Later that night after everyone had their fill of fun at the beach festival, Seulgi walked back up to her room feeling completely content. The whole day had been fulfilling, from volunteering at the Pokémon shelter to finally getting to talk in-depth with Wendy. Even the volleyball game was fun, even though her team lost badly to Moonbyul, Solar and Joy. Irene, Wendy and Jihyo were amazing Pokémon Trainers, of that she had no doubt, but volleyball players they were not. Irene managed to get hit by the ball not once, but four times. The frustrated face she made though was one of the cutest things Seulgi had ever seen.

Moonbyul mentioned that if she wanted to relax before going to bed, the manor had a sauna on its grounds. Which of course it did because Moonbyul’s house had everything. Man, Solar was one lucky girl. Seulgi rifled through her suitcase, grabbing a bikini top and some comfortable cotton shorts along with a towel.

As luck would have it, the way down to the sauna took her past Irene’s room, so as she walked by she casually poked her head inside to see if the Champion had returned. She found Irene sitting on a chaise lounge outside on the balcony, staring up at the stars. Seulgi smiled and was about to turn and leave when Irene called to her. “I can see your reflection in the window.”

“Sorry, I was headed down to the sauna to relax before bed. This manor is ridiculous.” Seulgi placed her things by the door and joined Irene outside.

Irene snorted, “Yeah, it definitely takes some getting used to. I imagine Solar already talked to you about how she felt when she first met Byul.” She tilted her head back to take in the sight of the stars above her. The view was incredible, untainted by the light pollution coming from the city. Back at the Academy she was lucky if she managed to see even a few stars at night. “You enjoyed the festival?”

Seulgi nodded, “I did. My Vulpix and your Ninetales seemed to hit it off too, I was surprised.”

“Me too, normally my girl is pretty wary around other people and Pokémon. But then again she did become rather attached to you, so you learn new things everyday…Oh!” Irene turned and picked something up off the arm of the chaise lounge, giving it to Seulgi.

“A Heart Scale? You ended up buying it?” Seulgi turned the scale over in her hand, warmth spreading in her chest as she thought about Irene.

“I was going to buy it, but the lady ended up giving it to me for free. It’s for you, I figured after all that’s happened in the last month it’d be nice to maybe start over. I wasn’t the most welcoming roommate, and I said some things that I regret. Think of this as a peace offering.”

Seulgi’s mega-watt smile appeared on her face and Irene couldn’t help but smile in return. “It’s beautiful, Irene. Thank you. So…start over, you said?”

Irene nodded warily. “What are you thinking?”

Seulgi stood up and offered her hand to Irene. “Hi, I’m Kang Seulgi from Alola. I’m your new roommate.”

The older girl scoffed but took Seulgi’s hand. “Hi there Seulgi, I’m Bae Joohyun, Champion of the Kalos region. You can call me Irene.”

The two of them dissolved into giggles. “Okay that was a little stupid,” Seulgi said. “But I still liked it.”

“Seulgi?” Irene looked a little worried.

“Hmm? What’s up?”

“I really am sorry about how I treated you. It wasn’t fair of me to kick you out. Can you forgive me?”

Seulgi turned to Irene, still clutching the Heart Scale in her hand. “We started out rocky, I’ll admit. But there’s nothing to forgive. In a way, I’m glad things turned out how they did. If you hadn’t kicked me out the first night I never would have met Moonbyul.” She gestured to the entire room behind them. “And then we probably wouldn’t be here right now. Sometimes things happen for a reason.”

Irene sat back down. “You know maybe you’re right. And I’ll tell you one thing, Seulgi. You’re unlike any girl I’ve ever met before.”

Irene shifted over to one side of the chaise lounge and patted the space next to her. Seulgi sat down next to her and held the Heart Scale up to the stars. “To new beginnings then.”

Their hands were so close that they were almost touching, but neither girl had the courage to make the first move. So Irene simply settled for saying, “To new beginnings. And this time we’ll do it right.”

XXX

To start off their rekindled friendship, Seulgi invited Irene to go with her to the sauna, and the older girl agreed to join her. The two of them stood outside of the small sauna moments later, noticing that the power had already . Someone must already be in there. They thought nothing of it though and Irene gestured for Seulgi to make the first move.

Seulgi grabbed the door handle, and finding it unlocked she pushed it open. Relaxing sauna time here we…

There was a girly scream as she opened the door wide open and Jihyo jolted off Daniel’s lap as if she had been burned, trying to cover herself as Seulgi and Irene stared blankly at the couple. Daniel coughed in embarrassment as he reached for the towels and threw one to his girlfriend. Once everyone was decent the four of them just stood together awkwardly in the sauna as the steam billowed around them.

“So…let’s agree not to mention this to anyone, okay?” Irene broke the awkward silence.

“Mhm.”

“Yep.”

“Please.”

Seulgi cleared and tried her best not to stare at Jihyo’s chest. But wow, had she been blessed in that area. Irene must have noticed her expression, and she felt the other girl grab one of her hands and tug her towards the exit. “We’ll come back later then.”

Jihyo waved awkwardly at them as they left before collapsing on the sauna bench with her head in her hands. “That was mortifying.”

Daniel scooted closer to her. “But we’re alone now.”

Jihyo looked at him as if he had grown two heads. “You still want to…even after they came in?”

He tilted his head, signature grin on his face. “But this time let’s lock the door.”

Jihyo rolled her eyes and pulled her boyfriend in for a kiss. Time for attempt number two.

XXX

Episode 6: Realizations 

XXX

The next morning saw Seulgi blearily opening her eyes as the sun shone through the large window in her room, almost blinding her. Last night had been magical, and she wasn’t just talking about the beach festival. For the first time since she transferred to the Academy she felt as if things were truly, finally going her way.

She and Irene had returned to the older girl’s room to talk after thei