Irene isn’t really sure about the days and the dates anymore but it has been quite a few nights since the phone call and she wants to thank the heavens because Seulgi seemed like she didn’t remember about it at all. 

     Or maybe Seulgi is just pretending to not remember…? 

     But whatever it is, it’s still for the better, right? 

     Irene is actually still a little far from ready to be telling Seulgi the truth. She just can’t seem to say it out loud whenever she thinks it’s time, the words just don't come out and even when it does almost come out, she finds themselves talking about other things instead. 

     She can’t just possibly blurt it out mid-conversation with Seulgi because then Seulgi might think that she’s joking. And she certainly doesn’t want the event from two years ago to happen yet again. She is not ready to lose Seulgi the second time, and never was ready, actually. 

     The past few days spending time with Seulgi were almost like a roller-coaster ride for Irene. One second she’s just excited for being able to be with Seulgi, then the next her stomach feels like it’s turning when she suddenly feels so in love while staring at Seulgi talking so animatedly, and the next she just feels like screaming to confess her love to Seulgi. A ride that most people don’t want to get on and Irene can’t believe that she is riding it every day for the past week now. 

     With all the many thoughts Irene had in her mind the past week, she finally realizes the reason why she isn’t interested in getting into relationships even though there are a lot of people confessing that they like her, but she rejected them saying she was not interested in relationships when it was actually a perfect partner in the form of Kang Seulgi is right there with her all the time and hence she doesn’t feel the need to find anyone else to complete her. 

     It was really Kang Seulgi for her all along. 

     And it was since the phone call that Irene couldn’t get a proper amount of sleep from all the thoughts going through inside her head, wrecking her brain to think of how she is going to properly confess to Seulgi soon. She is not even sure why she feels the need to be meticulous about this, she feels like she would’ve let the words slip already if she doesn’t put much thought into this. 

     But then again, it’s Seulgi that she is going to confess her love to. Soft and kind Seulgi who only deserves the best, she can’t just profess her love like she hasn’t put much thought into it. Seulgi deserves more than that. 

     Fancy dinner will not do because Seulgi doesn’t like the seriousness of a fancy dinner in a restaurant. 

     Casually blurting it out at their favourite spicy rice cake cart will not do because it will only put the rice cake cart aunty in an awkward situation if ever the result turns bad for her. 

     Asking Seulgi out for a drink and she drunk confesses doesn’t sound too good either because she’d prefer that they’re both sober and aware of the situation when she pronounces her love. 

     Irene being deep in her thoughts once again does not go unnoticed by Yeri during their lecture class. Yeri can see how Irene looks so troubled and is not focusing on the lecture. That is SO not like Irene. Yeri knows, though, about what is going on inside Irene’s head. Looking at the heavy eyebags clinging under Irene’s eyes and the obvious dark circles from sleepless nights, Yeri feels bad for her friend and she decides to pry as she is not interested in listening to Mr Choi’s lecture anyway. 

     Yeri nudges Irene on her elbow to make Irene turn to look at her. 

     “So did you and Seulgi get together already?” 

     Yes, straight to the point, no filtering, no bulling. Yeri’s style. 

     “No, I couldn’t tell h-” Irene only registers Yeri’s question half-way answering, she goes wide-eye upon realizing and asks with her voice filled with panic, “How did you know?!” 

     Yeri puts down her pen from randomly scribbling on her notebook and she turns her head to look at Irene. 

     “Irene,” Yeri calls out to Irene and holds her hand, “you’re too easy to figure out.” 

     Yeri lets go of Irene’s hand when Irene is just looking at her with her jaw open. So many thoughts were going through Irene’s mind before this and now she has to think about how other people might have seen through her, including Seulgi? Irene doesn’t know if she should trust Yeri because Yeri is just so mischievous like that but if Yeri has mentioned about her and Seulgi getting together means Yeri really does...know? 

     “You were kinda obvious, Irene.” Yeri adds on when she receives silence from Irene.  

     “Me?” Irene asks nervously as she drops her pen from her hands, uses it to grab Yeri by the arm and shakes Yeri, “But how?!” 

     Yeri lets out the chuckle that she tries so hard to suppress. Her eyes are looking front, and she thinks the lecturer might’ve glared at her for the noise she made, but she doesn’t really care. Her conversation with Irene is far more interesting anyway. 

     “It’s not hard to know, with the way you’re just…” Yeri slightly waves her hands in the air to make out a gesture to explain her words, “different when you’re around Seulgi.” 

     With her hands still on Yeri’s arm, Irene shakes Yeri harder, earning a few looks from the people sitting beside them because of the distraction, “How do you say that?” 

     Yeri chuckles again when Irene shakes her the second time because really, Irene can be cute sometimes. She lightly removes Irene’s hands from her arms because she doesn’t want to get called out by the lecturer for interrupting the class. She turns her head slightly towards Irene and tries to speak in a lower volume. 

     “The way you look at Seulgi like you would throw anything behind just to be with her, to spend time with her and to be together with her.” 

     Irene looks at Yeri narrow-eyed, unsure if she should listen to her or not. Irene turns her head back in front when Yeri doesn’t look back at her and she asks Yeri the question that best friends would disagree to. 

     “Aren’t those normal for best friends, though?” 

     Yeri finally turns her head to the side to glare at Irene, she can’t believe her ears. Did Irene really just say that?! 

     “Do you yourself think that you’re only best friends with Seulgi now?” Yeri whispered-shouted that to Irene and she could see that Irene starts to get lost in her thoughts once again. But she can see that Irene slowly starts to shake her head softly to her question. 

     “Irene,” Yeri calls out as she softly taps her pen on the table, “do you see me as one of your best friends?” 

     Irene nods her head without much thought. 

     “Will you throw anything behind just to be with me, to spend time with me and to be together with me?” 

     “That sounds weird.” Irene says quickly. Yeri thinks that’s the fastest Irene has answered her for the day. 

     “Exact-ing-ly.” Yeri says nonchalantly, “You only look at Seulgi that way. It’s so easy to know that you like her.” 

     “Yet you tried so hard to deny it before.” Yeri adds on further to tease Irene.

     Irene pinches Yeri on the hand with her strongest might until she can hear Yeri hisses in pain. That’s for teasing her and she thinks Yeri deserves it. 

     “Don’t you like Seulgi too?” Irene asks upon remembering that Yeri was the one that made her go into full fire mode to the point that she finally realizes her feelings.  

     “I like her,” Yeri starts off and she can feel that Irene is glaring at her, “...not more than a friend. No one’s gonna steal her from you, Irene.” 

     Yeri chuckles quietly when she sees the tension on Irene’s eyebrows turns soft. Yeri pretends to write down notes on her notebook because she feels like Mr Choi has been looking at their direction for a while now, it’s only time that he will call them out for disturbing the lecture. 

     “You thought you were subtle, but seriously,” Yeri whispers as loud as she can to get her message received well by Irene, “I think the whole world knows you’re in love with Seulgi.” 

     Yeri need not turn to look at Irene to know that she is smiling right now. It must be Irene and her brain thinking about Seulgi again, and how much she is in love with Seulgi. 

     Irene in fact is thinking about Seulgi, and how much that ball of sunshine just brings so much happiness to her and how much she loves her. Her heart beating is speeding up again at the mere thought of Seulgi and how much she can’t wait to become official lovers with her. 

     But wait, Irene has one more concern. 

     “Do you think Seulgi still likes me, though?” Irene whispers her question to Yeri who was just about to focus on the lecture until Irene distracts her again, “It has indeed been two years since she confessed to me. Don’t you think she has moved on from her feelings for me?” 

     Yeri stops writing down notes when she gets to know that Seulgi has actually confessed to Irene. She knows Seulgi is not afraid of showing her feelings and affection, but she did not know that Seulgi has actually told Irene of her feelings. And the fact that it has been two years?! But the thought of nothing has actually happened between them for the past two years even after the confession baffles Yeri even more. 

     Yeri snatches Irene’s notebook and ‘shouted’ her question in all capital letters. 

     “AND YOU TWO CAN STILL REMAIN FRIENDS?!??!!!” Yeri pushes the book back to Irene and she can hear Irene lightly scoff after that. 

     “Things just happen.” Irene whispers back and a giggle follows after. 

     Yeri turns her head to purposely make Irene look at her and she rolls her eyes. Irene lightly hit Yeri on the arm for the funny face she made. Irene shakes her head with a smile on her face and she puts her focus back on the lecture when Yeri did not answer her question. Having a conversation with Yeri like that kinda ease off the burdens on her shoulder and she finally feels like she is able to be confident and brave in front of Seulgi after this.  

     But Yeri is actually thinking deeply about the question. In Yeri’s mind, she is looking back to the times when she sees Irene together with Seulgi, which is like all the time, trying to figure out Seulgi’s gestures and actions to give a proper answer to Irene. 

     “Yeah, she is still very much in love with you.” Yeri says quietly after a long silence and Irene can’t say she was not surprised as she has long forgotten her question. 

     Hearing those words from Yeri really warms her heart, though. 

     “How can you be so su-” 

     “You two ladies over there, pay attention please!” Mr Choi’s voice echoed throughout the lecture hall and the two ladies he called out are surely feeling embarrassed from the attention that is given to them after the not-so-pleasant shoutout from their lecturer. Yeri puts her hand up as a gesture and Irene bows her head down in apology. 

     “One more thing, Irene,” Yeri whispers in her lowest volume she can make while making sure her eyes are glued to the front. 

     “Confess soon or it’ll be too late.” 

Author's Note: 

And in this chapter we say, thank you Yeri. 

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