Seulgi just finished taking a bath. She has this huge smile on her face when she saw that the clothes she will wear for that day are already arranged in the bed and to her silent glee t definitely suits her taste. She picked up the dark hoodie with a dinosaur print in front and stares at it for a second before muttering a soft “cute” and putting in on. She also puts on an equally dark pants. Now after getting dressed, she dries her hair using a towel and brushed it rather clumsily. When she is sure that she looks decent enough, she went to the mirror to study her reflection for a bit. She smiled at the reflection smiling back at her first before giving it a thumbs up. As soon as she is sure that everything is set, she marches to the door to go out of the room.

The mouth-watering scent of pancakes hits her nose as soon as she steps foot outside. Her stomach grumbled at the delicious aroma that she involuntarily closed her eyes as she sniffed on the smell. Her feet automatically take each step as her lips started curving upwards. She is unconsciously brought by her feet in the kitchen and as soon as she opened her eyes, she is welcomed by the sight of Irene expertly flipping the pancakes in a pan.  She stayed still in her place, letting the image of Irene be etched in her memory. Her head started tilting to the sight in obvious fascination and her stomach started feeling funny. Like a tornado has been brewing on her insides.

It has been so long since Irene prepares food. For the last 3 years, she always entrusted cooking to the maids that they hired as soon as they got married. Well, that was mainly for Seulgi as most of the time her meals are taken outside of the house, either in the office or some fancy restaurants. But upon remembering how Seulgi was always picky with her breakfast, often preferring cereals and pancakes, she decided to personally prepare the latter’s meal. As soon as Seulgi went to the bathroom to take a shower, Irene went down to the kitchen and saw the maids preparing the usual traditional Korean breakfast they also do for Seulgi before. It consists of rice, soup and other Korean side dishes which are not very child-friendly in her opinion. So she instantaneously asks the maid to just save the food for later and just prepare some cereals for the child-like girl. But to her dismay, the house doesn’t have any cereals at all. She is debating whether to ask the maids to prepare the pancakes but knowing that Seulgi always prefers her own version when they were younger, she just asks them the prepare the ingredients for her. the maids look at her questioningly as it is the first time that they see Irene in the kitchen and will be cooking at that but they know enough not say it out loud. Once the ingredients are prepared, she just asked all of them to leave her alone and do any other household chores they need to do. She started working on the pancakes with precision and efficiency. She smiled knowing that her cooking skills did not dwindle. It took her just about half an hour to make a batch enough to feed about three or four people, but knowing Seulgi’s appetite she can finish it all.  Once she is on the last pieces of pancake and sensing her wife staring at her,  she called out to the girl.

“Seulgi, I’m almost done here. Why don’t you seat down first so we can eat after this last batch?” 

Seulgi obeyed like a cute little puppy that she is (as of the moment). Irene put the last pieces of pancake on a plate and sits down beside Seulgi’s chair. The younger began munching on her pancakes filled with chocolate syrup straightaway while Irene eats hers with gusto. She also started sipping her café latte which she drinks every morning. Usually, she has Joy buy her the drink every morning but since she is staying at home, she just asked her secretary to have it delivered to her hence the presence of the drink. The two ate in silence aside from the occasional hum of excitement coming from Seulgi before she pops the fork containing the pancakes in . Irene finished hers and is just silently watching the younger girl eat like she is devouring the most delicious plate of dessert. It sends a warm thug at her heartstrings upon seeing Seulgi’s childish antics. How it makes her hearts swell witnessing that huge innocent smile coming from her wife. It has been so long since she saw the younger girl happy- truly happy. She might smile whenever they are in the eyes of the public but that smile never reaches her eyes. Unlike now, her eyes sparkle like the brightest star in the sky and it is truly a magnificent sight.

Due to her musings, Irene did not notice how Seulgi is already finished with her meal and is also staring back at her. Seulgi is staring curiously at her and by the time Irene is brought back, the former spoke.

“Unnie... why does my heart feels funny when I’m with you. There is a tornado in my stomach whenever I see u smile. I want to hug you because u make me feel warm. What does this mean Unnie?”  Irene gets spooked by Seulgi’s words. She tried to find any hint of malice or lies but Seulgi’s brown orbs showed none. In fact, there it’s like a shadow has been cast in it that she cannot even read the emotions they portrayed.

She was supposed to answer but then Seulgi leaned closer to her. She got petrified and in just a second, the younger’s face is just a few centimeters from hers. Seulgi inched closer and in just a snap, she felt Seulgi’s thumb wipe her lips. Then Seulgi puts the same thumb inside - tasting it. The action made Irene’s system shut down in a snap. Her mind went to overload.

Kang

Seulgi

 just

 kissed

 her

indirectly…

It was just a second but she felt fireworks blasting in her system. Her stomach churned and she heard explosions on her ears. Her heart did summersaults in her chest and her whole body become rigid and felt like burning. Her eyes widen and she saw how Seulgi’s face get farther from hers and soon the distance between their face widen a little bit but still considered close. Seulgi made a disgusted expression and what she heard made her almost fall form her chair.

“Why do you drink that thing Unnie? Coffee tasted so bitter. I just tasted the foam on your lips but it tastes disgusting.”

“D-Did you just do that to taste the coffee-e?” Irene stuttered a bit and she saw how Seulgi beams her a smile.

“There is foam on your lips earlier and I remembered that drama I saw the nurse watching in the hospital. I saw how the guy used that to taste the coffee from the girl’s lips so I just copied it. Plus I also got curious about the taste of coffee so there. Why Unnie is that a bad thing?”

“The words you said earlier… is it also from that drama?” Irene’s face fell when Seulgi nodded furiously.   She tidied her plate and is about to stand up from her seat when Seulgi spoke again.

“But I do mean it Unnie... I mean it when I said that you made me feel like that.” Seulgi then stood up and picked up her plates then proceeded to put them in the sink like she did not say the words that made Irene stoned. She then skipped merrily into the living room, unaware of how she made Irene Kang a mess- an emotional mess to be exact.

***

Joy and Wendy arrived in the mansion and are led to Irene’s office. After the fiasco that happened earlier, Irene composed herself and tried to put her mask again despite how difficult it is. She asked Seulgi to just play in her own room first while she talks with Wendy and Joy. She asked the maid to gave the girl some papers and crayons to use in drawing. 

As soon as they are situated in the office, Irene immediately fires the tasks and questions she has for the two.

“Joy can you give a memo to the Board of Directors that I will be working until 6 pm only. I need to be here earlier for Seulgi. Then I will just be working on weekdays. Just sort out the tasks that I can do at home and needed immediate attention.” After the incident with Seulgi that morning, Irene decided to pay close attention to her wife. She tried to lessen the amount of time she spent in the office and be with Seulgi instead. She knows that it is not god fr heart but she needed to do it.  Of course, she can easily hire someone to do it for her but the way Seulgi acted that morning made her decide to be more attentive to the girl instead. Sure Seulgi might look fine on the outside, except for the fact that she has a mind of a child, but Irene guessed that Seulgi developed some kind of trauma that can be triggered anytime. She wanted to make sure that Seulgi will be a hundred percent okay first and she will be with the girl to achieve it. He just needed no to be close t