“Wow Seungwann, you look beat,”

“Thanks,” Wendy yawned and slouched onto the table

“What happened?” Joy poked the girl, “Did you study all weekend or something?”

 

“No,” Wendy shook her head, “I had to work on our report…

“But guess who I also had to babysit  …”

 

“Yerim?” Seulgi guessed

Wendy nodded

“Ah! My little apprentice!” Joy happily clapped, “I love that kid!”

Wendy groaned and turned to Joy, “She’s just like you, a bundle of evil.”

“She learns from the best,” Joy beamed. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw something odd.

“What are you thinking of?” She suddenly turned to Seulgi

“W-what?”Seulgi was taken aback by the question. She must’ve been smiling when she thought about her weekend. Her two friends stared at her as they waited for her answer.

“I’m not thinking of anything…”

 

“Then what’s with the goofy smile?”

“What goofy smile?”

“The goofy smile on your face.”

“I dont have a goofy smile.”

“Yes you do have a goofy smile.”

“Stop saying goofy!”

“Goofy goofy goofy!” Joy stuck out her tongue

“Say it again and I will..will..” Seulgi suddenly felt a tickle

“You’ll what, care bear?” the jokester provoked, “Whatcha gonna do to me, huh?”

“I’ll...i’ll...slap -CHOO!”

.....

Joy froze when she felt Seulgi’s spit spray her face.

“Oh ..” Seulgi murmured when she realized what she did. She glanced at Wendy and the moment they made eye contact, they doubled over in laughter.

“It’s not funny!” Joy slammed her fist onto the tabletop, “Stop laughing Seungwan!”

Seulgi kept on laughing. She saw Joy started to get up but she didn’t flinch.

“Alright, alright,” Wendy pulled Joy back down, “Let’s stop now,”

Wendy reached into her bag and pulled out a pack of tissues,

“Here.”

“Thanks,” Seulgi grabbed one and wiped her tears.

“That was meant for Joy.”

“Oh...”

“Here Joy,” Seulgi tossed her tissue at her friend, “It’s for you.”

Joy gave her a glare but Seulgi only stuck out her tongue.

“Anyways,” Seulgi turned back to Wendy, “speaking of the report, since I don’t have my laptop, could you help me type it up? I’ll handwrite it and give it to you in the next few days. “

“Sure,”

 

“Just make sure to give it to me by Friday, the latest.”

 

------

 

“Achoo!” ,

“Ugh! Gross, Seulgi!” Irene grimaced and wiped her arm,  “Cover yourself when you do that,”

“Sorry,” Seulgi sniffled

“Are you okay?” Irene handed her a tissue

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Seulgi wiped her nose,  “Must be the dust from this textbook...”

Irene looked at her funny

“Are you catching a cold?” Irene suddenly remembered that they ran in the rain.

“Wait here, I’ll get some medicine,” she started to get up

 

“No, stay,” Seulgi pulled her back down,  “I’m fine, I’m not sick.”

Irene stared at her.

Seulgi glanced up from her report,

“Irene, don’t worry,” she reassured,

 

“I’m not sick,

 

----------

 

“And so the question was “What was the capital of Greece, you know what she said?”

“What?”

“Turkey!” Seulgi slapped her knees

“Sooyoung!” Wendy laughed as she lightly slapped Joy’s arm

“I couldn’t help it! It was such a good opportunity?” Joy shrugged, “Turkey, Greece!”

“That was a good pun though,” Wendy nodded

“You know what’s even better?” Seulgi turned to her friends, “If he asked what the capital of Turkey was.”

“Why?”

“So you could’ve said Gravy!” Seulgi laughed at her own joke. She stopped when her friends didn’t join in.

“Oh, c’mon!” Seulgi tried again, “Gravy! Turkey! A classic combo!”

“We get the joke, carebear,” Joy patted her back, “But Gravy, Turkey? It should be the other way around.”

Seulgi sulked,

“Well it’s not my fault we don’t have a country named Gravy…” She kicked at the ground.

She felt Joy nudging her.

“What?” She glanced at her friend but Joy gestured to someone in front. She turned to look.

“Irene?”

“Hey stranger,.” Irene smiled. She saw Seulgi’s friends wave to her so she gave a small wave back.

Joy and Wendy smiled back and pushed their friend forward.

Seulgi shot them a glare before walking towards the brunnette.

“What are you doing here?” she stopped in front

“Well, I go to college here too…” Irene glanced up at the building

“I meant, aren’t you supposed to be at your club meeting?”

“I am but I skipped it today.”

 

“What? Why?”

“Because I didn’t feel like going.”

“That’s not like you.”

 

“Anyways," Irene shrugged, "I came to see if you wanted to walk home together.”

“Oh. Uh….” Seulgi looked back at her friends. They were busy chatting, so she turned back.

“Yeah, sure,” she nodded,

 

“Let me just let Joy and Wendy know.”

 

---------

 

“So…”Seulgi broke the silence, “Why did you skip your club meeting?”

“Mm..”Irene shrugged again, “Just didn’t feel like going.”

Something felt off. Irene wasn’t the type to skip anything. Not even rope or rocks.  

 

“Did something happen in school?”

“Mm..”Irene looked down, “No.”

Lie. That was a lie. Seulgi could feel it.

 

“Just a bad day?” Seulgi looked at the older girl.

Irene subtly nodded. Seulgi would’ve missed it if she wasn’t paying attention.

“I know what will make you feel better,”

“What?”

“A joke.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Okay so,” Seulgi turned, “ What is the capital of Turkey?”

“I don’t know. What?”

“Gravy!” Seulgi beamed

“....”Irene raised an eyebrow, “Gravy, Turkey?”

“....”Seulgi’s smile dropped, “Okay….how about this one?”

 

“What is the capital of Greece?”

“I don’t know. What?”

“Turkey!” Seulgi waited anxiously

 

“Oh, I like that one! Turkey Grease, it’s clever.…”Irene smiled, “Did you come up with that?”

 

Damn Joy.

Seulgi snapped her fingers as she cursed her friend.

“Yeah, I came up with it 100%,” Seulgi lied, “the first joke was Joy’s.”

“It’s a good joke,” Irene smiled

"You're right," Irene thanked her, “I do feel better now.”

“Yup, all because of my amazing joke,” Seulgi gloated smugly

“Yes, that too,” Irene glanced at her, “But I feel better because you’re here,”

“Oh,” Seulgi felt herself flush at the unexpected comment. She didn’t really know what to say so she just glanced at the snow on the ground and picked some up.

“SNOWBALL FIGHT!” she shouted, pelting the older girl with snow balls.

“Yah!” Irene yelled as she evaded the flying balls of snow, “and I was just saying how nice it was to be with you!

“You spoke too soon!” Seulgi stuck out her tongue, “ Who said I was nice to be around?!”

She chucked another snowball.

“Seulgi!” Irene shrieked as she dodge another whirling snow missile. Afterwards, she instantly started making her own snowballs,

“Kang Seulgi!

 

“Start writing your will!”

 

-----

 

“Eat snow!”

“Hey!” Seulgi jumped left, “That one almost hit my head!”

“Don’t worry! There’s nothing valuable up there!” Irene playfully joked

“Oh, you want to throw insults now too, huh?!” Seulgi smirked and hurled another snowball, “Okay! I can do both!”

“Hey Irene!”

“What!” Irene ducked,

“What are you going to do for a face when the baboon wants his back?!”

“Oh haha,” Irene threw a snowball, “Hey Seulgi!”

“What, Baechu?” Seulgi blocked herself, “Are you going to call me an stupid like you always do?!”

“I would, but then I would be insulting all the idiots of the world!”

“Ohhh, really now?!”

“Yeah!”

“Well you know what?!”  Seulgi prepared another snowball

“What?!”

“You’re so old when you were a kid, rainbows were black and white!”

Irene placed a hand over her heart. She was sensitive about her age so that one stung a tiny bit.

“Oh! Okay! Seulgi! I have a poem for you!”

“Yeah?! Let’s hear it!”

 

“Roses are red,

Violets are Blue,

God made me pretty,

 

What happened to you?!” Irene hurled the snowball

 

Seulgi ducked and laughed. She had to admit, that was a funny insult. But she was ready with a comeback.

“What are you talking about?! You’re so ugly when you look in the mirror, your reflection walks away!”

Irene stopped throwing and scoffed. She didn’t expect that one.

“Oh does it now?!

“Yeah! In fact, you’re so ugly even Hello Kitty says goodbye to you!”

“Well you know what?!”

“What?!”

“You’re the reason why the gene pool needs a lifeguard!”

“Oh another intelligence insult, huh?! Well you’re proof that evolution CAN go in reverse!”

Irene smiled and placed her hand over her heart again.

 

“Aww Seulgi,  it's so cute when you try to talk about th