Seulgi was confused. Very confused.

From Irene's outburst at Homecoming to Seulgi's barely strong friendships, she was just... confused. Was she doing anything right?

Seulgi shifted uncomfortably in her seat, YooA patting her arm to settle her down before giving her cheek a kiss. Irene noticed, and Seulgi thought she saw something change, but it happened too quick to be sure. Before Seulgi knew it, Irene was smiling again, laughing at something Wendy said. When Seulgi thought about it, Wendy and Irene were getting awfully close. A good thing, she supposed, but it felt like she hadn't spent time with them in a while. She missed hanging out with her friends. Just them. Seulgi felt bad for having such thoughts, especially when YooA had been nothing but kind. She loved YooA and wanted her girlfriend to know how amazing her friends were but at the same time, you can't talk about the same things with your girlfriend that you would with your friends. Like, how was Seulgi supposed to ask for advice? How was Seulgi supposed to talk about YooA? 

In short, she couldn't. As far as her friends were concerned, YooA was an untouched topic. All they knew was Irene's unexplained hatred and the lovey-dovey eyes that Seulgi and YooA often exchanged. That was something Irene was especially familiar with.

Irene didn't like it.

Irene scrunched her nose, twitching it like a bunny just for a second before turning to Wendy and laughing at the joke. Something about a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead. Something about potatoes. Anyway, Irene was sure it was funny. The end line was anyway. Potatoes! Potatoes! Classic.

Seulgi had looked a little off, but Irene wasn't about to ask. She knew Seulgi didn't like to make her feelings terribly public, no matter how frank and open she said she was. Seulgi tended to let things flow free most of the time, yes, but she also didn't like drawing so much attention to herself. Irene could respect that. She also wasn't about to play the role of "caring girlfriend" when YooA was there, draped all over Seulgi.

Irene thought about it. Role of... girlfriend. Just girlfriend. In the long run, YooA could leave the caring to Irene. Yes. Irene would be there to care. No doubt about it. When YooA had long been gone, as Irene was sure she eventually would be, Irene would be there. (Whether sooner or later, Irene was not sure, but she hoped sooner. Oh, boy. She hoped sooner.)

When YooA's hand had carefully placed itself on Seulgi's arm, on her bare skin. Irene knew that even if Seulgi wasn't fully okay, it wasn't her business to pry. YooA was there for now. So, Irene relented. She made up her mind to stop hating YooA, at least so overtly, and let her do her duty. Let her play her role. If Seulgi wanted a girl like her, that was her business. Irene would not interfere.

Seulgi held her stomach, laughing. YooA gazed up at Seulgi's infectious smile and couldn't help but grin alongside the bear-like girl, holding tight onto Seulgi's exposed arm. Irene scrunched up her nose again. 

Some things were so cute that you just wanted to puke.

"Yeah?" Joy cast a sly glance at Irene before allowing mischevious smile spread on her face. A sprinkle of friendly drama meant to bring everyone closer together. "Do you think Irene is nice?"

"Nice?"

Irene raised an eyebrow and shook her head. Ah, Sooyoung. 

"Let's put it like this," Joy decided. "Has she been nice to you ever since you two met?"

"What does that even mean?"

"Come on, now. Has she?"

"Sooyoung-ah, don't make her uncomfortable." Joy just brushed Irene off. Joy didn't understand what was so hard about the question. Just a little fun, that's all.

"Ah... Well, she was actually very cold to me at first," Seulgi answered honestly, chuckling and reminiscing of the first time she met the Bae Irene. "She really hated me, I guess, but she warmed up to me. I mean, look at us now." Seulgi's looked straight into Irene's eyes, and Irene wanted to duck under a table. "I think we're doing okay."

Seulgi hoped they were doing okay. To be honest, she had no idea what the absolute was going on. First, they're fighting. Then, they're fighting. Seulgi can't remember fighting Irene as much as she has in the past few months. They've been up and down and all around so many times that just thinking about it makes Seulgi's head want to explode. Plus, just when everything was slowly fixing itself, Irene promptly broke down at Homecoming with the breeze at their backs and the music just a dull thump in their ears. Of course, that meant Seulgi had to have done something wrong. Seulgi just couldn't figure out what. However, no matter how alarming Homecoming may have seemed, Irene was back to normal the following week. She had remained reserved the first couple days, always giving that tight-lipped smile that tipped you off, letting you know something was weighing on her mind. After that, Irene was back to smiling and giggling and being the charismatic happy girl that most people knew her as. Seulgi had wanted to tell Irene that it was okay to not be okay and that she was here for her, which while good-natured, didn't sound like the best idea. Seulgi knew that they weren't in a place for Irene to so easily open up again. Despite that, Seulgi still wanted to comfort her or hug her or something. But, she hadn't done anything.

"Just okay?" Joy teased before pushing further. "Is she nice now, at least?"

"When she wants to be," Seulgi joked with a smile. Irene frowned. "Yeri's nicer, though."

"Yah!" Yeri protested in response to the laughter that had overtaken the group, causing them to double over as they continued laughing.

"So, very kind," Joy added with a wink, grinning at Yeri who just rolled her eyes up toward the ceiling at the greasy gesture.

They all knew that while Yeri was kind deep down, she was also the most vicious and savage of the bunch. Even YooA had learned that quickly. When Yeri and YooA first met after news traveled of the new Seulgi and YooA couple. Yeri had taken one precursory glance at YooA before turning to Seulgi and asking, "This the best you can do?"

YooA knew not to mess with Yeri after that.

"I'm nice," Irene tried to joke along. She was nice to Seulgi. She thought she was. "Sometimes you're just asking for it."

"Oh, that's not possible. I mean, look at this face. Am I right?" Girlfriend YooA swooping in to save her precious Seul. "Look at my precious bear."

Correction. To save her precious bear.

"Maybe you just li