"Damn it Taeyong, why are they here?" I hissed under my breath while maintaining a smile at Irene who stood up as we walked towards the table. 

"How would I know? You're in trouble." He said as a matter of fact, waving at Irene and Irene only waved back shyly. 

".." i cursed quietly. "Hey baby, are you hungry?" I gave my best smile, pulling Irene to sit down quickly to avoid getting the attention from Tzuyu. 

"Very." She pouted. Taeyong glanced behind my back where Tzuyu and her gang were. "Are you hungry?" Irene smiled at me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and gave my cheek a few soft pats. "You look like you just came back from war." And she chuckled. My mind was put at ease upon hearing the sweet voice. 

"School is like a battlefield. By the way, this is Taeyong, my gay bestfriend." I introduced them to each other and Taeyong initiated a handshake. Irene took it steadily and gave him a small smile. "Taeyong, this is my beautiful girlfriend Irene." 

"Stop your mushy comments." Taeyong warned. "Irene, you have no idea how she looks like in school everyday ever since she met you." 

"How?" Irene asked curiously, looking innocent as a baby. 

"I dare you to say a word." I hissed at Taeyong who merely shrugged. 

"She smiles like a biggest fool when you text her during lesson and when she is running on the track, god damn it, she runs so fast now and when I asked her how did she even do it, she said it is the power of love." Taeyong quoted my statement exactly and pursed him lips. I didn't mind though. He was just being himself and I didn't mind Irene knowing it. 

Irene turned to look at me with round eyes. "Are you serious?" I nodded in embarrassment as she was staring at me intently. "You're so cute, Seulgi-ah." She pinched my cheek and leaned in to peck on the faint redness on it. 

"I warn you guys. Do not PDA in front of me." Taeyong folded his arms and sat back. His eyes darted behind my back again. I knew he was looking out for me. "Let's order the food already, I am hungry as hell." He snatched the menu from me and then called the waiter. 

"What do you want to have?" I asked Irene softly, taking another set of menu. 

"The one that we had." She replied, smiling playfully at me as if to test if I remembered what we had on our first date. 

"Ah... alright then." I placed our order to the waiter as well and Irene hugged me around the waist. "What?"

"You remember." She giggled softly. I ruffled her hair and Taeyong glanced behind me again. But this time, he looked flustered. 

"Seulgi?" 

I looked up and jaw dropped. Tzuyu was standing right beside me and looking at me with a face full of questions as I was hugging Irene. "T-Tzuyu. Hey... what are you doing here?" I tried to give my best smile and was praying hard that Tzuyu would not do anything funny. 

"Having lunch. Who is this?" Tzuyu asked, pointing at Irene. "Is she your sister? She looks old." Her face looking arrogant and a little jealous at how tightly Irene was holding me. 

Irene shifted away from me and looked down in embarrassment. I was slightly angry at that and I gave a disgusted look at Tzuyu for a brief second. "She is not my sister." I said blankly. 

"Then who is she?" She folded her arms, tapping her foot on the ground as she waited for me to search for an answer. 

"She..." I hesitated. If I told her that Irene was my girlfriend, she would make a fuss out of it and I would have no peace in school for sure. Every second seemed to be longer than before and I gulped. Taeyong looked back and forth at me and Irene and he scoffed. 

"She is her girlfriend. Now will you go back to your seat?" He said and pointed to the table behind me. I was sure as hell that Tzuyu was glaring at Irene and I could feel the tension. 

"What do you mean by girlfriend?" She gritted her teeth. 

Irene could recognise Tzuyu as I showed her photos of her before. She only kept quiet and sipped on her water. I bit my lip, knowing that she was feeling insecure. Then, another bold move of me surprised myself. I reached out for Irene's hand that was on her lap and held it tight. "She is my girl. My baby. My soulmate. Can you see?" I raised our intertwined hand up for Tzuyu to see. Her face was flushed from anger and she breathed angrily, nostrils flaring and eyes burning. 

"Since when!" She raised her voice. It sure attracted some attention, including Chorong who was the head of the gang. Chorong walked towards my table and assessed the situation. "Unnie! Seulgi cheated on me!" Tzuyu exclaimed and stomped her feet like a 5 years old. She was 2 years younger than me. 

Irene fidgeted and looked at me without saying anything. I gave her an apologetic look and mouthed sorry to her. She only returned me a small forced smile before she spoke up. "I am aware that you like Seulgi, miss. But please do not make a scene here in the restaurant. There are people who want to have some peace." I was surprised by her, though it only agitated Tzuyu more. 

"Excuse me?" Chorong said, looking at Irene. "Just because you are older, it doesn't mean you have the right to give us a lecture alright?" 

"Oh stop it, Chorong. Bring Tzuyu back to your table before I ask the manager to kick you out." Taeyong intervened. I felt so useless at that point. 

"Stupid gay boy. Shut your mouth before I hit you." Chorong warned. Tzuyu was still glaring at Irene and me who was holding my head low. Irene gave me a few pats on the thigh and that angered Tuzyu. "Do not touch her!" 

I shut my eyes and took in a deep breath to muster enough courage to speak up for myself and my girlfriend. "Stop it Tzuyu." 

She blinked at me, couldn't accept that I finally spoke up only to ask her to stop. "Can you please leave us alone. Just to knock some sense into you again, you and I are not together. Stop telling everyone that we are together when we don't even talk much. Please, just... leave me alone." I was actually trembling and Tzuyu's jaw dropped. 

"Kang Seulgi, you are dead." She hissed and shoved my shoulder before she ran out of the restaurant. I sighed in relief when Chorong went running after her. Crazy people. 

The rest of the gang stood up and left as well, not bothering me but also not forgetting to throw me a dirty look as I made their baby sister in the group cry. 

"Crazy es." Taeyong rolled his eyes. "Don't care about them Irene. Seulgi is just too nice to bully. I will protect her in school." He assured her, then gulping down his glass of water. "They made me so angry!" He said with sass again. 

"I am sorry..." I apologised finally, eyes not meeting hers. 

"It is okay." She said, patting my thigh again. "I am just scared that they will bully you in school." She cupped my face to look at her and I saw worry in her eyes. 

I sighed and glanced at Taeyong, he looked away and I gave Irene a peck on the lips. "Taeyong will protect me. Don't worry. We have other friends in school too. Especially the guys gang. There is this guy who fancies Taeyong so he will do anything that Taeyong asks him to." I joked. 

"Why are the kids like this nowadays?" Irene shook her head and put down her hands. "This is why I am worried." Her eyes were looking down on her hands that were resting on her laps. 

"I am really sorry, Joohyun-ah." I lowered my head to meet her gaze. Her eyes flickered with worry and she forced a smile onto her face when she saw that I was not moving away. 

"Let's just.. forget about it and enjoy our meal." She pushed me away gently and smiled like it was really okay. "Do you still have to go back to school after this?" She asked me. 

"Hmm... do we still have lesson after this?" I asked Taeyong who was checking through his phone. He shook his head and said, "not really a lesson. It is a free slot." I nodded. "I can send you back to your office." I suggested, holding her hand in mine. She grinned happily this time and I couldn't help but kiss on her forehead. 

After the lunch, I said goodbye to Taeyong and Irene did the same too. They could talk like friends but it was awkward some time when Taeyong was being too sassy and Irene couldn't sense the sarcasm. 

"Your friend is funny." She said as we walked to the bus stop. 

"Really?" I laughed. "He is actually very nice if he stops with his sarcasm."

"It is his sarcastic comments that make everything funnier." Irene laughed. Her chin lifted up and she covered . I had never seen anyone as beautiful as her before. " is there something on my face? Why are you staring at me like that?" We stopped at the bus stop and I walked closer to her to close up the gap between our body. 

"Because you are so beautiful." I cooed, looking into her eyes and tucked her hair behind her ear before tracing my fingertip down her jawline to her chin. Her face turned pink and she looked away from my gaze. "Look at me." It took her awhile to meet my gaze again as she was shy as hell. "Meet my parents today?" I suggested, knowing that it was a little too rush. 

"What?" She blinked at me again and bit her lip, thinking hard about what to reply. 

"I know it is a bit rushed but I really want you to meet my parents. They have been asking about you ever since I told them that we are together." I stated. Our eyes never left each other. "Please?" The reason why I really wanted her to meet my parents was to show her that I really loved her. 

"Okay..." she replied shyly and softly. I liked her grace. I liked her shyness. I liked her everything. It took me by surprise when she moved in to peck on my lips. "I love you." She gave a super shy smile and ran away to board the bus first. 

"Wait for me!" I shouted when I realised what just happened. She laughed and went to find a seat first before I joined her. "Don't you ever run away from me." I warned her after I sat down, catching my breath. 

"What if I did?" She challenged me again and stuck out her tongue.

"Then I will haunt you down and bring you back." I pretended to bite her and she giggled. "I love you so much." I said as I looked at her, admiring her beauty. "Why are you always blushing?"

She pushed me away and said," because you are too cheesy." 

"Haven't anyone flirted with you before?" I asked, not jealous but more of curious.

She nodded. "Are you jealous?" She teased, looking excited that I might be jealous. 

"Not really." I laughed and she pushed me away again. 

"What if I run away with a guy?" She asked me. 

"If you really love him... then I guess I will let you go." I sighed, looking out at the window as I didn't even want to picture the day. 

"Yah... I was just kidding. I will never leave you." She pulled me closer by my arm to her body and pouted when she saw the sadness on my face. "I love you so much too." She said before nuzzling to my neck. "So much." I smiled.