Seulgi woke up an hour earlier than her alarm. Something that had occurred all the time for the last 5 years that she's in Canada. The alarm was useless, she knew that for a fact, but she chose to leave it set. 

'Just in case' she believed. 

"So when's your flight back?" Her friend, Joy, from the other line asked. 

"I don't know. I haven't bought a ticket yet. I have a lot of things to do at work" Seulgi casually replied while fixing her hair in front of the mirror to prepare to leave for work. 

 

"What? But I purposely informed you about the reunion ahead of time so you can schedule your leave. You promised, Seulgi" Even without seeing her friend, she can tell that Joy is disappointed. 

"Don't tell me you're not interested" the monolid sigh

"Am I not?" Seulgi whispered to her own reflection

 

(May 24, 2012—Thursday)

"You are late Kang Seulgi" Joy said with her arms crossed and a brow raised. 

"And I told you I will because I overslept" 

"You always say that!" 

"It's not wrong to love sleep" Seulgi scratched her nape then stuck her tongue to annoy her friend. 

"You lazy retard" Joy could only murmur before rolling her eyes. 

"Where's Rene?" The taller woman was unable to answer because someone else did it before her. 

"Present!" Irene said with one arm raised. Judging the mood of the woman, you can say that she's having an excellent day. Seulgi smiled at her presence while Joy stared at the person standing behind Irene. 

"Oh by the way, I'd like you to meet Wendy—My girlfriend" 

The said girl named Wendy genuinely smiled at the two persons she just met that day. 

Meanwhile, Seulgi can feel her world crushing. She acknowledged a long time ago the romantic feeling she had developed for her best friend and everyday she's been trying to show that to Irene. Never had she seen this day to come that the woman she loved would bring someone else and call that person her romantic partner. 

"Seul? Earth to Seulgi" the monolid snapped back to reality when Irene waved a hand in front of her face. 

"Ah yeah, w-what were you saying again?" Seulgi cursed herself for stuttering. Wendy gave her a big smile and offered a hand for a shake. Seulgi accepted it, although she wished she could just ignore it if not for Irene watching them interact.

"It's nice to finally meet you Seulgi. Hyun mentions you a lot" Seulgi respectfully acknowledged Wendy. Joy led them to a restaurant for lunch after the introductions. And Wendy, who was kind enough plus wanting to be friends with whoever is close to Irene, offered to pay for their meal. Seulgi suddenly hates free food that day. 

'I don't like that girl. But if she can make you happy, then maybe I can endure it' 

 

"Think about it, Seul"

"I'll be there, Joy. I promised to you that I will come. So I will definitely be there" Seulgi assured her friend. 

"Yay! That's good to hear! Text me when your arrival is. I'll come to meet you at the airport," 

"Don't bother. I don't wanna see you first thing I arrived back home" 

"I hate you!" Seulgi laughed but it was dry. She wondered when she could smile and laugh as genuine as she used to when Irene was around. 

 

(August 17, 2012—Friday)

"Rene! I just bought a mother and her babies" Irene raised a brow, asking Seulgi to elaborate with her eyes, "You eat the babies, I eat the mother" the monolid smiled brightly

"Are you finally getting out of your mind?" 

"Tada!" Seulgi opened the container of food she just bought which revealed a roasted chicken and scrambled eggs. 

"Are you giving me the eggs for free?" Irene's eyes glitter in excitement when she asked

"Nope. You need to pay so I can buy the daddy chicken. I wanna eat him too so we can have a happy family lunch!" Seulgi was too innocent when she said those but it disgusted the hell out of Irene 

"I don't feel like eating anymore" 

"Woah there, even if I give it to you for free?" 

"I think I'm not hungry" Irene was about to leave but Seulgi caught her arm and made the girl sit again. 

"You need to eat this grandma"

"I told you I'm not hungry" 

"But I know you will open your mouth. Say ahh" Seulgi tried to feed Irene but the smaller girl kept on resisting. Seulgi had to use force until finally the egg made it into Irene's mouth. The shorter one realized she's hungry and decided to eat with gusto this time. 

"Now who's not hungry?" Seulgi teased, although she found Irene's behavior cute. 

"Shut up!"

'You make me happy even in the smallest and simplest things that we do. For as long as we do it together' 

 

Seulgi went inside the elevator of the apartment complex. The door was about to close when a man got in. 

"Are you going down as well?" Seulgi nod

From the 11th floor, both people were waiting to reach the ground floor. The elevator ride was silent, until the man's phone rang. He answered the phone in no time. Seulgi wished not to hear whatever the man was talking, she didn't want to meddle, but his voice was too loud. He was yelling at his phone, obviously having a fight with his wife over something their son had done. 

"I wish I had someone to fight like that with" Seulgi thought to herself, then softly laughed when she realized how silly it was. 

 

(September 15, 2012—Saturday)

Seulgi and Irene were volunteers to help the student council officers in preparing the venue for an event. Irene was organizing the tables while Seulgi was putting white cloth covers to the chairs. Both were busy doing their stuff inside the campus auditorium when Wendy came with a sour mood. 

"Hyun, let's talk" 

"If this is about that project plan that got leaked to our competitors, then no. There's nothing to talk about anymore" Irene was quick to dismiss her girlfriend. Seulgi was also quick to catch that the couple were not on good terms. 

"It was not intentional. I tried to fix a problem but I didn't mean to make it worse" Wendy tried to explain but Irene paid no attention as she kept herself busy with what she's doing. 

"Please hyun, listen to me" But Irene turned her back to get more things she needed at the far side of where Wendy is standing. 

"Hyun! Please, talk to me!" Seulgi clenched her fist when Wendy raised her voice. And as if her body has a mind of its own, Seulgi was quick to block Wendy when the girl tried to get close to Irene. 

"Please let me through, Seulgi" Wendy was calm to ask

"No. I can't let you get close to Rene. Not when you are aggressive" Wendy widens her eyes in surprise. 

"I am not"

"You just raised your voice!" Seulgi shouted on her face. Unable to contain her temper. Irene felt the tension so she called Seulgi but her best friend was not listening. 

"Look, it's not like that. I just raised my voice because hyun is getting far from me, I need her to hear me. So could you please let me through so I can talk to her with a lower voice" Wendy is obviously getting annoyed at the monolid girl as well. 

"Just leave, Wendy" 

"No, Seulgi. Hyun and I need to talk. Just let me through, this will be quick" 

"I told you to leave!" 

"My goodness Seulgi. I'm trying to fix a feud with my girlfriend, can't you just let us have our space and stop meddling even if you mean well. You are just her best friend" And Seulgi took that personally. 

The monolid pushed the other girl hard so that her back rested on one of the tables. Seulgi took this as a chance to trap Wendy between her and the table then began throwing punches on the girl's face. She was so busy attacking that she failed to notice that Wendy was never hitting her back. A slim hand wrapped around Seulgi's waist from the back and harshly pulled her away from the poor girl. It was then that Seulgi realised that the hands belonged to Irene. And seeing her best friend running to Wendy, worried and almost crying to see her girlfriend bleeding, that was enough to calm Seulgi and guilt took over. 

"R-rene, I'm sorry" 

"Stay away, Seulgi! You were the aggressive one!" Irene tightly held on to Wendy and carefully dragged the girl to leave the place. Seulgi tried to call Irene but her apologies fell on deaf ears to the girl who was too worried about her lover. 

'Sometimes I forget to control myself. I blamed Wendy for my broken heart, enough for me to hate even her breath' 

 

Too occupied with her thoughts, Seulgi arrived in her workplace and the memory of her commute from home to work that morning was a blur. She stared blankly on her messy table after sitting on her swivel chair. Five more minutes of blank staring 'til her eyes landed on the sole picture placed on her table, slightly covered with papers. She unconsciously smiled recalling the day she took the photo with Irene on their graduation day in high school. And with the memory of that lovely day, she stood up from her sit to head towards the office of her boss. 

That morning, Seulgi filed a leave and bought a ticket to korea. 

"Am I ever gonna see you again, Rene? "