Min-Jeon and Yeojin were becoming best friends faster than anyone – including themselves – would have expected. They had similar tastes in music, clothes, food (both loved lunch over everything else – including midnight snacks), and last but not least, boys.

They have already wasted hours, if not days, chattering like a couple of magpies. And they have only known each other for less than two weeks. But, when souls bond, time really does not mean too much. They knew they’d be friends when they were old and wrinkled, being that they were both barely into their 20s, that says a lot.

They were not aware of it, but their small circle of two was being pulled into Seulgi’s circle as inevitably as a black hole swallows a binary star. However, the mini-dynamic duo will be much more content with their lot in life than the aforementioned binary star system.

Min-Jeon took a big sister approach to guide Yeojin. After all, she was a year and 11 months older than her ‘younger sister’. That and Min-Jeon had been with the company for a whole six months already. She was practically an exec! At least in her own mind.

Most of the people both watching and watching over the pair smiled indulgently. Some of the more experienced people saw the potential of both girls and were impressed enough to offer subtle guidance. Somehow, Seulgi had more say in their guidance and duties than their actual managers, but it was an accepted inevitability.

Besides, one less thing for the overworked managers to have to deal with.

They were both cute as buttons. They were both bright, cheerful, and fun to talk to. What set them apart from others in their peer group is they had the wisdom to ask questions and the maturity to accept the criticism given.

A couple of the more lecherous cads had set their sights on Yeojin as fresh meat. It took Min-Jeon’s waspish tongue to set the record that Yeojin was off limits. If one of the more decent guys wanted to approach her, then that would be up to the girl to decide if she was interested. That is if they wanted to run Min-Jeon’s gauntlet to approach her first.

These young hopefuls were not aware that they needed to hurry because things were about to get exponentially harder. With Seulgi, Nayeon, Yeji, and Jackson all taking a healthy interest in the young lady, it was enough to dissuade even the hardiest soul. There was a collective shudder across the collective young men in the company with that mere thought.

Today, after they were dismissed for the day, they left the office arm in arm deciding what to do next. Dinner was an obvious choice. But there were so many choices.

Should they get a workout in first? Min-Jeon would like to, but Yeojin didn’t bring a change of clothes. Should they go for a longish walk to substitute for the workout? Min-Jeon had sneakers to walk home in, but Yeojin still had her heels on.

So, a less physically demanding evening, it would be. For now, they were just walking and talking. They talked about their former school life, the clubs they had been in, the people they had known, and the things they found annoying. And boys. Somehow, it frequently came back to boys. Well, they were healthy young women, it was natural to have an interest in these sorts of things.

Min-Jeon gave the low down on a couple of the single guys; some that deserved a subtle shoring up, some that deserved outright, blatant warnings. They talked about their clothes, hair, and all of the other normal things girls talked about. But especially guys.

Their conversation was fairly composed. They were young, but they were not stupid. They were immature, but not trashy. They were both polite, even when slagging off some of the company miscreants. They were both upright and righteous young women, both of whom were finding out just exactly how wicked of a sense of humor the other had.

And they were both really, really bad. Unfortunately, Seulgi and Co. were going to be finding out exactly how bad these two troublemakers were in very short order. Much to their dismay and the maknae’s amusement. The company was about to be shaken in the most adorably delightful ways. Most of the older and wiser people had already seen this coming and were preparing.

Seulgi was not one of these people.

Min-Jeon was old enough to drink alcohol, but Yeojin was not. So they decided to go to a more family-friendly restaurant. Dinner was ordered, drinks (both got bubble teas) were served, and conversations about the latest trends in nearly every subject were hashed out.

Some trends were discussed, and some were viciously mocked.

Much very loud laughter ensued. Even after the manager came by to ask them to quiet down. That lasted ten minutes. The store manager came by and told them to knock it off, or else. That lasted fifteen minutes. The general manager came by and explained what the ‘or else’ was and they finally calmed down until they left. What shocked the managers was that they were stone-cold sober. The imagination shuddered if they had they had been drinking…

They both decided that they would go ahead and go their separate ways and head to their respective homes. It would have been too coincidental if they had lived in the same direction, let alone be neighbors. After all, this is not that kind of trope filled story.

They said their good nights and had some preliminary plans for the next day. They included a change of outfits for exercising after work. Min-Jeon has a membership to a place that allows guests. So, they talked about what sort of workout they should plan. They were both blissfully unaware that their plans would get hijacked by an overly enthusiastic Nayeon and they would end up doing Pilates with her and Katie Kim. Much to their eventual dismay. And impending very sore muscles.

Ignorance is bliss and they didn't know that they were very happy that they were unaware of their inevitable doom. They were also unaware that they would eventually become converts and become zealots, just like Nayeon. But that will come later after the pain finally died down.