“You have my picture on your fridge?” Seulgi asks you one day, after you’d invited her over for dinner and she lingers around you, standing on her tiptoes in your kitchen as you cook your meal for the two of you.

She’d been dancing through the space just prior, reaching over you to steal a piece of chicken from the pan with a pair of chopsticks before ducking beneath your teasing hand and leaping out of reach, sticking her tongue at you playfully.

Now she spins on her heel in wonder at your top floor penthouse, briefly glancing at the wall of windows that overlook the shining Seoul lights below. Then, she returns her attention to the little polaroid that stands out from the rest of the pictures tacked onto the fridge ever-so-slightly; the one that Seulgi had taken on an early summer day in the park, a pink flower in your hair, a yellow one in hers.

You look over her shoulder, cocking your head at Seulgi’s questioning tone.

“I do,” you say softly. If you close your eyes, you can still remember that summer day without any trouble at all— Seulgi dragging you out of your office, ing a pair of casual clothes your way (the ones you’d left at her place last time you’d slept over), the way she’d skipped ahead of you down the park walkway, humming a tune to a song you swear is so familiar but you couldn’t put your finger on it. You can recall the way she’d pulled you down onto the grass, pushed a strand of hair behind your ear, smiled at you like you’d granted her the world on a silver platter, complete with a bow and everything.

“You have my picture on your fridge,” Seulgi repeats, as though she’s tasting the words, seeing how they roll of her tongue, feeling how they leave her lips.

“You sound surprised,” you say teasingly, absolutely amused at her shocked, almost confused reaction.

“Just a little bit,” she admits, turning to fully face you as you turn off the stove. Placing the wooden stirring spoon down, you pivot on one foot to look at her, only to find her staring at you with a soft smile playing on her lips and a look in her eyes that you just can’t put your finger on— you can’t quite distinguish it, but it makes your stomach flutter with the strength of a thousand hummingbirds, butterflies be damned.

“And why’s that?” You quirk an eyebrow as you raise a glass of water to your lips.

“Because Bae Irene, fashion icon and high-class CEO has me taped onto her priceless, stainless steel frigidaire,” Seulgi states, and you choke on your water as Seulgi laughs at your expense, happy she’d got you to laugh.

The glare you send her lack any strength to it, given entirely away at the laughter you’re trying to keep from bubbling past your lips.

“You did not just say frigidaire to my face,” you say.

She shrugs, the corner of her lips quirking up into a smile. “It seemed like the appropriate word to use!”

“Please never use it to describe my fridge ever again.”

Seulgi salutes.

“Will do, ma’am!”

“Stop!” You laugh, striding over to hit her arm. “And that shouldn’t be something you should be surprised by! Of course you’re up on my fridge, silly. What did you think I was going to do with the polaroid you gave me? Leave it lying around?”

“Yes.”

“Seulgi!” You motion to hit her smirking face once more, but she grabs your wrist and pulls you close, a hand coming around your waist. You flush, hiding your face into her shoulder, fingers digging into the fabric of Seulgi’s woolen sweater. She presses a kiss to your forehead and you feel the heat rush to your face before you start to twist the hem of her shirt.

“You’re too cute,” she mutters into your hair.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t do anything with the picture?” You ask quietly.

“I thought you’d put it in your wallet or something,” Seulgi chuckles, a hand coming up to run its course through your hair. “I never expected you to have it right in the center of your polaroid collection of pictures of the sky and flowers and nature and stuff.”

“It’s the one that means the most to me.”

“It is?” Seulgi’s hand stops in its motion through your dark locks, and you frown— you’d been enjoying it. “Why?”

“Because you’re in it, of course” you say with a small smile. “What other reason do I need?”

“Y-you—” she shakes her head, tipping your chin up to press her lips against yours in the type of way that sends shivers to the tips of your toes, makes you feel like you’re on top of the world with the way she smiles into your kiss, the silent thank you searing into your mouth, embedding itself there, mixing with the you’re amazing and I love you’s.

“You’re welcome,” you quip cheekily, and Seulgi groans as you giggle, poking your cheek with her nose and planting a quick kiss there. “I love you too.”

“You always know what to say,” she jokes, fanning herself as you move away to get the both of you plates so that you can finally eat dinner.

“Always,” you wink, before turning away, attending to your meals. “But Seulgi?”

“Yeah?”

“I put it on my fridge because that’s the first place I see in the morning. I like seeing your first thing in the morning… It makes me happy.” You know that she can’t see your face, but you also know your skin can’t get much redder than this. “You make me really happy, like I can take on the world and all that stuff.”

You swear that once upon a time, you were more articulate with your words, and you can hear your heart pounding in your ears as Seulgi is quiet from behind you.

“...First thing in the morning, huh?” A pair of arms wrap themselves around your waist, and Seulgi rests her chin on your shoulder, a wide smile having bloomed on her lips. “I guess we have a lot to discuss then, don’t we?”

“If you want, of course,” you murmur, slightly embarrassed.

“I like seeing you first thing in the morning too,” Seulgi grins at you, although she nudges your side in an almost bashful manner, and you hear her tapping her toe against the tiled floor.

“Do you now?”

“Mmhm,” Seulgi hums. “After all, your picture is on the bulletin board in my bedroom, Hyun.”

You turn your head to blink at her in shock, but the two of you burst into laughter as she rests her forehead against yours.

“We’re never going to eat at this rate if you’re like this!” You scold.

“You’re just going to have to deal with it, Hyun!” Seulgi sings, and despite the way you roll your eyes, the sound is musical to your ears, and yes, you think you wouldn’t mind hearing that noise every day.