Irene was pissed at her ex, and even more pissed at herself  for letting her emotions get the best of her over something so stupid.

It started one night when she was studying in the administration building on campus. Rain pounded on the side of the building, streams of it skating down the window pane next to the table she had claimed like a swarm of crystal snakes. She was already drowning in physics homework and the thunderstorm raging outside did nothing for her concentration.

Exasperatedly contemplating why a dance major had to take a science course to graduate, she jammed a jack into the side of her laptop and clamped clunky headphones over her ears. She smiled in satisfaction when the sound of pouring rain muffled into a mere buzz.

Irene had always thought headphones were outdated and embarrassingly large- she didn’t exactly love attracting attention, you see- but they grew on her when Seulgi gifted her a pair, insisting that they just made music better. She figured hanging on to such a simple gift wasn’t a breakup faux pas- right?

She opened SongHut and scrolled the sidebar until she found her latest study playlist. Once she hit shuffle, the rain outside faded away entirely. The first few notes hit her and the wad of tension tugging at the base of her neck eased up exponentially, letting her relax in her chair.

She was about to switch back to the window housing a Yahoo Answers page of physics exercise answers when she noticed it. Her follower count had gone down from its usual humble 26. 25 stared back at her. She almost laughed.

Who unfollows people on SongHut? It’s barely even social media. Honestly, it’s kind of funny that someone put in the effort to make a move like that. Still, I wonder who couldn’t stand to follow me anymore?

Curiosity getting the best of her, she clicked on her follower count and scanned the throng of names. She could immediately tell who left the ranks.

Kang Seulgi.

She swept over her follower list several times more, just to make sure she had seen it right, but there was no denying that it was indeed her ex who had dropped her. She frantically started to type the girl’s name into the search bar in the left hand corner of her screen. All it took was Ka- for the profile to shoot to the top of the search results (Irene had searched for it countless times since they met).

After opening the profile, she found some strange solace in the fact that Seulgi was still following a playlist she made for her when they were dating (To: SeulBear).

The feeling was quickly replaced with anger. It had been over a month since they broke up, but Seulgi was playing the unfollow game now?  

Isn’t she the one who said ‘let’s stay friends’? Friends don’t do...petty things like this!

Irene stared long and hard at the screen before snapping her laptop shut. Cheating on physics homework could wait.

Acutely aware of how she was probably blowing this whole thing out of proportion, she packed her things and stormed out of the building. She deserved to be a little crazy. She had handled this like an adult from the start. It was her turn to complain and be insufferable.

By the time she reached the senior dorms, she was sopping wet. Slamming the door to her shared suite, she tore through the sitting room to the bedroom, landing on her bed with a huff. She ripped the dumb headphones from around her neck and chucked them onto her roommate’s bed.

Said roommate had been showering in their shared bathroom (which was sized more like a closet). She was a sight stepping out, wrapped in a towel with steam cascading behind her as death metal blasted from the phone in her hand.

Twisting and writhing as life burns away

Until nothing is left but charred remains!    

Joy quirked a brow at the downtrodden girl as she clicked the music off.

“Ah...are you...good?”

She poked the other girl's back a few times, as if to make sure she was still alive. She turned and started to pick clothes out of her wardrobe as Irene merely continued to lay face down on the bed.

“Hnng,” came the delayed and gargled non-answer.

Once she was fully clothed, Joy plopped down cross-legged on her own bed. Noticing Irene’s headphones on her comforter, she picked them up and tossed them lightly from hand to hand.

“These yours? They’re nice.”

Irene rolled off her stomach to groan, “Take them.”

Joy shrugged. “They look expensive. You sure, Joo?”

“Don’t call me that,” whined Irene.

“Whatever, Joo.”

Irene released a guttural roar of frustration as she slumped against the wall next to her bed, cradling her pillow to her chest.

“Jeez, I didn’t realize you hated the nickname so much, I’ll cut it out…”

“No, it’s not that. Ugh,” she paused.

Joy motioned for her to go on.

“They’re Seulgi’s! I mean, they’re mine. Just, Seulgi gave them to me. I never want to see them again, you take them.” 

“Christ, babe. They’re just headphones.”

Irene proceeded to launch into a rant about how no Sooyoung, they’re symbolic and Seulgi is being so petty I want to rip my hair out or maybe hers I don’t know.

Joy patiently waited for her roommate to finish before a -eating grin crept across her face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Well, I have a few thoughts. First: you're totally right, who unfollows people on SongHut? Second: You hate Seulgi,” the younger girl stated.

“I do not,” defended Irene.

“Oh, yes you do, Bae Joohyun. I knew that even you couldn’t play the perfectly sympathetic, civil ex forever. The fact that something so small and petty drove you over the edge just proves it. Don’t sweat it though, you’ll be delighted to know that I wholly support pettiness and rage in all situations.”

“Shocker,” mumbled Irene.

“Let’s burn her pictures.”

The scheming girl moved to the cork photo board on her roommate’s side of the room with an impish laugh (Irene knew Joy never liked Seulgi, she knew it!), but the older girl flailed her arms in protest.

“No!”

Joy rolled her eyes. “Okay, you’re not ready right now. I get it, baby steps.”

"Yeah. Baby steps." The older girl sighed in relief.

The redhead floated onto Irene’s bed; an unnerving smile still etched onto her face. “Did you unfollow her back, at least?”

“God, no!”

“Why the hell not?”

“I’m not going to- to stoop to that level.”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Joy snapped her fingers, “Showing her you couldn’t care less. Good one.”

“But I do care.”

“You’re gonna need to be a little tougher if you want to get through this,” advised Joy.

The younger girl wrapped an arm around her smaller friend in an attempt to comfort her.

They sat like that for a few moments before Irene sighed and hauled herself off the bed to declare, “I might need some wine to get through this, too.”

“Now you’re talking,” cackled Joy.

Irene woke up with a massive headache, severely regretting overestimating her lightweight self the previous night as Joy insisted on topping off her drink every two minutes.

“Ugh,” she groaned as she blindly reached out, hand searching for her phone on her nightstand.

Finally finding the thing, she ripped it from the charger, tugging it onto her bed. Cracking open an eye heavy with sleep to peek at the screen, she groaned once more at the brightness as spots assaulted her vision.

12:30PM

Irene balked at the time before panic set in. She had already missed her modern dance class and a physics lecture.

Should I just skip the rest of the day? No. No, Irene, you need to be on your game so you can graduate next semester. But your only class left today is Fundamentals of Voice. It’s a fluff class. It's not even required for you major. Wait, no! You get up right now. You’ll make it if you hustle.

Irene dragged herself out of bed and stalked to the bathroom. Just as she was about to grab her toothbrush, she noticed something in the corner of the mirror’s reflection. She reached over to the edge of the basin, where there perched a tall glass of something green. A note was slipped beneath the glass. She pulled it out to be met with her roommate’s scrawl.

“Something for the hangover I’m sure you have right now. Drink up and get to class :^) -Joy”

Desperate for anything that would alleviate her headache, Irene made to down the concoction before immediately spatting the mouthful she managed to take into the sink. All she could taste was salt and something vile. She didn’t hesitate to pour the rest into the toilet bowl, flushing it down like poison.

After a scalding shower and several attempts to scrub Joy’s prank from her tongue, Irene had a little over seven minutes to make it to the Performing Arts Building. Quickly penning a pointed go to hell on her roommate’s note and leaving it on her pillow, she rushed out of the dorms with her backpack slung over her shoulder.   

Reaching the black box theater on the third floor of the massive building, Irene practically burst into the room, claiming the only open seat.

The instructor peered at her over a pair of spectacles. “Miss Bae. You joined us in the nick of time.”

She smiled bashfully as the professor reluctantly checked her off on the attendance sheet.

“Please take out your books and turn to page two-hundred and seventy-two. We’ll be sight reading an Italian hymn today…”

Irene took a breath and reached into her bag. Shuffling through folders and papers, she nearly smacked her forehead when she realized she had left the damned thing on her desk.

“Did you forget it?” whispered a low voice.

Irene jumped slightly, surprised that someone was speaking to her. Raising her head, she turned to face her classmate.

A thin girl with brunette hair and and blonde streaks stared at her expectantly.

“Ah, yeah,” she smiled sheepishly.

The other girl smiled at her and set her own book on a music stand between them.

“Thank you for letting me share your book. I was in a real rush this morning,” said Irene as the class began to pack their things.

The other girl waved her off with a smile. “It happens.”

They walked out of the room together.

“Still, thanks, uh....” Irene trailed off.

“Wendy,” offered the other girl.

“Wendy. Thanks, Wendy. I’m Irene.”

The other girl’s eyes widened as she began to exclaim in English “Your name is Irene?! Are you from North America?”

“Not American,” she responded in stiff English.

Wendy pouted at that but continued the conversation cheerfully. “Oh. Well, me neither. I’m from Canada. Toronto represent!” She bumped a fist to her chest.

This girl talks so much...

Irene chuckled politely. ‘’I’m a Performing Arts Scholar; choosing a stage name is a part of the program. Most of them happen to be English names. A lot of people don't do it, but mine just stuck.”

“Gotcha. If you’re a dance major, what are you doing in voice?” She jabbed a thumb in the direction of their classroom.

“Oh, it’s kind of just a filler class for me. My advisor recommended branching out a little.”

And I wanted to impress Seulgi.

Irene shook her head at the thought and continued, “What about you? Are you a voice major? It doesn’t really seem like you belong in the intro class. You aced the sight reading today.”

“Ah,” Wendy shyly rubbed at the back of her neck in a pause. “I have a little experience. I only just declared a voice major though, so I have to take this before I can take anything more complicated.”

“Oh, what were you before?”

“Physics. Well, still am. Double major.” Wendy raised two sinewy fingers.

Irene almost stopped in her tracks.

“You’re joking, right?”

“I know it sounds like a suicide mission.”

“You must be super smart. I’m already failing physics, and it’s the entry level course…”

Why am I telling a stranger this? Am I losing my pride or what..?

“Well, I’m only a sophomore. Time will tell if I’m smart enough.”

“I’m a senior and you seem to have it more together than me, so I wouldn't worry.”

Irene looked away from the other girl to glance outside. It was pouring, again.

“Shoot,” she mumbled to herself under her breath.

“No umbrella, sunbaenim?”

“You don’t need to call me that. And, ah-”

Wendy was already pulling an umbrella from her bag.

“I’ll walk you.”

Irene shook her head and cleared . “No, no. You already helped me out once today. A little walk in the rain never hurt anyone.”

Wendy joked, “I don’t mind sharing. You seem a little forgetful; so I'm glad to help.”

The older girl just ducked her head in embarrassment, making Wendy laugh.

“You’re cute, sunbae.”

Huh. When was the last time a pretty girl found me endearing?

WHO IS READY FOR RV'S COMEBACK??? This idea would not leave me alone. It got in my head after I went down a Spotify-friend-feed-stalking spiral of my own /shudders/ Poor Baechu :( Seulgi will be introduced later. Love triangle, perhaps? Nothing too complicated, though. Look at WenRene getting acquainted :') I loved writing Joy here. She's so diabolical. Also, metalhead!Joy is a headcanon I'm quite enjoying lol. 

Cheers, 

Coiste