“I don’t understand why you’re so popular with girls,” Seungwan complains at their weekly sleepover. Jung Soojung, as in the Jung Soojung herself had just confessed to Seulgi only earlier that day. She had been waiting outside of Seulgi’s class after the last bell had rung and bluntly declared “I like you,” before briskly walking away, leaving behind a confused Seulgi and scandalized classmates.

    “It’s because I have charisma,” Seulgi says with a flourish that has Seungwan doubling over in laughter. Obviously they have different opinions on the matter.

    “Who do you think you are?” Seungwan laughs. “Helios?” referring to the famous superhero that Seungwan had posters of plastered on all her bedroom walls.

    Helios first made her debut two years ago, saving citizens from a burning building by somehow vacuuming all the flames away and absorbing them into herself, and had quickly climbed through the ranks of the world’s superhero elite. Powerful, dedicated, and charismatic, Helios is as popular as the idols of old such as H.O.T and Beyonce had been before the world gone down the tubes (whatever the media means by that) when the meteor had struck Earth, destroying half of Russia and emitting a wave of radiation that gave 0.001% of the world’s population powers.

    But most importantly, two years ago, Helios had saved Seungwan. Well, Helios had helped another hero named Skylark save Seungwan along with 248 other passengers in a plane that was falling out of the sky. And in the aftermath, Helios had noticed Seungwan, young and traumatized and alone in another country without her family, and sat down next to her, a comforting presence made known when the hero lightly pressed her arm again the girl’s. And in that simple action, Seungwan falls in love for the first time.

    “Of course!” Seulgi exclaims before fashioning a cape for herself out of Seungwan’s comforter and making jazz fingers that she could totally shoot fire out of if she wanted to. (After all, she is Helios. Not that Seungwan knew, but still.) “Seungwan-ah,” Seulgi says in a spooky voice. “It is I, Helios, and I am here to bring you back to my woman cave so I can have my womanly way with youuUuuUU-” Seulgi only gets so far with her ghostly impression of Helios before Seungwan throws a pillow in her face.

    “Yah!” Seungwan scolds between fits of laughter. “Don’t imitate Helios like that. You’re ruining my first love for me.”

    And even if Seungwan had meant it in a joking manner, Seulgi still felt an echo of an ache in her chest. Like she needs anymore reminder that the person Seungwan loves is Helios and Seulgi was just her eccentric best friend who never really thinks before she speaks. And for now, she tries to be satisfied with that. “OOOooOOohhh~” Seulgi continues her inaccurate impression of her more heroic counterpart. “But Seungwan-ah, I love you.” Seungwan squeals in a voice that’s too loud for one in the morning as Seulgi pounces on her, and in the furrow of Seungwan’s eyebrows that always appears  whenever she laughs, Seulgi finds herself falling in love all over again. (And in moments like these, Seulgi knows that she’ll never be satisfied with only this much.)