The next weekend, Seulgi had gone on a quick run to the convenience store for some Pringles. When she returned, she found Wendy sitting in the hallway outside Irene’s apartment. 

“Hiya, chingu!” the bear greeted brightly, and extended a hand to help Wendy up. “Why are you on the floor?” 

“Oh… Joohyun and I are supposed to go out for dinner. I’m a little early and she hasn’t gotten back from getting groceries. Apparently there’s a sale on fabric softener. She was very excited,” Wendy said with an amused eye-roll. 

“That’s wild,” the bear quipped, and opened her front door. “You wanna come in and have a beer with me while you wait?” she offered. Seulgi was wondering why Wendy couldn’t just let herself into her girlfriend’s place, and then wondered if Wendy knew that the bear had a key to Irene’s apartment. Back when they were hooking up with each other, the neighbours had given each other a copy of their housekey for () emergencies. After that arrangement ended, they never gave back the keys in case of actual emergencies. 

“Oh, I’m going to be driving, but I won’t say no to a chair,” Wendy laughed as she followed Seulgi into the apartment. 

When the hamster stepped inside, she found that Seulgi’s coffee table had been pushed to the wall, and in the middle of the living room, blocking access to the couch and chairs, was a large, hot pink inflatable pool filled with plastic balls. Next to it was a canvas tote bag full of glass jars containing what looked like bichnaneun, shimmering, splendid goo. 

“Uh…” Wendy awkwardly looked around. 

Seulgi wordlessly headed to the fridge to grab four bottles of beer, and handed two to Wendy. 

“Um…” Wendy hesitated but accepted the malt beverages.

The bear then stepped into the ball pit, sank into it, and took a swig of beer. “You coming in?” she asked Wendy.

The hamster paused to consider. “Yeah, okay,” she shrugged as she stepped into the pool and shimmied into the sea of balls until her body was submerged and just her head was sticking out. 

Seulgi handed her a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses, put on a matching pair, and the two clinked their beers together before drinking. 

“Do you ever daydream about erted things in public, and then panic at the possibility of someone being able to read your mind and expose you as a dirtybird, so you send out telepathic messages to the mind reader not to tell anyone that you’re creepy and are picturing everyone in church ?” Seulgi asked.

“Well… um… w- does it have to be in church?” Wendy laughed.

“Oh, absolutely,” the bear replied, dead serious. 

Half an hour later, Irene knocked on Seulgi’s door.

“Let yourself in, we’re comfy!” Seulgi yelled from the ballpit.  

They heard Irene grumble and rummage through her purse, before entering the apartment to find her girlfriend and her neighbour neck-deep in pink balls. 

The pair were watching on TV that they had on mute, and were playing ambient electronic music that Wendy had recommended to the bear. They each had a jar of slime that they were absentmindedly poking. 

“Are you two watching gay ?” Irene asked incredulously.

“It’s ,” Wendy corrected.

“Without me?” Irene asked, slightly hurt. 

“We needed to go with all these balls,” Seulgi explained, wading around the pool of plastic spheres. 

“You know I’ve never noticed before that are kind of beautiful?” Wendy said.

“Why are you corrupting my girlfriend?” Irene accused Seulgi, reaching into the pool to grab a ball that she threw at Seulgi’s face. 

“She’s still your lovable, wholesome hamster,” Seulgi assured. “Only now she’s into ,” the bear cackled evilly.

Wendy smacked Seulgi’s arm. “Hyun, I promise you’re the only for me,” she joked.

“Do you actually own two pairs of heart-shaped sunglasses?” Irene asked her ridiculous neighbour.

“Of course not,” Seulgi said, offended, and then added, “I got three so you wouldn’t feel left out.” The bear handed Irene the third pair of sunglasses.

“Are you high, or just an idiot?” Irene asked, but put on the glasses anyway, and then picked up another ball to chuck at Seulgi’s face. 

“Just a little buzzed, mommy,” the bear purred absentmindedly.  

“Hyun, I think you need an inflatable pool for your living room. This is so relaxing,” Wendy said. 

“Um… I think we’re gonna be late for our dinner reservation if you don’t get up,” Irene said dryly, removing her sunglasses and putting them down on the coffee table. 

“Sorry, buddy, duty balls- I mean calls,” Wendy said, bursting into giggles, before she then thrashed around, eventually extending a hand to Irene. “Help, please?”

Irene watched her struggle, unimpressed. “You and your buddy got yourselves into this mess, you get yourself out,” she sneered.

Wendy thrashed some more, slipping and stumbling on top of Seulgi, who thrashed around as well, their hands unintentionally landing on and feeling up all kinds of intimate body parts, effectively molesting each other. 

“, Wendy, right there, baby,” Seulgi joked.

“Shut the up!” the hamster squeaked in a panic, flailing and stumbling even more. 

“Ow, ! You stepped on my shin!” Seulgi yelped.

“Well, you kneed my stomach!”

“Get your hand off my face!” the bear said in a muffled scream.

Irene sighed as she watched the two struggle. “Jesus, I’ve actually had with these idiots,” she groaned, before pulling Wendy up. “Do you need help, crazy?” she asked her neighbour, who was now doggy paddling around. 

“No, thank you. Enjoy your dinner, guys.”

“You wanna join us, chingu?” Wendy asked, making Irene glare at her.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m alright,” the bear replied, not even noticing Irene’s scowling.

“You want a doggy bag?” Wendy insisted still, making Irene roll her eyes so hard. 

“You’re sweet, Wendy, but I’ll be okay,” the bear replied, blowing her a kiss. 

“By the way, Hyun, you’re gonna have to drive,” Wendy said with a sheepish smile. 

*

After Wenrene had left, Seulgi glumly sank into the ball pit. Suddenly her phone rang, making her burst out, sending balls flying everywhere. She looked around for her phone, and then paused to listen to the ringtone that seemed to be coming from underneath the sea of balls. Seulgi dove back into the plastic pile, feeling around til she found her phone. She had missed a call from Roseanne, whom she promptly called back.

“Hi,” the bear said, slightly out of breath.

“Hi,” Roseanne answered brightly. “Is this a bad time? Were you running?”

“No, I was swimming.”

“Um… what?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m so happy you called!” 

“You are? Why? It’s been a week and you haven’t called or texted me.”

“I’ve been wanting to call you. I was just waiting so you didn’t think I was too eager. You didn’t really seem too excited to give me your number,” Seulgi said earnestly.

“Hmmn… I still gave you my number though. Did I call too soon? Do you think I’m too eager?” Roseanne asked.

“I honestly wish you had called sooner. I’ve been trying so hard to stop myself from kidnapping you, so…”

“Oh, that sounds sinister…” Roseanne played along.

“It i