Irene wasn’t sure what possessed her to ask Seungwan for help. Part of her wasn’t even sure whether the other girl would reply her, with the knowledge that she had broken Seulgi’s heart.

For a while, she had assumed that was the case, especially when Seungwan suddenly left her hanging. She had sent the photograph to the other girl as requested, hence she didn’t see a reason for the radio silence. It had taken multiple tries to get a shot that fit the entire shelf. Irene huffed in defeat after a few minutes passed and her message was still not read.

Sweeping the shelf, Irene dropped a packet of each type of flour into her basket, not really bothering to check the labels anymore. She could always throw it in Seungwan’s face if she saw her in school.

She briefly checked the list of ingredients she had copied off the internet, no thanks to Seungwan, and figured that her next stop should be the dairy section.

She was muttering something about Seungwan when there was an overly familiar gasp behind her.

“I-Irene-sunbae?”

Irene froze. Of all the places Seungwan had walked into, the younger girl had coincidentally come to the same place. Then, it occured to her.

She turned, eyes narrowing, to see the disheveled junior who looked like she had just run a marathon. She hadn’t expected for Seungwan to be willing to help, although knowing that she rushed over at a moment’s notice brought a fuzzy feeling to her chest. She must be going crazy. There were a ton of things for her to worry about. She had assignments, college plans, dance, bake sale, yet all she could think about was how much she missed Seungwan.

~~

“Unnie, are you sure fifty is enough?” The other girl asked, stopping Irene from pushing the cart forward again. She checked the time with a sigh. They had been arguing over ingredients for some time and she still had to finish baking and preparing everything before the next day.

However, her question, this time, made her consider long enough for her to open the group chat and scroll through their discussion.

Her baking team consisted mostly juniors, who were eager to help but had vastly different personalities. Aside from dance practice, they had nothing in common, and that included free periods and days.

The last message had been sent a few hours ago, just as she had mentioned she was looking through ingredients.

‘Sunbae, how about this? We can handle all the baking. You can meet us early to pack the food.’

It was an easy out, something that Irene felt inclined to reject. She had chosen to accept the challenge because she was tired of being the same Irene Bae, doing the same things people expected her to do. For once, she wanted to prove otherwise.

She hadn’t responded to the message and none of the other girls prompted her.

Seungwan must have noticed her uneasy expression, because the younger girl immediately waved her arms.

“You know what? How about we make them all bite sized?” She exclaimed. Irene found it amusing that Seungwan could be so enthusiastic about a project that wasn’t even hers. “It wouldn’t require that much extra ingredients because a 12 cupcake recipe would yield about 36 mini cupcakes. We would generate way more cupcakes and cut the baking time down.”

Irene tapped the handle of the shopping cart in thought. Seungwan was making a lot of sense.

“They’re easy to package and consume, not to mention they’re really cute.” Seungwan continued listing out all the advantages she could think of, unaware that Irene had long since decided to go along with her idea. The older girl wasn’t about to stop her anytime soon. She had learned that one of Seungwan’s most endearing traits was her genuine elation when she found a potential solution. Plus, seeing Seungwan so passionate about something made her feel like she had the power to accomplish her goals too. “They’d probably sell faster and they’d be easier to transport as well...”

This was something she had missed terribly since their project work ended.

Seungwan always managed to identify the issues and complications in her plans and, after highlighting them, helped to figure out some solutions.

She hadn’t thought of putting her favorite tteokbokki into the cupcakes, but Seungwan’s idea was too tempting to resist. Red velvet was also becoming a popular flavour amongst the students so she didn’t have much doubt that it would be well received. Hence, they decided on those two flavours without too much hassle.

It was tragic, really, to remember that even when they agreed on the major decisions, they still found ways to bicker.

That was how Irene ended up storming back to the frozen food aisle just to put the packet of sliced tteok back on the shelf. She shivered after carefully putting the last packet in place and making sure that it was in the right section.

Her fingers felt like ice when she retracted her hand, and she withdrew them inside her sleeves in the attempt to warm them up. She had been caught up with proving Seungwan wrong that she had forgotten how cold the aisle was.

If Seungwan was with her, all she had to do was reach out to her and she would feel warmth shoot up her spine. She had always associated the younger girl with everything warm and this was no different. She was like a human body heater.

When her hands finally felt warm enough to resume their normal functions, she reached for her phone to check the time. Remembering the other dancers who were probably finishing up with their preparations at this point, Irene quickly opened her group chat.

She peeked out of the shelves to see a panicking Seungwan who had already reached the counter and smirked. Part of her was still annoyed about having to concede to her, so she decided that leaving Seungwan to fend for herself for a few more seconds wouldn’t hurt anyone.

‘I’m baking mini red velvet brownies and mini red bean mochi cupcakes. We can sell them as a set and increase the price for those packs.’

There was a flurry of responses, which wasn’t wholly unexpected from the bunch of younger girls.

‘Sunbae!? Really? You’re going to make all those for tomorrow?’

‘Yes.’ She replied. She bit her lip.

‘Wow! Looking forward to trying them!’

‘Yah, Jeon Somi, they’re not for us...’

‘Fighting sunbae!’

There was a pause as a picture loaded onto her screen. The girls sent her a picture of their cupcakes and brownies lying peacefully on the cooling rack.

She glanced up again to check on the younger girl, only to find that her attention was now taken by the cashier.

A flash of irritation burned through her.

I left her for five minutes and she’s already chatting up another girl.

Before she knew what was happening, she had already taken a few strides towards the pair.

She couldn’t deny that she felt some ounce of pride at the shell shocked expression on the cashier’s face when she flashed her credit card to cover all the expenses. She almost smirked. Almost.

That should teach her.

The thought gave her pause. She didn’t actually know what lesson she was trying to effectively teach.

Seungwan wasn’t hers. She didn’t have a reason to feel as though the younger girl had been stolen from her. If anything, she had probably stolen Seungwan from whatever plans she had that afternoon. She really shouldn’t be feeling so happy about that, but it was hard to ignore the fluttering in her stomach as Seungwan gave her a warm smile of relief when their eyes met.

Irene coughed and sped up her walking speed, leaving Seungwan to carry the other half of her bags.

~~

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur.

There was a sense of familiarity at the way they easily fell back into banter the moment they walked into her house. It made her feel at peace, as if she was rediscovering what it felt like to be comfortable in her own skin.

Seungwan was a really good baker, Irene discovered. Perhaps it was partly because she was primarily used to cooking in her kitchen, where everything was in its place and she knew exactly where to find anything she needed, but she had to give some credit to the fact that the two of them worked seamlessly around one another.

Irene normally worked in silence, but having Seungwan prattle away beside her wasn’t as intrusive like she would have assumed. Instead, it distracted her from feeling the stress of doing something unfamiliar. The younger girl seemed content with her quiet responses and the gaps of silence when she had to concentrate.

Seungwan would even peer over her shoulder from time to time, offering suggestions and clarifying any doubts Irene had.

Before long, they were preparing their second batch of cupcakes.

Irene was feeling a little more confident, so she was grateful when Seungwan busied herself with preparing the gift bags while she mixed the ingredients and filled up the cupcake moulds. 

That was when something unexpected happened.

Irene placed the cupcake trays in the oven, while Seungwan checked on the brownies and cupcakes that were resting on the cooling rack. The aroma was tempting but Irene had been doing well at ignoring the wafting scents. Seungwan, however, evidently lacked practice at restraint, because she turned around and caught the junior’s hand reaching for one of the brownies lying casually on the tray.

“Son!” She wasn’t sure whether she meant to call her full name or emphasise on where her hand was going. However, her exclamation had its intended effect.

Irene had to admit, watching Seungwan’s back straighten like a rod and her hand snap back to her side. The younger girl shrunk back guiltily, her eyes trying to feign innocence despite her body’s betrayal.

“Ah sunbae, you misunderstood.”

“Did I?” She challenged.

“Absolutely. I was about to test whether the brownies were cool enough to be packaged.” If this was her first time working with Seungwan, she would have believed her. Yet, her experience with how good the younger girl was when it came to convincing her told her otherwise.

“Right...” She made no effort to sound convinced. Seungwan was aware that all the food was to be sold at the bake sale, so they couldn’t eat any. Irene had been adamant about it. However, her iron resolve was beginning to waver, especially with the junior looking at her pitifully.

“Look, maybe-“ Irene made the mistake of getting caught up in trying to reason with herself and missing the way Seungwan’s eyes changed in a fraction of a second. She didn’t have time to finish her sentence before half a brownie piece was shoved into .

For a moment, she didn’t know how to react. Even Yerim had never dared to do something like that without fearing the consequences.

“How is it?” Seungwan asked, frowning slightly at her lack of expression. “Is it bad?”

The other girl turned to the tray and popped the other half of the brownie into . The fleeting urge to strangle Seungwan dissipated at the sight, although the thoughts that replaced it weren’t exactly something that could be considered “friendly” either. Irene bit her lip.

Did she really have to moan like that?

Irene swallowed involuntarily, which was a reminder that there was a brownie in that elevated her into heaven. She decided that Seungwan’s previous reaction was justified.

“Eh? Why are the lights off? I don’t see any of the cupcakes rising either...” The younger girl was bent over the oven and peering worriedly through the glass. Irene’s eyes widened at the realisation. Before anything else, she flicked the switch and a warm hum exuded from the machine.

Seungwan straightened and eyed her curiously. “Wait... did you forget to switch on the power just now?”

Irene pursed her lips together as the other girl let out a giggle at her sullen look. She couldn’t deny or refute her statement.

Seungwan still had the gall to laugh at her embarrassment. The incident had happened because Irene had gotten distracted, so it was technically Seungwan’s fault.

“Aww sunbae, it’s alright. Luckily for us, these won’t take that long to bake.” She encouraged easily. Irene felt the ghost of Seungwan’s touch on her back and held back a shiver. Seungwan really had no idea. “I’ve just about finishing cutting the first batch brownies. You can start packing them... Let me check if they’re cool enough.”

“Wait,” Irene blurted impulsively, her hand reaching out to grasp Seungwan’s before the younger girl had taken a full step away. “Let’s go together?”

The worry that her internal cringe had shown on her features disappeared when Seungwan halted her movements.

Irene had definitely gone out of her mind. She couldn’t even rationalise her own behaviour without making hers