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Seulgi entered the campus with her usual cup of coffee, hair done in a simple bun. She's not ready for the new semester. 

No one was ever ready for it.

Other than a jam-packed full of classes to attend today, there were also recruitment drives to oversee. As if having to meet new classmates weren't tiring enough, there were more socialising waiting for her after class.

She arrived at the lecture hall, briefly stopping to check that she was at the correct venue. With the books and coffee that she's holding onto, it was difficult to open the door by herself.

She tried kicking the door. No one came to her rescue. When she was about to set her coffee aside on the floor, a petite-sized female in an oversized pink hoodie came over and turned the handle, opening the door. Seulgi felt like she had saved her life. She was looking at her with admiration. It was as if light emitted from the female.

"Do you want to head in?" the female asked. Seulgi nodded, following closely behind the female as they entered the lecture hall.

"Thank you so much. I'm Seulgi," she introduced, with the both of them heading to the side of the lecture hall.

"Irene," 

"Nice to meet you," Seulgi replied, smiling at her.

"Nice to meet you," the female gave a tiny smile.

"If you don't mind, can I sit next to you?"

"Sure,"

One new friend so far, not so bad. Seulgi thought. 

Seulgi placed her books and coffee on the table, not forgetting to sneak glances at Irene multiple times. She felt a need to start a conversation with her. She turned to Irene, who was switching on her laptop. "Sophomore, how about you?" 

"Senior,"

Seulgi gave her a blank look. She hasn't seen her around in the campus. She hasn't recalled seeing her around campus, never once.

"I haven't seen you around campus though," she replied.

"Elite programme," Irene replied, bringing out the textbooks from her bag.

Seulgi felt opening slightly. 

Students from the elite programme usually mix within their circles and have never appeared before others. Their existence in the campus was of ghosts. It sounded ridiculous, but it was true.

The school even had a club dedicated to the elite students. Members of that club didn't have to attend any club gatherings, at all.

Sure, Seulgi heard they won multiple awards and Olympiads and had their trophies displayed outside the foyer, but she has never seen them. Three years since she enrolled in the school and she has never crossed path with anyone from the elite programme. Till today.  

"How come you're here? I thought students from that programme have their separate timetable and lectures?" 

The lecture had already started. Everyone was busy jotting down whatever the professor wrote, except Seulgi.

"I dropped out. It's no fun," Irene replied, not sparing her a glance. 

"Was it very fast-paced? Tiring? Frustrating? Competitive?" Seulgi asked, disinterested in the lecture.

"All of the above,"

"Do you have a club?"

Irene shook her head, nevertheless her attention still with the professor. "Nope,"

Seulgi's eyes brightened, she was looking for new members for the club anyway. Irene would be a great addition to the team. "If you don't mind joining a new club, you can join us,"

Irene nodded. There's plenty of time left before she needed to apply for an intern anyway. "What does the club do?" 

"Something like the student council. We help with orientations and other events like school tours and public speaking," 

"Sounds good," 

"The recruitment drive is happening at five, do you want to come along? Our club will meet half an hour before that,"

"Sure,"

"I'll meet you at the open area near the union building later on? Let's exchange numbers after class,"

Irene pointed to the board, indicating that Seulgi should listen in class. Seulgi smiled brightly, nodded along with Irene as she finally flipped open her book and writing down notes.

 

 

Everyone at the recruitment drive had something to do, except for Irene. Seulgi and the rest of the members were trying to bring some crowd to the booth. Being the newest official member in the club, Irene had nothing to do, other than to accept registrations. Irene's pretty face attracted some crowd to register for the club. It kept her busy.

At least she was occupied with something other than waiting for her boyfriend to call her.

Just then, her phone was ringing. It was her boyfriend. Her face brightened, fingers sliding across the screen. 

"Hello?"

"Joohyun,"

"Yes,"

"My cousin will be fetching you instead. I'm on my way back to the headquarters now,"

A frown surfaced on Irene's face. Her boyfriend finally had some time to spend with her, but one call from the headquarters messed it all up. She bit the insides of her cheeks, she was angry, at the same time, helpless.

It's not like she didn't know that her boyfriend was the co-founder of a well-known professional gaming team based in Norway. Many projects were waiting for him to be approved back in his office. At the same time, he was also the boss of the Korean gaming team. Most of his time was spent either on training or receiving conference calls. 

"When will you be back?" 

"Next week. I will make it up to you next week, I promise," 

Irene pressed her lips together, exhaling a deep sigh. There's nothing else for her to do other than to wait. "Fine. Have a safe trip,"

She could hear chuckles over the phone.

"Time for me to board the plane, love you," he said, before hanging up the phone.

Irene blinked, eyes wide. Her mind went blank. Her boyfriend just told her he loves her? 

A bashful smile surfaced on Irene's face. Her boyfriend rarely said that to her. She could no longer feel her frustration. All she wanted to do is to celebrate. She happily kicked her feet, giving a warm smile to anyone who passed by. 

Seulgi was spotted from far, walking back to the booth with the rest of the members. Irene quickly wiped her smile off her face, pretending to tidy the booth.

"We can start packing up. The drive is about to end," Seulgi said, carefully slotting the registration forms into a file.

Irene nodded obediently, dismantling the decorations on the booth. 

"Anyone up for dinner?" one of the members asked.

"Next time, I have to arrange for candidate's data by tonight," Seulgi replied, waving her file.

"I'll pass, my friend is picking me up," Irene replied, picking up her bags. 

"You guys can go ahead. I'll put the things back in the clubroom," Seulgi said, carrying a box of decorations.

The rest quickly packed up and left, leaving Irene and Seulgi at the booth. "I'll help," Irene said, picking the other box up.

"Thanks," 

Both of them headed up the Union building, with boxes full decorations. Seulgi unlocked the club room and dropped the boxes at one corner of the room before exiting the room.

"So, your boyfriend's picking you up?"

"Nope, his cousin is," Irene corrected.

"That's weird," she remarked, with a confused look. Irene nodded in agreement. Anyone would have thought that it was weird to have their boyfriend's cousin picking them up.

"My boyfriend is going on a business trip, so he can't pick me up," Irene explained as both of them made their way to the main gate.

"Oh,"

It didn't take Seulgi minutes before she opened again. "So you're close to his cousin?"

Irene shook her head. "Nope, he's more of the quieter type,"

"Isn't it awkward?"

"Not really, I'm okay with the silence," 

"Is he handsome?"

Irene shrugged, pointing at an incoming car. "I don't know. You can see it yourself.

Seulgi thought it was weird. Where has she seen the car before?

"Why don't you say hi to him before we go off," Irene suggested opening the door.

Why not, Seulgi thought. What are the chances that she's going to see the cousin again? 

She lowered her head and froze.

No way.

She had to blink multiple times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.

It's the coffee guy from before.

Seulgi forced a smile and waved awkwardly at him. "Hey,"

The guy seemed shocked about seeing her as well. It took him a moment to gather back his thoughts to reply. "Oh hey, Seulgi, right?" 

She gave a small nod, smiling as awkwardly as before. "You two know each other?" Irene looked at both of them in surprise.

What a small world, Seulgi and Sehun thought.

"Long story," Seulgi replied.

Irene got into the car, fastening her seat belt. She saw the sky turning darker than it usually was. Somehow it didn't feel safe to let Seulgi go home herself. She pulled Seulgi close and looked at Sehun. "If you don't mind, would you please send Seulgi home?"

Seulgi looked at her alarmingly, blinking several times. "Huh?"

Sehun observed the sky. It was dark and gloomy. He nodded, "Hop on,"

Seulgi shook her head and hands violently. "It's totally alright! My house is very nearby,"

Irene pushed her towards the door behind, "Come on, it's a free ride." She sighed and went on the car.

The car ride was not awkward at all, with Seulgi and Irene chatting away, Irene laughing at how Seulgi explained how the both of them came to know each other. They arrived at her house not long after.

"Thank you again for the car ride. I'll see you soon Irene,"

After making sure that Seulgi went into her house, Sehun drove off.

"She's a nice girl," Irene commented.

"Uhm," 

Irene took that as an agreement. It seems like there's a chance.

"She's a great company to be around," 

Silence came after. Sehun knew what she meant, but he decided to stay silent. He pressed his lips together and focused on driving. Irene was quick to pick up the message. She felt his face stiffen after her sentence.

"Which University did you study at?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yonsei,"

"Have I perhaps seen you at the Mathematical Olympiad before?"

"Yeah, we did. A year ago,"

"Are you older?"

"No," 

 

Sehun closed the door behind him, arriving at home. There were sounds of the television coming from the living room. Grandpa was still awake. 

"I'm home," he called out, making sure he doesn't give his grandpa a scare when he walks into the living room.

Sehun changed into slippers and walked into the kitchen to get himself a drink.

"Do you still want tea?" he offered, retrieving a chilled drink from the fridge. There was no response.

He glanced at the clock. There's at least an hour before grandpa's bedtime.

"Grandpa?" he called out, walking back into the living room. He saw the elderly observing him way too closely for comfort.

Sehun figured out that grandpa had been glaring at him ever since he entered the house. He had a bad feeling about it. Sehun was worn out from the training earlier in the day. All he wanted to is to retreat to his room, but if he did that, Junmyeon would butcher him when he returns from Norway.

"Why are you glaring at me like that?" he asked.

His grandpa scoffed and rolled his eyes before looking back at him.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Sehun lowered his head and exhaled deeply, furrowing his brows. His hunch was right. It was indeed a bad idea to initiate a conversation with his grandpa. "Grandpa, I thought we talked about this,"

His grandpa switched off the television. He grabbed his walking stick and managed to stand up with the help of it. It was his turn to sigh.

"I'm not young anymore," 

"I'm still young,"  Sehun replied.

"At least go meet someone outside your social circle,"

"I'm busy with gaming,"

Grandpa threw his walking stick angrily. He did not understand why both his grandsons were so obsessed with gaming. It's not like there's a bright future. He hated it when any of his grandsons brought up the topic of gaming. Sehun saw the hint of anger in grandpa's eyes and sighed again. 

Arguments like this always happen -  the exact flow, the same type of reaction and as always, an unchanging ending. 

Everything was the same. As if it was a broken recorder.

"I don't have a partner in mind,"

"I can introduce them to you!" his grandpa replied, a big smile surfacing on his face as he approached him with a phone on his hand. 

Sehun swallowed hard. That's the cue to flee from the scene.

"I still have training tomorrow grandpa. I'll head to sleep first. Have a good night," Sehun ran in the speed of light back to his room, shutting the door before his grandpa had a chance to speak.

He was sure that he was safe after hearing the other door slam shut. Surprisingly, he was left off the hook. There was finally peace. Sehun decided that he should wash up as quickly as possible and head to bed.

 

 
Seulgi was fast asleep with her face on her keyboard and pieces of candidate data resting beside her when her phone rang.

She roused. 

Who's so inconsiderate to call her at this ungodly timing?

With her eyes still shut, her fingers slide across the screen. She then brought her phone to her ear. "Yes?"

"Are you Sehun's friend?" the caller asked. He sounded like an elderly.

She frowned, still not fully awake. Seulgi doesn't remember being friends with a Sehun or an elderly. She groaned as she lifted her face off the keyboard. "Who's this?"

"Are you Sehun's girlfriend?"

Girlfriend? She opened her eyes lazily, looking at the caller ID. 

Sehun.

Oh, she remembered she knew a Sehun. The guy whom she spilt coffee on.

Why would he address himself in the third person? Also, the last time she recalled, his voice didn't sound that deep.
It took her moments to register what was happening.

"Hello?"

The voice brought her out of drowsy state. She was now fully awake.

She scratched her neck. "May I know who's calling?"

"You must be his girlfriend, am I right?" 

Seulgi was about to correct the caller, but she heard sounds of a door opening from the other end of the call.

The call ended abruptly, catching her off guard. She didn't even manage to correct the caller.

Seulgi found it weird. Should she message Sehun and ask what was going on? After much consideration, she decided that she should at least receive an explanation from Sehun.

'Everything okay there?' 
and she hit the 'send' button. 

She waited for five minutes, and there were no replies. She called instead.

Sehun picked up before the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, I just called to ask if everything's okay,"

"Yes. I apologise for causing a disturbance at such a late hour."

She shrugged, "It's fine." She was waiting for an explanation, but it seems like Sehun wasn't going to provide her with any.

"Can I ask who was the person over the phone?"

She heard him sighing. "My grandpa."

"Oh,"

There was silence between the both of them. Seulgi was waiting. 

"May I know what my grandfather was talking about over the phone?"

It took Seulgi by surprise. She swallowed. Should she answer him truthfully? It was the first time she heard such a question from an elderly. She didn't know how to react. Should she be embarrassed about it? How did his grandfather even conclude that she was his girlfriend?

She cleared her voice. "I wasn't fully awake when I answered, so I'm not sure,"

"I see,"

It went right back to silence. Seulgi was getting impatient. She tapped her fingers on her study table and waited for him to speak up. The silence was painfully long, and it seemed like neither of them wanted to speak up. Seulgi would have to ask for it blatantly.

When she was about to ask for an explanation, her stomach growled, so loudly that she was sure that Sehun would have heard it over the phone. Seulgi heard stifles of laughter over the phone. She cursed silently and felt her face burn up. She wanted to hang up more than ever. That was enough embarrassment for tonight.

"Do you mind if I invited you for supper?" he asked.