Chapter 11: 

Later that morning, Irene receives a call from Wendy asking how her hangover is. 

It turns out that Seulgi has called Wendy at 3 a.m. last night to put her to bed and it was Wendy who helped her to change, to Irene's utmost relief. She learns from Wendy that Seulgi called her because she respects Irene’s privacy and did not want to enter her house without her permission. 

Since when is Kang Seulgi ever so considerate? 

Around noon, she receives another call from her maknaes asking if she is feeling better. Yeri and Sooyoung then proceed to tell her everything she did at the club that she has forgotten, and by the end of their sharing, she feels like she would rather live without that embarrassing memory. 

The words she have mindlessly confessed to Seulgi, she wonders if Seulgi would have thought of them otherwise. 

Speaking of which, she realises Seulgi has not called yet. That is unlike the latter’s usual behaviour. 

Is she staying away because she thinks that Irene is really in love with her? 

Friendship, is all Irene tells herself about how she feels for Seulgi. And, she will never think otherwise. 

So, she picks up her phone and musters her courage to call Seulgi to explain everything. 

After a few rings, the person on the other side of the line picks up and greets her happily, “Hyun! Why did you call me? Are you feeling better?” 

“I’m alright.” Irene replies, a smile subconsciously forming at her lips upon hearing Seulgi’s bright voice. 

“Good.”

Irene shyly adds, “T-Thanks for bringing me home.” 

“It’s no problem.”

“....”

“If there’s nothing, I’ll hang up and see you tomorrow.”

“Wait!” Irene holds her back, not wanting to end the phone call so soon. 

This is the first time Seulgi is hanging up so quickly.

“Hmm?” 

Irene infers it must be because of her accidental confession yesterday. 

“I-I...I didn’t mean what I said yesterday.”

“About?”

“Everything.” 

“Oh...” Irene notices the disappointment in the latter’s voice. She quickly explains, “I mean-“

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure the dance club members would not take it to heart.”

“I’m not talking about that. I’m referring to-“ 

“Hyun, I have to go now. Bye!” Seulgi abruptly hangs up, leaving the latter feeling unsettled. 

Not long after, she receives a message from Seulgi.

Gomdori: Btw Hyun, I won’t be fetching Wendy and you for the next few days as my car is under maintenance. Sorry! See you in school :) 

——

For the next few days, Irene barely spent anytime with Seulgi around the school. 

Seulgi would bring her back to class early during recess to allow her to revise her work in peace. She no longer insists on Irene joining their table, even encouraging her to join her old friends a little too enthusiastically. 

No more noisy banter in the morning. No more constant teasing and skinship. No more library dates where the latter interrupts her with her snore. No more annoying walks around the campus after school. 

All because Seulgi claims she is always busy, doing something that she refuses to let Irene know about. 

Irene knows she should be happy, as she is finally getting back to her old life without Seulgi. However, a part of her heart feels empty. 

——

(A special day, school cafeteria) 

Irene spends her recess with Seulgi and her friends at their usual table that day. 

It has been about a week since the clubbing incident and Seulgi still has been acting weirdly around her. 

They are sitting right beside each other, but Seulgi is doing none of the things she would usually do, like hold Irene’s hand or lie on her shoulder and play with her hair. 

Jongin suddenly asks the group, “Are any of you up for clubbing this Saturday? Since common tests are coming, I feel like dancing the stress away!” He then proceeds to pump his hands in the air to an imaginary beat. 

Everyone around the table enthusiastically agrees, except for Irene and surprisingly, Seulgi. 

Seulgi shakes her head and states firmly, “I need to study for common test.”  

“WHAT?” 

Everyone’s jaws around the table immediately drop to the table. Especially, Irene who knows clearly how Seulgi procrastinates whenever she needs to study. 

Seeing Seulgi’s serious expression lasting for more than ten seconds, Yeri gasps. “You’re actually serious, unnie?”

Sooyoung adds, “Unnie, are you too tired from all the choreographing? You can ask us for help you know.” 

“Seulgi, are you okay?” Even Jongin who rarely shows concern, asks Seulgi with a worried expression. 

Seulgi chuckles, amused at her friends’ reaction. “What’s wrong with all of you! I just want to study because I’ve been neglecting it to choreograph these days. I may not like studying but remember that I need to at least pass my tests to maintain my captain position.” 

“Ohhhh, phew. I thought you were really crazy, Unnie!” Yeri chuckles, relieved that Seulgi is still normal. 

“The day our Seulgi unnie would study voluntarily is the day Yeri and I will get together.” Joy says mindlessly, which triggers the girl beside her to slap her arm hard. 

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Yeri bursts out, in absolute disgust at what her best friend just said. 

“I just mean that it’s impossible!” Sooyoung defends herself. 

While the two maknaes continue to argue, Irene turns to Seulgi, who is currently looking onto the argument with a smile on her face. She gently taps the latter’s arm, and Seulgi instantly turns her head to face her.   

“Seulgi, are you really okay?” 

Seulgi blinks, “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

Irene admits the truth she has been keeping in for days, “You seem...a little weird nowadays.”

“Why so?”

“You stopped teasing me and doing other stuff...” After saying those words, Irene could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks. 

Seulgi frowns slightly, “Isn’t that something you’ve always wanted? Or do you want me to be more annoying again?” 

She finally teases Irene again, making the girl slip out her first genuine smile in the past few days. Irene quickly adds, “I mean...I’m happy but it’s weird.” 

“Just take it as I’ve decided to be nice to you and make your life with me a little easier.” Seulgi smiles and she instinctively raises her hand to pat Irene’s head. 

The latter braces herself for the soft landing of Seulgi’s hand on her head, but today, Seulgi retrieves her hand midway. 

Then, she just reveals a small smile at Irene before diverting her attention back onto the argument between their two maknaes. 

Seulgi’s action makes Irene feels a slight pang in her heart, similar to how she felt when she saw Jimin and Seulgi’s couple picture. 

“Kkangseul, we gotta go for the performance now.” Jongin suddenly reminds Seulgi, who nods with a smile and immediately stands up. 

“I’m sorry, Hyun. We gotta go early today, it’s a special day you know.” Seulgi beams brightly while addressing Irene, who is clueless about what is happening. “Huh?” 

“You must come and watch us later okay? I’ll be waiting for you.” Seulgi looks at her in the eyes for confirmation. Her sincere gaze made it hard for Irene to do anything else but nod her head. 

Irene suddenly feel a pair of arms wrap around her, which belongs to the dance captain. Her body freezes in mid-action, as her mind cannot concentrate on anything else but the feeling of Seulgi’s arms and the latter’s rapid heart beat against her own chest. 

It is their closest skinship for the past few days.  

When the captain finally lets go, she smiles as if nothing has just happened and simply waves goodbye to Irene. 

While Irene is still taking time to recover, another person suddenly rushes to her and grabs her by her arms.

“Wendy, what are you doing?” Irene looks at her friend in surprise. Wendy is usually dramatic but she rarely behaves in this way unless something catastrophic has happened. 

Wendy, looks back at her with wide eyes, and exclaims, “Haven’t you seen the school forum?” 

“No. What happened?” 

“Your girlfriend Seulgi has dated someone before! She lied!” 

“W-Wait what?” Irene blinks. Only one name pops up in her head. She carefully asks the next question, “Who?”

“Park Jimin.” 

——

Wendy and Irene decided to discuss more about this while walking to the outdoor amphitheater where the dance crew will perform. 

Seeing the dark expression on Irene’s face, Wendy wraps an arm around her friend and comforts, “I’m sure this is fake. All we can see in the photo is their backviews. There’s no proof that this is Seulgi and Jimin.” 

Irene lifts her phone to look at the photo again, which shows a picture of a girl in ponytail and a guy in middle school uniform holding hands while sitting somewhere together. From the back view, the girl really resembles Seulgi. 

“I am going to confront her.” Irene hisses, as she continues to stare at that picture, feeling like the biggest fool in the world. 

Suddenly, her phone refreshes and the image is gone.

She stops in her tracks and refreshes the page again. The school forum indicates that the post has been deleted.

“Ugh, now there’s no more evidence to confront her about!” Irene groans, turning to Wendy for help.

Wendy replies, “Joohyun, I’m not saying this just to comfort you but many of the comments also said this post is fake because they were from the same middle school as them yet none of them knew about it.” 

“So what?” Irene pouts, “They may be dating secretly too.“ 

“Think about it. Seulgi has always liked to brag and given her personality, she would have announced to everyone in the world if she was really dating.”

“That’s true...” Wendy’s words makes the latter feel slightly better. 

“Believe in Seulgi. She won’t lie to you.” Wendy reaffirms Irene, and then offers her hand. ”Lets not think about this no