The bed had defeated her and vanquished all energy she could muster to unpack. She had not even taken off her shoes properly. One of them was out and the other one was still hanging on her new bed as she curled and found herself bundled up in her coat, desiring nothing but the warmth of her cozy blankets, which she had to leave behind. Naturally, she could’ve just undressed and taken care of unpacking later, but her body simply shut down when it hit the bed.

Hitting a nice, cozy surface was bound to her in and keep her there. A long day of riding in a car and then riding on plane to ride on a car again was nothing but taxing for the young girl, even if she’s gotten used to being on planes and cars constantly. So, her body just completely shut down and got stepped on by an invisible boulder to the point where she succumbed to her desire for slumber.

Relatable, right? Put a hashtag on it.

Joy had returned from the bathroom with damp hair, rubbing it and drying it up only to be greeted with a grown woman curled up and snoring deep in slumber. It was peculiar and definitely not what she had expected from the superstar Kang Seulgi who was so charismatic on camera. It looked… hilarious.

Let me introduce you to Joy. Born as Park Sooyoung (Sooyeong? Listen, I’m not here for this), Joy was born into this lovely family of Korean immigrants. Her parents were born and raised here, and so was she. Raised in this very farm, but actually back when it was a little ramshackled and rather antique, when the construction workers and painters were taking their time to make this little farm look brand new and modern. Said construction workers even held the young girl into their arms and fondly remember her birthday every year!

Now seventeen years old, Joy was a young woman living a very much normal life, just that she has more chores than the common teenager. Milking the cows was one, getting the eggs, waking up a sleepy Joonhyung who didn’t put his alarm on, fighting with Minseok because she swears she did her chores (we’ll get to him in a little bit), homework, making herself look fabulous, slapping Jay in the back of his head when he isn’t paying attention, studying...

Definitely not in that order, but you get the idea.

She celebrated and rejoiced when she was given her own room, finally able to privately chat and converse with her friends online, look at more scandalous articles onlines, just overall enjoy and bask in the privacy she was given. Perhaps explore a different side of herself, doing some silly dancing she would usually sisters for, maybe try new clothes combinations, sleep with just her socks on. You know, the usual.

Now, we had a pretentious, whiny popstar curled up on the spare bed. The room was spacious in itself, but now it was divided again, making it feel like Joy was once again being watched all the time, judged by the things she did on a daily basis, the people she talked to, how much time she spent talking… it was a bizarre feeling, disappointing and nothing but enraging.

She wouldn’t be able to gossip freely and learn about what new girl Jason, the popular boy in school, was trying to get and what new dirt ranked up on him. She wouldn’t be able to talk about how Jennifer told her that Maria told her that--.

Yeah, you know, the usual.

“Yah!” Joy shouted, standing just before Seulgi’s stone body. “YAH! KANG SEULGI!”

But Seulgi did not move, not even squirmed or moved her body at all; she was still curled up in her coat, completely immobile and so much so that Joy feared that the woman was dead for a split second before she saw her little foot wiggle a little before retreating back to the comfort of her coat. With a deep sigh, Joy had already given up on this Dongho clone. Dongho, being one of the youngins that live in the big house, who also had the deepest sleep she had ever encountered but now it was like Seulgi was a close match to this monster of slumber. The Iori to his Kyo--will I get copyrighted for that?

For this, she must go to Bae Joohyun, nicknamed Irene. The woman who knew all the tricks in the book and managed to vanquish Dongho in the blink of an eye, always with a trick, and with many different ones up her sleeves.

“Irene!” Joy shouted as she walked out of her room, her hair less damp and still battling to dry it fully, finding said woman just coming up the stairs, her presence as radiant as always.

“Hmm?” Irene softly said, her chocolate brown eyes widening a little bit and her bushy eyebrows lifting.

Bae Joohyun was a pale woman in her late twenties who definitely looked like she made a pact with the devil to stay young looking forever. Her eyes were angelical, hypnotizing, the most pure looking in the world; her upper lip a little thinner than her lower lip, making it a beautifully deadly combination, pure softness and healthily colorful; her jet black hair falling gracefully to her shoulders and ending a little bit below it. Despite this angel-on-earth appearance, her physical aspects and her often serious demeanor made her a very scary individual, her shyness masked with seriousness and certain stiffness not being of very much help.

There was definitely a divine being that put all of that together. Attractively sinister, frighteningly alluring. One of those may not be an actual word, and I may not really know what one of those phrases mean.

But anyways.

She is not one of the Parks, or a long lost family member of the sorts. She was a trustworthy friend, absolutely, but in no way related to this colorful pack of people bound by blood (most of them, anyways). So, you might be wondering what she’s doing here in the beginning of summer when most of the workers are supposed to be at home, especially now at dinner time when they were all home?

You see, Irene works for the Parks, handles the farm with a rod of iron and is (jokingly) supervised while collecting the cabbages. Nicknamed Irene by choice, Cabbage girl unwillingly, this young woman was almost the definition of a farmer girl. Quiet, a little introverted, perhaps a bit scary looking to the inexperienced viewer--not knowing she’s deep down inside an angel that’s just a bit shy and doesn’t want to burden anyone with her problems. A mischievous one given the opportunity however, if she’s comfortable enough. She’s been an immense help for the Parks and they have gratefully given her the complete control and ownership of one small bedroom that used to be the guest room, which is the reason why Seulgi has to share rooms with Joy.

“I can’t wake Seulgi up,” Joy whined out, still massaging her scalp until there was no wetness.

“Why do you want to wake her up?” Irene softly questioned, finally coming up the stairs, her real height finally matched with Joy’s. Irene was way smaller, or Joy was way taller, either or. “She had a long flight day, she must be exhausted.”

“First, she needs to unpack and two, she needs to undress and three--.”

“Okay, okay, fine,” Irene stopped her before she could even begin to have her rant, which she knew would come eventually, but at least wanted to save it for dinner. Now, the young girl had a point. On her way up, Eunji told Irene to get Joy to get down and put the table as well as helping serve the dinner, so one way or another they’d have to wake the tired popstar up, after all she probably hasn’t eaten a meal in a while. “I’ll do it. You go down and put the table, your mom was asking for you.”

Joy rolled her eyes but obediently went downstairs to help anyways. Just how Irene liked it.

Now, Irene was left with the sleeping beast, whoever she was, entering her bedroom and unceremoniously finding the beast curled up in a ball, snoring and as still as marble. It was rather pathetic to imagine such a famous and respected popstar just succumbed to something like slumber--snoring like she was not in a house foreign to her. Irene somehow thought she’d look cooler and more charismatic even in her sleep, since many people online seem to agree with that sentiment even if they’ve never seen it. However, that seemed to be a hyperbole.

In all her years working with the Parks in their farm, she was never once undefeated by the heavy sleepers, her being a very light sleeper and rising first before the chickens could even sing their iconic tune. But Dongho was always a bit… volatile in his first reactions and just by looking at him sleeping Irene could tell, he looked bulky and serious, not to be disturbed, like a bulldog that was resting after being awake for long periods of time.

But this? This was just funny, and it almost made Irene not want to wake her up. Truthfully, it was a bit… adorable. Alas, she had to, the girl must be famished and uncomfortable with that attire, she probably had caught some minutes of rest anyways, it must be enough to compose herself and enjoy her meal.

So, she put her plan to action. Going to the bathroom and quickly getting her hand entirely wet with cold water, she walked back into the bedroom, announcing herself. “Yah! Wake up!” She said rather loudly, a complete contrast to her sweet and soft voice moments ago.

No response, instead she just got a small groan and a little shifting on Seulgi’s part. Hey, at least it was enough to let Irene know she was alive which was always a morbid thought that came to her mind.

Irene sighed and braced herself for what was to come next. Rather rudely, she grabbed the coat away abruptly, tearing it out of Seulgi’s sleepy hold. And then, she rubbed her wet and cold hand all over Seulgi’s sleeping face. Though, not sleepy for long, because Seulgi sprang up right away and shoved the cold monster away from her face, not screaming but gasping and reiterating her ‘Yah!’ again and again.

Irene couldn’t help but to jump back and giggle at her acting so suddenly and sounding so… cute.

“What?!” Seulgi said rather loudly, wiping her face with her sleeves before her eyes finally--for the first time--landed on Irene’s face, her smile still present, a hint of childlike mischievousness to it. This wasn’t her cousin, this woman--this gorgeous woman--was not at all like any of her cousins. Pointing an accusing finger, she asked in a confused and trembling voice. “W-who are you?”

Irene bursted into a soft giggle fit that lasted just a few seconds, enough to make Seulgi roll her eyes and move to the edge of the bed. “Sorry,” Irene softly said, wiping her hand with Seulgi’s coat before realizing it. It was a very warm and nice coat, it warmed her hand instantly. “Dinner is ready.”

Seulgi looked at her coat (internally fuming at how expensive that coat was and how it was being treated so disrespectfully) and then back up at Irene--unable to deny that the woman sported a beauty she had yet to see be matched. “What?”

“Dinner’s ready,” Irene then tossed the coat back with a soft apology.

Yeah, that wasn’t going to fix anything, let alone calm Seulgi’s growing anger. “Yeah, but that’s not what I asked.”

Irene was half surprised that she didn’t know, it showed right on her face with a frown and a tilt of her head. “I’m Bae Joohyun, people call me Irene. I figured you’d know me already?”

Seulgi frowned for a moment before it clicked a little on her head. She did hear of Irene. Sure, she didn’t visit the Parks often if at all after her fame skyrocketed, but she did hear from them and they heard of her in return. Last time she recalls that, during Irene’s birthday, the parks went out to eat at the Pizzeria, the pictures taken during the little celebration were heartwarming to watch, a small album full of them. Now, upon waking up and becoming slightly more conscious, she remembered seeing a pale and gorgeous looking woman smiling in those pictures, everyone gathered around her as they sang her happy birthday song.

Ah, yes, Seulgi remembers now. She remembers curiously asking who that was and having Hyunwoo softly respond that she was a worker for the farm.

And that the man to her right was her boyfriend.

Seulgi instantly lost interest in such beauty back then. Naturally, she was never one to get mixed up in between a couple, no matter the circumstances or the numbers. A couple, two couples, several people or whatever, Seulgi stayed away. After all, the idea of ever being in a relationship was far fetched enough and away from her mind.

Why bound herself to one person, not see them for months on end, and have them latch onto her fortune like a bunch of parasites? A woman has her ual needs and Seulgi had them filled, with as many or as little as she wanted--a behavior Hyunwoo was aware of but unhappy with and a common occurrence that the old fashioned Enzo was starting to get used to. When she was satisfied, she went away from that person and made sure the message was understood.

“Oh,” Seulgi cleared . “Sorry, I forgot--I kind of can’t think straight when you shove your hands to my goddamn face.”

Irene crossed her arms. “Well, I was asked to wake you up. You haven’t unpacked at all.”

“Oh yeah, and I haven’t slept at all either. Just…” Seulgi rolled up her sleeve a little and looked at the watch, calculating just about thirty minutes of nap that was interrupted so rudely. “Thirty minutes, for all this flight and commute and .”

Irene was a little scandalized by her swearing, her eyes widening a little. “Hey, watch your mouth--.”

“I watch nothing!” Seulgi said right away, lifting her hands in the air. “Am I going to get censored, too?”

Irene rolled her eyes, now understanding why Hyunwoo was exhausted of trying to calm this stubborn woman. “You’re not getting censored, just moderate your words a little.”

“So, censorship.”

“Moderation,” Irene rolled her eyes back. “Especially in front of your grandmother.”

That shut Seulgi up immediately, frowning and rolling her eyes in defeat. Grandma Kang was her weak spot at the moment, she just couldn’t fight it--but then… where was she? Suddenly, Seulgi looked up at Irene with a frown. “Where is she?”

“Who?”

“Grandma? I want to see her.”

“Oh,” Irene cleared . “She’s… out playing bingo with her friends.”

“At this time?”

Irene sighed and walked over to Seulgi, grabbing her wristwatch and glancing it with a frown. “It’s literally only seven fifty in the evening.”

“Oh,” Seulgi scratched her head. She was THAT lost, she even glanced at her watch before and didn’t even bother to acknowledge the time. But then, she moved onto issues that were a little more important at hang. “So, what’s your name again?”

Irene rolled her eyes and began to walk away towards the doorway. “It’s Irene. And you have ten minutes to get to the table before I drag you out by your big ears.”

Seulgi was about to make a remark before she suddenly touched her ears, watching them protrude out of her hair. She frowned instantly. There was nothing wrong with her ears! They were nothing but adorable and big, very noticeable, a former flaw she believed. Why was she remarking about her ears? Huh, she has a protruding ear, too! And a very… plump and delicious--.

“Ten minutes!” Irene shouted from the staircase, yanking Seulgi out of her inner monologue, almost as if knowing that she was spacing and thinking about it.

With a groan and the roll of her eyes, she surrendered back against the mattress and sighed out.

This was going to be a long visit.