Chapter 16

SeulGi brashly pulls away the very next morning when she opens her eyes and realizes who she’s currently cuddled with.

Cuddled with.

She falls from the bed from her sudden action, which takes the blanket with her and accidentally rolls the other person the said blanket was covering as well – which then wakes the other person up and yelps as the said other person accidentally falls over the klutz in the name of SeulGi.

“What the hell?!” Were the first words that came out of Irene’s mouth the moment she opens her eyes and realizes she’s on top of SeulGi.

“G-Get off!” SeulGi pushes Irene off her as she scurried away from the shorter girl.

“What is wrong with you?!” Irene takes the blanket as she stands up, “It’s early in the morning and you’ve already taken your weird pills.”

SeulGi takes a hand to her chest and feels her heart racing fast.

What the hell, indeed.

“And how did we even end up on the floor?!” Irene looks around then back at SeulGi.

SeulGi only blinks at Irene as reply.

“Ugh, you useless bear.” Irene shakes her head as she folds the blanket, “Well?” She faces SeulGi again, “Want to fix the bed?!”

SeulGi hurriedly nods as she gets up and fixes Irene’s bed, then hers. She then awkwardly stands there as she fidgets with her hands at her side.

“Let’s go down and check if breakfast is ready.” Irene then turns around and finally notices what SeulGi’s doing, “What the hell are you doing standing there like an idiot?”

SeulGi jolts from hearing Irene’s voice, why was SeulGi feeling queasy?

What is wrong with you, SeulGi?!

“I…I,” SeulGi stutters as she looks at the ground.

And she was not able to finish talking anymore as Irene already takes her hand and guides her out of the door.

Leaving SeulGi to wonder why she suddenly feels like blushing.

---

After their usual breakfast, Irene’s father announces that they will go to the private resort rented especially for their reunion.

“I don’t have any swimwear with me.” SeulGi says to Irene as Irene starts packing for their next trip.

Irene doesn’t turn to SeulGi when she says, “You don’t need to.”

SeulGi looks deadpan at Irene, “You want me there?”

That made Irene finally turn to SeulGi, a disgusted expression plastered on the brunette’s face, “Gross.”

“Well, let me borrow any swim suit!” SeulGi places herself beside Irene.

“You won’t need any swim suit!” Irene brings her hands up in mid-air then quickly brings them down again, “Wear a freaking shirt!”

SeulGi was about to reply when Irene adds, “But don’t wear any light-coloured ones. Wear black so your bra won’t be seen.

“And don’t wear thin, short shorts!” Irene points threateningly at SeulGi.

“Do you want me to wear a sweater while swimming?” SeulGi cynically asks.

Irene clicks her tongue in annoyance, “I’m just saying that you wear at least some decent clothes while swimming.”

And SeulGi doesn’t understand anymore.

Because then her heart contracts when Irene shyly looks at the floor as Irene weakly says, “I don’t want Henry looking at you.”

And even if it was weak enough, SeulGi was able to catch all the words.

Irene quickly adds loudly, “ersely! I mean, I don’t want Henry looking at you ersely.”

SeulGi knows she wants to tease Irene like how she normally does but for some unidentified reason, her heart won’t keep still and so she was not able to say anything back to Irene.

“You know how my jerk of a cousin is,” Irene nervously laughs, “Such a ert, r-right?”

SeulGi only blinks rapidly, and she sees Irene shift. If ever Irene did, because Irene doesn’t shift. She only shifts when she’s nervous, and Irene’s not nervous now. Is she?

SeulGi’s thoughts come into a stop when Irene speaks again, “Just wear proper clothes,

“Okay, SeulGi?”

And that was enough for SeulGi to feel her heart pound like crazy again.

How could she possibly say ‘no’ when Irene asks her so softly, so nicely, so alluringly gentle?

Alluringly?

SeulGi was only able to nod because of how confused she was feeling at the moment, “O-Okay.”

And SeulGi confuses herself once more when she sees Irene smile, and she cannot help but hear her heart beat fast and loud again.

---

SeulGi wears proper clothes.

She does so and she fools herself by making herself believe that Irene smiles again when the older girl sees that SeulGi has obeyed the orders given to her.

SeulGi sets their – Irene and her – things into a two-person room Irene herself chose when they reached the private resort.

“You don’t want to stay in this room with a cousin?” SeulGi asks as she puts their things down, “I could stay in the cottage near the pool you kn-”

“No,” Irene cuts her off, “Stay with me.”

SeulGi looks at Irene, and sees Irene looking back. So SeulGi lowers her gaze.

Why can’t she lock gazes with Irene anymore?

“Alright.” SeulGi nods at the ground.

“What’s troubling you?”

SeulGi sees Irene walk closer to her, and SeulGi takes a step back.

“Are you alright?” Irene continues to go closer, “You don’t seem so… put together today.”

“I-I’m alright.” SeulGi’s not sure of her reply, either.

“Don’t tell me you’re sick again.” Irene playfully tugs a corner of her lips.

And SeulGi swears her heart just keeps on melting and melting, “I-I’m fine. Go get changed already and swim.”

“I already changed,” Irene takes SeulGi’s hand, “Now, let’s swim!”

---

SeulGi wears a white sleeveless shirt over a black one, and black shorts. It’s obvious that she was not as prepared for the outing. Nevertheless, it could pass as a swimwear and so she was not questioned by any of Irene’s relatives anymore.

Irene, on the other hand, wears a blue skirted-dress on top of an orange swimsuit. Her white, flawless legs and bare arms are for show and so SeulGi’s eyes unintentionally linger a bit more than they’re supposed to.

SeulGi doesn’t even know anymore if it’s still because of the sun’s heat that her cheeks are burning.

“Like what you see?”

SeulGi’s eyes widen for a moment before turning away as she punches Irene’s arm, “No. There’s clearly nothing to see.”

She hears Irene giggle, and SeulGi jerks when she feels Irene graze a finger on her leg.

She hears Irene say, “Your legs are so long!”

“Gah!” SeulGi moves away, “Don’t!”

“It could go on forever!” Irene continues to be in awe and SeulGi wonders why she suddenly feels that she can’t stand Irene casually gliding a finger on her skin.

“Oh,” Irene retreats her finger, but her mischievous smile stays on her lips when she sees SeulGi pull away, “Sensitive, are we?”

SeulGi hasn’t much moved an inch yet when she feels Irene curl a finger just under the blonde’s armpit.

“You idiot!” SeulGi jerks away, but not after she decides to have her revenge by trying to pull Irene’s skirt up.

Irene pretentiously moves her legs away, and SeulGi gets the biggest surprise of her life when Irene grabs the very top of SeulGi’s sleeveless shirt as to purposely reveal what’s inside it.

“J-Jerk!” SeulGi snatches herself back from Irene’s grip, with Irene laughing hysterically at her reaction.

And SeulGi can’t help but laugh along with Irene as she thinks how cheeky the older girl could actually get.

---

When they reached the poolside where Irene’s other relatives are, SeulGi feels her hand gets quickly occupied by Irene’s.

“What?” SeulGi asks. She feels the need to ask, because her heart won’t keep still.

Irene doesn’t answer, not even look at her. So SeulGi follows where Irene is actually looking at.

And as if all light decide to brighten SeulGi’s vision as she finally realizes why Irene acts as such.

Henry.

Henry’s there. Standing near a cottage, wearing black trunks and an awe-strikingly fitting white sleeveless shirt revealing all those biceps and all those muscles.

Henry who was already looking at their direction.

Henry who was already looking at her.

So SeulGi can’t help but shy away a bit as she smiles back when their eyes met and Henry smiles.

“Disgusting.”

SeulGi breaks contact with Henry and snaps to Irene’s direction. It was intended to be a soft whisper, SeulGi was sure, but she was also sure that it was what she heard coming out of Irene’s mouth.

“Let’s go.” Irene says seriously as she tugs on the taller girl, making SeulGi quickly follow her.

“Where are we going?”

“Away from him,” SeulGi hears Irene mumbles, but then Irene says louder, “I want to eat.”

SeulGi looks down at their joined hands, and she doesn’t protest, “Okay.”

When SeulGi was sure Irene will not as much flip a hair strand to her their entire walk, Irene glances over a shoulder, “Stay with me, okay?”

And when SeulGi was sure that she will tease Irene because of it, her words quickly twist in as her heart starts to pound, because Irene also says as she holds tighter on to SeulGi’s hand,

“Don’t leave my sight, okay, SeulGi?”

Of course, how could SeulGi resist?

“Okay.”

---

“Hyun-ah! SeulGi!” Irene’s mom motions for the both of them when she spots them approaching, “The food is here!”

SeulGi bows as thanks but Irene brashly pulls her to the table full of food.

“Get a plate.” Irene instructs and SeulGi obliges. SeulGi gets two and hands Irene one but Irene doesn’t take it as she was too consumed at how much food was on the table. So SeulGi was left to put one under the other as she holds on to the plates.

“Oh!” Irene points at a dish, “That one’s good!”

Irene doesn’t need to say much for SeulGi to understand that it was an order to get food from that dish, so SeulGi does.

But then Irene starts stuffing different dishes on the plate SeulGi was holding.

“This one is delicious, too. And this one, and this. And this.”

Irene continues to put food on the plate.

“Are you seriously going to eat all this?” SeulGi asks as the plate is already full.

Irene glares at her, “No, idiot.

“It’s our food.”

SeulGi blinks once, twice, before saying, “Are we sharing?”

Irene shrugs irritatingly, obvious that SeulGi’s questions start to annoy her, “Yeah.”

Irene smiles first before adding, “Who else will I share food with?”

And that is all it takes to shut SeulGi up.

---

Irene’s clan start to assemble again after eating. After they had gathered in the pool, one of Irene’s teenager cousins announces the pool games they will play.

Some games are only for kids, some are only for teenagers, and some are for the aged people.

In the list includes the mighty, never-gets-old ‘Chicken Fight’, and SeulGi finds herself somehow being bullied to be one of the contestants as part of the ‘initiation’.

It is a light-hearted gesture, SeulGi’s sure of it. She knows that Irene’s relatives are trying their best to make SeulGi feel at home with them, and they succeeded.

“Alright, I’ll do it.” SeulGi smiles as she agrees to be a participant of the game.

“Are you sure?” Irene says in a hushed tone, “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

SeulGi only laughs at Irene’s statement, “It’s alright. I want to do it.”

SeulGi doesn’t understand why, but she feels that she wants to make Irene’s family actually like her, “I’ll do it.”

SeulGi smiles, and so Irene can’t help but smile back.

Though Irene’s smile fades away quickly when they hear a manly, “I’ll do it!!”

When they turn to whoever said it, SeulGi feels her heart thump again when she sees Henry raising his hand as he eagerly says, “I’ll play as SeulGi’s partner.”

SeulGi feels warmth run all over her face and reach her ears because Irene’s relatives start cheering and teasing them together.

“Slick move, Henry.”

“Don’t do anything funny, Henry!”

“That’s my boy!”

It was only some of what SeulGi heard but it was enough for her to feel her ears get hot.

And if stares could kill, Henry would be dead by now. Because when SeulGi turns her head, she sees Irene glaring at her own cousin.

SeulGi knows that the brunette is breathing heavily with how her shoulders rise and fall continuously.

“Irene?” SeulGi calls her attention.

Irene doesn’t much as look at her. The older girl continues to stare at Henry until SeulGi feels him get closer.

“Let’s go, SeulGi?” He asks with a smile – a smile SeulGi knows that shouts how victorious he is, a smile she knows that mocks Irene.

Because after Henry had said it, he turns to Irene to smile, “Hello, Irene.”

“Jerk.” Irene spits the word.

“I’ll take that as permission.” Henry continues to smirk.

Henry turns back to SeulGi and his devious smirk turns 360 degrees into an angelic smile, “Shall we?”

He offers his arm and SeulGi thinks it’s impolite not to take it so she cautiously loops her fingers around his arm.

Damn these biceps!

But before they could fully walk away, Irene quickly grabs Henry’s shirt to turn him around and face the older girl,

Irene – with the same intensity in her eyes – speaks in a gentle voice,

“Be very careful with her.”

And that was enough for SeulGi to feel warmth reach her ears once more.

---

“Hop on!”

SeulGi simply stares at Henry’s words. When she agrees to play, she completely forgot what the mechanics of the game are.

One very common rule of the game,

Hopping on the bottom partner’s shoulders.

“Are you sure? I’m pretty heavy.” SeulGi warns Henry as she dips her feet in the pool where Henry is currently settled in.

“It’s okay. I can carry you.” Henry reaches for SeulGi’s hands as he turns and presses his back to the side of the pool so SeulGi can hop on his shoulders.

“I’m sorry.” SeulGi says as she balances herself.

“I’m sorry, too.” Henry apologizes back as his hands have to make contact with SeulGi’s thigh.

And SeulGi shivers with his su