Game
HERSHE"She called in sick today," said Krystal.
Seulgi slumped her shoulders, couldn't take her eyes away from Irene's table. "Do you think she's okay now?"
"I don't know. She said she's not in the mood to go to work today."
"Have you told her about what we've talked about last night?"
"Nope. It's your job now to tell her that. Not me, honey." Krystal put emphasis on the last word.
Seulgi scratched her nape, feeling shy and guilty.
"Do it today or else I'll kill you for making my friend cry, okay?" said Krystal.
"I will. I will. I don't have plans of prolonging this either," said Seulgi, sighing. "After last night all I wanted to do is just to straighten up things with her."
"But I think you've got to be a little tough. Expect she would resent you at first, or maybe push you away. It's a normal defense mechanism of a person who's hurt."
Seulgi puffed her cheeks. "You're right. I'll go to her house after work."
"Seulgi..." Krystal called when she's about to leave. "This is the first time I'd seen Irene got swept off her feet. So please, please take care of her. I'm entrusting her to you because I know she'll be in safe hands."
Seulgi smiled. "Thanks. I promise I will take care of her."
"You better be, or else..." Krystal didn't finish her sentence, but she made a throat cut signal with her hand.
Seulgi chuckled. "I'll remember that."
---
Seulgi pulled her car over onto the side of the road. She rolled down her window about halfway to better see if someone's inside Irene's house.
Seulgi grabbed her phone and dialed Irene's number. It took a few more rings before someone answered.
"Hello?"
Seulgi felt happy hearing Irene's voice. But the small sniffs on the other end of the line pinche her.
"Irene?"
"Yeah. What?"
"Are you at home? You didn't come to work today." Seulgi glanced at the house again.
"I was not feeling well."
"Oh. So, you're just home?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Seulgi felt a little nervous knowing that Irene is just a few meters away from her. "Is your mom in there too?"
"Nope. Why do you keep on asking me things?"
"I... I'm right here in front of your house."
"What?"
There was a movement on the other end of the line. The sound of Irene's footsteps followed. Seulgi saw Irene peeking through the window. Seulgi fully rolled down her window and waved a hand.
"What are you doing here?" asked Irene.
"Uh, visiting you?"
"I don't need visitors now, Seulgi."
Seeing Irene through the window made Seulgi realize how much she missed this little tyrant. "I came here to talk to you."
"Is there anything else to talk about?"
"There is. There's a lot. Especially after what happened last night."
Irene sighed. "Go home, Seulgi. I'm not in the mood to talk to you yet."
Seulgi panicked when Irene walked away from the window. "But I need to explain to you what happened. I'll be waiting for you down here, okay?"
"I said I'm not in the mood to talk about it. I don't even want to see your face now."
Seulgi massaged her aching head. "I need to talk to you, just one last time. If you don't want to talk to me ever again I promise I won't bug you after this."
There was no response.
"Just this once, Irene."
Another dead air.
Seulgi's now starting to lose hope. "Please, honey..."
There was another long silence on the line before Irene finally sighed.
"Give me fifteen minutes." Irene hung up after that.
Seulgi slumped back on her chair, relieved.
Waiting inside her car made her feel uneasy. This is the first time they will talk alone after that fateful Friday dialogue where she almost thought everything's over. Truth is, she really wants to make up with Irene but she hasn't prepared anything to say yet.
And Irene's in her monster mood which might make things more challenging.
After fifteen minutes she received a message from Irene: "Let's talk inside."
Right after she read the message, she heard a clanging gate being opened. Irene went back inside the house after opening the gate.
With hesitation, Seulgi went out of her car and walked towards the house. She closed the gate behind her and inhaled before walking through the front door.
Seulgi's eyes surveyed the area before taking another step to completely let herself in. The curtains were all drawn, making it a little darker inside. Irene was nowhere to be seen.
Seulgi took a few more steps until she reached the living room where she saw the picture frames on the shelves. It was Irene's pictures from her childhood to her college years. There's another picture of a young Irene with a man--whom Seulgi assumed to be her dad.
Seulgi smiled. So cute.
"Make yourself comfortable."
Seulgi turned around. "Oh. Hey."
Irene's wearing a purple t-shirt and denim shorts, holding out a glass of orange juice for Seulgi to take.
Seulgi can't help but marvel at the beauty in front of her; so simple yet so sophisticated.
But Seulgi noticed something when she looked at Irene's face. Her eyes were swollen.
"Here." Irene handed the glass. "Let's talk over there."
"Thanks." Seulgi took it and followed Irene. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about this outside?"
"My mom's going home late today so we have the house for ourselves," answered Irene without looking back. They reached the couch area and Irene pointed to one sofa. "Have a seat."
Seulgi sat and settled her orange juice at the coffee table in front. To her dismay, Irene sat across her.
"So, what brings you here?" Irene crossed her legs and folded her arms across her chest.
Seulgi glanced at the space beside her. "Uh. Don't you want to sit beside me first?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I don't want to."
"Then can I sit beside you instead?" asked Seulgi, smiling, hoping it would work.
"No way. Can't we talk like this?"
"We can, but we didn't have a good outcome the last time we talked like this. Maybe we should sit beside each other now for good measures?" Seulgi flashed out the most charming smile she could.
Irene snorted and looked away.
Seulgi grunted. "I came here because I'm worried about you and this is how you'll entertain me, your VISITOR?"
"Why exactly do you want me to sit beside you?" asked Irene, irritated this time.
"Because I missed you, okay? Besides, I deserve better hospitality, right?"
"Ugh." Irene rolled her eyes. She got up and sat beside Seulgi, making sure that there is ample space between them. "Happy now?"
"Of course." Seulgi turned to Irene. "Jeez. Why are you acting like you don't want to see me?"
"Because I really don't want to see you. I don't even want to talk to you."
"Hah! you don't want to talk to me but then you still let me in your house and prepared me an orange juice? Is that it?" Seulgi raised the glass and drank from it.
Irene rubbed her face in irritation.
Seulgi chuckled. "Hey. You're being grumpy again."
"Stop being goofy, okay? I don't have time for this, Seulgi."
"Okay. Okay. I'll behave." Seulgi raised her hands in surrender. "I am here because I want us to play a game."
"A game? I thought you wanted to talk?"
"Well, this isn't just the ordinary game. Remember your game we played in the resort before, the 'answer a question with a question'?"
Irene raised an eyebrow. "You're not serious about this, are you?"
"I am. Unless you're afraid you'd lose, then we can cancel it." Seulgi smirked.
Irene scoffed. "You wish."
Having a feeling it's working, Seulgi smiled. "Same consequences, okay?"
"Fine. You start this time."
"With pleasure, with pleasure!" Seulgi rubbed her palms again. She turned away for a second, looking up the ceiling thinking what to ask. "Hmm. Are you mad at me?"
Irene cleared . "Do I have any reason to be mad at you?"
"Why did you leave the party early last night then?"
"I told you, I was not feeling well, right? I wasn't at work today, remember?"
Seulgi nodded. "You saw it, right?"
"Saw what?"
"The kiss?"
"Yeah, so?"
Seulgi felt Irene suddenly getting uncomfortable. "I was wondering, does that have anything to do with you leaving the party early?"
"Where did you get that notion?"
"Hasn't your friend Krystal told you she confronted me about it last night?"
Irene's eyes widened. "W-what exactly did she say to you?"
"Why were you crying?"
Irene massaged her temples. "Can we please not talk about this, Seulgi?"
"Don't you think this is the perfect time to talk about it?"
"Are you just doing this because Krystal asked you to?"
"Can't the reason be that I just want to clear things up with you?"
Irene narrowed her eyes. "What do you want to tell me exactly?"
"Would you believe me if I say that what you saw last night was a fake kiss?"
"Huh? Is there even a thing such as a fake kiss?"
"Didn't you know they do it in the movies here?" Seulgi pointed at the spot where Wendy kissed her.
Irene looked surprised. "Are you trying to tell me you faked kissing each other?"
Seulgi nodded. "Were you affected with it?"
"Why are you still asking me that if Krystal had told you everything?"
"Then tell me, why were you jealous?" Seulgi nudged Irene.
Instead of answering, Irene stared at Seulgi. Those swollen eyes gave Seulgi an idea of what the woman in front of her went through last night.
"Why are you doing this to me?" asked Irene, somewhat tired. "Why do you keep making me feel special for one second, then treat me like a total stranger for another second, and now making me feel again like I mean everything to you?"
The mood has changed. Seulgi felt nervous. She can't read what's on Irene's mind. She's not even sure if this talk will end well or not.
"Is having Bogum around not enough reason for me to stay away from you?" asked Seulgi.
"Then what were you doing with Wendy?"
"Did it not occur to you she was just trying to make you feel jealous?"
Irene swallowed something in . "So, you're not together?"
Seulgi shook her head. "Did you seriously think I'd forget you that easy?"
Irene slumped back on the chair and started fiddling with her own fingers. "I guess there's no point in denying it now, right?"
"What do you mean?"
Irene looked up at her. "Are you serious about me?"
Seulgi knows that this talk is either a make or a break. She should let all her cards out now. Seulgi scooted closer, filling the space between them.
"What do you want me to do to prove that I am?" asked Seulgi, brushing Irene's hair behind her ear.
Irene looked like she's trying her best not to cry. She slowly turned to Seulgi with those sweet puppy eyes. "Could you please make sure you stay by my side always?"
Seulgi melted at that. She couldn't fight her feelings anymore. She took Irene's hands and nodded.
"Would you be mine first?"
Irene, who's almost about to cry, wasn't able to hold off a smile after hearing that. "What took you so long to ask?"
Feeling relieved, Seulgi anchored her arms around Irene's waist and guided the latter's head to her neck.
"Weren't you the one who took so long to realize it?" she said, kissing the top of Irene's head.
Feeling embarrassed, Irene slapped Seulgi's arm. "I hate you... I hate you..."
Seulgi laughed. "Oh. I love you too."
"You're so mean. You made me cry last night." Irene rubbed her eyes.
"I know. I'm sorry, honey. I'm so sorry." Seulgi kissed Irene's head again. "So, does this mean we're officially together now?"
Irene pulled herself back to look at Seulgi's face. "It only means that you should stop flirting with other girls in the office."
"Oh, come on. You're the only girl in the office that I've flirted with."
Irene glared at her. "Make me cry again like last night. I promise you'll be flirting in hell after."
"Oh. My baby is scary, huh?"
"Baby your face." Irene leaned back against Seulgi's shoulder.
Seulgi smiled. "Hey. Did you notice that you lost?"
Irene pulled back once again, bringing her fingers to her lips. "Oh. I guess I forgot that one. So, what's the consequence?"
"A dinner out tonight would be fine."
"Oh. Is that it? That's easy."
"Not just tonight, but tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, and the day after that day, and the mmm-mmmm-mmmmm..." Seulgi's voice muffled after Irene covered with both hands.
"I'd love to," said Irene.
Seulgi stared at Irene for long before she leaned over to plant another kiss on Irene's forehead.
"I love you."
Irene closed her eyes at the touch. "I love you too."
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