Run, Seulgi.

Run!

Nothing else mattered that time. Her mind was only thinking of not tripping, not be seen by any professors and to get at the dance room as fast as possible. She also apologized to a couple of students who got in her way, where she bumped her shoulders or almost shoved them aside.

It was like her mind and body was on autopilot, as her feet dashed towards the building where the dance room was situated. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins, making her forget that her body wasn't in the best shape to dash from one building to another.

There was no burn in her shins or in her lungs, and despite gasping for much needed air and her heart was pounding in her ears, she pushed herself to run a little faster.

Gods. Was the practice room always that far?!

After sprinting through a set of stairs, she finally saw the room's door and opened it with so much force that it banged against the wall and made some students jump which were standing a few feet away from her. But she didn't care as she roamed her eyes at the seemingly empty space.

She gasped and tried to catch her breath as she scanned the area once again.

Her mind was blaring and she thought that maybe Irene was sent to the office to be interrogated. She was about to turn her back when she saw a small figure hunched on the farthest corner of the room.

Her whole body relaxed a little upon seeing the woman. With slow and careful steps, she approached the figure so reminiscent of the one she saw on the cemetery not too long ago. When she was near enough, she made her shoes squeak against the floor to make her presence known and not worsen the agitation felt by Irene.

Seulgi swallowed before squatting beside her, a few good inches away from her. "H-Hey..."

Irene's sniffs and whimpers seemed to pause upon hearing her voice but after a second, she buried her head into her knees more. Her cries became louder.

"I-I'm done, Seulgi. I'll... I'll never-"

She hesitated extending her arm but her want to comfort Irene overcame her fear. She rested it on the latter's shoulder while patting it every now and then. 

Seulgi said nothing and let Irene cry. She could feel her still trembling under her arm, the cold skin against her warm sweaty one and the tensed muscle on her back and shoulders.

Irene whimpered again and shook her head. Her voice came out muffled due to her position so she leaned closer to hear her clearly.

"You don't understand. You-You don't." Her voice cracked and she shoved Seulgi away and removed her arm, letting it drop beside her body.

Squeezing herself more into the corner, Irene made Seulgi feel like she didn't want to be touched nor comforted by the latter.

Seulgi sighed and with a dull ache in her chest, she stood up. Her eyes lingered on Irene's figure, and after seeing Irene so happy for the past week and so different from her usual self, it broke Seulgi's heart to see her like this. 

She decided to try again... to offer some more comfort to her friend. She knew she should be crying too and sad and also feel devastated upon being caught but Irene's feelings came first.

Bending down once again, she reached to Irene's back when the latter flinched.

That hurt. She thought but there was nothing else she could do.

Seulgi retracted her arm and walked outside the room without fully closing the door. She fished her phone from her pocket, dialled Joy's number and wait for her to pickup without forgetting to glance once in a while at Irene.

But Joy wasn't picking up. When she was about to try again, she heard someone shout her name.

"Seulgi!"

She turned her head while pocketing her phone and saw a blonde hair dashing past the sea of loitering students.

When the familiar woman was infront of her with her resting her hands on both knees and her back hunched from heaving, she took her time to compose herself and inhale as much air as possible. "Where... is... she?"

Seulgi only gestured for the slightly opened door and Wendy nodded her head before laying a hand on her arm and squeezed it over so gently.

"Thank you."

She watched as Wendy took a very deep breath and walked towards Irene, without any precaution or hesitance. 

The word barely reached her ear but it doesn't matter as she watch her lips mutter, "Joohyun," 

After being called, Irene's head moved, slightly looking up to Wendy, who had an understanding smile plastered on her pretty face. A hand was then offered and Irene took no time to accept it. That was all it took for Irene to wrap her other arm around the blonde and cry on her shoulder.

It was wrong and intrusive to watch the two but Seulgi couldn't help but gape at the two woman inside the room, having little to no distance between their huddled bodies. Wendy kept muttering words of comfort and Irene only kept shaking her head and crying.

It was hard to look away but the hands holding each other and seeing Irene's head buried in Wendy's shoulder was what made her do so.

She should be glad that Irene was finally calming down but something heavy settled in the pits of her stomach and her hand clenched unintentionally.

Throwing a last glance at the two, she closed the door and stepped outside the room. She jerked a little when the pain in her palm worsen. 

She remembered the open palm being offered, it being accepted and those two clasped together tightly and probably wouldn't let go anytime soon.

Staring at her own slightly larger palm with crescent markings from her nails, she observed it for seconds before flexing and closing it numerous times.

There was a pang in her heart and questions in her mind which seemed silly at first but it had almost made sense to her if not for a slightly slimmer hand that slipped right above hers.

She jumped a little at the unexpected contact but the familiar scent and the ring situated on one of its fingers made her look up.

"Hi, big bear."

From being simply held, Seulgi decided to occupy the spaces between, weaving Eunae's lithe fingers with hers and gently squeezed it, thankful for the sudden comfort.

Caramel colored eyes greeted her once she looked up and Seulgi could see the worry that swirled in its depth... and something indistinguishable flashed in it before she could figure what it was.

She looked at their clasped hands and despite being considerably lessened, the pang inside her heart was still there... still buzzing and nagging.

Seulgi hummed as a reply.

"I heard what happened. Are you okay? Were you scolded?"

She shook her head. "No... How did you know?"

Eunae started to run her thumb across her knuckles in a comforting manner. "I was with Wendy when she received a call about... that."

"Oh."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Seeing her hesitation, Eunae tugged her arm and released her hand. She opened both her arms wide for a hug and Seulgi didn't think twice and let herself be enveloped by two arms that immediately closed on her body.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it." Eunae whispered.

She shook her head again and inhaled the younger's perfume. It smelled something fruity and sweet, tickling her nose a little bit but comforting nonetheless. With one last squeeze, she finally released herself from the hug and took Eunae's hand in her own. "Come with me?"

Smiling, Eunae nodded. "Where to?"

"Lisa."

She heard her hum and they walked quietly hand in hand. They received some stares and raised eyebrows and under normal circumstances, Seulgi would've released the hand and move a few feet further away from Eunae  but she was too occupied to care and Eunae said nothing else, leaving her to her tiny bubble as they proceeded to the Thai's building.

They asked around- well, Eunae asked around if they have seen the Thai. They thanked a group which pointed them to a specific room where they said that Lisa frequents. Upon reaching the said room, they spotted Jennie first who was patting another girl's back.

Moving a closer to the two, they realized that it was Lisa who had her face buried in both her hands.

Jennie sensed their presence and with a small nod, they went near the two.

Jennie tapped Lisa's back thrice, and muttered, "Lisa, Seulgi's here." 

Lisa straightened her back and removed her hands from her face and looked up to see Seulgi biting her lip. Her look lingered a second more on Eunae who was unfamiliar to her but stil offered them both a smile.

"How are you?" Seulgi started. 

Lisa looked down on her hands and sighed. "I'm fine. I don't know much about Irene, though."

Holding back herself from taking a deep breath, Seulgi nodded while her mind travelled back to the practice room.

She's not fine.

"Can I..." she hesitated, due to shame. "Can I ask what happened?"

Nodding, Lisa sighed again and looked at her sympathetically.  "We only have a week left, right?" Seulgi nodded even when Lisa wasn't looking at her. "With the tight schedule and all the delays we've encountered, Irene and I decided to have practice even when there were still classes."

"And Mrs. Lee?"

"I don't know what happened, Seulgi. It happened so fast. One moment we were practicing, then when I blinked, the door was opened and there was Mrs. Lee looking at the both of us with expressionless face."

She couldn't imagine the old smiley woman looking stoic and stern and that meant bad news. "She saw you two practicing?"

"I guess? We didn't realize that she was there or how many minutes she watched us before she knocked and cleared ."

"I see."

Lisa bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Seulgi."

She shook her head hastily to stop Lisa from apologizing further. "What? No. No. I should be the one apologizing, Lisa. If I was there then maybe we could've made up an alibi and save you both from trouble."

Lisa's shoulders slumped more and her heart thrummed agains