Seulgi usually hated getting up at 5 am for the music show recordings, especially after a week of non stop promotion, but this time was different.  She felt her whole body tingling with anticipation, and pushed her hands down on her legs to stop them from bouncing. She had hardly been able to sleep after she had found out that Sunmi would be performing her new full version of Addict at the same show, which meant they were likely to cross paths today. Tuning out Wendy and Joy’s excited banter from the back seat,  Seulgi closed her eyes and got lost in thought. The last ten days had been very hectic, but also strange. After their awkward relationship chat and subsequent hug, Joohyun had suddenly remembered she needed to do something, and had left Seulgi in the practice room somewhat reassured, but still confused. She had been tempted to contact Sunmi somehow, but Joohyun had told her that would be a very bad idea, and that the company could easily check her phone, so to be careful not to call or message the person.  That had frustrated Seulgi a bit, but it did make sense. And Joohyun was being so nice to her that time had passed pretty quickly. It also helped that they had been so busy promoting Really Bad Boy that there was hardly any downtime anyway, and Seulgi really appreciated the shoulder massages Joohyun had learned to give, especially since some of the dance moves were pretty intense this time around. She has also enjoyed working on the choreography with Yeri, who seemed to be spending less time with Joohyun lately. Seulgi startled and opened her eyes as she felt a hand rest gently on her shoulder. “Seulgi, are you sleeping?” Joohyun asked, looking at her intently, her head tilted slightly.  Seulgi unintentionally bit her lip as she realized she had almost admitted why she was nervous. “Nyes haha I think I must have stayed up too late reading last night” she said awkwardly, hoping her nervousness wasn’t too obvious. “Oh okay.. “  Joohyun answered, her expression still looking a bit suspicious, before she turned and looked straight ahead. “Let’s work on your project later today” she added cryptically, but Seulgi knew. She gritted her teeth, and hoped Joohyun just thought she had been thinking back, not forward.

“And cut!” the producer said, when the lights dimmed after their second performance.  Seulgi was still mad at herself for messing up one of the dance moves the first time, but Joohyun had been so supportive that she was able to push away the butterflies for the second recording, and it went great.   She just had this constant urge to look into the audience to see if Sunmi might have been watching, but she had realized she needed to remain focused or the others would realize something was up. And although she had worn this kind of outfits many times before, she was feeling weirdly self conscious about how much of her abs were showing this time.  “I am acting like a high schooler, I need to stop this” she told herself firmly, as Joohyun walked up and patted her on the back and gave her a big smile “See, I told you, Seulgi, it would be fine.” Seulgi nodded, but she was now a bit disappointed Sunmi probably hadn’t seen it after all. Walking slower than Wendy, Joy and Yeri, she started leaving the stage, but stopped in her tracks as Sunmi was suddenly standing right behind the side curtain, her blue dress shimmering in the spotlight, her smile momentarily blinding.  Lost for words, she remembered that, since Sunmi was her elder, she was supposed to bow, and so she did so awkwardly, but then realized all the others knew they had become friends on the Secret Unnie show, so that itself was probably suspicious. “Seulgi-ah!” Sunmi exclaimed, and reached out her arms for a hug. Momentarily, Seulgi panicked, not sure what to do, but then realized that a hug was probably fine, so she moved closer and carefully put her arms around Sunmi’s lower back.. As she inhaled Sunmi’s perfume, the memory of that secret night came flooding back, and the warmth of the embrace started to make Seulgi soft. She closed her eyes for a moment, wanting it to last forever, but then snapped out of it as she realized Joohyun’s hand was still on her back. “Oh.. Sunmi.. “ she stuttered. “This is Joohyun” she continued, hastily but reluctantly letting go of the embrace. Sunmi looked at her with an amused expression, “Silly Seulgi, Joohyun and I have met several times!”  Sunmi grabbed Joohyun’s left hand with both of hers and smiled at her brightly. “It was so nice to be on Secret Unnie with Seulgi earlier this year. Thanks for letting her participate even with your busy schedule!” she said, her bright smile causing Seulgi to wince nostalgically. “Oh, of course” Joohyun said, her forced smile hiding what Seulgi knew was her sense of awkwardness around impulsive people. “You two seemed to have a great time on.. “ Joohyun started, but then seemed to stop mid sentence..”that show..” she finished, after what seemed like an eternity to Seulgi, who gulped, realizing that Joohyun was probably putting two and two together. “I have to go now” Sunmi said cheerfully, letting go of Joohyun’s hand. “But It was great seeing both of you again” she added, and as Joohyun was still staring into space, Sunmi passed by behind Seulgi, her fingers running across Seulgi’s back, causing her to shiver uncontrollably. She turned her head just in time to see Sunmi give her a wink she hoped no one else had seen.  But Joohyun’s wide eyed look and sideways glance when she finally turned her head made Seulgi almost certain the secret was out.

Joohyun was just about to say something when their manager came up to them and said she was needed urgently in the editing room to review the last recording.  “We need to talk later!” she told Seulgi with a serious expression and an accusing pointed finger as she headed off behind the manager. Seulgi breathed a small sigh of relief, and started heading back to the changing room, looking somewhat wistfully over her shoulder as she saw Sunmi getting ready for her performance.  “I would really like to watch, but that would probably not make the talk with Joohyun easier later” she thought to herself, until she almost bumped into Joy and Yeri standing behind the last row of chairs looking at the stage. “Hey Seulgi, we are going to watch, join us” Joy said cheerfully, grabbing Seulgi’s arm. “You guys both got to go on that show, i’m jealous!” Joy exclaimed. “Oh stop it, you have been on several shows too, Sooyoung” Yeri chimed in. “Besides, Seulgi seemed to have a lot more fun than me anyway” she added with a wink. Seulgi blushed slightly, wondering if everyone knew, but then realized Yeri was probably just giving her a hard time.. “Was she really as cool as she seemed?” Joy asked curiously, but all Seulgi could do was agree.  Still a bit self conscious, Seulgi finally turned towards the stage, and could see Sunmi adjust her microphone, before she noticed Seulgi look at her and gave her a quick wave. She felt Joy elbow her gently in the side and realized she would certainly need to get used to a lot of teasing once the secret was out to everyone.

As Sunmi started her performance, Seulgi felt herself in, and caught herself admiring aspects of Sunmi she hadn’t really thought about before.  As the song was building to its , she saw Sunmi look straight at her, and felt the urge to look away, but an even stronger desire to keep looking back.  As the song ended, Seulgi headed back to the changing room, feeling soft and almost light headed. “Why is she making me feel this way” she thought to herself, slightly annoyed.  After talking to the others about how things went, and whether they might be able to win this week, Seulgi realized she probably shouldn’t have had that third bottle of water, and headed to the restroom.  Just as she was walking past an open office door, she felt a hand on her back push her towards the door opening, and instinctively swung around, readly to apply a taekwondo move on whoever was attacking her.  However, seeing it was actually Sunmi, she gasped and pulled her arms towards her body awkwardly. Seeing her opportunity, Sunmi grabbed both of Seulgi’s wrists and pushed them gently back up against one of the office’s wall. “I guess the tables have turned now” Sunmi said with a smirk, before it changed into the smile Seulgi knew she was helpless against.  “Seulgi-ah.. It’s so good to see you again! I knew it would be hard to meet again, so I told them I had the new song ready, so i could be sure I would be here the same time as you!” Seulgi smiled, realizing what she had thought was a coincidence wasn’t really one at all. “Also.. “ Sunmi added, her expression suddenly looking devious. “There was something I forgot to give you when we last met..”. Already feeling weak pinned against the wall, Seulgi tilted her head slightly, confused as to what Sunmi meant, until it all become crystal clear as Sunmi closed her eyes and leaned forward and gently kissed her on the lips. Seulgi could feel her heartbeat pounding in her ears, and warmth radiating through her body starting from her lips. She wrapped her arms around Sunmi tightly, giving her the hug she wanted to earlier, her hand pressed against the back of Sunmi’s head, not wanting to let her make it stop. She felt herself overwhelmed by a mix of bliss and excitement she couldn’t remember having felt for years,  if ever. Whatever happened from now on, she knew that things would never be the same again.