"So..." she started, her breathing was heavy and drops of sweat ran down her neck to the dip of her shoulders. She took a while before she could speak again, "How many more days again?"

"Four." Seulgi said, eyes not on Irene as she searched for something in her bag. The only one who's with her inside the practice room heard her curse under her breath.

"Anything wrong?"

Shaking her head, she mumbled a small none but kept rummaging her bag.

After a few more seconds, Seulgi stopped with whatever she's looking for and sighed heavily while typing on her phone.

"Here," the older said. In her hand was an unopened bottle of water and she was offering it to Seulgi.

"It's my extra so take it." She insisted when Seulgi was hesitating.

But Seulgi shook her head and showed her phone. "It's okay. I'm about to text Eunae to bring me a bottle later."

Irene sighed and let the bottle roll to where Seulgi stood while she was on the other side of the room, her back was plastered against the cold wall. "C'mon,Seulgi. Don't bother your girlfriend for a bottle of water. Her building is far from here and besides, you've been already aching to drink even we're just in the middle of the practice."

Seulgi was still staring when she sighed loudly and closed her eyes. "It's not poisoned or anything."

There was first silence before she heard the scrunch of plastic and the faint twisting or the cap before she spoke again. "But I may have added a little bit of love potion in there."

There was a series of coughing that echoed in the spacious room and Irene opened her eyes to see Seulgi staring at her with wide eyes and water dribbling down her chin. 

Biting back a loud laugh, Irene shook her head and said, "I'm kidding, Seulgi. That was just given to me by some random guy from another class. But incase it's infused with something, I can track him down for you."

She studied her expression and saw Seulgi wipe the water on her chin and took hesitant gulps. Irene smiled to herself before closing her eyes again. 

Four days.

She only have four days to perfect this dance and present it to Mrs. Lee. She almost got the steps. Almost... because some of them were easy but she couldn't understand the feeling that something was missing and some moves felt peculiar while dancing alone. She didn't know why but it felt it was lacking...

It felt like it was supposed to be a dance of two people and despite having an idea, she didn't voice out her thoughts and questions. She'd wait for Seulgi to tell her her plans because they were still threading on thin ice. With her still slightly careful with the younger as the words of Jisoo haunt her to no end, and Seulgi's hesitation to approach her, they knew they had to proceed with caution.

Because one wrong move, one wrong word from any of them might crack the ground that they were standing on, and let them fall into an unfathomable pit where none of them could recover from and ruin whatever weird and complex relationship they have.

Regardless of telling herself that she trusts Seulgi and whatever plan she has, Irene couldn't keep her teeth from gnawing her bottom lip as anxiety starts creeping inside her usually confident heart.

"We can do this, right?" She asked her from the reflection on the mirror.

Seulgi titled her head and nodded, albeit a little stiffly. "Don't you have any trust in yourself?"

"I don't know. Do you trust me?" She turned to see Seulgi's eyes widening and her hand clenched while holding the bottle. Irene sighed inwardly and scolded herself for being so straightforward. "I mean, do you trust that I can do this?"

"...yes."

"You do?"

A smile was threatening to spill from her lips but she bit the insides of her cheeks to stop herself from grinning. Her heart was a fluttering mess and the creatures in her belly were no longer butterflies but bees swarming and buzzing and making her feel too giddy with Seulgi's words.

"You trust me?" She whispered again, more to herself than to Seulgi. It was heaven for her to finally hear the younger say that in some ways, Seulgi trusts her.

"Don't make a big deal out of it."

Irene shook her head and mumbled, "How could I not? I mean, that's a step in the right direction. For me, at least."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing." She smiled knowingly. "Anyway, are we done?"

"For practice?"

Irene nodded to which Seulgi also answered with a nod. "I guess."

"Do you have any plans? For today, I mean. After this practice." Irene blabbered and felt her cheeks hot from the embarrassment. Seulgi only threw her a side glance before shaking her head and continued to fix her things.

"I don't."

She raised her brow and titled her head, "You don't have a date with Jo Eun Ae?"

"I told her I'll be busy and she said that she understands. She's busy with her reports, too, I guess."

Huh. That's odd. As far as she knows and from what Joy said, Seulgi wasn't a clingy person but she knew that Jo Eun Ae is... and with what she said to Irene from their last encounter, she was expecting the younger to flaunt and spend more time with Seulgi.

"Why?" Seulgi asked when she became quiet, her bag now slung on her shoulder while she's fixing her ball cap on her head. She then tucked her mustard and dark blue sweatshirt inside the front of her cream pants and evened it out.

She wasn't one to gawk at people but it was hard when it comes to Seulgi. It was amazing how Seulgi can rock a simple outfit and make it her own. Her usual clothes are always too big for her, or some are even baggy and men's clothes but it doesn't deter her to make it breathtaking. Being in the industry and limelight, Irene knows how hard it is to wear clothes and to own it. Some people look good in some clothes because the clothes look good and not because they know how to use it or work with it.

But with Seulgi... put her in a plaid shirt and jeans and some sneakers then she'll make it look like just stepped out from a magazine or a shoot in one of those catalogues Irene's been dreaming to be featured in.

Or she could picture the younger as part of an idol group who's concept was just pure girl crush and hip and trendy and oh so effortless in being so utterly beautiful and chic.

Seulgi, despite being so simple and timid captures attention once she walks inside the room. Irene knows this because the girl has captured hers fully when she saw her sitting in that swing alone, with the golden rays of the sun as her backdrop and eyes glow caramel while staring in the distance.

It was just sad that Kang Seulgi doesn't know how pretty she is that eyes snap towards her when she walks, or when she's just reading book by that corner of their old library, or when her brows were knitted together in deep concentration. If only Suelgi knew then maybe, she'll be more confident in her own body and the way she brings herself.

And maybe, Irene was slightly to be blamed for that.

If only she wasn't a back then...

"Why?" She heard her say, catching her eyes in the reflection of the mirror.

"Why what?" Irene asked, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks since she knew that Seulgi caught her staring.

"Why did you ask if I have plans?"

Irene stood from where she sat and groaned when some of her bones cracked and her muscles ached at the effort of moving but Irene took slow steps towards Seulgi and when she's near enough, she released an ear ting grin and said, "Because we are going to see your parents."

Seulgi turned her back on her and proceeded toward the door. "No."

The grin disappeared from her face. "No?"

"No."

Irene followed Seulgi who was taking large strides with her slightly longer legs. "Why?"

Halting her steps, Seulgi pivoted and faced her. "Why do you want to see my parents?"

"What's the big deal? I already met them, didn't I?"

"Answer me. Why do you want to see them?"

If only she could knock on Seulgi's head and remind her of her promise so she'd quit being so stubborn, then Irene will gladly do it but sadly, she couldn't. So she settled on clicking her tongue in a disapproving manner.

"I promised to help you, didn't I?" She asked and hed grin re her face. "So stop being so goddamn stubborn because this is the first step."

She chuckled with mirth when Seulgi stood placid in her place and came closer to hook their arms together.

"Meeting the parents."

//

Thankfully the younger didn't object more but there was a crease on her forehead and her eyes were sharp when Irene was happily skipping towards the Kang's door.

"I don't understand why do you need to see them." 

"Slow-gi." She muttered under her breath when she was stopped from twisting the knob, preventing her from coming inside. Irene rolled her eyes and she started to explain.

"I need to because your parents hold the information I need to convince my parents. They have the proposal. They'll tell me what their plans are and like that. Now do you understand? Now open this goddamn door or I will shout or kick it until it's wide open."

Irene didn't fail to notice the glazed eyes and shaky hands but she was too deep in her plans that she shrug it off.

Little did she know that this was the start of heaven meeting earth, where oil will try to mix with water and two souls will try to work their differences.

She didn't know that she wasn't only being pushed in the right direction...

But also, she was starting to tug a hardened string of a heart.

//

Heaven and earth has finally met and she cursed herself for letting this happen. She bit the insides of her cheeks when she heard the laughter outside while she stop herself from feeling the guilt and trying to swallow the bile that was rising in .

And she almost hurled when she heard her mother speak.

"I see you've listened to us. I'm proud of you, Seulgi-ah. "

Pretending that she didn't hear her, Seulgi continued to soap the glass that she has already rinsed for the third time after she resorted to the confines of their kitchen just to avoid the gazes of her parents and Irene's presence inside their home.

"Good job, Seulgi."

"I didn't do anything," she muttered under her breath.

"You didn't?" Her mother asked, her voice nearly a whisper. "Then why is she here?"

She was about