Seulgi had busied herself for the past few weeks to keep her mind off the girl who she hadn't seen since she had walked her home. Every time she received a text, Seulgi would get curious and excited as to who it might be and would pull out her phone. But she continued to get disappointed. She didn't get as excited anymore when her phone rang, tricking her into thinking that Joohyun had put that piece of paper with her number on it to good use. So when her phone rang, just as she stepped out of her morning class, Seulgi didn't expect to hear an unfamiliar voice on the other line. She glanced at Seungwan who was waving her over and she put one finger up.

"Sorry but who is this?" Seulgi asked, moving the phone away to check the number and putting the phone back to her ear when she didn't recognize it.

She heard a sigh on the other line and waited patiently for an answer.

"Forget that, are you working tonight?"

Seulgi grinned. That annoyed voice now sound a lot more familiar to her now than when she first picked up. "I didn't know you would try to call me so soon..." She said sarcastically, finally walking towards Seungwan.

Again, the line went quiet before Joohyun replied in a monotone voice. "I just wanted to know if I could get a free drink or not tonight."

Seungwan followed Seulgi silently and watched the girl chuckle. She smiled too and tried to guide her towards the picnic tables outside, as Seulgi didn't bother to pay attention to her surroundings. Some students got annoyed when Seulgi would accidentally bump into them but Seungwan would apologize and slap Seulgi on the arm. The latter ignored her and continued talking into the phone in her annoying, teasing tone.

"Come by tonight before 12 and I'll give you something special." Seulgi smiled and hung up, putting her phone back into her pocket. Seungwan looked at her pointedly and Seulgi knew she was waiting for an explanation.

Seulgi shrugged, "this cute girl I met at the club."

Seungwan shoved Seulgi playfully and began giggling, "how cute is she? Why did she call you? Are you two dating? haVE YOU FINALLY FOUND A-” Seulgi covered Seungwan’s mouth with her hand and looked around at the students who were staring curiously. She glared at them all until they looked away but before she could do anything else, Seungwan bit her hand and she jumped back in pain.

“What the hell Seungwan?” Seulgi asked, swearing under her breath as she stared at the red marks on her hand. Seungwan just smiled and the two of them walked away from campus and towards a bus stop a few metres away.

Seulgi leaned against the brick wall and crossed her arms. She was about to grab her pack of cigarettes from her backpack but Seungwan slapped her hand and shook her head. “You’re smoking less lately...I noticed. Might as well keep trying right?”

Seulgi groaned. First Joohyun and now Seungwan. It was as if nobody wanted her to have fun anymore. She simply sighed and stared ahead blankly, thinking to the time she had wasted her cigarettes on Joohyun. The older woman had her own views on smoking which Seulgi fully understood but she really wished that those views weren’t forced on her. She sighed again as her bus came into view. Seulgi pushed off the wall and Seungwan rubbed her shoulder affectionately.

“I’ll cook for the two when we get to your apartment and you can rest then go straight to work, okay?” She offered, stepping on the bus behind Seulgi who shrugged.

The girl trudged toward the two empty seats at the very back of the bus and plopped into one seat, Seungwan following right after. Seulgi leaned her head on the window and smiled, closing her eyes. “Don’t worry about those two, I think they wanted to order pizza today...you can go home and relax, you really need it.”

Seungwan looked as if she wanted to argue back and insist on helping but she knew that Seulgi could be stubborn and chuckled. “Alright, whatever you say.”

The bus ride was unusually silent and neither girl said much until Seungwan’s stop came into view and Seulgi said goodbye, waving as the girl got off the bus. Seulgi looked around Seungwan’s stop and chuckled dryly as four others got off. The neighbourhood was a well-known, rich area and Seulgi liked to visit Seungwan’s home just to see the atmosphere there compared to her apartment building. Seulgi was about 99.9% sure the people in the apartment across from hers did illegal things behind closed doors, and not many people in her building were that nice either.

She blew air out of and closed her eyes, feeling the bus speed away again. Luckily enough, Seulgi had only fallen asleep for about fifteen minutes so she just barely woke up in time for her stop. Thankfully the bus driver knew and recognized her and didn’t mind that she took about a minute to realize it was her stop and a few seconds to run out. She yelled out her thanks and got off the bus, avoiding the glares from the other passengers. Only two other people got off the bus with her and while one of them, a young high-school student, walked in the opposite direction, the second man followed Seulgi towards her apartment building.

He was wearing a black hoodie and his face was completely covered. There was a plastic bag in his hand and he walked just a few steps behind Seulgi. She stared at him curiously but decided to pay no attention to him as she entered the building. Just as Seulgi tried to press the button to the elevator, a hand grabbed her arm and she spun around, raising her fist. It was only about an inch away from the man’s face but then he started laughing. Seulgi relaxed and lowered her fist, shaking his hand off her arm. She cursed at him and he only continued to laugh.

“What the hell Seunghyun?!” She shoved him once the two got into the elevator but he only continued to laugh at her.

“Sorry sorry, but Minji told me to check up on you since you’ve got a ton of exams coming up soon, she says hi and told me to give you these…” Seunghyun stepped out of the elevator with Seulgi and handed her the plastic bag. She didn’t bother looking inside and walked to her apartment door, opening it and letting Seunghyun in.

He walked to the kitchen, right behind Seulgi, and watched the girl put the plastic bag on the table and take out a few containers containing side dishes and food. She smiled and looked at Seunghyun. “Tell Minji we say thanks, Yerim and Sooyoung love her cooking.”

The man laughed and waved his hand, “I still think you should all come to our house for dinner everyday, we love having you guys over...or you know...staying with us would be-”

Seulgi gave him a pointed look and he stopped. “Okay sorry, ‘Mrs. Independent’.”

The two laughed and Seulgi put the containers into the small white fridge. Seunghyun sat at the dinner table and watched her, smiling in amazement. He hoped that his son would grow up to be just like Seulgi. Strong, intelligent and independent.

The older man was snapped out of his gaze when he felt something hit his head. He turned around curiously only to get sprayed in the face with water. Seulgi could be heard laughing behind him and Seunghyun wiped his eyes before opening them to find two girls, one slightly shorter than the other, grinning at him.

“You devils,” he growled, grabbing for the two who squealed and jumped back, avoiding his hands.

Seunghyun laughed when the two tripped and fell to the floor, rubbing their butts. “Ow…” Yerim whined, slapping Sooyoung who had accidentally tripped her. She stood up and ran towards Seunghyun, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. He hugged her back and patted her head and watched her pull away only for him to be hugged by Sooyoung.

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