"She's cute, isn't she?" Irene props her head up against her folded arms on the countertop, observing Seulgi from the corner of her eye. 

It's been a week since the girl started working for them but she's still a bit shy in approaching her. Seulgi doesn't seem to be the chummy type either. She seems to be more awkward around Wendy though so maybe Irene doesn't have to worry about Seulgi being friends with her.

"She kinda looks like a bear, don't you think?" Irene continues.

"Oh! Yes, she kind of does." Yeri agrees. Joy scoffs and mutters something that sounds like 'cute my foot' under her breath.

"How can you not like her?" Irene whispers to Joy. "I mean she's pretty and hardworking and-"

"Has nice abs." Yeri suggests. At that, Joy explodes.

"If you like her so much then get to know her." Joy replies, sliding of the counter stool. "Don't get me to like her too just because you two do." She looks at Yeri and her lower lip trembles so she bites it.

"Is something wrong, unnie?" Yeri asks, surprised with the way Joy was acting. She shakes her head and runs to her bedroom, leaving Yeri confused. Irene chuckles at the maknaes.  "What's up with her? Is she on her period?"

"Don't ask, Yeri. Just don't ask." She shifts slightly in her seat, eyes still on Seulgi. "You know what though, I think I'll take Joy's advice." 

Irene smiles a small smile. She hops off her seat and walks toward Seulgi, heart picking up pace with every step as Yeri watches with anticipation. Will their usually shy leader be able to approach her crush?

"Uh, S-Seulgi?"

"Yes?" Seulgi looks up from what she's doing.

"I, uh... umm... do you want some... tea? You've been working all day so... wanna have tea before you go?" Irene thinks the sun is shining very bright even though it's past six because Seulgi smiles at her for the very first time.

"That would be nice. Thanks, Irene u-unnie." Seulgi stutters out the last word and Irene can't remember how to breathe. Yeri giggles in the background and she thinks she should hit her for being the devil she is but she can't move. Seulgi gives her a questioning look and she finally unfreezes.

"R-right. Let's go to the kitchen?" She leads the way, walking a bit fast, hoping that Seulgi doesn't see her blush or notice how big her smile is.

--

"I'm home." Wendy says as she steps off her shoes and walks in the house. 

She just got back from recording a collaboration with the sunbaes and is wondering where the other members are because she could use some of Yeri and Joy's bugging right now. That's just how tired and stressed she is. 

She hears laughter coming from the kitchen and she runs toward the sound. She's thinking of scaring the members with a sneak attack when she notices that the people in the kitchen are not Yeri and Joy. It's Irene with Seulgi. Her eyebrows meet to a frown. Since when have they been so chummy?

She leans with her back against the wall, unseen but able to hear every word they are saying.

"You're kidding me, right?" Irene's voice is loud and comfortable, like she's known Seulgi for a long time. She wonders what happened to their shy leader.

"No, it's true." She hears Seulgi say. "Teddy Bear is my nickname. As true as they call you Baechu." Irene laughs again.

"And I thought that you would be offended that I said you kind of look like a bear."

"Not at all. I get that a lot." They become silent and Wendy contemplates if she should come out of hiding but Irene starts talking again.

"This is kind of nice."

"Yeah,  I think so too. Thank you, Irene unnie."

"No, thank you. I had fun." Wendy sneaks a glance and sees Irene smiling shyly. "We should do this more often... I mean, we should hang out again! because...well, I don't really have the time to make friends with work and all that. And you're already here. We should be friends. Ah! What am I saying?"

"I get it. Yeah, I think that'll be cool." Seulgi says.

Wendy is so surprised she loses her balance, stumbling into the kitchen. The girls look up at her.

"Oh, Wendy, you're here." Irene exclaims.

"Y-yeah, I just got back. What... what are you guys doing?"

"Just hanging out. Want to join us?" Irene talks while Seulgi just looks at Wendy who pointedly avoids her gaze.

"Uh, no. I'm too tired. I think I'll just get some sleep. Where are Yeri and Joy?" Wendy tries to keep her voice neutral because she was feeling a bit pissed right now and she doesn't know why.

"Probably getting acquianted with the house. They still insist that there's some mystery here that should be solved." Irene replies. 

"At this time? It's almost ten."

"What?" Seulgi stands up abruptly from her chair, making it skid across the floor. "I didn't realize that it's late already." She scratches the back of her head.

"It is. I'm sorry. I hadn't notice either." She stands up too, suddenly worried if she got Seulgi into trouble.

"What? Why? How long have you guys been sitting here?" Wendy asks.

"Since 6 o'clock, I think." Irene says, looking down at her twidling thumbs.

"Well, I have to go now. There's somewhere I need to be."

"Yes, of course. I'll see you tomorrow, Seulgi. Good night." Seulgi gives her a smile, nods and then leaves.

As soon as the door closes, Irene breathes deeply, sitting down on her chair again, smiling from ear to ear. 

"She's so cute. I can't... I can't believe she just hanged out with me." Irene giggles and it awakens something inside Wendy, anchoring in the pit of her stomach and clenching at her insides. 

"Yeah? I do hope she was still able to clean the house before you guys bummed around." She nearly spits.

"She was." Irene pauses, taking in Wendy's facial expression. "Are you okay, Wendy? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, unnie. I'm just tired. I'm gonna... I'm going to bed." She turns on her heel and heads for her bedroom.

--

"You're late." The blonde girl says, looking at Seulgi, voice stern.

"Sorry. Work ended late and I still had to check on my mom." Seulgi apologizes, hoping that she wouldn' get on the girl's bad side because she's one of the few people Seulgi likes to be with.

"I'm just messing with you, Seulgi. It's okay." The girl smiles.

", Minju. You scared me!" Seulgi says. Minju laughs and starts plugging her guitar in the amplifier.

"Ey, let's just get this show on the road." She strums her guitar to test the sound. "Yoojin's gone to get us some drinks. Yuna's around here somewhere and the kids are busy with dance rehearsal."

"About that, are you sure it's alright for you guys to be seen busking with me when you're debuting in a few weeks?" Seulgi takes her own instrument out of its case, tunes it as she waits for the girl to answer her question.

"Why wouldn't it be? You're fun to sing with." Minju smiles and Seulgi says nothing more.

Honestly, she's grateful that some people still find her talented when she herself doesn't but she's thinking of taking a break soon because she doesn't find much joy in what she's doing anymore. 

Maybe it's because she's lost her passion, or whatever it is artists lose, but she's scared as that she's never going to find it again. And if she doesn't, what will she do with her life? She doesn't know anything else apart from music and art. No, scratch that. Art has already left her. She thinks that maybe taking a break will do her good. But then again, that's what she did with school and nothing seems to be working.

There are a lot of things that Seulgi isn't sure about but she knows she has to find what she lost somehow.

Yoojin and Yuna make an appearance and they start with the sound checks, performing one song to attract the crowd. Seulgi tries to lose herself in the song but it doesn't work. Minju seems to notice because she throws glances at her the entire time. The song ends and Yuna does the usual talk, introduction and song requests and the works.

"Hey, Seulgi?" Minju calls her just before they kick off with the next song.

"Hmm?"

"Even if we're too busy to do this with you, you still have to do it, alright?" Seulgi just stares at her until Minju mimes something that looks like cutting a person's head off, threatening her with a smile. "Promise me?"

Seulgi feels like she doesn't have much of a choice so she nods.

------------------

A/N: So I wasn't planning on updating so soon but I feel like I owe you guys because the last chapter was kinda short. I'll be taking it slow with the pairings so hang in there. And lastly, The Ark cameo! Gosh, I love them. You'll be seeing them as we go on with the fic like JungLi. So, thanks again for reading! Shout out to pataymalixa, swinder, and seulgae. Thanks for the upvote, guys!

Again, comment if you can. Love y'all. :) - Bluekimchi