Seulgi opened her locker with a depressed clang. The faded blue paint scraped lightly against the row of lockers that, stacked neatly against the wall, looked too perfect to exist. It was infuriating. The lockers measured carefully, stacked carefully, and carefully placed.

Carefully. With care.

Seulgi didn't care. She exhaled hard, shaking her head and taking a deep breath. Chill out. Seulgi rummaged for her Art History textbook. She was so forward looking to sitting in a lecture, words slower than a turtle racing a hare. So slow. Almost too slow. Just right.

A piece of notebook paper had floated to the ground. It crumpled beneath Seulgi's foot, the crinkle music to her ears.

Finally. Not perfect.  

Seulgi held the paper between two hands. She smoothened some of the wrinkles with her thumb. Oh, well. It'd have to do. To hell with perfection.

"Seulgi-ah," she read out loud. She stopped and skimmed the rest of the paper with one brow raised. No. it couldn't be. It couldn't, and it wouldn't be.

Seulgi-ah~

Is there a lot on your mind? You look so busy lately.
Don't work too hard! Take some rest. I know you've earned it.
I want to see you smile again.

Seulgi stopped skimming and crushed the paper within her bag, not even bothering to slam her locker shut. 

"Bae Joohyun!" Seulgi yelled, startling the girl.

Irene whipped around, bookbag nearly swinging off her shoulder with the force of a track and field hammer throw. She didn't register much besides her name and looked confused at the person stomping towards her. The person's mouth was opening and closing and Irene could see the anguish in her eyes.

"Are you even listening to me?" Seulgi was almost screaming now. "Are you?"

"Uh..." Irene blinked, brought back to reality by Seulgi's hands shaking her shoulders.

"You can't even listen to me now? Even now, Irene?" Seulgi's head drooped and she stopped moving, her hands still gripping Irene. "You're so cruel."

"Seulgi," began Irene. She hesitated at the bewildered look in Seulgi's eyes, the look of a wild animal trapped in a cage with no escape, destined for a life freedom-free. "I... What are you talking about?"

Seulgi breathed hard. Irene saw her chest heave with a sharp inhale. "Are you kidding?" Seulgi pulled the notebook paper from her backpack and shoved it into Irene's face. "This! This is what I'm talking about!"

Irene glanced up and down the mysterious sheet. "Should I know anything?"

Seulgi scoffed in disbelief. "Don't play dumb, Joohyun. I know you wrote this as some sick joke. Who else would write me something like this? Who else ever wrote me something like this? You can't just tell me to smile again, not when you're the one who has taken it away." She sniffled and a crack formed in Irene's perfect facade. "Why can't we just be okay? But I guess those days are over. Don't forget that. You can't just walk all over me and expect things to be okay. You can't just pretend nothing happened and that I'll come back to you just like that." Seulgi snapped her fingers as she said the last word, spun on her heels and left Irene with a dumbfounded look on her face, paralyzed.

A wrinkled paper ball lay at Irene's feet. She bent down to pick it up and gingerly unfolded the note.

Seulgi-ah~

Is there a lot on your mind? You look so busy lately.
Don't work too hard! Take some rest. I know you've earned it.
I want to see you smile again. Your smile is so pretty~

I know we don't talk much, but please know I look out for you, unnie.
Maybe one day we can meet. Take care~

Love,
Your secret admirer

Irene's cheeks flushed pink. Seulgi thought she wrote that? No way. No damn way. Irene folded the sheet and slid it into a folder. She had a boyfriend, for 's sake. She wouldn't do that to Bo Gum. She loved Bo Gum. But... What did this mean? What was on Seulgi's mind? Irene felt her stomach fold inward as if trying to expel itself from her body. Did Seulgi think she had a crush on her or something? Seulgi thought Irene was her secret admirer?

In the bathroom, Irene's head hung dangerously close to the seat. Her hair brushed against the stall wall as her head dipped to the side. She was just so tired. She was tired of whatever this was. She and Seulgi weren't fighting, but they also weren't talking, to the dismay of Yeri and Joy. Wendy was just mad at Yeri and Joy. Whenever Irene saw Seulgi, it was just as if they didn't know each other. They knew names, and that's all they stuck to. It was as if after that incident in the practice room, Irene and Seulgi had forgotten how to be friends. What it meant to be friends. And that they missed being... friends.

Irene sighed and blinked slowly. A high-pitched frequency rang in her ears. She closed her eyes shut and blinked some more. There were so many spots. Spots, spots, spots. Dogs had spots.