Park Sooyoung could never figure out whether WGM was a blessing or a damnation. Logic told her that she should bow down to Lady Luck for gracing her with a nice work partner on the show, and for helping her attain skyrocketing popularity after the show had ended (Well, not everyone could top real-time searches just by smiling and flipping their hair); but Emotions lamented that she had stupidly given her heart away to be messed around with, and that was not exactly optimal given her circumstances as a rising rookie girl group member in Korea’s entertainment circle. To add on, the guy who had been messing with her heart was one of the hottest trending male celebrities in the country (thereby making him a trending figure in the whole of Asia), and it did not help that his company was in a pretty dire crisis and depended on him to make ends meet.

“Irene unnie, have you ever experienced love before?” Joy asked out of the blue as she bolted from the bed, effectively startling the leader.  

“Ohmygoshyouscaredme - Uhh, not exactly? I became a trainee when I was 18, and before that I think I was too fixated on my grades to actually care about boys. In retrospect, I should probably have dated some of them back then. At this rate I’m going to remain single until like, what, 35?” 

Park Sooyoung sighed inwardly. Well, there went her chance of figuring out her feelings. Wendy, though bubbly and an undeniable social butterfly, had never been in a serious relationship before (“I’m not a player,” she proclaimed, when the other Red Velvet members broached on the subject, “It’s just the cultural difference between Canada and Korea). Seulgi had always been a workaholic and probably preferred spending time in the practise room to going on dates with boys. As for Yeri - if she had the audacity to date at such a tender age, Park Sooyoung was certain that herself, together with the other members, would first skin the boy alive before locking their maknae in the dorm for an entire year. 

“Sooooo~ Who does our Sooyoungie fancy?” Irene asked in a sing-song voice. Her years of interaction with Park Sooyoung told her that the younger girl had something on her mind - she was an open book, really. In the bottom of her heart, Irene suspected that it had something to do with a specific guy named Yook Sungjae, but she decided to keep her speculations to herself. After all, Irene and Sooyoung were 5 years apart, and the possibility of a generation gap was very high. 

“Unnie, I don’t know whether I like this guy or not. It’s like, I think I like him but I’m not sure and I don’t know whether he likes me or not but it seems to me that he likes me so do I like him and does he like me?” In her state of anxiety and confusion, Rapper Joy took over Sooyoung’s being and she lashed out her entire conundrum to Irene without pausing for breath. Perplexed, Baechu gritted her teeth. Yes, a generation gap was definitely present. 

“Slow down! I don’t know what you’re saying!” 

“Unnie… I don’t know whether I really like this guy. I think I like him, but I have never experienced love before so I can’t be sure of my feelings? And I have absolutely no idea if he likes me more than a friend, he’s so hard to read!” 

Irene bit back a smile. Her dongsaeng was definitely harbouring a crush on someone - If she wasn’t interested, why should she even be mildly bothered by how he felt towards her? Looking at Sooyoung’s bewildered face, Irene was determined to get to the bottom of things and figure out the true identity of the man in Sooyoung’s dreams. However, she would not be the one fishing information out of the younger girl’s face. She’d have to pick someone with a smaller generation gap with Sooyoung. 

“Don’t worry Sooyoungie, we’ll be here for you. Regardless what happens, we’ll always be Red Velvet, eh?” Irene said as she flashed Sooyoung a reassuring smile. Red Velvet, as promising money makers for SM, were constantly being nagged at to take note of their image and be mindful of the public’s perception towards them, which inexorably included being wary of their love lives (or, as their manager curtly put it, “Don’t fall in love until we gave you guys permission to do so.”). However, as long as they were able to keep things away from the public eye, nothing’s impossible, eh?