"It can't be that bad," Irene chuckled.

"You know nothing," Wendy retorted. "The hairstylist gave me the lightest shade among us, I feel like ripping my head off."

"You're a drama queen unnie," Joy snorted, still playing with Yeri's pigtails.

"Says the one with orange hair, I almost feel offended. The hairstylist always preferred the maknaes anyways."

"Joy doesn't know the pain, let her be," Seulgi said  with a wide smile. "We should get going, they probably finished preparing the set by now."

The Red Velvet member unanimously decided to leave their waiting room in the MBC building to warm up before the first recording of their performance for Ice Cream Cake, the title song of their new mini-album after their member's input. 

Seulgi was getting used to the idol life and the hectic schedule coming with it. Everyone was glad for them when Red Velvet debuted quite a few months ago. Every SM artist congratulated them at least once after Happiness came out to welcome the new group in the wide SM family. They said it was a really good song, that they were going to become an important girl group, that they would be successful. 

Seulgi smiled through all those compliments and thanked them for being so generous but deep down, she didn't believe them all that much. It was all becaume of the first article she read about her group in the news. "Red Velvet's Happiness music video contains images of horrible events the humanity is trying to forget, what is their purpose?" And the rest wasn't any better. 

It surprised her that nobody was talking about the members, the lyrics, the vocals nor the choreography. Nobody was talking about the song itself, they were talking about the older artists being neglected by the management. They were talking about Red Velvet's "ty" company. It was all in all very messy. Seulgi could even remember having read some rude comments about them, telling the members to come out of SM's dungeon once they get educated. 

Nobody was commenting about things the members, could change or improve. The music video wasn't their product, they were simply in it. All those comments were hateful and most were completely unnecessary, but it made them stronger. Red Velvet's members understood that they were a group and that they could rely on each other. That's when Seulgi slowly started to forget about Jongin. Her mind was telling her that she had more important people to think of and that she should focus on things she could change or improve. Her goal was now to become a better version of herself and to work hard to make Red Velvet a group that she could be proud of. That's when Red Velvet became her priority.

The day he ignored her in front of the practice room was the last time Seulgi looked at Jongin in the eyes. More than having regrets for not holding him back or gretting him casually like old friends would, Seulgi was glad that she did absolutely nothing. There was no reason for her to be casual with him because they weren't friends, Seulgi and Jongin were now as close as strangers.

That day, she decided that it would also be the last time that she would let myself be affected by him like that. If they met in the company, Seulgi and Jongin would simply ignore each other. It was easier for them. It was how everything worked. Even when they met at some events, she would stay away from EXO until she had no choice but to face them. Most of the time it was because of Red Velvet's leader Irene. She became friends with EXO's leader instantly back and their trainee days and unlike Jongin and Seulgi, they were still friends. Because of all the time they lost over their debuts and packed schedule, Irene and Suho liked to talk every time they met. No matter who was there or if they were in a hurry or not, Suho and Irene had to talk to each other or just say hi for a few seconds. Seulgi didn't know if they were just being respectful and polite with each other or if they genuinely always had something to talk about. Red Velvet's new member Yeri thought it was fun and sometimes joined the conversation, but for the rest of them, it was just an awkward gathering of people around two undisturbed leaders. 

Joy was the most impatient of them and didn't mind the fact that she was talking to older people when she told Irene to make it quick, once. Irene hit the younger's for being disrespectful but Seulgi was just glad they had Joy with them when even the cheerful and bubbly Wendy couldn't save the atmosphere from becoming tense. 

Sehun who knew the whole situation between Jongin and Seulgi pleaded with Joy. It always worked when Sehun whined. Suho smiled at his maknae and said goodbye to Irene. 

This was how Seulgi usually got out from an awkward situation most of the time. With the help of her members and Sehun.

After the recording, the members went back to their waiting ro