Seulgi was getting ready for her business meeting, an important one that had been set up weeks ago. She wasn’t fully clothed yet, but was working on it diligently in the bedroom.  She had her perfect-fit pants already zipped, and buttoned, but her belt wasn’t fastened and her white shirt was ed completely.  It left her exposed to the cool draft of air flying through the bedroom. With the shirt open she was showcasing what Wendy called her ‘killer’ abs and she smiled thinking of the nickname. She’d worked hard for them and was proud of them along with the rest of her fit body, and most importantly, she liked that Wendy liked them too. She caught herself thinking of the previous evening and how she’d had on practically nothing on—except for her socks, since her feet got cold easily—and felt the heat rising on her cheeks.

Don’t think of being …don’t think of Wendy…

She sighed and shook the cobweb-like fantasy from her thoughts and continued with the left shoe. Bed, tangled sheets, and Wendy sounded good right now but it was still morning and she didn’t want to be, didn’t need to be distracted.

wasn’t the only option she was thinking about though. Honestly she would rather have had on sweatpants at the moment and be cuddling on the couch with her fiancée, but nothing was going to stop this meeting from happening and she wanted to be properly dressed. She sat on the side of the bed finished tying her shiny brown and cream brogues, and wished she was staying instead of going.

In a strange twist, after Seulgi had just been thinking about her fiancée, Wendy ran in and frantically. She seemed out of breath but also had a fresh-from-sleep look so when she screamed, “What are we going to do about the cake?” Seulgi looked up from her shoes with a shocked face and simply uttered, “What?”

 “The cake! How are we going to get a cake? I want to do a tasting and all that fun stuff but we won’t be able to do that. If we’re in Seoul, how can we try cake that needs to be made in Canada? And we can’t ship a cake from here to there either.”

“Oh,” Seulgi said.

“Oh? That’s it? Oh?”

“Calm down and come sit with me,” Seulgi said with a sigh. She stood up and held out her hand to take Wendy’s. She helped slide Wendy over to the bed and they both sat down, “Weren’t you just asleep on the couch?”

“Yes, but I woke up and started thinking about what all we have to do to plan the wedding…now I’m stressed about the cake,” Wendy explained.

Seulgi smiled, “Stay calm, okay?

“I can’t, you know how I get,” Wendy said.

“I know, but try for me, okay? I have an important meeting and you’re going out with our friends for lunch. I want you to relax and have fun. You should still be resting before you go out.”

“I know, but I couldn’t help it, the thought of cake hit me like a ton of bricks.”

“You must have been dreaming about it,” Seulgi thought out loud.

“Maybe,”

“Look,” Seulgi said, entwining their fingers, “I’ll think of something, come up with a plan if I can, and we’ll figure it out when I get back tonight. We’ll solve it together. The meeting is going to take a few hours and then I have to go to dinner with the clients and a few more people. Don’t worry, there’s not a problem we can’t solve when we team up…especially the problem with the cake.”

Wendy breathed a sigh of relief, “Ok.”

“Ok? That’s it? Ok?” Seulgi joked.

Even Wendy chuckled, “Sorry. I freaked out.”

“It’s alright, I understand why you freaked out but I don’t want you to stress. I wanted you to take a mid-morning nap and not have a care in the world.”

“I’ll try not to do that,” Wendy agreed, “Stress out I mean.”

“Good,” Seulgi stood up in front of Wendy. She moved between Wendy’s legs, “Will you help me with my shirt?”

Wendy stared, “Oh, it’s not buttoned is it? I just now noticed that”

“Yeah, your entrance a moment ago was kind of distracting, probably why you didn’t notice that my shirt is, in fact, ed.”

“Why would you be semi- in front of me like this?” Wendy questioned.

Seulgi put her index finger under Wendy’s chin and carefully lifted it until their eyes were connected, “I’ve been like this since you entered our bedroom, besides, you’re going to be my wife soon, I love being in front of you. We were last night, what makes this different?”

Wendy smirked, looked down again, and moved her hands to the bare skin in front of her. She scratched her short nails across Seulgi’s abs, “It’s different because you’re about to leave and there’s not much I can do about this unplanned ness.”

“That feels good,” Seulgi whimpered, “And sorry about leaving.”

“Mmm, well not much we can do about that now, but for the record, I like you . I like it very much, but you’re about to leave me in by myself…alone…without you.”

“I see,” Seulgi said quietly, her body reacting to the light scratches on her stomach.

“So look forward to later,” Wendy leaned forward and pressed her lips just above Seulgi’s unlatched belt buckle, “You look so good in suits and out of them too. I can’t wait to take all of this off again when you get back.”

Seulgi gulped, “I’m just going to think about cake then, not this.” Wendy darted her tongue out and the skin right below Seulgi’s belly button, then moved up to it and swirled inside of it. Seulgi felt herself cracking, “Cake,” she chanted, “Just think of cake.”

“Good idea,” Wendy said as she looked up at Seulgi with bedroom eyes, “You can have some when you get back….some cake.”

Her words hung heavy and Seulgi groaned with want. The double meaning behind Wendy’s statement was not lost on her, “Too much….teasing.”

Wendy placed one more kiss on Seulgi’s abs, “Ok, no more teasing. I’ll button your shirt and help you with your coat. You need to go soon, right?”

“Yes,” Seulgi said as she fastened her belt buckle.

“Okay.”

“Cake sounds good right now,” Seulgi said.

“I know,” Wendy said as she the buttons on the shirt and made sure they were in correct alignment. They laughed together.

“We’ll have the answer for the wedding cake by tonight,” Seulgi said.

“And we’ll solve the other cake problem tonight too,” Wendy said, “Trust me.”

-----

Wendy was getting used to the ring on her finger. It felt right, fit perfectly and now she wanted to find one for Seulgi. She had the full crew with her, Irene, Joy, and Yeri and now they stood in front of the jewelry store. The “lunch” was really jewelry shopping, though they’d stopped for a quick bite at a sandwich shop.

“Ready, champ?” Joy asked as they sidled up to the entrance.

“I think so,” Wendy said, “Remember, something unique and practical.”

“Got it,” Yeri winked.

“We’re right here,” Irene said, “Take a deep breath.”

Wendy breathed in, “Okay, let’s go in.”

-----

The jewelry shopping had been a success. Wendy now had a ring for Seulgi and looked forward to seeing her reaction to it soon. The girls were a help to her instead of a hindrance and she was grateful for that.

“I think you picked out an awesome ring for Seulgi,” Joy said, “I know she’ll love it.”

Irene nodded, “Make sure you hide it somewhere safe so she doesn’t find it.”

“Are you going to wait until the wedding to give it to her?” Yeri asked.

“I’m not sure,” Wendy answered, “I’d think I’d like to give it to her before that, as her own engagement ring. I think we’re going to get simple bands for the wedding. That’s what we talked about.”

“So you’ll just move your engagement ring to your right hand after you’re hitched?” Joy asked.

“I think so. The band will be more practical for every day, so we’ll wear that, but I want to wear this one too, and not just on special occasions,” Wendy explained, she chuckled then realizing Joy had just used the word hitched.

“Just talk to her about it,” Yeri said, “And decide together.”

“Yes, that’s what I’m going to do. I want to make sure we’re on the same page,” Wendy smiled, “Anyway, next topic.”

“Well, now that we’ve got the ring, does anyone want yogurt?” Irene asked, “My treat?”

Everyone agreed and they continued down the street to a local frozen yogurt shop they knew about.

Wendy looked down at her ring finger, and then to the little bag in her hand and smiled.  They would figure everything out together, including the cake.

-----

That evening, Wendy sat on the couch and heard keys jingling in the door. A moment later, Seulgi burst through it with two very large bags in hand. She carefully dropped the keys on the table near the entrance and adjusted the handle of the bag in her right hand so she wouldn’t drop it.

“Oh my gosh,” Wendy said, “Do you need help?”

“No, but join me at the kitchen island,” Seulgi said with a clever smile.

Wendy noticed that Seulgi’s shirt was ed again but just around the neck, most likely she was tired from a whole day’s worth of wearing the constricting shirt.”

“Tired?” Wendy asked as she watched the bags be placed on the kitchen island.

“Mm,” Seulgi said, “Long day. Dinner was long too, I was ready to come home to you.”

“I’m glad you’re back,” Wendy said offering Seulgi a quick kiss. She took it.

“Hello, thanks for the nice greeting.”

“You’re welcome, sweet thing,” Wendy replied, “What’s in the bags?”

“I stopped at a special place after the business dinner. I think I figured out our cake problem. The idea hit me mid first bite of my steak. It was something you said this morning.” She reached into the bags and began to pull our sample after sample of cake slices.

“What did you do?” Wendy asked in wonder and the cake went on the island, “And what did I say?”

“You told me we can’t ship a cake to Canada. I think we could, but that’s not the answer. We don’t have to ship anything. I called around and figured out a cake place with international locations. We can try the cake here and then send our order to the sister location in Toronto. It’s that simple. They were really helpful and are definitely a reputable business. That’s why I got these samples, they gave them to me for free. Now all we have to do is pick out our top flavors and let them know the design we want for the cake. They’ll send it in for us, and we can even video chat with the other location in Canada if need be.”

“Really?” Wendy asked, shocked.

“Yes,” Seulgi smiled, “Really.”

“I can’t believe this,” Wendy exclaimed. She ran and pulled Seulgi  into a hug, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, baby. Let me go get changed and we’ll start tasting.”

“No, stay like that, I want to work on those buttons later.”

“Okay,” Seulgi smiled, “Ready for cake?”

“Definitely.”

-----

After trying all of the samples, they were full but content. The cakes they’d tried were delicious.

“Okay, we’ve each written our top three, let’s reveal,” Wendy said.

Seulgi unfolded her piece of paper as did Wendy and they began to compare.

Seulgi

1. Red Velvet

2. White Chocolate-Raspberry

3. Banana

Wendy

1. Red Velvet

2. Chocolate

3. White Chocolate-Raspberry

Two of the three matched so that was a good sign.

“Do you want to get chocolate?” Seulgi asked.

“The red velvet is sort of chocolaty already, so we’ll go with banana,” Wendy said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Wendy replied, “Totally sure.”

“I don’t mind if you want chocolate.”

“After all this,” Wendy said, “All you did today, I want you to get banana.”

“Okay,” seulgi said, then she thought of a better idea, “The chocolate was good too though. Want to just do four layers?”

“And get chocolate too?” Wendy asked with furrowed brow, “As long as you’re okay with it.”

“It’s fine,” Seulgi said, “I know you want the chocolate so we’ll do four layers instead of three.”

Wendy smiled, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, now no more worrying about the cake, pinky promise?”

Wendy connected their pinkies and then touched their thumbs, “Promise.”

“I’m full now,” Seulgi said, “Like really full.”

“Me too, want to shower and hit the hay?”

“Sounds good…shower together?”

“Of course,” Wendy winked.

“Cake and Showers, a novel by Kang Seulgi.”

“It’s not fiction, though, sweetie,” Wendy said, “So it’s not a novel.”

“Thank God,” Seulgi said.

They both laughed and headed to the bathroom.

“Ready for me to your shirt now?” Wendy asked.

“You bet.”

-----

In bed  a while later, they talked and laughed as always, and then Wendy got serious, “I have something to give you.”

“What is it?”

Wendy leaned over to the nightstand and opened the drawer. Out of it she pulled a tiny box out, much as Seulgi had done for her.

“I got this for you today while we were supposed to be at lunch,” Wendy explained.

“You didn’t eat lunch?”

“We did, but the girls came with me to pick this out. We ate sandwiches and went to get yogurt after we left the jewelry store.

“Good, I was worried you didn’t eat.”

Wendy smiled, “I ate, sweet girl.”

“Okay,” Seulgi replied with a smile of her own.

“Listen, I know we’re not married yet, but I want you to have this beforehand. Maybe I should have waited for a special occasion, but I wanted to do it right now.” She handed it over to Seulgi.

Seulgi opened the box and saw the ring inside, “It’s beautiful, really beautiful.”

“I suppose it’s your engagement ring,” Wendy said, “I want you to have one too.”

“Thank you, baby. It’s perfect for me. Help me with it?”

Wendy smiled, “Sure.”

Seulgi took the ring from the box and Wendy helped her put it on her left ring finger.

“I know we’re going to do wedding bands the day of our vows, but I wanted to get you something special like you got me. I know it’s not as big as the ring you picked out for me, but I think it’s practical and lovely.”

“It is,” Seulgi said, “I really love it.” She looked down at her finger.

“Marriage isn’t going to be easy,” Wendy said suddenly, taking Seulgi’s hand in her own, “It’s going to be tough, but being together with you is my dream. It’s all I want. We’ll figure it out together.”

“I know Seungwan, it’s you and me. Let’s enjoy it, and work at it together, that’s the only way to solve problems. It’s the only way for me now, to be with you.”

“You solved the problem with the cake,” Wendy said with a chuckle.

“That’s true,” Seulgi said, “And we compromised with the flavors, right?”

“Yes.”

“Will you tell me when you’re feeling tired or you need my help?” Seulgi asked, “It will be my job to help when you’re my wife. It’s my job now too, but I need you to tell me, okay?”

“Yes, our communication will be important. I promise to tell you. Tell me too,” Wendy said.

“I will.”

They sat they’re left hands side by side on the bed and looked at the rings.

“I’m excited,” Seulgi said, “Will it feel different when we’re married?”

“Different than it does now?” Wendy questioned.

“Yes.”

“I think it will feel different at first, it will feel new and wonderful. I  know that sometimes that newness wears thin. But let’s not lose that wonderful feeling as time passes.”

Seulgi nodded, “Is that the secret? Never losing that feeling?”  

Wendy looked at Seulgi, “It will take work to keep that feeling, but I’ll never give up, and I’ll always love you.”

“I’ll love you that way too,” Seulgi agreed, “With every part of me.”

Wendy smiled and leaned in to kiss Seulgi’s cheek, “I’m excited for the wedding and for all of it, for the moments afterwards.”

Seulgi bumped their noses together gently, “The wedding’s going to be amazing, and I feel it more and more as we plan it, but the moments after will be the best because you’ll be my wife.”

-----

I want to send my thoughts and prayers to those affected by yesterday's events. Always be kind to one another.

As always, thank you for reading. Let me know what you think.Be back soon with the next chapter.