December 2017

"Do you know Irene?"

"Irene?" Jessica's eyebrow slightly arched, hearing the strange question.

"No, not your friend Irene Kim. Red Velvet's Irene." Klaire clarified, suddenly remembered Jessica's best friend had the same name.

The three Americans were in the middle of binging the new season of 'The Crown'. A pot of tea, three little cups and assorted pastries were placed beautifully on the table in front of the long couch they were sitting on. Extra effort to make them feel like they were some English royalties, like the people they were watching on screen.

"Oh, well of course. I saw her often before she debuted." Jessica recalled.

"Did you know her well?"

"No, not really. You used to be quite close with Seulgi, didn't you, Soojung?" She looked at Krystal who was sitting on the other end of the couch, munching a butter croissant.

"Yup, we used to train together for about two years before f(x) debuted." Krystal said, adding, "I'm friendly with Joohyun unnie too, by the way." Mentioning Irene's real name to emphasize.

"Didn't you go to shows with them for your promotion? You didn't see them wearing Blanc & Eclare?" Jessica turned back to Klaire.

"Really? No, I didn't notice." Klaire shook her head.

"Their stylist got some stuff from us for their comeback. Maybe they have the decency to not wear my brand while being around you." Jessica sneered.

Klaire was suddenly reminded of her little mishap at the waiting room, she wanted to share the story with them but concluded not to. Jessica was always so strict about her being careful and she didn't want to spend the next hour being lectured.

"Anyway, why did you ask?" Jessica asked. "About Irene."

"Oh, nothing. She reminds me of you."

"Reminds you how? Because she's pretty?" The older Jung wriggled her eyebrows while the younger Jung pretended to vomit.

"She's prettier than you, though." Klaire smirked.

"Much prettier." Krystal added without missing a beat.

Two cushions flew to two directions and landed right on their faces, earning protests from the girls.

"So?" Jessica queried.

"So, I was hanging with them quite a lot last month.." Klaire started explaining when Krystal cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"Is this about the Ice Princess thing?"

"Yes, exactly!" Klaire nodded at Krystal, then turned her head back to Jessica,  "Do you know people called her Ice Princess as well?"

Jessica shrugged, "Oh please, everybody who isn't bubbly and act cute all the time just automatically gets called Ice Princess now? Soojung got that a lot too."

"I know. But it's not just the nickname. After spending time with her, I can actually see some similarities between you two." Klaire persisted.

"What similarities?" Krystal jumped in. "Cold on the outside, warm on the inside? , please. If only people bother to get to know the person before labeling them cold just because they have a resting face."

They giggled, then Krystal got a smack on her arm from her sister for saying the B word twice.

"At least you two have cool y faces. Mine just look dumb when I'm not doing anyhting. A resting dumb face." Klaire grumbled.

The two sisters laughed so hard at Klaire's remarks while smacking each other's laps violently.

"I'm so gonna change your contact to Dumb Face." Jessica said.

"Don't you dare!" Klaire threatened, regretting the disparaging comment about herself.

-

The sun was setting and the girls had given up on their binge-watching after finishing the fourth episode of the series. Krystal suddenly got a stomachache from eating too many pastries, so she retreated herself to the restroom. Jessica and Klaire moved to the balcony, having a rare moment of witnessing the sunset together.

"So what is it with this Irene girl?" Jessica said, stirring up conversation.

"Hmm?"

"You seemed like you wanted to say something earlier."

"Ah. You two kept saying dumb stuff, I've forgotten." Klaire sneered.

"Oh, come on. Spill it!" She nudged the younger girl.

"It wasn't really about the Ice Princess thing." Klaire said after a while. "It's.. I don't know how to explain it but I saw their interaction as a group. They have a quite an between them, you know?"

Klaire swiftly pulled out her phone and googled Red Velvet, making sure she got the years right. "So, Irene was born in '91, Seulgi & Wendy in '94, Joy in '96 and Yeri in '99."

"Wow, I don't think I know anyone who was born in 1999." Jessica said, amazed. "Professionally, I mean." She added, remembering her tiny little nephews and nieces and her friends' cute children.

"Oh my God, I literally hang around kids born in the 2000s. My head hurt." Klaire chuckled.

"What? Who?"

"The NCT kids. It was so weird hearing people born in 2000, 2001, 2002. It's like they're only half-human."

Jessica laughed.

"So, Red Velvet has eight years difference between the oldest and the youngest? What's our difference?" Jessica used her fingers to count, "One.. two years. Only two."

"Uh-huh."

"Interesting. So, what's your po