Synopsis: In which Seulgi is the most adorable thief.

 

A/N: Misspelled thief for theif like 1974262383 times. No hate on Mr Lee Soo-Man.

 

"Whoever's out there, come out now. I can see you, and the guards are already on standby. There's no point in hiding anymore." Irene snaps at the hooded figure hiding on her balcony. (She says hiding, but it's more of... the best way she could describe it was 'You can't see me if I can't see you' as the thief had on a bear eyemask while crouching behind a potted plant way too small to hide her slender frame. Its pathetic, really. And maybe a bit endearing. But mostly pathetic.)

 

The hooded figure's visibly startled at Irene's command, seems to trip on her own feet in haste, and falls flat on the ground. Irene winces. That sounds painful. The hooded figure proceeds to hobble to the glass door that separates her apartment and balcony.

 

Knock knock. "Excuse me, may I come in?" A voice squeaks. Irene frowns. What kind of thief asks if they can enter a person's house? She quickly analyses the possibilities:

 

 

Irene decides she likes the probability of the third option, and hence announces, "Come in!"

 

The hooded figure slowly pushes the door open. It's blatantly obvious that the door is clearly too heavy for her small frame (it's a girl), and she starts panting and wheezing while using her tiny hands to push the door with all her might. She finally does it, though, and weasles through the miniscule opening she had created for herself, landing with a soft thud on the carpeted floor of Irene's room. The thief quickly scrambles up and whisper-shouts," I'm sorry for intruding, but I'm here to steal Aphrodite's necklace! The one you're wearing on your neck!"

 

 

Irene stares at her. She stares back, an awkward moment ensuing.

 

The thief then suddenly smiles, and stretches her hand out. "So I can have it then?"

 

Wait what. Are thieves this dumb or is it just this one? Irene wonders. She decides to pry a bit more though, and says," And if I say no?"

 

The thief pouts. "But silent means consent, and you were silent, so technically you said yes, and..." She would have rambled on, but Irene placed her finger against her lips, and the tiny thief stops short, eyes wide. It's almost funny how cooperative this thief was, and she decides that teasing her wouldn't be a bad way of spending her Tuesday night.

 

"What's your full name?" She asks.

 

"Kang Seulgi, miss!" the thief, Seulgi, replies just before her eyes grow comically wide at the realisation that she might have just divulged her real name to her target. "I mean, its Square Orange and its Orange because thats my favourite colour and... it's too late isn't it?" Seulgi says, eyes downcast.

 

"I mean, I could pretend I didn't hear your name..." Irene suggests. "You would? You're super nice unnie!" Seulgi says, eyes forming cresents and a full blown smile gracing her lips. Adorable.

 

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I said I could, not that I would. Although the could might turn to would if you do something for me."

 

"Anything!"

 

"Well, I don't know, its quite a difficult thing to do…” Irene teases, smirking playfully.

 

"I can do it, I promise!" Seulgi says, eyes glinting earnestly.

 

"Okay. I'll forget your name if, and only if, you let me remember your name." and Irene sits back to watch her handiwork. Or more specifically, watch as Seulgi's last two brain cells attempt to comprehend what she just said. It's enjoyable, really, to see literal question marks form in Seulgi's eyes as she uses her hands to count something, alhough what exactly isn't clear to Irene, seeing that there's no math involved.

 

One finger. "She'll forget my name." Seulgi mutters under her breath.

Two fingers. "If I allow her to remember my name."

Three fingers. "This must mean..."

Four, five, six fingers. "Nameception." Seulgi announces, dead serious.

 

Irene cracks up, tears of laughter forming instantly in her eyes. She's too adorable.

 

 

“So, Seul, why are you here to steal Aphrodite’s necklace?”

 

“My school sent me, they said it would be a easy job.” Seulgi replies. (Yup, they’re on a nickname basis now.)

 

“What school?”

 

“IoS, the Institute of Stealing. It’s really big and the people there are really good at it too! Especially the professors, you can’t walk around with any money because it’ll be gone in an instant.” Seulgi says.

 

Irene frowns. She’s heard of IoS, they’ve sent plenty of thieves after her in an attempt to get Aphrodite’s necklace. So far, all of them have ended up behind bars, although she can’t seem to say the same for Seulgi. But the thieves had almost always been professionals at what they did, sneaky, cunning, and almost always just a hair’s breadth from snatching the necklace before Irene pulled out the stops and caught them. Seeing Seulgi’s less than perfect (they were horrid) skills made her wonder.

 

“Seulgi, did you have any friends at IoS?” She asks.

 

“Yup! I had two - Yeri and Joy and a really nice professor called Ms Shon. The rest weren’t too nice though, especially the headmaster, Mr Lee.” Seulgi says.

 

“And did he send you on this mission?”

 

“Oh gosh, how did you know, unnie? Did you stalk me or something?”

 

“Just a guess. And how did your friends react?”

 

“They seemed really upset about it for some reason. But I told them not to worry, I got this! I’m Orange Square after all, the best thief in miles!”

 

Orange Square. Good Lord, wasn’t it Square Orange? But just as she had suspected, this Mr Lee sent Seulgi to steal Aphrodite’s necklace just so she would get caught and be out of his sight. It wasn’t uncommon for institutes to do that - eliminate the weak by having sent them on impossible missions. Oh well, it was his loss. Seulgi was too adorable for her own good, and she wouldn’t mind taking the younger girl under her wing.

 

“Okay. Do you want to watch TV and share this tub of ice-cream before I pass you the necklace?”

 

“ICE-CREAM? OH GOSH UNNIE YOU’RE THE BEST!” Seulgi half-shouts as she prances around the bed, full of joy.

 

Irene breaks into a smile for the nth time that night, shaking her head at the antics of this thief who had stolen her heart.

 

#

 

It’s the wee hours of the morning, and Seulgi’s settled on Irene’s lap, Irene’s hands draped around Seulgi’s slender frame. (They’re cuddling. Period.)

 

“Well Seulgi, thanks for staying with me throughout the night. I think you’ve really earned the necklace this time.” Irene says as she removes the necklace from her neck. “Turn around so I can put it on you.”

 

Seulgi obediently does so, and Irene savours the moment as she slowly (seductively) fastens the necklace on Seulgi, taking note of the slight blush that blossoms on Seulgi’s cheeks as her fingers graze her skin.

 

“You look stunning, Seul.” The slight tinge of red erupts into a full blown blush as Seulgi’s cheeks take on the colour of a sunset sky.

 

“Tha.. Thank you, miss Irene. You’re too kind.” Seulgi says.

 

“I’m just telling it as it is.” Irene replies, gaze steady as she stares into Seulgi’s warm brown orbs. God, she wants to kiss her, but they just met that night, and Irene doesn’t know if Seulgi would leave now that she had the necklace. Not that I’ll let her go back to that hellhole, Irene thinks.

 

Instead, she settles for patting Seulgi’s head affectionately, noting the plethora of emotions that dance across Seulgi’s face as she does so. Uncertainty, fear, affection, longing, and was that love?

 

“Are you going to go back?” She whispers.

 

“I.. I don’t want to intrude, I mean, I’ve already overstayed my welcome, I should have just taken the necklace and left, and I don’t want to be a burden, and…” Seulgi stops mid-sentence as Irene places her finger against her lips, in a scene reminiscent of just a few hours ago.

 

“You’re rambling, Seulgi.”

 

“I’m sorry, I…” Seulgi twiddles her thumbs, wanting to ask if Irene would let her stay, as she has never felt more home than ever before.

 

Irene sees it, understands it, and whispers, “You can stay, if you want.”

 

The little bear that jumps into her embrace gives her all the answer she needs.