Seulgi thinks that 2 months should pass by in a flash, considering the time she spent with Irene seemed like minutes. But it's been 1 month and 1 week already, and she misses her girlfriend.

Like. Really. Misses her.

Each passing day she spends without the Bae feels like years instead of days. Living in different time zones is so hard because the moment she gets back from a tiring school day and studying, Irene was busy doing work. She can't even talk with Irene about her struggles or day. If it's morning here in Korea, it's evening in America; if it's evening in Korea, it's morning in America. 

<

Seulgi was closing her eyes after tiring them, she was about to enter deep slumber when her phone started ringing. It took her a few seconds before answering because she didn't even bother opening her eyes, she just randomly waved her arm to where the noise was coming from.

"Y~" a yawn escapes, "Yes? Who is it?"

"Seul? Oh no, did I wake you?" A sweet voice was heard over the phone, "I knew I shouldn't have tried to contact you." Irene's last words weren't that clear considering she was mumbling to herself.

"Irene? Nonono, it's fine! How are you? Uhhh what time is there?"

"5 am... You know what? I'm just gonna hang up and call you later. I don't even know why I had to call you so late." 

"Don't hang up! It's ok if we talk right now, I just finished studying."

"Really? Okay... So I have a meeting in a few hours and my team decided to wake up early to prepare, I just wanted to call you for goodluck..... I also wanted to hear your voice."

Seulgi smiles to herself, "Well you won't need the goodluck because you're going to do great." She says reassuringly, "I miss your voice too. I miss you."

"Well I'm glad too know I'm not the only one, it's only been 2 weeks since I've been gone, I miss your hugs." Irene tells her, she can hear the girl huff in frustration.

"Then just 1 month and 2 weeks more to go! We can do it! Fighting!" 

>>PRESENT>>

"Fighting my . I can't take it any more!" Seulgi shouts out loud, earning her a smack on her head. She looks up to see the culprit and smiles to see who it is.

"Can you quiet down! Jeez, you sound so miserable without Irene-unnie." Wendy says as she puts down a tray of freshly baked cookies. The two best friends decided to hangout at Seulgi's place and just do whatever, and that includes eating Wendy's awesome cookies. Luckily for Irene, she stays at her penthouse in America, so she's living very comfortably. Irene promised to bring the two friends here one day.

As Seulgi was munching on some cookies Wendy noticed her laptop was on, it was on Skype. She guesses the couple is supposed to facetime each other in a few minutes.

"So... Whose gonna call first?" Wendy asks.

"Joohyun will. She says that she'll busy for awhile and will be the one to call me." Just as Seulgi finishes her sentence the laptop notifies that someone is calling her.

Seulgi swallows what she was eating and rushes to her laptop, Wendy just laughs at her best friend's reaction, she herself missed her gamer unnie.

"Hey you!" Seulgi greets enthusiastically, she is met by a big smile from Irene. The older girl was wearing Seulgi's yellow sweater, her fake glasses, and had her hair tied to a messy bun. 

"Seul~ Oh hi Wendy!" Irene greeted the other 94 liner. "I see that you brought the bear some cookies."

"Hi unnie!" Wendy waves at the screen, "You should hurry back already, Seulgi is going crazy without you here." She teases her best friend.

Irene's face falls a bit hearing the words "come back already" but the two doesn't seem to notice. "Well I'm going crazy here as well, you have no idea how many times I have to go to meetings and conferences, I barely have time to go out and look around the city." Irene sulks.

"But you're bringing back gifts for us right?" Wendy asks.

"Of course, I'm bought you so many things that it looks like I'm Santa." Irene jokes.

"Can you guys stop talking as if I'm not here." Seulgi cuts in."

"It's your fault for not joining in the conversation." Wendy says but she walks away to give the two some privacy to talk.

"How are you?" Was the first question that Irene asked. 

"I'm fine, University work is stressful but I'm doing pretty good. Ooh! Ooh!" Seulgi suddenty remembers something and jumps in place, shaking the laptop that was on her lap. 

"Yah! Is there an earthquake?! You're gonna make me dizzy." 

"I'm going to graduate a month from now!" Seulgi drops the exciting news. Irene stayed frozen that Seulgi thought that maybe the internet connection was bad.

"Umm Ir-" She was interrupted by a loud squeal.

"Seulgi!! That's such great news! OMG! You're gonna graduate!" Irene was overjoyed and couldn't help but feel proud of how far Seulgi had gone. "Waaah! My girlfriend is gonna graduate top of her class!" She cheers making Seulgi shy.

"You're getting too ahead, I'm smart but not that smart." Seulgi was met by a cold glare from the other side of the screen.

"I am not. I'm being genuine and honest here, you're a very smart person, Seul. All your hard work is going to pay off, you're gonna be successful, I know it. And I'll bet everything on that." Seulgi had a warm feeling I'm her chest, Irene never failed to make her feel special (cue TWICE's Feel Special jk).

"You're going to be there right?" Seulgi asks hopefully, she doesn't even know why she had to ask. Irene will be back by then, of course she'll be there.

But when she was met with silence, Seulgi could feel her heart tighten, "Joohyun... You are coming right?" 

When Irene hears her real name from Seulgi she couldn't help but feel even more guilty, "I wish I could be there. But my company told us that we have stay in America longer..."

"How much longer?" 

"2 more months..."

.

.

.

"Can't you say no?"

"I can't. They need me."

"I need you."

"Seul-"

"Come back home." Seulgi's voice was quiet and it just broke Irene's heart more.

"I wish I could but I can't."

"Liar!" Seulgi loud voice startled the older girl. "You say you can't? You're the CEO's daughter, can't you just order the people to allow you to come back? Why do you have to listen to them? Can't you just go come here for like a day and then go back? Missing a day won't do any harm!" Seulgi asked so many questions, so many possibilities, maybe she's not being understandable but is it wrong to want her girlfriend to be there for her special day?

"I tried to, I really did. I even talked with my parents about it but they didn't allow me. Believe me, I really want to be back there, with my gaming company, with Wendy, Taeyong and Jisung, with you."

"That's bullshi*!" Irene flinched at the foul word, Seulgi was really angry and upset and she hated the fact that it was her fault. "If you really want to come back then you will!"

Irene was thinking really hard how to get the younger girl to calm down but it just seems like all she has is bad luck because to make things worse, someone's voice and appearance came to the conversation.

"Irene? Have you seen my comb?" Seulgi looked very confused as to why there was someone else with Irene and her heart felt like it was stabbed by a knife when the figure of Joy appeared on the screen. "Oh- hey Seulgi. Wassup?" Joy raised her hand for a wave. The model was wearing a bathrobe and her hair was yet, meaning she just finished taking a shower.

"Joy, get out for awhile I seriously need to tal-"Irene pleaded.

"I get it." Irene's eyes shifted back to the screen when she heard Seulgi's voice.

"I think I know why you want to stay longer... I hope you enjoy your time there. Bye Joy-ssi..." Seulgi says not even saying goodbye to Irene. She slammed her laptop shut, she was angry, she was hurt, she was sad. Seulgi wanted to throw her laptop to the wall, but she stopped herself. She curled up into a ball.

"Hey, I heard some yelling. Are you guys oka-" Wendy appears again only to see her best friend on the floor crying. She immediately rushed to her side and held her. "Hey, what's wrong?" Worry present in her face and voice.

"I-I-Irene won't be back for our graduation." Seulgi had a hard time talking because of her sobbing.

"You don't have to be so sad about that. Maybe what she's doing is very important, it's not like she doesn't want to be here for you." Wendy tried to comfort her.

"She's with Joy, she didn't even tell me that she was with her. She's cheating on me." 

"Oh darling no! Irene-unnie would never do that, you know her. She must have a reason that she can't come back, Irene-unnie would would literally do anything for you if she could."

"Then why can't she just be here?" 

Wendy didn't know how to answer that, she doesn't know what happened in the call when she left, but one thing is for sure. She knows that Irene would never cheat on Seulgi.

____________

"Bye Joy-ssi..." The screen darkens and informs her that the call has ended.

"Nonononono!" Irene says to herself and tried to call back, but it says that the girl went offline. She grabs her phone and tries to call Seulgi, when she doesn't get answered she sends a bunch of messages.

"Hey? Did something happen?" Joy who was oblivious to the whole things asks.

"You! Why did you have to appear like that?And- Put on some clothes!" Irene yells at the model. Joy who didn't want to make the older girl even more angry, rushed to change into proper clothes when she was done she saw Irene burying her face on her hands.

The two met accidentally in America, Joy had a fashion show there and Irene had a meeting to attend. They wanted to hang out and Irene invited Joy to stay awhile in her penthouse till she gets picked up by her manager.

"Did you guys fight?" Joy says as she sits down next to the smaller girl.

"She asked me if I'd be there for her graduation, I told her I couldn't because I have to stay here longer. She wasn't satisfied with my reason on why I can't go back and then you came and now! She thinks I'm cheating on her!" Irene looks up to glare at Joy but it don't come out that way, instead her eyes were streaming tears.

Joy engulfed her in a hug, "Why didn't you just tell her the truth?"

"What truth? That I can't even come back to Korea because my passport was taken from me by my own father? And that I'm being forced to work till I can't even move?! Do you think she'd want to hear that?"

"Why do you still love your father after all of this?" Joy asks.

"Because... I'm pretty sure he wants the best for me. I can't hate him." 

Hearing her answer makes Joy want to slap the older girl but obviously she didn't. "You think he loves you? He's using you! He doesn't care one bit about you or your well-being! Why do you think we ended up like this? It was all his fault!"

"I-I d-don't know what you're talking about." Irene's voice is weak and she looks confused. 

"I'm going to tell you everything. Everything that actually happened in the past, you may not like it and you might not even like me after this." Joy knows that Irene is very emotional right now but if the older girl keeps believing that her father is a good man, she'll lose everything.

"That is not your place to decide, Sooyoung." 

A voice enters suddenly, and they both turn their heads to see a man smiling at them.

"Speak of the devil." Joy glares at Mr. Bae, he was not alone, there were a bunch of men with him.

"Sooyoung, you have messed up the plan once. You're not doing it again." He starts.

"Doing it again?! Please. I'm here to stop you from ruining your daughter's life!" Joy stands up and uses her body to block Irene.

"Oh no. Did Sooyoung make you cry, Irene? What a bad person." He snaps his fingers and 2 men came forward and grabbed Joy.

"Yah! Get your filthy hands off me! Don't you dare touch her!" Joy tries to fight back but the 2 men were way stronger than her.

"Dad, please let her go. It's not her fault, I was crying about something else." Irene says afraid that her friend was going to get hurt, she stands up to go to her father.

"Then why were you crying?"

"Me and Seulgi just had a small argument, nothing big."

"It must be big considering that you're crying. Tsk. What a horrible girl she is, you don't need her." Mr. Bae made his voice sound like a caring father but Joy knew it was fake.

"Don't say that about Seulgi! You don't know her. Now let Joy go!" Irene suddenly shouts.

Mr. Bae's eyes turn into anger, "Did you raise your voice at me? Why can't children just learn how to obey properly?" He sighs in disappointment. "Joy, you said you were going to tell her everything? Irene will learn on her own and you'll be there to watch her."

Mr. Bae snaps his hands again and the rest of the men grabs Irene. They all moved to the swimming pool area. 

"What are you doing? Don't you dare!" Joy's eyes widen in fear, not fear for herself but for Irene. "You don't even know if it's going to work!" Joy knows what that man was going to do.

"It will. She has to." Mr. Bae says with a monotonous voice.

One of the men bring Irene to the edge of the pool, "Irene, no hard feelings but this has to be done. You will realize that what I'm doing for you is what's best for you. You will see." The man drops Irene, and the sad girl falls into the pool.

Irene. Can't. Swim.

She has trauma with water ever since the incident, and now she screaming in fear as she tries to float. But all she feels is a vacuum, a force pulling her to go down. Go down where everything suffocates you, leaves you alone, brings you to darkness. She can't float, she can't breathe anymore, she sinks lower and lower...

"HELP HER YOU SICK FREAK! SHE'S GOING TO DIE!"Joy yells, she tries to get out of the men's grip on her but it's useless. But she can't stand and watch the one she loves die, she can't go back to Korea and tell Seulgi the sad news.

She steps hard on one of the men's shoes with her heels (let me tell you, that hurts). She was able to get free, she runs and dives into the pool to save Irene. 

Joy resurfaces with Irene on her back, she swims slowly into the shallow part of the pool and quickly brings her to land. She lays the older girl's body down and does CPR.

"Live. Live. You can't die now. You can't leave yet, we need you. I need you. Yeri needs you. Seulgi needs you." Joy cries out.

_______________

Months later...

Seulgi was holding her phone very tightly, as if waiting for someone to call her. She hears someone calling her, "Yes?"

Mrs. Kang was smiling at her daughter, "Look at you. So grown up, it was only yesterday you started walking." She was looking at Seulgi's appearance.

"Mom~ I'm not a child anymore." Seulgi huffs cutely making her mom laugh.

"C'mon the ceremony is about to start. You better get to your seat. Don't worry, me and your dad are watching you. We are so very proud of you." Mrs. Kang gives her daughter one last hug.

"Thanks mom, I won't let you down." Seulgi says before heading off to find her seat. Fortunately she was beside her best friend. 

"I can't believe this is actually happening!" Wendy says and Seulgi can see her hands shaking. 

"What are you worried about? We're both graduating."

Wendy shakes her head, "I had this horrible dream that last minute they told me that there was a mistake and that I had retake the year." 

Seulgi laughs at her, "Now that would've been sad."

"No call from her?" Wendy asks.

Seulgi stops laughing. "No." After the fight between her and Irene, she hasn't heard from the older girl since. At first she thought maybe they needed to cool off, that's why Irene didn't contact her. But after a few she couldn't stand the silence so she tried calling and texting her. But no answer. Not even today.

"It's okay, maybe she's busy. You never know when she'll come back. Stay positive okay?" Wendy held Seulgi's hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

After the graduation ceremony, Seulgi and Wendy took so photos including their families, they were about to leave when Wendy the off her graduation hat to the air.

"You know we paid for those and you throw it away for it to get lost or even stolen." Seulgi says.

Wendy shrugs, "Let me try that college thing people do with their friends. It's fun, give it a try."

"Okay but you're going to fetch it back for me. I don't wanna lose it." After hearing a yes from Wendy, Seulgi prepares to throw it to the air. When she did, her aim was a bit weird because it was thrown backwards.

She flinches when she sees it hit someone, she runs to where it landed to quickly apologize but when she got closer she saw someone familiar.

"Irene?" Seulgi stops running and stares at the older girl that was away for so long. It was like a movie, as she watches in slow motion the person she loves walks closer to her after not being able to talk or see her after so long.

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to get here. Congratulations." Irene hands out a bouquet of yellow roses and her hat.

Seulgi receives these and drops them shocking Irene but the shock was immediately replaced with tears when Seulgi hugged her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I'm so so sorry. I love you Irene." Seulgi says while sobbing, she hated herself for ever doubting Irene, for getting angry at her without properly talking.

But Seulgi wasn't the only one that felt that way because she could feel Irene's body shake from crying. "I'm sorry too Seul, but let me just say this

.

.

.

I'm home."

__________________________________________________

Sorry so so sorry for it took me more than a month to update. School had been sooo tiring and annoying :(( pls forgive me for being so slow

Thank u for those who still read this :))

(Sorry for my errors as well)

Next chapter will tell what happened after the pool incident and show the Irene and Joy's past