"Damn," she heard Jisoo mutter under her breath.

Seulgi looked behind her where Jisoo's gaze was and her brows immediately furrowed when she saw who was approaching their table.

She returned her gaze back to her food and felt her appetite dissipating. Twirling the pasta in her fork, she looked at Jisoo's expression which was turning grimmer and grimmer by the second.

"You can relax, you know." Seulgi murmured. Finally snapping her eyes back to Seulgi, Jisoo's eyes softened and she sighed.

"I just don't want to her complicate your life some more."

Seulgi gave a tight lipped smile and shook her head. She didn't want to tell Jisoo what happened but the moment felt too much at that time that she needed someone to talk to and she knew that her friend could offer her some peace of mind and guidance.

It was hard to explain things at first and she was hesitant to reveal the whole truth but after some assurance and Jisoo's understanding smile, the stories she kept for so long spilled like an opened dam. Her friend listened and kept quiet the whole time she was speaking but after she was done, Jisoo, as her usual self, vocalized her worries and became rather a bit... protective when it involves Irene and them.

After keeping the secret of what happened between her and Irene for so long, she could feel the burden and the guilt that she has been carrying on her shoulders feel lighter and her heart was grateful for having such a friend like Turtle Rabbit.

"Don't worry about it, Chu. Eunae and I talked about it and we-"

"Seulgi."

Both their eyes shifted towards the girl who sported a smile similar to Seulgi's. Unsure and tight lipped. "Can I talk to you?"

"Have you not had enough, Irene?" Jisoo butted in before Seulgi can reply.

"I'm not talking to you, am I?" Irene asked rather coldly.

Seulgi looked at both girls infront of her with a baffled expression. The hostility in both tones made her question if there was something mote going on between the two that she didn't know about, something different from her problem with Irene and Jisoo's protectiveness.

"Do you see me giving a crap?" Jisoo said with a roll of her eyes. "Stay away from Seulgi."

"Oh man, I didn't know Seulgi has a nanny now." Irene jeered. "But shouldn't you have one as well? Since you're acting so childish right now and all."

Jisoo stood in her seat and Seulgi knew that meant business so before the two can throw whatever it was on their table, she quickly stood up and faced Irene. "Let's go have that talk."

She then turned to Jisoo and gave her a curt shake of the head, silently telling her to calm down and don't make a scene. "Tell Eunae I'll be back."

Jisoo looked at her with wide eyes before huffing and going back to her seat. Despite the words that she uttered were meant for Seulgi, Jisoo's eyes didn't leave Irene for a second. "Tell your own girlfriend that."

Not minding the sudden thump of her heart and the tremble of her hands, Seulgi fetched her things and walked away from the sulking Jisoo.

"Girlfriend, huh?"

Her body stilled for a second but pretended not to hear Irene and continued to walk despite not knowing where they'll go. Her mind drifted back to that night where everything seemed so messy and she couldn't help but sigh.

How did Seulgi find herself being pressed between her mother's car while another pair of lips gently nibbled on her own?

Everything was blank up until this point and she couldn't even remember how she got here when her mind was a mess and her conscious was slipping every now and then.

Her lips were released with a soft pop and both of them were breathing raggedly. They took their time to recover and fix themselves before they breathed deep to talk about it.

"Are you really asking me that?"

"Yes." No. She doesn't know.

Because in the dark lawn with only street lamps and the faint cast of the moonlight hanging overhead illuminating the space, she couldn't force herself to look at the awaiting face and tell her the truth.

But was what the truth, Seulgi asked herself. Why did she ask in that in the first place? Why was she here? Why was her lips tingled and her heart thumped when it wasn't this lips that was attacking her own?

Why was she so confused that in a mad desperation to convince herself, she blurted once she saw her emerge from the closed door, "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

The answer was staring at her right in the face and she just had to open her eyes to see it but... but her mind wouldn't allow her to move much less think.

She knew why. Oh gods, she knew but she didn't want to and she'd rather be clueless than battle her own thoughts and heart at something she knew could be catastrophic. The demons inside her head, she could imagine them laughing and telling her I told you so because there was a reason why a certain person plagued her mind...

And it wasn't because of hate anymore.

A sigh was heard in the almost silent space and she snapped her eyes towards Eunae.

"Seulgi,"

"Why? Can't I ask you to be my girlfriend?" She asked rather defensively.

Oh gods. This is all messed up.

Eunae feigned a sigh yet there was no mistaking of the smile creeping up her face and Seulgi didn't know whether to feel bad or relieved. 
"You're kinda sus."

"Sus?"

"It's from a game."

Seeing her confused expression, Eunae waved her hand dismissively and shook her head. "Nevermind. You won't even get it."

She fidgeted in her place and while biting her now swollen lips, she couldn't help but ask, "O...kay? So?"

"So what?"

"Your answer."

"Can't you be more romantic? Like ask me when were on a date or after we just finished a candlelit dinner? Or if we're on top of a ferris wheel overlooking the city?"

"You want that?" Seulgi started to count her savings inside her head and the probable expenses when she felt a nudge on her shoulder.

"I was just kidding, bear. But why so sudden?"

"Because..." she averted her gaze and took a shaky breath. "Because I don't want to wait anymore."

Wait for what? Again, she'd rather not know. It'll be less complicated if she'd act her usual clueless and stupid self. Right?

With her brow raised, Eunae studied her with a gaze she couldn't decipher which made her shift her weight from one foot to another. Seulgi kept cursing inside her head and kept slapping herself for this hasty decision.

.

.

.

After the thick silence with nothing but the chirp of the cicadas around them, Eunae finally nodded her head.

"Well then. Goodnight." Eunae pivoted on her heels and started to walk towards their door, which left Seulgi to just stare at the retreating figure.

She was about to open when Eunae turned with a silly grin on her face and an expectant look in her eyes and a hand extended infront of her. "Well?"

Seulgi gulped. "Well what?"

"Well, Kang seulgi, aren't you gonna walk your girlfriend to the door?"

Seulgi was snapped out of her reminiscing when she heard a low chuckle beside her. She looked at Irene with an unamused expression who in return only shook her head.

"Hey, Seulgi, I have a question."

Seulgi didn't mind her and continued to walk. She now know where they'll go based on the familiar path she used to trudge for a couple of times before.

Irene took her silence as a yes so she continued, "Do you end your friendship with people who you get into fights with?" She paused for a moment and put a finger on her temple, thinking. "Or like... I dunno, maybe a misunderstanding?"

"What are you talking about?" Seulgi mumbled, her tone was dead. She didn't want to add to her thoughts and questions and Irene wasn't helping with that.

"I need to know so... do you?"

"No."

Immediately after her answer, she felt her body stiffen once again when the sudden linking of arms took her by surprise.

She stopped walking and so did Irene. "What are you doing?" Seulgi hissed while trying remove her arm from the tight grip.

"I'm being your friend?"

"What?"

Irene looked at her with so much innocence that it was hard for her to stay mad but she held on and yanked her hand back.

Irene tried to link their arms again but she took a step back and created the distance she needed to keep her resolve from wavering.

The older only sighed when she failed for the skinship and crossed her arms on her chest. "We're still friends, aren't we? You said so yourself, you don't easily cut ties with those who you have misunderstandings with."

"You don't"

"I don't what? I don't fit in the category? It doesn't apply to me? Oh come on , Seulgi. It was a lapse of judgement, okay? I was drunk and... yeah. I do stupid things when intoxicated."

She let Irene ramble on without saying anything. She was skeptical but the Irene she knows wouldn't do something like this... instead she'll hold on to the grudge and make Seulgi's life worse by the rejection she suffered that night.

However, Irene seemed genuine with wanting to keep that night in the back of their heads and move past it as a drunken mistake.

A mistake.

She didn't want to but there was something that settled in the bottom of her stomach... something heavy and burdensome.

And she tried to dismiss it but it lingered on, making her question if she had really convinced herself or was just trying to force herself to believe that she did.

She didn't like to be remembered of her confusion that she held up an arm to interrupt her thoughts and Irene. "Stop."

Irene closed and sighed. "What I'm saying is, you don't have to be too stiff around me. I'm your friend, right? And besides," Irene nudged her using her shoulder. "You got yourself a girlfriend."

Seulgi decided to walk again towards the lovers corner and without her realizing it, she voiced out her thoughts, "She's acting kinda sus."

"Suspicious, you mean?" Irene who heard her laughed and shook her head when Seulgi's eyes widened a bit. "Yeah, I know what it means, Seul. I play the game too. But I'm not. Sus, I mean."

"Why?"

They finally reached the kiosk where they usually went to before and Irene sat down and fixed the tie of her white converse. After fixing both her shoes, she looked up with a smirk on her face. "Wow. Are you implying that I shouldn't be okay with you having a girlfriend? I didn't know your ego's kinda big, Seulgi. Omo."

Seulgi's face contorted in embarrassment and she blushed. "That's not-"

Irene laughed, clapping while doing so. Her voice echoed in the vast expanse of the place and Seulgi looked around to see if anyone heard it or was looking at them but thankfully, the place looked deserted enough.

"What you mean, I know. I was just pulling your leg." Dusting her pants, Irene sat straighter and leaned on the beam. "But I'm okay with it. I told you, I'm too old to play games, Seulgi. Believe it or not, I have matured. And I know a rejection when I see one, much less one that was blatantly shoved in my face."

Irene's eyes roamed the quiet place and settled on a bush to their left, her eyes didn't leave it when she spoke again. A small smile was on her lips.

"I know that it was a possibility when I went there. Why did you think I drank that night?" Her eyes momentarily fleeted towards Seulgi and back to the bush.

"I knew what I was getting into and the possibility of you and Eunae..." Irene shrugged and turned to her, Irene's eyes lingered on her lips before looking at her straight in the eyes. "Gotta admit though, you looked cool while saying you know where the door is while being sweaty and slightly panting. That's like a scene out of a kdrama right there."

Irene chuckled again but Seulgi didn't find it funny. She may