretty. She and Chorong must be really close friends and the pressure to not disappoint the older girl is too strong.

She knows she'll be alright as long as this one doesn't try to kiss her or walk out on her. She just needs to survive the two hours of talking and getting to know each other and she should be fine.

The girl arrives and, wow, Chorong wasn't kidding. She's very pretty. Though the all black ensemble she has on doesn't do her justice. Maybe Seulgi just doesn't like the color. Sure, she looks good in it like anybody else would. But she can't help but be reminded of Soojung and it makes her want to bang her head against the table because she's getting too stressed out now, overthinking things.

The meeting unfolds nicely and Seulgi admits that Naeun isn't too tiresome for company. She's a little shy but she's comfortable to be with. She's the same age and she's an okay person. They talk about the basics (interests, hobbies, schooling, etcetera etcetera) and Seulgi actually has fun that she doesn't notice the time pass by. 

"It was great talking to you, Seulgi. Maybe we can get together again some time." Naeun says, shaking her hand.

"Yeah, I had fun too. Thanks for today, Naeun." She smiles and Naeun smiles back.

All in all, Seulgi thinks it wasn't so bad. There is no flop in that one. 

For some weird reason, she catches herself thinking about Seungwan now. What has become of their friendship, what is she supposed to do to patch things up - things like that. It makes her iffy because what is Seungwan doing in her head now when she just got off a date?

Seulgi gets home and sees that the front door is left slightly ajar. A thought occurs to her that a burglar might have broken in but she hears voices, loud and thick, in the living room and she can't move. Chorong and Bomi... they're arguing. She feels paranoia flood her entire being. Maybe she prefers the burglar scenario than this.

"I told you to leave them alone, didn't I?" It's Bomi's voice. She actually sees her weaving in and out of view through the crack in the door, no doubt pacing back and forth on the living room.

"I can't just stand around and wait for Seulgi to start feeling bad again! Seungwan was a big help to her and now she isn't." Chorong fires back. 

Hearing her name makes her feel like she's just been doused with ice water. They're arguing because of her. She presses her ear against the door, eager to listen even though she knows she shouldn't.

"So you thought it would be great to find someone to replace her?" 

"That's not it." Chorong denies, sounds like she's out of strength.

"That certainly is it! You can't stand the fact that your plan for the two to fall in love isn't working and you immediately went on to plan B!" Bomi accuses.

"Yoon Bomi, that is not true!"

"You haven't changed. Little miss perfect wants everything else to be." Bomi pauses, lowers her voice. "How could you do that to Eunji?"

"Naeun said she and Eunji weren't getting back together anytime soon after the last fall out-" Chorong tries to explain.

"That's your excuse?" Bomi scoffs. "Do you not realize how much Eunji loves her or have you no regard for my best friend's feelings?"

"I care about Eunji too. That's not true." Chorong's voice starts to waver and then there's a really long pause.

When Chorong starts sobbing, Seulgi knows it's safe to say that this is the biggest flop so far. So much for thinking that she actually did good today.

--

Seungwan looks up from packing her bag upon hearing voices on the porch. She listens carefully, tries to pick out snippets from the conversation but the sound is slightly muffled and she can only assume who has come to visit until Tiffany knocks on her bedroom door to call her down to the living room.

"But I'm not done packing and I have to go in, oh, fifteen minutes." She says, glancing at her wristwatch.

"It's important." Tiffany says, gives her a pointed look, telling her not to argue.

"How important can it be-" She doesn't finish because hearing the next words are enough to get her attention.

"Seulgi has ran away from home."