“You…” Seulgi braced herself for the foreseen heartache. “You said you had nobody, right?”

***

“I got a ride so I’m reaching soon. See you in awhile, beautiful.” 

The text from Seulgi brought a smile to Irene’s face as she waited at the lift lobby of their shared apartment. 

She stretched her neck out like a giraffe, constantly anticipating for the return of her other half. A white convertible stopped outside the glass doors and off came the slender figure who Irene was expecting. 

Another fair skinned lady in heels stepped off the vehicle, walking to the side of Seulgi as they broke into a conversation that seemed to entertain Seulgi very much. Her head was thrown back while she laughed, her eyes missing. 

Irene swallowed hard when she watched them shared a hug too long before finally, bidding each other goodnight. 

Seulgi waved enthusiastically at her and fastened her pace, wanting to get to her as quick as possible. The lady was still standing outside, looking at the receding back heading towards the building and her initial cheery mood was somewhat affected. 

“Hey, why are you waiting out here? Isn’t it cold?”

Seulgi rubbed her hands on Irene’s arms, about to lean in for a hug when Irene stepped away, pointing at the lady. She waved again, signalling for the third party to leave and the lady raised her phone, indicating for them to keep in contact. 

Seulgi merely shrugged her shoulders, quickly pulling Irene into the elevator once it opened. 

“Come here, my bunny.” Seulgi called out affectionately. “The best reward of ending work is coming home to you.” 

Running a business was indeed exhausting but there was no deny that to be able to go home, spending the rest of the night with the younger girl would make everything seems better.

They didn't have to be doing anything special, just wrapped up in each other's arms, falling asleep even before the movie screening ended. 

Simplicity was their bliss. 

What felt slightly different tonight was when Seulgi went on and on about this particular Yewon, who turned out to be the one who sent her home earlier on. 

The way her face lit up upon speaking of the jokes she cracked during work was like the catalyst to a weird feeling eating the insides of Irene. 

She hid the uncomfortableness well, knowing that it wasn't fair to shatter the happy bubble. 

It wasn't exactly jealousy that was stirring from within; it was more of fear. 

"Are you okay? You look a little drifted.”

Seulgi rubbed her arm after slipping behind her, each of them having a leg dangling off the bed. 

She had been building sandcastle in the air when Seulgi was off to shower, her mind not particularly on anything, just pondering on random thoughts. 

She shook her head, letting herself be pulled back fuller into the back hug. A chin rested on her shoulder, lips dawdling on her smooth skin. 

"I have been talking too much, haven't I?"

Irene's hand went back to cup the face. "I like hearing you talk, especially when you are happy like this." 

"I'm happy whenever I'm with you." 

"That's not the case if Ilhoon was with me too." 

"Is he back?"

The hold around her tightened and the drop in tone was amusing. 

"Not till a month later." A sigh of relief was heard. “He extended his stay."

"Well, I hope he never comes back."

They got themselves properly tucked in bed, this time with Seulgi curling herself like an infant into Irene's embrace. Unlike the former who fell asleep effortlessly, Irene was trying to untie the uncomfortable knot in her stomach. 

She was never the person to pry into others' privacy but Seulgi's phone just happened to be within her sight when one was away bathing. 

The constant blinking indicated messages and the name spelled Yewon. 

She had asked to have lunch break together with Seulgi again, because she had enjoyed the company. 

The uneasiness only seemed to escalate with each time her name was mentioned, because she saw how Yewon managed to throw Seulgi in such a happy fit after sending her home, even texting her goodnight messages. 

She had been contemplating on whether she should inform Seulgi about the unread chat, but she didn't want Seulgi to divert her attention away and so, she let the matter rest. 

“Am I too late to accept your ride offer now?”

Seulgi tried to keep her tone down as she stood slightly further away from Irene who had a bouquet of roses in her arms, gifted by Ilhoon who apparently lied about his return because there he was, outside their apartment when they were just leaving for work together a week later. 

“I’m already here.” 

Irene’s sight followed as Seulgi turned her head around abruptly from her phone call, only to see Yewon for the fourth time within the week. 

She had been sending Seulgi home almost everyday after work, and however much she convinced herself to push away the unpleasant emotions within her, she was about to be filled to the bream. 

“Oh Seulgi, you are leaving already?” Ilhoon chirped. “I was thinking of getting breakfast together.” 

“Yeah and no thanks, you guys have fun.” 

That pinch of sarcasm paired with the cold tone gave Irene shivers as she watched Seulgi walked towards Yewon who reached out to offer a cup of coffee and was accepted gratefully. 

Coffee was supposed to be their thing, but there was someone else doing it for Seulgi now. 

It was as if Seulgi could feel those eyes looking at her, she turned around just before the car went off. 

It was the first time Irene saw Seulgi looking at her, with anger. 

It was mild, almost non-existent, but it was there. 

It made her want to bawl right then. 

It made her felt a pain at her chest. 

It made her mind ran wild. 

It made her realised, Seulgi’s limit was about to be up. 

“I have plans so I’m not going to your parents’ place tomorrow.” 

That was the first thing Seulgi said to her when she got home, exhaustion evident on the baby-liked face. 

Ilhoon’s return signified the mandatory weekend dinner at her place again, and she should have known better that Seulgi was definitely unwilling to join the reunion, not after what happened during the last. 

“What plans?” 

Irene’s hunch told her it was a plan that involved Yewon, but she secretly prayed in her heart that it was only her insecurity playing a fool out of her as she waited for a reply from the girl who sat at the dining table, texting on the phone instead of joining her at the couch. 

“What plans, Seulgi?” 

“Company dinner.” 

“Company dinner, or just dinner with Yewon?”

When there was no replies from the younger one, Irene swallowed hard. 

No answer was also an answer too, she knew. 

“Is there something going on between you both?”

“Is there something going on between you and Ilhoon?”

“I was asking first!” 

“Are you going to end up marrying him?”

Irene furrowed her brows. “What are you talking about?”

“God damn it, Irene!”

Seulgi finally lost her cool that she had been trying to contain throughout the day, especially after how she saw Ilhoon’s update about his “little breakfast date” on kakao talk with Irene. 

Grabbing the entire bouquet of roses sitting on the table, she thrashed them into the bin, not forgetting to kick it away from her. 

Irene merely sat there in tears. She saw this coming, but she didn’t expect it to hurt so much to see Seulgi this mad. 

It hadn’t been a day since Ilhoon reappeared and there they were, stuck in another quarrel. 

“Joohyun?”

Her train of thoughts broke when her mum approached her in her room, leaving the men outside to catch up about boring things like golf and business. 

Irene’s mind had been occupied since the quarrel last week. 

She could only stare at the back view of Seulgi for the entire night, unable to do anything but let her tears soaked the pillow. Seulgi too, had been crying till early morning. 

They were right beside each other but they had never felt so far apart... 

A week, that was how long the cold war went on for. 

Irene thought she was going insane, especially with how intense Yewon had been appearing at their apartment’s carpark. 

“Yes mum?”

“Be honest with me.” That worked her nerves. “Are you seeing someone now?”

“Mum-What?”

“I tried asking Seulgi yesterday but she refused to say anything.” 

Her heart raced at the mention of the name. 

“You talked to Seulgi? Why didn’t she tell me?” 

“I told her not to, until I speak to you about it. Frankly, don’t think I didn’t notice the chain you have been wearing. I may have only seen the silhouette of it, but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell it’s a ring.”

Automatically, her hand shot up to where the chain was at, pressing closer against her chest and a cooling sensation spread around a small area. 

Her eyes were darting around, unaware of how she should be facing her mother. 

“Your dad is very fond of Ilhoon, and he is hoping that you both can be dating with the idea of getting married. Ilhoon’s parents will be visiting next month, so it would be inevitable to talk about it.”

That was the reason why Seulgi questioned her about marrying Ilhoon; because her mum had spoken to the latter before. 

Her rage wasn’t just out of anger, it was out of fear and Irene was too clueless to notice. 

“Mum! I’m a grown up, I don’t need Dad to be meddling with my affairs, especially not marriage!” 

“So you need to be honest with me now, do you have somebody in mind? If you do, I will talk to your dad about it. Whoever that person is, you are still our daughter. You understand what I’m trying to say, Joohyun? So is there anyone, somebody that maybe, we know of?” 

“I-” 

“Yes?”

“I don’t…”

Mrs Bae heaved a sigh, heavily laced with disappointment at how her daughter chose to lie bluntly instead of trusting her own mother. 

She knew more than Irene thought she knew. 

The ring wasn’t the only thing she noticed. 

The love marks on her neck may have been covered, but a mother always notices. 

She was only thankful for her husband’s lack of meticulousness, if not, as the traditional man he is, he would have banished Irene to hell. 

“I hope you don’t regret your words, Joohyun.” 

Boy did Irene regret her words even before she forced herself to say it. 

She didn’t have anymore patience to remain still and chose to rush home instead, only to find Seulgi still outside, probably having a better time than she was with Yewon. 

She contemplated about calling the younger girl to return immediately, but she haven’t gotten herself together yet. 

Her mum’s suspicion had shattered every bit of her sanity. 

The sound of the door unlocking startled her, though she found herself pounding onto the new arrival as soon as Seulgi stepped foot into the living room, bawling in trepidation. 

“Where have you been? I have been waiting for you!”

“Baby, what happened?”

A week of cold war didn’t mean Seulgi wouldn’t get scared at how Irene was suddenly reacting. If any, it only made her wonder if Irene had been holding back her emotions for a week, afraid of releasing because Seulgi wasn’t emotionally there for her. 

“I don’t want to marry Ilhoon, I really don’t!”

Seulgi’s heart sank deeper than titanic did upon the comment and her arms tightened around the petite figure who was trembling with each sob she sniffed. 

She knew there were more coming, so she stayed quiet, only letting her hands caressing the back gently. 

“It’s inevitable that eventually my dad would want us to tie the knot, and my mum is suspecting about our relationship, Seul… She asked if I had somebody else, she knew about the ring!”

“You…” Seulgi braced herself for the foreseen heartache. “You said you had nobody, right?”

“I’m so sorry…” 

Almost two years into their tie, Irene had countlessly rejected the idea of declaring feelings. Almost two years into their tie, Irene hurt Seulgi repeatedly with the denial of branding themselves. Almost two years into their tie, they were on the verge of being exposed.

Almost two years of everything and Seulgi knew, Irene was more afraid than she was before.

***