XIX.

If there was such a thing as being accustomed to a norm, it wasn’t what Irene was familiar with nor would take the time to learn. Because waking up every morning, her arms wrapped around a warm waist, her own face buried on the crook of a neck, were some things that Irene could not simply be accustomed with nor learn to be accustomed to.

How does one believe in a reality that still felt like a dream?

And since when had mornings smelled so divine and oh so glorious?

Irene stayed still observing the calm breathing of her sleeping girlfriend. Girlfriend—a word that felt foreign yet there was just something right about it, about the term. After all, that was what they were. Girlfriends.

The supple skin of Irene’s girlfriend against her own. The flimsy pieces of clothing they were both wearing were a bother. Pyjamas. Irene had never thought she would find clothes a nuisance, being a CEO of a fashion company and all, but right now, cradling a sleeping Wendy every night and every morning, she had.

It was nearly summer, the temperatures climbing higher and higher to unbearable heights. Who needed to wear jammies in bed?

There was the air conditioner but then…what would it feel like to sleep with a lot more skin and a little bit less clothes? They could take it one less clothing at a time. Reduce it each day. Baby steps. It wasn’t that unreasonable. Wendy and Irene were girlfriends.

But Irene should respect Wendy, right? Her choices, her decisions? Her own body was hers and if Wendy wasn’t ready, Irene shouldn’t insist, even if her thirst was getting way too out of hand. Especially when Irene’s hands embraced Wendy’s waist. When Wendy’s soft skin was an enticing temptation as if they were in need of kisses, that they should be—had to be kissed.

Wendy shifted, turning around and hugging Irene in return. She moved closer, resting her cheek on Irene’s chest, finding comfort right there. Irene held her breath, resisting the urge to throw away her thoughts, the cautionary warnings to keep calm and not ravage Wendy in her sleep.

Crazy. Crazy. Irene was going crazy.

Wendy was just too lovable, too beautiful and too perfect for Irene to be restrained with her feelings. Her feelings were on the brink of being full—no, it was already overflowing, ready to explode, ready to shower Wendy with an infinite amount of kisses.

Just one…

One kiss on the forehead. There.

Okay. That didn’t help quench her thirst at all.

Maybe another? Okay. One more on the forehead, the only place Irene could reach without rousing her girlfriend from too much moving.

This was hard. Tasting a piece of heaven and then stopping... Like having a taste of a really delicious, luscious cheesecake and then saving the rest for later—a later that felt like eternity.

Urrrgh. Maybe sleeping more would help. Irene closed her eyes, steadied her breathing which proved to be quite a task, and settled herself in Wendy’s arms, resting her cheek on Wendy’s head.

A dreamy sigh. Lying in bed like this just felt so right. Irene had never imagined that she would ever prefer staying in bed, her precious time being spent in doing nothing but hugging Wendy, rather than getting up and going to work. She had never realised that there was more to life than work and documents and money. That her time could be spent in a much better way—in this way, lying here, being hugged by Wendy. And time with Wendy was never enough.

In a few moments, the sun would rise and Irene would need to get up. The company wasn’t going to run itself without her, even though Seulgi would be in for work. Seulgi and the employees were just the body of Aeries, the muscle, the brawn. Irene was the brain, the control centre of the whole company. Aeris wouldn’t function without Irene there.

Irene had never thought she would hate her job—eventually come to hate it. She treasured her job. Being successful after much struggle. She had made it. She was at the top. Respect was on her grasp. No one dared to belittle her or make fun of her.

But right now, there was more to Irene than her job and her reputation.

There was something more she cherished—had found to cherish.

Was this what opening her heart would get her? A wonderful blessing that was Wendy?

Wendy. Irene had never realised that a stranger that was not really a stranger would give her these…these feelings. Strong, overwhelming, yet wonderful feelings. All from a wonderful blessing that was Wendy.

Feelings of…love. This was what it was, right?

Love.

If Irene had known that letting people in her life, giving her heart to a special someone, allowing herself to…love, would give her these special feelings, this insurmountable bliss, her own little paradise in the palm of her hands—literally—then Irene would have done so earlier. But Irene herself knew that changing, exposing herself to a possibility of pain and disappointment, becoming vulnerable, were not all possible if not for Wendy.

And now, being in bed, lying here with Wendy, hugging her, being hugged in return, Irene had realised, was definitely so much better than sitting in front of a desk, organising stocks, managing employees and products.

Wendy was a gift. Irene was not deserving of Wendy and Irene knew that. Irene who was once a cold-hearted, ruthless, corporate leader. Someone in near of becoming a monster—possibly had become one. Irene knew it to be grateful. If it wasn’t for Wendy, Irene wouldn’t have changed. She could almost see it. She felt the shivers arousing from a vision filled with darkness, with nothing but the coldness of her own heart, unthawed, unaffected by people’s lives.

A lonely life it would be. If not for Wendy, if not for Seungwan.

Irene knew she owed Wendy a lot and Irene knew that whatever she would do, it would never be enough to repay Wendy.

Irene leaned closer, breathing in Wendy’s scent, as she said in a whisper, “I will love you forever, Wendy. A lifetime’s worth? Possibly beyond life because even in afterlife, I would only love you and only you, Son Wendy. Do you hear me, you sleepyhead? I love you, Wendy. Only you.”

Wend