Seulgi taps her long fingernails against the plastic inner side of the car door, window down and resting her elbow where the winter air bites her skin. It filters in refreshingly beside her. She’s lost in her foggy, travel sick daydream before a rusty voice pipes up from the driver’s seat.

 

“Hey Seulgi, do you think you could roll up the window?” Mino whines with emphasis. His hands are on the wheel in front, shaking, and he dramatically acts a shiver going through his body. "It's January."

 

Seulgi snorts and tries to roll her eyes (but only just looks upwards because she’s never been able to roll her eyes properly). She sighs quietly, taking in the last few moments of the fast breeze.

 

“Fine."

 

In the midst of rolling up the window, she notices some guy smoking on a sidewalk. Straight away the air around her feels devoid of oxygen, and it's just a reminder that she's weak and young, all too reliant on a burnt up roll of ground-up leaf. She can just smell dryness - it's faintly there alongside nothing but a pang in her veins. Seulgi’s feeling that disgruntled fog of travel sickness mixed with now hard-hitting nicotine cravings.

 

As a method of distraction she continues to tap her fingers. Something in her wants to rip through the side of the car, snatch that guy’s cigarette out of his hands and run away with it. But then she’d just been seen as some teen thief, which she isn’t.

 

Seulgi couldn't hurt a fly if she tried.

 

The withdrawal has a choke-hold over her, but when she looks across the back row of seats and sees Sooyoung absently staring through the other window with her headphones blaring out loud generic bubblegum pop, she remembers that one of her birthday presents to the younger girl was the promise that she’d quit. That was months ago, and she’s still working on it.

 

With another sigh, she tips her packet of nicotine tablets out of her pocket and slaps one into . It kind of makes her feel more sick while it diffuses into nothingness on her tongue, and though it helps her cravings out, tastes pretty questionable. Seulgi also wishes she could just live without travel sickness as a whole.

 

There's a question seeping into her thoughts.

 

“Why are we going to a place so far out?”

 

She turns her head away from the window and asks, staring curiously at Sooyoung until the younger girl notices her and pauses her song. Seulgi affirmatively agrees in her head that there’s a 9/10 chance Sooyoung was listening to Ariana Grande, mainly because she looked especially regretful to pause this one.

 

“It’s the best ice skating rink I know of. Also, it’s nice to get actually away for a bit, don’t you think?” She smiles, looking at Seulgi with a cheeky sparkle in her eye and a face she knows can’t be denied to.

 

Seulgi has been friends with Sooyoung at boarding school since they started rooming together years ago, Sooyoung being secretly brilliant and therefore ahead a school year, Seulgi not being the brightest bulbs on terms of grades and therefore trailing behind. They share a bunk. And up until now, Sooyoung realised she was super bored of trying to shake Seulgi awake from her thick slumber to tutor her every weekend in an attempt to get her into the right class for her age, so today she'd somehow convinced Mino to take them ice skating.

 

Seulgi didn’t know anything of how Mino agreed to taking them somewhere so far. Sooyoung probably let him use her KFC coupon, which sounded fair - Seulgi didn’t really know what else the two had in common other than cheeky humour and a love for meat.

 

“Have you ever gone ice skating before?” Sooyoung almost screams out later on in the journey, totally oblivious to any sort of sense of volume control, the music back to blaring through her headphones. Seulgi just grins and nods. Sooyoung hums. “Figured. You did dancing for so long, I could’ve guessed you’d be a natural at this kind of thing.”

 

Seulgi links her fingers together and cracks her knuckles, a timid smile toying at the corners of her lips. “Yeah, I guess so.”

 

---

 

Mino didn’t really seem up for skating with them at all and instead toddled his way across to the food complex next to the skating rink, pretty much confirming Seulgi’s KFC theory.

 

Seulgi trudges into a pair of sturdy skates before ghosting gently over the first few metres of ice, later turning quite gracefully to help the less capable Sooyoung move towards her. She giggles super unflatteringly, mainly because you don't have to fake manners around your best friend, taking her by both hands and guiding her away from the wall.

 

Sooyoung looks kind of in awe while they skate, amazed that someone so bewildered and clumsy, such as Seulgi, could actually be so physically elegant.

 

Amongst the rambles of shocked praise coming her way from Sooyoung, it still isn’t a part of Seulgi’s nature to be a show off. Sooyoung insists Seulgi goes off and does a few tricks, really makes the most of this day out, so uncharacteristically enthusiastic that the older girl lets herself muddle this around in her mind. Soon enough, she agrees and frees herself from Sooyoung’s grip, patting her lightly on the shoulder with a brisk “You’ll be fine” before expertly darting across the rink.

 

While skating, light frost biting at the area beneath her eyes where her red scarf doesn’t quite cover her skin, Seulgi catches sight of a figure in the middle of the rink. She's impressive, but only a blur of blue from where Seulgi can see her. At first she doesn't really know how or why the figure caught her eye because she was pretty damn small, but after tilting her head a few times to get her brain to work, Seulgi realises it was the way she skates. In fact, many people have started to stop what they were doing just to stare at her, this girl performing some sort of abstract, contemporary, acrobatic magistry they’ve never seen up close before. But by her unknowing smirk of determination from what Seulgi can see, she isn't all that aware that she has a crowd of admirers. She seems to just be having fun, in her element.

 

Seulgi picks her jaw up from the floor and swallows deeply, her heart kind of burning, like a thick, relentless palpitation in her chest and ears. She doesn't know what that means, so shrugs it off as jealousy.

 

And still Seulgi gets so absorbed in staring at this girl in blue that she doesn't even notice a babbling flock of random children steering badly into her side. Her balance begins to wobble, reflexes not being so fortunately speedy at this point in time.

 

Before she can think, they've toppled her right over and she's fallen -first, their tiny training blades only just whipping past her forehead.

 

While her mind tries to absorb what just happened, gritting her teeth due to the heavy bruise in her backside, a shadow starts to hurriedly loom over her.

 

She naturally assumes it's Sooyoung until she hears its voice.

 

“Hey, are you alright?”

 

Seulgi only sees the colour of a dark sky and whiffs the smell of peppermint before she can do a double take, staring completely wide-eyed when she realises it’s the blue girl trying to help her up. She must’ve been staring for a bit too long to be comfortable because the girl decides it's appropriate to ramble on, her ungloved hands a little bit cold and a little bit sweaty around Seulgi. “I kind of just saw you topple over from over there.”

 

Seulgi realises is super dry, partially because it was so cold but mainly because , this unbelievably pretty, partially qualifying celebrity is holding onto her still, and is so close she can feel a flood of cold air on her skin whenever the girl nervously chuckles.

 

The girl raises her eyebrows questionably while Seulgi’s brain tries to claw itself out of this state of dopiness. Seulgi blushes and shakes her head. “Damn sea of kids," she grumbles under her breath quietly, but the blue girl must have heard her, laughing.

 

“I’m Wendy, by the way.”

 

Her voice is smooth, melodic. Seulgi wants to keep listening to it.

 

“I’m Seulgi.” She half-squeaks, still clearing out .

 

“Seulgi,” Wendy, no longer blue girl, nods energetically, finally letting Seulgi self consciously prop herself up. “Don’t think I’ve seen you around here before, Seulgi.”

 

Seulgi’s cheeks are completely crimson and she knows it, and judging by the first impression she let on she considers straight up lying about her actually very decent skating ability. Loosening her shoulders a bit and ignoring the sharp pain in her backside, she exhales.

 

“Well as you can see, I’m…”

 

Hesitating, she timidly looks at the ground, avoiding eye contact. She makes a horrible liar. “I’m not really the best skater, so.”

 

“Oh! Oh, right,” Wendy chuckles, so bubbly it’s borderline overwhelming. Out of nowhere she fishes a laminated card out of her pocket, giving it a once-over to see if it still looks neat before unfurling Seulgi’s palm and carefully balancing it on it. “Well I usually teach on Sundays, if that’s good for you.”

 

Seulgi grins, her own expression feeling even more goofy as she notices Sooyoung drawing closer with a trademark mischievous smirk on her face. “Yeah, that’s good for me,” she scans the top of the card, registering Wendy’s full name and holding back a giggle, “...Seungwan.”

 

Wendy widens her eyes and laughs, slapping Seulgi’s arm on the side that hadn’t been shoved into the ice.

 

“Shut up. It’s a pretty cool name.”

 

“For a guy.”

 

Wendy replies with the same sarcastic drawl. “Yes, for a guy.”

 

---

 

Sooyoung thinks she’s having a surreal dream when she wakes up to an alarm, only to witness Seulgi getting herself up out of bed on the bunk below. Early. On a weekend. Sooyoung pinches all over her face, dramatically rubbing her eyes to check if this was actually the reality Kang Seulgi, probable successor to a chain of sloths, was facing.

 

“Morning?” She groans, her tone tilted.

 

Seulgi looks towards her while wriggling into a pair of jeans, eyes not quite blinking at the same time with a stupid grin on her face. “Why do you sound so surprised?”

 

Sooyoung makes a face. “Is that even a question?”

 

Seulgi just continues to bustle around with thermal clothing items and her wallet on the bunk beneath, all the while Sooyoung wears the expression of someone who'd just been maimed, boring holes into her skull.

 

Seulgi is clearly not elaborating.

 

"No really, what are you doing?"

 

Seulgi looks up at Sooyoung so neutrally, as if this was a regular occurrence for her. “Oh, I’m just going to the ice rink again.”

 

“Again?” The younger girl scowls mock-seriously, then laughs, clearing the grogginess from . “I thought you were the one complaining about how far out it was.”

 

Seulgi waves her lockscreen up at her, winks. “That’s why I’m up so early.”

 

“Isn’t it a bit boring to just skate around by yourself for a whole half a day though?”

 

“I’m not just skating,”

 

Seulgi’s chilled nature seems to shift slightly, as if provoked. She lowers her voice, “I’m going for lessons.”

 

Sooyoung really makes a face this time, all too humoured by this.

 

“Wait, what?" She questions. "You’re the last person I know who needs lessons. What are you doing, training for the Olympics?”

 

Seulgi doesn’t really know how to respond without anxiously tripping over all of her words, so instead tugs Wendy’s now crumpled up business card from her front backpack pocket and briskly hands it to Sooyoung. The girl still in bed reads over it, her eyebrows not really raising due to disinterest, but she flashes Seulgi a look with half-confused, half-knowing eyes. “So this Son Seungwan is holding the classes.” Seulgi nods and she smirks, “What, do you have the hots for this guy?”

 

Seulgi tosses her head, trying not to seem as panicked as she feels and replaces it with a look of disgust.

 

“Well first off, her name’s Son Seungwan, but she goes by Wendy. So I’m guessing she’s from abroad, or something.” She pauses and feels her neck getting hot, forcefully making images in her head of Wendy’s beautiful face disintegrate. “And God, no! Please don’t say things like that. She’s really pretty and nice, but-"

She tosses her head again, with exceeding emphasis. "No.”

 

Sooyoung doesn’t reply for a moment too long, and Seulgi knows the heat is spreading from her neck right to her ears. Finally, Sooyoung opens with an expression which is, as per usual, impossible for Seulgi to read. “Is this the girl in blue you were talking to after you fell over?”

 

“Yeah, that’s her.”

 

Sooyoung nods slowly, “Cool.” She’s inching onto something that Seulgi hasn’t even thought about yet, so the older girl stares at her awkwardly until Sooyoung finally breaks out into a default smile. “Have fun, at your pointless Beginner’s class or whatever.”

 

“Thanks.” On cue, Seulgi heaves the backpack over her shoulder, the same red cable-knit scarf as last time tossed around her neck.

 

--

 

Seulgi's walking through the same corridors as before to the ice rink and her hands are sweating like crazy. She thinks that probably, possibly, maybe it’s only the nerves of being somewhere alone. That sounds plausible, since it’s exactly how Seulgi felt when she was ten and had to knock on her friend’s door before going to her house for a sleepover - suddenly embarrassed by her teddy bear print pyjamas, choice of birthday present, hairstyle, everything - that warm shiver rippling right over you as you shuffle awkwardly on the doorstep. But then again it’s six years later, Seulgi’s a grown teenager. She’s obviously too mature to be embarrassed by herself. She thinks she should be, at least.

 

Though everything about Seulgi is embarrassing to Seulgi when she finally walks into the rink, face bright red due to pent up nerves and the flush of cold air. Wendy’s eyes dart towards her immediately.

 

“Seulgi!” Her name resonates throughout the entire rink in Wendy’s sing-song voice. Seulgi’s flattered she even remembered her name.

 

“Hey,” Seulgi timidly answers back, about to skate towards her and a few other kids faultlessly before remembering she was here to pretend to be terrible. So instead her body perfectly executed a feeble wobble forward, Wendy sympathetically watching her like a hawk.

 

Seulgi steadies herself next to the group of people, some of them kids a lot younger than her and others young adults leisurely filing in from time to time. Seulgi guesses she’s around the middle age. Her focus switches to Wendy, and as soon as it does she can’t look away. Something about Wendy is so encapsulating, like she's radiating this constant aura of brightness and excitement.

 

“Glad to see you again,” Wendy sends her a good natured wink. Seulgi’s taken aback a bit, but smiles widely by default.

 

“You too, Seungwan.”

 

Wendy responds with a scoff and a laugh, and while she sends them off to do little beginner’s skating exercises, Seulgi begins to wonder how old Wendy is.

 

Honestly, she doesn’t look a day older than she does. She’s definitely young to be a skating mentor.

 

It’s after Seulgi’s purposely tripped her way across every inch of the skating rink, forty minutes later when she finally has time to ask her.

 

Seulgi’s kind of just staring into space, though, staring at Wendy’s eyes while she talks to some random middle aged people and how they crinkle when she laughs. Wendy’s eyes on her. For a period of time longer than she realises. And, in fact, Wendy’s been smirking for a while at how Seulgi’s just totally doped out.

 

“Yes, Seulgi?” She waves a hand in front of her face, wearing a bit more than an amused look.

 

“Oh,” Seulgi startles, bouncing back a bit but deciding she might as well expertly stabilise herself on the ice this time around. “I zoned out, sorry.”

 

“You don’t say…” Wendy trails off. She’s smiling at the ceiling. Seulgi doesn't feel too humiliated.

 

"How old are you, by the way?”

 

“Fifteen.” Wendy murmurs into her own shoulder, shuffling before amplifying her voice proudly as if Seulgi was hundreds of yards away from her, not right in front of her. “Going on sixteen next month, though!”

 

Seulgi doesn’t know why, by her smile is so huge she pretty much lights up. “Me too.”

 

Wendy tilts her head, like Seulgi's speaking a whole other language she wants to decipher.

 

“You’re fifteen?”

 

Seulgi wiggles her eyebrows, knows she looks like a dork but doesn’t care judging that she’s been embarrassing since the second she met Wendy. “Going on sixteen next month.”

 

"Hey, that's cool,” Wendy drags Seulgi to lean over the railing with her and nudges her elbow. “Maybe we were twins in a past life.”

 

The idea of that feels so warm in Seulgi’s chest it’s sickly, and she swallows in a way that tingles down . She never thinks of a good or funny enough response.

 

After a few moments in gentle silence, they both jolt at a ringing from the fluffy coat Seulgi didn’t notice was slung over Wendy’s shoulder. Wendy lets out a breathy chuckle from the back of before whipping out her phone. While the screen lights up her face, Seulgi notices her expressive eyebrows crease, irked for a second before smoothing back delicately. She shuts off her phone casually and Seulgi decides she didn’t feel like prying.

 

“Sorry, I’ve gotta go.” Wendy says, grinning while her eyes flit constantly to the ice rink entrance and then back to the slightly taller girl in front of her. Seulgi creases her eyes up in a way she’s always been told is cute.

 

“Alright.” She nods, biting back on her tongue.

 

Wendy gathers her things, starts pacing off on her skates. And before Seulgi can contemplate why her departure was so impersonal and sudden, she tosses round for a moment and winks again harmlessly. “See you next week, then.”

 

---

 

Next week, Seulgi learns she is fact only eleven days older than Wendy, the girl moved to Canada when she was tiny just because she could, and that she would surgically attach headphones to her ears if it wasn’t for how they would restrict her skating and conversational abilities. Seulgi soaks this all in, uncharacteristically fond of wanting to know Wendy more than she would usually regard her knowledge of a friend. Like, most of the time to Seulgi, Sooyoung’s body language feels totally disconnected from the string of words coming out of . She still can’t understand anything she means, and that’s always just been okay because Seulgi is Seulgi and Sooyoung is Sooyoung.

With Wendy, she’s so readable but also so intricately structured. Something so interesting, blatantly obvious but somehow super enigmatic Seulgi feels like she could know like the back of her hand if she just studied her hard enough.

 

It makes Seulgi constantly remind herself why she’s even going to these toddler-level skating lessons she doesn’t need, pretending she’s terrible and uncoordinated just to be around her teacher, her maybe-friend. Wendy’s just alluring. She has that edge. So Seulgi just really wants to be her friend, no strings attached.

 

And they both make it an unsaid habit to chat for a little while after every weekend skating session, for Wendy to compliment Seulgi on her gradually building skill and for Seulgi to suppress a snort. Every single time, though, it’s cut short by the buzz of a text from an unknown person. So Wendy gathers her things, winks at Seulgi, and leaves.

 

The wink always makes her heart feel kind of tight. A new sort of energy sinks through her veins. So maybe she just finds flirty things a bit uncomfortable, though she’s also pretty sure Wendy’s just a natural flirt and would do that to anyone.

 

It's confusing.

 

Seulgi goes to wait for the bus outside the sports complex, earphones in and Beyonce songs almost continuously churning themselves out on shuffle. She enjoys this quiet, and it’s not as cold as usual. The breeze is super refreshing - she likes not being in school on weekends, or dealing with the pressure of following through interaction when she can’t seem to understand what people are ever implying. It’s easy. She’s made her way through a few nicotine tablets, and breathing a lot less hoarse these days, so Seulgi’s feeling really well. She finds herself singing quietly and tunefully to whatever’s ghosting through her ears.

 

There’s something interfering with what she’s listening to, something that sounds like colour and Seulgi only realises it’s Wendy’s voice until she opens her eyes.

 

“Hi.” She blinks, rigid. Wendy stares at her vacantly, giving time for Seulgi to turn her head and notice she’s standing next to this tall-looking guy. They’re standing pretty close, but Seulgi doesn’t let herself think too much of it. She’s not conscious enough at the moment.

 

“Um... sorry, what?” Seulgi looks back at Wendy, smiles sheepishly and taps her earphones. Wendy smirks.

 

“I said you have a really nice singing voice.” She says slowly. Seulgi freezes again, doesn’t want to let herself garble out something embarrassing in front of her cool new friend and this guy until she knows exactly what to reply with, but before she can realise it the two of them have walked right by her.

 

There’s a bigger tightening in her chest, this time accompanied by something negative and heavy. But why?

 

---

 

They’re on school half-term, so everyone’s back home for a week, and Seulgi is so thankful. Sitting over the kitchen countertop, legs swinging over the side while her parents are in the same room as her feels comfortable but also foreign. Boarding school has a lot of things to answer for that feeling.

 

Her dad joked she looked more distant than ever earlier in the week, by the way her eyes were glazed and always seemed to be thinking about something else. Seulgi laughed, smacked him by the shoulder and shrugged it off, though the self-consciousness settled inside her. Her legs jerk and stop swinging, before she knows it she's zoned out again. Something about Wendy is blinking somewhere in her brain but it’s too vague to catch the tail of - her mind feels too messy, way too scattered.

 

Seulgi takes her phone off vibrate, mindlessly flicking through a few snapchat stories of what people are doing with their break from boarding school before texting “Hi” to Sooyoung. (She replies quickly enough, so Seulgi guesses she caught her at rare time when she wasn’t aimlessly walking through wintry streets. Sooyoung takes a lot of walks.)

 

joy

[15:13] what do u want

 

kkangseul

[15:13] can i sleepover at your house? i wanna talk

 

Seulgi didn’t know how to phrase the last part well, especially considering she didn’t know what she wanted to discuss either. For these things she was reliant on Sooyoung’s silent intuition, this odd mystical ability of hers to always know what was up with Seulgi, way before she even did.

 

joy

[15:14] u love me so much u can’t bear to be away from me for even a few days? ok

 

kkangseul

[15:14] ugh i actually give up

 

joy

[15:14] LOL but u love me, shut up seulgi

 

[15:16] no but in all seriousness, sure!! tonight is fine?? i’m not doin anything in particular

 

Seulgi laughs (only internally) and sends a reply in agreement, toes rattling nervously right off the side of the tabletop. That afternoon she makes sure her parents know where she’ll be, and very much regretfully tells her older brother she won’t be their for their afore planned Black Ops 2 game. Sometimes difficult sacrifices have to be made.

 

---

 

Clad in a spectacularly oversized stripy green onesie, Sooyoung decides it's a great idea to dive into the sofa and almost knock Seulgi onto the floor. Seulgi furrows her eyebrows in annoyance, she's ready to throw a pillow at Sooyoung's face before she notices the taller girl's evil eyes boring mischievous holes into her skull.

 

“Sorry, forgot you were such a beginner when it came to balance.” She laughs lightly, but there's something about the way she says it that's mocking and bitter.

 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

 

“Maybe you should find an unnecessary class to help with that. One with a super nice instructor." Sooyoung’s pouting her lips and widening her eyes, and it takes a few blinks from Seulgi to realise she’s doing a Wendy impression. Now she actually does throw the pillow at her face.

 

Seulgi simultaneously groans, impacted by all the stress of not being able to get Wendy off her mind and the growing realisation that Sooyoung is totally aware of this. "Please shut up.”

 

Sooyoung leaps up, batting her eyelids. "Someone from abroad! Someone who really loves ice skating, and igloos, and maple syrup, and the colour blue!" (Sooyoung's knowledge on Canadians is limited to say the least.)

 

Seulgi never really feels consciously older than her, even with the fact they should actually be a couple of school years apart, but right now she does. Despite Seulgi's plentiful ammunition and constant attempts, no pillow can deter Sooyoung's antics now.

 

They eat jumbo sized marshmallows and questionable potato chips until they can barely walk.

 

As it gets later, Sooyoung makes an incredibly graphic sign to put on the living room door that warns her little sisters not to come in. At first Seulgi just thinks that's because Sooyoung's sisters are going through their annoying phase and she can't be bothered to be embarrassed by them right now, but once she sees the movie selection for the night, she understands a lot better. Sooyoung enters the room again with a suspicious grin, a bottomless supply of horror films cradled in her arms. There are so many she almost loses her footing and drops them on Seulgi's face.

 

The film starts, it's something about zombies being in an alliance against werewolves and generally the trigger of a whole lot of torn flesh, and Seulgi can't help it - she's alone with her own thoughts again, her mind successfully away with the fairies. She even manages to fade Sooyoung's roars and cackles out. And then, whilst the pixels of the TV screen distort in front of her glassy eyes, there she is again - Wendy, in the places Seulgi's mind can't help but drift to. There's Wendy, maybe laughing at something she's said with the most excellent set of teeth; Wendy with cheeks flushed and sweat on her forehead, nose caught by the sun as the two of them lie side-by-side on beach towels; Wendy walking down the street next to the ice rink complex, this time alongside Seulgi, their fingers intertwined and swinging around a white string of wire that connects their earbuds to Seulgi's iPod. Made-up settings and fantasies her mind has revised at night while drifting off to sleep, again and again. Maybe just to help her dream better.

 

Seulgi really doesn't understand it - any of this.

 

"Something tells me you've been spaced out since the moment this started." Sooyoung speaks and shatters Seulgi's dope, nodding to the TV screen while her eyes remain glued.

 

Seulgi had started confusedly thinking about the guy she saw Wendy with, so while Sooyoung (kind of) regards her she notices her eyebrows are knitted together. She wipes off the expression by dragging her palms down her cheeks. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

 

"It's a good movie, you're missing out." says Sooyoung blankly, not phased even slightly by the almost constant screams and gore and God-awful sound effects but instead idly waiting for the next thing she can laugh at.

 

Seulgi nods along. About ten minutes later it gets to what Sooyoung calls a "boring bit" (whereby some innocent schoolchildren are in the presence of a slowly approaching axe-murderer, but whatever) so she pauses the video player and announces a hot chocolate break. They scamper into the kitchen and boil the kettle.

 

When Seulgi looks up, Sooyoung's eyes are suddenly very softened.

 

"Something must really be getting to you," she quirks her eyebrows in concern at Seulgi, who is nursing a milk jug, "Even for you I've never seen you that vacant."

 

Seulgi shrugs. "Yeah, I guess so."

 

"You want to talk about it?"

 

She smiles meekly as she hesitates, and sets the milk jug on the counter, "I don't know."

 

Sooyoung pads towards her, but becomes a bit occupied by the satisfying swishing sound her fluffy socks make across the tile. She's so immersed, Seulgi thinks it's all been dismissed until Sooyoung looks up again. "Can I make a guess of what it is?" And no, she doesn't really want her to - but she doesn't say anything either, because what's the point? Seulgi knows she must know.

 

"Does it have something to do with Wendy?"

 

The kettle boils at that moment, and Seulgi's so tense she almost screams. She's beyond glad that she put the milk down otherwise she'd surely have created a real mess. Sooyoung scoops a few teaspoons of chocolate powder into each mug, pours in the water and fills both to the brim with milk.

 

Seulgi must be silently communicating her stress about this discussion, because Sooyoung's silently communicating that it's time to go upstairs and into bed, the movie long forgotten.

 

There must be some sort of Sleepover Plague, Seulgi decides, that makes it impossible to keep your mouth shut. It could be the heat that does it - or Sooyoung's cosy chicken-printed duvet, her sleepiness, the perfect mish-mash of the discomfort of being in the hot seat in someone else's home and the comfort of being in this private, personal cocoon with your best friend. Whatever it is, she can't stop talking.

 

Sooyoung had opened the door, her posture medieval and noble when signalling to the bed with a "M'Lady" and waiting for Seulgi to leap right onto it. She's known Seulgi long enough that she's most comfortable when she's tangled herself into a sleepy heap.

 

"So, what's up?" She asked softly once she'd planted herself within the covers, and apparently that was all she had to say. Seulgi started aimlessly garbling about Wendy and mainly this random guy she was with and how she doesn't get how she can't get her cute smirk out of her head.

 

In the midst of it, Seulgi thinks of how she finds herself babbling to Sooyoung about Wendy a lot, trying not to notice Sooyoung’s face get gradually more aggravated, or cheeky, or concerned. Seulgi’s good at ignoring these things, though. She really really likes her maybe-friend Wendy. That’s it.

 

"Whenever you say that it sounds like you're offending yourself." Sooyoung pipes in. Seulgi tilts her head like a dishevelled puppy. "Come on, Seulgi. The more you keep telling yourself you just 'greatly admire her', or just 'really really like her' as a friend, the more you're going to beat yourself up.” The only response is a blush and a head shake, so she might as well ask now.

 

“You like her, right?"

 

Sooyoung thinks she can depict a wince from the face of the instantly red, flushed blob amongst the covers that is Seulgi.

 

"This is just like with those actor guys that you like, but real, and more-" More Seulgi. There's no other way to describe it. Intense, pure, totally Seulgi. A very quiet and uncertain mumble interjects.

 

"But... but-" Red blob looks terribly out of her comfort zone, and Sooyoung feels like laughing, "She's a girl."

 

"Yeah."

 

Red blob shuffles under the covers, perplexed.

 

"Well, what do you want me to say?" Sooyoung continues, raising herself higher against her pillow, "Ew?"

 

Red blob mulls this over and finally evolves into a Seulgi Sooyoung can recognise. She sighs. "But she has that... guy, she's into guys. So she couldn't even like me back."

 

Sooyoung giggles in response. Seulgi doesn't get it.

 

"Oh my god, Seulgi, you're so small-minded." Sooyoung almost coos, "They could be just friends, you know? You're really overthinking this. And even if she did have a boyfriend, that's not her just shipped off for life, far away from the realms of experimentation and s forever."

 

Seulgi is horrified by the word "s", up there on her Top Taboo list, and shrieks. Sooyoung can only roll her eyes. "She has you really wound up, doesn't she?"

 

Seulgi reluctantly agrees, quietly. After a bit of calming down she laughs, "This feels so much more awful out loud. I thought it would be more of a relief, talking about it."

 

Sooyoung hums. "I'm sure you'll be thanking me soon."

 

The pillow Seulgi throws misses Sooyoung's head completely and knocks over a lamp, and then it's dark.

 

---

 

It's several months later into skating lessons when Seulgi's finally gotten to a point where she can stop pretending she's bad. She happily soaked in Wendy's praise once she was announced too skilled to be in the Beginner's Class anymore, and gradually they fell into a rhythm of Seulgi arriving a little later in the day, where they'd hang out at the rink together.

 

Seulgi really is beginning to know Wendy like the back of her hand, with how much they've been talking. She knows, though not through experience, that Wendy's both a morning person and a night owl. Her energetic smile is highly fuelled by caffeine. And her mother puts her on a strict diet to keep her in good shape (though not so much in good health), leading Wendy into a frenzy of craving sweet and sour pork during her every waking moment.

 

And strangely enough, Wendy hasn’t mentioned that guy Seulgi sometimes sees her with at all.

 

Today they're talking about music taste. Seulgi likes cheesy 90's music and female ballads, and Wendy likes obscure k-indie songs, but they've also discovered that both of them share a similar undying love for Beyoncé.

 

"Her voice is just so... everything." Wendy gazes lustfully somewhere above while they both slowly glide across the ice.

 

Seulgi smiles at her, enjoying the moments where she can stare for long without it seeming like it means something.

 

"Do you sing?"

 

Wendy gets a bit timid. "Kind of. I play a lot of instruments."

 

Seulgi doesn't want to ask further in case Wendy really does play fifty instruments and she has to leave before she's even discussed half of them. She swoops closer to her and pokes her shoulder, "I bet you're an amazing singer."

 

"I know you're an amazing singer." Wendy pokes back.

 

"You didn't even hear me sing properly."

 

Wendy her head. "Sing to me now, then." She offers, her eyebrows dancing. Seulgi’s so lost in the moment she freezes, but snaps out of it and gives her a playful shove.

 

"No thanks. Anyway, I was supposed to be complimenting you. Go on, sing a bit of Halo."

 

Wendy snorts. Her favourite Beyoncé song.

 

Wendy suddenly grins at her, her gaze signalling that of a Light Bulb moment. "I'm having a party next Saturday at my house and I'd love it if you could come. Sing with me then?" Her eyes are so alert and hopeful, like pools of light Seulgi can't help but get lost in. She accepts the offer while nodding madly.

 

On cue, Wendy's phone buzzes.

 

Inside it's as cold as ever, but outside it's a particularly scorching July, so now Seulgi has to deal with the pain of watching Wendy begin to undress whenever she has to leave.

 

"Thanks for inviting me to your party." Seulgi blushes while Wendy shuffles into a pair of shorts.

 

Wendy shoots her a confused smile. "Of course you're invited! We're like, best friends."

 

Best friends, Seulgi repeats in her head, willing to explode. Suddenly Wendy's face turns an odd kind of sour, and Seulgi's worried she's silently done something wrong.

 

"Hey Seul, did I ever get you a birthday present?"

 

Early February feels like years ago, so Seulgi really doesn't understand why Wendy looks so apologetic about this. "We weren't really close at the time, so I didn't expect you to."

 

Wendy pauses, looking down and furling up her shoulders as she takes that on board. A moment later her face still looks irked, and she looks up and pulls on her earrings - little golden flowers. "You got me these for my birthday, though."

 

---

 

Seulgi’s not ready to battle her first ever proper house party alone - held by the cute and probably popular girl she likes - so she takes Sooyoung. Sooyoung’s possibly too young for this, but by the way she towers over Seulgi and most of the nation she’s not worried about anyone guessing that.

 

“You look pretty, by the way.” Sooyoung nudges from the car seat across.

 

Seulgi doesn’t feel confident at the moment, but she stomachs the compliment. She smiles shyly, “Thank you.”

 

She’s wearing her favourite ripped shorts and the most dressy blouse she owns, and sometimes she likes to think she has a nice face, but there’s always something uncomfortable about presenting yourself like this. She turns to Sooyoung. “You look like you’ve descended from the heavens, as always.”

 

Sooyoung’s laugh is like a divine chirpy cackle. She bats her thick eyelashes, “I try my best.”

 

Mino’s car begins to grind to a halt. Seulgi’s stomach flips. From Wendy's house she can hear the combined laughter, the booming chart playlist Wendy most likely doesn’t even like that much herself. Outside the front door are countless adolescents trying to hold their weight like adults, some dressed in colour, some dressed in monochrome.

 

“Let’s go!” Sooyoung cheers, flashing Mino an ‘OK’ sign as she jumps out. Seulgi wants to borrow even a smidge of her confidence.

 

She doesn’t want to make the effort to move until she peaks through the blackness of the windows, catches a pair of sharp, huge eyes looking outside and then follows the silhouette as it rushes to the door. It’s Wendy.

 

She unfurls a little bit. Maybe this won’t be so bad.

 

“I’m so glad you came,” Wendy in her dressed-up goddess form exclaims as she suffocates Seulgi with a hug the moment she steps to the door. Seulgi can feel Sooyoung smirking behind them. Wendy releases her, looking ahead, “Oh, hello…?”

 

“Oh, this is my roommate, Sooyoung.”

 

“Call me Joy.” The tallest girl waves confidently at Wendy, who is significantly smaller, and Seulgi snorts. Since when was she trying out new nicknames like this?

 

“Nice to meet you, Joy.” Wendy chuckles, “I saw you at the ice rink before, when this one fell over.”

 

“Well, Wendy,” Sooyoung grins back, a mischevious glint in her eye, “She really has improved a ton with your classes.” Seulgi cringes, but Wendy seems oblivious and casually takes hold of her hand.

 

“I don’t think she ever really needed much of my help.”

 

Seulgi glances down at their intertwined fingers with a sore heart, because as soon as the moment’s happened it’s gone. It looked like Wendy’d noticed someone across the room - it was too crowded to see who, but she seized up and then swiftly drifted away.

 

Sooyoung’s magically got a red solo cup already in her hands the next time Seulgi sees her. Her eyebrows crease as she swallows whatever concoction she’s drinking down. “She seemed awfully uncomfortable.”

 

“Did she? I thought you two were getting along super well, she-”

 

“No, not that,” Sooyoung dismisses, “I meant just then. Before she left she got really… tense.”

 

Seulgi nods, squinting. “I think it was someone she saw.”

 

“Yeah.” Sooyoung says casually but exhales heavily, as if she’d just seen something Seulgi hadn’t.

 

Seulgi’s found her way to a stool in the hallway, a bit frazzled and tipsy but generally still conscious. Though she’s more drowsy, she feels more alive than anything.

 

In the last couple of hours Seulgi’s met some really nice people, like the super pretty girl who gave her nicotine gum. The girl had said her name was Joohyun and was Wendy’s older sister’s best friend, and came along because she’s always been a big sister to Wendy as well. Doesn’t want her to cause mayhem, get black out drunk, do drugs and so on, not that Wendy would.

 

The - again, stunning - girl next to her now is called Soojung and they’re talking about something like hats or lotion until Sooyoung walks up to them in a hurry.

 

She looks solemn. Soojung gets some sort of hint before Seulgi does and takes her leave. “I'm sorry, Seulgi." She tilts her head, then lets out a sigh of pity. "That guy really is her boyfriend.”

 

Seulgi feels her face fall, and then doesn’t feel her face at all. Something in her stomach has dropped right down to the depths of the earth, and it’s also cold but hot and sickly and so clogged up in the back of she can’t breathe.

 

Without complete awareness of how she’s moving combined with being a little bit drunk, she heaves herself up, trudging over to peer through the door frame of where Sooyoung just entered from.

 

“Oh.” Is all she can say, so blankly but so strained it sounds like she might just cry.

 

That guy’s kissing Wendy by the wall, and she’s got her eyebrows furrowed, kissing him back. His hands are absolutely everywhere on her. They don’t stop and people begin to watch. And something inside Seulgi is really, really screaming that Wendy really, really doesn’t like this attention.

 

Though it's like he wants to make a grand show of it, like Wendy is most definitely his and he’s ing it in everyone’s faces. Seulgi feels like watching them is particularly gross, and now she really needs to fresh air in case she vomits.

 

“You’d think he was trying to swallow her whole.” Someone in the crowd jokes, and Seulgi would laugh if it wasn’t for it being Wendy and all of the crushing hurt she was feeling.

 

A brave Seulgi would go up to him, whoever he is, tell him to get off her and let her breathe. But Seulgi can’t because she’s not brave enough, and Wendy isn’t hers.

 

Wendy couldn’t ever be hers.

 

“Seulgi, wait, where are you-” Sooyoung calls after her. But Seulgi’s not very aware of anything and still can’t walk straight but she just keeps moving far away, as far away as she can.

 

She gets herself to the balcony outside where a few boys she doesn’t know are smoking, shuffles down against the wall and it’s like a final weight has been put upon her shoulders.

 

As silently as she can, she breaks down, the tears rolling down her flushed cheeks like salty waterfalls and tight from supressing any sort of horrible choking sound she could make so easily at a time like this. This isn’t like her - sure, she cries easily. But she never lets things so minor hit so deep.

 

Then again, Wendy is so far from being minor to her.

 

“You alright?” Asks one of the boys as he backs towards the wall, when the tears have vaguely dried on Seulgi’s face and her little puffy cheeks feel like snail trails. He speaks in a voice that’s low and hushed, which Seulgi’s thankful for because she doesn’t want to make a scene.

 

“Not really.” She gets out. “Just ignore me, though.”

 

The boy is tall, his clothing slightly androgynous but the way he speaks is very masculine. He’s an unconventional kind of handsome, young looking - he could look adorable if it wasn’t for his rather scary looking choker, shock of thick eyeliner under his feline eyes and crooked grin. Seulgi finds him confusing, but she guesses that’s what draws you to him.

 

He introduces himself as Taehyun, vague friend of Wendy’s boyfriend though they don’t talk much. Him and Wendy are also in choir together. When Seulgi introduces herself, he smirks at her in a way both kind and intimidating.

 

“The Seulgi who sings?”

 

Seulgi goes for a smile, but it must look mangled on her face. “I guess so, if that’s how Wendy’s mentioned me.” She remembers then that they were supposed to sing together today. Seulgi's stomach feels like it's swimming.

 

Taehyun nods, and Seulgi wonders just how much about her he knows.

 

He reaches over to play with a strand of damp hair that’s stuck to her cheek. “So, why are you crying, pretty thing?” Seulgi chuckles in a way that comes out of more of a choke. She likes how ridiculous this guy is.

 

“Just a bit…” Screw it, Seulgi thinks. There’s no harm when you barely know the guy, “Heartbroken, is all.”

 

“Ah!” Taehyun exclaims as he looks to the sky, almost as if recalling memories of his own heartbreak fondly. Seulgi is beyond confused by him at this point.

 

He bends himself up properly and lights another cigarette, breathing grey fog into the already murky atmosphere. He flicks his attention back to see Seulgi’s face contorted in what seems like disgust.

 

“Oh, d’you not like people smoking? You’ve come to the wrong corner, my friend.” He shoves his hands in his jacket pockets.

 

“It’s not that,” Seulgi says, quietly, “I’ve been trying to quit.”

 

His raises his eyebrows, though they still come out droopy. And then his hands reemerge, holding out a foreign cigarette box. He tilts them at Seulgi while she hesitates, truly on the brink of weakness.

 

“Just for tonight.” He looks straight into her eyes, his voice soft, the smoke flowing out of his nostrils. “Someone broke your heart.”

 

She’s a fragile mess, an hour later - as much as she was before, but with added drinking. She also stinks of Taehyun’s questionable can of body spray in an effort to cover up the smell of smoke. She hopes she can run into Joohyun later and use whatever she's wearing because Seulgi remembers her for her smell and her smell was very nice.

 

She doesn’t understand how she’ll be able to supress the thought of Wendy in her own house, so instead she carries the grudge on her shoulders and the soreness in her heart. She hasn’t seen Sooyoung much, but she hasn’t had any alarming texts from her so she much be alright.

 

Stumbling through a few of the downstairs rooms, she’s amazed by how much accident-free progress she’s made with completely reduced spacial awareness. Good going, Seulgi! She thinks to herself, and she’s on a bit of a pride induced high until she notices a familar blur looking unfamiliarly sad just outside the back door.

 

Ignoring all of her earlier ideas of distance, she stumbles towards the blur.

 

She swings outside of the house, managing to breathe out “Seungwan.”

 

Wendy looks up. “Hey, Seulgi.” The rims of her eyes look messily red, and Seulgi’s heart sinks even lower. But Wendy herself is smiling like nothing’s wrong, and by the way her words are slurred Seulgi guesses she’s as tipsy as she is. “I haven’t been seeing you around that much. I’ve missed you here.”

 

Seulgi bites her lip, feeling all kinds of horrible.

 

“But that’s okay,” Wendy drawls with eyes so mischievous she could give Sooyoung a run for her money, and she reaches her hand forward to pat Seulgi’s thigh. But it’s not a pat - it’s some sort of , and Seulgi’s willing to believe it’s meant to be seductive but it also feels like Wendy’s just doing it to mock her.

 

“Are you okay, Seungwan?” Seulgi blinks unevenly. Her judgement is all messed up.

 

Wendy tiptoes her fingers up Seulgi’s arm, slurring, “You know, you look so breathtaking when you skate. Like an…” Words escape Wendy for a second. “Like an angel!”

 

Seulgi’s face is flushed due to many things, “That can’t be true.”

 

“No, really!” Wendy nods with conviction, her jaw tight and it’s here that Seulgi notices how cute Wendy’s little dimples are. She wants to kiss them, her, but Wendy doesn’t belong to her. But Wendy’s saying all of these drunken things and it hurts. “And tonight, when you walked up to my house I swear everyone was like - ‘“Wooow”,” She’s swinging her arms around so much she looks like a puppet. Or a cartoon character. Wendy just doesn’t look real.

 

“That was probably just because of Sooyoung.” Seulgi hiccups, and then they both giggle at her hiccup.

 

“You need to give yourself more credit,” Wendy sighs. She smiles, prodding a finger at Seulgi’s nose, “You look hot today.”

 

Seulgi gulps, worried now because she remembers drunk people barely have any control over their facial expressions, and knows there’s a chance Wendy could be reading her feelings off like a book. She’s really trying to brush off how Wendy described her, especially because she knows best friends can call each other ‘hot’ and have it mean nothing.

 

It really does hurt Seulgi so, so much. It hurts Seulgi that she’s just walked in on the girl she likes making out with her definite boyfriend and now she’s back to trying to play it off like she feels nothing.

 

“I don’t like him.” Seulgi says bitterly out loud by accident, and as soon as it’s out she clamps her hands over .

 

Strangely enough, Wendy doesn’t look offended. She just laughs, sourly.

 

The words flow out of Seulgi’s throat more easily than breathing at this moment. Breathing is next to impossible with Wendy looking vulnerable right in front of her and how today she smells like violets. “I mean, I don’t like how he treats you like an object. How he makes you stressed and tensed and now you look like you’ve been crying.”

 

The latter looks up with raw eyes, sending her the most broken smile Seulgi’s seen in her life. “You’re probably right.”

 

Stumbly Seulgi feels Wendy’s hair on her neck and arms around her waist before her mind’s processed the overwhelming urge to hug her. So they must be hugging already. They stay like this for a while, like their own little messy, heartbroken pile hunched against the wall. In a weird way, Seulgi finally feels like she’s soaring.

 

“You should give him advice, Seul,” Wendy whimpers into her ear, and even then her tone manages to be light, “You know how to treat a girl.”

 

With this swimming around her mind, Seulgi goes home very confused.

 

---

 

Seulgi wakes up to Sooyoung bouncing on the end of her bunk, strangely tilted so she doesn't hit her head. She giggles, "Rough night?"

 

Seulgi groans. She can feel how much of a state she's in, as if her brain is working together like a rookie orchestra where no one knows the right key or timing and everyone's playing a different song all at once. It's a First Day Of School feeling that doesn't go away, with enhancements on the headaches and need to vomit.

 

She's never even been hungover before, and she was hoping she wouldn't have to deal with it this badly so soon. She opens one eye, and the girl in front of her is grinning.

 

"You look cheerful, Joy."

 

“Loads of people are called Sooyoung. I wanted to stand out.”

 

"And I bet you did."

 

Seulgi feels a playful smack on her leg. "I think I did, actually. I had a really great night, aside from worrying where you were and what you were up to ninety percent of the time." She sighs, shaking her head and giving Seulgi a full look-over. "Apparently you weren't up to the best things."

 

Seulgi scowls childishly, "I met some cool people."

 

Sooyoung rolls her eyes. "You met that indie guy with the eyebrows and he gave you cigarettes. And made you smell like ."

 

"I met Seungwan," Seulgi recalls, feels like sitting up but would rather not risk the intense head rush. She nurses her forehead, "It's weird though. She was really friendly."

 

"Well duh, Wendy's a friendly person. It would probably take a lot to change that."

 

"No, no," Seulgi scrunches her eyes, "It's like she was too friendly, if you know what I mean. It got me really confused."

 

Sooyoung contemplates it, but she doesn't respond with anything because Seulgi's in enough of a state already and can't deal with more heavy thinking.

 

After a while she clicks her tongue. "Her boyfriend's a ."

 

Seulgi looks through the gap in her arms that are wrapped over her face, and smiles with just her eyes. "Yeah, he is."

 

---

 

The next time they meet is a week later than usual, since Wendy called in sick the first week, which is understandable for many reasons. But maybe none to do with illness.

 

Seulgi's steps are heavy walking up to the ice rink. This girl's always on her mind, and this past fortnight more than ever, but it's alongside this throbbing headache of regret.

 

She turns a brisk corner, and there she is - a pretty figure leaning over the wall on her own, the ice rink so huge and her so tiny.

 

"Hey there." Seulgi calls, although it comes out strange. She's never been the first one to do the greeting.

 

Wendy looks up, slightly detached. But her voice sounds relieved. "Hello. Nice to see you again."

 

"You too." Seulgi grins by default and approaches her, whipping across the ice with no trouble.

 

She's gesturing to go, but Wendy's still securely leant over the wall.

 

"No skating today?"

 

Wendy shrugs apologetically, "Nah, not feeling it." That's odd.

 

Wendy's not as talkative as she always is, not as forward, nowhere near as determined and not at all with a beaming smile on her face. It's she's not even talking to Wendy - like what makes Wendy has evaporated in the swelling heat outside, and all that's condensed here is someone that kind of looks like her.

 

Nevertheless, Seulgi makes a few efforts to cheer her up. She rambles about some boring things or the film her and Sooyoung watched a few nights ago, all while lazily pirouetting. Wendy's got a little smile on her face now, though it's still not the kind that suits her.

 

"What's wrong?" Seulgi finally asks, hoping Wendy will give her a clean answer because, from the looks of it, she's lived her whole life pretending everything was always okay.

 

"It's him." Wendy swallows, "My boyfriend."

 

Seulgi was kind of anticipating this. She'd claim it a victory, but by the look of Wendy that's far from what it is. She looks crushed.

 

"What did he do?"

 

Wendy laughs dryly, "What didn't he do? You saw what he was like. I remember some of the things you said about him before you left."

 

Did she say things? Hopefully not too terrible things.

 

"I'm just so sick of being his... prize. Being what he feels is okay to call his '', you know? I'm so not like that." She's rambling. Seulgi feels warmer knowing Wendy's still in there. "When we met he was so funny and cheeky, so I went out with him. But then the cheekiness didn't fade with time and he just got a disgusting kind of worse. As much as I ask him, the degrading jokes don't stop."

 

Seulgi feels pent up anger flickering across her veins, and grits her teeth. "Do you even like him?"

 

Wendy looks at her and makes a face. "He's so overbearing now, I'm not even sure."

She tosses her head down, "I know I don't love him, at least."

 

Seulgi's steaming. She gets the overwhelming, stupid urge to tell Wendy she loves her right now, but her words aren't sentimental. They come out angry.

 

"Don't feel like you deserve any of that, Seungwan. It's bull. That guy's no good. You deserve someone who can at least be kind to you - make you feel comfortable, special, love you-"

 

"What, Seulgi?" Wendy interjects, her eyes suddenly b. "Someone like you?"

 

Seulgi feels like she's just been slapped.

 

She begins to skate away, because Wendy knows and because of how she said it, but not until she makes one last attempt before surrendering.

 

"Dump him." She whispers, turning on her blades, hoping the way the cold air hits her face quickly will stop her from crying.

 

There's a small voice she can't ignore in the distance, though. "I did." It says.

 

Seulgi rotates, and for a moment they just stare at each other. is too dry to speak. But she doesn't need to beckon her over, because Wendy's already moving. Her mind is a brilliant firework. She dumped him.

 

Wendy gets close enough for them to topple into a hug, almost falling right onto the ice.

 

"That was close," Seulgi mutters, eyes tight shut facing Wendy's hair. "I'm getting a sense of my own déjà vu."

 

For the first time in two weeks, Wendy laughs a proper Wendy laugh. "I don't think I've ever been so glad to witness a person falling over."

 

Seulgi legitimately feels like crying. Surprised by her own strength she picks Wendy up off her skates, swaying her around a little bit until Wendy smacks her on the head and pleads with her to stop.

 

"I'm so dizzy," she cackles. Once she's down, her teeth are still gleaming. "So, Seulgi."

 

"So, Seungwan." Seulgi grins back.

 

Wendy nits her eyebrows together in uncertainty. Seulgi braces herself for whatever's coming next. "Do you like me?"

 

Her palms are sweating like crazy, which as a gross thought, Wendy can probably feel on her back. "Yeah, yeah, I do." She hesitates, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry."

 

"Seul, look at me."

 

Oh, God. With some pushing, she snaps her face upwards.

 

Wendy's beautiful eyes look like they're dancing, which wasn’t what she was expecting. "Don't be sorry, I'm relieved."

 

What? Seulgi can't think straight right now. It's odd for her to think that she's like this and sober.

 

Wendy leans forward and cups her face, laughing shyly. Her breath falls right onto Seulgi’s skin. "The more I started hating him, the more I realised how much I like you."

 

Seulgi feels like this can't be real, but she gets to grips with herself and takes the situation at hand, and closes the gap between them before Wendy can.

 

Wendy's lips are so soft, and Seulgi's amazed by the way they move, the way they seem to fit perfectly together and how this isn't a strange jump for them at all. Seulgi's not even kissed anyone before but it's almost as if she's kissed Wendy hundreds of times. It comes so naturally.

 

They're kind of laughing and smiling at the same time which is a bit hard to multitask, but they're euphoric. While Wendy's tongue is everywhere inside , Seulgi really really thinks must be dreaming.

 

They separate to breathe for a second, flushed and smiling. Wendy's laugh is ragged. "Okay, glad we're on the same page."

 

Seulgi pecks her cheek, because she can, and pulls her in for a hug again. Under their fluffy colourful scarves and sweaters, their heartbeats are perfectly rapid.

 

"Uh." Someone Seulgi kind of knows clears loudly in the background. Sound really echoes, with this rink.

 

"Oh," Wendy's eyes are wide upon embarrassment and recognition. "Hi Joohyun."

 

Seulgi almost dies on the spot. Looking around, she can make out Joohyun raising her eyebrows. "Having fun?"

 

They both nervously chuckle to each other, slowly breaking apart the embrace. Wendy's petite fingers ghost down Seulgi's arm to her hand, and hold onto it. I'm yours, the action seems to say. I, Wendy, am yours.

 

"Very much so," Wendy smiles.