*** Irene *** 

It was just two days after I broke up with Seulgi, but it feels like eternity. It feels like, it was forever since I talked to her. 

It's friday. 

It's homeroom. 

She will be my seatmate for today. 

What am I supposed to feel? How am I supposed to act? She wasn't here yet, but I have to make sure to prepare myself in times like this. I might stutter and it's a big no no. 

I sighed heavily. 

"Are you alright?" Jisoo whispered from the back. Jennie wasn't here yet so we can talk about the topic whenever we want. We planned not to say anything to our friends and just let them discover it by themselves. 

"I have to," I whispered back. 

"I can sit beside you if you want, Irene." 

"No," I opposed. "That's a very obvious move." 

She heave a sigh. "Are you really doing this for the rest of your life?" 

"What do you mean by that?" I said. 

"I mean, all of us, your friends, know how much you love each other, then suddenly, you are going to marry someone else?" She massaged her temple. "We can say it's all a joke, you know?" 

"Jisoo, listen." 

She looked at me in the eye. 

"I have to do this. You already know why. My job is to oblige my father's desire for me. And besides, you were supposed to support me in this movement, not that you always enlighten me that I am very much in love with Seulgi and I just broke her heart two days ago."

"Because you are,"

"Yeah, I know I am. I know I will always am---"

"But why sacrificing your own happiness for a thing you don't know if it will happen in the end?" 

"Oh, come on, Jisoo. Are we really going to argue this now? Are we?" 

"We should!" She half screamed. "You are not thinking clearly these days. If you feel hurt because you broke someone else's heart, and the fact that someone else is Seulgi, which you were head over heels since long time ago, at least that's what I know of." She said. "But me, I can lose two important people in my life. Two best friends who remained true in the end." She sighed. "Correction. Only one remained true." 

"Jisoo," I put my hand to her back. 

"What I mean, Irene is that... why are you doing this?" 

I was going to answer her question when the girl whom I didn't see for two days but feels like eternity, just entered the room. 

"Hey!" Someone inside the room shouted that made Seulgi paused to her position in the front, beside the teacher's table. She raised her eyebrows for inquiry. "I saw what you did in the dance competition. That was sick, Seulgi!" 

"Yeah!" Few students said in unison. "You were awesome!" They added. 

"Thank you." She bowed her head to them. And continued walking to her desk. The more she gets closer, the more I could hear my heart's beats.

"Are you going to be a member of the dance team for real?" Someone else said again. 

She seated beside me and get few of her notebooks from her bag. "Nope." 

Now that we are inches apart, I just noticed the bags under her eyes and how tiring her eyes look like. 

"Why?" A girl asked.

"I will transfer to another school." Seulgi said in a monotone. She smiled but not fully. 

My eyes widened because of the news. I looked at Jisoo who was shocked by the news too. 

"And what do you mean by that, Seulgi?" Jisoo whispered. 

Seulgi turned her head to face Jisoo. "Not now but I will eventually." 

I almost choked when my tears attempted to came out. Jisoo signaled me to talk to Seulgi but does she know that it's awkward? 

Will she really transfer to another school? Is it because of what I did to her? 

"Seulgi!" 

Someone's voice caught my attention. It was from outside the room. It was the girl I saw the other night. The girl who kissed Seulgi. 

It was Wendy. 

"Oh, hey," Seulgi replied. 

"Can I come in?" Wendy mouthed. 

Seulgi shook her hand in front of her. "I will come to you." She mouthed too. Seulgi stood from her chair and walked towards the door. 

Wendy suddenly waved her hands to our direction. I was going to waved back because of the thought that she might be waving at me, but I suddenly remembered that we didn't properly meet each other. I looked at my back and saw Jisoo waving her hands back to Wendy. 

"Are you just going to sit there all day?" Jisoo whispered to me, trying to compose her smile perfectly so Wendy won't doubt her that she's talking to me. She stop waving when Seulgi and Wendy walked away from the door.

I sighed. "Yeah. It's good for both of us." I whispered back. 

"Hell, no!" She half screamed. 

"Language," I urged. 

"Are you still correcting my sentence despite that we are talking to a serious topic?" She said. "Is the definition of good is when two of you will be broken hearted? Because the last time I checked about the word good is when you found your true happiness. It is when you all settle down for contentment." 

"Jisoo, not all good means happiness." I said. "And please not now, Jisoo. I have to prepare myself for the dinner tonight."

"Oh, yeah?" Jisoo crossed her arms in front of her. "I'm so tired explaining the right things you should do to you. You don't even care about the people you might hurt around you, including me. You can't even tell me everything. I'm your best friend but I still don't know why you are acting like this." She added. "No wonder, Seulgi was drunk and soaked in the rain the other night. You're stubborn. You're selfish." 

"What did you say?" I hastily glared at Jisoo but she doesn't flinched. 

"I said only the truth." She half whispered half screamed, sounded a little mad. "You don't care about us anymore. You're dragging yourself away from this friendship." 

"Not that," 

Jisoo eyes widened. "What do you mean, not that?" 

"I asked you about what you said about Seulgi." I said in a monotone. 

"Ask her!" Jisoo suddenly pick her things and put it inside to her bag. She hooked her bag to her shoulder and immediately left the room. 

"Jisoo!" I called. 

But she didn't look back. She almost hit Jennie on her shoulder when she got out from the door. I quickly hooked my bag to my shoulder and ran to follow Jisoo. 

"What's happening?" Jennie said when I passed to her. "Hey," 

"Jisoo, wait!" I called again but she doesn't stop. 

"Don't follow me. Don't talk to me. Don't me!" She said while walking fast. 

"Jisoo, please."

I hit her when she suddenly stopped in front of me. She heave a sigh and turned her head to me. "Okay." She said silently. "I do know a lot of things now but please do respect, I can't share it with you. I'm sorry." And that was it, she immediately left me in the hallway. I wasn't able to answer her, to call her, to stop her from getting away because I was taken aback about Jisoo's last words. 

What was that about? 

*********

*** Seulgi *** 

"How are you feeling? Your hangover?" Wendy said. 

She run towards me to fill the gap between us. I looked at her over the shoulder and give her a smile. 

"Don't smile at me like that." She said. "I can read your mind, Seulgi. I know you for so long." 

I laughed silently. "Really?" 

"Really, what?" 

"Let's try. Tell me what's on my mind then. If you're right, I will tell you about my condition, about my hangover. Deal or no deal?" 

She give me a discerning look like she's thinking it over. She put her finger in her chin while looking at the ceiling. 

"You cannot find some answers there." I said jokingly. She elbowed me on my shoulder. "Besides, why worry? When you just admitted that you know me for so long earlier." 

"Shut up," She said, sounded a little annoyed but in a good way. "Okay, let's give it a shot. But let's change the condition." 

"Okay. You make it." 

"If I'm right, you will tell me about your feelings, your condition and you gonna treat me with the ten pounds burger." 

"I thought you'd change." I said jokingly. "You are still the viking I know?" I laughed. 

She punched me in my shoulders. "Shut up! Deal or no deal?" 

"Deal." 

"You are thinking about Irene." She said almost immediately. 

I smiled to myself and sit down on the top of a table in an empty room. "I almost forgot. What will be the consequences if you guess it wrong?" I smirked. 

She gulped. "Nothing!" She said with her kiddy voice. 

"That's unfair!"

"Life is unfair." 

"Whatever," I made a face. I fished out my phone from my pocket. "You're right anyway." I muttered. I searched for the nearest burger shop online and when I found one, I showed my phone to Wendy. "Is this enough?" 

She made a face that tells me she's not contented with it. "Not that. I already tried their burgers and it's not worth a try." 

"Oh, God," I muttered. Thinking about the ten pounds burger that I just showed her is not worth it. "Do you still train your stomach to become a competitive eater?" 

"Yeah, always." She said with a smirked. "Wanna compete with me?" 

"Oh my God. I can't win with you." I said between laughs. "Big Mac?" 

"I can finish it in a minute." She said proudly. 

"Wow." I exhaled. "With the drink?" 

"Yeah." She nodded. "Even with fries." 

"Hell, no." 

"Hell yes." She said. "Wanna try? I mean, you also have a history in competitive eating." A curve shape showed in the side of her lips. 

"Okay." 

*********

INSIDE A BURGER RESTAURANT OF WENDY'S CHOICE 

"Here's the twelve pounds burgers!" The waiter half-shouted. They carefully put our orders in our table. 

"This is bigger than I expected." I said in disbelief. 

Wendy laughed. "I already saw these many times. I mean, it's not my first." 

I looked at her in awe. "How many minutes do you think you can finish this?" 

"Fifteen to thirty minutes I guess." 

"Jesus Christ," I almost choked. "You're not kidding me right?" 

"Am not! First, you are now a lady not a kid. And second, you already know my capabilities." 

"You are really something." 

"Yeah. Something that became nothing to someone." She said silently. I shot her a look. "Okay, don't be serious. All right?" 

I sighed. "Let's better begin." I said.

"Consequences?" 

"Consequences, what?" I raised my eyebrows for inquiry. 

"You know," She shrugged. "Whoever loses will do this and whoever wins will gain this." 

I nodded when I already get her explanation. 

"So?" She said. 

"Let's have a short vacation this weekend." I started. "Whoever loses will treat the other. Deal?" 

"Let me clear some things." She said. "If you lose---"

"No, if I win." I smirked. 

She give me a look. "If I win," she emphasizes the words 'if I win'. "You will treat me and I will not pay anything even a centavo?" 

"That's right." I said. "Call?" 

"Call!" 

I place the tiny clock on the side of our table. "Tell me when you're ready." 

"I am." 

"Okay." I stretched my arms, my shoulders and my neck. "Ready? And three, two, one, go!" 

That is when we started cutting the burgers into small pieces when our bare hands. When I was about to bite mine, Wendy is already chewing hers. She is really fast. 

Our childhood memory suddenly flashed on my mind. 

"Seunghwan! The food is ready!" I shouted out loud to make her go out from our room. She was locking herself because she was stressed about her low grades this period. She always wanted to maintain her high grades because as she said, it's the only gift she can give back to her parents. Imagine her passion, when she is just a 6th grader. "Seunghwan!!! I'm going to eat this steak all by myself! Don't blame me if there aren't leftovers!" 

I door cracked open and she poke her head out. "What's the sauce?" 

Isn't she cute? The fastest runner in our school, who loves to maintain her high grades, who loves singing, who loves speaking korean like it's her native language, who stole my heart, asking for the sauce. I can't help but laugh.

"You know what," I scratched the back of my head. "Why don't you go down here and see it yourself." 

"I'm not hungry." She excused. 

"Seunghwan,"

"I'm working on my assignment." 

"Seunghwan." 

"I'm going to sleep." 

"Seunghwan!" 

She pauses and looked at me. 

"Don't be paranoid, okay? It was just a point." I motioned her to come down in the kitchen. "Your 93 just decrease by one point. Relax." I added. To my surprised, she was finally out from our room and followed my request. "You can make it back next period." 

"I hope so." She shrugged but still looking sad. 

"Here!" I put the huge plate in front of her. 

"Oh my God," She mumbled while covering with her hands. "It's huge!" 

I nodded. "It is supposed to be huge because we are going to compete with one another." 

"What?" She raised her eyebrows for inquiry. 

"Listen." I put the tiny clock at the edge of the table. "Whoever first person to finish this huge beef steak will win." 

"What a game." She made a face. "I'm not interested." 

"Can you even let me at least finish my sentence?" I gave her a look. 

"Sorry," she raised her both hands. 

"If I win, you will treat me in any restaurant that I want for a week." I challenged. "And if you win... what do you want?" 

She put a finger on her chin and look at the ceiling, thinking deeply.

"How many times I told you, you can find answers there!" I said jokingly. 

"It is my secret." She said. 

I laughed. "Secret, huh?" 

"Whatever," she shrugged. "If I win," she leaned closer. "You will be my girlfriend." She whispered, making sure the volume of her voice was enough for us to hear it. 

I was a bit shocked from her condition but deep inside me, I was happy. I can finally have a girlfriend, and it was the girl I love.

I smirked. "Call!" 

Her eyes widened, maybe not expecting my answer. But she nodded anyway. "Let's begin!" She stated. 

And that was how we became competitive eaters... and how we became girlfriends.

"Are you alright?" Wendy said while we exiting the fast food. 

I was slouching down while holding my stomach. "Kind of. I can't breathe properly. I can't move my body." 

She burst out laughing. "My years of practicing to win over you paid off." 

"Years?" 

"Yeah. I trained my stomach for years because I wish that this day will come." 

"And why?" 

She shove her hands inside her pocket and shrug. "Don't know either." She looked down at me. "Need help? I mean, you are not that kind of person who ask for help in this kind of situation because I know you can handle it but just in case." 

I snorts. "Oh my God," I mumbled. "You know me so well." 

"Of course," She said. I don't know if I am acting or being paranoid but when she said that, I heard a little excitement yet disappointment as well. 

I motioned her to come closer and she did. "Help me." I whispered. She put my arm over her shoulder and help me lift myself up from the ground. 

"Can you walk?" 

"Of course. I have feet. Why not?" 

She shot me a look. "I'm asking you nicely. You always break the momentum." 

"Did I?" I said jokingly. 

She elbowed me to my side and left me standing alone when she started walking away. "Shut up." She said. 

"Hey," I called. "I asked you to help me." 

"Whatever. You can do that yourself." She turned around. "Besides, we just got out from eating, not that we came out from war. You are not injured." She started to expand the gap between us again. 

"My heart is!" I shouted when she was already on the street. 

"Find a donor then!" She made a face. 

I just laughed. Having Wendy by my side is really comforting, like I'm so safe and happy everytime. Maybe this is the effect a bestfriend can give. 

For all those years I am with her, living with her, I somehow realized today that we do have the same habits, mannerisms, and the way we react to things. Even our words. We are like same soul with different bodies. Maybe this is the side effect of loving her too much before. I thought I can't move on but then I was surprised seeing myself loving someone else. I mean, it was always been her and I thought that could never change. But I learn that even drown thoughts can be change too. 

"What?" Her voice made me go back to earth. "Are you coming or nah?" 

I grinned. Hearing her foreign accent makes me want to cringe. 

"What's funny, Seulgi?" 

"I heard your accent there. Is that how people in Canada talk?"

"Yeah, why?" She give me a look.

"I love it." I said. I saw her cheeks reddened. I smiled to myself. "Come on!" I grabbed her arm and pulled her to walk with me. A comfortable silence followed as we walked.

"When do you want us to stop acting as girlfriends?" She said silently. I almost paused to my position but I realized I should act normal. But what is normal?

"When do you want to stop asking questions?" 

"Oh, sorry." She lowered her head. 

"I'll tell you when. But for now, I'm enjoying your company so let me be." 

"Okay." She said, sounded a little sad. 

"Cheer up, Wendy! I don't want to see you like that."

"Like what?" 

"Like you are carrying the earth." I turned us to another street, leading us back to school. "Cheer up! It's not the end of the world." 

"I just..." 

"Seulgi!" 

I abruptly turned my head to the direction when the voice came from. "Oh, Jisoo." I greeted.

"Can I talk to you privately?" She said. She shifted her sight to Wendy. "Hi, Wendy!" 

"Hi, Jisoo!" Wendy greeted back. Wendy shouldered me and motioned me to go to Jisoo and made a face that tells me to grant Jisoo's favor. I nodded my head. 

"Text me when you got inside." I reminded Wendy, who is walking towards her classroom now.

"Yeah." She raised her hand to say goodbye. "I'm not a baby." 

I decided not to answer and just follow her with my eyes until she's out of sight. 

"So?" I shifted my attention to Jisoo. "What is it about?" I smiled while putting my hands inside my pocket. 

"It's about Irene." 

I looked at Jisoo for a while, then sigh. "I'm not interested." I started to walk away. "I'm not her girlfriend anymore, Jisoo. And I don't want to bother her life anymore." 

She followed me. "I know you two broke up." She said silently but continued talking. "I need your help." 

When she said that, my reflexes come up and my senses became active six times from normal. Joohyun must be in danger. "Did something happen to her?" 

"No." She shook her head. "Something will happen to her if we don't make a move." 

"What do you mean?"