Seulgi finds out that even when she has one of her not-so-finest moments, Irene will always be there beside her... in the good times and the bad.

Irene put her hand on Seulgi's forehead and cheeks. Heat immediately scorched her palms. Seulgi's face was warm— too warm. Her eyebrows scrunched together in concern as she began to withdraw her hands. Suddenly, a hand shot out from under the covers and grasped her palm back, pressing it against the side cheek. Seulgi's monolid eyes closed briefly, a sound of quiet relief exhaling from her dry lips.

After a few seconds, Seulgi released her hand as abruptly as she'd grabbed it and reopened her bleary orbs. Irene blinked. A tense silence enveloped between the two.

"I brought you some yuja cha and medicine." Irene blurted out quickly and gestured to Seulgi's nightstand. Then she hastily went out of the room before she could do anything stupid like cry.

She could leave now. She should leave now.

She could go to work and pretend her wife wasn't so sick that she couldn't even get out of bed. Pretend that each hacking cough and each painful breath Seulgi inhaled didn't squeeze at her heart like claws.

No one would blame her as she didn't owe Seulgi anything! Just five days ago, the woman had spat in her face... She had used her greatest vulnerability against her! And now, was she expected to help her in her greatest time of need when she hadn't so much as bothered to apologize?! She'd been hurt by her! 

Kang Seulgi didn't deserve her care. She didn't deserve it! She didn't!

But Irene knew. She knew… whether Seulgi deserved it or not, she would give her love anyway. No matter what happened or what her lover did, she would stay at her side. She would never be able to leave Seulgi. Sweet adorable Seulgi with her brilliant monolid eyes.

Wiping a lone tear off her cheek, she inhaled. She'd done enough crying to last her a lifetime. She had a job to do.

First, she called Reve (the company she and Seulgi were co-owners for) and told them that neither she nor Seulgi would be able to assist that day as they were both terribly sick. She apologized profusely to the secretary for such a late notice but the kind old woman assured her it was fine. Irene thanked her and hung up.

Now, she needs do something about the fact that her stomach was growling a hundred miles an hour... And probably Seulgi's too.

Swiftly, her hands went to work. Settling into the soft rhythm of chopping, stirring, and flipping, time went by in the blink of an eye. Samgyetang, kongnamul guk, chopped yuja and other fruits appeared. As soon as she'd eaten her fill, she grabbed some bowls and filled it with foods. 

Taking a deep quiet breath, Irene headed towards Seulgi's room and pushed the door open for the second time that morning.

Pushing a strand of hair back nervously, she walked towards Seulgi and gently shook her awake. Once again for the second time, flashing monolid eyes popped open, looking bleary and unfocused. Once they laid eyes on her, they seemed to become more alert. Making a soft groaning sound, Seulgi pushed herself up and stared at her. And then at the food. And then back again at her.

Irene cleared . "Just thought you'd be hungry. This is a light meal so you shouldn't puke it right back up." She looked at the food with a scrutinizing glance before redirecting her gaze back to Seulgi's.... Who was still staring at her. She placed the plate on her nightstand (beside an unused yuja cha and medicine) and stood awkwardly to the side.

Seulgi finally seemed to get out of her trance and made an attempt to grab the spoon. Attempt as her hand shakily reached out and grabbed the spoon... but promptly dropped it. The silverware clattered to the ground.

Right, her condition had worsened because the stupid bear hadn't taken her medicine. Joy.

There was a brief silence before Irene sighed, and went out to get another spoon. She took the nearby chair when she came back, and sat down by Seulgi's bedside. She picked up a bowl and scooped some soup, then offered it to Seulgi. Without a word, Seulgi let her feed her while staring at her with those uncanny monolid eyes the whole time.

But that wasn't the only uncanny thing about this whole situation.

It's the silence that was so foreign to this household.

Seulgi was always chatting, always making jokes, always making flirtatious comments to her wife no less. And for the past five days... Nothing. Which was why it was so startling when a weak, raspy, voice drew Irene from her thoughts. "Thanks"

Irene looked at the plate. Seulgi had finished about half which was technically better than nothing. Looking at Seulgi, she nodded to acknowledge her. Then, she picked up the tea and measured the right amount of medicine before handing both to Seulgi. The monolid took the medicine without a single complaint. She saw her swallow and lay back down, turning so that her back faced her.

Irene was decently surprised. Usually it took coercing in the form of hundreds of kisses to just get Seulgi to drink one dosage. She shook herself from her stupor and watched the woman shiver. That fever had to be lowered. The medicine would do it's job soon enough but Irene needed to bring that fever down now.

Entering the adjacent bathroom, she took two towels and put it under cold tap water before getting all the excess water out. Opening the tap again, she filled a small basin and exited the bathroom with both it and the towels. Sitting down at her spot, she took the towel in one hand while the other tenderly pushed Seulgi's sweaty bangs out of the way. Seulgi's eyes shot open at her touch and stared.

Seriously, what was up with this woman and staring?

Irene carefully placed the cool towel atop Seulgi's head. Making soft soothing noises, she ran a hand through her damp hair. She also gently wiped her wife's face and body. It seemed to do the trick. Within seconds, Seulgi's eyes clamped shut. One of her hands tightly gripped around Irene's.

Irene sent the sleeping bear a small sad smile.

You drool when you sleep.

That time seemed so, so, far away. She and Seulgi officially met at a camp. She'd seen Seulgi first on the bus that took them to the summer camp. Irene saw a monolid-eyed girl hit the hay as soon as she sat down and begin to drool. The first time they talked, the first thing that came out of Irene's mouth was literally, "You drool when you sleep."

It'd been awkward to say the least. Back then, Irene was very closed off. A brainy and ambitious child (she still was... just not that much). Seulgi taught her to relax and have fun. She'd tamed her waves with her calm wisdom. Sure they experienced obstacles, but then again, no one had ever said it was going to be easy. A month from now would mark their first marriage anniversary.

That recent fight they'd experienced was honestly one of the biggest and ugliest ones Irene had ever faced. Yet, she had to hang in there, because marriages weren't perfect and not everything about them was fluffy clouds and sunshine. Sometimes, storms came and you just... you just had to learn to overcome them.

Bae Joohyun and Kang Seulgi were two very, very, different people. They had different likes, different dislikes, different opinions, and different personalities. But somehow they managed to balance each other out.

While Irene wished that the fight between them did not happen, while she wished that their world would be perfect forever, she knew it wouldn't. One just had to keep on moving forward because it was worth it. Marriage could be a very beautiful thing as well. Sure it sometimes brought pain, but it also brought joy and happiness and laughter. And the good times heavily outweighed the bad. They would be okay.

Now to get out of her depressing thoughts......

Untangling her hand from Seulgi's, she grabbed the already hot cloth, dipped it in the basin, and rinsed it out again before laying it across her forehead. Then, she settled into a comforting pattern.

She would read a bit, work on company stuff, play around on her phone, watch movies on Seulgi's flat screen, give Seulgi her medicine, and every half hour or so, change the cloth and eventually the basin water too. Then, repeat.

The only time she left the room was to get some snacks and cook herself some quick food. Seulgi would sometimes come around while she was reading or when she was watching a movie and the woman would sit up and begin watching it too, or sometimes when she was singing. If Seulgi became restless or her condition seemed to worsen and her sleep became fitful, Irene would begin to sing songs with the grazing touch of a sweet lullaby.

All in all, she had a Disney marathon. Seulgi was awake for all of Tangled and could she just say that it got stuffy in the room when the whole "I see the light" shebang started going with the romance and the moments. So yeah, stuffy and uncomfortable indeed with the couple's current status.

Time flew by and little by little and Seulgi seemed to get better. Her face no longer looked so deathly pale and her shivers became less frequent. Before Irene knew it, her eyes were drooping from exhaustion and she could barely keep them open. Leaving some random Disney movie playing in the background, the last thing she saw was Seulgi's easy breathing and quiet rest before she allowed herself to be enveloped in sleep.

Kang Seulgi was somewhere between the land of the living and the land of slumber.