Chapter 21

 

A week later...

 

At the gate, Bogum looks up from his phone and greets the grumpy girl walking in his direction. 

 

“Hey, why are you alone today?”

 

“The couple wants to spend some time alone so they dropped me off first ugh.” Wendy grumbles with her arms crossed, taking her spot beside Bogum. “I hate riding in Seulgi’s car every morning. They practically ignore me and only care about flirting with each other.” 

 

“Wait. At first, I thought you were forced to take their car by Seulgi but now, don’t you have a choice?” Bogum teases her with a smirk on his face, which instigates the girl to smack his arm. 

 

“Park Bogum!” 

 

“But I’m right.” 

 

Bogum laughs upon seeing the pout on the girl’s face and he immediately apologises, “Okay okay, I’m sorry.” 

 

“I’m not forgiving you. You are so mean...” Wendy continues to sulk under her breath, arms still crossed. 

 

“Heyyy” Bogum nudges her with his elbow and tells her in a cute voice. “Don’t be angry~” 

 

When Wendy tilts her head up to meet the boy’s sparkling eyes, she felt the familiar skip in her heart which symbolises something she has yet to get over. 

 

“Are you still angry at me?” He leans in and asks again with his cute, gummy smile. 

 

The closeness of their faces makes Wendy lose her words. “I-I...” 

 

“What’s going on here?”

 

Another pair of voice interrupted their little bubble. It is deep and manly, unlike Bogum’s gentle voice. They both turn to their side to meet the tall boy with a guitar slung around his shoulder.  

 

“Chanyeol.” 

 

He nods and flashes a wide grin at Wendy to acknowledge. “Hey.” 

 

“Hello.” Bogum greets him with a friendly smile. The taller boy greets him with a slight nod, but then diverts his attention back to Wendy. 

 

“I haven’t seen you a while.” 

 

“Oh is it?”

 

“It seems like you keep trying to run away from me.” The boy narrows his eyes onto Wendy, who takes a step back. Wendy looks at the ground and replies nervously, “N-No that is not true.” She feels like a nervous wreck again, whenever she meets this mysterious flirty new boy. 

 

“Hey, I am just kidding! But from your reaction, it seems like it may be true though?” Chanyeol lifts an eyebrow and looks at Bogum for confirmation. It is no secret to her friends how Wendy has been taking extra turns around the school to get to classes just so she can avoid him. However, Bogum just shrugs naturally in response and confesses that he knows nothing. 

 

“Of course not,” Wendy refutes. 

 

“I know. I was just joking haha!“ He replies, with a glint in his eyes. “It’s cute how you are so easily tricked.” 

 

“What?” Wendy widens her eyes, doubting her ears. 

 

“I’m saying you’re cute.” He explains himself with a nervous chuckle, running his fingers through his messy black hair with one hair while talking. 

 

“What?” At this point, Wendy’s heart has already stopped. Her brain is in a mush as she just looks at him with her jaw slightly hung open. 

 

Chanyeol registers her shock, but continues to ask her sincerely, “And I’m interested in helping the students council. Do you mind telling me more about it after school?” 

 

“What?” 

 

The poor boy looks at Bogum for help because Wendy is already a gone case. Being the ever ready wing man, Bogum steps in to inform him, “You can come to our council room at 3pm. Wendy will rush there after class to explain everything in detail with you, until our council meeting begins at 4pm.” He pats him on the shoulder and gives him a wink. 

 

“That sounds amazing. I can’t wait for us to know each other and stuff.” Chanyeol tells Wendy, who once away avoids his eye contact swiftly. It is hard for the boy to tell now whether that is a good or bad sign. 

 

“Um Bogum, you’ll be there too right? I need you to support me in case I forget something.” She tugs at his arm and begs him with desperate eyes, but the boy just shrugs. “You’re the one in charge of recruitments. Not me!” Bogum walks away, leaving the two alone.

 

“Ya Park Bogum! Ugh....” 

 

“Hey.” She tilts her head to meet the tall boy, who smiles and asks, “You wouldn’t turn away a prospective member would you?” 

 

“Of course not!” The student council president immediately denies any accusations of her shirking responsibility. Wendy checks her schedule for the day on her phone and realises she really does end at 2.45pm, which leaves her enough time to meet Chanyeol at 3pm. How does Bogum know all of this...

 

“Hey, can I have your number?” Chanyeol’s voice snaps her out of her daze. 

 

“Wait what?” Wendy gasps in shock and the boy just explains calmly, “Just in case I need to contact you later if I can’t find you. I have no other intentions!” He chuckles and gently knocks her forehead. 

 

“Ahhh you’re right. Okay.” Wendy takes over the phone from Chanyeol’s hand and realises how big and manly his hands are. She shifts her gaze down to the phone quickly to hide her shameful thoughts. 

 

“Here you go.” 

 

Chanyeol takes over his phone and looks at the screen briefly, before keeping it in his pocket. “Thanks. See you later!” He flashes his charming smile again, which makes Wendy blush. 

 

After they bid each other goodbye, Chanyeol walks away to some of his friends who are waiting at the side. They congratulate him loud enough for Wendy to hear and feel a second wave of warmth flood her cheeks. 

 

The next moment, her phone buzzes and she takes it out to see a message from an unknown number. 

 

“Hey, it’s Chanyeol here :)“ 

 

Wendy quickly replies back a simple “hello :)”. She thinks about it and it is not unlikely that Chanyeol is being friendly with her just because he wants to join the students council. And, not in the romantic way her naive heart assumed it was. 

 

“So what lessons do you have later?” 

 

Wendy types another reply and even more replies came back from the boy, wanting to know more. 

 

Damn, it may actually be more than she thought. 

 

———

 

Meanwhile, the couple is snuggled comfortably in the backseat of Seulgi’s car, which is parked two streets away from their school. Since the both of them will busy and will not meet for the rest of today, they decided to spend more time together in the morning. 

 

“Don’t worry no one will see us.” The captain reassures and leans down to give a chaste kiss on her girlfriend’s forehead. It sends flutters down Irene’s heart, which is a feeling she will never get used to. 

 

“No one better,” Irene murmurs into Seulgi’s school uniform, with her eyes closed but her arms still hugging Seulgi’s waist tightly. 

 

For the past few days since the party, they have been holding each other tighter than usual. Things between them have been going better than ever, as both of their feelings grew even growing with time. 

 

“Hyun?”

 

“....”

 

Seulgi looks down and realises her girlfriend is dozing off again for the umpteenth time this morning. It sends chills to her heart seeing Irene sleeping in her arms, almost ethereal and too good to be true. 

 

Seulgi pokes Irene’s cheek lightly to wake her up. Irene stirs from her sleep and Seulgi immediately asks her, “Hyun-ah, why are you so tired?”

 

Irene stifles a yawn and then replies, “I stayed up yesterday night after our video call to continue studying for a short while.” 

 

“We ended at around 12am.” Seulgi frowns upon hearing that. “What time did you stay up until?”

 

“I guess around 2 am.” 

 

“You guess? Does it mean it might be later than that?“ Seulgi freaks out. Sensing the worry from her girlfriend’s voice, Irene pulls away to look at Seulgi and muses, “Well, I don’t know...Is this an interrogation, officer?”

 

However, the captain does not take her joke lightly. Seulgi knocks her forehead and nags at her, “Babe, it is not funny okay? We both promised to sleep early that night and I’m not happy to hear that you not only broke it, but you have so little regard for your own health.” 

 

“Baby, it hurts!” The shorter girl complains immediately while rubbing her forehead. Usually, Seulgi will immediately concede and apologise, but she remained her firm stance today. 

 

“This way you’ll remember your lesson.” Seulgi replies strictly with her arms crossed, which makes Irene worried if Seulgi is really angry. Is it time to use her ultimate weapon? “Baby, do you not like me anymore?” She asks while pouting sadly at her captain. 

 

“What?” Seulgi immediately jerks her head to face Irene. “Of course not. I like you very very much. What makes you say that?”

 

“You’re being cold to me now.” Irene pouts again, while her gaze moves down to stare at her hands. 

 

“Oops have I gone too far?” Seulgi drops her strict facade instantly, and engulfs Irene in a warm, tight hug. “I’m sorry, baby.” She whispers into her ear and then snuggles into her neck, going back to being the soft gomdori that Irene usually knows.  

 

Hence, Irene grabs the opportunity to explain to Seulgi her reason. “Seulgi-yah, the common tests may just be over but the streaming tests are coming soon. I am under a lot of pressure to do well.” 

 

“Babe, with your track record, you will definitely get into the best classes. Don’t worry so much okay?” 

 

“I’m not worried about getting in. I’m worried about not being the best...”

 

Seulgi lifts up Irene’s chin to allow their eyes to meet as she says, “Look at me. You are the best, Bae Joohyun. I am not saying this only because you’re my girlfriend but everyone in the school knows you are the undefeated top student in our cohort.” 

 

Usually, Irene will just accept her compliments with a smile. But that day, something about being in Seulgi’s safe arms makes her decide to admit her fear with Seulgi. “Seulgi-yah. Everyone takes it for granted that I’ll do well, but what if I don’t?”

 

Seulgi does not reply immediately. She takes a moment to consider carefully before she replies, “More than anyone, I know how hard you work. Well, I remember clearly how many dates you’ve turned down to complete your revision.” She chuckles upon seeing Irene’s eye roll and then continues, “But in all seriousness, I believe in you and I know your hard work will definitely pay off.” 

 

“Thank you.” She replies in two simple words, but the honey oozing from Irene’s gaze is more than enough to convey her feelings. Seulgi nods with a slight smile and pulls the smaller girl into her embrace once again. 

 

“Next time if you have any concerns like this, just come to me okay? I will forever be your biggest and most annoying cheerleader.” Seulgi jokes, but she means every word she said. Ever since the night of her party, the captain has sworn to herself she will never let this girl out of her life.

 

“Why are you so nice to me?” 

 

No matter how long it takes to completely melt Irene’s heart, Seulgi will never give up because... 

 

“You’re worth it. Simple as that. You are worth every effort I take to make you happy. You are worth every single second of my time because you are just amazing and I am totally...head over heels for you.” She ends off her romantic speech with a playful wink. But she knows in her heart she meant every word she has said. 

 

“If I am sad again, what will you do?” Irene asks her, tilting her head up cutely to look at Seulgi. Her thoughts interrupted, Seulgi just lets out a small sigh and then replies coolly without hesitation, “I will kiss you senseless. Simple as that.” 

 

The latter chuckles and taps Seulgi’s nose with a finger. “You are lucky you are blessed with a sweet tongue.”

 

Her off-handed statement gets caught on by her girlfriend. “How do you know?” 

 

“Huh?”

 

“Do you wanna know?” Seulgi smirks when she sees how her girlfriend’s eyes immediately enlarges. After having enough fun for the morning, Seulgi is about to retract her joke when she realises her girlfriend is not rejecting her like usual. Irene is just looking at her without a word, while nervously biting a corner of her lips. 

 

Those plump and inviting lips that Seulgi dream of in her daydreams. 

 

“Can I?” Seulgi asks carefully, her heartbeat already pounding in her ears from the excitement. 

 

Irene gives a slight nod, with her cheeks coloured a beautiful shade of red again. 

 

“Baby...close your eyes.” Seulgi softly says and Irene does it almost immediately. She first kisses Irene’s forehead to ease the small crease between her brows, then travels down to her eye, her nose, her cheek and finally, her lips. 

 

Their lips touch and they started slow and steady, like usual. Until, Seulgi decided to take it up a notch. She gently nudges her tongue into their sloppy kiss. Initially, she felt Irene’s body tense up in surprise and Seulgi immediately gives her hand a reassuring squeeze. When her girlfriend fully relaxes into the kiss, her tongue slips smoothly into the moist area within to meet her partner. 

 

What happens next is just a clash of sweetness, which causes them both to be late for school that morning. 

 

——

 

“I can’t believe you did that.” Wendy immediately ambushes Irene at her seat once class ends. 

 

“What?” Irene continues to pack her books into her bag, acting as if nothing has happened. 

 

“Yah Joohyun,” Wendy holds the girl by her hairs dramatically and yells, “You just skipped lessons this morning and you are acting like it’s something normal?!” 

 

“Wendy, stop shouting or the whole class will really think that I skipped class.” Irene tells her with a straight face and the latter immediately apologises with a sheepish grin. She continues, “Well, just so you know, we didn’t skip class intentionally. We just lost track of time.”

 

The two of them walk out of the classroom to place their books into the lockers. 

 

“What were you doing?” Wendy continues to probe curiously. 

 

“Uh...sleeping.” 

 

“Really?” Jennie suddenly surprises them from behind like a ghost. She takes a glance at Irene’s face and her lips morph into a side smirk. 

 

“Of course.”

 

“Joohyun-ah, your lips are bruised.”

 

“W-What? Really?” Irene panics and immediately checks her face in the small mirror in her locker door. Okay, there is a small bruise but it is not too obvious. Dammit, why did Seulgi not tell her about it. What must have everyone who saw her thought? 

 

“Ah...I-I bit myself earlier!” Irene explains herself with a nervous chuckle. “Hahahaha...” 

 

“Oh really?” Jennie leans against the locker beside Irene with a knowing smirk. However, their other friend who does not get it proceeds to ask Jennie. “Jennie-ah, what is wrong with that? I always bite my own lips too.”

 

“You see! Like Wendy said, it’s normal. Don’t read too much into it.” Irene replies with clenched teeth. 

 

“Then, why are you trying to cover it up now?” The girl who is busy trying to apply lipstick over the area rolls her eyes. Jennie may be her best friend but Irene just realised that she can really annoying sometimes. “I’m covering it so everyone will not think the same way as you. ert.” 

 

“I never even said what I thought it was! Well, it may have been a punch...” 

 

Jennie soon lets out a groan upon receiving a sharp jut in her ribs from Irene, whose face is as black as thunder. “Jeez...I’m sorry! Haha you are just too fun to tease Hyun-ah~” Jennie continues to by using Seulgi’s favourite pet name for Irene.  

 

“I think you have more fun teasing Lisa than me though. Judging from the amount of time you’ve been spending together.” Irene smiles inwardly when she notices her friend panicking at the mention of the Thai girl’s name. “No! I’m just taking care of her since she got injured because of us. I’m doing this on your behalf too!” 

 

“I was just saying. Why do you have such a big reaction?”

 

It is unclear who has the upper hand now. 

 

“Joohyun-ah...” Jennie calls her in a sweet voice and her lips pursed into a firm, scary smile. “Let’s not talk about this now shall we?“

 

“Sure.” Irene smiles back the same way, warning her friend to keep mum about her situation as well. 

 

“Can someone update me about what’s going on?” Wendy pops her head in and asks. 

 

“You’re too cute.” Jennie pats Wendy’s head with a chuckle. Wendy turns to her next best option for an explanation but Irene simply shrugs. “It’s nothing much.” 

 

“Joohyun, you’ve really changed.”

 

“What is this about now?”

 

“How come you are not worried about skipping class at all? The usual you will freak out at even the smallest slip up but you were late for almost 20 minutes today and you seem like you don’t even care.” 

 

“Just relax and live a little!” Irene retorts with a bright, relaxed smile which further surprises Wendy.

 

“That’s right!” Jennie agrees and flashes her a thumbs up. “Lets quickly go to the cafeteria now. I am starvinggg!” 

 

Irene and Jennie walks ahead first and Wendy immediately follows after. “Wow, I’m not sure if I’m loving the effect that Kang Seulgi has on you.” The girl mumbles to herself, but it is heard by Irene. 

 

“Don’t let Seulgi hear that or she’ll get all cocky again.” Irene slips out a small smile when she thinks about the silly look of satisfaction painted all over the bear’s face if Seulgi ever hears that compliment. 

 

However, a wave of sadness soon creeps in when Irene thinks about how she will not see the girl for the rest of the day. 

 

Is this how relationships are supposed to be? A continuous cycle of sparks flying in the air when you’re together and then, emptiness lingering in the heart when you’re apart. 

 

Irene checks her phone for messages and her heart skips a beat when she sees more than 10 unread messages from a particular person. 

 

My Gomdori 🐻💛: 

8.20am Kekeke just sat down. Luckily Mr Kim is in a good mood today and let me off with only a warning. Phewwwww. Hyun-ah, you are truly my lucky star 💕 

 

10.13am Lessons finally ended gahhh I am soooo tired! 

 

10.13am Just now Mr Kim praised me for my recent improvement in Maths :D !!! I finally did it babe, are you proud of me yet kekeke~ 

 

10.14am Babeeee I’m literally skipping in happiness now! Wish you could be here with me 😫

 

10.45am Having my break now. Sighs, I bought two bottles of banana milk as usual then I realised you weren’t eating with me today :( Guess I gotta drink it all

 

10.47am Update: Jongin stole my drink zzz

 

10.50am Babeee don’t you have a short break now? Reply meee

 

10.51am I miss you. 

 

10.55am Just walked pass your class and tried to take a sneak peek at you but I failed. Will try again later. 

 

11.15am Class is starting soon...Your break is in 15 min right? Enjoy it and eat something filling okay? It’s gonna be a long day, let’s get through this tough week together 💕💕

 

Even though the actual time they spend together is short, both of them have promised to update each other consistently about every little thing happening in their lives via messages, so that they will feel like they are always there for each other. 

 

However, reading the messages only made Irene miss the latter even more. She quickly types back a reply. 

 

“Hey I just remembe