Attention || Seulrene | Ongoing

All Is Well

The gentle breeze caressing her face was enough for Seulgi's mind to be at peace. She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed through her nose slowly.

All is well, she reminded herself.

Leaning back on the hood of the car, she let herself relax under the shade of the tree where the car is parked and tried to remove any thoughts from her mind. She was close to falling asleep when Seulgi heard a small rustle beside her, prompting her to take a peak. What greeted her made her lips quirk upward and her heart beat rapidly.

"Hi," Bae Irene greeted, her lips pulled into a bashful smile.

"Hello." Seulgi greeted back, tilting her head just a bit when she saw what the older was holding. "Where have you been?"

"Around." Irene settled next to her and handed her the thing she was holding. "Here. One for me and one for you."

"What's this for?" She asked while gingerly holding the stem. She didn't want for the pappus of the dandelion to be swept away by the wind.

"When I was kid," Irene started as she stared at the dandelion on her hand. "My grandma told me that you can make a wish on this but it'll only be granted when you remove all the puff in one blow."

"Does it work?"

Turning to her, Irene looked at her with slightly hopeful eyes. "Do you want to try?"

Seulgi nodded but Irene held her hand when she was about to place the flower near her mouth. Irene smiled but it felt off to the younger.

"Can I do it first?"

"Sure." Seulgi watched as Irene close her eyes and muttered something under her breath. If it wasn't for the quietness around them, she would've thought that the words that slipped past the older's mouth was as light was the pappus, easily carried by the wind and gone forever.

"I wish for Seulgi to forget what happened awhile ago."

Seulgi only watched as Irene blew on the flower and opened her eyes with a sad smile. Each small stem of the flower flew with the wind, like a parachute where they rocked back and forth softly as they careened in the open space. When they couldn't see any of it anymore, Irene turned to Seulgi and asked, "Did it work?"

The wind might've carried the seeds with them but not the memory of what happened awhile ago. Irene must've seen her face that she smiled sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Hm?" Seulgi gingerly placed the dandelion on her wallet and closed it as best as she could without disrupting the form. "For making me believe that flowers can grant wishes?"

"For ruining this day." Irene smiled sadly before running her hands on her face, frustrated at how things went, at how she lost her temper once again. "I just- I couldn't help it. When I saw your face... I just- I didn't want you to feel like that, that you're being talked about and you don't deserve to be called names. You don't deserve that, Seulgi. Nobody does."

She whispered the last part but Seulgi heard it loud and clear. Her heart broke for the older because Irene's facade as impenetrable as it seemed, the older was still a human who hurts when things are thrown at her way, when words are passed between lips who have no clue on who the real Irene Bae was.

Reaching for her hand, Seulgi gave it a squeeze. When Irene took a shaky breath, Seulgi laced their fingers together. "Don't apologize for something you didn't do."

Irene still seemed to be inside her head that Seulgi continued, "You didn't ruin this day, atleast not yet. But if you keep sulking like that, you might and I might not forgive you for that." Seulgi cracked a smile, her eyes crinkling at the corners.