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HERSHEIt's Monday and there's something different about it.
For whatever reason, Irene is excited to go to work today. She woke up early, had her breakfast, and left for the office right away. She came in too early that she had the entire floor to herself when she arrived.
She immediately checked the list of her online friends in their internal messenger. Seulgi's status is still gray.
She stood up, retouched herself in the ladies' room, grabbed herself a tea in the pantry, and went back to her table to check her friend's list again.
Still not green.
She checked her emails this time. Slowly, people are coming in one by one. Her table is at the center of the floor. She can't see who comes in and goes out because her back is facing the entrance.
"Good morning, Irene!" Taemin, who just arrived, greeted her.
"Hi, Taemin." Irene smiled. The guy stopped to stare at her. "What's the matter?"
"There's something different about you today..." Taemin crossed his arms.
"And what is that?"
"I'm not sure..." He walked towards her. "You just seem vibrant and blooming today."
"Does that mean I don't look vibrant and blooming in some other days?"
"Come on. You're always beautiful, darling. There's just something different today." Taemin scanned her. "New haircut?"
"No."
"Hmm. New hair color?" Taemin held Irene's chin this time. "Are you using a new make-up?"
"No."
"Don't tell me you already have a boyfriend?"
Irene chuckled. She shook her head no.
"That smile, Irene! I knew it! There must be someone!" Taemin pointed at her.
Irene dismissed him with a hand. "Nah. I just had a great weekend. There's no special someone yet."
"Oh really? I don't know why but my intuition says I should not believe you."
"Don't make a fuss out of it."
"Fine! Fine! I'll wait until you're ready to spill the details." Taemin walked back to his station.
After the conversation, she checked her friend's list again. To her disappointment, Seulgi's status is still offline.
She shifted her eyes at the bottom of the screen to check the time. It's already 7:53 and Seulgi should arrive anytime now.
At that instant moment, she saw Seulgi's status changed color from gray to green. A little notification appeared: Kang Seulgi is online.
She clicked Seulgi's name. A new window popped up to start a conversation. Her hands motioned on the keyboard. But then, she stopped the idea, not sure why she's doing that.
Irene stared at her monitor, hands clasped on her chin. The only reason she added Seulgi before is for the lipstick project they worked on together. She can't remember the last time they chat, and the probable reason for that conversation was all regarding the project.
After a few seconds of uncertainty, she clicked the close button with her mouse. She leans at the backrest of her chair and stared at the ceiling with both her hands on her tummy.
Kling!
Irene rose at the sound of her chat notification. A sweet smile flashed on her face after checking it.
"Good morning, Bae :-D"
Without having second thoughts, Irene replied. "Morning, Seulgi :-)"
"How was your weekend?"
"Boring. Sunday was the worst. How about you, what happened to your tennis practice?"
"Just the same old stuff. Got so tired after the practice. Sunday was boring for me too (T_T)"
"Ooh. Poor Seulgi. She's always alone (>_<)"
"You should probably visit me more often ;-D"
Irene smiled at the idea. "I think you should buy a pet, you know. So you won't get bored somehow."
"Come to think of it, I haven't thought of that until now..."
"You love cats or dogs?"
"Hmmm... do you think bunnies will be a fun pet around? :-P"
Irene glanced at Mrs. Baechu beside the monitor. She typed in her reply.
"If you're patient enough to chase it around the house, I guess it will be fun around ;)"
"Cool! Maybe I'll buy one someday!"
"So, how are you and Joy—" Irene stopped typing. She deleted her message.
"Hey, Irene. Do you know what turtles use to communicate?" Seulgi sent another message.
"I have no idea."
"C'mon, make a wild guess : >"
"Are they using radio waves like bats?"
"No. They are using shellphones! :-D :-D :-D"
Irene couldn't understand how a simple corny joke like that made her smile. She was giggling silently in her station, trying to keep it to herself so no one would notice.
":-D I can't believe I bought that one, Seulgi XD"
"Have you had your breakfast yet?" Seulgi was typing too fast. It seems like she isn't doing anything yet.
"Yeah, I had it at home."
"Good for you."
"How about you?"
"Nobody prepares food for me :'("
"Don't tell me you're skipping breakfast?"
"No, I'm having a burger now ^_^"
Irene looked up, imagining Seulgi eating a burger in her station. "Is that what you're having every day?"
"Most of the time. Why?"
"Wow. You're killing yourself, Kang."
"I know. But it's convenient. I don't have a choice, Bae."
"Can't cook your own food?"
"Love to but don't want to. Cooking is only fun if you're sharing the food with someone."
"You mean you always go out even for dinner?"
"Every single time."
"You must get some real food, Kang."
"I told you, I don't have time for that. Unless someone here is kind enough to prepare my breakfast ;-)"
"Fine. I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow."
"WOW! Really???"
"Of course. Consider it as a token of gratitude for carrying me to your apartment."
"Yehey! \(^_^)/"
"Be sure to arrive here at 7:15 tomorrow. Okay?"
"I will your highness. Thank you! (^o^)"
"What time did you arrive today?" asked Irene.
"About ten minutes ago. I saw you talking to Taemin."
"Oh, I didn't notice you come in."
"How would you notice; your back is facing the entrance XD"
"Yeah, I know that."
"Were you waiting for me?"
Irene's fingers on the keyboard froze. After a few more seconds she typed in her reply.
"No, why would I wait for you?"
Seulgi replied fast. "Aww, that's too bad :("
"Why is it bad?"
"Because I missed you :">"
Irene covered to stop herself from squealing. She even had to look away from the screen just to contain the delight feeling that's conquering her chest. When she turned around, she saw Krystal looking at her.
"Hey, Irene, who's that? Why are you blushing?" Krystal, who just arrived, dropped her shoulder bag on her chair.
Irene immediately shook her head, unaware that she cannot get the smile off her face. "It's nothing."
"I don't believe you! Why do you look so happy? Who are you chatting with?" asked Krystal, coming over.
Without further ado, Irene closed the conversation window before Krystal sees it.
Krystal's excitement rose when she saw the chatbox closed. "Why did you close it? Who's that?"
"No one."
"No one? I don't believe you. I haven't seen you smile like that before. Who's the lucky guy?"
"No one important. Just forget about it."
"How can I forget about it? Look at yourself, you're blushing."
Kling!
Irene and Krystal stared at each other for a second, waiting for who'll make the first move.
"Let me see! Let me see!" Krystal grabbed the mouse right away.
"No! No!" Irene forcefully tried to remove Krystal's hand from the mouse. She failed.
Krystal clicked on the notification and opened the conversation box.
"Good morning, Irene. How are you? ;)"
"It's Eric?" Krystal shot Irene a suspicious look. "Did I miss something last Friday?"
Irene could finally breathe. "N-nothing. Seulgi drove Eric home first, and then she drove me home... after..."
She doesn't know why she was lying. Well, it's not purely lying. Seulgi drove her home after 15 hours.
"Ooh. You're hiding something from me," said Krystal, still suspicious.
"I'm not."
"I'll ask Seulgi and Eric about it."
"I told you, nothing happened."
"But did you enjoy our little party last Friday?"
The party didn't matter to Irene; she had more fun after. "Yeah, I enjoyed it. How about you, I remember we left you and Amber at the bar, right?"
A wide smile slipped across Krystal's face. "Amber is sooo sweet..."
"So... you're into her this time?" poker-faced Irene asked.
"I guess I am. I enjoyed her company a lot. After that, we went out to see each other again last weekend."
"Wow. That escalated quickly, huh?" Irene smirked. "So... what about Seulgi?"
Krystal leaned on Irene's table, arms crossed. "I still like Seulgi. But I have this feeling that she's not into me. I have a feeling that she likes somebody."
"Who?" asked Irene, pretending she doesn't have any idea about it.
"I don't know. I could ask Amber about it. But yeah, I think Seulgi is in love with someone else."
Irene said nothing. She knows who's that someone. She'd seen her. In fact, she'd shaken hands with her.
---
Irene didn't reply to Seulgi's message after that because she was afraid Krystal might look into the conversation again.
It's nearly the end of the day and she hasn't gotten a glimpse of Seulgi yet. Something inside her wants to see how Seulgi looked today. What kind of shirt she's wearing, or if she's wearing her favorite cap again. She was also asking herself why Seulgi didn't bother to visit her when she said she misses her.
It came to a point where Irene was already thinking of excuses to go to Eric's department. She kept suppressing the thought because she doesn't want to be branded as one of Seulgi's fangirls.
"Hey, Seulgi. I haven't seen you fooling around here today."
Irene whipped her head when she heard Krystal. Krystal sees all the people who walk in and out of that area.
Seulgi, who's just passing by with a water bottle in hand stopped in front of Krystal's terminal. "Just busy. You know, Monday."
"What happened to you guys last Friday? Did I miss something?" asked Krystal.
Seulgi placed her tumbler above Krystal's terminal. "Nothing important, why?"
"Well..." Krystal turned her body to Irene. "Someone's acting different today."
Irene met eyes with Seulgi for a second and looked away after. She felt nervous.
"And what's different about her?" asked Seulgi.
"Well... there's someone making her happy..." Krystal teased.
"Is this someone I know?"
"Krystal, stop it," Irene warned.
Krystal let out a soft giggle.
"What's that?" asked Seulgi. Irene wishes she'd stop being nosy.
"It's just that I caught Irene this morning, blushing while chatting with Eric," said Krystal.
Irene wanted to disappear from where she's sitting.
---
"It's just that I caught Irene this morning, blushing while chatting with Eric," said Krystal.
Seulgi's eyebrows furrowed.
When she came in that morning, she saw Taemin and Irene talking. Anyone who enters through the door will immediately get a glimpse of Irene's back. It is a view that Seulgi is starting to love looking at each time she passes the hallway.
Maybe that was the reason she felt comfortable telling Irene things like missing her. However, after Irene stopped responding, Seulgi felt embarrassed about what she did to the point that she lost the guts to visit Irene in her station even if she wanted to.
And now, hearing from Krystal that Irene was blushing this morning because of Eric made her feel worse.
"It's not like what you're thinking," said Irene, covering her face with her palms.
"Then why were you blushing like a teenager earlier? Stop denying it." Krystal turned to Seulgi. "Did something happen to your two drunk passengers last Friday?"
Seulgi shook her head. "I drove Eric home first, then I drove Irene home..." she paused, then continued, "... after. Nothing really happened."
Seulgi noticed Irene's shoulders moved like she's giggling. Irene glanced at her quickly and smiled. Seulgi smiled back.
"Hmm. Maybe Irene and Eric had a date last Saturday? What do you think, Seulgi?" asked Krystal.
"I have no clue." Seulgi shrugged.
"I'm curious because I thought Irene didn't like Eric. But this morning, she's blushing, Seulgi. I saw it."
Seulgi chuckled, yet feeling envious inside.
"It wasn't Eric," said Irene in a flat tone. She's still facing her monitor.
Both Seulgi and Krystal's attention were on Irene who doesn't seem to want to look at them at the moment.
"Then who is it?" asked Krystal.
"It's... someone else, not Eric..."
"Oooooh, I see..." Krystal smirked.
Seulgi pressed her lips together, trying to hold off a smile from coming out.
"Then who is it, Irene?" asked Krystal.
"Eeee... I'm not telling you that..." Irene yowled, covering her face with her palms again.
"I-uh... I think I'm going back to my station. It's already five o'clock," said Seulgi.
Krystal grunted. "Ugh. Saved by the bell. Okay, Seulgi, we'll resume interrogation tomorrow."
"Yeah." Seulgi waved goodbye and left right away.
---
Kling!
Irene is still scratching her head from embarrassment when she heard her new message notification. She opened the message. It was from Seulgi.
"I'll see you tomorrow at 7:15 am for breakfast. Ciao!"
Then Seulgi went offline.
Irene smiled, feeling totally excited for tomorrow.
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