“G-GI-YA…”

Irene couldn’t focus at her task at all when Gi’s latched on her back, her hands wrapped around her waist while her chin rested on Irene’s shoulder. Irene’s trying to wash the vegetables that they would be eating during the barbeque party but Gi just won’t leave her be.

Gi started planting kisses on her neck which made Irene coil since it’s a bit ticklish. “Gi-ya, the guests are waiting outside. We can’t take this long.”

“Hm?” Gi raised her head up to look at Irene. “You didn’t tell me we were having guests. I thought this trip would only be for the two of us.”

Irene turned to her with that confused look on her face. “You were the one who asked them to join us for dinner, remember? Why are you—”

The smaller girl was silenced when Gi claimed her lips out of nowhere. Irene tried to push her off but Gi was much stronger than her. Her being weak to every body contact with the said girl didn’t help at all. She could only cling into Gi’s shirt and of course, kiss back.

Gi cut the kiss and smiled at Irene. “You didn’t introduce me as your girlfriend for nothing,right?” She then gave her a light kiss on the lips. “Why not have fun pretending while we’re at it? You want to see her jealous, right?”

“I-It isn’t like that.” Irene worriedly shook her head. As expected, Gi would misunderstand. “It’s not about making her jealous… I just want them to think that I am doing fine with my life now…”

“Hmm?” Gi gave her a teasing smile as she pulled her a little closer. “When did getting a girlfriend become a symbol of a fine life? Just be true to yourself, Irene.”

Gi started tracing Irene’s jawline with the back of her fingers. “Wait a minute, I just want to be clear.”

“W-What is it?”

“Which one is it? The one you introduced as your girlfriend… Me or Seul?”

The sharp gaze on Gi’s eyes took Irene aback. While it’s true that it was during the time that Seul was around when she met Sakura and Wonyoung, she was actually pertaining to Gi when she said she came with her girlfriend. She didn’t even expect that Sakura would show interest in meeting this said girlfriend. Irene got no choice but to bring them to where Seul was.

“O-Of course…” Irene lowered her head to hide her flustered face. “I was thinking of you when I said I came with my lover.”

A wide smile curved up Gi's lips. She then pressed her lips on Irene’s forehead. “Good then, I won’t fail you. I’ll make sure to act like your girlfriend so you can see her jealous face.”

Irene looked back at Gi, frustrated that the girl wasn’t letting go about the idea of making Sakura jealous. “I already said it isn’t about that, Gi. Also, aren’t you the one who needs some explaining to do?”

Gi’s eyebrows rose, still flashing that mischievous smile. “Ah, Yerim?”

Irene couldn’t help but to frown at the sound of the name of the girl she found hugging Gi when she got back from the store. It was the same girl who bumped her when she went inside the said mini-store. Gi talked separately with the said girl, exchanged numbers with her and sent Yerim back to the store.

Irene was actually talking about the reason why she didn’t come out last night but she forgot all about it when she heard the name of the said girl.

“I’ll tell you about her during your lesson with Professor Gi tonight. But I assure you, you don’t have anything to be jealous about, baby.” She adored the look of jealousy on Irene’s face. Her heart somehow liked Irene's jealousy that she chose not to reveal Yerim’s identity right away.

Irene gulped at the idea of having a lesson with Gi. The girl just smiled at her and was about to give her another kiss when they heard a loud thudding sound from behind. Irene twitched but Gi just cooly turned around to see what happened. Irene’s eyes widened when she saw Sakura on one foot while holding her right foot. Her face is so red because of mixed pain and embarrassment.

“Kkura-ya?” Irene tried to go to Sakura but Gi didn’t let her go. She looked at Gi only to see that playful smile on her face again. Irene just sighed and looked back at the other girl. “Are you okay, Kkura?”

“Y-Yeah, I just bumped my foot on the cabinet.” Sakura put her foot down and leaned by the kitchen’s door frame. “S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you guys.”

“Is there something that we can help you with?” Gi cooly asked, her arms still wrapped around Irene’s waist.

“You guys were taking time so I thought of helping.” Sakura finally managed to stand straight. What she arrived at surely took her aback and made her panic for a second, making her hurt herself when she was about to turn back.

Gi gave out a laugh. “Sorry for taking so long. I just can’t resist myself.”

It was Irene’s turn to look flustered. She eyed Gi, sending her signals to stop with whatever she was doing but the other girl only shrugged her shoulders and hugged her tighter.

“Who would be able to resist when your girlfriend is this beautiful, right?” Gi said with a huge smile on her face.

Sakura didn’t seem pleased with that. She averted her stare and mumbled, “You were just caught cheating a while ago that’s why you’re trying to fool her.”

“Are you saying something?” Gi asked, the smile on her face quickly disappeared.

“Nothing.” Sakura gave her a sarcastic smile. She then turned her attention to Irene and her expression softened right away. “Bae, I’ll start grilling meat outside. I’ll take the meat out now, okay?”

“A-Alright.” Irene finally freed herself from Gi’s grasp. She then quickly finished washing the vegetables and put it in a small tray. “Can you take this out as well? I’ll go prepare the side dishes.”

“Got it.” Sakura answered with a smile but that smile quickly disappeared when her stare landed at Gi for a moment. She swiftly took the meat from the fridge and the leaves that Irene just washed.

“Let me know if you need more help, I’ll send Wonyoung here.”

“No, it’s fine. Gi and I will handle the rest.” Irene said as she busied herself opening the instant rice to put in in the microwave. “Gi-ya, can you take the kimchi and the soybean paste out of the fridge? I’ll just check if this soup is all set.”

Gi looked back and forth to Sakura and Irene first before she lazily answered with a yes.

“I’ll be going out then.” Sakura didn’t even wait for a response and just went outside.

Irene finally let out a sigh of relief when the other girl was finally out of sight. She turned to Gi who was smiling to herself. Irene couldn’t help but to be worried, she could already feel that Gi was already running simulations in her head.

WONYOUNG couldn't help but to be worried since the knot formed by Sakura's eyebrows didn't seem to be untangling anytime soon. She thought that it could be because of the smoke coming from the grilling meat but she had seen Sakura do this quite a few times and she never showed this kind of face.

"Unnie…" Wonyoung called in a bit of a whiny voice. "Can you stop frowning? It's scary…"

"Huh?" Sakura's eyebrows shot upwards. "Sorry, Wonyoung-ah."

Sakura gave the younger girl a smile but it didn't put Wonyoung at peace at all since the other girl kept on looking inside of the house with that impatient face.

"Kkura-unnie…" Wonyoung lowered her gaze.

"Yes?" the other girl nonchalantly answered which made Wonyoung even more worried.

"…Unnie, by any chance…" Wonyoung started fidgeting with her fingers, wondering if it would be right to ask Sakura about it. "...Are you jealous?"

“Huh? Jealous?” Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead before letting out a sigh. Wonyoung is very much aware of her past with Irene and she can’t blame her for thinking like that. She was in love with Irene for the longest time anyway.

“Eung.” Wonyoung nodded her head. “You don’t seem to like Irene-unnie’s girlfriend.”

Sakura started flipping the meat. “It’s true that I don’t like her. Let’s just say that I can smell when one is a player since I was one in the past. But jealous?”

Wonyoung lifted her head up to see whether Sakura was sincere.

“I’m not jealous at all. I am just worried about Bae. You also saw what happened earlier, right? Also…” Sakura stopped to take a look at Wonyoung. “I don’t know why but she looked so familiar to me.”

“Seulgi-ssi?” Wonyoung asked.

“Yeah.” Sakura closed her eyes as if trying to remember something only to open them up without any favourable result. “I feel like I have seen her somewhere. Her name also feels familiar to me.”

“You’ve met her somewhere?” Wonyoung felt even more curious. “But now that you’ve mentioned it. She does look a bit familiar.”

“I feel like I have seen those eyes somewhere.” Sakura just shook her head then continued with her task. “So, yeah. Don’t misunderstand, Wonyoung-ah. I just want to make sure that Bae is safe. Her ex-fiancé was a pain in the and it’s her first time picking a lover for herself. I just want to make sure she’s doing the right thing.”

Wonyoung pouted. Was that statement supposed to assure her that there are no romantic feelings behind it when it’s obvious that she still cares so much for Irene?

“I don’t know much about Irene-unnie but I think she won’t be picking just anyone for her. Even if that person is a player or not, she seems to be the type to have a good reason for liking someone.” Wonyoung turned to the direction of the beach. “She did fall for a player like you, didn’t she. You should trust her judgement at the very least.”

Sakura felt dry up. She knew what Wonyoung was trying to infer.

“B-But Wonyoung-ah—“

“Sorry for waiting.”

The two turned to Irene who’s carrying the pot of soup while Gi’s trailing after her. She’s carrying the tray of side dishes. After placing the side dishes on the table she went back inside to get some drinks.

“Irene-unnie.” Wonyoung called with a smile. “Your girlfriend looks really charming.”

“Really?” Irene gave a shy smile as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “I guess she’s really charming.”

“You two really look good together~” Wonyoung added, making Irene blush. Sakura, on the other hand, could feel that Wonyoung is saying those stuff to purposely see if she’s going to be annoyed.

"Thanks, Wonyoung." Whether the younger girl was saying that out of courtesy or of sincerity, Irene felt happy to hear that she and Gi have some chemistry at the very least. The smile on her face widened.

"How long have you been going out with her?" Sakura asked, trying to look as poker faced as possible.

"We haven't been together for long." Irene was relieved she managed to come out with a vague answer. But now that a question came in, she knew more questions would come and just prayed to the heavens to help her find a way out.

"I see…" Sakura nonchalantly answered as she started cutting the meat. "When did you meet her?"

'Man, here it goes.' Irene wasn't able to give an answer right away. She doesn't want to give an impression that Gi might just be a rebound if she told them the truth that she met her right after she got home after that failed confession. "W-Well we---"

"I met her when she got back from Korea." Everyone turned to Gi who's holding two cans of beer with each hand. "I was robbed when I got here in Chicago and I found shelter on her porch. She then took me in, nourished me back to health and I've been staying at her house since then."

"G-Gi-ya…" Irene called out. She was surprised that Gi didn't even hesitate in telling the truth. The other girl just smiled at her.

Wonyoung's eyes sparkled in amazement. "Your first meeting was like a scene from a drama."

Gi gave soft chuckles. She then looked back at Irene. "Irene is a gift from heaven, easily the kindest person I’ve ever met. She's become my most favourite person since then."

"Oh my~" Wonyoung cupped her cheeks as she giggled. "That's very sweet of you."

Irene bumped Gi by the shoulder, basically telling her how embarrassed she was with those cheesy words.

"What are you being shy for, baby?" Gi asked, wrapping an arm behind Irene's waist.

"Stop it, you're being so showy." Irene gently pushed her off but Gi enjoyed the way she reacted. She could also feel the heavy stare of Irene's past on her.

"You mean you weren't originally from here, Seulgi-ssi?" Sakura asked, unbothered by the cheesiness.

"Yes, my initial purpose of coming here in Chicago was to visit my mother but I guess fate has a better plan for me."

"Gi, stop!"

Irene dropped herself to her seat, acting all grumpy with how Gi was expressing herself. Wonyoung and Gi just laughed at her while Sakura remained observant.

Gi sat beside Irene, the smile on her face couldn't be erased. "Let me do the grilling, Sakura-ssi. I am the one who invited you for dinner anyway."

"No, it's fine. We could at least do this in return for the free dinner."

"Thanks, Kkura-ya." Irene sighed. "If you let Gi do it she would just turn everything into charcoal."

"Baby~!"

"Do you still remember what you did to my kitchen last time?" It was Irene's time for revenge after all of those embarrassing lines Gi spat out. "You even tried to feed Bambi poison!"

"I was just trying to cook for you."

She had doubts with Gi's sincerity since it came directly from her that she wanted to make Sakura jealous. Irene then started to wonder and be curious; will Sakura even get jealous?

Irene couldn't help it and took a peek at Sakura. Her heart started beating faster when she saw the displeased look on Sakura's face.

"What kind of job are you doing?" Sakura raised a question once more. "I'm just amazed that you have such a lot of freetime in hand."

'Man, this is a hard question. How will you answer, Gi?' Irene looked at her girlfriend but the latter didn't seem bothered at all.

"I am a travelling artist." Gi confidently said. "I only work for myself, that's why I have a lot of freetime. How about you, Sakura-ssi?"

Irene couldn't deny it. It was a nice save.

Sakura's shoulders dropped. "You only work for yourself? That's like a dream come true. I am a programmer in a gaming company in Korea as of now. Getting this vacation with Wonyoung was like reaching for the stars."

Sakura distributed cooked meat to the three and they all started with the feast. Irene thought that it would be weird if she remained quiet so she took the chance to ask questions.

"Isn't class going to start soon in Korea?” She’s talking about Wonyoung who’s still a university student by that time. “How long are you guys going to stay here?"

"Ah!" Wonyoung swallowed her food first before answering. "We've been here since last week. We'll be leaving this Monday."

"Oh, you've been here since last week but you didn't contact Unnie?" For the record, Irene actually felt sad since she got a bit close with the sweet girl Wonyoung during her time in Korea.

"Sorry, Unnie." Wonyoung gave an awkward laugh. "We were just really busy playing cupid."

"Oh, you mean…"

Irene didn't even need to finish her sentence as