“What are you drawing Unnie?” Yeri asks as the five of them sit together in a café somewhere in downtown Seoul. The group was enjoying a breath of serenity before their schedule would begin to pick up with their comeback. They sit in a ring around a little table riddled with coffee cups and multicolored tissue paper, joking around with each other and sharing their opinions of the concepts given to them.

           SM had released their music videos a few days ago, and they were celebrating their speedy return with coffee and little gifts for each other. In the midst of Seulgi taking a sip of her mocha, the maknae leans over the coffee table and playfully attempts to snatch up the little sketchbook from her unnie. Seulgi stealthily dodges the oncoming attack and slouches further in her seat, a grin spreading across her features as she giggles at the younger girl. 

           Their interaction catches Irene’s attention, sparking something that feels a little like jealousy inside of the older girl’s chest, and the leader sits up abruptly, setting her cup on the table a little too forcefully.

           “Seulgi.”

           The sound of her silky yet stern voice makes the smile slip from Seulgi’s face and she snaps to attention, eyes meeting Irene’s as the leader’s coffee drips down the side of her paper cup and pools on the table. Yeri and Joy exchange a look and the both of them get up to refill their orders while Wendy looks on with feigned interest, iPhone in hand as she scrolls through Instagram.

           Irene props herself up on the armrest with her elbow, her lips as Seulgi watches her. “What’s in the notebook?” Her tone is teasing and sultry, and there’s snowy fingers grazing the skin of Seulgi’s arm as Irene slides her hand down to the cover of the book. Seulgi’s so distracted by the sensation of Irene’s hand trailing over her skin that she doesn’t notice the way the sketchbook slips from beneath her fingers until Irene leafs through the first five pages.

           “Wait!” Seulgi exclaims, her cheeks blooming like a Bella Vita rose as she stands and scrambles to regain possession of the journal. Irene quickly pins the book in between her chair and her back and smirks up at Seulgi as the younger girl attempts to reach for it, “Not so fast.”

           Just as Seulgi leans in for another try to snag it from the mischievous leader, their manager walks in and announces that they all need to return to the dorm to get some rest for their interview with Minho the next day. Irene slips out the door in record time, and Seulgi’s left staring after her with her chest and stomach tightening into knots. 

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