Tuesday 5:51 P.M.

Irene was zoning out bad. She was staring for too long unconsciously.

“Hey, what are you looking at Seulgi’s like that?” Wendy nudged her, startled her gaze shifted to her friend.

They were watching Seulgi and Joy’s volleyball practice match. Wendy was accompanying her as her younger sister asked for Irene to wait so they could go home together. They were seated at a good spot where she could see how her neighbor’s calves, quads, and lower cheeks contracting and relaxing.

‘Who decided the school’s volleyball player’s official uniform?’ She thought as she watched as the whistle blew signaling for the girl out of the line to serve. Seulgi was positioned on the right front with hips lowered, back arching and hands supported on her bended knees.

Her bottom barely covered by poor excuse volleyball shorts.

“I am not,” in a firm tone she denied. But her eyes betrayed her, when it went back to a specific anatomy of the mentioned girl, which she was, for the love of God she would never admit, ogling for almost half an hour already.

Back at action in the court, Joy pushed the ball up for a perfect set. Seulgi accelerated from the middle towards the front, swinging her arms behind, jumping explosively as her right arm swing above her head, hitting the ball straight to the opposite side with so much force.

Irene was awed. She never really paid attention how the younger girl played before, she had seen a lot of practices and official games because she is a very supportive sister to Joy since middle school. She could even remember how she accompanied the two girls for try out since the team captain was a good friend of hers.

Seulgi was this thin 6^th grade kid with scrawny arms back then. And Irene could now see a good amount of muscles on her shoulders down to her forearm.

‘When did Seulgi started to have those?’

And for the nth time, those gluts, it was round and firm.

 “Are you gay now?” Irene could hear Wendy’s mocking tone in her awe-stricken state.

This was all Wendy Son's fault.

Seulgi could feel stares on her since practice match started. She made a quick glance on the right bleachers; a wide grin instantly painted on her face, Irene was looking at her direction. The volleyball player caught the older girl's gaze, Seulgi couldn’t help herself but threw Irene a playful wink.

7:13 P.M.

“You know Wendy, if I will ever switch on the other team, I am very certain that I am not playing the field with Seulgi on it,” Irene said on the phone.

Wendy was very persistent and very very insistent. They were on it for days since The Kissing Booth marathon they had on Netflix last Sunday. It was Thursday already. And Wendy wouldn’t buy Irene’s alibi of not dating or even imagining dating Seulgi just because the girl ithe living and walking witness of Irene’s failure as a human being.

“Fine, Seulgi was the first one to notice your blood stained blue pants when you first welcomed womanhood.”

Irene was on her 6^th grade when she had this first red day incident. She woke up with a very unusual pain in her lower abdomen, ignored it and went to school. She was already in class for almost half a day when she passed by Seulgi and Joy, and she could remember how the former chased after her, dragging Irene to the nearest toilet room.

“Joohyun, I think you sat on ketchup,” the 4^th grader said with a silly expression pointing at her . An alarmed Irene turned around and checked her bottom, and there it was, a palm sized red stain discoloring her blue pants.

“Oh no,” Irene felt like crying, she remembered her mother talking about menstruation before and how a dirty blood discharged coming out. But she never expected hers toarrivesooner.

“Don’t worry. Here, use my sweater to cover it up. Afternoon class will start soon and if you go home, you won’t make it,” Seulgi took off her black jacket and did the liberty to wrap it around Irene’s waist, perfectly hiding the red spot.

“Now, you are good to go.”

“Exactly, that girl saw too much.”

Yeah, too much! Even her underboob tat, Seulgi was not supposed to see that.

“But haven’t it crossed your mind, if it wasn’t Seulgi who noticed it first, would it be more awkward if it was someone else?” Wendy pointed out.

True, Irene didn’t thought about that.

“What if it was Jin?”

“I’d rather die.” Jin was the boy she cried over it, when Irene’s crush went to South Korea and his family decided to continue the rest of his 7^th grade.

Seulgi was there too, that day Jin flew thousand miles away from her. She was a crying mess when the boy who held her tender heart bid his good bye to everyone in school he knew. She was curled inside one of the cubicles, chest heaving, nose snotting and eyes red and swollen. The girl looked at her with concern, and upon seeing Jin’s photo in Irene’s clutched hand. She laughed while she crouched down leveling the disheveled girl’s eyes.

“Joohyun, why are you crying for this boy?” Seulgi fixed her hair and held out her red handkerchief.

“Go away Seulgi.”

“You know, let’s make you look presentable and say your farewell to Jin” the younger wiped the dried tears and snot and everything, and combed Irene’s hair with her fingers.

“See Rene, Seulgi had seen everything. If you two get together, you won’t be having problems with people who will try to embarrass you by telling your embarrassing stories. Since Seulgi will be nice enough to do it other way around,” Wendy laughed.

“Very funny Wanda,” Irene replied sarcastically.

“Girl, just think about it. Bogum is not here yet,” her friend reminded of her ‘boyfriend’, since they weren’t official but people around them assumed.

It had been four days, and the thought of Bogum never crossed her mind. The boy was out of town and busy with football.

“That’s the thing Wendy, I have Bogum now and I like to play on the football field. And I plan to stay right there.”

Wendy let out a mocking laugh.

“Beejezuz Irene, have you seen yourself during last Tuesday? You are definitely playing on the Volleyball team. You gay .”

Irene ended the conversation.

8:04 P.M.

The air in South California was unusually thick in the evening that Irene needed a breather of fresh air. Seulgi being her neighbor for the past seventeen years wasn’t helping her either. The first thing she saw when she opened her window was the other girl’s silhouette. Her room was directly across Seulgi’s, windows facing each other.

Irene wasn’t ever bothered by it before. It was just Seulgi anyways. But why she couldn’t take her eyes off from the figure that was moving around her own room.

It took awhile before she pried of her gaze, thinking Wendy’s words getting into her she decided to pay Bogum a call.

Saturday 8:15 A.M.

Seulgi was having her breakfast with the Bae’s once again; she and Joy would be having a practice match once again in school. She was waiting for her bestfriend in the latter’s house every day since her and Joy was already attached in the hip.

She loved the homey atmosphere in the household. Mrs. Bae was like a second mom, since her own mother already left her and her dad. Seulgi seldom sees her dad in the morning since he had been busying himself with work for the past five years. But he always made it up with his daughter.

The earliest memory she had with her mom was when her mother in a white gown in a hospital room. Her dad would leave her to the Bae’s when her mom would have attacks oftentimes it would take her parents days, even weeks in the hospital, and she had a lot of sleepovers with Joy, sometimes with Irene. Because Joy would be a brat sometimes and they would fight over trivial things.

She reminded herself of that particular night; it was a very cold night. She was eight back then, and Joohyun was ten. Both parents were in the hospital, with her dad taking care of her mom. It had been three days and they weren’t home yet and she badly missed her mom. That evening Joy was having one of her tantrums and Seulgi would not have it, so she asked the older sister if she could sleep with her.

During her sleep she jolted up with tears in her eyes, and suddenly she felt like crying. The girl beside her had woken up.

“Seulgi, you okay?” she asked with concern, hands all over the teary eyed girl.

“Mommy? Daddy?’ Seulgi said between hiccups.

“Oh Seul, your parents are still in the hospital. Don’t worry they’ll be back before you know it,” the older girl tried to coax her.

“Joohyun, will be mom alright?”

“Of course, she will be fine. Everything will be okay Seul.”

That night Irene hugged her to sleep taking away her nightmares. It gave her a feeling of how her mom would embrace her.  

Joohyun was someone Seulgi looked after more. Between Joy and her, Seulgi would put older girl first. Maybe it was hero worship that prompted Seulgi.

Seulgi eyed Irene when the latter was busy fiddling with her phone. Joy had asked her about it once, if she had a ‘thing’ with Irene. She just brushed it off leaving the question floating in the air.

She flashed a grin when Irene finally looked up.

“What?” Irene asked.

“Who are you texting with?” she queried.

“Bogum, why?” the older girl answered nonchalantly.

“So you are into football players now?” Seulgi gave out a knowing smile.

Irene hummed a response.

“I thought you are into volleyball players?”

***

I am at lost. 

What do you readers want me to write next