Kang Seulgi cracked her knuckles nervously as she waited for her manager to come back with the producer and writer of the once-popular program, We Got Married. With nothing to do, Seulgi glanced around the familiar meeting room of her company’s building and began reminiscing back to the days when she was just a trainee. It had always been her dream to become a singer, her parents would always tell her how much she loved dancing and singing when she was a child. Thinking back, Seulgi was thankful her parents were supportive of her dream, her mom and dad would take turns to drop her off at her singing lessons and dance practices. She smiled softly and made a mental note to treat her parents to a fancy dinner sometime soon. 

 

Seulgi snapped out of her daydream when she heard the door opening and stood up bowing to greet the group filing in. 

 

“Seulgi-yah this is Kim PD and writer Lee,” her manager said as everyone settled in their seats. 

 

“Thank you for this opportunity,” Seulgi reaches over and shakes both of their hands. 

 

“It’s our pleasure Seulgi-ssi we’re big fans,” Kim PD says. 

 

With all pleasantries aside, they got down to business, “I’m sure you’re familiar with this program?” Seulgi nods, “Well, the program has been approved for a reboot, so our team has talked it over and we would like to cast you. 

 

Seulgi bows her head. She was grateful that they considered her but she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

 

"I’m flattered, but I don't think having me on the show would work out," she says. The last thing she wanted to do was to have to act lovey-dovey with a man.

 

It wasn't a secret that she plays for the other team, her company even encouraged her when she came out with a statement announcing that she was in fact, gay. Back then, she didn't expect to have the public be so accepting. She thought that her career was over but everyone was very supportive, even her fanbase grew because of it.

 

Her country has come a long way in changing its traditional views and has become more accepting of all ualities, and although that may be the case, the representation in media still needs some work. 

 

Seulgi inwardly cringed, maybe she shouldn’t have said that. Her company has been asking, no, begging her at this point to make a variety show appearance. Her fanbase was growing and more and more of her fans have been pestering the company to let her go on programs. It really wasn’t her company’s fault. She was the one who always refused the various programs’ invitations. 

 

She remembers the conversation she had earlier with her company and feels a little guilty for saying no.

 

 

—

 

 

“Seulgi-yah, please, do you know how much I had to beg to get you this?” She swears she almost saw the CEO go down on her knees. 

 

“Boss, what happened to you never letting me go on any show ever again?” Seulgi grins feeling like she won this time. 

 

The CEO turns her head and clicks her tongue in disapproval. After a brief pause, she turns back to Seulgi and says, “Alright if you do this show I’ll lift your dating ban.” 

 

Seulgi rolls her eyes, “I don’t even have one.” 

 

"C'mon Seulgi-yah, this is such a great opportunity for you!"

 

When Seulgi doesn't reply, her boss clears and makes her way in front of her. The singer already knew what was coming and she wasn’t really in the mood to deal with a whiny CEO right now. One look at her boss and she almost runs out of the room, “Unnie please stop that, you’re a grown woman.”

 

The CEO doesn't back down, she sticks out her bottom lip and rubs her palms together. She was willing to swallow her pride, she needed Seulgi to accept this.

 

Seulgi cringes, already regretting what she was about to say, “Fine, I’ll do it.” 

 

The older woman lets out a cheer and fist pump. 

 

“I do have conditions though,” Seulgi says, not wanting to get out of this empty-handed.

 

“Can't you just do this because I asked?”

 

"Nope."

 

Her CEO sighs, "What are your conditions?" 

 

“I get to borrow your new Ferrari and I get to miss the next five company meetings.”

 

"Seulgi-yah, those meetings are important," the older says sternly. 

 

"I don't even do anything in those meetings," Seulgi grumbles.

 

"Four meetings."

 

"Two."

 

"Three, and that's the lowest I'll go," Her boss says. 

 

"Deal!" Seulgi grins.

 

Her boss pinched the bridge of her nose, “You better follow through with your end.” 

 

Seulgi smiles widely as she takes the precious car keys from her boss’s desk and walks out of the room with a skip in her step.

 

 

—

 

 

Now Kang Seulgi was at a crossroads, on one hand, she really didn’t feel like being in a pretend marriage with a man, even if the entire thing was fake to start with. She was a singer, not an actress. If anything, she would be doing her company a favor. Who knew the scandals that would follow if she couldn't control her expressions around her partner. But on the other hand, if she does do this show she would have temporary possession of her boss’s Ferrari, and she had been begging her boss to let her drive that Ferrari. 

 

She bites her lip and feels the keys in her front pocket. 

 

Screw it, she thought as she opens to take back what she said to the program heads. 

 

“Actually Seulgi-ssi, we weren’t planning on coupling you up with a man.” 

 

Seulgi blinked twice, not expecting this at all. Was she hearing this right?

 

“We’ve discussed with the broadcasting company and they’ve given us the green light to follow through with this,” Kim PD nods to writer Lee as the latter suddenly reaches into a bag and takes out a contract, “You would be partnered with a woman, though we can't tell you who.”  

 

Her first thoughts were that this was a prank, there is no way this could be real. Her eyes narrow, still trying to make sense of this situation.

 

She turns to her manager. If this was all just a joke his expressions would be a dead giveaway. She knows him well and that man can’t keep a straight face to save his life. 

 

Her manager looks back at her with a puzzled look. Probably because they were all waiting for her to say something. 

 

She finally figures that this wasn't some elaborate prank, but the real deal.

 

Seulgi clears and makes up her mind, “Where do I sign?”

 

Kim PD smiles and she hands the document over for the singer to sign. The writer goes through the contract while Seulgi briefly skims it over before finally handing over the signed contract back to Kim PD.  

 

“We would like to congratulate you for officially being a part of the show and we look forward to working with you Seulgi-ssi,” Everyone in the room starts to pack their things as the meeting was coming to a close, “We will schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss details about the show soon.” 

 

The meeting finishes with her manager giving the show staff their contact information and they all exchange their goodbyes. 

 

 

—

 

 

The music stopped and the only thing heard in the practice room was the heavy breathing of four exhausted women. 

 

The choreographer clapped once, “Alright, that’s enough for today, good job guys.”

 

As soon as that left , the room filled with groans and complaints of being hungry. 

 

The choreographer laughed that the tired girls, whose bodies were splayed on the floor, “Just a few notes, and you guys are free.” She began pointing out what the group needed to fix and work on before leaving the practice room. 

 

“I don't remember the last time I felt this dead after practice,” one says as she sat up. 

 

“Wendy-unnie, you’re just getting old,” another member says, stretching out her long limbs.

 

“Yah, at least I’m doing better than Yeri,” Wendy says, teasing the youngest member.

 

Yeri, who is currently using Wendy’s stomach as a pillow, rejects to process anything that was said and whines to the oldest in the room, “Irene-unnie I’m hungry, let’s order food.” 

 

Irene smiles fondly at her members, “What are you guys in the mood for?”

 

Wendy and Joy shrug, they look to Yeri to choose.

 

“Jajangmyeon!”

 

“I’ll tell manager-oppa to have some delivered.”

 

Irene left her members to their own devices. 

 

“Yeri-yah when are you going to finally have us on your show?” Joy lightly nudges their youngest’s leg. 

 

"The waitlist is pretty long, unnie,” Yeri says. 

 

“Waitlist? Why don’t we have priority,"  Wendy pouts at the younger girl, "I’m hurt, Yerim-ah."

 

“For you Wendy-unnie I’ll put you at the top of the list,” Yeri states with a cheeky grin. 

 

“Yah, Kim Yerim!” Joy glares at Yeri, “What about me?” 

 

“You can only come if you can bake a cake as good as Wendy-unnie,” Yeri teases. 

 

“I hope you all behaved yourselves while I was gone," Irene says, making her way towards them.

 

“Leader-unnie, please tell Yerim to invite me to her show,” Joy whines at her. 

 

Irene just laughs at her member’s antics and plops herself down on the ground with them. Their long practice took so much out of her she almost falls asleep sitting up.

 

“So...” Joy starts, Irene looks up and she sees all three of them nod at each other, “...do you know who your future wife is yet, unnie?” 

 

Irene rolls her eyes. Of course, this is what they want to talk about, “They haven’t gone over the details with me yet.” 

 

Her members booed at her answer. 

 

“Joy, did they tell you who you were partnered with at the beginning?” Wendy asked. 

 

“Nah, they wanted to keep everything a secret," Joy says with a wave of her hand. "They told me they wanted the reactions of the first meeting to be as authentic as possible.”

 

“Then why would you ask me-“ before the confused Irene could finish her sentence, their manager enters the room with their dinner. 

 

The oldest almost laughs how easily the girl's attention shifted from the topic to the food, or so Irene thought. 

 

“Irene, the We Got Married staff just informed me that they found your partner for the show,” their manager says as she placed the bags of food in the middle of the group. 

 

Her members erupted in oohs and began to .

 

"I hope Irene-unnie meets someone who opens doors for her."

 

"I can't wait to see how Irene-unnie acts around her."

 

Already used to their behavior, their manager just laughs. She tells Irene about the upcoming meeting for the show before leaving the room. 

 

The girls began to eat, they were all starving after such a long and difficult practice. It was the group's first comeback after a long while and they wanted everything to be perfect to show their fans how much they truly loved and appreciated them. That's just the type of people they were.

 

As soon as they finished eating, they quickly cleaned up and went straight to their dorm as it was getting really late. The next day would be just as busy and they need all the sleep that they can get. The girls get to their dorm they all said their "goodnights," then went to their respective rooms.

 

As Irene got ready for bed, she couldn’t help but wonder who her wife was going to be. All she hoped for was someone that she could get along with. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck with someone with a rotten personality. 

 

She stares at her ceiling for a while, before forcing herself to go to sleep. There’s no point in stressing about it right now, she thinks so she calls it a day and closes her eyes to get her much-needed rest. 

 

 

一

 

 

Seulgi sat by herself, scrolling through her phone in a corner of a busy café. No one paid her any attention with her hat and a mask covering her face. She checks the time and frowns, she still has a lot of time before she needs to meet up with the show producers. 

 

Maybe she shouldn’t have left her apartment so early.

 

She finishes her drink and decides to walk around to kill time. She leaves the café and absentmindedly walks off in a random direction. Seulgi walks aimlessly for about five minutes when she gets a phone call.

 

She checks the caller ID before answering the call, “Hello?” She walks over to a bench and sits down. 

 

She hears a car door shut on the other line, “Seulgi-yah, what are you up to?” 

 

“Nothing much, why?” she asks. 

 

“Did you eat yet? Want to grab lunch with me?” Seulgi nods as if the person on the other line could see her. 

 

“Sure, where do you want to meet up,” She asks as she heads back to where she parked her car-- technically her boss's car. 

 

“That place we went to the other day,” the person answers, "The one next to that arcade."

 

“I’m surprised you aren't with Yongsun-unnie right now,” she teases the older girl. 

 

She hears her friend scoff on the other end, “Who do you think I am? She's right next to me right now.”

 

“And here I thought you guys finally learned how to spend time away from each other." 

 

“I don't know what you're talking about, we barely get to spend time together.” Seulgi rolls her eyes at Moonbyul’s obvious lie. 

 

Seulgi finally finds where she parked and makes her way to her car, “Alright, unnie, I’ll see you guys there,” she quickly gets in and starts the engine, “I’ll be there in about ten minutes.” Seulgi ends the call and starts driving towards the restaurant. 

 

 

一

 

 

All of the heads in the room seemed to turn when Seulgi walked into the room, but she remained oblivious to the attention and kept walking to the table where her friends sat.

 

“Yong look, it’s a celebrity do you think she’ll give me an autograph?” Moonbyul says as soon as she sees her younger friend.

 

“I’m never giving you my signature ever again,” Seulgi glared at the older girl, recalling the time Moonbyul sold her autograph online. 

 

Moonbyul just laughs, “I have to make money somehow.” 

 

“Unnie, we're in the same profession,” Seulgi scoffs. 

 

Yongsun looks back and forth at her girlfriend and their friend and cuts in before the conversation can escalate into a heated argument, “Seulgi it’s been a while, how are you?” Yongsun smiles at the younger girl. 

 

"Oh, you know the same old," the younger girl laughs, "The only thing I have going on right now is I got cast to be on a program."

 

"Which show?"

 

"It's the show Yongsun-unnie was on."

 

"We got married?" Yongsun asks. 

 

Seulgi nods, "Yeah, that one."

 

"But you don't like men," Moonbyul says confused. 

 

"They told me that I wasn't going to be partnered with a dude."

 

“That's great news!" Moonbyul exclaimed, happy for her friend, "I'm sure your boss is so happy that she finally managed to convince you to join a variety program.” 

 

Seulgi laughs, "I'm just a little nervous since I haven't been on a show in a while."

 

"Don't worry my dear friend, if you ever need any tips with your future wife, just come to me. I've been told that I have a way with the ladies" Moonbyul smirks, pointing to herself. 

 

Seulgi ignores her and turns Yongsun, ”Is this how she won you over?” 

 

“I don’t remember why I agreed to date this one either,” Moonbyul looked a little offended, but Yongsun leaned over and pecked her cheek instantly making the other girl feel better. 

 

Suddenly their waiter comes to their table, dropping off their plates of food. 

 

“We ordered your usual,” Moonbyul says as she hands out the utensils. 

 

Seulgi nodded in thanks and they started eating. The three sat in silence as they enjoyed their meal, Seulgi stealing glances at the couple in front of her. They really weren’t discreet with their PDA. It seemed like every time she looked up at them they were feeding each other or wiping each other's mouths. She felt like such a third wheel right now.

 

She desperately wanted to say, “Seriously, right in front of my salad?” 

 

But she wasn’t eating salad. 

 

Seulgi never wanted a girlfriend as badly as right now. As soon as she finds a girlfriend, she plans to be as disgusting(-ly cute) as the couple in front of her with her future Bae as revenge for always making her the third wheel. 

 

"Seulgi-yah, you lose if you're jealous," Moonbyul says, noticing her friend's expression that was usually present whenever she hung out with them.

 

"I am so not jealous."

 

"It's okay, at least now you can say you're not single anymore. You finally have someone to do cute things with."

 

"You do know that this show is just pretend, right?"

 

Moonbyul ignores her and continues, "Who knows, maybe you and future Mrs. Kang are going to be the next power couple, besides Yongsun and I of course."

 

Seulgi just looks at her, how the hell is she supposed to respond to that? 

 

"If you want, we can have double dates too," Moonbyul winks. 

 

Seulgi checks the time on her phone and clicks her tongue, “As much as I want to keep this conversation going, I’ll have to get going. My meeting is starting soon."

 

She goes through her wallet for some cash to cover her part of the bill and promises to meet up with the couple again before getting up to leave. 

 

 

一

 

 

Irene lets out a sigh of relief as she's finally done with her schedule. The meeting with the show producers went by quickly and painlessly, much to her delight. The show producers went over what was to be expected during filming and also went over in detail everything was going to work, from scheduling to the interviews. Towards the end of the meeting, the staff asked Irene to give them things she wanted to do and places she wanted to visit with her partner so they can get an idea of what kind of activities to prepare ahead of time. 

 

The show was starting to sound really fun and she was actually looking forward to filming. The only thing they didn’t tell her was who her wife was going to be. Irene was a little disappointed, but that wasn't enough to kill her excitement.

 

She hears the elevator ding and the doors open. She steps out and heads to the parking garage where her manager is waiting. She reaches the door that leads to the garage when the door suddenly opens, she flinches, startled at the sound.

 

Irene steps to the side, but then the person on the other side of the door says, “After you.”  

 

She gives a quiet thank you and walks past the other woman and continues to walk to the van without looking back. 

 

 

一

 

 

Seulgi pulls the door of the building open but before she can step inside, she sees a glimpse of a girl on the other side of the door. Seulgi thinks she kind of looks familiar. She briefly caught sight of her face and she had to stop herself from staring too hard. She didn't want the other girl to think she was creepy 

 

She holds the door and steps off to the side, “After you.” 

 

The girl walks past and Seulgi hears her mumble a thank you. She stares at the back of the girl's head for a brief moment. She’s certain she’s seen her somewhere before.

 

Seulgi clicks her tongue before getting back on track. Of course, she would be the one to get distracted by a pretty girl. She shakes her head and finally enters the building.