Special
HERSHE"Mom, I'm not sure if I still like him the same way I did before, okay? May I remind you it was over ten years ago."
"I know. But admit it. At some point, you're still fond of him, right?"
Irene stared at her mom for a long before she breathed out. She knows her mom is right. There's this part in her, no matter how little, that is still attracted to Bogum. And she doesn't know if it will continue to shrink or--who knows--grow, eventually.
"Just try going out with him for like a month and see if anything would spark between you two. If it doesn't then you tell him. I believe it's enough time for him to rethink his feelings too, right?"
"Mom--"
"A month won't hurt you, darling. The least I could hope is for you to become good friends if this really won't work out. If after a month you'd realize that he's not the right guy, then I'd stop bugging you."
Irene knows that there's no way she could win this argument. "You promise?"
The woman nodded. "Just for a month."
---
Irene is staring blankly at the ceiling, reflecting on what she and her mom talked about earlier.
She is supposed to be happy because this is what she wanted before--to get Bogum's attention. And the fact that her mom has two thumbs up for him should be good news.
Instead, she's in a dilemma.
No matter how much she tried to convince herself she's morally better off with Bogum, she can't set aside the fact she's still feeling something for Seulgi too.
The problem is she's not sure how serious her feelings are for Seulgi. It's too underrated to call it a crush but is it that serious to call it love? How would she know if it really is love? And what would she do if it really is love? She can already imagine her mom objecting to it.
Irene turned to her side and curled up. Sleep won't come to her yet. She was hoping Seulgi would call her just to confirm if she's arrived or what. She feels so lost right now all she wanted is to hear Seulgi's voice.
She glanced at her phone to check the time: 12:07 am
She buried her face in the pillow and sighed.
"Please let me see you tomorrow, Seulgi. Please."
---
Seulgi let out a sigh of relief after finally setting foot on the ground.
"Phew! Home sweet home!"
If she had known how much of an encumbrance that storm would be, she would not have gone to Indonesia. It was torture missing Irene for a week, and what's making it worse is she can't even make a call because the electricity was out for days because of the wide damage the storm caused.
But her agony is over. She's finally home.
Her enthusiasm is building up on the thought that Irene missed her too. She couldn't believe it herself at first, but after their trip from Haeundae, everything seemed to have changed between them. They grew closer, in a more special way than friends could be. She knows it's too early to assume anything but she can't help raising her hopes up.
That's the reason she wanted to have that talk with Irene, to clear things out. Maybe it's about time to confess to the woman.
Having plans to call Irene, Seulgi checked the time on her phone: 12:07 am
"Oh. I guess she's already sleeping."
She puffed her cheeks and blew air out. She pulled her bag straps over her shoulders as she walked towards the exit. There's an excitement that's quickly building up inside on the thought that it'll be just a few hours from now before she goes to work.
She can't wait to see Irene.
---
Monday – 7:11 am.
"What the--"
Irene purposely went to the office early that day with the objective of putting her chocolate present before Seulgi arrives--or before anyone arrives and sees her. It never occurred to her she'd be competing with a pile of wrapped gifts, cards, letters, and some stuffed toys.
She bit her lip and stared at the chocolate on her hands, unsure if Seulgi will even like her present.
"Hey, good morning," said a voice who just entered the room.
Irene's heart raced. She knows that voice well enough to make her panic. She turned around and hid the chocolate behind her back.
And then there she is, the person Irene has been longing to see since last week, standing there with one hand holding tight to the strap of her bag and a smirk on her face.
"Hey. What are you doing here this early?" asked Seulgi.
Irene wracked her brain for some excuses. "I... uh... submitted a report to Eric."
"At this hour?" Seulgi raised an eyebrow. "And why are you at my table then?"
"Umm. I happen to see the mountain of gifts and I thought I'd check."
Seulgi chuckled. "By any chance, were you checking if I'm already in?"
Irene rolled her eyes. "Duh. Why would I?"
Seulgi made quote signs with her fingers. "You have no idea how badly I'm missing you now, Seulgi," she said, mimicking Irene's way of talking.
That immediately brought Irene to embarrassment. She covered her blushing face with a hand.
"Ugh. I hate you, Seulgi. I hate you."
"I missed you too. Big time." Seulgi closed the distance between them and patted Irene's head. "Hey. Why is the baby still grumpy? You're so cute, are you even aware of that?"
Irene pursed in an attempt to repress a smile that badly wants to break free. Seeing Seulgi now in front of her makes her want to throw herself for a hug.
"You haven't called me," she said.
"Ah. Yeah. My phone was dead. Lights were out for days because of the storm."
"You should have at least called me when you arrived yesterday. I was up until 1 am waiting for your call."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I arrived here past midnight. I thought you were already sleeping," said Seulgi.
Irene looked away. "Hmp." She stretched out her arms and gave Seulgi the wrapped item in her hand. "For you."
Seulgi took it hesitantly and stared at it like it's the first time she'd received a gift in her entire life.
"I'm going back to my station now," said Irene, starting to walk away. "You can throw it if you want."
"W-w-w-w-wait." Seulgi grabbed Irene by the arm. "Who said I don't like it?"
"Then why aren't you saying anything?" Irene tried to yank off her arm, too shy to even look at Seulgi.
"I'm just surprised. Come on." Seulgi linked their hands together. "Don't go yet, honey."
Knowing that Seulgi won't see her face, Irene smiled at the endearment. It's thrice sweeter hearing it in person. She turned to Seulgi, their hands still linked.
"Chocolate? Did you make this?" Seulgi's smiling ear to ear while she observes the wrapped gift. "Is this the reason you came here early today, to surprise me?"
"But I don't think you'd like it. I guess you don't need that chocolate when you have those." Irene pointed at Seulgi's table.
"Are you kidding me? There's no way these can beat this," said Seulgi, gesturing to the chocolate in her hand. "This is the best Valentine's gift I received this year!"
"You're just saying that just to make me feel good." Irene rolled her eyes again.
"Hey. I love it. I promise. And thanks for this. It means a lot to me." Seulgi put her bag down on the table and tried ping it with her free hand.
"What are you doing?" asked Irene.
"I'm trying to put your chocolate in my bag so I could bring it home."
"You can let go of my hand so you can open it faster, you know."
"No, I don't want to." Seulgi squeezed Irene's hand. "What if you ran away?"
Irene smiled secretly. "Ran away? Where would I go?"
"I don't know, maybe ran away with someone?"
Irene suddenly felt something stuck in . It was just an innocent joke but she's feeling a pang of slight guilt.
"Done!" Seulgi exclaimed after successfully putting the chocolate inside her bag with one hand only. "Have you had your breakfast yet?"
Irene shook her head. "Want to grab a bite first?"
"Definitely. C'mon now."
"Wait. Show me your neck," said Irene. Seulgi, although hesitant, followed by ing her collar buttons. Irene looked in closely and finally saw what she's looking for. "Okay. I thought you're not going to wear it."
"Ah. This?" Seulgi pulled out the butterfly pendant. "You said you want us to wear it."
"Yeah. That's why I'm checking to make sure you obeyed."
"Of course. How about you?"
"You're not looking hard enough." Irene pointed at her exposed necklace. "Make sure your fangirls won't see that. I don't want to receive death threats anytime soon."
Seulgi smiled. "Yes, boss."
---
"SEULGI!"
Irene flinched in surprise when Taemin stood up from his chair and screamed. She turned around and saw Seulgi looking surprised too. She looked like she came from a quick trip from the pantry.
Seulgi halted and put down her tumbler on top of Krystal's terminal. "Taemin, how's it?"
Taemin went over to hug her. "Seulgi! Where have you been? I haven't seen you for a week!"
"I got trapped in Indonesia last week. I missed you guys."
"Seulgiiii..." This time it was Yeri who came over and hugged Seulgi. " Did you get my present on your table?"
"I did. Thanks, Yeri." Seulgi patted Yeri's head. She turned to Krystal after. "And you? No hugs for me?"
"I'm sorry, Seulgi. You had your chance before. I'm already dating your best friend. So, no..." said Krystal who eventually laughed and stood up. "Of course, I missed you. Come here and give your mommy a big hug."
Seulgi gave Krystal a tight squeeze. She pulled away. "Wow, it's just now that I realized how much I missed you all."
"Aren't you going to hug Irene too?" asked Krystal.
Their eyes met for a second but Irene turned her chair around.
It might be easy for others to tell that they are close but no one has any idea how deep it is now. And to be honest, Seulgi's in the same boat too. She hasn't told Amber or Wendy about what's happening between her and Irene lately, afraid that some jinx would ruin the rhythm.
"We already said hi to each other earlier," said Seulgi. "We even had breakfast together."
Irene hummed to agree. "Seulgi went in a little later after I arrived."
Krystal gave them a knowing look. "Oh! Seulgi, have you seen Mr. Baechu yet?"
"Mr. Baechu?" asked Seulgi, pretending not to know.
Yeri showed Seulgi 'male' turtle. "Last week, someone sent that to Irene on Valentine's Day. Isn't that sweet?"
"Ah, yeah? A secret admirer?" Seulgi glanced quickly at Irene who's busy with work again.
"And speaking of that, have you already found out the persona of the sender, Irene?" Taemin asked. "I really want to meet the guy."
Irene looked up. "Yeah. I received a call that afternoon. It turned out that it was a special friend of mine."
A smile slipped across Seulgi's face.
"Special friend?" Taemin got excited. "You haven't mentioned him to us, hmm."
"It's because there's nothing to tell yet," Irene answered.
"When will we meet him then?" asked Krystal.
"Yeah. We want to know the face behind this bunny," said Taemin, picking the turtle. "Don't you think I can see from my station how much you're giving this toy a special treatment?"
Seulgi got curious. "Special treatment, like what?"
Irene facepalmed herself.
"Like bringing the toy literally anywhere she goes?" answered Taemin. "I bet if she could bring it in the restroom she would too."
Irene grunted. "Taemin, stop that."
"Oh, and mind you," Krystal interrupted this time, "she's always hugging that toy when she comes in and before she leaves. And it's on her lap the entire working day."
"Krystal!" Irene yowled. "You're exaggerating!"
"I'm not. Hello? Why do you look embarrassed? It's not like your special friend can hear you."
Irene grunted again and covered her face with her palms.
Taemin nudged Seulgi. "You see that? No one has made Irene blush like that before. That guy must be truly special."
Seulgi couldn't take the smile off her face seeing how Irene is blushing now.
"Well, I think that she is special to him too."
Their eyes met for a second before Irene broke out a sweet smile before turning away and hiding her face again.
Seulgi thinks it's the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.
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