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CHAPTER THREE.
or reunited and it feels so ... weird?
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I was biased in saying this but, Seulgi was my favorite photographer in the world. She trumped Petra Collins or Tim Walker any day. She knew how to capture me at all my best moments, knew all my best angles and I looked damn near to perfection after a photoshoot with her. When she was paying attention that is. We were doing a photoshoot so I could garner some new subscribers for my Onlyfans and it had been going slightly well. Except for the last hour. Seulgi had been checking her phone every few minutes. She’d hold up a finger, look at her phone, and then giggle. Giggle like a schoolgirl. Giggle like a schoolgirl with a crush. I wanted to gag.

A smidge of jealousy hit me as she checked her phone yet again, but I was mostly annoyed that I was sitting here, looking like a turkey being prepared for stuffing, and she hadn’t snapped the photo yet. I was bending over the edge of her neon yellow couch, giving viewers the perfect peek-a-boo shot of my under a navy-blue mini skirt. When she finally put her phone down, she gave me an apologetic smile and began snapping photos again. Then, just as I was moving into a new position, her phone ‘dinged’ again.

I had had enough. I got up. “Seulgi, if you check your phone again, I’m going to scream.”

“I’m sorry, I – it’s just –” she glanced at her purple iPhone again and then there it was: that damn giggle.

Just who in the hell was she talking to?

“Okay, enough!” I said and made my way behind the camera to grab her phone. I placed it on her neon yellow coffee table and gently nudged her toward my lime green overnight bag that held a few more outfits. “Since you can’t focus behind the camera, we’re going to put you in front of it. You’re taking some photos with me.”

“What? I can’t!”

“Why not?” I ped the overnight bag and fished out a blue leotard. “Here, wear this!”

“My Onlyfans has been inactive for months,” she replied, looking over the leotard.

I shrugged. “it’s just for fun and to get you to focus. It’s not like we’re going to put the pictures up.”

She eyed me for a moment before retreating to her bedroom and leaving her iPhone on her coffee table. I eyed it, wondering who could be texting her. When Seulgi first moved into this small studio, I spent almost every night here. I helped her pick out the eccentric pieces for her apartment that looked more like a modern art museum. We spent our days in class or going to funky exhibits with Imogen or consuming our body weight in milkshakes at Monet’s. We spent our nights curled up on her bed or couch, watching bad foreign films until we fell asleep. As her phone alert went off again, I thought about her little schoolgirl giggles. It had been a long time since I could make Seulgi smile in that way.

I wanted to take a peek. I wanted to know who exactly was texting her but I decided against it once I heard her bedroom door open and the sound of her footsteps making their way to me. When she appeared in front of me, Seulgi looked nervous, tugging at the leotard in various places. My eyes took her in and all I could say was: “Well, .”

“Bad or good ?” Seulgi asked and turned, allowing me to get a good view of her . “This would look better if I had an like you or Imogen, wouldn’t it?”

She looked like a dream. The color complimented her slightly tan skin and she had even taken her hair out of its ponytail, letting her raven locks cascade down the side of her beautiful face.

I shook my head, gently taking her hand. “No, no way. You look amazing. Seulgi, your body is amazing. It was a good .”

She smiled but didn’t meet my eyes. Instead, she began setting up her camera on its stand, setting it on a timer. She quickly guided me into a position as she settled into her own. It looked like a sensual hug. The camera went off with a bright flash and I found myself missing her touch almost immediately. With each new position, her phone went off with a familiar ding. I was beginning to become annoyed again but Seulgi remained focused, ignoring the alerts that were going off incessantly, and poured all her energy into the shoot. Finally, as we positioned ourselves into an almost kiss, we locked eyes. I could feel Seulgi leaning forward and I closed my eyes waiting for impact. That’s when her phone’s call tone began to ring loudly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Seulgi said, leaving me looking like a fool waiting for a kiss that was probably never going to happen, and getting up to answer her phone. I could barely make out the other voice on the other line but I knew it belonged to another woman. When she hung up, Seulgi turned to me with apologetic eyes. “I could use an iced coffee, why don’t we take a break?”

“But what about the shoot?”

“We have more than enough material for an Onlyfans update. We can always come back to it,” Seulgi said. “Get dressed, I’m paying!” She didn’t give me a chance to answer. She disappeared behind her bedroom door, and I followed her orders. I changed out of my revealing outfit and back into the tank top and knit pants I was wearing. By the time I began to put my sandals on, Seulgi was already at her front door with her purse in her hand. I followed her outside and we walked the six blocks to the coffee shop.

It was a locally owned place, looking like something straight out of that 90s tv show Saved by the Bell. During our freshmen year, Seulgi, Imogen, and I would joke that we were probably the ones keeping them in business as we came here at least once a day to try out their daily coffee flavors.

Seulgi ordered our coffees (hazelnut for her, caramel for me) and we waited. An unusual silence wormed its way between us, which was odd. This was so unlike us. It was rare for Seulgi and I to be at a loss for words but even my attempts at trying to get conversation out of her were pointless. She was highly focused on her phone. She finally looked up when the doors to the café opened. She had a smile on her face as if she had just won a million dollars. I turned to see who she was smiling at and my heart sank. Wendy ing Shon.

Wendy breezed past me, hugging Seulgi and placing a light kiss on her cheek. “I’m so glad you decided to come.”

Seulgi smiled, shrugging. “No biggie. Areum and I were in the mood for some coffee anyway.”

“We were?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Wendy looked at me, noticing me for the first time. Her bright expression felt flat but she forced a smile on her face anyway. “Oh, Areum, her. I didn’t know you’d be coming too.”

“I didn’t know you’d be coming at all,” I shot back.

The history between Wendy and I was a rocky one. Wendy was a rebound for Seulgi during one of our many breaks. However, Wendy didn’t take it well when Seulgi broke things off with her to get back with me. She went as far as making passive-aggressive Tumblr posts about me or subbing me on Twitter. It came to a head at a party. We didn’t get into a physical altercation, but a lot of unkind words were exchanged. Finally, Seulgi put us in a room together and forced us to apologize. She did and I did as well but I still hate this . And Seulgi knows that.

“Well,” Wendy