Seulgi comes back to the dorm one day to find it completely empty.

She blinks in surprise, pulling her phone out of her pocket to check the group chat once more. Just as she thought. Irene hadn’t told them of any plans to leave the dorm that day, and Irene always told her members her plans in advance.

“She’s probably just in her room,” the dancer muses to herself, setting down the bags of groceries in the kitchen and making her way over to the leader’s bedroom. She gingerly knocks on the door before slowly pushing it open. “Joohyun-unnie? Joohyu— whoa!”

The second-eldest’s eyes widen in shock as she’s immediately attacked by a white ball of fluff that leaps into her arms the moment she steps into the room.

Seulgi stares down at the enlarged, breathing cotton ball in her arms in utter confusion. Meanwhile, the white bunny silently gazes back up at her with its enormous, brown doe eyes, its pink nose wiggling ever-so-slightly. It’s a staring contest that Seulgi just knows she’s losing.

Before she knows it, Seulgi’s absolutely swooning.

“You’re too cute,” she coos at the small animal, raising a hand to pet it between the ears. “But when did we get a bunny?” She looks around Irene’s room, scrunching her nose when she realizes that the older girl is still nowhere in sight. “Did Joohyun-unnie buy you?”

Seulgi doesn’t know why she’s asking the bunny— as if the bunny will understand, and wait a minute.

“You just shook your head,” Seulgi deadpans, staring blankly at the rabbit in her arms that clearly just shook its head in the negative. “I swear you just shook your head.”

The bunny nods good naturally this time, long white ears flopping around and softly hitting Seulgi’s hand.

“Am I going crazy?” Seulgi voices aloud to no one in particular.

She’s met with the sight of the rabbit in her arms furiously nodding. Seulgi blinks.

“So you really understand me,” Seulgi states.

A nod.

“Do you know where Joohyun-unnie is?” Seulgi pauses. “I mean, Irene-unnie?” Maybe this rabbit only knew the leader’s stage name.

A faster nod.

“Really?” Seulgi looks excited. “Well, where is she then?”

The rabbit freezes, and if Seulgi didn’t know better, she’d think that the bunny had a contemplative look on its face. But then again, it probably did, because this bunny understands human speech, and Seulgi is currently talking to it.

The dancer is pulled out of her reverie to a gentle pattering of paws on her collarbone. She shakes her head slightly to clear her thoughts before focusing on the bunny again. 

The rabbit paws Seulgi’s chest insistently once more before pointing to its furry, white chest, motioning to itself.

“I’m sorry, what?” Seulgi’s back to that blank gaze again. The white rabbit huffs, nostrils flaring. Oh no. Seulgi’s definitely seen that look before, especially on a certain leader of a certain SM girl group.

“...Oh my god, Joohyun-unnie?”

And it’s like the rabbit deflates right in front of her, sighing and flopping back into Seulgi’s arms in relief.

—

“How on earth did you turn into a bunny?” Seulgi exclaims, now having seated on Irene’s bed, watching the rabbit walk over the comforter in persistent circles, insistent on finding the most comfortable patch of blanket before settling down.

The bunny – Irene – shrugs helplessly. Then, without warning, it – she – flops down onto her side and stares up at Seulgi impassively (had she been anyone else, Seulgi would’ve been alarmed at the sudden movement, but the thing is that now that she knows that the ball of fluff is Joohyun-unnie, Seulgi’s can already imagine her leader pulling such a stunt).

“So you don’t know how you got transformed,” Seulgi concludes slowly, only continuing at Irene’s small bunny-nod, “but do you know how to transform back?”

Irene’s rabbit form flinches at the question, nose wiggling nervously. Her lack of response is answer enough.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Seulgi sighs, only to jump a second later at the apologetic look that overtakes Irene’s bunny-being. The rabbit’s ears droop, pressing against her head sorrowfully, and can rabbits pout? Because rabbit-Irene sure can. And was that a whimper? Bunnies can make noise? 

“No, no, no! It’s not your fault, Hyun! You don’t even know how you ended up like this! Ah, it’s okay! It’s okay! We’ll find a way to turn you back, don’t worry!”

Bunny-Irene does her best to look pacified, and she hastily hops over to Seulgi, only to flop down onto the second-eldest’s lap.

“So my girlfriend is a bun,” Seulgi mutters to herself. “And buns like to flop. Okay, I see how it is...”

As she thinks, Seulgi takes to absentmindedly Irene’s soft fur, gently playing with her long, velvety ears.

“I mean,” she muses, “There’s that one fairytale, The Frog Prince, where the prince has been turned into a frog. How did he get changed back again?” Seulgi frowns, wracking her brain, trying to think of the ending of the story. Meanwhile, Irene stiffens in her position, already knowing where this idea is leading. “Hyun, do you remember how it ends?”

Slowly, Irene rises to her short, furry feet, gently padding fully onto Seulgi’s lap and standing up. Bracing herself by raising her paws to rest on the younger girl’s chest, she makes eye contact with Seulgi, pink nose twitching adorably in anticipation.

“Oh!” It’s like a lightbulb flicks on in Seulgi’s brain, and the dancer immediately brightens. Irene-bunny huffs indignantly at the bear-like girl’s somewhat slow and easy-going nature, the exhale of air warm against Seulgi’s lips. 

“I remember now! Joohyun-unnie, the prince turned back to a human when the princess gave him—”

She doesn’t even get the chance to finish before a small mouth pecks her own.

There’s a white flash of light that’s nearly blinding, and by the time it fades out, Seulgi doesn’t even know what just happened. What she does know is that her lips are pressed into someone else’s, and she’s now looking into the eyes of a smirking, very happy, and very human Bae Joohyun.

“—a kiss,” Seulgi finishes dumbly, and what the heck just happened?

Irene bursts into bubbly, giggly laughter, and the sound, ever-so-addicting, rings in Seulgi’s ears, causing her to start laughing too.

“My princess,” Irene says adoringly, and Seulgi’s blushes, turning the most attractive shade of pink before letting her older, human girlfriend pull her in for another kiss.

—

BONUS:

There’s a crash from the kitchen, and Irene rolls her eyes yet again.

“Kang Seulgi,” she yells from where she’s lounging in the living room, watching dramas. “What did I tell you about rummaging through the fridge for more food?”

There’s a whine from Seulgi, and a little baby polar bear lumbers out of the kitchen, pouting.

Irene raises an eyebrow, knowing how her girlfriend had wanted to explore the world as a bear for a little longer. Seulgi had been so excited when she woke up that morning as her spirit animal (on the other hand, Irene, being absolutely terrified of any animal larger than her hand, had shrieked in terror when she woke up cuddling a real, live teddy bear), and the dancer had silently begged Irene with her large, brown bear eyes to let her have some fun before she was returned to her normal form.

“Don’t make me kiss you and change you back to a human,” the older warns threateningly. She’d more than gotten used to Actual Bear Seulgi’s presence in the past hour— literally just a clumsier, more whiny version of the Seulgi she already knew and loved. “I know I promised you four hours of play times but seriously, Seul, please try to keep the mess to a minimum! We don’t need yet another broken lamp! We already have to replace the one you stumbled into an hour ago!”

Another whine.

Irene sighs as Seulgi’s paw nudges her leg, and she stoops down to pick the bear up.

“Yeah, yeah,” Irene mutters, perching Seulgi on her lap. “I love you too. At least in this form, it’s finally you who gets to sit on my lap.”