It starts because of one late early autumn Friday night, when Irene had been dragged out of her apartment by Yeri and Joy to celebrate a “successful start to the school year,” or something. It just so happened that the whole “Seoul Performing Arts” Facebook page thing occurred shortly after. But yeah. Irene’s in pretty deep.

--

Irene knows that she's screwed the moment Joy, being the loud person that she is, pushes herself up from her seat, palms flat on the top of the library table, and yells across the study space, "Excuse me? Dancer-unnie? Yes, you! You're Kang Seulgi, right?"

And Irene wants nothing more than to curl up into a ball like an armadillo, because the look of pure smugness that Joy just tossed her way makes Irene think, yeah, I could just die of embarrassment right now. But she can't crawl into fetal position without looking like she's off her rocker, so Irene settles on groaning and burying her face in her arms.

This Kang Seulgi must've made her way over to their table, because Irene can hear the dance student respond too.

"Hm? Yes, I'm Seulgi! Why?"

Oh, please spare me, Irene begs to Whomever Up There.

"I saw you at the impromptu street dance in the middle of campus–" Joy rambles, raw enthusiasm coating every inch of her words. Irene can already picture the smirk on (unfortunately) tall girl's face. Yup, if I could just melt into a puddle right here... "–and you looked really cool, unnie!"

"Aw, shucks!" A nervous chuckle resounds through the space. Next to her, Irene hears Yeri start to coo something about how cute Seulgi is. "Thanks! That wasn't anything too impressive..."

"Are you kidding? You were great! My senior friend saw you too," Joy says cheerfully, and Irene frowns in puzzlement.

Joy has other senior friends? I didn't know that— “Ow!”

Irene yelps in shock, bolting upright as her leg starts throbbing in pain. She forces herself into a sitting position, bringing a hand down to touch her bruising leg while she throws a grim smile Joy's way, before finally taking the time to glance up at this "Kang Seulgi" person and—

Holy .

It's her. The girl from the impromptu street dance session that Irene had stumbled upon with her friends while they were out last Friday night, and— well, there were many girls taking part in that sudden street dance competition, but more specifically, apparently, Kang Seulgi was the hot one (not that Irene would ever admit that out loud.)

Irene is about to wonder just which cliché rom-com she's unintentionally taken a part in when Joy cuts into her thoughts yet again – what a surprise – and Seulgi, with her unassuming wool cardigan and form-fitting jeans that somehow manage to hide toned, taut muscle, diverts her attention to the tall, red-haired girl who had summoned her in the first place.

"So your dance skills are just out of this world, and I hope you don't think this is being too forward but–" Joy finally pauses in her gushing ramble, taking the time to get again send a sly smirk Irene's way. The unadulterated glimmer of mischief that sparkles in Joy's eyes sends Irene into a mini inner panic attack about the younger girl's next words— just what's her goal anyway? Is she planning on setting Irene and Seulgi up? Because Joy's been complaining about Irene's single status for a while now, and Irene may or may not have let it slip back on Friday night that 'hey, that dancer's pretty hot,' and like— "–I really want to be your friend!"

Wait, what?

Yeri snickers, but Irene's just confused, if anything. That certainly was not the direction she'd thought this opening conversation would turn in, but to her credit, Seulgi seems to take it in stride. "Sure!" The dancer chirps with an easy shrug of her shoulders, a bright tilt to her lips making Irene's heart stutter just a little bit. "Let's be friends!" she adds for good measure, holding out a hand that Joy eagerly takes.

"Great! I'm Joy!"

"Yay!" Yeri claps happily, downright dismissing the 'Shh!' that emerges from deep within the library's depths, beaming up at Seulgi. "I'm Yeri! Come sit with us!"

And Seulgi does, plopping down comfortably in the vacant seat right next to Irene, as if she's belonged there from the first day. The two girls exchange small smiles. Irene presses her lips together and runs her tongue over the inside of her teeth in anticipation, finally nodding after a moment's hesitation and saying a shy, "Irene.”

"Irene," Seulgi repeats, the name rolling off of her tongue in a way that Irene's never heard before. There's something about the grin that Seulgi sends her way that makes Irene want to believe that Seulgi likes the way it sounds too. "Like the Greek goddess of peace?"

"Yes!" Irene nods, surprised that Seulgi knew the reference. "How'd you know?" she asks, her voice small.

"I have a minor in literature," Seulgi explains while beaming proudly. "It's important to know all of the references, especially the Greek ones, since they appear a lot as allusions in other readings.”

Irene flushes. Well, that figures.

“She’s my favorite of the Horae,” Seulgi continues. “Y’know, the goddesses of nature and their seasonal aspects.”

“I-is that so?”

“Yup.” Seulgi beams. “I look forward to getting to know you, unnie!”

Irene smiles shyly. “Likewise, Seulgi.”