THE smile on Seul's face goes from ear to ear and Irene couldn't help but to be bothered. They just came out of the phone store and are now heading to the place where they will eat their lunch. Seul looked so happy for getting a new phone not knowing that her old phone was actually in Irene's possession.

It all happened last night, in the middle of the heat, when Irene asked Gi to directly touch her. Before Gi even reached her bust, a pebble hit Irene's window, pulling the two back from the grey world they were about to enter.

"What the …" Gi hissed as she turned by the window. Irene also seemed to wake up from her lust-driven desire, looking like she was splashed with cold water.

The doorbell started ringing nonstop and they could hear Bambi barking outside. Gi glared by the window like she was ready to kill. Irene hurriedly stood up and reached for the nearest cardigan that she saw.

"I-I'll go get the door." Irene stammered, fixing herself in a haste.

"At this ing time? Great timing… Why did this thing never happen back then?"

Gi jumped out of the bed and annoyedly marched her way to the window. She tried to see if she could have a glimpse of whoever is disturbing her happy time. Her furrowed eyebrows deepened.

"I'll be back…" Irene just got out of her bedroom when a strong hand grabbed her by the wrist. Without words, Gi then walked before her, almost dragging her by the main door.

The two both looked at the camera of the door phone and Irene was taken aback to see two guys who seemed like they are members of a gang just by judging their outfits.

"Stay here." Gi told Irene as she grabbed the door knob. Irene quickly stopped her.

"What are you doing!?" She hissed. "What if they mean harm?"

Gi smiled at her. "If they mean harm do you think they will ring the doorbell?"

"But still!" Irene pulled her back. "You can't just trust people right away! Remember you got robbed when you first stepped here!"

There goes Gi's signature sneer. "You should tell that to yourself, Irene." She then twisted the knob. "Stay here. I'll be back."

"Gi-ya!"

Gi couldn't be stopped and Irene had no other choice but to watch her by the door phone’s screen. She also turned the speaker on so she could hear whatever they were talking about.

But the next scene surprised Irene.

The two guys high-fived and shook hands with Gi as if they knew each other. The other guy was even checking on her for injuries.

"Glad you're fine." The guy on a ball cap said.

"Thanks," Gi answered in English. "How did you find where I am staying though?"

The other guy on a hoodie answered. “Earlier, I was checking out on this hot woman who was walking her dog. I kinda recognised you.."

"Great coincidence." Gi smirked. "Thanks for last time anyway, you guys saved me."

"No worries," The guy in a cap tapped her in the shoulder. "Those guys are from our rival gang and they really mess around these days. Stupid people messing around with the weak."

The other guy just laughed. "They thought she was weak! She was already kicking their asses when we came!"

“I am not a former marine trainee for nothing.” Gi laughed.

“You were a marine trainee!? You are really something!” The guy in a cap then reached for something in his pocket. “You suddenly disappeared when we stepped to help.”

“I thought you guys were backup. When I looked back you were also beating them but I just chose to flee. Sorry about that.” Gi answered.

“Basic human instinct.” The guy then handed her a familiar device. Gi froze for a moment.

“That’s yours, right?” The smaller guy said. “We got it from those punks. We tried to boot it but I think it got broken.”

“This is what we came for today. Sorry ‘bout coming at this time. ‘Hope we weren’t disturbing anything.” The other guys sneakily said, eyeing Gi’s dishevelled visual.

“You guys surely did.”

The three just laughed it out. Gi then waved the broken phone at the guys.

“Thanks for this. I have important things in here. You guys saved me twice now.”

“No problem ‘bout that.” The smaller guy then pointed at his own monolid eyes. “We all look out for each other.”

“That’s right. Don’t hesitate to call on us when you need help.” The taller guy then handed her a crumpled paper where their numbers are written. “See you around…”

“Seulgi.” Gi answered with a smile. “You can just call me Gi.”

“Cool name. I’m Brian and this is Anthony. We’ll be on our way for patrol then. Take care of yourself.”

“Yeah, thanks again!”

Gi watched the two leave and she made sure that they had completely left the premises of Irene’s house before going back inside. There she found Irene with a face clearly asking for an explanation.

Gi sighed and started walking upstairs. “I recognized their faces when I saw them from your window.” She nonchalantly started. “They helped me when we were robbed. I started remembering what happened back then when I saw the news.”

"W-Were you the one who actually beat those guys… The ones on the news?" Irene asked as she followed Gi.

"I did beat them, but I wasn't the one who left them unconscious. I fled when those two came." Gi answered without looking back at Irene. "I am no superhuman, I can't take four people at a time."

Gi stopped on her tracks when she reached Irene's bedroom door. There went another sigh. "Those guys certainly ruined the mood, right?"

Irene jerked when Gi's stare landed back at her. She was intently looking at her face.

"W-What?" Irene asked.

"Nothing." Gi shrugged her shoulders before going into the room. "You better sleep now, Irene. You still need to rest. You stayed all night last night. You need sleep."

The smaller girl nodded. Conscience and embarrassment was actually filling her system. "That's true... We should call it a night."

"Okay." Gi then jumped to Irene's bed. "Let me stay here until I feel sleepy."

Irene didn't answer, she had Bambi go to his little bed and told him to sleep. She put her gadgets in their charging ports before going to her side of the bed.

She covered herself with the blanket and lied on her side, her back facing Gi. The other girl just blankly stared at her for some time before finally speaking.

"Hey, are you okay?" Gi asked. She was then surprised when she heard sobs from Irene. She wanted to reach out to her but she just couldn't make herself move. "Irene?"

"S-Sorry… I just feel horrible about myself right now." Irene answered while trying to stop her tears.

Gi stayed silent for a moment. She lied on her back and stared at the ceiling. "Why? Because you're actually letting yourself feel free when you're with me?"

"This isn't right…"

Gi rolled her eyes. "We both consented to it. What's not right about it? I already told you to use me however you like."

"That's not making things right." Irene sobbed. "What's making me different from the people who abused you!? If I touch you with lust controlling me then what makes me different from them?"

"Are we on this bull again?" Gi irritably asked. Irene didn’t answer but her tears didn't stop, this left Gi with no choice.

"Come here, you…" She made Irene face her and strangely, her jaw clenched a bit at the sight of Irene's puffy eyes. "Stop crying, will you?"

"I'm really sorry, Gi… I lost control of myself. I should've already stopped when you started recalling stuff. I'm the worst."

Gi just kept on wiping the tears that kept on flowing from Irene's eyes. For someone to cry for her like this… Does a monster like her ever deserve those tears?"

"Stop..." She hushed her in a calm voice. "You're annoying me..."

"I'm really sorry..."

"I said stop."

She then gently pulled Irene in a tight embrace. "You're really annoying me… Please stop crying… It isn't your fault."

Irene was trembling and it's sending tremors to Gi's heart as well. Gi hugged the girl's small frame tighter as she rested her face on Irene's head. She then closed her eyes.

"It isn't your fault, baby... If you still feel guilty then please have this phone of mine repaired."

"Hm?" Finally, Irene looked back at her.

Gi waved the phone at her face before sliding it under her pillow. "Don't tell Seul that you have it. Please have it fixed. I want to be the one to meet her first. I have to see her."

"But—“

"If you feel bad about what happened to us tonight then just do this... for me, okay, baby?"

"Unnie?"

Irene came back to herself when Seul reached out to her, the other girl even held her hand. "Unnie, are you okay? You were spacing out."

Irene blinked fast and looked around. She internally cussed when she found out that they already walked past the restaurant that they were about to go to.

"Sorry, there's just a lot of things on my mind lately..."

"Is there something that I can do to help?" Seul asked, levelling her gaze with Irene's. Seul was holding her hand and looking straight into her eyes but they don't give the same impact when Gi does the same to her.

The same face but totally different people.

Irene felt even more conflicted with how kind Seul is. She didn't tell her about the old phone. She secretly asked one personnel to have it repaired while the girl was busy touring around the shop. She asked them to call her once the phone is fixed because it might get stolen on her porch. Irene will make sure that the phone will be safe. It's her promise to Gi.

"Is it okay for me to talk about it?" Irene asked while sneakily giving massages to her temple. Seul nodded frantically as an answer.

"Of course, Unnie! You can share your troubles with me! I don't want to be the one always receiving. If listening to your worries would mean I am helping you back then I will listen to you the whole day!"

Irene gave her a smile even though she felt like crying again. She held Seul's hand back. "Thanks, Seul. Want to talk about it during lunch?"

The younger girl gave her an assuring smile. "Let's go, Unnie. I am hungry as well."

"SO you went all the way back to Korea just to confess to her but she was actually already into someone else when you got there?"

Irene nodded to the summary that Seul did.

"You kept pushing your feelings for her but when you finally realised her worth, she's already moved on..."

Seul felt really sad after hearing Irene's story. She felt more indebted to her that she's actually looking out to her even though she has her own situation.

Seul apologised about it once again but Irene assured her that actually having her around makes her forget about the pain.

"I have never been into a relationship so I don't really have anything to advise you, Unnie." Seul sulked while staring blankly at the plate she emptied minutes after her order arrived. "But it must really be hard on you. After finally getting the courage to fight for her, leave your parents' ideals and throw away everything... she ended up finding someone else."

"It was all my fault anyway." Irene forced a smile. "She had given me millions of chances to realise my feelings for her. I am the stupid one."

Irene looked at her almost untouched meal. "The new girl is very nice. I met her back in Korea. She's really everything that Sakura could wish for. She's everything that I never managed to be for Sakura."

Irene forced herself to consume her food just like fooling herself that she was actually happy for Sakura finding someone else when she knew she would be dealing with this 'the one that got away' heartbreak for a long time.

Or would she r