The moment Irene hears the words, “don't be mad at me” she knows she's in for a world of trouble. Her younger friend always has something or another happen that shouldn't concern her but somehow she ends up being in the middle of the mess.

Case and point. That time Seulgi thought it'd be a good idea to carry five ice creams single handedly for their friends and Irene had to explain to a very upset mother at the park why her child had an ice cream shower that sunny afternoon. The mother wouldn't calm down and threw her water at Irene even though technically she was mad at the clumsy girl who was responsible for the situation.

There are countless scenarios where she's had to be her friend's mini defence lawyer/babysitter. Although it's frustrating being responsible for Kang Seulgi and she expresses it to the girl daily she'd never just leave her friend. It worries the waitress to think what the younger girl would do without her.

Why is Irene feeling more nervous than usual waiting for the bombshell Seulgi is about to drop? Her gut is tugging at her and demanding she kick the younger girl out of her apartment already.

“Okay so,” the blonde takes a deep breath, “You know my parents are coming to town right? They were all 'Princess we can't wait to come and see how you've settled in’ and I was all 'Yeah I'm totally responsible and being a great adult and stuff you know me’ and anyway long story short they kept going on and on about 'finding a nice partner’ because ‘you don't want to be single at this moment of your sweetie you'll get lonely’. They kept trying to set me up with people and even offered to bring someone with them to meet me. I got embarrassed and I freaked out and said it wasn't needed because… I'm dating someone.”

All of the words were rushed out of , Irene wasn't sure she heard one breath taken. It takes her a while to actually decipher the meaning of her words. First of all how was that 'long story short’. Second of all Irene felt a little hurt stab her little heart at her friend keeping this piece of  information from her. Also she'd be lying if she said her stomach didn't drop at the thought of some random person being all over her Seulgi.

“What?!? Who's this person you're dating? Do I know them? Do you work with them?? Kang Seulgi what did I tell you about dating co workers? It's never a good idea. What do they do for a living?”

“Unnie calm down I said don't be mad at me and yo-”

“Mad? Why would I be mad? I'm just concerned that this person isn't right for you if you're hiding them from me like this.”

“You're clearly annoyed but listen to me please. It's not wh-”

“Is it that Jisoo girl that always flirts with you from the coffee shop?”

“No it's not her just-”

“Is it that Tiffany girl that always says hi to you on your run?”

“... No? Also that's a little weird. How do you even know about that?”

“... It's Wendy isn't it.” Irene can't hide her horrified expression but it wouldn't be surprising that her two closest friends starting to date. Plus Seulgi is being a lot more attentive lately to the cute Canadian.

“No.” The nervousness earlier has morphed into exasperation and Seulgi gives up in being tactful.

“It's you.”

The rage burning inside of Irene dies out and confusion but slight understanding fills her mind. Does Seulgi mean what she think she means?

“Unnie. I'm sorry, there's literally no one I could think of that my parents would approve of. You know they already view you as a daughter anyway. I'm asking you. I'm begging you. Please be my fake girlfriend for a while.

Damn it. She can't even be mad at the young artist, not when she's wearing that blinding smile showcasing her chubby cheeks and innocent bear eyes.

Irene knows she'll regret this, “Fine. We'll go through our game plan tomorrow.”

The younger girl squeals excitedly and jumps to tackle her. Irene knows she's in trouble by the way her blood rushes to her face and she suddenly feels shy at the intimate position Irene gulps slightly. She's done well at hiding her feelings for her close friend but she's already slipping in concealing her emotions.

She's been with the younger girl through their ups and downs since they were kids but Irene doesn't know how she'll get through this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I'm so nervous. Why am I so nervous? Are you nervous?”

The girl beside her sits as cool as a cucumber and shakes her head, looking at her friend with concern, “Hyun, you've got to calm down they already know and love you so relax.”

“I would punch you right now Kang Seulgi if we weren't in such a nice restaurant. You want me to 'relax’? I have no control over the situation, I lost control the moment you decided to fake ask me out!” The mix of nervousness and annoyance would've amused Seulgi if she wasn't so anxious for her friend.

Although she's not one for physical comfort Seulgi got her into this mess she'll take the leap to place a comforting hand on Irene’s thigh. Once she hears the gasp from the older girl Seulgi wonders if she should've looked before placing her hand so far up her leg but if she slid it down so it was lower would it become awkward?

This is exactly why she prefers an awkward back pat but she needs to step up if she wants to convince her own parents she's good enough for Irene.

Committing to the thigh grab Seulgi begins to soothingly move her fingers to relax Irene, not realising it's making the older girl nervous for an entirely different reason.

Irene should stop this, she really should, the butterflies fluttering in places she didn't realise they could go, her palms sweating and her breathing stopped. She wonders if she'll be pushing the boundaries if she spreads her legs a little, maybe Seulgi will get the hint, move those slender fingers up and down her-

“Joohyun! Gom Seulgi!”

Irene gulps and looks towards the parents making their way to the table, she almost avoids eye contact just in case they somehow read her mind about having their daughter basically finger her in a five star restaurant moments before their arrival.

Chanting internally to calm down Irene somehow manages to smoothly hug the parents in greeting and settled in her seat again once Seulgi helps her sit. The wetness in her underwear is much more noticeable since she's had to sit back down and she shifts slightly to get comfortable.

“Look at our girls! Seriously Joohyun we were so worried about sending our first daughter to live on her own but when we learnt she finally confessed to you we were so happy that you returned her feelings.”

Seulgi's mother looked to both of them with such warmth and pride it caused her stomach to churn slightly because their 'relationship’ didn't even exist. It's only been ten minutes since they became fake official so why does it already feel so real to her?

It's not secret that Irene has been crushing on Seulgi since they were kids but she never thought that the feeling was mutual until the normally smooth girl became a blushing, stuttering mess.

“Mom!” Seulgi whined out cutely, “... please don't~”

Her father laughs heartily, he winks at his wife before teasing their daughter. He gasps scandalously and whispers loudly, “You haven't told her Gom?”

The light and friendly atmosphere is the only reason Irene is able to relax and fit comfortably into the conversation like usual, finally being able to talk she asks “Told me what?”

“Seulgi used to write in her diary most nights about her crush, no what did she say again honey?” Seulgi already had her face buried in her hands knowing her dad was pulling out all the stops to maximise her embarrassment.

Her mother smiles gleefully as she happily fills in the blanks for her forgetful husband, “Wasn't it her 'princess wife?”

“Princess wife!” the volume of his voice gathers the attention of an older couple that glare at him, causing Seulgi to exit the panic room she created with her hands to apologise on his behalf.

She glances over to her date to find her giggling the Kang's conversation, she breathes a little sigh of relief at the older girl unaffected by her parents behaviour, she must be used to it.

“I still can’t believe you guys read my diary and laughed at me, those were critical growing years! You could’ve scarred me for life! If I died alone I would’ve resented you in my grave for shattering my confidence as a child.”

The food had finally arrived, leaving Seulgi’s dramatic declaration to hang in the air, not getting any response the bear grumbles and digs into her food - deciding to ignore the people at the table the same way they’re ignoring her. The conversation continues without her and the blonde girl sinks further into her chair and stuffs her face even more.

It’s not until she’s almost finished her food that Irene notices her friend hasn’t spoken, it’s been awhile since she’s caught up with her second parents. The Kang parents are still excitedly telling her about the renovations they’ve done to their home so Irene doesn’t want to be rude and stop them to check up on the moping girl. Not missing a beat the older girl continues to talk with the couple but moves her hand to rest on Seulgi’s thigh, silently telling her that she hadn’t been forgott