“Just one class! Just history!” Seulgi had tried to corner Wendy after rehearsal, but Irene had stuck to her like glue throughout the afternoon. "My grades are begging you! My parents are begging you!"

“Not a chance, I saw her first!” Irene decreed, linking her arms with Wendy.

“I mean, couldn’t I just-” Wendy tried.

“Why don’t you get your agent to find you a tutor?” Irene insinuated with a haughty brow raise at Seulgi.

Seulgi deflated - in a contest of wills, she had long since learned there was no winning against Irene. And as Wendy smiled at her sympathetically, she could tell this was a common sentiment. “I guess…”

“What’s this about a tutor?” Yeri asked, barging into the conversation. She saw Irene’s victorious smile and quickly caught up with the situation. “Oh, don’t mind them, I’ve already talked to the counselor and got something lined up for you.” This was more than ideal - keeping Wendy away from Seulgi was better for the longevity of her plot, though it was unfortunate that she couldn’t weasel a way into getting Irene and Seulgi to spend more time with each other. Still, she’d count it as a win for now.

Seulgi couldn’t place her disappointment. Didn’t she already see quite a bit of Wendy throughout the week? Now that Irene had invited Wendy on their morning runs, she almost saw more of the two of them than her own dance team. Speaking of whom… “Oh crap! What time is it?”

“Time for you to go. That’s what I came over here for: Eunae and Yooa already left for practice,” Yeri answered. “Now shoo, I’ll take care of whatever’s left here.”

“Thanks! …Wait, what is left to do-”

“Go!”

“Bye!” Seulgi quickly ducked away and jogged out of the auditorium, leaving the cast and crew to clean up. There were backdrops to roll away, props to repair, notes to review, things Yeri busied herself with while Seulgi enjoyed being a star. But even with Seulgi gone, she found herself sticking around until Yoona shooed the last of them out to lock up. If she stopped to think about it, the work was… fun. Though she had originally forced Seulgi to join the club under dubious pretenses, she was surprised to realize all those lies she told Seulgi about taking advantage of the springtime of their youth had been right after all.

“Alright, everyone out,” Yoona called. “Good work today.”

It'd be a shame to leave it all once the season ended.

+++

Wendy, however, wouldn’t have said she was having much fun at all. On the afternoons between rehearsals, she had already been making herself useful in the student counseling center tutoring walk-ins while she herself studied, but this situation was altogether different. Holed up in Irene’s small bedroom, the atmosphere was decidedly less studious as they sat on the floor side by side. How was she supposed to write when Irene was so needlessly close, peering over her shoulder at her books.

“Wh- uh, where shall we start?” Irene wasn’t in any of Wendy’s classes, which only further confounded her. She wasn’t sure how much help she’d be, or what Irene even needed help with. When no answer came, Wendy stole a glance at Irene, catching her in the midst of some reverie. “Irene?”

“What do you think of Seulgi?”

Wendy faltered, her voice cracking. "... Huh?"

“I can’t figure her out. I thought for sure she would have given up by now, but she keeps… showing up…”

Wendy wasn’t sure what to say. Irene was an enigma - they had never been terribly close until this season, and even then Wendy wasn't sure what to make of Irene's... playfulness. Wendy felt that trying to keep up with the way her mind worked was like trying to escape quicksand. It was better to not try at all lest you get caught up in her unknowable schemes. To hear that she was having trouble understanding someone as straightforward as Seulgi…

“To rehearsal? Why would she give up after all of her hard work?”

“And that’s the other thing!” Irene went on. “Why does she work so hard? Why? At everything??”

“... Except her classes, apparently,” Wendy murmured.

“How can you compete with it?”

Wendy hesitated. This was all starting to sound rhetorical, but, “Do you… need to compete? Can’t we just... enjoy having her around?”

Irene looked at her as if only just now realizing Wendy was there, in her room, answering her tempestuous thoughts. “Enjoy? So you’re okay with her coming in and stealing the lead part? You’re okay with Yoona asking you to be an understudy? Not even a regular cast member?”

“It’s important,” Wendy defended with a small smile. “It’s a huge part, I have to be at every rehearsal.” Wendy even had to run through important scenes with the rest of the main characters, singing the songs, dancing the choreography… “There’s not much difference when you think about it. I might as well be one of the cast.”

“But you won’t get to perform,” Irene maintained, though her righteous rage had much quieted.

“There’ll be other plays,” Wendy shrugged, determined to keep the wistfulness out of her voice. “But it almost sounds like you don’t want Seulgi to see it through.”

“Don’t be silly,” Irene said primly. “I just want to be right.”

“By hoping she quits and ruins our play??”

“But you said it yourself,” Irene answered, a devious glint in her eye as she suddenly leaned in. “How could she ruin it when we have you~?”

“B-but it’d be such a shame,” Wendy sputtered, leaning away. “You two look so good together!” she deflected.

Irene broke character and paused as she loomed over Wendy, blinking down at her in surprise.

“You… don’t think so?” Wendy asked tentatively, her arms aching as she supported herself on her elbows.

“Don’t be ridiculous…” Irene muttered, finally pulling away. Wendy collapsed with a huff onto the floor. “It’s the play. We say our pretty lines, sing our pretty songs, and then… then…”

Wendy lifted her head to get a better look at Irene’s stormy expression. “Do you... like her?”

That wasn’t the first time Irene had been asked that, but there was something very different about the way Wendy asked it than when Yeri had. Irene tried to will her thoughts into a staunch denial, but all she could manage was a small gasp of bewilderment. She, Bae Irene, catching feelings for that dumb jock? The mere notion was preposterous! ...Then why? Why couldn’t she summon the vehemence from before?

But Irene knew why. She didn’t want to admit that Seulgi didn’t fit into one of her neat little boxes. She wasn’t dumb, she wasn’t just a jock - her attitude and determination transcended the easy labels the drama club had slapped on her, and Irene wasn’t ready for the challenge to her worldview. Yes, that’s what it was, not a competition, but a challenge. Surely it was that, surely it was because Seulgi annoyed her, with her persistence, her ethic, the way she picked it up so quickly, her voice, her humility, it was easy to see why she had legions of fangirls at her beck and call, but also the way she denied it all instead of reveling in it... her quiet confidence, her passion... Maybe all of that was why she found Seulgi so frustrating and thrilling all at once. But feelings? She wouldn’t admit defeat so easily.

The pause was long enough for Wendy to become startled when Irene spoke again. Her eyes were downcast as she replied with a quiet smile, “Now where would the fun in that be?”

+++

Much to think about. Wendy had been mentally prepared for many things when Irene had arranged an impromptu study session at her house, but a conversation about Seulgi hadn’t been one of them. And then to actually settle down and study afterwards? This play was doing odd things to them all.

“What are you doing way back here?” Joy huffed as she slowed down to match Wendy’s pace. Another frosty fall morning dawned on the ambitious group of runners. The sun was taking longer and longer to make it over the hills that hemmed in this part of town and every breath they took was exhaled in white clouds. Joy and Wendy would have been at the very back of the group had it not been for Yeri who had recently decided to join them on their runs, though her level of engagement topped out at ‘powerwalking’.

“A wise woman once said, ‘Never run, even if you’re late!’,” she had explained to the others.

Wendy was slow to come out of her thoughts, usually having to focus on staying alive during these morning runs. “I’m usually… last…” she replied.

“But not this far last,” Joy said, gesturing at the others who were disappearing around the next corner of the school already, far ahead.

Wendy didn’t know what to say. She was already trying her best, and if it weren't for Irene's insistence, she probably would have already stopped coming. But with Joy by her side, a stray thought came to her and she heard herself ask, “Have you ever… had feelings… for someone?”

Joy stopped so suddenly that Wendy thought she had tripped. After another moment, the taller girl caught back up. “Where’d that come from?!”

“Have you?”

It was far too early for this. Still, it was a simple enough question. Where was the harm in it? “Sure.”

Wendy somehow hadn’t been expecting that admission - Joy had never breathed a word about this before. Her own feelings were apparently common knowledge, but after that conversation with Irene, Wendy was beginning to question if what she felt for the dance captain wasn't more of an infatuation than anything. “What’s it like?” she asked curiously as she kept doggedly jogging.

“Frustrating,” was Joy’s curt reply. Wendy waited for more and was eventually rewarded for her patience. “You watch them stumble around… hurting themselves, or getting hurt…” Joy thought aloud as she paced her strides to match Wendy's. “And all you can do… is try to help.”

That sounded very different from her little fangirl crush on Seulgi, and Wendy was stunned at Joy's forthright answer. She must have someone in mind.

Joy realized in the prevailing silence that she must have said too much, and decided to walk it back a bit. “So just pick someone… who isn’t a complete idiot.”

“...Do they know?”

Joy smiled to herself as she pulled ahead, leaving Wendy behind. “They would if they weren’t a complete idiot.”

+++

Yeri was waiting at the entrance to the school, though she seemed surprised when Seulgi slowed to a stop and doubled over in front of her.

“... Are you stopping early?”

Seulgi looked up at her, feeling more winded than usual. “What? No, that was three laps. You?”

Yeri was genuinely surprised. "I stopped at one," she said with a dismissive wave. "Anyway, what’s the rush? I don’t even see anyone rounding the corner yet.” She stood up on her tiptoes to look down the length of the school building. She wasn’t expecting anyone else to finish for several more minutes - it was a shame they weren’t timing this.

Seulgi stood upright with her hands on her hips as she tried to catch her breath. “Oh… I guess I kind of overdid it.”

“You think? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you like running.”

“I do!” Seulgi insisted. “And I guess… I just missed doing it on my own.”

“Instead of getting hounded by a legion of fangirls?”

Seulgi thought it was awfully unfair for the nonplussed Yeri to try and hold a conversation with her after such exertion, but she did her best to respond. “They’re not my fangirls! Try saying that again in front of Joy.”

“What’s wrong with Joy?” Yeri suddenly asked with a suspicious air of nonchalance.

Seulgi narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” Then after another moment, “I just mean it’d be a shame if you two didn’t get along, is all. Especially after I asked her to be your tutor.”

“JOY?!?”

“Geez, will you calm down?” Yeri complained, rubbing her ear. “Who else was I supposed to find that could match your schedule?”

Seulgi fell silent at that, dreading the arrangement, but not being able to deny Yeri’s statement. As the rest of the drama club began to reach the entrance one by one, Seulgi thought about the last few weeks. The days were passing by in a blur, the days filled with school, and the evenings packed with practices. It felt like her world had somehow doubled with the friends and possible enemies she had managed to make all because of one of Yeri’s whims. It made her feel like she was on some sort of runaway train that was taking her who knew where.

“Did you… sprint… the rest of the way?” Irene heaved. The morning runs had helped the more sedentary members of the drama club considerably, but Irene felt like she was on death’s door this morning. She blamed studying for keeping her awake all night, though perhaps it would have been more accurate to say the topics discussed during were what had plagued her.

Seulgi patted her back in a sympathetic manner, though she stopped when Irene broke down into a coughing fit. “Sorry…”

After a moment Irene recovered and she watched the others beginning to gather around. “It’s fine,” was all she could manage and she sat right down on the pavement.

“Actually, I was thinking we may need to put these runs on hold for now - just until opening night,” Moonbyul mused aloud as she jogged up to them. “Wouldn’t want to be complete zombies as we wrap up rehearsals.”

“... When is opening night, by the way?” Seulgi finally asked, and the growing group looked at her with a mixture of expressions ranging from disappointed to dumbstruck. Seulgi winced. “Blame my agent?”

Moonbyul grabbed her by the shoulder bracingly. “It should be easy for you to remember: it’s on Halloween.”

“So soon?!” Yeri exclaimed, and Seulgi threw a scandalized glance her way.

“That’s right, just a few more weeks and it’ll be here before you know it!” Moonbyul adjusted her grip to grab Seulgi around the shoulders and began walking towards the school. “With Seulgi’s hot debut~”

Seulgi laughed shyly as she was dragged along. But there was something about that date nagging at the back of her mind. Why did it seem so familiar? Halloween... maybe she had a test that day?

Oh well, it probably wasn’t that important.