I woke up to a sweet, tantalizing scent drifting into my senses. What was it? What was this amazing smell? Curious, I slowly opened my eyes and squinted. My vision was blurry from sleep, and I groaned, reaching up and rubbing at my eyes. I wish I hadn’t. When I opened my eyes again, I was met with the sight of Seulgi looking down at me with grass green eyes and a sad expression on her face. In her hands, was a bird.

    “Oh my god! What in the world?!” I screeched, scrambling backwards. Luckily, my bed was fairly large, so I didn’t fall off of it. “Kang Seulgi!”

    “Good morning, Irene. I am in need of your assistance.” Seulgi looked calm, and she wasn’t even looking at me. She was staring down at the bird with tenderness in her eyes.

    With a groan, I fell limp back onto my pillows, covering my eyes with one arm as I took deep breaths - trying to steady the erratic beating of my poor heart. This girl was going to be the death of me. “Kang Seulgi. Why is there a bird in my house?” I asked, trying my best to keep my voice steady.

    “Normally, I would be able to heal this poor animal, but it seems that I have lost my power to do so. It is frustrating. Help me? Please?”

    I stiffened at the tone of voice that she used; she sounded pained. I took my arm off of my eyes before warily looking up at Seulgi. I observed her. Had she even slept at all? She looked just as perfect as she had last night, with no hint of bed hair or bleary eyes, and either she was gifted with that, or she hadn’t even laid down last night. She was now looking at me with sorrowful, pleading eyes, and I found myself getting lost in the swirls of grass, leaves, and emerald. This was too much for the start of the day. However, I had known that I was a goner as soon as I had looked at her, and I got up into a sitting position with a light grunt.

    “Seulgi, where did you even find that bird?”

    “I heard it. It was calling for help. It is my duty to help animals in need.”

    I blinked at her a couple of times before crawling closer to where she was standing. I might as well help the poor thing. I was an environmental scientist after all, and I loved animals and nature. I had just been surprised to wake up to another human being instead of my alarm clock. Who wouldn’t have been, anyway? Especially if you lived alone.  “Alright, let me see it,” I said softly.

    “Really? Thank you, Irene.” Seulgi’s eyes were now a solid cobalt blue, and I inwardly cursed.

    Damn you and your beauty, Kang Seulgi. I cleared my throat uncomfortably. “Yeah, right. Where is it hurt?” The bird was a pretty little thing with soft, brown feathers and bright yellow beak and feet. However, its eyes were closed, and it was breathing irregularly.

    “His wing is broken. He is in a lot of pain.”

Surprised at her words, I looked up at Seulgi to see her with a serious expression on her face. Her eyes were that intimidating storm cloud gray again; it was obvious that she was upset. But how did she know that the bird was a male? And why did she talk as if she could feel its pain?

“Oh. I see. I guess we’ll have to go to the vet, then,” I murmured.

Seulgi looked frustrated, and it showed in the way her iron orbs sparked with specks of red in variations - like the way it would look if you were to strike flint and steel together continuously to make flame. I felt the need to be cautious around her, now. I’d seen what she could do at the lab yesterday, with the Minho incident, and I didn’t want the same thing to happen to me.

She was confusing with the way she could seem like a wild animal one moment and then revert to a domesticated puppy in another. I didn’t understand why one bird meant so much to her, but with the mood she seemed to be in, now, I wasn’t willing to ask.

“I’ll just wash up, and we can go, alright?” I said carefully, gauging her reaction.

Seulgi suddenly looked up as if she'd sensed something, and then looked at me. I stared back. As I watched, the harsh colors of red and gray began to recede to be replaced with a soft, summer green. She looked apologetic now. “I am sorry if I am scaring you. I am just worried about the bird,” Seulgi said, biting her lip.

I almost flung a pillow at her face. How could someone be so cute yet so . . . alluring? It wasn't fair. Slightly flustered, I quickly looked away from her. “It’s okay. You’re not scaring me. I get that you’re worried.” Although I said those words, I still couldn’t help but feel that nagging sense of caution around her. And seeing those gentle green eyes reminded me of what I had seen last night. Moonlight and beauty and longing.

Seulgi moved to the side - her footsteps still as silent as ever - as she cradled the bird protectively in her hands. I got off of my bed and shivered when my feet touched the cold, hardwood flooring. I padded out of my room and to the bathroom.

“I’m just going to wash up, and we can go, alright?”

“Yes.”

“God damn it, Seulgi!” I screeched when Seulgi’s voice unexpectedly drifted to me in close proximity. I turned to see her wincing slightly with the bird in her hands outstretched away from me. She was only a few feet away from where I was standing. How could someone have no presence like that?

“That hurts, Irene,” Seulgi whined, her face still screwed up in a look of pain.

“Good! You deserve it! I told you to walk with sound, Seulgi! You’re not a ghost!”

“That is your fault for not hearing me.”

“Seulgi,” I warned, glaring at her.

“ . . . I apologize.”

~~

    “Calm down, the bird’s going to be okay,” I said, eyeing Seulgi out of the corner of my eye.

    Seulgi was unnaturally jumpy - her leg bouncing up and down and her fingers drumming restlessly against her thigh. Her eyes were now green with red specks, and the colors contrasted in a way that should be illegal. The people sitting in the waiting room along with us were, of course, staring at Seulgi. Luckily, as it was still early, there weren’t many people, so I didn’t feel as uncomfortable as I had the day before at the