"I like Seulgi's eyes"    

With their newfound strength, Red Velvet faced their initial hardships as equals. The weight of expectations was still heavy, but they carried it on together.

Joohyun noticed.

With the way Sooyoung was able to joke around her.

With the way Seungwan didn’t have to push herself to smile even if she was hurting.

That she did something right. Maybe she wasn’t so bad at being Red Velvet’s leader.

As months went by, people were starting to accept them. They knew it was a rushed debut. Their agency was like that, digging holes to fill up another. Joohyun could spend her day pondering that this was all unfair.

The ‘Happiness’ era quickly passed by and it was the birth of a new era.

The next one that came wasn’t new for Seulgi and Joohyun. It was ‘Be Natural’, a piece that both of them danced to when they were trainees. Their sunbae, Lee Soo Man, liked it a lot.

When Seulgi first danced to ‘Be Natural’ when they were trainees, she found that it was quite.. odd. She knew that Joohyun’s beauty had always been unparalleled. Joohyun could get lost in the sea of people, but Seulgi would still be able to find her.

Wherever Joohyun went, she unintentionally stick out.

Dancing with Joohyun to ‘Be Natural’, back then, made her think about things she didn’t really notice before.

Like how her unnie’s moles made her even more attractive up close,

How unnie’s smile, that used to be so motherly in Seulgi’s eyes, just transformed into something inviting,

And how unnie’s eyes could just trap you in a blissful trance where you are at her mercy.

Seulgi thought, ‘Wow. Unnie is so cool’.

Now that she found herself on the set, those feelings came rushing back to her, especially when she saw Joohyun in that red velvet suit that fitted her oh-so-perfectly.

Seulgi and Joohyun just finished retouching their makeup and they were waiting for the other members.

“Seulgi-ah”, Joohyun said as she was walking toward Seulgi, “This brings back memories, doesn’t it?”

Seulgi was just staring at her in a trance and Joohyun furrowed her eyebrows. “Seulgi-ah? Are you okay?”

That seemed to wake Seulgi up as she suddenly coughed, “Y-Yeah— Yes, unnie”

Joohyun chuckled, “Ya! Are you still sleepy? You slept earlier than us!”

Seulgi smiled, “No. Unnie.. it’s not that..”

Joohyun tilted her head, “What is it, then?”

Seulgi felt some heat on her cheeks and she gulped, “Unnie.. You’re so.. You..”

You are so beautiful.

Seulgi cleared as she said, “Y-You have something in your hair. Let me get that for you”

The younger one walked toward her and removed a speck of non-existing dirt on her hair.

Joohyun laughed as she playfully hit Seulgi, “Why must you act so shy over that? Kang Seulgi! You’re a dummy!”

The only answer that Joohyun got was Seulgi’s sweet smile and soft eyes that seemed to be adoring her.

“Be careful of male idols. In whatever you do, be wary of them.”

Seulgi was told by a female senior. True enough, when Red Velvet debuted, a lot of male idols were reaching out to them and they won’t leave them alone.

During those times, Seulgi would just reply innocently, as if to a collegue. She was warned, but Seulgi wanted to believe that not all of them were like that. After all, she knew a lot of good men.

What Seulgi didn’t know, at this time, was that these exact lines would be the catalyst as to why their group had a strict rule not to let anyone else into their dorm.

The warning was something Seulgi couldn’t bring up to the group. For some reason, this was a topic that was just a burden to bring up because she didn’t want to plant a seed of panic upon her members.

It wasn’t until they performed at Super Rookies.

It was a successful event. Seulgi got acquainted with a lot of rookies who she performed with and had been keeping in touch with some of them. In truth, Seulgi had been asked to be on a blind date, but she respectfully declined. Having trained for seven years, Seulgi wasn’t willing to take any risks.

She was at the dorm with Sooyoung and Joohyun, trying to take the rest of the day off. They just got home from a radio show but Seungwan went out to see a close friend.

Joohyun was in the room taking a nap while Seulgi and Sooyoung were playing some movies. They were arguing about what to watch when the doorbell suddenly rang. The two of them stared at each other, confused. They weren’t expecting anyone for the rest of the day.

Being the older one, Seulgi made Sooyoung stay and she fetched the door. She was surprised when she saw a member of Winner on their doorstep, holding a bouquet of flowers. To say that Seulgi was surprised would be an understatement.

Seulgi greeted him, “Good afternoon. H-How can I help you?”

Taehyun bowed, “Good afternoon, Seulgi-ssi. I came to visit Irene-ssi. Is