Seulgi woke up on Saturday morning hoping to have two full days to herself, no stress and no drama. She put on a hoodie over her pajamas and walked downstairs to get some breakfast. Her mom was sitting by the kitchen table with one of her friends from her yoga class, Seulgi assumed.

“Good morning,” greeted Seulgi with a coarse voice, still half asleep. She walked straight to the fridge to get some orange juice.

“Good morning, Seul. You didn’t tell me you were planning to go to a university fair, I think that’s great,” Seulgi’s mom said.

Seulgi had no idea what she was talking about. She turned around in her spot near the sink, ready to protest, but the sight in front of her almost had her tripping over.

“Hi,” said Irene with a smile. She was sitting next to Seulgi’s mom at the kitchen table, calmly sipping some tea as if she'd always been there.

Seulgi didn’t know what to say, she had no clue what was going on.

“Irene already told me all about it. I think it’s great that you’ve decided to take the initiative and plan ahead. Just don’t be late for dinner,” Seulgi’s mom added, standing up as the washing machine’s chirpy tune signaled the completion of a cycle.

“OK, yeah,” was all Seulgi could mutter, still looking at the sight in front of her as if there had been a sudden alien invasion right there in her kitchen.

“Leave your dishes in the sink before you leave. Have a good day, sweetie,” Seulgi’s mom said before disappearing behind the laudry room’s door.

“What are you doing here?” Seulgi finally asked once her mom was gone.

“Your mom already told you. Now hurry up and go get dressed, we don’t have all day,” Irene replied nonchalantly, leaving Seulgi more confused than before.

“We’re going to a university fair?” the girl in pajamas asked.

“Yes,” Irene simply answered, as if the answer was obvious.

“But why are you here?” Seulgi probed further.

“To drive you there, duh. Do you even know where the fair is? It’s all the way in Middle City, it will take over an hour to get there,” Irene explained after taking another sip of her tea.

Seulgi thought about it for a moment. Going to a university fair sounded great, but she was still trying to make sense of the rest of the details surrounding this bizarre encounter. “How did you get inside my house?” she asked, still suspicious.

“I knocked the door and your mom opened. Now, are you gonna stop asking dumb questions? Hurry up and go get ready,” Irene replied, her tone revealed that she was getting more than mildly exasperated.

“OK, OK. Wait down here, I’ll be back in no time,” Seulgi finally said, giving in.

She took the stairs up and headed back to her room. Once she was there, she decided to check her phone. Besides a few text messages from her friends’ group chat, she noticed that there was one more text. It had been sent at 11 PM the night before, she was already asleep by then. The message read, “Be ready by 10 AM tomorrow. I’ll pick you up. Don’t be late.”

“So much for a quiet weekend,” Seulgi murmured as she picked a few clothes and walked to the bathroom.

— — —

They had been on the road for about ten minutes by then, the car had been silent for the most part, except for some initial small talk.

“Did you get into any trouble after that announcement yesterday?” Seulgi finally asked, breaking the silence. She didn’t really feel like addressing that particular topic but her curiosity was getting the best of her.

“Not really. That Monday, before I bumped into you, I had already talked to the rest of the council about my decision. I don’t think my school would’ve ever found out if I didn’t tell them myself, so they let me get awa