Irene had never imagined that bringing a group of highschoolers to the zoo was part of a teacher's job. The teacher had totally dreaded going anywhere near animals. But it was her job to, unfortunately, accompany a group of kids - who were very much like animals themselves - to the man-made jungle. At least they were in a cage. Was what Irene thought. She had nearly peed her pants when she found out that there were no cages, just dividers to prevent animals from running out. Irene hopes the dividers were strong enough to withstand the strength of the animals or she will not be able to ensure the safety of the kids.

Irene soon forgot all her fears when she met the zookeeper who was assigned to tour them around the zoo. She wasn't tall. But it made her look cute. Her long blond locks that fell gracefully down her shoulders. With bangs covering her cute forehead. Her facial features that made on-lookers stop and stare. Golden brown orbs that sparkle like stars in the galaxy. A cute nose that looked perfect sitting on the center of her face. And those pink lips. Those plump lips that made Irene her own. It took Irene every inch of the self control left to restrain herself from kissing that girl straight. There's not many that appealed to Irene, despite the fact that she had many suitors. And there's not any that made Irene want them as much as Irene want this girl.

"Hey." A brunette snapped her fingers in her face. "Irene? You alright? We've started moving."

"O-Oh yes... Sorry, Seulgi. Just felt a little dazed from the hot sun." Irene shrugged and pulled her fellow co-worker to catch up with the group.

"So these are the red pandas, or firefox. Fun fact about them, they have retractable claws that are hidden in their paws. Like pandas, they have an additional thumb used for grabbing bamboo sticks." The petite blonde said. "Aren't they so cute?"

You're cuter and I want to squish that of yours.

"You're cuter!" A student shouted. 

Park Sooyoung. Or Joy, she would like to call herself. The Satan. She is the well-known troublemaker, along with her partner-in-crime, Kim Yerim. They had performed sorts of pranks, from adding salt in teachers' coffee to openly dissing teachers in their face. They were punished, but never harsh enough for them to learn their lesson. Well, The principal was Joy's mother afterall. Irene never had a taste of their antics. Maybe her stoic yet pretty face scared them off. Or maybe she was too gorgeous to be insulted.

"Joy! That was inappropriate!" Seulgi reprimanded. Joy just merong-ed at her and mumbled a quick apology to the zookeeper. Seulgi's mother was a good friend of the principal, so Joy and Seulgi knew each other from young. Joy never would have dared to go up against Seulgi. Despite their current relationship, the bond between Seulgi and Joy was impossible to break. They had gone through lots of ups and downs together. Seulgi had saved Joy from a bunch of bullies when they were younger, and Joy could never forget the gratitude she felt towards the other.

By lunch break, Irene had learnt that the small girl's name was Wendy. Such a beautiful name for a gorgeous lady like her. Wendy had shared many facts about the animals to Irene. More like to the whole group, but she doubt anyone paid attention. Of course Wendy had also realised that Irene wasn't fond of animals. Not when she jumped when a baby panda made a cute sneeze. It was plain for anyone to see that she was afraid of animals as much as Wendy feared deep waters. 

"Hey." The blonde invited herself to the empty seat beside Irene and handed her a bottle of refreshment.

"Hey yourself." The teacher chuckled, mentally praising herself for being calm and collected in front of the petite girl. "Thanks. I'm Irene, zookeeper of a bunch of monkeys."

"Wendy." The actual zookeeper giggled. It sounded soft on Irene's ears. It was addictive. So much that Irene wished she could have recorded it and set it as her ringtone. And at that moment, Irene thought, what she wouldn't do to just heard the heavenly melody once again. She would give her everything to just simply put a smile on the zookeeper's face.

Irene totally had a crush on Wendy. 

"Afraid of these ever-so-fluffy animals?"

"Totally." Irene smirked. "Especially that bear there."

Wendy couldn't tell if Irene was joking or making fun of her. She looked to where Irene pointed and found three pretty girls, one of which called her cute earlier. There was a brunette that had surely resembled a pretty bear. The other two just didn't resemble animals. More like their face doesn't, but behavior does.

 "I'm assuming you're referring to the pretty brunette that looks like a bear." Wendy chortled. Irene did not know if the other had complimented Seulgi or insulted her. But she sure hoped that the zookeeper had called her co-worker pretty just to make her jealous. "Anyways, I hope by the end of the tour you will forget about your fears and love animals instead. I'm here to help."

A grin broke out on Irene's face as she saw the bright smile that Wendy was wearing. She was stunned in place and wished that time would stop there and then for her to keep staring in to those glowing brown orbs. Wendy's eyes never failed to sparkle and it made Irene wonder if all Wendy experienced was happiness. Unfortunately, the teacher was broken out her trance when Wendy spoke again.

"So, how's lunch?" The blonde gestured to the empty box lying on Irene's lap.

"It was great! Never had such satisfying packed lunch for a field trip." The teacher gave a thumbs up. "I've been fed with rubbish for all the field trips I've been to."

"Glad to see that you've enjoyed it. I had reccomended the company to the zoo in hopes that our precious guests do not suffer, eating trash." Wendy's smile, once again, immobilised the other. Irene never thought someone as ethereal as Wendy existed. She was the definition of gorgeous. Maybe even beyond that. Irene seriously thought she was in a dream. And if it was, she hopes she never wakes up from it.

"But seriously though, I totally admire you for being able to handle this group of kids. I mean handling my younger cousin is already tiring enough for me." Irene stifled a laugh at the image of Wendy being dominated by a kid. "Oh did I tell you? Yeri's my cousin. Kim Yerim, I mean."

"Oh gosh, that chimpanzee?" Irene blurted out unconsciously. When she had realised what came out of , red crept up to her cheeks. Her comment threw Wendy off and the girl even fell off from her seat and starting laughing on the floor. The students who saw the scene were just amused at how carefree Wendy was.

"Gosh! That's so fitting for her!" Wendy managed to say when she finally caught her breath.

"For a moment I thought I was in trouble for messing with your cousin." Irene confessed.

"No way! She always insults me by calling me a hamster anyways." Wendy revealed. And Irene made her regret what she said.

"Hamster? Oh that's totally true!" Irene teased.

Yeah, you totally resemble a cute little hamster.

"Hey stop teasing!" The zookeeper nudged the older. "You yourself makes me think of a fox! Intelligent and beautiful."

Irene felt her face heat up at the comment. How could Wendy make such simple words sound so satisfying. How could Wendy make small simple actions feel so heartwarming. Irene swore she almost turned into wonder woman with all her endless questions swarming her mind.

"Anyways, that little chimpanzee is also afraid of these beings." Wendy stifled a laugh. "It's amusing how she's afraid of her own kind."

Irene tried to hold back her laughter but to no avail. No wonder the little satan didn't seem as hyper today. It was surprising to learn that Kim Yerim felt inferior to animals. But Irene could not as she herself had the same feeling.

"Thanks for the entertaining chat but it's time to get back to work." Wendy got up from her seat and headed to gather the kids together.

Irene wanted to stay and chat with the addictive girl more, but it was the end of lunch break. She had to restrain herself, again, from reaching out and pulling the blonde back by her wrist.

The tour continued with Joy and Yeri pulling pranks on their classmates - like lying about a snake on their shoulders and such. Seulgi was more lenient with the troublemaker duo as field trips were supposedly fun, right? They travelled further into the zoo where they saw penguins, polar bear and flamingos. Irene teased Seulgi about having a family reunion when they met the bears, causing the group to laugh, including Wendy. The tour soon ended with Irene staying as far as she could from the animals. This did not go unnoticed by the blonde zookeeper.

While the kids were busily munching on their snacks while waiting for their ride to arrive, the small girl came up to Irene holding a strip of paper.

"Call me when you visit the zoo again. I will personally see to it that you forget your grudges against these fluffy beings." As soon as Wendy ended, the excursion bus arrived and Irene had to herd the group up onto the vehicle. Irene could barely mumble a thanks before her voice drown in the cheers of the group of kids.

Wendy waved to the group on the bus as it drove away. And included a wink to Irene.

"I totally saw what happened, Bae. Don't deny it." Seulgi teased as revenge. "So quick to get her number yeah?"

"Yah! I didn't!" the techer retortedd. "She gave it to me herself. To contact her when I visit the zoo next time."

"I can't imagine you doing that in the future. Imagine the great Irene Bae, who is afraid of cute dogs, visiting the zoo on her free time!" Seulgi said dramatically, earning a smack on her upper arm. Irene couldn't be bothered to reply. She only huffed and turned to look out of the window.

The girl who had more facial expressions than all the dollar bills Irene had owned was stuck in Irene's mind.

Wendy.

This was totally not inspired by ReVel's 'Zoo'. Oh gosh that song was so long ago yet It's stuck in my mind. Back to the topic, how was the story? Hope you have enjoyed it. This will be a series, unlike my previous stories, so do expect more to come! Also please do comment and subscribe! I need some encouragement to continue writing. Besides I need opinions on the story plots as well! I'll try to update frequently of course, so do stay tuned! And I would really really really appreciate it if you could upvote! Till the next update!