Bowing at the security as she enters the building, Seulgi awkwardly shuffles on her feet, slightly baffled at the giant crowd of people in corporate attire running about and around. The place she has just entered is the building of one of the biggest companies in Seoul - if not in the whole country.

Also, the company where her friend works at. Seulgi couldn’t believe when she heard that Yerim – the girl who constantly and scammed her into paying for her food - got a nice position in this company. And today is supposed to be the day Seulgi is going to get her revenge, hence her visit to this grand place.

Still a bit new to the black and white corridors of the company Seulgi unintentionally gets lost and walks into the wrong hallway – a fact she’s sure Yerim is going to make fun of her for. She exhales in relief when she finally finds the right path and her eyes land on the elevator’s doors.

Doors that are slowly closing.

“Hold the door, please!” Seulgi shouts and rushes to the elevator.

As she nears it, a hand suddenly stretches out, and she quickly slips in.

“Thank you,” she says, looking down on her sneakers, her fingers twitching on the straps of her backpack.

“It’s fine,” a soft voice replies.

When Seulgi finally looks up a sight of woman greets her. A very attractive woman, at that. Seulgi’s sure she is looking like a complete fool in her black skinny jeans, white t-shirt and a leather jacket next to this fair-skinned woman, standing with a straight posture, and so much poise in her fit black pants and jacket that it actually makes Seulgi so conscious of her appearance that she quickly reaches for the black cap resting on her head and takes it off, so she doesn’t seem rude in any way. She catches a small lift of the woman’s lips when she stands up after bowing hastily. Seulgi pushes the button of the needed level – 21 – and sees that the number 20 glows brightly too. It must be this woman’s level.

They start moving up in silence. Even though Seulgi stands in the right corner of the elevator and the woman in the left, Seulgi still catches her checking her wrist watch every now and then from the corner of her vision. They already reach the eleventh level and Seulgi’s quite surprised that no one enters – isn’t that place supposed to be filled with restless men and women rushing from place to place?

Seulgi slumps against the cold metal wall and runs a hand through her hair. Just as she reaches for the phone in her pocket to check how late she is, the elevator slightly shakes and suddenly comes to a stop and red light starts glowing. She exchanges worried gaze with the other person in this place and walks closer to the panel. She pushes the call button with a shaky finger. Seconds later someone answers. Thank God.

Seulgi starts talking fast. “Um, h-hello? I think the two of us just got stuck in one of your elevators?”

There’s shuffling on the other line before a voice of a man speaks up. “Hello, miss, first of all, I ask you not to worry. We have already notified the personnel and due to some traffic, they’ll be able to be here in about an hour approximately.”

“I-I see, thank you.” The line gets cut off and Seulgi bangs her head on the wall once. I’ll totally be on time.

Slowly, she slides down on the floor and starts toying with her cap. Hearing a quiet gasp form somewhere, she looks up to see the woman, who she forgot was still there, with her eyes wide open and palms turning into fists. The woman’s breathing also speeded up. Seulgi stands up and carefully walks to the woman and looks straight into her terrified eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay,” her voice is almost on the same level of a whisper. “They’re gonna get us out of here,” Seulgi reassures her.

It seems to work because the next second the raven’s eyes gain back their focus and – oh God, she’s staring right into Seulgi’s eyes. Trying not to blush under the intensity of her gaze, Seulgi clears and stretches her hand out.

“I’m Seulgi, Kang Seulgi,” she lets a small smile appear when the woman’s eyes dart to her palm and she takes it, squeezing gently. Seulgi almost melts at her skin’s softness. Totally not a ert.

“Bae Joohyun,” Joohyun, as Seulgi had just found out, responds and slowly lets go of her hand.

The next thing the other woman does somehow throws Seulgi off guard. She looks down and takes off her high-heels using her feet. Seulgi finds it a bit amusing that Joohyun who looks so perfect and composed, with not a single hair out of its place, did something so almost… absurd. It’s funnier now that she has to look down a bit to catch her eyes.

“What?” Seeing the question in Seulgi’s stare, Joohyun simply shrugs and slowly lowers herself on the floor – thank God it looks mostly spotless. “Might as well make ourselves comfortable if we’re going to wait for a whole hour.”

Sounds pretty smart. Seulgi nods and then sits down on metal, keeping a respectful distance from the woman. She crosses her legs and places her backpack on her right. To be honest, she feels a little dumb – there’s this elegant looking woman on her left, and a small crocodile toy resting inside of her bag. Okay, there’s an explanation for the latter, really. This toy is supposed to be the weapon in defeating Yerim. And that is absolutely not childish.

Seulgi is a fully functional adult, she swears.

About fifteen minutes pass in silence until one of them decides to break it.

“So,” a soft, velvety voice enters her mind and makes all of the other thoughts go away. “Did you come here for a job interview?”

Seulgi guesses that Joohyun starts talking to her in attempts to lower her anxiety, and she’s more than willing to help her, really.

“Uhm, no, actually,” Seulgi answers, her fingers fidgeting with her cap’s peak. “I came here to visit my friend. She works at the communication department.”

Joohyun nods. “Oh.”

“So, do you work here?” She internally slaps herself and starts mumbling. “Of course, she does, idiot. Sorry, that was a stupid question.” She drops her head in embarrassment.

Seulgi keeps staring down at her lap until a quiet sound of chuckling reaches her ears. She whips her head in surprise and looks at Joohyun who’s covering with her palm, eyes crinkling at corners. Wow, great, not only you made a fool of yourself, now this attractive woman is laughing at you, great job, Slugg. Seulgi feels her face heating up.

“I do work here, actually,” she tells Seulgi after she stops laughing. “Are you a student then?”

 Seulgi nods quickly, her eyes widening and smile brightening, seemingly forgetting about her previous words. “Yeah, my majors are dancing and art.”

“That’s really interesting,” says the raven, and lets out a sigh that makes Seulgi rise her brows questioningly. “And what job are you going to apply for after you finish studying?”

Seulgi chuckles. “Are we playing twenty questions?”

The other woman just rolls her eyes at her teasing. “Just answer the question!”

“I plan on becoming a dance instructor or a choreographer,” she responds, and rubs the back of her neck, seeing the intensity in Joohyun’s unblinking gaze.

“Well,” the raven reaches and grips her arm, softly squeezing. “I hope you succeed.”

“Thanks,” Seulgi whispers when Joohyun lets go of her after some time.

They continue playing the game. Seulgi finds out that Joohyun studied business and marketing in her university but really wanted to become a writer. She tells her about her obsession with pens – that one intrigues Seulgi the most, not the pens but the sheer enthusiasm in Joohyun’s voice as she keeps blabbering on and on about different forms and pressure of pens. In return she tells Joohyun about one time she almost took a garden gnome from a park home (I didn’t know that wasn’t allowed, I was three, okay?) which made the raven let out an embarrassingly loud snort. She also found out about Joohyun’s obsession with laundry and ironing, and, most importantly, games. Well, not games but winning, to be exact.

They’re sitting shoulder to shoulder and Seulgi’s neck slightly hurts from looking down on her left all of the time, but she thinks that she’s not unable to bear the pain, not when Joohyun’s eyes practically glow whenever she looks at her.

Seulgi reaches for her phone to check the time – about half an hour passed but still no sign of help. And it’s also getting a little hot in the elevator.

“Is that your girlfriend?” Joohyun’s voice rings below her ear and she can almost feel the other woman’s chin on her leather clad shoulder. “She’s pretty.”

Seulgi looks at her in surprise. Then her eyes dart at her phone’s screen. Right. It’s about to go back to its locked state but still a sight of a brightly smiling Sooyoung greets her.

“What? No! Ew,” the thought of her dating Sooyoung – brrr. “That’s my friend, Sooyoung. You see, my friends are a bunch of s who like to make me look like an idiot. I lost a bet and the price was putting this picture as my wallpaper for a month. A month! Can you imagine!? How was I supposed to know that that girl was straight –“ She cuts herself off, thinking she might’ve said too much.

Joohyun just smiles, understanding, and that makes Seulgi feel a lot of calmer. “You’re a player, huh?” She punches Seulgi’s side with an elbow, making the other girl yelp in surprise.

“I’m not,” she whines in attempts to save her reputation in front of this pretty woman.

They drop the topic and silence falls.

“We’ve already asked twenty questions each,” Seulgi states. “What should we do now?”

She looks around the elevator – there’s not much too chose from. She sees Joohyun, her high heels, her own cap and backpack. Suddenly, a bright though visits her head. Letting out a victorious cry she leans to take her bag and turns to look at Joohyun. Taking of her blazer.

“W-what are you doing?” She stutters when the woman slowly s the top button of her white shirt.

“Undressing, can’t you see?” Joohyun raises her eyebrow in a challenging way. “Don’t you think it’s hot in here?”

Seulgi nods dumbly and realizes that there is some redness in the raven’s cheeks. She stands up so she can take her own jacket off and completely misses Joohyun’s eyes running up and down her body. The art major sits down on her spot near the woman and gulps. Well, that was something.

“A-anyway, you’ve mentioned that you like games, right?” She waits for Joohyun’s affirmative nod before continuing. “So, I might have something that might entertain you. I’m not sure.” She opens her backpack but stops before taking the needed object. “Please don’t make fun of me.”

She proceeds to take out the thing and say ta-da! before Joohyun’s loud, childlike laugh fills in the place.

“What the – what is this!?” she asks, not paying attention to Seulgi’s pout, and grabs the small toy from her hands in a way Seulgi would consider rude from anyone else but Joohyun’s eyes have that light that reminds her of a child’s.

“It’s what I’m gonna use for my revenge,” Seulgi exclaims, making Joohyun throw her head back in laughter and she thinks that it doesn’t annoy her as much as it would if it were her own friends laughing at, when Joohyun is the one.  

“What are you, five?” the woman’s snickering now, turning the small crocodile in her hands.

“Twenty-five, thank you very much,” she responds before gently taking the toy from Joohyun’s hands, and the other woman starts chuckling again at the slight edge in her movements.

“How do you play it?” Joohyun asks curiously, looking at the item.

Seulgi activates the toy. “Okay, so you need to push its teeth carefully, so the one you push isn’t the one that makes the croc bite your fingers.”

Joohyun looks surprised to say the least. “But how do you know which one is the bad tooth?”

Seulgi smirks a bit. “That’s the charm of the game: you don’t.”

They start playing and Seulgi can’t help but feel satisfaction at the frustrated look on the raven’s face whenever she pushes a tooth and crocodile’s mouth snaps shut, making her let out a surprised sound. She didn’t tell this Joohyun but she know the secret when playing the game. And because of the little trick she had lost only two times while Joohyun already lost 7 times.

“Okay, I know you’re cheating,” Joohyun turns to look Seulgi in the eyes, and she’s not going to lie – she’s a bit scared. “Tell me.”

Seulgi looks at the woman who has her arms crossed across her chest. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Joohyun.”

She gasps when a firm grip appears on her left ear. Tugging, Joohyun hisses, “Tell me.”

“Okay, okay, okay, just let go!” She does and Seulgi’s left to rub on her now red ear, whining quietly. “You’re so violent, oh my God.”

“Stop being a child and tell me how you do this,” the raven sends her a hard glance. Seulgi huffs, look who’s talking. “What did you just say?”

“Nothing, nothing,” she fears too much for her ear’s fate. “Okay, so, the trick is that you need to feel the tooth. If it feels a bit heavier than others – it’s the bad one. Here, try.”

Joohyun moves her hand and starts pushing on the teeth but not activating them. She touches them, one by one, and still manages to push the one that makes the crocodile bite on her finger. Seulgi chuckles and activates the toy once again. The raven starts once again and Seulgi sees that she hadn’t fully grasped the tactic so she moves her own hand to the crocodile. Her heart starts beating faster when their fingers touch for the second time in the last hour. She blushes and guides her hand away, missing Joohyun’s own reddening face hidden behind the curtain of her black hair.

“I think I got it!” Joohyun suddenly shouts and Seulgi sighs in relief. “Get ready to lose.”

She does. Not once, not twice, but 8 times. Maybe she shouldn’t have told the woman about this trick. But as she looks at the big grin on her face Seulgi thinks nah.

It’s worth losing when in the end she’s the one winning, anyway.

The crocodile is back in her backpack because apparently Joohyun got tired of winning and made her out it away. Sadly, Seulgi doesn’t have any more toys in her backpack. But she did find a couple of candies in one of pockets and offered them to Joohyun, so now they’re just sitting in silence eating pineapple flavored sweets.

“You know,” Joohyun starts, “I’m kind of glad that I got stuck in this elevator.” With you.

“Yeah,” Seulgi scratches her right ear.

“Yeah,” Joohyun smiles at her, and the dancer thinks that even in this dim red lighting she’s the most beautiful woman ever. “I’ve been so cramped up with work for the most part, that I didn’t have any time to relax. I think it’s the most I’ve laughed this year.”

Another smile appears but it doesn’t reach her eyes at all, and Seulgi decides that she doesn’t like this smile. “Well, then, I’m glad to help.” She grins charmingly and bumps the other woman’s side gently.

Joohyun repeats the action. “You should be, Seulgi. If it wasn’t for this crappy technology and you, I would be sitting at some useless meeting.”

That part – not the part where Joohyun admits that she had fun but the part about the meeting - makes Seulgi sit straight up. “Wait, wouldn’t that get you in trouble?”

Joohyun rolls her eyes. “Why would it? It’s not like it was my intention to get stuck here.”

“I guess,” the brunette shrugs and leans back on the wall.

And really, she probably wouldn’t have met Joohyun if it wasn’t for this place. Seulgi knows that it’s probably stupid but she feels like they got close and maybe they could become friends – or even something more. Her whole life Seulgi was praised for standing up for things that were wrong, when other people kept silent. Everyone always told her that she should keep being brave, not stopping before the obstacles and always fighting for things she wished for.

And right now, she wishes she could see Joohyun one more time – in more pleasant environment.

“Hey, Joohyun – “

“Hey are you okay there?” A man’s voice shouts, cutting Seulgi off and making bot her and Joohyun almost jump up from where they sit. “Just wait a couple minutes more, we’re getting you out!” 

 Joohyun leans down to put on her high heels and Seulgi picks up her backpack and cap, both waiting in anxiety. A minute later the light in the elevator turn back on and the slow music that played before it stopped begins again. Joohyun grips Seulgi’s arm tightly when the lift shakes and then starts moving up slowly. Some time passes before the elevator stops. They are met with three people when the doors finally open.

Seulgi with Joohyun, still holding her tightly, quickly step out and take a deep breath, extremely glad to be out of the small space.

“Thank you,” Seulgi says, breathing quickly. She notices Joohyun’s shivering form and engulfs her in an embrace, ignoring the other people.

“Are you okay?” She whispers into Joohyun’s hair. She nods and Seulgi runs a calming hand up and down her back, hoping she’s not crossing any boundaries. “Everything’s okay now, we’re safe. Joohyun – “

“Bae Joohyun!” A loud voice from behind makes them jump apart from each other. The owner of the voice, a small woman with long, blonde hair comes closer to them and starts checking the raven for injuries. “Oh my God, you poor thing, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you hungry? Do you want water? Who is – “ 

“Yongsun, I’m fine now.” Joohyun takes the hands of the noisy woman, “And I was fine the whole time. Seulgi made sure.”

The mentioned woman blushes at the fondness in Joohyun’s words and eyes speaking about her and bows to the newcomer. “Hello, I’m Seulgi.”

The blonde woman bows too and smiles at her, making the dimples at her chin appear. “My name is Kim Yongsun, Joohyun’s assistant and friend. Nice to meet you.”

She turns to the raven. “Joohyun, I monitored the meeting with the team but I think your cousin might’ve said something she wasn’t supposed to say. Don’t look at me like that, you know I can’t control her!”

Joohyun rubs her temple and sighs. “Gosh, what am I going to do with her.”

As if remembering that Seulgi’s still there, Joohyun looks at her and gives her a small smile. “I’m afraid I have to go and take things back into my hands but it was really nice to meet you, Kang Seulgi. I hope we can meet some other time.” And then she’s off.

Seulgi looks at her back that’s getting smaller and sighs to herself, before putting on her black cap. “Excuse me,” she addresses the men near the elevator, “Can you please tell me where the stairway is?”

Seulgi checks if the number on the door is right. “It’s 310, right?” She wonders before knocking. A loud come in rings and she rolls her eyes, precisely knowing whose voice this is.

“Hey, squirtle,” Seulgi greets her friend who’d lying on the couch with her eyes closed.

She looks around the office. Even though it’s not the biggest one she’s seen it’s decently furnished, big windows that open the sight of the whole city. A small coffee table near the leather couch, bookshelves filled with what she assumes books of different genres. A computer, standing on the mahogany desk. Lots and lots of different papers.

“Aren’t you supposed to be here an hour ago?” Yerim wonders, finally opening her eyes and looking at her.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?”  Seulgi teases back and drops her backpack on the small table, before picking up Yerim’s legs – completely ignoring her complaints – and plopping on the couch, Yerim’s legs now on her lap.

“They let me into one of the meetings and, let me tell you, I’ve completely blown their minds,” she lies down, now peering at Seulgi through her bangs. “And why are you late? And, please, think of something credible, I’m tired of your lame excuses.”

Seulgi tickles Yerim’s socks clad feet, making the girl make a loud noise. “Well, you see, miss I’ve-almost-got-kidnapped-that’s-why-I’m-late, I got stuck in the elevator.”

Yerim’s head snaps up so quickly Seulgi thinks she might give herself a whiplash. “What? That was you? Are you okay? Never mind, why am I asking, nothing can get to you.” She lies back down as if what Seulgi had just told her is completely normal.

“Wow, Yerim-ah, thanks for worrying,” she mocks the younger girl.

“Who did you get stuck with? They told there were two people?”

The art major can feel her cheeks getting warm. “Um, well – “

“KIM YERIM!” A familiar voice shouts and the door opens with a bang. The sudden noise makes Seulgi jump up from the couch and drop the legs of Yerim, who stays unmoving on her position on the couch. “Didn’t I tell you a million times now that – “

Yerim opens her eyes when her cousin’s voice stops. To say that she’s surprised to see that greets her is an understatement. A blushing Joohyun looking at an even redder Seulgi. Well, that’s sure interesting. Did they meet already or maybe… wait –

“Oooh, I see,” she stands up, and Joohyun scowl when she hears the sound of her cousin’s joints cracking. “The two of you have met, I assume?” Not waiting for answers, she walks closer to the pair. “Seulgi-unnie meet my cousin and the CEO of this lovely company, Joohyun-unnie meet my friend and out resident bear.”

Seulgi glares at her but Yerim doesn’t care, she’s having too much fun with this.

“You’re the CEO? That’s why you wouldn’t get in trouble with the meeting?” Seulgi gives her a small smile when Joohyun tucks her hair behind her left ear.

That gesture makes the owner of the office even more confident of her hunch. Joohyun always does that when she wants to seem pretty. And looking at her friend, Yerim can confidently state that it’s working.

The spell is broken when a notification from Joohyun’s phone ring. “Damn, that’s urgent. Anyway, Yerim, I’ll talk to you later,” her gaze softens when she looks at the dancer, and Yerim swears she’s either going to get diabetes or vomit, “Bye, Seulgi. See you.” And she leaves the office.

The tall girl just stands in the middle of the office, looking longingly at the door where the woman previously disappeared.

“What the hell are you waiting for? Go after her!” Yerim pushes Seulgi out of the door and shuts it behind her.

“Yah!” Seulgi knocks on the door but stops when she sees Joohyun’s lone figure walking through the hallway. Giving it no thought, she starts running to her.

“Hey, Joohyun, wait!”

She can’t see the CEO’s face on which a smile appears for a second before she returns her face in its calm state and turns around. She’s been hoping that Seulgi would follow her and ask her – anything, to be honest.

“I – I just wanted to ask if you would like to have lunch with me? Or dinner? Or breakfast – wait, that’s not what I meant!”

She looks down unable to meet the other woman’s eyes. She’s startled when she sees familiar legs coming closer to her, not stopping until she’s so close their feet touch. Seulgi looks up to see Joohyun’s unreadable. The dancer freezes on her spot when Joohyun moves leans in and leaves a small kiss on her burning cheek.

“I would love to. Have lunch or dinner,” her hot breath hits Seulgi’s red ear as she whispers. “or even breakfast with you.” And with one last smirk she turns around and leaves Seulgi standing there dumbstruck.

Blood rushes to her ears, and Seulgi feels her heart in because it’s suddenly impossible to swallow or breathe. Seconds pass, and the brightest beam visits Seulgi’s face as she pumps her fist into air repeatedly, grasping the woman’s words.

When she comes back into Yerim’s office, her lips stretched widely and ears and cheeks burning and plops on the couch face down, completely ignoring the younger girl’s questions, she feels like she can finally breathe.