Joohyun arranges the snacks on the dining table, making sure she has bought everyone's favourites. Alcoholic drinks have already been put inside the fridge; different brands that she knows Seungwan, Sooyoung, Yerim, Seulgi and herself like.

"Should I come tomorrow, Samo-nim?" The helper, who's all ready to leave, asks Seulgi with the honorific that never fails to make Joohyun snicker.

The middle-aged woman is clearly doing it on purpose because Seulgi has told her numerous times to just call her by her name, to the point that she no longer bother to correct her. If the ahjumma wants to treat her like some rich housewife living in a mansion then so be it.

"There's no need, Imo. The place is already spotless clean. I'll see you on Monday?" Seulgi says, giving her a bag of fruits that she had bought extra earlier as a thank you.

The helper nods knowingly, probably has learnt that Seulgi prefers her not to come whenever Joohyun is there to spend the night - or a few nights. She probably knows about them, but she never oversteps her boundaries. They also make sure not to do something that explicitly shows that they are a couple in front of her, leaving everything in a safe grey area. It's also thanks to the mandatory non disclosure agreement that the ahjumma had to sign before she started working here. It's a rule from Seulgi's company to protect their artists; something that has been more common these past few years in the industry, all thanks to one private driver that went to the media to spill all of his celebrity employer's affairs after being unjustifiedly fired.

She finally leaves after bidding goodbye to Joohyun as well, telling her to have a nice weekend. Something was probably implied there, but maybe she's just being self-conscious.

"They'll be here soon. You should go shower, Samo-nim." She teases Seulgi after making sure that the maid has really left the apartment. "Don't take too long! And don't watch anything while you're in there," she warns, knowing Seulgi's bad habit of watching movies on the smart mirror TV in the bathroom. She once timed her spending half an hour just to brush her teeth and wash her face.

The raven only rolls her eyes at her, clearly has given up on stopping anyone from calling her this specific pet name. She grabs her phone to check on their friends' whereabouts on a group chat that was made recently to arrange for this gathering. All three of them have shared their location trackers; Seungwan is the closest - about fifteen minutes away on the freeway.

She then raises her eyebrow when seeing what Joohyun sent about 40 minutes ago. "I'm on my way?" she reads with a judging tone.

She shrugs. "I have to make it believable." Or to be exact, to hide the fact that she has been in Seulgi's apartment since yesterday afternoon.

Today is the day.

The day where they will finally tell their friends that the two of them have been in a relationship. And she's nervous about it. One, over the fact that Seulgi and her are dating. Two, that they have been keeping it a secret for four full months. Three, there's a whole history of her and Sooyoung getting into a big fight back then about Seulgi and it wasn't a particularly pleasant memory.

"Unnie, are you okay?" Seulgi asks, probably sensing her anxiousness.

She nods with a tight smile. "Just a little bit nervous," she answers honestly. It's a new habit she's trying to build; to show her vulnerable side.

Seulgi comes to her, holding her gently. "Everything's gonna be fine."

"It's been four months. We shouldn't have waited this long."

"Only because everybody's busy. It's so hard to gather all of us together in one place."

"We only started planning this last month. They're gonna question why we kept this from them for at least three whole months."

"I'm sure they'll be fine with it. With the news and also the delay." Seulgi then starts joking around with a cheeky grin on her face. "I'm dating freaking Irene Bae. The only correct way for my friends to react is, wow, good job, Seulgi."

She only rolls her eyes. "They're not just your friends. We all have quite a whole history together. It's different."

Seulgi tilts her chin using her fingers, making her look up to her reassuring eyes. "I know. Well, I'll be by your side the whole time. We're in this together." She kisses her for extra measure.

It calms her a little somehow.

"Imo forgot to take out the trash," she says, cocking her head to the abandoned trash by the door. There's a garbage chute at the back, but there are a lot of cardboards and plastics this time round that need to be properly sorted for recycling. "Would you be a dear and throw it away before you go shower?"

A loud shriek comes out of her when Seulgi suddenly picks her up, laughing her off when she screams.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"What? You told me to take out the trash!"

It takes her a second to process it. "Excuse me, you're calling me trash?"

Seulgi smiles sheepishly, still carrying her steadily. "You're so fun to tease." 

"How. dare. you." She hits her shoulder lightly with each word.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry. I'll put you down. I'll put you down." Seulgi begs for mercy, still having the audacity to laugh in between.

"Wait." She stops hitting her to fix her position and circle her arms around Seulgi's neck instead, giving her a sign that the joke has been taken well.

Seulgi keeps her arms securely around her, supporting her whole weight. She steps forward and soon Joohyun feels her back against the wall.

Feeling how much love and adoration Seulgi is looking at her with, she has to tell her girlfriend. "You have to remember to behave later. No staring at me like this. No calling me by my name only. At least until we tell them. No, wait, you should still call me unnie even after that, otherwise they're just gonna tease us to death."

"Understood, Unnie," she emphasizes on the honorific.

"Good. Now, I'm gonna kiss you. It'll be the last you'll get for the rest of the day."

"Yes, Unnie." Seulgi shuts her eyes and waits for her lips to be captured.

-

"I'm pregnant."

There's a second of silence before everybody starts screaming congratulations and some profanities. In the midst of the chaos, Joohyun watches the girl who just made the announcement, once again realizing how fast time fly. It feels like only yesterday when she met a teenage Park Sooyoung at the old SM building. It feels like only yesterday when she attended her wedding. And now the tallest member of the group is going to become a mother. It's wild.

"You're going to be a great mom, Park Sooyoung," she tells her after the noises died down. She knows how much Sooyoung loves children and how long she has been dreaming to become a mother.

"Thanks, Unnie. You have to help me babysit, okay?" 

They're about to do a toast and Yerim, who hasn't really registered the whole thing yet, pours one for Sooyoung as well. She instantly receives yelling from the rest of them. They've all grown up, including Yerim, but they always turn into children again whenever they're together; saying and doing the silliest things.

Joohyun searches for and finally meets Seulgi's eyes, giving her a look that the younger woman immediately understood. They'll be keeping their news a secret for a little bit longer. Sooyoung deserves her moment.

They then talk about names before Sooyoung begs them to not give her weird ideas, trying to get them to talk about something else. Of course, the story about Joohyun and Yerim dining and dashing has to be told one more time to Seungwan and Sooyoung who have never heard about it before. Afterwards, the attention finally shifts to Seulgi. The girls are asking her if she has something else she would like to share, considering how she was the one persistently trying to make this gathering happen.

The younger Seulgi would probably stammer and look at Joohyun for guidance, but this Seulgi doesn't even give her a glance as she answers fast and confidently, "I was just thinking that we should make a comeback, but you just had to go and make a baby." She tells Sooyoung with a playful judging look.

They laugh and Sooyoung promises that she will be ready to give her all for Red Velvet's 20th anniversary.

"Should we do Aseul instead?" Seulgi asks of the sub-unit after her fail attempt with the group.

"I'd rather die," she answers so quickly. Seeing the slight hurt in Seulgi's face, she realizes how bad that sounded. "No, no, no, I mean.." She laughs along as the others start laughing. Reaching forward, she has Seulgi's head in her hands, her cheek and hair to pacify her. "I mean I'm too old to do Aseul. I mainly act these days, and you've never stopped dancing. I'm not gonna be able to keep up with you." She lets go of her, realizing how intimately she's holding her.

"We can just sit down and sing though," Seulgi says, pouting. "No one is asking you to breakdance and do a spin with your head."

They cackle at the imagination.

"I know. But Aseul is.. Aseul, you know what I mean? If it's not risky then what's the point of doing it." To hell with the girls watching, she grabs Seulgi's arm and it gently. "We'll discuss later and see if we can do something together, okay? I'll practice really hard."

The bones in her body are yelling at her but it's worth it when she sees Seulgi's smile.

"They reeaally never changed," Sooyoung whispers, smacking Yerim's arm lightly to get her to start terrorizing the unnies, but her partner-in-crime only scoffs at that.

Odd.

The topic switches to Seungwan, who is preparing to go on a concert tour in the summer. She excitedly shares her ideas and the guest performers she's hoping to score. Yerim also shares that she is so close to being able to work with an older actor she has long admired, hoping that everything will get finalized soon.

"How about you, Unnie? You were a bit quite tonight. Are you, perhaps, pregnant too?" Seungwan jokes, putting her in the spotlight.

She finds it harder to breathe, as if they already knew what's going on and are just torturing it out of her. She told Seulgi to be careful but she was the one being so careless. After managing to crack a lame joke to the question, she makes makes them move from the dining table to the living room. A variety show with Yerim making a guest appearance is about to air. Seulgi puts out another round of snacks and drinks before joining her and Seungwan cleaning the table. Seungwan is then being told to go join the maknaes in the living room and leave the dishes to Seulgi and her.

She finally relaxes a little when the two of them are alone in the kitchen. Seulgi has a dishwasher, but Joohyun prefers to wash them by hand. It's cleaner, she always says. So there they are, side by side, doing the dishes.

"Hey, about earlier, you're not really upset, are you?" she checks.

Seulgi grabs another glass and starts cleaning it. "I mean.. you didn't have to say it like that," she starts pouting again, this time totally in a playful manner. "It hurts," she says exaggeratingly.

She chuckles, nudging the younger one using her shoulder. "It was just my age talking, I swear. I want to do it. It's gonna be really fun," she says, adding, "And really painful for my back. You're gonna have to pay for my therapy. But I'll do it for you."

"Don't do it for me. We do this for the art.. and the lesbian community."

She bursts out laughing. "You dork." She nudges her again, now using her hip.

Their hands touch under the water, making them look at each other with smiles on their faces. She intertwines them and squeezes Seulgi's hand gently. The younger woman responds by bending down and resting her head on Joohyun's shoulder.

That's when Yerim walks in on them, pausing and staring at them.

They notice the presence and turn over their shoulders, looking at her questioningly while trying to remain calm. There's nothing weird about them being like this, Joohyun supposes. The girls are all used to the intimacy shared between them.

"Y- you need something, Yerim-ah?" She can't help but stutter a little.

Yerim is still staying quiet, still looking at them. A few more seconds passed before she moves forward and puts her hands on both their waists, burying her face in between their shoulders - making a weird, half group hug. She then leaves without saying anything, leaving them both dumbfounded.

Seulgi turns the tap off. "What was that?" she asks, eyebrows furrowed.

She puts the bowl she's still washing down. "She knew."

-

"Girls, I have something to tell you," Joohyun announces to the room.

Yerim is the one who takes the initiative to turn off the TV despite strong protests from Seungwan and Sooyoung; less because they are oh so incredibly supportive of her, but more because they want to watch the show to make fun of her every chance they get. "The show is kinda boring, anyway," she says non-chalantly.

It takes them a little convincing before all eyes and ears are finally on Joohyun, curious.

She's pretty sure she kind of had a speech prepared since last night, but right this second she doesn't even know how to start with the first word. She has no idea how long she has been staying quiet until Seulgi speaks on her behalf.

"Remember many, many, many, many, many years ago when I had feelings for unnie?" She questions, saying it lightly.

"Uh.. yeah.. of course. It wasn't that long ago," Seungwan says with a tiny hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Felt like yesterday," Yerim quips.

"Why?" Seungwan asks.

There's silence as Seulgi checks on her, as if asking for permission to finally say it. When she nods, Seulgi says, "Well, let's just say.. the feelings-"

Seulgi hasn't finished the sentence yet when she jumps in, feeling like they have to hear it from her directly. "The feelings are now mutual."

".. mutual now," the raven finishes.

The reception is totally different from when Sooyoung announced her pregnancy a little while ago; no one is screaming, no profanities launched.

"What? For real?" Seungwan questions, face contorted into half-confusion and half-amusement.

Sooyoung, too, is sporting almost the same expression.

Only Yerim who doesn't look surprised out of the three of them.

"So, what does this mean?" Sooyoung finally asks the important question.

Seulgi puts her hand on her knee, which gives her the courage to speak. "We're-"

"You're meeting each other with good feelings?" Yerim interjects, quoting the standard statement used by companies to confirm their artists' dating news.

It instantly cracks them all up. Yes, even her.

"We've been.." She forgets what she was about to say again, all thanks to Yerim. "I don't know what's the right word for it. You can say.. in a relationship?" She adds shyly, "Certainly with good feelings."

Seulgi's eyes widened at that, totally didn't expect her to be so cringey in front of the others. Harmonious coos are heard coming from the other three; they're singers, indeed.

"How did this happen?"

"How long has this been going on?"

Sooyoung and Seungwan both ask at the same time.

The second one was the question she dreaded the most, but it's also the easiest out of the two to answer. And she doesn't even have to answer it because Seulgi has answered it for her, totally playing it down. "Not that long ago."

"How did it happen?" Sooyoung repeats, not letting her question get ignored.

"Uhm.. we went to a dancer's wedding last December and.." She sighs internally at the slip up; accidentaly revealing the timing.

Luckily, Yerim totally turns that one around, asking, "You two got drunk and ed?"

"Language!"

Someone reprimands her. Joohyun doesn't even know anymore who that was in the middle of the chaos. She's sure she is blushing and poor Seulgi can only look at the rug and shakes her head.

"Oh! Oh!" Yerim suddenly freaks out by herself, grabbing her phone and starts tapping and scrolling excitedly. Apparently, she was looking through Joohyun's Instagram page, finding photos she posted in late January. "Was this a lovestagram?" She shows the exact photos Joohyun posted of them taken during those four magical days in Jeju.

After she came back to Seoul from that trip, Seulgi called to ask permission to post the photos they took together. Instead of giving permission, she went to Instagram and posted some photos herself before asking Seulgi to check her page while telling her, 'You don't need to ask for my permission from now on. As long as I'm not ugly in the photos, you can post whatever you want without asking. I trust you.'

"Yeah," she confirms. "That was when we first got together. It was in late January, by the way. We didn't.. get drunk and.. have at the wedding."

The phone is being passed around to Seungwan and Sooyoung who have actually seen and liked the post, but are now seeing it in different light. It's a carousel of photos of them in Jeju during those few days; one of them together, one of her alone, one of Seulgi alone, a few others of the views and of course one short video of the fireplace. Nothing too suspicious, just normal stuff two best friends share after taking a short trip together to relax and unwind. Their fans were definitely estatic seeing those and the media wrote articles, praising the friendship that was still going strong after more than 16 years since their debut.

She clears , continuing. "Anyway.. it was during the wedding trip when I confessed to her."

"You confessed to Seulgi-unnie?" Both the maknaes ask at the same time.

"Yes. And we got together about a month later," she repeats, trying to shorten the duration between now and then.

"Exactly a month later," Seulgi adds, smiling at her.

It's cute. Seulgi loves this one little detail and she's definitely planning on telling the girls about the whole story later.

"Why one month? Was there like a retention period or something?" Yerim jokes, once again making them laugh; or at least Seungwan and Sooyoung.

"Shush! Not funny!" Seulgi pushes her jokingly.

"Wait!" Sooyoung puts her hand up. "Does this mea