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HERSHEDecember 31st - Daegu
"Irene, lunch is ready."
"In a while, Mom."
Irene is lying on her cousin's bed, staring at the ceiling. It's weird. She never hated holidays before. But now it feels like a great sacrifice to do nothing and wait for two more days before she'd be busy again.
"Irene?"
Irene turned her attention to the voice and saw her cousin standing beside the door. "Hey, Jisoo."
"What's up?" Jisoo climbed on the bed and lay prone beside her.
"Nothing. I'm just bored."
"We do this every year, why are you so bored today?"
"I don't know." Irene played her fingers on her tummy. "I just wish that there's no holiday."
Jisoo laughed. "Hey, doppelganger, tell me where my real cousin is."
Irene laughed. "Seriously. I wish I had work today."
"What?" Jisoo looked at her cousin. "Do you hear what you're saying?"
"I just feel bored. That's all."
"Is there something different in your office this year that wasn't there last year?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did you get a new crush or something?"
Irene had to laugh it out. She can't understand why the first person that came to her mind with what Jisoo asked is Seulgi.
"No, it's not crush..."
"Not crush. But there is someone, right?" asked Jisoo.
"It's not like what you're thinking."
Jisoo playfully hit her. "Hey! Are you keeping secrets from me now? Are you in love, Irene?"
The question made Irene cringe even more. "I'm not, you silly."
"Fine! But I don't believe you."
Irene rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
"Well... speaking of crush." Jisoo leaned in closer. "I heard someone just got back here."
Irene's mind was still lingering on the word crush and why Seulgi was on her mind when she heard that. She didn't understand what Jisoo said.
"Do you remember your all-time-biggest-crush when you used to live here?" asked Jisoo.
Irene had to recollect thoughts first from her childhood memories. "What do you mean?"
"Gosh. Don't tell me you've forgotten Bogum?"
"Bogum?" Irene looked away as flashes of memories of her childhood flooded her brain, recalling how she did really develop a crush on one of her playmates.
"Yeah. Bogum and his brother Minho. You remember them?" asked Jisoo.
"Yeah. When did they get back here?"
"Just last week. I heard their dad wants to retire and is planning on putting up a business. Both their sons are now working so they've got nothing much to worry about finances."
Irene is not sure about what she's feeling. A while ago she was thinking about Seulgi and now hearing Bogum's name gave her the same feeling of what she's having before.
"Wait." Irene remembered something. "Don't tell me they're joining us for lunch like how they do before?"
Jisoo smirked. "Yes. They are waiting for us downstairs. I came here because your mom asked me to drag you down."
---
It when she's by the staircase when Irene felt nervous.
She is now hearing murmurs from men whose voices she hasn't heard in a long time.
She took a deep breath and a few more steps down until she showed herself to everyone.
"Oh, there you are." Her mom approached her and lead her to the couch where the members of the old family friend are sitting. "Look who's back."
Irene glanced at the entire family but focused her eyes on the parents. She's seeing the brothers from her peripheral vision.
"Good morning everyone." She bowed.
"Wow, is that really you, Irene? You've grown so beautiful, darling," the mother said. "You used to be pretty when you're little but now you're just more beautiful."
Irene forced a smile. "Thank you."
"Do you have a boyfriend, Irene?" the father asked this time.
"None. Irene has always been choosy in dating men," said her mom. "How about you, are your sons still singles?"
Irene wanted to exit the scene right away. She knew where the conversation is heading. Her mom completely knows of her crush on Bogum before.
"Minho is always not available. He's never been single the moment I allowed him to date," the father answered.
Minho threw a pillow at his dad. "C'mon, Pops. That's embarrassing!"
The father's laugh was too loud that it echoed in the whole house. "Bogum is single. He just recently broke up with his longtime girlfriend."
"This is awkward," muttered Bogum.
Irene smiled a little, remembering the reasons she liked Bogum before: that snobbish aura, his poker-faced expression, his introverted personality, and whatever he does is everything for her before. Same old reasons but enough reasons for her to like him again.
Minho stood up to approach her. "Look at you. Still beautiful! I remember having a crush on you when we were children."
Minho's cheerful approach brought back the feeling of when they were still little. Irene smacked him in the stomach. "I knew it, that's why you keep on teasing me, huh?"
Minho laughed, turning to his family quickly and going back to Irene after. "Yeah, but that went away immediately because you're so ill-tempered."
Irene hit him on the arm this time. "Hmph!"
Bogum stood up as well to join the conversation. "Don't listen to him, Irene. He never had a steady crush. Until now he always changes girlfriends from time to time."
"Man, you're ruining my moment here," Minho complained.
Irene was giggling while looking at the brothers. "You guys just got taller but everything's just the same."
"Yeah, you're still the same Irene even in terms of height," said Minho.
Everyone laughed except for Irene.
---
January 1st - Daegu
It's already one o'clock in the morning and the ear-popping noise of firecrackers had subsided. Irene was alone again in the room while her mom, aunt, and Jisoo are still busy chatting downstairs. She faked her tiredness to excuse herself.
She sighed. Just one more boring day before everything goes back to normal.
Even though she enjoyed the entire day her cravings to go back to the office are still there when she's alone. She saw her old bear stuffed toy on the bed. She grabbed and stared at it for a moment. She couldn't explain why but bears are now reminding her of Seulgi. She hugged the toy and closed her eyes hoping sleep will come to her soon.
Mmmm-mmmmm... mmmmm-mmmmm... mmmmm-mmmm...
Irene's reverie was interrupted when she felt her phone vibrate under her pillow. She grabbed it to check. After her eyes adjusted from the sudden light of the phone, she saw a long list of numbers displayed on her screen.
She answered the phone with hesitation, "H-hello?"
"Hey, there, amazon."
Irene rose up from the bed. Of all the people she knew, this is the last one she's expecting to call her.
"S-Seulgi?"
"Yeah. Were you expecting someone else?"
"No, no. I'm just... surprised..." Irene felt her heartbeat thud under her hand. Surprisingly, she was glad to hear Seulgi's voice.
"Are you already sleeping? I apologize if I'm of any interruption. I'm gonna make this quick, don't worry."
"No, no. It's fine. I'm not sleeping yet."
"Oh, that's a relief. Anyway, I'm calling to greet you Happy New Year..."
Irene grabbed the bear and hugged it to her chest. "Happy New Year, Seulgi."
Seulgi giggled. "I just called Krystal, Eric, and the others earlier to greet them too."
"Mmm. Why are you calling everyone?"
"Let's just say it's my way of thanking the important people that made my year complete."
Irene's lips curved to a semi-smile. "You mean I'm one of those important people in your life?"
"Of course. It's not every day that someone scolds me for having a burger for breakfast and then brings me breakfast the following day, right?"
Irene laughed. "Right. But who else are you going to call after this?"
"No one. You're the last person I'll be calling today."
"Oh. I guess I'm the least important person on your important list, am I correct?"
"It's not like that. I'm pretty sure you're familiar with the line 'save the best for last', right?"
Irene bit her lip and pinched the bear to prevent herself from producing any weird sound. "Always the sweet-talker, hmmm."
"Hey. I'm not sweet-talking. Truth is, I was planning to call you first but I don't have your number."
"It's because you never asked for it. Too bad, you're slow, Seulgi. Always." Irene pointed at the bear, pretending that it's Seulgi.
"I was afraid to ask for your number before because you might interpret it in another way. Remember, you accused me of being flirtatious?"
"Then how did you get my number?"
"I had to call Krystal first and ask for it."
"Okay. And who did you call next, after Krystal?"
"I called Eric, Taemin, and then Luna."
Irene toppled the bear. "See? I was really last on your list. You didn't call me right after talking to Krystal."
Seulgi's laughter echoed on the line. "Okay, fine. I got your number from Krystal but I was afraid to call you right away."
"Afraid? Why? I don't bite..."
"I know you don't. And you can't even if you want to. Maybe I'm just afraid that you might not be interested in talking to me right now."
"And where did you get that notion?"
"I don't know. It's just a guess. Am I wrong?"
"Oh, Seulgi. Have you forgotten how we talked alone in the resort? And at your place? Then we chatted--" Irene stopped, remembering her embarrassment, "-- then we also talked when we had breakfast. If I didn't want to talk to you those things will never happen."
"Okay. That's was a long explanation. Let me rephrase that. So, you mean you love talking to me?"
Irene gazed at the bear she's holding. "I... I guess I... I do..."
There was a sudden silence on the other line.
"Seulgi?" Irene had to look at the screen of her phone to make sure that the line wasn't cut or disrupted.
"I'm still here."
"Why do you sound so joyful now?"
"Oh. Do I?"
"Yeah. Are you talking to somebody else there?"
"Mmm. Just you."
"You're getting crazy." Irene chuckled. "What time is it there now?"
"Well, I'm an hour behind you so it's past twelve o'clock here."
"Then why aren't you sleeping yet?"
"I'm not yet sleepy, princess. Besides, work is still the day after tomorrow. I can just stay up until morning."
Irene had to admit that she somehow missed hearing that endearment from Seulgi. "I hope you're having a good time there with your dad."
"Yeah. We were with some of his friends who weren't with their families too. Although there's no one there of the same age, or at least close to mine, it was fun. How about you?"
"We're here in my cousin's place, got a little reunion with an old family friend. I had a great time too." Bogum's face flashed in her mind.
"That's good to hear. What are you doing now?"
"I'm alone in my cousin's room, just lying here on the bed. You?"
"Same thing..."
"Are you sure it's okay for you to talk this long? Is your dad not looking for you?"
"Don't worry. He's still drinking with his mates."
"Are you always like that every New Year's Eve?"
"Yeah, I just follow him wherever he is. Last year he's in Hong Kong. Hopefully next year he'll be in Seoul."
Irene's mind started to drift. She's looked at the bear which is staring directly into her eyes. There's this urge to ask whom Seulgi might have called last year, but yeah, she sure knows who it is.
"Do you feel sleepy now?" asked Seulgi.
"Not yet."
"Umm. I guess you're getting bored? We can just end the call if you want."
"It's not that. I'm just wondering..."
"What?"
"Isn't it weird how we can talk about anything under the sun--or the moon in this case--without getting bored with each other?" asked Irene.
She heard Seulgi smile. "Is it something bad?"
"No, it's not bad, it's just... weird."
"It's not weird for me."
"Well, for you maybe it isn't because you can just charm your way up to get all those girls to talk to you. But for me, this isn't what I normally do," said Irene.
"If this is beyond what you normally do, then I am honored to be part of this outside-the-normal-thing that you enjoy right now."
"Still it's weird."
"When you say weird, do you mean something good or what?"
"I don't know." Irene shrugged. "My presumption is it's because of the things that happened lately. Here we are getting closer to each other, you know. Maybe I'm just comfortable being around you, a reason I enjoy talking to you."
"That's reasonable. Yeah."
"However, there's a part in me that wonders if I've been just affected by your sweet-talking. Maybe it's just you. Your charm might have the same effect on every girl."
"Wowowowow... I did not seduce you if that's what you're pointing out."
Irene strangled the bear. "That's not what I meant. Crazy!"
Seulgi laughed. "Well, you're saying it like I do this all the time, to everyone, intentionally."
"Isn't this what you really do? You see, Seulgi, I'm just one of your victims."
Seulgi laughed again. "For your information, Ms. Bae Irene, I am not doing this thing to everyone. Okay, so I have lots of acquaintances. But this thing we do now--this--this isn't happening all the time. You might not believe it but you're the only person right now that I love to talk to in this way."
For a writer like Irene, these are one of the rare cases when she felt that something's wrong with her. Articulacy is her forte, both in oral and writing. But this time her mind is having difficulties finding the right words to say.
Isn't it amazing how the person on the other end of the line has the ability to mute her once in a while? Although she can't describe the mixed emotion she's feeling now, one thing is definite at that moment: she's overjoyed with what she heard. It's like Seulgi had given an assurance that she is only enjoying that kind of conversation with Irene alone.
Before Irene could get the chance to speak she heard footsteps in the hallway outside leading to her door.
"Seulgi, I'm sorry. I have to go. My cousin's coming here now," she said, internally cursing Jisoo for coming in at the wrong time.
"Oh. No worries. I guess I'll see you on Monday."
"Yes, Monday. Goodnight, Seulgi." Irene hung up the phone immediately.
Irene tightened her hug on the bear stuffed toy, still remembering the last sentences Seulgi told her. She hid her face under the bear and smiled.
She definitely hates Seulgi now.
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