Seulgi:

Joohyun, let’s meet up today! XD

Joohyun:

Why?

Seulgi:

What did I tell you about emoticons? :(

Joohyun:

Why?

…

…

Joohyun:

Why? O_o

Seulgi:

Tell you when I’m at your place! :P

Irene rolled her eyes and tossed her phone aside. She went to the fridge to see if she could whip up anything for Seulgi before she came. That was when she noticed her leftovers from this afternoon when she went to the company.

“Let’s switch it up and hope you won’t find out.” Irene hummed.

Joohyun:

I’ll make us dinner so make sure you stay hungry. :)

Joohyun had to think a while of what emoticon she wanted to put. She never felt so stressed before sending out a message.

Irene displayed the food on the countertop nicely while waiting for the security to ring her up about Seulgi’s presence. Using their meal from today, Irene somehow managed to make a simple Korean army stew for them to enjoy. There was cider to pair as well.

The phone rang and Irene confirmed with the guard that Seulgi was her guest. He let her in and she made her way up.

“Whoaaa! Joohyun, dinner smells great!” Seulgi exclaimed as she made herself comfortable on one of the high stools. Irene chuckled and gave the utensils a rinse before joining Seulgi.

“So what’s the special occasion?” Irene asked.

“Oh! Oh! Today, Irene Bae came to the company while I was having dance prac and bought me food! She’s so freaking cool!” Seulgi squealed.

“She did?” Irene asked, acting flabbergasted.

“Yup! Oh and Joohyun, did you know that she stays on the same level as you?!”

Irene almost choked on the soup but thankfully could blame it on the spice.

“H-how did you know?”

“Wendy was telling me the other day when we came for me to return you your clothes.” Seulgi said while picking at the stew for the ingredients she wanted.

“Pork~ Rice cakes ~ Oooh~ Irene bought similar things for me too~” Seulgi hummed. Irene just played along and acted interested.

“Since you are neighbours with her, do you see each other? Do you talk? What is she like? Are you close like her and Wendy?” Asked the curious girl as she leaned closer.

“That’s so many questions at once. You are really interested about Irene huh? It seems like you belong next door more than in my house.” Irene scoffed.

“Ya~ Joohyun, I’m sorry~ I’m just a fan~” Seulgi pouted.

Cute. Irene thought to herself. “Well, I see her every now and then. She seems busy so we only said 'hi' a couple times. But she’s an okay person I guess? She seems like how she is on TV.” Irene answered the girl who’s eyes were beaming at the new found information.

“Do you think I can go over and thank her for the food?” Seulgi asked.

Irene’s eyes widened. Knowing how persistent the girl was, she might just do that and blow her cover. Irene had to think of something fast.

“There you go again. Irene Irene Irene… If you are using me to get to Irene then you jolly well leave my house now.” Irene said irritably. She was faking it but there was some truth to her tone.

“N-No Joohyun! I-it’s not like that! I’m really sorry…” The younger girl said sincerely.

Irene knew that Joohyun and her are the same person. Irene also knows that she shouldn't go further than friends with Seulgi as Bae Joohyun. It was not because of Wendy; Irene couldnt care less. There was more to why she wanted to be distant with her friend. So why is it that sometimes she feels jealous of Seulgi’s attention on someone else? Irene swore that she was starting to go insane.

“It’s okay.” Irene sighed. “Let’s forget about it and watch ‘Love in the sky’, shall we?” Irene asked.

Seulgi beamed a smile and volunteered to wash the cutlery while Irene set the show up, a little distracted about thinking what to do for Seulgi next. 

.

"Ya~ another boquet from Seulgi's secret admirer~" A trainee sqealed when the flowers were delivered to Seulgi. 

"Iris, the amount, the same as my compliments to you~" Another read aloud and the whole room broke into shrieks. This secret admirier that Seulgi had since a week ago was the most romantic. 

"I wonder who it is~ Ya! Taeyong! It has to be you right?! We all know you have the biggest crush on Seulgi!" And that sparked the rumors, speculation and teasing. 

Seulgi and Taeyong both blushed at the thought but he had to truthfully deny. Seulgi took a look at the card again and fliped it over. It just says BAE at the front. Bae. It took a while but Seulgi knew this wasn't a compliment, it was from the person who sent it. Seulgi furrowed her brows and thought to herself why would Irene be gifting all these to her.

On that same day, Seulgi had to cut her practice short because her soles decided to give out on her. She knew she should have gotten herself a new pair a long time ago but the frugal girl wanted to maximise it before having to spend money on a new one. Plus, she was attle attached to her Converses.

With a roll of masking tape, the latter tried to attach the sole back to the base of her shoe but wrapping the tape around made it too slippery for to do the harder dances. Socks were out of the question as well if she wanted to sprain her ankle. Neither was she going to dance barefoot to risk the chance of blisters.

“You okay?” Taeyoung asked, pocking his head into the room.

Seulgi pointed at her shoe, making the boy laugh.

“What’s your shoe size? Maybe I can get my friend to loan you a pair.” He offered.

“Oh, no you don’t have to. I’ll just go get a new one myself.”

“But you’ll miss out on practice. I’m done for the day, I can go get you a pair if you need. The store isn’t that far away if I run.”

“Well…”

“Don’t worry about it Seul. I need that jog to increase my stamina as well.” He hummed.

“Well, alright. It’s 230.” Seulgi said.

“Yes, mam.” He hummed and jogged off.

.

[Nike Store, Gangnam-gu]

Taeyong walked in and looked at the selection of shoes they had. The store staff seemed very busy moving boxes of shoes onto a trolley so he decided to wait. It took about 20 minutes but he didn’t mind. After the staff was done, he went up to the counter and asked for certain designs of a particular size. To his dismay, he said that they were out and that stocks only come tomorrow.

“Apparently someone bought all the available designs in size 230 as well.”

Taeyong’s jaw dropped. That’s 30 plus pairs of shoes in the same size. He pulled out his phone and texted an apology to Seulgi.

.

[SM Entertainment]

“Kang Seulgi?” A blonde asked.

Seulgi looked up from her phone and recognised her as Irene Bae’s manager, Moon Byulyi.

“Come with me.” She simply said.

Seulgi got up quickly and jogged after the latter as best as she could. They got into the lift and went up to the 7^th level. Seulgi had never gone up to the 6^th, 7^th or the 8^th. The 8^th level is where the CEO was and the 6^th to 7^th floors, she heard, were the studios of their celebrities.

"Kang Seulgi, huh?" Moonbyul spoke while they were in the lift. 

"Y-Yes?" Seulgi said in a nervous stutter. 

"You are one very lucky girl." Moonbyul scoffed.

"H-Huh?"

Off the bat, the place looked very different from the levels that the trainees get to access. The paint was fresh and new, the studios seemed larger and the doors to the individual studios were fully opaque. The trainee had many questions as to why she was called here but didn’t dare ask. She continued to follow Moonbyul quietly until they reached studio number 4.

“Irene’s looking for you. Just knock and go in.” Moonbyul instructed before she left.

Seulgi thanked her. She did as she was was told and poked her head in shyly. “Sorry to intrude, I’m coming in!” She raised her voice when she couldn’t see anyone.

“Oh, hi.” Irene hummed as she walked towards Seulgi from the blind spot she was at earlier.

Seulgi was thoroughly confused. The studio looked like it had been converted into a Nike store.

“There’s 35 pairs of shoes here. Choose any you like. If you like them all, you can have them as well.” Irene hummed.

“W-what?!” Seulgi gasped. “W-what do you mean?”

“Your shoes are worn out, aren’t they? You’ll need to replace them if you want to continue training.” Irene stated.

“B-but I-Irene-ssi… This… this gift is too much… I could do with the meal and maybe the flowers... b-but…” Seulgi stammered, still trying to take in that Irene just bought 35 pairs of shoes to let her choose one.

“It’s no big deal, Seulgi. Go ahead, don’t feel shy.” Irene insisted.

“N-no big deal?!” Seulgi blurted. “A celebrity buying her trainee 35 PAIRS of shoes is a big deal! I-it’s not that I am unappreciative Irene-ssi… but… P-…people might start to think the wrong way…”

Irene was visibly disappointed. She thought she was doing the right thing.

Irene sighed. “Then just take a pair and go. If you and I don't talk about it, no one would know.”

Seulgi stayed put, biting her bottom lip while she fiddled with her fingers nervously.

“Why…” Seulgi uttered and Irene’s attention refocused on her.

“Why are you doing these for me, Irene-ssi?” Seugli asked timidly.

Yeah, why? Why was Irene doing all these? She didn’t know herself either to be honest. She simply wanted to help Seulgi.

"T-his... this is really wrong and-"

“Kang Seulgi, just take a pair and go.” Irene repeated, this time more frustration in her tone.

Seulgi apologised. She couldn’t do it. She ran out of the room in rush, leaving Irene venting her frustrations on the shoes she just got.

She made Moonbyul return or donate them all after that. She didn't care how she got rid of them, as long as they were gone from her sight.

"I told you so." Moonbyul sighed.