now playing: stupid cupid - red velvet
"you just shoot arrows; you don't know love"

the woman walked down the street with her iced coffee in one hand and phone in the other. she sipped her drink while she scrolled past another sappy valentine's day post from her friend and lamented quietly about her own single status. 

unbeknownst to her, someone was watching all of this from very high up and it was none other than her very own cupid. 

irene lived in the skies amongst the other angels, where each of them dutifully fulfilled their roles and maintained peace and love both in the heavens and on earth. she was a cupid, the angels that brought love to humans’ lives by finding their perfect match for them. 

irene leaned on her hand, watching the magical orb that was showing her the events unfolding down on earth at that moment. 

across the busy street from where the woman walked, stood a man waiting for the light to turn green. 

“there you are.” a smile formed on irene’s face as she took out her bow and arrow. closing one eye and aiming directly for the man’s chest, she released the arrow and let it fly down to earth where it would strike the man (figuratively, of course). 

her next arrow was shot at the woman just as the light turned green. the crowd on both sides of the street began crossing and everything was usual and normal except for the two strangers who would now find themselves drawn to each other for some inexplicable reason that could only be said to be love at first sight.  

irene smiled to herself as she watched her couple exchange longing stares and she sighed happily, clasping her hands together. 

“another job done already?” 

irene turned to greet another cupid who was also her close friend, called yeri. “busy day today.” she said, “but i love it.” she turned back happily to watch her newly formed couple meeting each other. 

“busiest day of the year indeed.” yeri said, her wings fluttering excitedly behind her. “i just matched 4 couples.” 

“you must be careful with making fast decisions.” irene stated, opening her designated mailbox to take out a light pink envelope that contained the details of her next human to match. 

“i am always careful.” yeri responded breezily. 

irene reached into the mailbox to make sure there were no others and her fingers touched another envelope which she retrieved.

“so far i’ve never failed a match so-” yeri’s words halted abruptly when she saw the envelope that irene had just taken out. “irene…” she said, voice coming out shaky. “is that a…red envelope?” 

irene’s eyes showed worry and she was frozen with the envelope in hand as yeri made her way over to her side. “my heavens irene, this is serious! a red warning means you failed a match not once but twice!” 

“it can't be…” irene muttered, hands shaking as she opened the envelope to take out the card inside that had just one name printed in the middle. “i don't understand how.” she said frustratedly, moving back to the magic orb with yeri following. 

“show me kang seulgi.” irene said and the cloudy surface of the orb dissipated and cleared up into an image of seulgi in her room, alone and quietly watching something on her laptop. 

“alone on valentines.” yeri stated. “not a good sign.”

irene waved her hand over the orb and the scene changed to a different girl crying in her room.

“well i guess we know who dumped who.” yeri joked, trying to lighten the mood but irene looked troubled. it wasn’t common for matches to fail but it did happen occasionally due to unforeseen circumstances that occurred on earth. however, for a second match to also fail, was very rare and not a good sign at all. 

yeri changed the orb back to showing them seulgi who was now on a phone call. 

“let's put the sound on.” yeri said.

“don’t be nosy.” irene scolded but yeri still gave a flick of her hand to let them hear what seulgi was saying and irene immediately listened intently, making yeri snicker. 

“no i’m fine, just disappointed i guess. things were so good at the start, i thought i had really found the one. but maybe that doesn't exist - maybe i'm just destined to never find true love.” 

“poor girl.” yeri commented, glancing at irene who had the same troubled look on her face. the two cupids listened with more curiosity as the conversation continued over the phone, with seulgi putting it on speakerphone so she could get out of bed momentarily. 

“but it’s valentine’s day, you shouldn’t be alone! just find some girl to *bleep* or something.” 

yeri and irene exchanged glances and yeri shook her head in disappointment. “i hate the cupid-friendly feature.” she complained. “it censors everything!”

“i feel like being alone tonight.” seulgi replied, getting back in bed and putting the phone to her ear.

“what did you say? cupid?” seulgi laughed in response, “if there is a cupid… it must be a stupid cupid. the arrows are missing by a mile.” 

yeri almost snorted with laughter, quickly covering to stifle a laugh and irene felt heat rush to her face in embarrassment. she turned off the orb with a quick swipe of her hand. 

“she called you a stupid cupid.” yeri said.

“yeah, i heard.” irene responded with a hint of irritation before her shoulders slumped in hopelessness and she let out a sigh. “what do i do now?” 

“you need to get advice from the oracle.” yeri said. “she would know what to do. you can’t fail again, or you could lose your status!” 

irene’s eyes widened at the reminder. three failed matches could mean permanent expulsion from the cupid department. the thought of it made her feel like the heavens were collapsing onto her head. 

“ahhh!”

~

irene fidgeted with her fingers anxiously while she knelt before the oracle with her hands folded on her lap and she kept her back straightened and wings tucked in respectfully. 

“hmm… i see.” the oracle, who was the most beautiful angel irene had ever met, said. her bright and shimmering gold eyes faded back to their muted gold color and she focused her gaze back on irene. 

“i have looked into kang seulgi’s fate.” 

“yes?” irene leaned forward eagerly. 

the elder woman smiled enigmatically, “if you want to complete this match, you will have to do it in person.”

irene’s eyes doubled in size, “i-in person? what do you mean in person?!” she exclaimed. 

a nod. “you shall go to earth.” 

irene felt a shudder at the thought but at the same time, it excited her. she had seen plenty of scenes of humans enjoying their lives on earth and she often wondered what it would be like to be there. she just never thought it would be possible. 

from her limited knowledge of cupid history (she didn’t pay much attention in class), there had been no record of cupids who traveled down to earth to complete a match. but she supposed there were also not many who failed two matches and only had one more chance to make it right. 

“you know who her true match is don’t you? can i have a hint?” irene pleaded. 

the wise one looked irene in the eyes. “her true match is a human that you will find when you are on earth.”

real funny. irene thought to herself, not knowing the oracle had a sense of humor. “alright.” she said determinedly. “i will go to earth.”

and so she set off on her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and mission to save her career as a cupid - and to clear her name of the new title: ‘stupid cupid’.

~

irene stared down at her feet in wonder, observing the way her feet were flat on the wooden flooring and the way it made her body feel heavier on her legs. so this was what it was like to stand on the earth instead of floating on the clouds. 

she looked up, being met with the sight of a messy apartment. various items laid cluttered on the tables and counters, clothing was strewn on couches. irene wrinkled her nose at the scent of humans and other mixed scents that she had never encountered before. it would take some time to get used to earth. 

still, it was fascinating to finally be inside a human’s home. so this was how they lived, irene thought to herself. with their own building and rooms and spaces to do things alone. 

she took tentative steps, an excited smile growing on her face as she felt the weight of her body with every step and she walked down a small corridor that led to a closed room door. 

she was a little nervous to meet the main target of her mission, who must be behind this door. so without thinking twice, she swung open the door fully. 

“ah!” 

“what the hell?”

irene’s mouth opened in an ‘oh’ as she froze in the doorway, not expecting to see two people in the room on the bed together. she wondered if they were watching something on seulgi’s laptop together, although that looked to be an uncomfortable position to watch it in and they didn’t have the laptop. 

the woman who was sitting on seulgi’s lap (maybe that was a comfortable seat? irene thought to herself) turned her gaze back to seulgi with an angry look. 

“you told me there were no other women.” she said, shoving seulgi down by the shoulders before she hurriedly got out of bed. irene stood awkwardly and cluelessly in the doorway while seulgi protested and tried to explain herself to the woman who had grabbed her jacket and handbag from the floor. 

“i swear i have no idea who that is!” seulgi said, scrambling out of bed. 

the fuming woman marched to the door and irene quickly ducked to the side to give her space. the woman paused for a second to look irene in the eye and said “good luck with her” before she continued her way out of the house. irene was surprised because how did she know about her mission? was it obvious she was a cupid?

“who the are you and why are you in my house?” an irritated tone brought irene back to look into the room. 

irene’s brain took a moment to process the question because she had never heard one of those words before. 

“hello?” seulgi walked closer, waving a hand in front of irene’s face and irene flinched, blinking rapidly at her and she finally took a proper look at her assigned human. 

kang seulgi was much more different in person than what irene had seen through the orb. for one, irene didn’t know she was taller and sort of intimidating up close. for two, irene had never seen seulgi only wearing a small piece of clothing on her upper body before. 

irene yelped in a high pitch when she realized, covering her face as she turned away. “can-can you put clothes on please!” she asked. 

seulgi’s facial expression contorted from confused to offended to amused. “huh. now there’s a reaction i don’t often get.” she said, breathing out a laugh through her nose but she turned to pick up her t-shirt from the bed, pulling it over her head.

irene peeked through her fingers, relieved when seulgi was covered and now looked a lot more like what other humans looked like. but what were those lines on her stomach? do they hurt?

“so.” seulgi said, crossing her arms. “are you a stalker fan? how did you get in?” 

“a stalker? no!” irene shook her head and hands frantically. “i’m your cupid. i-i’m an angel!” she blurted, desperate to save herself and defend her innocence. 

a moment of silence passed and seulgi looked at her incredulously, making irene feel a twinge of pride which was then immediately snatched away when seulgi burst into laughter. 

“what?” she covered her face, laughing with her head tilted back. “that is the most creative excuse i’ve ever heard. i can’t even be mad.” she wiped her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. 

“it’s not an excuse!” irene clenched her fists by her side and pouted. 

“okay, where are your wings then? where’s your bow and arrow?” seulgi teased, the amused smile never leaving her face as her eyes ran down the length of irene’s body and back up. just because she wore a flowy white dress didn’t mean she was an angel. 

irene was speechless, stumped by the question because she had to leave her wings and bow and arrows in order to get to earth. she couldn’t appear as her real self to the humans as that would cause chaos. 

“alright fun’s over. let’s get you out of my house.” seulgi shook her head with a chuckle, placing a hand on irene’s shoulder to push her outside.

irene felt a shiver run through her body at the feeling of seulgi’s warm hand on her. the feeling of human contact was not like anything she had ever experienced before. 

“wait, wait!” irene only snapped back to reality when seulgi had successfully pushed her out to the living room. “i’m telling the truth! i’m your cupid, you were assigned to me and i had to match you with your true love.”

seulgi stopped pushing her towards the door. “so where’s that true love?” she asked expressionlessly. 

another question that irene couldn’t answer. seulgi sighed and started moving them forward again.

“i failed okay?!” irene halted them at the front door. “i thought jisoo would be the one!”

seulgi stopped, as if slightly convinced that irene was really who she said she was, and irene realized this was the way to prove herself. 

“you met her for the first time at seoul fashion week when you were looking for your seat and when you shook hands you felt like it was love at first sight. right?” 

“how did you know that?” seulgi asked suspiciously, letting go of irene’s shoulder so she could turn to look at her. that was a very personal moment that seulgi never told anyone because it seemed too naive and ridiculous to admit that she fell in love with someone at first sight. especially when it didn’t work out in the end. 

“because i’m your cupid, i told you!” irene said exasperatedly. “i made you fall in love at that moment when your paths finally crossed.” 

“what the …” seulgi closed her eyes briefly, running a hand across her forehead. “this can’t be real. did sooyoung send you? to play a prank on me?”

“who is sooyoung and why do you keep saying that word i don’t know!” irene huffed, upset that she wasn’t trusting her. 

“oh my god.” 

“you know him too?” irene asked, interest perked. 

seulgi looked back at her in disbelief. 

~

“so let me get this straight.” seulgi looked up from her previous position of having her head in her hands. “you matched me twice,” she held up two fingers. “and they were meant to be my lifelong true love that i stayed with forever, but then we broke up, which meant you were wrong.” 

irene winced at the word ‘wrong’ but nodded. 

“so you have one more chance to match me with my true love, otherwise something bad happens.” seulgi said and irene nodded again. she chose not to give seulgi the full details of her possible punishment because it was too shameful. 

“wow.” seulgi slumped back on the couch. “so how do you plan to do that?” 

irene looked down into her cup of half finished noodles - her first ever meal, because it was the only thing seulgi had in her house when irene found out that being on earth would make her experience human things like hunger. 

“i’m not sure either…” she admitted. 

“huh?” seulgi sat back up, cat-like eyes narrowing to stare at her. “well how do you do it in heaven?” 

“we get assigned a human, we observe you for a while and then we find your match.” 

“observe… so you are a stalker.” seulgi said thoughtfully and irene frowned at the accusatory word. “wait, do you see everything?” she looked alarmed. 

“we don’t watch constantly. just whatever is important to help us make the decision.” irene responded, taking another careful bite of her food. 

“so how do you make the decision?” seulgi rubbed her chin, curious. 

“i’m cupid, i just know.” 

“but you didn’t.” seulgi said, the grin on her face widening when irene shot her a glare. 

“usually i know and i am right.” irene restated. “you’re just- just weird!” 

“oh so it’s my fault now that cupid couldn’t find my one true love?” seulgi retorted, mildly offended that she was being blamed for something that she now knew was someone else’s responsibility. 

irene stuttered over words but couldn’t find anything else to respond with so she shut defiantly, looking away. 

humans are irritating. she’s even more annoying than yeri. 

seulgi sighed, checking the time on her phone and realizing it had gotten late. “so where are you living while you’re visiting earth?” she asked. 

irene looked up at her, clueless. 

“oh, don’t tell me…” seulgi started and irene’s innocent expression told her the answer. she shut her eyes and let out a heavy exhale. “ me.”

~

irene was fascinated to say the least, by the chaos and disorder on earth. it was so different to how things were in the skies. people here were everywhere, doing everything and anything they wanted as they rushed past on the street, hopped on big moving vehicles, and talked loudly on their phones. 

“come on, we don’t have all day.” seulgi’s hand held her by the elbow and pulled her forward, making irene stumble over her feet to keep up while she was tilting her head back to admire all the tall buildings around them. 

“i can’t believe i’m doing this.” seulgi muttered under her breath, leading irene into the elevator. she felt like she was looking after a child - which was the biggest joke the universe could play on her because she had never been good with children. 

“so remember, you’re my apprentice who is here to shadow me at work. talk as little as possible and don’t draw attention to yourself.” she reminded as the elevator took them up to the studio. irene looked distracted by the weird feeling of being yanked upwards in a metal box and seulgi snapped her fingers to bring irene’s attention back. 

“okay.” irene said. 

“okay.” seulgi repeated, turning back around to face the front and she heaved a sigh. 

they hadn’t gotten off to a good start today; with seulgi first getting startled by the sight of irene on her couch when she walked out of her room in the morning. then at breakfast, seulgi let irene try some coffee which irene quickly spat out and proceeded to whine for about 10 minutes that the bad taste was still in . 

after that, they argued about whether irene should follow seulgi to work. irene claimed she had to observe seulgi in person now that she didn’t have her orb (seulgi still had no idea what she was talking about) and seulgi protested that she can’t look after an extra person while she is at work. eventually irene won by pointing out that the quicker she found seulgi’s match, the quicker she could leave and seulgi could have her solitude back again. 

and then they bickered a while about irene’s clothes because irene refused to wear anything that wasn’t white or loose fitting but seulgi was not approving of the white dress at her workplace. 

irene picked irritatedly at the collar of the white button up shirt that kept touching her neck while she trailed behind seulgi. 

“ouch.” she bumped into seulgi’s back when she didn’t realize she had stopped walking. 

seulgi turned, shooting her a look. “go sit in that corner and don’t touch anything.” she said. 

“fine.” irene huffed, stalking off to some chairs that were set up at the back. 

irene knew from her previous research and matching attempts that seulgi was a professional photographer. she often had projects with famous brands, models, and idols, and her name was quite well known in the industry. 

irene always thought of her as a nice and well-liked person who just had bad luck when it came to romantic relationships. but after less than a day with her, irene decided that she was kind of mean and annoying. and not to mention she also called her a stupid cupid!

with her arms folded like a grumpy child, irene watched from the back as seulgi got to work with her camera. 

“good! that’s it! great, give me one more. that’s good!” seulgi praised the model endlessly and irene looked at the model, who was a very beautiful and tall woman. seulgi seemed to like the model because she was giving so many compliments and irene felt a bit miffed that she never got a compliment despite how hard she worked for seulgi. 

“hi, are you new here?” a voice beside irene startled her. “oh sorry! i didn’t mean to scare you.” a man with a nice smile sat down beside irene who had fallen quiet because seulgi told her not to talk to people. 

“i’m henry. i work in the marketing department for the magazine. what about you?” he introduced. 

“my name is irene.” irene said with a shy nod. she had never interacted with a human aside from seulgi. “i’m the um… apprentice. for seulgi.” she said.

“oh? i had no idea seulgi took apprentices.” he said. “i would’ve mistaken you as one of the models today because you are so pretty.” 

irene blinked, looking at him like she couldn’t believe what she had heard. “thank you.” she said with a genuine smile. before he could say anything else, seulgi’s voice called out for a break and he had to excuse himself to go and talk to some staff. 

irene turned her attention back to seulgi who was now reviewing the photos on the laptop with the model standing beside her also watching. irene’s keen eyes noticed the model’s fingers lightly brushing along seulgi’s arm and when she looked up, she could see a light pink glow around her head. that glow was what the cupids called the aura, something invisible to humans, but for cupids it was the indicator of interest and love. 

the model liked seulgi - that much was clear. but could she be the one? irene thought that would be too easy. she would have to wait and see more. 

seulgi said something to the model that made her giggle and blush and the aura glowed slightly brighter. when seulgi leaned in close to say something in her ear, the aura darkened to a deeper shade of pink. 

interesting… irene thought. because seulgi didn’t show an aura. 

“irene,” a gentle tap on her shoulder made her turn and she saw the nice man again. “come with me for a moment, i have something cool to show you in the other room.” he said. 

she was too curious for her own good so she said yes and got up to follow him. he grinned widely and put a hand on her back to guide her towards the back door and irene expected to feel the same shiver or fuzzy feeling from human contact but there was nothing. 

they were halfway out the door when seulgi’s shout stopped them. 

“hey!” she had a frown on her face as she made her way over with quick steps. “what do you think you’re doing?” she asked in a dark tone but she looked more concerned than angry. 

“i was just going to go see-” irene tried to explain. 

“you need to stay and watch to learn.” seulgi lied, keeping up their agreed roles. she reached forward to grab irene’s forearm and pull her back, away from the man.

irene’s breath hitched because seulgi’s touch was so warm and her arm tingled like there were little stars twinkling on them. seulgi dragged irene back across the room and sat her down on the chair again, taking a quick glance around the room to make sure no one was listening. 

“what did i say about not interacting with others?” seulgi asked in a hushed tone and a furrow in her brows. 

“i want to talk to nice people.” irene responded. 

“nice people? irene-” seulgi let out an exasperated sigh and she knelt down to be at eye level with her, making irene look at her with wide and innocent eyes. “not everyone is a nice person like you think. especially not men when it comes to pretty girls like you, it can be dangerous if you are so quick to trust them and do whatever they ask.” she told her seriously. 

irene stared back for a moment. “you think i’m pretty?” 

seulgi blinked, “what?” she asked, not realizing what she had said. “yes? of course you are. you’re a literal angel after all.” 

irene nodded, feeling a small smile on her lips and a happy feeling blooming in her chest. 

“i have to get back to work. stay here and don’t go off with any more strangers alright?” seulgi said sternly, like she would if she was talking to a child. irene nodded again, watching seulgi stand up and head back over to the photoshoot area. 

well… if seulgi protected her and also complimented her, then maybe she wasn’t as mean as irene thought her to be. 

~

irene was delighted when she discovered there was something on earth that was just like her orb. except this was rectangular and much flatter and she didn’t really understand what the people were doing or talking about. one minute they were eating food and the next they were showing off a bottle of cleaning liquid. 

still, she sat on the couch in seulgi’s living room with her eyes glued to the tv screen and a packet of chips in her hand. seulgi had brought her friend home with them, who irene remembered as the model at the studio today. after giving a lame excuse about why irene was also in the house, seulgi and her friend headed into seulgi’s room with seulgi giving irene firm instructions to not barge into her room again. 

fine by me, irene thought. she had been around too many humans all day that she needed a break. a romance drama started airing after a while and irene quickly became invested, watching curiously as the girl and the boy in the classroom kept stealing shy looks at each other. 

if she had her bow and arrow she would already have shot it and made the two of them get together. irene pouted at the reminder of her lack of power on earth, putting another chip in sadly. 

she was halfway through the episode when seulgi’s door opened and the two of them came back outside. irene glanced over disinterestedly and noticed the pink glow around the model’s head brighter and more evident than before. she looked at seulgi only to find nothing as the pair walked to the front door. 

“call me?” the model said, putting her heels back on.

“sure.” seulgi responded with a smile. 

irene watched as the model held seulgi’s face and leaned in and put against hers. irene raised her eyebrows, confused but fascinated by the strange act. 

the model left afterwards and seulgi closed the door, turning around and irene quickly averted her eyes back to the screen. 

“what are you watching?” seulgi asked casually, walking over and flopping herself onto the other end of the couch, picking up a packet of snacks from the coffee table and started eating. 

“people.” irene answered happily. 

“that’s a drama and they’re actors.” seulgi said. “as in, it’s not real.” 

“what?” irene looked at her with a frown. “why would they pretend to be in love?” 

“because it’s a drama- never mind.” seulgi waved her hand, going back to eating her crackers and deciding not to pop her happy bubble. 

irene looked at her and quietly thought to herself for a while, wondering what to say. after a while she asked. “what did you do?” 

“what?” seulgi looked up. 

“inside there. did you sleep? there is nothing to do inside except for sleeping on the bed.” irene said, intrigued by why the model liked seulgi a lot but seulgi still didn’t like her back. 

seulgi stared at her perplexedly, “wait, you really don’t know?” she asked in disbelief.

“know what?”

“you’re cupid, surely you know everything about love, including .” 

“?” irene had never heard that word before (thanks to the cupid-friendly feature). 

“wow.” seulgi let out a breath halfway between a laugh and a sigh. “okay.” 

“is that what she did with touching you?” irene asked, looking at the door again. 

seulgi scratched the back of her neck, slightly awkward. “no, that was a kiss.” she said. 

“i’ve heard of that one.” irene said proudly. “people kiss their loved ones.” she paused. “so you love her?”

“no!” seulgi was quick to answer and irene’s face fell, forming a disappointed pout. 

“but she likes you.” irene said. 

“happens.” seulgi shrugged. “but okay, you have a lot to learn about humans.” she said, folding her arms and thinking to herself. “maybe you need to watch some movies.”

“movies?” 

~

the scent of coffee filled the house in the morning as usual and irene wrinkled her nose, still not used to it. 

“good morning miss cupid.” seulgi greeted, not even looking up from the pan where she fried the eggs. “did you enjoy the movie?” 

last night, seulgi recommended irene her favourite movie but went back to her room to sleep just as irene started watching. it was called ‘before sunrise’ and it was a romance film, which was why irene agreed to watch. 

irene’s mind flashed back to the movie and the kissing scenes that were still vivid in her memory. she remembered feeling so naughty for seeing it but she was also curious about why humans did that with their tongues. was that what seulgi did with her friends too? she wondered to herself. 

she cleared , keeping a neutral expression on her face. “it was good.” she replied nonchalantly, not wanting to give seulgi any reasons to . 

a small smirk formed on seulgi’s face, “alright.” she said with a knowing look in her eyes. she put the eggs on a plate with some toast and pushed it across the counter for irene. “eat up.” 

“do you eat this every day?” irene asked, watching seulgi eat her own portion. 

“it’s easiest.” seulgi replied, washing her food down with her cup of coffee. “so, i’ve decided that you can’t come out with me today.” 

“what?” irene looked alarmed, dropping her fork with a clatter on the plate. 

“it’s too dangerous. i can’t keep an eye on you all the time while i work, but you can’t be left alone.” seulgi felt ill at the thought of any sick men luring irene away to be alone with her. 

“but i am meant to be with you all the time.” irene sounded unhappy. 

seulgi sighed. as if suddenly having a housemate wasn’t enough of a disruption to her life, now the housemate was trying to stick to her side 24/7. 

“just not today, alright?” seulgi said with finality in her tone. “i’ve asked wendy to keep you occupied.” 

“who is wendy?” if irene still had her wings they would’ve bristled in annoyance because how dare seulgi try to pass her off to somebody else when she was her cupid?! 

“my neighbor and friend who lives on this floor. i told her you were new to the country and you don’t know much, so she’s happy to spend some time with you and, i don’t know, teach you things? i think she’s studying to become a teacher.” seulgi wondered out loud. “oh well. she’s really nice so i’m sure you’ll get along fine. just maybe don’t tell her about you being cupid.” 

“i won’t.” irene was still irritated that seulgi was leaving her behind. she wanted to be close to her, or rather, she had to be close to her if she was going to understand her more and find her perfect match. 

but seulgi had made up her mind so irene bitterly finished her food and then raided seulgi’s wardrobe (with her permission) for something white to wear. 

~

wendy was really nice and irene thought that she might be an angel too, but she didn’t ask, of course. 

wendy’s house was tidy and cozy and smelt like sweet things which irene later discovered to be cookies because wendy liked to bake. 

“what would you like to do irene?” wendy asked her. 

“i like watching things.” irene replied, eyes drawn to the tv in her house. 

“oh! yes of course, we can watch a movie.” wendy said. “what sort of movies do you like?” 

“movies about love.” irene answered honestly. 

“oh? sure, i know some good romcoms.” wendy flicked through the selection on the tv before eventually settling on one iconic movie that she was surprised irene hadn’t heard of. 

she was taken aback when irene innocently asked why the people in the movie were removing their clothes when they were kissing. “is it because the weather is hot?” she asked. 

wendy grew flustered trying to explain to irene why people did that. 

“is that the ?” irene asked, looking intrigued. “seulgi mentioned it before.” 

“and she didn’t tell you what it was?” wendy sighed at the irresponsibility of her neighbor. irene shook her head. 

“so it’s… well, making love.” wendy decided to take the ‘innocent’ route that she assumed was how parents often explained it to the kids. “when two people love each other a lot, they want to show it…like that.” she said. 

irene only nodded enthusiastically at the mention of love despite being previously unfazed about the act. 

“so it’s just like a way of being intimate and affectionate? and being together in a way that you don’t do with just anyone.” 

“but seulgi does it with a lot of people.” irene commented casually as she turned to watch the movie again. 

“oh my god, that kang seulgi.” wendy palmed her face. “yes, sometimes people can be more…casual about it. about who they are with.” she explained as diplomatically as possible. 

irene nodded even though she had more questions. she didn’t want to bother wendy too much. 

they watched the rest of the movie without any more awkward conversations, which wendy was thankful for. she was met with another surprise when she found out that irene hadn’t tried many korean foods yet and she mentally scolded seulgi for being such a poor host. but she also knew seulgi was too busy and rarely at home to cook for herself. 

“i want to try cooking.” irene said after wendy mentioned it. she had seen people do it before and it looked fun. 

wendy was happy to teach irene to cook some simple foods and asked whether there were any dishes she wanted to learn in particular, to which irene just replied with “whatever seulgi would like”. 

at 4 in the afternoon, seulgi returned to collect irene from wendy’s apartment. 

irene visibly brightened but she was still annoyed at seulgi for not letting her follow her today. so she bid wendy a cheerful goodbye, gathered the brownies they baked together, and stomped back to seulgi’s apartment without giving her a second glance. 

“come on irene, are you really mad?” seulgi followed her back into the house, “just because i wanted to protect you from the outside world?” she asked. 

“hmph.” irene didn’t respond with words, sitting herself down on the couch and crossing her arms. 

“i’m sorry, okay?” seulgi sighed, unable to bear the sight of her being upset. “how about we go out tonight? i’ll show you around the city and we can do whatever you want to do.” she offered. 

irene’s rigid expression softened and she couldn’t hide her excitement at that offer. “really?” she asked. seulgi couldn’t help but smile at how easily she caved. 

“yeah.” 

~

“what is that?!” irene exclaimed, latching onto seulgi’s arm out of both fear and excitement when she saw the bright light flash overhead. 

seulgi chuckled, “that’s one of the festival rides.” she said. “do you want to try?” she asked. 

irene eyed the intense looking ride that moved rapidly through the air and made the passengers scream. “no.” she shook her head. 

“what about this?” seulgi let out a laugh when she spotted a game stall that used bow and arrows. irene gasped when she saw it, quickly running over and dragging seulgi along. 

“mine were nicer.” irene boasted and seulgi gave her a playful roll of her eyes. 

“let’s see how good your aim is, cupid.” seulgi whispered teasingly and irene felt her cheeks grow warm from the proximity when seulgi leaned in close. 

“i’m good.” irene stated confidently, picking up the bow and one of the arrows that had a suction tip. 

seulgi did the same with hers and they both aimed at the targets across the stall. irene pulled the arrow back, aiming carefully, and let go. the arrow flew shakily through the air and clattered off the side of the target. 

beside her, seulgi was near tears from laughing. 

“stop laughing!” irene said with a frown. “this is a bad bow and arrow. it is nothing like mine!” she argued. 

“sure.” seulgi smiled amusedly, turning to face irene with her bow and arrow. “so you just shoot people like this huh?” she aimed at irene jokingly. 

“not literally but-” before irene could finish her sentence, seulgi’s finger accidentally slipped and she let the arrow fly, hitting irene directly in the chest. 

seulgi gasped, “i’m so sorry.” 

irene looked at her with a shocked expression, “you shot me!” she exclaimed, making it a big deal even though it barely hurt. 

“i’m sorry, i’m sorry, it was an accident.” seulgi apologized profusely but the smile on her face showed that she found the whole situation amusing. she retrieved the arrow from the ground and hastily returned the equipment, pulling irene by her jacket to leave the area. 

“maybe i’d be a better cupid than you.” seulgi taunted as they walked away from the stall. 

“you wish.” irene huffed but she hid a small smile. 

seulgi spotted the ferris wheel and she pointed it out to irene. “oh, if you want to see more of the city, that would be good.” 

“yes i want to go on that!” irene jumped excitedly on the spot, recognizing that from the movie she watched. 

seulgi paid for their tickets and they entered the purple colored pod, each sitting on one of the two benches that were facing each other.

“it’s shaky.” irene said with a worried expression, her eyes darting around the pod.  

“it’s normal. it’s okay, we won’t fall.” seulgi reassured her. “but just in case, you can fly right?” 

“seulgi!” irene’s eyes widened in fear and seulgi snickered. “you’re mean.” she frowned after she realized it was just her teasing again. 

the ferris wheel started rotating, lifting them higher into the air and irene gasped in awe, pressing a hand to the glass as she leaned closer to look out over the city. 

“it’s so pretty.” she said. “i’ve never seen it like this before.” she whispered, eyes entranced by the glittering lights of the city below them. 

seulgi’s attention was more caught by irene’s fascination than by the view and she felt a smile on her face as she watched the excited girl look out through all sides of the pod to get a different view. 

“it’s like the movie.” irene said, sitting back down on her side of the bench. 

“yeah.” seulgi agreed softly, and she liked that irene remembered the details from her favourite movie. 

irene’s traitorous brain showed her the scene of the characters kissing in the ferris wheel and she felt her heart rate increase and her eyes instinctively darted to seulgi’s mouth. 

she forced her gaze away, turning her head to the side and pretended to look at the view. 

“how was today with wendy?” seulgi asked after a while of them sitting in silence. 

“it was good.” irene said. “she taught me a lot of things.” she added. “like how to cook. and how to make love.” 

“she taught you what?” seulgi almost choked on her breath. 

“she told me why people do the thing you said.” irene answered confidently. “it’s to show you love them.” 

“well…” seulgi scratched her eyebrow, lowering her gaze awkwardly. 

“so that night with the model. did you…make love to her?” irene asked, bravely looking at seulgi. now that she knew what it was and knew (vaguely) what it looked like, she wasn’t sure how to feel about seulgi doing that. it was a little uncomfortable to think about. 

seulgi shook her head slowly. “well i- we did- do that thing you’re thinking about.” she said with staggered words, feeling flustered about explaining. “but it wasn’t making love. it was just….” 

“it’s different?” irene looked puzzled. 

“it’s the same thing, physically.” seulgi clarified for her. “but emotionally, or mentally, it can be quite different. the same goes for kissing- it can mean nothing with some people but then with others, it can be really meaningful and bring a lot of emotions.” she said, hoping it would help with her understanding. 

irene nodded slowly, the mention of ‘kissing’ making her think of the scenes from the movies she had watched recently. she caught herself looking at seulgi’s lips moving while she spoke and the sight of seulgi’s tongue made her blush and look away, as if she had been caught committing a crime. fortunately for her, seulgi didn’t seem to notice her staring. 

“so why do people do it if it means nothing?” irene asked, looking out the window so she didn’t get tempted to stare again. 

seulgi blinked and she knew irene meant no harm but the innocent question still managed to make her feel a little bit ashamed. 

“because even if the person means nothing, it still feels good. it can be a distraction.” she confessed honestly. 

irene fell quiet because the thought of it made her feel a weird feeling. it made her feel sad at the thought of seulgi doing things like kissing someone who she didn’t like and she didn’t want to talk about it anymore or think about it. 

they sat in silence for the remainder of the ferris wheel ride, only stealing occasional glances at each other and l