Seulgi woke without opening her eyes. Though it was admittedly the best rest she’d had in a while, she still felt tired. Opening her eyes just seemed like too much at the moment, and so she shifted a little, intending to sleep a little longer. When she rolled to readjust, something uncomfortable wedged itself between the bed and her back, forcing her eyes open. 

The first thing she realized was that she was not in her tent. She took a second to look around, slowly remembering the previous day’s events. Then she spotted the offending object. 

Irene had fallen asleep on a chair beside her, her body slouched down to the arm rests and her legs resting partly on Seulgi’s bed. Her feet were right where Seulgi had intended to move, her ankle digging into Seulgi’s spine. A blanket was falling halfway off her lap onto the floor.

Seulgi would’ve gasped in surprise, except the pain medication had worn off and breathing was again a literal pain in her side. The night's events rushed back, and remembered being lulled to sleep by Irene’s caresses.

She pushed herself up as quietly as possible, trying to avoid waking Irene. Seulgi took a moment to watch the doctor, how even though her head was lolling and her body awkwardly positioned, she still looked beautiful. 

Why did she sleep like that? Seulgi wondered. There had to be another bed somewhere.

With the blanket nearly on the ground, Seulgi intended to redrape it over Irene. This time, however, she wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. She wasn’t even going to look in the general area of Irene’s midsection. She kept her eyes deliberately averted, groping on the floor for the blanket until she found it. Then she cautiously tried to place the blanket over the other woman’s shoulders, her head tilted at an awkward angle. She did the best she could, and knowing that she was getting dangerously close to Irene’s pouty lips, she kept her vision squarely on the tent ceiling. 

Her already thundering heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she heard Yeri hiss from the doorway.

“What are you doing?!” 

Seulgi’s vision refocused on the girl in the entranceway.

“I’m putting the blanket back on her!” Seulgi whispered.

“Really?” Yeri whispered back. “Cause it looks like you’re trying to get in the hashtag cookie jar!” She made a crude hashtag with her fingers that vaguely resembled a gang sign.

“I’m not!” Seulgi replied hotly, “I just don’t wanna look at the--” Seulgi left the word unsaid, instead using a cocked eyebrow to tell Yeri exactly what she was avoiding.

“Oh,” Yeri rolled her eyes, as she mouthed silently, “You’re an indian.” 

Or she could’ve been mouthing, “You’re an idiot,” Seulgi wasn’t sure, she was never very good at lip reading. Yeri scoffed one more time at Seulgi and left.

Her distraction finally gone, Seulgi continued her awkward, blind lean-and-drop, draping the blanket onto Irene’s shoulders. Finally finished, she glanced at the doctor to make sure she was still sleeping. What she found were two impossibly deep brown eyes staring back at her, and the smallest of smirks accompanying them.

“Oh,” was all Seulgi could manage. She was so close to Irene’s face. Her eyes flickered between brown eyes and red lips and back up again. 

Her heart had stopped racing. No, this time it was beating slowly, every thump loud and clear in her chest, like a steady marching drum, giving her mind a beat to latch on too. Her gaze shifted down again to Irene’s lips and saw they had parted slightly.

How easy it would be if Seulgi just leaned forward and pressed her lips against---

She straightened up, giving an awkward cough. “Your uh, your blanket fell off, and I, uh, I was putting it back on you.”

“I saw,” Irene nodded, like nothing was amiss, “thank you.”

A dense silence followed; it seemed Irene was waiting for Seulgi to make a move. So Seulgi did what she did best in mushy situations.

She left. Walked right out of the tent and to the mess hall.

“Did you really do that?” Yeri said as she rubbed her face. They were in the helicopter now, heading back to the main camp. “You’re hopeless, Slowgi.”

Seulgi shrugged her shoulders in wordless indifference. Yeri was right after all. What could Seulgi do? Her chest thundered like a stampede whenever she was around Dr. Bae, but the woman’s heart beat for someone else. So Seulgi was stuck in Second Lead Limbo, pining after the main girl of the story while she loved someone else.

Yeri seemed to sense her need for separation, and let her sit in silence for the remainder of the ride. Thankfully, Irene had left on another chopper soon after the incident for administrative reasons, leaving Seulgi to brood over it alone.

“There it is,” Yeri said as they approached the main compound. “Good ol’ SM Town. Never thought I’d be excited to see it again.”

“SM Town?” Seulgi asked. “When did we start calling it that?”

“Ever since Suho beat Minho at rock-paper-scissors and got to put his name first. Otherwise we’d have MS Town.”

“Irene didn’t want to play?”

“Oh, she already won. This was the consolation prize.”

“What was first place?”

“Getting to sit next to you on the helicopter ride over.”

“What?!” Seulgi choked.

“Ahahaha,” Yeri chortled. “You should see your face right now!”

Seulgi pinched the younger girl. “Explain yourself!”

“Calm down,” Yeri pushed Seulgi away. “It was a joke. First place was showering first everyday.”

“So?”

“So there’s only ever enough hot water for one person.”

“Oh. I didn't even now we had hot water.”

“Yeah exactly.” Yeri crossed her arms. “Much better prize than you.”

“Yah!” Seulgi shouted with a shove.

Joy pulled both Seulgi and Yeri into a group hug as soon as she saw them. 

“I was so worried! Well, not like too worried, just a little worried, but I am so glad you guys are alive!” 

“Ohkay, it’s good to see you too,” Yeri grimaced as she slithered out of the embrace. “I’m hungry, let’s eat.” Without another word, she headed for the mess tent.

“Thanks.” Seulgi let go of Joy and smiled.

“How are you? They told me you fell out of a helicopter.”

Seulgi frowned. “I wish they wouldn’t make me sound so incompetent. I was rappelling down to lighten the helicopter.”

They walked into the mess tent, following after the youngest.

“Why did you even do that?” Joy asked with concern. “That’s so dangerous.”

“I just wanted to help,” Seulgi shrugged, sitting across from Yeri. “You know me.”

“I do know you,” Joy replied with a shake of her head. “Carpe die or diem. ”

“Also to impress Dr. Babe,” Yeri stated matter-of-factly.

“Her name is Dr. Bae,” Seulgi corrected.

“Or that,” Yeri agreed, unconcerned. “She could be your bae or babe, I think you could call her either.”

“She is a Bae,” Seulgi said, ears turning red.

“Yeah, I know,” Yeri nodded. “Irene the bae.”

“No,” Seulgi said hotly, “Dr. Irene is a Bae.”

“That’s what she just said,” Joy chimed in, casually waving a hand. “No one’s arguing with you on that one, but you also haven’t argued against Yeri’s accusation that you jumped out of a helicopter to impress a girl.” She fixed Seulgi with a cheeky smirk.

“I--”

The tent flap opened and a familiar blonde head of hair entered, distracting all three from their topic.

“Wendy!”

“Wendy unnie!”

Dr. Son grinned at the trio and walked over. Her hand was in a blue cast, but she looked no less worse for the wear. She walked over to Seulgi and opened her arms wide.

“What?” Seulgi looked at her, perplexed.

“Stand up,” Wendy commanded, without explaining further. Seulgi did as she was told, and Wendy wrapped her arms around the other girl in a hug.

“Thank you so much for what you did. I barely even know you, but you risked your life for me. They told me you almost died, and you ended up saving my life. So thank you.”

Seulgi nodded in the other girl’s embrace, feeling a bit guilty as thoughts of Irene flashed in her mind. She pushed them away and focused on Wendy.

“You’re welcome,” Seulgi said honestly. “How’s your hand?” 

“Pretty good actually,” Wendy said as she sat down. “This little baby means I can’t help with the camp physicals.” She held up her casted hand.

“What’s the big deal about that?” Yeri asked.

“That means no DRE's for me,” she grinned.

“I don’t get it,” Seulgi said, confused.

“Normally this is where I explain what she’s missed, but I’m with Seulgi on this one,” Joy said. “I don’t get it.”

“Digital rectal exams,” Wendy explained.

“Ohhhhhh,” Joy nodded, before adding, “yeah no, that didn’t help. Sounds gross, but what’s the big deal if they’re digital? They’re just on a screen.”

“Oh no,” Wendy explained further. “Digital meaning digits.” She wiggled the fingers on her unbroken hand.

“Oh,” Joy said, eyes widening. “.”

Wendy nodded her head in a so-so manner, and shrugged, “Yeah, sometimes.” She turned to Seulgi.

“Anyway, enough about my pillow princess excuse, how are you? Since you fell out of a chopper?”

Seulgi groaned indignantly. “I did not fall out of a chopper. It was too heavy so I lowered myself off, but I didn’t have enough rope.”

“And that's when you fell?” Wendy asked.

Seulgi nodded.

“So you still technically fell out of the chopper?” Joy asked.

Seulgi looked from left to right, every set of eyes had the same look, saying, , you fell out of a chopper. Seulgi wondered when Wendy had joined the Maknae Line to gang up on her.

“Technically,” she acquiesced.

“And you broke a rib?” Wendy asked, wincing.

“Yeah, that really, really hurt, and I had to walk back to camp.”

“Jeeeeezus,” Joy grimaced. “127 hours Ddeulgi, ladies and gents.”

Wendy nodded, and said, “Joohyunnie told me that you looked terrible when you got back to camp--”

“She looked like ,” Yeri confirmed.

“--and she had to give you some strong pain killers just so you could breathe.”

“Yeah,” Seulgi nodded, “she gave me enough to last until the pain subsides. Please tell her thank you for me. I haven’t really been able to thank her properly.”

“Not for lack of trying,” Yeri muttered, which earned her a kick under the table.

Suddenly, Seulgi’s inner masochist felt its need to be known, and she then said, “Irene was really worried about you, you know. I’ve never seen her look so emotional before.”

“Hmm,” Wendy hummed, “yeah I kind of expected it. Especially since she told me to get on the chopper. I told her it wasn’t her fault, but she’s so stubborn, she never listens. Just puts all the blame on her shoulders.” Wendy shook her head and laughed.

Seulgi was a little irked. She’d seen Irene on the verge of a breakdown, wracked in guilt because she thought Wendy had died, and here said woman was, almost flippantly disregarding her feelings.

“Well, of course she’d be worried,” Seulgi said with a rare flare of anger, “I’d expect any girlfriend to be worried.”

There was an uncomfortable pause. No one moved. Wendy broke the silence.

“Girlfriend?” The blonde's eyes were wide as saucers, pointing a finger at her own chest. “You think me? And Joohyun? Dating?”

Then Wendy erupted in laughter. Aghast, Seulgi looked at her other two companions for answers. Joy was rolling her eyes and Yeri was shaking her head with pursed lips. Finally, Wendy came up for air, her eyes red with tears.

“Oh haha,” she said as she wiped her eyes, “I guess I could see how that would happen, but no, Joohyunnie and I are just best friends. We’ve known each other since we were children. I’m sure you probably noticed, but she doesn’t take to new people well. But once you get in her friend circle, you’re in there like swimwear.”

“Oh,” Seulgi said, mind blanking. “Sorry, I guess I just assumed, since you said you loved her and you call her Joohyunnie. I thought that was like a special name for her.”

“Oh no no,” Wendy waved off. “Her real name is Bae Joohyun. She only adopted Irene when she started to work internationally. White people can’t seem to say her name.”

“You mean Trump,” Joy said, not posing it as a question.

“I mean Trump,” Wendy nodded in affirmation. 

“Is that racist?” Seulgi asked. “If we say white people?”

“He mocked our accents,” Joy shrugged. “I figure we’re more or less even now.”

“Caucasians would be the PC term,” Yeri added, “and in this case, I think I’d agree that he’s quite the , but not an asian.”

When the other three just stared at her, she shrugged, “Yeah sorry, I don’t know where I was going with that.”

“So you guys aren’t going out?” Seulgi asked, dragging the conversation back for her morbid curiosity. “She called you ‘My Seungwan,’ and you just casually say ‘I love you’ to her.”

“Nope,” Wendy shrugged. “She’s a little possessive so she’s been calling me her Seungwan ever since Eric Nam stole me away to be his science fair partner in the fourth grade.” She whispered behind a hand, in a very mocking attempt at concealing a secret, “Also, I’m pretty greasy.”

“Greasy?” 

“Y’know, cheesey, bawdy, lascivious, whatever you wanna call it. I quote Titanic lines and sing Can You Feel the Love Tonight at random moments. Like this.”

Wendy clasped Joy’s hand to her chest, and with the utmost conviction, blubbered, “I’ll never let go Joy, I’ll never let go.” She added an extra sob for seasoning.

Rather than play along like Seulgi expected, Joy snatched her hand back. She shyly tucked her hair behind her ear as a faint blush crept up her cheeks.

“Wait,” Wendy held up a finger, distracted yet again. Her eyebrows suddenly furrowed. “Is that why you did the Armageddon thing? Cause Irene was crying cause I might die and you thought we were dating?”

“Ah--” Seulgi didn’t know how to respond.

“We thought it was to impress Irene,” Yeri said, pointing at thumb between Joy and herself, “but your theory sounds more like Seulgay here.”

“Damn girl,” Wendy saluted, impressed. “That is some Captain America-level nobility.”

“She’s definitely the noble pabo of our group,” Yeri agreed.

Wendy slapped a hand on the table, making everyone jump. “Okay, here’s what we're gonna do. Since you’re into Joohyunnie--”

Seulgi started to protest. “I’m not--” 

“Shhhh,” Joy cut her off. “Everyone here knows it, so just be quiet.”

Seulgi shrunk back into her seat.

Wendy picked up where she left off. “So since you like Joohyunnie, I’m gonna be your wingwoman.” She clicked her tongue.

“You’re going to what?” Seulgi asked dumbfounded.

“I’m going to help you woo Joohyun.”

“Why?”

“Because you fell--”

“In love?” Yeri supplied.

“No, because she fell out--”

“Jumped--” Seulgi corrected.

“--of a helicopter for her,” Wendy finished. “I think you at least deserve a shot. And who better to help you than her best friend?” She beamed proudly, crossing her arms.

“I like this idea,” Joy grinned. “What could go wrong?”

Seulgi wasn’t sure if that was sarcasm or not.

Wendy had a lot of ideas, but that wasn't very surprising to Seulgi; she was Irene's best friend after all. Wendy coached her in techniques she could use to entice Dr. Bae. They put the first one to the test the next morning.

“Okay, so you gotta be cool," Wendy had said. "You wanna get in there and just be the ." 

"Right," Seulgi nodded, "the ." 

“Swag,” Wendy said as she moved about, dancing to a reggae beat that didn’t exist. 

“Swag,” Seulgi nodded in understanding, mimicking the other girl. 

Wendy flipped up the hood on her sweater. "Do it like this…" 

Irene was in the breakfast line, sliding her tray along as she picked out food. Wendy shoved Seulgi towards her, along with a few words of encouragement. 

"Okay, just like we practiced. You got this, Seul."

Right. 

Be cool. Be confident. Like we practiced. 

She pulled her hood over her head and hiked the sleeves up a little, doing her best oppa impersonation. Her palms were sweaty, but she calmly grabbed a tray and slid up next to Irene.

Though initially surprised, upon realizing who it was, the doctor gave a dazzling smile in greeting. 

"Hi Seulgi," she said brightly.

Seulgi had to resist every urge in her body that wanted to yell back, "Hello!" with a big grin on her face. That wasn't how she was coached.

Swag. 

Instead, she gave a noncommittal response, like she was too cool to be there.

"Mmm," she said, with a lazy flick of her head. It felt terribly awkward, so unlike her usual self, and she looked to Wendy for reassurance. The blonde girl was hiding behind the drink fountain, giving Seulgi a very enthusiastic two thumbs up. So the photographer continued.

"Irene," she muttered in a low voice. She stumbled a bit over the next words. "I, uh-I gotchu today. Th-this one's on me." She put the apple she was holding on Irene's tray and clicked her tongue, giving her best haughty sneer. 

"Oh, okay," Irene replied with wide eyes, clearly bewildered. "But these were already free," she stammered. 

"Uh, right," Seulgi said, feeling very dumb now. She turned around and walked away, leaving her breakfast tray and a confused Irene completely behind.

She didn't notice Yeri and Joy sniggering in the corner. 

“Okay, that didn’t go as well as I had hoped,” Wendy admitted. “But don’t worry, we have a lot more tricks up our sleeve.”

Seulgi nodded with commitment, fully invested in Wendy’s plans.

“Right, so Joohyunnie is probably feeling a bit out of sorts after the whole helicopter ‘incident’ this week,” Wendy made air quotes, “and you’ve left her hanging twice, so you’re gonna have to be extra charming.”

“Yeah,” Seulgi nodded vigorously, “I can be charming.”

“Okay, now practice this.” Wendy leveled her gaze at Seulgi, dropping her chin just a bit to give off a detached vibe. Hand on her hip, she sneered, “I won’t accept it, you’re mine.”

“Whoa,” Seulgi clapped, “so cool!”

“Right?” Wendy said with bright eyes. “Now you try.”

Seulgi maneuvered herself into position, pouting her lips in what she thought was an aloof manner. “I won’t accept it, you’re mine.”

“Not bad,” Wendy said as she circled Seulgi, “but you’re too happy. Be a little more serious. We gotta show Joohyunnie you’re not joking.”

Seulgi tried again, lowering her gaze almost into a squint, one side of tilting up into a scoff. “I won’t accept it, you’re mine.” 

“Whoa,” Wendy said, fake swooning with a hand on her forehead. “That’s it.”

“So when do I say this?” 

“You’ll know the moment,” Wendy said confidently. “Wait til you’re alone with her. I’m sure after these last few days, she’ll be stressed out about the expedition and you’ll be perfect to reboost her energy.”

Reassured from Wendy’s coaching session, Seulgi strutted confidently around the compound, intending to use her free time to touch up some images. Her traitorous stomach had other ideas though. Nearly at her tent, her stomach let loose a loud growl to remind her that she had left her breakfast at the altar and was now threatening to skip lunch. She detoured to the mess tent instead.

Five minutes later, she emerged happily, arms full of fruits and sandwiches, which she would munch on as she sat at her computer. Halfway across the yard, a voice called out to her.

“Kang Seulgi!”

She turned in the direction of the voice, and saw her current favorite (and simultaneously least favorite) person rushing to catch up to her.

“Hey,” Irene said when she was beside Seulgi.

“Hi,” she replied sheepishly, dropping an orange in the process.

“Are you okay?” Irene picked up the fallen fruit.

Seulgi nodded mutely.

“You just left in the middle of breakfast without a word.” Irene cocked her head. “You’ve been acting a bit strange. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I-uh,” Seulgi struggled to find the words to explain what she did without flat out lying. “I uh, got confused, and I had to talk to Wendy about something. I think I’ve also been kind of stressed out lately,” she said as she scratched the back of her head. That last bit was definitely not a lie.

“I understand,” Irene nodded sympathetically. “The past few days have been quite a rollercoaster. 

“Wendy mentioned that you might be feeling a bit stressed out too.”

“Yes,” Irene nodded with a deep sigh. “Leading this medical team isn’t the easiest job in the world, but I think I’m managing okay. Thank you for asking.” She gave Seulgi a small smile that could light up Seoul. 

“Seulgi-ya,” Irene said after a couple of moments, “is it okay if I call you that? I’d like to think that we’ve become close enough to be a bit more casual.”

“Yes, I’d like that,” Seulgi shyly smiled, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be haughty. “With one condition though.”

“Hmm?”

“May I call you Joohyun?”

Irene’s lips slowly turned upwards into a soft smile and she said, “Of course.”

“Bae Joohyun,” Seulgi tried it out, liking the way it flowed off her tongue. "Bae Joohyun."

“Yes, Seulgi-ya?”

“When you get overwhelmed or stressed, you can always talk to me. Joy and Yeri say I’m boring, but sometimes that’s helpful if you want to vent.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Irene chuckled behind her hand, “Thank you.”

Seulgi nodded with an eye smile.

“What do you do for fun? Or to relieve stress?” Irene asked.

“Me?” Seulgi pondered it for a bit. “I like to listen to music or draw, sometimes I’ll play video games.”

Irene perked up. “What video games?”

“Oh anything,” Seulgi shrugged. “I’m pretty good at most of them.”

Irene fell quiet again, silently chewing on her fingernail. Seulgi was about to ask her if something was wrong before she spoke up.

“What are you doing tonight? Do you want to come over to my tent and hang out?”

Oh? Hang out at Irene’s? She’s asking me over? 

Seulgi’s brain was struggling, having to shift gears from first to fifth. 

“Sure!” she practically shouted, before she remembered she was supposed to be aloof and all anime tsundere. 

“Sure,” she repeated, a lot more calmly. Despite the calm facade, she was internally panicking. Their conversation was about to end and she hadn’t yet used the phrase she practiced with Wendy.

“You’ll know the moment,” Wendy’s voice echoed in her head .

“Perfect,” Irene clapped her hands, “I have Mario Kart and Mario Party and we can play some. I’m probably the best player in this entire compound.”

“Uh, okay,” Seulgi replied distractedly. Should I say it now? She didn’t even hear Irene's next words.

“So, let’s see,” Irene said with a thoughtful finger on her chin, “why don’t we say 8:30? It’ll be after all the meetings and dinner.” She added jokingly, “You’re goin’ down, Seulgi-ya.”

Better now than never. 

Seulgi squared her shoulders and focused her gaze on Irene. With a sneer, she nearly growled out the words to Irene, “I won’t accept it. You’re mine.”

Irene looked shocked for a second, before leveling her stare at Seulgi. “Oh really?” she scoffed. “We’ll see.” Then she a heel and was walking away. She stopped after a moment. “Tell Joy and Yeri to come. I’ll bring Seungwan. I want them to see this.” Then she continued on.

To see what? Seulgi thought for a moment, before she realized that Irene had asked her over. Wendy’s plan had worked. She nearly skipped to the medical tent, dropping her food a couple more times. When she found the other woman, she pulled her into a hug.

“You did it! You did it! She asked me over to her place!” 

Wendy’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head, and in a second, they were jumping around in a big circle hug.

“Tell me what happened,” Wendy shouted when they had calmed down a bit. Seulgi recanted the story, and with each passing sentence, the blonde’s smile fell further and further until she was aghast in horror.

“No no no no no,” Wendy fretted, pacing in a circle. “This is bad. This is very, very bad.”

“I don’t understand,” Seulgi frowned. “How is this bad? She asked me to come over. I don’t like that she invited everyone else, but at least it’s a start.”

“This is bad because Joohyun is competitive at Mario Kart. Like she’ll flat your tires in a race competitive. Like Houston Astros sign-stealing competitive. Like take a knife to Nancy Kerrigan competitive. Like--”

“I got it, I got it,” Seulgi said. Her fingers pulled at her face. “But what am I gonna do? I’m dead meat. I already agreed.”

“Obviously, you have to go, and so do I.” 

Seulgi nodded.

“And you have to bring Joy and Yeri. You’re gonna need backup, or at least someone else Joohyun won’t mind beating into the ground.”

Seulgi shivered. What had she gotten into?

“And,” Wendy added. “We’re gonna have to practice some more.”

Seulgi swallowed nervously as she followed the other woman into the tent.

"Uh, Yeri and Joy are on their way," she said, wanting to break the nervous tension in the air. 

"Mm," Irene replied. "Seungwannie is coming back with snacks as well." She seemed oblivious to Seulgi's fidgeting.

Seulgi stood in the middle of nowhere, somewhere between an austere-looking couch, a small flat screen TV, a cot and a table. Unsure of what to do, she stood still, waiting for the doctor to direct her. When Irene spotted her standing like an out of place lamp, she laughed.

"Sit down silly," she gestured. "We can play a round before everyone else gets here."

Seulgi sat on the couch and Joohyun followed, sitting next to her. She handed Seulgi a controller and the TV. The game started up, blasting their ear drums as the volume was unbearably high. After the initial shock wore off, Irene quickly looked around for the remote. 

“There!” she shouted to Seulgi, pointing somewhere to the left, but Seulgi couldn’t see the object she was looking for. 

“There!” Joohyun pointed again, yet Seulgi still had no idea where it was. Finally giving up, Irene put a hand on Seulgi’s knee and leaned over to grab it herself.

Before she realized what she was doing, Seulgi had looked down at the woman nearly laying across her, and she spotted an offending piece of lingerie peeking out of her shorts.

Oh no. 

Seulgi inadvertently froze, stiffening up as she saw yet another piece of Joohyun’s intimates. 

Irene had already adjusted the volume and was pushing herself off of Seulgi. Noticing the other girl’s face getting blue, she asked, “Are you okay? You look weird.”

“Orange is my favorite color!” Seulgi gasped, immediately wanting to slap her herself. 

“Wow, that was really out of nowhere, but I’ll keep that in mind for later.”

Damnit, Seulgi chastised herself. She was supposed to be calm and collected, but that was always the last thing she ever was around the doctor. It seemed like she was always set to blubbering imbecile by default. 

Seulgi drew in a couple of deep, slow breaths to steady herself. Now that her pulse had settled from the Frantic range down to just Panicked, she resumed her original task: wooing Joohyun.

“Unnie has the prettiest hair,” Wendy had said, as if Seulgi didn’t already learn that in the first five seconds of meeting the doctor. “A lot of times it falls in her face or gets in her way. You can be super suave and brush it back for her.” 

The blonde swept a hand under Seulgi’s chin, brushing her collarbone as she swept the latter’s hair back. 

“Ohhh,” Seulgi nodded, “that's so smooth!” 

“And don’t forget to wink when you do it!” 

They started the first race, Joohyun picking Princess Peach and Seulgi selecting Yoshi. The doctor quickly took the lead, never relenting as she held onto first for the entire race. Seulgi would’ve been impressed if she weren’t so distracted.

Irene’s cheering startled her; Seulgi hadn’t even noticed the race ended. The other woman was dancing in front of her, taunting her.

“Who owns who now?” Irene jeered, firing off imaginary pistols at Seulgi.

Seulgi didn’t know what to say. Between figuring out when to brush Joohyun’s hair back and this newly exposed boisterous Joohyun, Seulgi was at a loss for words.

Before she realized it, another race had started, and just like the one before, the other woman took the lead. Seulgi raced comfortably in fourth place, deciding that at the end of the third lap, she would use The Sweep. 

As Irene was nearing the end of the final lap, Seulgi looked over. The doctor’s face was scrunched in concentration, brow furrowed as she maneuvered the character to victory. Her hair was in slight disarray, falling a little haphazardly in her face. It was beautiful. She almost forgot her original intention.

“Joohyun?” 

“Hm?” she responded, not breaking eye contact with the screen now that victory was so close. Seulgi scooted a little closer, a move imperceptible to the other woman. The photographer slowly reached a hand out and pushed the hair out of Irene’s face, gently brushing her neck as well.

Whatever Seulgi expected, it wasn’t what actually happened. Maybe she expected a flustered Joohyun and a few seconds of , or maybe a coy Joohyun who looked at Seulgi with half-lidded eyes. What she didn’t expect was a startled Joohyun who flailed her arms in surprise and whacked Seulgi on the nose with her controller.

“Owwww,” she lamented, pinching the bridge of her nose, feeling hot liquid running down.

“Hey, sounds like you guys started all the fun without --- OH MY GOD! ” Wendy shouted as she came into the tent, followed closely by Joy and Yeri. She knelt down beside Seulgi, who was nursing a bloody nose, and Joohyun, who looked ashamed.

“Alright, upsy daisy,” Wendy dragged Seulgi to her feet. “I’ll take care of this.”

“I can do it, Seungwan-ah.”

“I got it unnie,” Wendy said brightly. “You should get to know Yeri and Joy better.” She nodded her head at them.

A couple of minutes later they were in a nearby tent with the first aid kit.

“Hold that there and tell me what happened,” Wendy pressed some gauze to Seulgi’s bloody nose.

The latter shrugged. “I did what we practiced, but she was busy concentrating on the game and I guess I caught her off guard. She hit me in the face with the game controller.”

Wendy’s mouth formed a big O and she nodded in understanding. “Yeah, so I may have forgotten to mention that. She doesn’t like surprises. And she gets surprised easily.”

“I think I figured that out.”

“She doesn’t like loud things and I think sometimes she has super human hearing. Like I wouldn’t be surprised if she could hear us now.”

Seulgi’s eyes widened in shock. “You think so?” Her voice dropped to a whisper.

“I dunno,” Wendy whispered back. “Maybe? We should probably head back before they come and look for us.”

“I didn’t even get to use the wink,” Seulgi lamented. “I should also probably mention that I can’t wink.”

“Hey whatcha guys talking about?” Wendy said as they reentered the tent, Seulgi a step behind. She noticed Irene’s eyes narrowed as she watched the pair enter together, but when Seulgi looked back, her usual impassive expression was back.

“We were talking about you two,” Yeri answered.

“Us?”

“Yeah, how you guys are the new no-jam duo,” Joy said.

“We are totally yes-jam,” Seulgi said defensively. “Yup yup yup,” she said with a hand tutting motion.

Wendy nodded. “We got more jam than traffic in LA.” Joy and Yeri joined in on the tuttting chopping dance. “Yup yup yup.”  

“We got more jam than bread in a sandwich. "Yup yup yup.” This time Irene joined in and they all shared in the laughter.

“Oh yeah,” Yeri guffawed, “You guys are so jam. ”

“Uhm, Seulgi-ya?” Irene said quietly after the photographer reclaimed her seat.

“Yes?”

“I’m so sorry for hitting you. I get startled easily and--”

“Don’t worry about it,” Seulgi gave her biggest most convincing smile, even though it made her nose sting a bit. “I know it was an accident.”

“Are you okay though? I’d hate for it to have ruined your night.”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Seulgi reassured her.

Sensing Seulgi wasn’t lying, Irene finally broke out into a sly grin. “Great, because I’m going to show everyone in this tent that I can wipe the floor with you at Mario Kart.”

Seulgi only laughed.

They passed around the popcorn the trio brought, and started a new game of Mario Kart. Just as Seulgi expected, Joohyun placed first every race. After each victory, she hopped around gleefully, earning laughs from Wendy and Seulgi and baffled reactions from Joy and Yeri as they failed again to defeat her. Since Wendy’s hand was in a cast, she spent her time whispering encouragement to Joohyun and trying to distract the other three. She toppled over into Joy in one of her more vigorous attempts, taking out Yeri in the process. Seulgi couldn’t remember when she had laughed so much.

Thus far, Seulgi was batting zero in the Court Bae Joohyun sweepstakes. She glanced over towards the doctor, who happened to be looking back at her. Sitting on opposite sides of the room, their eyes connected. Seulgi was sure her pupils were quivering, but she held Joohyun’s gaze, unwilling to be the first to waver. Then, after a beat, those doe eyes blinked, and Joohyun’s face morphed into a big grin, eyes folding into little crescents, laughing at something Wendy said, yet still never breaking eye contact. Seulgi mirrored the smile.

In this game, Seulgi had no idea where she stood. Whether she was winning or losing, or even on the board. Sometimes she even wondered if she even knew what the end game was. But right now, she didn’t care. 

And that was alright.

A/N: Wendy is probably my favorite, and I have little doubt that were she to try set someone up, it would more or less go like this.

Rest up, after this the story is gonna get all Zimzalabim (I mean that in the sense that we'll be dropping off edge in that roller coaster, and you may be left wondering which way is up). The story might start to mirror current real events (COVID-19), but the idea for this story came from something completely different. It's just an unfortunate coincidence.