She had about a half hour before she needed to head back downstairs. She also knew that she could count on forty five minutes because she knew that Nayeon was physically allergic to being on time unless she had to be.

  So, Seulgi knotted her hair up into a bun and took a quick shower. Just enough to wash the weariness from the day off. Once cleaner, she dried off. Then she noticed that Suki had managed her magic and shed all over her nice, clean towel. She looked down and saw that she had about as much fur on her as Suki did.

  Towel thrown into the dirty clothes hamper. New, clean towel, shook it out to make sure there was no fur, and back into the shower to wash off her new coat. Back out of the shower with much less time taken, re-shaken towel liberally applied to her wet body, and time to dress in casual chic.

  She could almost hear Suki ughing at her.

  Seulgi looked at the clock and saw that she had enough time. She padded barefoot back into the bathroom and applied some war paint. Eyeliner and extend a bit to make cat eyes. Some smoky gray eyeshadow for emphasis. She always liked this combination. She decided to go with lip gloss rather than proper lipstick.

  She was going out to have fun, not to impress anyone. Dinner with Nayeon was always fun. Filled with loud, unrestrained ughter and nearly no shame in doing so. Nayeon was so mercurial. She could be a ughing fool, business serious, or drop-dead gorgeous. But, she enjoyed ughing the most. She was also known for indulging in pranks. So, it was hard to take her seriously when she was trying to be, sometimes.

  So, makeup was successfully applied. Looking at the clock it was about time to head down. She then noticed that her keys were not where she left them. She looked around the bowl, thinking she missed the bowl on her rush inside. Nope. Not in the bowl with her phone. Not on the sideboard. Not on the floor. She started looking around the pce with a bit more fervor when she heard a tinkling sound.

  That sound came suspiciously near where the cat ought to be.

  She walked into the living room, around the couch where the cat met her eyes with an innocent gaze. Knowing Suki the way she did, she picked up the cat, again, and tossed her to the side. She thereby exposed the keys that were hidden under the gremlin.

  The unrepentant cat stared at her with innocent eyes. Shots fired, score hit.

  Seulgi snatched the keys up, turned around, and then headed towards the front door.

  Suki jumped up on the back of the couch and meowed a ‘Hey!’ at her human. Seulgi turned around to see her antagonist with her tail up, showing her butt towards her. There was no way that she didn’t know what she was doing. Seulgi pondered getting her shaved.

  Seulgi just glowered at her as she grabbed her phone and headed out. But not before making sure that there was food and water avaible and the litter box was empty. She did not need any surprises when she got home tonight because of something that was her responsibility.

  Flipping the switch in her head, Seulgi got excited about what was going to go on tonight with one of her very best friends. It should be so much fun. If Nayeon and Soo-young got along, her life was about to get very, very interesting. In so many ways.

  She made it down to the lobby with no problems. She went up to the front desk to chat with the guards for a moment, as she always did when she had a moment to spare. She left to wait outside to wait for Nayeon to show up.

  She was about midway from the door to the curb. Fortunately, this time of day did not have too much foot traffic. However, there was still some. So, while she was standing there, like a monolith, a man casually walked behind her. Which, as she was in the middle of the walk, was not unusual. But what was, was when he pulled out a pair of scissors and snipped a locket of her hair before walking calmly off. As he was between the building and her, no cameras caught him, and no guards saw him. And not even Seulgi noticed.

  More people walked around her. In front, behind, and from both directions, humanity ebbed and flowed around her until Nayeon showed up and honked. Seulgi excused herself while walking in front of a family and walked toward the car. The family just smiled at her and she smiled back. One of the nicer interactions with random people today.

  There were a couple of odd-colored hairs from Suki on her jacket that she brushed off her jacket without even thinking about it, before getting into the car.

  “You’re looking awfully excited, Seulgi. What’s up? Are you that excited to spend time with me out of the office?” Nayeon wore her mischievous grin with a panache that was nearly impossible to beat.

  “Drive. If things work out the way I am pnning, you’re going to get a bigger surprise than you’ll ever believe.”

  “Intriguing.” Nayeon put the car into gear and merged with traffic. She tried to wheedle information out of Seulgi the entire trip, but she was stonewalled the entire time with a mysterious grin that could rival her own. The few times that Nayeon gnced over at Seulgi on the trip over, she was nearly blinded by the power of that urchin grin.

  “Quit looking over here and drive right.”

  “Yes, ma’am”

  One fairly heavy swat ter. “I told you not to call me that.”

  Unrepentant giggles peal forth from the driver’s side. They are quickly joined by the passenger’s side. By the time they pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot, both of them were wheezing as if they were asthmatic loons.

  Due to the ck of oxygen, neither were all too steady on their feet as they approached the restaurant’s front door. Linking arms, they endeavored to steady themselves like a pair of drunk kids. As soon as they started breathing properly, they regained their steady steps and kept erupting in giggles anyway.

  Still arm in arm, they successfully made it into the eatery. Seulgi cocked an ear, listening for a particur sound.

  Nayeon looked over and saw her. She cocked an eyebrow in question.

  Seulgi answered with a grin. This was going to be good.