HERSHE - SEULRENE

SR - Chat

It's Monday and there's something different about it.

For whatever reason, Irene is excited to go to work today. She woke up early, had her breakfast, and left for the office right away. She came in too early that she had the entire floor to herself when she arrived.

She immediately checked the list of her online friends in their internal messenger. Seulgi's status is still gray.

She stood up, retouched herself in the ladies' room, grabbed herself a tea in the pantry, and went back to her table to check her friend's list again.

Still not green.

She checked her emails this time. Slowly, people are coming in one by one. Her table is at the center of the floor. She can't see who comes in and goes out because her back is facing the entrance.

"Good morning, Irene!" Taemin, who just arrived, greeted her.

"Hi, Taemin." Irene smiled. The guy stopped to stare at her. "What's the matter?"

"There's something different about you today..." Taemin crossed his arms.

"And what is that?"

"I'm not sure..." He walked towards her. "You just seem vibrant and blooming today."

"Does that mean I don't look vibrant and blooming in some other days?"

"Come on. You're always beautiful, darling. There's just something different today." Taemin scanned her. "New haircut?"

"No."

"Hmm. New hair color?" Taemin held Irene's chin this time. "Are you using a new make-up?"

"No."

"Don't tell me you already have a boyfriend?"

Irene chuckled. She shook her head no.

"That smile, Irene! I knew it! There must be someone!" Taemin pointed at her.

Irene dismissed him with a hand. "Nah. I just had a great weekend. There's no special someone yet."

"Oh really? I don't know why but my intuition says I should not believe you."

"Don't make a fuss out of it."

"Fine! Fine! I'll wait until you're ready to spill the details." Taemin walked back to his station.

After the conversation, she checked her friend's list again. To her disappointment, Seulgi's status is still offline.

She shifted her eyes at the bottom of the screen to check the time. It's already 7:53 and Seulgi should arrive anytime now.

At that instant moment, she saw Seulgi's status changed color from gray to green. A little notification appeared: Kang Seulgi is online.

She clicked Seulgi's name. A new window popped up to start a conversation. Her hands motioned on the keyboard. But then, she stopped the idea, not sure why she's doing that.

Irene stared at her monitor, hands clasped on her chin. The only reason she added Seulgi before is for the lipstick project they worked on together. She can't remember the last time they chat, and the probable reason for that conversation was all regarding the project.

After a few seconds of uncertainty, she clicked the close button with her mouse. She leans at the backrest of her chair and stared at the ceiling with both her hands on her tummy.

Kling!

Irene rose at the sound of her chat notification. A sweet smile flashed on her face after checking it.