Kang Seulgi liked drawing far more than she liked paying attention in school, and who could really blame her? She was talented, and she knew it, but she also knew better than to openly brag. It was well enough that the entire art department seemed to place Seulgi on some sort of high pedestal, teachers included. She was their poster girl— every time students began a new unit in art class, some piece of Seulgi’s previous work would be the set example.

 

As such, Seulgi spent most her freshman and sophomore years with her eyes trained downwards, sketching one thing or another in her leather-bound sketchbook, not exactly paying attention. Much to the chagrin of her friends (mostly Wendy, the music department’s favorite student), Seulgi almost always got away with her absent-mindedness due to her inherent intelligence.

 

“Why are you so blessed?” Wendy would whine as she and Seulgi would sit in the library during their free period as the taller girl would help her with studying. Advanced sophomore math was difficult. “Why can't I be as naturally gifted as you?”

 

Seulgi would only grin, swiftly finishing the last of her trigonometry homework as Wendy bangs her head on the library desk, still stuck on problem 4. Seulgi would then proceed to pull out her sketchbook and make a comical doodle of the scene in front of her; of Wendy’s hilariously distressed features, and of the nonsense work scrawled over the lined paper of Wendy’s math homework.

 

“Now I can remember this moment forever,” Seulgi would comment with a smirk, before promptly bursting out into laughter as Wendy blatantly flips her off with her free hand.

 

—

 

It’s the first day of junior year – literally only first period – and Seulgi’s already decided that she's absolutely doomed.

 

She comes to the conclusion early on that it isn't the difficulty level of AP Calculus that's going to be her downfall. No, if Kang Seulgi, the most silently complacent genius in her year, fails AP Calculus, it's going to be thanks to a certain senior student who sits exactly three rows in front of her, one row to the left.

 

Because from where Seulgi’s sitting, there's the perfect view of the flawless side profile of Bae Irene, the most beautiful girl to ever walk the face of the earth. Seulgi’s never spoken to her before, and she’s one hundred percent positive that Irene doesn’t know she exists.

 

“Wonderful,” Seulgi mutters pitifully to herself, shaking her head and pulling out her brand new leather-bound sketchbook instead of her grid-like math notebook. “So much for actually taking notes and paying attention to Ms. Seo’s teaching this year.”

 

(Not that Seulgi actually ever had to. She studied Calculus on her own for fun over the summer. And Seulgi’s still wondering how she let Wendy talk her into taking AP Calculus and just outright skipping normal Calculus.)

 

So instead of listening to Ms. Seo drone on and on over the curriculum the class would learn, (they would finally learn the meaning of the phrase the limit does not exist! Yay.) Seulgi finds herself sketching the outline of Bae Irene’s side profile.

 

There's thirty minutes left of class when Seulgi feels satisfied with her outline and has started filling in the details. Irene sits right next to the window, and the morning light of the sun’s rays manages to hit Irene’s reddish-dyed hair ever-so-perfectly, and Seulgi eagerly factors in the lighting to her sketch. Though she's sure that no simple drawing could ever bring justice to the beauty that was Bae Irene, Seulgi concludes that it's the thought that counts. Maybe she'd even show Irene someday.

 

Then Seulgi hears her name leave Ms. Seo’s lips, and she looks up in anticipation.

 

“And as I'm sure you all know, Ms. Kang Seulgi over here is very talented in mathematics. Although she is a junior, I'm sure that she would love to help any student who has problems.”

 

Under normal circumstances, Seulgi would have no problem with simply nodding and answering sure, but this time is a bit different.

 

This time, she can feel Bae Irene’s curious stare on her slowly warming form, and instead of the standard sure, Seulgi slams her leather-bound sketchbook shut with a bang, startling even herself, and then throwing a sheepish smile in Ms. Seo’s direction.

 

“Of course I would love to help, Ms. Seo.”

 

And if Ms. Seo notices that something is up, the older woman says nothing but returns the smile, nodding and turning back to the whiteboard.

 

As soon as the attention is off her, Seulgi sighs and slumps down into her seat, opening her notebook a crack before closing it again with a huff.

 

Seulgi doesn't know if she imagined the muffled laughter that followed her discreet actions, but she reflects on the sound and finds that they sound like chiming bells.

 

—

 

“Okay, I lied,” Wendy tells her during lunch, after Seulgi has recounted her embarrassment just to get it all out. “I envy your academic gifts, not your social skills. Clearly, you’re lacking in that area.”

 

Joy, a sophomore and Seulgi’s childhood friend of fifteen years, snorts from behind her book. “Nice one, unnie.”

 

“God couldn’t give me that much perfection,” Seulgi mutters in return, and Wendy smacks her arm.

 

—

 

Another perk about being a great art student: being accepted as an art intern, a job usually saved for talented seniors, in her junior year.

 

Seulgi steps into the standard Art I class ten minutes before the bell rings to signal the start of fourth period. Ms. Kim, or as she preferred to be called, Ms. Taeyeon, the young and impressionable art teacher, grins up at her from behind her desk.

 

“You’re early, Kang,” Ms. Taeyeon chuckles, standing up to ruffle the taller student’s hair. “Thanks for choosing to help out this year.”

 

Seulgi scrunches up her nose at the attention, but smiles nonetheless. “No problem, Ms. Taeyeon.”

 

She doesn't realize that the bell has rung until she notes that they weren't alone in the classroom until Ms. Taeyeon moves away and address another student.

 

“And I see that Ms. Bae has finally decided to take her necessary art requirement in order to graduate, huh?”

 

Seulgi whips around just in time to see Irene’s shy smile blossom into a playful smirk.

 

Just Seulgi’s luck.

 

“You think too little of me, unnie,” Irene says in response, and Ms. Taeyeon jokingly makes way to hit her.

 

Meanwhile, Seulgi blinks in confusion but shrugs her shoulders before collapsing behind Ms. Taeyeon’s desk as the older woman stands in front of the classroom to begin teaching. Seulgi bows politely when she's introduced, and then the students are dismissed into a period of free drawing. As an intern, Seulgi isn't really needed yet, so Ms. Taeyeon invites Seulgi to sit at an art table and sketch as well.

 

“Sit next to Irene over there,” Ms. Taeyeon says, motioning to the senior girl sitting alone. “This kid had the brilliant idea of holding off taking her art requirement until this year, and she's not really friends with the other seniors in the class. I think you two would get along well, Kang.”

 

Despite the pounding in her chest, Seulgi can only nod wordlessly as she pulls out her sketchbook and makes her way over to Irene.

 

She's pulling out the metal stool from beneath the table when Irene looks up at Seulgi in surprise. Seulgi shoots Irene a bashful smile, biting her lip and slightly bowing her head respectfully.

 

“Hello, sunbaenim,” Seulgi says softly. “Is… is anyone sitting with you?”

 

There's something that Seulgi can't read in Irene’s eyes when the older girl shakes her head with an equally soft no, but her lips have turned in a slightly upward curve, and Irene is smiling at her. Seulgi realizes that it's the small victories that count as she settles down next to Irene, and even as the rest of the classroom buzzes around them, Seulgi and Irene lapse into comfortable silence as they draw.

 

Ten minutes later, Seulgi closes her sketchbook shut and leans back in satisfaction, looking up at the ceiling with a grin on her face. She feels a curious pair of eyes on her, but pays no mind. Irene would break the silence when she wants to.

 

And sure enough the older girl does.

 

“You sure look happy about something.” There's a smirk in Irene's voice.

 

Seulgi decides to go vague. “Well, something good definitely happened today.”

 

Irene blinks, cocking her head. “What happened?”

 

And Seulgi leans back up, her grin wider than before. “Just something.”

 

Irene giggles, not minding the obscurity of it all, and Seulgi recognizes the sound of bell chimes. “Well, okay then.”

 

Seulgi shakes her head before motioning to Irene’s piece of paper. “What did you draw, sunbaenim?”

 

Irene pushes the paper over to Seulgi. On it was an unsurprisingly decent doodle of a bouquet of flowers — the kind of doodle that one would expect to find in the margins of a notebook, but on a slightly larger, more detailed scale.

 

“I can't draw much else,” Irene confesses, and Seulgi thinks that the look of mild frustration on Irene's face is pretty adorable. “I think that's why I held out on my art requirement for so long. I have no confidence in my drawing skills. I've always been curious about particular drawing styles. I grew up with Taeyeon unnie, and she had been trying to teach me about drawing for years. I haven't exactly improved though.”

 

“Ah, that's fine,” Seulgi says with a wave of her hand. “Everyone does art in their own way. It's all about developing your own style and expressing yourself. If Ms. Taeyeon couldn't help you, maybe I can.” Seulgi doesn't even know what's coming out of at this point.

 

It's a big, weighty promise, especially in a class as mundane and basic as Art I, but Seulgi supposes that it can't hurt, and Irene actually looks interested at the prospect.

 

“You will?”

 

“Sure, as long as you're willing, sunbaenim.”

 

“Thank you! Um…?”

 

“Kang Seulgi, sunbaenim,” Seulgi introduces herself with a smile that she hopes appears to be charming.

 

“Oh!” Irene smiles. “You're in my Calculus class, right?” and Seulgi nods again.

 

“What did you draw, Seulgi?” Irene asks.

 

“Ah…” Seulgi cautiously tucks away her leather-bound sketchbook. She can't exactly say that she was drawing Irene — at least, not during their first official introduction to each other.

 

“Something for the long run,” Seulgi says instead. “I'm not satisfied with it yet, though. It's not done.”

 

Irene hums in understanding. “Ah, I see… Maybe when you're done, you can show it to me?”

 

And Seulgi simply nods. “Perhaps I will.”

 

—

 

“I changed my mind,” Wendy says as they sit in their chemistry class, “Again. Why do you of all people get to have a chance at redemption?”

 

Seulgi grins as she writes the equation for the formation reaction of sodium chloride. “You're still salty about that time you embarrassed yourself in front of Eunji-sunbaenim, aren't you?”

 

“Hell yeah, I'm salty!”

 

—

 

The rest of the day goes by relatively quickly, and by the end of fifth period, Seulgi has finished her sketch of Irene, having outlined and shaded in the entirety of the drawing during her Language Arts class. Truthfully, to the untrained eye, the sketch looked absolutely fine, but to Seulgi, it doesn't quite do Irene justice.

 

With a sigh, she packs up her stuff and stands to leave the classroom.

 

She's not even a step out the door when a heavy arm swings over her shoulder and Seulgi lets out a surprised yelp.

 

“Seulgi! Up for a game of pick up?”

 

It’s Kai, another familiar face that Seulgi’s grown up with (she really shouldn't be surprised at his outbursts at this point). Close beside him, glowing with happiness, is Krystal, the queen of their grade, as well as Kai’s beloved girlfriend.

 

And Seulgi may or may not have had a slight crush on her last year.

 

Seulgi shoves his arm away, rolling her eyes, and Krystal giggles.

 

“I’m not if you keep frightening the life out of me,” she mutters, but Kai cheers, knowing that he’s successfully roped Seulgi onto his team.

 

“Let’s go! Krystal’s meeting up with her cheerleading friends at the courts, so we gotta look good, Seul.”

 

Seulgi raises an eyebrow. “Why is the cheer squad showing up to watch a pick-up game? They haven't done that before.”

 

Kai doesn't pay attention to her and runs off to find his teammates instead. Seulgi sighs.

 

“Are you trying out this year?” Krystal asks as the two of them make their way to the back basketball courts, where apparently, Wendy was already waiting.

 

Seulgi shrugs. “Dunno. Maybe? Probably not.”

 

“I don’t see why you don’t,” Krystal eyes her. “Our girls’ basketball team could seriously use you, Seul. You’re practically better than all of them.”

 

“I’m an art kid, Krys,” Seulgi replies. “Pick up games are one thing. Actual organized basketball is another thing.”

 

“We’ll convince you eventually,” Krystal teases, resting a hand on the other girl’s arm, and Seulgi vaguely notices that she no longer feels the pounding in her chest that had been present last year.

 

—

 

Kai wasn't lying. Practically the entire cheer squad has showed up for the impromptu game. Kai explains that it’s because the returning male basketball team members will be participating. (“Well, why am I here then?” “Because we haven’t had freshman tryouts yet, we’re lacking in players, I know that you’re good, and I want to win.”) Wendy is there with a few other music kids. She spies Joy with her cheer squad, and Seulgi notices how the tall girl has her arms wrapped around a smaller girl who Seulgi doesn’t know. When did that happen?

 

She’s about to head over to Kai when a teasing voice sounds from behind her.

 

“I didn’t know that you were interested in basketball.”

 

That’s right, Seulgi reminds herself, Irene is a cheerleader. How could I forget?

 

“I'm really not,” Seulgi replies with a helpless shrug. Honesty goes a long way. “I'm here because Kai asked me to come.”

 

At Irene's confused expression, she quickly clarifies. “Kai’s my childhood friend, and Krystal had to ask me for permission to date him. I am impeaching on no one, I swear —”

 

And then Irene's giggling again, thanks to Seulgi no less, and yup, it's the small victories that really count.

 

“Yeah, actually I'm—”

 

“Seulgi, get your over here!” And there's Kai with his perfect timing.

 

“—playing,” Seulgi finishes lamely, a sheepish grin on her face, but she has to as to admit that the look of surprise on Irene’s face is highly satisfying. “See you later?”

 

—

 

Although Seulgi isn't that much taller than her, Irene thinks that Seulgi looks significantly taller when she's standing on that basketball court, glaring down at her opponents. It's a million times more entertaining when Kai, who had been in the middle of pregame trash talk with Choi Minho, suddenly yells, “We’re gonna win boys! We've got The Kang!”

 

“‘The Kang?’” Irene questions as she settles down to watch the game next to Krystal. “Is that referring to Seulgi?”

 

Krystal nods. “‘Course.” She motions for the rest of the cheerleaders to stop their side conversations and pay attention to the game. “So, Joy, which team do you place your bets on?”

 

“Which ever one Seulgi is on!” Joy cheers, and the younger girl tucked into Joy’s side, a freshman named Yeri, giggles.

 

Irene her head at Krystal. “I thought that Seulgi was an art kid?”

 

“She is,” Krystal shrugs. “But she's also crazy talented at basketball. She used to practice with Kai, so yeah. She's good at sports, and studying, and art, and according to Wendy, she sings on occasion.”

 

“What can't she do?” Irene asks with genuine curiosity.

 

“She can't talk to pretty girls!” Joy interrupts, and Krystal positively bursts out laughing.

 

“I heard that, Park Sooyoung!” Seulgi yells from the court, glaring at Joy. She then spots Irene covering own laughter up with a dainty hand. “And don't listen to her, Irene-sunbaenim!”

 

—

 

The next day, Seulgi sits in the back row of AP Calculus again. She’s in the midst of wondering why she and Wendy were put into separate periods of the same class when she hears her name being called.

 

“Good morning, Seulgi!”

 

Seulgi looks up with a start. It’s Irene, to her inherent surprise. The older girl is standing amongst her other senior friends, but she’s turned away from them, facing Seulgi with a gentle smile etched onto her features and a friendly wave of her hands.

 

Seulgi can feel the heat rushing to her face as she timidly greets Irene back with a small bow, and couldn’t be more relieved when Ms. Seo walks into the classroom to start today’s lesson.

 

There’s nothing to do, yet again, so she takes out her sketchbook. Irene’s hair is different today, she notices. The senior girl was wearing her hair up in a ponytail this time. Before she knows it, Seulgi has started yet another outline of Irene’s perfection.

 

I’ll get her right this time, Seulgi vows, only half paying attention to the ongoing lesson. I can’t screw up twice.

 

—

 

“I can’t believe I screwed up twice,” Seulgi moans into her hands at lunch.

 

“Screwed up what, unnie?” Yeri, Joy’s new freshman friend, asks innocently. The younger girl had hung out with Seulgi, Wendy, and Joy after the pick-up game yesterday, getting ice cream with the older girls. Seulgi had taken an immediately liking to her and her cheerful, yet at times sarcastic persona.

 

“Nothing…” Seulgi mutters, ripping a bite out of her sandwich.

 

Wendy and Joy share a look before shrugging. Their friend had always had moments like this. What was the difference?

 

“We’ll pry it out of her eventually,” Joy assures a concerned-looking Yeri.

 

—

 

Thankfully, the art class that Irene is in meets every other day, meaning that the older girl isn’t present in today’s art class.

 

Seulgi sighs as Ms. Taeyeon dismisses the class into another period of free-sketching and “idea-developing,” and she pulls out her sketchbook.

 

She’s just begun the shading process when she notices Ms. Taeyeon looking over her shoulder

 

“Irene’s a great model, isn’t she?”

 

Seulgi feels her heart almost leap out of her chest as she shoots up from her seat and fruitlessly tries to hide the drawing.

 

“W-what?” She stammers helplessly, feeling awfully silly for being caught.

 

Ms. Taeyeon only laughs before bringing her index finger to her lips in a shhh motion.

 

“Your secret is safe with me, Kang.”

 

The art teacher walks away with a wink, but it doesn’t exactly calm Seulgi’s racing heart.

 

—

 

She accidentally overhears Irene’s conversation with Minho in the hallway.

 

“So, Irene-ah. How did you like the pick-up game yesterday?”

 

“You were great, Minho.”

 

“We were beaten pretty badly by Kang, huh?”

 

“It was pretty funny! Seulgi was really good.”

 

Seulgi likes the sound of chiming bells. She likes the sound of Irene’s laugh.

 

“I like the sound of your laugh, Irene-ah.”

 

That was supposed to be Seulgi’s line.

 

“Do you want to hang out after school, Irene?”

 

Seulgi wishes that could’ve been her line.

 

She walks away before she can hear anything more.

 

—

 

On the third day of school, Seulgi brings two different sketchbooks: her leather-bound sketchbook, and an red and white patterned sketchbook.

 

The previous day, she had decided that her leather-bound sketchbook would be strictly for sketches of Irene. The patterned book would be for every other sketch Seulgi felt like drawing.

 

She doesn’t like how Minho lingers at the door to her AP Calculus class in the morning, or how Irene smiles at him before waving him goodbye.

 

Seulgi does like how she is the first person Irene greets upon entering the room, though.

 

By the end of math class, Seulgi has added yet another sketch of Irene to her collection, although not completely finished, as always. Ms. Seo has yet to bother Seulgi on her behavior as of now, so Seulgi takes it with a grain of salt. She’s been turning in all the homework anyways, and whenever she’s asked to put up a question in class, she does so without protest. She’s not causing problems, so Seulgi hopes that things will stay this way.

 

Today, Irene waves at Seulgi as she leaves the classroom.

 

“See you in Art class?”

 

Seulgi nods. “Of course, sunbaenim.”

 

—

 

“Why don’t you call me unnie, Seulgi-ah?” Irene asks nonchalantly as Seulgi helps Irene brainstorm on an animal to draw. They’ve started a cartoon unit in Art I, and the students are supposed to be drawing a blown up cartoon character (or characters) of their creation.

 

Cartoon animals are always cute to draw, Seulgi had said and Irene had nodded and demanded that Seulgi help her come up with a character. Plus, they're not as hard as humans to draw.

 

“Do you want me to call you unnie, Irene-sunbaenim?” Seulgi shoots back in amusement.

 

“More than sunbaenim,” Irene pouts. “You’re too formal, Seulgi.”

 

“I’ll gladly be informal with you, Irene-unnie,” Seulgi grins at the pink that tints Irene’s cheeks. “Better, unnie?”

 

Despite being flustered, Irene nods. “Much.”

 

They spend another ten minutes debating on cute animals when Seulgi finally says, “I’ve always thought that bears were cute.”

 

“Bears?” Irene her head (Seulgi noticed that the older girl had a tendency to do that when confused. It was honestly adorable). “I thought that bears were supposed to be scary.”

 

“Even cartoon bears? Like Winnie-the-Pooh?” Seulgi chuckles, and Irene playfully hits her arm (another tendency that Seulgi noticed that Irene would do when flustered). “Oh, yes, Irene-unnie! Pooh-bear is so scary!”

 

“Hush, you!” Irene giggles before a thoughtful expression spreads across her face. “Y’know, you look like a bear, Seulgi.”

 

“Me?” Seulgi points to herself. “You just said that bears were supposed to be scary. Am I scary?”

 

“No,” Irene says, “You’re a baby bear, Seulgi!”

 

It’s Seulgi’s turn to laugh this time. “Whatever you say, Irene-unnie. You look a little rabbit-like yourself, you know!”

 

After that, Ms. Taeyeon calls her over to go help a few other struggling students, but when Seulgi goes back to check on Irene five minutes before the end of class, she finds Irene with a drawing of a strikingly cute bunny and bear decorating her page.

 

“This is Seulgom,” Irene says, all giggles and practically dancing in her seat as she points to the cartoon bear.

 

She’s adorable adorable adorable, Seulgi thinks to herself.

 

“The bunny doesn’t have a name yet,” Irene continues, but Seulgi cuts her off.

 

“Yes she does,” she says, and at Irene’s expectant look, Seulgi grins.

 

“Her name is Baechu.”

 

A beaming smile blossoms on Irene’s face.

 

“It’s perfect.”

 

—

 

The first week of school comes and goes, and by the second week, Seulgi already has a routine.

 

Get to AP Calculus first period. Take out sketchbook. Draw Irene. Progress through the rest of the day.

 

She draws one picture of Irene every school day. She’s even started marking dates on each page, just so she can try to see the improvement. Irene still doesn’t know what Seulgi’s working on during their art classes, but Seulgi’s cryptic responses have successfully thrown her off thus far.

 

Meanwhile, Seulgi’s patterned sketchbook is also teeming with life. Sketches of her friends; of Wendy, Joy, and now Yeri; sketches of Kai and Krystal and whomever else Seulgi’s working with that day. Sketches of her desk; of the eraser shavings that constantly litter the space around her; of the broken wooden pencils and the lead-filled mechanical pencils. Sketches of the trees, and grass, and concrete from hanging outside during lunch.

 

Irene hasn’t managed to creep into her patterned sketchbook as of yet. Seulgi likes to keep her drawings of Irene separate — she figures that Irene’s a bit too special for the patterned sketchbook; her feelings for Irene are much different than any of feelings for her other friends.

 

And to clarify, it’s not like she’s obsessed with Irene — or at least, the bad kind of obsessed. She still doesn’t know much about the senior; just what Irene feels like telling her. Seulgi would never pry.

 

Still, that doesn’t mean that Seulgi doesn’t want to get to know Irene better. She just wants to make sure that everything is on Irene’s terms. Even if Irene doesn’t see Seulgi the way Seulgi sees Irene.

 

And that shouldn’t be a problem. Especially with Choi Minho following Irene around like a lost puppy.

 

Or a lost llama. But semantics.

 

—

 

Seulgi finds out that Minho had been rejected after about a week of him and Irene hanging out together after school.

She sees Minho sulking outside of their AP Calculus classroom, surrounded by Irene's other senior friends, with Irene nowhere in sight.

"I'm honestly not surprised," a voice next to Seulgi says, and she turns to find Moonbyul, another senior, leaning on her desk slightly. Seulgi likes Moonbyul, with the older girl's greasiness and everything.

Moonbyul shoots Seulgi a smile and shrugs. "You know Irene now, right? You've got to be pretty special for her to actually accept to be your girlfriend. She hasn't dated anyone for more than a week since sophomore year, and that only lasted a month."

"That's interesting..." Seulgi trails off. She likes Moonbyul, she really does, but she doesn't know why the blonde girl is telling her this.

"What? Why are you looking surprised?" Moonbyul asks Seulgi with a teasing lift of her eyebrow. "I would have thought that the girl who draws Irene every single day would at least be interested in her past dating life."

Seulgi's eyes widen but she stays quiet when Moonbyul brings a finger to her lips, and its deja vu with Ms. Taeyeon all over again.

"It's okay, dongsaeng-ie," Moonbyul laughs. "Irene doesn't know."

Seulgi doesn't know how to respond to that.

What's really funny is when Irene does come strolling into the classroom, breaking apart the huddle of students like she's parting the Red Sea. She has her arms linked with Solar, Moonbyul's girlfriend, and Irene passes Minho with a small smile but nothing more.

The whole class is silent except Moonbyul, who opens her arms to accept a good morning hug from Solar once she and Irene have unlinked their arms.

"Hi there, Beautiful," Moonbyul greets, drawing Solar close to her, who giggles but says an upbeat 'morning Byul! in response.

Meanwhile, Irene moves to take a seat next to Seulgi, having since moved back to sit with the younger girl with the declaration that Seulgi is better company then everyone who sat in the front rows anyways.

"Good morning, unnie," Seulgi smiles, already feeling that today is going to be a good day.

"You're awfully happy today, Seul," Irene says with a chuckle. "Did something happen?"

"Yup," Seulgi says, and Irene leans in, asking a subconscious what?

"Just something," Seulgi reiterates, as if that would answer Irene's question.

Irene pouts and hits Seulgi's arm just as Moonbyul raises her voice at Minho, who's still sulking at the classroom entrance.

"Go away, Choi! You had no chance in the first place! You don't even take this class!"

 

—

 

It’s been three weeks into the school year when Seulgi finds herself outside in the courtyard for her free period. Naturally, she’s not studying, but rather drawing in her leather-bound sketchbook. Irene is wearing braids today, so Seulgi has to be especially detailed.

 

She’s adding the finishing touches on the braid when —

 

“Seulgi-unnie!”

 

“AH!”

 

Seulgi yelps and her sketchbook gets sent flying as Joy laughs her off behind her.

 

“Park Sooyoung!” Seulgi shouts, and Wendy, who’s placing a calming hand on Joy’s back, shoots Seulgi an apologetic smile.

 

“Sorry, Seul, Joy couldn’t contain herself,” Wendy says.

 

Seulgi’s in the middle of a sigh when she hears Yeri shuffling behind her.

 

“What’s this, Seulgi-unnie?” Seulgi doesn’t need to turn around to know that Yeri has found her leather sketchbook.

 

Please don’t be open please don’t be open please don’t be open please —

 

“This isn’t your usual sketchbook, unnie, and — oh.”

 

Seulgi whirls around to find Yeri looking at her with shock. The two girls share a look of wide-eyed understanding before Yeri abruptly snaps the book shut.

 

“What’s in the sketchbook, Yeri?” Joy asks, walking over to the younger girl.

 

“Nothing!” Both Yeri and Seulgi say at the same time before sharing another look.

 

“Nothing?” Wendy questions, not really thinking. “You were just drawing in it, Seul—”

 

“No, really, there’s nothing,” Yeri tries to save the situation, but Joy raises an eyebrow at the freshman before turning to Seulgi with the same expression.

 

Seulgi and Joy seem to have a staring contest that Seulgi ultimately loses. The older of the two lets out a sigh of defeat, motioning for Yeri to hand the book over to Joy.

 

“But, unnie—” Yeri protests, and Seulgi stops her.

 

“It’s fine, Yeri,” Seulgi smiles gently. “It’s just some sketches. It’s not like I was doing something illegal. Joy’s been one of my best friends for years. There’s no harm in telling her and Wendy.”

 

So Joy gets handed the sketchbook, and Wendy quickly scrambles to look over the tallest girl’s shoulder. Yeri, not having seen the remainder of the pages, casts a concerned glance in Seulgi’s direction before making her way over to view the contents as well.

 

Meanwhile, Seulgi sits in anticipation, waiting for a response.

 

There’s a five minute lapse of silence, and Seulgi still hasn’t gotten a proper reaction.

 

Finally, Joy looks up from Seulgi’s leather-bound sketchbook. Much to Seulgi’s surprise, there’s no teasing, or snarky comment. In that moment, Seulgi sees the compassionate, sympathetic childhood friend that Joy always had been, albeit hidden under some well-constructed layers.

 

“I’m actually jealous, Seul. It looks like you found your first true love before me.”

 

And it feels nice to share a laugh with Joy like this; the contagious kind that Wendy joins in after a moment of realization.

 

(Seulgi tries not to think too hard about Yeri’s strained expression as the youngest girl listens to Joy’s comment on first love.)

 

—

 

“Thanks for having my back earlier,” Seulgi says to Yeri, later that day, when Joy is at cheerleading practice and Wendy has something going on in the music department. Seulgi had decided to treat Yeri out for ice cream while the weather was still nice. “You know, with the whole sketchbook thing.”

 

“Sorry I couldn't stop Joy-unnie and Wendy-unnie,” Yeri murmurs, staring down at her pistachio ice cream. They're sitting on a bench in the local park, and the sun is shining much too brightly for the mood.

 

“Hey, I already told you that it's fine!” Seulgi nudges the other girl softly before taking a of her own strawberry-flavored ice cream. “It actually feels like there's a weight that's come off my chest now. I can talk to you guys about it, and that feels nice. My feelings aren't confined to a sketchbook alone anymore.”

 

“That's good,” is all Yeri says, indulging in her ice cream once more.

 

Seulgi has a feeling that Yeri has something more to say, but the freshman keeps shut.

 

(Seulgi has a feeling about what is is, so she doesn't pry.)

 

—

 

September flies by awfully quickly. Things are starting to get somewhat difficult in AP Calculus, though not to the point where Seulgi actually has to pay attention yet. Regardless of her own condition, she can see the frustration start to settle in amongst her classmates, Irene included.

 

Seulgi shouldn't have been taken-aback when Irene suddenly asks the junior girl to tutor her, given how they've become legitimately friendly, but somehow, she still is. (Even after a month of becoming closer, Irene still manages to take her breath away.)

 

They're doing partner work when Irene initiates the question.

 

“Seul, I really don't understand this,” Irene sighs, slouching down to rest her chin on her desk. “I'm hopeless.”

 

“I'm sure that's not true,” Seulgi says soothingly. She pulls Irene's worksheet towards her and takes out a pencil. “Look, so if you're given an irrational equation like this, to solve for the limit, you've got to factor the top out like this… before you plug in ‘c’ to find the limit…”

 

It’s oddly pleasing to see the look of understanding slowly dawn on Irene’s face. The older girl suddenly looks like Seulgi handed her the world on a silver platter.

 

“You're so good at math, Seulgi,” Irene praises, and Seulgi blushes and shrugs. They're both silent as they continue their work, but five minutes later, Irene taps her on the shoulder.

 

“Hey, Seul?”

 

Had Seulgi looked up sooner, she would've realized that Irene had been staring at the younger girl apprehensively for the past three minutes, as if pondering if she should say anything.

 

“Hm? What's up, unnie?”

 

“Could you possibly…” Irene trails off, still hesitating.

 

Seulgi furrows her brow worriedly. Unconsciously, she leans in slightly, and Irene flushes.

 

“Is something wrong, Irene-unnie?”

 

“N-no!” Irene stammers, shaking her head. She coughs into her fist to compose herself before taking a deep breath. “I was… I was wondering if you could tutor me after school or something on this stuff.”

 

“Oh,” Seulgi nods comprehensively for a moment. Slowly, a smile creeps across her face until she's full-on beaming at the older girl, and goodness, that racing exhilaration is back in full effect in Seulgi’s chest. “You want me to tutor you, unnie?”

 

Irene bites her lip before giving a short nod. “If that's okay with you?”

 

“I'd love to!” Seulgi grins, spinning her pencil adeptly around her long fingers. “It'll be fun, unnie!”

 

“Thank you,” Irene breathes out in relief before relaxing into her chair. “You’ll have to reteach me the trigonometry applications of limits at some point too…”

 

But then Irene's staring at an adorably confused expression on Seulgi’s and she snickers as Seulgi continues to be perplexed.

 

“Oh, did we learn that today?”

 

“Yes, you bear!” Irene giggles. “Don't you pay attention in class?”

 

“Honestly,” Seulgi’s smile is timidly sheepish as she scratches the back of her neck. “Not really. I'm usually drawing in my sketchbook.”

 

“Which reminds me,” Irene frowns. “Just what are you drawing, Seul?”

 

“Stuff,” is Seulgi’s offhand answer, and Irene’s frown grows. Upon seeing the older girl’s expression, Seulgi laughs softly, boldly reaching up to pat Irene’s head.

 

(Suddenly, Irene’s chest almost hurts from how hard her heart is pounding.)

 

“Don't frown like that, unnie,” Seulgi scolds her gently. “I don't like seeing you frown.”

 

(Irene doesn't think that she can breathe.)

 

“I'll show you one day,” Seulgi assures her, and Irene hopes with all her might that Seulgi is telling her the truth.

 

—

 

They’re on their third study date a week later when they get interrupted by Seulgi’s friends for the first time.

 

“Irene-unnie!”

 

Irene lets out a squeak as two arms encircle around her neck from behind.

 

“Joy!”

 

“Let go of her, Park Sooyoung,” Seulgi drawls, still not looking up from her work and continuing to scribble down equations into her math notebook.

 

Irene rolls her eyes as Joy cackles. “Wow, thanks so much for the help, bear.”

 

And for some reason, Joy freezes behind her as Seulgi finally looks up and sends Irene her most charming smile. “You’re welcome, bunny-unnie.”

 

Irene laughs. She likes the banter that goes on between them. Seulgi always goes out of her way to mess with the older girl in the most endearing ways possible. You’re the only one out of all my friends who allows me to tease them like this, Seulgi had said, which really should’ve said something about the younger girl.

 

She's about to respond with something equally snarky when Joy suddenly interrupts.

 

“Wait,” the tall girl says sharply, “you two have nicknames for each other?”

 

Irene and Seulgi share a look and turn to Joy. “Um… yes?”

 

And Joy’s openly gaping at him when Wendy and Yeri stroll into the library and walk up to their table.

 

“Who has nicknames for each other?” Yeri asks innocently, and Joy points comically between the two seated girls.

 

“Irene-unnie and Seulgi-unnie.”

 

“Ohhhhh,” Wendy says, nodding, and Yeri rolls her eyes at her over-dramatic friend.

 

“Why are you making such a big deal about it, Joy-unnie? You can have nicknames with your friends.”

 

“Then I want to make a nickname with you,” Joy stubbornly insists, and Yeri laughs.

 

“Sure thing, unnie.” Yeri turns away to talk to Wendy, completely missing how Joy blinks, stunned. Then Joy grins, and Seulgi has the vague notion that it has nothing to do with with her and Irene anymore.

 

Irene taps Seulgi’s shoulder, an unasked question in her eyes. Does Joy…? She jerks her head in Yeri’s direction.

 

I think so, is what Seulgi's eyes say back, and they chuckle simultaneously.

 

“Anyways,” Wendy interrupts, clapping her hands together. “If you two are done with whatever it is you're doing, the three of us were planning on going over to the nearby cafe and getting something to eat. We're planning on dragging Seulgi with us, but we wanted to extend the invitation to Irene-unnie too.”

 

“Me?” Irene points to herself uncertainly.

 

“Of course!” Joy exclaims. “You're Seulgi’s close friend now, and she's a package deal with the rest of us!”

 

Irene laughs, “Well, okay then.”

 

—

 

It’s like Irene has been accepted into a new family after that first cafe hangout session. From then on, she finds herself spending less time with her old friends, and more time with Wendy, Joy, Yeri, and especially Seulgi (which honestly, is completely fine, because Irene never really met outside of school with her old friends anyway).

 

Her only regret is that she wishes that she'd met them all sooner. She quickly grows fond of Wendy’s mother-like tendencies, Joy’s overdramatic antics, Yeri’s sarcastic and innocent quips, and just Seulgi’s everything. They're the most fun, loving people she's ever met, and what she would do to go back in time and become friends earlier.

 

—

 

"What's your favorite color, bear?" Irene asks during another art class as she carefully mixes a ratio of white and red paint onto a paint palette. This time, Ms. Taeyeon had instructed them to make a painting based around their favorite color.

"Mine?" Seulgi her head. "That's a good question. What's yours, unnie?"

"Mine is light pink," Irene says, wrinkling her nose when the color comes out a little too dark. "I like the pink that appears in sunsets."

Seulgi chuckles, placing another whip of white paint in the blend of "too dark to be considered light pink" paint on Irene's color palette and indicating for the older girl to stir it again.

"That color fits you, unnie," Seulgi says, laughing again at Irene's happy squeal at finally mixing the proper shade of pink. "It's a warm color. Just like you, unnie."

Irene flushes at the remark before trying to change the subject. "You never told me what your favorite color was, Seulgi."

"I like... I like sunset-orange," Seulgi finally says. "I love that pink color too, but I like the orange that you see in sunsets— the orange that brings out the pink and makes it more beautiful."

Irene is quiet for a minute, and Seulgi wonders if she said anything wrong, but then Irene is looking at her color palette with a contemplating expression.

"Do you think Ms. Taeyeon would let me out some orange in my painting too?" she asks, turning to Seulgi. "I don't think my light pink would look as nice without the orange next to it."

 

—

 

Seulgi doesn't know when October had come and gone, but she sure does feel it as she steps out of her house to walk to school on Halloween morning. She hasn't been outside for even a second when a cool breze rushes past her, blowing back her hair and sending chills down her spine. When had it actually become sweater weather again?

 

With a sigh, Seulgi wraps her arms around herself and starts the journey to school.

 

She's approaching the usual crosswalk when she notices a welcome face waiting for her, leaning up against a stop sign. Seulgi’s heart starts to race as she breaks into a run to reach the senior girl.

 

“Irene-unnie!” Seulgi exclaims, and her friend laughs.

 

“Your nose is red, bear,” Irene teases as Seulgi gets closer. “You look like Rudolph. Why didn't you go back and get a jacket, Seul?”

 

“Truthfully, I haven't really dug out all the thermals and jackets out yet,” Seulgi sighs. “I didn't have enough time to look for them this morning. But you look awfully cozy today, unnie,” she points out, noticing the fuzzy white beanie perched upon Irene’s head, and her matching pink-and-white-striped scarf.

 

After looking over Irene’s outfit for a brief second more, Seulgi nods to herself, looking satisfied for some reason. “Yup, you definitely look like a bunny, unnie.”

 

Irene flushes red. “I actually checked the weather for today, silly bear. Clearly, you didn't.”

 

Seulgi grins guiltily and shrugs, “Sorry, unnie. I didn't think it would be this cold.”

 

Still beet red, Irene looks away, shifting to pull something out of her bag and walking foward.

 

“What would you do without me, Seulgi?”

 

And then there's an orange-and-white-striped scarf wrapped securely around Seulgi’s neck, and Seulgi’s eyes widen.

 

“Irene-unni—”

 

“It's a gift,” Irene interrupts, not meeting Seulgi’s eyes. Instead, she goes to link their arms together. “I knew you'd completely disregard the cold weather, so I knitted one for you once I was done with my own. I put a lot of effort into it, so you have to keep it!”

 

When Irene does finally turn to curiously peek out at Seulgi’s expression, she finds the slightly taller girl to be staring down happily at her, with Seulgi’s eyes having turned into two perfect crescent moons.

 

“I'll cherish it forever, unnie!”

 

—

 

So it's a Saturday afternoon towards the beginning of December when Irene heads into their usual cafe, escaping the chilly weather outside. She bumps into Seulgi and Wendy in the entrance as they make their way in. They'd gotten a text from Joy earlier in the group chat, telling everyone to meet up because of something “urgent.”

 

She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't a nervous-looking Yeri holding hands with an apprehensive Joy.

 

But suddenly, the three eldest girls are rushing towards the pair, exclaiming their congratulations and pulling them into tight hugs. In the back of her mind, Irene feels a sort of maternal pride as she embraces Joy and Yeri in turn.

 

“So what happened?” Seulgi asks, and Joy smiles sheepishly.

 

“Yeri wrote a song for me.”

 

About an hour later, after they're done cooing over their friends’ dating life and establishing a few rules (“no PDA, I swear guys!” “Aw, you're no fun, Wendy-unnie!”), Irene finds the topic shifting from Joy and Yeri to Seulgi’s sketchbook.

 

“I drew a really cute picture of you two a while back,” Seulgi says, pulling out her patterned sketchbook, flipping through the pages, and pushing it over to the couple. It's a drawing of Yeri throwing leaves at the older girl back in autumn, and it's far too cute for its own good.

 

Irene doesn't think anything of it until the girls ask if they can flip through Seulgi’s sketchbook, and the artist girl agrees without hesitation.

 

Seulgi had never allowed Irene to see her drawings. Ever.

 

The dreading feeling in Irene’s stomach only grows as they continue flipping past pages. There's Wendy playing the flute, Joy practicing cheerleading, Yeri in debate team. Hell. There's Kai and Krystal holding hands after a basketball game. Mijoo and Yura in dance team. Jonghyun and Taemin playing chess. Ms. Taeyeon teaching an art class.

 

Yet Irene is nowhere on the pages.

 

Suddenly, Irene stands up from the table. “I'm not feeling too well today. I think I'll go home early.”

 

—

 

Seulgi knows why Irene wanted to go home, and it wasn't because of sickness. So she gives the older girl a thirty second headstart before jumping up, packing up her belongings, and heading after her, their friends giving her understanding looks as she follows Irene.

 

“Unnie!” Seulgi calls, her heart in her stomach as she jogs up to Irene's form. She frowns as the senior girl shivers. It's gotten colder out, and Seulgi gingerly takes off her scarf from around her neck.

 

“Unnie, what's wrong?” Seulgi knows what's wrong. She just needs Irene to say it.

 

“Nothing,” is what Irene mumbles, but Seulgi shakes her hand and moves towards her.

 

“You didn't bring your scarf,” Seulgi murmurs, wrapping the orange-and-white-striped scarf around Irene’s neck. “It's freezing out, unnie. Bunnies don't do well in the cold.”

 

“I know,” Irene says feebly. “Joy said it was urgent though. So I came without thinking.”

 

“Good thing I'm here to keep you warm then,” Seulgi replies, bringing her arms around the smaller girl and pulling her in close. Her heart has never beat so fast, and her chest has never hurt so much as when she holds Irene close, shielding her from the cold.

 

In her embrace, Irene stiffens before melting into the younger’s touch. Seulgi is still Seulgi. Even if she doesn't know how much she hurts, Seulgi is still Seulgi.

 

Something touches Seulgi’s head ever-so-slightly as they stand together outside on the sidewalk, neither making an effort to move despite the cold.

 

“Unnie,” Seulgi gasps. “Unnie, it's snowing.”

 

Those words are more than enough to get Irene to peek up from where she had buried her face in the crook of Seulgi’s neck. The first snow, Irene thinks in awe. And I'm seeing it with Seulgi.

 

There's a look of wonder and curiosity in Irene’s eyes that gets Seulgi breathless. The older girl is absolutely beautiful under the snow and the yellow light of the overarching streetlight. Her cheeks are flushed with redness, and she looks like she just finished crying, but to Seulgi, Irene has never been more stunning. The older girl has always had this timelessness to her appearance, and now is no different. Seulgi commits the sight to memory, wanting to draw the scene of Irene later.

 

“You're beautiful, unnie,” Seulgi blurts out, unable to help herself.

 

Seulgi’s words are like a trigger, and Irene turns to look at Seulgi so fast that the junior girl is worried that she'll get whiplash.

 

“If I'm beautiful,” and the words are tumbling out of Irene's mouth, raw, before the older girl can stop them, “then why don't you ever draw me?”

 

There it is.

 

Seulgi stares at the older girl fondly, an affectionate smile on her lips. Irene grows warm at her gaze, and she looks down, suddenly finding the concrete sidewalk very interesting. She wishes that she could take the exclamation back— perhaps Seulgi pitied her. Maybe she isn’t as close to Seulgi as she thought.

 

“I—” Irene stutters, her voice wavering, and Seulgi laughs, the sound swirling . Irene bites her lip, mumbling, “Yeah, it would be pretty great if the ground could swallow me up whole right now...”

 

“You’re really cute, unnie,” Seulgi giggles, absentmindedly reaching forward to take Irene’s hand in hers, nonchalantly rubbing circles into the back of Irene’s hand. “I’d prefer for you not to be swallowed up into the earth, just saying.”

 

“I was just curious,” Irene grumbles, moving in closer when a winter wind blows by. Seulgi instinctively puts a gently hand on the older girl’s back. “It was just an observation.”

 

And the younger girl nods happily, her head bobbing up and down rhythmically, as though she’s listening to a song that no one else can hear.

 

“I see, I see... well, you’re wrong, by the way.”

 

“Yeah, I figured— wait, what?”

 

“I draw you all the time,” Seulgi smiles, honesty lacing her tone and Irene’s eyes widen. “I’m not kidding, unnie. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed, since we sit next to each other in math class and all.”

 

“I-I never noticed,” Irene stammers, staring at their intertwined hands in shock. “I don’t— ah...”

 

She frowns as Seulgi takes her hand back to rummage through her backpack, through all the loose leaf papers and discarded homework, around her notebooks and library books, and past her red and white patterned sketchbook, all to pull out a familiar-looking leather-bound sketchbook.

 

“This might look kind of... weird,” Seulgi blushes, presenting the leather book to Irene, who takes it with shaking hands – out of nervousness, or from the cold, she can’t tell – and clutches it to her chest. “I draw you all the time, I swear, unnie. I wanted a different place to put my sketches of you. A special place... for a special girl.”

 

Irene can’t find the words to speak, especially Seulgi cups her cheek with a warm hand. She leans into the touch without question, closing her eyes at the contact. She presses the sketchbook in her arms closer towards her body.

 

“Don’t open it yet,” Seulgi whispers into her ear. “I’m going to walk you home, you know, to make sure you get there safely. The moment I leave you alone – and trust me, this is the tricky part, because I always want to be next to you, unnie – you can look at it. Is that okay?”

 

Irene nods, begrudgingly pulling away to look at Seulgi through her lashes.

 

“Okay.”

 

—

 

Seulgi’s making her way out of out of Irene’s driveway by the time the older girl collapses onto her bed, leather sketchbook in her hands.

 

Irene’s room is toasty warm, but she’s still shaking as she pries it open with little hesitance, eager to see its contents.

 

There are dates marking each page. Ninety three pages have been used. The sketches are all of Irene. Irene laughing, Irene smiling, Irene doing math problems, Irene cheerleading, Irene with her hair up, Irene with her hair down. One page in particular has the words why does she look gorgeous in everything? I should tell her that she’s pretty more often, lining the bottom of the paper. (Irene finds herself blushing, even though there’s no one else to see her).

 

Seulgi had already told her what’s inside. She shouldn’t be surprised, but nevertheless, the mirth that bubbles up from her stomach gushes out like a geyser, and she can taste it on her tongue, hear it in her ears, feel it on her lips.

 

She gets to the most recent page, and it’s not just her this time.

 

She recognizes the image— a redrawing of a picture that she and Seulgi had taken together during their school pep rally back in November (Irene had lost her voice that day from cheerleading before the football game). They’re making a heart together with their hands, pressed close together when Wendy has snapped the photo. Irene remembers making that picture her cover photo on Facebook.

 

But there’s something more to it, and it comes in the form of Seulgi’s scrawling handwriting, right in the very corner of the page.

 

It’s yours, the handwriting says, in perfect script, with an arrow pointing to Seulgi’s half of the hand-heart. It’s always been yours.

 

—

 

Seulgi’s halfway home when she feels her phone buzz in her pocket with the notification of a Snapchat message.

 

She taps the home button, unlocking the phone and gingerly opening the app. It’s from Irene.

 

Anxiously, Seulgi quickly taps on the red square next to Irene’s name with cold, numbing hands, only for her face to regain heat at the picture she opens.

 

Irene has taken a picture of her sketch of the two of them, but this time, Seulgi’s handwriting isn’t the only addition to the image.

 

An arrow points to Irene’s half of the heart, and at its beginning are the words, all yours. From that first day of school, when you told me you’d help me learn to draw. All yours.

 

Seulgi thinks that even yelling to the whole world about her happiness wouldn’t be enough; nothing would suffice. Nothing can beat this type of joy— no pick up game win, no award-winning drawing.

 

And for the first time ever, Seulgi just can’t wait to go to school on Monday.

 

—

 

“Bear!”

 

Seulgi turns around while beaming at the sound of her nickname, and she’s met with the sight of a red-tinted Irene, breathing heavily in the entrance to their currently empty AP Calculus class (they’d agreed to show up thirty minutes early, to get a little quiet time to themselves), chest heaving up and down, shaking snowflakes out of her hair and brushing the particles off her white wooly sweater.

 

“Bunny-unnie!” Seulgi greets back far too enthusiastically for a Monday morning. Her eyes soften as Irene shuffles over to her bashfully, stopping a foot away and extending Seulgi’s sketchbook back to her. “How’d you like your sketchbook?”

 

Irene flushes as Seulgi brushes away a few more stray snowflakes, having yet to melt completely.

 

“They were beautiful,” Irene says, genuine thanks in her voice. “You made me look nicer than I ever had in my whole life, Seul.” She then mulls over her next words, as if pondering whether or not she wants to actually say them. “...Seulgi?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Please continue to look at only me from now on,” Irene says, and Seulgi melts on the spot at the older girl’s furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips, her expression holding nothing but cute determination.

 

Seulgi nods, grinning. “Only you, Irene-unnie. And speaking of which...” she trails off.

 

“Oh, just say it already!” Irene pouts, nudging Seulgi impatiently when the junior girl chuckles, realizing that Seulgi’s playing around. “I’ve been waiting since last Friday!”

 

Seulgi laughs, pulling Irene closer and leaning their foreheads against each other. “Alright, alright! Bae Joohyun, will you be my girlfriend?”

 

Irene pushes closer, nose nuzzling against the taller girl’s.

 

“I thought you’d never ask.”

 

—

 

They steal kisses until the classroom door opens and Moonbyul and Solar walk in, smirking at the new couple’s red faces.

 

“I knew it!” Moonbyul cheers, running over to pat (more like roughly shove) Seulgi on the back. “Good job, dongsaeng-ie! I knew you could do it!”

 

Solar shouts her congratulations in Irene’s ear, who smacks her best friend on the arm in embarrassment. (A second later, Solar pulls out her phone to text Wendy and Joy, her seat buddies in the school’s honor chorus, that she totally won the bet and now Wendy has an obligation to confess to Eunji.)

 

—

 

Wendy may or may not corner Irene at lunch, much to the confusion of the rest of the friend circle, sans Joy, who’s actually just cackling at this point.

 

“You guys couldn’t have waited one more day?” Wendy shrieks, and Irene’s eyes widen.

 

“W-what’s going on?” Irene stammers, and Seulgi puts an arm around the older girl’s shoulders, raising a questioning eyebrow at Wendy.

 

“Yeah, Wan, what’s up?”

 

“I’m doomed!” Wendy groans, sinking to her knees and burying her face into her hands. Her wailing only increases when Joy pads over and drops a box of chocolate hearts in her lap.

 

“Go get her, tiger,” Joy smirks, nudging Wendy up and shoving her towards where the senior honors chorus students are eating, at the table towards the center of the cafeteria. Yeri cheers go unnie! from her seat across from Seulgi.

 

“You might as well just feed me to the vultures,” Wendy snaps, but doesn’t stop walking, only continues to shuffle up to the chorus table dejectedly, even though she hasn’t even said anything to the object of her affections yet.

 

“...Why on earth do I feel like we had something to do with this?” Seulgi mutters to Irene. The older girl shrugs with a sigh, having given up on understanding her friend circle’s antics a long time ago, and continues to sip on her strawberry milk.

 

(Wendy returns to their table five minutes later with a blank look on her face. Her friends gaze up at her worriedly.

 

“How did it go?” Joy asks tentatively, trying not to show her anxiety.

 

“I...” Wendy shakes her head, trying to clear the fog away from her muddled thoughts. “I... I got her number. She said that she likes me too. She said that I’m cute.”

 

Irene squeaks in surprise. Seulgi’s jaw drops. Yeri’s eyes widen.

 

Meanwhile, Joy—

 

“Holy ,” Joy says—

 

—before jumping up in her seat and throwing her hands up in victory. “YES! I KNEW IT WOULD WORK! BLESS YOUR SOUL, SOLAR!”)

 

—

 

Spring comes before Irene even recognizes it, and the next thing she knows, it’s a beautiful Saturday in May, the sun is out shining, there isn’t any snow on the ground, and the weather is perfectly warm.

 

She throws her head back in laughter at the sound of a phone camera’s shutter going off.

 

“Seulgi! What are you even doing, silly bear!”

 

“Taking a picture for reference later,” Seulgi grins. “I’m planning on painting you— my favorite girl in my favorite color.”

 

And Irene feels her heart speed up, because even after five months of dating, Seulgi never ceases to make her feel that fluttering sensation in her stomach. Nevertheless, she giggles, twirling around playfully in her sunset-orange sundress, her hair flowing around her.

 

“Is that something we’re going to do in class?” Irene questions when she halts her spinning. At Seulgi’s nod, she tilts her head thoughtfully. “Maybe I should take a picture of you then— my favorite girl in my favorite color.”

 

“I’m not even wearing pink, Rene,” Seulgi chuckles, finally lowering her camera and stepping towards her girlfriend. She motions to her sky blue button-down and pair of skinny jeans.

 

Irene just laughs, raising her hands to place the flower crown of pink dianthus blossoms on Seulgi’s Head, securing them in place with her tongue sticking out in concentration.

 

“There,” Irene declares with a smile, stepping back and pulling out her phone. “Now you are.”

 

“I get the feeling that Joy and Yeri will tease me for this when we meet them for lunch later,” Seulgi pouts once Irene is satisfied with her picture.

 

“Wendy will be supportive of this new look,” Irene replies, scrolling through her camera roll. Seulgi leans over to look too, whistling at Irene’s work. “I bet that Eunji will too.”

 

“I sure hope so,” Seulgi says, wrapping an arm around Irene’s waist and using her other to take a candid selfie of the two of them.

 

Irene blinks at the shutter in surprise, only laughing a second later when she realizes that she had been caught completely off guard.

 

“What was that for, Seul?” Irene giggles, hitting Seulgi’s arm in good nature.

 

“I’m going to sketch this when we’re waiting for our food at the restaurant,” Seulgi says, pressing an open-mouthed kiss into Irene’s hair. “So now I can remember this moment forever.”

 

End.