Opening her eyes slightly to be able to admire Sunmi’s soft features, Seulgi was shocked to see Joohyun standing in the doorway of the office, agape, her eyes showing a wide range of emotions all at once.  She gasped and pulled back, causing Sunmi to give her a surprised expression that instantly turned embarrassed as she followed Seulgi’s gaze and also noticed Joohyun, who now looked more serious, with her hands on her hips. “Sunmi-ssi, I think we need to have a talk”. Sunmi looked back at Seulgi, who realized that whatever Joohyun would say probably needed to be said and nodded reluctantly.  Sunmi headed towards the door, her hand running down the side of Seulgi’s arm until it clasped her hand briefly before letting go. “Don’t worry, Seulgi-ah” she said as she left the room, with Joohyun closing the door behind her. Seulgi slumped down the wall and onto the floor, her hands covering her eyes, the tears welling up. She could feel her stomach tying itself in knots from a combination of guilt, embarrassment, fear and lingering happiness. “Why now... Why her..” she thought to herself bitterly, before she started worrying what the other two were talking about behind the closed door. “I should just go out there.. but Joohyun said she would help.. but she didn’t look happy.. “ Seulgi argued with herself quietly.  She stood up and walked towards the door hesitantly. But just as she got close, it finally opened, and Joohyun entered, her finger raised scoldingly, a serious expression on her face. “Now Seulgi, let me just say.. “ she started, causing Seulgi to cover her face with her hands again, the tears coming back. She hated nothing more than making Joohyun angry, and she could really see the annoyance in her face this time. She winced, expecting the worst.

A hand clasping her arm softly and fingers brushing across her forehead made Seulgi relax a bit and lower her hands.  She was surprised to see Joohyun looking at her with a soft expression and a slight smile. “It’s okay Seulgi, really.. I am not mad at you.. I was just surprised..” Joohyun said calmly, but with the trace of an edge to her tone. “I had suspected it might be Sunmi, but.. “ she continued, unexpectedly blushing somewhat.   Seulgi felt her face go red as well, and wanted to sink into the floor from embarrassment. “I hadn’t planned.. I didn’t know.. “ she started. “I know..” Joohyun said, “Sunmi explained how she had surprised you. I know It isn’t like you to be so reckless in an almost public place” she continued firmly. She then lowered her hand from Seulgi’s forehead down the side of her face, resting her fingers on her cheek and her thumb on her lips..  “I am happy for you, Seulgi... It must have felt very nice to feel her lips against yours” she continued softly, in a tone that made Seulgi feel both relaxed but somewhat confused. Joohyun’s expression hardened again, making Seulgi bite her lip anxiously. “But you know this can’t happen again, right? You are lucky it was me who saw this, and not some journalist or staff member.. We can talk later about how you can see her again, but right now in the middle of our critical promotion it is far too risky to take chances like this” Joohyun continued in a business like tone. Seulgi nodded sadly, tears still rolling slowly down her cheeks. “Come here, Seulgi” Joohyun said, her arms outstretched “it’s going to be okay!” she added, wrapping her arms around Seulgi after she moved closer.  Resting her chin on Joohyun’s shoulder, Seulgi sighed deeply, but thought to herself that as long as she had Joohyun on her side, everything was going to be okay .