001

 

____________________

 

She sets the earphones in her ears and increases the volume of the music that is playing on her ipod, loud enough to block the chattering sound of students who are talking in class, but not loud enough to damage her hearing. Listening to loud music for too long hurts her head after all.

 

Kang Seulgi, a quiet girl sitting in middle row of seat, next to a window, always spends her morning listening to her ipod when other students are talking to each other in small groups.

 

It’s not like she hates talking to people in particular or anything. Seulgi is quiet, yet a bit sassy, and somehow managed to develop a low self-esteem personality, a weird yet perfect combination of an introvert. Besides, some people talk too loud that she can’t keep up with the conversation without cringing or trying to cover her ears.

 

Seulgi doesn’t hate her introvert personality. In fact, she actually enjoys spending her time alone by listening to music or reading books, it’s peaceful and calm, just like what she’s feeling right now, until a sudden loud voice bursts into the classroom and manages to disturb the music in her ears.

 

“I saw the transfer student! A girl!”

 

Baekhyun exclaims loudly, limbs flailing around as if he’s describing the girl. A loud chattering soon follows as the students begin to circle around Baekhyun, asking about the transfer student that has been told by the teacher a day ago. Though Seulgi finds it weird to see a student suddenly moved school on third-year of high school, where they should have been focusing on graduating. But Seulgi couldn’t careless about it.

 

She shrugs lightly before turning her head to the window next to her seat, looking at the birds perching on one of the tree branches, chirping at each other even though she can’t hear it from behind the glass. The cute sight makes her smile to herself.

 

“The transfer student is really pretty! Ask Minho if you don’t believe me, he saw her too!”

 

Seulgi instantly turns her head to the doorway, locking her eyes at a particular tall male figure who is trying to make his way out of the crowds, Song Minho, her hopeless crush.

 

She quickly pulls out her earphones because she knows Minho is going to say something back, and she can’t miss hearing the male’s voice.

 

“I only saw her back, how am I supposed to know?” Minho says indifferently as he makes his way to his seat in the front row.

 

Seulgi quickly darts her eyes away from Minho, afraid that someone will notice that she has been staring at him for too long. Stealing glances at Song Minho is Seulgi’s definition of crushing.

 

“The teacher is coming!”

 

A loud voice cuts through all the chattering and the students quickly run over to their seats, sitting nicely and quietly as the teacher steps into the classroom with a girl following behind her.

 

Seulgi and the entire classroom gape slightly at the new student because she is indeed pretty. Her big eyes, her small nose, her thin yet pretty lips, her fair skin; in Seulgi’s eyes, she is the definition of beautiful, something opposite of herself.

 

“This is Bae Irene, a transfer student who will be staying in our class from now on. I hope you guys can help her in this new school.” The teacher introduces, gesturing at the new student.

 

Bae Irene, the new student, smiles to the class and bows. “My name is Bae Irene, but you can call me Irene. Please take care of me!” She cheers with a wide smile and Seulgi has to squint her eyes slightly because somehow, her smile is really bright, like the sunshine.

 

Seulgi hates sunshine though. The bright light makes her feel exposed, like a giant spotlight, and she has never been fond of being the center of attention. Even public speaking is enough to make holds the urge to just walk away and leave the room.

 

She turns her head away from the student and stares at the window instead, looking at the birds that are no longer perching on the branch. She twitches her eyes slightly, looking at other branches in hope to catch the sight of the cute birds again.

 

“You can sit next to Kang Seulgi.”

 

Seulgi almost falls from her seat upon the call. She quickly snaps her head back to front and see the teacher gestures to her seat and Irene—smiling sweetly at her.

 

“Seulgi is the best student here, you can ask her about a lot of subjects.” The teacher gives a reassuring smile and Seulgi sighs inwardly.

 

“Alright, thank you teacher.” Irene bows politely before walking over to Seulgi’s seat, making all the eyes, especially the boys’, follow her along and end up at Seulgi.

 

Some of the eyes are staring at her now, she knows it, and she doesn’t like it. She doesn’t like it when a lot of eyes and staring at her for too long, it makes her insecure, it makes her feel like they’re examining her, trying to find her flaws and imperfectness. Seulgi knows she is far from perfect and she hates to be reminded about that.  

 

“Hello, Seulgi.” Irene greets politely before sitting next to her. “I’m Irene, nice to meet you.” She says with a smile, offering her hand for a handshake.

 

Seulgi doesn’t respond though, just twitching her eyes at the offered hand before looking up at the other girl again. “Uh, I know, you just introduced yourself in front.” She gestures a hand to the front while staring down at the hand again.

 

The students immediately whisper to each other at her awkward reply and she can feel a cold sweat starts to break out of her skin. , I shouldn’t have say that. Carefully, she shifts her eyes back to Irene, bracing herself to the expression she’s going to see on the other girl’s face.

 

Irene blinks for a few times before dropping her hand and to Seulgi’s surprise, laughs to herself. “Right! I just introduced myself a minute ago, silly me!” She scratches the back of her head and gives a wry smile, earning some laughs from the students.

 

In that instant, the air around the class change, just because of an action from Bae Irene.

 

The teacher then claps her hands to catch her students’ attention, hinting that the class is going to start.

 

Seulgi quickly takes out her textbook and notebook, focusing to the front as the teacher begins to explain about Animalia Kingdom. While most of the students are trying hard to stay awake, Seulgi is completely focused on the subject, pressing the end of her pencil against her chin as she thinks.

 

Her attention gets a little bit distracted when she smells something flowery from her side. As far as she knows, she didn’t spray any perfume or put any aromatherapy on the empty seat next to her, though it’s not longer empty now since Irene has occupied the seat.

 

She glances to her side, the source of the scent, and sees Irene leaning over as if she’s trying to read the textbook on Seulgi’s desk. She glances over to see Irene’s desk and notices that the girl only has an empty notebook and a pink-colored cute pencil case, nothing else.

 

Right, Irene is a new student. She obviously doesn’t have any textbooks yet. For a moment, Seulgi feels like the dumbest person on earth, and a bit of a .

 

Seulgi clears awkwardly and Irene immediately shoots up to meet Seulgi’s eyes. Her eyes widen for a moment before she abruptly moves away from Seulgi, dropping her head in apologetic manner. Seulgi can see how Irene fumbles the vest of her uniform, biting her lower lip nervously.

 

Judging from her cheerful and energetic introduction earlier, Seulgi doesn’t expect to see this kind of side from Irene, who’s dropping her head as if she’s a kid who has been caught of stealing a cookie from the jar.  

 

Without saying anything, she slowly slides her biology textbook to the middle of the desk, sharing it with her new seatmate. Irene shoots up and blinks rapidly at her, making Seulgi feels uncomfortable with the intense stare and decides to turn her head back to the front, ignoring the other girl’s surprised look.

 

She hears Irene’s voice though, soft and gentle as she mutters beside her. “Thank you, Seulgi.”

 

As Irene leans closer, Seulgi can smell the flowery scent again and immediately figures out that the scent comes from Irene. Maybe it’s her perfume or shampoo, but whatever it is, Seulgi bets that it must be expensive since the scent doesn’t make her feel sick. In fact, she kinda likes it.

 

Ever since young, Seulgi notices that the smell of cheap perfume and cologne always manages to make her feels nauseous and make her head dizzy at some point. But the light scent that comes from Irene doesn’t make her uncomfortable at all. In fact, Seulgi can say that she likes the smell. It almost feels like there’s a vase of fresh flower beside her desk.  

 

The class goes on peacefully until the bell rings, showing the sign of lunchtime.

 

Seulgi closes her eyes and leans back to her seat, stretching her neck to left and right before taking out her packed lunch form her bag. As usual, she’s going to leave the class and eat her lunch in somewhere quiet and peaceful. Her favorite place for lunch is the park, or the seat in the corner of cafeteria.

 

She’s about to stands up from her seat, but pauses when she notices that most of the students are surrounding her, or Irene.

 

“Irene, where do you come from?” One of the girls asks cheerfully, her face showing curiosity and excitement.

 

“I came from X high-school.” Irene answers with a bright smile.  

 

“Woah, isn’t that the prestigious all-girls school?”

 

“Why did you move from there?”

 

“How does it feel studying in all-girls school?”

 

Seulgi closes her eyes and furrows her brows at the loud chattering around her, which Irene responds with a laugh before answering it one by one. She doesn’t understand how Irene immediately gets popular when it has just been few hours since she steps into the classroom.

 

Two and half years studying in this school, yet Seulgi the only time the other students talk to her is when it’s about school related.  

 

Seulgi wasn’t this anti-social or distant to begin with, but she has always been a quiet girl, too quiet that the kindergarten teacher thought that she was mute. Other kids weren’t really interested in talking to a quiet kid who spent her time alone instead of playing with other kids when it’s the playtime.

 

Growing up, Seulgi managed to make some friends along the years, but they all ended up moving schools or simply grew distant as time went by. It’s not like she didn’t want to keep in contact, she just didn’t know the proper way to do it. As soon as they stopped talking for a while, the air turned awkward and Seulgi decided that it’s the time for them to move on. It was fun while it lasted though.

 

People will always come and go from her life, so there’s no use of getting attached or hanging on. That’s what Seulgi learnt when her beloved grandmother passed away when she was a kid.

 

At some point of her life, she often wondered how would it be if she was prettier, more cheerful and talkative. Would she get more friends? Would she manage to keep in touch with all her old friends? Would her mother stayed?

 

As she grew up, she decided to forget about all those unnecessary things, until she meets the transfer student. Irene is pretty, cheerful, talkative, and very friendly. They are all the things that Seulgi doesn’t posses and she knows she can never posses.

 

When she was younger, she often imagined herself as a perfect girl, smart, pretty, kind, cheerful, friendly, and everything positive. She knows that a perfect like girl doesn’t exist, but she couldn’t help but to imagine. How nice it would be if she’s that perfect, how happy her life would be, how easy everything would be.

 

And suddenly, there’s Irene, the perfection she had dreamed about.

 

God must really hate her. Placing Irene in her life is the same as making her self-esteem, as if it’s not low enough, goes all the way down to hell.

 

Just being next to Irene is enough to make her more self-conscious than ever. Suddenly, Seulgi starts to notice her crooked necktie, her messy hair that’s tied into a bun, her ugly handwriting, her small eyes, and everything.

 

She can’t help but to compare herself to the perfect girl next to her who’s smiling sweetly at the students around her.

 

“What do you eat for lunch, Irene?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know, I guess I need to see the cafeteria.”

 

“Let me take you there, I’ll pay for your lunch too!” Baekhyun raises his hand excitedly, only to get pushed back by the other students who are surrounding Irene.

 

“Don’t be gross, Baekhyun. Irene should start by spending time with the girls!” One of the girls says, earning a nod of agreement from the others.

 

“Thank you, Baekhyun. But I think I’ll go with the girls since they’re so eager.”

 

Irene says with a laugh, not a cute pitchy laugh that most of the girls do, it’s a natural breathy laugh with stretched wide. The fact that she doesn’t try to act cute just makes her seem more perfect in Seulgi’s eyes.

 

All the while they’ve been talking to each other, none of them even bother to glance at Seulgi, as if she doesn’t exist at all, as if the seat next to Irene is an empty seat. Seulgi is thankful that none of them pay attention to her, but there’s something else that makes her feel uncomfortable.

 

She’s aware that it is something called jealously, jealous towards Irene’s perfection.

 

Seulgi quietly stands up from her seat, ignoring the stares she get from some students as she rounds the desk, wanting to get out of the class as soon as possible.

 

“Seulgi.”

 

Seulgi freezes at the call and slowly turns to look at the person who called her, Irene.

 

“Would you like to go to the cafeteria together?” Irene asks innocently and in that moment, all the students’ faces falter as they glance between Seulgi and Irene.

 

Irene must have realized that Seulgi is a loner without friends, maybe she’s being kind by asking her to join, but right now, Seulgi is unable to think about anything positive. What is Irene thinking about by asking Seulgi to join them? Is she trying to make fun of her or actually pity her? Either way, Seulgi needs none of it.

 

“No, thanks.” Seulgi answers shortly before brushing past some students who immediately move to the side to create a way for Seulgi to walk through.

 

Just as she’s about to step out of the class, her ears catch a pitchy voice from one of the girls.

 

“What the hell, she’s so rude!”

 

And you are so loud.

 

Seulgi rolls her eyes before walking away from the classroom, heading to the park to eat her lunch peacefully.

 

“Why did you say that?”

 

Irene asks, tilting her head as she furrows her brows, looking up to the students around her.

 

“Because she’s an ice queen, she’s really cold, like ice.” Baekhyun shrugs.

 

“She rarely talks to anyone and when she talks it’s just—cold.”

 

“I think she’s just being cocky since she’s literally the smartest girl in the whole school.”

 

Irene slowly stands up from her chair as she frowns at all of them, shaking her head lightly.

 

“I don’t know what happened or how you guys come up with that conclusion, but she’s really kind to me earlier.” Irene bites her lower lips, earning some stares from the others.

 

“Well, maybe she’s kind to you because you’re a new student? Anyway, let’s go to the cafeteria now, I’m starving!”

 

With that, the topic about Seulgi ends as they make their way to the cafeteria, introducing some parts of the school to Irene along the way.

 

Irene smiles and laughs everytime they say something funny. It has been a while since she feels this happy and free. Maybe moving school is a great decision after all.

 

 

____________________

 

 

Seulgi comes back to the class once she finished her lunch, finding that it’s almost empty, except a certain group of girls who is sitting at the back seats of the class.

 

They’re Nana and the gang, the popular pretty girls with awful personality, according to Seulgi’s opinion. All the years she has been in this school, she never found the gang doing something particularly nice. They talk in class, bully the weak, flirting with every guy, break the school rules, and other y things.

 

“What the hell with that Irene girl, she grossed me out!” Hyuna cringes as she rubs her arms.

 

“I know right? Did you see how she smiles? It’s so fake.”

 

“It’s obvious that she’s trying to flirt with the guys.”

 

“Ew gross, who does she think she is??”

 

Seulgi ignores all the yells as she makes her way back to her seat. She has never been interested in those kinds of topic after all, bad-mouthing about people. In fact, she isn’t interested in all the topics that they often talk about.

 

“What do you think, Seulgi?”

 

Seulgi pauses and turns her head to Nana, who’s raising a brow with a smirk on her face.

 

“That Irene girl is gross isn’t she? How unfortunate you have to sit beside her until we graduate!” Hyuna says exaggeratedly, earning a burst of high-pitched laughter from the other girls, making Seulgi cringes slightly as the sound pierces her eardrums.

 

She wants to say that Irene isn’t gross at all, that she’s a normal girl with pretty face and is magically perfect in every aspect. But saying that also means that she’s disagreeing with the girls, and disagreeing with them means unnecessary problem for her.

 

Seulgi is totally not interested in becoming the topic of their next talk, so she just shrugs her shoulder, showing sort-of agreement.

 

“I guess she is.” She says casually before sitting down on her seat.

 

“See? Even the perfect student dislikes Irene!”

 

Another burst of high-pitched laughter fills the room and Seulgi has to wear her earphones again in order to block the disturbing sound.

 

 

____________________

 

“Alright students, please read the page by yourself and raise your hand if there’s anything you don’t understand.”

 

Mr. Song says from his seat and all the students drop their heads to the book, reading the said page.

 

Electric and magnetic forces can be detected in regions called electric and magnetic fields. These fields are fundamental in nature and can exist in space far from the charge or current that generated them. Remarkably, electric fields can produce magnetic fields and vice versa, independent of any external charge. A changing—

 

“Seulgi, where do you live?”

 

Irene’s voice, despite whispering, manages to disturb Seulgi’s attention in reading the passage. She glances over at Irene before dropping her gaze back to the book.

 

“Yongsan District.”

 

“Really? Me too!” Irene exclaims cheerfully, cutting through the silence of the class. Mr. Song, who is reading his own textbook, immediately shoots the girl a look. Irene, noticing what she just did, brings her hand up to cover shamefully.

 

“Sorry.” She says softly, bowing her head at Mr. Song who is sighing as he shakes his head.

 

“Please do read the book instead of talking, okay?” He then darts his eyes to Seulgi. “And Seulgi, don’t talk with your new friend right now, okay? You got plenty of time later.”

 

Seulgi drops her jaw as she stares at the teacher for a few seconds before nodding her head obediently. “I’m sorry, Sir.” She says quietly, slightly pissed off for being scolded for something she didn’t do. Irene is the one who ask her a question, and she’s also the one who disturbs the class.

 

“Sorry.” Irene mutters quietly but is ignored by Seulgi who doesn’t want to get scolded for something she didn’t do again.

 

Surprisingly, Irene doesn’t talk to her anymore through the day. Somehow, Seulgi feels a little bit bad, thinking that Irene is taken aback by her coldness. But then, who cares when Irene has bunch of new friends in the class while Seulgi is still, a loner.

 

That day, Irene goes home together with Wendy, who lives in the same area as her and Seulgi too.

 

Seulgi notices how Irene glances at her as she steps out of the class with Wendy, seeming hesitant about something, but Seulgi doesn’t bother to care.

 

 

____________________

 

The next morning, Seulgi arrives at class to see Irene sitting on her seat. Around her are bunch of students who seem to be entertained by her talk. Seulgi squints slightly when she notices that Baekhyun is sitting on her seat, staring at Irene dreamily.

 

Irene is laughing when Seulgi walks over, stopping behind the circle since she can’t seem to pass through.

 

“Excuse me, can I have my seat, please?”

 

All the chattering immediately stops as they all turn to Seulgi, who’s deadpanning as she stares at her occupied seat. Seulgi can feel the room temperature drops as soon as she speaks. It’s not that she’s being rude or anything, right? She bets that if Irene is the one who speaks, all the students will happily step aside and let her sit.

 

But she is not Irene, and she will never be like her.

 

“Opps, sorry Seulgi.” Baekhyun smiles sheepishly before standing up, letting Seulgi walks over and sits on her seat.

 

Seulgi can feel the students staring at her as she sits. As much as she hates being stared like that, she knows she can’t help it when she’s the one who ruined their fun talk with Irene. There’s a split second where Seulgi glances over to catch Irene staring at her but decides to ignore the girl.

 

Seulgi figures that she may has to keep up with all the staring since she’s now sitting next to a new student who gains her popularity in less than a week.

 

As soon as she sits down, she quickly pulls out her ipod from her school bag, putting on the earphones and play the music, cutting herself off from the world, her usual routine.

 

Few seconds after the music plays, Seulgi twitches her eyes when chattering noise manages to gets inside her eardrums. It must be because they’re talking to Irene who’s sitting so close to her. Rolling her eyes, she turns up the volume, only to hear a burst of laughter that seeps into the music. Guess she needs to turn up the volume again.

 

In the end, Seulgi turns up the volume to the maximum and ends up getting a small headache once the class starts. If only Irene didn’t sit next to her, she wouldn’t need to turn up the volume so high.

 

 

____________________

 

“Alright, make a team consist of 5 people.”

 

Mrs. Lee claps her hand as she watches some students walking around the class, trying to find the member for the group for music project.

 

Seulgi hates group project because one, she’s usually the one who do most of the works and second, no one wants to be in the same group as her unless there’s a lack of member.

 

So she stays on her seat, looking indifferent as she waits for some students who will walk over and say something like hey we need one more person for the group so do you want to join us?

 

“Irene, let’s join our group!”

 

Seulgi perks up to see Wendy, Yeri and Joy smiling brightly at Irene. Three days in this school and Irene already has someone who asked her to join a group. Two and half years in this school and Seulgi is still a nonexistent creature.

 

“But we still need one more person though…” Yeri mumbles weakly, dropping her head.

 

“Don’t worry, there’s Seulgi.”

 

“What?”

 

Seulgi snaps her head to the side, staring at Irene who’s smiling brightly. Her eyes trail up to Wendy, Yeri and Joy who are staring at her with wide-eyes.

 

“There are five of us you see, me, Seulgi, and the three of you.” Irene says cheerfully, making all the girls blink at her with dropped jaw. “What’s wrong?” She frowns slightly, sounding completely confused at the reaction.

 

“So, there will be five of us?” Joy asks quietly, glancing at Seulgi with worried face.

 

“Yes, five of us.” Seulgi replies, earning an almost inaudible gasp of surprise from Yeri, who quickly covers when Wendy shoots her a look.

 

“Alright then, we have a group now.” Irene beams innocently, earning a dry chuckle from the other 3 girls and a nod from Seulgi.

 

“Okay then, let’s start working on the project.” Wendy clears before dragging a chair to the table, followed by Yeri and Joy who sit across the table.

 

Mrs. Lee gives the class a project of singing in groups, telling her students to form a group and pick a song that will fit the group. No one knows about it, but music is actually Seulgi’s favorite subject since she always enjoys music and sing, though she only sings quietly in her room or in the shower.  

 

“Ahhhh I don’t know what song to pick!” Yeri whines loudly as she leans back to her seat, puckering her lips in pouty manner.

 

“I don’t know which song is good for us.” Joy sighs, leaning back to her seat.

 

Wendy and Irene stare at the other two girls before sighing too themselves, having no idea about which song that’s good enough for them.

 

Seulgi purses her lips, shifting her seat as she taps her feet against the tile lightly. As a music lover, she has a lot of songs in mind but she’s not sure about saying out her opinion in a new group like this. This is once of the hardest thing to do for her, speaking up in a group.

 

“Seulgi, do you have any idea?”

 

It is Irene’s voice that distracts her from the thought. Seulgi turns her head and blinks for a few times before slowly opening .

 

“I think—Ice Cream Cake is good…?” She trails off, glancing unsurely at the other girls.

 

“Oh,” Irene leans forward with bright eyes. “Is it that ice cream ice cream gimme that gimme that ice cream—“ Irene starts to dance on her seat while singing the song, earning some laughs from the other girls, including Seulgi.

 

“Right, that’s the song.” Seulgi chuckles but immediately falters when she sees how the girls, including Irene, are staring at her with wide-eyes. I shouldn’t have laughed like that.

 

There is an awkward silence follows as Seulgi clears and drops her gaze to the ground below her.

 

“I think this is the first time I see you laughing.” Wendy says in awe before suddenly turning to Irene. “Irene, do that dance again!”

 

As if on cue, Irene stands up from her chair and starts to dance, earning a burst of laughter from the girls and soon, the whole class as her dancing catches the other’s attention.

 

Seulgi looks up to her and before she knows it, she starts laughing too, breathing the air out of her lungs freely. It is a few seconds later until she tugs onto the other girl's hand, pulling her down to her seat.

 

“Enough, enough, you’re embarrassing yourself.” Seulgi says between chuckles as Irene sits down.

 

“It’s not embarrassing if I can make people laugh.” Irene smiles brightly at her, as bright as the sunshine.

 

After that, the group project goes on nicely and Seulgi even finds herself exchanging some words with the other girls. She realizes that it is the first time she talks this much in a group project, and she oddly enjoys it.

 

Maybe, making some new friends is not a bad idea.

 

 

____________________

 

Seulgi rolls her eyes and sighs on her way home once she realizes that she left her ipod in the class. Most of the students will just go home and pick the ipod once they’re back in class, but no, Seulgi can’t live without music, especially when it’s weekend tomorrow, means she can’t go back to school and pick her ipod.

 

Sighing once again, she turns on her heels and walks back to school, hoping that her ipod is not stolen and the class is not locked.

 

After reaching the 4^th floor, Seulgi slows her pace once she steps into the corridor. She can barely hear a female’s voice, humming something that sounds like a melody, a song.

 

It’s already noon and there shouldn’t be any student who stays in class at this hour, so where does that singing voice come from? As much as she doesn’t believe in ghost stories and paranormal things, the thought still manages to cross her mind at this situation.  

 

Seulgi stops her step in front of her class and notices that the singing voice is coming from inside the classroom. Swallowing hard, she slides the door open in a swift movement, making the girl inside the class jumps in surprise at the intrusion.

 

“S-Seulgi?” Irene stammers, eyes widen in surprise as she blinks at the girl on the doorway. “You’re still at school?”

 

“I left something here.” Seulgi replies, casually walking over to Irene, who’s coincidentally sitting on her seat.

 

She takes her ipod out from the rack-shelf below her desk, glancing over at Irene who’s holding onto her phone. Seulgi’s eyes catch the lyrics of Ice Cream Cake on the other’s phone.

 

“You’re the one who’s singing earlier?” Seulgi asks, tilting her head questioningly.

 

“You heard??” Irene gasps and Seulgi nods her head. “I—I’m practicing.” Irene mutters softly, pursing her lips.

 

“Practicing?”

 

“Yeah, I’m not really good at singing, honestly. I’m a bit tone-deaf to be honest.”

 

“So there’s also a thing you’re not good at…” Seulgi hums absently, not realizing how offensive her words are.

 

It is until Irene stares at her that Seulgi realizes the words she just said.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you in any way, honestly.” Seulgi lifts a hand and shakes her head.

 

“No, it’s okay. There are indeed some things that I can’t do.” Irene smiles widely and Seulgi doesn’t understand how can Irene admit her flaws with such a smile.

 

Maybe Irene is not as perfect as she seems. Maybe Irene is just a normal human being who has her flaws. Maybe Irene works hard all this time to cover up her flaws, just like Seulgi.

 

The thoughts somehow put her feeling at ease, as if she just finished piecing hundred pieces of puzzle together. There’s a relief and oddly pleasant feeling inside her chest.

 

“Um, Seulgi?”

 

“Yes?” Seulgi blinks as she’s snapped out of her thought.

 

“I think I’m going to try the rap part but—can you sing the verse for me?”

 

“Oh,” Seulgi breathes in surprise, doesn’t expect that Irene will ask for it. “Alright, let me try.” She says, sitting down on her seat and looks over as Irene hands the phone to her.

 

“From this part.” Irene points at the lyrics and Seulgi nods, opening without a voice coming out from it.

 

“Sorry, I’ve never sing in front of anyone before.” Seulgi sighs, shaking her head lightly.

 

“Then, how about closing your eyes?” Irene points out. “Pretend that you’re alone and I’m not here.”

 

Seulgi blinks at her before nodding. That’s actually a good idea. Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath before sing out the song. She imagines herself sitting on her room, singing alone and fills the air with her voice.

 

Seulgi stops once her verse ends, only to realize that Irene is not continuing with the rap part. She opens her eyes and is met by Irene’s surprised ones.

 

“Oh my God, Seulgi, your voice—is so beautiful.” Irene says in awe, jaw dropping and eyes wide.

 

“W-What?” Seulgi blinks rapidly, totally not expecting a compliment from the other girl. “It’s just ordinary.” She quickly shakes her head, feeling a heat rises up to her cheeks.

 

“No, really, it’s so good! You should’ve sing more!”

 

“No it’s not that good.” Seulgi argues, turning his face away to hide her pink cheeks from the other girl. She can’t believe that she will get this awkward over a compliment.

 

“Are you blushing, Seulgi?”

 

“I am not.”

 

The two girls end up having a small argument before the topic changes into a completely different one as they continue their practice.

 

“Um, Seulgi.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I’m sorry about that day…”

 

“What day?” Seulgi scrunches up her face in confusion.

 

“That day when you got called by Mr. Song because I was being loud.”

 

“Oh—you still remember that?” Seulgi blinks, surprised that the other is still bothered about it and Irene nods weakly. “It’s okay, I didn’t mind about it, really.”

 

With that said, Irene smiles brightly again, so bright yet Seulgi doesn’t find the need to cover her eyes or anything.

 

Seulgi realizes that Irene may not be good at singing, but her rapping skill is surprisingly good, and her voice is somehow soothing.

 

Seulgi also notices that even though Irene talks a lot, but she never has to hold the urge to block the voice from her ears by putting on her earphones. She actually enjoys listening to Irene’s talk.

 

Irene talks about her new uniform, about the stray cat she often feed when she’s living in her old house, and about mundane things that she finds interesting. Seulgi listens to her though, nodding and humming once in a while between her stories.

 

It is until a janitor tells them that it’s getting late and he’s going to lock the class that the girls end their practice and head home. They end up going home together since they live in the same area, though their homes are not particularly close.

 

Seulgi always listens to her ipod along her way home and that day is the first time she shares her earphones with someone else, listening to the songs together as they walk. Unlike in the class earlier, the way home is rather quiet with the girls just walking together side by side while listening to the same song, and Seulgi never finds herself feeling so calm with someone next to her.  

 

"Irene."

 

"Hm?"

 

"Thanks for asking me to join the group with you." 

 

Seulgi hears a chuckle before Irene replies softly. "Don't mind it."

 

Maybe it’s not that bad to befriend with Bae Irene. 

 

 

---

A/N 

I didn't expect the first chapter to be this long honestly-- I hope the next chapter won't be too short compared to this one 

I know I rarely write girlxgirl story but it doesn't mean I don't like it ;)))

Anyway, please do know that english is not my first language so you might find a lot of grammatical errors and broken english, I am so sorry ;;

Comments, subscribe and upvotes are much  appreciated ahh thank you so much <333

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy the story!

♥