Wendy found herself looking at her again. She couldn’t help it. It was magnetic. Her eyes, no matter how focused or not, would always stray, always dart around until it finds the one it’s looking for: Irene Bae.

She couldn’t blame her eyes either. If there was anyone to blame, it was Irene and her impeccable perfection. It was just illegal, how her dark hair could still look so perfect even after she raked her fingers through it numerous times, or how she made round specs slipping down her nose and mindlessly pushing it up look so adorable, or how she could literally just sit there yet still manage to look so, so beautiful. It was illegal; downright rude.

She was snapped out of Irene Bae’s magic when a hand pushed her already closed jaw up (because she was not dumb enough to actually let her jaw fall, though the effort in keeping it closed almost killed her)

“You’re drooling,” Seulgi whispered.

Wendy irritably swatted the hand away, tearing her eyes off the wonderful sight to shoot her friend a glare, “I’m not,” she denied, “Pay attention to the prof, Seul,”

Seulgi snickered, “Say that to yourself, Wendy.” she snickered some more, “You were clearly staring at Irene-unnie again,”

Wendy felt her face flush, “Am not!” she hissed, lower lip jutting out. She regretted ever letting Seulgi know of her little crush.

“Why do you even like her anyway? Because she’s pretty?”

Her brows eased, lips pursed in thought, “I don’t know. Maybe?” she admitted, “But I do know that I like staring at her because she’s so nice to look at,” her eyes drifted back to the said girl, “My eye candy,”

Seulgi scoffed at the use of the possessive pronoun. “Right. Your eye candy.” she said, “Do you remember our freshman year? You interacted quite frequently then,”

Wendy’s memories drifted back to her previous year. They first met when Wendy was getting her schedule. Irene Bae had been the student-in-charge in the office at that moment and the first impression she had of the girl was: gorgeous.

As fate would have it, jittery freshman Wendy was full of jitters as she entered her first class. She was extremely nervous but when she entered the lecture hall, her eyes met beautiful ones. There, seated by the door, was Irene Bae, smiling at her with a, “You’re that kid yesterday, right? Wendy Son Seungwan?” which escalated to a, “This seat beside me’s vacant. You could sit here if you want,” and all Wendy remembered of her first lesson was the intoxicating scent of jasmine wafting her nose and the erratic beating of her heart.

“Well…” Wendy finally said, “She was nice.” the sweet memory brought butterflies to her tummy.

“You could’ve been friends, dummy. Why did you stop talking to her?”

“We are friends. And I didn’t stop talking to her. I even greet her whenever we come across each other,”

“Yeah but you’re totally avoiding her,”

Wendy frowned and didn’t reply. Seulgi was right. She had been avoiding Irene Bae. It was mainly because she was afraid that her little crush would grow into something more. Irene wasn’t just pretty to look at. She was also nice to be with. Shy and silent, yes but that was just at first. As time goes by, Irene became more and more outgoing as she warmed up to her. Wendy found all of her traits quite adorable and it didn’t help that she smelled like the best thing on Earth.

“She asked about you, you know,”

Wendy flinched, “What?!” she exclaimed, a little louder than she should and surely, everyone in the room turned to look at her. Worse, she was looking at her. Wendy’s face flushed in embarrassment as she sank into her seat, hoping the ground would open and eat her up.

“Should I repeat my lesson for you, Ms. Son?” the professor asked, raising a brow.

She flushed deeper, “No, sir. I’m sorry for the outburst.”

“If you are, then could you please answer the third problem on the board?”

Wendy gulped and took a look at the said problem, sighing in relief when she found it doable. Standing, she walked to the board and ignored her friend who whispered ‘fighting’ and ignored the looks the students gave her and ignored the phone cameras discreetly filming the scene.

But she couldn’t ignore those eyes that met hers.

Wendy’s eyes strayed to Irene like it always did but this time, the latter was looking back. For a second too long, their gazes locked and time seemed to stop.

And then slowly, as though the whole world was in slow motion, Irene Bae’s lips curved up to the sweetest smile ever, followed by an encouraging nod that lifted her spirits more than anything else ever could.

Shakily, Wendy smiled back and she could only hope that it didn’t look constipated.

 

***

 

“What were you saying earlier?” Wendy asked Seulgi beside her in a whisper, careful not to let Joy seated across the bear hear.

Seulgi raised her head, looking confused as she munched on her lunch, “Huh? What? What was I saying earlier?” Dumb bears always being dumb bears, Seulgi always being Seulgi.

Joy’s attention was on them now, thanks to Seulgi’s loud voice, and that was the last thing Wendy needed. She didn’t need another friend, a spawn of the devil at that, to tease and bully her about Irene Bae.

“Oh!” before Wendy could tell her to shut up, Seulgi straightened up, a dumb look of eureka on her face, “That thing about Irene-unnie asking about you!”

Wendy nearly choked on her food. A sly smile graced Joy’s features, “Ah, that’s right. Irene-unnie asked about you,” she said, “I was there, you know,”

Face burning, Wendy feigned nonchalance, “Oh? What did she say?”

Joy opened to reply but decided against it in the last minute, her eyes shifting slightly behind Wendy before going back to the brunette, a dangerous glint in them, “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Wendy knitted her brows, confused. “Huh? What do you—”

“Hey,” Wendy’s blood turned cold as she heard the familiar melodic, raspy velvet voice. Her shoulder froze when a hand landed itself on it. “Can I join your table?”

Irene Bae. She could smell her before she could see her, the fragrant scent of jasmine assaulting her senses. Slowly, she turned towards the voice and almost screamed at the glorious sight of Irene Bae standing beside her with a small smile on her lips and a tray of food on her hand.

Then Irene looked at her, meeting her eyes. Wendy immediately averted her gaze.

“Of course, unnie. Please take a seat,” Joy welcomed, her smile wide and malicious.

“Thanks,” Irene said, taking the vacant seat next to Joy and most importantly, in front of Wendy who couldn’t breathe properly because of it. Their eyes met again and the younger quickly looked down, pretending to be busy eating. Her ears felt hot.

“Where’s Yerim?” she heard Seulgi ask, referring to the young girl the senior was always with.

“She still has class,” came Irene’s reply.

Their conversation went on and Wendy could barely manage to swallow her food. Irene’s assailing scent wafted over her every now and then, making it impossible to breathe without getting high. Every time she looked up, she could immediately see the older girl’s perfect face. The heat on her ears intensified, spreading to her neck and cheeks. She had to fan herself.

“Wendy?” Irene called, effectively making the said girl jump on her seat, “Are you okay?”

She looked up in a snap, mustering all of her courage to hold Irene’s gaze. The worried look in them made it a hundredfold harder. “I-I’m fine, unnie.” she croaked out her reply.

Irene didn’t look convinced, “Are you sure? You’re really red right now,”

“Yes! I’m really sure,” Wendy tried to smile. It must’ve looked like a grimace. “I’m totally fine. It’s just, the air’s really bad but—hey, unnie, it’s fine really please take a seat—what—what are you doing?”

To her horror (or delight, take your pick), Irene stood and leaned over the table, arm stretched out. Wendy could only stare as her palm touched her forehead gently and the younger could feel her temperature rising even higher as her heart pounded against her ribs.

“Your temperature’s fine,” Irene noted.

Snapping out of it, Wendy leaned away from the electrocuting touch. “I told you, I’m fine.” she tried for a reassuring smile. She glanced at her watch and gasped, “Well, would you look at that. Time sure does fly fast.” she stood, bringing her tray, “I’ll have to go now. See you, Joy, Seulgi,” she paused, looking at the girl in front of her, “Unnie.”

With one last smile, Wendy bounded away from their table.

Irene frowned.

***

 

Being a member of the Astronomy Club was one of the things Wendy had in common with Irene Bae.

(No, she definitely did not join said club because said woman was there. Her love for the stars and the mysteries of the universe is pure and real with no hidden agenda whatsoever)

So to Wendy, club meetings were always sweet tortures. She found it difficult to focus on the celestial bodies. How could she when a star so bright and beautiful was already standing a few seats, and for some glorious times (times she so painstakingly tried so hard on), beside her? Being in such close proximity to a star, all she could manage was to burn up to a pile of blushing ash.

Today, however, Wendy was running late. Their professor held them up, insisting they finish that one equation before he let them go. She could skip it but she never skipped club activities (may or may not be because of Irene Bae).

“Am I late?” Wendy breathed out as she burst through the clubroom door, giving a smile to the greetings she received from the other members.

“No, not yet. Seunghyun-sunbae’s gonna be late, he said in the group chat,” Joy replied, not looking up from her phone.

“Have a seat, Wendy,” Seulgi patted the chair beside her.

With her Irene Bae centric mind, she had set aside the other fact that Joy and Seulgi were also part of the club. Joy wanted to discover aliens and Seulgi enthusiastically supported her for it. We might discover some real Do Minjoon! Joy had exclaimed, imagine a planet full of Do Minjoons!

Without fail, Wendy’s Irene-Bae-Radar automatically switched on as she entered the room. Her eyes did a complete scan but sadly, her muse, goddess, art itself was not present. She might have been disappointed and her shoulders might have drooped along with her lower lip.

“She’s not here yet,” Seulgi said with that wide grin of hers, “C’mere, snowman,”

“I’m not looking for her,” Wendy defended as she sat.

“We could ask Yerim if you want,”

“Dear God, no,” Wendy shook her head, appalled, “Why’s Seunghyun-sunbae late?” she purposely switched the topic.

Perpetually oblivious, Seulgi replied, “He said Mr. Jang’s making him deliver some paperwork. He’s on the way now though,”

“Oh. Okay,”

Wendy squirmed as Seulgi returned to her sketch of abstract unknown. From what she could see, it looked like a bunch of circles and a mustache. Hm. Deep.

“Hey, Seul,”

“Yeah?”

Wendy fidgeted with her fingers, “Uh, do you perhaps, you know, remember what you said the other day?”

“Yeah?”

“That, um, Irene Bae—I mean, Irene-unnie kind of, sort of, talked about me or something like that,” she said, the last part sounding rushed and hushed.

“Yeah?”

“Oh my god, Kang Seulgi will you please pay attention?” she threw her hands in the air, exasperated. Why was she friends with this dumb bear again?

Finally, Seulgi put down her pencil and gave her her entire attention, “Okay, I’m listening. What did you say again?”

Wendy patiently breathed in because she was patient and kind and everything nice, “I was asking about what Irene-unnie had said about me the other day,”

Seunghyun chose that moment to arrive and Seulgi, having such a short attention span immediately had her mind flying away. Knowing how difficult it is to earn the girl’s attention back, Wendy could only bury her face in her palms and silently scream. The world must be so against her and Irene for everything to turn out this way. She just wanted to know what the girl possibly could have said about her. Was that too much?

The short lecture started and went half through but Irene Bae was still not around. Wendy started to worry, from wondering if everything was okay to panicking that maybe the older girl had caught the cold. Her fingers anxiously drummed the tabletop, eyes darting from Seunghyun to the door. She was this close to sending the girl a text message or even turning to the devil, Kim Yerim, for answers.

By the fourteenth time her eyes shot to the door, it actually opened and Wendy was close to yelling ‘hallelujah’.

Her lungs forgot to breathe as the human manifestation of beauty entered the room with such grace and perfection. Only when she muttered a sorry to Seunghyun before sitting beside Yerim, a few rows in front of Wendy, had the latter released her breath into a relieved sigh. At least she’s okay.

When Irene Bae sits in front, Wendy always found it hard to concentrate. Naturally, her eyes always stray to the beauty like how bees gets attracted to honey, magnets to metal, insects to flame. All she could think of was, well, nothing much. She just liked staring at her back, watch the way those dark locks would perfectly cascade down, observe the way she tucks a lock behind her ear or throw her hair over her shoulders. She’s totally crushing. A creepy admirer with stalking tendencies.

“Wendy, will you please tell us what a Cassegrain Reflector is?”

The what reflector? “Um,” heads turn and attention falls heavy on Wendy. Most importantly, she was looking. Their eyes met but before she could look away and mentally scream, Irene Bae had started coaching her, mouthing incoherence she could not decipher.

Then it clicked.

Cassegrain.

She remembered reading about that after she signed up for the Astronomy Club. Previously, she only had one circle—the Music Club—but due to multiple reasons (Irene Bae, Bae Joohyun, Seulgi, Joy, Yeri, Irene, Joohyun, and of course her ultimate love for astronomy), she had decided to join in the Astronomy Club and studied up about astronomy.

“A Cassegrain Reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror.” she recalled.

“And the reason for this is?’

“This design puts the focal point at a convenient location behind the primary mirror and the convex secondary adds a telephoto effect creating a much longer focal length in a mechanically short system,”

Seunghyun raised his brows, impressed, “Very well,” he resumed with his discussion.

Wendy slumped in her seat but not without missing the millisecond grin Irene Bae threw her way that rendered her frozen and short-circuited her brain cells. Oh holy, what was that all about.

“Well, I’m sorry if you have such hardcore photographic memory, genius.” Joy quipped, seated behind them.

Still dazed, Wendy replied, “Forgiven,”

The lecture ended and the members started to pack their things, getting ready for star gazing. It was their schedule. Every after a short lecture, the group would go to the campus park and star gaze. Wendy? Well, Wendy liked to star gaze too. Sometimes (most of the time), she’d even stare—depending on which star you’re talking about.

She shouldered her bag and went behind the curtains to check if the weather was good for star gazing. The sky was clear but the stars were scarce, as they were in the city where light pollution is immense (plus, there was a huge streetlight in front of the window).

The curtain rustled and Wendy turned, expecting Seulgi to join her.

“Oh, hi Wendy,”

Okay, which way do I run?

“I’m just going to apply some powder. Do you mind?” Irene said, already applying it.

She mutely nodded, side-stepping to put some distance between them but noooo there was some solid object pressed against the curtains blocking her path, the table, probably, and she was stuck in an intimate arm brushing position with Irene Bae. In the close proximity, The Bae’s perfume filled the air stronger than ever. Wendy was about to get high.

Just then, the curtains opened again and Seulgi’s face popped in, “Wen—” her eyes went wide, shooting from her to Irene, “Oh, um, never mind,” with a flutter, she left.

Irene chuckled, “She’s cute,”

Wendy’s right eye twitched, “Y-Yeah,” the awkwardness and tension was thicker than Irene Bae’s perfume.

She could see Irene look at her from the corner of her eye. Why the heck isn’t she leaving? Isn’t she done putting on powder? Why does she even put powder behind the curtains anyway?

Then cold fingers tentatively touched hers. She fought a flinch, though she did whip her head to the other girl so fast she might as well have developed a whiplash. Irene had her brows furrowed. Huh.

“What happened to this?”

Wendy looked at her fingers. It was wrapped in bandages. Oh, this. “It’s—It’s nothing. Just from playing too much guitar.” and piano and saxophone and flute and soon, drums.

“Ah, yes. You have an upcoming musical, right? I heard you’re directing it,” Irene playfully nudged her with her shoulder, teasing.

Wendy pursed her lips, fighting down a scream, “Y-Yeah…”

“But you’re a character as well, aren’t you?” Irene was fully facing her now, leaning against the windowsill and Wendy, as a socializing veteran, turns to her as well. Now, she was thankful for the huge lamppost beside the tinted window. It illuminated Irene Bae’s perfect features well. Too well. Under such light, the color of her eyes looked brighter and lighter. She could see those dark pupils focus on her and—wait, did it just dilate?

Mental note: Don’t stare at Irene-unnie’s eyes for too long. You’ll fall for her.

“Wendy?”

“What? Oh! Um, uh, y-yeah, I’m a character as well,” she mentally slapped herself left and right. How could she, the campus sweetheart that everybody loves, turn into a blabbering half-wit in front of this girl? “I’m not the main character though. We’re still looking for a fit actress for the role,” no stammers. Doing great, Wendy.

Because she directed the script, she might or might not have listed all of Irene Bae’s physical attributes for the leading character of the story. She only wanted perfection for her character, she often defends herself.

“You could give it a try,” she blurted out, “I-I mean, you do fit the role quite perfe—nicely. B-but, you know, it’s up to you. What I mean is—” she sighed in exasperation. Hell, she couldn’t even speak properly, “You do get my point, don’t you?”

Irene giggled, “Yeah. I’ll give that a thought,” she paused, a ghost of a smile on her lips, “I’m glad,”

Wendy blinked, “Sorry?”

“I’m glad you’re not avoiding me anymore,”

Busted. She awkwardly coughed and tried for a smile, “I…wasn’t though?”

“So that time at the cafeteria—”

“I had class,”

“You don’t,” Irene countered, “In fact, you had two vacant periods after lunch that day,”

Wendy’s jaw fell agape, “How did you..?”

It was Irene’s turn to cough and avert her gaze, “I still manage the students’ schedule,”

“But you don’t,” Wendy tilted her head to the side, confused, “I thought you moved to the library?”

Irene gave her a stunned look, “How did you know?”

Great. Now Wendy Son had dug her own grave and would soon be plummeting head-first six-feet below the ground. What could she possibly say? That she tactically used her social connections to keep updated with the older girl’s daily life? That she basically was a stalker?

Fortunately, she did not have to answer. Seunghyun called, announcing departure. Wendy seized the moment to excuse herself and pulled the curtains over her head to escape. She could have done that sooner but she may or may not have liked being alone with Irene Bae like that. I mean, who wouldn’t?

“Whoa there, hamster.” Seulgi said as Wendy scampered over, “You okay? Still alive? What happened back there?”

Wendy shook her head, “I can’t, Seul. I can’t,”

 

***

 

Stargazing. 

The sounds of critters filled the air along with the chatter of the Astronomy Club as they walked to the park, ready to assemble the needed equipments for their nightly stargazing.

Wendy walked along with her friends, linking arms with Seulgi as Joy and Yeri bickered and Irene shook her head at them. Wendy thought the small smile on her face as she watched on was endearing. Yes, she was watching her again. Naturally.

The moonlight did wonderful numbers on Irene. The soft glow casted to her face made her seem so much softer, so, so angelic Wendy wanted to coo. It was hard to tear her eyes away. Oh, how she loved star gazing.

“I swear if someone stares at me the way you stare at Irene unnie, I’d be freaked out as hell,”

Wendy snapped out of her daze to roll her eyes at Seulgi, “I doubt you’ll even notice,” she retorted.

“True,” Seulgi admitted with a shrug and a laugh.

They sat on the swings, gazing up at the, well, not-so-starry sky. Irene was somewhere behind them, talking to a junior and it took Wendy’s everything to fight the urge of craning her head back just so she could see her. Joy and Yeri had run off to push some senior off a telescope, saying something about looking for a Do Min Joon. Beside her, Seulgi pointed at some stars, connecting them to make her own Pringles Constellation. Wendy laughed her off.

“Look, Minseok’s distributing drinks.” Seulgi stood, “I’ll go get us some,”

“Get me an orange flavored one, will you?” Wendy called as Seulgi jogged away.

Seulgi looked over her shoulder and opened to answer only to close it again and smile, “Irene-unnie can help you with that!”

“What—”

“Hey,” the swing beside her creaked and she spun in surprise. Right there, on the swing previously occupied by Seulgi was Irene Bae, holding two drinks. “Good thing you still like orange. I got you one,” Irene offered the can.

Wendy stupidly blinked, wondering if her luck was extra good or bad that day, “Y-Yeah. Thanks,” she snapped out of it, took the canned drink and gingerly held it in her hands, actually contemplating on preserving it as a remembrance.

Irene, on the other hand, opened her drink, the can popping with a hiss. She took a small sip and Wendy couldn’t help but stare as she melancholically gazed up at the night sky. Her side profile was more than perfect. Oh, the curves of her forehead to the dip of the bridge of her nose then rise to a perfect angle before taking another dip for her philtrum and the exquisite curves of her plump lips. Irene Bae was picture perfect Wendy could stare forever and never get tired of it. This is pure art.

Probably feeling the sticky eyes on her, Irene tore her eyes from the sky to meet Wendy’s. The latter quickly averted her gaze, heat creeping up to her cheeks. Of course.

She could still feel her eyes on her as she fidgeted with her drink, burning two holes on her cheek. She squirmed, feeling overwhelmed as her face slowly heated up.

“G-Great night, don’t you think?” Wendy started, unable to withstand the growing tension. It felt like the trees were closing in on her.

“Yeah,” Irene answered and Wendy fought a shiver at the sound of her voice; so deep and husky yet velvety and soft. “I always loved our stargazing activities,”

“Me too,” Wendy answered, slowly feeling more comfortable. Irene’s company was nice. Heart attack inducing but nice. “Loath the questionnaires they distribute right after though,”

Irene laughed and Wendy felt a sense of pride for being able to achieve that feat. “They’re okay but I guess to each their own,”

“To each their own,” Wendy echoed, glancing at Irene whose eyes are, thankfully, not on her anymore, “Like how I like orange and you like watermelon?”

“Yes. Like that,” Irene answered with a slight laugh, meeting Wendy’s eyes. The latter didn’t flinch or look away this time though. It was odd. They were talking about oranges and watermelons and random stuff like that but it was feeling like the most intimate conversation of all time. The chatter of the group around them was barely audible anymore, the only thing mattering was the way her eyelashes fluttered as she blinked, and the way her laughter warmed the chilly night. Damn, I’m in it deep.

A breeze blew in softly and Wendy noticed the slight shiver on Irene’s lips. She huffed indignantly. How could this girl wear such thin clothing in a cool spring night? Without second thought, she took off her jacket and put it around Irene, the intoxicating perfume filling her lungs with flowers. The older girl didn’t protest, thankfully, or Wendy would have given her a scolding like an annoying, but well-meaning, mother.

“Thanks,” Irene smiled but that smile soon melted to a frown, “But how about you? Won’t you be cold?”

Wendy shrugged, “You need it more than I do. I wear thicker clothes and I don’t get cold easily,” she proudly pounded her chest, “I’m from Canada, you know? This is nothing,”

“That’s not reassuring. Plus, you’re making me guilty,” Irene pursed her lips, deep in thought as she frowned at Wendy like she was trying to figure out the cure to cancer.

“Unnie, I swear I’m fine. I—” her heart skipped a beat, “Wait, w-what are you doing?”

Irene smiled, “Keeping you warm,”

Wendy laughed lightly, looking at their intertwined hands. “Right...”

She giggled again, finding it funny but she figured out she didn’t mind it at all. Holding Irene’s hand was nice. It was curious how their fingers seemed to fit perfectly fine but Wendy didn’t mind, even if Irene’s hand was actually colder than hers. She could keep her warm instead.

And along with the increasing pace of her heart, she realized: I…like her.

 

***

 

“Well, congratulations, Captain Obvious,”

Wendy frowned at Seulgi and tucked her legs inside her sweater, holding her knees close to her chest as she chewed on her spoon. The movie blaring from the screen was no longer registered to both spectators as they were now completely focused on something else.

“Stop it. It wasn’t easy for me as well, okay?”

Seulgi scoffed, “And she calls me dumb,” she grumbled, “Wendy, I thought you already knew you like her. Hell, even I knew,”

“It was just a crush. I knew it was a crush,” Wendy retorted, “You know, stupid, silly infatuation just ‘cause she’s pretty but damn it, Seulgi, she’s more than that. Way more than that.” she groaned and threw her head back in despair, “I’m over now, aren’t I?”

“Yes you are,” Seulgi replied, tone gratingly cheerful.

“ you,”

Seulgi tutted, “C’mere you fluffy hamster,” she pulled Wendy close to a side-hug, “You finally realize you actually like like Irene-unnie. Congratulations. But so what? What’s going to change? You’re still going to be a creepy stalker who can’t talk to her face to face anyway. Unless…you know, you have other plans, like, I don’t know, ask her out and take this attraction to the next level, maybe?”

Wendy roughly pulled away, “No way!” she yelled, face heating up, “There’s no way in hell I’m doing that! Stars are supposed to be admired from afar because if you get too close, you’d get major burns at least and burnt to ashes at most. You cannot touch the art. Touching can damage the art.” she rambled, all in one breath.

Seulgi groaned, exasperated, “You’re such a creepy weirdo,” she said, “Where do you want to go with this then?”

Wendy slumped, deflated, “Nowhere, to be honest.” she admitted, “I was just peacefully admiring her from afar when this suddenly hit me. She was just an eye candy, goddammit, how did this become so complicated?”

“Then admire her from afar while having romantic feelings at the same time. What’s so complicated about that?” Seulgi tilted her head to the side.

“It’s complicated when this is fine with doing exactly that,” Wendy pointed at her head, “But this,” she pointed at her chest, “Is not,”

Seulgi blinked the way dumb bears do, “I don’t get it so are you going to ask her out or not,”

“No,” Wendy replied, tone as-a-matter-of-factly.

“But you want to?”

Wendy pursed her lips, eyes darting around, “May…be?”

“But you won’t?”

“Yes,”

Seulgi blinked again, “I don’t get it,” she shook her head.

“Look, it’s like…this is going to sound inappropriate but it’s like holding in a fart.” Wendy explained, “Imagine having a very intense urge to release gas but you can’t, because you’re in public and people are going to judge you if you fart in public. So you’re gonna have to hold it in and preventing farts is the most painful thing ever, you should know that. Do you get it now?”

“No but I do get that you’re disgusting and discriminatory,” Seulgi replied, “I mean, what’s so bad about farting? It’s a natural phenomenon! Everyone farts.”

Wendy pinched the bridge of her nose, “Seul, it’s not actually about farts—”

“Not everyone is discriminatory towards farts like you. You can’t know that. Yes, most people are but not everyone. Besides, why do you care about what people say about your fart? There’s only one opinion that matters, isn’t there? Her opinion. Irene-unnie’s. And heaven knows what if she could accept your fart no matter how stinky it is but you’d never have the chance to know because you’d rather hide? You’ll end up losing the biggest opportunity of your life and develop a major stomach ache. Do you want to develop a nasty diarrhea just because you don’t want everyone and Irene-unnie to smell your fart?”

Wendy blinked. Hell, this conversation had turned into a diarrhea of a mess, “Um, no?”

“Well, you shouldn’t. Would you rather let out that fart once and for all or suffer for eternity because of that unreleased gas?”

“Er, I’d just let it out, to be honest but that’s not—”

“Then there you have it!” Seulgi spread her hands, “Go fart at her face, Seungwan.” with that odd exclamation of good luck, she stood and walked to the kitchen, leaving a dazed Wendy in the living room, wondering—“What the hell just happened?”

Wendy turned at the new voice and saw Joy standing by the door. It looks like the girl had just arrived early enough to witness Seulgi’s inspirational fart rant. She looked utterly mortified.

“I have no idea. Seulgi was—”

“You want to fart at Irene-unnie’s face?” Joy asked, an alarming smile spreading slowly on her lips, a look of mischief replacing her bewilderment. Her hand, suspiciously, s in her pocket and brought out her phone, tapping a few times before bringing the device to her ear, “Hey, Yerim-ah. You’re not going to believe this,”

Wendy’s jaw fell with a groan.

I’m dead.

 

 

TBC