Chapter 24

 

Seulgi drives down to the house down the street immediately in the break of midnight. The guards let her in without a word upon seeing the yellow Ferrari. 

 

She rings the door bell and waits outside with multiple thoughts in her head. The housekeeper opens the door and greets her with a relieved smile. “Thank god you are here, Miss Kang. She has been waiting.”

 

“Thank you, madam.” Seulgi returns a polite smile and enters. 

 

At the foyer, Seulgi is surprised to bump into Mrs. Kim, Jisoo’s mother, dressed to the nines. The lady walks towards Seulgi and smiles, “Seulgi, its been a while. You look all grown up now.” 

 

The last time they met was two years ago. 

 

“Good evening. Mrs Kim, you look great today by the way.” Seulgi replies. 

 

“Thank you. I’m on the way to the annual company charity ball. Your brother should be there too, hasn’t he called?”

 

He’s back...? Why didn’t he tell me? 

 

“Nope. He must be busy, as usual.” Seulgi shrugs with a smile. “I’m here to see Jisoo by the way.” 

 

“I know. Thanks for always being here for my daughter, Seulgi. Things are rough in our family now and I think she would appreciate your presence a lot. Take care of my daughter will you?”

 

“I will.”

 

“Good girl. I need to leave now. See you around.” Mrs Kim flashes a polite smile and pats her back, before setting off in her limousine that is already parked at entrance. Seulgi watches as she sets off, seeming unfaltered by the impending big life decision she had just made hours ago. 

 

That is the loneliness of those on top, like Mrs Kim. Meanwhile, those who are left behind like Seulgi, are left thinking what have they done wrong. 

 

The captain fishes her phone out of her pocket to check for any messages from her brother. 

 

None. 

 

She already knew it, from the lack of notifications, but the small trace of hope she has made her refresh the page again. 

 

Her screen is still filled with messages from friends from social media activities but none from her family. 

 

She plucked up the courage to send him a message: I heard you are back. 

 

She walks through the empty, dark hallways and finally reaches the right room. She gives it two knocks first and asks, “May I come in?”

 

The door opens and a small figure appears, immediately engulfing her into a tight embrace.

 

Seulgi wraps her arms around the girl and her back gently. “Its alright, Soo-yah. I am here now, aren’t I?” Seulgi mutters a small comfort. 

 

“Seul, what do I do now?” Jisoo looks up at Seulgi with tearful eyes. “Its confirmed. My parents are officially getting a divorce.”

 

Upon hearing the news, Seulgi holds her friend tighter in her arms. “I’m so sorry...” She sighs, as that is the only thing she can do now. This has been a long time coming since years ago, from the moment they started taking turns to live outside of the main house. 

 

“I am not gonna have a family anymore.” Jisoo chuckles bitterly. “Seulgi, I am going to be alone from now on.” 

 

“No. You will never let you be alone.” Seulgi reassures her. She looks into Jisoo’s eyes softly. “I will be here for you. I have always been here, haven’t I?” 

 

“Seulgi...thank you for always staying.” Jisoo’s eyes tear up again, but this time because of Seulgi. As both of them are part of families that do not feel like one, they understand each other’s sorrows and seek comfort in each other throughout the years. 

 

Jisoo felt that there is no better time to do this than that moment. When would she ever be in Seulgi’s arms again, in such an intimate setting? Especially with her girlfriend occupying all of Seulgi’s time and heart all the time. 

 

“Silly. There’s no need to thank me.“ Seulgi replies and pulls her into a tight hug again. “Lets go through this process together.” 

 

While buried in Seulgi’s embrace, she plucks up the courage and calls the latter softly, “Seulgi-yah.”

 

“Hmm?” 

 

“I love you.” 

 

Jisoo could feel Seulgi’s body tensing slightly from the surprise confession, but the latter soon releases a small chuckle. “I love you too.” Seulgi confesses sweetly as well. 

 

Weirdly, Jisoo felt heart is breaking but she is also happy to hear Seulgi’s reply too, even though she knows the captain will never reciprocate her romantic feelings. 

 

Because to Jisoo, she knows that maybe this is the best she could get. 

 

“Seul, can you stay with me tonight?” 

 

Seulgi hesitates a little. In that fleeting moment, she was worried about what Irene would think. 

 

“Please.” Jisoo grabs onto Seulgi’s hand and mutters. “I need you to just stay beside me. To just be there when I wake up. Is that too much to ask for?” 

 

She is just comforting a friend. It should be alright right? 

 

“Of course not.” Seulgi slips out a smile. “Lets do it.” 

 

 

 

Twelve years ago...

 

When they first moved into the neighbourhood, Jisoo’s parents brought her to greet her neighbours, which happened to be their close business partners, the Kang family’s household. 

 

“Jisoo, meet Seulgi. She is of the same age too. Say hi.” Her mother introduced the shy little Jisoo to the other girl, who was already sporting a huge goofy grin on her face. 

 

“Hello.” Seulgi waved at her happily, but Jisoo was too shy to respond. She hid behind her mother’s body and peeked at the other girl. Honestly, Seulgi’s enthusiasm scared her a little too. 

 

“She’s cute.” Seulgi tells her mother with a giggle. “I want to make her my best friend!” 

 

“Really?” This makes the adults laugh. “That’s good to hear, little one.” Mrs Kim comments. 

 

“Come on, Soo-yah. I’ll bring you to my room to play together with oppa.” 

 

Jisoo takes a peek from behind her mother’s back. Seulgi had a hand extended towards her. Till this day, she still remembers the first thing she saw instead was Seulgi’s eyesmile, which still remains the most beautiful thing she has never seen. 

 

“Jisoo?”

 

While she is still in awe, the taller girl has already taken her hand in her own. 

 

“Lets go!” Seulgi beams at Jisoo, her eyes still smiling cutely like two half-cresents. 

 

It made Jisoo’s little heart skip a beat, for the first time in her eight-years of life. 

 

Now as the girl looks back, their first encounter seemed like the moment she fell for eight-year-old Seulgi and since then, she has been helplessly in love with her secretly as they grew up together. 

 

She has been with Seulgi through all her ups and downs. She has been the one accompanying the girl at her lowest and supporting by her side without complaints. She knows all of the girl’s deepest secrets and understands her better than she does herself. 

 

She should be the one Seulgi falls in love and they should be together happily ever after. 

 

So why? 

 

Why does Seulgi fall for everyone else but her? 

 

“In deep thoughts?”

 

Jisoo looks away from the window and sees the Captain looking at her with an adorable grin. 

 

They are currently on the way to school together, with Seulgi driving in the driver’s seat. Finally, Jisoo is sitting on the passenger side again and getting driven to school in the morning after months. 

 

“Nothing much. I was just thinking about how long it has been since you last drove me to school.”

 

“Sorry, that’s my bad.” Seulgi chuckles and gives Jisoo an affectionate pat on her head, which makes her heart flutter. 

 

“Since you started dating, everything has changed.”

 

“Soo-yah, you will always be someone important in my life,”  Seulgi reassures. “No one can replace what we have.” 

 

Jisoo decides to take the chance now, or it will never happen again. 

 

“If that is so....Seulgi, can I tell you something?” 

 

Seulgi looks at her curiously. “Sure. What is it?” 

 

“I don’t think Irene is right for you.” 

 

The captain presses her lips into a firm line. “Why do you say so?” She mutters. 

 

“You are always making time to find her in between class breaks, practices and everything. But when has she ever done the same for you?” Jisoo questions, well knowing the answer is never. 

 

“Well...that is true but I don’t really mind because I know I’m dating a busy girl.” Seulgi shrugs with a small smile. “Well, if I‘m the one with a little more time between us, I don’t mind being the one who runs the errands.” 

 

“But she could still drop you a text. But if you don’t text her, I know she doesn’t text you either.” 

 

While Jisoo’s first point doesn’t resonate, her second point hits home. Seulgi replies solemnly, “What are you trying to say?”

 

“Sure, she likes you when you are around but it seems like it doesn’t matter to her when you are not. When you truly like someone, you will go out of your way to make time for that person.” Jisoo makes the final blow. “Admit it, Seulgi. She does not care about you.” 

 

“Jisoo, please stop.” Seulgi replies while her gaze remains straight ahead. “Really. I don’t want to hear about this.” 

 

“You also noticed it, didn’t you?”

 

“She is just less expressive than I am. It doesn’t mean she does not care because I know she does.” 

 

“Doesn’t it bother you that she spends more time with Bogum than you?”

 

“Look Jisoo, I know you don’t like Irene nor the fact that we are dating.” Seulgi sighs deeply. “But I would appreciate it if you could respect our relationship. This conversation never happened today.” The stern look in her eyes is a clear indication to Jisoo to drop the matter now. 

 

Irene really got you good huh? 

 

“Okay. I’m sorry. Lets talk about something else.”

 

“Alright.” Seulgi’s faint smile is an indication of peace.

 

“Seul, will you still come to my house tonight?” Jisoo asks expectantly. 

 

“I can’t.” Seulgi crushes her last small, remaining hope unfortunately. “I plan to go to Joohyun’s house tonight. I’m sorry.” 

 

“All of a sudden?”

 

“Its been a long time coming actually.” Seulgi smiles. “I plan to take the next step with her tonight. Wish me luck.” 

 

Jisoo drops her smile. “By next step you mean...”

 

“A love confession.” Seulgi replies with a shy grin. “I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time.” 

 

Jisoo’s heart breaks into pieces upon hearing it. Everything she wished for is nearing a dead end. Seeing Seulgi this happy, she thought to herself maybe it is really time to let go. 

 

Meanwhile, Jisoo’s plan has successfully planted a seed of doubt in Seulgi’s mind.

 

“Does she really not care about me?”  

 

If so...

 

“I love her but...does she love me?”

 

 

 

 

The entire morning of Friday felt like infinity for Irene. 

 

Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as every minute spent in class seemed to stretch way beyond. She tries her best to focus on the lesson, but her unsettling mind makes her check the clock once every few minutes to see how much time has passed. 

 

She is counting down to their meeting tonight.

 

Seven hours more to go...

 

Seulgi had not texted her anything since last night. In the past, Irene has never been one who checks her phone, but ever since dating Seulgi and receiving her cute complaints for unopened messages, she started looking at it more often. 

 

After class ends, she immediately takes it out from under her desk to check for messages. 

 

However, there are none from Seulgi. 

 

That is weird. She tries to ignore the disappointment while walking to the council room alone. 

 

After settling down on the sofa, she checks her phone again to be met with a second disappointment. 

 

“Why the glum face?” Wendy her deskmate, asks. 

 

“Nothing.” she instinctively denies it, to which Wendy narrow her eyes onto her until Irene finally speaks the truth. She mutters, “It’s nothing much really, its just that...Seulgi has not texted me since last night.” 

 

“Hahaha!” Wendy chuckles. “That’s why you were distracted the entire day?”

 

“No, I wasn’t. I was thinking about...how to solve the math problem I was stuck at last night.”

 

“Bae Joohyun, the top scorer, getting stuck at a math problem? That’s the best excuse you can find?”

 

“Shut up.” 

 

“If you were worried about Seulgi, she’s alright by the way.” Wendy is now looking through her messages too. “She just sent me a link to a cheesecake recipe fifteen minutes ago and asked me to bake it for her,” Wendy casually mentions. 

 

This causes the other girl to immediately lean in to take a look at the message, frowning. Her heart sank when she saw the messages indeed.

 

”This recipe looks quite fun hehe.” Wendy happily scrolls through the recipe, unknowing about her best friend’s unhappiness. “I will try it once all the tests are over.” 

 

“But I can bake too...” 

 

“Joohyun, you may be the top student in SM High in studying, but I am the well known top baker.” Wendy announces proudly. 

 

“That’s true.” Irene replies and slumps on the table in resignation, her eyes still fixated to her empty home screen. 

 

Wendy notices her sour mood and pokes her cheek, “Are you okay?” 

 

“Of course I am.” Irene immediately straightens and informs Wendy, “I am just curious about what she’s doing, that’s all. I don’t know why you would think that I miss her.” She continues to awkwardly chuckle at the thought under her breath. “I miss her? As if haha! Why would I miss her when I just talked to her over the phone yesterday night? That’s so silly, Wannie.” 

 

“Joohyun, I literally just asked if you are okay.”

 

“Oh.” Irene looks away while blushing. “Nevermind. Ignore what I just said.” She clears awkwardly and goes back to her slumping position. 

 

“Gotcha.” The latter smirks. 

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Just text her. You won’t drop a grade by texting her first. Why do you like torturing yourself so much?”

 

“As I said, I don’t really care if she-oh! A new message!” Irene picks up her phone at lightning speed upon hearing the ringtone. However, her smile fell when she realised it was from Bogum. 

 

“What was I saying again?” Irene puts her phone away and looks at Wendy with a glum expression. 

 

“Dammit Joohyun. Just text her first okay? Do it on my behalf? Please?” 

 

“Fine. I’m only doing it because you told me to.” Irene grumbles but the smile soon returns to her face as she types. 

 

“Seul what are you doing? I miss you <3” 

 

“Show me.” 

 

“No!” Irene immediately hides it from the latter’s view. 

 

“Omo did you write something cheesy that you are embarrassed by it? Let me see it!” Wendy playfully pounces on the latter to snatch the from from her hands. The phone slips out from Irene’s hand and drops onto the floor. 

 

The two of them flash a look at each other and then dives down to pick it up. 

 

The rest of the junior council members watch on in amusement as the two no-nonsense seniors wrestle on the floor. 

 

After much pushing and accidental bumps on the table and chairs, Irene emerged victorious with her phone in her hand. She quickly deleted the message and heaves a sigh of relief. 

 

”What are you two doing on the floor?” 

 

The student council president asks them sternly, while standing at the door. It seems like he has just arrived after ending his lessons.

 

“Hi Bogummie...” Wendy greets him with an awkward wave while still kneeling on the floor. 

 

“It’s not what it looks like. She was trying to steal my phone!” 

 

“What?” 

 

“You were the one who is too proud to message Seulgi first.” 

 

“Oooooooohhhhhhh!” The onlookers started to gossip and tease the girl. 

 

“If any of you dare to spread this outside of this room, mark my word. I will not let you off.” Irene warns them with her deadly glare, effectively shutting everyone up. 

 

“Knock knock.”

 

They look at the window and sees Seulgi waving at them. 

 

“Everybody keep quiet and act normal.“ Irene instructs all of them sternly. After seeing everyone’s nods, she then opens the door. 

 

“Hi Seulgi.” She beams immediately seein