*Bold = English

---

Seungwan became flustered by her friend's sudden skinship and affection, but smiled it off anyways being used to it.

"I'm sorry for not letting you know I came back sooner, Chaeyoung! I just became busy with a lot of things."

"That's okay Seungwan unnie. But please, don't be a stranger! You also have to come check out the vocal club with me next time, I heard the new president is quite the looker." Chaeyoung winked boldly at the shorter girl.

"Yah, I already know that you were the one who got elected president, miss conceited." Seungwan laughed. "But yeah, I'll be sure to check it out!"

Chaeyoung wished that she could have spoken more with the older girl, but since their mini reunion began, the line moved considerably and it was already Seungwan's turn to order. They bid each other farewells with one more hug for good measure, as Seungwan ordered and continued to wait for her food.

"Alright, here you go miss, have a good night." She took the bag from the owners and thanked them while bowing, grateful when she realized that they had actually given her more than she ordered, on the house.

Smiling giddily, she turned and made her way back to Irene, not expecting to see the slight frown on the other girl's face. 

"Sorry, did I take too long? I got everything I needed, so we can go ahead and head back now." 

Irene uncrossed her arms, snapping out of her thoughts. "Oh, no you didn't, I was just dazed off for a moment." She picked up her own food as they walked back to their cars.

"So, was that girl one of your friends?"

"Huh? Ah, Chaeyoung? Yeah!" The girl walked with a little hop in her step. "We became good friends after we met in Canada. She was also a part of the study abroad program."

The dark-haired girl hummed softly. "Hmm, I see. And she speaks English too?"

"Yep! It's fun talking with her, since it helps me practice in case I forget. I mean I love my roommate, but it's hard for me to get over Seulgi's cute accent whenever we try to converse." Seungwan chuckled thinking about the last time Seulgi just kept replying "Yeah, me too!" to everything she said.

"Wow, that sounds nice." As they were walking, Irene noticed something on Seungwan's face. "Is she also normally that friendly with everyone?"

The blonde was confused for a moment trying to understand what Irene was referring to, but answered anyways. "Well she's originally from New Zealand, so I think they're quite friendly people? If that's what you mean?"

"No, I mean that." Irene pointed at her cheek, making Seungwan tilt her head, and raise her fingers to touch her own cheek and wipe.

Looking back at her hand, she sees a faint, but dark red color painting her fingertips, matching the same hue that had to have been Chaeyoung's lipstick.

"Oh shoot, that's embarrassing. Is there a mark?" The younger girl brought out her phone and tried to see her reflection in it, having trouble with the sun already long set.

"Here, I'll help you." Irene took out a wet wipe from her bag and gently wiped the kiss mark off. Seungwan felt like a child having the older girl wipe her face, but she laughed anyways at how funny they probably looked right now.

"There, you're clean now." She walked to the nearby dumpster and threw the tissue away.

"Thanks unnie. It would've been hard explaining that one to Seulgi when I got home haha!" The short-haired girl started to turn a little red again.

How could I walk through the door with a kiss mark on my face after telling her I was going out to study with Irene! 

As for Irene, she didn't understand why she was suddenly feeling down.

Maybe they studied their brains out a little too much, and she just feels drained now.

"Ah and before I forget! Here unnie, that nice ahjussi gave me extra kimbap. Take some home with you." Seungwan reached into her bag and retrieved 2 rolls, placing them in Irene's bag before she could protest.

Irene felt her bag dip with the weight of the extra food. "You sure?"

"Yeah, share it with your roommate, I already have more than I need for both Seulgi and I."

Irene smiled and nodded her thanks. Before they knew it, they were already back at the parking lot.

"I think we can say that today was a successful study session! I'm filled with both knowledge and yummy food. Always a good combination." Seungwan went over to her car, and unlocked the passenger seat to place her bag of goodies inside.

Irene went to her own car and opened the door. "Mmm, now we just have to both ace our exams. I really had fun today Seungwan, let's do this again next time."

"What, use me to help you study you mean?" Seungwan raised her eyebrows playfully from the driver seat, after bringing her windows down.

"Exactly." 

"Wah. A meanie to the very end." Seungwan sighed dramatically. "Well, drive safely. After you, miss." The blonde bowed her head and gestured with her hand out the window. 

The older girl snorted at Seungwan's lame joke, started her engine, and slowly backed out of the parking spot.

"Yah, you better get moving too!" She waved one last time after seeing the younger girl nod, and drove off.

---

"Sooyoung-ah, I'm home." Hearing no reply, she set the bags of food down on the counter and tried again. "And I brought food."

Sooyoung appeared from the hallway, pretending like she just happened to be coming out of her room. "Unnie! When did you get back?"

Irene rolled her eyes at how well she knew the younger girl. "Just now. Here, I got you your favorite."

"Yay! Thank you unnie~ oh? Yes! You got kimbap too?" The taller girl eyed the 2 rolls of kimbap, mouthwatering as she peeled open the foil wrapping.

"Yeah, my friend got extra and told me to take some for us."

"Aww how nice of them. Which friend is this again?"

"Um, she's my friend from class. Her name's Seungwan. We had a rough first meeting, but she's really nice and helped me out a lot."

The older girl went to the fridge and took out some juice for the both of them.

"Seungwan? As in Son Seungwan?"

"Yeah, how'd you know? Do you know her?"

"Who wouldn't? Wow, as expected of our campus brain and beauty queen. Of course I know her!" Sooyoung took a big bite of her kimbap, chewed, and then resumed to speak with still slightly full, muffling her words. "Well, not 'know her' know her. But she's pretty popular around campus too, mainly just with the gay girlies though, so no worries, your queen title is safe for now. Oh, she's also an amazing singer!"

Irene choked on her drink, Sooyoung having to come and pat her on the back. "W-what do you mean by that?"

"Well, she performed once during the school festival. Unnie she was so good-"

"Sooyoung! You know what I meant! The...'gay girlies' part."

The taller girl swallowed her food down, chuckling. "Oh, haha. Well people talk a lot, and her name used to be thrown everywhere. You probably never heard cause she went abroad for a while." Sooyoung wasted no time, continued speaking between bites. "Hey, you should invite her over to study sometime. Or for dinner. Now that she's back, it's time for me to make my move." The younger girl did a little shake in her seat.

"What? Make what move?"

"You know, use my 'Sooyoung-y-Dynamite' charms. She's cute and just my style."

Irene took the leftover food she was planning to save and packed them a little roughly into her tupperware. "No, you can't."

Sooyoung raised an eyebrow hearing that. "Hmmm? Why? You like her or something, unnie?"

"Um what? No. She's my friend, so I would feel weird. And plus, I just think...you might look better with her roommate instead."

"Her roommate?"

"Yeah, it's her taller friend who looks like a bear."

"Mm you must be talking about Kang Seulgi. She's in the dance club." Sooyoung chewed more thoughtfully while thinking about the other girl. "Yeah, I mean actually, she's hot too. Man, now you got me torn." 

Irene laughed at how dramatic the younger girl was being. She finally finished putting everything else away when Sooyoung pointed at her .

"Hey unnie, is that a new sweater?"

The older girl looks down and sees the white sweater still wrapped snugly around her waist. "Ah. No its...Seungwan's." She quickly untied it and folded it neatly, making a mental note to wash it later before returning it.

Sooyoung's eyes grew wide, wiggling her brows. "Oof, liar, liar plants for hire. Already stealing her clothes huh? I have a feeling you do like her. Just admit it!"

"I do not! And it's pants on fire, dummy! Now hurry and finish your food, before I take it all back." Irene threatened, although it was hard for Sooyoung to feel scared with Irene's cheeks turning so pink and rosy.

---

"And so then I said, 'Tonight I wanna light up the world, between you, and me.'" Seungwan grinned cheekily pointing her signature finger guns, causing all her friends around the table to holler.

"Waaah. Wannie, you have to teach me how to say that one! I wanna use it too." Seulgi kept patting the shorter girl's back excitedly.

"So did it actually work?" One of her friends had asked. 

Seungwan let out a loud laugh. "Haha! Of course it didn't work!" She wiped the small tears in her eyes while continuing. "I'm not sure why though, I thought my delivery and timing was fantastic."

"That's cause not everybody can handle your greasiness like I can unnie." Chaeyoung appeared from behind their table and sat to the other side of Seungwan.

"Yah, speak Korean! Not everyone here can speak English okay!" The bear complained while protectively wrapping her arm around Seungwan's shoulder.

"Well, maybe I wanna just trade secrets with Seungwan!" Chaeyoung teased as Seulgi whined some more.

"Please guys, the break between classes is supposed to be peaceful." From her seat on the bench, she spotted her favorite dark-haired beauty walking over. She stood up slightly and waved her hand to catch the girl's attention. "Irene unnie! I'm over here."

When the older girl finally approached, Seulgi and all of their friends widened their eyes at shock of the goddess in front of them. Being Seungwan's best friend for life (with a certificate to prove it) she already knew all the details of her buddy and the campus queen's "rejection-turned-friendship" friendship, but she still couldn't believe that Seungwan actually accepted her place in the friendzone.

"Unnie, these are all my friends. And you know Seulgi already."

"Hi everyone, nice meeting you all. And hello again, Seulgi." Irene smiled politely at all the unfamiliar faces. She eyed the tall, blonde-haired girl sitting next to Seungwan for a moment, before reverting her attention back to the younger girl.

"Here, I brought your sweater from last Saturday." She handed over a small bag holding Seungwan's white sweater. "I forgot to return it to you after we parted, so I washed it and wanted to return it as soon as I could."

Seungwan smiled brightly after taking the bag. "Yeah, I was wondering where I had misplaced it. You didn't have to bring it back to me so soon, you know? But thank you."

The short-haired girl being the weirdo she is, she opened the bag and took out the sweater to smell it. "Mmm~ What fabric softner do you use? It smells great!" She sniffed it some more, holding it close to Seulgi to let her smell it too, the taller girl nodding in agreement and giving a thumbs up.

Irene blushed slightly from the praise, also a little embarrassed since she's never seen someone smell her washed clothes so aggressively. "It's uh, downy infusions sweet dreams."

"Oh~ nice. Seulgi-ah, we gotta go get ourselves some downy infusions sweet dreams this weekend."

"Yes, I'm down." Seulgi nodded, her main focus now shifted to opening her tupperware full of fried dumplings. Seungwan noticed her friend struggling, and reached over to pop it open for her. 

Since Irene already accomplished what she came to do, she felt a little awkward just lingering to the side of the friend group as they continued their normal banter. So, with a deep breath, she moved a little closer to tap on Seungwan's back and called out to her.

"Hey Seungwan, there was actually something else I wanted to ask." She moved her hand from Seungwan's back. "Did you want to come over for dinner sometime? You've helped me out so many times and done a lot for me, so I wanted to cook something for you as a thank you."

When she saw Seungwan freeze (*confusedly gay panic) and not recieve an immediate reply, she had to quickly add while motioning to the dark-haired girl, "You can bring Seulgi too, of course! Actually, my roommate told me she is interested in meeting her. So it would mean a lot to her if you guys could come over." Irene hopes that Sooyoung doesn't kill her later for dragging her under the bus like that.

Seungwan smiled widely after understanding and (*not really) putting the pieces together. "Well I could never say no to a free meal! What do you think Seulgi, isn't that great? There's someone interested in you~, you heart stealer~." 

The bear was just confused, but agreed anyways after hearing about the free food. 

Irene internally sighed in relief. "Cool! So when are you guys free? "

"Actually, we both just have one more class today. Then we're free- ow! Hey, Chaeyoung, what was that for?" Seungwan rubbed the dimple on her cheek, which was just poked by the other girl.

"You promised you would come to my club's meeting today, remember? Did you already forget?" She went and booped the shorter girl's nose for more emphasis, the action causing Irene's eye to twitch for some reason. 

"Wah! Okay okay, yeah I'm sorry! I totally forgot, I'll go with you later today." Seungwan rubbed both her red cheek and nose, pouting slightly.

"Yay, thank you unnie. You're the best! I'm sure everyone will absolutely love to hear you sing again." Chaeyoung cheered while touching the shorter girl's shoulder affectionately. She then turned her head and smirked triumphantly at Irene, making the older girl huff in disbelief.

"Woah woah! Hands off miss Chaeyoung. I'm okay with you poking Wannie's cheeks cause they're just so dang fluffy, but booping her nose is off-limits." Seulgi puffed her chest to look intimidating, and made a "you die" neck slice motion.

Chaeyoung let go of Seungwan and glared at the other girl. "Oh really? Says who?"

"Says me! Seungwan's best friend for life. I don't see your certifications anywhere do I?" 

Seungwan rolled her eyes at her two friends antics and decided to ignore them. "Well anyways. Sorry unnie, I guess we're not free today. We should definitely be good this weekend though if that works for you guys?" Her eyes lit up in thought. "I'll even bake a cake!"

Irene's stern face softened with Seungwan looking at her so sweetly. "That would be great. I'll let Sooyoung know, and if we can't then I'll just text you and we can talk it over again."

"Okay, sounds good unnie." Seungwan checked the time on her watch. "Seulgi-ah! Stop fighting, we have to get to class." She picked up her bag and slung it over her back. "Alright, bye guys. And see you in class tomorrow, Irene unnie!" 

Irene nodded and waved as she watched Seungwan pull Seulgi from her seat and drag her away from the table. All of Seungwan's other friends slowly too got up and left for their own respective classes, except for the tall blonde.

Chaeyoung grabbed her own bag and stood up from her seat, walking over and towering over Irene.

"Listen here, 'campus queen', I'm not sure what you're playing at since you already rejected her, but I'm just letting you know now, that Seungwan is mine."

Irene squinted her eyes and raised her eyebrow. "I didn't realize that Seungwan was an object to be owned. You know, being overly-possessive of someone isn't really that cute."

This made Chaeyoung laugh. "Oh that's a good one! Hey, I saw you glaring daggers at me last time when I was talking to her, and you did the exact same today. You think you're so high and mighty, so righteous and pure, when you're no different from me."

The dark-haired girl frowned deeply, crossing her arms. "I just care about her because she is my friend."

Chaeyoung crossed her arms in return. "And I care about her because I want to be more than friends. So what's the problem? Are you interested in her too?"

"No! I'm not."

"Then that's that. All I needed to hear."

The blonde her heel and walked away, leaving Irene to her own thoughts.

I don't actually like her...do I?

---

AN: So I'm a liar because I said this story would only be 3 chapters long lol. I hope you guys enjoyed reading now sort of knowing what Irene feels (?), and that you guys are fine with some Joygi getting thrown in too :') 

As always, let me know your thoughts! Thank you for reading and subscribing, and if you guys haven't seen them yet, please subscribe to my other new wenrene fics as well.